Lent 1, Year A, March 1, 2020

The Rev. Todd R. Goddard, Pastor

Rush United Methodist Church

 

Matthew 4:1-11

 

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

 

 

Prayer.

 

The Word of God is way more mysterious than we give God credit.

 

The Word is God’s literal words.

The Word is God’s truth, given through history, complete with a mixture of direct commands, truth, symbols, metaphors, and myth.

 

There’s more:

The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

The Word is Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

There’s even more:

The Word is sacred, Holy Scripture.

The Word is the Bible, which has been shaped by church leaders over the centuries into a collection of books and letters.

The Word of God is translated from one language to another, many times, over thousands of years, in numerous cultural settings and contexts.

The Word of God is as tempting as a juicy apple to take out of context and use to support personal beliefs and biases.

The Word of God can be used as a weapon, or as a means of God’s grace.

 

There is more than any of us can imagine.

 

I humbly dismount my high horse,

And invite you to do the same.

Let us swallow our pride,

Give room for God to speak,

And listen for His whisper.

 

…

 

Matthew’s Gospel reports that,

Following his baptism,

Jesus was led by the Spirit

Into the wilderness

To be tempted by the devil. (4:1)

 

Because Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit,

I’m inclined to believe his temptation is part of a larger divine plan,

One that we can not fully see or comprehend;

A plan shrouded in mystery,

Which may or may not be fully revealed.

 

Our Creator, through his imminence, presence and intimate love,

Is working for our individual and collective wellbeing.

The Spirit leads Jesus to the wilderness for our wellbeing.

The Temptation of Jesus is the benchmark start to Lent and it serves for our benefit.

 

The setting is wilderness,

We assume just up the hill from where Jesus had been baptized.

Wilderness is a place without sustenance or comfort.

It’s a place of danger; where one can become a victim in a New York minute.

40 days in the wilderness is a long, long time.

Fasting this length of time leaves Jesus uncomfortable and weak.

 

The devil.

Satan, as he is named,

Confronts an uncomfortable and weak Jesus.

The playing field is intentionally set on unequal ground;

Tilted in favor of evil.

 

It doesn’t matter how you interpret the devil,

Whether he is a personified male named Satan,

Sporting horns, wings, and sharpened trident;

Or, whether you understand Matthew’s text to be a symbolic metaphor of evil.

The result is the same:

Every disciple of Jesus must be told the truth, that

Evil is a very real and dangerous threat to God and God’s people.

 

Life and death is held in the balance:

If evil wins, darkness takes over, and we die.

If goodness wins, the light of Jesus Christ shines, and we live!

The conflict is winner take all.

No second place.

No whining.

No excuses.

No victims.

 

The choice is ours:

Fight evil with everything we’ve got, or,

Suffer the consequences.

 

…

 

With such blatant, open defiance opposing our God,

How are we to fight back against evil and

The attacks of the devil?

 

A weakened, uncomfortable Jesus shows us the way.

 

1. First, if you’re going to use scripture as a sword,

Use it to slay the devil.

Never us scripture to slay one another.

 

Jesus counters each temptation with

“It is written …”

“It is written …”

“It is written …”

Three times Jesus returns the thrust and parry of the devil

By going back to the foundation of the Word,

Scripture, for his defense and strength.

 

Therefore, beloved fellow sister and brother followers of Jesus,

Learn scripture.

Become scripture’s most dedicated, life-long student.

Study scripture inside and out,

Cover to cover,

Starting with the Gospels:

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Just when you or I think we know all there is to know about scripture,

Have a slice of humble pie.

Get back to the Word.

 

The only means of discerning the mind of Christ and the will of God

Is through the study of scripture,

Meditation upon scripture,

Prayer through scripture,

Devotions with scripture.

 

My goal?

To know the Gospel so thoroughly

I become the Gospel.

That’s what John Wesley would call “perfection.”

 

2. A weak, fasting Jesus shows us the way to confront temptations:

Yield nothing to sin, evil, or the devil.

Nothing.

No compromise.

No negotiation.

Not one inch of God’s kingdom.

Nada. No. Nothing.

Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

 

Compromise is as good as surrender.

Surrender is death.

 

Even in his weakened state,

Jesus refused to yield, and

So, too, should we.

