Grace gets there first

Pentecost 24 year C Sermon Luke 19:1-10

Title slide

Jesus has entered Jericho...as he passes through...
he wines and dines at the home of a Jewish outcast...
an unclean sinner...named Zacchaeus

Blank slide
He’s branded this way...because as a tax collector ...
Zacchaeus has made himself wealthy...
conspiring with the Roman occupiers...
to extort money from his fellow Jews.

During the meal at Zacchaeus’ home...Jesus announces
for all to hear...‘Today, salvation has come to this house.

[pause]

Jesus is on his final journey to Jerusalem...
all along the way... in parables...
and deeds of healing and inclusion...
Jesus foreshadows the new Israel he’s creating.

To fully understand what happens in when Jesus enters Jericho...and how it relates to Israel’s story...

Exodus slide

we have to go back... to the Exodus from slavery in Egypt...
and remember who God tells Moses to appoint as his successor...Yehoshua...Joshua...in English

Its Joshua who leads the Israelites into
the promised land...it’s Joshua who enters Jericho

Larger slide
and with his army...massacres all the men and women there... young and old...the Bible says...even the oxen and sheep and donkeys[i]. In Israel’s story the slaughter is a kind of victorious genocide.

Jesus slide

And everyone knows Joshua is Jesus namesake...for his name is...Yeshua...

So now in the 1^st century... we have a charismatic leader on his way to Jerusalem...whose name identifies him with the Joshua of old...whose forces violently eliminated...
one enemy after another...

With all its expectations of Jesus... as a possible Messiah... it’s not surprising the crowd  gets tetchy...
when Jesus invites himself to tea...
with an enemy collaborator...

The Jewish crowd knows how Israel’s story goes...
and how little tolerance Jesus’ namesake would’ve had...
for traitors like Zacchaeus.

So this Yeshua...this Jesus can’t just "pass through Jericho"...without raising expectations. Particularly when the Messiah they’re longing for...
should enter Jerusalem... triumphant...to reclaim the throne of David...and defeat the Romans along the way.

So with Israel’s history in mind...
let’s listen again to Luke’s account...
of Jesus’ entry into Jericho...

Jesus enters Jericho...the cities’ chief tax collector wants to get a good look at this famous teacher who’s attracting a crowd... but Zacchaeus can’t see a thing through the mob ‘cause he’s too short. So he runs ahead of the procession...and climbs a tree to get a decent view...

Zacchaeus slide

When Jesus gets to the tree with his entourage...
he looks up at the wealthy little traitor...and says
"Zacchaeus, climb down here in a hurry; because I’m inviting myself to your house...

Zacchaeus is overjoyed...at Jesus’ initiative.

And then Luke tells us...everyone who sees what’s going on...starts grumbling about Jesus inviting himself to a sinner’s house. This kind of behaviour is very disappointing...

But Zacchaeus himself...is so overwhelmed by Jesus willingness to come to his house...what does he do?

[ask congregation...wait for responses]

What does Zacchaeus do?

He turns his life around.

Zac’s house slide

He stands up and says "Look Master...
I’m going to give half my possessions to the poor;
and if I’ve defrauded anyone of anything,

I’ll pay them back four times as much."

And it’s at this point...when Zacchaeus has responded to Jesus grace with repentance...Jesus announces for all to hear that

word slide

‘Today salvation has come to this house...even he is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man...
comes to seek out and to save the lost.’

Jesus entourage

During the three years of his roving ministry...
Jesus retells Israel’s story...and here in Jericho...
instead of sacking and burning the traitor’s house...
Jesus announces his salvation.

And we are to understand from the way things unfold in this story...that in God’s true kingdom...
grace comes before repentance.

Grace gets there first.

The love of God... revealed and embodied by Jesus... comes toward Zacchaeus...I’m coming to your house...

and in response to this grace...
Zacchaeus turns his life around...

Did you notice that when Jesus announces salvation he counts Zaccaeus among the children of Abraham...who will be numbered like the stars. Strangers and outcasts and sinners and even those who collaborate with Israel’s enemies are being added to the family of the new covenant...who will be next?

Religions slide

Today three major religions trace a common origin to Abraham. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam account for half the world’s population. Each has its own stories of conquest and genocide... like the destruction of Jericho.

Judaism regards itself as the religion of the descendants of Jacob, grandson of Abraham, direct descendant of Shem, favoured son of Noah, who founded the human race after the Great Flood.

Christianity began in the first century...as a sect of Judaism... and rapidly evolved into a separate religion with distinct beliefs and practices. Most notably...
the belief that in the rabbi and prophet Jesus of Nazareth... God is revealed and counts as his children...
all people...not just the Jews.

