Not What You Think

Pentecost 25 Year A

Matt. 22:34-46

You have probably heard that being a Christian is a pretty radical thing to do. But when we look at the world, do we really see Christians doing anything REALLY radical? Most of the time, at least from my perspective, Christians are pretty un-radical people. And, you know, that is too bad. As followers of Christ, who was a major league radical, we all should be at least a bit radical.

In today’s gospel reading, we are presented with another of Jesus’ radical teachings. In many ways, this could be thought of as one of the MOST radical of Jesus’ teachings. Although this challenge may not sound like much, the challenge that Jesus presents could quite literally change the world.

The challenge, or maybe we might even call it a command, is “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This command is just a reworking of the Golden Rule: Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. This seems like pretty simple stuff, huh? We have heard this one since we were kids. But to hear it and to put it into practice are two totally different things.

Have you ever really contemplated how truly radical this rule is? Following the command of Jesus does not promise the life of peace and ease we have come to associate with being a Christian. Following Jesus’ command can do all kinds of things. Following the command that “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” can get us pushed to the edges of society; and in extreme cases, can even get us killed. And if we take this concept to its extremes, it could revolutionize the world or even tear our concept of society apart!

Good entrepreneurs don’t want us thinking about others. The people who sell things for a living want us to be protective and self-centered. They want us to have OUR stuff and want us to look upon the accumulation of this stuff as a virtue. They want us to consider ourselves better than others because we either have some special thing or were the First to have this special thing. They don’t want us to be thinking about all the others in the world who are doing without. By getting us to focus on ourselves, this is how to move product in the marketplace. And into this world of self-centeredness, Jesus drops his little commandment: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Seven little words. But the ramifications of these “seven little words” can be truly frightening.

What aspects of our lives would we have to change if we truly loved our neighbor as ourselves? I don’t even want to think about material possessions at this moment. What would we have to change about our behavior if we were to treat our spouse, our children, our brothers and sister, and yes, even our neighbors as ourselves? In our relationships with other people, what do we want? I am guessing we want patience. I am guessing we want understanding and tolerance. I am also guessing that we want to be loved, even when we fall short of the mark. So, if these are the things we want for ourselves, are these things we are willing to extend to those around us?

Just think of how our homelife, worklife, and neighborhood community would change if we just would all be nice to each other! Think of how nice the roadways would be if we all took our turn in construction zones and didn’t rush to get ahead of the crowd. (Oops! I think I just let out one of my pet peeves!) Or those we work with and live with. What would it be like if we were to show the love to these people that we would like to experience ourselves. Just think how nice it would be if we thanked people just like we would be like to be thanked. Really little things. But these little things can add up to make a large difference.

But what if we go beyond the little things. What if we were to reach out to our neighborhood? How could we love our next door neighbor as ourselves? One example of this would be my parents. My parents are getting up in years so the people who live next to them have been mowing their lawn and shoveling their sidewalk. Without being asked and without expecting anything in return, they just take care of the lawn and the sidewalks because they saw that my parents needed help.

In what ways could you tangibly show love to those in your neighborhood? I challenge you to think of a specific person and what you could do to show love to that person. Don’t just pick your best friend either! Pick someone who may need to experience a little love in their life. It is so easy to come up with a glowing, over-arching idea, but bringing it down to the nuts and bolts of behavior is much more difficult. So think about a person and think of how you can love that neighbor as yourself. Now, make a contract with God to go out and share Christ’s love with this person.

Did I say, Christ’s love? Nope, that wasn’t a slip. See, we are not alone in our effort to spread love through the world. As you probably could guess, I am going to tell you that God is there with us to help make this love a reality. And how do I know this? Well, because the first thing that Jesus tells us is that we are to love the Lord our God. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind. Jesus tells us that this is the first and greatest of the commands. This love is no “dip your toe in the water” kind of love. This is an all-encompassing love for God.

And if we love the Lord with our whole heart, mind, and soul -- with our whole being – our lives cannot help but be filled with the love of God. And it is this love, the ever-abundant love of God, that just begs to be spread among others.