 

Through his stubborn refusal,

Jesus reveals to us how evil truly works in the world.

 

Evil is more dangerous than plutonium.

Evil is as seductive as opioids are to an addict, or booze is to an alcoholic.

Evil is in search of justification to explain away its motives.

Evil makes excuses.

Evil camouflages power, prestige, and wealth as entitlements,

Or, as signs of God’s blessing,

Instead of revealing the naked, ugly truth about sin.

Evil must be aggressively, relentlessly indicted.

 

3. Jesus shows us the way.

The words and actions of Jesus clearly reveals who provides for our every need.

 

Only the Lord provides.

 

The devil tempts Jesus to “provide for yourself.”

“Command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

To which Jesus replies, “God is my provider.”

We live “by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (4:3-4)

 

Only the Lord provides.

 

The devil tempts Jesus a second time, “let’s see if God provides.”

“Throw yourself down, … command his angels … on their hands they will bear you up.”

To which Jesus replies “My faith is in the Lord my God”.

“I don’t need to put my faith to the test. (4:6-7)

 

Only the Lord provides.

 

The devil tempts Jesus a third time, “let me provide for you.”

“All the kingdoms of the world I will give you,

if you fall down and worship me.”

Jesus replies, “That’s not going to happen!”

“Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.” (4:9-10)

 

Only the Lord provides.

 

We don’t provide for ourselves.

Accept nothing from the devil.

Don’t allow the devil to provide anything for  us.

We are dependent wholly, and utterly upon the Lord, his providence, and his grace.

 

For everything, all good things,

Come from God, and

Will return unto God.

 

…

 

My concluding thought about

Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by the devil

Jumps forward to the end of Matthew,

Chapter 27, verses 38-45,

When Jesus is crucified between two bandits.

 

At the beginning of Lent

We are given a glimpse of the conclusion of Lent

When Jesus is tempted by two thieves crucified with him,

One hanging at each side, and

The chief priests, scribes and elders

Taunting and tempting him from below.

 

As he hung helplessly on the cross,

With the Temple curtain – the only remaining barrier between heaven and earth – starting to tear,

Jesus felt their spit,

heard their taunts and jeers:

“You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” (27:40)

“He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son.’” (27:42-43)

 

My goodness,

Consider the love Jesus has for you and me

To overcome the temptation to save himself.

 

“Amazing love, how can it be?

That you, my king. would die for me

Amazing love, I know its true

Its my joy to honor you

Amazing love how can it be?

That my king would die for me

Amazing love I know its true

Its my joy to honor you

In all I do

I honor you.”

(“You are My King,” Authentic, by Chris Tomlin, 1998)

 

…

 

Dearly beloved,

Sisters and brother disciples of Jesus,

Know that evil and sin are very dangerous and real.

Evil and sin threatens our very lives.

Don’t touch the hot oven.

 

Let us

Strengthen ourselves with scripture.

Let us

Never, ever yield to sin or evil.

Let us

Rely completely on God for our every need.

 

And know this also to be true:

God wins,

All the time,

In the battle between good and evil.

God triumphs over the grave.

Resurrection vanquished death.

God wins

Because God loves you.

Amen.

Matthew 17:1-9

The Rev. Todd R. Goddard, Pastor

Matthew 17:1-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.

Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”

When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear.

But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

 

Prayer.

 

That moment in Introduction to Theology class

Changed my life

And the way I think about God.

Dr. Ty Inbody put the word “Transcendent” on the chalkboard.

He began a discussion about this important adjective.

Finally, I found a word,

A tool I could use to articulate my faith;

Or, more exactly,

A word that could serve as

one piece of a foundation

upon which I could begin to construct a framework for my beliefs.

 

Dr. Inbody spoke about a concept

Where the God of Creation

Made the world and all that is in it.

God set it spinning on its axis

And walked away,

Never to visit us again.

 

Transcendent.

 

A transcendent concept of God

Is one where God stands back,

Is a passive observer,

Wholly independent of the material universe,

Beyond all known physical laws,

An unwilling participant,

An uncaring and unloving heavenly Father.

 

Divine Transcendence is a concept I reject

Because I know better.

My Wesleyan / Methodist DNA has taught me better.

