Day 1298 - Lambs among Wolves

A Bible study given at Second Presbyterian Church, Chattanooga, TN June 29, 2016

Jesus has set his face on Jerusalem and ensure his followers are prepared for the demands that come when they choose to follow his way. Jesus continues to use his travel towards Jerusalem as his way of teaching his followers, sending a few of his disciples ahead of him to find arrangements to may stay and visit (Luke 9:51-62).

Today, we hear more of the teaching as Jesus prepares his followers for the work of proclamation that must follow after Jerusalem. And not as a surprise, that work often involves the life of the sojourner, both literally and figuratively. Let’s read Luke 10:1-11, (12-16),16-20 with the thought of the sojourner and the circumstance of being, “lambs in the midst of wolves.”

In last week’s passage, Jesus tells the first person who volunteers to follow him that they are joining him on the way of a sojourner. A sojourner is a day-traveler, or alien, far away from home in a foreign land depending upon willing people who share the grace of the Lord to host them for sustenance and shelter. The command or expectation of compassion towards the outsider and alien is deeply woven into the life of Israel, from Abraham, Genesis 12:1-3 to 23:4; Leviticus 19: 9-10, 33-34 and into the prophets. (These are quirt pertinent passages today to the language and judgments tossed about in the run up to the Presidential election. Furthermore, ask yourself, "Where is “home” for Jesus? "Jesus by his very humanity is the epitome of sojourner on earth.)

Here in our reading Jesus continues that theme. He tells them not only to travel as a sojourner, but warns them the journey will not be always one of ease. In this passage however, he amplifies what he said in Luke 9:51-62 that we read last week.

This passage, vv 11-16 is often misread as Jesus telling the disciples to condemn or judge those who do not welcome the good news. However, if you read this passage carefully you realize Jesus is telling his disciples the fate that awaits those who turn away at the moment when the Kingdom of God is near. Take a minute to read it. Jesus is explaining the judgment that he will make in due time (“…will you be exalted in Heaven? No you will be brought down…”). The disciples are simply to leave these people and move on seeking more receptive people as workers to bring in the harvest. 

Verse 16 merits repetition here:

¹⁶“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

As is often the case, Jesus is making strong allusion to the history of the Hebrews to drive home his point. Jesus demands we recall (or reread) the consolation that the Lord gave Samuel when the people ask for a king (1 Samuel 8:6-9). Recall the Lord told Samuel “do as the people ask because they are bringing a fate on them that they do not know and will regret.” The Lord did not tell Samuel to rain down fire and brimstone, or to judge Israel, the fate that awaited those who asked for a king rather than the Lord was judgment enough.)

Luke continues with the report of the disciples upon their return. The disciples are excited about their apparent newfound powers to force even demons to submit. It harkens to last week’s reading when the disciples wanted to rain fire upon the city that rejected Jesus.  We also recall that Luke in his gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles emphasizes repeatedly the power of the Holy Spirit is behind the acts of disciples and they do nothing of their own power:

I (Jesus) have given you authority and power over the enemy…do not rejoice that spirits submit to you, rejoice that your name is in heaven.”

Reflection:

The passage (vv 11-16) omitted by the committee who developed the common lectionary shows clearly that Jesus is the one who shall judge, not the disciples. (I find it very hard to read into this, or any of the teaching of Jesus an authorization for us to cast judgment upon another human being.) I suspect the committee omitted these verses because they wanted to point us to the reality that those who embark to proclaim the gospel often do it in a judgmental world that is not very receptive. We will observe resistance, hostility and rejection and may receive it our self.

The passage clearly tells the one who proclaims the good news to enter that world unarmed, and vulnerable – no food, no extra clothing, no place to sleep fundamentally a sojourner who depends upon the grace of people for hospitality.

The disciples come back amazed at the power they seem to have  acquired (are they ready to rain fire from heaven again?). They forget the very first thing Jesus told them, they are lambs among wolves (as they shall soon discover in Jerusalem).

