Choose

CHOOSE Luke 5:33-39 February 7, 2021 What would you do if you were suddenly faced with choosing between attending a wedding or a funeral? What if they were both at the same time, on the same day? What if you were supposed to be the best man or maid of honor at the wedding - then, one of your best friends dies, and the spouse asks you to speak? What would you choose? Neither event can be moved, you must make a choice. Your dead friend will not be offended, he's dead. But, his family may hold it against you. The bride and groom will say they understand, but will they really? Will this be the end of that friendship? How do you decide? How do you pick? What would you choose? I'm going to shift gears for a moment, but we will get back to this. In Jesus' day, most Jews believed there were only two kinds of people - the people God loves, and the people God hates. That's it. You fall very firmly into one of those two categories. Who does God love? Well, at the very top of the list, are his people Israel. He promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob he would love them and their descendants forever. Next, God loves the king. After all, it is God who decides who will be the king. So, if God gives you the greatest job in the nation, he must love you the most. They believed God played favorites. After that, God loves the priests, because they have the authority to run the church on his behalf. He wouldn't trust them with that responsibility if he didn't love them. Next, come the people who are sinless. The Pharisees were sure they had no sin at all. Not one little speck. If God hates sin, then he must love sinlessness. So, (Q.E.D.), God loves Pharisees. Finally, God loves the rich. Same reasoning as the king. He made them rich as a public show of his love for them. You can equate the size of your bank account with how much God loves you. All right, what about the other side of the page? Who does God hate, and why? Clearly, if he loves the Jews, he hates anyone who is not Jewish. God hates all Gentiles. Then, there are the people who's lives are proof God hates them; the sick, the poor, widows and orphans. If you have a terrible lingering illness that won't go away; or if you are dirt poor, or if God took away your husband or your parents - it's because he does not like you. More than that, he actually hates you. If any of those life events happen to you, it's because you are a sinner, and God hates you. At the bottom of the list are people who must work on the Sabbath to support their families. God hates you when you work on his day. But, maybe some time in the future, you will come to your senses and get a different job - and stop working on the Sabbath. Then, God might love you again. We'll wait and see. For everyone on the hated list, is there any way to move to the loved list? Well, there's a lot of debate. But, the prevailing opinion was - yes. If you submit yourself to a ton of self-inflicted punishment, you might be able to suffer your way onto the loved list. If your life wasn't already miserable enough, find a way to be more miserable, and God just might take pity on you. And, whatever you do, don't laugh or be happy. You will always be on the hated list if you enjoy yourself. Religion isn't funny! Which brings us to fasting. Originally, fasting was a form of worship. There was only one day a year when fasting was required.1 Once each year came the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. On this day the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies, sat on the Arc of the Covenant - right where God himself was - and made sacrifice for the sins of the nation. If the High Priest survived, and came back out, then everyone in Israel had their sins forgiven. Yay!!! But, until he came out, God wanted everyone focused on why this was necessary. Why do I sin, when I know God hates sin? So, the people fasted - which made them uncomfortable. If my tummy is unhappy, maybe it will dawn on me that my sin makes God unhappy. So, I will pray hard, that next year I will do better. Yom Kippur was a day of fasting and prayer, focused on being a better person. But, it only came along one day a year. Now, as time went by, and people were trying to get off the hated list, and onto the loved list, they needed to find ways to suffer and be punished. And, fasting, seemed like a perfect fit. Obviously, God likes fasting, or he wouldn't require it for Yom Kippur. It feels like a punishment. So, lets fast. People began fasting when they wanted something from God.2 God, I would like to have more money. Or, I would like my headaches to go away. They would fast for a couple days. Not buying food for two days, leaves you with a little extra money. And, sometimes your terrible diet is why you had a headache. But, the people would say - look, I fasted and God gave me more money, or he took away my illness. Those are signs God loves me. So, the punishment of fasting is working. Suddenly, people were fasting for everything. It's the middle of the summer and we're going through a drought like we always do. But, what if this time, the rains don't come back? Let's fast. Sometimes it takes God a long time to answer my prayers. Let's fast. The Pharisees, who were sure they were sinless, began fasting every Monday and Thursday - just to be sure.3 You can't be too careful. God is a tricky devil. Fasting during a funeral became popular. Maybe God won't make life too horrible without this person, if we fast. It's not enough that we're suffering because the one we love has died. We need to suffer more and make sure we're not being moved to the hated list. Then, along comes Jesus. He's preaching to huge crowds that God loves everyone. God doesn't hate anyone. We are all special to him. We are his most favorite of all Creation. And, God is giddy and excited anytime we love him back. That's what's important. Not punishing ourselves. Loving God back. The Pharisees come to Jesus and they say, why don't you fast?4 Why don't your Disciples fast? Aren't you worried about being on the wrong list? And, Jesus says to the Pharisees, a wedding trumps a funeral. (Told you we'd get back there.) In Jesus' day, if you had the option of mourning and fasting at a funeral, or eating, drinking, laughing, and