My experience is not that of a God

That stands off and has no concern for His children.

In my opinion,

It is not reasonable

That God would spend eternity creating

And not maintaining what He has built.

My Bible teaches me better.

My interpretation of scripture is not that of a God

Who watches human history without a care, simply going about His business.

 

In terms of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral,

Our uniquely Methodist standard for faithful evaluation

– Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience –

I can confidently reject a Divine Transcendence concept of God

Because it doesn’t square itself

With Experience, Reason, or Scripture.

Transcendency misses on three of the four Wesleyan standards.

 

The God that I’ve come to know and experience in my life

Is a God that not only created all that there is,

All that there was,

And all that ever will be,

Is also a God that relates deeply, personally, and intimately

With each of his created children,

And with communities of faith, as a whole,

Expressing love, grace, and Divine parental affection.

 

When I mourn and cry,

I have experienced the powerful presence of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit,

Crying right there with me.

When I’m desperately trying to avoid temptation,

I experience the reassuring presence and power of God right by my side,

Willing, able, and experienced in fighting off every thrust and parry of the Devil.

When I dance and sing because of blessings and love being showered upon me,

I know from whence it comes:

All goodness comes from God

Because of His love and grace.

 

All goodness comes from God.

 

In my life,

God breaks through,

On regular occasion,

Often, daily, even hourly.

From moment to moment

I experience the presence of God

In my life.

 

The opposite of Transcendent is Imminence.

God is imminent and always prepared to break into my life

At a moment’s notice.

How about you?

 

When I look at the expanse of Scripture,

We are told of numerous times that God makes a breakthrough into Creation.

God can’t hold back any more than a thunder cloud can refuse to rain.

 

Imminence often takes place on a mountain.

 

God comes to Noah,

Whose ark settled on a mountaintop when the floodwaters receded.

– Genesis 8

God comes to Abraham on another mountain, Mt. Moriah,

And intercedes in the unthinkable sacrifice of his son, Isaac.

– Genesis 22

 

When reading the Gospel of Matthew, think Moses.

 

I think of young Moses,

Tending his sheep on Mt. Horeb,

The mountain of God.

God breaks through,

Comes to Moses in a flame of fire,

“he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.”

– Exodus 3:2

God calls Moses to free His people

From Egyptian slavery.

 

I think of Moses leading God’s people home to the Promised Land.

On the top of Mt. Sinai

God breaks through,

Shakes the mountain,

Smoke rose like the smoke of a kiln,

And God answered with thunder!

 

“Leave my people behind,” the Lord commanded,

“and come to the top of the mountain.”

– Exodus 19:9-20:21

There, as we all know,

God’s imminence ripped through the divide between heaven and earth

Delivering the Law to Moses.

 

The Ten Commandments, and its many associated laws are

God’s intention for His people,

– For our people –

To live in peace and love with one another,

And with our God.

 

God breaks through the transcendent divide

To speak with the prophet Elijah on Mt. Horeb.

– 1 Kings 19

 

Time and again,

God intercedes.

Biblical examples of God becoming Imminent and Present on mountaintops

Are too numerous to mention them all.

 

So let me fast forward

To our fading season of Epiphany,

Low these past 7 weeks,

The presentation of the Lord,

When our ancestors in Israel see and experience the launch

Of Jesus and his ministry.

 

Out of his baptismal waters,

We heard the voice of God

Identifying Jesus:

“Behold this is my Son,”

The Messiah.

Clearly, this is

God stepping through the divide

And becoming fully human as well as fully Divine.

 

You want God on a mountain?

The last three Sundays,

We’ve heard the Gospel proclaimed

Directly from the lips of Jesus,

To the crowds

In His Sermon on the Mount.

 

Have you heard God speaking?

He’s been tweeting!

 

God has been speaking blessings;

teaching his people

Who he favors and blesses.

 

He teaches us

To be the salt and light of the world.

Reject the bland and

let the light of Jesus overcome the darkness of sin and evil!

 

Jesus goes directly to his people

To teach about anger management,

Adultery and divorce,

About retaliation and turning the other cheek,

And to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you.

 

That all in the first chapter.

The Sermon on the Mount goes for another two.