Jesus reminds them (and us) that some people even when the Kingdom of God is brought near will seek to follow human reason and judgment, and reflexively deny any truth that contradicts their perceptions of comfort, value and sin in the physical world. They will seek to quiet any voice that challenges their sense of comfort and righteousness. They will work to undermine you, to denigrate you, to shut your voice. You will be a lamb among wolves.

So to what does the righteous person turn in such times when the world besets you as a wolf towards a lamb? Perhaps we wonder, “What protection is offered to the one who proclaims good news and grace of God?”

Jesus refocuses us on the answer in that last verses 19-20. Jesus pointedly reminds the disciples that people of faith do nothing of their own power. (Isn’t the ultimate heresy to claim to be a “self-made” man?) We are empowered by the Holy Spirit that assures us that the Kingdom of God is at hand.

That assurance comes in our realization that we are all sojourners dependent upon the grace of God. 

The Lord assures us that there is a home for the sojourner that cannot be denied to them by any human force. It is offered and defended by the greatest power this world has seen, it’s Lord, Master and Redeemer. 

It is also a home to which we cannot drag or intimidate anyone to embrace.

We may call our self  “American” or “Tennessean” or “Christian.” We may live in a very nice house but we are all God’s children, sojourners,  who have a divine promise there is a way home. The faithful have the charter to proclaim that good news of divine grace to the world, to all ears, whether those worlds fall on open and deaf ears. The challenge we face is not to judge or seek to unstop deaf ears, only God can do that. Our unceasing charge and obligation is to proclaim the good news and offer grace to the sojourner so that those who hear the call know they are welcomed by us to come with us. Don’t waste your time damning deaf ears and never fear the wolf.

Why? Because your name is written in Heaven.

Day 1291 - Why Did Jesus Come To Earth

A Bible Study at Second Presbyterian Church, June 23, 2016, Chattanooga, TN

This week Jesus makes an ominous comment about the fate awaiting him Jerusalem and reveals the true reason that he came to earth, to bring grace and reconciliation, not judgment, and how those who choose or are called to follow his path should focus their hearts on their true duty -fealty to the King.

We ought to keep in mind what has recently happened in Chapter 9. He has sent the disciples out on their first successful solo ministry, his compassion for the crowd as the 5,000 were fed, and James and John (and Peter) witnessed the Transfiguration where Moses and Elijah appear, and revealed to the disciples what fate awaited him.

The lectionary passage is often broken into two parts, verses 51-56, and verses 57-62. This particularly makes sense for preaching in our time when we expect to walk out the door by noon, as the passage covers a lot of ground. However, verses 57-62 represent an important and crucial digression that emphasizes to every would-be followers the power of gift of grace described in verses 51-56.

This passage in Luke has many important facets. Luke chooses to make this moment the formal beginning of the journey of Jesus to Jerusalem. Notice the ominous sound of verse 51: ^”When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” This sentence “sets the stage” for the next chapters wherein the Christological and theological message of the gospel is revealed. One could say these verses begin to give practical answer to the question, “Why did Jesus come to earth?” (Although Jesus provided the answer already in Luke 4: 14-20.)

It is also notable to scholars that Luke’s account does not coincide with Matthew’s (or Mark and John’s). Luke has Jesus going first to Samaria, a land of Gentiles and Jews who practiced an aberrant form of Judaism. Matthew has Jesus going to Perea, east of the Jordan and on to Bethany. We can leave it that Luke’s understanding of Palestinian geography was not the greatest without loosing the message of the text.

We also should recall first independent mission to the people (Mission of the Twelve) and the directive to eschew judgment of those they meet. If they are not well received, “Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

When the disciples are sent by Jesus  to this Samaritan town, they are not well received because Jesus is going on the Jerusalem. James and John ask, still feeling their oats as the “in crowd” after the Transfiguration, if they should invoke judgment on the unbelievers as enemies of God and rain fire down on them as Elijah did in 2 Kings 1:10-12. Remember, James and John have just witnesses Elijah in the Transfiguration.

Jesus rebukes, not the Samaritans but James and John, telling them to do as he commanded before, do not judge but go on to the next village until you find good reception.

