Advent 1 Hope

Psalm 122, Matthew 24:36-44

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

I wonder when you leapt out of bed this morning the first thing that came into your mind was something like

“I was so happy and joyous because I was coming to church today.”

Or, maybe,

“Oh, yeah baby, there is nothing that I would be gladder to do that pop off to spend an hour in worship this morning.”

If you were thinking like this then maybe, you are reflecting something of the words of Psalm 122.

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

Or maybe at last week’s congregation meeting you took to heart that the strategic priority of Growing our Worship means that, “Worship is entered into with joy and expectation.”

To me joy does not always mean happiness or fun but can include the challenging times when we are called to rejoice in the Lord always even if things are tough.

That being by the by, I wonder what hopes you carried with you this morning as you came into worship.

Were they positive faith filled hopes?

I hope God speaks to me on this day.

·       I hope that I will see all my friends at church.

·       I hope we have some new people join us for the service.

·       I hope that I am challenged to grow in my faith.

·       I hope that I can sense God’s Spirit in worship today.

Or were they more pragmatic mundane, even negative, hopes?

I hope the service finishes on time.

·      I hope that the service is interesting, maybe even entertaining.

·       I hope that don’t have to sing any modern songs.

·       I hope that we don’t sing any old hymns.

·       I hope that no one sits in my seat.

Whether our hopes about coming to church this morning were in a more positive or a more negative mindset the simple fact that you have given this time to worship God and engage is a sign of the hope that you have that growing as a lifelong disciple of Christ is worthwhile. But our hope in Christ has an edge to it as well.

The reading from Matthew’s gospel is a style of ancient writing that we now call apocalyptic literature. It carries exaggerated images of the dire consequences that will occur on the day of the Lord. This difficult passage should be read through the lens of ancient eyes and heard as a warning to stay in our relationship with God and the mystery and hiddenness of his coming.

The warning that Jesus issues “Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” This warning is all about rectitude. Doing the right thing whether you think anyone is watching or not. But what is the right thing?

The right thing is to begin with the understanding that it is in and through Jesus that the consequences of those who sleep and the joy of these who stay awake collide and coalesce in his person. He is the risen crucified one who lights our way before us. Earlier in his ministry Jesus claimed that he had been chosen to fulfil Isaiah’s words for “the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light” (Matt 4:16).” We look to Jesus as the one who breaks into our reality as the light of at the world. He is the light who shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. This is the one that we have met, that is present with us now and for whom we wait for in Advent with hope.

In his book What Can Love Hope For? Bill Loader reflects on how the hopes of the early Christians, and the people of Jesus time were different to ours. Hope was tangible for Jesus audience. It was hope for healing. It was hope for sustenance – for food. It was hope for peace. It was hope for inclusion in community. But this was not a privatised and individualised hope but a much larger and more encompassing vision.

In our culture of abundance, where most of us rarely think about the risk of whether we will be able to afford the next meal the red bags that we have gathered are a stark reminder that there are so many others that do not have an equal share in the abundance that we celebrate. In his book Loader reminds us of the strength of the Biblical image of the great feats of end times. A fest which is not only about food but bringing people in harmony and celebration, involving the inclusion of all – not just those who have the privilege of wealth in this life.

Hope for a radical change in the world, in the redistribution of wealth, of altered economic and governance systems, of inclusion and community for all people. Paul later writes that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.” Our anticipation and expectation in Advent in in our faith is not simple a self-centred and personal hope but a hope for the fulfilment of the promise that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself.”

I wondrous hopeful vision that encompasses all peoples. This is what we come to celebrate in worship; this is what we come to hope for. If this is what shapes us and draws us here it is little wonder that we might say

I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

Or, oh yeah baby it’s worship time! 

But as we stay awake and we wait we who have already encountered our risen Lord are also driven to contemplate what it means that God is “entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.”

A message of hope not just for us but for others as well.  I hope that drives us out from worship to be peacemakers and agents of hope in the world living not for our own sake but for others. Or as Psalm 122 says,

“For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.”

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.”

 

Praise as Participation in Philanthropy

Psalm 66, Luke 17:11-19

“One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.”

The story that we just heard from Luke gives to us a vision of what it means to show gratitude to God for something that is done. Whilst it is unclear what aspect of his faith has made him well there are two things that stand out for us from this story. One is to say that the person who returned was a foreigner, not a part of the Jewish people. And the other is to say that all ten were healed but only the one came back to give thanks.

