Making Sure the Math is Right, Luke 14:25-33

Posted on September 6, 2022 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon delivered on September 4, 2022, by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley

Both of today’s biblical readings deal with making choices. In Deuteronomy 30, Moses is instructing the Hebrews that life with God requires them to make a conscious choice each and every day to follow God. Moses declares, “Now choose life, to that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him.”[1] Choosing life was not just saying you would do so, for the Hebrews it meant actively shaping their life around fulfilling the Law shared by Moses. Choosing was never meant to be a passive activity where you sit back in your chair looking at a bunch of options and saying, “I like that one!” Choosing life meant that a person actively demonstrated their choice by the way they lived. What makes the Hebrews stand out in the ancient world is that they actively lived their faith out demonstrating certain ethics and behavior based upon their belief in a liberating God.

Luke precedes our Story today with Jesus telling a parable about a great banquet. A man throws this huge blowout of a party with food and drink and tells his servants to take the guest list and personally invite all his closest, chosen friends to come; one after the other kept making lame excuses as to why they couldn’t attend. This incensed the master of the house and he tells his servants, “Forget the guest list and those ingrates. Go out into the streets and bring the nobodies of the community to my banquet.” He commands his servants to go out into the country lanes and byways and compel people to come to his party. As for the originally invited guests who may change their mind and want to come once they see how extravagant the banquet they will be told, “No, you will not take part in the master’s party.”

Luke 14:25-33 is Jesus’ call to all his fellow Jews, i.e., the ones who have been consciously invited to the banquet, to come and follow him. It’s Jesus’ ‘choose life’ declaration to his contemporary Jewish people. Jesus’ invitation to discipleship is definitely his way of telling his people to choose life but it comes across much harsher than Moses’s words and has a bite to it. Listen out for the three times Jesus declares ‘you cannot be my disciple if…” Hear the Word of the Lord!

Luke 14:25-33

 25 Now large crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So, therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.[2]

So, let’s get this straight. Jesus is telling us that in order to be his disciple we must 1) hate those we love the most, 2) carry a cross, a terrifying reminder of a brutal death, and 3) get rid of all we own. And while we are at it, we are to sit down and do the math to calculate and seriously consider whether or not we have the resources required to be a disciple. Did Jesus really just say that?

The challenge many people have today is that they don’t read the Bible very well. We tend to read the news and other books with the awareness that the author uses certain forms of communication and speech to get their point across.

We know, for example, that when we go to a restaurant that proudly declares on its door, “Home of the World’s Greatest Hamburger!” Is simply an exaggeration that their burgers are really, really good and we need to try them. Or it’s like a car dealership that declares, “We’ve got the best prices in the state and give you the no haggle promise!”  Right. Anyone who has bought a car knows that’s just a giant fish tale! The dealership will always try to add and tack on some extra something to get the cost up. Each of us knows that every car dealership cannot have the best price in the state, and we sure know there will be haggling of some sort.

Out in the world, we are aware of the use of hyperbole, i.e., the art of telling something that is so awfully exaggerated we know it’s not meant to be taken as literally but is simply a form of expression that goes to the extreme at making a point.[3] We read stories, articles, and books and can pick up the use of hyperbole, the use of sarcasm, as well as similes, and metaphors. What many fail to do, sadly, is take those common, everyday critical reading skills and apply them to the Bible.

Is Jesus telling us to really hate our moms and dads, sisters and brothers, and old grandma we affectionately call, Nana? Of course, not; Jesus is using the rhetorical device of hyperbole. He is exaggerating to the point of being absurd to get the point across that becoming his disciple means putting him first and above all else in our life. The Jewish life is built around the family and its roots in the community and was your key to survival; if all the members of your family were dead, you were adopted by another relative to be a part of their family community. Methodist pastor, Mark Ralls, reminds us, “The point is not how we relate to members of our family, but how we respond to the call of God. A uniquely challenging divine call invites an unqualified human response.”[4]  Jesus simply asks that we reflect upon our most dear relationships and understand that we are to love and commit to him even more.