But there is still more to loving our neighbor as ourselves. This last step would be taking the word “neighbor” to its extreme. At its extreme, the whole world is our neighbor. It is at this point Jesus’ command to us can become quite dangerous. You may think that I am being dramatic but I only have to mention the names of Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Mother Theresa, drive home the point. These are people who took the mandate of Jesus to heart. These are people who wanted for the world the same things they wanted for themselves. These are people who radically followed the example of Christ. And it is in following the radical example of Christ that placed each of these people on the fringes of society.

It would be easy to chalk up the great accomplishments of these people to something extraordinary like DNA or alien abductions, but that would be wrong. King, Mandela, Mother Theresa, they were people, people just like you and me. The only thing that makes them different is their great faith in God and their desire to see the good things of life spread to all of God’s people. They had radical trust in the radical message of Christ. And they were each willing to not only have faith in Christ, but were willing to put that faith into action. This radical faith, this radical love in action, did not make the entire world happy. In at least one of their cases, this radical love ended in assassination.

The world will push against this radical message of love that Christ commands. But we are commanded none the less. We are commanded to love as we, ourselves, wish to be loved. We are commanded to reach out to others with the same compassion we would want. We, as followers of Christ, are to reach out to the world with the love that has been given to us.

Christ gave his life that we may have life. Christ gave forgiveness to us while we were still sinners, not because of anything we said or did, but out of desire to give us life; not a life filled with regrets, but a life filled with abundance. Christ gives us life and asks us to spread this life to the world.

How we do this could be as simple as choking back a snide comment to our boss or coworker or as elaborate as dedicating our life to eradicating disease and hunger. However we reach out to the world, Christ our Lord and savior has given us the commandment, we are to love our Lord and love our neighbor as ourselves. A radical proposition and a definite challenge, but one that we can at least work toward. Christ is with us and Christ leads us. And where Christ leads, we can bravely follow.

Pentecost 23 Year A

Pentecost 23 Year A 1 Thess 1:1-10 The Rev. Benton Quest.

