Woe is Me!

February 17^th, 2019                      “Woe is Me!”                        Rev. Heather Jepsen

Luke 6:17-26 with Jeremiah 17:5-10

         This morning we return to Jesus’ teaching in the gospel of Luke and once again we find that these lessons are difficult for modern Americans.  When Jesus gathers the people on the plain to offer his sermon, he doesn’t pull any punches.  This is Luke, where scholars find what is often called God’s “preferential option for the poor”.  Or in plain language, God loves poor people more than you.  No one likes to hear those words, and yet that is one way to read what Luke has for us today.  Let’s dig deeper.

         Last week we read about Jesus calling the disciples Peter, James, and John from their lives as fisherman.  Since that time he has been healing, calling other disciples, arguing with the Pharisees, and praying.  Just prior to the section we read this morning, Jesus is on a mountaintop praying and he spends the whole night in prayer.  In the morning he decides to gather a special group to his side and so he chooses 12 of his best men and calls them his apostles.

         In our reading for today, Jesus and the 12 descend from the mountain down on to a level place.  This notion of a level place should perk up our ears as it indicates that Jesus stands among the people as one of them, rather than placing himself above them demonstrating his status.  Jesus, the apostles, and the people who follow are all on the same level field.

         There is a great crowd gathered composed of people from all over the area including the big city, the coastlands, and the small towns.  Everyone has come to seek Jesus’ teaching and some have come to be healed.  It sounds like a frenzy as the writer tells us that all were gathering around and trying to touch Jesus, as power would come out of him when he was touched.  Amazingly, it says Jesus healed all of them.

         Then Jesus looks to the twelve, to the disciples, and begins to teach, first with blessings, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.  Blessed are you when people hate you.” 

These are the beatitudes in Luke and I don’t think anyone hears these lessons without automatically translating them into Matthew’s beatitudes.  We love Matthew’s “Blessed are the poor in spirit” because we can all see ourselves as poor in spirit.  Unfortunately that is not what Luke says.  Luke says, “Blessed are the poor” period.  And he means the poor, those who are literally poor in this world, and very few, if any of us, fall into this category.

         Lest we find some way to number ourselves among the blessed in Luke, Jesus adds on a corresponding set of woes also not found in Matthew’s version.  “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your reward.  Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.  Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.  Woe to you when all speak well of you, for this is what they did to the false prophets.”  When I read this I cannot help but think of myself.  Rich, full, laughing, well-spoken of?  Check, check, check, and check.  The only proper conclusion to Jesus in Luke’s gospel is “woe is me!”  “Woe is me” for I fit all these categories, woe is me for my heart is far from the Lord. 

         The God that Jesus preaches in Luke’s gospel is not one that we like to preach.  This is certainly no Joel Osteen, “live your best life now” God who wants to bless you because you deserve it.  I want to wave my hand over this text and say in my best Star Wars impersonation “This is not the good news you are looking for.”  But I know in my heart that this is good news and it is news that we all need to hear.

         The beatitudes in Luke’s gospel go right to the heart of all the ways we try to defend our questionable behavior before the Lord.  We try to tell ourselves that we aren’t as rich as our neighbor and so therefore this isn’t about us.  We try to tell ourselves that our gluttony only comes at holiday time so this isn’t about us.  We try to tell ourselves that we really don’t care all that much about how many “likes” we have on Facebook or how many followers we have on Twitter so this isn’t really about us.  But this is about us and when we stand before the throne of Jesus in the gospel of Luke we all stand condemned.

         In his commentary in Feasting on the Word, David Ostendorff writes,

“These words cut to the core of our being and belief and assault deeply held notions of faith and faithfulness.  Are we not the bearers and teachers of the Word of God?  Indeed we are, and therein is our woe.  God does not take kindly to half-heartedness.  God does not bless us as we maintain the status quo, reaping the accolades of those who hear us and follow us.  God does not bless us as we bathe in respectability in the eyes of the world.  God does not bless us as we quietly maintain tradition and gloss over or ignore prophetic voices calling us back to God – in the church and in the world.  God does not bless us as we protect and build institutions and empires.  God does not bless us, well off, full, comfortable, hearty, and well-spoken of.”

The beatitudes in Luke’s gospel call us and our American lifestyle to account.  The God of Luke is the God of those who have nothing but God.  The challenge Luke throws down is that those who have the blessings of this world, perhaps do not even have God at all.  Woe is me and woe is us.