Jesus then perhaps thinking of his overly ambitious disciples, seizes the moment to deal with three events concerning would-be followers of him. A person comes to Jesus with open arms desiring to follow Jesus anywhere but Jesus warns him he is facing the life of a sojourner with no comforts of home. (Remember, "Are you read to drink from my cup?")

A second person is called by Jesus to follow but the follower says he has religious obligations to attend to first, namely to go home first to bury his father. Then a third willing person comes and states he wants to follow Jesus but first must return home to say farewell to friends and family.

These are three powerful stories that on their face defy conventional wisdom and religious practice. You may think they impose an outrageous demand in our modern lives with all the chaos we see in the world, even here in Chattanooga and Orlando.

Reflection: Think about what we have just read. What is the link between these stories and Jesus interaction with the Samaritans and James and John? Do these demands apply to us living in this modern, complicated society?

The Apostle Paul would say the first part of the passage shows profoundly that Jesus eschews (avoids or disdains) judgment, the age of judgment is over and the age of reconciliation is at hand. Does he judge the Samaritans? No. Do his disciples judge the Samaritan town? Yes.

They, the disciples, recall Elijah and desire to rain fire and destruction of those who deny or reject Jesus. Jesus simply rebukes them by his action and word, do not judgment but leave them alone and let them find their own way to salvation if they reject me. You have work to do. The action of Jesus loudly proclaims, “There is no judgment of them from me because I came to earth as the final act of abolishing Judgment through the reconciliation of humanity and God.

So Jesus sets the playing field for his disciples in the first part (vv51-56). They are not to judge people but to offer love and a way home. Leave Judgment to Divine authority.

But there is more to this profoundly unbounded act of compassion for humanity in rejecting judgment. What remains is the willingness of those who are reconciled to commit to living the non-judgmental way Jesus lives, to put others and commitment to divine calling first. That first and foremost puts the onus on the follower to live as Jesus does, to disdain judgment and embrace the good new of reconciliation.

Verses 57-62 describe a demand of absolute commitment of a follower to the “way.” It is a commitment will place demands upon you that you do not yet understand. You may sleep as a sojourner with no place to lay your head save the ground.

When Jesus calls you, if you say some religious obligation, even one as serious as burying a parent demands delay, you are not ready, or are lost already.

Verses 51-56 surely tell us that if you are prepared to judge and condemn persons who are not followers, you are not ready to be a follower yourself.

The remaining verses 57- 60 tell us that when we say that we are ready to follow but need to go back and say goodbye to old friends and family, we are not ready.

These are two hard demands and predictions of the future of a Christian. You may be set against family, or church, or even your own common sense way of doing things. Until you can make that break you may not truly know whom your family is.

Finally Jesus gives us the third take on the demand of discipleship, the obligation to locate the Heart where Jesus does - home.

Verses 60-62 have a strong parallel to the calling of Elisha by Elijah (1 Kings 19:19). Anyone who has plowed a field knows if you look behind you will never plow a straight furrow. Everyone should know that if you put the demands of human comfort and accommodation first, you are putting your obligation to the Lord second.

So the link between these two stories may be the answer to the question, “Why did Jesus Come To Earth?”

Jesus came to earth as an act of divine reconciliation that erases judgment, or as Paul says of Abraham, to reckon us righteous as if our sin does not exist. To be reckoned righteous carries an implicit obligation of thanksgiving for the Hesed, or profound loving kindness of the Lord, that requires us to put fealty to the Lord first. That means put fealty before your political judgments whether liberal or conservative, your judgments over gun control, your judgments over whether we should offer the sojourner a place at our table or bar the door to them. It means all these things that deal with personal prerogative take second seat to the duty of the follower, as I have said before, to do one’s best to love the Lord will all one’s heart, and to love your neighbor the way the Lord loves you.

