Yesterday in Portland and Beyond...

Yesterday a pastor in Portland died. He was well loved in the community, was very popular and was known as a good speaker. He lived comfortably with his wife and children. He will be missed.

At the back of his church was Lazarus, a homeless man, often without a coat and eating from dumpsters. It used to be that the pastor would walk by Lazarus every night, pray with him, and ask him when he was going to quit drinking. But he never gave him food or allowed him to sleep inside the church, because that would be "enabling."

It so happened that Lazarus also died yesterday. He was taken to Jesus, who fed him well and cared for him. The pastor, however, was taken to be punished. The pastor was allowed to see Lazarus and he prayed to Jesus, "Lord, this punishment is severe! Couldn't Lazarus come over and give me a little help?"

Jesus replied, "Unfortunately, it isn't allowed for Lazarus to give you any more help than you offered him in his life. Justice requires him to be comforted now and for you to be punished for your damnable apathy."

The pastor prayed again, "Lord, would you please send Lazarus to my congregation! They need to know the truth!"

Jesus replied, "The one good thing you did, pastor, is to give your congregation Bibles. They just need to read my words without the blinders you set on them and they will see this truth clearly. That's the only visitation from a Risen One they need."

Luke 16:19-31

What Does the Prodigal Son Mean?

Jesus didn’t tell the story of the prodigal son to represent everyone. Some people have always been a part of church, and have always been faithful to God. But Jesus told this story about people who rejected God, rejected the church, and began to live a life that was totally opposed to God, and would even be considered insulting to God by His people.

In Hebrew, there are three kinds of sin. One is unintentional sin, that which you did against God, but didn’t really know it. Another is sin that is done on purpose, but the person is so weak-willed that he couldn’t help but do it. But the third category is sin done on purpose, to spite God and his people. This is the kind of sin that Jesus is talking about. People who have totally rebelled against God and against his people, but then they realized their loss and want to come back.

Jesus main message here is the acceptance of these sinners. The father is God. This is a father who was constantly watching for his son to return, even though he gave him up for dead. And even though the son recognized— rightly— that he didn’t deserve to be his son, the father was ready to accept him back fully, without any hesitation. The father didn’t just take him back grudgingly or with conditions— he fully accepted him right then and there. And then he had a great party to celebrate his return (and this wasn’t a man who usually had parties). God is this man, who has a party every time one of his rebellious, lost children return to him.  

Who are sinners? 
Of course, we know what sin is, but who are sinners? A sinner is not just a person who sins, but a person who has rejected God’s ways and has decided to live for him or herself or for the world. They have purposely chosen a life that is in opposition to God’s life, and they know that they can’t be right with God as long as they pursue this life. These are people who can’t go to church because they “know” the church won’t receive them. They are the people excluded from God, by their own actions, their own choice.  

How are sinners brought back? 
These people who, by their own choice, have separated themselves from God, is it even possible for them to come back to God? Many people believe that they can’t. They would say that they were too hardened, too far gone. But Jesus rejects this, saying that every sinner has the possibility of return.

We can see the pattern of return here in this story. First, the sinner realizes how much he or she has lost by separating themselves from God. They realize that their way of life has given them nothing but sorrow and so they determine to seek help. So they come to God for help— perhaps through a prayer, perhaps through seeking assistance at a church or through pastoral counseling. Then, once they seek something— anything— from God, then God shows them his full grace and full acceptance. The smallest amount of repentance, and God springs forgiveness on them like a lion.  

How should the repentant sinners be received? 
So how should the sinner be received by the church? Even as God does, with a lot of grace and understanding, with forgiveness and acceptance. However, this isn’t how the sinner is usually received. Usually there is some measure of distrust, or some hoops they need to go through before they can be fully accepted. And, on occasion, there is basic rejection of the sinner, out of a church’s sense of propriety and fear. But, as much as this is often the church’s way, this is not God’s way.  

