Food and Drink

“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them”

Luke 15:2b ESV

One thing I have learned since moving here is that German’s love their festivals.  Around the world everyone knows about Oktoberfest in Munich. The reality is that is only the tip of a very large iceberg..   From Spring through Fall and into December they have all sorts of festivals – Street fests, wine fests, lantern fests, Night at the Museum fest, fountain fests, beer fests.  You can attend multiple festivals on the same day and not go very far.  Last week Linda and I to a beer fest about an hour and a half south of here in a town called Hassloch.  We had a great time.  It has all the elements that make for a great German fest – good food and drink, music and singing (and lots of it).

I am constantly amazed at the power of good food and drink to create a sense of community.  That’s what that beer fest was  – the community of Hassloch coming together to celebrate life.  We experienced it here last Sunday at Trinity.  It was “Friendship Sunday” and after the service we had a Potluck meal.  The food and drink, as always was great. But the best part was what happened as people gathered round that food and drink.  They spent time visiting with each other.  New members, people who have been visiting, sat and visited with the long time members.  People hopped from table to table, getting to know one another.  The Lord was doing His work of creating community. 

Jesus did this often during His ministry.  He often sat to eat and drink with all sorts of people and in those times together formed friendships and created community.  What made that truly amazing is the great variety of people He ate and drank with.  The one thing they had in common was that they were all sinners.  That astonished people like the Pharisees who grumbled, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:2b ESV)  He attended weddings and turned water into wine.  He had dinner with a Pharisee and while there had a prostitute wash his feet with her tears.  He called Levi and Zacchaeus (both despised tax collectors) to follow him, then went to their homes to eat and drink with them.  Out of those very different people He was creating a brand new community.  Around food and drink He was creating the community of saints.  Don’t you wish you could have been a part of one of those meals with Jesus?

You can.  Indeed You are a part of one of those meals… a part of the meal!  Jesus still welcomes sinners and eats with them.  At Trinity He does this every Sunday. He invites sinners like you and me to gather around the food and drink of Holy Communion. Here He is both host and feast.  In the bread and wine He offers us Himself to eat and drink.  As St. Paul said of the Lord’s Supper “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? “  (I Cor. 10:16 ESV)  This is a holy, special, sacred meal.  Yet amazingly like those tax collectors and prostitutes – He still invites sinners.  He only invites sinners. He invites you and me to come, eat and drink.  As he does, He accomplishes two tremendous things at once – He unites us around the fact that He has forgiven all of our sins.  Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. (1 Cor. 10:17 ESV).  Here at this table He takes us “a community of sinners” and makes us the “community of God’s forgiven saints!”  It’s amazing what God does around food and drink, especially around this food and drink – His body and blood in, with and under the bread and wine given for us sinners to eat and drink. 

Strange Measures

“We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to the Gentiles,

But to those who are called, both Jews and Gentiles,

Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:23-24

“So how long is a meter?”  “A little more than a yard!”  “How many miles in a kilometer?”  “Well there are about .6 miles to every kilometer.”  It gets harder for me from there.  “How many centimeters in an inch?”  “How many centimeters equal a foot?”  “How many liters equal a gallon?”  “How many grams in a pound?”  “How many pounds in a kilogram?”  The one I love best is how you convert Fahrenheit to Celsius.  You multiply the Celsius temperature by 1.8 and add 32… or something like that. People ask me, “What have you had a hard time adjusting to?”  Well I don’t know if it’s the most important adjustment to living outside of America, but it’s one I struggle with.  I know that most of the world uses the metric system, but for me these are strange measures.   I am used to feet and miles, inches and pounds, pints and gallons.   Oh 115 kg of weight sounded pretty good till I converted it to pounds.  This summer predictions of 40 degrees Celsius sounded almost cold till I found out that this equals temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, with no air conditioning.  

