Enjoy!

http://www.markfiore.com/what_if_0

http://www.jesusforpresident.org/

My friend Josh and I had a good time having coffee and talking to Nadia of “The Sarcastic Lutheran.” We talked about House for all. postmodernity, liberals, neo-cons, Minnesota Lutherans, theology, Jesus and her new book on TBN:

Myspace, facebook etc and now there’s Twitter. Twitter is short commentaries on what you are doing or thinking. Its a short blog for people who want to talk about their lives. Yes its your 15 minutes of fame read by you and maybe a friend or a group of friends or some stalker that is after you. The world revolves around twitter. God help us. Lord have mercy!

www.twitter.com

Pg 36- What is grace? Grace is love that seeks you out when you have nothing to give in return. Grace is love coming at you that has nothing to do with you. Grace is being loved when you are unlovable. It is being loved when you are opposite of loveable.

Pg 64-Grace is one-way love. It comes from the outside.

Don’t Do Anything words and lyrics by Sam Phillips(Nonesuch records-Warner Bros 2008

I love you when you don’t do anything. When you useless I love you more. When you don’t do anything. When you don’t know, when you don’t try. When you don’t say anything. When you don’t move, when you don’t win. When you don’t make anything work. I love you when you don’t do anything. When you don’t want, when you don’t lie. When you don’t make any sense.  When you don’t go, when you don’t hide. When you don’t think anything. Everything I know is going backwards with you.

JESUS’ FAMILY VALUES

Matthew 10:24-39 4 ¶ “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! 26 ¶ “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. 34 ¶ “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

Several years ago there was a movie called “Addams Family Values’ based on the old TV comedy. The movie was about a dark gothic ghoulish family that had values opposite of most picture perfect families portrayed on TV. They were the anti- Family Ties or anti- Cosby family. Today’s gospel gives us a picture of Jesus’ family values.

Contrary to popular belief Jesus was not your typical family values kind of guy. In other words, His teaching went against the conventional wisdom of his day and continues to go against it today. Jesus would never be elected President especially in our context. Well, lets see he’s single and he travels with a bunch of ex-tax collectors, rowdy fishermen, and he has a lot of women followers. He hangs around the poor, sinners and outcasts! Didn’t Jesus say prostitutes would enter heaven before the religious? You can only imagine the attack ads on TV if he was running for President today. This was the propaganda that the religious leaders were saying about Jesus in his day. Some were saying Jesus was not only blasphemous against his own Jewish religion but he was against the order of the State and was tearing families apart. This is what Jesus’ family values is all about. This is our Lord and Savior. Are you following?

The Gospel of Matthew’s narrative is a challenge to all followers of Christ. Our mission is to follow Christ but are we doing it? In our Second Reading in Romans, Paul is reminding us of our baptism into Christ that God has given us grace- a gift of new life! We have died to sin and baptized in the death and resurrection of Christ. We are set free to daily walk in this baptism and follow Jesus. Following Jesus does not mean sitting in a pew every Sunday but going out into the community and serving others. This building or any building is not the church but you are the church. Whatever place God has called you is where you are to be the church. Are you the church at work, among your families and friends? I’m not talking about being religious but being real, authentic and sharing the love of Christ right where you are.

Following Jesus is not easy in our country even though we have freedom of religion it is so easy to be complacent and as we heard a couple of weeks ago in our gospel reading about the temptation of wealth or mammon. We cannot serve two masters. We either trust in the true God or we trust in a false god like money, possessions and things. So we are to be like Jesus because he is our Lord, Savior and Teacher. The Pharisees of Jesus day accused him of being Beelzebub named after the Canaanite god Baal, the Lord of the flies or Satan but the kingdom of God is not divided because Jesus gives life, heals, sets people free unlike the false gods that keep people in bondage to things.

Jesus is telling us that following him is not easy but not to fear. We are not to fear because God has given us to strength to endure and proclaim what God has done in our lives. We are a witness that Jesus is alive and he is working. This is our mission to tell others what Jesus has done and what he can do for others.

