May 24: Day of Pentecost (John 20:19-23 (Acts 2:1-21))

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

Last week we heard Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer for the oneness of the new humanity, that we might live in full communion with God and one another. This week through the reception of the Holy Spirit, especially as described in the Acts 2 narrative, the barrier of language separating humanity is overcome as people hear the proclamation of Jesus in their own native tongues. To be clear, one person speaks in his/her native tongue while every other person receives the message in their own native tongue with even the correct accents. It would be like someone speaking Chinese yet I receive their words in English with a Pittsburgh accent. This is a reversal of the impact of the dispersing and confusing of the people in Genesis 11:1-9, the story of the Tower of Babel (“balal” means “to confuse”). In this story, the people desired to build a tower reaching into the heavens in order “to make a name for themselves” and thus God thwarts their efforts by confusing them with different languages. 

In the Pentecost experience of Acts 2, the opposite occurs. In the Lukan account, Jesus spends forty days with the disciples following the resurrection (Acts 1:3), and then as he ascends he tells the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for “the promise of the Father” which would be the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is on the “fiftieth day” (Pentecost means “fifty”) after Passover, NOT after the Resurrection, that the Holy Spirit sweeps through the room and fills the disciples. The Pentecost experience of Acts 2 is intended to draw the hearer/reader back to the creation narrative of Genesis 1:2 in which “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, and a wind (“ruach” meaning wind, breath, spirit) from God swept over the face of the waters.” It is the same creative wind, breath, spirit that sweeps through the disciple’s room recreating them into new human beings. The tongues of fire take us back to Luke 3:16 during the story of John the Baptizer announcing, “I baptize you with you with water; but one more powerful than I is coming…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Fire is a source of refinement, destroying all impurities so the true material can be set free to shine forth. Those hearing/reading the Acts 2 account will recall John’s proclamation in Luke 3 which also announces that the wheat will be set free from the chaff. All of John’s prophecies come to fruition in the Pentecost event of Acts 2. 

After the dramatic event of receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples run into the streets to proclaim the inauguration of the new humanity through the death and resurrection of Jesus. As they speak, the Spirit translates their message into each hearer’s native tongue. Confused by the spectacle, some begin to ask questions because they don’t understand what is happening. They initially think that the disciples are drunk, why wouldn’t they be, the last weeks have been quite stressful. This creates the opportunity for Peter to preach the Gospel, to let people know that a new day has dawned and all are to be included. It’s good to read the remainder of chapter 2 (even though the worshipers will not hear it) in order to have a grasp of the flow. Acts 2:41-47 describes the first activities of the new humanity and can be a source for unpacking the significance or outcome of the arrival of the Holy Spirit. 

It’s always a bit messy when we read both the Acts 2 text alongside the “other” Pentecost text of John 20:19-23. First of all, we just heard John 20:19-23 a few weeks ago (refer back to Easter 2 for commentary on this passage) which means creating another sermon based on this text can be a bit troublesome; secondly, the two stories oppose one another. Luke/Acts depicts the Holy Spirit arriving 50 days after the Passover while the Fourth Gospel has Jesus transmitting the Holy Spirit on the day of the resurrection. As such, you might forgo using the John 20 passage and focus entirely on Acts 2:1-21. 

Key preaching points:

Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. Whether we identify with the Fourth Gospel’s depiction of John 20 where Jesus breathes the Spirit directly into the disciples, or with the dramatic narrative of Acts 2 where wind and flame fill the room, the responsibility for the continued enactment of the missio dei (Mission of God) shifts on Pentecost from Jesus to the Church. We are now to be the heart, hands and feet of Jesus in the world drawing all people to God. When we were baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus, we received our true-identity as children of God and the call to pour ourselves out for God’s mission in the world. We gather not as Americans or Lutherans or any other worldly designation; we gather as God’s baptized people, the new humanity, raised up and called out (ekklesia – translated as “church”, literally means “to be called out of”) to be the vessel of the Holy Spirit bringing new life to all. Everything we do as the church must be grounded in this mission. It is our true north, it is our guiding star. The missio dei keeps us grounded in both identity and purpose and should we lose it, we become lost. Think about all that we do as Abiding Hope, our focus on relationships, service and generosity, our huge amounts of outreach, our work to create a culture of life for all people, our inclusion of all and all means ALL! Each of these is guided and driven by the missio dei to draw all people into full communion with God and one another. This commission was given to the Church on the Day of Pentecost, transmitted to us through our baptisms, and is to be taken with ultimate seriousness as our true and only way of life. 

Without the death and resurrection of Jesus there is no Pentecost experience. Jesus is only free to transmit the Spirit to us following his resurrection as a new human being. As such, we are rebirthed through baptism and called to be the heart, hands and feet of Jesus in the world. Pentecost is a passionate celebration of energy and fire. The disciples run into the streets without fear in order to share God’s good news with everyone. Do we carry the same energy and passion of the Spirit for bringing new life to all? Have we reduced faith to a cognitive exercise? Do we truly care about our world and see the way of Jesus, the way of love, service and generosity as the only means by which to set it free? What will it take for us to be set on fire for God’s mission of life for all? What will it take for us to present ourselves as living sacrifices at home, work, school, neighborhood and around the world? How much longer will we wait before we run into the streets proclaiming the risen Jesus? It’s our turn, right now, to be God’s delivery system of love and life for all. May we be so filled by the Holy Spirit that we give ourselves to the missio dei so that all may experience real life! 

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

May 31: Holy Trinity (Matthew 28:16-20)

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

The Church has historically celebrated the Holy Trinity on the weekend following Pentecost. There are two distinctive ways of interpreting the Trinity. The Western or Latin interpretation focused on the Imminent Trinity which seeks to define God over and against humanity, attempting to understand the inner workings and relationships between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This viewpoint holds that the three persons of the Trinity are co-equal from eternity and forever superior to humanity. The Eastern or Orthodox interpretation is called the Economic Trinity which views the Trinity as an unfolding story of God’s interaction with the Creation, namely humanity. The Father is God, the whole God, Creator of heaven and earth. The Son originates in the Father as the idea (Logos/Word) in the mind of God for the Creation/humanity which becomes enfleshed in the person of Jesus who is sent to draw all things back to the Father. The Spirit proceeds from the Father as the emanating love for the Son (Logos/Creation) which also seeks to draw all things back to the Father.  

Our Gospel text for this weekend are the final verses of Matthew and the only occurrence in the New Testament of the formula: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Many scholars believe that this passage was later added to Matthew 28 following the Council of Nicea in 325 CE when the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity was formally adopted. In any case, this is the first and only occurrence in Matthew’s Gospel when the risen Jesus appears to his disciples. During the Last Supper in Matthew 26:32, Jesus instructs the disciples that he will see them in Galilee after he is “raised up.” When he encounters the women following the resurrection, he commands them to tell his disciples (“brothers”) to go to Galilee and there they will see him. This weekend’s passage is the only place in the four Gospels that has Jesus meeting the disciples in Galilee at the place that he had instructed them.

But why Galilee? Why not Jerusalem? Scholars, as you can imagine, are divided on this issue. Before we engage this controversial issue, it’s important to recognize that Matthew’s Gospel is based largely on the Gospel of Mark. Mark was written in about 70 CE while Matthew was written in about 85 CE. In Mark 14:28, Jesus tells the disciples during the Last Supper that he will “go before them to Galilee” after he is “raised up.” And again, in Mark 16:7, the angel in the empty tomb instructs the women to tell the disciples that they will see him in Galilee “just as he told you.” A debate among scholars focuses on whether the Gospel of Mark was written before or after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE. I agree with the scholars who hold that these two passages in Mark, which instruct the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee, prove that Mark was written after the fall of Jerusalem. Consider this…by meeting the disciples in Galilee, Jerusalem no longer stands as the architectonic center of the earth, i.e. the centralized physical location of the Holy of Holies within the Temple where God’s umbilical cord connects to the earth and where humanity communicates with God through the High Priest. When the risen Jesus meets the disciples in Galilee, the Church is unleashed by the Holy Spirit to transcend all limits and boundaries for God’s interactions with humanity so that the Church can draw all peoples into intimate relationship with God.