The importance of gratitude as an aspect of our faith is something that links well with the Psalm that we used at the beginning of our service.

“Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise.” (Psalm 66:1)

There is a universal claim made in the first verse of Psalm 66 that points to the whole creation participating in the praise of God. This universal claim is also paralleled by the entirely person claim made in the last verse of the Psalm.

"Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me.” (Psalm 66:20)

There is an overlap between gratitude and praise found in the two Bible readings, however there are subtle and important differences. 

I have given the sermon the title Praise as Participation in Philanthropy to offer a signal to the direction I am heading with this reflection. But to get there I want to unpack the notion of gratitude a little bit more, including offering a critique about our approach to being grateful. I will then move us into the notion of praise and how it connects then to philanthropy.

The importance of gratitude within our culture and its positive effect on us is something that I learned as a teacher over 35 years ago and also reflected on as a chaplain within a school over the last decade. When I first began teaching, I was given responsibility for running what was called Human Relationship Education which has a clear understanding of the importance of people having a positive self-image and the place of gratitude for self and others. 

I can remember a particular activity where we practised gratitude by inviting a student to the front to classroom and each other member of the class was invited to share something positive about that person. The person’s response were simply the words “Thank you”. It is an activity that maybe carried a little bit too much vulnerability and it did not always work well but it highlighted the need to help people develop a capacity to express positive regard for another person and for people to accept praise with gratitude in a reasonable way. 

This morning, we began the service with a similar activity of expressing gratitude to God for our spiritual journey, the creation, our community, and our growth and learning. In pushing you to think of giving thanks for different aspects of our journey in life we were drawn into contemplating what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.” 1 Thess 5:16-19

The constant invitation to gratitude within the scriptures links to not simply living faithfully in the world but to our flourishing and wellbeing as human beings.  

The work that has been done in developing Positive Psychology and the contemporary interest and focus on wellbeing affirm how important expressing gratitude is as part of our human existence. 

For example, in the model of wellbeing developed by Martin Seligman which is known by the acronym PERMA the P stands for “Positive Emotion”. In its definition of this concept the Positive Psychology Centre says:

“Within limits, we can increase our positive emotion about the past (e.g., by cultivating gratitude and forgiveness), our positive emotion about the present (e.g., by savouring physical pleasures and mindfulness) and our positive emotion about the future (e.g., by building hope and optimism).” (link)

Here is a deep and abiding connection between contemporary understandings within psychology and the church as a place that has at its core cultivating gratitude and forgiveness!

In addition to this, research in neuroscience has affirmed the directions of positive psychology and wellbeing and the emphasis that they give to practicing gratitude. In the online article “The Neuroscience of Gratitude & Its Effects on the Brain” Melissa Madeson shares some of her research. I will mention just a few insights:

“As researchers explore the neurological underpinnings of gratitude, they’re discovering that this simple practice can lead to profound positive changes in mood, resilience, and overall wellbeing.” (Russell & Fosha, 2008).

“Thanking others, thanking ourselves, Mother Nature, or a divine power — gratitude in any form can enlighten the mind and make us feel happier. It has a healing effect on us.” (Russell & Fosha, 2008).

“Research examining specific areas of the brain found that individuals who experience higher levels of gratitude had increased grey matter volume.” (Zahn et al., 2014). 

“Gratitude can change neural structures in the brain, making individuals feel happier and more content.” (Zahn et al., 2008).

Gratitude is good for us, the invitation and command in scripture is affirmed by contemporary research and scholarship. If we are to love our neighbour as ourselves, we do actually need to love ourselves as well!

However, when gratitude is just expressed to achieve personal wellbeing or gratitude expressed when it comes at the expense of another then we might question its communal benefit. Gratitude needs to be accompanied by a wider understanding of life in the world.

Taking us back to Psalm 66 there are a few difficult phrases for us to examine here in terms of why the Psalmist is expressing praise and gratitude to God.

“Because of your great power, 

your enemies cringe before you.”

“He turned the sea into dry land;

they passed through the river on foot.”

The first of these phrases implies that God has enemies, whilst the second of these phrases about the sea being into dry land might have two connections. Scholars do not seem to agree whether the Psalmist is referring to the flight of the Israelite people through the Red Sea from exile in Egypt or whether it may connect to the crossing of the Jordan by the Israelites when the entered the promised land. Both stories portray the violence of God against another people. Something that as followers of Jesus we should find disturbing.

