He (Jesus) didn't come to add another religious establishment (this may come as a surprise to some)!

Text:  Matthew 21:23-32

Theme:  “What is the ‘Way of Righteousness’?”

16^th Sunday after Pentecost

September 28, 2014

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

24 Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Inevitably, it happens.  I’m asked what I do for a living.  As a general rule, the question is posed at various and sundry social gatherings that Diana and I attend.  It’s a simple enough inquiry; it’s standard fare when you’re getting to know someone.  But for me, there’s a risk with this question.  My experience tells me that the answer I finally come around to sharing can KILL the conversation. 

“What do you do for a living?”  “Well,” I reply, “I work for the Presbyterian Church.”  Sometimes, the immediate response is:  “What’s a Presbyterian?”  And the question itself tells me quite a bit about the questioner.  But mostly, when I’m asked what I do and reply, there’s a nod of the head that follows which is coupled with a look of mild shock.  “Oh, that’s nice,” is a classic reply.  Then comes the follow-up:  “What exactly do you do for the church?” 

“I’m a minister of Word and Sacrament,” I reply.  “You mean, you’re like a pastor, uh, or, uh, like clergy?”  I say, “Yep.”  At that point, they get tongue-tied.  It’s awkward.  And if anything can kill a conversation, it’s awkwardness – except, of course, if they’ve had a few adult beverages.

Again, in my experience, folks with a couple of drinks under their belt will open up.  They will give me their “take” on religious matters, usually tell me which church they attend, and sometimes they’ll launch into their own “testimony”.  Folks down here in the Bible belt are interesting creatures when it comes to matters of faith.  They’ll talk about when they “came to faith” or “made a decision.” When they find out what I do, it seems to open them up. They feel safe and more willing to talk about their faith journey (or however you would wish to phrase it.)  They share things with me that they likely wouldn’t with folks who work at the bank, post office, etc.  

Then, in the give and take of such an exchange, it’s my turn.  I tell them that I was baptized when I was a little less than two months old.  I’ll mention my confirmation when I was fifteen, and so on.  It’s all very anti-climactic, actually.  There’s no dramatic conversion story; no voices that came in the night.  I’ve been a believer all my life.  That’s not to say I haven’t wrestled with my faith and struggled with it.  Sometimes, my thinking about God has been entirely in the background.  At other times, it was at the forefront.  But there never was a time without some belief.  It has never been entirely missing or gone.  The essential claims of Christianity – that the world and its people have some incredibly deep-seated problems and that God, in the person of Jesus Christ, has done something gracious about those problems – are claims that resonate with me. 

Recently, I was asked (by a person who is close to me), “What would you say to an atheist?”  In that moment, I was the one who was tongue-tied.  “I’ll have to get back to you on that,” I said.  Having some time to mull over the question, I’d have to say that I don’t know what it’s like.  I haven’t personally experienced atheism (which is belief in no god or gods).  I’ve probably been closer to an agnostic point of view (which sort of straddles the fence).  I have to think, though, that it has to be tough.  To have no belief in God; to have no narrative that helps you make sense of yesterday, today, and tomorrow; to not have the hope that such belief brings, that just has to be tough.  I like the phrase:  “I’d rather believe in God and discover that God doesn’t exist than not believe in God and discover that God does exist.”

In exchanges like this and others, I think it valuable to keep things clear – and that usually means that you keep things simple.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus spoke of the “way of righteousness”. 

That three word phrase – “way of righteousness” – is what I believe everyone is truly looking for.  On this score, it makes no difference if you are a believer (Presbyterian, Baptist, Quaker, Methodist, etc.), an atheist, or an agnostic.  At the heart of the word “righteousness” is the word “right”.  Thus, everyone is looking for the “right way” for them.  Stated differently, everyone is searching for that compelling narrative – some call it a “worldview” – that helps them make sense of things.  What is it that makes them get up, suit up, and show up for another day?  Is it just biology?  If it were, then our existence would be characterized by consuming air, water, and food on some sort of evolutionary continuum.  In this view, life is merely a set of instincts that are specialized to a greater or lesser degree.

My response, quite simply, is: what’s the point of this?  If you continue to push and probe these questions, you will end up with answers that do not satisfy.  Then you shake your head, tell yourself that you’re not going to think about this stuff anymore, and you’re back to square one.

So again, I assert that everyone is looking for a way of righteousness that satisfies.  They may not use those words to describe it, but they are. 

In the time of Jesus, the ones who thought they had the “way of righteousness” down hook, line, and sinker were the members of the Jewish religious establishment. 

