The Parable of the Ten Virgins

Prov. 9:1-18

Several weeks ago, we talked about Wisdom. We discussed the difference between Wisdom and Revelation. Revelation includes top-down experiences, where God speaks to His people in a significant way with clear direction: the parting of the Red Sea, the giving of the law, miracles, supernatural experiences.

Wisdom is how we live in the in-between. It is the time where Revelation is worked out. Wisdom is cultivated. Wisdom is character and virtue. It grows over time. Wisdom often includes practical every day things like ethics, morals, and even common sense. We are to be a people who seek Wisdom

In Proverbs 9, Wisdom and Folly are two women. One invites the simple to her house for the meal. She invites repentance and change.

Folly also invites the simple, even though she herself is simple. She serves stolen water and food eaten in secret. The indication is that we want to be like Wisdom, not like Folly. And this happens through fear of the Lord, through submission to YHWH.

Matthew 25:1-13

This is a tough passage. Today, I want to first share with you my frustrations with this passage before I get into the small sense of resolve that I have come to. Today, we may leave with more questions than we have answers and that's ok. Did you know that it is ok to be frustrated with the Bible? It is ok to say that something doesn't make sense or doesn't sit right.

In fact, when we are doing this, when we ask questions, go down rabbit trails, and even argue, we are participating in the ancient practice of Midrash. Midrash is when a group of Rabbis get together and pick apart a text, jumping off at various points. So, you would see in these early Midrash, a commentary on a particular story, a parable in commentary of a parable, and some directions for living. We are continuing in this tradition. We are wrestling with the story.

We always need to do this humbly and realize that our frustrations do not have the final word in the midst of 2000 years of Christian history. But, God can handle our frustrations and our questions.

 I don't know about you, a few things puzzle me about this passage.

First of all, their is a certain merit or currency that allows one to enter the Marriage feast. To me, if read with the wrong heart, this parable actually can reenforce an individualist performance orientation that says, "You didn't think ahead...shame, shame." It flashes me back to high school science classes where the A student wouldn't help the D student grasp a concept because they wanted to be known as the one who soared ahead of the rest of the class.

Some scholars have suggested that the oil represents good works, faith, or virtue. But to focus to much on this misses some of the important elements of the story.

At first glance and to me, the wise women were not only wise, but catty, not only smart, but exclusionary. I don't really like the wise women in this story. Are they really the heroes in the story?

This passage is often used by "End Times" scholars to describe how it will be when Jesus returns. I can almost hear the old song "There's no time to change your mind..."

On another note, we are so conditioned to think in terms of earning our way to heaven, I fear that this parable reenforces that.

What if these women, indeed shared their oil even if it meant their risking its outcome? Could we actually imagine the same Jesus telling another story about virgins who come to wedding feast without any oil and are told to come in anyway? The kingdom of God is like five virgins who are recklessly irresponsible, but the bridegroom still welcomes them with open arms? Doesn't that sound like the Prodigal Son story?

What would happen if we shared the oil of love, of hope, of faith with those who have none? That seems like a better story to me. But, that's not the way that the story ends.

So, I want to set the table for this story with some historical background. It's important for us to see what is going on. The setting of the story is a wedding feast. In our culture, we send out save the date cards, we plan a caterer and a band. We decorate a location, we choose colors, and we sign up for gift registries. That was not the case at this time.

The first stage of a wedding in this culture was the kiddushin, the proposal. The bridegroom would come, lift a glass of wine to his beloved and say, "In my father's house, there are many rooms. I go to prepare a place for you." This would place them into a legally binding contract. The terms were worked out by their parents. The kiddushin could only be broken by divorce. And the bridegroom would actually leave, often for 1-2 years! He would go to his father's home and build an addition for he and his bride.

At that time, all of the sons of a given generation would live in their father's home with their wives. Each room, or each addition, was called an "insula." During this time, the bridegroom would learn the family business and build the room. So, no one knew when the bridegroom would be finished and would return for his bride. But, when he did, they would throw a big party, have a marriage ceremony, and that would be the main event in the village.

So, this bridegroom who is returning is promising a huge party. The bridegroom does not return with an attitude of anger. This is not the story of the angry groom, it is about preparing for a party. He does not say, "Woe to you villagers, for you did not welcome me and did not celebrate that I have returned for my bride!" It was a party. You prepare how you would for a party. Everyone is excited, everyone is ready.

The ten virgins here, we think, are like bridesmaids. They are anxiously waiting the arrival of the bridegroom, and the party. They take their lamps. Five take extra batteries and five do not.

The bridegroom was taking quite a long time. They were not certain when he would return and it was getting late, so they fell asleep. Sleep here seems to be an indication that the groom is taking a long time. Falling asleep is not a bad thing here. Everyone falls asleep.

And, at the midnight cry, the bridegroom is coming. He and his buddies are coming into town, marching to the village to receive his bride. This would have been raucous and loud and crazy.

The foolish women allowed their lamps to go dim. And they desperately asked for more oil from the others. They had been waiting a long time and the wise virgins needed the oil in their jars. They couldn't just give it our they too would have been left in the dark. So, they suggest that the foolish virgins go and buy some more oil. This is something that they should have done from the beginning. They should have been prepared. They should have recognized that it may take the bridegroom awhile, so we should be ready.

By the time they realize the need to be prepared, the bridegroom arrives. They are not there to greet him. We do not get the sense that the bridegroom is angry, just that he doesn't know who they are. They weren't there to greet him. It would be like if a random girl in a bridesmaids dress showed up at the wedding, but the groom did not know who she was.

What does this mean for us?