This leads to the second demand in our short text. Does he literally expect you and me to go fashion a cross and carry it around our back? Of course not. Once again, Jesus is using hyperbole. He’s not only giving us a glimpse as to what is about to happen to him; it’s Jesus’ way of saying death is a part of discipleship and must occur in our lives. Death to unhealthy attitudes that tear down relationships rather than building them up. The death of partisan morals, and ethics and reclaiming of biblical ones. The death of our own ego and self so that Spirit can fully direct our lives. There has to be death before there is resurrection. We must endure Good Friday before we can celebrate Easter.

At this point, Jesus provides two quick comments about doing the correct math in assessing if we truly have what it takes to follow through on our commitment to him. Referring to the house building and attacking an opposing army are two abrupt reminders of counting the cost before starting out. 

For us, it means we reflect upon such questions, “Have I thought about the lifestyle I have and how that will change when I accept Christ?” “Have I thought about what this means to my family if one day I come in and tell them, “I love you, but I love Jesus even more?”  “Have I computed how my discipleship impacts the way I use my money and material things?”  “Have I thought about how my life walking with Christ will impact where and how I work and conduct business at the office?” Jesus is hammering the point home, “That before you get on the road with me, you better do the math! You better count the cost.”

The third demand in our text is that after we count the cost of following Jesus, we must give up our possessions. Not some of them or a few of them; Jesus demands that we give up all of them. Is he asking us to go liquidate all our assets before we can be his disciple? Of course not. He is demanding, however, that we place God above everything else in our life. We are declaring him Lord of not only our life but all that is contained in our life. That means cars, boats, second homes, investment accounts, pots, pans, electronics, businesses — whatever we possess must be held loosely and given over to God; we are to remember that all we have is on loan from God and is not ours, to begin with. Jesus is telling us we cannot hold his hand if we are clutching our stuff.

Beloved, Jesus is asking us to do the math and count the cost of following him; he uses hyperbole to get the point across. He is telling you and me that our faith is not first and foremost a mental assent to believe in him; no, today Jesus is telling us that being his disciple means we daily are to emulate and join in the way he lived his own life. Jesus loved God more than his own mother, father, and siblings. Jesus literally carried the Cross where he demonstrated how much he loved us. Jesus had no possessions of his own which enabled him to travel light and allowed him to focus on the relationships with his Father and the people he encountered. John Burgess writes, “The disciple must leave everything behind. One enters into a new life that breaks decisively with what one has been before.” He goes on to quote Dietrich Bonhoeffer who spoke of “costly grace” and says, “It is costly because it costs people their lives; it is grace because it thereby makes them live.”[5]

What I want us to do today or sometime this week is reflect upon how we personally respond to the demands Jesus makes of us from today’s Story in Luke. Does our Christian walk demonstrate convenient, cheap-graced love for Jesus, or does it reflect a holy life that cost us something? Let’s each identify one simple way we can live a life of discipleship that really costs us something. What say, you? Amen! 

© 2022 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL. 33301.  Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] Deuteronomy 30:19-20a.

[2] New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[3] “Hyperbole is the opposite of understatement. It is a bold exaggeration used for dramatic effect. If you are an outsider unfamiliar with the linguistic rules of the game, it can be infuriating.” See,  Feasting on the Gospels–Luke, Volume 2: A Feasting on the Word Commentary by Cynthia A. Jarvis, E. Elizabeth Johnson https://a.co/1sXJjRT.

[4] See Feasting on the Gospels–Luke, Volume 2: A Feasting on the Word Commentary by Cynthia A. Jarvis, E. Elizabeth Johnson, https://a.co/cWjXOdT.

[5]John Burgess, Feasting on the Gospels–Luke, Volume 2: A Feasting on the Word Commentary by Cynthia A. Jarvis, E. Elizabeth Johnson. See https://a.co/9qUfrjw.

