Women warriors, 1.13.13

Do me a favor and open your pew Bibles to the front, to the table of contents. The last few weeks we’ve been reading from the New Testament, from the books of Luke and Matthew. Find those in the table of contents.

We’ve been talking about Jesus these last few weeks. We’ve been talking about how God sent his son Jesus into the world to be born as a baby in Bethlehem. Last week we talked about how wise men from a far away place came to Bethlehem to see Jesus, the new King of Israel. Today, we’re going back in time, back to a time before Jesus. Back to a time before Israel was dominated by Rome, before the Roman Empire even existed, before Israel had a king, before Israel was really a nation.

            Long ago, God’s people Israel were slaves in Egypt. God saw their suffering, saw the way their Egyptian masters oppressed them, saw their sorrow and decided to do something. God sent Moses to lead the people out of slavery into a new future. Moses did just that. He led the people of Israel out of Egypt into the desert. We find that story in the Book of Exodus.

Moses led them through the desert for forty years. In those forty years God fed them with bread from heaven. God gave them commandments and laws that would teach them to be God’s holy nation of priests. Laws that protected the poor and weak. Laws that protected the land and organized worship. God gave them laws to build a just society. We learn the laws and stories of building a nation in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. Those years in the desert taught the people to trust God.

Finally, after forty years of wandering through the desert, God brought the people to the border of the land of Canaan, the land we know today as Palestine and Israel. God told Moses that he wouldn’t be the one to lead Israel into their new home; that was Joshua’s job. So Moses spent some time preparing the people for a new life in a new land.

The Book of Deuteronomy is a series of sermons in which Moses warns the people about the dangers of stability, the dangers of having their own land. Even though they’ve been wandering for years, looking forward to God’s promise of a land of their own, Moses knows that having what we want can be dangerous.

Once the people are settled in a good place and become prosperous, it will be tempting to believe that they have achieved this on their own. It will be easy for them to get comfortable and to forget that everything they have comes from God. It will be easy for them to say, “Look at these beautiful houses and all the crops we’ve worked so hard for. Aren’t we something special?” Moses warns them to remember God, and to remember the righteous laws God taught them.

Moses dies right at the border of the Promised Land and his second in command, Joshua takes over. You’ll notice that the next book is called Joshua and it tells the story of how Joshua led the people into the land and started to conquer it. Under God’s direction, Joshua and the leaders of the people divide the land into territory for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. At that point, each of the tribes basically go their own way to their own land and get on with the business of settling into a new life in their land.

The Book of Judges continues the story. In Judges we see the people trip up. Time after time they turn away from God and start worshiping the gods of the nations around them. Each time this happens God allows them to be defeated by their neighbors and they suffer. When they cry out to God in their trouble, God sends a leader to bring them back to the right path and to free them from oppression. These leaders were called judges.

What we notice in the Book of Judges is that Israel isn’t really a nation as we think of it now. It was really a collection of tribes. Each tribe had some organization and some leaders, but the whole nation wasn’t really organized. At different times in the book different enemies take center stage. In this part of the book the Canaanites are the focus of concern. As with most stories in Judges, this one starts with the people turning away from God. Let’s listen for God’s voice as Sally begins the story.

Judges 4:1-16

The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. ²So the Lord sold them into the hand of King Jabin of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-ha-goiim. ³Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help; for he had nine hundred chariots of iron, and had oppressed the Israelites cruelly twenty years. ⁴At that time Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel. ⁵She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment.

⁶She sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you, ‘Go, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. ⁷I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.’” ⁸Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” ⁹And she said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.

¹⁰Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and ten thousand warriors went up behind him; and Deborah went up with him. ¹¹Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the other Kenites, that is, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had encamped as far away as Elon-bezaanannim, which is near Kedesh. ¹²When Sisera was told that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, ¹³Sisera called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the troops who were with him, from Harosheth-ha-goiim to the Wadi Kishon.

¹⁴Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day on which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. The Lord is indeed going out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand warriors following him. ¹⁵And the Lord threw Sisera and all his chariots and all his army into a panic before Barak; Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot, ¹⁶while Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-ha-goiim. All the army of Sisera fell by the sword; no one was left.

Judges 4:17-24

¹⁷Now Sisera had fled away on foot to the tent of Jael wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between King Jabin of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. ¹⁸Jael came out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. ¹⁹Then he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. ²⁰He said to her, “Stand at the entrance of the tent, and if anybody comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’”

²¹But Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, until it went down into the ground—he was lying fast asleep from weariness—and he died. ²²Then, as Barak came in pursuit of Sisera, Jael went out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went into her tent; and there was Sisera lying dead, with the tent peg in his temple. ²³So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. ²⁴Then the hand of the Israelites bore harder and harder on King Jabin of Canaan, until they destroyed King Jabin of Canaan.

