Sermons

Jesus says a lot of things. Sometimes, Jesus says outrageous things, like “it is not right to give the children’s food to the dogs (remember

The expression ‘seeing is believing’ has become common enough. Especially when we find ourselves live in suspicious times, among suspicious folks. We trust our eyes and our own experiences – and this is a good and healthy thing – but it makes a life of faith a real tightrope act.

The ’KINGDOM’ that Jesus proclaims is a place where folk are forgiven and welcomed. The rules for forgiveness are simple. There are no complicated (expensive) rituals.

To be forgiven, one must admit wrong and be ready to accept grace. She follows Jesus into the house, and offers these remarkable acts of gratitude because she recognizes the difference between her reality and the kind of world that Jesus proposes. And Jesus turns her gratitude into a parable. The reality of her sin (and the recognition of God’s forgiveness) prompts an overwhelming expression of gratitude.

So we might well be scandalized by the notion of church membership, and by the often-dismissive attitude that the church takes toward those who don’t believe, (or worse, toward those who don’t know what to believe).  We are all guilty of thinking that membership (in the church) has its privileges – it does not.  Membership comes with responsibilities.

It’s scandalous because we are both guilty of agreeing with Jesus and guilty of ignoring the rules – of feeding the dogs to spite the children.  While it’s true that a life of faith requires a commitment – something that does set the believer apart – it is also equally true that God makes no such distinctions. Our ‘profession of faith’ is simply the act of recognizing that God has already claimed us.

What I didn’t know, as a ten-year-old was that good and bad coexist. That joy can be found in the midst of sorrow. That hope is not bound by the fences that fear builds. Jesus is teaching me that even now.

Just as, in an isolated place, food was found to feed thousands – abundance out of an imagined scarcity – in the midst of our constant fear, Jesus appears. In the most improbable way – Casually and almost carelessly Jesus arrives and invites us to set fear aside. WE are hard-hearted – no mistake. The world has toughened us up. But Jesus, who has never let us out of his sight, shows up and offers us a new perspective.

This miracle of abundance is indeed from God, but I believe it is an abundance drawn out of what already exists. Drawn out of people who are encouraged and hopeful because Jesus has given them encouragement and shown them hope. In that hope, they are bold to share what they would once have kept jealously guarded for themselves.

With Jesus help, all of them are miraculously moved to share what they have. And there is enough left over to help drive home the message.