Sermon for June 24

The reading

1 John 1:1-5  

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us  we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.  We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

The message

As we start our time with John’s first letter, I am going to share these opening verses as though they were written for us today, here in Woodside. For those of you have heard the Gospel of John (we just spent about 4 months on it). For those who read this book and it changed you, brought you to faith in our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, revealed to you the power of God in our world, welcome to fellowship and unity in mind and spirit with us. Some of you have heard John’s Gospel with its focus on Jesus 7 signs of power and 7 “I am” statements and started to think that Jesus was a spiritual being, that Jesus was not really quite human, not exactly the word made flesh and dwelling amongst us. For you, we are sharing these things, the full story so that our joy may be complete, we want you to know the truth as revealed to us. Words matter. What we believe and what we do are connected.

Each and every Sunday, we declare to you the good news shared by God with us since creation. We know these things from what we have heard in scripture and life, what we have seen in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and in what we have experienced. All of this is concerning the word of life, the good news of God’s redeeming love revealed through the birth, life, death, resurrection and the everlasting promises of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the word of God made flesh and dwelling amongst us.

I know it is almost always just me up here and I keep saying we.  That’s because this is God’s word and there are the teachers and other faithful people who have shaped what I say.  There were Sunday School teachers as a child, people like Mr. Anthony in 4^th grade who asked the class, what did Jesus say to the thieves crucified with him and I won a full sized candy bar (the top prize) for saying “I forgive you”. There were the priests I listened to as child, my mother who taught me my prayers and made sure my brother and I went to church. There were professors in a secular college and religious seminary who introduced me to different ideas and traditions. There were other pastors who gave me advice when I was starting out (and do now too). There are colleagues I meet with, people I call in times of trouble. 

There are people I talk with here in this community, whose faith and dedication can inspire another generation. There are the people of St James and St Matthews, as they face a long, complicated transition with faith hope and trust.  There are other places, outside of churches that I work for, where people’s personal faith, life and response to bad things teach me.  There are the commentaries and research I read, people faithfully working in this building, teaching in our school, inviting others in to play, to learn about Jesus.  

 

There is a whole group of people who faithfully built this place and generously maintain it. Some of them are our family ancestors. One of the amazing moments of the 150^th anniversary here was meeting  the family of the guy who made this plaster Lord’s supper that has sat in the center of this church for over a century, that is remembered by people from years ago.  They are part of we as well.  This building is here so that God’s word can be declared to those who know it well and those who have never heard it.  We are here to tell the story of God’s redeeming love.

We are all here to share these things with you. We are sharing them in many ways.  The giving of food in Elmhurst and Jamicia, the Thursday nights at the Pan am shelter, neighborhood clean ups, the support of the ELCA and Metro NY Syond through our giving and my work as dean, offering early education to our community, gathering for worship, walking with people through life passages and difficult times, saying you are in our prayers and doing it. 

Do not be complacent, be changed. This story is one of love, of welcome, of forgiveness, of God here with us and waiting for us.  It can be easily twisted for personal gain, misunderstood by good intentioned people, abused by power hungry sinners, used as a tool to deceive the faithful or combined with other things in faithless ways. The most recent example is the way our attorney general used Romans 13 to justify the policy of separating families on the border. These verses on obeying government, when taken alone would allow any free and fairly or unfairly elected government to justify anything.  This was written by Paul to throw the authorities off the scent of just how subversive and inclusive Christianity was (it was never meant to be taken at face value, how could Paul who explains and expresses the ultimate power of God in so many innovative and thoughtful ways give unchecked power to human government).  When taken in the larger context of Romans 13, the letter to the Romans and the whole story of God’s love, they mean something else. They are a call for us to hold leaders accountable to God’s law of love, to speak for the voiceless and participate lawfully in the world (as best we faithfully can). The word Government is only found in one or two translations (most other bibles say “powers of the world or something like that”  Of course Jeff Sessions is not the only person doing this with scripture, pastors do it, priests do it, I do it, people on the left and right, liberal and conservative all do it. (this just happens to be the big event this week)

 We must always check our work and ideas, asking does this point to God’s power and beautiful vision.  Are what we believe and what we do really connected.  We care about you, not just your comfort or material needs, we care that you know with certainty that God walks with you, that eternal life is yours with the father, that your sins are forgiven, that you are saved by grace through the faith given by our Lord Jesus Christ. . 

This is not a meeting of people who want to make our communities better, this is not a gym, This is a place of fellowship, We mentioned this word, fellowship at confirmation class and no one knew what it meant.  The students got a definition from their phones (which is like cheating) fellowship is something you experience, everyone here is loved by God.  Everyone here is with us in God’s care.  Everyone is deserving, saved by that same grace through the faith given by our Lord Jesus Christ.

