October 28, 2007 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

Sirach 35:12-13,16-18 + Psalm 34 + 2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18 + Luke 18:9-14

This parable brings to a close the Journey to Jerusalem. One more time, Luke uses to very opposite characters to pull a reversal. One of these men has every right and reason to be there. The other because of his frequent contact with Romans and Gentiles ought not be there because of his uncleanness. None the less, there they are one in the front, one in the back. By now, we should not be surprised by the reversals so common in Luke’s Gospel!

The prayer of the Pharisee seems to be addressing God, but he’s really talking to himself. The pronoun “I” is repeated four times! He is the center of his prayer. He is more interested in the tax collector in back than in God. In contrast, just as with last week’s Judge and Widow, there in the back is the Pharisee’s opposite. He takes no note of anyone else, and his prayer acknowledges only a merciful God and his own unworthiness.

Now remember, the culture who first heard this parable would have totally identified with the good, pious, law-abiding Pharisee. For those first listeners, this is a stunning reversal as Jesus concludes the story scorning the good guy and praising the bad guy. This story turns everything upside down.

But maybe there is more here than we know. Just suppose on the way to the Temple that morning the Pharisee took groceries to a family where no one had a job, stopped to see someone recently left alone by the death of a spouse, and picked up a street person and took them to a shelter, leaving some cash to help feed them. Suppose at the same time,

the Publican on his way to the temple evicted a single parent from some of his rental property because they were late on rent, had a huge breakfast and left no tip after being rude and demanding to the server,

and on the way into the Temple dropped in only some loose change from his pocket at the offering plate.

With these considerations first impressions begin to fail, as well they should. The issue here is the comparison. This is that trap in the story that catches us by surprise and teaches us a lesson. It was a surprise for those who first heard this story from Jesus too. A surprise twist leaves us thinking

and that is the whole point of parable telling.

Where the prayer of the Pharisee goes wrong is not in thanking God or acknowledging what he has become by God’s grace; but in comparing himself to another. It is the word:  “Like” that betrays something out of order. With that word, he crosses the line from gratitude to comparison. It is a subtle difference, but we know how it feels.

Suppose we could listen in to the prayers of some who are here this morning: “Thank God I am not like that one over there who sings off key.”

“Thank God I am not like that liberal who is destroying the church.” “Thank God I am not like those lazy people on welfare stealing my reluctant tax money.” You see, it is just like the Temple scene, For all his faults, the Publican at least has the integrity to look only at himself. He knew who he was. He never said, “I’m sorry I am not as good as or “like” the Pharisee.

It does not matter how we compare in the end. What matters is that we know ourselves and who we really are within. Because it is God who saves, and God is after us all. The Publican went home “justified.” Not because he went to the Temple, not because his prayer was better than someone else’s. He went home justified because he knew that he could not justify himself, and he was honest about his imperfect self. We have no idea where the Pharisee went. Perhaps he went on trying to justify himself or impress God further by other good deeds so that God might not let anything bad happen to him. That’s the way it often goes with that kind of prayer and attitude — a sort “Divine Bribery” that will see faith and prayer collapse if some tragedy occurs. They think, after all, “I’ve been so good. I’ve done so much. How could God do this to me?” Wrong thinking here. Jesus might well have had the same thoughts if His prayer and relationship to God had gone that way.

Our clue to the understanding of this parable comes in the First reading from Sirach. “The Lord is a God of justice, who knows no favorites……..

Who we are in the sight of God has nothing to do with anyone else.

God cannot, will not, and does compare us to one another.

But God will look for signs of His Son in us.

October 21, 2007 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

Exodus 17:8-13 + Psalm 121 + 1 Timothy 3:14-4:2 + Luke 18:1-8

A rich and wonderful parable comes to us as we near the end of the journey to Jerusalem. We get a vivid picture of two opposing characters.

It is easy to fall into pious stereotypes here: he judge is God, and the widow is you and me; or pray long enough and hard enough for anything, and you’ll get it.

There are some details here that will not allow that thinking. To begin with, the character of the judge is hardly a God-like figure. His own self-description will not bear that comparison. This judge does not act right. His internal dialogue reveals some very unpleasant things about him. The final incongruity is even a bit humorous. He’s a afraid of a black – eye! The word Luke uses for what the judge fears is a boxing term that refers to a black eye! In the end, this guy is really afraid of being found out. He is afraid of others seeing that a little old lady beat him up! What ultimately sways him is a consideration of what others will think. This is hardly God-like behavior.

Then, what about her? She is not the typical widow in Israel either. They are weak, powerless, helpless, and voiceless. They have no way to appeal to the law only men do that. She is anything but the stereotype of a widow. She is strong, steady, and a voice of justice that will not be silenced. So all those first glance expectations fail to lead us into the heart of this parable.

Remember, Luke is the Gospel of great reversals. So, turn it all around and something else starts to be revealed here. It is not about prayer or persistence in prayer. It is about Justice. The Judge is not a figure of God, the widow is. The parable is left open ended – leaving us to wrestle with its meaning. We would like to identify with the widow. It is a much more comfortable position and role, but I don’t think God will give up that position to us. When this parable is proclaimed in this age, we are the ones who in control of justice. We cannot trivialize this parable and its roles to ease our responsibility. Justice is in our hands, and we know only too well how it has been going. The powerful and the rich have access.