Again, I struggle with this passage because it seems like, often in the gospels, Jesus extends grace to those who have been foolish, those who were not ready. Why does it seem to be different here? Like I said before, often this passage is thought of as being about a future coming of the Lord. It is indeed written in a future tense. And it may be. But, if we think about the original hearers of the text, I think that we see that this passage has to do with how they would receive Jesus at that moment. Jesus had called Himself the bridegroom before.

 Jesus recognizes that there will be some who will receive Him, some who are prepared for Him and some who will think that He is crazy. Jesus is saying, "Prepare yourselves." He is challenging the people to approach Him with Wisdom, to really take a good look at who He is and why He has come.

So, if this is a passage directed to the original followers of Jesus, what does it say to us? I think that this says that, whenever Jesus moves, we need to prepare ourselves for it. We need to prepare ourselves for how the Gospel speaks to us, we need to prepare ourselves for His movement in the world. And, yes, we need to prepare ourselves for His second coming. This parable is in the middle of a set that we call "Kingdom parables"

In the first set of "Kingdom parables" Jesus talks about things that are small and take awhile to grow. He talks about a seed that is scattered, a treasure that is hidden in a field, leaven that works into dough, and a pearl that is very special. These are small things of great significance. It often takes awhile to see their value.

The second set of "Kingdom parables" are about grace. The Kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts. The servant who owes much to the King is forgiven his debts, but He does not forgive a man who is in debt to him. Also, a landowner hires workmen throughout the day, but pays them the same wage. God embraces you, not because of your merit, but simply because of His grace.

And finally, this begins the third set of parables, they are about readiness for the Kingdom. There is need for preparation for the coming Marriage feast.

Sometimes, God speaks to us and tells us, "It's ok. It's going to take awhile, all you need is something small." He speaks of perseverance. He speaks of growth. 

Sometimes, God speaks to us and says, "I forgive you. You are ok. I know that you messed up, but I love you so very much." This speaks of acceptance and forgiveness.

Sometimes, God says, "You need to stop doing what you are doing. You are already invited to the party, but you need to be prepared. You need to participate in activities that are good, right, and true. You need to seek after justice and restoration." Don't be lazy. Don't procrastinate. I have great things for this world that I want you to participate in. Don't be late to the wedding.

But, the beautiful thing is that I believe that God speaks all three words at the same time. It takes time, you are forgiven, get ready for the party.

Have you ever been to a party that you were really excited about and, when you showed up, there was somebody there, who it was obvious that they were not there to party? They were there to sulk or to be angry or to gossip? They didn't come prepared for the great party that was in store for them.

In the same way, if we party in the presence of True Love, and we have hate in our hearts, it doesn't work. If we party in the presence of True Forgiveness, and we harbor unforgiveness, it won't work. If we go to a party where all of the cultures of the world are welcome, embraced, and included, racists will feel very uncomfortable. If we go to a party where people are valued because of who God created them to be, those who have found their worth in money, status, and influence, will not feel comfortable at the party.

Let's begin living the life that we hope for RIGHT NOW! What is it in your life that you need to start doing or stop doing to prepare for this great party? This story is not as much about the future as it is about how you are living right now. What does your life look like right now?

The command of this story is not "There are some who are in and some who are out." That's not Jesus. That's not His other parables. The command is, "You have been invited to the party. Get ready. Be prepared or you might miss out."

Don't wait to get your heart right. We could also extend that to say, "Don't wait to follow a dream that you have." Don't wait to pursue justice. Don't wait to make friends. We have today. Seek healing in your life. Seek out the relationships that will speak grace and truth to you. Pursue Justice. Pursue it today. 

People of a Place

The incarnation of Jesus shows us two very important things. The first movement of the incarnation is a movement of solidarity. Christ entered (and enters) our world in solidarity with our humanity. He embraced (and embraces) our broken humanity, affirmed our humanity, and accepted (and accepts) us as we are. Christ enters human cultures. He works in human cultures. God uses language, style, social mores, climate, etc.

Tim Keel says, "We cannot approach God acontextually. We always experience and know God provisionally within a context. We always use the resources, tools, and imaginative frameworks of our times to engage God and one another."

We must recognize that all communication (religious or otherwise) is culturally conditioned. There is no such thing as a form of communication that is outside of culture. Even when we say, "Jesus is Lord," we are dependent on the English language, a product of a culture, to convey that message. The word "Lord" can mean a lot of things. We are dependent on a certain set of cultural presuppositions for that communication. Our Bible has been translated into hundreds of languages. Our God has chosen to work through human cultures and through relationships to move His Kingdom forward. Culture is not a bad thing.

But, there is also a second movement of the incarnation. Christ transcends, critiques, and transforms our humanity. Jesus is always pushing human culture beyond itself. The way of Jesus is not dependent of human culture, but uses it and us to further the Kingdom. The world is broken. Humanity is broken. Therefore, culture is broken. We cannot become dependent on culture alone. Our cultures (all cultures) must be challenged and must come to a place of recognizing our dependence on God.

Both movements are movements of love. Love is both embrace and a call to go beyond.Often, where we miss the mark is when we recognize one movement without the other.

Alan and Deb Hirsch say, "As missionaries following the traces of God, we must affirm that which is genuinely good and present in any and every human culture, for many aspects are indeed wholesome and true and affirmed by the gospel. But the opposite is also true. There is a lot that is dehumanizing, degrading, and evil, and the disciple is called to somehow discern the difference between it and what is good."

Sometimes, we focus on the movement of solidarity and forget about the movement of transformation. When we do this, life and ministry can become about accommodating to the culture. We can tend to make Jesus into our own images. For example, we might cater to the desires of the consumerism that is rampant in our culture.