Seven hundred years after Jesus lived...
Islam was founded by the prophet Muhammad.
While retaining the universalism of Christianity Islam replaces our understanding of God...Father Son and Holy Spirit... with a definite monotheism...and asserts
Jesus was a prophet not God incarnate.

Bible slide

The sacred texts of all three Abrahamic religions...the Bible and the Quran...contain many of the same stories and heroes...though sometimes playing different roles.

Jesus entourage

Yet we are the ones who name Jesus as Lord...Yeshua Nazarith...who by his behaviour in Jericho toward the traitor Zacchaeus...demonstrates in God’s kingdom you will love your enemy...and their collaborators...
and maybe then in response they will turn their lives around...who knows...
but let God’s grace make the first move

Of course Jesus’ way... was wildly unpopular with the religious and political authorities of his day. For Jesus there was no such thing as a Holy War.

Some Jews like the Zealot party wanted violent overthrow of the Romans. Others like the Pharisees and the Essenes at Qumran...believed legal, ritual and ethnic purity was the only answer...

unclean sinners...like Zacchaeus...and pagans like the Roman occupiers... were to be kept at a distance...and definitely out of the Holiest Places...

Which way will bring about the Kingdom of God on earth...which way will lead to more injustice and suffering?

All are waiting for the Messiah... Emmanuel...God with us. The question is...when he comes...will it be as conqueror of Rome or as peacemaker bringing salvation to Israel and its enemies alike.

In a few weeks we will enter a new year in the Church’s calendar... Advent...which celebrates the coming of God... And the story we will tell is about God who comes among us offering grace and forgiveness...
and makes himself vulnerable... to our violence.

---

[i] Joshua 6:21

What the musterer remembered

Pentecost 23 year C Sermon Luke 18:9-14

This Sermon was preached at Tarras Church on the occasion of the 125 Jubilee of the Tarras School and the Centenary of Morven Hills. The church was full.

Let me tell you a story about a musterer. He was quite a rough character truth be known. Oh all scrubbed up at a funeral he looked alright, but he was really fidgety in a jacket and tie…much more comfortable in jeans or work shorts…

actually didn’t own a pair of town shoes…loved his old boots…wore them all the time outside the house.

Couldn’t really keep the F’ings and the JC’s out of his conversation even for a few minutes…been mustering too long. Better just to keep away from people who’d judge him…or worse... pretend to… in polite company.

That’s just the way it was…some knew all the rules because their kind had made them…and others like him…well they broke them…and once they’d got you pegged for a rule breaker…social or legal…or religious
well…you were on the outside…

And the musterer knew where he stood…he knew his place…

The only thing that really bugged him was their high and mighty attitude… their sense of entitlement…
you’d think they had a front row seat in heaven reserved for them …

But somewhere along the line he’d heard about this Jesus character… maybe it was Bible in Schools…and how he’d partied with the rougher sort…even drank with them…
and how that got him on the outer with all the religious perfectionists…

But Jesus told them off didn’t he… for thinking their public purity was going to bring about the reign of God they were looking for …and the thing the musterer had always remembered…the thing that stuck in his mind was that the Kingdom of God was going to be in people’s hearts.

The tax collectors and other sinner this Jesus partied with knew they were a rough lot… knew they were outsiders …knew they had to trust in God’s mercy and grace…
if they were ever going to stand a chance when the final judgment came. To the musterer’s memory…Jesus seemed to feel more relaxed with that kind anyway.

And you know just thinking about that story gave the musterer some comfort if he started beating himself up for one of his more dubious escapades…specially the ones he felt guilty for. But that was between him and the fella upstairs.

Ok with our musterer friend in mind… let’s listen again to Jesus parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector. And this time let’s look at a painting of it while we do.

[Hand out sheets]

Right…here’s the Bible reading for today again.

Jesus also told this parable to some who were
certain in themselves that they were righteous
and regarded others with contempt: Jesus said once upon a time…

"Two men both of them Jews… went up to the temple to pray…one was a Pharisee… that’s a religious perfectionist…and the other was a tax collector...
who couldn’t come right in…because his job was a dirty one and the rule makers would let him right into the Temple.

Now the Pharisee was standing by himself…
right in there where only religious perfectionists were allowed…and here’s what he prayed...He prayed…
'God, I thank you that I’m not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like that tax collector out there on the porch.

Yeah…and by the way God I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all my income to the upkeep of the Temple Amen.'

And…the tax collector… who knew he wasn’t allowed in because they’d labelled unclean because of his work…the tax collector…couldn’t even look in God’s direction…he just stood there with his head hanging down…beating himself up in shame for all the stupid hurtful stuff he’d done.