 

Today, the opposing bookend to the Season After the Epiphany,

The final Sunday before the onset of Lent,

We experience God’s imminence and presence

On yet another mountain,

The Mountain of Transfiguration.

 

Jesus takes Peter and James and John

“Up a high mountain, by themselves.”

– Matthew 17

Here, Moses and Elijah appear.

Jesus’s face shone like the sun,

And he was transfigured, or changed,

Right before their very eyes.

Again, from a cloud,

The voice of God repeat,

“This is my Son, the Beloved, with him I am well pleased; listen to him.”

– Matthew 17:5

 

Salvation history takes a turn in the road.

 

The people expected Jesus to keep on trucking.

Instead, he veers right.

The people expected Jesus

To keep on teaching and healing and conducting miracles

Up north in Galilee.

Instead, he veers right, and heads towards Jerusalem.

 

The people expected Jesus to return to the Mount of the Beatitudes

Instead, Jesus heads to the Mount of Olives,

And, of course,

To another mountain:

Golgotha.

Calvary.

 

The people expected Jesus

To win

In a final, all-consuming battle with Rome,

Instead, Jesus redefines the word “win.”

Winning for Jesus

Is being cleansed, regenerated, and brought back through the divide

Between heaven and earth,

Into God’s eternal kingdom.

 

Winning for Jesus

Is becoming intimately touched

by the imminence of God.

 

Perhaps the Transfiguration is a glimpse of what eternity looks like?

(As many have suggested)

Clouds.

Light.

Presence.

Glory.

 

This is the time to ask deeper questions.

The Transfiguration of Jesus compels us to dive deeper.

 

Why are you here?

What is it that you are looking for?

What do you need

To get from Sunday worship

That will help get you through the week to next Sunday?

 

God’s presence is here,

But is often not named or identified.

Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us,

And we are his Body,

But the presence of God,

Let alone His might voice,

Are only occasionally discernable.

What gives?

 

These are the questions I’m asking.

What does communication with God look like? Sound like?

What does it mean to encounter God

And how can we trust those moments?

 

If you are like me

We long for those breakthrough moments,

When transcendence is shattered,

When God breaks through the thin divide between heaven and earth

and transfigures us

Just as He transfigured Jesus.

 

In your experience,

Do these moments happen during the week?

Do these moments happen every Sunday?

Only at Holy Communion?

Only when we approach with broken hearts?

Only when we are prepared to repent of our former ways

And are prepared to begin life anew?

Does God break into your life

When you took that first step,

Being born again,

Regenerated and living in the Spirit?

 

If it hasn’t happened this Sunday,

If it doesn’t happen every Sunday,

Keep coming back.

Keep coming back.

You’re safe here.

You’re in good company.

Let’s figure this out together.

Let’s experience the presence and grace of God together.

 

Let us live together in ever growing faith

Even as we begin the upcoming journey of Lent

That will lead us to yet, another mountain

Where God is certain to break through.

Amen.

 

Matthew 5:21-37

16 February 2020

The Rev. Todd R. Goddard, Pastor

Rush United Methodist Church

 

Matthew 5:21-37 (NRSV)

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell. “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

Prayer.

 

Jesus pours on the pressure

With this third act

Of his Sermon on the Mount.

 

The Sermon on the Mount

Is bedrock material for Jesus.

He is outlining foundational values

Upon which God’s kingdom can be advanced.

 

Jesus is giving us a glimpse of what life looks like

As his faithful disciples,

Discerning and following God’s will.

The Sermon on the Mount is a description of

What it is like to live a full, meaningful, purposeful life in Christ.

 

…

 

The opening act of the Sermon on the Mount were the Beatitudes.

The Beatitudes are a great start, right out of the gate:

Jesus teaches the crowds that

God’s favor rests upon those society rejects:

The wretched, despised, and poor.

 

The Beatitudes conclude with a dose of harsh reality:

Life lived in God’s kingdom will result in people reviling and persecuting you.

If you’re not getting push-back and eye-rolls for following Jesus,

If you’re not on getting unfriended, the cold shoulder, or outright persecution because of your faith,

You’re probably not doing it right.

 

Weigh the risks and rewards,

Danger and opportunity, and

Make your decision.

