What’s the point! Am I bovvered? Do I care? In so many ways the younger son sounds very much like Catherine Tate’s famous adolescent. He certainly doesn’t come across as a pleasant specimen, but let’s try and get into his head and see what’s going on there.
For all Jews, life under the Romans was depressing – theirs was a highly restrictive regime. There were all sorts of rules and regulations to follow and taxes to be paid. There wasn’t too much joy in everyday life. For the Younger Son, this was compounded by his position in the family. As the younger son (you might remember an earlier sermon in this series dealing with children arguing over their inheritance) he would expect to get the smaller share of his Father’s wealth. This particular Father wasn’t as poor as many others – he had property and hired men – and so their would be something for this young man to inherit, but chances were that it wouldn’t be enough to bring him security and financial freedom. Chances were, it may not really be even enough to earn his keep from.
As the youngest Son, I suspect he probably also was desperate to be seen as a person in his own right – not his Father’s Son. Can identify with this being the son of the local headmaster in a village school. Everybody knew me, I didn’t know them. Thought I would escape when I went to Uni. – but surprised when one of my lecturers knew of me because of some connection with Mum. No doubt he was sick of always being compared to his Older Brother too.
So how could he find the freedom he so desired? The freedom to find his own identity and life the life he wanted?
His desire was to escape – up sticks and leave. Leave behind those who knew him, those who held him back or oppressed him. We know the story – he had no money and so went to his dad and asked for his inheritance.
I remember my younger cousin Alan taking a fancy to my Grandparent’s reclining garden chair, and in complete innocence asking if he could have it when Grandad died!
This Son is not so innocent. He knows I’m, sure, that what he was saying to his Dad is I wish you were dead…
I wonder if he was caught by surprise when his dad said okay and divided his property between them!
Anyway, he took the land that his dad gave him, sold it, and left, heading off to a distant land where know one knew him, and where the regime was much more relaxed. In many ways, this part of the story reminds me of what often happens when students first get to University. For the first time have some money of their own, and freedom to do what they want with it and their lives. Party time! The Younger Brother, like many students, squanders his money on wild living. I suspect though, that his living is wilder than your average student. We’re not told exactly what he got up to, but the comment by the Older Son, ‘this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes’ suggests that it was truly wild living, and not the odd party.
Not having really dealt with money before, it is no surprise that before too long he runs out of money. To make it worse, the land he has gone to is hit by severe famine. In desperate straits he ends up ‘hiring himself out’ to a Gentile – totally degrading to the Jews who prided themselves on keeping separate, pure. To make it worse, he is put to work feeding the pigs – unclean animals – and eating their food when the boss isn’t looking. There isn’t much further he could sink. He was alone, away from the safety of family and faith.
In the midst of this darkness, it says he ‘came to his senses’. If I go back to Dad and say I have sinned against Heaven and him, then maybe he’ll take me in as a worker and feed men…
Some read this to be like a conversion experience – here in the darkest pit, the Son realises the error of his ways and determines to repent and come back to his Father. I fear it is nothing of the sort! Does the phrase ‘I have sinned again heaven and you’ sound at all like a heartfelt apology? It may be true, but there is no sense of love or regret in this – except that he regrets having got himself into this mess. It really does feel as if he is working out the right set of words to get exactly what he wants
This son is really quite contemptible isn’t he! We might be able to see contributing factors behind the way he behaves, but there’s no getting away from the fact that he is a self-centred, calculating, scum-bag.
Listening to Jesus tell his story are a range of people, Pharisees, disciples, tax-collectors and various ‘sinners’. Many of them would share the Younger Son’s desire to escape from oppression. For some the dream of getting away from this life would be a real one. Reminds me of the sentiments expressed by many of my friends in Sierra Leone in West Africa. If they could they’d leave, leave behind the poverty and corruption and seek a better life elsewhere. But at the same time, they would also despair of this young man. He’d broken every rule in the book. He’d abandoned his faith, he’d dishonoured his Dad, he’d deserted his family. Worse than that in fact. By selling up his share of the property, he was forcing them to live on a smaller patch, lowering their status in the community and their security and income.
The Younger Son was taking a real risk here. There was every chance that his Dad would reject him completely here – quite right too everyone in the audience would have felt. Maybe the more generous amongst them might have some sympathy and let him come back as some servant, but he forfeited his rights… When he rehearses his line ‘I am no longer worthy to be called your Son’ he was telling the truth.
But then there’s this magical scene. The Dad sees him coming and is filled with compassion. Dignity would require the Son to come grovelling to him, but it is the other way around. The Father abandons all dignity and runs to him. He doesn’t care what everybody else thinks. He just wants his child back. He throws his arms around him and hugs him. This is the embrace of Father and Son. He calls for his best robe to be put on him, and places his ring on his finger. Kill the fattened calf, let’s celebrate the return of my lost son. He was dead, but now is alive again, lost now found.
