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FAITHFUL AMID WEEDS - from Sunday, July 23, 2017

7/25/2017

Can you tell the wheat from the weeds in this picture? Look, pretty flowers! Standing strong in faithfulness to God amid the weeds is not so clear cut.

Looking at Psalm 86, we find someone who spends most of the psalm praising God for all the things God has done, professing their faith in God, and seeking God once again as Protector of the faithful. The psalmist introduces the complaint near the end in vs. 14: The arrogant are attacking me, O God, and ruthless men seek my life - men without regard for you. Despite the desperation of his situation, he remains faithful in his request. Does he seek retribution or justification? Does he seek them harm or does he seek them to know God? It's how the faithful need to witness as they stand among the weeds.

Jesus continues the agricultural metaphor that we had last week in the parable of the sower. Here God gets the seed sown in the field, but an enemy comes and sows weeds among them. As they all grow up together, the problem becomes plain to the servants. What to do?

Understanding that the seeds are still about growing God's Kingdom, we should also understand that the weeds are still about growing Empire. The Empire and the Kingdom strive against each other, fully intermingled in the world. It can all be quite deceptive. To figure it out, see the sermon video below and the downloads below the video panel.

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07-23-17-faithful_amid_weeds.pdf
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SEEDING KINGDOM AMID EMPIRE - from Sunday, July 16, 2017

7/18/2017

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You don't have to be a smart farmer to know to sow seeds in good soil. Why is God such a lousy farmer? If God's word doesn't return empty, as Isaiah says, what's going on with Jesus' parable of the sower?

(Second) Isaiah takes us back to that heady time when the liberation of God's people from Babylon was imminent or happening, thanks to God's messiah. The new Persian strategy of empire-building showed God's act of restoring God's people to the Promised Land. The text is a triumphant declaration of God's word transforming the conditon of God's people. It's God's word of the covenant of new life being fulfilled - a reflection of the Kingdom of God.

The familiar parable of the sower told by Jesus talks about a farmer - God - who has trouble keeping the seeds on good soil. The seed represents the "message of the kingdom" (Mt. 13:19) In fact, it seems that God, in typical carefree style is chucking seed everywhere, willy-nilly, with no regard for how this seed will fare wherever it lands. Perhaps the parable means stray seeds, but if it fits with God's usual economic strategy, God is just giving it all away for free with reckless abandon, like grace, love, and new life. God will never turn a profit, but it seems like that is a concern of the world's, not God.

Jesus tells how this seed fares in the different places in which it falls. The seed is God's word about the Kingdom. The things that kill it off can be broadly identified in short as the Empire. Find out what all of this means in the sermon video below. (Look, I'm waving my arms like I'm trying to fly again.)

07-16-17-ff-answers.pdf
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07-16-17-seeding_kingdom_amid_empire.pdf
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WEIGHING YOKES AND BURDENS - from Sunday, July 9, 2017

7/11/2017

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Yokes return for a second look this week. They represent a relationship. Last week, it was the yoke of punishment in Jeremiah. This week Jeremiah has a yoke of covenant while Jesus claims an easy yoke with a light burden. Really, Jesus? That needs some consideration.

Last week, we read Jeremiah 28 when the Babylonians had completed their conquest and were carting away people and treasure. This week, we step back before the conquest to when the Babylonians were threatening in Jeremiah 5. The yoke to which Jeremiah refers this week is something different.

In chapter 5, the prophet notes how the yoke for God's people has been broken and their bonds torn off. The yoke represents God's covenant expectations for God's people.

Jeremiah is told to see if he can find just one righteous individual in the whole place. We hear (with some richly descriptive language) how all of the people have made a terrible mess of things.

On the other hand, Jesus memorably describes his yoke as easy and its burden light. That sounds really nice, but have you read the Sermon on the Mount? Do you remember the instructions to the disciples in mission from last week? Nothing is easy about any of that.

How is Jesus' yoke different from the yoke laid upon the people by the religious establishment of his today? For that insight and more, check out the sermon video below, and note the downloads below the video panel.

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07-09-17-weighing_yokes_and_burdens.pdf
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SUSPECT POPULARITY - from Sunday, July 2, 2017

7/4/2017

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What's popular isn't always what's needed or helpful. A competition between two prophets, and oddly phrased comments from Jesus in the First Commission Discourse, point out how problematic and unpopular God's word can be.

Populists have been around a long time in American politics. Charismatic figures like William Jennings Bryan at the turn of the 20th century, and Huey Long in the Depression Era 1930s, whipped crowds into a frenzy as they railed against big money corporate interests and the victimization of hard-working "real" Americans. Some positive things emerged from these platforms, but much of it was simply playing to the emotions of the people, connecting with their fears and misgivings about a society and system that had failed the common people.

Jeremiah 28 recounts a showdown between two prophets, Jeremiah and Hananiah. Jeremiah was commanded by God to wear a yoke around his neck in ch. 27. The wood yoke represents the yoke of God's punishment of God's people and the occupation of Judah by the Babylonian Empire. Hananiah promotes a prophecy declaring that now is the time to rise up in revolt, overthrow Babylonian rule, and restore the treasures being ransacked from the Temple. In essence, Hananiah believes not only that Judah's punishment was ready to end (already!) and that God would enable their victory.

Jeremiah chastizes Hananiah for his popular prophecy, that peace would be great, but God had promised punishment for a long time. It had finally arrived and would not be departing anytime soon.

Enraged at being called out by Jeremiah, Hananiah seizes the yoke from Jeremiah's neck and breaks it, repeating his claim that the punishment will soon be over.

If you don't know how that works out, check out the sermon (video).

A brief piece from Jesus' instructions to his disciples in Matthew 10 provides another clear insight into the unpopularity of God's word, even among God's people.

When God's word is popular, rather unpopular, we need to ask ourselves this question: Have we got it right? Get more insight form the sermon video below, and the downloads below the video panel.