Understanding the Jesus of the Gospels

Sermons from the Gospels

recent posts

Subscribe

1-corinthians-12 all-saints-day bible chalenge christianity commentary-on-luke-12-13-21 communion cost-of-salvation diversity Easter faith fear god gospel-of-john gospel-of-luke gratitude healing holy-spirit jairus jesus john-17 John 20 Lazarus lords-supper love-in-the-darkest-hour luke-16-13 luke-17-11-19 luke-18 luke-24 mark-5 my-fathers-house pentecost prayer resurrection say-thank-you talents temptation the-dishonest-steward the-rich-fool the Empty Tomb to-whom-do-you-belong unity witness witnessing world-communion-sunday

  • Pentecost – The Age of the Holy Spirit

    Act 2: 1-21, Offered to the Minehill Presbyterian Church of Minehill, NJ on May 24, 2026

    Mel Prestamo, Elder PCUSA

    There is a lot happening in this second chapter of Acts – and I think it is important for us to look at it in a step-by-step fashion so that we can see how the Holy Spirit is revealing to us the wider scope of God’s plan for Shalom. Because this isn’t solely a story about Apostles speaking in tongues.  No. This is a story of how God’s Holy Spirit is at work in Creation and how that work (the work of the church of Jesus Christ) begins to come into focus in Luke’s Book of Acts.

    The first thing for us to realize is that with the arrival of the Holy Spirit comes the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that an Advocate, a Counselor, a Guide, a Protector would come to his followers. In this story of the first Pentecost of our Christian Witness, we see the fulfillment of  Jesus’ promise that his followers would not be left alone. In John 14:16, Jesus tells His disciples, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of Truth.”

    Now, why do I use the phrase “The Fist Pentecost of Our Christian Witness. Well, I say that because it wasn’t the first Pentecost. Pentecost – meaning ‘fiftieth’ – was a  Jewish Harvest Festival which at the time of Jesus had no religious significance. Jews were simply celebrating the bringing in of the wheat harvest.

    But for we Christians, for us, it has the religious significance that it was the beginning of our witnessing to the world who the Jesus Christ was and is. So, for us, it was the first Pentecost of our Christian Witness.

    Let’s get back to Jesus’ promise in John when Jesus promises an Advocate. There’s a lot in that verse. But for today, I want you to key in on the last part of the verse – “…that the Advocate would be with you forever…” That’s going to be a theme that I will touch on throughout my message today.

    But first, let’s look at the event and how things happened. Let’s look at how Luke describes the arrival of the Holy Spirit. It comes like a “mighty” wind that then settles as tongues of fire over the heads of each of Jesus’ followers who are gathered together in this “one place.”

    There’s a lot of imagery here going back to the Exodus story, of Moses and Israel’s journey through the dessert. I don’t want to spend a lot of time here, but I do want you to recall how God’s presence with Israel in the desert is described. It is as smoke during the day and fire by night.

    God’s presence [described as Fire] is an important visual for us to keep in mind when we listen to how Luke describes the arrival of God’s Holy Spirit.

    Luke tells us that the God’s Holy Spirit comes rushing in as a mighty wind and settles upon each one in the assembly as tongues of fire. This is the Baptism by the Spirit that Jesus spoke of. In Acts 1:5, Jesus says to his disciples, “John baptized with water but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

    Next in verse four, Luke tells us that “The Holy Spirit took control of everyone…”

    “Took control.” That is a powerful description.

    What is Luke trying to tell us about this special “Baptism” by the Holy Spirit. It is different from the Baptism by water that John had been doing in the dessert.

    John was baptizing with water. What the Spirit is doing with Jesus’ followers who had been hiding in seclusion (in the darkness of that one place) was the samething that God was doing when God guided Israel through the dessert. The Holy Spirit was moving Jesus’ followers out of the darkness of their fears forward into the Light.

    Let’s look at how this happens.

    Once the Holy Spirit comes, Luke tells us that it took control of everyone. It then pushes Jesus’ followers out into the city to give witness to what they knew about the Jesus. That he was the Christ, the Messiah, the One sent by God.

    But something unusual happened. They were heard to be speaking the native languages of the people attracted to them so that anyone listening could hear and understand.

    What Luke tells us is that by this special Baptism of the Holy Spirit the Ministry of Jesus’ new church began. And it began with a cacophony of noise – a mighty wind and then a beautiful symphony of sound – all these different languages being interwoven together.