In verse 17 we encounter a conundrum of sorts that the English translations try to remedy. What the Greek says is, “And seeing him they worshiped, but they doubted.” The English translations try to clean up this passage by saying that “some” doubted. The word “some” is nowhere to be found in the Greek text. To be clear, the Greek word distazo means to doubt, waver, hesitate. According to the Greek text, all the disciples doubted. This term is different from what happens to Thomas in John 20:27 when Jesus says to Thomas, “Do not have distrust (apistos) but trust.” The disciples in Matthew’s Gospel are not “distrusting” the resurrection; they are “doubting, hesitating” in response to Jesus’ resurrection and their call to be his legacy. That leads into verse 18 when Jesus says, “All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me…” Remember that the question of authority is a continual theme within Matthew’s Gospel. The Jewish leaders are continually asking, “By what authority are you teaching or doing these things….?” Jesus never answers and he doesn’t need to do so. Back in Matthew 3:17 when Jesus was baptized we heard the voice from heaven say, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” As God’s Son, Jesus has the inherent authority to teach, preach, serve, call and commission all people to live as children of God.

Verse 19-20 continue, “Go and disciple all peoples, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to watch over all that I have commanded you (plural). And behold, I am with you all the days as far as the completion of the age.” This is the Doug Hill translation which is a bit different from what we see in many of our Bibles. Jesus is telling his disciples that they now bear the responsibility of teaching the world about what it means to be children of God and that all are called to pour out their lives for the sake of one another. The death and resurrection of Jesus inaugurates a new humanity that exists to teach love, service, and generosity as the way, the norm of human life. When we baptize people, we put them to death to the old moral order of the world governed by hierarchy, domination, violence, and fear and we rebirth them into the new moral order of oneness, peace, love, and hope. In the waters of baptism, every person hears the exact same words that Jesus heard, “You are my kid, I love you, and I am proud of you.” The newly baptized are then to be immersed in the Jesus community so that they can be shaped and formed into the people that God created them to be. As members of the new humanity, we then participate in God’s unfolding story (think Economic Trinity) of drawing all things back to God. As the heart, hands, and feet of Jesus in the world, we strive to be ministers of reconciliation drawing all people into their true-identity as children of God and calling all to pour themselves out for the sake of the world so that all may experience real life in Jesus’ name.

Key preaching points: 

When preaching on the Great Commission, it’s important to remember that God’s call for discipleship is for all people (ta ethne). God’s vision for the world is that all people be brought into the new humanity to live as children of God pouring out one’s self for the sake of the world. We have to think beyond ourselves. We have to recognize that each of us is “God’s gift to the world.” When we think of our lives from a selfish or singular position, we deprive ourselves of our true identities and purpose and we end up empty or alone. We exist to serve all so that all may have life. What are our unique gifts and abilities that can be unleashed to serve others? What are the passions within our hearts that God is using to call us beyond ourselves? 

In baptism we have been put to death with Jesus and raised anew as children of God. However, there is much in the world that seeks to pull us back into being people of fear, control, or domination. What is it within ourselves that needs to die, truly die, so that we can be unleashed to be the people that God created us to be? How are we being called to unleash others from the old narratives that hold them back from being the children of God that they are created to be? 

Finally, Jesus’ vision is for all the world to be one. In what ways are we giving ourselves locally and globally to be the heart, hands, and feet of Jesus in the world? Jesus’ vision of oneness for all people is the only vision that makes sense and is worth our total commitment. What are we each doing to strive to fulfill Jesus’ vision for the world so that all may experience real life in Jesus’ name? 

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

June 7: Pentecost 2/Lectionary 1 (Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26)

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

Although not a part of our assigned text this week, chapter 9 begins with the story of Jesus being vilified for telling a paralyzed man that his sins have been forgiven. In response to the Scribes’ accusation of blasphemy, Jesus heals the man to show that he is speaking and acting from a place of true authority. The question of authority is a repetitive theme throughout Matthew’s Gospel.

In verse 9, Jesus calls Matthew the tax collector to follow him. As he ate dinner at Matthew’s home, other tax collectors and “sinners” were in attendance. This event caused a stir among the Pharisees who ask Jesus’ other disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus responds with a simple and pure answer, “Those who are well have no need of a physician.” He then challenges the Pharisees by quoting Hosea 6:6, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Such a statement would have been received by the Pharisees as judgment for they followed the letter of the law as a means to righteousness while often overlooking the call for justice. Jesus follows his quote from Hosea with the differentiating statement, “For I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” 

The lectionary skips the next several verses which tell of the disciples of John the Baptizer coming to Jesus to ask why his disciples are not taught to fast as John teaches. He responds by saying that there will be a time to fast but not now while “the bridegroom” is present but after he is taken away. He then gives the metaphors that a new piece of unshrunk cloth cannot be sewn onto old clothes just as new wine cannot be aged in old wineskins. Both metaphors imply that God is doing something new that will be different from how things have been done before. 

This brings us to the rest of our assigned text beginning with verse 18 in which a leader from the synagogue asks Jesus to come and heal his daughter who had just died. As Jesus begins to follow the man to his home, a woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years touches the hem of Jesus’ cloak. Jesus looks at her and says, “Be of good courage, Daughter, your trust has made you whole.” It’s important that we recognize that Jesus credits the woman for the healing of her own wound. Let’s not interpret this purely around her physical ailments, but about her being wounded through her separation and isolation from society. A hemorrhaging Jewish woman would have been deemed unclean and could not be in contact with others, let alone a male rabbi. By touching Jesus in public she opened herself to being stoned to death. Her suffering led her to risk her life in order to seek healing and release from her agony. Jesus assures her first by saying “Be of good courage,” meaning that she has nothing to fear from him. He then assures her that it is HER trust in God that brought her to a place to address her wounds that led to her becoming whole. 

Jesus continues to the synagogue leader’s house where he encounters the societal commotion that occurred upon someone’s death. He tells the crowd to depart “for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. After the crowd was chased out of the house, Jesus took the girl by the hand and she got up. Word of this event spread throughout the land. 

Key preaching points: 

Chapter 9 is filled with stories of Jesus healing the paralyzed, the sick, the dying, the blind, the mute. Each of these occurrences is met with resistance and rejection by the religious leaders. They are more concerned with Jesus obeying the laws than with serving to unleash human beings. They believe that acts of healing cannot be of God if any of the purity code is being violated. Jesus violated Jewish law by welcoming and eating with sinners, by permitting an unclean woman to touch him in public, by touching a dead body. The Pharisees’ focus on the law prohibited them from seeing the inbreaking of God’s reign right before their eyes. They were so stuck in legalism, tradition, and history that they could not see the new thing that God was doing. How often do we fall prey to wanting to maintain old systems of hierarchy or tradition that we fail to see how the Holy Spirit is calling us into new ways of life that produce life? Think about how women have been told that they cannot be clergy or LGBTQIA+ folks have been told that they are sinners and unclean. Can we see how God is using women or queer people to bring light and love into the lives of others? If this were not of God then no new life would occur through the work of those who have been rejected by the church. On the contrary, human beings are set free every day through the power of the Spirit working through the rejected, the ostracized, the broken, and the unclean. May we have the scales from our eyes removed to see God’s reign in unexpected places being actualized through unexpected people. 

