Matthew 1:1-17

Matthew 1:1-17

1An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham. ²Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, ³and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, ⁴and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, ⁵and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, ⁶and Jesse the father of King David. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, ⁷and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, ⁸and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, ⁹and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, ¹⁰and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, ¹¹and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. ¹²And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, ¹³and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, ¹⁴and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, ¹⁵and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, ¹⁶and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. ¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

This family tree which is full of unpronounceable names is one of the most frequently ignored passages in all of scripture. However, Raymond Brown, a Roman Catholic theologian, as well as Warren Carter, my New Testament Professor in seminary both agree that this is actually one of the most important parts of Matthew's gospel because it reminds us of the rich history that went into the making of Jesus.

To a certain extent this lineage reads like a Who's Who of names in the bible: Abraham, Isaac, David, Solomon and so many others. However, when we really begin to remember the stories associated with these names we remember not only great people of faith, but also people who failed, and were very human. Abraham fell down laughing at the idea that his wife could become pregnant at such an advanced age (Genesis 17:15-22).

In fact, one of the most striking things about this genealogy is that there are women included in it. Every woman mentioned in this story has some sort of sordid past or was considered a foreigner and outsider (sometimes both). The genealogy that we have presented here then, is not a list of the best and the brightest (although there are some very bright faithful people listed here), but is a list of both sinners and saints.

In essence then, Jesus' background is continued throughout the rest of his ministry. Jesus reaches out to the chosen Israelites and to the outcasts, the faithful and unfaithful, always broadening the scope of his ministry. It was after all for this reason that he was born: to reconcile the world to God.

We can continue this geneology by remembering that Jesus called Peter and Paul, Paul called Timothy, Timothy called someone . .. and we were called by someone to follow Christ. Part of our ministry is to issue this call to discipleship to other saints and sinners. Thus as we approach Christmas day, we remember that we too are empowered to share the news that Christ is born.

Stewardship Sunday

Luke 21:1-4

He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; ²he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. ³He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; ⁴for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”

It is Stewardship Sunday. We often think of Stewardship as that one time of year when we talk about the one thing that makes us all squirm in our seats: money. But before going there I want to talk a bit about what it means to be a steward. In my understanding, a steward is someone who takes care of something for someone else.

We are called to take care of the church. Not because it is our church. We are reminded
that the Church is Christ’s and that we have been invited in. The story of the woman who gives all she has is a challenge for us. Most of us are like the rich people who were giving, out of their abundance. Now it is important to realize that Jesus is not condemning the rich people. He is making a statement about who has given more. But this story has always made me wonder what it was that possessed this widow to give all that she had. I don't believe God wants people to go hungry, or not have the basics that they need to live. And yet she gave all that she had.

A few years ago there was a study that looked at what the relationship was between people's income and the amount that they gave to the church. One of the astonishing things that this study found is that those who make less than 25,000/year give a larger percentage of their income than those who make 36,000/year. One might expect the opposite, but this was not the case. I was sitting with other pastors in a small group discussing this and we wondered why this was. Perhaps it is that the less we have the easier it is to share. Perhaps giving says more about what we believe about our material possessions. One of the fundamental claims that scripture makes is that all that we have is a gift from God.

Throughout the year we engage in mission, service and worship. Since July of this year our church has been host to the following events or groups : girl scout meetings, cub scout meetings, 2 AA groups, the Elwood Little Learners Preschool, we started a food pantry, members of our church help serve a meal at lambs fold once a month, we sent one youth to the Presbyterian Youth Triennium, and another to the Presbytery fall retreat. We hosted the community Vacation Bible School. We provide space for fellowship groups like the Jackson Township homemakers, the twi-lighters, and community meeting space for various groups in and around Elwood. But none of this really matters, not in the grand scheme of things. We cannot think that we do these events for ourselves. These simply are one of the ways in which we welcome others just as we have been welcomed into fellowship with God through Jesus Christ.

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday, that even though it is not an official holiday within the church calendar year we should probably add it. Because I believe that the woman who gave all she had was only able to do it because she truly believed that everything she had was a gift from God. She, even in her poverty was able to respond to God in thanksgiving. When we share that understanding of our possessions, then our lives become filled with thanksgiving. For a God who has been so generous with us, how can we not respond in kind? Like the widow we too must dedicate our whole selves to God: our lives, our purposes, and our possessions. In doing so we give thanks and show the world how good it is to have God as our King.

