Law and Grace

Matthew 5:21-37
            What a great text to hear right after Valentine’s Day!  Not really.  If this text makes you think of one thing it is likely the law.  Instead of a text filled with love, at first glance we hear a text filled with law.  In our text today Jesus emphasizes the laws not to murder, not to commit adultery, not to divorce, and not to swear falsely.  He gives consequences to these sins that involved dismemberment, literally cutting off our sinful appendages.  In a sermon on a similar text in Mark a while back I talked about those sinful appendages.  We are sinful people and if we cut off every sinful appendage, there likely wouldn’t be much left of us.  At the same time the laws and commandments are not meant to be completely disregarded either.  Jesus’ consequences are meant to be taken seriously.  He doesn’t just say “if you sin you should be sorry.”  Jesus calls for us to take sin seriously, but he also offers grace through his death on the cross.

            So how do we strike a balance between disregard for the law and fear of losing all of our appendages?  I think it starts with our understanding of the law.  It is very easy to look at the law and think that it was created to keep us in right relationship with the law.  We could believe that the law was created solely by God for the sake of the law.  I think God had something bigger in mind when he created the law though.  What if we considered that the law was created by God for our sake?  Then we would have to change our understanding of the law.  The law was created by God to keep us in right relationship with other people.  The law was created because God cares about us and our relationships with other people.

            If we focus on this understanding of the law, that it was created out of God’s concern for us and our relationships, then maybe this text is appropriate for this Valentine’s Day weekend.  God loves us so much and cares so much for our relationships that he expands the law.  One of my favorite theologians, David Lose, puts God’s broadening of the law this way:  “It’s not enough just to refrain from murder.  We should also treat each other with respect and that means not speaking hateful words.  It is not enough to avoid physically committing adultery. We should also not objectify other persons by seeing them as a means to satisfy our physical desires by lusting after them.  It is not enough to follow the letter of the law regarding divorce.  We should not treat people as disposable and should make sure that the most vulnerable -- in this culture that often meant women and children -- are provided for.  It is not enough to keep ourselves from swearing falsely or lying to others.  We should speak and act truthfully in all of our dealings so that we don’t need to make oaths at all.”

            Now if we think back to the hyperbole of cutting off our sinful appendages we might look at it a little differently.  What if these consequences are so exaggerated so that we will realize just how much God loves and cares for us and for our relationships with others.  Think of the law as similar to the rules that parents make for their children: hold my hand when crossing the street, don’t touch the stove because it is hot, and don’t talk meanly to your siblings or friends.  Those rules are created out of deep care and love that comes from a parent to a child. 

The laws that Jesus speaks about in our text today are similarly created.  If you recall our text from last week, towards the end Jesus said, “Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”  That text comes immediately before where we begin today.  Notice that whether we break the law or keep the law, we are still in the kingdom.  These laws are created out of deep care and love that comes from our parent, God, to us, God’s children.  Because of that care and love that comes from God, these are grace filled laws.  And while we should strive to keep them, we should also notice the grace that is given when we fail at keeping them.

There was a group of ten men who were soldiers.  These soldiers had been locked in vicious battles for three years, and in one battle, all ten were killed.  All ten went up to the pearly gates of heaven to see Simon Peter who was the guardian of the gates into heaven.  Simon Peter came out and said, “Good to see you men here today.  I have been expecting you although you had not been expecting to see me.  Would you please sit in those ten desks there, right outside the pearly gates?  I will give you each a piece of paper and a pencil.  Please write the numbers one to ten on the paper.”  All the big burly soldiers, still in their military fatigues and splattered with mud and blood, did what they were told to do and sat down at the desks. 

