Thursday, September 30, 2010

Sunday September 26

There once was a man in a land of winter who bought a fine, new coat. It was beautiful, and wonderfully warm, and the man would bundle himself in it whenever he set out, and he was proud of his wonderful coat.

One day the sun had an argument with the cold north wind. They wanted to see who was the most powerful, and they decided to settle their score over the man with the new coat.

Whoever got the man to shed his coat and give it to another person would be declared the most powerful.

So the cold north wind prepared himself, and began to blow. He blew icicles in the air and snow across the ground, and he tried to blow that fine coat right off the man. But the man stubbornly pulled his coat tighter about him, pulled up the collar, and huddled against the wind. Around him, people were shivering and dying of cold, but the man walked on.

Then it was the sun’s turn. And the north wind stopped blowing. And the sun came out, and smiled at the man.

And as the sun smiled, it became warmer, and the man took off his coat. As he kept walking, the coat became heavier and hotter on his arm. Seeing a small boy who was still shivering, he gave the little boy his coat.

(pause)

How do you determine what your life is worth? If you were to break your body down into its component elements, its total value would about $4.50. Are you worth more than that?

Close to two thousand years ago, a physician sat down to write a book. He had been very successful and was well learned. Then, as now, physicians were respected, usually attached to centres for learning. But this doctor was different. He gave up everything he had, and went to follow a man he had met.

That man we know as the apostle Paul, and his doctor friend was Luke, the compiler of the book that bears his name. Why Luke left his position and his home to follow Paul on one knows. But, if you consider how we today would treat a doctor who left a thriving practice – not to do something really attention grabbing, like going on a mission to Africa – but to follow a homeless itinerant preacher, you might get a feeling of what it cost Luke to follow.

Luke’s gospel today is all about finding a life worth living; a love worth finding. True, this passage is all about money – but it’s also about much, much, more than money.

There’s a rich man. And I mean VERY rich. He’s rich enough that he doesn’t even feel a twinge of remorse when he steps over the prostrate body of Lazarus. After all, he’s rich and famous, and Lazarus is a nobody. He owns his hard-earned money, so why share it with some lazy man who won’t even get up off his duff and get a job?

On the other side is Lazarus. He’s a beggar, the lowest of the low. Filthy, covered in sores and stinking rags, nobody notices him. At least, nobody worth mentioning. The rich man has his parties and shares with others who, like him, are deserving. But Luke reveals that, in fact, Lazarus is noticed, and in a big way.

Perhaps as a way of illustrating that Lazarus’ suffering was a way of preparing him for eternal life, when he dies he is welcomed into the arms of Abraham – but the rich man dies and goes into eternal torment. And the rich man, understanding that he cannot be freed from the consequences of his actions, begs Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers’ houses, so that they won’t suffer the same fate.

But Abraham won’t let him, telling him that they do have the Law and the Prophets – the bible of the day. The rich man replies, “but if someone shows up from the dead, they’ll really listen!” And Luke records a nice bit of foreshadowing when he replies, “if they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone rises from the dead.”

(hint: he’s talking about Jesus. And how we respond [or not] to the words of the One who is risen from the dead).

The point of Jesus’ story is not to shake his finger at those who are financially well off – but also note, that to Jesus, wealth is not a blessing. To Christ, being poor is a blessing, because there is less distraction in life. It is easier to really – in the words of Paul – take hold of the life that is really life – apart from the distractions that wealth provides. That’s why so many of Jesus’ parables tell of selling all that we have, in order to follow.

But remember: this story is also about much, much, more than money. It’s about the law, and about the gospel.

The Law is always conditional: it uses words like should, and if. The rich man wants Lazarus to tell his brothers, “you should give more generously to the poor if you want to go to heaven.”

But the problem with the law is that it’s hungry. You’re never doing enough. The rich man’s brothers could reply, “yah, I put an extra twenty in the plate at church. I’m doing enough, aren’t I?” And the law then condemns: no, you’re not. Do better. Do more, or else.

But the gospel is stated fact. It uses words like because, and therefore.

Because you are saved by Jesus Christ, therefore you live lives that store up for yourselves a treasure for the future.

The Law makes salvation our responsibility. The Gospel makes it a gift to us.

Remember the story of the north wind and the sun? The north wind is the Law. It wants to get its way by force, by coercion, and we respond by buttoning up our coats more tightly and ignoring what’s going on around us. We forge blindly forward, not seeing that wrapping ourselves in our protective surroundings merely insulates us from real life.

The sun is the gospel. When the gospel shines on us, when we feel the gospel in our lives, then we are blessed to be a blessing to others. Those wrappings that protect and insulate us from the world are shed. We share freely, and act in ways that benefit our neighbours and our community.

Because we are sinful people, we are always more prone to feeling the sting of the law than the comfort of the gospel. Paul wrote to Timothy what was to become one of the most-misquoted lines of Scripture: the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Our conscience wants to wiggle out of it: “I don’t love money, but I enjoy its benefits,” and too often we stop there, with the Law.

The gospel is the verses that follow.

People of God, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Take hold of eternal life, not because if you do so will be blessed; but because Christ called you.

Be blessed to be a blessing to others. Take hold of the promises of God, and let go of the law and idols that hold you here. Dare to take hold of the life that really is life, to see as your Saviour sees – every child of God, every blessing in struggle and pain, every joy in every moment of your life.

Because your Saviour called you, and watches and waits for you.

And the Son smiles on you, for no other reason that you are a beloved child.

Amen.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

meet The Girl!


Imagine our surprise when our new son turned out to be a girl! She was born at 12:20am on Sept 4, after we spend the whole of our anniversary in the hospital waiting for her to arrive!

Mom and baby are doing fine. Drop me an email if you'd like to know her name :)

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