The Father by putting on the robe and ring is treating the Younger Son as an equal – he is letting everybody know that this Son is his Son, part of His Family. There’s as always a scandal here. The mercy of this Father is beyond the scope of usual mercy. He doesn’t need to hear sorry before forgiving. He doesn’t need to see signs of repentance or to say I told you so. He pours mercy on him unconditionally, unsought for, undeserved. The only thing that matters is the restoration of his relationship with his Son.
But of course this isn’t the end of the story.
Out on the field the Older Son is working. He is the responsible one, the one who stayed behind to care for his Dad to work hard. He was a good Jewish Boy that any parent would be proud of.
Imagine what he has gone through these last months. Before his brother left, life was hard, but his leaving had made it so much worse. First of all there was the emotion strain of supporting his grieving Dad. Then there was the simple fact that they had had to make ends meet with less manpower and less land on which to do so. He had done the right thing, and all that he had to show for it was stress and sweat. His brother had swanned off having wrecked the family home, lived it up, and had now come back at was accepted without so much as a sorry and was being given a party at their expense. It wasn’t fair!!! There is certainly a lot to be said for the Older Sons complaint.
Maybe you can relate to him? I remember working alongside a bunch of guys doing community service and thinking how come you all have nice cars and gear, whilst I who have done nothing wrong have so little to show for it.
Certainly many in Jesus’ audience could relate to this. Whilst the younger Son had sought freedom in escapism, many thought that freedom would only return to the Jews if they worked harder at keeping the Law and maintaining the Jewish way of life – the Pharisees were prime examples of this. How many of us seek approval from our peers and the powers that be by working hard and striving to do the right thing?
The older son’s response to the return of the younger son would have been mirrored by many listening to Jesus.
So what does the Father do? No sooner has he got one son back, the other one threatens to leave him! He heads straight away to track him down, to try and sort things out. ‘All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
The Father’s reply is again stunning, ‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’
The truth is that his Father hadn’t given him a young goat, he’d given him everything! Right at the beginning of the story he divided up his property between them. It had been the Older Son’s choice not to use it, not to celebrate and make the most of what his Father had given him.
Is there actually a sense of regret as he lambastes his brother’s wild living – a touch of jealousy, I would have liked to have lived a little…
I love you Son, says the Dad, and I love your brother too. I have and will give up everything for you both.
Are either of the Sons on the right track, trying to discover freedom? Do escapism or grasping to rules and the traditional ways help? Or is the Father’s approach of putting relationships first a better way? Is freedom actually found in caring and accepting beyond the call of duty?
And how about the Father’s love? Is he misplaced? Naïve? A soft touch? Or does such love cut across barriers and offer the chance of transformation and hope?
It is fascinating that Jesus doesn’t comment on this story. He doesn’t say which is right and which is wrong. He just tells us the story and leaves us to let it do its work upon us. Let’s take a moment now to reflect on the story and to ask God what he wants to say to us through it…
Monday 26 February 2007
A Family in Trouble: the Prodigal Son Revisited (Luke 15:11-23)
Monday 19 February 2007
100 Outreach Ideas
As mentioned in the newsletter a couple of weeks ago, I want us to get thinking outreach again. To kick start the process let's compile a list of 100 outreach ideas. Hit reply now and send me some suggestions - these can be sensible ideas, safe, crazy, expensive or cheap, it doesn't really matter! We can sift through them later. Email them to me or hit the 'comments' link below and add them there. I'll add them to the list below as we go along!
1. Run an Alpha course in a pub on a Monday night - the pub would love it as a quiet night filler!
2. Pancake Race along Wormley High Street...
3. Host/sponsor a comedy evening
4. Community action days (i.e. go and clean a public area, free car washing
etc)
5. Social events (e.g. quiz nights, cultural evenings, barn dances)
6. Make the most of Christian 'holidays' - Easter egg hunts, pancake races,
carol services
7. Use Children's/youth work to encourage parents - award evenings and launch
services for holiday clubs, feedback services from Youth Camp
8. Film night/televise sporting events (providing correct entertainment
licenses obtained!!)
9. Community lunches
10. Church sporting events/outings/picnics
11. Church drop in sessions (someone to listen)
12. BBQ on some of the green spaces in the flats around Fairfield Drive
13. To get to know at least one other person in WFC that you only say 'hello' to on a Sunday.
14. Invite two people from the WFC to lunch. One you know already, the other (see 13). This can be done on a monthly basis, which hopefully will alternate to the others houses. It may be an idea to have a start / finish time (?)
