At the Crossroads-Pilate

Sermon Matthew 27:11-26 March 12, 2017 2^nd Sunday Lent

At the Crossroads-Pilate

In this Lent, we travel the crossroads of people who were faced with a difficult choice. Today, we meet Pilate. We heard in the gospel of Matthew, Pilate was faced with a difficult choice. He could choose to do what was right in the eyes of justice, or he could respond to the pressure of the crowds and the religious leaders. He chose to bend to the will of the crowds and the religious leaders. He knew his choice was not a fine one nor was it a fair one. But, despite the turmoil within him, he chose to free Barabbas and send Jesus to his death.

In Matthew’s presentation of Jesus’ passion story, God is present and active for the salvation of humanity. Jesus struggles at the face of death just as much as any human has in history. M. Eugene Boring.

Jesus faces the trial that sends him to his death. God is fully present in him and with him.

Pilate asks Jesus the question, “Are you the King of the Jews?” This is the only question Jesus answers in this Roman trial. The next time we hear Jesus speak, he is speaking from the cross. And Jesus makes the choice to seal his fate at the cross with his answer. Jesus says, “you say so.” That is the same as saying. “Yes, I am.”

Pilate, in an effort to get Jesus to say something that is less condemning, tells him there are a number of accusations against him. Jesus doesn’t budge. Pilate is left with the struggle of his choice. He is the judge of this man. Jesus has verified the charge of treason against Rome with his answer. But, even if he had said something different, the result of his trial would be the same. Yet, Pilate seems to try every turn to set him free.

Imagine being a judge in charge of the fate of another. I don’t think I can-it’s too scary.

I think that’s why I really didn’t like serving on a jury. I was always worried that perhaps we didn’t hear the whole story. Perhaps, my judgment was in error. Perhaps, my decision was based on my prejudice-perhaps even an unconscious prejudice-and that’s the scariest of all to me.

Being a judge takes a lot of discernment and character. It requires being able to do the job without letting emotion take control. Yet, judges are faced with decisions every day that affect the lives of others.

Even though we don’t wear a judge’s robe and sit on a bench each day, we are faced with decisions that impact the lives of others.

In this reading, today we learn of Pilate and we also learn about the crowds. Pilate throws the question of which prisoner to release to the crowd. His choice point to throw the decision over to another ended up with an outcome he did not expect. They called for the release of Barabbas! Pilate who thought Jesus could be freed through the voice of the crowd, heard instead, for him to be crucified! How, can it be that people turn against someone so quickly?

How do we fall in love and follow someone for their ideals, only to turn away just as quickly through the influence of voices from the crowd?

The questions we struggle with are the ones that get at the core of our belief.

What are the basic principles that keep us on the way for good?

How do we make a choice point, a judgment that is for the best?

The best for others, and the best for us?

Perhaps, this telling story of Jesus before Pilate and the crowd is a start.

If we were to become members of a crowd, we best be sure we understand the purpose of the crowd.

Whether we were part of the women’s march on Washington,

or the crowd at a Trump support rally,

we should have known the reasons for being there.

If we were caught up in a crowd to chant slogans or campaign cries, we would hope the words that came from our mouths were ones we really believed.

Often when people are gathered in crowds they are swept up with the emotion of the moment. And in the emotion, core principles can somehow be left behind.

The crowds that followed Jesus were perhaps ones who were intrigued by his popularity, and his view on the world and his counter cultural ideals were appealing. Yet, when the crowd was faced with the need to shout out their support, they would not do it. They hid behind the words of a few and then yelled the opposite of how they had behaved over the last few years.

In this season of Lent, we come to the choice point; to choose whom we will follow. Joshua said it so well to his people so long ago. “Now therefore, revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness…now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of your ancestors…or the gods …in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

I really believe that the choice of whom we follow becomes the core of our faith. I also believe that this then grants us the basic principles to handle life in the crowds.

It is the center of our judgment seat. Once we know who we put our faith in, we are then able to learn, know, seek to understand, and put into action those principles for life.

Christ’s premise for life was based on grace, love, truth, and service. John 13:34- A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you  Matthew 22:37-40- “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Bob Hoekstra puts it this way: Centuries before the Messiah (Jesus) came into this world, the Psalmist prophesied of the words of grace that would flow from His mouth. "You are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your lips." God's grace guided and poured forth through the words of Jesus and set His speech above that of every other person. Those who listened to Him during His earthly pilgrimage testified of this fact. "All bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth" (Luke 4:22). One of the distinctive aspects of Jesus' words was the unique authority this grace imparted. "Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority"

When we choose that our speech will always be filled with grace, perhaps sometimes also seasoned with salt, we can know we are speaking through the wisdom of God.

We must choose that our purpose for speech is for the edification of others, not to hurt others. We must want our words to be ministering God’s grace in the lives of others as well as in our own.

Pontius Pilate had the opportunity to speak the way for good. The crowd had the same opportunity.

We have choices every day. Let us live remembering the solid rock of faith on which we stand. Let us choose grace, love, truth, and service. Let the power of God’s love flow through us and from us. Amen.