Luke 19:1-10

Luke 19:1-10

19He entered Jericho and was passing through it. ²A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. ³He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. ⁴So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. ⁵When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” ⁶So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. ⁷All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” ⁸Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” ⁹Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

This is one of the most well known gospel stories, possibly because of the well-known children's song, "Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man." There is something inherently comical about this story: a little man, running down the street and climbing a tree because no one would let him through. But in truth, we don't know much about Zacchaeus.

We really only know two things about him: he was a tax collector and he was short of stature. Being a tax collector for the Romans seemed to bring out the worst in people. Rome was smart when it came to collecting taxes. They knew that no one has ever liked tax collectors. So Rome got native people from their own regions to collect their taxes. Tax collectors paid the Romans up front what the tax for a specific region would be. Then tax collectors would recoup their tax payment from the population. Tax collectors then could then legally, and with the support of legal hired thugs, extort money from the entire population. Most tax collectors (it seems) took in a lot more than what they paid to Rome. All of the extra went into their own pocket.

But the question that I think about is this: What would possess a man of wealth, power and security to open himself to the ridicule that Zachaeus did by running and climbing up in a tree. In that culture as well as our own, men of stature do not run. You make other people run to do things for you. But something made Zacheaus let go of his pride, and do something absolutely ridiculous. Perhaps it was that Jesus had welcomed, sat, and ate with so many other "untouchables". Perhaps he was just so eager to see the man who had done so many wonderful things. Perhaps the Spirit spontaneously moved him to so that he left his position and pride behind him and was able to simply be excited that in Jesus, God was walking toward him.

We don't get excited by much anymore. We are too cynical I think. We would prefer a god that doesn't make us jump, run, or climb trees. But through the Zacheaus story we remember that we are called to joyful response unbounded by our pretenses of dignity. Before God the only dignified response is unrestrained joy.

Now, part of that joyful response is Zacheaus's sudden desire to live in harmony with those around him. The act of giving away half his goods, and returning four fold those whom he had cheated reveals how much God had changed his heart in this encounter. A strong desire for economic justice and charity took hold of him. These reflect the desires that God has for us as we live. The challenge for us is to respond with the faithful joy that Zacheaus does when God invites Godself into our hearts.

Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:19-31

¹⁹“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. ²²The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. ²⁴He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ ²⁵But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. ²⁶Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ ²⁷He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— ²⁸for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ ²⁹Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ ³⁰He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

This is a scary passage. It is uncompromising in its judgment on the rich man (often named "Dives" which is Latin for "rich man"). This parable offers no explicit reason for the rich man's condemnation other than the fact that he was wealthy and Lazarus was not. However, the contrast between these two people living side by side is so stark and graphic (dog's licking Lazarus's open sores . . . ugh . . ), that we cannot help but come to the conclusion that it was the rich man's lack of care or compassion for Lazarus that causes him to end up in Hades.

This seems a very straight forward, but it is not. First, it should be remarked that the reason for Lazarus' salvation was not his faith, but his poverty. Similarly in this passage, the rich man's ultimate fate is not linked to his wealth, but how he used it. The implication of the angel's statement to the rich man that he had received his good things in this life and now is experiencing the suffering that Lazarus went through, seems to me to indcate that if he had shared the good things of his former life, then he would be sharing the good things of Lazarus in the present one. This passage makes clear that what we do and how we treat others has eternal consequences. There is no "do over". There is no "extra life" that we can get like in a video game. What we do with our lives in the here and now matters, not only to those around us but also to God.

Now, we live in Elwood a place where we do not currently have people sleeping on the streets. But we do not live too far from places where people do. One of the things we need to remember about this story, is that their welfare is linked to ours. Theologians from South America speak of God's "preferential option" for the poor. This does not mean that God hates rich people, but it does indicate God's care for them. As Christians we are to care for the poor because of the compassion that it engenders in our own hearts. When that compassion grows in us, then we begin to understand more fully the compassion that God has for us. In so doing we are transformed, we are born again into the image that God has us his people.