Peter then instructed them, “You answer ‘yes or no’ to these ten questions.  Question number one: Did you love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul, and your neighbor as yourself?  Yes or no.”  The soldiers looked at each other, puzzled, not sure if they should be truthful or not.  Didn’t seem wise to lie to Peter.  Peter said, “The second commandment: you shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain.  Did you ever swear when in your life or recently when you were a soldier?”  The soldiers, knowing their everyday vocabulary, looked at each other puzzled.  “The third commandment: you shall remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.  Did you go church on a regular basis and worship God with other Christians?”  The soldiers became agitated and nervous.  The fourth commandment, “Did you honor your parents and all in authority at all times?”  Silence.  The fifth commandment: “You shall not kill.  Did you soldiers kill?”  The soldiers knew their jobs for the past three years.  How many people had they killed?  Who knew?  Who kept track?  It was a bloody war.  Peter continued with the questions about the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth commandments, and the soldiers seemed to be slipping deeper into their fox holes. 

Finally, after the questions were finished, the leader of the platoon raised his hand and asked, “Simon Peter, how many do you have to get correct to get into the pearly gates?”  The men nodded in appreciation.  The platoon leader continued asking the questions on behalf of the men, “What if you get two right?  Maybe three?  Maybe four?  Is that good enough to get in?”  Simon Peter, with his steely gray eyes, looked right at the leader and spoke without a hint of hesitation: “You have to get them all right.  You have to get l00%.”  The soldiers reacted as you would have guessed.  They turned over their papers in disgust; they collectively grunted their disapproval.  They put down their pencils and threw up their hands in disbelief.  About that time, Jesus walked through the pearly gates and into the classroom of desks where the men were seated.  Jesus said, “I have taken the test for you and I have scored l00% for you.  Come into my kingdom.”

That is the big truth about grace.  Jesus has already taken the test for us.  The law should be followed, but when we stumble and fall (and we will because we are all human) there is grace to pick us back up.  When we have sinned and should be removing one of our appendages we can look to the cross where Jesus gave his whole life, not just his appendages, for the sake of the world.  Through the cross we can also recognize that whether we keep the law or break the law there is still a place in the kingdom of God for us, because grace abounds.  And in that moment we can also acknowledge that the laws were created because God loves us and cares about our relationships with others.  Amen.

Salt, Light, and Good News

Matthew 5:13-20

Does this text sound familiar?  If you feel like you recently heard several sermons on this text that is true.  Last November this text was used as the them for our focus on stewardship, so you heard it consecutively for three weeks.  That is a challenge to me, as your pastor to say something we didn't say just a few months ago.  It is also a challenge for me because I received a phone call from Pastor Bruce this morning notifying me that he had returned from Nicaragua, but he had returned with a severe case of laryngitis.  So with just a few hours before worship I had to whip up a sermon...yikes.  That is one of my biggest fears...but I guess now I can say fear conquered!

            As I read this text today I couldn't help but notice that this text is related to the opening question I have planned for confirmation next week.  Who was the first person to tell you about Jesus?  What do you remember that person telling you?  I would invite you to turn to a neighbor and answer that question.  Who was the first person to tell you about Jesus?  What do you remember that person telling you?  I think I first remember my Grandma Marilyn telling me about Jesus.  What I remember is her singing songs to me as a little girl and then as I got older I remember her teaching me those songs.  From the time I was little my grandma was salt and light, not only to me, but to others.  In fact, she still is salt and light to me and to others at the age of 81. 

            Jesus doesn't ask us to be salt and light, because it will be good for us.  The entire premise of this text is that we are salt and light for others.  We let our light shine so that others may see Jesus shining through us.  We make our lives salty so that others may taste the goodness of the Lord through our very presence.  It is our characteristics of salt and light that make a difference in the world.  It is the salt and light that allow others to see the work of Christ.

            So why did Jesus use the example of salt and light?  Salt and light were precious commodities in his time period.  Both salt and light sustain life.  They are useful resources.  Salt was used to preserve food.  They didn't have refrigerators or ice cube makers, so they used the salt to preserve the vegetables and to dry out the fish for winter.  They would also wash newborn babies in salt water, because it was supposed to preserve their life.  During wars they would rub salt into soldier's wounds as a treatment.  They would use it as a contract, instead of writing the contract down each party would bring salt from their house and throw it over the other person's shoulder as a sign of the covenant they had together.  Light also sustained life.  Life before Thomas Edison was much darker, so the moments where light existed were fewer.  But those moments where light existed were even more important than light is today, because it wasn't taken for granted.  Jesus joined these two commodities together to explain to us that preservation from salt was not enough, we also needed light, to expand the kingdom of God.  Salt wasn't enough for Jesus to make his point, he needed to use light too.