St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1 is saying the same thing about the Gospel.  “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to the Gentiles…”    This idea that God would measure us by the life that His Son lived and by the death He died… that He would apply a measure to us that we could never deserve or earn… that on that basis He would adopt and accept us as His children.  That seems so foolish. It’s a strange measure.  You and I are much more comfortable with the law.  We have grown up, as Paul told the Romans with “the work of the Law written on” our hearts.  (Romans 2:14). We by nature resonate with a measure that gives us something we can do for our salvation… even a measure that if we listen to it honestly brings home the idea that we could never do what is required.  Like the rich young man, we like looking at the letter of the law rather than its heart.  That way we can lie to ourselves as he did and says, “I have kept all these.”  We take the law and use it to make measured comparisons.  We decide, “Well I am not as bad a sinner as him so I guess I am okay.”  Such measures are not strange to us.  They come natural.

But the Gospel, well that’s like me trying to understand the metric system.  The Gospel is a foreign language to us, a strange measurement.  Think about it, God loves us even though we don’t deserve it.  He measures us not by the life we live, or rather have failed to live.  Instead He measures us according to the perfect life Jesus has lived in our place.  He doesn’t punish us as our sins deserves.  Instead He punishes His Son Jesus as our sins deserves. As far as you and I are concerned it’s “as far as the east is from the west so far has He removed our sins from us.” (Psalm 103) Jesus “redeems us from the curse of the law by Himself being cursed for us.”  (Gal. 3:13)  God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)  Then He raises Jesus to life that He might also raise us with Christ.  And He does this all even though we don’t deserve it.  He does this all for no other reason than that He loves us.  Even the trust in that Gospel which He asks of us is a gift He gives to us!   He places the gift of salvation into our hands of faith and by His Spirit lifts up those hands to receive His gift.  In the cross, God gives us a new measure that says that God loves and forgives without us doing a thing to earn it.  That is a strange measure.

That’s why I thought of the metric system.  The metric system is still so strange to me that people have to explain it to me over and over again.  The same is true with the Gospel.  This is why you and I need to hear it again and again.  This is why He gives us Pastors and teachers and Christian friends.  This is why he invites us to come to worship, to come to His holy Supper.  This is why He invites us to confess our sins corporately, privately in prayers and, whenever we need it, in confidence to each other.  He does this because more than anything else our God wants to apply this strange measure of the Gospel to you and me.  Over and over again… through all these means He desires to says to us, “Yes it’s true.  I gave my Son for you.  I love you.  Your sins are forgiven now and forever… for free.  “That,” He says, “is how I measure you in Christ!”

A Tale of Two Kingdoms

“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

Lev. 19:33-34

Until a couple of weeks ago, I was living in blissful ignorance about all of the migrants and refugees coming into Europe from the Middle East.  That all changed when Linda, leaving Budapest, had to make her way through a camp of sleeping refugees, and then through a cordon of police to get inside the train station in Budapest.  (Please know she was perfectly safe the whole time.) Since then I have heard all sorts of stories.  Some of these stories have included the refugees demanding all sorts of things, being ungrateful, and rioting.  Others tell the story of families fleeing war – walking through parts of two continents to get to Germany.  I have encountered all sorts of reactions – fear, anger, resentment, compassion, a desire to do something to help. From America I have heard people who, because of the press, seem to believe that there are refugees everywhere.  (There aren’t).  Here I have heard calls from some for the governments to shut down the borders and from others for the governments to do more for these people. 

Personally, I have struggled with what I myself think about all of this.  In part that is because I see some truth in what every side in this situation are saying.   On the one hand I really understand the concern of those who do not agree with the nations allowing all these people to enter and take up residence in their homeland, concern about this may change the face of Germany and Europe in the future.  Yet, on the other hand, I also resonate with the desire to help, love, serve, care for and witness to those who are in need.  I have been asking our Lord, to help me sort this through as a Pastor.     

What I offer to you is what has helped me.  That is the reminder that we believers live in two kingdoms. One we call the “kingdom of the left hand.”  This is the rule God exercises through the government (and other authorities).  The purpose of this kingdom is to maintain law and order in society.  St. Paul writes in Romans 13.   “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad… for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. The government’s job is to protect the well-being of its citizens, to enforce laws and to insure the public welfare.  The other kingdom is the Kingdom of the Right Hand, sometimes called the Kingdom of God’s grace.  This is the kingdom God establishes in people’s lives by the gift of His Son Jesus The goal of this kingdom is salvation.  The work of this kingdom is done through the Gospel, not through law… through forgiving and loving people in Jesus Christ.  God’s people do the work of this kingdom by sharing God’s love in Christ with friends, family, neighbors and strangers, God’s Spirit works through that witness to bring faith into people’s hearts, to make them members of the Kingdom of God.  Witness and acts of mercy are the work of this right hand kingdom.

