Archive for September, 2009
“Word for Today” – Luke 12 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
I know it’s obnoxiously expensive, but I splurge. I splurge on bottled water. Yes, I understand that I can purify my own water and fill my own bottle for pennies on the dollar to what I spend on bottled water, but this luxury’s convenience makes it worth the money. Granted, I will forgo my pricey bottled water and fill a glass of my own with water when I’m enjoying a leisurely evening supper, but in the morning when I’m racing out the door, the grab and go convenience of bottled water is too alluring for me to pass up.
One of the things which helps assuage my guilt over the price of bottled water is the cases in which I buy it. Most of the time, these cases contain twenty-four bottles. But every once in a while, the manufacturer, in an effort to keep folks like me buying their water, will offer a discount: A twenty-eight pack of water rather than a twenty-four pack for the same price. And just so I am sure to notice this enticing bargain, on the package will be proudly emblazoned: “Buy 24 and get 4 free!”
The promotion of buying one thing and getting something for free is a nearly ubiquitous fixture in our free market society. Hostess does it with its cupcake packages which periodically contain three, rather than the normal two, cupcakes. Old Navy does it with its clothing. If I buy one t-shirt, another awaits me for free. During the low-point of this recession, I even heard a commercial from a car dealer who promised that if you bought one truck, he’d give you another for free! Now that’s a bargain!
Although we may think the “buy one, get one free” gimmick is a comparatively recent phenomenon of American capitalism, its origins seem to be much more ancient. In our reading for today from Luke 12, Jesus speaks of the care of his heavenly Father using this analogy: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (verses 6-7). The word which Jesus uses for “pennies” is a Greek form of a Latin loanword: assarion. An assarion was the lowest valued Roman coin, being equal to about half-an-hour’s minimum wage. The sparrows which went five for two assaria were the cheapest things sold in the ancient market.
But wait. Something doesn’t quite add up here. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is again teaching on God’s care when he uses this same analogy of sparrows, but with a twist: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31). In Matthew, two sparrows are sold for a penny. That means in Luke, four sparrows should be sold for two pennies. But instead, Jesus says that five sparrows are sold for two pennies. It’s a cut-rate price for sparrows at the ancient Roman market! Buy four…get one free!
This, then, is the exquisiteness of God’s care: Not only does he care for the four sparrows which are valued at an already paltry two for a penny, he even cares for the fifth sparrow which is valued at absolutely nothing. What the world gives away for free is tremendously valued in God’s sight.
Perhaps today, you feel somewhat like a fifth sparrow – you feel undervalued if not unvalued. If this is you, take this promise to heart: Jesus cares for and about the fifth sparrow, even when that fifth sparrow is you. Of course, no matter how you might subjectively feel, in objective reality, you are worth much more than any sparrow and even many sparrows, as Jesus himself says: “Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (verse 7). And as the apostle Paul will later write: “You were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20). And this price was very steep indeed. For it was the price of God’s only Son. So take heart! You are valuable in God’s sight. Rejoice in your value today.
“Word for Today” – Luke 11 – www.concordialutheranchurch.com
My first Christmas as a pastor, I was living in Corpus Christi and was thrilled at the prospect of preaching at my first Christmas Eve candlelight service ever. I spent hours crafting my message, I carefully scoured the sanctuary’s Christmas decorations, making sure everything was in its place, and painstakingly proofread the service several times. The big evening came and with anxious expectancy, I arrived at the church two hours before the service was to begin. But then something completely unexpected happened. I glanced out the church windows and noticed our parking lot was turning white. “How can blacktop turn white?” I wondered to myself. So I walked outside to investigate further. That is when I discovered, falling from the sky, these little, white, crystallized flakes. In South Texas, I don’t think these flakes have an official name, but in other regions of the country, I hear they call them “snow.”
Unfortunately, because South Texas snow on Christmas Eve is a once-in-a-century phenomenon, our Christmas Eve worship attendance was abysmal. People either did not want to drive in what for them was a menacing white powder, or they took the opportunity to spend a white Christmas around the comfort of their living room fireplaces. The snow was indeed beautiful. But after all of my planning for our Christmas Eve service, the attendance was disappointing.
Apparently, Jesus wasn’t battling inclement weather in Luke 11. Attendance at Jesus’ church services was increasing exponentially. Luke 11:29 begins, “As the crowds increased…” That pretty much says it all. People were cramming into synagogues to hear Jesus preach. And Jesus does indeed preach. Addressing a packed house, he begins his sermon for the day: “This is a wicked generation” (verse 29).
Uh, maybe Jesus needs to go back to seminary and take a remedial preaching course. I was taught to begin a sermon on a slightly more upbeat note. But Jesus, even in front of one of his largest crowds yet, wastes no time cutting the hearts of his hearers: “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign” (verse 29). It seems as though with Jesus’ ever-increasing crowds came the crowds’ ever-increasing appetite for miraculous feats. But this crowd’s appetite was not a hungering for faith in Jesus as the Son of God; rather, it was a hungering for the cheap chills and thrills that miracles inevitably bring. But Jesus refuses to feed the crowd this kind of spiritual junk food. Jesus offers no miraculous thrill, but instead an ominous sign: “No sign will be given except the sign of Jonah” (verse 29). In Matthew’s account of this story, Jesus further explains his statement: “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). “I will die and be buried,” Jesus warns. “But I will only be dead for three days.”
One of the marks of a good sermon is that it moves people to do something. For instance, if a pastor preaches a sermon on reconciliation, one of his hopes might naturally be that his congregants will seek to reconcile their own broken relationships even as Christ reconciled us to God through Christ. Jesus’ sermon, then, which is not only a good, but a perfect, sermon, is meant to move his listeners to action, as Jesus himself says: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (verse 28). Sadly, the people listening on this day do not obey, but rather rebel: “When Jesus left, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say” (verses 53-54). Jesus’ sermon leads his listeners to action, but not to obedient action. Instead, it leads his listeners to persecute him. Indeed, his listeners eventually kill him and bury him for three days, according to the very miraculous sign he has just preached about. Thus, his persecutors become part of his sign.
Jesus still preaches. He still preaches through his Word. But Jesus doesn’t only preach so that we will passively soak in his message, he also preaches so that we will do something with his message – so that we will obey him. And happily, Jesus has given us plenty to obey. From loving our neighbors to helping the poor to comforting the bereaved to approaching God in prayer, there’s plenty to do today. I hope you’ll heed God’s voice and do it.
Pastor Zach's Blog 