The leaders of the that establishment – the chief priest and the elders – were many times befuddled and put off by this renegade rabbi named Jesus.  They were shocked that people gave Him so much attention.  They wondered what it was that gave Him the moxie to say what He said and draw such a crowd.  The specific question went like this:  “By what authority are you doing these things?  Who gave you this authority?”

Jesus answered with a question of his own – which, to this day, is a classic rhetorical ploy.  “What John’s baptism from heaven, or was it just a human thing?”  The religious establishment was stuck between a rock and hard place with the answer to that one.  “We don’t know,” they reply.  So Jesus didn’t tell them by “what authority” He did and said the things He did and said. 

He did, however, share a story.  A man had two sons.  To the first, he said:  “Go and work in my vineyard.”  The first son replied:  “I will not go.”  But later he did.  To the second son, the father said:  “Go and work in my vineyard.”  The second son replied:  “I will.”  But, in the end, he didn’t go. 

Jesus asked the question we knew was coming:  “Which of the two did what the father wanted?”  The religious establishment couldn’t avoid answering this one with an ignorant, “We don’t know.”  They said:  “The first.”

At that moment, Jesus had the religious establishment in the proverbial palm of his hand.  Jesus said:  “John came in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him.”  But the prostitutes and the tax collectors did. 

You see, my friends?  Everyone is looking for the way of righteousness – including prostitutes, tax collectors, and the last people in the world that we’d expect -- and not just the religious establishment. 

Ironically, it was the religious establishment that felt compelled to do away with Jesus – and they did.  But His resurrection – fully attested in the Scriptures – validated that His was the way of righteousness.  That, in short, is the Gospel.

Our world today has a variety of religious establishments to choose from – and many of them appeal to the existential despair that has gripped us.  Jesus came not to add another establishment to the list.  He came seeking followers of the way of righteousness.  His message – and that of His cousin John’s – was:  “Change your mind about God for the Kingdom of God is here!”  That resonated with people.  And the good news is that it still will!  Selling ourselves as a religious institution won’t do.  Walking the way of righteousness will.  People are watching.

Amen.

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"! (Pay no mind to the double negative.)

Text:  Exodus 16:2-15

Theme:  “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

15^th Sunday after Pentecost

September 21, 2014

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”

9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’”

10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.

It was 1965, and there, fresh on to the scene, came The Rolling Stones  -- another English rock band besides The Beatles – with a song called “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”.  The lyrics took a dig at the commercialism that characterized the 1960s and still does today.  Mick Jagger himself said, in an interview, that the song made them into a big rock band.  The lyrics, he is quoted to have said, are about “alienation”.

“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”.  For you linguistic purists, you may have noticed the double negative:  “I can’t get no”.  A double negative cancels itself out and turns into either nothing or a positive.  So, are you satisfied, unsatisfied, or neither of the two this morning?

Today’s Old Testament Reading turns back the pages of Bible history and catches up with the Israelites at a moment in time when they were not satisfied at all.  When you’re not satisfied, you can sit around and wallow in self-pity.  You can do the “Oh, poor, pitiful me” schtick.  Or you can do something about it; you can take action.  The popular action item, at first,  is to grumble or complain.  And, my friends, there was a whole lot of grumbling and complaining going on in our text.  It says that the “whole community” grumbled.

If you were in their situation, you’d grumble too!  No doubt about it.  Most of us haven’t had their problem, but there may be handful or so of you that have had the problem. What’s the problem?  You are desperately hungry; it’s physical hunger.  There is nothing to eat. No pitch-in.  No potluck.  No China Buffet. No Whataburger.  No nothing.   You’re malnourished.  Your body, sensing the situation and always prepared to adapt, starts feeding itself off your lean muscle mass and fat stores.  But that can’t go on forever.  Eventually starvation sets in and then death. 

The whole community grumbled; they couldn’t get satisfaction – and satisfaction of a most basic kind.  But they didn’t grumble into thin air.  Their complaints had an object.  That object was their leadership – specifically, Moses and Aaron. 

Now Moses and Aaron, as they story goes, were used by God to lead the Israelites out of four hundred years of slavery.  It was the great salvation event of the Old Testament.  But now, out in the wilderness, the hunger pangs were setting in something fierce.  And the heroes of the Exodus turned out to be the villains.  They say:

If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.

And Moses and Aaron reply:

You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.

That night the quail came.  And there was meat.  The next morning, the manna came.  And there was bread. 