As for me and my house,

We’ll follow Jesus, love God, and love our neighbors, and

Let the chips fall where they may.

 

…

 

Last Sunday was the Sermon on the Mount’s second act.

The substance was bold.

Be bold for Jesus and his message!

Be salty in your witness, mission, and ministry.

Shine the light of Jesus that all the world might see.

Jesus cannot be hidden

Anymore than a city on a hill can be hidden.

If you’ve got Jesus, flaunt it.

Wear it like Wendy.

Go big or go home.

 

Jesus follows up teaching about salt and light

With a transitional narrative that serves as a pivot,

An essential set-up,

For today’s third act.

Jesus sets the stage with a discussion about the Law and prophets.

The crowd would have been intensely interested in

Christ’s position on the nature of the Law of Moses,

The Ten Commandments, and all their supportive laws and ordinances from Deuteronomy.

 

What’s his policy?

 

Is Jesus the teacher and healer the One?

… the One sent by God,

… the One anointed to be a savior, liberator, redeemer of the Jewish people?

Is Jesus

God’s personal selection

To reign as the Jewish king during the Messianic Age and the world to come?

Just like primary voters from Gobbler’s Notch

People wanted to know where Jesus stood and what he believed.

 

How would Jesus rule? The Jewish crowd wanted to know.

Was God going to do a new thing?

Perhaps replace the Law of Moses with a new Law? Or

Would Jesus enforce the Law as it had been given?

 

Jesus clearly states his position:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (5:17-18)

The Law stands.

 

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (5:20)

Jesus intends to expand, intensify, and amplify the Law.

 

Jesus wants his happy meal, and he wants it super-sized.

 

Jesus has come to fulfill the Law: this means righteous adherence is our goal.

In the case of his next three topics:

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not bear false witness.

No lying, cheating, or killing.

Any questions?

Get to work.

 

That’s the happy meal, but Jesus wants it super-sized.

The third act of the Sermon on the Mount

Is Jesus expanding, interpreting, and intensifying these three basic commandments.

 

…

 

Thou shall not kill.

Righteous adherence seems obvious.

Either you do, or you don’t.

Few things are more binary than life or death.

If you’re not a murderer, you’ve kept the commandment, and

You win a gold star.

 

Wait a minute; Jesus has more.

The commandment isn’t just about physical life or death,

It’s about the relationship you and I have with each other.

Angry? You’re liable to God’s judgment.

Insulting? You’re going to get dragged before the church council.

Call someone a fool, and you better get used to the fires of hell.

 

In other words

Killing a brother or sister with anger, insults, or treating them like a fool,

Is just as bad as if you murdered them in cold blood.

Don’t do it.

 

That’s the super-size.

God’s grace follows, however, with the solution Jesus lays before us:

Reconcile with your brother or sister before you approach the altar and Divine Judge.

Reconciliation is as good as resurrection from the dead.

Reconciliation repairs and restores mortal wounds.

 

Using the justice system as a teaching metaphor,

Settle out of court, Jesus teaches.

Failure to reconcile before you get to the judge

Will result in being thrown in prison

Until reconciliation is made.

 

And you thought being quarantined in your stateroom for two months

for the Coronavirus was bad!

Being locked in the same cell

With the one you’ve killed with a poisonous tongue and poor treatment

Is my definition of hell.

The only key to unlock the cell door is called reconciliation.

Hell is a great incentive for getting down to business and

Living according to the will of Jesus.

 

Don’t kill.

Likewise, reconcile before you get to the altar and face our heavenly Father.

Check your anger at the door.

Learn to hold the tongue.

Don’t call or treat anyone like a fool.

Reconcile early and often.

 

…

 

Let’s have a candid talk about adultery.

You heard me right.

Adultery.

Don’t do it.

 

Adultery is defined as

“voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse.” (Google)

Like murder, adultery appears to be a binary affair;

Either one engages in adultery or one doesn’t.

Righteous adherence is the standard Moses came down the mountain with.

Stick true to the vows made at your marriage,

In front of your family, friends, and pastor.

Keep your word;

The vows made before God Almighty,

And you’re good to go.

You win a second gold star.

 

Wait a minute; Jesus demands more.

Jesus super sizes the commandment and raises the bar of expectation.