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            The next time someone tells you the Bible says women should home and be quiet, you can think about this passage. The Bible doesn’t say one thing about women or men or violence or government. The Bible is a bunch of different stories in a bunch of different books written over hundreds of years. At the same time, the Bible is a meaningful whole because it tells God’s story.

It is a complicated story because our relationship with God is complicated. Sometimes we listen to God and follow; other times we turn away and go our own way. There are different messages in scripture because different situations call for different ways of living. Sometimes courage in the face of oppression is what we need. Other times we need to be gentle.

It’s also complicated because even though the Bible tells God’s story and was guided by the Holy Spirit, it was written by human beings and also reflects the limits of its writers. In the time of the Bible women were not equal. The Bible reflects the sexism shared by ancient societies. We haven’t conquered sexism yet, but we’re making progress. Even though the Bible is often used to justify limiting women, God created men and women different and yet equal. Even with all the inequality in the world and in the beliefs of the biblical writers, God’s calling for women still shines through.

The lesson to take away from this story for your life today is not that conflict should be solved with a tent peg and a hammer. Instead, take home the lesson that God sometimes, even often calls surprising people to do surprising things. Deborah was a prophetess, a woman in a sexist culture whose job was to share God’s voice with the people. She was also in charge of settling disputes and working out justice in Israel’s community life. That’s a surprising leadership role for a woman in that time. But it’s even more surprising that she would be part of leading Israel into battle.

Jael wasn’t even an Israelite. Her people knew Israel and the Canaanites. Maybe they profited from the oppression of Israel or maybe they were offended by it. Maybe some of both. The Bible doesn’t tell us anything about why she decided to kill Sisera. We aren’t allowed into her thought process. What we know is that this mighty man who led the powerful and oppressive Canaanite army was defeated by a woman.

That’s how God does things sometimes. On the outside there’s no reason Jael would be part of God’s plan to save Israel. We don’t know if she had a relationship with God. But God chose her to finish the job Deborah started.

If God can use a woman like Deborah to start a war for freedom and a woman like Jael to assassinate the big bad guy, God can use you for something special. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re too weak or too scared or too dumb or too young or too old. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not good enough. Maybe most of all, don’t let the negative voice inside you tell you what you can’t do.

The truth is none of us is good enough, but by God’s grace we are all redeemed for freedom and service. Sometimes our fears and shortcomings, or our beliefs about our shortcomings keep us from doing something great. Other times our pride or sense of entitlement gets in the way of the humility that lets God work through us.

You are not too good to need God. You are not too bad for God to love you. You do not need to be limited by your age or your sex or your history. God can use your gifts for something surprising if you let him.

For years religion has taught that women are not equal. Some churches still believe that. And there are places in the Bible that talk about things women shouldn’t do. But the big picture we see in scripture is of a God who reaches out to surprising people and leads them to do amazing things. In this case it’s a woman living in a tent named Jael who strikes down an oppressive ruler. In the Christmas story it’s a poor woman named Mary who has the courage to say yes to God’s incredible plan even at the risk of being rejected by her family and culture.

I don’t know what God has planned for you. Maybe you’ve been feeling a calling inside you to something new, something surprising and exciting but a little scary. Maybe you’ve doubted that calling because part of you doesn’t think you’re capable of great things. Maybe you doubt that calling because you grew up hearing that women weren’t supposed to do x, y, or z. Maybe you heard from a parent or a lover or a spouse that you weren’t worth listening too, that you were weak or stupid or ugly.

Those voices are lies. God’s voice is the truth. God’s voice speaks in the stillness of you heart, in the murmur of a child, in the sound of music or the whisper of the wind. Close your eyes and listen. God says to you: “I love you. I forgive you. I welcome you. I have made you special and wonderful. I have given you gifts and perspectives and abilities that no one else has. I want you to nurture those gifts. I want you to use your experience and your imagination to make the world a little bit better. I want you to stand up for justice, to comfort the hurting, to reach out to those who feel alone. I will be with you; you are not alone. You are my beloved daughter, my beloved son. Together we can do wonderful things.”

Thanks be to God.