Jeremiah 31:27-34

Jeremiah 31:27-34

²⁷The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. ²⁸And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. ²⁹In those days they shall no longer say: “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” ³⁰But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge. ³¹The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ³²It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. ³³But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Today's passage concludes the Jeremiah readings in the lectionary. Over the past two months we have walked with Jeremiah as his people face the destruction of their nation, their captial city, and the temple, the place where they believed that God resided. We have also seen how God assures those that are still faithful to God that God has not completely abandoned the people no matter what it looks like. Israel will not suffer forever. God will restore the people.

This passage is part of the assurance that God is giving to the people as they face all the terrors before them. Now, not much of the book of Jeremiah is devoted to assurance. Chapters 30-33 are commonly refered to as the "Little Book of Consolation". Jeremiah, in his call back in the first chapter, is given authority to pull down nations and to rebuild them. Much of Jeremiah has been devoted to the pulling down of Israel, but here we see him planting and rebuilding Israel by bringing hope to those who are to go into exile.

Now personally I hate waiting for anything. If I find out that one of my favorite authors has a new book coming out, I become so impatient. When there's a movie that I want to see but my schedule won't let me go see it, I get impatient. We all have things that we become impatient over. We all have to wait. These prophecies are things that Jeremiah tells the Israelites and us about God's intentions for his people and creation. And then we are called to wait for these prophecies to happen.

The prophecy deals with three actions that God will do. The first is the restoration of the population of the houses of Israel and Judah. This is not simply a restoration of physical population, but also will be a restoration of their economic fortunes (see the restoration of livestock in verse 27). God will work on behalf of the people to build them up.

The second action is that the consequences of the sins of parents will no longer fall on the children. People will be responsible for their own misdeeds and will not be held accountable for the shortcomings of their parents.

The third action is that God will make a new covenant with the people, one that will be written on the people's hearts. This is to be, not a replacement of the old covenant, but the fulfillment of the old covenant. Remember that the covenant of Sinai was established not to be a burden to the people, but a way of keeping God as foremost in their hearts and minds. Jeremiah foresee a time when, through the indwelling of the law in the people's hearts, they will no longer need to be taught because of the closeness of their relationship with God.

One of the things that must be noted about these prophecies is that they have not yet been completely fulfilled. While the people of Israel were reestablished, the reality of our situation is that we know that children do suffer for the sins of their parents. Every child that dies of AIDS, every time a parent beats his or her child bears witness to this. And we all know that we still need teachers to teach us the way of the Lord. God's law is not yet written on our hearts.

So how do we live in the meantime, when we know that there is more still that God can and will accomplish? In Luke chapter 18 we have the parable of the widow and the unjust judge, a parable of persistence. The widow keeps bugging the unjust judge who, just so she will leave him alone, gives her a just judgment. The key to this passage is the reason why Jesus tells them this which is found in verse 1. "Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart."

It can be so hard to wait, particularly when we have been wronged, particularly when we want something very badly. What God calls us toward in these life situations is an open relationship. We are called to bare our souls and our desires to God. In being open like this with God, we open ourselves to God's spirit in our own lives. God begins to write God's law in our hearts. We begin to live in ways that cause less harm to ourselves and others in the world. And in so doing the world is changed by God's grace into a world where God dwells more and more deeply.

Jeremiah 29:1-7

9These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ²This was after King Jeconiah, and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem. ³The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It said: ⁴Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. ⁶Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Anyone who has ever moved can tell you that moving to a new place is always stressful. But the people that Jeremiah was writing to had to move and did not have any choice in the matter. These were people who had been deported from their homeland to the land of the conquerors of their nation. It is very possible that they were held as hostages in order to insure good behavior of those still back in Israel. This passage is a letter to the exiles. For many exile is a difficult concept to grapple with. The vast majority (if not all) of us were not forced to live here. We moved here for a variety of reasons, but regardless we had a choice in the matter.

Jeremiah's recommends two things to those who are in exile. First, continue with the "normal" rhythms of life: work, marriage, birthing. All of these are a throw back to the very beginning in the first two chapters of Genesis where God tells Adam and Eve to tend the garden and to be fruitful and multiply. This basic pattern of creation in which God sends people to be the image of God for the creation is not diminished by the people being in exile.

