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Pastor Eric Fjeldal's October 2010 Sunday Sermons
Pastor Eric's sermons are presented here in reverse chronological order...in other words, the most recent sermons are at the top of the list, working backwards through time.
Oct. 31 "Seeing The Potential"
Luke 19: 1-10
The Washington, DC Metro station was cold on a January morning in 2007. A man with a violin played six Bach pieces over a 45 minute period and during that time, approximately 2,000 people passed through the station, most on their way to work. It was three minutes before anyone noticed the musician, and one man slowed his pace, stopped for a few seconds and then resumed his schedule. It was four minutes before the violinist received his first dollar when a woman threw the money at the hat and continued to walk.
At six minutes, a young man leaned against the wall and listened, looked at his watch and started to walk again. The violinist had played for ten minutes when a 3 year old boy stopped, but his mother hurried him along. The action was repeated by several children. Every parent, without exception, forced the child to move on quickly.
The musician played continuously and only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 people gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32, and when he had finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He had played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out the theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the Metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. There were three questions raised:
· In a commonplace environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
· Do we stop to appreciate it?
· Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made, how many other things are we missing?
(Dr. John Thompson, ADA News, October 18, 2010, pg. 4)
We can all recall times when because of some distraction we failed to stop and see. Some of these times the result was or is no big deal. No one was hurt; no physical or emotional harm resulted. But as the story in today’s scripture reminds us, sometimes it can be a big deal. Something valuable can be missed.
Most of us know the story of Zacchaeus pretty well. We learned it in Sunday school. I wonder how well we see all that is happening in this story. Do we catch the deeper message or meaning? As a chief tax collector Zacchaeus was truly despised by his fellow Jews. The regular tax collectors worked for the chief tax collector and the chief tax collectors exploited the regular tax collectors. The tax collectors cheated the people by taking more than the fair tax and then the chief tax collectors took a percentage from them. Linda Sugg states it this way. “They were known for colluding with Rome and for taking advantage of others to make a good profit for themselves. Think corrupt subprime mortgage agents on steroids. (Preaching on the Word, Cycle C, Vol. 3 pg.260) Zacchaeus was very rich because he was a crook, and the crowd’s view of who they knew Zacchaeus to be prevented them from seeing him as anything else. They could not see his potential; any possibility that he might be more than he appeared. They could not see him as a “child of Abraham.” The crowd’s indignation at Jesus choosing to eat with Zacchaeus revealed their own need for grace and mercy. Can the same be said of us? Are we as unwilling to see the potential in someone as the crowd whom we have been taught to see as foolish?
Some will say it was curiosity that drew Zacchaeus to Jesus. Whatever it was, Zacchaeus saw the potential for change. He had heard about Jesus and believed or hoped that Jesus could help him; so much so that he put forth tremendous effort in trying to see Jesus. Despite being a dignified man Zacchaeus humbles himself and runs ahead of the crowd and climbs a tree to get a better view. He is rewarded for his efforts. Jesus calls Zacchaeus down and invites himself to dinner. In response Zacchaeus promises joyfully to change his ways and right his wrongs. He immediately gives away half his wealth to the poor and promises to pay back four-fold anyone he has cheated. The custom was to pay back two-fold so Zacchaeus in celebration of God’s extravagant gift of grace and mercy goes above and beyond. This is an important message that too often I fear we miss; for while we may give and may even give generously, we don’t always embrace the joy that is an important part of giving. We don’t always see our giving as a celebratory response to God’s extravagant gift of grace and mercy.
Love born of this grace and mercy is what drew Jesus to Zacchaeus. This love is also what allowed him to call Zacchaeus a “son of Abraham”; a child of God. This tells me that Jesus was aware of Zacchaeus’ potential. He choose to focus not on what was, but on what could be; the potential within, that inner light divine. This is something Jesus did again and again. As this morning’s scripture states Jesus “came to seek out and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
The same is true today. God’s abundant gift of grace offers us the possibility for us to see the potential in both ourselves and our neighbors. In order to see this potential we need to stop and see things differently. We need to respond as Zacchaeus responded; with joy, generosity and gratitude for the extravagance that is God’s grace and mercy. This extravagance is offered to us and all people today.
In offering this grace and mercy, God invites us to rise above the distractions that we might go from where we are to where we could be. We can do this by embracing the potential that exists within each of us and seeking what will be revealed, when we respond in love and humility, remembering that we ourselves are not all God desires us to be.