On the other hand, we can focus on the movement of transformation and forget about the movement of solidarity. For those of us who come from evangelical traditions, this may come in the form of moral legalism. "Just, get your act together!" In these traditions, sinners are not embraced "as they are," process is not acknowledged. But, evangelicals are not the only ones who neglect solidarity Some mainline churches hold to a certain set of practices from a particular time period, whether it be dress, structure, or even language. The time period that these things came from can be held up as the ideal. This was the time of the perfect culture. Is there anything wrong with these things? No! Many people find them helpful. But, we cannot say, "God only works this way."

Our hope is to be a people of solidarity and transformation, a people who embrace a broken world, but are not content with the current state of things.

I want to discuss what it means to be a "people of a place." In what ways are we tied to and in conversation with the culture of this particular place? What is our role as the church in this place?

Gen. 2:8-15

Here we see the call to create culture. The word "culture" actually comes from the same root as the word "cultivate". Adam and Eve are invited to create culture, to cultivate the world. Adam and Eve are given a place, a garden to tend

Notice, that their call is not to create life. God creates life. Also, their call is not to "make grow." The plants grow and are sustained by God. Instead, they are call to tend the space. We then see in the scriptural story that sin enters the world. Adam and Eve overstep their responsibility as cultivators and desire to "be like God" on their own terms. This break not only has an effect on them, but on the earth, on the culture, on all societies that will come after them

Gen. 12:1-3

Abraham is promised a place. His descendants are called to be a "people of a place." Their story is rooted in space. They are not called as a disembodied people, but a rooted people. Even though they are not always in their place, it is their reference point.

But, the place of their rootedness is not the last word. It is not simply a destination, but a jumping off point. They are called to be a people who bless all peoples, the Promised Land is a place to bless all places. All of the nations will be blessed by them

The Children of Israel find themselves in trouble whenever they forget this. Any time that the place becomes the end game, when they believe that they are to hoard God's blessing, they lose it. As the story goes, once the children of Israel reach the Promised Land, they establish an empire and they go against the very things that made them who they were. They began to obtain wealth, to acquire military strength, and to own slaves. They then find themselves as a people of a place who, because of their unfaithfulness are displaced. They are under an oppressive regime in Babylon.

Psalm 137:1-5

They are a people in a foreign land, remembering their place, where they were rooted. They say that they don't even know how to sing their songs in a foreign land. Their captors are saying, "Sing us one of your Zion songs!" And they don't even know how...their context does not allow it. Their whole time in captivity (in Babylon, but later under the thumb of Persia, and Rome) can be defined by this question, "How do we sing our songs in a foreign land?"

There have been many people who have drawn the parallel between the state of the Children of the Israel at this time and the state of Christianity in the Western World. Personally, I do not believe that we are fully there. Christianity is still the primary religion in the United States. We look around most of the people who were encounter (especially in Tulsa) identify themselves as Christian. Yet, this is not the case in Europe and in many places in the United States

However, even here, the church is finding itself having to grapple with this question, "How do we sing our songs in a changing culture?" The questions that are being asked are not the same. Do our songs make sense here? Do our stories make sense here? I believe that they do, but we must allow our story to challenge us, and to see the story of God's people as it moves in this newly forming culture. So, how do the Children of Israel respond to the new culture that surrounds them?

Jer. 29:1-7

So, their command from God is not to isolate from the culture, not to curse the darkness, and also not to create a "Israel subculture." The command was not that they try to conquer the culture and turn it into their own culture. No, it was to participate in the culture, to seek peace and prosperity, and to pray for the culture. Is this our response to the world around us? This response is both solidarity and transformation.

It is important to realize that, in the mind of the Jewish people going forward, exile did not end after they returned to Jerusalem. They found themselves in their own land, but under the thumb of various empires. This is the context (the Roman empire) in which Jesus is born, lives, teaches, dies, and rises. Jesus teaches primarily in Galilee. He dies in Jerusalem. Jerusalem becomes the hub of this new church. The events of the Upper Room happen in Jerusalem, perhaps even on the Temple Mount.

The church continues to grow in a Jewish context, meeting in synagogues, causing the Roman authorities to wonder whether this was just a Jewish sect or a new religion. Jews were granted protection from certain laws, but they didn't know if this should apply to followers of Jesus or not. But, the new church would not have an exclusively-Jewish identity for long. The HS was moving among the Gentiles. A Roman centurion was converted. An Ethiopian eunuch was baptized. And, with this change in ethnicity came the same old question, "How to we sing our song in a foreign land?" "What does this mean for non-Jews?"

With this came lots of cultural questions: Do these new Spirit-emempowered Gentiles need to be circumcised (a Jewish cultural practice)? Do they need to observe the festivals of the Jewish people? How about the Sabbath? Can they eat the food that they would normally eat? Well this caused a huge conflict in this early church. These cultural issues were causing crazy tension. It took the powerful transformation of a man named Paul, a radical Jewish rabbi who used to kill Christians and the vision of Peter, one of Jesus' closest friends to turn the tide. Finally, in Acts 15, the church elders in Jerusalem decide that cultural practices should not keep Gentiles from turning to Jesus, the Liberating King.

They instruct the Gentiles Jesus-followers to abstain from things that tear communities apart (specifically sexual immorality and eating stuff that their Jewish friends could not eat), but even these are not identity markers. They are to keep this diverse community together. Antioch, not Jerusalem, soon becomes the center of the Christian world. Paul continues on as a missionary to the Gentiles, proclaiming the Gospel of King Jesus.

Acts 17: 16-21

Paul comes to Athens. Athens is the hotbed of culture. Imagine the entertainment of Hollywood, the authority of Washington DC, and the economic stature of NYC. Paul is distressed by their culture and all of the idols. They think that he is a babbler, but obviously something that he was saying struck a chord with them so much so that they brought him to the Aeropogus so that he could share his ideas.