            We are salt and light, not because we need those characteristics for ourselves, but because others need to see those characteristics in us.  We exist not only for ourselves, but for the entire kingdom of God.  The same is true of salt and light.  Think about their purpose, the reason for their existence.  Salt does not exist for itself.  Salt doesn't need salt.  The same is true of light.  Light does not exist for itself.  Light doesn't need light.  Salt and light only fulfill their purpose when they are used, shared, given a purpose. 

            The salt and light within us are necessary in order for us to be good news sharers.  They give us the tools we need to be bringers of the kingdom of God.  It is salt and light that made my grandma able to share the good news of Jesus with me.  It is salt and light that allowed someone to share that same gospel message with you.  Without salt and light we are useless.  We are like salt without saltiness or a light under a basket.  We are like news sharers with no good news.  The good news of the love and grace that comes from Jesus Christ are hidden. 

            Before we head out to the streets with our message of salt and light I think we need a bit of a pep talk, not from me, but from Kid President.  I saw this video last weekend at the continuing education event I was at and I found it very inspiring and motivational.  I hope you find it to be the same.  Here's the Kid President's "Pep Talk!"

            Now, I know Kid President is not speaking in terms of our faith, but I think it can be applied to our faith.  This is your time.  This is my time.  This is our time.  Together we can make a difference.  Truly, we have a message to share.  We have light and salt to bring.  We don't need to do that alone.  Jesus gave his life, his very self, to make a difference, to make a change.  Together we too can make a difference.  Together we can make a change.  Together we can give salt and light to the world.  So, be filled with salt and with light.  Share that salt and light with others.  And let the good news lead you down the path less traveled.  Amen.

Follow and Fish

Matthew 4:12-23

Throughout Jesus’ journey in ministry the beckoning call of “follow me” happens frequently.  Today in our text the disciples are called to follow.  You would think that the disciples would have had some trepidation about following Jesus, but in this text the disciples are portrayed as willingly following Jesus.  In fact it isn’t just a willingness to follow Jesus, there is a sense of urgency to their following.  The gospel writer goes as far as using the word “immediately.”  That kind of following doesn’t allow for any sense of hesitation or doubt.

As I first read this text I couldn’t help but think of a story I read online a few years ago about Wes Michaels, a man that was killed in a tornado that struck a small Minnesota town.  He'd taken a rare day off, actually his birthday, from working at the Cenex station, which he had bought four years earlier when the tree nursery he had worked at for nearly 40 years closed.  But Michaels was not the kind of guy who liked to waste time, so he'd started to fix an old lawnmower while he kept an eye on the Weather Channel.  So when he saw on the television that tornadoes were forming in the area, Wes Michaels jumped in his pickup truck and drove down to the Cenex station to check on Heidi, his daughter, who was managing the station.  When he got there, a customer joked that he should be out having fun on his birthday.  A few minutes later, a twister took aim on the station.  Michaels ordered Heidi and customers into the cooler as it hit.  Michaels was a big man, about 6 feet tall with a broad chest, "a strong man who wasn't afraid to use his strength," according to his former boss.  Instinctively, he positioned his body above that of his daughter, and took the brunt of the force from debris as the building crumbled around them.  Heidi escaped with a few cuts and bruises, but Wes Michaels died.  Wes Michaels made one of the greatest sacrifices a father can make, when he died while saving his daughter from the tornado that demolished his gas station that day.

I can’t help but think that Wes was following God that day.  He was not looking back as he followed God to fish for people and more specifically that day to save his daughter’s life.  He was following God out of love, love for his daughter.  There were no conditions or any time for doubt, but rather a great sense of urgency for Wes.  Now, I don’t tell this story of Wes Michaels to make you feel like your way of following Jesus is insignificant.  I tell it to show to you that following Jesus happens in everyday life.

