11-21-17 - The Great Sorting

Should we blame Jesus for the age-old bias against left-handers? In this week’s Gospel reading, he spins a vision of the Son of Man seated in glory, with all the nations gathered before him, sorting people like livestock. The blessed go to his right hand, the cursed to his left: 

“All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.”

Why do goats stand in for the cursed? Why must any be cursed? For that matter, why must the judgment involve separating the sheep from the goats? (Or, for Episcopalians, the chic from the gauche… ba-dum-bum…) Why must there be a judgment at all? And need we fear it?

How literally should we take Jesus’ words here? Though this is not a parable in the same way as Jesus’ other stories, he does use symbolic language to convey a spiritual truth. He wants his followers to know that our choices in this life do have consequences – and that we will be judged in large measure by how we do or do not care for the most vulnerable among us. Or, put another way, How well did you love your neighbor as yourself?

Most church-goers I encounter these days are profoundly uncomfortable with the idea of a Final Judgment. I am too. We don’t know what will be. We only know that in the gospel accounts handed down to us, Jesus referred to such an event occurring at the “end of the age.” He was right in line with the testimony of Israel’s prophets, all of whom refer at some point or another to the Judgment or the Day of Wrath or the “Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.” Christian preachers who try to “scare folks into heaven” come by that approach honestly – our scriptures are full of dire warnings.

I prefer to “love people into heaven," and I suspect you do as well. As we will see when we explore the details further tomorrow, Jesus associates salvation not only with how we treat others, but how well we recognize him. He is our “ticket to heaven,” if you will.

But I wonder: do we want a heaven from which some are excluded, even if they’ve excluded themselves? Do we want a sorting? I can think of few visions sadder than people sent to the left side, cut off from the Promise. Well... how about torturers, or terrorists who behead their captives? Would I be sad to see them sorted out? On some level yes, even them. I don’t want to think anyone is beyond hope, beyond the reach of God’s power to transform. Black hearts have turned before. Witness John Newton and a thousand others.

It is so hard for me to find the Good News in this scenario. It’s not enough to think “I’m safe.” I want the promise to be eternal, the offer good forever, for all time, all people. So I will pray, pray for those who seem to turn their back on God, on Jesus, on the good, whether it’s because of disorder or trauma, or because they’ve made a full-on choice to get what they can in this world, no matter who they destroy.

Maybe as we pray we can see a speck of room for Jesus in them, and we can pray that he will heal and gently guide them home with the rest of the sheep. And the goats.

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11-20-17 - King of All Nations

We are nearing the end of our church year – next Sunday is celebrated as “Christ the King” Sunday in many churches. This is not an actual feast day, but it brings our whole year of Jesus-stories to their ultimate end: that this strangely born infant who was honored as king; this crucified teacher who was lauded and then mocked as king; truly was, is, and is to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

We also come to the end of three weeks in Matthew 25, a chapter full of rich parables and images. Once again, Jesus has a story to tell, but not this time a parable. Parables are allegorical tales Jesus told to describe the Kingdom of God. Here he spins a future vision. Jesus explicitly images himself as a king, seated on a throne, overseeing a gathering of all nations and peoples. He is not telling a story in symbols – he is predicting his future, a future when he is no longer cloaked in human flesh with all its limitations, but fully revealed, radiantly triumphant.

This is what he says will happen, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him.”

At the very beginning of our salvation story, God makes Abraham a series of promises, and each one includes this: that through Abraham all nations will be blessed. Later, psalmists and prophets pick up the theme of all nations; Isaiah foretells the day when all nations will stream to the light of the one true God (Isaiah 60:3). And later still, St. Paul echoes Jesus’ vision in his letter to the church at Ephesus (also a reading appointed for Sunday):

“God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.”

The promised, in-breaking reign of God is not only for those who follow Jesus in this life. It is a promise of peace for the whole world, a vision of nations coming together. In our ever more fractured world, it can be hard to believe in such a vision – but our believing is one of the ways God brings it into being. When we believe in that vision of unity, it is harder to perpetuate enmity and violence. As we put our faith in that vision, we desire it and work toward it, becoming the peacemakers and justice-seekers Jesus wants his followers to be.

Here’s a prayer exercise for us to try today: Pick any two bitter world enemies. Imagine people from those two nations streaming toward a light-filled mountain, merging as they come together to climb toward the light. That’s a way of praying. Take another two nations, do it again. Think of an enemy of your own country. Imagine being part of a stream of your fellow citizens moving together toward the Light of the World, the King to whom all earthly powers will yield authority. That’s the future we proclaim. THAT’s the Gospel, the Good News we have to share.

