Tax Collector's Guide to Stewardship 2 - Matthew 13

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells two parables about two small items: a mustard seed and yeast. Jesus' parables teach us through commonplace images.

Once the yeast goes into the dough, there is no going back. The bread may not rise or bake properly, but the bread will never be the same. We live in a Wonderbread culture, where food magically appears in grocery stores. Unless your family bakes, you may have begun to lose your connection to this image of yeast. Yet, real dough takes time to rise. The kingdom of heaven is not instantaneous.

The Mustard Seed parable has most recently dominated conversations on CNBC about the market. Investment theories can come from anywhere. Although Jesus parables may make some sense when discussing the market, we must also recognize that Jesus meant to talk about the Kingdom against the backdrop of money and resources, in a world that lives and breathes stuff, rather than talking about stuff in a world that lives and breathes the Kingdom.

How is the Kingdom like a mustard seed? How is the Kingdom like yeast?

Tax Collector's Guide to Stewardship - Matthew 22

In this week's passage, we hear Jesus give an unsurprising answer to an obvious question. Attempts to trip Jesus on the law always fall flat. Jesus keeps the main thing the main thing.
And yet, there is a lot going on here.
The First Commandment comes from Deuteronomy 6. What sounds do we hear every day? Do we listen? Israel was commanded to listen and repeat.
The Second Commandment comes from Leviticus. Leviticus grounds many attempts to read through the Bible in one year. Yet, within a book of sacrificial instructions, comes this wonderful passage on neighbors. I love the end of Leviticus 19.14: I am the Lord. After every commandment, we are reminded that God is the Lord.
Stewardship begins not with our money, but with ourselves. May we use this season of stewardship as a time to change ourselves.

Ruth 4

^"7Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one took off a sandal and gave it to the other; this was the manner of attesting in Israel. ⁸So when the next-of-kin said to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” he took off his sandal."

How do we make covenants today? How do we signify a transaction has taken place? A signature? A handshake? You probably would not give someone your shoes.

Boaz made his covenant by taking off his shoe. When I think of this agreement, among other things, I think of Moses, standing on holy ground, taking off his shoes before the burning bush.

People in some cultures take off their shoes when they enter a building. Taking off our shoes usually signifies respect. It makes hospitality (and agreements) difficult to leave, makes it more painful to walk away. In some way, Boaz's word is consecrated.

Genealogy also plays a key role in this passage. Some genealogies run forwards (past to present). Others run backwards (back to the source). Pay careful attention to who is included and who is left out. What story does the genealogy of Ruth and Boaz's children tell? Why?

Ruth 3

The best example of threshing I've seen is in the move Sweet Land, a movie about immigrants to the U.S. Midwest. They thresh the grain the old-fashioned way. Impressive work for such a small amount of grain. It is hard to describe, yet it forms many of the images of the Bible, particularly in the preaching of John the Baptist and Jesus. The threshing floor is also the scene for Ruth 3.

This Sunday's sermon also deals with the messy issue of family. Nobody's family is perfect.

Sunday's text is one part embarassing, one part romantic, and one part confusing. Ruth makes a courageous move toward Boaz, one that could have ended poorly, shaming Boaz and herself.

When the term "next-of-kin" is used, another rendering of this term is "kinsman redeemer." Since land in Israel reverted to the tribe during jubilee years, only a family member could redeem family land in dispute. Only a family member could redeem a family member.

Ruth 2

Gleaning, Ruth's temporary profession, continues to this day.

Leviticus 19.9-10 and Deuteronomy 24.17-22 tell the Lord's commandments about gleaning. These verses help us to understand Ruth's context.

In our time, poverty is still rampant, particularly for widows and orphans around the world. Most of us do not have a farm, nor anywhere for others to glean.

Yet, we can do something about poverty. Read Ronald Sider's book about hunger. Chew on his prescriptions.

Learn about Feeding America (formerly America's Second Harvest). Find out what Americans are doing to end hunger.

Discover the Society of Saint Andrew and see how Chirstians are gleaning to end hunger today.

Read about World Communion Sunday, which is this Sunday. The Presbyterian Church (USA) focuses on peacemaking this Sunday. If we could end war, we could make a dent in starvation.

Finally, prepare yourself for the bread of life, gleaned from the harvest that God sowed, food from the free gift of grace, given and not earned.

Ruth 1

This week, we begin studying the story of Ruth.

The book of judges ends "...and [every man] did what was right in [his] own eyes" (Judges 21.25) The Hebrew uses the word for man, not the word for human being, or person, (adam - yes, the first person was named "human being"). If all of the men are behaving badly, it is interesting to find the story of women of faith, compassion, and service, a remedy to the collapsed society of the Judges.

A name is everything in Hebrew, as we hear Naomi change her name from "Pleasant" to "Bitter."

Naomi = pleasant

Ruth = companion, friend

Orpah = neck, back-turner

Mahlon = sickly, weak

Chilion = finished, done (they don't stand a chance, do they?)

The story of Ruth does follow her name - it is a story of friendship, companionship, and love. It is also a story of poverty, desperation and compassion. And it is the story of a God who develops a royal lineage, willing to take yet another detour through the plains of Moab, patiently walking beside us until our story reaches the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1) and beyond, even to us.

Stewardship Post

I've posted a stewardship study link on my other blog - you can click on it over to the right. Check it out!