As Jesus walked on the shore that day and called out to Peter, Andrew, James and John he was calling out to ordinary people.  He was pulling these everyday fishermen from their daily lives and showing them an extraordinary calling.  He was beckoning them to their call as disciples, their call as followers of Jesus, their call to be fishers of people.

Today Jesus bids us to come and follow him, to come and fish for people.  Like Wes, as we follow Jesus this day we will be changed.  Our lives, our relationships, our priorities will be altered.  Change means losing what we had before, but in the process of changing there is a considerable amount of gain to be had.  In that process of following Jesus we can discover our call as Christians in this place. 

            And then there is a second step.  It is not just about following Jesus, it is also about fishing—fishing for people.  This task is not an easy one, but it is vital and necessary to the central message of the gospel, a message that we are called and commanded to not only to embody, but also to share with others.  Most of this call to follow and fish is relational.  It is relational because we are being called to follow Jesus, to have a relationship with Jesus.  But it is also relational in the sense that we are called to fish for others, to have a Christ-like relationship with our families, our friends, our co-workers, our classmates, our enemies, and even with the people we do not know.  How do we do that?  How exactly do we fish for people? 

To start with let’s deal with our hesitancy.  Hear me when I say that “it’s okay.”  These words “follow me” are the same words we heard as children as we played the game follow the leader.  But following Jesus isn’t as simple as playing follow the leader was when we were six.  I am not sure, at this point in my life, if some random person called out “follow me” I would be too eager to jump on the bandwagon.  Of course if Jesus’ message was (as I just read in Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber’s book) “Follow me and all your dreams of cash and prizes will come true; follow me and you’ll have free liposuction and winning lotto tickets for life” we might be more eager to follow with no strings attached.  But, it can be easy to let doubt speak stronger than faith.  It can also be easy to want to place conditions on our following. "I will follow you, but first...."  All of that is true because we are human, hesitant humans that live in a broken world.

But here me when I say this, too, “You can do this.”  Not only can you do this, but you already are!  I would venture to say almost all of you are already following Jesus and fishing for people.  So rather than tell you what you need to do, I am going to highlight what you are already doing.  You are feeding the hungry.  You are praying for the sick.  You are making music to the Lord.  You are raising your children in faith.  You are praying before meals.  You are reading and studying Scripture.  You are attending worship.  You are being a friend and mentor to others.  You are holding the door open for a stranger.  You are saying “bless you” when someone sneezes.  You are using your gifts and resources to further the kingdom of God.  I would consider all of those things to be ways that we follow Jesus and ways that we fish for people.  This way of living, both what you do inside and outside of the church, is worthy of God’s attention and interest.  Because in all that we do and say, if it is rooted in our faith, we are doing relational work which has the possibility and potential of drawing people to Jesus. 

With that said, I don’t want to lull all of us into a mentality of complacency.  Yes, we are following Jesus and fishing for people in a variety of ways.  However, we can be even better followers and we can do even more.  So, this week I want you to consider how you are already following Jesus and fishing for people.  Then, I want to encourage you to find one additional way to follow Jesus and fish for people.  I am not asking you to give up your job, sell your possessions, and become a street evangelist.  I am encouraging you to talk to your co-worker or classmate about your church, to offer to pray for or with your friend who is going through a joy or sorrow.  I am encouraging you to let your faith move you to action, actions that show the world what your faith means to you.  It doesn’t have to be earth shattering.  It doesn’t have to take time out of your other plans.  Incorporate your faith into your whole life.  Let your words and actions speak out of love, the love that Jesus has for us – a love that caught us in the deep blue sea with the bait of salvation.  So, followers of Jesus and fishers of people, keep following and keep fishing!  Amen.

Remember and Celebrate

Matthew 3:13-17

September 28, 1986 was a very important day in my life.  That was the day I was baptized, the day I became a child of God.  That was the day, when I was just over two months old, that the waters of grace were poured on my head.  At that age I had no idea what baptism would mean for my life or why it was even happening.  In the act of baptism I was given the gift of God’s grace and God’s unconditional love.  In baptism I was given faith!  When I decided to go to seminary I had to put the date of my baptism on all the forms I submitted.  I never quite knew what the date was, so I had to research it a bit.  After writing it on all of those forms I finally can remember the date I was baptized and I now try to take a moment or two each year on that day to remember the gift of baptism I was given by God. 