This week is a good time to address the topic of “wound.” Instead of speaking of the concept of “original sin” which tends to shame human beings through some level of morality code, what if we spoke of “original wound.” All of us have experienced the original wound of separation. We are born into this world connected. At some point we each face the perceived reality that we have been separated from our source (mater means “mother” or “source”) which generates an experience of abandonment, betrayal, or estrangement. Our “original wound” results in feelings of fear/anxiety, anger, and shame that gets lived out through our attempt to shield ourselves from future wounding. By hiding from our wounds, the pain festers and becomes transmitted through the wounding of others. It’s critically important that Jesus told the woman that it was HER trust that healed her, made her whole. He didn’t do it for her or to her. No other person can address and heal our spiritual or existential wounds. We must each do that work. And by going to our own place of woundedness, we grow in our compassion for ourselves which equips and empowers us to gain compassion for the wounds of others. May we be a community of wounded people who no longer fear our wounds but seek to heal them through love so that we can accompany others in becoming whole and well in Jesus’ name. 

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

June 14: Pentecost 3/Lectionary 11 (Matthew 9:35-10:8)

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

We follow the weekend of the Great Commission with another Matthean passage focused on Jesus commissioning the disciples in chapter 10. Back in chapter 4 we learned that Jesus called Peter and his brother, Andrew, along with the sons of Zebedee, James and John. But until now, we have not discovered Jesus specifically calling the other eight disciples, although there have been passages that have referenced the disciples. Before Jesus commissions the disciples, the author of Matthew sets the stage for why the disciples are needed by describing a scene where Jesus encounters a crowd of distressed people and announces that they need others to care for them. There are two dynamics at play here for outlining the emerging role of the disciples: proclaim the “Good News” (euangelion) that the reign of Heaven is near AND unleash people from whatever is preventing them from living fully as children of God. Remember that the missio dei is to draw all things (people) into relationship with God. In order to fulfill this mission, God will need disciples to proclaim a message that casts a vision for what it looks like to live in relationship with God, to live as though the reign of God is the present reality, and to work to unleash people for active participation within God’s reign.

Verse 35 tells us that Jesus has been entering towns and villages to teach, proclaim and heal as witness to God’s reign. Verse 36 notes that Jesus is deeply affected by what he encounters regarding the crowds of people. The Greek verb “splangchnitzomaii” is far stronger than the English word “compassion” that is used by the NRSV. This graphic verb purposely describes the feeling of taking a punch to the gut. This is the very visceral reaction that Jesus has upon seeing the people “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Sheep that don’t have a shepherd are susceptible to predators. They will scatter and ultimately be devoured. Jesus’ simile is intended to conjure an emotional response in the reader/hearer aimed at motivating us to action so that human beings may not be devoured by life. But this begs the question, “What in life devours human beings?” At the time of Jesus, there was a huge disparity between the rich and the poor, the haves and have-nots. People who had little or who had become disenfranchised by the socio-religious structures of the day had zero recourse to address their situations. Those who were diseased were deemed to be unclean and were not only physically separated from cultic practices, they were considered to be separate from God. 

Jesus’ solution to the dilemma (v. 37) is to use an agrarian metaphor announcing that there is about to be an enormous harvest but not enough workers to reap all of the grain (recall back in Matthew 3:12 that John the Baptizer proclaims that Jesus has come to “gather his wheat into his granary”). Each child of God is a valuable grain of wheat which God desires to be included in the harvest. Not one is to be overlooked or discarded. It’s important that we understand that the “Lord of the harvest” in v. 38 is God, the owner of the field. Jesus, like us, is a worker serving the Lord in doing what it takes to get the wheat into the granary. The Lord doesn’t swing the winnowing-fork, the workers do. Jesus shows the fellow workers just how to do it by unleashing people from whatever holds them back from full participation in God’s reign. But be careful what you pray for…for when we “ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers,” he sends us! 

This segues directly into chapter 10 (which is why this passage carries over into the next chapter) and the commission of the disciples. Verse 1 details Jesus commissioning his disciples with the same authority that he bears “to throw out unclean spirits and to cure every disease and every illness.” Again, these are means by which human beings, children of God are being unleashed to participate in God’s reign. We then learn the names of all twelve of Jesus’ disciples.

The remaining verses of the passage describe the details of the commission:

1. 1. Don’t go to foreigners, Gentiles or Samaritans but only to the lost sheep of Israel. Don’t read into this that the reign of God is not universal but that it’s a return first to the Abrahamic covenant: 1) raising up a great nation (Israel), 2) giving them land to live on, and 3) blessing all nations through them. The universal nature of God’s reign begins with the children of Abraham, the people of Israel.
   2. Proclaim the good news, “The reign of Heaven is at hand (come near)”. That line is the definition of the Gospel, that God is with us, near us, around us. Do not be confused, the Gospel message is not the cross and resurrection. The cross and resurrection are means to the Gospel. The Gospel message, pure and simple, is that God is near to us (this is in direct connection with the missio dei to draw all things to God).
   3. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Each of these charges addresses specific situations that leash people to fear, division, isolation, the things that devour life
   4. You received without payment, give without payment. There is no fee or charge to participate in the reign of God. However, Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that although the reign of God is free, it’s not cheap…it comes at great cost. It cost Jesus his life and it costs us the same. When we are unleashed freely to participate in the reign of God, it costs us our whole selves as we are to pour everything out toward the missio dei so that all may experience real life.

Key preaching points: 

I think it’s important for the hearers to understand that Jesus was a human being just like us and that he felt deeply much in the same way that we feel deeply about those we love. It hurts when we see someone we love in pain. So much that we’d gladly do whatever it takes to remove their pain, even if it means taking their pain onto ourselves. We have to be careful here, though, that we don’t feed into the notion of substitutionary atonement (humans are evil, God is angry and someone has to pay the price), but instead help the hearers to understand that our God will go to any length in order to be near us and to unleash us from whatever holds us back from full participation in God’s reign. The whole point of the reign of Heaven (reign of Heaven = reign of God) is dwelling in the presence of God. When Jesus encounters human beings living as though they are separate from God, it hurts him deeply and he does whatever is necessary to restore people, all people, into intimate relationship.

The disciples possess the same authority as Jesus to unleash human beings. Often we are led to believe that Jesus is some “super-human” figure who can do what we can only dream of doing. Not so! Jesus is our brother, he’s the prototypical human who came to reveal to us and draw us into our true identities. We have the power to heal, cast out demons, raise up people the same way that Jesus did. In fact, we can do it better and more effectively because he was one person, we are many.

We must not forget the rest of the story of how the power structures of Jesus’ day rejected his vision for the reign of God and unleashed hatred and violence toward him going so far as to murder him on a cross. Yet God responded to humanity’s rejection of Jesus by raising him from the dead and inaugurating a new humanity that is called and commissioned through the waters of baptism to be citizens of God’s reign pouring ourselves out every day to draw all people into relationship with God. The cross and empty tomb promise us that God’s reign will prevail and that life and love ultimately win. In what ways are we utilizing our freedom to live within God’s reign by unleashing others to be the children of God that they are created to be?

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

June 21: Pentecost 4/LEctionary 12 (Matthew 10:24-39)

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

In order to grasp the unfolding progression leading into this weekend’s Gospel text, we need to be aware of the preceding verses within chapter 10. After commissioning the disciples to go and proclaim the good news and to unleash people for full life within God’s reign, Jesus warns the disciples that those in positions of power will not accept their message and will actually attack them in the pursuit of stopping them. The battle will not only rage within the cities but within homes and families as “brother will put brother to death…children will rise against parents.” Jesus even says in v. 22, “you will be hated by all because of my name.” Scary stuff. Following Jesus and being a worker in God’s reign carries with it a great cost as is witnessed in the cross. This is Jesus’ full-disclosure point that he is striving to get through to the disciples. 