Social sin, 3.4.12

Amos 5:10-24

¹⁰They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. ¹¹Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. ¹²For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. ¹³Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. ¹⁴Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. ¹⁵Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord: In all the squares there shall be wailing; and in all the streets they shall say, “Alas! alas!” They shall call the farmers to mourning, and those skilled in lamentation, to wailing; ¹⁷in all the vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through the midst of you, says the Lord. ¹⁸Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord! Why do you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness, not light; ¹⁹as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake. ²⁰Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

²¹I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. ²²Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. ²³Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. ²⁴But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

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I’m not going to lie to you: these first three weeks of Lent are going to be challenging. We’re going to be talking about sin, which can feel very heavy. I like preaching about God’s love much more, and God’s love is always at the heart of the good news we proclaim. At the same time if we don’t face our sin we can’t change our life. Know that I am not speaking as someone who is telling you what you need to do as if I’ve got my act together. I need repentance as much as anyone else. I’m hear as one wrestling with faith and scripture right along with you.

Amos is a little hard to follow in small pieces like this one. The powerful biblical message of social justice is clearer as part of the whole Bible more than in individual texts. You may understand Amos’s message better if you read the whole book when you have a chance; it’s pretty short so that’s manageable.

Amos lived in the eighth century before Christ. He grew up in the Southern Kingdom of Judah but spent much of his prophetic ministry in the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

            For both Israel and Judah, faith was an important part of how they saw themselves. God had chosen them as God’s special people, so they were different from the other nations of the region. Throughout Amos we see references to offerings and religious observances, which makes it clear that religion was a big part of life in Israel and Judah.

            Unlike in our own time, people stopped working, buying and selling for the Sabbath and for the first day of the month, which was also a day set aside for worship. In our passage Amos refers to people wanting the “Day of the Lord,” the time God would firmly establish His kingdom on earth. The people of Israel looked forward to God’s kingdom because they knew they were God’s chosen people. Religion was important to Amos’s audience in a big way.

            God commanded the Sabbaths and festivals the people observed. God commanded the offerings and sacrifices Amos talks about. God commanded them, but Amos says that they are not the most important part of following God. Compared with justice, worship and sacrifice don’t even register in God’s priorities.

Israel is called to build a just society where everyone has enough and all people are treated fairly. If society isn’t built on the foundation of justice, all the sacrifices and offerings in the world won’t make up for it. If the poor aren’t treated fairly, worship rings hollow and singing is just noise in God’s ears. When the “Day of the Lord” comes, Israel will be on the wrong side of God’s judgment because of the way they treat the poor.

Amos talks about Israel’s sin not in terms of following the rules or showing up for church, but in terms of justice for all. The people are doing everything right when it comes to worship, but they are not right with God in terms of their community life. He especially criticizes the rich for building nice houses while others go hungry.

I wonder what Amos would say about our culture where we have such great abundance while many are trapped in poverty. What would Amos say about buying big screen TV’s while 25% of the kids in our country struggle with hunger and billions of people world wide live on $2.50 a day or less?

            The causes of poverty are varied and complex, but the fact that thousands of people die of hunger and preventable disease every day is a scandal and a sin. At the most basic level it comes down to valuing lives differently. Whether we admit it or not, we believe that American lives are worth more than other lives.

            Differences of race, language, nationality, education, sexuality and more divide us and make it easier to see others as less human than we are. The powerful use those divisions to keep things the way they are, to keep their power intact. People with a bigger piece of the pie than their neighbors are encouraged to fear others and protect their share while people with less are taught to envy those with more and fear those with less.

Filled the hungry with good things, 12/11

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

1The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; 2to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory. 4They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

8For I the LORD love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the LORD has blessed.

10I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Luke 1:46-55

46And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the LORD, 47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

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            The book that we call Isaiah probably had three different authors in three different times. The first part, creatively called First Isaiah, follows the ministry of the Prophet Isaiah in the eighth century in Jerusalem. At that time Judah was a relatively stable, small country, that was doing pretty well economically.

The Northern kingdom of Israel had already been conquered by Assyria, but Judah seemed to have dodged that bullet. Perhaps that made the leaders of Judah feel superior and self-righteous. Israel had fallen because of her idolatry, but Judah had escaped and was even prospering in many ways because of her faithfulness. Isaiah’s ministry was to let Judah know that wasn’t the case, that in fact, Judah was on the wrong path too and would face destruction if they continued what they were doing. The biggest problem was that the wealthy were doing very well but were getting rich by exploiting the poor. They prided themselves on their religious devotion, but maximized profits through unjust business practices. The rich were getting richer while the poor suffered. Does that sound familiar?