In her commentary of this passage the Old Testament scholar Casey Thornburgh Sigmon is cautious about the promotion of any notion of what is called exceptionalism which is “the belief that a nation, group, or ideology is an exception to a usual rule or trend or is exceptional in relation to others of the same kind.” Sigmon is wary of any interpretation of the Christian faith that is associated with the idea of a Christian nation and it is helpful to be reminded that the concept of modern nation-state only developed after the treaty of Westphalia in 1648.

In contrast the cosmic action of God in Christ serves as a corrective to the violence of God which is portrayed in the Old Testament. Jesus commands his followers to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:27-28). The response of Jesus’ life to the violence of humanity is not to take up arms but to yield to the violence perpetrated on him by human beings at the cross. 

Giving thanks is good for us, we know this psychologically and spiritually, but our giving of thanks should be weighed up in the broader context of understanding God’s love for all things and all people –my wellbeing should not come at the cost of someone else’s wellbeing or at the most extreme their life.

This brings me to explore the difference between gratitude and praise and whilst there are overlaps there are differences. 

Put simply, praise, unlike gratitude, focuses not on what we have received but on who God is, God’s character and attributes. Whilst praise may include acknowledging what God has done God’s worthiness of being praised transcends our personal experience of God.

We praise God because God is worthy to be praised not because I got what I wanted from God or what I think God owed me. The universality of the praise of the creation is something that we are all drawn into simply because we exist. As Jesus reminds his disciples, “I tell you, if these stop speaking, the stones will cry out!” The praise of God is present in all things and all peoples, and it is present in each of us.  “Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me.”  

When we understand that our praise of God is not simply the articulation of our praise and blessing of God in the context of worship but has this universal scope, we are called to consider how we live a life of praise. 

Looking back to the establishment of the Festival of First Fruits in the book of Deuteronomy the people are instructed to offer the first fruits of their harvest and called to recite these words “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor” as reminder of their time as refugees who had no permanent home, who wandered the land. The first fruits of the harvest are then distributed in a very specific way 

“When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year (which is the year of the tithe), giving it to the Levites, the aliens, the orphans, and the widows, so that they may eat their fill within your towns.”

The praise of God in this liturgy and ritual involves “giving it to the Levites, the aliens, the orphans, and the widows.” When Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) The abundance is to be shared with all peoples. 

As an aside the Old Testament reading which was also set down for today came from the time of the Babylonian exile where the people were encouraged with these words. “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29: 7) Yet another echo of God’s concern for the welfare of all peoples.

This draws us to consider again the title of the sermon “Praise as Participation in Philanthropy”. The word philanthropy comes from two Greek words Philo’s (love) + anthropos (human) → “love of humanity.” When we express praise of God, I believe we are expressing our love for God. This love is expressed because we understand that God first loved us and this love of God that we have encountered and respond to by loving our neighbour. Our primary task according to Jesus, as he quotes from the Old Testament, is to love God and love our neighbour. To do both involve praise and showing gratitude.

Increase our faith

Luke 17:5–10 

“Increase our faith” is the cry of the apostles. Part of me wonders whether when Jesus heard it, it sounded a bit like kids in the backseat asking the question, “Are we there yet?” “Increase our faith” “Are we there yet?”

Our congregation vision is “Growing lifelong disciples of Christ” so the answer to are we there yet is “no, not yet” and the cry of disciples to “increase our faith” has a place on our own lips.

But as we think about the reading, I wonder what the apostles were actually asking for and why. And, what does increasing our faith look like for us now. 

When we dig into the Greek word for faith, pistis, we are looking at a verb not a noun. A verb which means hearing and obedience. Faith has an element of our intellectual and emotional assent to some kind of concept of who God is, but it primarily involves these actions of hearing and obedience.

In terms of hearing, the Aboriginal concept of dadirri, or deep listening, that comes to us from the Northern Territory provides an insight for us. We listen for God with our whole being – the inner voice, the silence after the storm, the words of wisdom within the scripture, and our learning and listening from those who carry wisdom in the world around us. 

There is a connection in this concept of dadirri to the theological methodology known as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral for developing understanding which involves deep listening to the scriptures, to the tradition of the church, to reason, and to our experience.

This listening element of faith has both a contemplative and active element, but it also leads us into obedience which is to act. Faith is faithfulness, it is about what we say and do as we live in the world. But faith does not sit alone as we seek its increase.

I went to Newington College in Sydney for my first two years of High School which had the motto. In fide scientiam ‘To your faith, add knowledge’. This motto was based on the words of 2 Peter 1:5–8 (NIV).