Acts 17:22-33

Ok, so here, we really see the double-movement that we talked about earlier at work. We can assume that he is speaking Greek. He is using their language and inhabiting their space, the space of ideas and philosophy. Paul begins by complimenting them. They are very religious. They are seeking God. They even leave room to worship a God that they do not know. It is here that Paul jumps in. He is going to proclaim to them who this UNKNOWN GOD is. He talks about God's reaching out for them. He even quotes one of their own poets by saying, "In him we live, and move, and have our being. We are are His offspring." He shows true solidarity with them.

But Paul does not only engage the first movement. Paul is clear that repentance is needed, that God is not like gold, or silver, or stone. He says that God commands all people to repent. Also, Paul is clear about Christ's resurrection. Paul is in true solidarity with the people and the culture of Athens. But, he is also seeking God's transformation, God's healing, and God's liberation. Christianity is the only of the major religion that has a true and deep sense of place, yet is not tied to one particular place as the center of its faith. We always wrestle with this. It is a challenge to be both in solidarity with a given culture, but also to seek it be healed and transformed.

Dr. Richard Halverson said, "Christianity was birthed in Galilee as a relationship. It spread to Greece and became a philosophy. It spread to Rome and became an empire. It spread to Britain and became a culture. It spread to America and became an enterprise."

So, what does it mean for us? We are called as cultivators and culture-makers here in midtown/downtown Tulsa. Our space is important. There is a particular culture and cultures surrounding us. Are we a people who can be faithful to both movements?

Often, when talking to people (specifically other pastors) about Emmaus Road, I get this reaction, "Why would you plant a church there?" You see, if our goal as a church was simply to get a large number of people in the door, we would probably go elsewhere. There are places that are already churched, people looking for a church to go to. I currently live in Glenpool. We actually would like to move from there to move closer here, but the housing market has not allowed that. But, there are churches going up all the time around us. Most people in the Tulsa suburbs are already churched, and might be willing to leave their current church for something more convenient geographically. There is nothing wrong with the suburbs, and there is nothing wrong with living in the suburbs. But, we have always had a heart for the city. At times in our church's short history we have felt that, but have not been able to articulate it.

What is it about "the city" that would make us want to plant a church? The definition of a city is not a densely populated area. The definition of a city is a mixed-use, walkable settlement (I'm dependent on Tim Keller for this). This means that residential, commercial, and public service areas are all close to one another, within walking distance. With this definition, some "towns" might actually be considered cities. There is something about having these things all close to one another that creates a creative dynamic. Throughout history, it is obvious that where the city goes, the region goes.

The word "heathen" actually originates from "those who lived in the heath" because when Christianity caught on, it would catch on in the city first and hadn't quite reached the country. Because of the sense of mixed uses, the cross-over between social classes, occupations, and styles tends to create and develop new culture. This does not mean that culture is not created in the suburbs or in the country. There is simply something unique about the city.

Now, I am not saying when I indicate a culture, that the church is a building. But, we cannot disconnect ourselves from the culture that we inhabit, just like we cannot distance ourselves from the culture that comes from where each of us lives.

In what ways are we part of cultivating here? Those of you who are musicians, you cultivate sound, those of you who work with money and numbers, you are cultivating the proper use of resources. Those of you who are social workers, medical professionals, and teachers, you cultivate a sense of health and growth. Lawyers help to mediate conflict within a culture. Many of you work with words, and you cultivate language. We believe that our job is to be a garden of the resurrection right here and wherever each of us goes throughout the day. In what ways are we being invited to be in solidarity and seek the transformation of culture?

A Forgiveness People

Jer. 31:31-34

Matthew 18:21-35

Today, we will dwell on forgiveness. It is only by coincidence that we are reading this passage soon after the anniversary of September 11th. Perhaps, because of this coincidence, the passage may sit rather uncomfortably with us. What does it mean to forgive those who have hurt us? What does it mean to be forgiven of something? How does justice fit into all of this?

We wrestle with these things on a global level with issues like terrorism and political unrest. We see a world where a large percentage are living in tremendous poverty and have been oppressed. We also wrestle with this on a personal level in our families, marriages, and friendships.

Often, in a given situation, there are two responses that people have when an offense occurs. First, there is what we might call faux-forgiveness. People think that they are forgiving by just pretending that there is no issue to be dealt with. They say that they are forgiving, when, in reality they are just excusing behavior. In this scenario, the world is just given to its natural forces. The weak are trampled, and the strong thrive.

On the other end there can be a type of blood-lust, a thirst for a type of justice that just appeases a person's own wrath. In this scenario, the offended believe that that vengeance should come by their hand. They must see that justice is done in this situation.

But, there is another way, the way of forgiveness. There is an old Rabbinic idea in Judaism that says that before YHWH created the world, seeing all of the horrible evil that humankind would commit, actually had to forgive the world before creating it. So, between the complete disregard for justice and the relentless pursuit of justice stands forgiveness.

For Christians, Jesus is the ultimate embodiment of forgiveness. Jesus took all of the sin of the world upon His own shoulders, even dying under the power of the world's evil and then reconciled all things to it's God-ordered purpose. Now, we don't readily see all things restored to their purpose. Much like a search-party who spend night and day looking for someone who has been missing, even after they have been found some might continue looking until word reaches them. That is the state that we are in in our world. Christ is risen, but the world has not fully felt its impact.

Sometimes, when we think about Jesus' death and resurrection, we think that Jesus died on the cross and rose again which gave Him some magical powers called "forgiveness." Because of these magical powers, He gives us forgiveness. It's much more real than that. The resurrection of Jesus showed that the powers of sin, which lead to death, have been defeated. And, it meant that this forgiveness would lead us into a new way of living.

