Sermon: Luke intro

Sermon  5-26-13

Bible text: Deuteronomy 6:4-12, Luke 1:1-4

We have a practice of “summer reading” of a whole book of the Bible precisely to keep the commandment we heard in Deuteronomy today, one of my favorite passages.

     “Keep these words in your heart…recite them to your children…

     talk about them when you are at home and when you are away…

     do not forget the LORD.”

Communal memory is the reason we have any of the Bible at all; these stories were remembered, and taught, and passed down through generations, because the community shared them and was shaped by them.

So we begin our summer reading of the book of LUKE today.

Luke is one of four gospel accounts in the New Testament; Mark was written first, Matthew and Luke borrow a lot from Mark, so about half of Luke is also found in Mark, but a full half is unique to Luke. 

We don’t know who Luke is or was; but the author tells us he is a second-generation Christian, who did not know Jesus himself but is now part of the Jesus movement. His purpose in writing, he tells us, is to provide an “orderly account” of these things. The author of Luke is highly educated, very familiar with both Jewish and Greek history, language, and writing styles, and a very good storyteller, which makes him appealing to a wide audience.

There are a few things that are particular to Luke’s gospel; see if you notice them as you read.

One, Luke is obsessed with food.

Jesus and the disciples are always eating, feeding people, talking about food, and figuring out how to get food. There are parables about food and metaphors using food, literal food and allegorical food.

Sometimes they get in trouble about food, when Jesus invites the wrong people to the dinner party or accepts an invitation to eat in the home of a sinner. Sometimes they are the heroes who feed thousands of hungry people with barely enough for one lunch. There is food, and allusions to food, everywhere in this gospel. So what is it about food that is so important, and how might we be called to utilize food and meals in important ways?

Second, Luke tells a lot of stories about people on the margins—

people whom stories are not usually told about because they are invisible, forgotten, undesirable.

There are poor people in this gospel, and a lot of them, and they are often the heroes, like Mary and Joseph and John the Baptizer and Jesus himself. There are despised people—tax collectors, Roman officials, prostitutes, corrupt religious leaders. There are sick people—lepers, paralytics, and people with demons and hemorrhages and withered hands and crooked backs—even the dead Jesus heals. There are women, right in the middle of Jesus’ attention where they ought not to be.  There are Gentiles who have no business hanging around the very Jewish Jesus.

Because we know these stories so well, we miss the scandal of the way Jesus easily and intentionally interacts with these “outcasts”. It’s a bigger deal than we often notice, and there may be a calling for us here as well.

And a third thing to look for is how Luke talks about “salvation”.

Luke is the only gospel writer to refer to Jesus as Savior, and he gives him this title in the words of the angels to the shepherds as soon as he is born:

“For to you is born this day in the city of David a savior,

who is Christ the Lord.”

Before he’s even had his first diaper changed, Jesus is the Savior, the one for whom they’ve waited, the one promised by God. Look through this lens of savior as you read these stories—

everything Jesus does is salvation.

For Luke, salvation = liberation from anything that is binding you today, anything that is keeping you from being the real you God created you to be, here and now.

·            When he heals lepers, they are saved (sometimes literally the word used in Greek).

·            When he feeds hungry people, they are saved.

·            When he notices an unnamed woman, she is saved.

·            When he invites the disciples to follow him, they are saved.

In Luke, God saves people through the life of Jesus. 

Death is one part of that life, as is resurrection, but Jesus’ saving work is not limited to the crucifixion.

Luke does not teach us “Jesus died to save us from our sin”—

Luke teaches “God saves us in Jesus--birth, life, death, and resurrection”.

Luke addresses his gospel to the “most excellent Theophilus”—it’s the only gospel to have such a dedication to a particular reader. Theophilus may have been a real person, but the name means “lover of God”, so this gospel is addressed to you, to all, who love God. 

Luke takes the Jesus story as it is already popularly known in Mark and frames it in time—he’s very conscientious about identifying key events to help us know when this happened—and in place—Jerusalem is a central geographic location,rich with historic and metaphorical significance. He uses concrete and accessible images so we can get the stories. He roots the stories in Jewish tradition and scripture but there’s this feeling of movement; the tradition is not concrete but rich soil out of which something new is growing. Luke shows us how Jesus is the Savior in everything he does—in first century Palestine and in 21^st century Texas.

I have always liked this gospel, but I’m liking it even more here at Living Word.

I see us in this gospel, especially after our Pentecost event and the leadership retreat this weekend. Like Luke, we have a heart for the poor and marginalized. Like Luke, we think food is important--we enjoy and celebrate what we have and we are mindful of those who do not have, and we try to provide for them. Like Luke, we don’t build our entire life of faith around Jesus’ death, but we try to be the Living Word that carries the promise of God in Jesus, before his death and after his resurrection.

Jesus doesn’t let anything stop him, and I’m encouraged by Luke that we don’t have to, either— 

we don’t have any Pharisees breathing down our necks, after all, so we charge ahead with Jesus to do God’s work in the world. We rest, we work, we play, we pray, we live lives that are meaningful, along with Jesus. As we read this summer, may this Living Word of God, as Luke tells it, work a new work in us.  

Sources: 

Porter, Stanley E., ed. Reading the Gospels Today. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004.

Powell, Mark Alan. Fortress Introduction to the Gospels. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1998. 

Rhoads, David. The Challenge of Diversity: The Witness of Paul and the Gospels. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996.