I know a woman who prays daily for peace in the most unlikely places, for the conversion to love of the most hate-filled souls. She is actively exercising faith, speaking God’s future into being now. I suggest we join her. All nations will be blessed through us.

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11-17-17 - The Rich Get Richer

Call in the dentists – it's the end of another parable and some poor guy has just been thrown into outer darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus seemed to like this phrase; he used it a lot. I wish I thought he was being funny.

I prefer the parables that emphasize mercy and forgiveness. Yet there seems to be no grace for this hapless servant who hid the talent entrusted to him. He says his piece to the master, and gives him back the coin, saying, “Here you have what is yours.” But the master is livid, saying:

‘You wicked and lazy servant! ...you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless servant, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Wow. This guy might have thought he was doing the right thing, the safe thing. But the safe thing is not what the master considers the right thing. He is not going to give this one a second chance, but will take the resources from him and give it to the one who already doubled his money.

Is this right? Is this fair? Is that how God regards us when we don’t use the riches we’ve been given? Well, God’s ideas of equity and ours often differ. If God wants to see God’s mission accomplished, and God has chosen to work through humankind, it makes sense to give resources to people who have the faith, the vision and the courage to implement them. If we feel impoverished as people or communities of faith, it’s not that we’re bad, or wrong – it may just be that we’re timid, risk-averse, inward-looking.

The problem with this last servant is that he operated out of fear. Jesus invites us to operate out of faith – again and again we hear him reward faith where he sees it. Faith and fear cannot coexist – the more space we give to faith, the less room there is for fear. And vice versa.

What is the greatest gift God has given us? According to St. Paul, it’s love. (I Corinthians 13) Today I suggest we read through this parable again, substituting the word “love” for “talents.” How that opens it up! We are also reminded in I John that, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” Can we invest the love we have in loving others – which is about the most risky thing we can do in this life? Are we spending all we have in love? Or have we buried our love, or some of it, in a hole, covered over, "safe?" Do we bury our love in over-work or stress or sadness, afraid to risk losing what little we have?

That’s a thing about love – if we’re afraid of losing it, we already have. And when we give it away lavishly, we seem to find it multiplying in our lives. That’s how the “rich get richer” in the Life of God. That’s how we make enough wealth to provide for everyone – a wealth of love, enough to reclaim, restore and renew this world and every person it.

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11-16-17 - God's Joy

In some theological circles God is seen as a “watchmaker” – a creator who made the world, wound it up and set it in motion, and sits back watching it tick, for good and ill. This would not be a deity who intervenes in the affairs of his or her creation; this God privileges free will to the max.

At first glance, the “master” in the parable of the talents could bolster such a view of God. He heads off on a journey, leaving resources and instructions – not too specific – with his employees. And, like the long-delayed bridegroom in last week’s parable, he stays gone awhile, so long that perhaps his employees think he’s gone for good, that they run the business now. But no: 

“After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.”

And the way he goes about the accounting suggests an ongoing relationship, which has not been diminished by his absence. To each of the two servants who doubled their money he says,

“Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” 

Inviting others into his “joy” does not sound like an aloof watchmaker boss.

Why, I wonder, did Jesus tell of two servants who had differing amounts to invest? Saying it twice to make the point? Maybe. And maybe he wants to be sure we get the message that it’s not the amount that matters, it’s the act of investing, taking risks, seeking to grow what we’ve been given. Investing our gifts is not only for the wealthy or the multiply blessed – it’s for all followers of the Jesus way. The master's praising each of these servants the same way, regardless of how much they earned, suggests that God is more interested in our engagement than our results. No matter the total, if we invest we are invited into God's joy.

Joy is a state of being that incorporates contentment, trust, serenity, happiness, yet is deeper and more encompassing than any of these. We can experience joy in the midst of pain and loss. Joy is one of God’s greatest gifts to us.

Have you experienced the joy of God during or after some ministry you’ve been engaged in? It might not have looked like “ministry.” It might have been when you followed an impulse to help someone, or some time of praise. It’s a certain kind of kick we get when we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us.

If you can recall a time when you’ve felt “the joy of the master,” consider it. What were you doing? How did you feel God’s presence and activity when you were involved with that? How did you feel later? Can that happen again?

And if joy has not been much part of your experience of church, Christianity, relationship with God – there’s something to ponder too. What’s in the way – something in the institution, something in you, or both? If we can be aware of the barriers we can pray them down.

Jesus told his followers on the night before he was arrested and killed, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11) Even then, knowing what was before him, he spoke of his joy and wanting them to have it. He’s already given it to us. We need to keep unwrapping the gift.