What does all that have to do with this refugee situation?  Well we Christians live at the same time in both kingdoms.  On the one hand as citizens of whatever nation we belong to, we Christians (in loving our neighbors as ourselves) may have all sorts of opinions about what our nation should do – from closing borders to opening them, from settling these refugees to sending them back, and many places in between.  I understand the different thoughts.  I would not presume to tell the German people or any other people how they should think about all of this. I am just a guest here and I know that I would struggle with this if it was happening in my homeland. 

At the same time, we Christians also live as citizens of God’s kingdom of grace.  In this kingdom we are once again called to love our neighbors as ourselves.  In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus reminds us, that our neighbor is any person in need that God lays across our path.  Right now, whether we agree with how they came here or not, these folks are our neighbors in need.  God has laid them across our path. Our call is, by word and deed, to love, serve, and care for the needs of our neighbors. 

The words of God in Leviticus 19 really help me.  God reminds the people of Israel that they were once refugees in a foreign land.  “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”  The same is true for us.  We were once strangers and aliens but now we are God’s people through Christ.  Yes some are often ungrateful for the help they are given, but then I am reminded that it was “while we were God’s enemies that we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son.”  (Romans 5).  God calls us to love others as He has loved us. 

Can a believer be of two minds on this?  Can a believer be of the opinion that the Government should not let so many refugees in and at the same time, love those refugees with all her heart?  Yes, it’s possible, in the same way that it’s possible for me to vehemently oppose abortion as a Christian citizen and at the same time love and care with all my heart for the woman who has had an abortion.  I am reminded of a time back in the 1980s when there was resentment in the USA over refugees fleeing Cuba and students from other countries studying in America.  The head of World missions came to our church that year and gave us some food for thought.  He reminded us that many of these people were coming to us from places we were not allowed to go with the Gospel.  Now God was bringing them to us, giving us the opportunity to share God’s love with them.  Many would be changed by that Gospel.  Then some would go back to their homeland, and take with them the Gospel to places where we couldn’t go.  Is there tension for us as believers in working out how to react on the one hand as citizens and on the other as children of a loving God?  Yes.   That’s the tale of living in two Kingdoms.  What makes such paradox possible?   Both kingdoms are governed by the same God.    

Hidden Treasure

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

Matthew 13:44

Perhaps you have noticed. My topics the last two weeks have tended towards the basics of the faith.  Two weeks ago I talked about the “Catechism.”  Last week, I looked at the role of the law as a mirror showing us the sinful truth about ourselves.  This week I have been thinking about what picture I might use for the  “The Gospel.”  Lo and behold Jesus provides just such picture in Matthew 13:44.  “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

I love the image of the Gospel as “hidden treasure.”  That image fires up my imagination. As a kid we were always playing pirates and searching for “buried treasure.”  How is the “Kingdom of heaven” a hidden treasure?    Well, how in the world could an ordinary baby be the “son of God?”  That’s crazy!   Yet we believe that is the treasure hidden in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ.  He is “the word made flesh.”  How can a crucified man be the Savior?  That’s crazy too. Yet we believe that’s the treasure hidden on Calvary’s cross.  The innocent God-Man Jesus Christ suffered the penalty for our sin so that we who are guilty might be declared “not guilty.”  How can we stand at the funeral, looking at the dead body of a loved one and yet confess hope that even though he has died “yet shall he live?”  That’s the treasure hidden in Christ’s tomb – the fact that His tomb is empty… that “because He lives, we shall live also.”  That is a treasure worth selling all you have so that you might make it your own.  Of course that’s also the problem for you and me.  Even if you or I gave everything we had, even our very lives, we could never afford to buy this treasure for ourselves.  Our only hope is that someone else might by it for us.

