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The "Good" Enemy?

Scripture Text:  Luke 10:25-37 The parable that we read today is commonly referred to as the “Good Samaritan” سامری نیکو but what we often lose in this designation is the shock that this parable would present to Jesus’ audience. Because Jews and Samaritans were more than simply different tribes, they were enemies. Like many of the other parables we have heard, Jesus tells this one in response to something. In this case a scholar has asked him a question. The text says that a scholar of the law comes to Jesus “to test him.” We don’t know why he wants to test Jesus, but he asks what he must do to receive “eternal life.” In the question the scholar is thinking of “eternal life” as a commodity to be earned or bought, and he assumes he just needs to do the right thing to earn it. How often do we approach faith the same way? We try to figure out what exactly we need to do to please God. Maybe we think faith is simply about securing a place in paradise after we die? Or securing a
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What have you Lost?

Scripture Text: Luke 15 One of the challenges in reading Scripture is to set aside previous interpretations so that we can hear what the Spirit may be saying to us today. I found this especially challenging last week because I have heard and become accustomed to a certain way of interpreting these stories. But I was challenged through a book* I am using in my study of these texts to think of them in a new way. So let us consider these three stories together. The parables we read today are a group of three stories that share a common theme, something or someone has been lost. The context for these stories is that “tax collectors and sinners” are gathering around Jesus and this upsets the Pharisees. But who are these people exactly? Tax collectors were Jewish people who worked for the Roman government, often adding an extra surcharge to the taxes which they kept themselves. They were seen as traitors and extortioners. In the Gospels, “sinners” were people who were often weal
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Living in the Kingdom of God

Scripture Texts:  Matthew 13:31-32; Matthew 5:38-42 The last few Sundays we have heard parables describing the kingdom of God. And today we hear one more parable comparing the kingdom of God to a mustard seed that grows to be a huge tree with large branches that offers shelter to birds. Jesus talked a lot about the kingdom of God, and he used parables to describe it. But what exactly is the kingdom of God? Jesus has said what it is like and described it, but what is it and how do we live in this kingdom? At the Thursday Bible Study we had a discussion about how people often make comparisons between different ethnic groups on social media. And there is this idea that one ethnic group is better than others. Where does this come from? From a sociological perspective I think this is a remnant of tribalism. We naturally want to be in groups and community and so our ancestors formed different groups of tribes. Also we are naturally always comparing and assessing other groups so
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Treasure Hunting

Treasure Hunting, delivered October 1, 2017, Texts:  Matthew 13:45-46; Matthew 6:19-21 Treasure and pearls. Today’s parables may at first seem like a short version of old stories with the character searching and discovering great wealth. But like the parable of the yeast last week, though they are short, they are filled with insight if we sit long enough to hear. If you have heard these parables before then the other challenge is to set aside previous interpretations to see if there is something new to hear. Let’s look first at what the parables actually say. In the first parable it says a man finds treasure in a field and then sells all his property so that he can buy the field and keep the treasure. And the treasure is directly linked to the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew the kingdom of God is referred to as the kingdom of heaven, but these have the same meaning. The second parable describes a man who is a merchant searching for valuable pearls. But in his search he find
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A Little Yeast

I thought that as a way of understanding some of the issues our community faces and how we try to address these through our worship services I would upload the weekly sermon. By most standards these are short reflections because they are translated and therefore take twice as long to deliver. This is a series of sermons I will be giving on Parables of Jesus from the material in Amy Jill-Levine's book,  Short Stories by Jesus. Harper One, 2014. A Little Yeast, delivered September 24, 2017, Texts: Matthew 13:33-35; 16:5-12; Genesis 18 Yeast. This is the essential ingredient in bread that allows it to rise and grow. To transform from a tough dough to a light, delicious bread. The yeast we use now is a simple substance in a packet. But the yeast used in Jesus’ time would have been a substance of flour and water that was mixed and let to sit for a while. And before this was added to flour, part of it would be pulled out and set aside for future use. Jesus told a story des
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Independence Day Reflections

This is the first time in a few years we have been in the US for the 4th of July and this year I’ve been reflecting more about what independence and freedom mean. “Home of the free” is a common saying in our country, but what does it mean to be free? What does it mean to be free as a follower of Jesus Christ?  As a Christian I am formed by the Scriptures of the Bible and one of the passages that speaks of freedom is from Galatians 5:1, “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Growing up in the church I heard a lot about freedom in Christ, but most of this was around the idea of freedom from sin. It went something like this; Jesus died on the cross and in his death we have been set free from our sin. But over the years I have seen that this isn’t the whole story. This is a Western, individualistic interpretation of the gospel and the cross. In our work with migrants from Iran and Afghanistan almost all of them sp
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