Our passage begins with Jesus continuing the warning saying that if they call him Beelzebul, how much more will they malign his followers. But then beginning in v. 26, Jesus encourages the disciples not to be afraid for the truth of God’s reign will ultimately prevail. The violence, division, hatred of the world is not God’s design (God’s plan) for humanity. This is the “sin of the world” that Jesus came to “take away.” He will take it away by raising up a new humanity who will promote the oneness of all in love. It isn’t magic or hocus pocus, it’s about forming a community of people who through sacrificial service and radical generosity will draw all people into God’s reign. In v. 28 Jesus reminds his followers that the threats that they will face can kill their body (soma) but cannot harm their soul (psyche). In Genesis 2:7 when God breathes into the face of the man, the man becomes a “living soul”. The “soul” of the human is what differentiates him from the other creatures/animals which are living bodies. The “soul” of the human is the awareness of and relationship with God, one another and all creation. Also consider Matthew 6:25 when Jesus says, “Do not worry about your life (psyche) or about your body (soma)” but to “strive first for the reign of God…and all these things will be given to you as well.” To give up on God’s reign is to give up one’s soul, one’s connection to God, one another, and creation. Isn’t that the definition of true death? Therefore, if we live in relationship with God, even though the body may die, the soul lives! 

Verses 32-33 have been difficult for some to interpret because it reads as though Jesus is giving up on some people. When we think about salvation as being a reward after we die in reciprocation for faithful behavior on earth, then such an interpretation makes sense. However, if we understand salvation as being the reconciliation of all to God, then the meaning of this passage shifts. Again, throughout chapter 10, Jesus is revealing to his disciples how difficult it is to proclaim and live within God’s reign and how the world will work to attack and destroy that message. His point in these verses is focused on differentiating between what is of God’s reign and what is not. Although Adolf Hitler proclaimed to be a Christian, we can clearly discern that Hitler’s goals and decisions did not support Jesus’ vision for humanity. Jesus, therefore, would be justified in denying Hitler’s behavior before our Father in heaven. However, we must remember that this is not about individual salvation or the question of whether Hitler went to heaven. Jesus’ vision focuses on the generation of a new humanity who pursues the oneness of all through love. We must reject Hitler’s behavior and instead embrace and support the behavior of Gandhi. Anyone who strives to generate connection to God and one another is of God!

Verses 34-38 are also particularly troubling for people because they seem to indicate that Jesus stands against a unifying voice, and embraces a divisive one. Some in the LCMS and other conservative traditions take such a position. The truth is that there are two realities happening simultaneously within this passage. In order to grasp the distinction between these two realities, we must think short-term and long-term. The short-term reality is that Jesus is a polarizing voice who has limited patience or tolerance for oppression, abuse, violence, etc. Jesus cannot stand idly by while some are full and others are empty. He cannot remain silent as women are treated as second-class citizens to men. He cannot look away as people are oppressed due to ethnicity or religion. He must speak out. He must act. These are polarizing issues which cause those in positions of power who want to maintain the status quo to react angrily and violently against Jesus. However, when we take a step back and we think critically about a day when there will be no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, we begin to see a grander vision of oneness for all humanity. So when Jesus says that he came to bring a sword and division, he’s speaking to the short-term or temporary realities which lead on to a grander, long-term vision of oneness and inclusion for all. 

Verse 39 sets the table for what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Most of Jesus’ sayings are plural using a plural “you” or “they” to describe discipleship. But here in Matthew 10:39, everything is singular. The NRSV chooses to pluralize the passage in order to remove the masculine pronouns, however it’s critically important to the interpretation of the text that we understand that Jesus is saying, “He/She/One who finds his/her/one’s life will lose it, but he/she/one who loses his/her/one’s life for my sake will find it.” Again, one must read the whole of this chapter and even much of what comes before in order to understand what Jesus is saying here. He is calling for each of us to be willing to give our whole selves for the sake of God’s reign. In so doing, even though it may cost us our physical lives, we live perpetually in true relationship with God and one another as instruments of new life for the world. This way of life, though costly, establishes a future for humanity that is full of life and love for all. 

Key preaching points: 

Congratulations if you’ve been given this week to preach. This is an extraordinarily difficult text to preach and the temptation is to keep the congregation captivated during your 45-minute exegesis of the text. The key to preaching on this Gospel text is identifying one key point and digging deeply into it. In my experience, the verse where most people fixate is 10:34. At Abiding Hope, people are accustomed to hearing that the Gifts of God are Free and All means ALL! So what in the world is Jesus talking about by saying that he came to bring a sword? This gives the preacher the opportunity to talk about God’s vision for the world and differentiating between what is of God and what is of the world. This message will challenge people of all walks and levels while calling us all to participate in God’s reign of love and life for all. 

Often when reading this text we forget that Jesus was a victim of “brother will put brother to death.” Judas, Jesus’ friend, betrayed him with a kiss. However misguided Judas might have been, he believed that turning Jesus over to the authorities was a good and noble idea. After Judas discovered the depth of his betrayal, he hung himself. How many of us have turned on brother or sister because of something that we thought was just or good or right only to discover that the relationship was more important than the issue on which we had fixated. Is it ever too late to make amends? Is it ever too late to say I’m sorry? Is it ever too late to turn around and rebuild the relationship with a brother or sister? 

Again, as in every text, we must take things to the cross and resurrection of Jesus. He does get betrayed, beaten and killed. The world does turn on him and reject his vision for humanity. Yet God raises Jesus from the dead promising that love and life will win. How much does it take for us to actively participate in God’s reign even if it means dividing ourselves from family, friends, coworkers or society? Yes, we are called to be servants of Christ in our contexts, but what do we do if the circumstances of our contexts are calling us to forgo our values as children of God? We must make a clear distinction between what is of God and what is not so that we can dedicate our lives toward the missio dei of drawing all people to God. If we choose to go by the ways of the world, who will serve God’s mission of bringing new life to all?

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

June 28: Pentecost 5/Lectionary 13  (Matthew 10:40-42)

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

These three verses follow Jesus saying in v. 39, “those who find their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Such words set the tone for this week’s passage and so we need to first explore what it means to find and/or lose our life. Similar to previous weeks’ passages, the Greek word for life here is psyche which can be translated as either life or soul. Recall that the psyche of the human is what separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom, it is the ability to be aware of our interconnections to God, one another, and all of creation. The psyche of the human transcends the physical and is what unleashes us to live truly as children of God.

To lose one’s psyche or soul is to step out of our interconnectedness, spiritual relationship with God, one another, and creation. It is to live, in a sense, as though we are completely isolated and alone in this garden called Earth. The highly individualized, fear-based, and consumer-driven culture of 21st century North America fuels the separations that exist between us, drawing us into inhuman existences in which we feel as though we must fend for ourselves within the wilderness. When we live isolated and individualized lives, we get devoured (recall the previous passages “sheep without a shepherd” or “sheep in the midst of wolves”). The trials of life are too heavy and difficult for any human to carry alone. We are created for communal lives, living in full communion with God and all humanity. Orienting oneself toward our true-identity actually can seem counter-intuitive in that we necessarily need to be vulnerable and authentic with one another. Isolating oneself feels safer in that we can build walls and structures around ourselves that promise to keep us safe from others. However, we quickly discover that isolation carries with it a certain pain that can only be described as a yearning to know or to be known. There is something deep within our human psyche/soul that draws us toward God and one another. We can work to resist it but we can never remove that yearning. Think of a time in your life when you were injured by another person or a relationship was broken. It feels as though something deep within us has been wounded and we yearn for the restoration of the relationship. 

When Jesus speaks of “welcoming”, he is necessarily speaking of human interconnection. When we welcome another person, we embrace a relationship with them by exhibiting service and generosity toward them. Hospitality is a form of “welcoming” in which we open ourselves and our space to the care of another. The “welcoming” of Jesus transcends race, religion, nationality, gender, socio-economic status or any other limits or boundaries that the world may create. Jesus is calling us back into our core humanity to love and accept fellow humans as children of God. We must not view the “reward” as something that gets bestowed upon us or awarded to us for good behavior. The “reward” mentioned by Jesus is simply the freedom to live in alignment with our true-selves, true-identities as members of God’s family. The alternative is the deep pain of isolation that comes with broken relationships. It’s important that we don’t minimize this to “doing right” or “doing wrong.” Jesus is talking about how our hearts, minds, souls are oriented, i.e. are we oriented toward one another working to love and accept all, or are we oriented away from one another seeking to isolate ourselves in the attempt to avoid being hurt? 