Divine Dice

Sermon Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 May 17, 2015 Easter 7

Divine Dice 

“Who are we?” “What do we do now?” “Where do we go from here?” “How can we be anything at all?” I imagine these are the questions going through the minds of the disciples and the other followers of Jesus as they waited in the room in Jerusalem. Transition and change were upon them. They were in a room with a one sentence instruction manual! Wait for the Holy Spirit to come. So, there they were the huddled masses seeking to be freed from the room and sent out with a purpose, instruction, and some sense of Jesus present with them.

In the midst of the waiting for the Holy Spirit, it occurred to Peter that they were down one player and if they were going to be ready for the appearance of the Spirit they needed to be a full team again.

Peter set about regrouping and organizing the disciples for mission.

I’m not sure if you are aware of what it is like to start a new chapter of life or work or whatever without any training manual or any kind of instruction sheet. Now some of you might say that entering into parenthood was like that. And I would agree that no amount of books or friendly advice is enough to prepare for that adventure.

But, here are the disciples entering and moving into a new way of which no other had ever gone before.

Perhaps we can wrap our brains around this when we think of the pioneers of our space programs, or the sailors who crossed oceans, or the Wright brothers with their first flight.

Entering into a domain of where there are no precedents can either be exhilarating or incredibly frightening or foolishness or all of the above.

Peter had a sense of God’s calling into new leadership as he spoke to the believers. After all Jesus had been with them for 40 days after the resurrection and had now ascended into heaven. Surely there was some instruction going on between the Risen Lord and the disciples before he ascended into the clouds.

Sometimes I wonder if this account from Luke is more than just a historical note of how the first organizing meeting of the church took place.

I wonder if this might also be an opportunity for the continuing church to witness and participate in those same questions the first church had.

“Who are we?” “What do we do now?” “Where do we go from here?” “How can we be anything at all?”

It seems as though the church is always in transition and change.

It seems as though the church is always needing to rebuild its team.

It seems as though the church is always needing to regroup and organize.

And perhaps the testimony of these early believers can continue to encourage the continuing church.

From among the approximately 120 believers gathered two fit the criteria to fill the 12^th ‘man’ post of the disciples. They were named Joseph and Matthias. The voting process began with prayer and then proceeded with the roll of the dice. This process of rolling dice is a shock to our Presbyterian system and perhaps all of our current denominations would be appalled at choosing leaders through such chance acts as dice rolling.

But, casting lots was a common practice for decision making in the Roman world as well as the world of the Hebrews. There are several accounts in Old Testament where decisions were made at the roll of dice.

Which leads me to believe then that there is such a thing as Divine Dice.

It leads me to believe that the Divine (God) acts through the resources that are available at the time. Today, we have electronic voting booths and other fancy equipment to help us make fair choices. So, if we look back and scoff at the method utilized by the first church as unthinkable we lose sight of the work of God in the midst of current circumstances.

The decision the disciples made with the toss of the dice was not trivial or the luck of the draw. It was based on the faith they had in God to guide them through the system and they knew and they trusted.

Even if the system was flawed in some ways they still had faith that this was the system they had at the time and trusted that God would work through it.

I don’t think we’re any different today more than 2000 years later. We have systems in place to help us make choices. …

When many of you arrived at retirement what systems were in place for you to make the decisions for the next chapter in your life? As the door of your job closed, before you even got to your car, there was a whole new world of opportunities and possibilities opening up. You were in a position of wondering which direction to go and who to say yes to. There were all kinds of good choices before you, all kinds of good causes to join, and all kinds of good paths to take. But, knowing which was the right one for you to say yes to was not always easy. There are always many good choices before us and as individuals, as the church, and as the community. The challenge is knowing which good choice is the right one for us.  

We have church government documents to guide us in our organization. We have procedures in place to instruct us on how to do the work of the church. We realize they are not perfect nor are they sealed in stone as the ‘only’ way.

But, for the moment they are the resources that we have.

And like the first church we can choose to trust the system and the process knowing that God meets us with what we have.

When my middle daughter was a teenager she had trouble making decisions-not unlike every member of our family. Her uncle decided she needed help with her decision making. He gave her a wrapped package and in it was a pair of dice. He instructed her to use one when having trouble with a decision. He then said the second die is to be used when you don’t like the choice the first die made.

The powerful testimony of the faith placed in the process of the dice was that once the decision was made they were ready to move forward and they were ready to do the work that Jesus had called them to do.

And so we the church today can also place our faith and energy into the decisions that lie ahead and trust that God will be there to guide us and to be in the midst of the process.

Then we too can be ready to go and do the work that Jesus has called us to do.

The disciples were at the crossroads of the way things used to be and the way things will be. I believe the church in every age is at the very same place the early disciples were.

The church as it opens up to God will always be asking these questions:

“Who are we?”

“What do we do now?”

“Where do we go from here?”

“How can we be anything at all?”

Through prayer and faith and a commitment to seek God and God’s will

in all of life

and

as the church

we open ourselves to God and God’s new way to be believers in this age.

I’m excited about the days and years ahead for the church.

I pray you are too.

We are workers of the Lord and we give thanks!

Amen.