  

In about 30 minutes I am going to run downstairs to lead the English worship for the church of grace to the Fujianese. This means a 45 minute plus sermon, no or few notes, with about 50 people from 5^th grade through college. The only thing we have in common is Jesus and that is enough  

Sermon for June 17

The readings (I was at another church this morning so I used the 4 readings)

Ezekiel

Thus says the Lord God: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar; I will set it out.

I will break off a tender one from the topmost of its young twigs; I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar. Under it every kind of bird will live; in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every kind. All the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord. I bring low the high tree, I make high the low tree; I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken; I will accomplish it.

Psalm 92:1-4,12-15   

It is a good thing to give thank to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, O Most High

to herald your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night;

on the psaltery, and on the lyre, and to the melody of the harp

For you have made me glad by your acts, O Lord; and I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.

The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.  Those who are planted in the house  of the Lord  shall flourish in the courts of our God; they shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be green and succulent;

that they may show how upright the Lord is, my rock, in whom there is no injustice.

 A reading from 2nd Corinthians.5:6-10 [11-13] 14-17

So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please the Lord. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.

For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 

 Mark 4:26  - 34

Jesus said, “The dominion of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, the sower does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once the sower goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”Jesus also said, “With what can we compare the dominion of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear  it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

The message  (I rearranged this as best I could to fit what I said at church)

There is the obvious meaning of today's Gospel, that a little faith can go a long way, that with God all things are possible.  I wanted to speak about something else though, concerning how we describe or share our faith, how we express God’s love, how we tell sin is real, forgiveness is real and live the Christian life.  First, there is what we say or talk about and second, is what words, experiences or stories we use. This is not easy work, people can struggle when it comes down to telling others Christ died and rose again for the forgiveness of their sins.  We often do not find the right words, figure it’s hopeless, we’re going to be rejected, don’t want to be offensive or get very shy.  I think our readings today speak to that work of sharing our joy.  

Lets start with what we say. In the scriptures, Jesus talks more about money than almost anything else. There are obviously economic parables like the story of the talents (a very large unit of money in ancient times). A harsh boss goes on a long trip and entrusts his money to 3 servants, the first 2 invest and make a profit with the talents.  Their innovation and work is celebrated. The 3^rd person is afraid of losing or making a mistake, so buries his talents and returns them unchanged. For this act of uncertainty, he is punished. The story shows we must use the gifts of God we are entrusted with. Then there is the  parable of the unfair boss. A vineyard owner goes out and hires workers early in the morning, at 9 am, noon, 3 pm, 6 pm and at the very end of the day. When the work is done, he pays each worker the same amount regardless of how many hours they worked. The ones who work all day are indignant and feel ripped off.  Those hired at the end of the day celebrate the boss’s generosity while the peope who worked hard all day in the heat complain. The boss simply tells his critics “you received what was promised, its my money and I can do what I want with it”.  This teaches us God is not fair, God does not give us what we deserve, God gives us more, is merciful, generous and forgiving.  Then we have Jesus chasing the money lenders out of the temple and teaching that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. We also have Jesus response to a trapping. trick question about paying taxes to Rome (Jesus asks the lawyer whose face is on the coin, Ceaser, well give to ceasar what is ceasars and to God what is Gods)

There is actually only one thing Jesus talks more about than money.  It’s the center of today’s reading from Mark, the kingdom or dominion of God.  It is so common, it is one of a handful of biblical greek words or phrases I remember from seminary. (baselia ton theon). There is a lot of debate and confusion over what exactly this refers to and if it’s the same thing as the kingdom of heaven.  A kingdom is a territory subject to a king. Today’s bible translation uses the word dominion because the kingdom of God is not a place.  The kingdom or dominion of God is something done to us, for us.   It is about God breaking into the world, God’s rule of our hearts, minds and world. It is here and not here. something we live in and something we wait for. We get glimpses of this kingdom when we share communion, life in faith, pray, hear your sins are forgiven, declare, Christ is Risen, he is risen indeed, Alleluia, offer help to someone because they are a child of God.  the kingdom is something started when the word was made flesh and dwelled with us, when mary said “the tomb is empty”, when the Holy Spirit entered the locked room on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came to Lydia in Phillipi, when the Holy Spirit assured Peter that the kingdom of God was for all people, even Macedonians.   

