Five More Things Jesus Actually Said

1.  "The Kingdom of heaven is like a man who went out and sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping,an enemy went out and sowed weeds among the wheat and then went away." Matthew 13:24.
What Jesus meant:  The problem of evil is a problem precisely because we cannot understand why a benevolent God would permit evil to happen.  We assign blame. We say that evil is a sign of God's judgment on an individual, a community, a nation. We say that God is responsible for the good and the bad.  We say things like "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away."  Jesus' story about the kingdom of heaven says otherwise.  There is an opposition force at work and a rebellion taking place in God's kingdom(the heavens and the earth).  God is loathe to stop it because of the negative implications that would have on what God has "sown".  The enemy is stealthy and does his work "while everyone was sleeping." According to Jesus' story, the ending involves the fiery destruction of the weeds and a gathering of the wheat. God's purifying love allows for a fruitful harvest despite the weeds that grow up in the "garden".   God is good.  Bad things happen.  They do not have the last word, the final say.  There is a good future in store. This is not saying bad people go to hell and good people go to heaven.  Jesus is saying that all wickedness will be destroyed, burned away.What will remain in the end is goodness in the garden.
2."Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life"...  "For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him." John 3:15, 17.    Everyone knows John 3:16. Not everyone knows John 3:15 or 17.  The context of these verses is a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Jewish biblical scholar and religious leader who was perplexed by Jesus' teachings.  John, the gospel writer, is saying that Jesus' death on the cross was analogous with the story of the serpents from the book of Numbers.  A rebellion against God inthe wilderness leads to suffering and death, until God gives the people an antidote.  The rub is this:  People rebel against God's ways. The result is death.  God's intent is life.  God's agency alone saves us from ourselves.  God comes to us, participates in our suffering and death, and therefore infuses death itself with God's own life.  God attaches himself to death so that no barrier exists between us and God; neither our rebellion, nor the consequences result in separation from God.  When we see that God is present to us in suffering and death, we are saved.  Because faith is believing in things that have been hidden.
3. "Go and do likewise." Luke 10.  Mercy means to sacrifice one's own self to come to the aid of another. Mercy is most Godlike when it is offered to a stranger, an enemy, an outcast.  Mercy is expressed in one-to-one relationships between people divided by race, culture, ethnicity, or language.  The Good Samaritan is a story about how a Palestinian Arab from the west bank illegally crosses a border into Israel to help a victim of a crime (a crime I imagine is perpetrated by other Israelites).  The Arab provides medical attention, lodging, and additional care for the man before fleeing back to the safety of the west bank. When he arrives at the border, the guards stop him and ask him what he is doing in Israel.  When he tells them the story, the guards do not believe him. So they arrest him for illegally crossing the border and he is thrown in jail.  This is the Jesus' intent.  His command to go and do likewise shows that mercy is more important than personal safety.
4.  "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined and a house divided against itself cannot stand." Mark 3, Matthew 12, Luke 11.  Quoted by Lincoln in an address on slavery in 1858 at the republican convention.  In its original context, Jesus was addressing people who sought to damage his reputation by claiming that the source of his power was malevolent, satanic, evil.  If you are combating evil with goodness, hatred with love, discord with peace, sickness and injury with healing and restoration, hunger with food, and death with life then you are not responsible for the cause of suffering.  God does not cause suffering in order to resolve it. Bad things don't happen for a reason.  They do not serve God's purposes. Jesus and God are united in a common mission to restore order, beauty, and peace to God's creation.
5.  "If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  John 8:7.  The law demands retributive justice, condemnation, and punishment.  Jesus demands forgiveness and freedom.  A law that condemns a woman for sexual sin and does not condemn the man for the same crime is misogynistic and ungodly.  Grace releases us from punishment under the law.  No one is without sin.  We cannot uphold God's justice, God's demands, God's intentions.  We fail.  Because of Jesus our failures are not counted against us.  Jesus' kind of justice sets us free from condemnation and punishment.  As such, we ought to set others free from punishment and condemnation.  In so doing, we give people a chance to be human again, more than the sum total of their mistakes.
 

