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The Gospel: Luke 16:1-13
Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' Then the manager said to himself, `What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.' So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, `How much do you owe my master?' He answered, `A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' Then he asked another, `And how much do you owe?' He replied, `A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, `Take your bill and make it eighty.' And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." Prayer: Lord, you have promised that when two or three gather in your name you will be present with them. We depend on that promise today and pray that you will move among us. Lord, we pray that have you inspired Mike's preparation, that you will enliven his presentation and that you will empower our application. Amen The Message: I have spoken before about how the RCL provides us with our readings each week. I have also spoken about how there generally is a common thread or a common theme running through each of the readings. So each one will reinforce the message of the others. Some Sundays that will be obvious and will stand out, other Sundays it will be more subtle and it will take some time to discover what it is. If you read the Collect for the Day it will guide you as to what to look for. Today's Collect points to one theme idea running through each of the readings: Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Not to be anxious about earthly things is a much gentler way to put the theme idea today than we find in Luke's Gospel: "No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." I am sure we have all heard sermons preached on that theme idea in the time that we have been coming to church. Today I am going to suggest a different theme idea. Now we have to look a little harder for this one but I am sure that it is there and we can gain something of a new perspective on these readings if we follow where it leads us. The keyword I would like us to search out and explore this morning is the word advocate. My handy online dictionary defines an advocate this way: "A person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy." So an advocate is someone who stands up and publicly proclaims the rightness of a cause or a policy. On a more personal level an advocate can also be someone who stands up for, publicly supports, or recommends, another person. A piece of trivia for you this morning is that if you ever find yourself under arrest in France you will be represented by an advocate. This person takes on the role of publicly supporting or recommending your position or your cause. They are going to advocate for you on your behalf. Interestingly here in the States, if you are arrested you will usually look for someone to be your advocate, someone to take on the role of advocating for you or on your behalf. We call them lawyers because they have studied the law so that they can be prepared to advocate for you. More generally we call them defense attorneys. It is interesting in our reading this morning from Jeremiah we find God advocating on behalf of groups of people. God uses Jeremiah to ask questions on behalf of the poor and the needy in the land of Israel. God is advocating this time almost like a prosecutor to challenge the people of Israel for their lack of care and concern for those less fortunate themselves. Then in Psalm 79, the Psalmist is crying out to God to be an advocate on behalf of the people. The Psalmist recognizes that the people of Israel have lost their place and position in the land. He calls out and asks God to restore the people. Paul writing to Timothy in the Epistle reading this morning outlines another kind or opportunity for the work of an advocate. Paul sets out how believers are to advocate on behalf of the leadership of nations. He challenges believers to intercede on behalf of leaders through Jesus Christ who has won the right to be a mediator with God by the life and example he set. In Christian terms, we all know that Jesus is our advocate. He intercedes on our behalf to the father. This then leads us to the Gospel for this morning. Can I say that this passage from Luke is one of the most difficult passages to understand? It appears that Jesus is lauding the unethical behavior of the manager. As I wrestle with this passage I find that I can reconcile what Jesus is saying in this story by understanding that what Jesus is actually doing is recognizing the cleverness of this manager without approving of his actions. The manager when he knows that he is about to be exposed for his fraudulent behavior goes about and cleverly protects his future by developing a group of people who will advocate for him. The people who owe money to the rich man, the manager's employer, become indebted to the manager and he knows that he can come to them in the future and that they will advocate on his behalf. Jesus recognizes the cleverness of this scheme without condoning it. He makes it clear in the final paragraph of this passage that although this manager seems to have worked out a short-term solution he will still have to face ultimate judgment both from his employer and from the Lord. "No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." So, with all that said about advocates and how they work and what their various roles might be what do we learn for our everyday lives and our application this coming week? I want to turn to another passage from Timothy to help us find the point of