How did Jesus receive sinners? 
First of all, Jesus sought sinners out, letting them know that he sought their company, not just grudgingly accepted them. He taught them God’s truth, but not in a churchy way— rather he made the word alive to the outsider, the one who hasn’t been in the church or a part of it for a long time. And, most importantly, Jesus had parties of acceptance. When Matthew and Zaccheus were saved, Jesus organized parties in their own houses, arranging to have their friends— sinners and tax collectors all— welcome to the party. Jesus had the heart of an evangelist, and make sure that it was the outsiders who were welcome into the ultimate party— God’s kingdom. (Mark 2: 14-17; Luke 19: 1-10; Luke 15: 1-10)  

As Jesus did, so should the church. The church seems to not be an open community for sinners. Rather, each church is a cultural box, and each doorway is itself a box and if one does not fit into the box, then that one is just never welcome. Does this mean that the church should be a cultural amoeba, without cultural form or shape, able to accept anyone? No, because that is not possible, nor does it make anyone else comfortable. But the church needs to be ready to accept some kind of outsider, the ones that most churches don’t accept. Perhaps one church focuses on ministry to homosexuals, another to the homeless, another to addicts and another to sex offenders. But EVERY church needs to be accepting sinners, prodigals and ex-God-haters. This is a basic part of Jesus’ mission, thus it should be the church’s as well.  

The ministry of Jesus is to receive and restore sinners.

Kimes, Steven (2012-04-04). Long Live the Riff Raff: Jesus' Social Revolution (Kindle Locations 500-504).  . Kindle Edition. 

Prodigal Revisited

Jesus told them this story: “There was a father with two sons.

"The younger son said to his father, ‘Dad, I can’t wait for you to die to get my inheritance, so give it to me now.’ So the father divided all of his wealth and gave the two sons their own share.

"A few days later, the younger son collected his belongings and traveled to a godless nation and wasted the money, living by his impulses. After all his money was gone, an economic depression came upon the nation and he was in desperate need. After begging for a job, someone hired him to clean up rooms in a brothel, picking up needles and cleaning soiled sheets. No one actually ever paid him, so he began to starve, finding the crumbs left in the rooms to be appetizing.  

"Finally, he came to his senses and said to himself, ‘Even the laziest of my father’s farmhands eat to their fill, and here I am starving to death? I know what I’ll do, I’ll go back to my father and tell him how evil I have been and then ask him to hire me. After all, I’m not worthy to be his son.’  

“So he left that place, traveled back home and came to his father. His father saw him from a distance and felt his heart leap within him and he ran to his son, grabbing him and hugging him desperately. Once he could catch his breath, he said to his father, ‘Father, I have done evil before God and yourself. Don’t take me as a son— I don’t deserve it.’

"His father, though, called his workers and said, ‘You— go into my room and get out my best clothes and shoes and give them to my son. You— get the necklace with the family crest on it and bring it here, and put it on him. You— get into the kitchen and prepare a feast with steak for everyone. Because this is my son the one who died. Now his come back to us from the dead— he was lost, but now he is returned.’”


Paraphrase of Luke 15: 11-24

Basic Theology: Thoughts on The Good Samaritan

The Th- Word 
At some point or another, everyone has to deal with theology. It sounds scary (especially if you’ve heard of such words as dispensationalism and superlapsarian), but really it’s pretty simple— theology is just what we can say about God. Of course, Jesus then had a lot to say about theology. But whenever he wanted to get to the basics, to talk about what is most important to God and most important about our relationship with God, he gets back to these two commands: Love God and love your neighbor. That’s as basic as it gets.  

Just Do It 
But whenever any professor of theology or dogmatician tries to talk about theology, they do it on very different terms from Jesus. They always speak of “a doctrine statement” or a “confession of faith”. They emphasize what it is we believe about God. And that’s fine, as far as it goes. But whenever Jesus spoke about theology, he spoke about action and relationship. Either he is speaking about what God does for us or what we do for God. Even his most basic statement “God is spirit” is followed by a command, “And those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4: 24). According to Jesus, God isn’t just someone who sits in heaven— he’s a person who interacts with his people, “God with us.” And we aren’t to be people who observe God like we would a TV screen— we are to be active participants with our theology. If we just believe about God in our head, that isn’t enough— we’ve got to have faith in our hands and feet. And so Jesus talked about a faith that is enacted in obedience and an obedience that is informed by faith. Just like sex and conception, you can’t have one without the other.

Two Relationships of Theology 
So when Jesus tells us about theology, he says that in every aspect of it, there are two relationships. Theology, he says, isn’t something that happens in our head, it is a connection between (at least) two beings. First, there is the relationship between the human and God. And this relationship is defined by “love”, so whatever else you can say about this relationship, it is supposed to be positive, and not simply duty-based. Yes, we already know that there is obedience involved— after all, Jesus gave us commands— but the relationship behind these commands aren’t just that of slave to master. Rather, we are to have a positive relationship with God, one in which we both benefit from the process.