The kingdom of God simply means our loving God is in the world and cares for us.  The kingdom or dominion of God is what we talk about. Now we move on to what words do we use.  My call sermon at St Jacobus almost 9 years ago was on Christ the King.  I looked at the idea that king does not mean much to us. The last king we had was the king of England and we chased him out of here almost 250 years ago. I recently spoke to a Guyanese man, who said, just like here, Guyana used to be a British colony, which surprised me, despite all those US history classes.  Today, we have the burger king, the lemon ice king, the king of cheap cars, king of tires or king of appliance sales. We need bigger, better and bolder words to talk about God, words that people connect to and that message is what I want to share here     
   
We see how the prophets, the writer of the psalm, Jesus and Paul speak about God.  They talk about what is in front of them.  The prophet Ezekiel looks to nature to show what the people of God are like, the planting and care of trees, making of fruit and a home for every kind of bird will live; in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every kind.  For the Psalms, the ancient songs of praise, lament and worship, the people of God are like a tree, the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree and spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.  Jesus talks of seeds, planting and growth, tremendous life, an entire ecosystem in a small seed. (many of Jesus parables are about fishing or agriculture / farming).   Paul does not say a word about seeds, Cedars or Palm trees, there weren’t many in the metropolitan city of Corinth,  Paul talks the language of Corinth, Body and mind, dualism,  a common philosophy of the time. Ezekiel, the writer of the psalm, Jesus and Paul each try to share that the kingdom of God is real and here in the clearest way possible.   

The people Jesus tells the dominion (or kingdom) of God was like a mustard seed, they knew those little guys well.  We do not.  When my wife and I first met, she had a little charm that she would wear on a necklace. It was a mustard seed in a clear plastic.  It was the first time I had ever actually seen one. I had read / studied this parable many times, but I had never seen the actual seed. I remember being taught (wrongly) that it was the smallest seed (it’s not anymore)  and grew to be the biggest tree (it doesn’t).  Jesus parable of the mustard seed remains an invitation to see God in the world, to let faith live and work, grow, shape and create.  

Jesus talks about planting to farmers and fishing to fishermen, Paul talked about body and spirit to philosophers, Ezekiel and the psalmist talked great trees to people who saw them high in the sky everyday.  Today, we might talk about instagram posts, concrete, microchips, computer parts.  What this looks like, I think of the 9 year old son of one of the pastors who share our church in Woodside with us,  The very young man did a sermon on Church being like a router, it wasn’t necessary to be there, God’s grace works no matter how far away you are, but the closer to the source, the better the signal. Older people stared at him, missing the profound idea that the kingdom of God was like this little mysterious box that allows the internet, phones, email, tvs to work, at the heart of most communication today.  His friends and more tech savvy people understood it immediately and it stayed with them.  We are invited to do the same, to speak our faith, to experience the kingdom of God and remember God is in the world.

Sermon for June 10

The reading

Exodus 20:1 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The message

We are now in our third of four weeks with the 10 commandments. This will be my last time with this series here. Next week I will be covering at Grace Lutheran Church in Forest Hills so there will be another pastor here to lead our worship.  This morning, I wanted to look at what the 10 commandments might mean in the future.  So far we have looked at the 10 commandments in their original context and today.  2 weeks ago, I talked about the 10 commandments in their original context. To understand what the 10 commandments were for, we have to understand when and where they were given to the people.  They are rooted in the exodus experience of the people of Israel as they were released from slavery in Egypt, trying to survive and figure things out in the wilderness. This freedom was God’s work, an incredible interference with history, the world’s power and rules.  The 10 commandments (along with the 600 or so other laws given to the people) served religious and secular purposes, reminding people that they are loved and saved by God and helping to organize a fair, just and lawful society. The law set the people apart from other neighboring tribes, people and places. God at the center of the community.  The first 4, including you shall not have any other gods beside me and do not use the Lord’s name in vain govern our relationship with God. The other 6 commandments, ones like do not steal or do not covet / be jealous are concerned with the relationships between people.  Guiding those 2 things, our relationship with God and our relationship with other people are the main concerns of the law.  To follow them immerses someone in a world of peace, comfort and awareness that he or she is loved by God (and so is the person next to you) 

