The Freedom Of A Christian October 26, 2008 Reformation Sunday

(First, read the text for this sermon: John 8:31-36)

We read a strange little passage each Reformation Sunday. It’s from the gospel of John. It’s an exchange between Jesus and “the Jews who had believed in him.”

That phrase, actually, would be worth a Bible study. It surprises many to know that the first followers of Jesus were Jews. But, of course, Jesus was a Jew, as were all of his disciples. We come across multiple references in the gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles where Jesus and his disciples are practicing the faith of the Jewish tradition: gathering in the local synagogue for worship and taking time out for daily prayer.

So the Bible study would explore the conflict in the first century synagogue between those who were traditional Jews and those who had become part of the very controversial Jesus sect within the synagogue. (Isn’t it cool to read between the lines of a Bible story and get a sense of what’s going on behind the story?!)

This morning, though, I’m drawn into this story by something strange that “the Jews who had believed in him” say to Jesus. Jesus has told them, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." Now, here’s what’s curious: They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, 'You will be made free'?"

My first response is, “They’ve got to be kidding! They have never been slaves to anyone?” What about the slavery in Egypt? What about the epic story of Moses leading the people out of that slavery? As a matter of fact, by the time of this conversation between Jesus and the others, the Jews have been politically and militarily subjugated for, oh, roughly 500 years. First they were overrun by the Assyrians, who were later themselves overrun by the Babylonians, and now the Roman Empire has the people of God under its boot heel. “Never been slaves to anyone?!”

Or, am I being too literal here? That could be. Are these Jewish believers in Jesus talking about a sense of spiritual freedom that is theirs – because they are descendants of Abraham? Perhaps they are referring to their status as the chosen people?

In any event, Jesus turns the conversation in a new direction. He begins talking about sin. Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."

Jesus has reframed the whole debate. Being “descendants of Abraham” counts for nothing in itself. They are unfree because they are slaves to sin – and slaves are not permanent members of the household, and so they cannot receive an inheritance. In contrast to slaves, the son has a place [in the household] forever. The inheritance is the forgiveness of our sins, the freedom from this slavery. The only way to gain that inheritance is to leave slavery behind, and to become children of God, which we do, through Jesus the Christ, who is “the Son” of God!

How does that happen? Through baptism.

Here, of course, is where Christianity parts from Judaism. Here is the root of the conflict that is going on in the first century synagogue. That conflict is a daily reality in the community that produced this gospel of John.

Since many of us are Lutheran Christians, and since this is Reformation Sunday, let me take off from here, to raise a primary theme of the Lutheran tradition.

Our freedom is rooted in that baptism into Jesus the Christ!

Our vocation is to act out of that freedom!

There are many things that many people are captive to. Isn’t that right? There is the captivity to: “What will others think?” There is the captivity to status, and how my status compares to your status. Many people are held captive by worry and anxiety. Regrets over the past enslave an awful lot of people. Many are captive to lies that they have internalized from their parents or spouses: lies such as, “You’re not good enough.” Some are captive to fear. The list of captivities goes on and on. You could check off the boxes on the list!

Why do you and I allow ourselves to be held captive by these concerns and messages? It’s because I think it’s up to me! You think its up to you, to prove yourself in the eyes of others. It’s because I thinks I am judged worthy by others. It’s because you are allowing others to determine your value.

In theological terms, we allow ourselves to be captive to anxiety and regrets and lies and fear when we are trying to save ourselves!

But who saves us? Who frees us?

So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

The God of grace calls us back from our false selves to be the people God created us to be. (That is why repentance – the turn back to God – is such a joyful movement!) God the Father who created us; God the Son who saves us; God the Holy Spirit who makes us holy – this God of grace calls us out of captivity into the freedom of a Christian. This happens when we are baptized, and as we daily return to our baptism.

Baptism is God‘s grace in water and word. The word is that you and I do not need to prove our worth, because God has created us and God values us. You and I do not need to save ourselves, or to justify ourselves. That is because God has done that, through the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

Listen to the gifts that come to us through Holy Baptism, as Luther explains it in his Small Catechism. Three gifts. Baptism “brings about forgiveness of sins, redeems from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe it, as the words and promise of God declare.”