The second relationship is that between human and human. This is what is really odd. I mean, Jesus is speaking about theology— what we can say about God— and the very thing that Jesus puts in there is our relationship with other people. What do other people have to do with God? Well, two things. First of all, God is very concerned about people. I mean, He made them, and he gave them the earth to rule (Psalm 8). And he claims to love them all (John 3: 16). Also, in this command, God is trying to help us PUT God into every relationship. Jesus is saying, “in your relationship with your neighbor, God is commanding it to be beneficial.” Thus, the relationship between human and human becomes theological, because God is forcing himself into that relationship (Ah, I know people like that…)

But what we need to realize in this basic of theology, is that Jesus is putting God and other human beings in everything we do religiously, theologically and spiritually. We cannot have a spirituality without God, according to Jesus. And we cannot have a faith without other people. If we claim to be doing something for God and it does not benefit others, then we do not have Jesus’ faith. Even so, if we attempt to do something for others and do not include God, then we do not have Jesus’ faith. Jesus’ theology is completely balanced between these two relationships— all has to do with both God and other people. To exclude one is to exclude true spirituality.

What is love of neighbor?
Well, we’d like to say more about loving God, but our teaching here by Jesus doesn’t give us any more than that it is love and it is God and well, that’s all that’s said. But the rest of the passage does talk quite a bit more about the love of neighbor. What exactly does it say?


1. Love of Neighbor isn’t exclusive 
The professor wanted to exclude from the command everyone he didn’t like. Maybe he wanted to exclude heretics, or those who didn’t live in his country, or sinners or folks who did him wrong. But when Jesus asked his question, he made the professor answer that it was the Muslim— the heretic, the sinner, the foreigner, the persecutor— who was the neighbor. This means that if he was a neighbor, then EVERYONE is a neighbor, without exception. So the command involves every single human relationship we are in, without exception.

 2. Love of Neighbor is demanded 
Secondly, in Jesus’ story, he gave examples of two “good Christians” who didn’t follow the love of one’s neighbor. Thus, in Jesus’ story, although these people had a certain kind of faith, it wasn’t the kind that God was looking for. Their faith was practical and very pious, but it was wrong-headed. Because they thought that the love of God excluded them from the love of neighbor, then they were okay was NOT okay for God. God demands that the people who love Him also love those around them.

 
3. Love of Neighbor is compassion 
The word that most defines the love of one’s neighbor is “compassion”. The Greek word for this is “splachna” which literally means “the feeling in your guts.” In other words, love is the gut-wrenching feeling you get when you see someone who is in need. To love someone is to recognize their need and to have compassion for it. No matter how evil they are, no matter how wrong-headed, compassion prevails in our attitude towards another.  

4. Love of Neighbor is practical benefit 
Lastly, when Jesus spoke about loving one’s neighbor, he was saying that the love was practical. The Muslim didn’t just pray a positive prayer for the man lying on the road. He didn’t just think good thoughts. Rather, he went out of his way to help him out in whatever way he could. He sacrificed his plans, his money and his vehicle to assist the stranger in need. Love doesn’t just stay in the heart (or the guts), but it gets out the pocketbook and gets dirty. Without being of practical benefit, it isn’t really love.

 To have right faith is to present a benefit to everyone you meet

Kimes, Steven (2012-04-04). Long Live the Riff Raff: Jesus' Social Revolution (Kindle Location 175).  . Kindle Edition. 

The Good Muslim

A Bible professor approached Jesus, wishing to test his teaching.

He asked, “Teacher, what should I do to obtain God’s life that never ends?”

Jesus said, “What does it say in the Bible? How do you understand it?”

The professor answered, “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind. And you will love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus, impressed, replied, “This is correct. Live this out, and eternal life is yours.”

But knowing he had not lived this out— and had no intention to— but wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “But, really, who is my neighbor? Certainly there are people I shouldn't love?  What about Muslims?”  

Jesus sighed and responded, “There was a man traveling from Washington D.C. to New York and some terrorists kidnapped him, stripped his clothes off and beat him half to death, leaving by the side of the road, helpless. Now it so happened that a Mennonite pastor passed by, and he saw him. But, thinking he was a homeless bum, he ignored him and went on his way. Then a Baptist worship leader drove by the same spot, but since he was in a hurry to make it on time to his worship service, he also ignored him and made it to the service on time. Then a Muslim drove by and saw the man laying on the side of the road. Compassion welled up in his heart and he stopped, got out his first aid kit, covered his wounds, put him in his car (getting blood all over the new seats) and drove him to the hospital. There he told the doctor, “If he doesn’t have any insurance, here’s my credit card number— just take it from my account.’  

"Now,” Jesus concluded, “Which of these was the neighbor to man attacked by terrorists?”