The voiceless are just that, and the poor rarely get the justice that is theirs.

It is not just a matter of legal justice either. It is a matter of access to education, to opportunities, to jobs, food and housing, health care, peace and security.

This story tells us about God. It reveals God’s insistence, persistence and God’s demands because God, this widow, and everyone like her are one and the same. God’s identity with the poor has not gone away since the beginning of the Incarnation in Bethlehem. When the widow is seen as a god-like figure, then the behavior of the widow becomes god-like behavior for a people of God.

There is also an important comment on the methods to be used in accomplishing a just end. The ludicrous image of a powerful judge hearing a seemingly helpless widow may be Jesus’ wry comment on the futility of resorting o violence in the work of justice. This message receives its fullest force in the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. His seeming helplessness in the face of his executioners is transformed into the very defeat of the powers of sin and death. Followers of Jesus are invited to take up this same stance: to draw on the power of apparent weakness to overcome death-dealing powers.

Finally, do not forget that Luke is always the Gospel of Women. They figure prominently in every chapter. In a culture that measures power in terms of acquisition of wealth, this parable underscores the power of weakness. It shows that the initiative in seeking justice comes from the one who has been wronged, and her power is in raising her voice day after day after day. The parable portrays not violence, but persistence in naming and confronting injustice as the means to accomplish righteousness.

Further, she can encourage those who are intimidated at the enormity of the challenge in dismantling interlocking systems of racism, sexism, militarism, and economic imbalance. A seemingly helpless widow has more power than a corrupt judge.

When Jesus wonders aloud in the last verse of today’s Gospel if he will find faith on the earth at his return, the parable would lead us to think the “faith he longs for is really “justice.” Is he going to find it is the question this parable raises.  For those of us responsible for Justice, there is a message here.

October 7, 2007 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK

Habakkuk 1:2-3;22: 2-4 + Psalm 95 + 2 Timothy 1: 6-8, 13-14 + Luke 17:5-10

There is something about us all that always leads us to think that more is better and that what we have is not enough. That was the problem with the disciples in this Gospel story. These are the same disciples who when told to feed a crowd with five loaves and two fish insisted that they did not have enough. Instead of working with what they had, they thought they needed something from the outside: something more, something else, and something extra ordinary. But Jesus always sees more in his followers than they see in themselves and herein lies the message of this Gospel.

These disciples seem interested in quantity while Jesus is concerned with quality Very little faith is needed to accomplish extraordinary feats. There has been a great deal of interest and a lot of conversation in the media recently over some revelations about Mother Theresa and her confession of weak and struggling faith. What better example is there for this Gospel than the life of this little woman who thought she had doubts and weak faith?

Living in faith is about the obligation of service about the obligation that come with gifts. A believer is invited continually to move deeper and deeper into the being of the Giver, becoming what they are intended to be and doing what they are intended to do, making the power of that gift visible in their work and their being.  This is what Jesus is teaching about here: the obligations of the one in service, not about the responsibilities of the one being served.

Getting the whole picture here challenges any idea of rewards and some kind of bonus for living as faithful disciples of Jesus. We are the ones to whom faith has been given. Therefore, we are the ones from whom faithful service is expected. We are sent to plow the field, tend the sheep and serve the table.

There are no special favors for those who fulfill their duty. There is no “extra credit” when the do what it is expected.  This kind of thinking is foreign to the life in the Kingdom of God. We are simply being what we are meant to be and doing what they have been empowered to do by their faith.

The call to faith that Christ gives to us in these readings is not a promise of a life made free of challenges, obstacles, and burdens by the power of God. It is not a promise of life that always makes sense that is always marked by clear purpose and satisfaction. Rather, it is a call to keep at it, even when there is mystery, even when life does not make sense. It is a promise that precisely in that perseverance is the power of God. The power of God, after all, doesn’t always have to feel divine in order to be so. Faith works. It eases burdens, overcomes challenges, it gives life. Faith works, and often enough it is really the only thing that does. “Faith” in Scriptures really means something more like loyalty. Faith changes nothing outside of us. It changes everything inside of us. Faith is not about unaided human powers. It is about human abilities in league with divine intentions and activity. The astonishing power of Jesus is manifest not in spectacular displays of supernatural power, but in every act of forgiveness, healing, reconciliation, justice, and peacemaking this is far more impressive than transplanting trees into the sea!

This gospel gives hope to those who feel it is impossible to confront seemingly insurmountable obstacles posed by systems of injustice. People of faith who “stir into flame” the gifts God has given working together to eradicate those tangled roots of injustice, are doing exactly what they are commanded to do, no more, no less. It is by grace and by faith that such efforts can succeed.

It’s like this:  We are under orders of God to bring about the Kingdom of God. Looking for rewards and thanks is not appropriate because it will continue the false idea that we are doing something beyond the ordinary and so have to be acknowledged and rewarded. We do not need more. We need confidence in what we have. What this simply means is: service as usual. If we do not know what we have, we cannot use it to make happen what we want to make happen. He kept telling people they had the tools to live in the Kingdom of God. Mustard sized faith is enough. Why do we always want more?