Holy Textures

Matthew 21:23-32

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Today's text ought to make all of us who are in church very nervous.

It would be a misreading to hear this text as Jesus condemning Jews and Judaism. Instead, if we ask, "Who would be the chief priests and elders today," the answer is, "Us!" For we are the religiously observant people today. We are the ones who go to church. We are the ones who read our bibles.

Matthew 20:1-16

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This text is another parable on the Kingdom of Heaven.

As is often the case, the parable focuses on the survival concerns of those who are poorest and most vulnerable under the reign of the present ruler: food, daily wages, protection, etc.

As is the case today, daily labourers were among the poorest. The denarius, the usual daily wage, was just enough to buy food for that day. No work that day meant no food that day.

As the landowner engages each group of labourers, he makes the standard agreement with each of them. But at the end of the day, the early groups are surprised - and envious - that he has made the SAME agreement with everyone, even those who only began working at the end of the day.

Matthew 18:21-35

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Chapter 18 of Matthew is a series of teachings about what community of Jesus' disciples is to be like / look like / act like.

The previous passage, Matthew 18:15-20, outlines a detailed process for resolving conflicts WITHIN the community. At a minimum this should give us a heads up that there will be conflict within the church. We will fight. There is no question of that. The question is: How will resolve conflicts? (We will resolve conflicts, won't we? Not just hold silent grudges for the rest of our lives. Just asking.)

Good old Peter can see a loop hole in the advice Jesus gives.

Luke 16:19-31

The story of the nameless rich man and the named beggar, Lazarus, (Hebrew for, "Our God has helped") is placed by Luke between verse 16:14:

You cannot serve both God and Money.

and verse 17:1:

Occasions for stumbling are bound to come.

seemingly as an illustration of both truths.

As is typical with Jesus and ourselves, there are a number of assumptions and reversals in this story.

Luke 16:1-13

Over the last few Sundays, the "audience" has shifted from "large crowds" (Luke 14:25), to "Pharisees and the scribes" (15:2) to now, "the disciples." (16:1) And, apart from the story of the prodigal and his father and brother (Luke 15:11-32), the content of Jesus' teaching is primarily wisdom stories and concluding sayings. (And often the concluding sayings are only loosely connected to the actual content of the stories. For example, the sheep and the coin are lost but do not sin nor repent. The sayings about joy in heaven would more logically follow the story of the prodigal son.)

And so, what are we to make of the story of the manager (or steward or agent) and the concluding sayings?

First, we should understand that the manager is indeed being shrewd (or wise or prudent or astute), in that,

Luke 15:1-10

Last week, when large crowds were traveling with him (Luke 14:25), the lesson was about the cost of following Jesus.

This week, now that tax collectors and sinners are coming near to listen to him, the lesson is all about celebration that the lost have been found (without any cost on their part).

In Luke, the religious leaders try to get a reading of what honour (or dishonour) to bestow on Jesus by inviting him to dinner, Chapter 14. But now they start grumbling about him. Hanging with tax collectors and sinners is definitely not an honourable thing to do, and by now associating with these people, Jesus is bringing dishonor on the leaders for their previous association with him. (They could now be publicly ridiculed for not having correctly assessed Jesus' character BEFORE they had invited him to dinner - they should have know that he was the kind of guy who would

Luke 14:25-33

This text begins and ends with an "all or nothing" injunction about following Jesus, with two practical illustrations in between.

Given that at this point in his ministry, Jesus is beginning to sense the "all" that lies ahead for him personally (betrayal and denial by his closest companions, followed by false arrest, torture, and brutal execution), perhaps it is no wonder that his response to the large crowds is to challenge any hopes they may have for an easy entry to the messianic age. The way ahead will be hard, not magical.

The word "hate" (as used in the NRSV) is clearly being used in an exaggerated sense and not literally. The Good News Bible's "love me more" is better, but doesn't capture

Jeremiah 18:1-11

This passage presents God in the image of an autocratic, totalitarian, emperor. God exercises divine punishment on those who do evil, and reward for those who follow his (sic) commands.

However, there is another way to hear this text. The text reveals that evil is antithetical to God's nature and character. Not only is there no evil in God's personal being, God abhors evil in anyone's being. And particularly, God abhors evil inflicted on others.

The text also reveals that God is influenced by unfolding events, by the decisions and