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Give To God What Is God's

10/30/2020

  Exodus 33:12-23; Matthew 22:15-22

An Internal Revenue inspector walks into a church and asks to see the pastor. He is shown to the pastor’s office and is offered a seat.   "pastor, I believe a member of your congregation, Ms. Smith, states on her tax return that she has donated $100,000 to the church. Tell me, Pastor, is this correct?" The pastor answers, "Yes, it will be!"

Taxes. They are the bane of our daily existence.

      The Jewish population in Jesus’ day found themselves paying roughly 30-40% of their income and produce in taxes to Rome and to the Temple. There were grain tolls, taxes on produce, sales taxes, various temple taxes, tithes and sacrifices; occupational taxes, custom taxes, transit taxes, and other taxes, including illegal extortion allowed by tax collectors.

        People dislike taxes, and tax collectors, then as now. Yet the gospels go to great lengths to show that Jesus frequently spent time with tax collectors. He hailed and selected to stay at the home of a prominent tax collector, Zacchaeus. He selected tax collector Levi, also named Matthew, as an apostle. Jesus openly paid his and Peter’s temple tax (Matthew 17:24 – 27). Despite this, Jesus’ detractors (in Luke 23:2) accuse Jesus of "forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor" as part of their scheme to have Jesus killed.

     Today’s gospel controversy centers on taxes paid to Rome. Understandably they were highly contentious. It was a reminder that Israel was a conquered nation, and they had to pay for that occupation and protection. The tax in question was the annual tribute tax to Rome. Jews were divided about this tax. The Temple authorities had chosen to collaborate with Rome and endorsed the tax. They also enjoyed a kick-back from the collected funds for their own personal use. But many orthodox Jews resisted this tax and often got themselves into trouble.

So in our gospel lesson we see some bible frenemies: The Pharisees (religious separatists) and the Herodians (advocates of the ruling class and status quo), team up to trap their common opponent, Jesus, with the no-win question: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?"

       This annual Roman tax was the equivalent of a laborer's daily wage. The tax had to be paid with a Roman coin, the denarius, which had the image of the emperor stamped on one side and an inscription on the other: "Tiberius Caesar, august son of the divine Augustus, most high priest." For many religious people, possessing and using the coin was blasphemy against God's law, particularly the commandments against graven images and idolatry.

Jesus’ answer stuns his adversaries. “Whose image” or “likeness” is on the denarius? Jesus asks them. “Caesar” is the reply. So, Jesus declares, "Give, or give back, to the emperor the things that are the emperor's "and to God the things that are God's."   Jesus flips the question and forces the Pharisees and Herodians to address a more important issue: Giving back to God what is God’s.

The denarius bore the image of the emperor’s face. But it is the unseeable face of God that we owe tribute to, as Moses discovers on the mountaintop.

Moses prays: Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people…. Show me your glory I pray.” God tells Moses that it is impossible to see God’s face and life. God’s face, unlike Caesar’s -- cannot be seen – but yes, it can be traced in goodness, graciousness and mercy. We, who are made in the image and likeness of God, (Genesis 1:26-27) are also are stamped with goodness, graciousness (or goodwill) and mercy.
In essence, we are like those coins the Herodians and Pharisees held up to Jesus. We are God’s currency on earth. We are living, breathing coins; and we get to decide how we will fund with our lives. So, through our lives we fund the well-being of our family. Through our lives we fund our education, our vocation, our wardrobe, our housing, our food. Through our lives we fund our entertainment—movies, theater, books, vacations. Well and good – but the tax God has placed on us is one of service and care – we give back to God in giving to others.

        Paul puts it this way for us in his letter to the Romans: “8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law- Romans 13:8”     This is how we are to manifest God’s unseeable Face in the world. We owe a debt of love. We bear that image of God revealed on Mt. Sinai - goodness, graciousness (or goodwill) and mercy – in how we chose to connect to our communities, to our church, to the stranger, outcast, ill, needy in our midst.

        Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church, shares a story that reminds me of the debt we owe in bearing and bringing forth God’s image in the world. Jim says it was Easter Sunday and he was so tired at the end of the day. He looked up and there in about the third row was a man who looked about 50, disheveled, filthy. He looked up at Jim rather sheepishly, as if saying, "Could I talk to you?" Jim thought to himself, though he felt ashamed later, "I've had such a good time, preaching and ministering, and here's a fellow probably wanting some money for more wine."
The man got up and walked to Jim with hair matted; front teeth missing; eyes slightly glazed. When he got within about five feet of Jim, he smelled a horrible smell like he never smelled before. It was so awful that when he got close, Jim would inhale by looking away, and then he’d talk to him, because he couldn't inhale facing him. Jim learned that the man’s name was David, he was 32 (although he looked 50) and had been living on the streets for six years.

