Friday's SOAP - Malachi 3:5-12

⁵ “At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

 ⁶ “I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed. ⁷ Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

   “But you ask, ‘How can we return when we have never gone away?’

 ⁸ “Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me!

   “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’

   “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. ⁹ You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. ¹⁰ Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! ¹¹ Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ¹² “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

S(cripture) - You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 

O(bservation) - I really don't want to add much to this text.  The nation of Israel is under a curse - a land with sorcerers, adulterers and liars, those who withhold wages, abuse orphans and widows, and deprive foreigners of justice, religious types who panel their houses and fail to give God 10% (a tithe).

And I wonder about America.  The question in my soul is how a nation with so many abundant resources could also be economically sick?  We all like sheep have gone astray.  There are principals and God-fashioned laws that can either bring blessings or curses (for nations and individuals) depending on whether they are followed or ignored.

God is so patient.  Israel, on trial, is guilty with God as the witness, yet God still wants to not only pardon but bless.  He promises a blessing to Israel if they would but turn back to righteous living.  I believe the promise is universal.  Oh America, America, God shed his grace on thee.  We have wandered so far from your ways.

A(pplication) - Are you cheating God - not giving to God what is due him? Are you living the Kingdom life - a life concerned with justice for the marginalized?  What areas of your life need repentance - to turn from curses to blessing?

P(rayer) - Abba, everybody's pointing fingers in this time of upheaval. Wall Street and politics, veterans . . . so much anger and vitriol.  So many turning to everything and everyone but to You to heal and bless.  Is there any hope?  You are the Author and Perfecter of Life.  You wrote the universal laws that bring either curses or blessings. If need be, break our hearts so we would turn back to You. Amen.

Thursday's SOAP - 2 Corinthians 8:1-15

¹ Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. ² They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity.  ³ For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. ⁴ They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. ⁵ They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.

 ⁶ So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving. ⁷Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.

 ⁸ I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.

 ⁹ You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

¹⁰ Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. ¹¹ Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. ¹² Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. ¹³ Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. ¹⁴ Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal. ¹⁵ As the Scriptures say,

   “Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over,
      and those who gathered only a little had enough.”

S(cripture) - Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have.

O(bservation) - This a striking story of Kingdom sharing - a window into the early church and their deep connection to one another no matter the distance.  The Church in Jerusalem - the founding church out of which Paul was sent - was facing hardship and persecution and was in desperate need of outside assistance. Paul is making an appeal to the church in Corinth to generously meet this need reminding them that the far poorer churches in Macedonia were giving beyond "what they could afford."  Paul reminds them that they're the lead church that started this Jerusalem appeal and that they need to finish what they started.  He also paints this incredible picture of universal sharing - shades of Jesus' promise - "Give and it will be given to you."  Paul says to the church in Corinth - give out of your abundance and when the day comes when you have need, other will bless you out of their abundance.  "Pay it forward," he says.  It's a picture of God's economy that says there is enough for everyone to share, but not enough to hoard.

A(pplication) - I can't help but think about how differently medical insurance, college education and retirement would be if we practiced this way of sharing.  What if the church was one big "credit union/cooperative?"  What if instead of paying medical insurance premiums, we pooled our resources when one person needed medical care (read this)?  What if instead of individual families joining a college savings plan, every child in church could go to trade school or college through the collective sharing of the faith community?  that the children would then come back to use their education to benefit the community? (remember this episode of Little House on the Prairie? - watch the end (40 minute mark) if your too busy)  What if instead of social security and pension plans, the church really took care of the widow, the orphan and alien (and retiree)?  This seems so foreign in our 21st century American culture, but so much closer to human reality up until 100 years ago!

Okay, sorry for dreaming.  The Vine is looking for ways to share out of the abundance of those who have.  Our main campus' Neighbors in Need program is one way to give out of your abundance to help those in our community who are struggling.  You can designate gifts right to this fund.  And the Table Project has a place to give away stuff you no longer need (did you know that a Viner is giving away a cable ready 26 inch TV there!?)  Eager giving is God's call on our lives.  Bless others by sharing.

