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The Gospel of Matthew Bible Studies
The Gospel of Mark Bible Studies
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
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"Now is the Time" Stewardship Emphasis Sunday #5 Time After Pentecost – (A) Matthew 5:1-12 and Romans 12:1-2 November 2, 2008 Matthew 5:1-12 I don’t understand exactly how this works, but I believe it is true. There is a correlation between the bad and the good. Somehow, it can be a blessing to struggle with the things of this life... to know need. These are the ones (the ones who know struggle) who have also come to know so many true blessings: Gratitude: Who has known thankfulness, who has never known what it is to go without?Satisfaction: Who has experienced a sense of accomplishment, who has never had to work for something? Purpose: Who has a purpose in life, who has no need for anything? We can counter this philosophy with those in this world (or the times when we ourselves) have had life too easy. Why is it that when people are spoiled they are never happy (unless, of course, they have known what it is to be unspoiled). This word “Marcarios” (in Koine Greeek), after all, translated, “blessed” in the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version)—it also means “happy.”
Romans 12:1-2 Today I am going to talk a little bit about our first reading. As an illustration, I am going to talk about a common occurrence from 2 vantages – two aspects of the same dirty event: Scene #1 Clyde the Culprit (my own fictional account about a Culprit named Clyde—a fictional character, but a true story): Clyde was driving down the highway one day; he (it could have just as easily been a she) noticed a disturbance in his… environment. Too busy to notice, as he climbed into the vehicle just moments before, the remains of yesterday’s lunch from the local fast food joint began to distract him. It’s an annoyance to him… That stale smell of leftover fries… and the clutter. And he thinks to himself, “This is not me. At least it’s not the image I want to convey to people. I am not (usually) a messy person (and after all, perhaps he was on his way to pick up his girlfriend—and this just would not do). And so, not to be defeated (by this disturbance in his environment, this thorn in his side) quickly, and with barely a hesitation (a brief pause, perhaps to suppress a twinge of guilt) Clyde picked up the bag of garbage (and perhaps a pop can or two) from the floor beside him, rolled down the window, glanced into the rearview mirror (to make sure nobody was looking—no police car lying in wait) and… problem solved… Or was it? ******* Scene #2 Another perspective I am a member of a service organization in town called the Lion’s Club, and I was speaking to one of my Lion colleagues the other day, and she told me about the highway litter cleanup we (or I should say they-since I wasn’t in attendance) had just done. She said, “It didn’t take too long, but you wouldn’t believe the amount of trash left on the side of the road. I can’t believe how many people just throw their trash out the window.” ******* This is a simple, every day illustration about how people can have two perspectives and experiences of the same thing. This, my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and things like this, is what Paul is addressing in his opening paragraph to the second part of his famous letter, titled: Romans. Try to listen to what he says (according to our New Revised Standard translation): “...present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds…” This week I have come to realize this text, as difficult as it is, is a very fancy way of saying something we can related to quite easily. Allow me to parse this out for you. Paul appeals to us to, “present our bodies as living sacrifices.” What this means is that each of us has been given a body which is your concrete historical reality—your body is your physical existence. So, he says, present this existence/ this person / this body that you are, as a living sacrifice God. God, who one verse before our reading is described like this: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To God be the glory forever and ever. Amen” Now in the Old Testament, the people of God would make sacrifices to God. Specifically, first-born animals were given as sacrifice to God. In the case of people, it was the practice of Israel—the people who were the ancestors of both Jesus and Paul--that the first born son was also thought to belong to God in a special way. But rather than sacrifice people by killing them, they took the child and dedicated him to God, or devoted him to God in a special way. A “living sacrifice.” This is the image that Paul is using here. He is not asking us to sacrifice ourselves to death, but to dedicate ourselves, devote ourselves to God. And then he says, “This is your ‘spiritual worship’” but this is a wording translated with far too much (unnecessarily distracting) religiosity for my liking—a phrase that can be translated much more simply and plainly. The word here translated “spiritual” does not actually have the word “spirit” (Greek: "pneuma") in it’s meaning. This is a decision made by the translator. The word “logikos” or “logical” actually has the connotation of mental, or cognitive, thoughtful or “reasoned.” The translator used “spiritual” because it is being contrasted to our physical selves—our bodies mentioned above. But rather than “spiritual worship”, wouldn't it be more plain to say “this is your “thoughtful” / your “reasoned” “service.” Worship simple means service… or work. So, you see more clearly what Paul is getting at here? Paul is calling on Christians, like you and me, to think (before we throw our trash into someone else’s life) and to do thoughtful service in the world as a matter of identity. So, he wants us to be living sacrifices. How? With thoughtful service! Now, if there is anything that gets in the way of people doing this thoughtful, reasoned service in the world, it is the person himself. It’s the Clyde the culprit in each and every one of us, who is constantly tempted to watch out for himself (throwing trash out the window) than watch out for anyone or everyone else (clean up the highway). This is why Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this world” The word translated “world” in Greek is a familiar one also… ”Eon,” which has an element of time in its meaning. It should also be considered in translation, “Do not be conformed to this “present age”” but be transformed (Greek form of metamorphosis): be “morphed?”. That is, let us be morphed from being citizens of present age only, to being eternal citizens of kingdom of God—having our whole way of thought renewed by seeking the will of God. In a nut shell: My modern-day translation of this valuable 2 verse passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans, is this. “Let us dedicate our selves to God, and allow ourselves to be morphed from Clyde the culprit (Concerned only with our own time and our own little world) into Leos and Lions and even Key club members and Kiwonians. Simply put, let us be morphed by the spirit of Jesus Christ into those who live their lives for the big picture! For Christ has made us citizens, not only of this present age, and not just “global citizens” as it is so fashionable to claim. But citizens of the cosmic and eternal Kingdom of God: from whom, through whom, and for whom everything exists. To me, this is the reason we entertain this idea about a capital campaign for a building project, called “Now is the time.” Although now is the time for this campaign, we are only passing through. We are each in our own time leaving this gift, only to be cared for by God, from whom, through whom and for whom it will exist. We are moving from a realm of maintenance in our Church, to a realm of mission. Not our mission, by God's mission. This is taking what we have, our concrete, historic self, and presenting it, dedicating it to something beyond our scope of vision and mission—for God is going to work through this church for generations to come, even like he is working through us now. God is going to bring the Good news about Jesus Christ, here in this place. Jesus Christ, who not only sacrificed his time and energy to something beyond himself—he entirely sacrificed himself: heart, mind and soul, so that other people would know his heavenly Father and be blessed through his way / his spirit of unselfish love, and so that even we (who live two-thousand years afterwards) might come to walk in faith and be able to pray and share in the great communion—citizens of that precious kingdom that stretches through all generations. -------------------- Pastor Joshua Magyar 418 W. Main St. Sidney, MT 59270
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