Last week, we looked at what the 10 commandments mean for today. I focused on Jesus, Paul and Martin Luther’s view of the 10 commandments / law. Jesus stresses the spiritual purpose of the law, to show and take people to God’s grace. Jesus is fine with healing on the Sabbath and picking grain to eat. These actions are seen as violations of the law but for Jesus healing points to God’s power and picking grain points to God’s sustaining presence, both obey the law as they lead people to God’s grace.   Jesus has little concern for enforcing the secular purposes of the law. For example under the law, a woman who is caught in adultery is to be stoned to death, instead, Jesus stops it, announces mercy and forgiveness, asking the crowd, whoever has no sin can cast the first stone.   A few years after Jesus death and resurrection, Paul starts another complicated relationship with the law.  For Paul, even basic and ancient requirements like circumcism do not need to be kept if they interfere with teaching and telling the good news of Jesus Christ, dead and risen for the forgiveness of sins, If the law is an obstacle to the good news, it must be removed.   We also looked at Martin Luther’s use of these laws in the Small and Large Catechsims, where they expose our sins, shows we cannot earn our own salvation and drives us to God’s grace.  Once we know we are saved by grace, then we celebrate and show God’s love in keeping the law.   There are no loopholes in God’s law, you are a sinner saved by grace.  For Jesus, Paul and Martin Luther, in each of these understandings of the law, the focus of the law shifts from an obsession with keeping the rules to revealing that you are loved by God.  In each case, knowing you are loved by God will truly lead to a law abiding life. (obedience comes from faith)   

With my last few minutes with the 10 commandments, I want to look at what they can mean for the future. I used to say 620 laws in the Old Testament like that was a lot. It’s really nothing.  Today, in the US, there are literally millions of pages of laws, rules and regulations that attempt to organize every aspect of life. There are 30-40,000 regulations on gun ownership, tens of thousands of pages of regulations on hiring and firing and a literally unknown number of banking rules.  A civil rights attorney wrote a book claiming that the average law abiding citizen unknowingly commits 3 felonies a day. He offers little evidence for this claim but it is certain we have a lot of laws and they are enforced.  Per capita we have more people in prison in the US than in any other country on earth, the break down of incarceration rates by race and income are shameful and in places prison is a for profit business that needs prisoners.   

Many of our laws are unknown, unclear and even contradict each other.  A few days ago, the Supreme court decided the case of a Christian baker who refused to make a cake for a gay wedding, The case centered around Colorado’s Anti-discrimination laws vs freedom of religion / first amendment rights.  The justices completely avoided the hard question “can a person be excused from obeying anti-discrimation laws on religious grounds”. That question was left at we don’t know.  Instead they decided in favor of the baker because Colorado acted in a way hostile to religion (the state commission had previously not convicted several other people for refusing to make cakes on non-religious grounds).  It was also decided that baking a cake was an act of speech / expression and protected by the first amendment.  2 dissenting judges said that Colorodo was not that hostile to religion (probably more concerned with future cases).   

Right across the street from us, PS 12 is dealing with an issue about voting regulations and school safety.  Here is an every growing number of people involved and city, state, and federal regulations that contradict each other.   There are Ethical issues with shareholders first and public good, Uber and Lyft, are subsidized by tax payers. (using the standard IRS deduction for mileage means driver pay little or no income tax, which is the only way they can afford to work this type of job and investors can make money).   There are ethical issues with technology, privacy, cyber bullying, access, addiction and science.   Slot machine developers, for years, the leaders in making addictive machines, are now turning to phone game makers for ideas.     

There is a whole industry of 10 commandments books and courses. The 10 commandments of buying a home, 10 commandments of investing, 10 commandments of brewing beer, 10 commandments of playing guitar, 10 commandments of  computer ethics, 10 commandments of applying to college, 10 commandments of flea market shopping, 10 commandments of swimming, the 10 commandments of virtually anything you can do.   The 10 commandments have become the 10 most important rules, 10 of millions of rules.  That matters in a world where figuring out what is lawful has become more and more complicated. We are dangerously close to people saying who cares, who needs more rules  There are changes in technology that no one ever imagined and uncertain or selective enforcement of rules.  There are rules about how every group understands every other group.  Add in a philosophy of moral relativism (that right and wrong is not definite, it matters based on when and where you are),  Is it lying to bluff in poker, the agreed to, known rules of the game, allow for lying,  how about in negotiating or for the greater good.

The 10 commandments are not the 10 most important rules.  Thinking of then in that way can be dangerous. We could be left thinking we did it when we have done little or nothing.  Instead, I think we should look at the 10 commandments as an invitation to live God centered lives. Its what Jesus does  Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”   37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  This was a trap, which leads to the parable of the good Samaritan and quieting all of Jesus critics.   The commandments speak to Who we are and what we do:  We are both sinners and children of our loving God, we are asked to see our neighbors the same way (not literally the people next to us, or like us, but Jesus big definition of neighbors).  That is our law. 

sermon for June 3

Exodus 20:1 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The message

Last week, I talked about the 10 commandments in their original context. To understand what the 10 commandments were for, we have to understand when and where they were given to the people.  They are rooted in the exodus experience of the people of Israel as they were released from slavery in Egypt and trying to survive and figure things out in the wilderness.  The 10 commandments (along with the 600 or so other laws given to the people) served religious and secular purposes, reminding people that they are loved and saved by God and helping to organize a fair, just and lawful society. The law set the people apart from other neighboring tribes and people and places God at the center of the community.  The first 4, including you shall not have any other gods beside me and do not use the Lord’s name in vain govern our relationship with God. The other 6 commandments, ones like do not steal or do not covet / be jealous are concerned with the relationships 

between people.