         The difficultly lies in the fact that the blessings of this world blind us to our need for God.  When we are rich and full, when we are popular and well loved, it is easy to think that we have earned these things ourselves and that these are the things that give us value as individuals.  It is easy to become drunk on the pleasures of this world and ignore our need for God.  By contrast, those who have nothing, those who are hungry and poor, broken and despised, they have nothing to hold on to but God.  Jesus in the gospel of Luke tells us that those ones are the truly blessed.

         Lest you think that Luke came up with this crazy idea on his own I would draw your attention to our reading from Jeremiah.  “Cursed are those who trust in mortals . . . their hearts turn away from the Lord.”  Jeremiah teaches that when we put our trust in other humans and in human institutions like wealth and privilege; we turn our hearts away from God.  Jeremiah uses nature as an illustration.  Those who trust in the ways of the world are like a sorry plant in the desert sands.  Those who trust in God are like a tree planted by a stream, their roots run deep and they can weather the storm.  When we are surrounded by the blessings of this life, we are like the bush in the desert, brittle and dry.  When we rely on God alone, when we know our true need for God, we are like the tree with deep roots.

         The truth is, when you look at the poor in America it is hard to see God’s blessing.  Our country has piled so much shame upon poverty that it is really hard to get around this way of thinking.  But when you look at the global poor, the truth of Luke’s beatitudes becomes starkly clear.  The first time I visited Malawi I was overwhelmed by the blessedness of the people who lived there.  Yes, they live in extreme poverty.  But by the same token, they live lives of the deepest abundance of faith.  They truly live Jesus’ teaching to worry only about what you need for today.  They truly live the prayer give us this day our daily bread.  They are so joyful and they are not always reaching and grasping for more.  Here we have so much and we never have enough.  There they have so little and they are satisfied. 

         When I first saw the way that people lived in Malawi, I began to imagine what my life would be like if I lived there instead of here in America.  And the truth is I was jealous.  How freeing it would be to shed all the trappings of work and culture, social media and the ever present race to get ahead.  To simply live in my hut, feed my family, and pass my time would be a much simpler and purer life.  Now I want to be cautious of romanticizing the poor, I don’t want to do that.  I know their struggles are real and that is why I work through the mission of this church to improve their lives through clean water, education, and health care.  But I do want to point out that our way of living is not better than theirs, and it is certainly not closer to God.  When I met the people of Malawi I said to myself, “blessed are they and woe is me.”

         When we read the beatitudes in Luke’s gospel we are forced to notice our own state of woefulness.  We are forced to look at all the things we surround ourselves with that have separated us from God.  We are forced to admit that we are not blessed after all.  Rather, we are called to humble ourselves before our Lord. 

         In the gospel of Luke we read that God is especially the God of the poor.  We read that the realm of God is for those who have nothing but God.  We too, can be part of that realm, but only after we recognize our own woefulness, only after we humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness, only after we strip ourselves of all the things that distract us from the kingdom of God.

         This week I challenge you to take stock of your world.  In what ways are you rich, well fed, and well thought of?  How have you put your trust in these things instead of God?  How have you allowed yourself to become distracted by the pleasures and powers of our world?  This week I challenge you to join me in the cry of “woe is me.”  Let us humble ourselves before our God, seeking forgiveness.  And let us open our eyes to the fact that without God we have nothing, without God we are nothing.  Amen.

        

Fishing with Jesus

February 10^th, 2019     “Fishing with Jesus”     Rev. Heather Jepsen

Luke 5:1-11

Imagine this . . . the camera pans out and we see a lake and a small fishing dock.  This is no major port or big city area; rather this is a small fishing group on a rural lake.  These guys have had a long night, and they haven’t caught anything.  They are sitting on the edge of the lake untangling and cleaning nets which the night before floated empty in the darkness.  Their frustration and fatigue are apparent in their downcast eyes.

In the meantime, the great teacher Jesus has left the metropolis of Capernaum and come out to speak with the country folk.  Word about him has spread and the crowd is so thick he can’t really teach them anything because everyone is standing too close and blocking everyone else out.  So, Jesus decides to get into a boat and pull out on to the lake.

I can just see Simon, who we will later know as Peter, in this scene.  He’s crouched beside the lake, working through the twisted knots of his netting.  He looks up to see a crowd but he is unaware of what is going on.  And all of a sudden, some guy is getting into his boat, some stranger, someone he doesn’t even know.  I imagine Simon might be a little annoyed, not only has he had a long fruitless night of fishing but now some guy is in his boat.  Simon sighs, and goes over to Jesus who asks to be put out into the lake.