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The Tables are Turned, Luke 12:32-40

Posted on August 10, 2022 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon preached on August 7, 2022, by Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min.

The entirety of the twelfth chapter of Luke has Jesus speaking to a crowd of many thousands[1]. The primary overall focus of the chapter is God is coming soon and the people had best be prepared. Hear the Word of the Lord!

Luke 12:32-40

32“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 35“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.38If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. 39“But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”[2]

Last Sunday, we heard Jesus teach about how we are not store up treasures on earth but instead store up treasures in heaven and live lives rich towards God. Today, Jesus answers the question of how we are to do that and shares with us what happens when we do. He does this by using one Story and two parables.

Let’s first look at the Story.

In Zen Buddhism, there is a technique to train new disciples. The master asks the student to answer a question or address a paradoxical statement that does not appear to make apparent sense. It’s called a koan. The koan is used to force the disciple to look at an issue from a totally new perspective by making a statement or question appear nonsensical with no rational answer. Its purpose is to challenge the disciple’s assumptions on an issue, and when done correctly, the koan leads to greater enlightenment. Here are a few examples.

Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the sound of one hand?’

The teacher asks the student, “Without speaking, without silence, how can you express the truth?” The student replies, “I always remember springtime in southern China. The birds sing among innumerable kinds of fragrant flowers.[3]

In verses 32 – 34, we note that Jesus is speaking using a koan-ish type statement. It doesn’t seem to make sense on the face of it and pushes members in the crowd to wrestle with what they think Jesus means. Jesus first starts with an imperative, “Do not be afraid, little flock” but then he tells the little flock to sell what they have and give the proceeds to the poor and destitute. Paradoxically, when they do, they get new purses with an inexhaustible treasure in heaven. The disciple may then ask Jesus, “you tell me not to be afraid, but we’ve sold what we have and have given the money away to the poor only to find that we are now financially poor ourselves. And what’s this about us providing a purse that doesn’t wear out? What’s to put into it if I’ve liquidated all my assets?”

These types of responses reflect a disciple’s first-level thinking. First-level thinking is when we take things at their face and literal value. It’s also called binary thinking in that a person sees something in this way, or, they see it that way. It’s either/or thinking.[4] Jesus uses these odd stories and parables to push his disciples out of first-level, binary thinking of this/that and either/or. The koan-like Stories and parables require the student to dig deeper into the meaning that is at first glance hidden. Thankfully, Jesus provides them, and us, a lifeline to understanding it when he says, “For where you treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The meaning of this loaded instruction is this:

There’s no need for any fear. Trust me on this. Attend to the needs of those who are worse off than yourself and be God’s hands in caring for the ones the world will not. You won’t be filling a literal purse with money but that purse of yours, your heart will be stuffed with the blessings of God in heaven. Why? Because God sees what is truly important in your life and that’s simply loving others as God loves you.

Jesus follows this teaching with two brief parables. The first one reinforces the koan Jesus just shared and then he describes how God actually practices what God preaches. And both of the parables deal with anticipation and readiness.

Verses 35 – 38 paint a picture of the need for readiness in our lives to meet God face-to-face. But there’s a twist to it. The servants are waiting for the lord of the estate to come home from a wedding banquet. Wedding ceremonies and celebrations in those times could often last a weeklong. Consequently, the servants had no idea when the lord of the estate was coming back so they were to be in a state of vigilance and be prepared to celebrate the lord’s return home at any moment. 

This parable, like others in Luke 12, seems to allude to what we call, “the second coming of Christ.” God’s coming and each of us will have to give an accounting for our lives at Judgement, so we better be ready!