connection. "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have known sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work." 1 Timothy 3: 14 - 17 So if that is true what might we learn from drawing out the illustrations about advocates that I have used this week? What might be the good work that we are being equipped for? How do I or how do we become advocates here in our community at Christ Church? Well, the more obvious answer is that we become advocates for those we love and those we care about. Our family, our friends, and those who we find we have things in common with. We come before the Lord and we bring their cause or their policy before the Lord. We become someone who stands up for them publicly. We support or recommend them to the Lord. We ask for the Lord's favor to be upon them. I found it interesting in reading the passage from 1 Timothy that Paul uses the word for when he refers to how believers are to pray. This might just seem like semantics, but Paul doesn't say that we are to pray about our leaders. He specifically says to pray for them. You might well ask what is the difference? Well, in my experience, when I or others pray "about" someone they generally bring the person before the Lord and pray "all about" that person. The prayers generally are composed of a litany of the other person's faults, failings, and missteps. Generally, there is also an emphasis on situations where the other person has failed me or let me down. I find often that I pray that the Lord will correct or change that other person for my benefit. In contrast when I advocate, or I pray "for" someone else I generally bring that person before the Lord and ask on behalf of that person that the Lord will be gracious to them. That the Lord will meet the needs of that person. I pray with a sense of compassion for that person. That the Lord will shower blessing or comfort or care and concern on that person. One interesting thing about advocates - lawyers - particularly defense lawyers - they generally do not spend a lot of time on whether the person they are defending is guilty or not. Their job is to provide the best possible defense whether the person is guilty or not. It is like the manager in the Gospel of Luke this morning. Jesus doesn't appear to care that the manager is obviously guilty. He takes the situation and shines his light into the situation and brings out the truth for us all. I believe that one aspect of the role of advocates in Christian community is to advocate on behalf of those we disagree with or whom we find fault with. How do we pray for those people, rather than praying about them? How do we become advocates on behalf of those in our community whom we find difficulty accepting? How do we pray compassionately for them? How do we find truth in situations when we know that the other person is at fault? Isn't that what we hope others will do for us? Don't we long for those in our community to seek the Lord's compassion on us? Let me end this morning with the prayer attributed to St Francis: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. The Gospel: Luke 15:1-10
All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." So he told them this parable: "Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. "Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Prayer: Lord, you have promised that when two or three gather in your name you will be present with them. We depend on that promise today and pray that you will move among us. Lord, we pray that have you inspired Mike's preparation, that you will enliven his presentation and that you will empower our application. Amen The Message: Good morning and welcome to our continuing journey with Jesus in Luke. I was recently in a meeting with a group of clergy and lay people We had some work to do together and at that initial meeting, one of the things we recognized was the diversity of our understandings. We held different opinions on a wide variety of topics and issues. What really helped that group to come together was that someone said: "we all understand what we mean when we say certain things. Unfortunately what certain words mean to us can have very different meanings for other people. If during our meetings I say something and you are not sure what I mean or if what I have said somehow offends or upsets you please ask me about it." "Please trust that I will not say something purposefully to hurt or injure you." In making that statement the person cleared the way for open and direct communication. That group worked towards their goals and achieved a sense of unity which is very uncommon in our world at this time. Words are powerful things. They convey meaning and sometimes that meaning can create difficulty or discord. Words may also draw people together and develop the opportunity for concord and unity. Being thoughtful about how we use words or allowing for others to comprehend or understand the words we use differently from how we do is almost an art form these days. It is an interesting exercise for discerning my prejudices or discovering someone else's prejudices. Then it is the opportunity of working out how to say something so that I can avoid my own or someone else's prejudices. Now, there are probably some of us here this morning who just want to say: "Look this is who I am. You get what you see." "I speak my mind and if others are offended by that, well that is all well and good, it is their problem and they will have to work it out." Fair enough. You are entitled to that opinion. I hope though that you might stay open to hearing what I have to say in the rest of my message this