    Each of those followers gathered together for that Pentecost festival received the Holy Spirit and that Spirit filled them, took control of them and moved them out into the city to begin the Ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ.

    OK. Item number three. It is about the sound of this “mighty” wind.

    Verse 5 tells us: “Many Jews from every country in the world were living in Jerusalem.” I read the regions that Luke lists. And if we were to plot them on an ancient map, we would find that Luke lists them in order – from the East, the North, then the South, and then finally the West.

    And then in verse 6 we learn, “And – when – they [these many Jews] – heard this noise…” this mighty wind … they were drawn to it.

    Do you get the picture here? The sound of the Holy Spirit’s “mighty” wind was loud enough that the people in the nearby areas of Jerusalem heard it, too. This sound of the Holy Spirit was not just something that Jesus’ followers heard. No, it was demonstratively loud enough for people nearby to hear, as well.

    Not only did the Holy Spirit come to Baptize Jesus’ followers, take control and initiate their Ministry but it attracted and drew people to it.

    Now what happened when the people heard this mighty wind. They came to investigate and heard this group of the newly baptized of Jesus’ followers that the Holy Spirit had taken control of – proselytizing so that each of them – could hear and understand in their own native language the truth of Jesus Christ. They came asking, “What does this mean?”

    What does it mean when those who were grieving are now speaking in a new language of comfort? What does it mean when those who feared for their lives are now speaking openly in public? What does it mean when those who were ashamed that their Lord had been crucified are now so renewed and alive that people are drawn to listen to them witnessing about the good news story of Jesus Christ.

    It means that the Holy Spirit had taken control and was making things happen.

    And if we jump forward, we are told that after the claim that these proselytizers are drunk, the Holy Spirit takes control of Peter and pushes him forward to respond. As Peter steps out in front of the crowd, the Holy Spirit puts words into his mouth. Peter begins to explain the entire good news story of God’s Messiah, Jesus Christ. He begins by quoting from the Prophet Joel.

    In Joel 2: 28, “In the last days it will be, God declares, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams.”

    Now this is of vital importance for us to hear and understand. The prophet Joel spoke of the “Day of the Lord” in his prophetic messages. And what Joel meant by that was, on the “Day of the Lord”, God would step into history to set things right. And how would we know that day? Joel tells us we would know that by the sign that “…your sons and daughters will prophesy, young men would see visions and old men would dream dreams…” This was the Day that the Jewish people were waiting for. So, Peter used Joel’s words to announce to the assembly that the Day of the Lord had come in Jesus Christ.

    When the people had heard Peter’s proclamation – that the Day of the Lord had come – that God had finally stepped into our human history to set things right in the person of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit moved three thousand people to believe Peter’s message and to be baptized. And Luke tells us that after their baptism, they spent their time learning from the apostles and that they broke bread and prayed together much like we are doing and will do later when we celebrate our communion meal together.

    So, this mighty wind of the Holy Spirit was more than a passing breeze. And it was certainly not something that was meant to be confined in a small space. It was something so startling demonstrative that it not only took control of Jesus’ followers, it not only attracted an enormous crowd, it gave impetus to the beginning of the ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ. It was at that point that God’s Word and God’s plan of Shalom went out to the world.

    And so, it began from Jerusalem and then it went out, to Sumaria, to Galilee and then ultimately to us, the Gentiles. The good news of God’s plan for Shalom went out to the world under the control of the Holy Spirit. That has a special meaning for us. It means that all Christian Baptisms from then on include not only a symbolic washing of us clean with water. That is the outward sign of what is happening spiritually for us. Spiritually, our souls are being blessed and taken possession of by God’s Holy Spirit. This is the promise made to us by Jesus handed down through the ages by his first disciples.

    Now I want you to understand what the Holy Spirit taking control means for us. Because that is what defines this epoch of our church ministry that we are a part of. God’s Holy Spirit not only took control on that first Pentecost Day, but the Holy Spirit continues to take control of us – of you, of me and of the church of Jesus Christ. That is what defines the age we live in.

    And now it is we who come and ask, What does this mean? What does the story of the first Christian Pentecost mean for us today?

    Well, it means that if we believe in the risen Christ, God’s messenger of Hope; if we believe that his sacrifice of love showers us and washes us clean with God’s saving grace and mercy; and if we believe in the power of God’s Holy Spirit to empower not only Jesus’ followers on that Pentecost morning, then we must also believe in the Holy Spirit’s power to take control of our lives and push us out into this world to tell the good news story of God’s saving love and God’s plan for Shalom for God’s Creation.