“Sigh . . . OK” He gathers in his supplies because he doesn’t want to leave them on shore with the crowd and he heads into the lake with this mystery man in his boat.  Jesus sits down to teach and Simon is so tired that he only half listens while he sits and busies himself untangling his nets from the night before.  He gets the gist of some of the message but really, he is not paying attention.  Part of him is thinking about what a waste of time this whole night and now day have been.

Suddenly Jesus turns and is speaking to him directly, “Put out into deep water and let your nets down for a catch.”  I can just read Simon’s mind here “You have got to be kidding me; I just got these nets cleaned and untangled.”  But sensing that this is not a time to say no Simon responds with respect, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.  Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”  He is thinking that this can’t be happening.  He just got the nets untangled and he knows there are no fish out there; he has been out all night.  Plus, who wants to pull into the deep water?  Everyone knows that that place is unsafe; anything can happen in the deep.  No sailor would deliberately set a course for those treacherous waters.

Simon sighs, and maneuvers the boat out toward the deep.  His heart races, as he hasn’t been in deep waters in ages and the last time he was out there he nearly drowned.  Simon drops the nets back into the water, trying not to think about where he is.  Suddenly the boat lurches to the side, and Simon is filled with fear.  That’s it; the great deep has now come for them all.  As he looks over the edge of the boat in fear, he realizes that he is not being pulled into the depths after all, rather the nets are so full of fish that they are pulling down the boat.  “You’ve got to be kidding me” Simon says.  He signals the Zebedee boys on the shore and out they come to help.  It’s the biggest catch ever, so big the nets are breaking and the boats are taking on water.  No fisherman ever has seen a catch this large and Simon can’t believe that this is happening. 

And suddenly he turns and he looks at Jesus, actually looks at him.  He forgets all about his long night and tangled nets, he forgets all about the fact that he is out in the deep, he forgets all about himself and stands there in the boat and really looks at Jesus.  And he sees him, he sees Jesus the Christ, and he thinks not only of how rude and unbelieving he has been that morning but what kind of man he has been his whole life.  And he falls on his knees in humbled awe.  “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 

This is where Christ meets us.  He meets us in the midst of our everyday lives.  Jesus does not come to the temple to call his disciples, not to the top of a high holy mountain.  Jesus comes to the country, the backwoods, the simple lake folk.  Jesus comes to the teacher, the homemaker, the fisherman, the farmer.  Jesus comes to us where we are in the midst of our everyday lives.  Jesus comes to us in these little places, at home and on the road, at our jobs and in the grocery store.  Jesus comes to us when we are busying ourselves with our daily tasks and we aren’t even thinking about him at all.  God’s kingdom reaches into human life and God’s call is unpredictable and unmerited.       

Jesus promises to be with us in all the places of our lives, if we will just give them over to him.  Jesus comes to us when we are weak and we are tired.  He comes to us when we say “We have worked all night long and nothing.”  He comes to us when we are beaten and downcast, when we are distracted and woeful, when we are at our point of failure and vulnerability.  Jesus comes to us when we have finally let our guard down.  God’s call comes when we least expect it, when we are in deep water, when we are in over our heads.

At these moments, at the low point in our everyday hum drum, God comes to us and asks us to do some little thing that makes no sense.  God asks us to let our nets down in the deep water, to make that phone call, to join that church committee, to visit that neighbor.  God asks us to trust and reach, to stretch and try, to move beyond our comfort zone into deep places that make us nervous.  God asks us to do some little thing that is a bit out of the ordinary for us, but for some reason we can’t seem to say no.  We respond and suddenly we are face to face with Jesus Christ, with the kingdom of God, and with who we really are.  When we leave our comfort zone, we see our God and we cry out “I can’t do this, go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful person!”

Jesus turns to Simon and says “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”  From now on you will be fishers of men.  From now on you will be building the kingdom of God.  Simon and the Zebedee brothers bring the boats into shore hauling the greatest catch ever recorded and they do a totally insane thing.  They walk away from it.  They leave behind their boats, their nets, and their piles and piles of fish.  They leave behind their whole lives and follow Jesus.  Can you imagine that?  It is like having your stock go up higher than any stock ever has and then just leaving it, it’s like the best wheat crop ever harvested that is left to rot in a barn, it is like winning the lottery and leaving the million-dollar check on the counter.  They left everything and followed him.  This is the nature of God’s call.  Simon and the Zebedee brothers left behind their boats, their workers, and a miracle catch to follow someone they can’t comprehend on a mission they don’t understand.