morning. As I was considering the concept of prejudices and the power of words I was struck by the thought that it opened up a new way for me in my approach to reading Scripture. I realized that I most likely read the scriptures and apply the power of certain words and phrases as well as my prejudices as I go along. Perhaps you do the same thing? The Gospel from Luke that we heard this morning is a good example of that process. I wonder how many of us found ourselves responding to particular words or phrases in the Gospel this morning. Now, it will be different for each one of us as we read these passages. But I want to lead us through a bit of an exercise looking at the passages we have this morning. Now we may have to make the decision to put aside our Sunday morning listening to Scripture mindset. You know that attitude we have developed over time that says: "I don't really understand what this passage is saying, but I am in church and I am supposed to act like I believe or accept what I hear." Today it is OK to be skeptical, to have a less than "proper" approach to the Scriptures. It is OK, to be honest about what we think about some of the people we are meeting today. So the section from Luke this morning starts out this way: "All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." So, where do you see yourself in this grouping of people? Are you more likely to be in the tax collectors and sinners group or to be in the Pharisees and the scribes group? Are you glad that Jesus associates with the people on the margins, those people who some others find it difficult to accept or understand? Tax collectors and sinners - hmmm - who are those people today? Are you glad that Jesus is happy to welcome these folks and to spend time with them? These can be powerful words, words of acknowledgment and welcome. Or perhaps they are words that reveal a prejudice on our behalf. Where do I see myself, in society, in relationship to these folks? Am I above them in my estimation or are they people like me, people I would be happy to hang out with as well? Am I concerned about the fact that Jesus is spending time with these people who are making their way in society by collaborating with the current political power base? As I read this passage of Scripture what do I learn about myself? Then we move on to the first parable that Jesus tells in response to the comments of the Pharisees and the scribes: "So he told them this parable: "Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." Who do you identify with in this passage? Now, this is challenging because none of us are shepherds and none of us have a flock of sheep we are responsible for. Unless someone here is holding that piece of information to themselves and you haven't told me that you are secretly hoarding a bunch of merinos somewhere on a patch of grazing land. Do we tend to dismiss this parable because it "isn't relevant to us?" Or are we somehow attracted to the story because we long to know that if we did wander off Jesus would come looking for us and restore us to our place of fellowship and love? Do these words have the power to reassure and comfort us when we are uncertain of our place in the worshipping community we want so much to be part of? Or perhaps we are angered or frustrated by the parable and how it is used to assure those we are not convinced deserve the Lord's forgiveness and restoration? Those people who we are convinced are outside the parameters of our understanding of the Scriptures. Those who don't fit the rules that we have come to accept for ourselves as being the way that Christianity should work. Then we have the parable of the lost coin: "Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." I believe that this parable is easier for most of us to comprehend or perhaps grasp. After all, we have all lost something at one time or another. We know the anxiety it creates when we struggle to find whatever it is. Whether that is an actual object or perhaps it is a friend or a relative who we see is lost despite our best efforts. Or perhaps we are frustrated by this parable. What kind of person is so irresponsible that they can't manage their own affairs? How could someone lose such a valuable and necessary thing? Just be a little more organized and prepared for pity's sake. After all, I have my own affairs to be responsible for and I manage, why can't you just apply some simple rules and guidelines to your life and you would be better organized and capable of avoiding these kinds of situations? Both of these parables end with a similar tagline. "Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." "Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Maybe these words powerfully encourage us about our own spiritual state or relationship with the Lord. Or they hold out the hope we need to continue to believe for someone who we desperately want to come into or come back to the life of fellowship and love in the Lord. Or do the words sinner and repent cause us some frustration? We do not see ourselves or others we love and care about in that way. We are good people who deserve to experience good things if God is a loving and caring God. Does this approach to the words of Scripture offer you a new understanding or a new openness to the reality of the dynamics of faith? How do you read the Scriptures? What makes you react and pull back? What draws you into the hope of the Gospel? Perhaps we can experience something new as we read the Collect for this morning: O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. |
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