The reward of the prophet is participating within God’s messaging to humanity. Remember that prophets do not predict the future (although that can be an aspect to prophecy), but proclaim God’s message of truth juxtaposed against the foolish, dishonest and destructive messages of the world. Prophets always encounter resistance and abuse at the hands of those in positions of power who are disobeying God’s message and view the prophet’s voice as a threat. Don’t confuse the abuse that prophets endure as the “reward” being referenced by Jesus. Abuse is not a reward. The reward in the midst of the oppression or punishment is connection to God. The same holds true for the “just/righteous” whose reward is in the form of relationship with God. The Greek word dikaios/dikaios can be translated as either “righteous” or “just”. I prefer “just” in that it infers more of what Jesus is intending to communicate. “Righteous” carries with it the connotation that we need to be “right” with God by doing or believing the right things. However, God’s justice is that every human being is unleashed to be who God created them to be, living in full communion with God, humanity and creation. The reward of the “just” is to live in relationship with God and others. When we welcome a prophet or a just person, we receive the “reward” of the prophet or just person in that we get to participate in their interconnection with God. The reality is that when we open ourselves to one another, we’re affected by the other, even being changed by them. Jesus is inviting us to open ourselves to those in whom we experience God’s vision and mission for the world to draw all people to God.

Finally, the last verse regarding giving “a cup of cold water to these in the name of a disciple”, we first must recognize that the phrase “little ones” is not included in some of the manuscripts and is probably a later addition to the text. It reads to me as though Jesus is continuing to describe what it is to “welcome” another. Certainly within the hot, Middle Eastern world, a cup of cold water is an especially precious gift. Imagine being a traveler, coming into a strange community and being welcomed with a cup of cold water. Those of us who have traveled to Haiti and arrived at one of the homes of the St. Joseph Family have had this experience. It is nothing short of heavenly. Again, the foundation for these verses is built on the notion of interconnectedness to God, humanity, and creation. To give a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple is to do the act in honor of the person from whom you learned it. A disciple is a learner who is commissioned in Matthew 28:18-20 to go and “disciple” all peoples in the way that they were discipled by Jesus. And so when we do what we have learned from others, we are to do it in their name/honor.

Key preaching points:

Upon first glance, there appears to be little in this passage regarding death and resurrection. However, when we dig a bit deeper we discover that the whole passage differentiates between the world’s divisive and individualized way of life and the true way of life revealed to us through the person of Jesus. When the Spirit inspires people to proclaim God’s message (prophecy) and live in relationship to all (justice), the world pushes back and seeks to destroy the messenger and crush the movement of love. However, the death and resurrection of Jesus reveals ultimately that love and life win, that the divisions and violence of the world won’t have the last word. We are called, accordingly, to die to the world’s lies and falsehoods for what human culture is to be and be rebirthed as new human beings living in intimate relationship with God, others, and the creation. When the world pushes back, we press on trusting that love and life win!

For some folks becoming a prophet or living a truly just life (unleashing others to be who God created them to be) seems daunting or unattainable. However, every single person can participate in the missio dei by supporting those who are deeply engaged in the mission. We can align ourselves through the church, showing up for worship, exercising generosity with our time and resources to support the unleashing of all. Participation in God’s mission comes in all shapes, sizes, and levels of intensity. When you greet and welcome a stranger during the worship service, you are serving the missio dei. When you reach out to a neighbor to build a loving relationship, you are serving the missio dei. When you aid a person in pain, when you forgive, when you smile to put another person at ease, you are serving the missio dei. The point is be welcoming, be accepting, be generous with your love, your time, your resources toward God’s mission to draw all people to God. When we do this, the reward is living in connection to God and one another. 

Every sermon is to help people to gain a new perspective for what it means to live as children of God and this week is no exception. There’s a difference between being a “good person” and working to advance God’s mission in the world. However, the latter concept can freak people out a bit as the missio dei and my role within it seems far too big a concept. And so passages like we have today give us the opportunity to speak about the “little things” that we can do every day that serve to draw humanity into closer connection to God and one another. It also allows us to speak directly about the dangers, ills, and pains of isolated/individualized ways of life. In any case, our passage again points out that there are two visions for human life: living in full communion vs. living alone. Only one of these two can have ultimate claim over us. When we allow ourselves to die to the world’s way and live in connection to God and one another, only then do we experience real life.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

July 5: Pentecost 6/LEctionary 14 (Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30)

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

In order to get to this week’s passage, we skip over the beginning of chapter 11 in which the imprisoned John the Baptizer sends word to Jesus seeking verification that Jesus is indeed the Messiah. After stating examples for what Jesus has been doing, Jesus begins to speak to the crowds about John, citing in v. 10 a passage from Malachi 3:1 (Matthew corrects the mistake made in Mark 1:2 in which Mark erroneously attributes this quotation to Isaiah). Jesus points out that the reign of Heaven has been subjected to violence and that the world continually seeks to reject the message of the prophets. This then leads to this weekend’s passage beginning with v. 16. The implication is that John and Jesus have been giving the people the “good news” of what they want, what they yearn for: to be connected to God and one another. Yet, the people have not responded to the message, they aren’t “dancing to the music” or “weeping at the condition of things.” What more do John and Jesus need to do to get the attention of people? John was a man of high moral standards yet they said that he was possessed by a demon. Jesus is more of a common person, eating and drinking with all people within the community and they called him a glutton and a drunkard. What do people expect a messenger of God, a servant of God to look like? What does it take to get people’s attention in order to draw them deeper into the true way of life, their true-identities as children of God?

Jesus prays, beginning in v. 25, thanking God for hiding the truth from the so-called “wise” of the world and instead revealing them to infants. The term “infant” (napiois) here is probably a direct reference to the newly re-birthed, re-created children of God. Recall in the first-century church that people would be baptized naked (rebirth) and then immediately given milk with honey (infant food) to symbolize that they are new human beings. The only way into the new humanity was through baptism (death and resurrection) into the community of the new human beings and not through adherence to some philosophy or wisdom school. The reign of Heaven breaks into the world through worship, relationships, service, and generosity as the way of life of the new human beings which often seems illogical or irrational to outsiders who espouse the world’s way of isolation and individualism. Only those who have experienced the depth of relationship with God and one another can appreciate the “wisdom” of God’s way. On the surface it appears to be more dangerous because to be in relationship and to serve the other we must become vulnerable to rejection and pain. However, when drawn into our true-identity as children of God, we experience a freedom and fullness unlike anything else.

In v. 27 Jesus makes us aware that all things have been handed over to him by his Father. Again, this line must be read through the lens of the missio dei which is to draw all things to God. This doesn’t mean that Jesus “owns” everything or is “in charge” of everything. The reason that the Son was sent from the Father was to reveal to humanity our true-identity and to model what it means to live as children of God. The death of Jesus does not “pay a price” for the sin of humanity, but instead reflects humanity’s rejection (“NO”) of our God-created identity and purpose. The resurrection of Jesus is both God’s unfailing “YES” in response to humanity’s rejection and the inauguration of the new humanity. The hope is that finally through the death and resurrection of Jesus, human beings will pay attention to the “music” and the “wailing” to follow Jesus in being the people that God created us to be. The rest of v. 27 demonstrates that the Father and Son serve the same mission because they “know” (ginosko) one another. This “knowledge” is experiential in nature and not merely cognitive awareness. The Father knows the Son and the Son the Father because the Son originated in the Father. In the same manner, the Father knows us and we are to know the Father because we too originated in the Father.