God calls us in the midst of our everyday boredom and God makes us into new people.  God calls us where we are today and tomorrow, we become fishers of men, or whatever we are.  You see, Simon and James and John were fishermen, so fishers of men made sense for them.  Maybe we will be something else.  God will meet us in our everyday space and use our everyday skills for the work of God’s kingdom.  Do what you know how to do, and God will work through you.  Can you teach?  Teach.  Can you lead?  Lead.  Can you organize things and work the numbers?  Do it for God.  Music talent?  Share it in worship.  Whatever your thing is, and it might not be fishing, do it for God.

Often our encounter with faith enables us to do things we can’t imagine, impossible things, unthinkable things, like leaving behind our miracle catch to follow the Lord.  And I think that is why God tells not to be afraid.  Because we are about to enter into something we could never even imagine.  Because we are about to do things, we have never even dreamed of doing.

Like Peter and the Zebedee brothers we don’t know where following this call of discipleship will lead.  God doesn’t offer us a vision of the end goal, but God does promise to be with us on our journey.  Today we celebrate at the communion table and this place is a reminder of God’s presence with us.  God is here and offers us comfort and nourishment for the road.  When we gather together at the table we gather with God.  Through the faith of the community, we are each individually lifted up and offered courage and hope for the journey ahead.  No one can be a disciple alone.  When we see the abundant riches of God’s blessing, we call our friends to help us haul in the nets.  Discipleship is an act of community.

When we read the story of Peter and the Zebedee brothers in Luke’s gospel, we realize that God can and will meet us when we least expect it.  When we are tired and weak, God will challenge us to do more.  God will call us out of our comfort zones and out into the deep water.  God will be with us, helping us to find meaning and live into God’s purposes.  And God will transform our gifts into gifts that can be used for the kingdom.  We will become fishers of men, or teachers of love, or singers of virtue, or organizers of the kingdom, or leaders of freedom.  We will become those we were always meant to be, and we will respond to God with awe and wonder.  Let us respond to this call of discipleship, let us push out into the deep waters of faith, and let us go there together.  Amen.

What is Love?

February 3^rd, 2019    “What is Love?”     Rev. Heather Jepsen

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 and Luke 4:21-30

         This morning’s readings are a continuation of where we left off last week.  Last week we read chapter 12 in Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth, where he compares the church to the body of Christ, reminding us that every member is of value.  We also looked at Jesus’ teaching at the Nazareth synagogue in Luke’s gospel, where he read about the Messiah from the scroll of Isaiah and claimed that those words were fulfilled in his presence.  Last week we realized that the Messiah in Luke asks a lot of us; to bring good news to the poor, freedom to the oppressed, and release to the captives.  This week we will look deeper into this call of the church by looking at love.

         So, what is love?  Our reading from Paul, 1 Corinthians 13 is most famous for its use at weddings.  Some will argue that this text has no place at weddings because it was not written for that but I would disagree.  Verses 4-7 detailing the things that love is or is not is a perfect text for weddings.  Kindness, patience, humbleness, flexibility, forgiveness, and truthfulness are wonderful things to work on in any relationship.  This is a beautiful scripture for a wedding, and a good reminder for all of us whose marriages are going on a few years now.

         But, of course, this wasn’t written for a wedding, it was written for a church and when we read it that way it begins to take on some new meanings.  Paul begins the chapter with arguments about greatness based on the practices of faith that would be honored within the church community.  To speak in tongues, to have prophetic powers, to understand the mysteries of God and have knowledge and faith, to practice abundant generosity, and to even suffer martyrdom were all practices that would be highly valued in the church community.  Just like today, people value good preachers, good teachers, those of deep faith, and those of great charisma.  Paul is arguing that all of these things, all of these traits that we lift up and honor in the church, are worthless without love.  We can know everything, do anything, be anyone for God, but if we don’t have love in our hearts it is all a wash.

         And then we have those verses that could apply to a wedding or to life in the church.  This is basically just good behavior.  “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.”  This would be a great life philosophy or mantra for anyone, it’s a good way to try to live.

