Jesus Said What?

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 20 (Year C)

Amos 8.4-7; Luke 16.1-13

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

What is Jesus thinking? He tells a parable about a dishonest manager who, when he is fired by his master, has the master’s debtors falsify their bills, reducing the amounts they owe. Surprisingly, upon finding out what the manager did, the master is not particularly upset. In fact, he “commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly” (Lk 16.8a). And not only that, Jesus himself then says, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth, so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes” (Lk 16.9). What? Did Jesus just commend the dishonest manager and lift him up as a model for his disciples to emulate? Well, yes. Yes he did. And I have just one thing to say. Who are you and what have you done with Jesus?

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Lost and Found

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 19 (Year C)

Exodus 32.7-14; 1 Timothy 1.12-17; Luke 15.1-10

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

We can all probably relate to the parables that Jesus tells to the Pharisees and scribes in today’s Gospel reading. Okay, it’s not likely that many of you have lost any sheep. But no matter how organized you are, at one time or another, you’ve likely lost something. Your car keys. Your cell phone. Your wallet. An important piece of paper. And of course, we never notice that something is lost or missing when we have free time to look for it. No, we generally notice something is lost at the worst possible moment. As we’re getting ready to walk out the door to go to work or to an important appointment. So, now, not only is the item lost, but you are also forced to lose even more—valuable time and energy, not to mention your sanity—as you put the rest of life on hold to look for the lost item. The experience can be maddening. The feelings of frustration and irritation—possibly even anger at self—as you seek that which is lost. Yet, out of necessity, there is that determination to continue to search.

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Choices

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 18 (Year C)

Deuteronomy 30.15-20; Philemon 1-21; Luke 14.25-33

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Choices. We always have choices. But sometimes those choices aren’t always so easy. Or are they?

I recall a conversation I had with my boss—no, not the Bishop, and not God. This was my boss in my “previous life” when I informed him that I would be leaving LSA, the environmental consulting firm we worked for, to go to seminary to become a priest. Lloyd knew I had been in the discernment process, so it did not come as a complete surprise. He knew it was not an easy decision for me. He knew that I loved my job at LSA and that there was a part of me that wanted to continue my work as a transportation planner. But he also knew that I felt I was being called to the priesthood—a call that had reached the point that I could no longer deny it. After I told him that I had made it through “the process” and had been cleared to go to seminary, Lloyd said to me: “It’s not very often in this life that we have a choice between two truly good things.” What Lloyd was getting at was that he understood the difficulty in making my choice between two things I loved. And affirming that ultimately, where I would find true life, true fulfillment, would be not as a transportation planner but as a priest.

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Feasting on Humility

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 17 (Year C)

Luke 14.1, 7-14

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Luke’s Gospel contains more references to eating, banquets, and being “at table” than any other Gospel. The table is a principal site for fellowship and discourse for the Lukan Jesus. The dining table seems to be one of Jesus’ preferred locations for teaching, encountering the marginalized, and even reprimanding. Today’s Gospel account incorporates nearly every aspect of what Jesus does at table. In this one lesson, he teaches, he reprimands—twice—and, at least figuratively through his second reprimand, illustrates what it means to engage those who are marginalized. Or to be more precise, he challenges his host and all present to engage with the marginalized.

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