So often, American evangelicalism has painted Christ’s coming in a dour, violent way. Often portrayed through turn-or-burn theology, i.e., get your life right or you’re going to hell if you are not ready for Judgment time! We see the second advent of Jesus as a scary thing, an event we are to fear and be ready for or else! But in our parable today, I can see that with a glint in his eye and a smirk on his face, Jesus gives the parable a subtle twist. Did you catch it?

The lord of the estate has been celebrating a wedding, perhaps his own. The servants are back on the estate taking care of everything so when the lord of the estate comes back, everything will be ready to give him a rousing welcome home party whether it’s during the day or even it the lord of the estate comes in the middle of the night. And what happens when the lord returns home? His servants provide him with a banquet.

No, actually, they don’t.

The twist is that the lord of the estate comes home and serves the servants. The Master arrives and finds his servants eagerly waiting for him, and so to repay them for their eager preparedness as they awaited his homecoming, the lord of the estate tells the servants to go wash and then sit at the table while he, the lord of the estate, changes clothes and then comes and serves the servants a banquet! Jesus then follows this up with a parable about being alert and ready for burglars so as to reinforce what he just taught in the first parable.

 Beloved, do you hear the Good News and grace in those parables? Jesus is saying that at the culmination of time when we all face the Lord, our being prepared for his return in the way we love the least of these in our midst will result in Jesus telling us to sit down while he prepares and serves us a banquet! The tables are turned. Instead of our throwing a party for the master, the master out of sheer joy that his disciples are doing what they are supposed to be doing, throws the disciples a party instead! What a plot twist!

In essence, our Lord’s Supper is a living diorama of this story and parables. Jesus sold everything in his life and gave it to the poor. He supported the poor with the very giving of his life so that the destitute can live. He wants us to have the same attitude. We are to empty ourselves of ourselves and throw our energy into loving others in our community. We are to give ourselves so others can live. This is how we show Jesus we ‘get’ what he’s talking about. Our hearts invested in the love of our neighbor shows where our true treasure is. The result? Jesus Christ throws a banquet for us, and as our host, he gladly serves us around this table. Why? Because we prepared for his arrival. Because we invested our lives into what matters – others. It’s when we invest our lives in others that we then in turn demonstrate we are rich toward God.

So, my friends, Jesus tells us three stories and then he lived those Stories out in his own life. Jesus practices what he preaches. He asks you and me to do the same.  This meal is our way of being celebrated by God but it’s also s time we celebrate the Lord.  In the name of the One who is, was, and shall evermore be. Amen.

© 2022 Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 33301, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission.   All rights reserved.

[1] Luke 12:1.

[2]New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

[3] See https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/what-is-a-koan/

[4] Richard Rohr, The Naked Now. Learning to See as the Mystics See (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2009), 32.

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Let’s Pause and Take a Look at the Familiar, Luke 11:1-13.

Posted on July 25, 2022 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon preached on July 24, 2022, by Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley

Before I launch into the sermon, I want to try an experiment. Humor me and say together the Lord’s Prayer out loud…

Did you hear it? The prayer moves along in a ta-da, ta-da, tada, ta-da, daaaa. You ended it on the downbeat. Beloved, when the early church began using this prayer as a way of codifying its Christian identity, it added to it a doxology – “To Thine be the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever, Amen!” Friends, dosxologies don’t end on a down-note, a down-beat. Doxologies are a form praise. Instead of rattling the prayer off by rote and ending it on a downbeat, each word of the Lord’s prayer is to be said as though you and I were telling it to Jesus face-to-face. It ends with a crescendo of praise, “TO THINE IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER, AND THE GLORY, AMEN!!” The prayer Jesus taught his friends ends on an up-note, an upbeat.

It’s my contention that we approach this wonderful prayer as well as many aspects of our spiritual life out of a sense of rote. We simply go through the motions. The prayer, the liturgy, has become too familiar to us and over time it’s lost its meaning and power. So today, we are going to slow down and pause. We are going to look at the familiar once more and see if can recapture the power of prayer.

