Month: November 2023

Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Rolla on November 26, 2023, Reign of Christ Sunday. Based on Matthew 25:31-46.

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Much of modern political philosophy is based on the idea that we are individuals who enter a social contract. That is, the natural state of humanity is fully independent with full freedom, but we choose to give up some of our freedoms for the sake of living together in harmony. I say, hogwash. Rene Descartes famously said, “Cogito ergo sum,” which means, “I think, therefore I am.” He was asserting his identity separate from any social constructs. An ethics teacher once said that his response to Descartes is, “Who taught you Latin?”

The truth is that we are naturally oriented towards community. We connect naturally to our family, then our clan, then our tribe. Think about it: throughout the Bible, people are identified as being the son or daughter of someone else. We use surnames now that basically keep track of what clan we are in. I naturally desire to take care of my wife, my children, my siblings, and my parents. Even people who have difficult relationships with their family of origin are in some sense defined by those relationships. Beyond our immediate family, we have a natural affinity for our clan—I am a Kimball, so I always perk up when I see a reference to another Kimball. I care more about my cousins than about some random people.

This is entirely natural. Humanity has succeeded in ways that other species haven’t because we are cultural. We learn from one another and prioritize our relationships with our community. We cannot survive without the cultural knowledge we have inherited or without the support we get from other people, both close at hand and far away. In modern society, we have somewhat transcended the natural ties of blood relatives to include chosen family, those friends and neighbors and church members who make our lives more complete.

Let me share a story with you about the limits of independence. When I go elk hunting, I feel like I’m independent because I carry all of my own supplies—my own tent and clothes and food and water. But where did those all come from? I didn’t make my tent, or my sleeping bag, or my rifle, or any of the hundred other things I carry. I bought basically everything I need. I pump my own water from a stream, but I use a filter pump that I purchased and fill a collapsible jug that I purchased.

On my most recent trip, on the last day of hunting, we were walking out with a couple of older guys that Wayne had met on a previous trip. Ron and Tom are both in their seventies. It was dusk, probably after official sunset, dark enough that we were all using our headlamps. Ron had a little bitty flashlight. He tripped and fell and dislocated his shoulder. The pain was excruciating. Now, if I did that in Rolla, it would be terrible, but I might be able to drive myself to the hospital, or at the least, an ambulance would be five minutes away. Up on the mountain, though, we were half a mile as the crow flies, and a longer walk, to where Ron could get in a pickup truck, then an hour-and-a-half drive to a hospital. All told, I think there were nine guys involved in helping Ron get out to where he could get medical help. Two of us stayed with Ron to help him keep awake and keep moving; one guy called 911; two guys went ahead to find some other guys who had a chainsaw and a UTV and could drive partway to meet us.

When an emergency like that happens, everybody pitches in to help. That’s because we all recognize that we are ultimately not truly individuals, not truly independent. We need our community. We helped Ron because someone once helped us, or we know that someday we will need help, or at a minimum, we recognize our shared humanity. We are fundamentally connected to each other.

Jesus taught his disciples that “the least of these,” those who are in need, are his brothers and sisters. We naturally organize society into family, clan, tribe, and nation, concentric circles of mutual obligation. But Jesus said that actually, we are all in his family.

When I first started preaching, Rhonda would ask me what my sermon was going to be about. I think she finally got tired of my answer always being the same: the kingdom of God is at hand! That was Jesus’s primary message, the coming of his kingdom that we celebrate on this last Sunday of our church year. We have spent the past few weeks studying parables about the kingdom of God, and this week, we reach the climax. But what is Christ’s kingdom? Well, a mujerista theologian named Ada María Isasi-Díaz said that a better word to use is “kin-dom,” without the “g.” That is, Christ’s kingdom is not like the ancient kingdoms where a strong man (always a man) lords his power over his subjects. Instead, it is like a family, where all of us are equal and all of us are loved by our holy brother and holy father. The text we read today is Jesus’s last message before the events that led to his crucifixion, so it is the most important message he had to give his disciples. The kingdom of God is instead a kin-dom, a state of being where everyone is kin, everyone is family, everyone cares for each other, everyone lifts up the downtrodden, feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, and cares for the prisoner.

