Getting real

 Scripture: Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 and Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16  •  Amos 6:1a, 4-7 and Psalm 146  •  1 Timothy 6:6-19  •  Luke 16:19-31

This Sunday's lesson follows Jesus' teaching concerning serving wealth and serving God, and gives us his  story of the rich man, unnamed and living behind the gate, who dies and goes to his eternal torment, having failed to see Lazarus in his poverty and unhealthy squalor.  One the one hand, reading this along with the words of the prophet Amos, and the appointed Psalms, this is another indictment of the distance and problems we have when we foster the widening chasm between the "haves and the have nots."

But, as in all of Jesus' parables, there is so much more. The rich man is unnamed, while Lazarus has a name. The rich man has buffered himself from noticing Lazarus and his condition. Don't we do the same as we bury ourselves in our cellphones, social media, and become engulfed in the world created by talking heads with all their theories and opinions on everything, some creating fantasies and conspiracies that defy reality and even common sense? 

Jesus is telling us to get real. To see as God sees. To truly "take hold of the life that really is  life." Do yourself a favor and read the words of Paul to Timothy in the link above,  and Joslyn Ogden Schaefer's "Real Life." And take hold of the fulfillment of  the life that really is life.

Wealth and Serving God

 Scripture:

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 and Psalm 79:1-9  • 

 

Amos 8:4-7 and Psalm 113  • 

 

1 Timothy 2:1-7  • 

 

Luke 16:1-13

This week Jesus gives his disciples the parable of the dishonest manager. Scholars, preachers and teachers have a myriad of difficulties with this text. Why did the master of the dishonest manager commend him? Some say it has to do with being shrewd in times when shrewdness is needed. What if the dishonest manager is otherwise a good husband, father, or mother? Are we to write the person off as a bad person? What about the teaching that one who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest in much? Or, the flip side, one who is faithful in a very little is faithful in much? How do we reconcile these teachings? How are we reconciled in conflicts within ourselves, and with others? Humans are complex, not just simply one thing or another.

What about forgiveness? Can one serve both wealth and God?  

Consider Debie Thomas' honest grappling with this Sunday's gospel in "Notes to the Children of Light."

The Rev. Marshall A. Jolly in "Shrewdness," calls attention to our tendency to label people, saying, " We have labels...: a person who commits a crime ceases to be a person and instead becomes a criminal or an inmate. A person who enters the country illegally is reduced to an illegal immigrant. A person caught in the cycle of addiction disintegrates into the lexicon of addict or user or pill head. The language we use to refer to people whose behavior we find morally or ethically objectionable betrays us. They become something less than a person; something unworthy or unfit for our care and concern." Words matter.  How often do the rich blame the poor for their poverty? How often do we blame the victim? For a comprehensive look at Jesus' parable see Dan Clendenin's "Lovers of Money"

For the Lost ... and Found

 Scripture: Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 and Psalm 14  •  Exodus 32:7-14 and Psalm 51:1-10  • 1 Timothy 1:12-17  • Luke 15:1-10

Jesus tells the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin to the tax collectors and sinners who were coming near to hear him, and to the scribes and Pharisees who were grumbling and disdainfully saying that Jesus welcomed and ate with sinners. 

The lesson is about being lost, and then found. Who are the lost in these parables? We have all suffered loss. How do we deal with loss.  How many ways can, or do we, get lost? What is it like to be found, to find someone or something of value? How do these parables help us when we become lost? What do these parables have to say about what we value, how we are valued? About our relationship with God, each other, and our church?

Debie Thomas has an excellent article "On Lostness," which helps put things into perspective.  Kirk Kubicek has some surprising things to say about the God who throws a party for those or that which was lost in his The Wrath of God

The Potter and the Clay

 Scripture:  Jeremiah 18:1-11 and Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18  •  Deuteronomy 30:15-20 and Psalm 1  •  Philemon 1:1-1:21  • Luke 14:25-33

This week we have images of artistry and sacrifice, and learn more about the nature of God and ourselves, and our relationship with God and each other. Is God a controlling master, dispassionate, unchanging and without regard to the clay, or the "condition" of the clay?  What is the relationship between this potter and the clay? Between the God who knows our innermost being and us in the poetry of the psalmist? Between master and slave in Paul's letter to Philemon? Are we really supposed to hate our family, give up all our possessions, and carry a cross?  What is going on here?

For thought and discussion consider Dr. Bruce Epperly's "Sacrifice and Artistry: Human and Divine," and Debie Thomas' "What It Will Cost You."

For a reflection on the life of Frederick Buechner and Psalm 139, read Dan Clendenin's Listen to Your Life .