Sermon 30 October 2016 Luke 19:1-10 Proper 26 Year C

         Today’s reading from Luke’s Gospel is one of the best examples I can think of about how biblical translation is really something of an art rather than an exact science. The fortunate thing about the inexactness of biblical translation is that it gives us opportunities to see or hear or think about scripture in different ways.

Take our friend Zacchaeus, the tax collector, as an example of how we might think differently. Most of us have heard this story told and preached and discussed as a story of repentance. And anyone who went to Sunday School probably remembers Zacchaeus was short. You might remember learning a song in Sunday School about Zacchaeus. “Zacchaeus was a wee little man.” That’s how the song starts. It goes on to tell how Jesus told Zacchaeus to come down from the tree because Jesus wanted to come to his house. The song finishes with, “Zacchaeus came down from that tree, as happy as he could be, he gave his money to the poor, and said, ‘What a better man I’ll be.’” Well, maybe.

There are two things going on here. The first is, who was short? It’s really hard to tell from the way the Greek reads. Grammatically speaking, the short guy could be either Zacchaeus or Jesus. Take your pick. And while you’re chewing over the idea that your Savior might be short, how about the second thing?

That second thing is even more puzzling. The Greek uses the present tense for what Zacchaeus says to Jesus. And, translated this way, it doesn’t sound as though Zacchaeus is in need of repentance or feeling ashamed of what he does. It sounds a whole lot more like simply telling someone what you do. More like this, “Yeah, I work for the IRS, I mean the Roman government, but I only collect what’s due. And, half of what they pay me, I give to the poor. If it turns out the records were wrong or I collected too much, I give the person back four times as much as I took.”

The translation we have in most bibles is the one Deacon Beth read, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”[1] If we translate what Zacchaeus says in the present tense, as it appears in the Greek, it means something quite different. And, it is likely how it reads when scholars get done arguing about whether or not it was intended as past tense, or pluperfect tense, and anyway, most of us have forgotten what pluperfect tense is, even we ever learned it in school. What we’re talking about here instead of future is our friend Zacchaeus saying this, “I give to the poor; I give back four-fold.” I could keep going, but I’m pretty sure I’d not only bore you. I’d also bore myself with all the ins and outs of tenses in language: present, past, and future and a good many others as well.

But you know what? This gospel isn’t really about nuances or shades or ins and outs of language. It’s about acceptance and love. It’s about Jesus welcoming those we might not want to welcome because we’ve made judgments about them. And because we have judged those folks, we’d sure feel better about ourselves and about welcoming them if they’d come clean and repent.

Sure, yes, there are places in scripture where repentance is stressed. But Jesus isn’t in the trading business here. He doesn’t say, “You give me repentance and I’ll give you salvation.” Instead, Jesus seeks out the least, the lost, those shunned and despised by society and the world and he offers us all acceptance and love. Jesus finds others in the same way he finds us.

What this story is about is being sought and seen. It’s about being sought and seen by Jesus. And once found and seen, Jesus offers acceptance and love.

When Jesus shows up and looks up, seeking Zacchaeus in the tree, he really sees him. What Jesus sees is a man people shun and despise because they think he is a sinner. Inside that sinner, though, lives a hidden saint. Zacchaeus may look like a blatant sinner, but when Jesus sees him he sees inside him to the hidden saint.

What would you need to see as Jesus sees? What would you need to look inside a blatant sinner, and see the hidden saint inside? And what do you need to see the hidden saint inside you? AMEN.

The Rev Nicolette Papanek

©2016

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[1] Italics mine.

Sermon 9 October 2016 Jeremiah 29:1,4-7 Proper 23 Year C

         In the church office this week, we had gremlins. Or maybe early Halloween pranksters are using computers. On the front cover of this morning’s bulletin, the scripture citation is Jeremiah 29:11. The actual verse is Jeremiah 29:7, and the entire reading is correct in the bulletin as Jeremiah 29 verse 1 and 4 through 7.

When I proofread the bulletin the first time, I noticed my finger had slipped with the verse citation on the cover. I corrected it and saved the file. I forwarded the bulletin to our administrative assistant. She noticed the citation on the cover was still wrong. She corrected it, saved her copy of the file, and sent the bulletin to the printer. When she pulled the printed bulletins off the copier, the cover still said Jeremiah 29:11. This was after she and I both corrected it and both saved our corrected files. Between us, even though we both hit save on our computers, the computer didn’t save.

         What it reminded me of was a story I heard a long time ago. Jesus and the devil were bored. Jesus was bored because people in heaven were so good there was nothing for him to do there and his Mother Mary was hogging all the appearances on earth. The devil was bored because everyone in Hell was so evil already he had no one left to tempt. The devil decided to challenge Jesus to a contest to create the best computer program. God was the rule keeper and the Holy Spirit was the timekeeper. Jesus and the devil fired up their laptops and went at it. Furiously typing away, a millennium or two went by and then the Holy Spirit called, “Time!” Jesus breathed a sigh of relief and sat back looking satisfied. The devil banged his hand down on his laptop and yelled an unprintable word. The devil had lost all his data because he forgot to save his work. At which point, Jesus said softly, “My friend, don’t you know only Jesus can save?”

         Now what, you may be asking, does this have to do with Jeremiah? There are a lot of people out there, beyond these doors, that need saving. Some of them need saving from drugs or alcohol or other addictions, some need saving from empty lives, some need saving from sorrow, and others need saving from simple lack of joy because of empty lives. Some need saving because they are exiles.

         We need saving here too. We’re worried about our survival in the same way the Israelites were worried about surviving in exile. Jeremiah, though, was worried that people would fail to thrive if they kept looking back instead of looking forward into the future, even though they were in exile, thinking things would change.