Look with lust, and the heart commits adultery.

Look with lust, and you’re as guilty as Jimmy Carter working his peanut farm.

 

As a life-long United Methodist,

I’m waiting for Jesus to deliver his characteristic follow-up dose of grace.

It just doesn’t come.

Not here, anyways.

It’s better to cut off an offending hand or pluck out an offending eye

Than to go into hell.

Yikes.

 

Jesus is talking a lot about hell, here.

Kind of makes us want to pay attention.

 

But, there’s more here than meets the eye.

Responsibility is shifted from the social norm of the woman

And placed solely on the shoulder of the perpetrator of adultery.

In a patriarchal society,

Men are now being called accountable for their actions, and

Women victims, Jesus is declaring, are no longer subjected to blame or humiliation.

Women are not objects, Jesus teaches.

Women are children of God,

made in the Creator’s image, and

are to be treated with the same respect.

 

Jesus shakes the snow globe and turns the whole male dominated world upside down.

 

Men: you don’t like it that Jesus favors women?

Get over it.

He favors the poor, the meek, the hungry, and the peacemakers, too.

 

You thought he was done?

Jesus is just getting started.

 

Like completing a check list

Jesus super sizes Deuteronomy 24,

Which explicitly lays down the law on divorce.

This is where the preacher pauses for effect and

half the congregation shifts nervously in the pews!

 

According to scripture,

A certificate of divorce was required

as a means of protecting women and children

From being discarded and destitute

For something as simple as “being objectionable.”

 

Divorce was, and remains, a reality.

Jesus was focused not so much on divorce as he was on remarriage.

 

Jesus takes divorce and elevates it to

the higher standard he just established for adultery.

Divorce pressures the x-wife to commit adultery by the assumption that she must marry again.

Marry and live in adultery or live homeless and starve with your children?

Talk about being caged in a corner.

You know what Jesus says about causing another to sin?

It would be better to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned. (18:6)

 

Divorce, Jesus teaches, equates with adultery,

With only one exception …

… if she is the one guilty of unchastity.

In other words,

Women, you’re not off the hook.

There’s no free pass for adultery, for men or women.

 

Adultery and divorce, we know,

Results in broken families and ruined communities.

Jesus would rather have us blind or an amputee

Than to have us crawl into the hell of adultery or divorce.

 

Adultery rots the heart.

It’s impossible to have the heart of Christ if it’s rotten to the core.

 

Avert the eyes.

Discipline personal behavior.

Honor your vows and treat your spouse with love and respect.

These are teachable skills.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day.

 

Marriage takes work.

It is possible to improve.

Practice makes perfect.

Jesus expects his disciples to improve.

It is possible to rise to the high standard Jesus sets.

 

Life in a healthy marriage and a loving, healthy family

Is to taste the joy of living a life fully in Christ Jesus.

 

…

 

Lastly, for today,

Jesus speaks about swearing an oath and keeping your word.

 

Granted, the language here is difficult.

The cultural context in the time of Jesus for swearing oaths is uncertain.

No translation does the text justice.

But, let me give it a try.

 

First, don’t lie.

This is consistent with the Commandment prohibiting one from bearing false witness.

Resist the temptation to justify lying words with phrases like

“fake news”

“alternate facts”

“it’s just a little white lie”

“everyone does it”.

 

Conversely, tell the truth.

Always, without exception, tell the truth.

Speak truth when it’s easy.

Speak truth when it’s hard.

Speak truth to power, even when you’re so scared

It feels like your legs won’t hold you.

Create your life narrative as

one who was always known

to be honest and true.

 

Truth is a high standard.

Jesus raises the bar.

He super sizes the commandment about honesty

With the directive to

“carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.” (5:33b)

 

In other words,

Keep your word.

Keep your promises.

Follow through is the new gold standard.

Follow through with behavior that is consistent with your words.

 

Inconsistency is hypocrisy.

Promises unkept

Undermines trust,

Corrodes integrity, and

Damages relationships.

 

Avoid the trap of dishonesty and hypocrisy

By keeping promises modest.

Make promises that have a low risk of failure and a high degree of success.

 

This places a high priority on knowing our boundaries and keeping them.