The professor said, “The M- the one who had compassion on him.”

Jesus smiled and looked him in the eye, “Now you do the same as that Muslim.”

Paraphrase of Luke 10: 25-37

 Long Live the Riff Raff: Jesus' Social Revolution (Kindle Locations 99-113).  . Kindle Edition. 

Jesus Not Making Sense

Jesus had been harshly judged by the officials from Jerusalem.  Until this point, there might have been a possibility that the politicians in Jerusalem might have accepted him as King.  But not now.  Jesus recognized this, and was prepared for this—saying ahead of time that God’s people would be rejected and persecuted.  Because of their rejection of his clear message, the Father determined that they must be judged. 

However, the judgment was not one of destruction—rather, it was one of ignorance.  Now they would not be allowed to understand the message Jesus came to teach.  It is at this point that Jesus began to teach everything in parables—to keep people ignorant of God’s truth.  Those who truly desired to understand Jesus would come and ask him, or be his disciple, to whom Jesus explained all things.  But to everyone else, these would just be stories and the truth would be hidden.

Jesus told this parable: “A farmer took his seed and scattered it everywhere.  Some of the seed landed on the hard road, beside the field that never planted properly and birds came and ate it all up.  Some of the seed grew up among thorns, and as they grew the thorns sucked all of the seeds’ water, and they died.  Some of the seed grew up among the rocks, and the plants had shallow roots, and so when the days grew hot, the plants withered.  But some seed was planted in good soil and it grew up and produced abundant fruit.”

            Jesus told another parable: “The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.  It is only a tiny seed, but after it is grown, it becomes huge and all the birds will rest under its branches.  The kingdom of God is also like a man who plants a field and waters it.  He waits, and the plants grow up—but he does not know how.”

            The crowds were completely confused now, so Jesus told one more: “A man planted a vast field.  In the middle of the night, his enemy planted weeds that look just like the grain in the midst of the field.  As the plants grew, the man’s slaves came to the man and said, ‘There are weeds among the grain! Should we pull them up?’  The man replied, ‘My enemy has done this.  Let the plants grow up, because if you pull the weeds up now, you will also pull up some of the grain.  When they are all grown, then I will have you pull them all up and we will separate them.  The weeds we will burn, but the wheat we will bring into the barn.’”

            Jesus’ disciples were also confused, so when they were alone with Jesus they asked, “Could you please explain these parables?”  Jesus replied, “The crowds aren’t supposed to understand them, but you are given the meaning of the parables. 

            “This is the meaning of the parable of the soils:  The seed is the word of God about the kingdom, and the farmer is the evangelist.  Some people hear the word and reject it immediately—these are like the seed on the road.  Satan comes and steals the word out of their hearts.  The seed in thorny ground are those who hear the word and receive it, but they are too concerned with the things of this world—possessions and concerns and money—and so they do not abide in the word.  The seed among the rocky soil are those who accept the word, but then they are rejected and persecuted and so do not continue in it.  The seed in good soil are those who abide through all the difficulties and worries to remain in the word to bear abundant fruit.

            “This is the meaning of the mustard seed: The kingdom of God begins very small, but in the end, it will be the ruler of all the nations of the world.  Also, the kingdom of God is going to grow huge—but it will do so by the power of God.  Although I send you out to spread the word, you will not cause the kingdom to grow, only God will.

            “This is the meaning of the parable of the weeds: The field is God’s people, and the owner is the Father.  Satan has placed false worshippers of God in the midst of God’s people.  But the Father is not judging them all now.  Rather, he will wait until the end of the age, and then he will send out his angels to separate the good from the evil.  The evil will be punished in eternal fire, but the righteous will come into the kingdom of God and live in blessing forever.”

            Jesus also placed a riddle around himself.  He called himself “Son of Man” which no one knew what it meant.  Most thought he was just calling himself a prophet, like Ezekiel did.  One day, Jesus told the crowds, “Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they all died.  But I am the bread of life that comes from heaven.  Whoever eats my flesh will never die.”  The crowd wondered, “How can he give us his flesh to eat?”  Then Jesus said aloud, “Truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life.” 

Many of his disciples heard this and said, “Who can abide this kind of teaching?”  Some of his disciples ceased following Jesus at this point.  Jesus then looked at the twelve and said, “Are you going to leave too?”  Peter answered, “Who else can we go to?”  And they remained.