         Then we have this section on how love never ends, and that is where things get harder to understand.  Paul tells us that the things the church lifts up and honors, the things the church relies and trusts in; these things will end.  Prophecy, will come to an end.  Tongues will cease.  Even knowledge, (knowledge?!?) will come to an end.    We’ve taken a sharp turn from the warm fuzzies of “love is” here!  This line of thought is threatening to the church.  Paul is telling us that the things the church values, the way we do things, the things we believe . . . all of this will change, all of this will come to an end.

         Paul compares this change to growing up.  When we were children it wasn’t that we didn’t have values or knowledge, it is just that those things changed as we got older.  What we valued changed and what we knew about the world changed as we grew up.  Paul talks about seeing in a mirror dimly, trying to get us to understand that we don’t really know what we are seeing or what the world is.  Paul’s point is that there will come a time when we fully know God, all the truth about God, but that time is not now.  Now we only know in part.  And so, as we continue to grow and learn and know more, then the things we valued before will come to an end, the knowledge we thought we had will come to an end.  Paul offers comfort to us, telling us that faith, hope, and love will withstand this period of growth, these are the things that will survive.  And of course, the thing that matters most, is love.

         So, when we read Paul, we might start to feel like we have an idea of what this love looks like, what it might ask of us, and where it might lead us.  But then we jump to Jesus in Luke’s gospel and things get hard again.  Last week we read the first half of this story, where Jesus reads from the scroll in his hometown of Nazareth, and claims to be the Messiah.  This week we get the hometown reaction and its not good.  In fact, the people are so upset that they try to kill Jesus.  What is going on here??

         This is one of those cool places in scripture that you can read in more than one way.  Jesus reads the scroll and sits down and makes his claim of Messiahship and the people say “Is not this Joseph’s son?”  We can understand that two ways.  First, they could be saying it sarcastically, like “this is only Joseph’s son, what a fool!” and then the rowdiness that ensues can easily be placed on the crowd’s shoulders for taking things in a negative direction.

         But you can read it another way as well, like “That’s Joseph’s son!  I know that guy!” like they are proud, and then when the rowdiness starts its Jesus who starts the fight.  We don’t want Jesus to start the fight so we like to read it the first way, but actually I think this second way is more accurate.  See the verse before “All spoke well of him and were amazed”?  That implies that they were into it and proud, not angry at the start for Jesus acting beyond his station.

         This of course makes the reading hard, because it puts the fight on Jesus.  He is the one who comes out swinging with the “Doctor cure yourself” statements and claiming they request miracles.  The people haven’t said any of this at all.  He then goes on to argue that he has nothing for them.  Just like Elijah and Elisha he has been sent to help the outsiders.  The people become upset, which is understandable.  Here Jesus is, back in his hometown, and not only does he claim to be the Messiah, he claims the Messiah has nothing for them.  The people become an enraged mob and seek the kill Jesus by throwing him off a cliff, but he escapes.

         So, where is the love?  How is Jesus showing the love of God, this patient and kind love, in this reading from Luke? Well, it is certainly hard to find!  I am thinking, that just like our reading from the gospel of John a few weeks ago, Jesus has come to change the structure of the religious order.  That is really what he is challenging when he claims to be the Messiah, and claims that the Messiah will be bigger than just the Jews or just Nazareth.  While Jesus is being provocative, he is also engaging in truth telling, which can be an act of love.

         Again, Paul reminds us that what we know, or maybe even what we think we know about God and the church will be challenged with love.  What we think we know is changed by Jesus Christ, and that change is threatening.  That’s why the people reacted so negatively.  Jesus is challenging their knowledge of the Messiah.  And as we continue to study Jesus, he will challenge our knowledge of what the Messiah is as well.

         So, what is love?  Of course, love is all the traits Paul describes; kindness, patience, forgiveness, humbleness; all the ways we seek to live lives of faith.  But love is also challenge and truth.  It is the way God always draws us further in, always opens our eyes a little more.  Love is the way our faith grows and changes over time, like a child growing into an adult.  Love is provocative, like when we find long held church beliefs like “women shouldn’t be preachers” are wrong.  And love is how we respond to these threatening changes, holding on to faith and hope as we are molded by our God into new creations.  Love can be a threat, as it moves us out of our comfort zones and into something new.  And love can ask a lot of us, as it calls on us to speak the truth about our world.

         May God be with us this day as we are led and as we follow in love.  May we have the strength to respond to new knowledge with flexibility, and may we have the courage to follow Jesus, even when he leads us into challenging places.  Amen.