Well Respected Men About Town

Matthew 23:5-7

They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Cause he gets up in the morning,
And he goes to work at nine,
And he comes back home at five-thirty,
Gets the same train every time.
'Cause his world is built 'round punctuality,
It never fails.

And he's oh, so good,
And he's oh, so fine,
And he's oh, so healthy,
In his body and his mind.
He's a well respected man about town,
Doing the best things so conservatively.

"Well Respected Man About Town" by The Kinks

There is something noble to be said for doing the right things the right way. It's a principle of business popularized by W. Edwards Deming in his business dealings in Japan after World War II. At this time "Made in Japan" meant shoddy where today it means high and consistent in quality. It was Deming who brought this mindset to the Japanese, after his concepts were rejected by American business.

If there is one thing wrong with doing the right things the right way it's that it allows for only slight incremental improvement. It doesn't move toward great leaps of innovation. While both are important, it would be like making cars a little more cost effective while Star Trek transporters are being invented and developed. No matter how much more improved the car becomes, it will become nothing when transporting takes hold.

The Pharisees knew their faith. The Pharisees knew the ways of the Law and the Prophets. The Pharisees were the Sons of Moses. They were the heirs of Abraham. Their God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In this, they took to the trappings of their station. They make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi.

Their world built on everything that was oh so good and oh so right was about to come to an end. Their faith that never fails built on punctuality of ritual cleanliness and blood sacrifice was about to become obsolete. They built their faith on the trappings and requirements of God, not on God's own self. They kept the law without keeping the one who created the Law.

God was about to reveal something new and their faith would not recognize it. This is something we face daily. God revealed himself new in Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus who was the Messiah. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to see and participate in God's work on earth. We must take this seriously. Not because God is changing, but because God continues to create. Through the Holy Spirit we recognize how God reveals himself everyday. If like the Pharisees we hold the law like a gate post, we will never follow the guide posts God places along the way. This is the way of new life in Christ.

Saint Patrick and the Dreadful Snakes

A Pre-St. Pat's History Lesson


Genesis 3:14-15

The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
cursed are you among all animals
and among all wild creatures;
upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Snakes Alive" instrumental by The Dreadful Snakes [Bela Fleck (banjo), Jerry Douglas (dobro), Pat Enright (guitar), Roland White (mandolin), Blaine Sprouse (violin), and Mark Membree (bass)] from "Snakes Alive"

The legend of St. Patrick begins with his kidnapping from England and being taken to Ireland at a young age. He eventually escaped his captors and returned to England where he became a priest. I say legend because there are so many stories about the man with so little corroboration that legend is a better word than fact. Then again, there is often as much truth in legend as there is in fact.

Years later, Patrick returned to Ireland, there he began to spread the gospel. One of the things which evangelists today should take from Patrick is that he knew the lay of the land, he knew Ireland and its people long before it became "the mission field." I wonder if he ever thought of it in the way many people think of "the mission field." He wasn't a stranger to the land or its people. He knew what they valued and he knew how to share what he valued.

He was a captive and when he returned he returned with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Knowing the land, knowing the people, he took the three leaved shamrock and explained the Trinity. He explained that God was in three persons like three leaves on the clover. He explained that God was still one as the flower was one plant. He shared three in one in a way they would understand.

Patrick is beloved in Ireland. He is the Patron Saint of Ireland. By him, Ireland became a nation that worships the Lord. For this, I say "Happy St. Patrick's Day." But there is a more popular part of the legend of Patrick, and if I didn't go there there would be no reason for this scripture and this song.

According to the legend, Patrick banished all snakes from Ireland using his staff when snakes confronted him during a forty day fast. Fighting the dreadful snakes off with his staff, he was like Aaron before Pharaoh. Then again, since the glaciers receded and Ireland became a land mass, there has never been evidence of snakes on the island. Britain has snakes, but none have made it to Ireland. There have never been any snakes for Patrick to banish so the legend is just that, a legend.

Or... this part of the legend could have referred to the serpent symbolism used by the druids, and when Patrick brought the Good News, the Gospel shared by Patrick banished those snakes. See what I mean, not literal snakes, but the snake symbols and the druids who worshiped them. They were banished and the Lord was worshiped. Not factual snakes, but legendary snakes. Like I said, this is one time when the legend has even more truth than the facts. Then again, Patrick wouldn't have known any of this if he hadn't known the people he came to serve in the name of the Lord.

Faith and Belief

Mark 9:24(NRSV)

Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse, but
If I ever lose my faith in you
There'd be nothing left for me to do"

"If I Ever Lose My Faith" by Sting from "Ten Summoner's Tales," 1993

So let's start here, because this is suddenly the elephant in the room, Sting sings "You could say I lost my belief in the holy church." This may not be the most uplifting thing ever written in a devotional, but it goes to a place devotion needs to go.