That is done! We are freed from our sinfulness by Jesus the Christ. We are freed from death and the devil by Jesus the Christ. We are freed from anxiety over our salvation, over proving our worth to God, by Jesus the Christ. We are freed from having to justify ourselves, because God has done that, on the cross and through the resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

And so, here’s the payoff. Since we are freed from all of that, we are freed too be joyful servants in God’s kingdom that is even now dawning on earth. That is our vocation. We are freed to serve those who are in need. We are freed to give of ourselves, using the talents we have received from God our creator.

The result is our ministries, among the people God gives you and me to work and to play with; and in the places where God puts us to work!

It’s the freedom, simply, to do the work of the kingdom!

What joy!

In the name of God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

"Everything Belongs To God" October 19, 2008 Pentecost 23 Lectionary 29

(First, read the text for this sermon: Matthew 22:15-22)

“Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?"

Sounds like a question from this year’s presidential campaign, doesn’t it? Both campaigns have even been debating the patriotism of taxes and tax breaks.

But of course, this question comes from this morning’s story in Matthew. And the question is very dangerous for Jesus. Remember the context. The story begins, Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap [Jesus] in what he said. That’s what’s up here.

In this section of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus has entered into Jerusalem. You remember what’s going to happen in Jerusalem, don’t you? Jerusalem is where Jesus will be arrested and charged with treason against the Roman empire. Jerusalem is where Jesus will be tortured and executed. According to the gospels, all of this will be a set up, by the Jewish authorities, because Jesus is so threatening to their power. The religious rulers are so intent on getting rid of Jesus that, get this: the Pharisees and the Herodians are working together on this.

At the time that would have been astonishing. The Pharisees urged Jewish separatism from the Roman empire. The Herodians urged Jewish accommodation with King Herod. This might be the only time these two religious parties ever cooperated with each other! They were usually at each other’s throats.

We read this: So [the Pharisees] sent their disciples to [Jesus], along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. It is after this blatantly false flattery that they ask: “Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?"

Whether Jesus says, “Yes,” or “No,” he’s in trouble. The Herodians and others advocate keeping the Romans happy because, after all, they are an occupying force of tremendous brutality. They crucify people right and left. Paying taxes is certainly a small price to pay for their lives, and for the permission to worship according to the law. They want to hear Jesus say, “Yes.” But the Pharisees and others quote God’s law to mean they should have nothing to do with the unclean, impure gentiles of the Roman Empire. Certainly Jesus’ answer must be “No!”

How will Jesus respond? Who will he please? Much more consequential: Who will he anger?

As you heard in the story, Jesus creates a third alternative. And it’s a brilliant response! But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away. Because – what are “the things that are God’s?” What belongs to God?

Everything!

Everything belongs to God. Those of you who are veteran worshipers have heard that, time and again. Perhaps it’s an especially helpful reminder during times of economic turmoil. It’s always a helpful reminder to disciples who are being formed by God the Holy Spirit in the faith practice of generosity.

So: “Give therefore … to God the things that are God’s.”

I was very much taken by something Emily Rossiter said last week, when she was giving her witness, as part of our stewardship temple talks. She talked about how, when she was asked weeks ago to say a few words, she said, “Sure”; not having any idea what would hit the stock market and the credits markets. So, Emily said something like, “it takes courage to stand here and talk about money during this turmoil.” But then she said, “No, it’s not a matter of courage. It’s a matter of faith.”

Faith means letting go. Faith means trust. Faith means yielding our sense of ownership. Faith means trusting that everything belongs to God, and that everything we need to live comes from God, and that God will provide what we need to live.

It is in Christian community that God forms us in that faith and trust. It is through the example of others that the Spirit forms us in the faith practice of generosity.

My parents were the first ones to witness this to me – when I was in my early teens and learned how much they gave to their congregation. (I saw the amount of money written on the outside of their church envelope!) This was a formative experience for me – because we lived extremely comfortably and, at the same time, they gave 10% of their income to the church. So, I decided to try it myself! I received an allowance of $2.50 a week, out of which was to come my school lunches – 35 cents each day. I started putting 25 cents (10%) into the offering plate each week!