Miroslav Volf says, "Without disregarding justice, Christ's death pointed beyond the victim's struggle for retributive justice for victims to the wonder of transforming grace for perpetrators and reconciliation of the two.

You see, we need to live as a forgiveness people. It is not just a matter that we are forgiven so that we can feel good inside. It is that we are forgiven to live a life of forgiveness. As the church, we are to embody forgiveness in the way of Jesus

In their book, Resident Aliens, Stanley Hauerwas and Will Willimon say, "Our everyday experience of life in the congregation is training in the arts of forgiveness; it is everyday, practical confirmation of the truthfulness of the Christian vision."When we gather here, take of the bread and juice, sing together, walk through the liturgy together and do life together, we are practicing the art of forgiveness so that we might be a forgiveness-people

Observation #1: Being a Kingdom-people means being a people of forgiveness

Peter asks if he should have to forgive someone seven times. Jesus' response is a bit of teasing on His part. He says seventy-seven times. The point here is not that we count to seventy-seven and, on the 78th time, we get to smite them! No, Jesus is saying, "Don't count. Just forgive." It's as if Jesus said, "Forgive them seventy gagillion times." That's what the context implies.

Gen. 4:19-24

So, this is the lineage of Cain, the first murderer in the Bible. Can murdered as vengeance for Able finding favor in God's eyes. And we see that Cain's descendent Lamech says, "I want revenge. If Cain wanted revenge seven times, I want it seventy-seven times!"

So, "seventy-seven" is a bit of a cultural reference for Jesus as well. He is calling His followers to be a forgiving people. Where the lineage of Cain wanted revenge many times over, Jesus followers are to be merciful that many times over.

On October 2006, a man entered an Amish school in Pennsylvania, separated the boys from the girls and began to shoot and kill the girls one by one. After he had killed five of the children, he shot himself. That day, in the midst of horrible tragedy, this Amish community taught us what being a forgiveness people looks like. They chose to meet with and console the widow of the murderer. Thirty members of the community attended this man's funeral. The community set up a charitable fund for the family of the shooter

The widow of the shooter wrote a letter to the community saying, "Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. Gifts you've given have touched our hearts in a way no words can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond our family, beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we sincerely thank you."

A scholar of Amish life said, that "the Amish willingness to forgo vengeance does not undo the tragedy or pardon the wrong, but rather constitutes a first step toward a future that is more hopeful." This is a forgiveness that can only come from the heart of God.

Observation #2: Jesus calls his followers to pursue forgiveness instead of vengeance

But, then we see that this is a tough parable that Jesus goes into. The emphasis is on the command to forgive. Forgiveness is not just a nice thing to do, it is actually commanded and somehow our forgiveness is wrapped up in our forgiving others.

The lender is pretty darn harsh isn't he? When I read this, I think about the section of the "Our Father" that says, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us". When we refuse to forgive, we also accuse ourselves as we have been forgiven of so much.

We get the sense in this parable that the servant had just left the king's court, just received incredible mercy and turns around and rejects a servant who owes him some money.

In God's eyes, the size of the debt, the size of the sin, the size of the trespass is not the issue, it is our ability to forgive others. It seems that there is no sin that God hates more than the refusal to forgive sin.

Again, the point is not just a type of faux-forgiveness that pretends like nothing happened and avoids confrontation. It is also not a forgiveness that ignores consequences. Instead, it is a forgiveness that releases the offense as it seeks healing of the relationship.

Somehow, our forgiveness is dependent on our forgiving others. It is not on the matter of merit. It's not like, "look you earned your forgiveness." No, you can't earn forgiveness from sins. Instead, forgiveness, in its very nature, is something that is not to be kept to oneself. And, if you keep it to yourself, it will go away.

It is kind of like the breath that fills our lungs. We breathe in, but in order to continue to receive breath, we must release the air that had first been given to us. You can't store up breath and refuse to give it. It is meant to go out. This is true for forgiveness, but can't we say this about the gospel of Jesus as a whole? The proclamation of Jesus as King is something that has to go out.

God calls and blesses particular people, but not so that they can hoard the blessing and simply be part of the "God club." No, the message has to go out. Love must go out. Hope must go out. Faith must go out. When the gospel is held by one person or group of people and not shared, it is no longer the gospel. It is not accomplishing its purpose. Are your lungs open? Are they giving the precious breath of life? Are you sharing forgiveness?

Two of the most difficult things to say are "I'm sorry" and "I forgive you." We must keep in mind the picture that Jesus paints of the Kingdom of God as a child. To enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we must become like "the least of these." "I'm sorry" and "I forgive you" are "least of these" words. The first says, "I have done something wrong." The second says, "I chose not to take vengeance on you."

The prophet Jeremiah saw that God was going to make a new covenant, a new promise. Jesus has become the fulfillment of that new covenant and a life that is lived in this new covenant is a life of forgiveness. God has forgiven us in Jesus. Therefore, we must forgive one another.

Observation #3: Forgiveness, by its very essence, must always go out.

Now, we talked about last week and we have discussed before that forgiveness and trust are not the same thing. Forgiveness and relationship are not the same thing. Forgiveness means to release someone from our grasp, our need for vengeance, and to turn them over to God. Trust means that there has been significant change on the part of the offender that they are deemed trustworthy in a given situation.

Binding and Loosing

Ezekiel 33:7-11

Matthew 18:15-20

So, tonight, I am returning to the Lectionary. For those of you who don't know, the Revised Common lectionary is a book of texts for preachers and faith communities. It is a guide on sermon texts throughout the year. It runs in a four-year cycle. The idea is that, if you read every passage of scripture in the lectionary, you would read the whole Bible in four years

Some traditions are more strict with the lectionary than others. We tend to weave in and out of the lectionary. Sometimes we use it. Sometimes we don't. This gives us freedom to move to where God would lead us for a given week while also celebrating our tradition.