This requires a commitment to the self-examined life and

A growing, maturing relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

…

 

Jesus takes the Law

And sets the bar higher.

In his Sermon on the Mount,

Jesus will press the limits on issues of

Retaliation, loving enemies, giving to the poor, prayer, fasting, and wealth.

Jesus will amplify the Law when it comes to

Fidelity to God, anxiety, judging others, profanity, and living according to the Golden Rule.

 

The standards are set

such that, pretty much,

everyone is convicted by sin

and in need of redemption.

 

We are given a vision of how wonderful a life can be when its lived in Jesus Christ.

The only way to get to this abundant life is through

Personal repentance,

Accountable behavior,

Inter-personal reconciliation, and

the redemption Jesus offers by his cross.

 

Indeed, the blood of the cross washes us clean.

 

Repentance.

Reconciliation.

This is a tall order.

It’s a long, but necessary reach,

That we are taught and called to complete.

 

Amen.

Isaiah 58:3-9a and Matthew 5:13-20

Epiphany 5, Year A, 9 February 2020

The Rev. Todd R. Goddard, pastor

Rush United Methodist Church

 

Matthew 5:13-20

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 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. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Prayer

 

Just for a moment

Lick your lips.

(Not your neighbor’s lips! Lick your own lips!)

 

How do you taste?

Taste pretty good?

I want you to remember this question throughout this morning’s message:

“How do you taste?”

 

One fallacy in the church

is the notion that

the church should be a place of peace at all costs.

Peace …

… at all cost.

That the church should not take controversial stands.

The church should be a place

where every effort should be made to

Keep Calm and carry on,

Still all troubled waters.

 

Whenever there is a problem the default is to go to the pastor

to restore peace,

and if possible, to

do it without loosing any members or,

God forbid,

with out loosing any large givers!

 

But I challenge this assumption.

In our Gospel lesson for this morning,

Jesus tells us in his Sermon on the Mount

that if the salt has lost its flavor,

throw it out!

 

Salt isn’t worth anything

if it doesn’t have taste to it.

Neither is the church worth anything

if it is only in the business of

preserving members and major donors, or calming troubled waters.

 

For peace can only be Christian

if it walks hand in hand with justice.

If there is no justice, there is no peace.

Peace in the absence of justice

becomes oppressive and

a breeding ground for evil.

 

“How do you taste?”

 

President Erdogan of Turkey,

Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un of North Korea,

Supreme Leader Khamenei of Iran, and

President of Russia Vladimir Putin

Have all been keeping a tight lid on peace for years;

But at what price?

The price of justice.

This progressive lack of justice

Brews volatility and discontent among the population.

 

Despots and dictators are easy targets;

Do we risk thinking closer to home?

Or would that crack open the lid of partisan politics,

Upsetting social issues,

Or the topic of potential controversial denominational division?

 

Peace without justice is sinful;

especially when justice is withheld for the purpose of

self-promotion,

consolidating power, or

amassing wealth.

 

Peace without justice is sinful.

Jesus is calling his disciples to

stand up, speak out, and speak truth to power.

 

“How do you taste?”

 

The Gospel calls Christians to stand fearlessly in the face of injustice.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is upsetting,

especially if – God forbid – we are the ones responsible for the injustice .

 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

brings with it suffering and pain.

While the baby Jesus was born the Prince of Peace,

The Light of the World,

the Lord of Love,

King Herod was slaughtering baby children across Judea.

Try telling one of the grieving mothers that

their child was killed

in the name of peace!

 

The danger that we face as a Church

is the same danger which we face individually;

We face the danger of loosing our saltiness.

 

If we fail to speak up and act out against injustice

for fear of rocking the boat or disturbing the peace,

then we, too, have fallen to the power of sin, and we walk away

Condemned by our silence.

 

To not take a stand against injustice,

to not share the revolutionary, controversial nature of the Gospel,

to not completely give ourselves over to Jesus Christ

means that we

cover our light,

lose our saltiness, and

surrender to irrelevance.

We begin to stink of stagnation.

 

“How do you taste?”

Or, perhaps, I should ask “How do you smell?”

 

And, baby, does the Church ever know how to stagnate!

Unfortunately, to stagnate is to die;

A long painful death.