Secondly, he tells the people to pray for the city that they are in, and to work for its welfare. This would have been difficult for the people who Jeremiah was speaking to. This would have been so difficult. To pray for those who worshiped other gods, who had forced them to live in foreign land, who would eventually attack and overthrow and sack Jerusalem was probably farthest from their minds. Because when we pray for someone, the way that Jesus tells us to do, we are called to pray for their benefit, not for them to be like us. Doing this changes us. We begin to see these others as people who are created, loved and cherished by God.

In doing this, Jeremiah is encourages the people not to let their present difficult circumstances determine how they relate to the world around them. It is understandable why we can become bitter and angry with the world when things do not go the way that we believe they should. But God shows the people the way of life. Even in the midst of tragedy life goes on. We can let the brokenness of our lives warp us. Many do. But what God calls us toward is the life that is shaped by God's vision of the future and not the past that is filled with our own shortcomings. This is not the act of the power of positive thinking. This is the aligning of ourselves with the vision of the One who wishes and wants the best for all of humanity. When we do this we raise thankful hands to God in Christ who makes all things new, who takes us out of exile and takes us home.

World Communion Sunday Luke 17:5-10

Luke 17:5-10

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” ⁶The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. ⁷“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? ⁸Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? ⁹Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? ¹⁰So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”

We all want praise. We all want to have recognition. We would really like for others to look at what we do and tell us how amazing we are because of it. And this makes sense. It's why God has given us each other, to encourage us in the Way that is Jesus Christ.

But sometimes I feel like we have a tendency to pat ourselves on the back for doing things that we should be doing anyway. I mean we've probably all heard of people who have left a social group because they didn't get the recognition that they felt that they deserved. We may have done this ourselves.

The Luke passage explodes the myth of that in our relationship with God we deserve some kind of reward for following Jesus. Luke does this in a way that we might find repugnant, dealing as it does with slavery. After all, the parallel that Jesus draws here is that we are the slaves, something that many of us do not like to think about- we wish to be free. Free people are people who do deserve recognition, recompense and thanks. But Christ's contention is that in our relationship with God, we are utterly dependent upon God's grace. There is nothing that we can lay claim to with pride and say "Look! I did this without the help of God!"

But I believe this is the deeper point here. Having God be so present in our lives that we cannot justly make the above claim is the gift. In becoming God's servant people we also enter the family of God, being able to call upon God as God's children It is a gift not based on what we do, but on who we are: beloved children of God. This is why Jesus takes such offense at the idea that anyone deserves a bonus prize on top of that. Anything else on top of that would only cheapen what God has already given to us.

This is why we celebrate World Communion Sunday. The feast that God has prepared is not bound by race, language, nationality, gender, or any other false pretense that we might set up to separate "us" from "them". It reminds us of the gift that we have been given in this sacrament, the sealing of God's love in our hearts. Christ came to us. Christ came for us. Not the narrow "us", but an "us" that is as broad and boundless as God's mercy and love. It is in this that we rest our hope. It is in this that we have peace. This is the good news.

Jeremiah 32:1-16

32The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. ²At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, ³where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him. Zedekiah had said, “Why do you prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord: I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; ⁴King Zedekiah of Judah shall not escape out of the hands of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye; ⁵and he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I attend to him, says the Lord; though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed?” ⁶Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came to me: ⁷Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.” ⁸Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. ⁹And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. ¹⁰I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. ¹¹Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; ¹²and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. ¹³In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, ¹⁴Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. ¹⁵For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.

To begin, a quick summary of the passage from an outsiders view: Jeremiah has been locked up for speaking the truth of what he saw coming. Jerusalem was going to fall, the king would be taken into captivity. The armies of Babylon have surrounded the city and has been under siege for many months. One of Jeremiah's relatives comes to Jeremiah in jail and offers to sell him land that that is currently being occupied by the enemy. Upon completion of the legal transaction, Jeremiah utters words of a world not hoped for, "Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land."