15. Ladies of WFC invite Rosedale ladies to a 'bring some grub' evening. Written invites to be sent.
16. Have a birthday card scheme for Sierra Leone, like the Baptist Missionary Soceity. Those who want to join receive a birthday card and an envelope.They can put in a donation for the work of S L. Needs someone to organise, set up a birthday calendar, send out cards, collect money and pass on to Treasurer.
17. Have a picnic with a Rounders match afterwards.
18. Have a social - like Sheila & Dougs 40th. Make sure the music covers 50's, 60's, and up to the present day.
19. Have a photo album of the years events.
20. Check out other ideas here
21. O-openhouse Sunday/community lunch
22. N-next big thing (battle of the bands)
23. E-easter egg give away
24. H-holiday club
25. U-unsung heroes (jobs for people)
26. N-new for old (turn old clothes/furniture into new things)
27. D-donate a play area
28. R-renovate the area (cleaning)
29. E-entertain with music
30. D-drama
31. activity/games day
32. Organise a standby set of WFC quiz team members to enter local pub events, etc
33. Run a 'Parenting course' - perfect opportunity to put across the Christian
viewpoint
34. Build upon relationships made at Toddlers etc
35. Set up Prayer Triplets (or something similar) to pray for a colleague at
work to come to Christ
36. Church newsletter with 'evangelistic' edge to be delivered to local estate
37. Deliver evangelistic literature/dvds/videos at Easter/Christmas (e.g. see here) - with invites to services
38. Develop the apologetics side of the Church website
39. Visit Nursing Homes etc
40. Link up with existing prison chaplaincy/visiting
41. Develop the link the Church has with existing Schools-work
42. Have a "Bring and Share Lunch" but invite all the people that used to come WFC but don't anymore, especially the youth.
43. pray that God will show us which ideas to follow through
44. regular prayer / prayer walks for certain areas
45. prayer box(es) in e.g. costcutters for locals to use for requests for prayer, visits, help etc
46. set up a Besom
47. lunchtime Alpha with creche
48. youth alpha at Broxbourne Secondary
49. getting to know and working with the congregation at St Laurences
50. church members integrating more into the community by e.g. supporting local events, joining clubs / societies, joining PTA, becoming a school governor, local councillor etc
51. make a stand on local issues
52. train to deliver Walk Thru The Bible (or whatever the children's version is called) in local primary school(s) once a year
53. host or co-host children's mission event e.g. Doug Horley
54. On The Move
55. deliver welcome pack to families moving into homes in the area
56. ask people what they want from their local church
57. love each other sincerely and extravagantly (1 John 3 v.23-24)
58. offer to clean people's houses for free!
59. Live the life we have as a true servant of Christ - that way we shine before men, and they can see where it comes from, because it is not us. I would add that it's tough to do 24/7.
60. Bible giveaways - buy a bible (Tescos online sell them), walk up to a complete stranger in the market or shopping mall, say 'I think this is yours' and then walk away ;o)
61. A karaoke night?
62. Select what we feel are 3 to 5 issues important to local people. Select 500 (?) addresses locally and deliver a quarterly newsletter to each with the latest update on these issues.
63. 24 hour continuous Bible reading at Slipe Lane to go from Genesis to Revelation over Easter
64. Music nights or concerts booked at the community centre (a la Dave Bilbrough 2006)
65. Guest Services
66. Palm Sunday parade with real donkey through Wormley!....
67. 'Sale' where things are given away for free
68. Donation of Christian books to local schools
69. Community Prayer Box
70. Try one of these
71. Reverse Trick-or-treat evening :-)
72. Offer Marriage /Parenting Courses
73. Build a Wormley Community Website
74. Get involved in local community groups & schools - not to 'evangelise, but to help
75. Putting up free smoke alarms
76. Giving away cups of tea and doughnuts to local shopkeepers
77. Promote a 'Get to Know Your Neighbour' week
78. Distribute CD-ROMs advertising the church
79. Giving away flowers to mothers in the local area
80. Prayer walks
81. Clean up the Dog's mess around Wormley.... sounds yuk but will be appreciated
82. Hot cross bun give away
83. Give out flower seeds to celebrate spring or Easter, with the church's details attached. Can explain idea of Easter being about new life etc.
84. Host local Teddy Bears' Picnic
85. Try some of the crazy ideas at Servant Evangelism
86. Run an award ceremony for people who have contributed to Wormley
87. Organise massive Easter egg hunt in Wormley fields and invite the whole of Wormley
88. Have cards with "Is there a God?" printed on them with answers on a postcard
to the Church address - delivered to 100 addresses - follow up with "Does it
matter?" a month later. (incoherent but hope you get the idea....)
