Day 46: Laws and The Faithful Few

Exodus 21, 22 & Matthew 27:51-66

These passages continues to offer up laws for the building of the community. We also are told of the events that happened alongside the death of Christ.

Exodus 21:

This section of Exodus gives us laws for daily living. It is important to note that these laws were the beginning of the system of justice, of living with one another without another government having control for the first time in 400 years.

The Bible speaks here of the practice of slavery. Slavery was part of the cultural context of the day, and these passages are ways of addressing that painful reality. The Bible does not promote or encourage slavery, though it does not call specifically for it to be abolished. This is disheartening for me. I so wish there was a blanket policy laid out saying “No slavery, no one owns anyone else!”

The rules for female slaves are different than those for male slaves. This, in its own odd way, was seen as a way to protect women. Women could not own property, they had to be cared for and these laws kept them from being set aside when their husbands or masters grew tired of them or wanted to trade-in for a newer model.

I also find it interesting to note, the eye for an eye passage actually has to do with injury to a pregnant woman when two men are fighting. Another level of protection for women.

Exodus 22

Personal Injury laws shift now to property dispute laws. This part of the text reminds me a bit of the controversial “Stand your Ground law” in Florida and other States. Here, however, you could not kill a thief in the daylight without being found guilty of murder. This kept you from holding a thief overnight and torturing him until morning. It also made it clear that if you could identify the thief then that is the avenue to pursue rather than killing him.

Matthew 27:51-66

This passage tells us that Jesus’ death could not have gone unnoticed. There was darkness at mid-day, there was an earthquake, the curtain of the Holy of Holies was torn in two from the top to the bottom, and oh, yeah, dead people came out of their graves and walked around!!!

The women are present throughout Jesus’ death and watch to see where Joseph, the secret disciple, takes Jesus. They are the faithful Few who do not leave Jesus’ side. Perhaps that was because they really had nothing left to lose.

The religious leaders were more concerned about the resurrection rumors than the disciples because they had the tomb sealed and a guard set in place for three days. They knew that Jesus was more than an itinerant preacher.

Obedient Thanks

 Obedience. On a week when most preachers are opening up this Gospel reading and preaching gleefully about grace and gratitude, I'm thinking about obedience. So why am I seeing obedience in this passage? Well... it has something to do with the passage that comes right before it, the passage I preached on last week. Remember that here we have a collection of sayings of Jesus. In this last bit Jesus shares a parable about slaves and the duty expected of them, that they will work all day and then attend to the feeding and care of their masters before attending to their own needs, doing all this expecting no thanks in return. He then suggests that this is a model for Christian discipleship, we are to do whatever we have been ordered to do without expectation of reward. No matter how difficult (forgiving), no matter how wearying (forgiving the same person seven times in a day), we are to do it. Why? As was suggested last week, we are to be obedient because we are grateful, grateful for all that has already been done for us in Christ.

Now, I know that our minds are very capable of objecting to this message, this message that so much has already been done for us in Christ. Some of us are thinking, sure, easy for you to say” or “If I've been forgiven, why am I carrying around this lead weight of guilt that just seems to get heavier every day? If I've been healed, why am I in constant pain? If I've been provided for, why am I barely scraping by month to month, why am I in the position of picking and choosing what bills I'll pay and which ones I won't even open, why am I always having to say 'no' to my kids? If I've been protected, why have I been so hurt?" Or perhaps you're thinking “I’ve worked hard for the good things in my life. God doesn’t want us to rely on him too much. We’ve got to pull ourselves up by our boot-straps. God’s got little to do with my life.”

So, if we're not sure that we have much to be grateful for, it's not likely that we'll be terribly inspired to be obedient, especially to the most challenging teachings of our faith. We might be more inclined to pick out the teachings of God in scripture that suit us best and let the others slide. We might not even bother to try to know what God requires or hopes of us... why should we? We'll just do whatever we want in this world; convinced as we are, on some level, that we're more or less left on our own.

Let's consider the 10 lepers in our story today. Here we have 10 people who have been suffering for an unknown length of time, suffering from skin conditions, potentially very serious skin conditions, but also suffering from alienation, exclusion, and estrangement. By law they were cast out of their communities and forced to live only with people like them. They had to scream out that they were unclean anytime they came near anyone; they could not touch nor be touched. We meet them today in a borderland, on the edges of two regions- between Galilee and Samaria. They are on the margins of their societies in every sense of the word.