And here’s what the tax collector prayed…

'God, all I can say is be merciful to me…
I know I’m a sinner!'

Then Jesus wraps up the story with his own verdict…

I tell you what…Jesus says…this poor guy on the porch … went down to his home justified…not the one who thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread…
for everyone who puts themselves up there is going to fall off their perch…but everyone whose got their feet on the ground where they belong… is going to be really popular with my old man – you know…God.  

So the tax collector on the porch goes home justified.

What does it mean to be justified?

Well, if we were standing in the crowd Jesus is talking to… we know the word comes from the kind of court system they’re used to. It was very different from the ones in Queenstown or Alex…
In their day if someone stole from you…
you had to bring a charge against them yourself…
you couldn’t get the police to do it for you.
you just had to stand up for yourself…
no lawyers or anything.

And in Jesus’ day…when a judge had heard both sides of the story…he’d decide without reference to a jury… whose side he was on…

If he came down on your side…they said you were justified…

So the word ‘justification’ which we hear a lot in Paul’s letters… but hardly ever in the gospels… means exactly that: the judge has found in your favour.’

So the question facing both the religious perfectionists and Jesus friends…is this:
‘when the final judgement comes…
which ones will be justified?

Will it be the religious purists…who keep the law perfectly … or will it be those who eat and drink with Jesus …and put their faith in God’s mercy?

As they approach Jerusalem…and Jesus’ arrest and execution …Jesus knows the temptation to give up on God…is going to be strong for his friends…
And that is why he asks his friends…to have faith…
no matter what happens…no matter how hopeless things appear…

keep your faith alive…

keep your relationship with God alive in prayer…
and like the tax collector and the musterer…
never give up hope in God’s mercy...

And you know what it was Jesus’ friends like the tax collector Matthew who went on to spread this good news right across the Roman Empire and even here to places like Tarras… at the ends of the earth.

Pray always and don't lose heart

Pentecost 22 Year C Sermon Luke 18:1-8 

Title slide

Can you remember a time when something horribly unfair happened to you? You felt like you’d been punched in the gut…all the wind knocked out of you.
blank slide

And how at first… even though you were hurt and angry… you felt paralysed and powerless…
you were devastated and depressed…
by the sheer injustice of what had happened.

It wasn’t fair…something you thought was rightfully yours…had been snatched away…
How could anyone get away with such a thing?

It’s happened to all of us…as children and as adults…
it’s certainly happened to me

Maybe what was snatched away from you…
was your reputation…maybe it was your job…your property …or your savings…maybe it was your control or your power…or maybe it was a person… someone you loved…

Whatever happened…you were left with a deep sense of injustice. You may have even felt that… God had let you down. Perhaps you… cried out loud… If God was a just God…
then this wouldn’t have happened.

And what happened next…did you…give up on God…
did you lose heart…or did you continue on to seek justice? What did you really want?
If it was justice…then you found someone who could vindicate you…who could judge in your favour… someone with the power to rule… your complaint was justified…
and order… that things be put right.  

But maybe it wasn’t justice you wanted…
maybe it was revenge…

in that case… you didn’t want compensation…
you wanted your enemy…your adversary …punished.

Now with that memory in place let’s listen to Jesus’ parable again.
blank slide

"In a certain city… there’s a judge who has no respect for God…or people. A widow keeps coming to him
to plead that he decide in her favour…
against someone who’s done her wrong.
blank slide

For a while the judge just flicks her off…
and does nothing …but… she keeps coming back…
over… and over again…she demands…‘I want justice!’
Eventually… this godless merciless judge…
comes to the conclusion… the woman’s not about to give up…and so he thinks to himself… ‘I don’t fear God and I certainly don’t care about people…but to get rid of this nuisance…I’m going to judge in her favour…
not because I actually think she’s justified...
but so she stops bothering me…  [pause]

And that’s the end of Jesus’ story…
Now he asks his friends…to pay close attention…
to what the unjust judge says. And asks them: so how much more will God bring about justice for his chosen ones… who cry out to him day and night?

Will God keep putting them off? I tell you….
Jesus says…God will see they get justice… and quickly.

[pause]

You know…there was a time when I used to think this parable meant you’ve got to wear God down…
you’ve got to keep praying away…
and eventually…God will grant what you pray for…

but now I don’t think that’s how Jesus disciples would have understood the story at all…and I’ve learned that… before we decide what Jesus means…we have to stand at the back of his original audience…first century Jews… faced with military occupation by pagan gentiles…
an Empire that neither fears Israel’s God…
nor respects human life.