The previous passage that we looked at was a lamentation that was written in the same time frame. It is no coincidence that lamentation and promised hope are so close together. As we talked about last week, God's presence and participation in the lament meant that lamentation would not be the last word. This week we hear that promise, the mercy that God holds out to the Israelites and to us.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian during the 1930s and first part of World War II. During the war he was made aware of what was happening in the concentration camps. Because of this knowledge he became involved in a plot to kill Hitler that was unsuccessful. Once the German authorities discovered that he had been involved in that plot, he was thrown into a concentration camp and was killed a week before it was liberated. Bonhoeffer never pretended that his role in the attempted assassination was a "good" thing, only that it was a lesser evil than doing nothing.

A few months before he was killed he wrote to his fiancee about the passage that we have this week. He writes, "When Jeremiah said, in his people's hour of direst need, that 'houses and fields and [vineyards] shall again be bought in this land,' it was a token of confidence in the future. That requires faith, and may God grant us it daily. I don't mean the faith that flees the world, but the faith that endures in the world and loves and remains true to the world in spite of all the hardships it brings us. Our marriage must be a 'yes' to God's earth. It must strengthen our resolve to do and accomplish something on earth. I fear that Christians who venture to stand on earth on only one leg will stand in heaven on only one leg too."

How do we prevent from being one legged-Christians? By not tying ourselves to those things that cannot save us. Paul’s letter to Hebrews speaks at great length about wealth and how it can chain us to those things that take up space but do not satisfy. But more importantly it speaks of wealth as a gift from God to become rich in good works. “Take hold of the life that really is life”: This phrase from Timothy one that pushes us beyond the expectations of what God can do in our lives. Real life is not made up of riches, but is open and vulnerable to the world around us.

Just as Jeremiah spoke of a time of peace and “normalcy” in a time when it could not be
imagined, just as Bonhoeffer speaks of God’s "yes" in a time when humanity’s "no" was so deafening, we are called to listen closely to God’s word of unexpected hope that will push us outside of our own narrow vision of what is possible into the vision of God’s future. This doesn’t mean we ignore the reality of the pain in the world around us. On the contrary we are called to
approach that pain embrace it and allow the hope that God gives us through Christ change it into
something new. By encountering the pain, but responding out of hope we bear witness to the kingdom of God and help bring it into existence in the here and now.

Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

8 ¹⁸My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick. ¹⁹Hark, the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land: “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her?” (“Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their foreign idols?”) ²⁰“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” ²¹For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. ²²Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?

9O that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep day and night for the slain of my poor people!

The historical situation that Jeremiah lived in was a dire one. The small kingdom of Judah was caught between two of the superpowers of that time: Egypt and Babylon. Judah had submitted to Babylonian control with great reluctance. Zedekiah, the king of Judah during this time, eventually rose in open rebellion against the Babylonians and with this rising the Babylonians marched out against Jerusalem determined to put a stop to this small troublesome nation once and for all.

This is not a story of where the little guy wins.

Scholars believe that this lament was written during the time of the Babylonian siege, as the people see the armies that are encircling them close around them, cutting off hope, prosperity, and life.

There are debates about who it is that is lamenting. Undoubtedly the people are lamenting as they cry out that God is not present with them. God and Jeremiah lament over the people's idolatry and yet still refer to them as "my poor people". There is a "cacophony of lamentation" from all corners. The judgment and and horror that is unfolding pains everyone, even God.

This, I think is an important point that needs to be made. No one, not even God rejoices in judgment, as this text makes abundantly clear. I think sometimes when our lives are not going in the direction that we think they should that God is hovering over us rubbing his/her hands together saying, "This will show you!!!" This vindictive image of God that is in our minds does not pay attention to the reality that is shown here. God takes no joy in the suffering that has happened or that will happen. Rather it is another painful reminder of the shattered covenant relationship between God and the people of Israel.

We do not raise our own voices in lamentation very often. To give voice to our sorrow fundamentally scares most of us because it means that it is true. When we admit that we are in pain we become vulnerable to other people and to others. Think of it: to say, like the people of Judah did that God was not present with them in the holiest of places would have been terrifying to admit. To say, as the prophet does, that there is no balm to bring healing to his broken people is a honest, yet brokenhearted cry. And in the midst of this there is a burning question: Why does it matter if God is sorrowful in the midst of judgment and not happy or satisfied with it?