People often put their faith in things that do not deserve devotion. The greedy have a faith in wealth and that is not healthy. The vain put faith in looks and that is not wise. Gluttons of all stripes place faith in the object of their abuse and that can become the object of addiction.

There is a difference between having "faith" in the church and faith in the Head of the Church. The church is made up of people, people who are sinned and fallible. The Head of the Church is our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is fully human and fully divine; all human and all God. Jesus is not only more God than we will ever be, but he is more of a person than we will ever be. In him alone must our faith rest.

As Sting sings, "If I ever lose my faith in you, there'd be nothing left for me to do."

When the man brings his demon possessed son to Jesus, Jesus says, “All things can be done for the one who believes.” The man then cries “I believe; help my unbelief!”

As people, imperfect human beings, we will never be able to fully believe, not to the extent that Jesus is able to believe in us. Often we think of this verse as Jesus scorning the father, "If you believe your son will be healed." The man's answer certainly seems to follow this logic.

But what if Jesus is instead saying, "I believe in you, I believe in humanity, and because I believe, all things can be done." The acts of Jesus do not depend on us having enough faith. Jesus has enough faith in us to do the miracles that show us life.

Still, our lives are plagued with uncertainty and pain. Sting sings, "Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world." We may be lost, but Jesus finds us--both in our belief and in our unbelief.

The Church can be a wonderful thing. In its most gloirous state it is the Body of Christ on earth. But it is better to have faith in Christ while remembering Christ calls on us, the church, people, to continue his work on earth.

Crumblin' Tumblin' Down

)

Hebrews 11:30-31

By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the walls come tumblin' down
When the walls come crumblin' crumblin'
When the walls come tumblin' tumblin' down

"Crumblin' Down" by John Mellencamp

What can be done by faith? There's the old gospel song, "Faith Can Move Mountains." Hebrews 11:1 reminds us "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." In short, faith isn't about us. Faith is about what happens around us.

Joshua had to have faith that the walls would come tumblin' down. Sound is powerful, but city walls were built to turn armies away, much less a bunch of priests with horns!

Rahab was promised that by hiding the Israelite spies she would be spared when the invasion began. By faith she believed that promise. It's easy to imagine that someone in the army might not get the memo and slaughter her family though. By faith, God protected her family.

It is by their faith that they have confidence in the salvation promised by God Almighty. They are saved by God's grace through faith. When all seemed unlikely from a human point of view, God makes good on promises, on covenant made with Joshua, Rahab, and with us.

With a mighty leader, with a prostitute, God keeps promises. If you have ever wondered if God's promises are for you, know this is true. Have faith and and the promise of life in God true.

Saved by Grace

)

Ephesians 2:8-10

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If I should fall from grace with God
Where no doctor can relieve me
If I'm buried 'neath the sod
But the angels won't receive me

Let me go, boys
Let me go, boys
Let me go down in the mud
Where the rivers all run dry

"If I Should Fall From Grace with God" written by Shane MacGowan, recorded by The Pogues on the album of the same name

The fear of all God fearing people, falling from God's grace. It's the ever present worry that we won't be able to live up to God's standard. When we we fear that, we fear we will lose salvation. We fear we will be buried 'neath the sod but the angels won't receive us.

Fear not! The cry of all scripture from God to the people, fear not! God love us, God loves us. God is so rich in mercy that while we were still living a life ripe with trespasses, life filled with sin, God is so rich in mercy that we were made alive through Christ, saved by grace through faith.

The wonderful thing about grace is that we cannot earn it by our works. Grace is a gift freely given. If we had to work for it then it would no longer be grace, it would no longer be a gift. It was given before we even had the opportunity to try to earn it. Let me say again, the free gift of God's good grace was offered before we had the opportunity to try to earn it.

Our good works aren't like "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." If we open enough chocolate we won't find the Wonka Golden Ticket to get us beyond the factory gates. This is salvation by works, we are saved by grace through faith.

Yet we were created to do good works. God has made us in Christ Jesus for good works to become our way of life. So if our good works aren't for our salvation what's the use? Our good works reflect the light of Christ in the world. Our good works show God's light in the world.Our good works aren't for our glory, but project God's love onto a needy world.

Saved by grace through faith shows God's merciful kindness to creation. Merciful kindness, in the words of a famous theologian, God loves us not despite who we are, but because of who we are. Live into God's grace not because it will get us anything, but because we are thankful for everything.

Sandbar Theology

Thanks to the smartest man I know,Michael Jinkins, for inspiring this one.
)

Matthew 7:24-27

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell--and great was its fall!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I enjoy this life as a jester
Seems to keep me movin' around
Like the wind that blows
Tide that flows
Have my ups and downs

All a part of some strange plan I'm sure
Start a new chapter each day
Honey, love gets lost, time gets tossed
'Cause we've both got our own different ways

I feel like I'm stranded on a sandbar
Stuck in my tracks like a street car
Playin' it for all that it's worth
I'm just payin' for my sins on earth

"Stranded on a Sandbar" by Jimmy Buffett from the album "Volcano"

As Michael Jinkins writes, "The gospels don’t have much nice to say about sand." This is the most particular reference, when the storms come there is little sand does that supports a structure. When the tide flows and the wind blows Jimmy Buffett sings of personal ups and downs. As for the walls of your house, well, there are just downs.

