All About Mercy

All About Mercy

Luke 16:14-31[1]

I’ve mentioned recently that we live in a world divided. That may be an understatement. I would say that our world is more divided today than perhaps at any time in most of our lives. We’re divided by race, divided by class, divided by politics. We’re divided by national allegiance, divided by language, divided by whole outlooks on life. We’re divided by our sources for the news of what’s happening in the world. We’re divided by what we believe constitutes “truth.” Many have observed that what we once believed was a “social contract” that held our world together has dissolved. In a world such as that, it’s no wonder that people are going their separate ways, positively angry toward those who differ with them on a whole list of issues.

When that division spills over into our faith, it creates some problems. Perhaps the most serious of them is that we presume to know what is in another person’s heart. Because of that we think we have a right to criticize them for their actions. That kind of backbiting is out of place in the Body of Christ! The Bible makes it clear that it’s only God who knows our hearts (Lk 16:15)! Any effort on our part to stand in judgment of another person is at best premature, and at worst we are usurping a role that belongs only to God. As St. Paul said, God is the one who “will show the real reasons why people do what they do” (1 Cor 4:5, NIrV).

It may seem like a stretch to relate all of this to our Gospel lesson for today. But the reason why Jesus told the parable of the rich man and Lazarus was because the Pharisees’ hard-hearted attitude toward those they judged to be “sinners.” Jesus had “proclaimed the good news of the Kingdom” to them and had spelled out its implications for their lives. He told them that living for the kingdom of God meant being faithful with their wealth, it meant showing mercy to “sinners,” and it meant sharing generously with all people. He ignored their petty rules about what should or shouldn’t be done on the sabbath and used the day to extend God’s mercy to those who needed it most. And they ridiculed him for it, and ultimately had him killed.

 The reason for this response was that they saw Jesus’ kindness and mercy toward “sinners” as breaking God’s commands and therefore dishonoring God. Their whole outlook on what it meant to be faithful to God was centered around who was “clean” and who was “unclean.” Of course, in their own eyes they were not only “clean,” but they were also “righteous” before God because of the way they rigidly kept their own rules. Anyone who didn’t keep those rules just as strictly as they did was a “sinner” in their eyes. And they believed those whom they labeled as “sinners” were unfit for God’s grace, or mercy, or love.

In their eyes, Lazarus would have been one of these “sinners.” He was not only “poor,” he was destitute. Very likely, he was “laid at the gate” of a rich man because of some physical disability. The contrast between the two men couldn’t have been more striking. The rich man wore the finest of fine clothing, while Lazarus was covered with sores. The rich man feasted extravagantly every day, while Lazarus only longed for the scraps from his table. The rich man would have been seen as a “pillar” of the community, while Lazarus would have been judged as a “sinner” who must have done something to deserve his fate in life. And he certainly would have been excluded from God’s mercy in the eyes of self-righteous people.

But we have to remember that Jesus had announced at the beginning of his ministry that he had come to proclaim the “good news” of God’s kingdom precisely to the “poor” (Lk 4:18). It was about setting “the burdened and battered free” (Lk 4:18, MSG). It was about calling sinners to turn to God, not so-called “respectable people” (Lk 5:32, TEV). It was about being kind and merciful to others, all others, just as God is kind and merciful to us (Lk 6:36). It was about seeking and saving those who were “lost” (Lk 19:10). And, above all, it was about hearing God’s word and obeying it (Lk 8:21, NLT).

You may be wondering why I haven’t said anything about “heaven” or “hell” in connection with this parable. I’ve done that because the point of this parable isn’t about the afterlife. It’s about the way the “religious” people of that day, like the rich man and his brothers, had ignored “Moses and the prophets” and their clear teachings about showing kindness and mercy especially to the destitute. This parable is about the fact that in the kingdom of God the lowly are lifted up and the rich are sent away empty-handed (Lk 1:52-53). As Jesus said, “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Lk 14:11).

Jesus told this story to confront the religious people of his day for their hard-hearted, mean, and stingy attitude toward those they had judged to be “sinners.” This attitude was a direct result of the fact that they “justified themselves in sight of others” (Lk 16:15). And because of that, they believed Jesus’ actions toward the poor, the outcasts, the unwanted, and the rejected were an abomination in God’s sight. But Jesus was “showing the real reasons” for their attitude: their own hypocrisy. And he turned it all around on them: he said that it was their self-righteous and stingy hoarding of God’s mercy for themselves that was the true abomination! But when it comes to the kingdom of God, Jesus said, “everyone is urged to enter it” (Lk 16:16). Everyone. The kingdom of God that Jesus preached is all about mercy for the poor, the outcasts, the unwanted, and the rejected. It’s for everyone!

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[1] ©2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 9/25/2022 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE. For a video recording of this sermon, check out my Pastor Alan YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/r76nVDKjMmU

 Living Generously

Luke 16:1-13[1]

Generosity is something that I think just about everyone would agree is a good thing. We honor those people in our world who practice generosity. We even give them a special name: philanthropists. It’s a word that comes from two Greek words that literally mean “friend of humanity.” That may be assuming too much of every “philanthropist.” We tend to reserve that title for people who give large amounts of money. Like the owners of the Patagonia company, or Bill Gates. But people have all kinds of motives for giving money. For many, it’s a matter of making sure that others remember their name. We honor them as “generous” anyway, regardless of their motives.

That may give us a clue as to the real place of generosity in our society. I would say that true generosity, giving without receiving anything in return, is quite rare. Even among those of us who identify with the church, the data regarding giving demonstrate that true generosity is the exception rather than the rule. We shouldn’t be surprised at that. We live in a world based on competition that rewards winning, not giving. And our economy thrives based on how much people go out and get for themselves, not on how much people give to others. That’s the way this world works: as the saying goes, money “makes the world go around.”

In our gospel lesson for today, Jesus addresses this issue. As sages have observed for centuries, there really is “nothing new under the sun.” The drive to go out and get all that you can for yourself was just as powerful an influence on the people of Jesus’ day as it is in ours. In fact, even the Jewish religious leaders had embraced that way of living so much so that Luke calls them “lovers of money” (Lk 16:14). But Jesus addressed the question of wealth quite bluntly. He said, “You cannot serve God and wealth” (Lk 16:13). Translated into our terms, I think Jesus was saying that a way of life that is all about getting as much as you can for yourself is not compatible with a life of faith in God!

Jesus tells a rather confusing story to illustrate this point. The story is about the “manager” of a household who’d been caught “squandering” his master’s wealth. Because he hadn’t handled things rightly, he was going to be fired. But instead of preparing an “accounting” of his books, this “dishonest” manager abused his position to secure his own future. He did that by calling in those who owed the master, giving them back the original IOU, and having them write out another one with a reduced amount! Basically, he placed a lot of people in his debt by doing them huge favors. And when he came to “cash in” his favors, they would be compelled to welcome him as a guest in their homes.

It may seem strange that the master actually commended the steward for acting “shrewdly” (Lk 16:8). I don’t think the master was happy about what his manager had done. Rather, he recognized that the steward had come up with a clever plan. He took advantage of the fact that he still had the authority to manage the master’s wealth to make sure he would have a way to go on living comfortably after he was fired. That’s important for understanding this story. It’s a story about the way the world works, and I’m sure that many who heard it would have agreed with Jesus about that. People with wealth tend to use it to their own advantage, not to benefit others.

Jesus’ comments after the story can be confusing as well. He seems to commend “the children of this age,” like the dishonest manager, for being shrewder than “the children of light” (Lk 16:8). It seems like Jesus approved the way this manager approached wealth as a means of gaining eternal life! What we have to understand, however, is that Jesus is being ironical. The way this manager used wealth may have been “shrewd,” but it was “dishonest”: he used it for his own self-interest. His faith was not in God, but rather in the idea that his life consisted of the “abundance of possessions” (Lk 12:15), just like the “rich fool” Jesus spoke of. Like the man who tore down his barns to build bigger ones, this manager had was committed to serving wealth, and not God!

The key to understanding all of this is to recognize that Jesus was telling a story about the way the world works. For those who wish to align their lives with the kingdom God, the fundamental principle is very different: “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much” (Lk 16:10). Those who would follow Jesus are to be “faithful” in the way they use their wealth. That means they are to give, “expecting nothing in return” (Lk 6:35). They are to offer hospitality precisely to those who cannot repay them: “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind” (Lk 14:13). They are to live in a manner consistent with the generosity they have received from God by living generously themselves.

Jesus used this strange story about the way the world works to emphasize that it’s important for us to be diligent about how we use our wealth. But the “dishonest” way the manager used wealth for his own benefit is the opposite of what Jesus calls us to do. Instead of being selfish, we’re to use our wealth generously. Of course, perhaps one of the greatest obstacles to living generously in our time is the fear that someone will take advantage of us. In my experience, I think that’s guaranteed. But what others do is between them and God. We’re responsible for our own actions. As those whom Jesus has called to live for the sake of God’s kingdom, that means modeling the generosity we have received by living generously ourselves.

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[1] ©2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 9/18/2022 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE. For a video recording of this sermon, check out my Pastor Alan YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/Bl_OOTyNQ3k

 God’s Unlimited Love

Luke 15:1-10[1]

From time beyond memory people have held certain beliefs about God. One of the most common of those beliefs is that everyone has to live up to some standard in order to be “accepted” by God. Whether it’s offering animal sacrifices, or adhering to a moral code, or even a matter of what you do and don’t eat or with whom you do and don’t associate, there has always been some kind of condition placed on being accepted by God. That’s where religions come from. They’re human creations, built on the belief that in order for us to be accepted by God we must perform the prescribed rituals.

Unfortunately, the Bible isn’t immune to this notion of God. You’ll find whole chapters in the Hebrew Bible devoted to outlining who is “clean” and who is “unclean.” As I’ve mentioned before, the book of Numbers is about how anyone who sinned deliberately, or complained against God, or even got too close to God in a way they weren’t permitted, would be struck dead. And the image of God in Deuteronomy can be equally troubling—anyone who sins must be executed to prevent an angry God from destroying the whole people. The reason offered is that “the LORD your God is a devouring fire” (Dt 4:24)! And that view of God isn’t confined to the OT. We heard an echo of that verse in a reading from the NT recently (Heb 11:29).

The problem with this view of God is that it leaves access to God in the hands of those who most benefit from making sure the people know who is “holy” and who isn’t. Whether it was priests or popular religious leaders, they all seemed to curiously benefit from reinforcing the idea that people aren’t “good enough” to be accepted by God. There’s always some way in which people fall short, there’s always something else that has to be done, always another sacrifice to be made. And the result is that it always keeps God just out of reach of “ordinary” people.

I think we see that kind of attitude reflected in the way the scribes and the Pharisees complained about Jesus in our Gospel reading for today. The scribes were the experts in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, and the pharisees were the zealots who were devoted to fulfilling completely and without fail even the most trivial matters defined there. For that, they believed themselves to be the “righteous” who are applauded throughout the Hebrew Bible. Of course, anyone who didn’t live up to their standards was a “sinner” in their eyes. And they went out of their way to avoid any contact with “sinners,” because they believed sin was “contagious,” like a virus. Sharing a meal with “sinners” would have been like sharing a bath with a whole group of contagious people. So they grumbled and complained: “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Lk 15:2).

In response Jesus told two stories that illustrated how God extends his love to all people, without any restrictions or limitations. The first is a story of a shepherd who has a flock of 100 sheep. One of them goes astray, and rather than staying to make sure the other 99 are safe from all dangers, he leaves them to search for the lost sheep. When he finds that one sheep, he is so overjoyed that he invites his friends to celebrate with him. Jesus then told a second story about a woman who loses a coin. That might not seem like a big deal, but in this case, her entire “nest egg” consisted of ten coins. So she literally turns her house upside-down looking for the lost coin. And when she finds it, she’s so overjoyed that she invites her friends to celebrate with her.

One thing about these two stories has always fascinated me. “Celebrations” in those days would have involved food. They involved throwing a party. It makes me think of the shepherd with the sheep that had gone astray. Did he serve roasted lamb at his party?  It seems ironic, and extravagant! I also wonder about the woman. Did she spend the coin she had just put so much effort into finding to put on the party for her friends? Again, it seems ironic and extravagant to celebrate finding a coin by spending it to throw a party for friends. And in both cases, that’s precisely the point.

God’s love is so unlimited and extravagant that Jesus says that there is “more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Lk 15:7). That’s not the impression you get from reading some parts of the Bible. Some of the Psalms especially seem to restrict God’s “joy” to the “righteous” and to consign “sinners” to hell with no further thought. That’s what the scribes and pharisees believed. But Jesus used these stories, along with his willingness to befriend and even share meals with “sinners” to make clear what it meant to believe in a God who is “merciful and kind, patient and full of unfailing love” (Ps 145:8). As Gene Peterson puts it in the Message, that kind of a God “is good to one and all; everything he does is soaked through with grace.” (Ps 145:9, MSG).

That’s the God whom Jesus called “Father.” The one who showers the blessings of sun and rain on all people alike (Mt 5:45). And if we pay careful attention to the stories of those who fully embrace God’s unlimited love, we’ll realize that God never leaves us where we are or as we are. I think that’s why so many prefer the “God” of the religions. If you can keep “God” within certain prescribed rituals, you get to go about your life as you please. But a God who claims us with his unlimited love will claim all of life. A God like that isn’t going to leave us where we are or as we are but is likely to take us to places and call us to do things we could never have imagined.

