3rd Sunday of Pentecost 2008
June 08, 2008
the Rev. Ken Kroohs
(Hosea 5:15-6:6; Psalm 33:1-12; Romans 4:13-25; Matthew 9:9-13 & 18-26)
WHAT DOES GOD WANT ?
St. Christopher’s,
MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU --- OUR STRENGTH AND OUR REDEEMER AMEN
One good way to study scripture is to place ourselves into the story. We can’t really do that completely but we can look at certain aspects. For example, given a choice which of these three people would you like to be?
First we have Matthew .. A tax collector. Most likely he came from a wealthy family since usually the person appointed tax collector was the person who gave the biggest bride to officials.
Second, we have the temple leader whose daughter has died. In desperation? In faith? He came to Jesus.
Third we have the woman who has been bleeding steadily for years. To touch Jesus or any man while in that condition is against the priestly laws.
If you HAD to be one of these three, which one would it be?
Let’s look at all three a little closer. That could change our decision. As I said Matthew probably came from a wealthy family. Furthermore he most likely was increasing that wealth as a tax collector. Jesus tells Matthew to follow me and he does. Most likely this is the same Matthew who is later called a disciple and even an apostle.
The temple leader may not have been in as strange a position as we assume. We read into this the much later general antagonism between Jews and Christians. At this point Jesus was simply one of many teachers although apparently He already had a reputation as a miracle worker.
Not absolutely certain but it appears he simply says “thank you very much” and disappears. We hear no further reference to him.
The woman is similar to the temple leader in that she approaches Jesus either out of desperation or faith. ... Haven’t we been in such a state of mind ourselves? .... Plus, she is not named and is never mentioned again. Most likely if she continued to follow Jesus she would have been referenced. So, probably, she too said “thank you very much” and disappears.
I find that fascinating. The man who got nothing from Jesus, and may have lost his position and power, that is the man who follows Jesus and stays with Jesus. The two people who get something from Jesus ... something marvelous ... something miraculous — they walk away from Jesus. Fascinating.
This is especially interesting in that what Jesus did was more amazing than we understand. Not only did He perform healings but He violated many of the religious laws to do so.
I have said before that we tend to see many of the Old Testament laws as pitiful, crazy, primitive rules. Most importantly we see them as arbitrary and wonder about a God who would institute such laws.
Before I say more let me stress that I believe we ... humans ... have failed to fully understand God’s teachings and have, on many occasions, turned those teachings upside down! Slavery is one obvious example.
If however, we go back to the original and true laws we can discover some interesting things. For example, the laws Jesus violated were against touching blood or any bloody thing, or a dead body, or anyone who has touched those things.
If you are in the medical profession you certainly have heard the term “universal precautions”. Well I can argue, with only a little exaggeration, that the earliest list of universal precautions was in the Biblical book of Leviticus! Remember I stressed how often humans have mis-understood and mis-applied God’s teachings. But more than a thousand years before we began to understand about germs and infections the Jews were told to avoid the opportunities to spread germs and infections.
Two thousand years before signs go up telling everyone to wash their hands following a certain pattern to avoid spreading germs and infections, the Jews are told to wash their hands following a certain pattern. The Jews did not know the REASON for some of these rules, but if we can stop ridiculing them we may just discover they make a lot of sense ... stressing once more time how easy it is to mis-understand them.
It is also not so astonishing or difficult to understand that the Jews were afraid to be together were certain people. We now know that behaviors do not “rub off” the other people ... although has not every parent been concerned about the “company my child keeps”?
Jesus does not avoid “those” people. He says these are exactly the people who need me. This probably resonated so fiercely with the general Jewish population because they understood that they were sinners. They knew they did not keep all God’s laws. They knew they failed. They knew that Jesus should probably avoid them. But instead Jesus said He came specifically to be with them – the sinners.
We should not laugh at those primitive Jews. They knew something we seldom internalize. They knew they were sinners. We can learn a lot from them.
Let’s turn back to our three people for a moment. Matthew followed Jesus, the other two apparently did not. What did Jesus want? What repayment or gift would God want in exchange for what Jesus did ?
This actually is one of the most frequently answered questions in scripture. Usually the question is not asked that clearly but the answer is given clearly. In our Hosea reading, which Jesus may have intentionally paraphrased, God says: “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Psalm 50 is even more direct: “I will take no bull calf from your stalls nor he goats out of your pens. ... Do you think I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?”
Our reaction to a healing: “Doc, you were great! Let me give you some tickets to the ball game!” .... Well actually our reaction usually is “that was your job doctor” but if we were appreciative we would offer some token. Consequently we might expect God to appreciate some token; a bull calf or he goat maybe. Or a check in the basket.
God’s response is “offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving” Jesus says God desires mercy, not sacrifice.
Jesus asks for our hearts, not our possessions. Of course if our hearts are with Jesus we will want to share our possessions but the heart comes first. When our heart is with Jesus our first response will be mercy.
To which most of us might respond: “OK, if my daughter was saved or my illness healed without modern medicine, than MAYBE”.
Ignoring the fact that modern medicine comes from God we need to take a moment and consider what God has given to us. .... Inhale, exhale — that breath is a gift from God. Our lives are a gift from God.
The things I do well ... what could be called talents ... are gifts from God. Make no mistake about it, we have a role to play. God’s gifts to us including our very lives are like diamonds – but the best diamond is worked. It is cut and polished to bring out its maximum value. That said the best diamond worker in the world cannot do much with sandstone.
Somewhere in the office renovations a little wall hanging got lost. It said: Our lives are God’s gift to us. What we do with them is our gift to God.
We need to polish our gift but without God’s gift to us we have nothing to polish.
AMEN
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