The benefit and also the greatest challenge of the lectionary is that you cannot choose the sermon topic for that week based on what you would most like to preach on. It is assigned to you. For preachers, it disciplines us to be able to preach a passage of scripture that might not be our first choice.

To be honest with you, this would not be my first choice if I were to choose a passage to preach from. I like epic sermons, stories that shake heaven and earth. I like to trace the scriptural story to bring about fresh insights. This passage is painfully practical. :) But, it is incredibly important. It gives us a helpful picture of conflict resolution among disciples of Jesus. Relationship is at the heart of who God is. In and of Godself, he is relational. There is a relationally among the members of the Trinity.

Anyone like soap operas? You know, daytime TV shows with sharp, crisp lighting and camera work, dramatic music, over-actors, and strange camera angles? Every person in the show has pretty much slept with everyone else, people find out that they are actually another character's father, and the world is pretty messed up.

It seems like you are either a soap opera person or you aren't. I am not. But many of our prime-time dramas are beginning to look like soap operas, aren't they? Grey's Anatomy comes to mind. One person told me that they thought that LOST was a soap opera because it was a continual story that was dependent on the previous episodes. But, one thing that characterizes a true soap opera is intense (and often unrealistic) conflict. And, if I were to identify a redeeming quality in soap operas (hard for me to do), it would be that they are good at recognizing conflict.

People in these kinds of shows are unusually good at sharing their feelings and listening to the other person who is also unusually good at sharing their feelings. They are not always great at resolving these conflicts, but the feelings are addressed. Sometimes, they do get to the bottom of an issue and they resolve it in 30 minutes to an hour! We actually see more reconciliation happen in soap operas than we do in real life.

Our world is broken. We see this on a grand scale with war, poverty, oppression, and terror. On a smaller scale we see broken marriages, absent parents, separated communities, and divided churches. Often this leads us to deny that their ever was a conflict. This is easy to do with people who you barely know who offend you. You can just not talk to them again.

It becomes more difficult the closer that you are to the one who you offended or who has offended you. Yet, we still do it. We pretend that relational breaks do not exist.

This passage has particularly to do with those who have sinned "against you." Some translations point out this "against you." Some don't. But, most scholars agree that the context implies that this is an offense against another person, not just a general sin. Some of these might apply to that as well, but this passage has particularly to do with the former.

Also, this passage refers to an offense committed against a fellow disciple. Again, some of this may apply to more general situations, but this has to do with offenses within the Christian community.

Sometimes we have a misunderstanding of forgiveness. We think that forgiveness means that everything is just ok. Feelings were never hurt, abuse never occurred, lives were not effected. That is not forgiveness. If no wrong was done, there is nothing to forgive. Forgiveness means that an offense did happen and you are choosing to release the offense and trusts God's work in their lives.

The first step is to go to the other person. This takes courage. We often won't even go this far because we are scared of the result. Sometimes, the other person may share a counter-offense and sometimes we need to hear that. But, it is, of course, not always the case that both are at fault.

If the other person responds and repents, you have made a brother or sister. You are now closer than you were before the break was created. This is the beauty of how God has ordered the world. Something that is healed is actually stronger than it was before it was broken.

If you take an offense to someone, and you feel that they do not respond, take two or three others with you. This is not to ambush the person or to gang up on them. The purpose of this is to test your own judgment. Is there really an offense here?

The final step would be, if they still do not respond to take this to the Christian assembly. I don't know about you, but this part feels really weird to me. "This week, we are having a children's sermon". Next week, we are going to confront Preston about how he cheated at fantasy football!

What is the role of the church in this? I have a few thoughts. First of all, Jesus did not have in mind an institutional form of church when he said this statement. There was no such thing. He most likely meant a local group of fellow disciples (about 10-12). The main purpose of this was for further support. I think of it kind of like an intervention in the Recovery world. Often, when there is a bit larger group, they are able to show the person the pain that they have caused by their actions and seek restoration.

Some churches make a really big deal about "church discipline." I have heard many pastors go on an ego-trip about all of the church discipline that they have carried out. One well-known pastor recently said that, if the male in a given household is not the primary bread-winner for the family, that would be a matter of church discipline!

There was a popular church movement in the 70's and 80's called the "Shepherding Movement." This movement was eventually considered cult-like because it over-emphasized ones loyalty to their pastor or "shepherd." You will see some small churches like this even around today. I have heard horror stories of people who have felt like God called them to a new job or a new city, when they told their pastor about it, he (always a "he" :)) told them, "No. that is not God's will. It is a free country, so you can do whatever you want; but, you will be outside of the will of God."

A pastor is not a controller or a manipulator. Some people ask me to help pray for God's will in their life, but I am not the ONLY ONE or even the PRIMARY one who hears from God! Now, there are times when the institution has to get involved in a situation.

When I was a youth pastor, we had a few times where a student would act-out violently in the context of our youth gatherings or would make inappropriate comments to students of the opposite sex. Some of those students lost trust with us to the point that they could no longer attend youth gatherings. This broke our heart. It was not that we didn't love them, and we would look for an for opportunity for reconciliation when that was available. But, there were times when they could no longer be trusted in certain environments.

The institution has to get involved when there is a predator in the community (sexual, physical, emotional, even financial). That being said, I do not believe in ex-communication. I do believe, that there are some very, very extreme instances where a person has lost the community's trust to a a point where they can no longer attend even a Sunday morning worship gathering, but there is always hope for redemption (even if that is outside of that particular assembly).

Also, "The Church" is large. Some people choose to go to be part of other faith communities. That is often appropriate. This does not mean that they have left "The Church," but that they have chosen to assemble with another group of disciples.