All the Jews of the day…long for justice…
against their Roman oppressors…
they pray for God to reinstate the reign of his chosen people…
Two Jewish religious political parties…the Pharisees in Jerusalem and the Essenes at Qumran…
are sure...that with strict observance of Jewish laws and rituals…God would bring justice just as they dreamed of it…
the Messiah…a saviour… would drive the Romans out of Israel…and establish once again the throne of David.

And so day in and day out…they strive for religious perfection…and they pray unceasingly…for their vision
of the Kingdom of God… to come about…

And when we read Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow in context… we learn he’s just warned the Pharisees …Hey guys…"The kingdom of God doesn’t come with your careful observation…nor will people say,
‘Look…here it is,' or 'There it is.' …and why is that?

Because…Jesus says…the kingdom of God is within you."

And Jesus warns his disciples…his friends…
the political triumph Israel dreams of…
might never happen…that kind of justice…isn’t what God’s kingdom is like…in fact things are going to get worse.

and that’s when Luke reminds us… ‘Jesus told his disciples a parable… about the need to keep praying
and never give up.’

Jesus is preparing his friends for tough times ahead…warning them of an era… when not only he’s gone…but when Jerusalem…it’s Temple…and half the population are destroyed…
because Israel continues it’s rebellion against Rome.

When those days come…Jesus instructs his disciples… not to interpret it… as abandonment by God…
they are not to stop praying…they are not to lose heart

[pause]

Yes… against the power of the Roman Empire…
the Jewish nation is like a vulnerable widow…
seeking justice…and yes…like the unjust judge…
the Roman’s don’t fear God and have little respect for human life…

And yes if they grant justice at all…
it’s only because of Israel’s nuisance value…

But Jesus disciples… are not to think that God…
is like the unjust judge. God’s justice… God’s kingdom is different…it thrives within us…and even in the midst of disappointment...oppression and violence…
it persists…it lives…
so Jesus says…even when I’m rejected and executed… don’t give up… even when Rome’s legions destroy Jerusalem…and the Temple… don’t give up

God’s kingdom isn’t about triumph over your enemies…

[pause]

it’s about loving them…

[pause]

if only Israel would believe that.

Standing behind the crowd Jesus is speaking to
we learn the judges and courts they’re familiar with are very different from our own…in their day if someone stole from you…you had to bring a charge against them yourself… you couldn’t get the police to do it for you.
If someone murdered your husband it was the same.

So in Jesus’ day… a judge decided to vindicate one party or the other on the basis of their pleading; ‘vindication’ or ‘justification’ meant upholding their side of the story…deciding in their favour.

The word ‘ justification’ which we meet a lot in Paul’s letters… but hardly ever in the gospels… means exactly this: that the judge finds in your favour at the end of the case.[i]

So the question facing the Pharisees and Jesus disciples is ‘whose path…whose way… whose understanding…
will bring justification? Will God’s kingdom come…God’s will be done…at the expense of Israel’s adversaries…or will it include them?

When the final judgement comes…
who will be vindicated…who will be justified?

Will it be the religious purists…who keep the law perfectly…or will zealots… who campaign for a violent overthrow of the Romans…or will it be those who stand with Jesus and persist in faith…by carrying his message throughout the Roman Empire.

In the court of divine justice…will Israel be justified by the routing of their opponents?  Or will it be those
who oppose Jesus’ message of peace…
who ultimately lose?

As they approached Jerusalem…his arrest and execution…Jesus knew the temptation to give up would be strong for his friends. I don’t think Jesus wants us to think of God like the unjust judge at all…It seems to me it’s the widow in Jesus parable who is most like God…

for she persists…until justice is done.

And while her persistence wrings a verdict from the judge it also brings him an unexpected and valuable gift… the gift of conversion.

Her untiring efforts… turn the godless inhumane judge…from a man of in-justice into a man who does justice.
blank title slide

That kind of persistence belongs only to God. And that is why Jesus asks his friends…to have faith… no matter what happens…no matter how hopeless things appear… keep your faith…keep your relationship with God alive in prayer and never give up hope that God’s will…will be done…
 on earth as it is in heaven.

---

[i] I’m grateful to biblical scholar Tom Wright for this insight in  Luke for everyone

Babylon Jerusalem and Wanaka

Pentecost 21 Year C Sermon

The Council of the Elders

Title slide

As he prepares to enter Jerusalem for the last time from the mountain overlooking the city…Jesus warns his followers…as they gaze across at the magnificent of the Temple… Jesus warns them of a day that’s coming

 …when no stone would be left standing…
in Israel’s holiest place.