    This is what I mean when I say this is the Age of the Holy Spirit. In these times the Holy Spirit continues to be at work furthering the message of God’s promised plan of Shalom – God’s desire that through God’s mercy and forgiveness to bring peace into your lives.

    But this promise of God’s Shalom is not to be locked in “one place” as Jesus’ followers were before the Holy Spirit came to them. It is also not meant to be locked within this sanctuary. It is meant to go out and be shared.

    In Matthew 28, Jesus commands us, “… Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, [even] to the very end of the age.”

    If you allow God’s Holy Spirit to take control of your hearts you will be energized to reflect the love and compassion of God into this community just as Jesus has commanded us. And if you allow it, the Holy Spirit will also fill your yearnings with God’s presence, then what you will find in that relationship is God’s Shalom. And in God’s Shalom, you will find eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

    May it be so.

  • “Thus Far and No Farther”

    Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA

    Offered to the First Presbyterian Church of Franklin, NJ on May 17, 2026

    Before we get into today’s lectionary, I want to tell you about a small book that I read recently. The book entitled “Season’s Greetings: Christmas Letters From those Who Were There,” written by Ruth Boling. In it she has assembles “letters” that she suggests might have been written by the people who there at the first Christmas…from people who actually experienced it. It is a beautiful read, and I recommend it to you.

    In it, there are letters from such characters as King Herod, Elizabeth, Isaiah, the Innkeeper, a Midwife [Boling suggests Mary couldn’t have given birth on her own], from a Shepherd, from Joseph, from Mary and finally from Jesus himself.

    Her perspectives of what each of these people might have said in letters to us are thought provoking while at the same time very touching.

    In it, portions of two of the letters jumped out and have stuck with me. And I am going to try to show you how they help us to understand what Jesus is saying in today’s passage from John’s Gospel.

    The first is from the letter from Mary. Here Boling suggests to us, that as the mother who gave birth to God’s son, Mary should have some intimate understanding of God’s will and God’s purpose in the Christmas birth. After all, It was Mary who had that extraordinary visit from the Angel who told her of God’s special plan for her. And it was her prayer that we call the Magnificat that displayed her utmost devotion and submission to God’s plan for her.

    In her letter, Mary describes God, when deciding how to bring God’s healing Shalom to Creation, God looked out on all that God had previously done. God had selected some specific persons to lead God’s people – Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, and David – then God sent prophets such as Jeremiah, Isaiah and Micah to speak to the people. Then, at the time God was considering what more God could do, God measured the results of all God’s previous efforts, and God found that God’s creation was still fractured and God’s people were failing in bringing the Shalom to Creation that God desired.

    So, in her letter, Mary suggests that God once again asks, “Whom shall I send – this time?” Now this phrase should resonate with us. We remember that when God previously called out, “Whom shall I send?” It was Isaiah who notably responded, “Here I am, send me!”

    After Isaiah and the last of God’s prophets had spoken to the people, you may also recall that God remained silent for over four hundred years. Before Jesus, the people had not heard the voice of God for four hundred years.

    Perhaps that was because over all that time when God asked, Whom shall I send, there was no response. Perhaps, Israel couldn’t hear the voice of God because it was diverting its time and energy to making alliances with foreign nations and even praising their pagan gods. Perhaps they were not even trying to hear that wee small voice of God.

    So, Mary suggests when God asked this time, “Who shall I send?” God arrived at the only possible answer left to God. God decided “I will go. I will send me.”

    Boling concludes, “The God who does the sending, sent himself.”

    That little bit of insight shines a beautiful light on one of the most quoted verses in our Christian testimony. It is of course, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

    Sometimes, because we view our God as a Trinity, we think that God split God’s self-up and sent the person of the Son. But we have to also remember that our God is one God [triune, but one] – which would mean when God sent the Son, God sent God’s self.

    I don’t know why but when I read that line in Boling’s book, it gave the verse John 3:16 a new and awesome perspective for me. When God sent the Son, God sent God’s self. This is the fundamental tenet upon which our faith is built. It is that God is interactive with Creation. God created but has never stopped creating. When God asked, “whom shall I send?” And there was no one left to send, God sent God’s self. God entered into our time and space and did what was necessary to bring Shalom to God’s Creation.