89. Singing old favourite hymns at Wormley Court
90. Student services leaflet at Turnford college with offer of encouragement/chaplaincy for students
91. A quiz nite 4 our kids to invite their friends from school like the Adults one but geared 2 wards kids from the community
92. a survey door to door of what people think about God & what the expect from/ wish to see happen at their local church could be interesting
93. hold a youth worship service
94. tent mission
95. open air service
96. worship disco
97. internet cafe
98. alpha with child care
99. family drop in
100. youth club
101. more nights for after school club
102. 100 days of love - different ways to show Gods love in community
103. 100 hours of prayer
104. seaside trip very subsidised
105. Public Advertising of weekly services... Preacher, topic, time and location....?
106. Organise a girly pamper night, bring your friends and have manicures/pedicures etc done really cheaply. Also have videos n lots of chocolate =]
107. Do drama pieces / worship in town centres.
108. Go on a youth mission to romania or other developing countries where we have links, maybe sierra leone? Maybe do a work mission as well to help the missionaries and villages.
109. Set up a prayer phone / email chain throughout the church. Locals have somebodys phone number / email and if they want prayer then they ring / email this person and this person forwarded it on to other people in the church etc.
110. Put an advert in the local newspaper
111. collect Christmas food/gift boxes for personal delivery
112. Organise (informal) Saturday morning football for local youth?
113. Who could resist a bouncy castle on a local bit of open space? - ok, I could, but I'm sure some couldn't ;o)
114. Bring and buy sale? Jumble sale?
115. Set up a (ad hoc) table selling hand-made cards
116. Organise a summer fete - you know the kind of thing: tombola, wet sponge throwing, punch and judy, etc
117. Launch a community radio station - Radio Wormley! - or broadcast online
118. Offer a day time Alpha Course with an attached creche for parents of younger children
Help Wanted!
As part of my preaching course I have to submit an essay looking at preaching the parables, including a sermon outline. I've put together an essay based on this sermon from our series and was wondering if any of you had any comments about this interpretation and how I preached it? Any thoughts would be gratefully received (good or bad!)
The fruitless Fig Tree – Luke 13 v 1 – 9
Notes from Tim's sermon on the 11.02.07
Here is a fairly straight forward story about gardening – if a tree doesn’t perform it has to go! We have a Paulownia tree which is very beautiful but has got too big and if we prune it then it fails to flower – so, sadly, it is going to have to get the chop! But sometimes stories, and perhaps particularly foods conjures up images in our minds: cucumber sandwiches? (more tea vicar?) beef steak, beer and sandwiches (remember the TUC at no. 10?) so it was with figs for the Jews
Context of the Parable
Some horrible massacre had taken place and maybe in the act of worship, people had been slaughtered and desecrated. This was a shocking incident and maybe there was a bit of a self righteous attitude “they must have deserved it” Jesus challenges that complacency by preaching the need for repentance for all – starting with his hearers!
The same goes for 18 people who had perished in a building site accident – they didn’t die because they were worse than anyone else (and so those who didn’t die were better than those who did) but rather everyone is in the same boat and in need of repentance – no-one is good enough!
Here is the message of the Gospel – it is not about how good or bad you are but will you change direction and accept Gods forgiveness and make a new start! It may seem like bad news – we are all sinners – but the fact that repentance is open to all is good news!
Symbolism of the fig:
· Symbol of security – during the reign of Solomon “…lived in safety, each man under his own vine and fig tree (1 kings 4 v 25)
· Symbol of healing – 2 kings 20 v 7 – prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil…and he recovered
· Symbol of Love – Song of Songs 2 v 13 – the fig tree forms its early fruit, the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come my darling, my beautiful one, come with me.
· Picture of judgement - Good and bad figs (Jeremiah 24) – two basket of figs – one those who feared God even though they were carried off to Babylon and remembered him, the other the rest under King Zedekiah -
Zedekiah King of Judah
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. 12 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the LORD. 13 He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God's name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the LORD, the God of Israel. 14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the LORD, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem
· Symbol of the Lords blessing and blessing withdrawn –
· Jeremiah 8 v 13 - " 'I will take away their harvest,
declares the LORD.
There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the tree,
and their leaves will wither.
What I have given them
will be taken from them
· Amos 4 v 9 - Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
I struck them with blight and mildew.
Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD.
· Haggai 2 v 19 - 'From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: 19 Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.
”‘from this day on I will bless you.' "
For the Jews the Fig was not just a source of food – it was a symbol of much more and a reminder of their history and position.
God had chosen them to be a place for:
Love
healing
Security
Provision
They were to be a people who showed what God was like so that others could come into a relationship with God – that through them all the nations of the world would be blessed – God has tremendous expectations and plans for his people!
So when Jesus tells this story about a fig tree it resonates with his hearers in lots of ways and maybe it makes them think about what has gone wrong (cf. Elders meeting when we had divided up some of the responsibilities and I had missed the meeting (or the point) and realized I was supposed to have prepared a report…..)