Jim fumbled to pick out some money to give to David. David put up his hand and said, "I don't want your money. I want this Jesus, the One you were talking about, because I'm not going to make it. I'm going to die on the street." Jim started to weep. He realized he automatically reached for the money because it was the easiest way to get rid of David. Jim realized – David was sent to him – as a face of God – to show Jim God’s glory. Jim’s debt of love to God was to be paid to Jim. That is what goodness is all about. That is where God’s glory is found.

Jim could have made the excuse that he was tired. It’s understandable. We all do it. He didn’t see David the way God saw him. Jim was not feeling what God felt. Jim prayed for forgiveness Please forgive me God. I am so sorry to represent You this way. I'm so sorry. He prayed. He began to cry right there.

Jim started to weep deeper and David began to weep. David fell against Jim’s chest and there they wept on each other. The smell of David’s person became a beautiful aroma. The Lord made it real to Jim: If you don't love this smell, I can't use you, because this is why I called you where you are. This is what you are about. You are about this smell.” The smell, Jim realized, was the aroma of God.

       That day David gave his life to Christ. He got sober, with help got housing. Jim walked with David all along the way. Amazingly, eventually David was ordained and became an assistant minister in New Jersey.

That is giving back to God what is God’s – a broken life, transformed and redeemed. That’s our tax – to heal what is broken –to care for the ill. We make God’s glory visible through our deeds, our witness and our gifts to love, divine currency from our hand to our neighbors. amen

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You Are Invited!

10/10/2020

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Matthew 22:1-14, Exodus 32:1-14