The last is the hardest and most difficult part. If they still do not respond, treat them like a Gentile or a tax collector. No doubt that people in Jesus' day would have heard His statement and thought, "that is harsh, treat them like an outsider?"

This is where we must emphasize the difference between forgiveness and trust. Forgiveness is a one-way street. I can forgive someone and it is my decision. This means that I choose not harbor a grudge against you and to release the offense. Trust is a two-way street. You may forgive someone, but not be able to trust them in certain contexts. They need to participate in the process of rebuilding trust. Their must be a significant change over an extended period of time. The hope is that the relationship would be restored, but it will take time.

In some extreme cases, like Jesus says here, you may not be able to even be in relationship with a person who has had a significant break in trust. There is still hope for reconciliation, but sometimes the reconciliation does not fully occur until the resurrection. We live in a broken world. Not all will be restored in the eyes that we have now.

For example, If there is abuse in a home, the abused can no longer trust the abuser enough to be in the same home. He/she may forgive them, but trust has been destroyed. But, loss of trust is not just present in these extreme cases. Sometimes we lose trust over really small things. I have a reputation with Archer of always being late to things. I may be on time for a whole year and not change that reputation. That is a small thing and Archer doesn't care, but those things happen all the time.

We all walk around with various levels of trust for our family, friends, and community members. That's ok. That's appropriate. That being said, what was Jesus' attitude towards tax collectors and Gentiles? Always love! The hope for tax collectors and Gentiles was always that they would be brought into the family of faith. So, even as boundaries are set, even if one cannot trust a brother or sister to be in community with them, there is always still a hope in God's love (even if that hope is lived out from a distance).

Sometimes, when we do not set boundaries, we actually are saying that we do not trust God to work in that person's life. We are saying that we have to do it. Setting appropriate boundaries is saying that He can work in their lives even without me.

Theologian Miroslav Volf says that in the Genesis story, we see a series God "separating" and "binding together." He does both. We are defined as a people who are both unique in and of ourselves and different from others. "We are who we are not because we are separate from the others who are next to us, but because we are both separate and connected, both distinct and related; the boundaries that mark our identities are both barriers and bridges."

Therefore, this treating like a tax collector and sinner is not an act of exclusion, but a declaring of boundaries of differentiation. It is saying that I am my own, self-differentiated person. I can no longer trust you in this situation. I am not excluding you. I choose to forgive you, to release the offense to God, but I must set boundaries around our relationship for both my and your health.

Differentiation does not say, "I am independent, I am sovereign. I need to push you away." It also does not say, "You are (or I am) not important enough to have my own identity. I must have you to be whole." Appropriate boundaries are part of God's created order. Boundaries are not exclusion. Without boundaries, there is no such thing as identity. And, without identity, there is no such things relationship with others with identities.

An interesting statement that follows this section is "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." What does this mean? This is a reference to how one interprets the law. Rabbis in this culture would have certain things that they would "bind" and certain things that they would "loose."

To "bind" meant to forbid something. To "loose" meant to allow it. So, for Jesus to give His followers to power to "bind and loose" in his name means that He was giving them incredible authority. Here, Jesus is saying that He trusts the community with working out relationships. He gives them the authority.

And, this does not mean that it is magical. Whatever we want, God will give us. I means that He trusts us to carry out His Kingdom in the world. Now, that's kinda scary because we have messed that up really bad. But, God uses broken people to carry out the Kingdom. And not only is he giving the community this authority, he is saying that somehow, heaven is involved in this as well.

The Jewish people believed that, when students of the Torah gathered together to study the law, God was present with them. God somehow dwelled in His law and in the seeking to interpret His law. Here, Jesus says, if you gather together to seek my will in a given situation (here, a relationship), I am in your midst.

God at Work-Wisdom

Today, we are continuing our series called God at work. We will look at God's activity through His Wisdom

Gen. 1:1-31

We see in the beginning of Genesis the story of a wise creator, who has a place for everything. God creates everything in pairs: light and darkness, water and land, animals and humans, male and female. God does not just create by happenstance. God has intentionality behind creation. This intentionality, we could even say, points to the reality of this ultimate pair, heaven and earth coming together. But, God's wisdom is not just an attribute of God in the scripture. It becomes another way of speaking about God Himself. This tradition goes back at least as far as Proverbs 8.

Proverbs 8:22-35

Wisdom" is personified here. The Proverb is talking about what we consider an attribute as a person. It's actually in first-person. It is as if this person "wisdom" (who by the way, is given a feminine gender earlier in the chapter), is writing the proverb. Within Judaism, there is actually what is called the "Wisdom tradition" based on various sections of the Biblical story which recognizes the mystery of wisdom in the created order. Walter Brueggeman says, "Wisdom in the OT, refers to a body of accumulated teaching based on discernment and reflection about the character and mystery of life."

The Wisdom tradition tries to seek out God's created order in the world, often using common sense to get to God's desire for humankind. Wisdom is not just pragmatism. It is based on theology. It is a desire to look at the world around us, to reflect, and to seek out ways of being in this world.

Much of theology is based, rightly, on God's revelation. It is based on God telling humanity what to do and how to live. Wisdom is the working out of what it truly means to be human. In this passage in Proverbs, and the preceding verses, Lady Wisdom calls people to herself so that they can learn how to be truly human. Remember, being human is not something bad, as we often say today, "I am only human." Being human means reflecting the image of God.

Of course, we as humans are broken because of sin, but God desires to heal us, to put us back together. Wisdom is something other than Revelation. Revelation includes the dramatic things that YHWH does for His people, miracles, the giving of the law, etc. These things are top-down experiences. They are times when God miraculously acts or speaks. But, there is also space for experiences "from below", for study, and reflection, for the working out of our humanity.