    It also brings clearer meaning to the conversation Jesus had with Philip earlier in these center chapters of John’s Gospel. When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus responded by saying, “…if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” Wow! Jesus is saying, “Hey, Philip, you want to see the Father?

    Here I am. I am the Father.” What Jesus is saying here is Philip, I know that you are having difficulty understanding but look at me. Look at me and you will see the Father.

    And that was one of the defining purposes of Jesus life, wasn’t it? To help us to see the Father. And in doing that…helping us to see the Father… Jesus made the presence of God in our lives a real thing. Further, by making God visible in our lives, Jesus brought glory to God.

    Ultimately, that is what the life of Jesus was all about isn’t it? To make visible for us the presence of God and to bring glory to God.

    In the prayer that John recounts for us in this reading, Jesus is speaking and having a conversation directly with God, the Father. He is saying that it is time for the Son to be glorified so that the Son can glorify the Father.

    The glory that Jesus is talking about is his willingly acceptance of the Will of the Father by going to the Cross. By going to the Cross, Jesus will display for all of us to see his willing submission to the Will of the Father as a loving Son.

    When we think of the crucified Christ, we usually think of sacrifice. Jesus sacrificed himself for our sins and yes that is part of it.

    But what we don’t often think of in the crucifixion story is the Son doing the Will of the Father out of pure love of the Father. Jesus’ death on the Cross is the ultimate act of loving the Father more than loving life itself.

    This is the glory that Jesus brings to the Father and that the Father gives back to the Son.

    And by thinking that in the Son, God sent God’s self – then by submitting to the Will of the Father, Jesus shows us just how far God is willing to go to recreate Shalom for God’s creation.

    That brings me to the second phrase from Boling’s book that stuck with me. This one was from the letter from Jesus. Jesus’ letter begins with a love poem. It goes:

    Roses are Red, violets are blue.

    The meaning of Christmas is, “I love you.”

    And that is what is going on in John 3:16 and in the text that we shared from today’s lectionary. Everything that Jesus is saying about giving glory to the Father comes out of the love that Jesus has for the Father and the love the Father has for God’s Creation. So, what Boling is suggesting that Jesus is saying to us is that the meaning of Christmas, as well as the meaning of the Cross – is the display of love that God has for you.

    And – and, out that love – because of that love, Jesus will glorify the Father by submitting to the Will of the Father by going to the Cross. It is through that offering of love that Jesus displays to us a life fully lived in devotion and obedience to God. Jesus shows us the kind of life that will lead us to a righteous relationship with the Father.

    Bible scholar Wiliam Barclay speaks also of the necessity of Jesus completing his work for the glory of the Father. If Jesus were to have stopped short of going to the Cross, then his work would have been incomplete and left undone.

    Barclay asks, “Why should that be so?”

    Because Jesus came into the world to tell us about the faithful and prodigal love of God – and to show it to us. And a display of that love was demonstrated by Jesus’ sacrifice of love by going to the Cross.  

    To have stopped short of the Cross, to have pulled back at Gethsemane – would be to say that God’s love goes “Thus far and no further.” In other words, if Jesus had stopped short of the Cross it would have been like saying, this is far as I [your God] am willing to go on your behalf. After this you are on your own. Go and build your own Shalom on your own.

    But by going to the Cross, Jesus displays to us that there was nothing that the love of God was not prepared to do for us. In other words, there was no limit to God’s love – even to the point of giving up life itself.

    God’s love is prodigal. God’s love is poured out upon us with a lavishness that is over the top extravagant. It is beyond imagining. It washes us clean and offers us forgiveness even when forgiveness and mercy do not seem justified.

    That is how the Father gives glory to the Son and how the Son gives glory to the Father.

    At the top of a page in William Barclay’s commentary on this chapter in John’s Gospel, I had written in the words long before I sat down to prepare for today’s worship service. I wrote, “Glory is to make visible the presence of God.”

    So, this image comes into focus for me. In Jesus, yes, we have the Son of our Triune God, but we also have The Father and God’s Holy Spirit. In Jesus, we have the entirety of our God because as Boling paints the picture for us, God sent God’s self.

    “Glory is to make visible the presence of God.” And that is what Jesus did. In the person of Jesus Christ, we see glorified the Father as well as the presence of God’s Holy Spirit because God sent God’s self and was fully present in the Christ.

    This is the level of God’s commitment to bring Shalom to God’s Creation. God was all in. There is no suggestion in the life of Jesus that there would be a point beyond which he was unwilling to submit to the Father’s will.