I was fortunate to receive that formative model from my parents, because it’s easiest to learn to tithe when you don’t have any money or expenses! I found it easy, then, to continue the practice as I got summer jobs, and then my first “real” job, and then made the decisions to buy our first new car and our first house, knowing that we had 90% of our income to spend on needs and wants. Our mindset wasn’t one of scarcity. Even though everything belongs to God, we were taking 90% of that to pay for our needs and wants!

The next model the Spirit provided for me was Carl Hiteshew. Carl was an elderly neighbor in the neighborhood in which we bought our first house. He was a humble, unassuming man. (I find that the best witnesses to the faith are humble and unassuming!) Carl was a retired fundraiser for religious organizations and I asked him for advice because we needed to expand the church building in Virginia Beach. I was a young pastor, and I had no idea how to lead a congregation through such an undertaking. So Carl became my teacher.

I remember well one image he used. He said the monthly flow of income was like a stream. Each month, we dip out of the stream what is necessary to pay the bills.

And here’s what I remember most vividly: Carl pointed out that it is my choice how much I dip out each month. That it is my choice how big a house I buy, how fancy a car, how expensive the electronics. Carl taught me that we’re not trapped by bills, as if there’s some unseen force capturing us! Unless there is a catastrophe of health, the bills that come in each month are what we choose them to be! What empowering teaching that was! We can choose to live comfortably on 90% of our income (out of the 100% which belongs to God).

Let me tell you about one last saint that the Holy Spirit used to form me in generosity. Clark Janssen was, again, much older than me. He was a member of the congregation I was serving. He was a retired Navy enlisted man, who was now working for a kitchen remodeling company, building cabinets. What Clark taught me is that it is possible to grow to a 10% tithe over a decade, by 1% a year increases – because that is exactly what he had done! As he witnessed to his pastor in his non-sophisticated, down-to-earth manner, I’ll never forget one thing he said: “I’ve always thought the 10% figure is kind of arbitrary. I’ve kept up the 1% increase, and I left the tithe behind several years ago.” What a counter-cultural role model Clark was for me! I’m sure, in his genuine humility, he would be surprised to know how powerful his witness was in my formation.

But, over the past decades, Clark’s teaching has had lasting effect – because I have encouraged congregations to become tithing congregations, through the practice of that 1% growth each year. And, on a personal level, people discover the joy there is in this kind of radical generosity!

It is exhilarating to be so generous that the IRS flags your tax return because your charitable deduction seems out of line!

It is liberating to know, first, that everything belongs to God; and, second, that God will always give us enough for what we need (that’s where our choices enter in). Out of that freedom, then, our faith-filled response to God’s generosity is our own generosity!

In the name of that generous God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

“The Wedding Banquet Will Happen; The Kingdom Will Come" October 12, 2008 Pentecost 22 Lectionary 28

(First, read the text for this sermon: Matthew 22:1-14)

Four months ago I was in Tanzania. One visit was to the Slahamo Lutheran Parish. Hundreds of people gathered on a Thursday afternoon for the graduation ceremony of the parish’s technical training school. There were hours of singing and dancing and ceremony! And, as part of the ceremony, since I am an mchugali (Swahili for “pastor”), the mchugali of the parish called me forward and presented me with …

… this club!

I was very gracious. I thanked them. I returned to my seat. And later I asked the mchugali, “Why did you give me this?”

He said, “It’s something to carry on your pastoral rounds. Now, it’s not to actually hit anyone with. But it’s a reminder that it is the pastor’s job to correct parishioners when that is necessary.”

I found out later that this is a club that would be used by a Masai warrior! In fact, the Mongai Parish had given me this ebony cane earlier, featuring a Masai warrior in the carving on the cane, and, indeed, he is holding such a club.

A Masai warrior’s club as a symbol of pastoral authority? Is this according to the model of Jesus?

I thought of this anew when encountering the passage we read this morning, from the gospel of Matthew. In the story, God is presented as the king. And the story starts out joyfully enough: Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.” Doesn’t that sound wonderful? The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a wedding banquet? What joy! Patty and I threw a wedding party for our daughter and son-in-law when they were married this past Memorial Day weekend, and I can’t think of a more jubilant four days! If the kingdom of heaven, the wedding banquet, God’s fulfillment of all history and creation is to be this joyful, then we are filled with hope as we do the work God gives us to do in our day to day lives!