The wisdom tradition embraces the time in-between revelation, when we are to work out the things of life by experience, reflection, and study. In the midst of day in and day out, birth and death, love and hate, joy and strife, good and evil, peace and war.

The wisdom tradition is not competing with revelation. It works in harmony with revelation. The Wisdom tradition is explored most notably in in Proverbs, Ecclesiates, as well as Job. Also, there are a couple of books that are not in our Biblical canon, but are in the Roman Catholic canon that speak to this tradition, namely the book "The Wisdom of Solomon" and Sirach."

NT Wright says, "Wisdom, in the biblical tradition, includes in its wide embrace both the encyclopaedic collection and arrangement of the data, the evidence, the facts, and that strange, soft something which sneaks round the back and asks the question, But what’s it all for? What does it mean? And what should we do with it?"

This definition of wisdom keeps us away from some dangers that can be associated with the idea of "wisdom." A lot of Gnostic teaching can be centered around the idea of "Sophia" or "Wisdom." Some of the first websites that you come across in searching for "Sophia" are a bit creepy.

But, if we root wisdom in the ordering of creation, in our reflection on God's gift, we can avoid these dangers. Also, the idea that wisdom is not reserved for a few who have attained a secret knowledge, but can be sought out by all.

Let me stop and say a word about the gender here. I don't want to emphasize this too much because it's not the main thrust of the sermon today. But, the wisdom tradition does show us that God also possesses the beautiful attributes of femininity as well as masculinity. God is not gendered. In Jesus, He did reveal Himself as a man, but God also possesses all that is good and true, meaning the feminine attributes as well

Observation #1: The pursuit of Wisdom is the pursuit of what it means to be fully human

John 1:1-14

We have looked at this passage several times throughout this series. Here, what I want us to see is the parallel to Proverbs chapter 8. The Word is in the beginning, just as wisdom is described. Also, earlier in the chapter, we see that people are rejecting Wisdom just as they have rejected the world. Both Wisdom and the Word are personified and come as a light in a dark place.

Proverbs 9:1-6

Matt. 11:16-19

Here, Jesus is responding the to the concerns of the people. In Deuteronomy 21, there is an instruction for parents who have a rebellious son. This is what they are to say to Him, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard." Then the people have to stone him to death. What can we say, kids shouldn't be rebellious, it's in the Bible. :)

So, Jesus is saying, "this is probably what you're saying about me." Jesus is obviously frustrated. John the Baptist had lived a set-apart, holy life. But now, people are saying that He has a demon!

And Jesus is really just proclaiming and living the joyous celebration that the Kingdom of God is breaking through. He is showing that all are brought in. It's about people, not procedures. He is showing radical acceptance and forgiveness. And, people are saying that He is a false prophet, a rebellious son!

Jesus, then makes a direct connection with His own miracles and teachings with this Wisdom Tradition. Notice that he speaks of wisdom in the context of people being upset about a meal. Perhaps this is a connection to Proverbs 9?

We don't have time today to go through all of the connections that are made between Jesus and Wisdom.

Matt. 12:42

Jesus proclaims that He is greater than Solomon. We see that Jesus does this with all of the traditions that we have looked at. Jesus fulfills the tradition, therefore, actually superseding the tradition

- We saw this with Presence: Jesus is the new Temple
- We saw this with Torah: Jesus is the Torah giver
- We saw this with Word: Jesus is God's speaking, bringing about a New Creation
- We now see this with Wisdom, Jesus is greater than the Wisdom of Solomon.

Observation #2: Jesus stands as the fulfillment of the Wisdom tradition, greater than Solomon, inviting those outside to the table, leading us into a new way of being human.

Col. 1:15-20

This hymn does something brilliant. It brings together Old creation and new creation. He was in the beginning. Creation came from Him in the first place. But also, He is the first born from the dead. Paul recognizes that the world is broken because of sin, God’s plan has gone horribly off track.

Through His resurrection, Jesus has brought about new creation, which takes all that is broken about old creation and redeems it. Makes it new. Paul here, places Jesus in the place where Wisdom had been. Jesus is the one in whom all things were created. And, in Him, God has reconciled all things to Himself.

Paul is encouraging the Colossian church that, in Jesus they have the foundation for wisdom. He is telling the church, that, once they have Christ, they do not need to fake wisdom, or go after a pseudo-holiness. There is nothing above the wisdom that is found in Jesus.

In Jesus is the fulfillment of the Wisdom Tradition. All wisdom is found in Him. In Jesus, we see what it means to truly be human. He is the head of body. He is the beginning and the firstborn of this new humanity. He is reconciling all things. The pursuit of Wisdom is the pursuit of Jesus.

We see that in the teachings of Jesus. Jesus celebrated the poor in spirit, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son who comes home. We also see this in His miracles. The woman with the issue of blood, the hungry crowd, the leper. But this was not all. Jesus also did this in His resurrection. He took on sin for our sake. And, he leads us into a renewed humanity through His resurrection. Christ's resurrection is the hope that He is making all things new, including you and me.

Observation #3: The pursuit of Wisdom is the Pursuit of Jesus

In what was are you pursuing wisdom in your life?

Are the things that are growing in your life, things that look like Jesus?
- Are you part of healing and restoration in your life?
- Are you forgiving?
- Are you inhabiting the scriptures? I mean reading the Bible, but not just reading the Bible, learning to be captured by and live in the scriptural story.
- Are you spending time with the equivalent of tax collectors and sinners?
- Are you engaged in community?
- What does your prayer life look like? Jesus embodied a radical way of praying. Can you cultivate some prayer and spiritual formation practices in your life?
- May we be a community, constantly occupied with the pursuit of Wisdom