Here was a Fig tree – a beautiful source of Gods great provision – planted in a vineyard – a fertile and protected place – and nothing had been produced! This fig was a waste of space! If you wanted food then you had to go elsewhere
Suddenly the stories of Gods judgement and his threats of infertility seem very dire! - Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees,
yet you have not returned to me,"
declares the LORD.
Fig leaves are beautiful – good for covering things up (ask Adam & Eve) – but unless they produce fruit, fig trees fail to serve their purpose!
God looks to his people to fulfil his purposes – to bear fruit that will last not to simply be a beautiful tree that makes us look respectable!
This parable may challenge us about fruitfulness in our own lives and our life together as a church. Jesus told it to people who had missed their vocation – they were unfruitful because they had forgotten what they were about. And so he calls them to repent!
Gods Grace
This is not the end of the story but it is a cross roads – here is a God who does not give up – leave it alone for one more year – put some more work in – forgive – have mercy. God knows the situation and we must see in ourselves our need of the work of the Holy Spirit to “dig around and fertilize” in order that we may bear fruit
The word for repentance that Jesus uses is “a present imperative and an aorist” – it is a one off event and an ongoing action. We need to be shaken out of our complacency, to have our eyes opened, to see what God ahs for us and to allow him to produce fruit in our lives.
It is a wake up call, a challenge, an encouragement, a reminder of what we are and what we should be. It is to bring us to the great love and wisdom of the one who knows how to get the best out of us and to make us depend on him.
Often, fruit trees that are growing beautifully will not produce much fruit – a fruitful tree may look a bit manky and some of the leaves will be damaged but the fruit will be wonderful –
Love healing security provision
A Twist?
This “man who took care of the vineyard” – lovely picture of the Holy Spirit – but has God planted in us his life to bear fruit there – and could we have a responsibility for cultivating that life? (At house group over the past few week we have been looking at a course which has practical exercises – fasting, silence, specific prayer and meditation etc)
To dig around – to remove the weds and allow the air in to the soil – bring our lives into line with God – removing the rubbish that competes and distracts – to bring our faith and life into the open
To fertilize – to feed on Gods word and to allow it to make a difference – to exercise in prayer and bible reading, to stand for God in his battles.
Sometimes God comes to us and shows us things that have gone wrong and we need to repent and throw ourselves on his mercy – and do something about it!
Luke 4 v 18
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."[e]
20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
Sunday 4 February 2007
Parable of the Rich Man (Luke 12:16-21)
Here are the notes from today's service - written before I was reminded it was to be an all-age one!
The backdrop to today’s parable is one that has a definite contemporary ring to it.
It’s a story of the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots.
It’s about two brothers. Chances are there were more of them than that. In a world without contraception, there were problem a number of brothers and sisters, each with their own families to support.
Their Dad has died. As was the custom, his land would have been left to the eldest child, or at least that largest portion of it. That’s the way it would have worked.
Now I don’t doubt that that would cause problems if it happened today. It isn’t particularly fair. No doubt tempers would flare as siblings rowed over their place in their father’s affections and grab what they can.
For the First Century brothers, however, the squabble was more serious than that. You see, it wasn’t just a case of which Dad loved the most, or who was lucky enough to get the fine piece of porcelain that had been his pride and joy. No it was a matter of survival.
Remember as we’ve touched upon already in our look at the parables, most of the land was held by the wealthy few, bringing them comfort and riches, and leaving the overwhelming majority to scrape a living as peasants of the scraps that were left. A bit like trying to buy a house in Broxbourne – unless you inherit one you’ve got no chance, unless you are unusually well off! For these peasants, the only way of getting land for themselves was to inherit it. The catch is, for each peasant landowner who died, there were more than one child waiting to inherit. The land that was available for the common man was decreasing by the generation.
The eldest son had inherited. He had land, he probably wasn’t secure, not enough land or money for that, but at least he stood a chance of supporting his family now. The other son? He had nothing. No land, no money, no chance… No wonder he wants Jesus to speak up on his behalf. Of course the catch is that if he managed to persuade his brother to hand over some of the land, would that really make a difference? Or would they both end up below without enough…
Of course their real argument is not with each other, its with the wealthy, those who in their greed to have lots, have preventing them from having anything.
Maybe their argument is also with God. After all he had promised the land to them, and now, here they are having it taken away from them, piece by piece. What was he going to do about this injustice…
Does their story sound familiar? Think of these situations that are regularly in the news:
· Multi-nationals like Tesco squeezing out the humble family run high street shop. The same few chains run the high street in every town. No one else gets a look in…
· A major TV deal has just been brokered for Premiership football clubs, giving them enormous bonuses for simply being in the league. Even the losers get something like £30M. What chance have clubs in lower divisions got…
· There are constantly complaints about ‘fat cat’ directors awarding themselves enormous bonuses, whilst their work force face cut backs and we foot the bill…
· The West have 70%+ of the world’s wealth, leaving the poorest to scramble over the remaining pennies.