This is actually a very simple message. What do you do when you see someone who is hungry? You feed them. Period. It is simple, but extremely difficult. First, there are limited resources. I cannot personally feed everyone who is hungry. Second, Jesus’s calling is counter to our society’s values and our inherent sense of fairness. So, instead of obeying this simple but difficult teaching, we make it complex. We say, well, sure, feed the hungry, but Jesus certainly didn’t mean everyone, did he? What if the hungry person is a criminal? What if the hungry person is from somewhere else far away? What if the hungry person seems like they could work and feed themselves? Surely Jesus didn’t mean for us to sacrifice our limited resources for those people, right? Surely Jesus only meant for us to feed the worthy hungry people. Surely Jesus only meant for us to house the stranger if they are here legally. Surely Jesus only meant for us to care for those imprisoned without cause, not those who are guilty. Right?

I don’t think so. Jesus was pretty clear, actually. He said, “I was hungry, and you gave me food.” He said, “Whatever you do for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you do to me.”

This is a hard teaching. Yes, I know that there is a place for tough love. We probably all know people who have been given second and third and fifth and tenth chances and continue to fall short. Our goal should be that all people become thriving, full members of our community and of God’s family. Sometimes, that means helping people develop some skills, including life management skills, through tough love. But tough love only works if its root is love, not if its root is toughness. It only works if you are in a personal and loving relationship with someone and they know that your actions flow from that love.

There’s a saying, “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” Sure. I agree—we should be in the business of helping people become better versions of themselves. But it’s a whole lot easier to learn how to fish if you’re not starving. You can give a man a fish and then teach him how to fish. Another analogy I heard is a fire. If someone’s house is on fire, you don’t focus on finding out what caused it. You put the fire out. You save the people and belongings and prevent further damage. And then you try to find out what caused the fire so you can prevent another one, and also help the people put their lives back together.

Coming back to our friend Ron with the dislocated shoulder, we could have tried to put his shoulder back in the socket. But here’s the thing: We didn’t know what the actual problem was. He couldn’t feel his forearm and couldn’t move his fingers, so we didn’t know if the issue was his shoulder or his elbow. For all we knew, he had broken his humerus and somehow pinched a nerve. At some point a few years ago, he had had surgery on that shoulder, which complicated the situation. We could have tried to solve the problem right then and there, but we didn’t really know what we were doing.

So instead, we found someone who did know what they were doing, and we accompanied Ron until he got help. We didn’t let him suffer alone. We gave him as much comfort and assistance as we could until we were able to get him to a medical professional, whose first act was to give him a shot of something that would enable him to bear the pain. Survival first, long-term solution later.

Just a few days ago, America celebrated Thanksgiving. This is a day we set aside to remember all the good things in our lives and all that we have to be thankful for. It was first celebrated as a national holiday in 1789, our first harvest season as the United States of America under the Constitution. It was celebrated intermittently until 1863, when, at the height of the bloody Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was convinced to proclaim a national day of thanks. No matter the pain and suffering and discord and evil in our nation, we still acknowledge that we have been richly blessed. Human nature is to focus on the negative, so it is essential to have a day that we focus on the positive and expressing gratitude.

One of my spiritual practices is to identify three things each day for which I am thankful. My rule is that I can’t list the same thing two days in a row, so that I take a broad survey of my life. The natural response to identifying these blessings in my life is that I am moved to give more of myself to my family and community. Perhaps we should expand our personal thanksgiving reflections to congregational thanksgiving.

We have much to be thankful for. I know that I complain about the ridiculous layout of the sanctuary, but it is a beautiful worship space. It has great acoustics and a pipe organ. We have great staff—Jeff and Lorie here in worship with us, plus Katie in the office, Tracy to direct the preschool, and many other staff who enable us to serve the children of our community. We have lots of people who have stepped up to provide leadership in all spheres of our operations. And above all, we have each other to provide mutual support on our walks with God.

Our gratitude for the blessings on this congregation should move us to greater acts of service. We have been welcomed into God’s family, and so we should help others thrive as members of God’s family. We see the image of God in each other, so we should seek God’s image in people throughout the community.