5 more things Jesus actually said

1. "Take heart, son, your sins are forgiven." And like it: "Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well." Matthew 9:2 and 9:22.
What Jesus meant.  Healing is intimate and personal. It starts with an acknowledgment of one's identity.  Jesus sees a man, not as a paralytic, but as a son.  He sees a woman, not as someone with a blood disease, but as a daughter.  Disease can become one's identity. Think of cancer or HIV/AIDS.  Jesus restores personhood, childhood, relationship.  And he releases them from the root cause of their suffering; alienation, guilt, abuse.  How can we restore someone's dignity and humanity when they are suffering with illness or injury?  Tell them they are God's children. See them as children.
Also, healing seems to have a lot to do with one's capacity to trust God. When one trusts God, the giver of life, nothing threatens you.
2.   "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile." Mark 6:31.
What Jesus meant.  Life is more than the sum total of one's achievements and accomplishments.  Work and productivity do not alone give life meaning.  Rest that is granted after a day of labor is an essential part of a healthy rhythm.  Sabbath-keeping, according to Jesus, is not about legally forcing people to take a day off and go to church.  Sabbath is a gift to replenish the weary body, mind, and spirit. And we all need it.  We need to rest daily and weekly. And we all need to engage in some meaningful work; work that benefits others and promotes well-being.  Work that affirms and gives dignity to others.  Work that provides for the needs of others.This work may be professional or paid work.  But for many people, meaningful work will be volunteer service.  Jesus invites people to rest with him. How can we develop a rhythm that includes rest for our bodies, minds, and spirits every week?
3.  "You give them something to eat." Mark 6:37.
What Jesus meant.  You look at the world's economy and see scarcity.  You have been trained to believe that there is not enough for everyone and that one must acquire more in order to survive.  You have been taught to consume first and share second.  Jesus looks at God's world and sees abundance.  Jesus sees more than enough for all.  He invites us to share first and consume second, because he knows that there will always be more.  Those of us who have food are obligated to share with those who do not have food.  As a rule, never eat alone.  Always find company and share.  Life is better (and food tastes better) when we do.
4. "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who does not take his cross and follow is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:37.
What Jesus meant.  In Jesus's 1st century world, the family was the source and center of a stable and sustainable life.  Without one's family, you had nothing.  So, this message is a radical departure from common sense and conventional wisdom.  Does Jesus invite people to abandon family life?  I don't think so.  But Jesus is creating a new culture and a new kind of community.  Life with Jesus is demanding and requires one's full attention and allegiance. We allow so many other people and things to place demands upon us, to which we readily submit.  We are surrendered to many systems that demand our allegiance and loyalty.  Those systems, however, are not as forgiving and gracious as Jesus. (Try not paying your mortgage and see what happens to your house.) So, if you serve Jesus do not expect life to be easy, heavenly, or more prosperous.  Jesus does not promise blessings.  He promises the cross.  If you like a challenge, an adventure, and a way to live that promises a few surprises, join Jesus. A new kind of family, community, culture and sense of belonging emerges when one connects to Jesus.
5. "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Matthew 8:26. Jesus calmed storms that threatened his disciples.  While they tremble in fear because of the storm, Jesus slept on a cushion. He seemed fearless. We have been taught to fear so many things.  Invisible threats; from diseases to terrorists.  We fear death.  We fear poverty.  We fear suffering.  Jesus claims that faith diminishes fear.  How does Jesus experience calm in the midst of a storm? Is his reality different from ours?  What does he see and know that we do not?  Eternal peace?  A love stronger than death?                

Chick-fil-a and the Bread of Life

What are you hungry for?   Have you ever stood in your well-stocked kitchen or sat at a restaurant to decide what to get on the menu and asked that question of yourself?  What am I hungry for?  Sometimes when we offer a certain meal or snack to our children they respond, “I’m not hungry for that.”  I think we are confused about the difference between hunger and self-indulgence.  For many of us, access to more than enough food is not a problem we face.  But this church has met the face of food insecurity here. We know people who struggle to put food on their tables.    If Christianity were the Olympics, fasting would not be not our best event.   We are told that it is not healthy to skip meals. So we don’t.  And we don’t think it’s right if anyone is forced to skip meals because of their circumstances here. So we feed people.  This church is a food relief site inspiring other churches to become food relief sites, too.  Jesus fed hungry people and so do we. 

This week food and faith made the news.  Some Christians or Republicans decided to make chick fil-a some more money by eating there on Wednesday as a sign of moral unity with the COO of the restaurant chain, who spoke out in opposition to same sex marriage in an interview last week.  Apparently there were crowds at chick fil-a on Rt. 30. On Friday a counter protest was launched. Apparently one man from Quarryville quietly picketed the same chick fil-a.  He is a gay man and he carried a sign that said choose empathy.  One man against the crowd. I ask you: Where was Jesus in that story?