I am sure there are a few of you who can recall the date of your baptism, but I would imagine there are plenty of others that don’t have the slightest idea.  If you can’t remember that important date, I would encourage you to do a little research and see if you can find it.  Look for your baptismal certificate, talk to your relatives, or call the church you were baptized at.  Do whatever you need to do to find out the date of your baptism. 

Why? Because it really was an important day in your life.  It is a day that should be remembered and celebrated.  I know each time we do a baptism here as we light the baptismal candle we suggest to parents that they light their child’s baptismal candle each year on the date of their child’s baptism and remember this important day.  We don’t just say that…we mean it.  Baptismal anniversaries are dates worth celebrating.  If you think your life will be too crazy to remember your baptismal anniversary or the baptismal anniversary of your children or godchildren start writing in on your calendar or set a reminder on your cell phone for that day and then celebrate the day that the waters of grace were poured on your head.

You would never think of forgetting your birthday or the birthday of your child.  It was a very important day in their life, in fact it was the beginning of life.  But baptisms are also the beginning of life, the beginning of our lives as children of God.  It is an important day where God promises to make us a child of God, to wash us clean of sin, to give us the Holy Spirit, which will enable us to call upon Jesus as Lord, to make us a member of the body of Christ, the Church and to grant us eternal life.  It is also a day where parents and sponsors make promises to live with us among God's faithful people, bring us to the word of God and the holy supper, teach us the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments,  place in our hands the holy scriptures, nurture us in faith and prayer so that we may learn to trust God, proclaim Christ through word and deed, care for others and the world God made, and work for justice and peace.  This congregation also makes promises at baptisms to look upon the baptized person as an important member of our Christian community, support parents in making God’s promises known to their child, and support them in keeping the promises that they made to their child at Baptism.

The day of baptism was also important in Jesus’ life.  His baptism established God’s favor and his identity as Jesus, the son of God.  It also inaugurated his mission and ministry.  It was his commissioning, the day he was sent forth into the world.  This act of baptism emphasizes Jesus’ humanity.  Even though he was the Son of God, he too needed to be baptized.  With that in mind, that day of Jesus’ baptism is really not very much different from the day of our baptisms.  Baptism really is an event that we share with Jesus.  It is a day where God’s favor is established and we receive our identity as children of God.  It is a day that we are sent forth into the world.  It is our day of commissioning.

Sure, baptism isn’t something we talk about all the time, but it is something we often witness in worship.  In 2013 we had 32 baptisms at South Canyon.  They were all joyous occasions, whether the baptized person was happy or sad, because they marked the moment where God said to those 32 people “You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased.”  They were moments in time where 32 newly baptized people were sent forth into the world to show God’s love and grace to those around them.

There are other times during our life together as a congregation where baptism plays a role, too.  Confession and forgiveness is a reminder of the ultimate forgiveness of sins we were given in baptism.  Communion is an extension of the baptismal promise and a promise of God’s love and care.  The dismissal is a time of commissioning, when we are sent forth to live out our baptism through various vocations in daily life.  In the rite of confirmation our students affirm the promises that were made at their baptisms.  When people are near death I often will make the sign of the cross on their forehead reminding them of the promise God made to them in baptism.  Then in funerals we cover the casket with a white pall, which is a reminder of the baptismal garment. 

In all of those moments, and as we worship together today we recall our own baptisms.  Today I have filled the font and placed it up front with the hope that you will dip your hand in it and make the sign of the cross on your forehead as a reminder of your baptism.  In doing so, we remember that God has made it clear that we are accepted just as we are.  We remember that God loves us.  We remember that God has plans to do many wonderful things through us.  We remember that we are God’s children, deserving of love and respect, and God will use us to change the world.  Yes, you are God’ child, deserving of love and respect, and God will use you to change the world.  Amen.