 

It’s easy to die, everyone does it.

 

But it takes courage and conviction

and willpower and confidence

and belief and faith

to turn the ship around!

To embrace resurrection!

 

“How do you taste?”

 

To live and grow in the light of Jesus is hard!

To spread the Good News of Jesus Christ is risky!

To speak out against injustice, oppression, discrimination,

and to do so in a crowd, is tough.

 

But if we don’t do it, what do we have?

What have we become?

To follow Jesus is to be salty!

Salt without flavor is nothing more than grit, and needs thrown out.

 

To seek repentance,

to take a stand against sin in our own life,

makes us vulnerable before God.

But if we don’t do it, what do we have?

What have we become?

 

Let the light of Jesus shine!

Discipleship reflects the light of Jesus to all the world.

Light hidden underneath a bushel isn’t of any use to anyone.

 

To tell a friend that Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life

puts me at risk of loosing them as my friend.

But without risking that friendship,

Friendship isn’t worth a plug nickel.

Friendship demands a mutual respect of faith, both unique and shared.

 

If the church doesn’t stand fast,

Deeply rooted on the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

if WE don’t stand fast in our convictions,

then we will face the same problem the Jews had

when they were in Babylonian exile.

 

We hear the prophet Isaiah

asking the question this morning in Isaiah 58,

“Why do we fast?”

 

It had become quite the stylish thing to do:

to fast,

to go without eating for an extended period of time.

People had forgotten what fasting was all about.

Going without food had

become an exercise in false humility.

It had become a means of oppression,

quarreling and fighting.

 

Look at me everyone!

I’m going without food for an entire day!”

To which Isaiah asks, “Why do you fast?”

 

Had it been Jesus, he would throw them out.

Salt without flavor is worthless and should be tossed.

Nothing is gained in life if

we only seek our self-promotion or pleasure,

if we seek only to increase our wealth or status,

if we turn our back on our neighbors in need

if we fail to right injustice

wherever and whenever injustice is uncovered.

 

Hear the words of Isaiah again:

 

“Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of wickedness

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”

 

It is tasteless to be selfish,

it is favorable to deny the self.

 

It is to be without flavor to look out for number one,

it is salty to place the needs of others before our own needs.

 

It is bland to love yourself,

it is rich and fruitful to love our neighbors.

 

It is dull to be served,

it is fulfilling to serve others.

 

Everyone loves their family and friends.

 

Loving your enemy is like biting into a chili pepper!

 

“How do you taste?”

I pray you’re spicy as Tabasco.

 

For the church to grow, indeed,

for you and I to spiritually mature,

we are called to replace our bland, tasteless, dull lives

with bite!

With flavor!

 

God calls on us to stand boldly against

Injustice and oppression.

This is our baptismal vow!

 

God calls on us to take risks in his name,

to let our light shine for all to see,

to not only speak out

but to act out

promoting God’s desire for social justice.

We are swimming in an environment of injustice,

if only we are willing to see, learn, and understand.

 

The despair of injustice is all around us.

Perhaps we are a part of it.

The call is before us,

to have some taste,

to take a stand,

to be willing to risk all that we are;

that peace and justice may become one,

… shalom …

here, and in every land.

 

The secret is in trusting God

that controversy,

no matter what it is,

will not weaken our relationship with Jesus,

nor will it consume us.

 

Eucharist is the substance of this trust.

The bread and cup unites us

even when we are divided by opinion.

 

The power of the sacrificial meal far surpasses

any issue or controversy

that threatens to divide us.

 

It’s risky to speak out.

It’s far easier to have no taste;

to be content with the way things are.

 

But God calls us to

upset the world,

to shake this snow globe,

to turn the world on its head with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

 

God sometimes calls us into ventures and places

that are uncomfortable,

where we don’t want to go,

but that is where faith leads us.

 

Our hope and trust must

be in the sacrificial meal,

that the bread and cup keep us united

in the love and power of Jesus.

This unity will shepherd us through

all of life’s most challenging issues.

 

So, how do you taste this morning?

Do you taste salty?

Are you willing to take a risk?

Are you ready to place your trust in Christ?

 

If you are, come to the table

And feast upon the meal which has been spread just for you.

The Word of our Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.