Day 1287 - Be Careful What You Ask For

A reflection for the Bible Study at Second Presbyterian Church, Chattanooga, TN, June 16, 2016

Reading passage:  2 Samuel 11:26-12:18a

Many of us have an idealistic or at least respectful view of the kings of Judah, and since Solomon, Israel. We tend to see Saul, the first king, and the later kings of Judah and Israel during the subjugation by Assyria and Babylon (for example, Rheobam, Hezekiah, Zedehiah) as derelict exceptions to an otherwise respectfully religious lineage inaugurated by David and Solomon.

Our New Testament gospels encourage this thought since they indirectly refer to Jesus, the Son of God, perhaps to emphasize his humanity, as coming from the lineage of David by Joseph’s genealogical connection to the royal line. Perhaps by the end of this lesson we may see something important in this confusing assignation as we appreciate a truer picture of weaknesses of human kings.

1 Samuel explains clearly that the people of Israel demanded kings at the end of the time of Judges. They asked for a king ignoring their Divine King. I encourage you to explore the passage in the previous link and its surrounding verses; however, here it is for those who chose otherwise:

1Samuel 8 ⁴Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, ⁵and said to him, “You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.” ⁶But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the LORD, ⁷and the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. ⁸Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. ⁹Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

¹⁰So Samuel reported all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; ¹²and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. ¹³He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. ¹⁵He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. ¹⁶He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. ¹⁷He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. ¹⁸And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

Having read this, you are quite challenged to find anything noble in the call for a human king. The call for a human king was (is) a rejection of the Divine Lordship, and the one, including religious leaders, who accepts the heavy mantle of such royalty surely bears a substitute Divine responsibility. Yet kings are human burdened by irresistible human foibles that we all face. Those foibles, royal error and dereliction of theological duty, began not so much with the first king, Saul, as it did with David and Solomon, and continued to the end of the two kingdoms as the Lord said it would.

Our passage today and its companion history in Kings captures the character of this call by the Hebrews for this human royalty. It exacted exquisite spiritual pain for ruler and subject. It describes a heritage of adultery, treachery, murder of father and son, and anyone who gets in the way, and flagrant disregard for the responsibility to rule according to Divine expectations:

David sent his troops into battle, defying the expectation that the king lead his army. He remained behind, lounging in his palace and acting the peeping tom, he espied his general Uriah’s wife bathing and seduced her, leaving her pregnant. David recalled Uriah, hoping he would sleep with his wife to remove the stigma of illicit pregnancy, but adhering to the principles of Jewish battle, Uriah refused professing loyalty to David and Judah. Finally, in exasperation, Davis sent Uriah back with a letter to the leader of the army to place Uriah at the head of the battle charge where he was slain along with many Hebrew soldiers. The Lord was angered and sent a prophet Nathan to David with a  tale of treachery:

^12:1and the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. ²The rich man had very many flocks and herds; ³but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. ⁴Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” ⁵Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die;  ⁶he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

⁷Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; ⁸I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. ⁹Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. ¹⁰Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. ¹¹Thus says the LORD: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun. ¹²For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.” ¹³David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan said to David, “Now the LORD has put away your sin; you shall not die. ¹⁴Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child that is born to you shall die.” ¹⁵Then Nathan went to his house.

The LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it became very ill. ¹⁶David therefore pleaded with God for the child; David fasted, and went in and lay all night on the ground. (…on the seventh day the child died.)

Reflection:

As some commentaries do, you ought to call this scheme callous and exceedingly despicable. King David, the one that our childhood Sunday School lessons glorified, was charged to protect the rights of the people and to defend Divine justice. However, not only does he murder his loyal servant, Uriah (who name in Hebrew means “The Lord is my Light”), he precipitates the death of many Hebrew soldiers while he remains at home lounging and sleeping with Uriah’s wife rather than leading the charge in battle. In these acts he disgraces everything he is anointed to defend. Does it sound familiar?

This passage describes the true nature of evil. It is a blindness inspired by power even in those who are anointed to serve the Lord as king. Why did David have Uriah killed? To defend his own honor? To wed Bathsheba at the expense of the Law given by the Lord? It is hard to keep night time visits and plots to kill secret in a royal court. How could David think his acts would remain hidden not only from the people but from the Lord?