I have a confession to make: The last time I preached on this Sunday’s scripture, I had the best AND the worst review I have ever received from a congregation. When I meet former congregants, often the conversation will get back to this sermon. They either comment that they still remember the sermon or they comment that they still cannot believe that I would ever have done such a thing. So with that in mind, I have decided to give preaching on these scripture another go and see what happens!
Last time I preached on this, I was trying to come up with a way for the people of the congregation to directly experience the hypocrisy of one’s words and one’s actions. How I demonstrated this was to stand up at the pulpit, light up a cigarette, and proceed to tell people about the evils of smoking. Needless to say, it made quite an impression. Many people understood the point I was trying to make. But there were some who where so upset that I would even think of smoking! What kind of example was I being! Some threatened to never come back. But you know what? Even these people who got so upset about the whole thing demonstrated exactly the point I was trying to make: When our actions and our words are in conflict, people are far more likely to remember our actions rather than our words.
In our reading from First Thessalonians, Paul discusses what it means to model behavior for the people. He talks about how he and his companions went among the Thessalonians and how now the Thessalonians have begun to imitate the behavior they had seen. Paul and his companions went among the people of Thessalonica, acting in the name of Christ and showing the people what it meant to live as a Christian.
This reading represents one of the more difficult reading to preach from: How do you preach about grace when the reading seems to be lifting up the wonder of works? Paul was telling the Thessalonians, and is telling us, that works are important. Works are what the world sees and what the world uses to judge us. Works are the fruit by which we will be known. As the song says, “They will know we are Christians by our love.” Probably more accurately, “They will know we are Christians by the love they see us demonstrate.”
Now here lies the tension: We are told that we are saved by grace through faith, not works. So it is God’s good grace and pleasure to save us, not some form of repayment for the works we do. We don’t have to do anything to earn God’s love. There is nothing we COULD ever do to earn God’s love. However, how we act effects how others perceive God and how others respond to God’s good gift of grace.
Just like it would be hard to believe a lecture on the hazards of smoking given by a person puffing on a cigarette, it is also hard to believe that God is important to some people when you look at their lives. When we claim to be Christian, people begin to look at our lives to see what difference being a Christian actually makes. When we claim to be Christian, our children look to see if we are being true to our word. Are we practicing what we preach or are we doing the Christian equivalent of telling them to not smoke while waving around a cigarette. If to the world our lives appear indistinguishable from the lives of anyone else, why should anyone consider being a Christian? I personally think it does make a difference and I hope that difference is evident in my life.
How does your Christianity play out in your life? As a seminary classmate of mine used to say, “If being a Christian were illegal, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” When people look at your life, are they seeing God’s love as something that is important or are they seeing it as something to be used when necessary and forgotten when convenient?
For most of us, we learned our faith from those around us. We learned our faith by watching our parents, watching our grandparents, watching those who were close to us. It was through these people that we learned what it means to be people of faith and what it means to be Christians. It wasn’t through something that we read in a book. It wasn’t through some well thought out theological treatise; it was through the one-to-one interactions with other Christians that we came to faith and continue to grow in faith. And it is through interactions with US that others come to faith and grow in faith.
All of you who are parents and grandparents, the faith you leave to your children and grandchildren has so much more to do with what you do than what you say. Your children and grandchildren are watching where you place God in your lives. That are watching the prominence or lack of prominence you give to your faith. Just as the Thessalonians watched Paul, our children and grandchildren are watching us. They notice of and when we go to church. They notice of and when we pray before meals. They observe how we handle our finances or what we say about people when those people are out of earshot.
Even if our children are long gone, we still continue to teach by example. I remember things older people in my church did as I grew. I remember which people seemed nice, and which to avoid. There were people where just nice to be around and others who seemed to be constantly scowling. In this way, these people also taught me about faith and about what it means to live one’s faith.
Are we committed to our faith? Do we live out this commitment in our lives? Do we hold our faith out proudly or do we hide it away? Do we say one thing in Church and something totally different on Monday morning? If Paul were writing to us, to the Masononians, would we be commended on our risking persecution to live out our faith? Would we be commended for being a model for other people?
I would venture that these could be some tough questions to answer. But, I think that if we delved into why the questions are hard to answer, we might learn some things about our person faith.
I think the extent to which we are uncomfortable living our faith is the extent to which we have forgotten God’s love. We forget that our worth has already been established. We are free to model love because we have first been loved and loved totally. When we forget this love, it is then that we begin to model behaviors we would rather not have those around us copy.
We, as followers of Christ, are to pattern our lives after Christ, and that means we are to live a life of service. Although we don’t earn our salvation through our actions, our actions are a reflection of the salvation we have received. We are role models to out children, our families, our co-workers, and those around us. How we live out Christ’s love in our lives can greatly effect how those around us live out the love of Christ in their lives. As Paul explained, we look to Christ as an example, but others are looking to us.
Now this could weigh very heavily on us. We could walk away from this whole thing feeling like it is our fault if people don’t fully experience the love of God. We could feel like our ever action is under a microscope. But that kind of overly self-conscious existence is not what a loving God would want for us.
The life of example is really not that difficult. When we bring the love of Christ deeply into our lives, we can’t help but have that love show through. It is not some kind of show we have to put on, it is a way of living our lives in celebration. It is a way to celebrate the gift of life we have been given. This gift of love is freely given to us, how we live it is our gift back to God. How we live it is our gift to our family, friends, and congregation.
Our example is our legacy. How we live our lives is our gift to our children and those around us. The example we set will stay with, especially with our children, for the rest of their lives. But we are not alone. We have also have our role models. We have Christ as our mode. We have the Bible to lead us! And we have each other to support us along the way.

Pentecost 22 Year A

Pentecost 22 Year A Matt. 22:1-14 The Rev. Benton Quest

One thing you may have noticed if you have spent any time studying the Bible is that there are a series of fairly consistent metaphors used throughout. This morning, we deal with one of the most common: The Banquet.

The Banquet can almost always be thought of as representing the Reign of God, of as Jesus would say in today’s gospel; “The Kingdom of God.” I tend to use the translation, “Reign of God” because the Greek word tends to connote more a feeling of “time” or “era” than of place. So the “Reign of God” or the “Reign of Heaven” is probably a better translation.