But soon, in the story from Matthew, strange and frightening things begin happening. The king can’t get anyone to come to the wedding banquet! The king has prepared the mother of all feasts – “my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready” – but the invited guests not only refuse the invitation, they react violently to it! They not only seize the messengers from the king, they not only mistreat them, they kill them! What is going on?

Understandably enough, the king becomes enraged at this! We read: “He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.' Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.”

What radical inclusion! (This story would have been extremely offensive to the Pharisees it was aimed at: because they saw their God-given work to be keeping God’s people purified, and in the story the banquet hall is now filled with all kinds of unclean people.) "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

Does this story describe God? The God who became flesh in Jesus the Christ?

Here’s the thing: we interpret the Bible according to the Word of God.

The Word of God, first, is Jesus – the word become flesh. According to Luther, the Bible is the Word of God as it witnesses to Jesus. And there is much that does not witness to Jesus in the Bible. That goes even for stories in the New Testament, even in the gospel of Matthew, even in the passage from Matthew that we read this morning. Certainly, the violent, enraged king does not correspond to the God that Jesus embodied in human flesh.

This story was added to the gospel of Matthew sometime during the two generations between Jesus’ death and resurrection and the gospel book being put into written form. The story was added, perhaps, to address the anxiety in this ancient Christian community: because so many were rejecting the good news of Jesus. Perhaps it was comforting to think that God would get those people! But, as Biblical commentator Warren Carter puts it, “In envisioning God acting in [this] way, the gospel is again co-opted by the very imperial world it seeks to resist.”

So, we critique this morning’s story according to Jesus. We read this morning’s story according to God embodied in Jesus. Do we simply dismiss the story, then? No. If we look beneath the violence and rage in the story, we do see clues of what God is like, as embodied in Jesus. For one thing, we see God’s persistence! We see that God is untiring in inviting all people to the wedding banquet, into the kingdom of heaven. The wedding banquet will happen. The kingdom will come. And we see that there is an urgency to this. Will we respond? Will we be wearing a wedding garment?

God continually extends the invitation, even to “the good and the bad,” even to people like you and me. God invites all to the wedding banquet, into the kingdom of heaven: the joyous fulfillment of God’s purposes for creation.

Indeed, in the richness of our liturgy of Holy Communion, in what we are doing right now, we celebrate our inclusion in that wedding banquet. In our Holy Communion meal we taste the feast of the kingdom which is already dawning in the resurrection.

Notice this theme in our liturgy. Listen again to this morning’s Prayer of the Day: “Lord of the feast, you have prepared a table before all peoples and poured out your life with abundance. Call us again to your banquet. Strengthen us by what is honorable, just, and pure, and transform us into a people of righteousness and peace, through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Then, a few minutes after that prayer, in the Hymn of Praise, we sang: “This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia.” This communion meal is a foretaste of the feast to come – the wedding banquet of the coming kingdom.

Then, in a few minutes, as we prepare for the feast of the altar banquet, we include in our prayer those who hunger in any way. This happens after the offering of money and bread and wine is brought forward: “Holy God, gracious and merciful, you bring forth food from the earth and nourish your whole creation. Turn our hearts toward those who hunger in any way, that all may know your care; and prepare us now to feast on the bread of life, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.”

Then, after all of us have received the bread and wine of the feast, the foretaste of the wedding banquet of the kingdom, I will speak this blessing: “The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen and preserve you in eternal life. Amen.” Strengthen and preserve you in eternal life which has begun!

And hear the repeated imagery in the prayer that comes right after that blessing: “O God, we give you thanks that you have set before us this feast, the body and blood of your Son. By your Spirit strengthen us to serve all in need and to give ourselves away as bread for the hungry, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

The wedding banquet will happen. The kingdom will come.

What joy – to be fed, and to be sent to feed others.

