April 6, 2025 - Fifth and Last Sunday in Lent 2025 - New Lenten Disciplines

2025 has been an unpredictable Lenten season. The 40 days of Lent are traditionally filled with reflection, service and prayer. Normally I choose a Lenten discipline to follow in advance.

This year Creator, on Sundays, follows the narrative lectionary. The readings uniquely address the national tumult we are experiencing. Together with what was happening during in the news during the week, these readings lead to deeper reflections and prayers.

For years I followed routines and habits to make my living. Today making a life is different. Making a life is what the narrative lectionary readings were about this Sunday. 

The blind man and Zacchaeus both "see" what the rich man in last week's story did not. Once again, that rich man's wealth was not the primary issue the rich man is facing. The rich are not being marginalized by those around them in life. Both the blind man and Zacchaeus in today's readings are being marginalized. Neither are respected, nor a part of,the described crowd. A crowd would normally allow a short man a view up in front of the crowd out of courtesy.  The invitations to make either the blind man or Zacchaeus a part of their community are as hidden from the crowd as what Jesus is saying to them about his future.

When Jesus says "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today" it is an invitation that confuses who is host and who is guest. Jesus opened the door for Zacchaeus to “come down” from his old life, to stop participating in a corrupt system of gratitude that oppresses his own people. 

Rome practiced gratitude as a quid pro quo hierarchy of political and economic obligation.There is an implied understanding that, for example, if you are invited to dinner you must invite me to dinner. Jesus defeats that quid pro quo from being an obligation.

Ash Wednesday started Lent off dramatically. That evening rattled me with the sobering thought of mortality. It shook me from a more or less comfortable perspective which routinely protects, insulates and isolates me. I might have ended up being a little more prepared to take on the impact of the dust and ash

March 30, 2025 - Fourth Sunday in Lent - A Rich Man Can't Cool His Tongue Due to His Self-Centeredness

The Parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus doesn't directly conjure up a fear of living in hell for me, rather it is about recognizing the responsibility to transform the world through love, justice, and solidarity with the oppressed, Precisely the "woke" ideology many are decrying today.

 

The rich man is not so much condemned for being wealthy but for ignoring the suffering of Lazarus was at his gate. His indifference mirrors how the privileged can be blind to the struggles of the marginalized today. Hell then becomes a consequence, not a punishment for how this man lived. There are news stories about arrests and attacks today going on in the United States that remind me of the chasm Abraham speaks of in this parable to the rich man, " Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us."

 

This chasm is a symbol that calls on Christians to be actively involved in helping the oppressed, rather than living in comfort while others suffer..So the story challenges economic inequality, racial injustice, and the neglect of the poor.

Lazarus, the powerless beggar, is elevated to Abraham’s side, while the rich man, once powerful, is now helpless. This aligns with Jesus’ repeated theme of the “great reversal” (Luke 1:52—Mary’s Magnificat: “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly”). 

Instead of focusing on eternal damnation, this parable serves as a warning, a wake-up call for the living. The "great chasm" isn't just in the afterlife—it exists right now in our world between the rich and the poor, the privileged and the oppressed.

The rich man never speaks to Lazarus. He asks Abraham to direct Lazarus as to what the rich man wants to have done. Oddly when the rich man wants to warn his five brothers, he asks Abraham to send Lazarus to go. The brothers would likely not even recognize that Lazarus died or had come back from the dead. The rich man simply demonstrates in how he treats Lazarus that the chasm here is the one that he had created in life.

In the parable Lazarus is neither spoken to, nor does he speak. His most powerful presence in the parable precisely because he is named. He is the only named character that appears in a parable and it gives him power. The rich man is so self-absorbed he makes no attempt to speak to, much less apologize to, Lazarus for their respective life circumstances..

Those of us who are rich in this life can heed the clear warning. 

March 23, 2025 - Third Sunday in Lent - When Empire Centers on Fairness Rather Than Grace

In our national discourse we are often hearing complaints about fairness. There is so much grumbling about how certain people are being treated unfairly.

There are three stories in this week's narrative lectionary - The Parable of the Lost Sheep, The Parable of the Lost Coin and The Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Jesus is responding to the Pharisees and the scribes grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 

 

There is commonality in these stories. Something or someone is lost and found again after extraordinary circumstances take place.

 

In each there is an invitation to an extravagant celebration after the finding. As Pastor Emillie noted with the The Parable of the Lost Coin in her sermon the rejoicing may even be more costly than the worth of the coin. The joy of the good that came about seems to be the point. 

 

Now for the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Prodigal becomes a fulcrum word. One set of associations around the word prodigal is about spending money or resources freely, recklessly; being wastefully extravagant. The other set of associations is about having or giving where one is generous, lavish, and bountiful. There are some who truly view the younger brother, the prodigal son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son as a Jesus figure because of the second set of associations and that this is the son that is dead and comes back to life. 

 

The commonalities and the framing completely upend my previous readings of the parable. Together with the father twice proclaiming that his son who was dead is now alive again. I also see the prodigal son is a Christlike figure in the parable. The observation and judgement that the wealth was "squandered" is misleading, essentially an equivalent to the Pharisees grumbling about sinners. They take no joy in someone or something that was lost but is now found. 