This morning we are looking at Luke 11:1-13. Immediately following last week’s reading of Martha and today, we find Jesus at prayer.

Prayer is an important topic for Luke, and we find Jesus and others in prayer often woven through both Luke and Acts. Luke opens his Story with Zechariah praying in the Temple when an angel tells him his post-menopausal wife is going to give birth to a little boy and Luke’s gospel ends with the disciples gathering at the Temple together in worship and prayer following the resurrection. Prayer is vital for Luke. Listen to the Word of the Lord!

Luke 11:1-13

11.1 He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

 5And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

9“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” [1]

The disciples ask Jesus a reasonable question: How are we to pray? It was not uncommon for students of prominent rabbis and teachers to learn “the method” of prayer their teacher proscribed. John the Baptist has told his disciples how to pray and now Jesus’ disciples want to know what their teacher says about it. They personally witness that prayer is important to Jesus because we find Jesus in Luke’s Story praying all the time whether over people he meets, in the Garden when he was betrayed, and a prayer were the last words he uttered before he died on the Cross. Prayer was central to Jesus as much his breathing in the air. [2]

“Lord, teach us to prayer, just as John taught his disciples.” What does Jesus’ teach them, teach us, about how to pray? Jesus teaches us prayer is simple, prayer is trinitarian in its expression, and prayer is persistent.

Jesus teaches us prayer is simple. So many people have a hard time praying out loud; they become self-conscious and worry they’re doing it wrong. The great news is this: There’s no wrong way of doing it! If we understand that our prayers are simply our way of invoking and sitting in God’s presence, then we realize prayer is really uncomplicated. Hear that again: Prayer is simply asking God to sit in the Lord’s presence with everything we bring with us and with everything we are.

In my first church out of seminary, there was an old saint of the congregation named Mary England.  She was in her 80’s but no one could keep up with her. Her nickname was “Flash.” One Sunday after church, Flash pulled me aside. Smiling that sweet, soft smile of hers, she told me, “Preacher, you’re new at this and let me give you a word of advice: Stand up to be seen; speak out to be heard; and sit down to be appreciated.” She patted my chest with her right hand and walked off.  It was the wisest preaching advice I ever had received! In essence, this is what Jesus is telling us – when you pray, keep it simple and to the point.

When we pray, Jesus is telling us to boldly approach the Creator of all that is, was, and ever shall be with an intimate, “Daddy, in heaven…” When he tells us to pray to the Father, he’s telling us the recipient of our prayers loves us deeply as a parent loves their child. When we approach God this way, it’s just like a preschooler who inquisitively asks, “Momma, why is such and such.” Jesus is showing us how to bring God down to our intimate level. We simply pray with the trust of a child that God bends down to listen intently to what we have to say when we open our mouth and hearts in prayer.

In this simplicity, we pray for the basics: Food; forgiveness; and boundaries. His simple prayer is to beseech God for just what we need to get by because by doing so, we personally demonstrate our trust that God will provide the rest. A simple prayer is an expression of the depth to our faith; we know that when gives us what we need, that ultimately it will lead to God’s abundant blessings.

So our prayers are to be simple, but Jesus secondly indicates our prayers should have a trinitarian shape to them. Our prayers include God, ourselves, and they also include our neighbor. Prayer is not a binary exchange between just me and God. Prayer seeks to include God, those around me, and how I relate relate with those about me. Individually, we ask for the basics (give us our daily bread) but we also plead for reconciliation with God and with our neighbor (forgive us our sins as we forgive those indebted to us). The whole notion of ‘shalom’ or peace-fullness is when all is in balance. We experience shalom when we are personally right with the Lord but also when we are right with our neighbor.

When Jesus tells us to forgive debts, his Jewish audience hear the words from Leviticus 25 when Moses talks about the Jubilee year. The Jubilee year occurred every fifty years and it was a time Hebrew society was brought back to balance. All debts were wiped clean. If your family got in a bind and had to give your property away to pay a debt, at Jubilee your property came back to you. If you had an indentured servant, at Jubilee the person was released from their service to you and could return to their family. All debts were cancelled. All debts were wiped clean. Jubilee was a societal re-boot button.