Jesus is not saying you will never have fears or anxieties. We are human and we are sinners. No, Jesus is saying you don’t have to fear anything even physical death because God is still there with you. We are to fear God because God is the one who holds the keys to death and life not Satan and not your enemies. God has the last word.

When I am talking about fearing God I’m talking about reverence and trust not being afraid of God but truly worshipping and following God. We can trust God because God has come in the flesh in Jesus to us. Why did God do this? God values us so much in spite of ourselves. We are made in the Image of God! God knows everything about us even the hairs of our heads or the lack of hair on our heads. God so loved the world that God loves you and sent Jesus, God’s son so that we might live and tell others about the love of God. Diosito is a Spanish word for God meaning a God who is with you on your journey as a friend and a companion closer than any brother or sister. Jesus called God Abba Father. God is close to us like a loving nurturing parent.

Following Jesus is not easy and it comes with a warning. Taking up your cross and following Jesus will cause division maybe even among family members. Hebrew prophets like Jeremiah and Jesus and the Apostles encountered division and all followers of Jesus will encounter the cross of suffering. It’s a paradox that the Prince of Peace will bring a sword. Not a literal one but a symbol that people will resist the message of God’s unconditional love for all people. In Jesus’ context, family loyalty was very important and to leave the family and to join another religion would bring shame to the whole family. Status and honor was very important in the culture that Jesus lived among the Romans and the Jews. Not to say that it would not be a scandal in our society today but our culture is more individualistic in many ways with family members living apart while the world that Jesus and his first followers were more communitarian. They believed in La Familia!

Following Jesus today will cause divisions in families and friends. Be aware that some will deny that Jesus died for their sins and the sins of the whole world. They will not believe that sinners can also become saints. They might mock you for believing that God comes to us in the flesh of a baby in Bethlehem or that God comes to us in the Word, water, bread and wine or where two or three or gathered in Christ name. They might label you a fanatic or unpatriotic for welcoming the poor, outcasts and immigrants. Some will scoff in your trust in Jesus life, death and resurrection and that he is coming back. Divisions will come but following Jesus means loving God and your neighbors. Loving God more than what your family or friends think is the one thing needed.

Following Jesus and taking up your cross is the mission of all Christians. The good news is that it’s not all about us. Christ has already carried the cross for us. He died and rose from the dead for us. Christ is truly with us on our journey and will not forsake us.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was killed by the Nazis in World War 2 for following Jesus. Bonhoeffer stood up against Hitler’s oppression and killing of the Jews wrote in his Book “The Cost of Discipleship”:

Cheap grace,” writes Bonhoefer, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

“Costly grace is the hidden treasure in the field; for the sake of it a person will gladly go and sell all that he has….Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because if calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a person their life, and it is grace because it gives you the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of His Son: you were bought with a price’, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon His Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered Him up for us, Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

Our baptism into Christ is not cheap. Our salvation is not cheap. It cost our Lord and Savior everything. It’s a free gift from God for you. Amen.

This weekend I am preaching at a church that could call me. The main scripture text is: Matthew 10:24-39 look at 35-39!
35″Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.(NRSV)

This should be a killer.

David at Nakedpastor keeps the prophetic comics coming:

http://nakedpastor.com/archives/2102

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/duty_calls.png

Gotta Serve Somebody

⁴ ¶ “No one 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. ²⁵ ¶ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? ²⁸ And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you– you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ ³² For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ ¶ “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

In the late seventies, Jewish folk singer Bob Dylan started to sing songs about Jesus much to the disappointment to many of his fans who idolized him.  The song “Gotta Serve Somebody” became a hit and his album Slow Train won a Grammy that year. Dylan was dismissed by many as being nothing more as a religious fanatic or Jesus freak but he preached passionately with the lyrics:

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.

Jesus in today’s gospel narrative is telling us that we gotta serve somebody but we cannot serve two masters. This is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus is telling his followers what the kingdom of God is like among the community of faith. Before this narrative, Jesus talked about your heart is where your treasure is. If your heart is set only on things you can attain and achieve then you are headed for a life of hopelessness, worry and despair. However, if your heart is set on God’s kingdom and the treasure of the gift of God’s son for us then you have hope and confidence in the future not only for this life but the life to come.  Jesus then goes on to say that the eyes reveal a lot about a person. Your eyes can tell someone if you are full of light or darkness. Ancients believed that the eyes were windows of the soul. Some cultures warn about the evil eye. You may have heard the expression of “Don’t give that person the evil eye.” If your eyes are set on the kingdom of God then you see everything from the perspective of the light of the world but if your eyes are set only on things and what you want then you are in darkness.