One simple explanation of how we came to be here today is this:  Almighty God answered a petition, a petition in a prayer we pray every Sunday and more.  It goes like this:  “Give us this day our daily bread.”  That daily bread is more than coffee, cinnamon toast, a banana or yogurt.  As one of the reformers confessed, daily bread is “all that we need to support this body and life.”  Our presence is proof that we’ve had that support.  We’ve been satisfied. 

The culture we live in, though, wants us to be completely unsatisfied.  If we’re unsatisfied, then it’s more likely that we’ll go out and strive and do and spend in order to be satisfied.

For some, enough is never enough.  There is always more and more to be had and consumed.  It’s really like a hunger that can never be satiated.  Instead of being content with what has brought us to this day; instead of recognizing, enjoying, reveling in, and giving thanks to God for the good gifts we’ve received, we’re all about more.  And then we wonder why we’re not satisfied.  John Cougar put it into words:

I've got seven of everything and more in the till

But I ain't ever satisfied

You think this is dangerous stuff

It ain't even a thrill

I ain't ever satisfied

Oh, I am never

No, I am never

I don't know why I ain't ever satisfied.

We’ve got a whole world of people echoing the Hoosier rocker’s line!  But along comes Jesus Christ who says (in John chapter six):  “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”  THAT is satisfaction. 

As happened with Moses and Aaron, Jesus experienced it too.  People complained and grumbled about what He said and did.  Others praised Him.  Neither the complaints nor the praises of the people fazed Him in the least.  He came to seek and to save that which was lost in this world where people “ain’t ever satisfied.”  He loved them all the way to a cross and an empty tomb.  He ushered in a new life and a new way of life.  It’s an opportunity to be satisfied with God’s provisions and seek to share them with others.  After all, He was the One who taught us to pray:  “Give us this day our daily bread.” 

Personally, that prayer has been answered in my life for nearly fifty-four years.  Any other explanation as to why I’m still alive and kickin’, well, they just don’t satisfy.

Let me pepper in one more lyric.  This from John Newton:

See, the streams of living waters, springing from eternal love,

Well supply your sons and daughters, and all fear of want remove.

Who can faint, while such a river ever will their thirst assuage?

Grace which, like the Lord, the giver, never fails from age to age.

Round each habitation hovering, see the cloud and fire appear

For a glory and a covering.  Showing that the Lord is near.

Thus deriving from their banner Light by night and shade by day,

Safe they feed upon the manna which God gives them on their way.

When life tempts into incessant grumbling, SPOT THE MANNA!

Let us pray:

Savior, since of Zion’s city I through grace a member am,

Let the world deride or pity, I will glory in Your name.

Fading are the worldlings’ pleasures – all their boasted pomp and show;

Solid joys and lasting treasures none but Zion’s children know.

Amen.

That "Trespasses" Thing!

Text:  Matthew 18:21-35

Theme:  “That ‘Trespasses’ Thing”

14^th Sunday After Pentecost

September 14, 2014

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Once should be enough.  If someone has done a bad, bad thing to you, then, by all means, be a fine and upstanding Christian.  Forgive them.  Just once.   Then get on with your life.  You’ve done the right thing and done your duty.  There’s no need to belabor the point.  

That bad, bad things do happen is obvious to just about anyone who is not a moral “Rip Van Winkle” who has been sound asleep as the world turns.  Read the papers.  Watch the news.  Most recently, we’ve had bad, bad behavior referenced in the NFL, and the media is right there to tell us all about Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson.   The video with the former has gone viral.   Who is next?  We don’t know.  We surmise that bad, bad things happen every day – and it doesn’t just involve popular, professional athletes with seven figure contracts.   Even John and Jane Doe can do bad, bad things in an elevator when they’re falling down drunk.

Eventually, a bad, bad thing – or things – might happen to us, and we will then be positioned to offer forgiveness (the Christian thing to do).  That would be our Christian duty, right?  Brian Birdwell, the military officer who suffered third degree burns over a significant percentage of his body after the plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, was asked whether, as a Christian, he could forgive the perpetrators.  His answer – and you could almost hear a pin drop as he prepared to give it – was:  there’s no one to forgive; they all died in the crash.  Did he evade the question?  Whatever the case, sin and forgiveness is a tough thing.  It’s best to know the basic duty. 