When our debts are forgiven, our personal relationship with God is brought back into balance.  In turn, you and I are told to seek out the one next to us and bring about balance in that relationship as well. As God forgives you and me through Jesus’ work on the Cross, so we are to follow Jesus’ example and forgive those who we have wronged or who have wronged us. Simple prayer is about you, me, and God – all three.

Finally, we learn our prayer are to be persistent. We are to ask, to seek, and to knock on God’s door. We are to have the expectation that when we call out for help, God will respond to us and provide our needs just as a parent loves and responds to their child. Ask, seek, and knock! We are to be persistent. The parable about the person banging on his neighbor’s door at midnight is telling us that God knows what we need, and God will provide it.

You see, everyone who lived in Jesus’ time knew the importance of hospitality to the stranger. If a guest came to your home, it was your duty and responsibility to drop everything and tend to their needs regardless of the inconvenience it brings you. The point of the parable is that as his door was getting pounded on, the grumpy guy in bed was of course expected to help his neighbor entertain his guest. If you failed to show hospitality, it brought dishonor not only to your home but to your entire village. The parable is telling us, “Of course God will tend to your persistence because that’s what is expected.”

“Well, this is all good preacher, but what if I pray simply to our Lord, pray for balance and restored relationship with God and with those around me, and what if I pray persistently but all my prayers appear to go unanswered?”

Fair question. I would say that our perceived unanswered prayers reveal more about us than they do about God’s lack of attention to detail. Remember how we said earlier prayer is asking God to simply to come and sit in the His presence bringing everything we are and have. I surmise that our apparent unanswered prayers are being answered but we must continue in faithfulness to keep looking for answers to questions we may not yet know we are looking for. When God’s answers seem silent, then it’s our task to delve spiritually deeper into ourselves and look for the answers and maybe even new questions. Not hearing God’s answers to our prayers is an invitation for us to deepen our spiritual depth.

Beloved, this week, let’s all pause and take a good, long look at the familiar, i.e., how we pray. It’s all so simple. It’s all so trinitarian in its perichoretic dance about you, me, and God. It’s all so persistent with asking, seeking, and knocking. And don’t forget, to see and embrace answered prayer requires our hard, spiritual work. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

© 2022 Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min., Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL. 33301.  Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] See Allan J. Culpepper in Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship: Year C, Volume 3, Season after Pentecost by Thomas G. Long https://a.co/31pV3Ix.

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A Crash Course in Spiritual Formation, Amos 8:1-13

Posted on July 19, 2022 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon delivered by Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley on July 17, 2022

The lectionary readings this week provided two very different types of reading for us this morning. On one hand, there is the well-known text of Martha and Mary entertaining Jesus as their house guest. On the other hand, we also have a difficult somewhat hard to hear diatribe from a southern upstart preacher from Judah who was told to travel north to the country of Israel and have a good, old-fashioned “come- to-Jesus meeting” with the folks there. It would have been easy to look at the Martha and Mary text and have a message on what the picture of true discipleship is like as Mary sat as a student at the feet of the great rabbi. Spirit pushed me towards the more meddlesome Amos text.

Amos was a shepherd and groundskeeper turned prophet. A prophet’s prophetic message does one of three things. The message tells of what is happening in the future. The message serves as a reminder to the people what truth really is. Finally, sometimes it’s both.  Today’s text is both. Amos is describing events of Israel’s coming exile as well as exposing the hard truth the people of God are totally missing the point of what it means to be the people of God. Amos’ prophetic message is both truth-telling and future-telling.

As we listen to the scripture, it’s important to remember Amos is using the literary device of hyperbole. Hyperbole is speech that grossly exaggerates the details of a story to make a simple point people will remember. Listen to the Word of the Lord and see if you can determine the point he’s trying to make.