Now, we are going to look at what the 10 commandments mean for us today. I used to say that the 615 or so laws of the Old Testament were a lot.  In the US today, we have an estimated 30- 40,000 regulations on gun ownership, 100,000s of pages of regulations on banking, an incredible number of people in prison and a legal code so extensive and long, I doubt anyone has ever seen or read the whole thing. There is a long Jewish and Christian tradition dating back 1000s of years for interpreting and understanding what it means to follow each of God’s laws.  There are ancient Jewish commentaries on what is and is not permitted on the Sabbath (emergency work, saving a life),  how to honor your father and mother or what technology can and cannot be used.   In the new testament Jesus is often at odds with the religious authorities of the time. The authorites are very well versed in the how of keeping the law but not the why.  Jesus stresses the spiritual purpose of the law, to show and take people to God’s grace (Jesus is fine with healing on the Sabbath, picking grain to eat). Jesus has little concern for the secular purposes of the law ( under the law, the woman who is caught in adultery is to be stoned to death, instead, Jesus announces mercy and forgiveness, asking the crowd, whoever is without sin can cast the first stone).    A few years after Jesus death and resurrection, Paul starts another complicated relationship with the law.  For Paul, even basic and ancient requirements like circumcism do not need to be kept if they interfere with teaching and telling the good news of Jesus Christ, dead and risen for the forgiveness of sins,  If the law is an obstacle to the good news, it must be removed.  

One of the challenges with established laws that Jesus and Paul avoid is that you can justify anything. There are loopholes, tricks, and inefficiencies.  Following the letter of the law often does not lead to real obedience  Many of our legal systems around the world today fail. Innocent people are convicted, the guilty are free, there are huge disparages in incarceration rates that show our systems definitely see things like race, age and gender.   There are no loopholes in God’s grace, no tricks we can pull, all are sinners who fall short of the glory of God, all must find their salvation apart from good works. . 

To understand our faith tradition’s view, we start almost 500 years ago with Martin Luther and the Catechisms.  These pamphlets are the foundation of what Christians should know and believe, written by Luther in the years after the Reformation and widely distributed.  Luther created them after visiting churches all over the place.  Luther (and other visitors) all saw and reported the same thing, people in the pews and in many cases the pulpits had very little knowledge of scripture, theology or the meaning of their faith.   The small and large catechisms were written to address a general lack of knowledge amongst church goers and pastors.  In them, we see Luther’s attempt to define what it means to follow God’s law. The 10 commandments are the first part of these catechisms or teaching guides. Luther expands on and explains each one, for example  The Seventh Commandment.  You shall not steal.  What does this mean?--Answer.

We should fear and love God that we may not take our neighbor's money or property, nor get them by false ware or dealing, but help him to improve and protect his property and business [that his means are preserved and his condition is improved].

For Luther, to simply say the 7^th commandment meant you could not physically take something that you did not properly acquire was insufficient.  Luther expands what the 7^th commandment means so that it covers theft and lots of other things, like not helping your neighbor, buying things made in sweatshops or unfair conditions or not holding people accountable for their abuses.  Luther gives this treatment to each of the commandments, By the end of that section, people are left hopeless, chanceless, totally unable to actually fulfill the law.   For Luther, that is proof we cannot earn our salvation by good works or obedience to the law.  You cannot wiggle out of Luther’s 10 commandments, there are no loopholes, Our sinful, brokenness is exposed.  The remainder of the small Catechism drives us to the cross, to God’s saving work in the death and resurrection of Jesus.    

Since I was 7 or 8 years old, I always slept in the front bedroom, closest to the sidewalk and street and the loudest part of the house.   When I first moved into the parsonage, I naturally just set up in the front bedroom.   Now each spring, we start opening the windows to get some fresh air.  This also means I can hear the sounds of the neighborhood.  It’s not all children laughing and couples saying I love you, we hear fights, drug deals, bad drunks, and screaming.  Of course none of these things are new or spring and summer only events, we just realize they are happening because the windows are open and sound can travel.  From time to time, we will end up calling the police if it seems like someone is in danger.  In the same ways open windows expose what is happening on our supposedly quiet block, the 10 commandments expose our sins and drive us to inaction, to depend on God’s grace.