But almost without fail, when we find Jesus and the disciples eating, or there is a mention of feasts or banquets, we can be assured that we are about to learn something about God and Heaven. In today’s reading, a wedding banquet takes center stage. (Oh, by the way, weddings are another metaphor for heaven.) Having said that, we should be on the look out for what we can learn.

Now, there are various types of guests invited to the wedding banquet. The first group consisted of the guests who were the ones who knew about the banquet in advance. But this group chose to make other plans; they could not be bothered to vary their routine in order to go to the banquet. Then there was the group that was invited after the first group backed out of the meal. For this group, the banquet was unexpected, but they made time and went.

However, there was one small problem with this group: within this group, one person did not do the host the honor of dressing up. We don’t know why this person did not take the time to dress for the party. We don’t know if he even had something he could have worn. This is not something we are told. What we are told is that he did not dress for the banquet and because of that, he incurred the wrath of the King.

The others from this group; they were the ones who received an invitation to the banquet and came, with proper respect for the host, and we can assume they had a great time eating, drinking, and being merry.

So while reading this parable, I was trying to come up with something that would help us understand what Jesus is trying to tell us about the Kingdom of Heaven. What I came up with is the three ways we approach food in our country.

The first group, the group that was too busy to come to the banquet, I like to call the “Drive-Thru’s.” These are the people who just can’t find time in their busy schedules to stop and eat. For them, food is utilitarian, just a necessary chore that gets in the way of all the other things in life. They know about eating, but just fit it in where they can. Like the guests, they are not part of the party. They are not part of the community. They just buzz through and seem to be unable to enjoy the gift of the meal. They seem so busy trying to grab all that life has to offer that they never really are able to hold onto anything. They end up going with Drive-Thru: The food is utilitarian but not really good. The company is coincidental, and the most important thing appears to be what is going to happen next.

The guy who appears at the banquet but is not properly dressed reminds me of the “Fast Food” people. They are different from the “Drive-Thru” folks because they actually do stop. There may be some time spent in slowing down from the pace of life and enjoying the company of others. But this stopping and slowing is secondary to the problems of life. The “Fast Food” people can quickly become the “Drive-Thru” people; just a little error in the daily schedule and suddenly all of life is knocked loose. The “Fast Food” people can’t dress for the meal because there are still things to do and people to see. They rush in, have food, and leave. The trials of life still hang heavy on the “Fast Food” people.

Then we have the “Banquet” people. These are the folks who take the time to slow down and enjoy what is happening. They honor their host by showing respect for occasion through their dress and behavior. They are present, not just for the food, but also for the company, the conversation, and the joy of the event. They are choosing to be present and to participate in the joy that is right there, at that time. Granted, there may be other things in life, but if we are truthful, the joy of the banquet is probably much greater than anything else that could be happening.

So if we take these various types of people and use them as examples of our Christian walk, what kind of guest would we be?

Are we the Christian who is so busy with all the things of life that we totally disregard the feast that is set before us? Do we dishonor the King by not taking the time to enjoy all the delights that have been prepared? Do we tell the King, by our actions, that the delights at another party are probably better?

Or do we come to the feast but aren’t really there? Do we make a token effort to be present, but aren’t willing to truly invest our time what surrounds us? Are we depriving ourselves of the wonder of dining with the King simply because we may be late for another event?

These two groups can be thought of as negative examples of what it means to be Christians. These are examples of people we aren’t supposed to follow. But the third group, the “Banquet” people, theirs is the example to follow. To follow their example would make us Christians who are present, prepared, and ready to enjoy the party!

One thing we need to remember: Although when we usually talk about banquets, we talk about sumptuous food, the food is really the least important element of the banquet. What is more important is the friendship, the laughter, and the stories that are shared around the table. What is more important is that feeling of timelessness that occurs when we gather with others at a meal. A banquet can occur around a plate of macaroni and cheese. But people can also turn prime-rib into a Drive-Thru experience. What makes eating a banquet is one’s attitude, not what is served.

This banquet attitude is what Christ wants for our lives and for our faith. Christ does not want us to have some kind of quick Drive-Thru, Fast Food kind of faith. Christ wants us to live our lives in the here and the now, enjoying the bounty that is set before us. The Reign of Heaven is the awareness of that a world of wonder and delight surround us. The person sitting next to us. The miracle of the car we drove in. The clothes we are wearing and the building that provides protection from the elements. All of these things are part of the delights that the banquet of God has for us.

To paraphrase Rosalind Russell from the movie, Auntie Mame, “Life is a banquet and most poor [fools] are starving to death!”

And with our economy tanking around us, it would be very easy to think that the age of banquets has past. But to believe this would be to betray something other than a Banquet faith. Remember, a banquet faith reminds us to take time to enjoy the delights that are present right here and right now. Honor the King by finding joy in all that has been created. It is not the fillet mignon that makes the feast but the joy and company of those around us.

God calls us to the wedding feast and Christ calls us to the table. Each of us is called, but it is up to us to choose how we will respond. Will we respond by stating that we are just too busy for the great gifts that have been prepared for us? Will we be too concerned with what may happen next to fully enjoy the life we have been given now? Or will we show up at the banquet, dressed in our finest? Will we take a seat at the table and dine with the King? Will we realize that God has given us the prime rib of life, even if the economy is full of bologna?

The feast is ready! Are you prepared to attend?

Pentecost 21 Year A

Pentecost 21 Year A Matt: 21:33-46 The Rev. Benton Quest

You know, I am just about to hang up my preacher hat and call it a day. Really! Sometimes the theologian and the psychologist just get into a battle about things and there seems to be no way to work it out. Our gospel reading for this morning is just such a case.

In this reading we have the story of a landowner, a vineyard, and some tenants. Now the landowner works really hard to get this vineyard ready. He plants the vineyard, builds a fence, hews out a wine press, and builds a watchtower. He works to create the most wonderful vineyard in existence. He leaves nothing to chance. Well, almost nothing. It seems that the landowner really didn’t do a very good job of choosing the tenants to work the land. The tenants the landowner chooses seem to be good at producing a harvest, but they don’t seem to be very trustworthy when it comes to paying the landowner back.

Now we would think that the tenants would be thankful to the landowner for the wondrous vineyard that was created for them and gladly pay the landowner what they owe him. That would seem to be the correct thing to do. I was thinking of saying that paying the landowner would be the righteous thing to do, but I think that is the wrong word: doing what you agree to do is the good and correct thing to do. There is not really anything righteous about fulfilling your part of the agreement. By giving the landowner his share of the harvest, the tenants were only do what they should do. The tenants had an incredible piece of land and a portion of the harvest was the correct thing to give to the landowner.

So far, nothing too controversial in the reading. And so far, nothing that would cause an ideological battle. But the story goes on, and it is here that we get into some strange territory.

In the story, the landowner sends some of his slaves to go collect the portion of the harvest that is due to the landowner. The owner is not raising the rent or anything, he is just asking for what had been agreed to. And, instead of gladly giving the portion of the harvest that is due, the ungrateful tenants kill the landowner’s servants! Instead of realizing that they would have absolutely nothing if it were not for the vineyard created by the landowner, they choose to not only back down from their deal, but to kill the slaves in the process.

So what does the landowner do? He sends more slaves. And what do the ungrateful tenants do? You guessed it! They kill those slaves too. And finally, (you would think the landowner would catch on to this, wouldn’t you?) the landowner sends his son to the tenants thinking that the tenants would at least respect the landowner’s son. But no, the tenants kill the son too.

Now this is where the ideological conflict comes up. You know the old saying; “The definition of insanity is to do the same thing and expect different results.” Well, by that reasoning, the landowner is insane. The landowner keeps sending people to collect the payment that is due and those who are sent to collect keep getting killed. The landowner keeps sending people in the hopes that the tenants will reconsider and do what they had agreed to do. And every time, the tenants, at best, forget about their agreement with the landowner, or at worst, blatantly disregard their agreement and kill the slaves.