Anyway, first Isaiah’s mission was to deliver God’s message that this is not OK. Religion isn’t about worship and sacrifice; it’s about living our faith everyday in how we treat others, especially the most vulnerable. Isaiah brings God’s warning that without a radical change Judah will go into exile like Israel.

Second Isaiah was probably written after first Isaiah’s prophecy of doom had already come true and Judah was in exile. It is a message of God’s hope, because even though Judah’s injustice has led to disaster, God’s love never fails. God will transform Judah into a righteous kingdom again, a kingdom so full of God’s love it shines like a light to the world.

Third Isaiah is similar in message but written later. Many of the exiles had returned to Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside, but the return home had not brought the total restoration of Israel they had hoped for. Third Isaiah continues to encourage them and to let them know that one day God’s plan for redemption will be complete and the whole world will be at peace.

Our passage from Isaiah comes from the third section. We can almost picture the Jews returning from exile, excited to be back home with a shot at some political autonomy. They come over the last hill craning their necks for a glimpse of home, but all they see is devastated ruins.

It’s easy to feel that way when we think about Rochester. We remember the glory days when Kodak jobs were secure and plentiful, when technology and manufacturing created a vibrant economy that supported broad prosperity and vibrant culture. Now we see the ruins of Kodak Park with many of the buildings empty and a tenth of the former work force. We see the devastation of a school district that doesn’t graduate half of its students and where functional literacy is out of reach for many kids. We see devastated families, chronic unemployment, high crime and a deep-seated sense of hopelessness.

            Nationally, we’ve seen a huge and disturbing concentration of wealth over the last forty years. When we adjust for inflation, wages for many workers are actually lower than they were forty years ago, while the people at the top of the economic pyramid are much richer and pay less in taxes. Big companies and wealthy donors have nearly unlimited access to political power and our representatives are more focused on making each other look bad than on getting anything done to make our country better. In our politics we are driven by fear, prejudice and greed rather than by the spirit of welcome and opportunity that made our nation great.

            The good news is that God wasn’t finished with Israel then and God isn’t finished with us now. Even when we turn away from God’s love, God stays faithful. God is working among the ruble and brokenness to plant and nourish something new. God is planting justice, righteousness and new life where we least expect it.

Abundant grace (8.14)

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

¹I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. ^2aGod has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.

... ²⁹for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. ³²For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

Matthew 15:(10-20) 21-28

¹⁰Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: ¹¹it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.” ¹²Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?” ¹³He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.” ¹⁵But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” ¹⁶Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? ¹⁷Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? ¹⁸But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. ¹⁹For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. ²⁰These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”

²¹Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²²Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” ²³But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” ²⁴He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” ²⁶He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

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            This conversation between Jesus and the Canaanite woman has always bothered me. I’m so used to Jesus being all about welcoming people and here he is calling this woman and her daughter dogs. It’s not a very nice story, and I’m not quite sure what to make of it.

            Still, this time through Matthew’s Gospel the story makes a little more sense to me. Jesus was always clear about his mission. God sent him to call sinners to repentance, to look for people left out of the community. But before this passage he sees his mission as part of his religion: he is a Jew and his mission is to Israel.

We see that clearly a few chapters earlier when Jesus sends his disciples out to preach and heal. He tells them not to go to the gentiles or Samaritans. Instead he sends them out to the “lost sheep of Israel.” The gospel is about welcome for those who didn’t feel welcome in synagogue because of their past or their occupation or other things that kept them away from God. But Jesus felt that the gospel was for the people of Israel, for God’s chosen nation.

Then Jesus meets this Canaanite woman who begs him to heal her daughter. It seems like Jesus doesn’t think she fits into his mission, but at first doesn’t know what to do. Finally he stops to tell her he was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel.

She’s not interested in his limits. She’s a mother and she cares about two things: her daughter needs help and Jesus can help her. Instead of being discouraged she simply kneels and repeats her plea for help.

That’s when Jesus tells her it’s not right to give the children’s bread to dogs. Maybe Jesus feels the pressure of too much to do in too little time. He knows the cross is on the horizon and getting closer. Maybe he’s concerned that there are so many lost sheep in Israel that he might not have time to get to all of them.

If I were that woman I would have taken offense. Maybe I would have said something hateful and walked away disappointed. But the woman turns Jesus’ words around. She knows she and her daughter are not the focus of Jesus’ ministry. She is not an Israelite, not a child sitting at God’s table. But even dogs can eat what falls on the floor. This woman knows enough about Jesus to know her daughter only needs a few crumbs from his table to be healed.