 We are exiles too because we live in a society with a multiplicity of people and faiths. And here we are in exile, looking back, and waiting for things to change.

Jeremiah’s people didn’t want to be part of the community in exile because they were afraid of being changed by it. They wanted to go back to their homeland; to the way things were.

         Yet Jeremiah wasn’t having any of it. He told the people never mind that you’re in exile. He told them God said, “…seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord in its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare,”[1]

         Like Jeremiah’s people, it’s easier for us think about the way it was. It’s easier to sit inside and talk about what we might do to get more people inside. But, what if we went outside to get them inside?

         What would happen if we went outside? What would we do? What would it be like?

·      One thing we already do outside is Mobile Meals. An elderly recipient of Mobile Meals said to me, “I love it that you church people get outside to do things. Sometimes you’re the only people I see all week. Thank you for getting out.”

·      With Care Share, we can do the things we did with Angel Tree, and we have more opportunities for getting outside because we can help our Care Share families throughout the year.

What else might getting outside be like?

·      What if next year we partnered with a veterinary clinic or pet store and went there to bless the animals?

·      What if we offered to host a picnic for our subdivision neighbors on their property?

·      What if we continued to cooperate with the Boy Scouts and moved our Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper to a public place?

·      What if we asked a quilt or fabric store if they would host Pillowcase Day in their shop and invite their shoppers to join us?

Those are just a few things we could do to get outside the church instead of waiting and hoping people will find us.

What can you think of that you’d love the church to go outside and do? And what would you personally be willing to do to make it happen?

·      Take a minute and think about something we’ve never done before that you personally would love. Something that would get us outside the church in another location.

Got it? Okay. Let’s write down those ideas.

·      We put those pens at the end of each pew for a reason. Grab a pen and write your idea on the back of your bulletin

·       Write your name.

·      Write what part of getting outside you’d most want to do to make your idea a success. If you can’t get outside because of your physical condition, write down what you could do inside that would help us take what you’d love to do outside.

(Long pause for everyone to write.)

At the end of the service, as you go for your cup of coffee or leave for home or brunch, please hand me your bulletin with your idea. Be sure you’ve written what you would like us to do to get outside the church, and your name and what part of getting outside you personally would love to do most. The Vestry and I will be inspired by your ideas as we plan next year.

This is what Jeremiah had in mind. He wanted the Israelites to help the community they lived in thrive, even though they were in exile. If you look at active and growing churches, you will see churches that do far less for their own survival and far more for the survival of their community. Go outside and help the community thrive and the church will thrive. When the church gets outside, people start coming inside. AMEN.

The Rev Nicolette Papanek

©2016

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[1] Jeremiah 29:7 (NRSV)

Sermon 2 October 2016 Luke 17:5-10 Proper 22 Year C

Have you ever prayed to have more faith? Wished you had more faith? Or shrugged your shoulders and figured faith was either there or it wasn’t and there wasn’t much you could do about it?

         The disciples, I suspect, when they said to Jesus, “Increase our faith!” were worried about their faith because of what Jesus was teaching them. Jesus taught the disciples tough stuff. He told them to follow him they had to take up their cross. They heard him tell a man to sell all his possessions. And, last week weeek the Gospel was about the gulf between the rich and the poor. Earlier in this same chapter of Luke, Jesus told the disciples if someone sins against them seven times, they have to forgive many more times. No wonder the disciples thought they needed an extra shot of faith!

         Jesus doesn’t appear to help them much. Instead, he tells the disciples if they have faith no bigger than a mustard seed they can uproot trees and plant them in the sea. And furthermore, once they’ve done this, they don’t deserve thanks because they’ve just done what they were supposed to do.

The best way I can think of to illustrate what Jesus is saying is to tell you a real life story of how a mustard seed of faith in this congregation grew into a large plant, a plant that I’m sure will keep on growing.

Many of you know this story, but because like the disciples, we don’t think we’re doing anything big I think this brings the gospel into reality here, in this church.

We think we need more faith so we can do something big. We think how can a little thing matter to a grand and glorious God? What could possibly come from a little seed of faith?

How about this? From this small congregation, from a place where I’m willing to bet most of you think what you do doesn’t really matter much in the plans of our grand and glorious God, a mustard seed of faith did something really big. Besides, children have parents, so what role can the church really have except providing good Christian education? It’s difficult for parents in today’s world though: brutal work schedules, hustling to get kids to school and themselves off to work, and then all those other things that need to be done. Can a mustard seed of faith really help them? Can it really help their children?

A mustard seed of faith is all it took though. It was all your mustard seeds together that made this happen. This is a letter I received recently from a young member of this congregation who left this congregation to serve our nation. Here is what he asked me to tell all of you. “I am doing well and am getting closer to God here. We don’t have a lot of time for free time but I make the most of it. Tell the church that I love them all and I just want to thank all of you for helping raise me.”

         I’ll bet when you nurtured him and talked to him, fed him breakfast or pizza or snacks, you didn’t think it was a big deal. It was just a mustard seed, a tiny mustard seed of your faith. But this is what happens when you use that tiny mustard seed. And this is how all of the mustard seeds from each one of you combined into a pile of mustard seeds, enough seeds to help influence a young boy’s life and make him a faithful and loving Christian young man.

         There’s the answer to how you increase faith. Take the faith you have and plant a mustard seed. And do it not because of any threats of hell or promises of heaven, but because it is sheer joy to see the plants that grow from God’s tiny mustard seed planted in each one of us.

That’s what Jesus had in mind for the disciples and has in mind for us. And that’s what you did. You made it happen because you did what you ought to do. You were a slave to Christ with your mustard seed of faith, not expecting any thanks or any reward. That’s how you increased your faith and someone else’s faith, and that’s how you follow Jesus. AMEN.   

The Rev Nicolette Papanek

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©2016