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.  2 Peter 1:5–8 NIV

Increasing faith means considering the layers of meaning that are connected to the word. 

At the time of the Reformation the slogan sola fide or by faith alone developed. Paradoxically by faith alone was one of five solas or “alones”.

Sola scriptura – by scripture (God’s Word) alone

Solus Christus – By Christ alone

Sola fide – by faith alone

Sola gratia – by grace alone

Sola Deo Gloria – to God’s glory alone

The cry to “increase our faith” is a cry that reverberates into all aspects of our journey with God. 

Tomáš Halík in his book The Afternoon of Christianity reminds us of this meaning of faith as journey when he writes, “Faith in Christ is a journey of trust and courage, of love and faithfulness; it is a movement toward the future that Christ inaugurated and to which he extends an invitation.” Tomáš Halík 3

We are invited into Christ’s future as we follow him in the present that we find ourselves no matter how young or old we are. And getting older is a gift which brings with it great possibilities in our faith. A key theme in this service is the recognition older persons.

In his book Halik references the work of the founder of analytical psychology Carl Jung, who compared the span of a human life to the hours of a single day.

The morning of our life is our childhood and transition into adulthood. It is “the time when people are developing the basic features of their personality … They create an image of themselves - an idea they want others to have of them, a mask … that is their ‘outer face’.”

According to Jung this morning is followed by “the noonday crisis. It is a time of fatigue, of sleepiness; people cease to enjoy all the things that used that used to satisfy them … It is a loss of energy and zest for life, a spiritual malaise, a dullness … A crisis can affect our health, our careers, a marital and family relationships, our faith and spiritual life.” Halik 28

Halik points out that “it is only when one has passed the test of the noonday crisis - for example, when one is able to accept and integrate what one did not want to know about oneself and did not want to admit it to oneself - that one is ready to embark on the journey of the afternoon life.” In acknowledging this possibility of moving on Jung also notes that some people fall back into the quest of the morning seeking identity in creating other masks after their noonday crisis. There is a difference between getting older and become wiser.

Moving beyond the self-centredness of the morning the afternoon of life provides new opportunities. Halik summarises it this way: “The afternoon life - mature age and old age - has a different and more important task than the morning life - a spiritual journey, a descent into the depths. The afternoon of life is Kairos, a time appropriate for the development of spiritual life, an opportunity to complete the lifelong process of maturing.” It is a time of crying “increase our faith Lord” with a new zest and new desire.

Halik reminds us that “God comes to us not only as an answer but also as a question. God comes in the desire to understand, a desire that transcends every partial answer and constantly revisits it with new questions, instigating a fresh search; God imparts a Pilgrim character to our existence.” Halik 28

But in response to the cry of the apostles Jesus’ answer is uncomfortable for we who live in the 21st century to hear and contemplate. So, we need to bring some wisdom of the afternoon of our faith to our considerations of what this means for us.

Jesus’ answer speaks of faith the size of mustard seeds enabling the apostles to tell mulberry trees to throw themselves in the ocean. In other words, the tiniest of faiths can make the hugest of differences. But then Jesus goes on to speak about slaves and their task. The slave does what they have to do not for any reward but because it is their role in life.

We should be careful of imposing first world societal understandings on our society or seeing these words of Jesus affirming slavery. However, Jesus’s listeners lived in a world of slaves, and many had slaves, and the slave knew their place. The shock for Jesus’s listeners of this story, and us comes at the end of the reading that we heard. 

“So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”

Jesus puts his apostles and anyone else listening into the role of slaves and basically says there is no reward and affirmation for simply living as you should. This is a stark contrast to the oft-quoted verse from Matthew 25, “Well done good and faithful servant”. No instead, “We are worthless slaves!” 

As I struggled with this passage, I was led to read Bill Loader’s comments about it. Loader emphasizes the idea that at the heart of what Jesus is saying is that it is not our actions, not our faith, that is determinative in our relationship with God. No, it is God’s love for us.

He says, “We are valued because of who we are. The more we become convinced of that, the less we need to play the other game and the less it will matter. Then, the less we are preoccupied with making ourselves deserving, the more value we can give to others, the more energy and time we have for others.” Bill Loader

“The less we are preoccupied with making ourselves deserving, the more value we can give to others.”  I wonder what this could mean for us as lifelong disciples of Christ on older person’s Sunday. How does this idea of increasing our faith as we bring it together with the wisdom of the afternoon of our lives?