Seeing Jesus, the younger brother calls out, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." What’s he doing here? Trying to get Jesus to put religious pressure on his good Jewish brother? Seeking the moral high-ground?
Of course Jesus is no fool. He sees that to get involved in this one is to ask for trouble. If he sides with the younger brother, he’s endangering both of them and their families. If he sides with the older brother, where’s his compassion for the younger one and his family. This is a no win situation. He’s not daft, he realises that he’s being used, he’s simply a tool here. It’s not his responsibility to deal with this family dispute. It’s not his place, his business, sensibly he backs out of getting drawn in, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?"
He goes further, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
What is he saying here? Is he saying that the younger brother is being greedy? I don’t think so; to desire enough to survive is not wrong. But having said that, these words are a true warning to all, poor and rich. Greed is a danger for those who have. That is clear. But it is also a danger to those who have not. Over my visits to Sierra Leone I have seen that. The troubles of that nation have in so many ways been caused by the greed and corruption of the powerful, enslaving again its people, but also, those that have not are enslaved by the desire to have what they have seen we have, and the wealth shown off by their leaders. This greed robs them of the ability to see and think straight, the ability to go out and work hard, to live the honest life. Greed is a curse to those who have and those who have not.
Some say that faith and politics don’t mix. They clearly haven’t read what comes next. Having dodged getting embroiled in a family feud, Jesus turns his attention to the root of the problem, and tells a simple story…
16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
Ouch! I am sure that all of those who heard this knew exactly whom Jesus was talking about here. This wasn’t a tale to warn either of these two brothers about the perils of greed. Jesus is talking about the wealthy of the country. Those who had bought up the land and abandoned the poor to scrabble over the scraps. He was talking to those who had hoarded wealth and kept it to themselves, when on their doorsteps were the hungry, the sick, and the desperate. He was talking about the Jewish leaders who were more interested in their own status than the welfare of their people. He was talking about the Roman leaders who had come and taken their inheritance away from them.
Some people ask the question, ‘why did Jesus die?’ Our answer is that he died for our sins, so that we could be forgiven and reconciled to God. He died that we might become children of God and inherit eternal life. And of course he did.
But that isn’t the only reason he died. Why was he arrested and crucified by the Romans? Why was it that the Jewish religious leaders were so riled by him that they demanded his demise? It was stories like this that killed Jesus. His was an age that didn’t practise freedom of speech or democracy. If you challenged the powers that be in this kind of way, then you were literally putting your life on the line. And yet here is Jesus, deciding to side with the poor and unjustly oppressed. Crucifixion was the sentence for revolutionaries, for treason, and it is because of his public stance that he ended up on the cross.
Jesus died because he claimed that those who selfishly hoarded wealth when those around them were suffering were fools. The word he used here ‘fool’ sounds quite harmless in English doesn’t it. Calling someone a fool today won’t get you locked up. But to his contemporaries, his word for fool was a grave slight. A fool was someone who lived his or her life without reference to God.
Listen to his warning to this ‘fool’. Already life is not so good. No family or friends are mentioned. Is he already alone? Is he lonely? His desire is to save up enough to feel secure, and then he will eat, drink and be merry. To be honest, this sounds to me to be an empty life… This man thinks he has everything! He thinks he is secure! And then God turns up and takes away his life, leaving his possessions for others to enjoy. A lifetime of accumulation in order to enjoy in the future. He had so much, but never enjoyed what he had, and now it’s gone.
Is this a parable without hope? It sounds bleak doesn’t it? And yet, even in this passage there is a hint of redemption. To the oppressed, Jesus is saying that ultimately the reign of tyrants and oppressors come to an end. Death is God’s ultimate tool of justice, God remains in charge, no matter how big we might think we are. The riches of the wealthy man are no longer his, they are redistributed. The simple fact that there were good crops reminds us of God’s provision.
It is also a warning, a warning to those that have and that want, that they live in reference to God. To do that means to share what we given, and not to hold on to it and hoard it. The fate of this certain rich man doesn’t need to be the fate of all rich people. There are other stories in the Bible where the landowners are generous and the employers caring.
*****
Let me finish by telling a story…
St. Somewhere was a good church to be in. Whilst others around it suffered, it was dynamic, vibrant even. God had blessed it, and it had grown. It was good being God’s children.
St. Somewhere was renown for its worship. With a top-notch band and fine speakers, it worked hard to make the services stimulating and pleasurable, always seeking to get better. As a family they felt proud that they could put on a good show, that they were slick, well organised. The midweek meetings were times of intimacy with God, and the prayer meetings on fire!