 

This echoes what is found in other parables about the kingdom of heaven. These Pharisees would have complained that the sower acted too extravagantly in his spreading of the seed or that, in the Parable of the Vineyard Laborers, they would have grumbled that everyone getting paid the same wage wasn't fair. 

 

Yet the son is alive. The father, who was judged dead by the son when he asked for his inheritance, is also alive again as a father to his son. And the older brother grumbles about fairness over his father's grace. He accuses his prodigal brother of "devouring assets with prostitutes" when there is no way the eldest brother could have known that. Maybe we can empathize with the feelings of this brother, given what happens, but this is not a reflection of the kingdom of heaven.

 

So much of the parable snaps into place without the judgement. And why describe the severe famine if the younger brother's wealth had already been squandered in "dissolute living"?

 

Pastor Emillie identified with the older brother. It is easy for us to do. This reflects the world that we live in.

And finally, like the barren fig tree parable, here is another parable ending with no satisfying resolution if we accept the "dissolute" determination. We are left with a grumbling son, who was not even invited to the homecoming celebration of his brother. Will he take what his father tells him to heart? Will he then join in the communal rejoicing or not? Or is this older brother now someone who is lost and must now be found?

The context of the narrative lectionary provides during this Lenten season continues to astound me.

March 16, 2025 - Second Sunday in Lent - Come in the Name of the Lord and Return to the Lord

In Luke 13:6-9, Jesus tells a parable about an unfruitful fig tree, illustrating God's patience but also the urgency of repentance. The narrative lecitonary reading starts with a warning of repent, change your mind or rerutn to the Lord. This links with the parable and what happens to the unfruitful tree in the end is not disclosed.

Not knowing the fate of the tree is unsettling but totally in keeping with Jesus at this moment as he moves to Jerusalem. 

This is a parable where the Christ-like character is clear. Depending on the translation this is the vinedresser or the gardener. The Greek word translated as "let it be" in the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree (Luke 13:6-9) is ἄφες (aphes).  He responds to the owner’s command to cut down the unfruitful fig tree, saying:"Ἄφες αὐτὴν καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἔτος" (Aphes autēn kai touto to etos), meaning "Let it alone this year also" or "Let it be for this year."

The verb ἄφες (aphes) comes from ἀφίημι (aphiēmi), which can mean "let go," "permit," "forgive," or "allow." In this context, it expresses the plea to allow more time for the tree to bear fruit before cutting it down.

This is the same word Jesus will say when he is on the cross and prays "Father forgive them for they know not what they do".which makes the lament over Jerusalem particularly poignant when Jesus muses "How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing  See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ 

The ending of the film "Stranger than Fiction" reflects and engenders a similar grief of the watcher's heart when the main character of that story knows he must die to prevent the death of a child and he willingly walks to the death he decides must happen..  

This Lent continually tugs at the heart. 

March 9, 2025 - First Sunday in Lent and Guest Musician Maria Olava Touches Our Hearts

María E. Olaya is a Colombian guitarist, music teacher, composer, and arranger, based in the Portland metro area. In 2024 her composition “Pasos en Si”/ Steps in B, reached the semifinals of the Eighth Guitar Composition Competition Fidelio, a world online contest for guitarists-composers organized by the Centro Integral de música y artes in Madrid, Spain. 

In her own words: “For me, music has always been a means for genuine connection with others, a means to experience transcendence and connect to our humanness.  I feel a deep sense of purpose helping other people find their own journey of inspiration and joy through music, and that desire fuels my creativity in regards to  both, performing and teaching.” 

In a moment of pure musical grace, the congregation was drawn into deep reflection as the warm, resonant tones of a nylon-string guitar filled the sanctuary. Our guest musician, Maria Olava, a very strong finger picking guitarist, offered a performance before the Children's Sermon and delivered a gentle rendition of Ábrete Corazón by Rosa Glove that was profoundly moving.

Each note was played with intention, every phrase imbued with an emotional depth. The delicate arpeggios and fluid transitions created a mesmerizing soundscape, inviting all who listened into a space of prayerful contemplation. It was more than music—it was worship in its purest form, a heartfelt offering to the divine.

As the melody unfolded, one could sense the spirit of devotion flowing through the strings, reaching everyone present. The balance of precision and passion made it clear: Olava is not just a musician but a vessel for something greater. Creator was blessed to witness such artistry, and the echoes of that performance will linger in our hearts.

In today's parable, The Good Samaritan,  a lawyer answers his own question about eternal life by saying "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.”

Unable to utter the word “Samaritan,” the lawyer could only respond to Jesus' question "Who was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers" by saying “The one who showed him mercy.”. This was completely unlike the music and lyrics of Ábrete Corazón which conjure up, inspire and yield to that love simultaneously.

Open up, heart
Open up, feeling
Open up, understanding
Set reason aside
And let the Sun shine
Hidden within you
Open up, ancient memory
Hidden in the earth in the plants,
in the air
Remember what you learned
Underwater, under fire
Long ago
It's time now, it's now
Open up, heart And remember how love heals
How the spirit cures How the tree blossoms
And life endures