Sermon of the Week
The Wrong Answer: Money on the Wrong Horse

A sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on April 14, 2019.

#pcusa

Keywords: Palm Sunday, Theodicy, Suffering, God With Us,

Scripture readings (which you may wish to read prior):
Psalm 118: 1-4, 19-29
and Luke 19:28-40

Welcome to Holy Week.

Every year we prepare for Easter
with a retelling of Jesus’ entering Jerusalem,
that great city.

The details differ in the various gospels,
and if you’re familiar with Palm Sunday
and have heard the stories before,
you may have noticed that Luke’s take on Jesus’ triumphant entry
is somewhat stripped of things that we might otherwise expect:

Here, there is no donkey. Luke says there’s a colt, which is a young horse.
There’s no crowd shouting Hosanna!
There aren’t even any palms, at least not in Luke’s account;
you have to go to the Gospel of John for those.

Things are a bit different for Luke.

There comes Jesus, entering the city on what should be a wild horse
one that has never been ridden before,
but somehow, Jesus is measured, and in control.

The observers lay down their cloaks on the road.
That’s a sign of respect, adoration,
reserved for the King or his agent.
The undertones are obvious to everyone.
People start singing, drawing from the Psalm we just read
Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord…

But Luke seems to be offering a somewhat muted description
of Jesus’ long awaited entry into the holy city,
perhaps so as to not overshadow the events of the week to come.

No shouts calling for salvation.
No pesky branches all over the road
for the sanitation workers to haul away.

Luke knows that the events of the coming week
are important for us to attend to,
so better, maybe, not to put too much into this parade.

This will be a week of incredible SUFFERING for Jesus:
First rejection,
then the betrayal by his disciples,
then trial and beating,
and finally… the cross.

A week of incredible SUFFERING.

///
It may not be a bad idea, then,
when we gaze upon what is going to happen to Jesus this week
for us to ask ourselves what that means for our own suffering….

Suffering is a particularly painful subject for believers and nonbelievers alike.
But the issues are different for the nonbeliever.

For instance, to whom is the unbeliever’s question:
“Why did this happen to me?” addressed?

If you don’t believe in a God who creates, sustains, orders, and heals,
then why on earth would you even ask?

To whom would you ask, “Why?”

It’s painful to ask that question to an empty universe,
and to hear no answer, no EASTER, in response.

But for believers—whether yer rock solid most days
or, like the rest of us, you have your ups and your downs
for those who affirm that God is something real in our lives…
Suffering is a somewhat different matter, all together.

In our times of inevitable suffering,
in the parade of pain that is the evening news,
or at the clinic
or sitting next to our broken friend
believers sometimes, maybe often, ask:
“Why, God, did this happen?
Not just WHY. But: “Why, God?” [Read more…]

Sermon of the Week
The Wrong Answer: Not Dropping It All

A sermon preached at The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on April 7, 2019.

#pcusa

Keywords: Poor Always With You, Judas, Devotion, Perfume.

Scripture readings (which you may wish to read prior):
Philippians 3:4b-11
and John 12:1-11

Fred Craddock was a preacher and a professor of preaching.

He mainly told stories, which is hard enough to do
and particularly so when you are trying to convey the message of the Gospel,

But he had a knack for it.

He once reflected about his work in the church
and particularly the first church he ever served as a student pastor.

They had a fund called The Emergency Fund and it had about $100 in it.

“They told me I could use it at my discretion,
provided I dispensed the money according to the conditions.

So I said, ‘What are the conditions?”

The chairman of the committee said,
“You are not to give the money
to anyone who is in need as a result of laziness, drunkenness, or poor management.’

I said, ‘Well, what else is there?’
Far as I know, Craddock said, as the thought about it,
Far as I know, they still have that money….[i]

///
I’m not sure why I remembered that story
when I started thinking about this encounter
that Jesus had with Mary and Martha and Lazarus and Judas.

I think it is because of the way in which we go about trying to do our work together,
sharing our resources, but protecting ourselves just so,
our intentions and our dispositions and our caution,
so as to sometimes totally miss the point.

If you ask me, that’s what I think is going on here,
in this story from the Gospel according to John.

Mary’s gift to Jesus created quite a stir.
Her action was controversial, yes sir. No doubt about it.

She poured over Jesus a whole pound of expensive ointment,
leading onlookers to protest,
“What a waste!
She could have sold it and given the money to the poor.”

Mary used A LOT of the perfume, so much that the aroma filled the room.
Expensive perfume—maybe Mary’s lifetime supply.

Nard came from India.
That’s the close outlet.

Even more of it was grown in China, even further away.
It was hard to get, and when you could, it was crazy expensive.
So you used it sparingly, carefully,
to anoint the dead body of a loved one,
maybe to sprinkle a few drops on yourself for a very special occasion.

You did not pour it out.

It may have been the most valuable thing Mary had in her possession.
No wonder it was shocking.

///
You can find this episode,
with key details adjusted here and there
in a few of the other gospels,
and in each of them, the room was astonished at what is going on.

Flabergasted. [Read more…]