 That’s why many have wondered if perhaps the hidden treasure in this parable is you and me.  Perhaps the one who goes and sells all He has to buy that field is our God and Savior.  After all that is what God did.  He gave His Son to purchase us for Himself.  Jesus purchased us for the Father “not with gold or silver but with His holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.”  The problem here is – how can you and I be considered “treasure?”  After all, we must confess with St. Paul “that nothing good dwells in me…”  As we confess on Sundays “I am a poor miserable sinner…”  How can you or I be considered “treasure?”  Again its hidden treasure… hidden not in us but in God’s amazing love for us.  What makes us treasure is how much He loves us, in the price that He is willing to pay for us, in the blood He shed that you and I “might be His own…”

Just before Linda and I left the US we took Bethany, Jason and John Wayne out for dinner at a really nice restaurant.  That night I spent a lot of time walking John Wayne around so that Beth could enjoy the meal.  Later, dreading a little how big the bill was going to be, I asked for the check so I could pay.  To my surprise, the waitress said, there is no bill.  That couple over there paid it for you.   We didn’t know the couple.  There was no reason for them to pay for us.  They just liked watching me carry our grandson.  Wow, what a gift, I thought.  And, what a picture of what our God has done for us.  We don’t deserve salvation.  We can’t afford it.  But our God and Savior has paid the price for us!  Whichever way you interpret this parable, that’s the point. That’s the unbelievable hidden treasure. That’s the Gospel – God’s invaluable gift of salvation given to us for free in Christ. 

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

Romans 3:19-20

I did a “google search” on “the uses of a mirror.”  I was surprised at all the different ways mirrors get used. Obviously there are bathroom mirrors that help us with shaving, make up and so forth.  There are bedroom mirrors that help us make sure we have dressed ourselves correctly.  But there are also mirrors used in cameras, and telescopes. There are side view and rear view mirrors in cars.  Mirrors are used in periscopes.  They are used in flashlights, searchlights and spotlights.  The astronauts of Apollo 11 left a mirror on the moon to be used to measure the distance from the earth to the moon.  Dentists use mirrors when working on your teeth.  The list goes on and on.  Basically, however, all these uses can be narrowed down to one.  The use of a mirror is to reflect. 

That also is one of the chief uses of the law of God – to reflect.  When we look into the law, it reflects back to us who we really are.  It shows us our sin.  Just like a physical mirror reminds me that I need to lose weight, the law of God reminds me that I am not so good as I may pretend to be.  That’s the whole meaning of St. Paul’s words to the Romans in 3:19-20. “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

The question I want to pose today is this – What will you and I do about the reflection we see in the mirror of the law?  Will we be like the wicked queen in the children’s fairytale, the one who asked the mirror on the wall, “Who is the fairest of them all?”  When the mirror told her it was Snow White, the queens didn’t accept that truth. She tried to create her own truth.  She tired to kill Snow White.  That’s one way we react to the law.  We deny the truth about ourselves.  Or we see what we want to see. Remember the rich young man.  When he asked Jesus, “What must I do to be saved?”  Jesus, seeking to show the man that there was nothing he could do, recited the commandments to him.  Yet instead of seeing the true reflection of his sin, the rich young man patted himself on the back.  “All these I have done.”  Or will you to try to cover over the truth?  That’s the thing people do all the time when they look in the mirror.  They cover their blemishes with make-up, their pimples with cream, and their wrinkles with Botox.  Will you try to hide the truth, lie about your sin, or blame others?  John warns us about this – “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 

How much better it is to look into the mirror of God’s law and see the truth!  How much better it is to admit the truth… to confess the truth.  For then God will show us a different picture. He will turn our gaze from the ugly reflection of our sin, to the beautiful portrait of His love.  Having shown us our sin in the law, He will show us our Savior in the Gospel. He will take us to manger where He became one of us to be our savior. He will take us to the cross where He loved us so much that He gave up His life for our sins.  He will take us to the empty tomb and assure us that because He lives, we will live also.  He will bring us to His house to be reminded that at our baptisms He has washed away all our sin.   He will bring us to worship to hear the words of forgiveness spoken… the promise “that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sin and cleans us from all unrighteousness.”   He will bring us to His table that we might taste His forgiveness in His body and blood given in, with and under the bread and wine.  Having acknowledged the ugliness of our sin, God will show you and me the fairest of them all – He will show us Jesus who took the ugliness of our sin upon Himself, that we might be God’s beloved children – washed clean in His blood!