 

Summer Reading: Luke

For the past several summers at Living Word, we have committed to reading a book together over the summer. This book (biblical) becomes the focus for preaching and worship, Bible study and conversation. This year the book is the Gospel of Luke.  We'll read a couple chapters each week (prior to worship Sunday) through the summer, through the entire book, so we get a "feel" of what Luke is like, what he's talking about, what his version tells us about God's saving work in Jesus in first century Palestine, and God's continuing working of salvation through the Holy Spirit for all times and places. 

This blog will be a place for introductions to the chapters, sermons, and conversation.  As with all we do at Living Word, all are welcome to participate as you are interested and able.  Our prayer is for revelation-- may you learn something new about God, about yourself, the world around you and your place in it, as we read Luke together. 

June 2	Luke 1
June 9	Luke 2-3
June 16	Luke 4-5
June 23	Luke 6-7
June 30	Luke 8
July 7	Luke 9
July 14	Luke 10-11
July 21	Luke 12-13
July 28	Luke 14-15
Aug 4	Luke 16-17
Aug 11	Luke 18-19
Aug 18	Luke 20-21
Aug 25	Luke 22
Sept 1	Luke 23-24

Confession

I just finished watching Glee 4x17, "Guilty Pleasures", which provoked thoughts of confession in me. The Shrekian concept "better out than in" is true in most cases, which is why we confess. As a spiritual practice, confession is a way of "cleansing"--getting rid of the crap that keeps us from being the amazing people we truly are. By naming something, especially out loud, we limit its power over us; we define it and contain it in a manageable way, outside our heads. When we confess we can sort through what is guilt (feeling bad about having hurt another) and what is shame (feeling bad that we are the kind of person who would do that). And once we have owned up to what we needed to confess, we can seek to make amends and ask forgiveness, so our relationships can continue.

But it isn't so easy to do. Our culture rewards and emulates an image of people who have it all together, who appear to be perfect in every way, who don't make mistakes. I don't think being church = being counter-cultural all the time, but this is an instance when it's a good thing for the church to be different--lying is fairly unattractive, after all, so we can leave that out of church. What if we could be who we are right in front of God and everybody? What if they knew our guilty pleasures, our brokenness, our struggle? What if they knew we made a bad choice, a mistake, that hurt ourselves or someone else? What if they knew we aren't perfect but we're trying to keep on keepin' on and some days it's good enough just to remember to breathe? Guess what--they do know, God and everybody, because they're living it, too.

Our concept of confession tends to make us feel more guilty, rather than to alleviate our feelings of guilt, which is why we don't like to do it. But anyone who knows anything about psychology knows that repressed feelings will come back to bite you in the butt somehow. So we have this rite of confession--private or corporate in the Lutheran tradition--as a way to take care of our soul, not to require our selves to hold on to so much crap, but to let it go. We tell another person (pastor, priest, BFF, 5th step trusted friend) because it's harder to wiggle out of the task when someone is waiting to hear what we have to say. We also tell another person to honor our humanity, to be reassured that relationships can be repaired and restored, that forgiveness can be offered, that absolution and release from sin can be proclaimed. Confessing that you love some cheesy music from the 80s as a guilty pleasure is not exactly the confession that is good for the soul. But trusting another to receive that from you is a good first step.

My guilty pleasure? Jake Puckerman. Duh.

And... I own 6 Barry Manilow albums on vinyl. And the sheet music for Phil Collins' "Against All Odds".

That is all the confession you're getting out of me, by this medium!

What about this LENT thing?

February 13, 2013, was Ash Wednesday. On that day I posted a prayer as my Facebook status: "O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." (from Evening Prayer, ELW page 317) This has led to a conversation with one of my cousins, which I expand here. What is it about Lent? When I was a teenager I was amazed to discover I had friends who were very active in their churches, who did not know what Lent is. Being from a liturgical church tradition (my bio begins, "I was born at Iowa LUTHERAN Hospital...") I had always observed Lent, always "given something up" for Lent, always counted the days to Easter by the weeks of Lent. There was a time when Lent was dedicated to focusing on Christ's sacrifice for sinners and to shape our response to that. I suppose that's still part of the emphasis, but it has taken on a more practical approach, at least in my mind. I use this time of Lent to practice some of the classical aspects of a life of faith: prayer and fasting, doing good works for others, giving generously, and giving and receiving forgiveness. Perhaps there's a sacrificial element in devoting my time to these things rather than to endless GLEE reruns, but I view it more as an opportunity to live more deeply into my commitment as a follower of Jesus. In my Ash Wednesday sermon I referred to Lent as a "six-week trial period", during which we get to try out some new behaviors, perspectives, and attitudes about what it means to be faithful. By the end of 6 weeks, if we've been intentional, these new things are now routine. Another aspect of intentional faithfulness is setting time aside for particular things--prayer, scripture reading, worship, Bible study, service to neighbor. These are all "good ideas" but they often get pushed to the bottom of our to-do list unless we are intentional about them. Lent is this intentional time, a season of life set aside for a particular purpose. I used the above prayer in worship for Ash Wednesday because Lent feels like a journey--being open (opened?) up to experience God in a new way. If we don't believe God does anything new, we'll probably miss all the things God is doing. The first step on this journey, I think, is turning toward God (the literal meaning of "repentance")and taking one step on the journey on which God leads us.