In Jesus’s last message to the crowds before the events that led to his arrest and execution, he told them the basis on which all nations would be judged. He didn’t say that they would be judged on their beliefs or their words. He said that they would be judged on their actions to build his kin-dom by caring for all his siblings. Let us respond to the gifts God has bestowed upon us by caring for our community, not asking what people have earned, but providing what they need to thrive as God’s image-bearers. Amen.

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Preached on November 12, 2023. Based on Matthew 25:1-13.

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Have you ever seen those memes titled, “You had one job!”? Things like, at an intersection where there’s a stop sign, the street is painted with “S-O-T-P”? Or an article in a newspaper with a headline, “Add header here before printing”? Or perhaps a billboard or a sign that was hung in parts, and the sign-hangers got the parts mixed up? Or a sign that reads, “School free drug zone”? If you ever have an hour or two to kill, look up those memes.

Here’s another example, a memory that might bring Jeff some pain. A few years ago, when I was still in Men of Song and he was still the director of the high school choirs, he asked Men of Song to perform at the high school choirs’ winter concert over at First Baptist Church. I was there for the rehearsal, where the main choir had a percussion section as part of the accompaniment. One song built up to a climax, and then there was a cymbal crash! Except that the student on the cymbals had trouble counting the dozens of bars of rest. Finally, Jeff said he would give a cue. They ran it once or twice, and the student followed the cue.

Then the performance came. The song built and built to the climax, Jeff gave the cue, and… the student had his nose buried in the music, trying to figure out when to come in. I could see Jeff wince with his whole body. But when the moment passed, it was too late. It’s not like the student could just crash the cymbals some other time and make up for it. Either he crashed them in the moment, or he missed it. Timing is everything.

In today’s story, we hear about some bridesmaids who had a job to do. Their job was to light the way for the groom. They all had their lamps and were ready to go. But as was common at that time, the groom was delayed. See, weddings in Jesus’s day didn’t follow a strict schedule like modern weddings do. They basically happened whenever everything was ready. So, the groom shows up at midnight and catches the bridesmaids off-guard. One reference I read said that was actually part of the game—the groom would try to show up and surprise everyone. Well, it worked!

Some of the bridesmaids had extra oil. Some of them didn’t. The response of the wise ones, the ones who had extra oil, was basically, Tough luck. You forgot, so you need to fix your own problem. That’s a little harsh, isn’t it? Couldn’t they have shared? Well, maybe not. Maybe if they had, then nobody would have had enough oil to get through the ceremony. Would you rather have half the lamps for the whole ceremony, or all the lamps for half the ceremony? I would think that having some lamps is better than none.

So, off they go, the foolish bridesmaids, looking for a place to buy oil. Remember, this was first-century Judea or Galilee, not modern America. I just got back from elk hunting. We had to drive through the night from here to Durango, Colorado, and back. There were many gas stations that we passed in the night that were closed altogether, and some others where you could get gas but only if you paid with a card at the pump. Northern Texas, eastern New Mexico, eastern Colorado, and western Kansas are all pretty lonely. Now, first-century Judea wasn’t quite so empty, but I don’t think they had 24-hour convenience stores or oil pumps with credit card readers. So, where the heck would the foolish bridesmaids get oil at midnight?

The bridesmaids had one job: to give light when the groom appeared. Half of them were ready and the other half screwed it up. They missed their chance to participate.

Let’s think about this parable in its context. Throughout the Gospel According to Matthew, Jesus is portrayed as the new Moses. Just as Moses gave the Law to the ancient Israelites, Jesus gives a new law to his followers. Something I’ve noticed, though, is that the Mosaic law is full of “thou shalt nots”: Thou shalt not make idols, thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not covet. But Jesus’s law is filled with “thou shalts”: You are blessed when you are meek, or merciful, or peacemakers. You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, so let your light shine. Turn the other cheek, walk the second mile, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you. Seek first the kingdom of God and all things will be given to you. Jesus’s law is not so much about how not to sin, since he was in the process of forgiving all our sins anyway. Jesus’s law is about how to heal the brokenness of the world and build positive relationships and communities.

You are the light of the world. The bridesmaids were the light of the wedding, and they fell short. They were not prepared to wait and did not have deep enough reserves to continue to light the party while the bridegroom was delayed. We need to do better.