The first thing is to say that we have already arrived at the fullness of faith and life with God in and through Christ. We will remember and celebrate this as we share in bread and wine today. But being set free from the need to justify ourselves we are set free to grow.

Before the service we asked to collect your age as you walked in. I did that deliberately because I wanted to find out this statistic. In this room are close to 6777 years of Christian experience. What do we do to share that experience and grow that experience?

At the end of each sermon, I invite you to contemplate what Is the one thing that is standing out for you from the sermon. However, I have also asked you to consider who you will share your insight with. The way that we grow in our faith is that we act up on in conversation and in good works. We listen deeply to each other with humility expecting the possibility that there is more for us to learn and know.

Just before I went away on my leave you were invited to consider the concept of belonging and how you connected to this congregation. By engaging in that process, I have been approached by at least two people in the congregation who wish to explore confirming their membership. 

These are some internal opportunities that we have. But I'm interested also in the people that lie just beyond these windows around us in the suburb of The Gap. Did you know that at the last census 732 people in just this suburb identified as being Uniting Church? If just one third of these people came to church, there would nearly 220 people here today. What might we need to learn from them about their faith and why they may be going to a different suburb for church or more than likely not at all? How can the 6777 years or Christian life in this room connect with these people?

This may be a challenge because the average age of the 82 people in church this morning our average age is 83! This means we are not reflective of the suburb around us. At the last census the median age for residents of The Gap was 42, with nearly 65% of households identifying as being a couple, or single parent, with children at home. I wonder how many of these families identify with the Uniting Church.

Beyond that, of the approximately 17 000 people who live in the suburb more than 50% do not identify with any religion. Every second person you walk past at the shop could be an opportunity to bring to bear the wisdom and fullness of life that you have from knowing Jesus and share with them why you come here as you listen and are curious about who they are and what they believe.

“Increase our faith”. October 1st was the International Day for the recognition of older persons. António Guterres, the Secretary-General UN in his reflection on this year’s theme said that “older persons are powerful agents of change”. 

As a community committed to Growing Lifelong disciples of Christ we are not there yet. We are committed to increasing our faith we are seeking constant renewal. We have a prayer group led by Glenda who is committed to just that purpose that you are welcome to join. If we take seriously the afternoon stage of our lives as an opportunity to grow spiritually then change is inevitable.  

Removing the Blind Fold

Luke 16:19-31

About 15 years ago, I developed a habit of meeting each month with a group of people from the congregation I was with at the time. The group changed month by month, but our task was always the same, to plan what we would probably call an intergenerational service. I distinctly recall on one occasion having a year 8 student as part of the group. As we discussed the readings, she made a comment about her understanding of the Christian faith which I think is problematic.

What she said was something like this, “Our life is a test about where we will go after we die.” This kind of understanding of Christianity removes the concept of grace and replaces it with a different story, the story of our good works as the mechanism for our salvation. When we hear or use the phrase, “well done good and faithful servant”, we can be easily drawn into thinking about our self-righteousness rather than thinking about the good news of God’s unconditional grace.

This little story is important because the Jesus’s parable that we shared from Luke's gospel could easily draw us into thinking that what Jesus is talking about is this idea of how we behave determining how our afterlife will be.

The oversimplification of this parable in this way ignores the broader context of the ongoing conversation that Jesus was having with the Pharisees and scribes that I outlined in last week’s sermon. His concern was how they were using their wealth and power then and there. 

Given this, I suspect Jesus’s words here are more about how people with wealth behave during their life and challenging them to change those behaviours. The mention of afterlife consequences may be a bit of hyperbole on Jesus’s part. At the heart of his debate is how we should live in this life. But getting people to shift their world view and change their behaviour is hard work because it involves admitting the possibility that maybe we are wrong.

Kathryn Schulz in her TED talk “Being wrong” highlights the reticence that people have, to admitting that they are wrong. Borrowing from the beginning of her talk, she asks, “How does it feel to be wrong?”  “How does it feel to be wrong?" She points out that the audience have answered a different question “How does it feel to know that you are wrong?" The answer to the question “How does it feel to be wrong?”  is that it feels like being right. To put it another way we don’t know what we don’t know.

So, how does all this relate to Jesus’s parable. In my suitcase I have a simple object. A piece of purple cloth. This simple piece of purple cloth may not mean much to any of you.  But 2000 years ago, when Jesus was telling his story, this purple cloth was hard to come by.  It was an extravagance. It was a display of wealth. It was a symbol of power.