V. 28 through 30 are a well-known passage where Jesus invites all who are tired and weary to come to him. This passage has been difficult to interpret because following Jesus never seems to be easy and carries with it a call to lay down one’s self (recall Matthew 10:38-39). But to grasp just what Jesus is saying, we need to focus on three of his words, “learn from me” (mathete ap’ emou). Jesus came to reveal what it looks like to live as a child of God and to draw all people into such a relationship with God and one another. It’s actually quite simple but difficult all the same due to the pressures that the world puts on us to abandon our true-identity and call. When we are drawn into full communion with God and one another, we no longer have to carry the burdens of life alone. We walk alongside brothers and sisters who aid us in our journey as we aid them in theirs. A Haitian proverb speaks to this, “Many hands make the burden light.” The church is to be a genuine community of people sharing life together and modeling for the world what God had in mind when creating humanity. When we live as the people that God intended us to be, we and all the world experience real life! 

Key preaching points: 

This week’s passage reminds us of the importance of knowing the context for the assigned Gospel verses. It’s important that we recognize the flow of the first 15 verses of chapter 11 before engaging our text so that we aren’t tempted to divorce these verses from the whole. John the Baptizer was quite a character, as was Jesus, and yet many failed to recognize the message of each or even acknowledge that they had come from God. In our recent historical context, MLK was rejected by many as being a divine messenger. Ghandi was regarded as an enemy of the state. Very often when people are sent by God to get the attention of the world in order to draw the world into a new way of being, their contemporaries cannot receive their message and tend to rail against them. An important element of our theology at Abiding Hope is our radical inclusion of all people where the “Gifts of God are Free” and “all means ALL.” There are still congregations and traditions that reject this openness. Also, regarding salvation and atonement, we believe that God’s mission is to draw all people to God, no exceptions. Such a mindset is deeply disturbing to some within the church who have then felt it necessary to attack those with such a belief. Yet we believe that we are called to proclaim the message of John and Jesus which is the arrival of new life, a new day for all people.

Jesus worked to draw people to God not merely or simply through his words but by how he lived his life. It’s very difficult to “reason” people into trusting God’s story over the world’s story. Much of God’s story doesn’t make sense, e.g. losing one’s life in order to find it. The path toward authentic relationships through personal vulnerability seems frightening and intimidating to many. The only way that we can be drawn into such a way of life is through experiencing it through others. It’s our role as the new humanity to immerse others into our way of life by loving, forgiving, serving, exercising generosity in all cases. When others experience such things through us, then the Spirit goes to work on their hearts, minds, and souls so that they too can be rebirthed as new human beings. When it comes to our kids, we are called to immerse them into the Jesus community so that they can be formed and shaped to be the people that God created them to be. This isn’t totally smooth or without some challenges along with way, but imagine a generation of people being raised to believe that they are children of God created and called to live in relationship with God, all humanity, and the creation. They, alongside us, can change the world.

Finally, Jesus’ admonition to “learn from me” is powerful, indeed. Why don’t we learn from Jesus? What holds us back from following his example and pouring ourselves out for the sake of the world? Why are we so easily distracted from our true-identity and purpose? When the world rejected Jesus by nailing him to a cross, God responded by raising Jesus so that we might trust that love and life win. However, the cross and resurrection of Jesus are rendered moot if we choose to trust the world’s story more than God’s story. When we seek to play the world’s games, we find ourselves exhausted and weary because no matter how hard we try, we can’t win. When we choose to follow Jesus, although at first the call to lay down our lives seems threatening, we find that we aren’t alone, that God is with us and that we have a community of brothers and sisters with whom we get to share life. Only then do we, and others, experience real life.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

July 12: Pentecost 7/Lectionary 15  (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

This week presents us with the Parable of the Sower. Jesus gives this parable while sitting in a boat offshore and the crowd of listeners stands on the seaside beach. Apparently he needed to create some degree of separation so that he would be able to teach the people. As we engage the parable, it’s important to remember that a sower is a farmer, one who cultivates and cares for the land in order to produce fruit that can feed others and/or livestock. The interesting thing about the sower in this story is that he doesn’t till the ground or work the land, he simply broadcasts the seed. It’s as though the seed is inexpensive because there is an abundance of it and so it’s worth just casting it here and there to allow it to grow wherever it can. The goal is to produce a good yield of fruit so that others might have food. 

The first occurrence with the seed is that some falls on the path or road (odon) and gets consumed by birds so that it is unable to produce fruit. The second segment of seeds falls on rocky ground where it springs up quickly but has very shallow roots and so when the sun gets hot, it is scorched and withers away. The third group falls among thorns and since weeds tend to grow faster than fruit bearing plants, the thorns choke the plants. Finally, some seed does fall onto good soil so that it is able to bear fruit according to its potential: some one- hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. After Jesus tells the parable to the crowds, the disciples question why he speaks in parables. These verses (vv. 10-17) are omitted from the lectionary text but still provide context for our assigned text. Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 where God calls Isaiah through a vision of God in the heavenly temple in which God asks, “Whom shall I send, who will go for us?” And Isaiah answers, “Here am I; send me!” At that point Isaiah learns that his call is to “make the minds of the people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes” so that they may begin to see, hear, and comprehend only with their hearts and be healed. We know that Isaiah failed in his attempt to get King Ahaz and the people to experience God with their hearts and that eventually the Babylonians conquered Judah, killed the king, destroyed the temple, and exiled the people. By quoting Isaiah 6, Jesus is striving for a different outcome by using parables in the goal of helping people to see, hear, and think with their hearts for only then can they experience the reign of the heaven.

Beginning with verse 18, Jesus explains the Parable of the Sower to his disciples. It’s important that we recognize that this is an extension of a private conversation that the disciples initiated with Jesus in v. 10 and is not being directed to the crowds. It’s as though Jesus is helping his disciples a bit by breaking the story down for them. This is something that will occur again later in Chapter 13 when Jesus tells the Parable of the Weeds. These are the only two occurrences in Matthew’s Gospel of Jesus explaining the parables to his disciples. Jesus makes it clear that the location for where the seeds fall represent people who hear “the word of the reign” (ton logon tes basileias). The first is unable to “understand” what he/she hears because the “evil one” (ho poneros) comes and snatches it away. The second is a person who hears and immediately responds with joy but as life gets hard they fall away from the truth. The third represents a person who hears the word but the lures of the world, e.g. wealth, status, power (recall the three temptations back in chapter 4), choke out the voice of God’s word. Finally, the fourth person is one who hears, comprehends, and participates in the reign of heaven through relationships with God, others, and creation. Such a person then bears the fruit of God’s reign.

Key preaching points: 

It’s important to approach this text through the concept of the “universal Gospel.” Yes, it’s true that not all may receive, respond, and participate within God’s reign. However, the message still is for all…and all means ALL. It is not the role of the church to decide who should receive God’s message of good news that the reign of God is near. We are called to bring it to every single person with the expectation that through the Holy Spirit each person can receive, respond, and participate within God’s reign. At the same time, we don’t need for every single person to comprehend the message of God’s reign. God simply needs a critical mass of folks who get it, live it, and share it. Remember chapter 5 when Jesus tells the hearers in the Sermon on the Mount that we are “salt” and “light.” It only takes a bit of salt to flavor the recipe or a bit of light to illumine the room. Also, here in 13:33, Jesus tells the very short Parable of the Yeast in which it only takes a small amount of yeast to leaven the entire loaf of bread. And so, it only will take a critical mass of people to transform the world in love. This approach aligns with the concept of “Diffusion of Innovation” by Everett M. Rogers where the innovators (2.5% of the population), and early adopters (13.5% of the population) sway the early majority (34% of the population) leading to a tipping point that moves the culture in a new direction. Apparently, Jesus understood something about transforming human culture. Wasn’t that the essence of his mission to draw all things back to God? 