Jesus is amazed at the woman’s faith and maybe her words stick with him as he and the disciples continue down the road. I can’t prove it, but I like the idea that Jesus learned something about his mission from the Canaanite mother. After this encounter his perspective seems to open wider. He recognizes that many of the people he is preaching to are not going to listen, but others he didn’t preach to at first will follow joyfully.

Jesus continues to tell parables about the mystery, the surprises and the glory of the kingdom of God. But he also tells harsh parables about bad tenants and guests refusing to go to a feast.

These parables are about how Israel’s leaders have turned away from God; how they have rejected God’s rule and taken power for themselves. These parables are also about how God will welcome new people who will appreciate the gift of grace and respond with love. Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of Israel, but his calling goes out also to the lost sheep of every nation, to you and to me. His calling goes out to others who have never heard of Jesus before.

In two of the most important stories toward the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus seems to have moved completely beyond the limits of family and boundary. In Matthew 25 Jesus describes what will happen when he judges all the nations of the world. He will separate the world’s population into two groups, not based on nationality or religion but based on how they have treated the poor, the hungry, the sick and those in prison. In his final words to the disciples after his resurrection Jesus tells them to make disciples of all nations.

I won’t go all the way and say this Canaanite mother is the key to this change in Jesus’ language, but she is part of the story. Maybe Jesus finds out that the dogs are more grateful for the crumbs on the floor than the children are for fresh bread hot from the oven. Maybe you’ve had a similar experience with kids; I know I once took my mother’s wonderful cooking for granted.

A father told me his oldest son was visiting after his first year living on his own. The son went to the refrigerator to get something to drink and was shocked at the abundance and variety he had always taken for granted. Because he now knew what it was like to provide for himself, he could appreciate in a new way how much his parents had provided for him all his life.

The same thing happens with our faith. Those of us who have grown up believing in Jesus, sometimes take his love and grace for granted because it’s always been a part of our life. Sometimes we even feel like faith is an obligation and burden. We feel like kids, bored by the table we eat at everyday.

Meanwhile there are hungry dogs drooling for a crumb of good news, a crumb of Christ’s hope. There are people you know who wake up each day longing for something more in life. People are starving for hope and love and community, but they don’t know where to look for it.

Often I’ve noticed the people most excited about their faith are people who meet Jesus later in life. The most excited disciples are people who weren’t used to the bread of life so they can still recognize what an amazing gift it is.

For a congregation like ours, where most of us have grown up in a church it’s a challenge to recapture our sense of wonder. It can be hard to feel the joy of God’s amazing grace because it’s just what we’re used to.

The best way to rekindle our joy is to bring new people into the community who can share their wonder with us. I don’t mean just bringing people from a different church into our church, though of course, every disciple of Jesus brings important gifts to a new community. I mean bring people who don’t know Jesus at all into the community of faith. Think about how to introduce people to Jesus for the first time and start a new relationship; then watch as the spark of interest becomes a flame of faith. Be inspired by the amazing things Christ can do in a new believer.

Another way to get excited about Jesus is to open our eyes to new perspectives. Just because we’ve grown up with Jesus doesn’t mean we can’t still see him with fresh eyes.

Each week at the Shake it Up Café, our vacation Bible school, there’s a “carry out,” something we ask the kids to do during the week ahead. It’s kind of like homework in faith building, but more fun. So here’s our carry out for this week: spend some time in prayer each day. Pray for God to shake up your life with joy and excitement. If you do that each day with an open heart I think you’ll be surprised by what you see at the end of the week.

Let’s give that process a jump-start right now. Pair off with someone sitting near you. Tell them one thing you would like prayer for so you can grow more enthusiastic in your faith. It can be really general like: “I want to feel God’s love in my heart.” Or it can be very specific like, “I need help dealing with the confusion I feel about miracles in scripture.”

After you’ve shared something, I’d like your partner to pray briefly with and for you out loud, but softly. Often, it helps to hold hands when you pray together. The prayer doesn’t need to be long or elaborate, but try to open you heart and spirit to each other and to God. Don’t worry if it feels uncomfortable to pray like that at first; many of us haven’t grown up with much intimacy or spontaneity in our prayer life. God will take whatever we offer and work with it. Once your partner has prayed switch roles so you both have a chance to share and to pray. Today, we’ll just take about two minutes each. Then I’ll close us in prayer together before we move on to the next part of our service.