Once upon a time, an engaged couple had gone to the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Boston to plan their wedding, and every detail they selected they were determined to be the very best—food, china, flowers, music. They both had expensive taste and the bill showed it—$20,000—and half of it was due on the spot as a down-payment.
Everything was moving along smoothly until the day the wedding invitations were to go in the mail. The groom announced that he couldn’t go through with it. He got cold feet.
Now the hurt and angry bride-to-be had to go back to the Hyatt to cancel the banquet, only to learn that there was no way to get back the down-payment. The contract was binding. There were only two options—to forfeit the down-payment or to go ahead with the party.
The bride was of course outraged at this. But the more she thought about it, the clearer she was that she would go ahead with the party. Now, though, it wouldn’t be a wedding banquet, but instead just a great big blowout. And so in June the Hyatt Hotel had a party the likes of which no one had ever quite seen. The jilted bride changed the menu to boneless chicken— “in honor of the groom,” she said—and sent invitations to the homeless shelters and rescue missions in the city. And so that summer evening people accustomed to finding their meals in the trash bins of the city made their way through the grand lobby of the Hyatt to a meal of chicken cordon bleu. Black-tied waiters served hors d’oeuvres to people in rags. Many had their bags of worldly goods with them, reminders of the hard life they were living. But for this night they were treated like kings and queens—sipping champagne, eating chocolate wedding cake, dancing into the night. The jilted bride redeemed a bad situation and turned it to a blessing for others.
Wedding banquets are powerful events. Whether it is the humble reception in the bride’s backyard or potluck dinner in the church basement – or an opulent spread with guests flown first class to Venice, Italy—wedding banquets bring people together. They forge ties, renew relationships and remind us that a marriage really isn’t just about two people – it’s about connecting all the communities the bridal couple represents – family, friends, neighbors, professional, business, political -- you name it. So, to do this, couples and their parents spend thousands of dollars and spent literally months in planning – in Manhattan alone precovid, it averaged around $80,000 for the perfect tie-the-knot party.
Jesus understood the importance of wedding banquets, parties, suppers, parties and feasts as images of the happiness and joy of what it means to be with God. Wedding feasts in biblical times often lasted a week, brought communities together for joyful celebration in the midst of monotonous, relentlessly grueling work with a meager diet. But like the groom who got cold feet, there are killjoys that would dampen the spirit of a party. Look at our Exodus lesson. Waiting for a long time for Moses’ return from the mountain, the people convinced Aaron to create them a god, made with their golden jewelry they had melted down. They proclaimed this calf took them out of Egypt, they offered sacrifices and threw a huge party. The first big party since they crossed the Red Sea, through months of a grueling journey. They couldn’t stay faithful to God’s plan, God’s vision, God’s party. They were disobedient killjoys.
Our gospel lesson also talks about the impact of killjoys in the face of the feast. Jesus uses examples that his audience would clearly get. A story about a king and a story about a wedding banquet. Kings had absolute power over their subjects. Emperors were often considered divine, sons of God. One did not disobey a king lightly, especially if one valued their life.
        So, it is without questions that the King in Jesus’ story is powerful and supreme. This venerable king plans a wedding banquet for his son and sends out invitations. Can we imagine the honor of such an invitation? Can we imagine the scandal to ignore or turn down a request from one’s sovereign? Yet this King is tolerant. Maybe the invitees lost their invitation, maybe they forgot. So, the second invitation, the most important one that specified the date of the banquet, spells it out further: the dinner is already prepared, there’s delicious fattened ox and fatted calves on the menu. Food one gets once in a blue moon. Everything is ready, so come.
        Did the invitees change their heart, seeing to what lengths the king has gone to prepare this amazing feast? No. They make light of it. They play down the sacrifice the king has made. They disregard the importance of the wedding banquet. They dishonor the king; the bridal couple and all the king represents.   With stunning disregard, they walk away from the King’s invitation. This is treason! They maltreat and even kill some of the King’s messengers. This is insurrection.   So, the king, instead of welcoming guests to his son’s wedding banquet, must first send troops to put down this rebellion. They are destroyed and the city burned to the ground, as was customary in dealing with traitors.
        The king however insists the show must go on. The food is already prepared, and he is determined to find people to attend. He sends his slaves to invite everyone, good and bad, to fill the wedding hall with guests.
        However, there is the strangest twist. Once everyone is in the party the king spots a guest who does not have a proper wedding robe. Garments would have been made available to invitees to reflect the dignity and joy of the celebration. The king is stunned to find someone who deliberately disobeys the custom. So, the king brutally orders the improperly clothed man not just thrown out of the party- but bound hand and foot – thrown into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. It would have been better for the man had he not shown up at all.
Jesus tell us that being a guest does not mean you come and do as you please. Sure, there is a party, but are we willing to enter into the spirit of the party? Will we wear our party clothes? Will we join in the dance? Because if we decide to come in wearing our grubby, stained clothes, if we decide to remain our own self-absorbed self, act any way we please, drink too much, offend everyone else, we may physically be at the party, but the party won’t be in us.
We thought the king would settle for a noisy crowd of people who would just come in and be their same old selves. Not on your life. This king Jesus tells us wants everyone to catch the spirit, to taste this banquet of peace and joy.
This God is throwing a party for the losers as well as the winners, for the sinners as well as the good, for those who have never darkened the door of a church as well as for the ushers and the members of the altar guild. Everyone, everyone, is already in. So, the good news is Jesus is throwing a great party and we are invited. However, we have been invited to a banquet, not a funeral or a fast. We must be banquet people.
We have to get into the spirit of the party. We have to be engaged—to go to work on developing a prayer life, take a class, find a project to ease the world’s pain. Jesus’ invitation calls for conversion, for clean clothes.   New wine in new wineskins. If you let me, Jesus said, I will make you into bright, radiant creatures of joy made for eternity. But that will mean growth and change.
You see it is possible to come to the party and miss the party.
Every day we wake up alive and breathing God has prepared a banquet day for us. We take life and all its blessings and challenges for granted. It is business as usual. We reject the invitation. We ignore the messengers who come to us, in every shape, way and form to remind us that God has prepared a spiritual banquet for us. Sadly, there are some days we’d rather be famished, we rather attend a meager meal of negative behavior than get ready for the banquet God has prepared. We choose to be killjoys. Sadly, sometimes we prefer to put on the rags of despair or indifference. We prefer the shirt stained by gossip. We chose the pants torn by anger.
Remember, Jesus reminds us, every day, God has prepared a sumptuous banquet for us. God wants us to put on the radiant garments of righteousness, peace, kindness, love, and hope. God wants us to spread the word to every highway and byway. This morning you can almost hear the party now. The invitation is out. And the only question is—this day will we attend? This day will we put on the heavenly garment? This day, will we open the doors and go out and gather the people, so that God’s banquet is filled. The food is ready, the venue is prepared – God is ready to receive us – so let the feast begin! Amen

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Lethal Tenants

10/10/2020

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Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20; Matthew 21:33-46
World Communion Sunday

Mark Twain once told the story about a man who had memorized the Ten Commandments. He told Twain that his ambition was to go to the Holy Land, stand on the Mount and recite loudly the Ten Commandments. Twain replied, "Have you ever thought about just staying home and keeping them?"
Along with the golden rule of Jesus, that we love God with our heart soul and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves, the Ten Commandments, or Ten Words as they are known in Hebrew, lay a foundation on how God ordains us to live together on earth. It is especially important for us to celebrate the ten commandments, the laws that tie us all together, on World Communion Sunday, the religious holiday where we lift up our unity in our diversity in Christ. Today is about the unity of the body of Christ in every land, language and creed. It is a joyful celebration, we thank God for each other, and our oneness in the Lord.
God had led the people out of slavery in Egypt and through the wilderness to Mt. Sinai, with constant complaining and looking back on slavery. The commandments lay out the foundation of being a free people, the shackles of slavery gone forever. The first four commandments lay the groundwork and describe how the people were to act toward God. Unlike the pagans who they would live around them, they were to only worship God, not create graven images, not take the Lord’s name in vain, to observe the sabbath and keep it holy. That’s the foundation of our lives, and from that foundation emerge the remainder six commandments, how we treat each other: we honor our parents and then from that commandment we honor others by not killing, not committing adultery, not stealing, not bearing false witness against your neighbor, and not coveting anything that is your neighbor. World Communion Sunday affirms these laws that bind us together as one people.
After seeing the foundation that has been laid for us today, Matthew seems to present us with the worst possible reading to celebrate World Communion Sunday. This is a brutal and harsh. It’s a tale of disobedience, a landlord who is removed from the scene, perhaps incurring the contempt of this tenants. If the tenants have a bone to pick with their landlord, they do not seek peaceful means to address it. When the slaves of the landlord arrive to collect what is lawfully his portion at harvest time, they could have just turned them away – but instead they administer beatings, stoning and murder.   There’s no empathy that these slaves are just like them, hired to do a task by the landlord.   A second round of slaves are sent and all summarily murdered. Again, no discussion, no mercy.   Unbelievably the landlord finally sends his son – and his is murdered in order to get the inheritance. Why did the landlord keep trying? Why didn’t he send in his goon squad after the first rebellion? This story leaves us unsettled, with unanswered questions, with a sense of the senseless violence and conflict we find in the economies of the world. No communion here, just discord, like what exists in our world today.
Knowing the legal background of this parable may help us to understand the story better. For example, it was necessary for the owner to send representatives to his vineyard every year. If he failed to do so, then under the Jewish law, he would lose the right to claim the fruit of that vineyard. So, the landowner established his rights of ownership by sending his servants, which the story bears out.
On the other hand, we can see from their actions that the tenants wanted to take possession of the vineyard by a process of dispossessing the owner so they could take the vineyard for themselves. This is the reason why they set about killing the servants, and finally also the son.
The reason why the son was sent as the last resort can also be understood legally. Because after the third year, if the fruit was not given, the owner had to take legal action. And the only way he could take legal action was by sending a representative that had the power to take legal action. A servant or a slave does not have such right. But the son, being the heir, had the right to act on his father's behalf in a court of law.
It may seem very strange that the owner, seeing that the tenants killed his servants, would risk the neck of his son. He had no alternative. Only his son had the right to act legally on his behalf. And that is also the reason why he said that the tenants will respect his son (Matthew 21:37: Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'). They will respect him because the son has the power to take legal action against them. Sadly, the landowner did not send soldiers along with the son to protect him.
The tenants were also trying to use the law in such a way that would favor them. If they could show, for example, that the vineyard was unfruitful and therefore that they could not produce any fruit to give to the owner, they could pass the blame to the owner and say that he had entrusted them with an unproductive vineyard. It put them in a position of bankruptcy, being unable to pay their rent. They could in fact sue the owner and ask for compensation for making them work vainly in a bad vineyard. On and on the conflict goes.
        So, what does a story of landlord-tenant conflict have to do with world communion Sunday, or with us? Initially a story that condemned the religious leadership of his day, Jesus now seems to be talking directly to us, his 21st century disciples. We are the modern-day stewards of creation. We are the heirs of the Promise. We are called to be the light of the World. In reality, we are the workers in the vineyard – and we have seized the vineyard for ourselves. We believe that we do not owe God anything. Heck, we believe that we do not owe each other anything, all which flies in the face of the Ten Commandments. It is the progression of the problems that we have been seeing in the people of Israel. Last week the people of Israel were at the point of stoning Moses. This week, the tenants kill the landowners’ servants and only son – just as the religious establishment killed Jesus.
        This World Communion Sunday is actually a good time for us to reflect on the harvest and what has been done to God’s vineyard. How well have we cared for the earth and its resources? Have we listened to the prophets and teachings sent by God? Have we received with joy the commandments God has provided to provide a foundation on which we are to relate to God and live well in community? The commandments are about healthy boundaries – with God, our parents and the community we live in. Had these laws been followed, the tenants should not have coveted what wasn’t theirs. But because they neglected this commandment, they coveted the vineyard and committed murder to obtain their goal. It is all interconnected– from how we honor God, to how we honor our elders, to how we honor our neighbors. Today is our wake up call. Are we lethal tenants, seeking to usurp the rights of the true owner? Are we lethal tenants, damaging the resources of creation for our own benefit? Are we willing to damage and destroy and seize by force what isn’t ours?
We, like the people of Israel, are on this journey from slavery to freedom. Every step of the way God has been gracious and good, despite the complaints and murmuring. Even in our parable today, the vineyard owner, God, extends himself repeatedly, given the tenants ample chance to repent.
For this reason we have the commandments. So we can be faithful tenants. So we can recognize: it’s all on loan – even our very life. We are the tenants in the vineyard. Will we share the harvest?   Can you imagine the world we would have if people chose to be faithful tenants instead of lethal tenants?
        So, let us be model tenants and prepare to share the harvest. Let us give back to God what God requires of us – resources to help the poor, widowed or orphan, the stranger in our midst. Let us be generous tenants, grateful tenants, following God’s commandments and creating a true worldwide communion of God’s vineyard, served by all. Amen.

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"Passing the Test"

10/2/2020

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Exodus 17:1-7 Matthew 21:23-32

As we enter a new season of Sunday school and Bible Study, here are a batch of answers to bible tests – let me add not given by Merrick/Freeport children and youth:
The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple. Ancient Egypt was old. It was inhabited by gypsies and mummies who all wrote in hydraulics. Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandos. He died before he ever reached Canada but the commandos made it. Then Joshua led the Hebrews in the battle of Geritol.
         Tests. They are a part of everyday life. Doctors order all sorts of tests to make sure our health is fine. We must pass driving test in order to get a license. There are myriads of tests for school – from the ERBS for the nursery school set, PSATs gives usually 10 or 11th graders a benchmark to study for the SATS. There’s the GRE for graduate studies, the GMATS, LSAT, MCATS, and a myriad of other professional and occupational exams students must pass in order to practice in their chosen field. It is estimated that the test prep and tutoring industry runs a hefty price tag of 2.5 billion dollars a year to deliver our youth to their school of choice. Testing doesn’t end there –companies run field tests on their products to assure their success in the marketplace. Tests are a part of our lives.
    Testing is not just a part of our social and physical life – it is part of our spiritual life.   Proverbs 17:2 reminds us “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts” We also discover in today’s lessons, that people turn the tables to test their spiritual leaders and ultimately God.
        Today we still find ourselves journeying with the people of Israel on their trek out of Egypt, the land of their slavery, led by God through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. It has been a hard and dangerous time, the people are once again thirsty and they begin their usual complaining, with their litany of “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” It’s beginning to sound old and worn out, isn’t it? God has provided deliverance, water, manna, quail, and yet again they find themselves in need, and instead of asking nicely, remembering God’s faithfulness, once again fall back on complaining.
       At this point, Moses experiences their complaints as testing. As circumstances continue to be hard, are they doubting his leadership? Are they having second thoughts? Again? Are they blaming Moses for a situation he didn’t create and is out of his control? Moses is at his wit’s end, and cries out to God, “what do I do with them? They are about to stone me.” They are ready to kill their leader even though he is doing exactly what he is supposed to. They in fact had not learned to be gracious, to have faith, so they find in Moses an easy scapegoat. They fail the test of faithfulness. They are taking the focus away from their own spiritual deficiency and placing the blame on Moses. How convenient.
        The people, in their immaturity and fear, test Moses and test God.   Are you going to take care of me? Are you going to give me what we want?   Why are you delaying God? Like a lot of immature people, the people of Israel, cannot tolerate delay or any experience of discomfort. They cannot self-reflect. They are stuck in a spiritual babyhood   where they want everything done for them. There is no growth. There is no ability to be in true relationship because they continue to act as slaves to the past. They are failing the test.
                 We also see Jesus tested in a similar way in the temple. He is approached by the chief priests and elders of the people. Earlier in Matthew’s chapter 21, The temple leaders in today’s text were not in the mood for tests. They didn’t want to hear what Jesus had to say. To them Jesus was just a trouble maker. Matthew tells us that before this heated debate, Jesus had just overturned the tables of the money changers and drove out of the temple those who were buying and selling – the people who made it difficult for the ordinary person and the poor to afford their sacrifices.
   Jesus heals the blind and the lame; the chief priests and elders of the people saw “all these wonderful things,” Jesus is doing, and they hear the children shouting out “hosanna to the Son of David.” Their response? They were indignant. Like the people of Israel, they have a slave mentality to the past. They are enslaved to the rigid rules and way of life that put them in charge. They are threatened by the liberation that Jesus brings. So, they test Jesus – hoping to draw out his errors and discredit him. “By What authority are you doing these things Jesus?” “Who Gave you this authority?” In doing so they wanted to trap Jesus so they could arrest him. So, they ask Jesus this question, “By whose authority do you do these things?”   Who said you can turn the tables, Jesus?
Jesus exposes the duplicity hidden in their hearts. Jesus confronts them: they were witnesses to the way of righteousness that John the Baptist testified to. They saw it. Yet they did not change their minds and believe. Here was Jesus, bringing “living water” in the Temple as surely as the water that sprang forth when Jesus could have answered them easily. His authority came from God, the Father. However, Jesus knew these leader’s motives were not sincere. They only cared about their lost of revenue, power and their pride. They didn’t care about the good news of God in Jesus Christ.   Their hearts were hardened and closed, just like the people of Israel in the desert.   So, Jesus cornered them with this test:
“Does the baptism of John come from God or people?”
        The Temple leaders found themselves in a corner. Either response would get them in trouble: “If we say John’s authority came from God, then he’ll ask us why we don’t believe him. But if we say John’s authority is of human origin, we’ll get in trouble with the crowd, because they believe John was a prophet.” These leaders weren’t interested in truth. So, in their answer they played it safe, stayed on the fence. “We don’t know” was their reply. They failed the test.
These leaders were putting forth tests, but tests not to grow in truth but to keep their heart closed to God. They couldn’t see the divine acting in Jesus.   Jesus gave them another incomprehensible test, scandalous to their ears: how sinners, prostitutes and tax collectors, who responded to the message of repentance and mercy, were more righteous before God then these religious leaders.
        God tests us. As surely as the people of Israel were tested, as surely as the elders and chief priests were tested, so are we. God tests us to lead us to be more than we realize we are. To expand our ability to love, forgive, care and to serve.
        Some may feel God is unfair to test us so. Like testing Eve. Like testing Jacob or Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac. Like with Job. Or Paul. We tend to think of God like the punishing teacher in the sky, concocting painful experiences to see how we will fare. James reassures us: “For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. James 1:3” All of life offers tests and challenges.   There are times we will fail and times we will succeed. Hopefully, we come to realize that while we may not have no control over the challenges that enters our life, we do have a choice in how we are to respond.
I know people who respond to success – some cling to their accomplishments and refuse to share; others see their success as such a blessing that they use it to make the lives of others better. I know people who respond to every adversity with negativity and pushing people away, cursing God, blaming others. I also have encountered people who amazingly, who despite their trials, continue to reach out to others, and try to find something good.   In there, lies freedom. We learn to love God, and express love, in every circumstance and trial and test we face, and in spite of the injustices that continue to be perpetuated on earth. We let God be God and allow divine presence to be here without the conditions we would place.
        So relax. It’s only a test. It will be repeated until we get it right. Until our hearts open and we trust, we learn to love, we agree to serve. We open our eyes and see the wonderful things Jesus is doing in our midst – and with faithful hearts proclaim, the Lord is with us. Then will celebrate that we have passed the test. Amen.

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Give To God What Is God's

You Are Invited!

Lethal Tenants

"Passing the Test"

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