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia

What God Gives – And How We Respond October 5, 2008 Pentecost 21 Lectionary 27

(First, read the texts for this sermon: Isaiah 5:1-7; Matthew 21:33-46)

God has created you and me. “Why?” (as I ask the pre-school children in our chapel services). “Because God loves us!” That’s why God created us. That’s why God has given you and me this day of life. Indeed, God gives us everything we need for life – because God loves us. It is pure grace.

Is that it? There’s one thing more. God desires us to respond, by the way we live our lives.

The Old Testament is full of that dynamic of God’s grace first, and then human response to that grace. For instance, you may remember how the author of the book of Exodus moves into the Ten Commandments. We read: Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “I have rescued you,” God tells the people. “I give you everything you need for life. Therefore, you must respond in this way: You shall have no other gods before me.” (And then follow the rest of the Commandments.)

Every time, in the Bible, God’s grace comes first. It is undeserved. It is God’s initiative. And God desires our response. It matters that we respond in God-pleasing ways! That is the point of the two vineyard parables we read this morning.
The prophet Isaiah begins with the words of a love song.

Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:

My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.

He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;

What more could the Creator have done? The Creator has given everything necessary for a harvest of sweet grapes! But then we read:

he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.

According to the prophet, this response brings consequences:

And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.

I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.

I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice, but saw bloodshed;
righteousness, but heard a cry!

As we read this, “the house of Israel and the people of Judah” are you and me. God has created us, purely because God loves us. What does God give? Everything we need for life. And God desires us to respond, by the way we live our lives – responding by working for justice, and against violence; responding with righteousness; responding by bringing relief to those crying in pain.

How do we learn that response? How do we stay strong in that response? God forms us in the community of the church, as we practice the faith together, through weekly worship and daily reading of the Bible and prayer, through servanthood to those in need. Over the months and years, through these practices, God gives us the wisdom and courage that we need to act in the face of violence, with love and compassion towards those who are suffering.

The second vineyard parable this morning is a little different. In the passage from Matthew, it’s not that we are the vineyard, but that we are stewards of the vineyard.

Again, God gives everything that is necessary: "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.” Everything is in place. And there is a harvest. And the landowner sends people to receive his share of the harvest from the tenants. But you remember what happened to them.

What is the origin of that violence? The tenants respond as if the vineyard is theirs! As if the harvest is their property! As if it is not all gift from God!

Instead, here is the witness of the stories in the Bible. “I am the Lord your God. I not only give you freedom from slavery in Egypt, I give you freedom from any kind of slavery. I give you grace and forgiveness and salvation. I give you life! Therefore: You shall have no other gods before me. I desire for you to respond by producing the fruits of the kingdom.”

Are the “fruits of the kingdom” in Matthew’s story the same as what Paul calls “the fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?

How does God the Holy Spirit form us to bear such fruit? How do we stay strong in that response to everything that God has given us? God forms us in the community of the church, as we practice the faith together, through weekly worship and daily reading of the Bible and prayer, through servanthood to those in need. Over the months and years, through these practices, God gives us the wisdom and courage that we need to confront selfishness with love and compassion – because we own nothing ourselves! What freedom and release there is in the good news that are only stewards. We are only caretakers of what God has given us – which is, in fact, everything we need for life.

Our response to this good news is to resist sin. When our response to God’s gifts are not God-pleasing, there are consequences! Here’s a large scale example: we are suffering the consequences of the sin of greed in our financial markets. We are suffering because greed corrupted the stewardship of some who were entrusted with our tremendous affluence. It would be good for our leaders to act according to clear-eyed theology as they debate financial regulations, taking into account human greed.

It’s a matter of what God gives – and how we respond. On the small scale, as well, we suffer consequences when our responses are not God-pleasing. For instance, God gives us identity in community when we are baptized. It is pure grace! But what about those who do not respond positively? When crisis comes, those who reject that community suffer. When there is illness, a death, a lost job, they are dis-connected from that baptized community of support. How sad!

God has created you and me because God loves us! God has given you and me this very day of life even though we do not deserve a single minute of this day. God gives us everything we need for life, out of pure grace.

It’s a matter of what God gives (which is everything!), and how we respond.

In the name of God, who creates us, who saves us, and who makes us holy. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia