October 23, 2022 – Pentecost +20C; Luke 18:9-14

“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other, for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Imagine if we lived our lives with the availability to always go to an ultra slow-motion replay to look at every action, every mistake, or every teachable moment including every bad moment in our lives. Imagine if every action could be re-lived by playing them back in ultra slow-motion? If that were possible, we could always review our lives to see if we got things right or wrong! And that would be a better way to live our lives, right? I mean, adding slow-motion replay to sports has changed everything for the better, right? Of course not – in fact it seems like the situation has only accomplished slowing down the play more than ever before while still guessing at many calls by umpires and referees.  A good example is the baseball game I was watching one night between the Cubs and the Dodgers. A player for the Dodgers came sliding into home, and the umpire called him out. But the player immediately motioned to his coach to ask for a replay, because he was certain he was safe. So they went to the replay, ultra slow-motion replay, and from the angel you saw on television, he indeed was safe.If you would have polled 100 people about the call looking at the replay, 99 out of 100 people would have agreed he was safe. And still, the one person who said he was not safe was the replay official locked in a secret room somewhere in New York, who agreed with the home plate official and said he was out. Even with slowing down the action, people continue to lament the decisions of officials: “Why do we have replay, especially in ultra slow-motion if they still get it wrong?” 

It just proves that even when we slow things down to ultra slow-motion, and replay it over and over again, we still do not all see the same thing. Think about the Zapruder film from the Kennedy assassination. It has been reviewed over and over again, in slow motion, and still people do not agree about what happened.  So, sometimes slowing things down to get a better look doesn’t always bring clarity.

We ask pastors to do just this with the lessons appointed for a Sunday, don’t we?  You all come and sit down in a pew, and after the Assisting Minister reads the lessons, and I read the Gospel, what transpires in the sermon is something similar to a slow-motion instant replay of the Gospel – trying to understand what is happening.  The problem is, if you go to five different churches and listen to five different sermons, you most likely will not hear a sermon on the same topic.  One pastor will look at the Gospel and think “I need to preach on this” and another will look at the same Gospel and think “I don’t see that, instead I need to preach on this”.  As such, lay people might review a bunch of different sermons and think “How can they not all see the same thing?” 

So, I will ask you this question “What did you hear in the Gospel?” Jesus is telling a parable about arrogance and humility. A Pharisee walks into the Temple to pray – and a Tax Collector walks into the same Temple to pray. The Pharisee, Jesus says, is arrogant because in his prayer he thanks G-d that he is not like those other people, people like thieves, adulterers, rogues – or even those tax collectors. And then he goes on to list all of his recent good deeds. But the Tax Collector, in humility, asks simply “G-d be merciful to me a sinner.”  So, what’s the call?  Who is safe in the kingdom of G-d and who will be out in the outer darkness where there will be weeping?

Remember the player for the Dodgers who was called out – and then looking at the play in ultra slow-motion determined that he was most likely safe – what can we learn from this experience. Well I would say, first it just confirms for all of us that replay is really just a waste of time and another reason that baseball is almost un-watchable; and second like all sports baseball is meant to entertain the masses, so his response to being called out twice was reminiscent of Billy Martin kicking dirt on an umpire’s shoes, yelling and making a fool of himself.  Now, what if he had been called safe after looking at the replay – he would have celebrated with fancy high fives, choreographed handshakes, and other joyous responses. Such is our response when we live our lives trusting and knowing that it is through Jesus and the cross, not our good deeds that we will be called safe in G-d’s kingdom – safe in the home of G-d. It is in this reality, our justification through faith and Grace that we give back to G-d: not in choreographed handshakes and high fives, but through Prayer, Praise and Thanksgiving. Prayer every day, Praise for G-d for all the blessings we have through word and deeds, and Thanksgiving for the fact that G-d loves us even in our sin.

Pastor Dave

October 22, 2022 — We All Need Our Hearts Examined For “Selfish” Reasons

“But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord, and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds; but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. Nathan said to David, “You are the man!” 2 Samuel 12:1-7

“The “check engine light” in your car. When it comes on, you can ignore it, you can break the light, or you can get the problem fixed. If you ignore it or break the light, eventually, you will harm the engine. If you fix it, everything goes back to normal. The same is true with guilt. It is the check engine light of the soul. When it comes on, do not ignore it, but take the problem to Jesus and get it fixed.” (preceptaustin.org commentary)

Just because someone seems to be doing an act of kindness does not mean that his or her heart is in the right place. In the case of David, one could say that he responded with kindness to take the wife of Urriah the Hittite into his palace once her husband had died in battle. But when we look deeper into the story, we discover that David arranged it so that Urriah would die in battle — so the sin of David would remain hidden. What David did not consider is that all sin is evident to G-d — no matter what lengths we go to hide them. Nathan tells David the story to highlight the hidden “selfishness” in the manner that humanity seeks to treat one another.

Coveting another’s goods, property or spouse is one of the most common sins in our society today. Coveting another’s spouse can lead to lust, which can lead to danger and dis-repair in relationships.

We should constantly look into our hearts to see what it is that drives our inner thoughts, needs, desires, and wants. If we are coveting another’s goods, property or spouse, we need to take time to examine our need for what is not ours — and what is behind that need. Remember: the Lord blesses us with all that we need, (not always with what we want) but definitely with what we need.

Let us pray,

Lord Christ, help us move forward from lamenting for what we do not have, to thanking G-d for all of the blessings we have. Amen.

Pastor Dave