Jesus gives us a radical challenge that we cannot avoid. This message cuts through our culture of consumerism that affects the rich, middle, and poor alike. No one can serve two masters! This call leaves us no choice but to face the obvious. We are serving somebody or something. Are we serving God or Mammon? Mammon is a Semitic word meaning physical property, wealth or money. Having money is not an evil in itself. It is needful for the basic necessities of life but when we are controlled by it then it becomes evil. Jesus is not telling us to hate money or property and give them all up but to prioritize them. We are not to be in slavery or bondage to things. First things first! Love God and your neighbor are more important than keeping up with the Jones. Wealth is not to be worshipped but used wisely.

 The lifestyles of the rich and famous in our society has become the slavery and addiction of the rich and famous. The poor are not immune to this as they throw away their money on lottery tickets trying to make it rich while their families barely have enough to eat, wear or even a roof over their heads. We are all guilty because we live in a culture that feeds on celebrity, money and status. Are we worshipping the Almighty dollar, the bling, or are we trusting only in God who gives us our daily bread? As a community of faith whom are we serving?

Martin Luther in his Large Catechism said that a god is whoever your heart trust and clings to. He said the trust and faith of the heart alone make both a God and an idol. If your faith and trust are right then you are worshipping the true God but if it is not then you are worshipping a false god –an idol. God is the giver of all gifts but we are not to worship and cling to the gifts. We are to cling to the true treasure of the gift of God in Christ who lived, died and rose for us. God’s gift is freely given to us.

What God is saying to us in this gospel narrative is not to be anxious for the daily necessities of life. Life is hard and sometimes difficult but God is with us and will not desert us. I know it is hard in the midst of war, terrorism, mortgage crisis, gas crisis and the list goes on. In spite of all this God promises to meet our needs. God takes care of the birds and the flowers and how more important are we who were made in the image of God and are baptized, adopted children of God.  There are so many promises in the Bible which we can find comfort from. There are two that I love:

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight or understanding:6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight (direct)your paths.

^NRS 1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.

Notice 1 Peter says cast your cares and anxiety on God not stop having anxiety. We are human and anxieties will come but we can give them to the one that can handle it.

Jesus is saying Seek first the Kingdom and all these things will be added unto you. He is not promising health and wealth. Do not listen to the TV preachers smiling and begging for your money. God is not promising the myth of “the American Dream”. God is promising the presence of the divine Spirit in the midst of trouble. God is truly present in the Word spoken and in the sacraments and the community of faith. The Kingdom of God is in Community together. Dietrich Bonhoeffer has a great saying about the church as Christ in community. Where two or more gathered Jesus promises to be in our midst. If we cut ourselves off from our brothers and sisters in Christ and try to go it alone then we are not serving God but ourselves. We need each other as the body of Christ! There is no such thing as a “lone ranger” Christian but together we can serve Christ and our neighbor. I’m not talking about a church building but people are the Church and our neighbors are all around us.

You gotta serve somebody. Who are you serving today? The good news is though we may waver and fall there is hope in Christ Jesus. We can trust and serve God with our whole heart and soul only because of God’s unconditional grace for us.

Let us listen to this prayer I found that addresses our human condition and God’s love and forgiveness for us:

Gracious God,  ,

we love to worry,:
        we worry about our looks,
        we worry about our health,
        we worry about our jobs,
        we worry about money,
        we worry about the future,
        we worry about worrying too much.
We act as if you do not know our needs.
We act as if the birds go hungry.
    and the flowers go unclothed.
We act as if you care more for the world around us
    than you care for us.
Wake us up, O God.
Help us see our value in your eyes only because of your grace and mercy for us.
Help us feel your care for our every need,
 through Jesus our Lord. Amen.