We have different kinds of purple cloth in these days. Our wealth might be symbolised by the kind of car we drive, the size of our portfolio, or the size of our house. Our wealth might be demonstrated by our position on the corporate rung or the number of letters before, or after our name.  The purple cloth symbolises the privilege of education, power, authority and money. And any of these can act as much as a blindfold to the plight of others as the rich man in Jesus’s parable.

The purple cloth, the symbol of power and wealth, had become a blindfold for the rich man to the needs of others.  The access he had to be able to live a life of leisure meant that as he came and went from his home, he was blind to Lazarus, the suffering man at his door. 

In one of the commentaries that I read the commentator encouraged preachers to ask the question whether they or their congregations could name a person who was as poor as Lazarus by name. I found this an uncomfortable question. Whereas once I did know people living in boarding houses and classified as homeless by name this is not currently the case. Our suburban sprawl has added to our blindness as our wealth and social status means we tend to live in homogenous communities of like-minded people.

What Jesus parable does is tries to add a level of shock value for his opponents for whom the message about wealth simply does not seem to be getting through. In the parable, the rich man’s fate is not determined by anything other than his refusal to see and help the poor man. It is clear that the rich man knows him because he names him as Lazarus but even this personal knowledge had not led him towards generosity.

We can find numerous stories which involve tumultuous events changing a person’s perspective in life. Today we sung Amazing Grace and many of you would know the story of the writer John Newton who went from slave trader to priest to abolitionist in the late eighteenth century. There is an even recorded of Newton almost drowning in a shipwreck that is sometimes attributed as the most significant turning point. Newton influenced the young politician William Wilberforce who very much drove the abolitionist movement and influence his friend and prime minister William Pitt. The words of the hymn ring true now as they ever did “I once was blind but now I see” as we ask where our blind spots are.

Victo Hugo’s tale of Jean Valjean in Les Miserable provides another example of how significant events shift a person’s life trajectory. The story now immortalised in the musical has a significant moment when Valjean steals some silver after being hosted by a bishop. When captured by the police and brought back to the bishop for confirmation rather than condemn him the bishop says that he had given him the items and then adds the silver candlesticks. The moment is a turning point for Valjean who goes on to become both wealthy and kind to the point of self-sacrifice.

The story Jesus told, and these others remind us that the shift from the tyranny of our own ego and self-centredness often requires a sever jolt to occur. In Jesus parable, the rich man pleads with Abraham to go and let his five brothers know so that they might act generously in their lives and not bear any of the consequences that he is.

Abraham’s refusal to do so is resolute and as an outside observer this appears harsh. There are no ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas Present, and Christ Yet to Come as were afforded Ebenezer Scrouge, in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Abraham points to the teachings of the law and prophets of containing all that is necessary to understand that prioritising the poor is central to God’s will.

At the end of the parable Jesus makes this pointed comment to his audience, “‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” Whether this is Luke’s insertion or Jesus’s actual words anticipating his own death and resurrection the message remains for us that Jesus’s resurrection should be enough for us to think about what it means to live a good life and live well in the world.

As hearers of this story, we are not Jesus’s direct audience, but the story is asking us the same question about how we will live in this world with what we have. To make the story about good works as an entry into a better afterlife is to miss Jesus’s point. It is interesting that there is no piety on Lazarus’ part that has earned his place but rather the only reason given is that in his life Lazarus received evil things in life so is now being comforted.

The problem of the great chasm in the afterlife is similar to the purple blindfold. These are the gaps which appear to be unable to be crossed to create the change that is needed so that all people might live well in this life. The momentous events that change us can only work on us if we have the ability not simply know that we are wrong about something but also allow that realisation to work on us.

In her talk about being wrong Schulz reminds us that twelve hundred years before René Descartes penned his famous “I think, therefore I am,” the philosopher and theologian Augustine wrote “fallor ergo sum”: I err, therefore I am. In this formulation, the capacity to get things wrong is not only part of being alive, but in some sense proof of it. I think Jesus was saying to his audience and maybe us as well that we need a bit more humility to be able to see the world in a whole new light and to see and know others are as much part of God’s love as we are.

To return to where I began and the reflection of my Year 8 friend in the meeting, I don’t think life is a test for us about what happens after this life. And neither do I think that Jesus was making responding to the poor as the way to earn our way. The grace of God is a complex mystery that encompasses all, both rich and poor. Yet, as people who may have had an encounter with that grace we are invited to consider again and again how we live in the world.