Jesus and the Outcast

When Jesus looked at the people who followed him, he saw sheep with no leader—people who were considered outside of God’s blessing, God’s provision.  They followed him because they were desperate for God’s touch and help.  There were many who could not gain anything from the leaders in Jerusalem, because they were rejected and hated by God’s people.  They were outcast and they gained nothing from God’s people.  No one who was acceptable would go to their house.  And Jesus knew that they needed him most of all.

As Jesus was travelling around Galilee, from one synagogue to another, a man inflicted with leprosy came to Jesus.  Leprosy was a skin disease that showed that one was judged by the evil one.  Because of the infectious nature of the disease and because whoever had it was considered to no longer be a part of God’s people, lepers were forced to live out of Jewish settlements and to declare “Leper! Unclean!” whenever they came near others. 

Rather than tell the leper to go away, Jesus listened to the leper as he said, “If you wish, Jesus, you could make me clean.”  Jesus then touched the leper and said, “I do wish.  Be clean.”  Immediately, the man was cleansed.  Jesus then told him, “You must follow the teaching of Moses.  Go to the priest at the temple and have him declare you clean.  And tell no one who cleaned you.”  But the former leper told everyone about Jesus who would listen.

            One of Jesus’ apostles was Levi, a toll collector.  The Jewish people hated toll collectors and those who ruled over them, fir they were traitors to their own people.  Jesus, though, called Levi, and asked him to go to his house to eat.  For dinner that night, Levi called everyone he knew—tax collectors and sinners whom “proper Jews” would have nothing to do with.  Some religious folk were there that night and asked why Jesus was welcoming and eating with these rejected people.  Jesus replied, “If you are a healer, you hang around sick people.  Even so, if I am called to tell people to repent, I can’t hang around with people who think of themselves as good—I need to be with those who know they are sinners.”

            Jesus told the crowds a story.  “There was a man who had a hundred sheep.  One evening he counted his sheep and found there was one missing.  So he left the ninety-nine that were there to find the one.  He looked everywhere for him.  When he found the one, he held it on his shoulders and told all his neighbors, ‘Rejoice with me—the sheep I had lost is found!’  In the same way, God rejoices when a single sinner comes back to him more than ninety-nine who never left.”

Jesus told another story.  “There was a man who had two sons.  The youngest son demanded his inheritance early and left home and spent all his money doing evil things.  Over time, he ran out of money, and then there was a famine in the land.  He got a job feeding unclean animals, and the only food he was able to get was sharing the animals food.  Finally, he came to his senses and said, ‘I will go home—even the lowest slave there lives better than I.  I will apologize to my father and offer to be his slave.’  When he was close to home, his father saw him and ran up to meet him and hugged him.  The son apologized, and offered to be his slave,  but the father would have none of that.  Instead he held a party.

            “That afternoon, as the party was starting, the other son who was in the field working heard the commotion, and asked a servant what was going on.  The servant told him that his brother had returned and his father was having a party.  The older son was incensed and refused to go in.  The father heard of this, and asked the older son why he was angry.  The older son said, ‘I’ve been here all these years working for you, and you never held a party for me—why should you for this ungrateful son who sinned with your money?’  The father replied, ‘Son, all I have is yours.  But your brother was dead and now he is alive—shouldn’t we celebrate that?’”

"Impious Piety"

God cares for social castoffs.

Jesus compares God to a father who, after waiting day after day at the end of the lane for his disobedient son to return, hugs and kisses him and then throws a party in his honor (Luke 15:11-24).

God is also like a woman who sweeps every crack of her house searching for a lost coin (Luke 15:8)

He can also be compared to a shepherd who trudges over the hill country looking for a weak lamb caught in the thorns (Luke 15:3-5).

Or you can think of Him as a farmer who cared so much about the laborers who only worked an hour that he gave them a full day's wage even when they surely didn't deserve it (Matthew 20:1-16).

Jesus demonstrated this kind of overflowing acceptance when He wines and dines with sinners.

The parables also had a sizzling sting for the religious heavyweights. Your attitude is just the opposite of God's. You are like the elder son who grumbles at the sight of a party thrown for his own brother (Luke 15:25-32).

You are like farmhands who worked all day and then griped after receiving the contracted wage because the latecomers received the same pay (Matthew 20:11-16).

In fact, you are like the tenants of a vineyard who refused to give one of the owner's servants he sent and finally you had the daring audacity to kill his only son (Luke 20:9-16).

Suddenly the tables are turned. The owner will give that vineyard to others. The upside-down theme of eschatalogical reversal permeates other parables. The unexpected happens. The religious leaders forfeit their kingdom card. Sinners have a seat at the party.

-from The Upside-Down Kingdom by Donald B. Kraybill