Oct. 24 "In Whom Do You Trust?"
Luke 18: 9-14
Although we ought to know better, we all play the comparison game; consciously and unconsciously seeing how we compare and measure up to the people around us. We do this in the work place, at home, when we gather with our families, even in the Church, and if we are not careful we can let these comparisons adversely impact or affect us. We can find ourselves being manipulated or allowing others to unhealthy influence the way we see ourselves. This is never a good thing and we tell our children and grandchildren this all the time. Still we do it. The “Comparison Game” also runs contrary to what our faith tells us, which is, “we are saved by grace and not by works.” (Ephesians 2:8)
This truth is something with which we all wrestle and struggle; for as we have discussed before, this Christian message runs contrary to the culture in which we live. So while we may see the error of the Pharisees’ thinking and boasting, we can also understand him. Pride and self justification are something we know; both when it comes to competing in the world and as we come before God believing we must show God how worthy we are. Describing the Pharisee in this morning’s parable, E. Elizabeth writes:
Although the Pharisee in the parable thanks God for his righteousness rather than
claiming credit himself, he nevertheless points to his own noble behaviors and so
contradicts what humility his prayer may otherwise demonstrate. Although he properly acknowledges God as the source of his righteousness, he goes on to remind God how
fortunate God is to have such a wonderful worshipper.
(pg. 213, 215, Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol. 4)
Like the Pharisee we too can forget that (O)ur justification is not obtained by doing things – even good things like charitable giving. In fact it is not “achieved” at all – at least by us. Justification comes through God’s reaching out in mercy to helpless sinners.
(Laura S. Sugg, Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol 4, pg. 214)
This is why “Karl Barth identifies pride as the chief sin of the religious person, because it is fundamentally idolatrous: it confuses Creator and creation, Giver and gift.
(E. Elizabeth Johnson, Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol. 4, pg. 213)
It is tempting to want to see the Tax Collector as one who has it all figured out. I don’t believe this is the case. While he does recognize his estrangement from God, there is no evidence he does anything more than confess this estrangement. He makes no promises to be faithful. There is no talk of his fulfilling the law. We do not know the depth of his desire to change. All we have is his recognition of his need to change as he stands alone pounding his chest. Recognizing the need is an important first step; one that cannot be taken without some humility, without knowing deep within that we cannot save ourselves. It is however only the first step and it alone does not guarantee a changed life.
Those of us who last Sunday heard the testimonies from the men of Pivot Ministries remember how powerful their testimonies were. They and the music were so powerful because they attested to the importance of a deeper humility; one that leads to a willingness to surrender one’s life and will to God. Those stories spoke to the importance of being willing to publically confess and embrace a need for God if any significant change was going to happen. They embraced this paraphrase of the Serenity Prayer;
God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change,
the courage to change the person I can
and the wisdom to know this person is me.
While we all may hope the tax collector in this morning’s parable will change his behavior, the message is clear; the gift of grace is offered whether or not the behavior changes. Such is the true meaning and nature of God’s prevenient grace; the grace that goes before us and leads our hearts toward faith. The good news of this grace tells us God’s love excludes no one and is offered whether or not we expect or seek it. This good news is worthy of celebrating. So how do we celebrate this good news? By living the faith, by being faithful, good disciples as we humbly trust in and respond to God’s gift of unconditional love. Laura S. Sugg says it this way.
Jesus challenges believers to avoid trusting in our own efforts at fulfilling the law and,
rather, to humble ourselves before a merciful and loving God. Trust is called for, but not
trust in ourselves or in our ability keep God’s law. What is called for here is trust in God’s mercy. In a culture that values individual achievement so highly, this can be a tall order,
but even as we are cautioned not to trust in our ability to fulfill the law, nowhere does
Jesus say that we may ignore the law. Discipleship is a balancing act.
(Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol. 3, pg. 214)
A balancing act, God knows, we cannot achieve on our own. This is why we are saved by grace.
As the Prayer Response we sing every Sunday affirms; “we are called to act with justice, we are called to love tenderly, we are called to serve one another…” (Refrain from “We Are Called” found in the FWS 2171). If we have any hope of growing as we strive to act with justice, love tenderly and serve one another, we must first do one thing; stop playing the comparison game. Until we do this, we will continue to put our trust in the wrong things. We will continue to fall prey to trusting in the things and people that do not affirm our value as a child of God. As long as that is happening we will never know what it means to walk humbly and faithfully with God.