Paul writing to Timothy

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches but rather on God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. (1 Timothy 6:6-19)

Let us take hold of life that is really life now as we remove the blindfold and live towards others with generosity.

Rebuilding Community, Redistributing Wealth

 Luke 16:1-13

The other night I had an interesting conversation about whether in presenting a sermon the aim is to present simplified views of the world that might help the average person in their daily life. Yet as we dig into the scriptures, we find passages like the one that we just read and if you're anything like me you're asking yourself what the heck is going on here? The culmination of the whole story is the phrase “You cannot serve God and wealth.” But on its own even that phrase is difficult to unpack.

Rather than us interpreting scriptures, the words of the scripture interpret our lives and challenge us to rethink what it means to be a person and to live well in the world. This morning, I want to explore three ways in which the scriptures might challenge us today. The first is about Jesus and his authority to do what he was doing. The second is about the way in which Jesus reframes and rebuilds community by including those others would exclude. And the third is about the redistribution of wealth.

To be able to explore these things with you today it is important for us to dwell on the first word of chapter 16 which is the word ‘then’. This simple word then implies is that what we are reading comes as part of a sequence within a story and it might seem blatantly obvious to us that this is the case because we are in fact in chapter 16 of Luke's gospel. 

To understand a little bit of the context and sequence of events it is not necessary for us to return all the way to Luke chapter 1. No, we're only going to jump back 2 Chapters to Luke chapter 14. In Luke chapter 14 we encounter a diatribe between Jesus and the Pharisees around who people should eat with and who should have a place of honour at a table. We then find at the beginning of chapter 15 the challenge of the Pharisees to Jesus interaction with the tax collectors and sinners. We are told that the Pharisees and scribers were grumbling saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 

In response to this critique Jesus tells 3 parables to the Pharisees and the scribes who were listening. The three stories are the story of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. Each of these stories as elements which challenge the Pharisees thinking around who should be included and who might be excluded from the community. 

At the close of chapter 15, Jesus is describing the interaction between the father and the older son an encouragement to celebrate and rejoice in the finding of the lost son. 

It is at this point we get that small transitional word, ‘then’. “Then Jesus said to the disciples.” What is important for us to realise here is it Jesus’s audience hasn't changed. In the telling of the three parables Jesus had primarily been addressing the Pharisees and scribes, but now he turns to address his disciples directly with a story clearly knowing that the Pharisees and scribes are still listening. 

I'm going to recount the story very briefly. 

There is a rich man who had a manager who he thought was not doing a good job so he decided to sack him. 

The manager said oh no what will I do I am too weak to dig and I am certainly not going to beg. 

His plan was to create a situation in which he would find welcome not from those in power but among those whom owed money or were excluded. 

So he went off and called together everyone who was indebted to his master. 

He said to one who owed 100 jugs of olive oil, make it 50. 

And to another who owed 100 containers of wheat, make it 80. 

Now when the rich man found out he commended the manager for his cleverness. 

It may be helpful to add a bit of insight into the nature of the ancient culture as one in which honour and shame were determinative in relationships. By forgiving the debt of the 2 tenants the manager may have brought honour to the master by making appear benevolent and generous whilst at the same time providing an opportunity for the tenants to restore their honour with the master and within the community through settling their debts. 

As I said earlier, I want to explore three levels at which this story may be operating. The first is about Jesus and his authority to do what he was doing. The second is about inclusion in community. And the third is about the redistribution of wealth. 

What if we think for a moment that Jesus is placing the Pharisees and Scribes in the place of the master in the parable It is quite logical as the Pharisees and scribes were at the top of the religious heap in the society. 

If this is the case, then Jesus is saying to the disciples hey these guys who think they are my master want to give me the flick because they think I am managing God’s affairs and message badly. 

If this is the case Jesus may be having a bit of a go at the Pharisees and Scribes who are listening in the background.  “Oh no what will we I do I can’t dig or beg says the manager, says Jesus...  no Jesus has a better plan and Jesus’ plan is God’s plan for dealing with the tax collectors and sinners that the Pharisees and scribes had been grumbling about. 

I am going to include them; I am going to forgive their debts; I am going to forgive the sins; I am going to restore relationships which have eternal implications; and, he says to the disciples, I want you to do the same.” 