If ever there were a group of people who would seemingly have a case for giving up on God, for lacking motivation for obedience, for feeling far from grateful- I think we can all agree these folks would qualify. However, they approach Jesus, though respectfully keeping their distance, and how do they name Jesus? They call Jesus, Master. Master... as slaves would call their owners... master. And so it is that we are reminded of the previous parable. But lest we think of them as passive and content with their lot, listen to the passion of their plea "HAVE MERCY ON US!" They were weary of their existence; they wanted change.

Does Jesus come over and touch them? Do they experience dramatic, on the spot, healing and reintegration? Is their plea met with instant satisfaction? They ask for mercy and receive... a command. "Go and show yourselves to the priests." If they had been healed they would need to show themselves to the priests, this was what the law required if they wanted to be reintegrated into society. But they weren't healed. They asked for mercy and received a command.

And how do they respond to this command? Do they yell at Jesus in anger and resentment? Do they slouch away discouraged and dejected? No. They simply obey. The master commands and they obey. They may not see much point in their obedience, suspecting that they'd get to the priests and be sent away, rejected again, but... the master commanded, and they obeyed. Jesus said "Go" and they went.

And somewhere along their journey to the priests, a potentially long journey, a journey on which they surely continued to call out "UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!", they are made clean. They obeyed even before they had much to be grateful for and along the way they receive the gift of their hearts' desire, in the midst of their obedience they receive the grace that inspires gratitude.

Surely all 10 lepers were grateful. I can see them doing the gratitude dance all the way to the priests. I can hear them shouting praises to God as they continue on their way. But... by continuing to go to the priests they were continuing to be obedient- both to Jesus' command and to the demands of Jewish law. They were exercising a double obedience if you will.

But one of them, an outsider among outsiders, a Samaritan, saw that he was healed and his gratitude dance sent him twirling right around and heading back from whence he had just come. He had asked for mercy and he received a command, but when he got the mercy, he went back to say thank you. Perhaps because he was a samaritian, an outcast, someone who would not have been welcomed by the priest, he felt a stronger pull of gratitude. His obedience was extravagantly interrupted by gratitude- a gratitude that led him to shout praises to God and kiss the ground at Jesus' feet.

Jesus wants obedience; he made that quite clear in last week's reading. But this week's reading complicates that a bit for us, or deepens it a bit for us. Jesus seems disappointed that only one came back- the other nine were simply following his command and after last week we'd think he'd be grateful for that, but he certainly seems disappointed. "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"

It seems to me that while Jesus desires obedient disciples, he does not desire lifeless disciples. While Jesus wants us to follow the path he has traveled, while he wants us to live into his teachings more and more fully as time goes by, he doesn't want this to be a matter of simply going through motions, or of mindless drudgery. He knows that sometimes, even, our obedience might appear to be disobedience when we get spun about by gratitude. He wants our obedience to be infused with gratitude. He wants us to be joyful and lighthearted and able to turn on a dime and give thanks- a thanks that involves our whole selves- our voices, our bodies, our hearts, souls, and minds.

What he wants are disciples so committed to him, so in love with him, that thankfulness and obedience become intertwined. Where they compliment one another day in, day out. What he is offering is more than just cleansed bodies, he offers cleansed beings. Hearts, souls, spirits renewed through the faith in the faithful one! He seeks a relationship with us, as a people, and as individuals. A relationship with a master whose mercy is so great we call out for it even at a distance. A master whose mercy is so true that he gives it before we even begin to kneel at his feet. This is the God we worship! This is the God we know and love. Remember his words of healing and wholeness! Remember his words “Rise, my child, your faith has made you well.”

This thanksgiving, this obedience, this faith. They are all intertwined. Our lives should be full of them all in order to experience the life of a disciple of Christ.

We had a study of Ann Voskamp’s 1000 gifts last Spring. In it Ann speaks of the eucaristic life, a life lived in thanksgiving. Giving thanks to God in all situations, in all things, at all times. Living a life of thanksgiving leads to a life of faith and obedience that we cannot begin to describe.

These do not guarantee perfection. They do not guarantee a life lived without struggle. Instead they allow us to walk through the struggles of life understanding that we are not the ones in charge. Understanding that the great God we love and serve holds all of us in hands that love and care. It is sometimes hard to see. This week with the horrors of Haiti and the devastation of the South East Coast after Hurricane Matthew it might be hard to picture a provident, caring God. But that does not mean God cares any less for God’s creation. I see God at work in the amazing preparation efforts that saved countless lives with advanced warnings and evacuations. I see God’s mighty hand moving through the recovery efforts already beginning again, even in places like Haiti who feel all they have done for the past decade is recover. I see God in this small denomination called the CP church already beginning efforts to help their fellow children of God in Haiti by planning mission trips and providing funds to aid those in need.