Oct. 3rd: “Live the Faith You Have”
Luke 17: 5-10
“Increase our faith.” Who among us has not made such a request; for whom among us does not want a stronger, deeper faith?
Upon hearing this request, Jesus responds and at first hearing the response seems harsh. But, is it really? Could the issue be one of interpretation? “Is it possible that Jesus is saying what he says, not in anger or disappointment or condemnation, but encouragement? This possibility changes the whole dynamic of the story. (Kimberly Bracken Long, Feasting on the Word, Cycle C, Vol. 3, pg. 142) Hearing Jesus’ words in this way encourages us to look at the faith we already have and begin to use it. Begin to really rely on this faith. If we did this, what would we discover? Is it possible we would discover we have more faith than we think? Would we come to appreciate that we already have enough faith for whatever we are dealing with right now, and also a growing, evolving, increasing faith that will help us deal with what will come? I ask this because I don’t think we fully understand the depth of the faith God has given us. Most of us really don’t tap into the faith we have. I am not sure we know how to. Certainly our culture does not encourage us to this; in part because we think of our faith only as a personal or individual faith, and are not encouraged to see the communal or corporate aspects of faith. The result, we don’t tap into the power of the community of faith. This is one of the reasons it is important to celebrate World Wide Communion Sunday; a time when we join with Christians the world over in celebrating the healing and grace represented in God’s gift of the bread and cup.
“Increase our faith…” is the request. I suspect what we hear is, “help me increase my faith…” We turn it into a personal journey when it is so much more; for it is also about the community of faith. It is about how we discover the depth of our faith through our relationships with God and one another.
When it comes to our growing our faith we tend to think of it as something we do and in the process we often take God out of the equation. We forget that faith is a gift.
“(T)hat the growth of it is not the result of a ten-steps-to-a-greater-faith program.
(This is because) faith and its growth are not to be gained by human efforts but are
given by God. When the disciples ask for a greater faith, knowing that difficult times
lie ahead of them, Jesus responds by asking for something small: a trusting faith the
size of a mustard seed, so that the faithful follower of Jesus might not look at herself,
judging her own faith, relying on its strength or being scared by its weakness,
but instead look at the One she follows.
(Margit Ernest-Habib, Feasting on the Word, Cycle C, Vol. 3 pg. 142)
In other words living our faith means trusting in God. When we trust in God we can move from our heads to our hearts and souls and discover the depth of faith that is already present. Such a discovery will lead to our trusting in God even more; it will lead to our taking a leap of faith.
But make no mistake.
There is nothing ant-intellectual in the leap of faith, for faith is not believing without
proof but trusting without reservation. Faith is no substitute for thinking. On the
contrary, it is what makes good thinking possible. It has what we might call, a limbering
effect on the mind; by taking us beyond familiar ground, faith ends up giving us that much
more to think about. Certainly Peter and Andrew and James and John in deciding to follow Jesus, received more to think about than had they stayed at home. And so it is with all of us:
if we give our lives to Christ, if we leave familiar territory and take the leap of faith, what
we receive in return will fill our minds altogether as much as it fills our hearts.
(William Sloane Coffin, Credo, pg. 8)
The issue is not whether or not we have enough faith. It is discovering how our untapped faith can change our lives. Kimberly Bracken Long explains it this way.
Jesus changes the question from “How much faith is enough?” to “What is faith for?”
He tells them (and us), through image and story, “You already have the faith you need.
Now fulfill its purpose: live it.”
(Kimberly Bracken Long, Feasting on the Word, Cycle C, Vol. 3, pg. 142)
So how do we live it? By making it a way of life, as we allow our faith to become the driving force behind everything we do. We do this by becoming a trusting servant of God who understands the relationship. While this morning’s parable is not an allegory, the nature of our relationship with God is laid out for us and described in the Parable of the Servant.
What Jesus describes is a relationship between master and servant that is marked by
mutual accountability and expectation. The master expects the servants to perform
their duties, and the servants, in turn, expect that when their work is done, they will
receive nourishment and rest and protection.
(Kimberly Bracken Long, Feasting on the Word, Cycle C, Vol. 3, pg. 142)
The potential depth of our faith is far greater than we know or even imagine, not because of what we do, but because of what God does. We won’t discover this until or unless we live this faith. Hear again the invitation; “You already have the faith you need, so live it. Live the faith you know, that you may discover the faith you have.” Amen.