Finally, this insane landowner sends one final person to collect the payment for the land. The landowner sends his own son, foolishly thinking that the tenants will respect the son. Why the owner would think that is beyond me. The tenants have been shown to be totally without integrity to their agreement, why would he think that the presence of the son should make any difference? Well, true to form, the presence of the son makes no difference what so ever. If anything, it enflames the greed of the tenants. They don’t just kill the son so they won’t have to pay their portion to the owner; they kill the son so they can get the son’s inheritance! It would appear that the actions of the landowner have done nothing but embolden the tenants!

What a bunch of ingrate tenants, huh? They live and work a piece of land that was specifically planted by the landowner. They were able to produce a harvest because of the care the landowner put into the vineyard in the first place. But when it came time to show their appreciation to the landowner for the wondrous vineyard, instead the wretched tenants kill the owner’s slaves and finally the owner’s own son.

Here is where theology and psychology come into conflict: It would appear that God, as represented by the landowner, is totally insane. Even though the tenants keep killing the owner’s servants, he keeps sending them. Each time in the hope that the tenants will do what is good and correct. Hoping that the tenants will at least keep their end of the bargain and give what they had first agreed to.

Well, if God is represented by the landowner, then we can probably assume that we are represented by those wicked tenants. We are the ones who have been given the glorious vineyard as a place to live and grow but we also are the ones who cannot find it in our conscience to release a portion of these very same blessings back to God. Somewhere along the line, we forget that what we have is a gift that we have been given and start to think of it as something that we are owed.

Maybe the tenants didn’t want to give any of the harvest to the landowner because they forgot that they did not own the vineyard, they were just tending to it. Or maybe they thought they were owed more than the harvest because of the work they put into the tending of the vines. We don’t know. What we do know is that the owner kept sending people to collect, even going so far as to send his own son in the hopes that the son might remind the tenants of their agreement with the landowner.

You see, this is where the difference between love and insanity can be found. They are awfully similar, but not exactly the same. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Love is doing the same thing over and over in the hope that the person will learn and grow.

This parable may make us feel uncomfortable. We would like to think that we are the final tenants that give the produce at harvest time. But if we were to look at our calendars and checkbooks, are we actually giving of our harvest? And as we watch our economy crumble around us, are we still willing to be thankful of the harvest we have received and gladly release part of that harvest back to God, without whom the harvest would have never happened? That is the tough part!

God never looks at us and decides that we are not worth the time or effort. God continues to give to us in the hope that we may come to realize the wondrous gifts we have been given. God continues to send his messengers to remind us of our blessings. And God sent Jesus to pay the price for us. To some that may appear to be insanity, but to the eyes of faith, that is love in the extreme. And even when we don’t respond to the generosity that has been extended to us, God keeps calling us to the table.

I have a little thought experiment for you all: Let’s say I gave you ten pennies. Now, what would you think if I asked you to keep nine of those pennies and give one to God. Would you? How ‘bout ten dimes? Would you give one dime to God? Ten dollars? Could you give a dollar to God while being able to keep nine dollars? One hundred dollars? Would it be too much to give ten dollars to God? Remember, you get to keep the other ninety dollars.

Now, if we kept on going, there would be a point where our though would shift. There would come a point where we stop focusing on what money we have but start thinking about how much money we have given away. We stop being thankful for the nine thousand dollars we have and begin to regret the one thousand dollars we are asked to give. It is in this way that we become like the tenants; we are not grateful for the harvest we have, we are angered by the part of the harvest we are asked to give.

However, it is through asking us to freely give of our blessings that God, in God’s loving manner, helps us to truly be thankful for all we have been given. I am sure there are folks who are much more thankful for their homes and jobs today than they were just a couple of weeks ago. These people now see what they truly have and can be truly thankful. And I would hope that in seeing their blessings, they would be able to generously help those who are not so blessed.

God created this whole big world for us all. God doesn’t ask too much of us to allow us to live here. All we are asked is to produce fruit for the kingdom. We may feel that what is asked of us may crush us, but then we need to remember; it is only after the grape is crushed can it become wine.

Ok, so maybe God does not present the best psychological example, but God is the best example of what unconditional love looks like. aGod will keep sending messengers. God is not going to let us go. God wants what is best for us. And when we take a true look at the blessings we have through Christ, we will find the strength and the courage to share our blessings with the church and with others.