P(rayer) - Abba, we've grown up in a culture of "I can do it myself!"  We've got pride.  We've got self-sufficiency and responsibility.  We'd rather help then be helped.  What will it take for us to get real and be real and to share our needs?  What will it take for us to trust You and one another?  Show us, through Jesus, the Way.  Amen.

Wednesday's SOAP - Matthew 22:15-22

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees met together to plot how to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. ¹⁶ They sent some of their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to meet with him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You teach the way of God truthfully. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. ¹⁷ Now tell us what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

 ¹⁸ But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Here, show me the coin used for the tax.”When they handed him a Roman coin, ²⁰ he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”

 ²¹ “Caesar’s,” they replied.

   “Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

 ²² His reply amazed them, and they went away.

S(cripture) - “Well, then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

O(bservation) - The Pharisees come together to ask Jesus a "no right answer" question that could mean his life. We think we live in a politically charged world with conservatives and liberals . . . Jesus is dealing with foreign/pagan occupation and the pressure for self-rule. After all, he claims to be the Messiah and part of that job description is to restore the glory and power and throne of Israel/David. (Messiah means "anointed one" and hearkens back to the day when Samuel anointed David with oil in front of his brothers - marking David for a future job in the Jerusalem White House (which he would have to build).) We're talking a revolutionary question - a match to gasoline conflict question.

To add to the volatility, Jesus will have to answer this question in front of both Herod (foreign/pagan occupation) supporters (Herod was appointed governor by Rome) and self-rule Jews (the Pharisees wanted a pure state of Israel).

(That's a lot to set the tone, but without it, the response loses its power.)

So the "friend of my enemy is my friend" crowd (Herodians and Pharisees would never join forces except to destroy Jesus) comes and butters him up hoping to have Jesus lower his guard then asks, "Should we be paying taxes to Caesar (Rome)?"

To win friends and influence people, Jesus proceeds to call them hypocrites and asks for a Roman coin. His answer is strikingly brilliant - he asks his quizzers a question - "Who's pic is on the coin?" They answer - "Caesar's."

Jesus - "Okay give it back to Caesar then and give to God what belongs to God."

A(pplication) - The beauty of Jesus' answer is two-fold. First, his antagonists expect an "either-or" answer but Jesus gives them a "both-and" answer. It's not give to Caesar OR give to God - it's give to Caesar and give to God. Don't miss the significance of this. We live in an either-or culture - either left or right, either republican or democrat, either liberal or conservative . . . But Jesus' kingdom is both-and living in the tension of opposites in an inclusive manner that is hard for us to grasp (we've grown up with either-or). How would our political landscape change if we could think in terms of AND? Personal responsibility AND community (government/church/education) assistance.

Second, while being very practical - in the "real" world - Jesus is saying his Kingdom is also above the fray of money and taxes and politics. His answer is almost flippant. Jesus is not going to get sucked into their petty either-or arguments. Do you get sucked into political debate? (I do). It's that time of year again but Jesus would remind us, the Kingdom is bigger than the sphere of politics. Jesus Christ is Lord is both a political statement against Rome (Caesar is not our Lord) but also a statement that is so much bigger than Rome and Israel - Jesus rules the universe his Father created. (Does he also rule your life?)

I once got reamed out on a blog because I wrote "Jesus for president" (a reference to Shane Claiborn's book). The person doing the reaming assumed that I was talking about putting a Christian in the White House - thought I was a right-wing fundamental Christian and let me have it with both barrels. Sadly, he missed the broad scope on my comment because his own mind was thinking narrowly of politics as we know them. Jesus, my Lord, is so much bigger than the White House. My misunderstood comment was a call to rise above petty politics, but produced just the opposite!

P(rayer) - Father, first remove the scales from our eyes that sees everything in either-or. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, himself said that he came to bring a sword. To grasp what he meant, means we understand how to live in this world and yet not be of it. Father, do we really think that government can save us? Politicians making promises to dig us out of a black hole of debt if elected. But you God are the liberator. This money mess only concerns You as much as it keeps us from sharing and serving and giving and making sure others are fed and clothed. Let Washington have our paper dollars while we learn to give and live out of the abundance of the Kingdom life you offer us. Teach us the Way. Amen.