The Parable of the Sower necessarily draws the hearer into a process of self-reflection in which we are challenged to identify which “soil” we are within Jesus’s story? Our temptation is to judge others when in reality we each have to ask the question, “What does my way of life reflect about how I hear and respond to God’s word?” We must guard against categorizing ourselves based on where we “think” we are, and instead ask, “How do others experience me?” “Does my way of life produce ‘fruit’ for God’s reign? Am I helping to draw others into relationship with God, humanity, and all of creation?” In what ways can I become more of the salt, light, or yeast that God needs me to be at home, school, work, neighborhood, and beyond? 

Jesus demonstrates throughout Matthew’s Gospel how to be “good soil” for God’s word to sprout, grow, and bear good fruit. Following Jesus’ baptism, he is driven into the wilderness where he is tempted to give up on his call to be a child of God. The “evil one” threatens to lure him away with materialism, status, and power. Later, when persecution arises, he has developed such deep roots of trust in his Father, that he is not deterred from his mission and remains faithful all the way to the cross where he suffers and dies at the hands of the world’s rejection. On the third day, God raises Jesus from the dead to reveal to us that love and life win, thus giving us the assurance that we too are called to be “good soil” receiving God’s message of oneness so that we can participate in the transformation of human culture so that all may experience real life in Jesus’ name.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

July 19: Pentecost 8/Lectionary 16 (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

Once again we have a divided Gospel text with a parable and it’s explanation. This week Jesus tells the Parable of the Weeds. It appears that Jesus gives this parable only to the disciples as another attempt at helping them to understand the Parable of the Sower. Remember back at v. 10 the disciples began a private conversation with Jesus seeking understanding regarding the Parable of the Sower. At no point is there an indication that Jesus has gone back to instructing the crowds. Verse 24 reads, “Another parable he put before them saying…” “Them” here is to be understood as “the disciples.” Because Jesus is again speaking about a “sower” one is safe to infer that this parable is an extension of the previous one. However, the focus of this parable is less about whether the hearer will be good or bad soil for God’s word and more about what to do about the mix of “wheat and weeds” throughout the field (the world). 

Jesus tells the Parable of the Weeds to address the issue of relationship between those who participate within God’s reign and those who do not. This is a parable that some consider to be a reference for hell. We don’t agree with such a conclusion and so we need to be clear in our hermeneutical approach to this text. We will do a “close read” in order to develop a consistent approach throughout the Gospel of Matthew for how we translate and interpret particular words/terms. First of all, let’s deal with the term “enemy” (ho echthros). When we see a word like this, we need to think about other places within Matthew’s Gospel where this word occurs so that we can gain an understanding for how to approach it. Recall Matthew 5:43-48 in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus calls his followers to “love their enemies.” Here we learn that our “Father in heaven” makes the sun to rise and the rain to fall on the evil and the good, the just and the unjust. From chapter 5 then, we learn that God does not desire to destroy “enemies”, “the evil” or the “unjust.” In fact, God loves all and blesses all. Ok, this gives us some perspective for dealing with the rest of this passage. 

This helps us to understand why “the Master” tells the slaves to leave the weeds alone. First of all, the Master does not desire to destroy the weeds AND the Master certainly doesn’t want to mistakenly uproot the wheat. So the Master says, “Let them grow together until the harvest” at which time the Master will instruct the reapers to gather the weeds first, bind them and cast them into the fire, then gather the wheat into the barn. We have been conditioned through the doctrine and dogma created late 4th/early 5th centuries and throughout the Middle Ages to hear “hell and heaven” in this passage, places where humans are sent after we die. However, the passage doesn’t say that. We need to read the text exactly how it’s written and to use a “close read” hermeneutic which draws on other locations within Matthew’s Gospel that use the same words. 

Let’s deal now with the word “burn” (katakauso) found in v. 30. Where else in Matthew’s Gospel do we hear this word? Let’s go back to 3:12 where John the Baptizer is prophesying about the coming Messiah who will separate the “wheat from the chaff” so that the wheat can be gathered into the granary while the chaff is “burned with unquenchable fire.” At first glance one might surmise that this is yet another description of the judgment of some to heaven and others to hell. However, when we do our “close read” and look deeper, we discover back in 3:11 John saying that one is coming who “will baptize you in Holy Spirit and fire!” This passage is NOT saying that some get the Holy Spirit while others get fire. On the contrary, the baptism that Jesus brings contains BOTH Holy Spirit and fire!!!! This must mean that fire is a good thing, not a bad thing. This must mean that fire purifies, refines, cleanses by burning away all that hides, dilutes, covers up the true-identity or purpose in a human being. Therefore, we cannot interpret “burn” or “fire” in Matthew 13 to be tied to any form of eternal punishment or the concept of hell. However, we do still need to deal with aspects of Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Weeds in vv. 36-43.

In explaining the parable to his disciples, Jesus identifies himself (the Son of the Human Being) as the sower of the good seed while the field is “the cosmos” (ho kosmos/’o kosmos) which should be understood not as the earth or world, but as human culture. Remember that the missio dei is to draw all things to God and Jesus’ role in that is to transform human culture in a manner that humans are unleashed to live out of our true-identity as children of God in relationship with God, one another, and creation. The “good seed” are the children of the reign (God); the weeds are the children of the evil one; and the enemy is the devil (ho diabolos). In dealing with the concept of “the devil”, again we need to return to the temptation of Jesus in chapter 4. “Devil” literally means “adversary or opponent.” It is anything that seeks to lure us away from our true-identity or purpose as children of God. Finally, the harvest is the “end of the age” and the reapers are the angels. It’s important to note that what Jesus proclaimed is not the “end of the world” but the “end of the age” which implies the beginning of a new age. Jesus’ death on the cross signifies the end of the old moral order governed by hierarchy, division, fear, and death. His resurrection inaugurates a new moral order governed by love, oneness, hope, and life for all. The angels exist to serve humanity in living according to our true-identity and purpose as children of God (see Matthew 4:11 and Hebrews 1:5-14). At the end of the age, all scandalizers and doers of lawlessness will be collected by the angels and they will be cast into the fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. We must again resist reading this passage as a reference to eternal damnation in hell due to our previous “close read” regarding “burn” and “fire.” We must also consider the words of John the Baptizer in Matthew 3 to be a reference to Malachi 3:1-4 which compares God to “a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.” However, the process undoubtedly creates “weeping and gnashing of teeth” as the things toward which we have devoted ourselves and our identities are stripped from us so that we can simply be the people we are created to be, children of God. Then the just ones will shine like the sun in the reign of their Father! 

Key preaching points: 

There is no question that within this parable and the ones surrounding it that Jesus is drawing a clear distinction against the world’s ways of individualism, hierarchy, division, and death toward God’s ways of love, oneness, service, generosity, and life. However, these distinctions are not to be understood as becoming actualized through some act of divine judgment upon dead human beings leading to eternal reward or punishment. Every preacher must understand that the vast majority of worshippers will hear this text through such a filter. Therefore, it’s critically important for the preacher to articulate the distinctions being made by Jesus and all judgment associated with such as the call to generate a human culture TODAY that is conducive to life for all by drawing all people into relationship with God, one another, and creation. Jesus is seeking to give his disciples, and us, a clear sense for what the missio dei as well as the mission of the Son of the Human Being are to be so that they/we, the church, can continue to be an extension of that mission. We will hear Jesus address “the church” in Matthew 16:18-19 toward which the upcoming passages will continue to build.

Are we wheat or weeds? This is the same question that we asked in chapter 3, are we wheat or chaff? The answer is, “YES!” Martin Luther wrestled with the concept of us being simultaneously “just and sinner” (simul justus et peccator). But Jesus seems to imply that only one reality can have claim over us at any given moment. Do we need to have the “weeds” burned out of our lives? Yes! However, we are called to participate in the “burning” by trusting our Father and submitting ourselves to the refining fires. If we lose trust in God, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth as we experience the conviction that all we have sought after to provide us identity, purpose, and meaning are burned away. However, through trust in God’s love and grace, we can be stripped bare through the hope that love and life win.