Of course they couldn’t take all this for granted and so the people of St. Somewhere put lots of effort into getting it just how they wanted it. There were debates about seating arrangements, about who should do what and how everything should be organized. Committees were set up, minutes taken. Occasionally they would fall out, disagree about the best way, but this was inevitable, as these were important matters that they were dealing with and they felt deeply about them.
Outside St Somewhere on the wall sat two non-Christians. Jesus looked upon them and considered all that their lives lacked. Turning to his Father he asked, ‘Who is going to pass on to them the inheritance that you have so freely given…’
*****
"Watch out! " says Jesus, "Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." What makes a full and successful life? It is not wealth. Not possessions. Not structures. It’s our relationships with each other. It’s how we treat one another. Loving each other is loving God.
Friday 2 February 2007
The Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37)
Here are the notes from David's sermon:
A very familiar parable – maybe the best known of all! Repeated over and over in Sunday Schools across the land…all over the world.
I read, one Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead.
She described the situation in vivid detail so her students would catch the drama. Then, she asked the class, "If you saw a person lying on the roadside, all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?"
A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence, "I think I'd throw up."
Who was the Good Samaritan?
I was driving along the M25 from the airport the other day, I asked my passenger who doesn’t have any significant Bible education: Who was the Good Samaritan?
His first answer was: “Someone who helps old ladies across the road.”
I pressed the question: “OK but where does all this “Good Samaritan” thing come from?”
He came up with a suggestion:
“Maybe he comes from a place called Samaritania… could be in Eastern Europe… where everyone always helps old ladies across the road…. It’s a dreadful place because the traffic is always badly congested… cars can’t get through…’cause of all the old ladies being helped across the roads…. ”
What he knew was that, in common usage, the word Samaritan, or Good Samaritan, means someone who helps somebody in trouble, or sick, or less able. It’s now virtually a universal concept…. Not just in Christian countries and cultures…. You’ll find the idea of a “Good Samaritan” in most countries of the world, even China and Japan which have very different cultural histories from the west.
Did you know, many countries have “Good Samaritan” laws. They vary in character:
In the USA and Canada, they’re mainly to protect from blame those who choose to help others who are injured or ill. ‘Cause in America…the priest and the Levite wouldn’t stop to help because they’d be afraid of a law suit?.......
That says something about litigation and the “Blame” culture that’s growing even here in Britain…. Which to us is quite ludicrous…
Good Samaritan laws are slightly different In France where there is actually a legal obligation to help people in distress, unless it puts you at risk.
(Paris police considered applying these laws to prosecute the photographers who took pictures at the scene of the accident that killed Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed.)
In Germany it’s an offense to neglect one’s duty to provide first aid to an injured person. All drivers have to know first aid to get a license.
Now… all over the world… there are Hospitals, Hospices, Foundations, Charities, Crisis Centres, Nursing Homes, Churches and… of course… pubs called: Good Samaritan. On Thursday, I drove past a Samaritan hospital.
It’s a universal concept that originates with a little story told by Jesus in answer to… what was, basically, a trick question:
25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[a]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b]"
28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
And Jesus told this parable.
And as parables go, it’s pretty straightforward. Anyone would get it, wouldn’t they?
Someone is lying injured by the side of the road. Two men walk right by but the third stops to help… clearly he’s the hero… he’s the good man…. He’s the neighbour! The Law says….
Love your neighbour….
Therefore we have to love people who do good deeds…or help others in need… or rescue you when you’re injured?
That would be a bit too easy, wouldn’t it… it might satisfy a lot of the world… but somehow it doesn’t really seem like that’s quite what Jesus intended to say.
No, that doesn’t work at all. Maybe it’s the other way round. When Jesus says “go and do likewise” he means be a neighbour to the one in distress… show love like the Samaritan. That’s a bit more likely, but is that all there is to this story?
If only passersby always showed kindness like the Samaritan.
Have you ever been rescued by a good Samaritan???
(describe experience)
Another time….
I was on a bus once, in Serbia, it was hot and sticky and I felt faint and a bit sick. We told the driver and he stopped the bus straight away, by the side of the road. If this was an English bus we’d have had to get off and wait for another… but we got out and so did some of the other passengers…offering help… one offered me some milk (milk!) … the bus driver waited patiently… there was lots of concern about me… none at all about the bus meeting its schedule… But that’s normal in Serbia.
I was just some foreigner… and these good Samaritans stopped to help. If that was all it was about, this parable would be pretty good.
But I wonder if maybe it’s not so simple….. after all… We’ve identified it as one of God’s riddles…. And maybe there’s a bit more of a puzzle than it seems at first reading.