Amos 8:1-12

            8.1This is what the Lord God showed me—a basket of summer fruit. 2He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, The end has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by. 3The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” says the Lord God; “the dead bodies shall be many, cast out in every place. Be silent!”

            4Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, 5saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, 6buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” 7The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. 8Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who lives in it, and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? 9On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. 10I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.

            11The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. 12They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.[1]

So, the truth Amos is preaching is that the people of Israel have lost their spiritual/ethical way; they practice Sabbath, which is good, but they sit in church and scheme of ways to exploit and take advantage of their neighbor once church lets out. Yet, Amos is also forecasting what is going to happen in the future because the people have tossed the word of God behind their back like trash and are living a faithful life as an Israelite without any moral or ethical substance. The result is the nation is going to be destroyed and taken into exile.

In essence, our Story this morning is a story of the integrity of one’s character. Integrity is when our inner world of spirituality, morals, and social ethics are consistent with our outward expressions of that spirituality, those morals, and our social ethics to those around us. When our inner, deeply held values match our outward expression of those values, then a person acts with integrity. The lack of integrity is when one’s professed values and beliefs don’t match their outward expression or behavior. Amos is railing at the people that they have lost their integrity. They may gather together for Sabbath and go through the routines of worship but when they leave to go home, they leave all sense of moral ethics back in the pew at church. As I am fond of saying, they are all driveshaft but no engine. They are all tall hat but no saddle. They are Israelites in name only. They have lost their integrity of what it means to be a people of God and what it means to live in relationship with their neighbor. They are Israelites in name only. You see, to be an Israelite means you follow the one true God and that you live your personal and communal life according to a set standard of moral values and ethics. It was called the Law. Because you were part of a special community and people, you made it a priority to both personally and culturally look out for one another. To survive as a nation of Israel, they must look out for all the people in their midst. They were to make sure the laws were upheld with and for all the people. They were to take care of the poor among them. They were responsible for the widows, the homeless, and they were to treat with dignity and respect the foreigners who wanted to live with them. They were to use balanced scales and proper measures in the marketplace. They were expected to give people real food and not some cheap substitute for it. Amos is telling them if you are going to be called the people of God, you sure as heck better act like it.

But they don’t. They have lost their spiritual and social integrity. The consequences of which will result in a total collapse of their culture and the city in which they live; Jerusalem will be destroyed. Their praise songs will turn into woeful dirges. And it will be so bleak, they will have lost so much of their integrity, they will eventually forget about God and will fail to hear God’s voice, God’s word.

But let’s face it, Amos declared these words almost 3,000 years ago. What do they have to do with us?

Beloved, in Jesus, God has sent his own Son to be divine prophetic voice that is truth and speaks truth. It’s a prophetic voice that foretells of a time when we will each face the throne of God and will have to give an accounting for our own integrity – both personally and corporately as the Church, the people of Jesus.

The text this morning is speaking truth to us. It calls us to plumb the depth of our own spiritual, ethical, and moral integrity. Does what we profess about Jesus, does the way we worship Jesus, does how we treat the alien, the poor, the homeless, the person of color, the gay person, those we do business with — match and balance the simple measure Jesus provides us which is to love one another? You know, I have heard people say, “Well Preacher, I love those type of people, but…” Friends, whenever you add ‘but’ as a qualifier for love as it is expressed in justice and ethics, you know you have some remedial spiritual homework to do! Love does not have any ‘buts’ to it!

This morning’s text is a crash course in spiritual formation. It reminds us that our inner world and outward expression need to be in synch. It reminds us that it’s not only enough to know Jesus is the world’s savior, as a community called the holy catholic, apostolic church, we are supposed to live like it. It reminds us that all our good orthodoxy, all the doctrines and what we know about God, is totally worthless if we fail to express and live what we know out in our neighborhood. Orthodoxy demands good orthopraxy.  Good doctrine and beliefs demand corresponding spiritual expression and practice.