We have four Gospels in our Bibles because each one has a unique perspective. As I said, Matthew portrays Jesus as a new Moses. Also, we think Matthew was writing in the late first century, soon after the destruction of the Temple. The people in Matthew’s community were waiting, and wondering, How long? How long would the present age continue? How long until Jesus came again in glory to right all the wrongs, to heal all the sick and wounded, to overturn the oppressive system that they were living under? How long until their rightful place as the holy people of God would be restored? They were waiting expectantly, hoping that Jesus would return soon.

Well, Jesus will return soon, but in God’s time, not ours. Jesus said that not even he knew when he would return in glory, only the Father knows. God knows the right time and will give us the cue, if we’re watching for it. So, what was Matthew’s community supposed to do in the meantime, and what are we supposed to do?

Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” That is, we who await the coming of God’s kingdom should get to work transforming the world by our love. We are expected to follow all of the “thou shalts” that Jesus taught his disciples.

One of the great mysteries of history is how a small sect of an oddball religion became the official religion of the Roman Empire and the dominant religious force in the world for more than a millennium. One theory is that the consistent efforts of Christians to serve others established their credentials as a force for good that people wanted to join. Christians essentially invented hospitals in their first few centuries of existence. During a great plague in the early fourth century, only Christians stayed behind in the city of Caesarea to care for the sick and dying. Early Christians set an example for their philanthropy and charity, in that they cared for all poor people, not just fellow Christians. As a result, Christians rightfully claimed the moral high ground and drew converts—more a trickle than a flood, but a trickle that lasted centuries.

This is exactly what Matthew was trying to say to his community. Jesus is coming, of that you can be sure, but when exactly? Only God knows. So, in the meantime, BE READY. Be ready by getting to work transforming the world into God’s kingdom, living as if Jesus had returned already, or as if Jesus is present with you right now.

And that is the message to us today. There is a sense about our congregation that we are waiting for something. Some people are holding back until we get a new pastor. Some people are waiting for someone else to tell them what to do. Well, we may not have an ordained and installed pastor, and we may not have anyone telling us what to do, but we are not alone. Jesus is here among us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’s followers left us his teachings to guide us. A hallmark of the Reformation is the priesthood of all believers: we are all empowered to approach God and to learn God’s will for our lives directly.

We have an important message for the world. We believe in a God of love, of welcome, of inclusion. We believe that all people are made in God’s image and are valued members of God’s family. I know that there are literally thousands of people in Rolla who need to hear that message. Some of them have only been told about a God of judgment or have experienced spiritual, emotional, or even sexual abuse in a church. Some of them have only heard about Christianity from mass media, which gives a highly distorted view. I have noticed that whenever there is news coverage of something that I actually know something about, the news coverage is a little off, a little wrong, perhaps a little biased or one-sided, lacking in nuance and thin on details. But that’s the only source of information some people have about this God we love and who loves us.

If we look around Rolla, we can see needs everywhere. There are people struggling to survive: homeless, or hungry, or struggling with addiction. There are lots of lonely people, people estranged from their families, or far from home for the purposes of their career or education, or far from adult children who have gone off to pursue a career elsewhere. There are parents struggling to raise their families. I’ve heard that the best parenting hack is to have a grandparent living nearby who helps out. Because of the transitory nature of a college town, many parents in Rolla don’t have that luxury, but instead have to figure out a way to do everything themselves.

What is the Christian response? Our one job is to be the light of the world. We are to shine before others with our good works, helping everyone in need. Well, maybe not everyone, but SOMEONE. God doesn’t expect us to solve all of the problems of the world; that’s God’s job. But we are expected to do our part: to see a need and respond to it.

Let’s stop waiting. We know what to do. A couple of times now, I’ve asked you all to consider what your personal calling is and to seek people who might share that calling. I would love to hear from you about how that’s going. Maybe it’s going great, and we need to lift up your successes. Or maybe, like me, you’re struggling a bit to get traction, and we need to pray with and for one another to take the next step. Whatever the case, I want to hear about it. What are you doing, or what do you want to do, to shine the light of God’s love in our broken world? How can we help each other to have plenty of spare oil, so that we can all continue to serve God’s people? Let’s not wait until the moment has passed. Let’s build God’s kingdom now, responding to the needs of our community and our world. Amen.

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