celebrating at a wedding - you were expected to choose the wedding.5 Life has all the pain, and hurt, and tragedy, and tribulation we need without adding to it. If you get a chance to be happy - take it. Jesus goes on to describe the relationship between himself and his Disciples as a wedding. And, he clearly means we should be in a wedding relationship with him as well. Being a Christian should add joy to your life. It is not a call to severity and self-inflicted wounds. Being a Christian does not mean living in a never ending funeral. Worship should be uplifting and encouraging. Not an eternal condemnation and tongue lashing. When you get done praying, you should feel better than when you started. If not, you're doing it wrong. Now, life is a funeral for those who do not know Jesus as their Savior. That's not me, that's Jesus speaking. The good news is, the wedding trumps the funeral. Don't go to the funeral. Come to the wedding. Jesus begs us, come to the wedding. The Holy Spirit pushes us silently, come to the wedding. In Heaven, the angels throw a massive celebration every time someone chooses the wedding. So, do it. Jesus wants everyone to come to the wedding. Everyone on the hated list should come to the wedding. But, everyone on the loved list should come to the wedding as well. They need to be at the party too. The problem is, they don't want to come. They like things the way they are. The old way is good enough. I like the two lists. I like that I'm on the loved list. And, I really like that there is a hated list. I like hating certain people. I don't want anything to change. I don't want to come to your wedding. Leave well enough alone. So, Jesus switches metaphors. OK, we're not talking about weddings and funerals anymore. Now, we're talking new clothes and old clothes. He talks about an old piece of clothing that is damaged and needs repair. He's talking about the Jewish church. It's old, it's damaged, and it needs repair. Church isn't working. When the purpose of the church is to convince one half of the people God hates them, the church isn't working. It has a great big nasty rip right in the front where everyone can see. Jesus says, you wouldn't cut a piece of cloth, from a new coat, and sew it onto the old coat. First of all, now you've ruined the new coat. Now, the brand-new coat has a big hole in it. That was stupid. You ruined something that was perfectly fine. Secondly, new cloth hasn't been washed. When you wash it, it will shrink. So, if you take the new patch, and sew it on the old coat, then wash the old coat - the patch will rip off. You will still have a nasty hole. The only reasonable solution is to get rid of the old coat, and start wearing the new coat. The idea the people God loves can stay with the old church, and the poor people, widows and orphans, Sabbath workers, and Gentiles can be in the new church is not workable. Jesus says, everyone needs to come to the wedding. God loves everyone. You need to get behind this concept. Stop seeing humanity as us versus them. Nobody wins when it is all out war between Republicans and Democrats, straights and gays, whites and people of color. Get rid of your lists, and come to the wedding. Jesus tells the Pharisees - it's not a new church. It is the church the way God always wanted it to be. Why is it so hard for you to let God love you, and everyone else? Stop fasting, and come to the wedding. Now, you would think that would be the end of it. At least, for those who choose the wedding, the idea of self-punishment should be banished. We listen to Jesus. We don't need to punish ourselves from the hated list to the loved list. This is Thomas Aquinas. He lived in the mid 1200's. He was brilliant. He was an amazing thinker. He wrote the very first complete work of Christian theology - Summa Theologica, everything there is to know about theology. It is a monster big book. He was so smart, the pope said - from now on, if you have any questions about theology, ask Thomas. Don't ask me. He's the guy. And, most of his ideas are brilliant. I like how he thinks. With a very big exception. Thomas embraced the concept of cruciform wisdom.6 Literally, wisdom from the cross. His concept was - Jesus learned a lot about his mission and ministry during his passion and crucifixion. Suffering really helped Jesus arrive as the Messiah. So, if suffering was good for Jesus, it must be good for you and me. Thomas says why should priests be celibate? Because sexual suffering is good for you. God doesn't love prostitutes because they enjoy their sexual freedom. We want him to love priests, so no sex. Why should we fast every Friday? Because suffering is good for you. God hates fat people - right? Gluttony is a deadly sin. We want him to love priests, so fasting. He never says it outright, but Thomas brought back the two lists. People God loves, and people God hates. Hear me when I tell you there is no list. God loves everyone. And, God loves it when you love your life. If you have to physically choose between a wedding and a funeral, choose the wedding. When it comes to salvation, and you must metaphorically choose between the wedding and the funeral, choose the wedding. Come to the party, and let go of the sadness. Let go of the need to punish yourself. Enough bad things will find you in this life. You don't need to add extra. Jesus is not impressed with self-inflicted suffering. Get rid of the old coat, and wear the new one. Trust me when I say, you are on the love list. It is good news. You are allowed to be happy. Choose the wedding. 1 R. C. Sproul, general editor. New Geneva Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1613. 2 Darrell L. Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50 (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 515. 3 George C. Gianoulis, "Did Jesus' Disciples Fast?" Bibliotheca Sacra, 168 no. 672 (October - December 2011), 413-425. 4 Joel B. Green, New Interpreter's Study Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 1863. 5 NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 1754. 6 Kevin E. O'Reilly, "Thomas Aquinas on Abstinence and Fasting: Participating in Christ's Cruciform Wisdom," Pro Ecclesia, 28 no. 4 (2019), 385-402. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2