Jesus is saying, “These Pharisees and scribes might want to give me the flick but they can’t because I am doing God’s business, and you are part of that too.” 

Now just as in the story the master commends the manager, I think Jesus is saying to the Pharisees and scribes who see themselves as his master, “what I am doing brings honour to all of us, to you as well and rather than grumbling you should be commending me who is doing God’s will.” 

The question then for us as third party observers to this story is whether we can see the value of what Jesus is doing and whether we see that he is about God’s work. 

Paired with the 3 stories told to the Pharisees and scribes about what had been lost and found this parable is a continuation on the same theme of the way in which Jesus was behaving in relationship to the tax collectors and sinners by including which is my second point. 

Through the process of negotiation the shrewd manager gives opportunity for those who might owe something to God to find a way to balance the ledger. Jesus constantly includes people throughout his ministry as part of God's Kingdom that others seem to wish to exclude. There is a universality about Jesus’s desire for people to understand that they are part of the human community. 

This was highlighted for me during the week When I was listening to the Soul Search podcast. In an interview with the scholar John Behr, Behr was explaining the insight of Gregory of Nyssa about the being in the image of God. According to Behr, Nyssa’s concept of being in the image of God is that of the totality of humanity from the beginning to the end of creation. In our highly individualised western culture, the notion of the image of God being the totality of humanity rather than who I am as an individual is deeply challenging. One of the implications of this is it every human person that has ever existed is part of the image of God and therefore this has radical implications for whom we include and exclude. 

This concept of the image of God appears to be played out in Jesus’ insistence that those who have been excluded are incorporated into community once again. In contemplating this there may be political implications for us in terms of our advocacy for those who find themselves at the margins of society. The well-known advocate 4 justice and equality in America, Martin Luther King Jnr., provides us with a good example of political advocacy which reflects the kind of thinking that we encounter in this passage and Jesus’s behaviour around those who are treated as outcasts. In this sense the story is challenge us to consider who we include and exclude from the human community. 

This brings me to speak to one other aspect, the third aspect, that this passage provides a challenge for us on and it is based on a more literal reading of the story. The manager in the story is described in the Greek as an oikonomos. John Squires explains this terms, “In Greek, it is a compound word, joining together oikos, meaning household, and nomos, meaning organisation or arrangement. Thus, the oikonomos is the person who oversees the organisation and management of the household.” You can hear within this word the origins of the term economy and based on Jesus final injunction that you cannot serve two masters God and money there may be issues for us to consider here in terms of the redistribution of wealth. 

The renegotiation of the debts allows the wealthy to show generosity whilst it also empowers a person carrying debt to be released from the financial burden. Again, in a closer reading of Luke’s gospel there is an interplay between the place of the rich and poor in the kingdom of God and how wealth is shared or not. It is interesting to note that wealth may have been understand as a sign of faithfulness by some within the ancient culture and the reversal of this thinking occurs a few chapters later when a rich young ruler is told to sell everything that he has a give it to the poor. Something neither he nor we do. The theme of the redistribution of wealth in earl Christian community is no clearer than Acts Chapter 2, which is also written by Luke, where we are told in the Christian community the earliest disciples share “all things in common,” distributing “to all, as any had need” (2:44-45) 

Radical notions of the redistribution of wealth and reorganisation of economic approaches were a theme of the liberation theologians of the mid twentieth century. The Catholica Priest Gustavo Gutiérrez, who is seen as the starting point for the liberation theologians, “developed a new spirituality based on solidarity with the poor and called on the church to help change existing social and economic institutions to promote social justice.” (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gustavo-Gutierrez) 

Jesus’ story brings us into an uncomfortable conversation with our own prosperity and wealth and challenges us to consider our own generosity and limits to that generosity. 

In verse 14 the response of the Pharisees which we didn’t read out is to ridicule Jesus and his ideas. The fact that it is the Pharisees who make the response, not the disciples to who Jesus was speaking, indicates that Jesus’ actual target audience was the Pharisees and scribes after all. 

The polemical debates that Jesus has with the Pharisees and scribes were part of the rabbinic culture. Jesus’s words invite the Pharisees and Scribes to consider Jesus’ actions as potential bring honour to them as much as to those that the are labelled as sinners. The hope of the good news is found in Chapter 18 when in response to being asked by the disciples, “Who then can be saved? Jesus declares “What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.” This is at the heart of Jesus’ ministry inviting people to reconsider their place in the world as part of the community of humanity in which all have a place and in which all can be honoured as being in the image of God.