Jesus seemed to get stronger as everything was stripped away from him. In Matthew 16 following his pronouncement that upon Peter he would build his church, Jesus reveals that they are to go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering and be killed. Peter can’t accept such news and so he rebukes Jesus. Jesus in turn rebukes Peter calling him “Satan” and telling him that he has become a stumbling block for him. In that moment, we realize that Jesus is continuing to be tempted to give up his identity and calling yet he refuses to do so as he gains in strength. It is right after this episode that Jesus is transfigured alongside Moses and Elijah, a clear foreshadowing of the resurrection. Very often when we endure the trials of life, we feel weaker, out of control, as though at times we can’t go on. However, it’s when all has been stripped from us that we are in the best position to fully trust God. Can we see the weak, lonely moments of life as a blessing? Can we open our hearts, minds, souls during the dark moments of life to recognize that God holds us, walks with us, and promises that love and life win? Just as God raised Jesus from the dead, God promises that we too will live and calls us to be beacons of hope and healing for others as they journey through the wilderness. When we allow our lives to be built entirely on our identity as children of God and our mission to draw all people into relationship with God, one another and creation, we and all the world will experience real life.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill

July 26: Pentecost 9/Lectionary 17 (Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52)

(Written by Rev. Dr. Doug Hill)

This weekend’s text links together five parables that encircle the Parable of the Sower and the Parable of the Weeds. Jesus continues only to address his disciples with these teachings (refer back to 13:10 and forward to 13:51), striving to help them understand what the reign of Heaven entails. The first two parables (Mustard Seed and Yeast) again represent the concept that it only takes a small amount to transform the whole (think back to 5:13-16). Within a tiny little mustard seed is an entire mustard tree/bush. It simply needs to be released, let out. Within each human being dwells the entire reign of Heaven that simply needs to be released. Remember that the reign of Heaven is love, worship, relationship, service, generosity, hope, joy, peace. Without yeast, the dough will not rise and the result is flat bread (unleavened). However, with yeast, the dough rises and the bread becomes full and flavorful. Jesus had no expectation that every human being would live consistent with his/her identity as a child of God, although God’s vision/dream is such. Jesus knew that what the world needs is a critical mass of new human beings to achieve a tipping point in making the world full of life for all people. 

In these parables, Jesus uses simile saying, “The reign of Heaven is like…” (homoia estin ‘e basileia ton ouranon) because the reign of Heaven is not something that can be defined, only experienced. Our goal is not to gain some full or complete cognitive understanding for God’s reign, but to “know” it through participation within it. So what is a “reign of Heaven” experience? Imagine a time in life when you felt fully alive, when time seemed to stop, when life was bigger than you and you experienced true transcendence. This may have been when you held your child for the first time or served a person in need or perhaps another person came alongside you in your time of need. It is in these very human encounters when the reign of Heaven transcends the circumstances and situation and we feel a deep connectedness to God and one another. It is this that Jesus compares to a “treasure” or a “pearl of great value,” things that are worth total sacrifice and commitment. But don’t mistake Jesus’ remarks about “finding and hiding the treasure” to mean that it’s something that we keep to ourselves. Quite the contrary, while we each need the treasure or the pearl, the gift exists for all people. It’s meant to be shared. But how can we share something that we ourselves don’t possess? How can we give the treasure or pearl to another if we don’t have it within ourselves? Jesus is simply making the case that the reign of Heaven is to become the sole focus for our lives. As baptized children of God, we are invited to participate in God’s reign through worship, relationships, service, and generosity. Our way of life matters because it connects us to God, others, and the creation. If we live isolated lives, believing that our gifts, abilities, and resources are ours to use for ourselves, we miss out on God’s mission to draw all people to God and we live outside of our created identity and purpose. How far are we willing to go, how much are we willing to sacrifice for God’s reign? 

The final parable when read through a purely doctrinal lens can appear to be exclusionary with some being “in” while others are left “out.” We must resist such a hermeneutic and instead hear in this parable Jesus’ differentiation for what it means to participate in God’s reign on earth. Recall (be sure to read the commentaries of the previous week’s Gospel texts) that Matthew uses the image of fire not from a standpoint of eternal damnation or punishment in hell, but from the perspective of cleansing, purifying, and refining. After the resurrection of Jesus and the birth of the new humanity, we as the Jesus community must discern and differentiate what is of God’s reign and what is not so that we can dedicate ourselves to drawing all into relationship with God. That means that whatever is not of God must be burned away so that we can live fully as the children of God that we are created to be. Such cleansing, purifying, refining is painful as our masks must fall away and our true-selves become exposed, even to the point of making us vulnerable to the attacks of the world. However, it is only through such refining that human beings are freed to discover and experience real life. The parable states that the net is to catch fish of EVERY kind. Those that are evil, meaning working against God’s reign, require more refinement while those that are just (dikaios can be translated as either “righteous” or “just”; I prefer “just” as it implies participating in God’s justice to unleash human beings to live out of their true-identity as children of God) are celebrated as they already live in relationship with God. These parables are intended to guide and encourage human beings toward true life, life in intimate relationship with God and one another, which means that anything and everything that stands in the way must be removed. The only question that remains is: Do we trust God’s love enough to give up and sacrifice the ways of the world so that we and all people can experience real life? 

Key preaching points: 

One of the more difficult things that we do as preachers is to preach on parables. The temptation is to try and “explain” the parable in some cogent, simplified manner which tends to reduce the parable to a particular “cognitive” understanding thus robbing it of its depth of meaning. The beauty of a parable is that it reaches people at varying levels of spiritual maturity, speaking to people through their particular station or circumstances of life. The parables both free and convict, announcing a vision for what can be while drawing a distinction away from where we currently find ourselves. The best way to preach on a parable (or series of parables) is to zero in on one aspect of the parable that speaks to our current cultural realities while casting a vision for what the reign of God can be in our context. For example, when we speak of “treasure” or “pearl”, we’re actually exploring what life, real life, truly is to be. What really matters in life? Is it grades or salary, success or failure, happiness or personal fulfillment? Those are the “treasures” or “pearls” on which the world places high value. But within our human experience, are not love, worship, relationships, service, generosity, compassion, hope, joy and peace the true treasures of life? How do we quiet the world’s voice so that we can truly hear Jesus’ call to be the heart, hands, and feet of Jesus in the world? 

The world is pretty messed up right now and it can be overwhelming to any of us to think that we are called to do something about it. But we aren’t called to create lasting peace in the Middle East or to solve the issue of teen suicide. We’re simply called to be active participants in God’s reign right where we are: at home, school, work, and neighborhood. How can we love better, serve better, and give more to those around us? Not material things or seeking to make life easy, but sharing our spiritual gifts of hospitality, encouragement, faith, service so as to produce the fruits of the Spirit in others. What do our kids truly need from us? What does that coworker who seems down or troubled need? How can we serve the people who live on our street and build deeper relationships with them? All of these things take time and sacrifice on our part but we all know, we know deep within our souls, that this is who God calls us to be. 

Jesus couldn’t explain, he didn’t even try to explain, what God’s reign is. He showed us through his life, death, and resurrection what it means to participate within the reign of Heaven. He welcomed all, touched lepers, fed the hungry, pointed out injustice when he saw it, even to the point of death on the cross. When God raised Jesus from the dead, he gave us the assurance that the reign of God is real and that it is present, breaking into our lives in a way that shakes, changes, and transforms us to live fully as children of God. As God’s baptized people, our old selves have been put to death, our masks have been burned away so that we can let our true-selves shine through relationships with God and one another. We cannot take a step backward by covering up ourselves for fear of vulnerability or pain. We are called to remain open and authentic for only in doing so can we and others experience real life in Jesus’ name.

©Rev. Dr. Doug Hill