Scholarly interpretations of this passage about Uriah, and the prophet Nathan’s confrontation with David seem to ignore the fact that 1 Samuel and particularly this story in 2 Samuel capture the heart of human governance and the realities of power that point forward to the climax of Divine Royal history of Judaism, if not our modern governmental crises.

This story at its core tells us that human kingship and leadership came into existence as a rejection of God by His people. Second it reveals in detail the negative consequences of human leadership, not only a few thousand years ago, but also today.

The current hypercritical atmosphere of commentary by our own emerging Presidential candidates (especially one in particular) fan fear and hatred. Such commentary cries out for examination in the lens of this sad and corruptible behavior of King David who many people still hold in high esteem.

Many of us choose to ignore the reason that Israel had human kings. We claim that we are not Jews and we live in a democracy. However, one can also persuasively argue that regardless of being a Jew or not, the passage explains the consequences and failure that befall every nation and religious leader who chooses to be led by human rather than Divine wisdom, and abandon their calling:  Loss of freedom, wealth, liberty and perhaps even of God.

Rejection of the Divine is not a pretty picture. We read that kings will draft your children to die in wars the king initiates, you and your children will be forced to reap his crops, make the king’s war machine, staff the king’s army, and pay taxes to the king. The king will take your daughters for harlots, bakers and cooks. The king will take the best of your possessions and land, giving them to the members of the King’s court. You will be his slaves.

But “No!,” you say, "We live in a democracy where none of this can happen!"

I suggest you examine the sad state of affairs of our elected leaders and particularly the commentary by those who aspire to “leadership” in the upcoming November election.

Think about the fact that our children born in the 1980’s have known nothing but continual war and growing terrorism inspired by our wars. Legislators and governors enter into sweetheart deals to rob the public trust. Some of them seduce your children and spouses.

But “No!,” you say. It was the Hebrews who said they need a king. All those warnings are lost on us. We’ll go with the luck of the draw.

It is not exactly clear even today that the Israelites, or us, understand the Lord’s admonishment about kings, neither vicariously nor by personal experience. Royal King David had the responsibility to protect the people and the Law, yet chose to sacrifice the people and act as though the Law was of no consideration. To rely on our own strength, or that of another human is folly of the worst sort.

The frightening thing today is we seldom use the opportunity to look into the heart of the candidates before we go into the voting booth. This passage should give us pause to look carefully at our candidates and determine who is most fully seduced by a sense of power and disregard for human and divine interests before we pull the lever in the voting booth.

You are forewarned.

Now, as solace, think about the crowning insight of this episode on the abuse of power as an insight into the loving kindness of the Lord that I suggest presages the Kingdom of God. The murdered general, The Lord is my Light, is a sobering reminder. David who exercised and loved human power, much as the Romans did killed The Lord is my Light.

That the Lord’s hesed, or loving kindness, overcame theological dereliction is the primary comfort for us. The Law demands death or other extremely harsh penalty for adultery and flagrant spiritual corruption. Nathan masterfully led David to admit his sins, acknowledge the right of judgment, and fear death, “I have sinned against the LORD!” Because of the Lord’s loving kindness, Nathan can assure David that the LORD has put away his sin; “You shall not die.”

“You shall not die.”

Even a dishonest adulterer who was also a schemer and murderer who shirked his royal and divinely ordained duties can find grace from the Lord.

This brings us to the last and most important point. Jesus said he came to fulfill the Law citing the two greatest commandments. His claim to descend from David perhaps is the literary claim to a special Kingdom of God. Jesus came as the Son of God, not son of Joseph, with a message of reconciliation and grace that bestows a reckoning of innocence to all who sin, even reckless, would-be leaders.

In this way, Jesus is the culmination of not only of Samuel’s story but of human history. The people of Israel, and us all, got what we first rejected, a Divine King.

That King is Lord of All, who can heal and defend everyone who asks from the corruption of the forces of the world that contend with the Kingdom of God, even human despots.