Blank slide

And Jesus asks them… no matter how bad things get …

to keep their eyes on him and their hearts on his teaching…to watch for him…. in the unclean of this world…to look for him… in the prisoner… the sick
and the hungry. [pause]

The age of the old Mosaic covenant… was coming to an end. And in the days that follow…
as Jesus celebrates the Passover with his friends…

he will constitute a people… of a new covenant.

Map with Paul slide

Forty years later… when Jerusalem and the Temple finally fall to the Romans … Jesus apostles…

inspired by the coming of the Holy Spirit…

will already have been at work … right across the Empire… throughout the whole world as they knew it…

planting new cells of Jesus’ follower…
trying to carry out God’s purposes of love…

proclaiming the good news of God’s desire…

to reconcile all humanity…all creation…to himself.

Elders slide

In these clusters of Jesus followers…some were set apart for special tasks… in the service of the Christian community. Some as Apostles and some as Elders…as it tells us in the book of Acts

Antioch map

¹In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting…
the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me…Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I’ve called them." ³So after they’d fasted and prayed,

Word slide

‘they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

Elders slide

From the start…the movement was steeped in Jewish history and tradition… their founder… their chief rabbi and master… was Jesus of Nazareth…
whose interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures
would be their yoke…and whose teaching would be the good news they spread.

And just as their ancestors had done from the time of Moses…

word slide

‘with prayer and fasting they appointed elders in each church and committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.’

Acts 14:23

Blank slide

And just as they’d done during the Exile in Babylon… from the earliest days of the Christian church…
the Elders exercised a collective authority…
among God’s people.

They formed councils of equals…
to discern the will of God…
to oversee the spiritual health of the faith community… and ensure its future well being.  

From the time of the Babylonian exile…
every synagogue elected a

word slide

council of Elders… a gerusia  in Hebrew

or a presbuteron in Greek…
appointed by the people to be their leaders. 

Blank slide

From time to time a great assembly of Elders would be called… to meet in the Temple in Jerusalem.
The Greek word for this was Sanhedrin.
And the Roman’s did their best to dismantle its sweeping authority …by breaking up Palestine…
into five provinces with their own Sanhedrin. [pause]

And while the Bible portrays various forms of government in the early church… it’s easy to see our own Presbyterian form of government in the Jewish roots of the Christian movement. Even the name Presbyterian is rooted in the ancient Greek word presbuterion…. the New Testament word for the collective [never individual] authority…
of the Council of Elders.

But by the end of the second century a common pattern develops… where a bishop presides over a group of churches…where one person has personal authority over their leaders. And a threefold ministry is emerges of Bishop, Priest and Deacon.

And by the end of the third century…when the Roman Emperor Constantine converts to Christianity…

he declares the whole Empire to be Christian…

by decree…

and slowly the church takes on…

the character of an imperial hierarchy.

For one thousand five hundred years…this imperial pattern holds… until finally its weaknesses and abuse of power… would lead a priest called Martin Luther…

to nail his protest to the Cathedral door…

And there begins the protestant…
the protestant reformation… of which we are a part …

So when we look around our town… at the six churches who work so wonderfully together …

it’s clear we’re all trying…to be faithful followers of Jesus… working in our own way to make disciples… and express God’s purposes of love…in service to our community…

In our unity as Christians…what sets us apart from one another… isn’t what we believe…
but how we chose to govern ourselves.

In the Presbyterian Church there is no higher office than Elder. Authority is collectively vested… in the Council of Elders… we call Session….

Some Elders like myself are called by God
and by the church… to be teaching elders…
others are called by God and by the church…

to the office of ruling elder…to exercise along with me … spiritual and missional vision
and provide discipline when it’s needed.  

Our Council of Elders is subordinate to regional council’s of elders… called Presbytery …remember the presbuteron…and here our Elders are represented… Presbytery is in turn subordinate to our national council of elders…remember the Sanhedrin…

And this national council is called the General Assembly.

Our form of church government provides a way of living together where the concerns and initiatives of all members are taken seriously. And any member of this church… can appeal our decisions… all the way to the General Assembly.

We’re accountable to the whole church… and to you…

to ensure our mission and resources are used strategically and responsibly…in faithfulness to God’s purposes of love.

Having seen my brothers and sisters in other churches… flounder under different systems…

I believe our form of government…

is one of our denomination’s greatest strengths. [pause]

Throughout the church there’s a desire for passionately committed… and faithful leadership.

People are crying out for servant leaders who are willing to lead by example. All those who accept God’s call to Eldership… are ordained to the office.

And so today… as our ancestors have for thousands of years…we will ordain Rena Cowie and Rob Davis with the laying on of hands.