It’s time the Church consider the quality of its spiritual formation. It’s time for individual Christians to consider the quality of their own spiritual formation. It’s time we as a nation whose identity is bound up in our Constitution and Bill of Rights take stock of our civic formation as well. Is what we espouse in our Constitution being fully lived out and shared equally in our communities? Frankly, this whole text this morning forces me to ask if the Church in America, if our nation as whole, has lost its integrity? Are we heading to the point where we getting so off course, we will fail to hear the Word of God? Will we fail to follow our nation’s Constitution that demands equal rights and opportunities for all or are we in danger of forgetting that, too?

Will Willimon, the former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University, says, “One way you can tell the difference between a true and living God and a dead and fake god is that the false god will never tell you anything that will make you angry and uncomfortable!”[2] The Holy Spirit make each one of us uncomfortable today as we leave and mull our integrity and our spiritual formation. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So be it.

© 2022 Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Fort Lauderdale, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 and may not be altered, re-purposed, published or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

[2] Bartlett, David L.; Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 3: Pentecost and Season after Pentecost 1 (Propers 3-16). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.

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The Pastoral Prayer for Sunday, July 10, 2022

Posted on July 11, 2022 by patrick h wrisley

O God who is, who was, and who forever—shall be, we humbly gather as your Church whether participating at home or in-person. Our very act of worship sends shudders through the spiritual realms because your people have gathered to celebrate you, to love you, and to be empowered by Spirit to leave this place loving even the most difficult to love. Our very act of worship is our simple but effective way of helping to establish the Kingdom of Heaven in Fort Lauderdale and beyond.

Lord of Hosts, we pray for this planet you have charged us to care for and to tend. Forgive our flippancy towards our natural resources and remind us those resources have limits. Convict each of us and help us evaluate the quality of our stewardship of our lands and waters.

Furthermore, enable us to be good caregivers of our communities and how they are governed and led. The Apostle Paul reminds us to obey our leaders in government; Lord, we pray for judges, commissioners, mayors, senators, and congressmen and raise up women and men who are worthy to follow. Help us to unwind the American flag from the Christian cause and stem the tide of those like Christian Nationalists who try to conscript Jesus into their agenda. As grateful as we are for the privilege of living in America, Jesus, it is you and only you who is Lord of the Church and indeed all creation.

Spirit of Peace, we pray for those caught in the conflict of war. We lift the innocents who are dying in Syria, Ethiopia, Korea, and Ukraine. We pray against aggressive countries that seek to control, abuse and kill to seek power and control over others and their lands.

Meddlesome God who pricks our hearts and consciences, help your Church to humbly admit that it portrays conflicting values on ethical Issues. For example, we proclaim the right to life while pushing for capital punishment; we condemn Putin for invading another country but fail to confess we have done that to indigenous people in our own land. We proclaim unity and equality but continue to segregate and discriminate subtly with our words, lack of social involvement, or deeply held opinions.

Jesus, oh Precious One, mold us into the Body of Christ, the Church, we can become. Enlarge our vision and instill in us a spirit of boldness and passion that move our feet, open our hands, and breaks our hearts for the Samaritans in our midst. Tear down walls of division and infuse us with the Spirit of inclusion, tolerance, and love all centered around Jesus.

In the quiet of our hearts, we personally pray specifically for —

Those families grieving the death of a loved one…

Individuals waiting for medical test results and who are scared…

Single parents trying to provide for their families…

For healing in relationships of those who are splitting apart…

The children and adults who suffer from emotional trauma and depression…

For the people who are held back by fear while feeling your encouragement to step out and risk…

And finally, we lift up to you the names of those we each know who need your touch.

O Lord, in sure and certain hope and trust, we offer these prayers to you. Hear us now as we pray the prayer Jesus taught us to pray —

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
forever and ever.
Amen

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