Peter was big into duty.  In today’s Gospel, he just wants to make sure he knows exactly what that duty entails.  The subject is forgiveness.   Forgiveness, among other things, is a response to the bad, bad thing.  The Bible calls it “sin”.  Nobody really likes to talk about that anymore.  There’s even a book with a telling title:  Whatever Became of Sin?  Other terms used are “trespasses” and/or “debts”.  In the history of the Lord’s Prayer, some have used “trespasses” – as in “forgive us our trespasses”.  We Presbyterians use “debts” – as in “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”  This runs with today’s Gospel.   “Sin” works just fine – as in “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”   “Sin”, the Bible declares, “is lawlessness.”  Linguistically, it’s “missing the mark”, not hitting the target – with the mark and target being perfection.  “Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect,” declares Jesus.    Believe it or not, debates have raged over the semantics of sin.  I call it  “That ‘Trespasses’ Thing.”  .  Meanwhile, as Christ’s church fusses over words, bad, bad things continue to happen. 

We are not hard-wired to respond to bad, bad things with forgiveness.  What runs roughshod through our heads and hearts, almost by nature, is justice and fairness.  In other words, “Don’t get mad (when a bad thing happens to you), get even.”  It doesn’t matter how long it takes you; just settle the score.   Billy the Kid did a bad, bad thing in the movie, Chisum. He shot the sheriff.  (He didn’t shoot the deputy.)  But the real bad guy was the antagonist, Lawrence G. Murphy.  Our protagonist, John Chisum (played by John Wayne), responds to Mr. Murphy:  “What Billy did balanced the books for now.  But if you, or any one of your men, crosses my land, touches one of my cows, or does anything to that store, I’m not going to the sheriff, the governor, or the president of the United States:  I’m comin’ to see you.”  In other words, he was going to render justice if any bad, bad things, sins, trespasses, or debts came his way again.  Forgiveness wasn’t part of the equation. 

Peter knew that forgiveness was – or, at least, would be – part of the equation, and he wants to do his duty.  But before that, he needs to fine tune and tweak just what that duty is.  So out comes the question:  “How many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?  Up to seven times?” Good job, Peter.  Take a shot at the answer!   Seven, of course, is the Biblical number of completeness.  Jesus fires back:  “Seventy-seven” times.   And here is where the text isn’t quite mathematically clear.  It could be seven times seven times which would be forty nine.  Or it could be seventy times seven times which would be four hundred ninety.  So if you really want to go all out, forgive the person four hundred ninety times.  But if he/she does a bad, bad thing for the four hundred ninety first time, then, by all means, don’t get mad; get even.  There’s only so much a person can take, only so much forgiveness he/she can grant.  Let’s be real!

Sensing a teaching moment, Jesus tells a story.  The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wished to settle accounts. He had extended credit; he wants it back.   A man owed the king a big pile of money that he could not repay.  The king orders that the man – and his family! – be sold into slavery to pay the debt.  The man whose credit cards were maxed out (to put it in contemporary vernacular) did not beg for forgiveness.  You see, that wasn’t part of the equation.   All he wanted was patience.  He knew that the world was pretty much ruled by justice and fairness and all that.  He would play his part; he would do his duty.  He just needed time to pay down the debt.  Maybe there was a Dave Ramsey “Financial University” course he could take, etc.

The king, or master, had no patience to give.  What he did, immediately, was cancel the entire debt.  In short, he forgave him.  To use another popular phrase, the king “ate” the debt – swallowed it whole.

Before Peter and the others even had time to marvel at this all but ridiculous, unheard of gesture, Jesus goes on with more of the story.  It turns out that the forgiven servant had a servant of his own who owed him some money.  Compared to the debt the first servant owed, it was chicken feed or pennies on the dollar.  The servant of the servant owed a dollar; the first servant owed one hundred thousand dollars.  You get the idea.  What does the first servant do?  Throws his own servant into jail until he could pay off the debt.  How can you pay off a debt when you’re in jail?  How many license plates do you have to make?

The king gets wind of this, and he is enraged.  The servant who received forgiveness gave none.  That’s not how it works for this king.  That’s not how it works in this kingdom.  For those who receive mercy but then share none of it with others, there is only jail and torture to look forward to. 

The great news of the Gospel, the essence of Christianity if you will, is that it was Jesus who ended up in the jail and the torture of the cross.  He ate the debt; He swallowed it whole.    All of the debt He chose to bear because, in His scheme of things, mercy was the name of the game. 

Justice can be quantified and measured out.  But mercy cannot.  As with the Gospel itself, there is always more. 

I have said these things this morning not so that you might do your duty.  I’ve said them so that we might marvel at the infinite mercy of our creator, our redeemer, our king, and our friend.  So, “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”

Amen.