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[1] © 2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 9/11/2022 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

Leaving Everything Behind

 Leaving Everything Behind

Luke 14:25-35[1]

To the best of my ability to understand it, our faith in Jesus Christ calls us to shape our whole identity based on the kingdom of God. It’s a call to a way of life that defines all of life. But I’ll be the first to admit that none of us starts out there with faith. Most of us start out simply hoping that our faith will enable us to have a better life here, and in the afterlife a home in heaven. But Jesus spoke about something more: about the kingdom of God that is in the process of changing all things and all people here and now. Most of us don’t start out with that in mind. If we continue to seek God’s kingdom, however, we will have to face a call that claims our whole lives.

One of the reasons why this can be difficult for us is because we don’t have to face the likelihood that following Christ will mean the loss of family ties, being cast out of our circle of friends, or even being stripped of the means of making a livelihood. And we celebrate the fact that in this country we’re free to embrace our faith without suffering the hardships that many people have suffered for Christ throughout history, and many others still suffer today. It’s good to have the freedom to worship according to our conscience. But I think it makes it harder for us to appreciate the cost of following as our “Savior” and “Lord” one who suffered a brutal and humiliating death.

I believe our Gospel lesson for today places this question front and center. In fact, it’s hard to avoid when you read this passage. Here Jesus says some of the harshest things he ever said about what it means to follow him. Because of the difficulty of this passage, it’s easy to miss the “forest” for the “trees.” I think the point is that Jesus is calling us to shape our whole identity, from the roots up, around our commitment to following him and to seeking God’s kingdom. It’s a call to a way of life that defines all of life. And that means being willing to “leave everything behind.”

Right off the bat we hear the difficulty: Jesus says, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple” (Lk 14:26)! This is just plain jarring to hear. As is often the case with difficult passages of Scripture, we have to look elsewhere to gain the proper perspective on all this. I don’t believe that Jesus wanted anyone to literally “hate” their families, or that he wanted anyone to literally “hate” themselves. But I would say that the NT gives us plenty of evidence that the Christians for whom Luke’s Gospel was intended actually went through this kind of thing. Their choice to follow Jesus literally put them at odds with their families. They had to leave everything behind.

Jesus follows this up with another hard demand, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Lk 14:27). We’re familiar with this sentiment, because Jesus had earlier called those who would follow him to “deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Lk 9:23). After telling them that his path of seeking God’s kingdom was going to lead him to die on the cross, he called them to follow a similar path, one that would lead them to “take up your cross daily.” Again, I think this brings us back to what it will cost us to follow Jesus: our very lives, and all of life.

Perhaps more difficult for us is that Jesus sums up what it means to follow him by saying, “none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions” (Lk 14:33). This is not so much offensive as it seems downright impossible. Who can afford to give up everything they own? But perhaps the idea here is broader that just our “possessions.” Older translations say, “all one has.” I think that’s more to the point: Jesus calls us all to leave everything behind as the first Apostles did (Lk 5:11, 18). He calls us to a way of life that defines all of life. And that means letting go of everything else.

I don’t believe that Jesus wanted anyone to literally “hate” their families, or that he wanted anyone to literally “hate” themselves. I also don’t believe Jesus expected everyone who follows him to literally become a martyr for their faith. I believe that Jesus made the shocking statements in this passage to make clear the kind of demands it would take for people to follow him. He was calling people to shape their whole identity based on the way of living he demonstrated for them. And he said that it was nothing short of leaving everything behind for the sake of the kingdom of God. And he used the shocking language of this passage to impress upon all who would follow him how hard it will be.

Jesus calls us to a way of life that defines all of life. And here we learn that “leaving everything behind” to follow Jesus applies not just to the first disciples, but to us all. That’s hard for us to hear today. We begin our faith journey hoping that it will make for a better life for us. When we hear something like this it may sound like Jesus is taking all that away. Because it doesn’t fit in with our approach to faith, we may be tempted to ignore it. But we cannot do that! Although they are hard for us to hear, I believe we must pay attention to Jesus’ demands in this passage. The fact that they are so hard for us to hear today, and they probably always will be, makes this passage so important. It creates a tension that I think is meant to draw us deeper into our commitment to following Christ. These demands continually call us to follow Jesus in a way of life that defines all of life. And that means continually learning what it means for us to leave everything “behind” for the sake of the kingdom of God.

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[1] ©2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon prepared by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 9/4/2022 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.