And in seeing God’s actions I am moved. I hope I am moved to gratitude, but perhaps I am first moved to obedience; to follow the call Jesus issued to “love thy neighbor.” May we all be moved to obedience and gratitude, to living lives that are full of both so that we may live lives of the faith that makes us whole.

Storytellers: Acts 11:1-18

Once upon a time. In the beginning. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. If music be the food of love, play on. Call me Ishmael. A good hook, or opening line, is what every storyteller searches to craft. These opening lines of well known tales draw in an audience. They cause our ears to perk up and our interest to be peaked.  We cannot wait to hear what happens next.
In our sermon scripture for this morning we hear a great first line from Peter "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision." With those words Peter insures that his audience will listen. With those words he sets the stage for something different to arrive.
What follows is a beautiful story about his encounter with God through vision, prayer, people and the Holy Spirit. This story is so powerful, so convincing, that the leadership of Jerusalem experience a changed heart, just from hearing it!
Story is powerful. Story is life changing. Story is Gospel.
Think about that. What we have in the scriptures are stories. Stories so powerful they have passed the test of time. Stories crafted and handed down generation after generation. Stories that have changed the world one hearer at a time.
Peter's story is powerful and life changing. It is his story that he shares of his experience with God.
This experience has led to great discussions of theology, of justice, of worship planning, but it didn't start out as all of those things. It started out as his experience with God.
If Peter's story has had such an affect, what might our stories do? Now there is a frightening thought. We spend week after week listening to other ancient peoples stories, commenting on their message and success. But how often do we think about our own story?
We each have one you know. We each have had an experience that has changed the way we view God, the way we view ourselves, the way we view our neighbors. These encounters can become amazing witnesses for Christ if we share them as our stories of faith.
But something within us is scared to share them. Scared of judgement, of not being good enough, of being ridiculed. These fears keep God's story from spreading, they keep God's message from reaching new ears.
If Peter had let that fear stop him, his mission to the Gentiles would have ended with Cornelius and his family. We would not have the good news if fear of being reprimanded had kept him silent.
Right now I want you to think of an encounter you have had with God. Perhaps it was running out of fuel, but coasting to the station safely on fumes. Perhaps it was an angel among us story. Perhaps it happened on a hike, or in a hospital waiting room.
Now then, I'm going to ask you to do something really uncomfortable. I want you to turn to your neighbor and share this story right now. Go on, don't be shy, no one here is going to tell you you aren't doing it right.
How did that feel? What did you learn? Would you do it again?
Stories tell us about ourselves, about God and about our relationships to God and one another.
A good story makes us think, makes us reexamine our beliefs and search for truth.
I'd like to share a story with you about a time when I had my faith changed through an experience with God.
I have always believed that children have a special place in the family of faith. They are essential to the faith community. That being said, I'd usually limited the amount of participation I offered to children to Sunday School and the children's moment. Times when they were learning, or being cute.
Steve and I co-pastored a church in Knoxville when Zanna was very small. She often went with me on pastoral visits, and was the hit of any place she went, I might add. One afternoon when we were driving home from one such visit with an elderly man who would soon pass away, who kept saying "I'm okay, I've got Jesus in my heart" Zanna began asking questions.
-What did Mr. Fred say was in his heart Mommy?
-Jesus
How did Jesus get there Mommy?
Umm, Mr. Fred asked him to live in his heart honey.
Does Jesus live in your heart mommy?
Yes
Does Jesus live in Daddy's heart, mommy?
Yes, baby.
Jesus doesn't live on my heart. How can Jesus live in my heart mommy?
Long pause, well, you can ask him to come live in your heart Zanna. You can tell him you want to live your life for him and ask him to live within you.
Okay. (Long pause, whispers) Jesus, could you come into my heart please?
(Me, crying and trying to not drive off the mountain)
Listen mommy! Do you hear that?
Hear what baby?
He's singing!
Who's singing baby?
My Jesus, he's singing to me!
At that moment every belief I had about children's spirituality and relationship process flew out the window. In that moment I realized that children didn't have to wait until they knew the "right words" or prayers to become followers of Christ. I realized that claiming them as children of God is not for their benefit. It's for our benefit. God knows, they know, it's us grown ups that need the reminder.
Stories are powerful, they change lives, they change us.
So tell your stories this week. Share where you have encountered God! Share where God is shaking you up! Share the good news, in any form you dare!