Let’s look a bit deeper…
One thing we probably should be aware of is who are these three potential rescuers, the priest, the Levite and the Samaritan? The first two are leaders among Jewish society. They’re respected, educated, upright believers in the Law of Moses. They know word for word what it says in Leviticus 19:18
'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD.
The third is a Samaritan. To put it mildly, Jews didn’t like Samaritans…. the Jews were not all that concerned about political correctness. They didn’t have anti-discrimination laws to worry about – so they discriminated gleefully….they openly hated Samaritans. As far as the Jews are concerned…Samaritans were dogs. Not fit to be in the same house or the same room as a Jew… not fit to eat at the same table… worse than dogs because they wouldn’t throw a Samaritan the scraps from their table
Now the story seems to take on some depth. This isn’t just about an act of kindness…it’s kindness flying in the face of prejudice, injustice and intolerance. Now it’s about mercy, grace and forgiveness. Now who is the neighbour? He’s the one who is detested and hated and discriminated against. The one who is despised, rejected and persecuted… and yet…. shows mercy
The Law says….Love your neighbour.
To the expert in the law that Jesus was speaking to, this parable was rather like telling Iraqi Sunnis to love their Shiite neighbours (I live in fear of that word… getting it wrong),
despite generations of oppression, persecution and mistrust…
now it’s a much tougher lesson than it first appeared.
much more challenging… but is that all?
Rather like the parable of the persistent friend that Ben was talking about last week, this is how far the standard sermon about The Good Samaritan usually gets. The lesson that preachers have brought to congregations over the generations… and a brilliant lesson it is….
Show love and mercy to your neighbour even when you are despised, rejected and persecuted by him.
Preachers might dwell on this point…. They might remind us that the Samaritan’s love isn’t some kind of cushy-mushy, namby-pamby, cuddly warm feeling he has for the man he rescues. It’s tough practical love… doing what is right, despite whatever feelings he might have towards the guy and his race.
That’s could be where the sermon ends.
But is there more…. ?
This Samaritan… the despised…. Rejected…persecuted… who does that remind you of.
Jesus, of course….
Not a Samaritan though. A Jew like those around him…. At the start… admired and respected as a teacher… a man of miracles and healing…. but at the end…. As we know…. The crowd turned on him… the mob, inspired by people like this “expert in the law” who was questioning him now. They began to despise him “who is this King of the Jews”…. They rejected him in favour of a known murderer….”Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”
They persecuted him... “Crucify him! Crucify him!” the crowd shouted.
They crucified him.
Yet still he loved them:
“Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”
And even as Jesus, despised, rejected, persecuted, crucified… even as he hung on the cross he reached out to rescue one who hung beside him.
“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
In the parable of The Good Samaritan… is Jesus, then, describing himself?
Is Jesus really the Good Samaritan… the alien, despised, rejected and persecuted who still shows love and compassion for society’s victims.
What do you think?
But is there more?…. Is there another way of looking at this?
We’ve been talking mostly about the three passersby… the Priest, the Levite and the Samaritan. What about the victim. Who’s he??
They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
Who is he…. Is that you or me lying broken by the road…in need of love…in need of rescuing…?
OR could it be that man who is Jesus? Lying broken and beaten, half dead at the roadside. Is he calling to us to reach out and love him? Is this Jesus putting himself at the mercy of the people he came to save? Making himself dependent on the mercy of someone who cares… someone who will stop and tend his wounds… Someone who will love him?
What do you think?
Who’s who in this story? The Traveller… The Samaritan…
And which one are you?
Love your neighbour
I’m going to leave you with another, slightly different twist. From an alternative viewpoint…. There’s other characters in this story… the muggers.
Any social workers here today?...............................
Two social workers were walking through a rough part of the city one night. They heard moans and muted cries for help from a back lane. There, they found a semi-conscious man in a pool of blood. "Help me, I've been mugged and viciously beaten" he pleaded.
The two social workers turned and walked away. One remarked to her colleague: "You know the person that did this really needs help."
That may be a joke, but it’s no less true… the one who did this bad thing, no matter what he may have done, he too is in need of a good neighbour…one who will pick him up, care for him, look after his needs, help him to overcome whatever led to this …
People stumble and fall by the wayside for all kinds of reasons. Our traveler just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time…and got mugged… Some might say it was his own fault….wandering around on a dangerous road, what does he expect. … maybe, like me you’ve sometimes been in the wrong place at the wrong time, doing the wrong thing… and maybe it was your own fault.
How do we react, when someone is in some kind of trouble, and we think it’s somehow their own fault? Do we give them a wide berth, like the Priest and the Levite? Pass by on the other side, glad that we’re better people… we’d never do such a thing.
Is that too, when someone needs a true friend and neighbour? A good Samaritan.
Love your neighbour.