It matters because it should remind us that God will not leave those who raise up their voices in lamentation alone. As Old Testament scholar Terence Fretheim writes in his commentary on Jeremiah, "For God to so enter into the mournful situation means that mourning will not be the last word spoken." Rather than leaving the people and their pain, sorrow and suffering, God has not disengaged with the situation, but is still passionately involved.

In our own lives this is true as well. We are called to be honest in our relationship with God because honesty is what builds trust, and trust as John Calvin reminds us is the essence of faith. By trusting God with our sorrow we invite God's presence into the most painful aspects of our lives so that these painful moments will not be the last word spoken.

Jeremiah 18:1-11

18The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” ³So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him. ⁵Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁶Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. ⁷At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. ⁹And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, ¹⁰but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. ¹¹Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.

Much of the time, those who are Christians shy away from passages like this one. While the imagery here is one that I think many people like (God the potter, the people of God the clay), most of us are a little reluctant to go beyond this image and actually deal with what God is saying about the clay, and what is going to happen to it. Judgment is something that most of us are uncomfortable with.

The reality that God portrays here is that the clay (the people of God) is being stubborn, shaping itself in a way that God is not pleased with. What were the people shaping themselves into? If one continues reading in this chapter it becomes apparent that idolatry, the worshiping of other gods, was foremost among Israel's sins at this time.

As I read and pondered this passage, it occurred to me that as Christians we need to be conscious of what shapes us. We all know that there are far too many things to distract us from those things in our lives that are more important. We live in a society and culture that teaches us that we have should always be happy. But so few of us are. We allow our expectations of what our lives are supposed to look like to be shaped by other forces around us.

I can't list all of these forces, but some could be: work expectations, family expectation, church expectations, personal expectation, prosperity expectations, and security expectations. Each of these is probably a sermon in and of themselves. None of these are inherently evil. But if we place any of these priorities above our love and worship of God, then we create our own idolatry.

There is some amount of debate among most Christians about how active God is in bringing judgment against people who work against God's shaping work. Some believe that God simply allows the consequences of people's actions play out; that this is judgment enough. But here God works directly against Israel shaping a plan. But this shaping is not the end word of this passage. God summons the people to turn from evil and make new lives for themselves.

This is our summons to. Some may say, "We have no idolatry in our lives, that there is nothing that separates them from God. Just let us go on with our lives the way that they are." Personally I know that I cannot say this, and am somewhat mistrustful of such statements. Within the reformed tradition, we say that we are the reformed church, always reforming. We are constantly on the potter's wheel, asking God to shape us and our lives. If a vessel is left on a spinning potter's wheel without the potter to hold its shape, it soon begins to wobble and will fall or be thrown off the wheel. As soon as we presume that we no longer need God's hand to shape us, the same thing happens.

We, as God's people are called to lean into the hand of God so that we might more fully bear the marks and shape that God has in store for us. May we be so faithful in this shaping that we allow ourselves to bear the fingerprint marks of our creator so that they are visible to all who we meet. In doing so we walk in the way that Jesus lays out for us and walked before us. Let us follow.

I would like to invite anyone to comment share. Please observe the guidelines listed in the first post.

Here are some of the sculptures that we had from our service

First Blogging Attempt

Hello Friends,

We at the Elwood Community Church have started this blog as a way of doing some interacting between myself (Pastor Jason) and the rest of the community. Each week during our evening service, people will have time to reflect on the scripture passages and the sermon. If people feel led to write or share observations and or questions, this is the place where it will be posted. I would like to set a few ground rules.

1) Claim what you write. If you have something to share, please don't do so anonymously. While there are places where anonymity is important, this blog should not be one of them.

2) Follow the rule of Love: If there is disagreement over thing that are written, that's fine- in fact there probably should be seeing as how we aren't the Borg (Sorry, Star Trek reference). However when we do so, it needs to be in a respectful and humble way. ABSOLUTELY NO NAME CALLING.

3) If anyone has any concerns about how this is run, please talk to me about it, not someone else. I can't change formats or discussion rules until I know what needs to be changed.

I'm looking forward to doing this. I hope that you read and join in the discussion.