I went to Miami Beach for a conference about 20 years ago. As you can well imagine from the name of the town, everything was on the beach, and I mean everything. There were fences on the beach. There were swimming pools on the beach. There were restaurants on the beach. There were 30 story hotels and apartments on the beach. That's when Matthew's warning crossed my mind. How do huge hotels survive in a foundation of sand. So I asked a cabby.

He told me that before the hotels were built, tremendous concrete piers were poured as a foundation. I don't know how many cubic yards of concrete has to be poured to turn a "beach" into a "rock covered with beach," but I'm sure it is both many and as of today enough.

But that's enough about engineering.

The second stanza of the first verse of Stranded on a Sandbar is the lament of a man whose life not really in a good place. His relationship is failing because they both have their own different ways. Evidently she's moving on, but he isn't because he's stranded on the sandbar. He's stuck in his tracks and unable to move. But for some reason, he believes that standing still is a form of atonement and he's playin' it for all it's worth.

Being in a place where being swept away with the rush of life is no form of atonement. It's really not much of a way of life either. Being swept in the tide is little more than a good way to be cast out to sea without the benefit of Jonah's great fish.

We instead are called to seek the rock of ages, the rock of our faith. That is where we build our great foundation. Without a solid foundation, everything we have and everything we do will be for naught as it blows away in the wind with the sand. As Michael Jinkins writes, in the sand what is here today is gone tomorrow. It's better to place our trust in what is here always. The foundation of the Lord our God.

Religion Worth Losing

James 1:19-27

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act--they will be blessed in their doing.

If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, life is bigger
It's bigger than you
And you are not me

"Losing My Religion" by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe from the REM album "Out of Time"

The question, what's the difference between religion and faith? Is there a difference? Yes, there is a difference, and it's bigger than it might seem. Perhaps one simple way to put this is that religion is how we practice our faith. Religion helps define the theology and liturgies and priorities of how we frame faith in God. If faith is a suit, religion is a hanger. Then again, if faith is a suit that's trouble. It should be tougher to remove our faith than it is to take off a suit.

The book of James tells us about faith and warns us about being religious. James calls us to take our faith and be active with it. We are to be doers of the word, not just hearers. It's like having a key; it's great, but if it isn't used to open the door or unlock the chains it's useless. So too is religion that doesn't put faith into action. Sitting in church on Sunday morning isn't a bad thing, but if that is the extent of faith, it's not that good either.

It is especially bad when religion takes its cues from anger. The faithful are called to be quick to listen and slow to anger because anger does not lead to righteousness. If anger causes the tongue to lose its bridle, then the religion is useless. Useless religion is religion worth losing.

It is important to remember that God is bigger than we are. God is bigger than our religion yet or faith should reach toward that bigness. People create religion, hopefully as empowered by the Holy Spirit. Still, religion is a human endeavor, thus laden with the sin of all human creation. Faith must be bigger.

God is bigger than we are so faith must be bigger than we are. I can imagine God singing to creation and to religion, "life is bigger than you and you are not me." When we fail to open our faith to the greater things of God then our religion is worthless. When we are quick to anger then our religion is worthless. God is bigger. Faith should be bigger. When religion limits this truth, we have created a religion worth losing.

Salvation and the Preacher Man

Ephesians 2:4-7

But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Can't no preacher man save my soul

"Barton Hollow" by The Civil Wars from the album "Barton Hollow" written Joy Williams and John Paul White

Here's a fact for people who don't understand Christianity and preachers who are too full of themselves: Can't no preacher man save any soul. I mean any soul. That's all there is to it, it's as easy as that.

The preacher man does no saving. Jesus is the source of salvation. It is by God's grace alone, shown on the cross, that we are saved. Salvation means nothing without faith. Without faith, salvation still means everything to God, but nothing to those without faith.

People expect some sort of magic or some such nonsense, preacher man gonna save (or try) to save a soul. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Sometimes it's the preacher man who thinks something the preacher does is gonna save (or try) to save a soul. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Foolishness or ignorance or arrogance are the only things that give this lyric any sort of traction. There is nothing, nothing, that can separate us from God. But that's not because of our doing, it's because God won't allow it.

So go ahead, enjoy the old expression "God doesn't want me and the devil's scared of me" but know that's a lie and the only person who is fooled by it is the person who says it. No preacher man can talk you into your own salvation, but that's fine. God is still there and God with Christ raises us up and seats us in the heavenly realm, the eternal home of the Triune God. This is God's immeasurable loving kindness, it has nothing to do with us.