    In Luke 22:42, Jesus prays “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet your will to be done, not mine.”

    There is no suggestion that God was only willing to go thus far and no farther. No. God’s commitment in the life of Jesus was to submit fully to God’s desire that God’s Creation be healed – that the sin that so dominated humankind be overcome and that the grip of death that it held over us be broken and conquered. By going to the Cross, Jesus brings glory to the Father, and the Father brings glory to the Son. And through Jesus’ resurrection from death Jesus makes the awesome presence of God visible for us to see.

    To all of us, like for Philip, Jesus tells us, “Hey. Here I am. When you see me, you see the Father.” If you let God’s Spirit reveal it to you, you will see the glory of the Father and the glory of the Son. Instead of saying, “thus far and no farther”, God goes beyond the point of what humanity deserves. In Jesus’ love of the Father, He gives glory to the Father by making the presence of God visible in our lives.

  • If It Were Not So…

    John 14: 1-14

    Offered to the Community Presbyterian Church of Chester NJ, May 3, 2026

    Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA

    In these center chapters of John’s Gospel, John is recounting the discourses in which Jesus had spent much time trying to prepare his disciples for what was coming. And what was coming was going to take them on the roller coaster ride of a lifetime. There would be some highs [his triumphant entry into Jerusalem], some abysmal lows [his arrest and crucifixion], and then another high – [his resurrection and his conquering of sin’s death grip on humanity]. The lows of their hiding in fear in that lock room. Then finally, after all of this, the ultimate high – his ascension to the Father. This was the roller-coaster ride they would be experiencing during the next several weeks.

    But what all of these long discourses are leading up to– in a nutshell – what Jesus was telling them was that he would be leaving them.

    Of his crucifixion, he told them, “Where I am going, they could not go with him.”

    This of course throws them into a tizzy. They are frightened and afraid. What do you mean we can’t go with you? What he was telling them meant that the world they thought they were living in was about to collapse into chaos. Can you imagine their shock and then the utter fear that befell them? The authorities were already searching for Jesus. They wanted to kill him. If Jesus leaves, then what about us. Won’t the authorities come hunting for us, next?

    Then in the face of their fear and their angsts, Jesus tells them, “Don’t let your hearts be distressed.” He tells them, “I am going to the Father and when I go to the Father – I will prepare a place for you and then later I will return to take you to myself.”

    Now we have probably heard these verses preached on in sermons hundreds of times. You know the message. Buck up guys. Take courage. “Believe in God and believe in me.” …and all will be fine.  It’s a message that is spoken to us so that we can take courage and buck up when we are challenged in our own lives with the perils of the dark valleys that beset us. And that’s all well and good. We should believe in God and take courage in the faith that God will never abandon us.

    But I tell you what. That is not the phrase that jumped out at me when I was preparing for today’s message. What jumped out at me was the second half of verse two. Let me read it for you again,

    “If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” The Contemporary English Version translates it as, “I wouldn’t tell you this if it were not true.”

    In other words, I wouldn’t tell you that there is room for you in my Father’s house and that I am going to prepare a way for you, IF IT WERE NOT TRUE!

    “What I tell you is the Truth.” These words jump out at me because they speak I think to the very essence of who Jesus was and who he is.

    He said as much when he answered Thomas’ plea to know the way. Jesus told him, “I am the Way, I am the Truth, and I am the Life. Jesus is Truth. And that is what jumped out at me when I read, “I wouldn’t tell you this if it were not true.” Jesus speaks Truth. Jesus is Truth.

    This is where the honesty of Jesus becomes the rock upon which we stand as Christians. Let’s examine both sides of that rock.

    No one could ever claim that by following Jesus they received promises under false pretenses.

    Bible scholar William Barclay points out that Jesus bluntly told his followers that following him would mean leaving friends and family behind and denying all comforts for the sake of loving him. Luke 9: 58, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to call his own.”

    In other words, these simple creatures have a home where they can find safety ad rest. But he and his followers will not often be able to find those comforts.

    He told them of the persecution and hatred that they would have to bear. In Matthew 10: 16, Jesus tells his disciples, “I am sending you like lambs into a pack of wolves.”

    Again, in Matthew 16: 24-25, Jesus says, “If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. If you want to save your life, you must destroy it. But if you give up your life [that is your sin filled life] for me, you will find life.” We will find life because our spirits will be joined with his Spirit.

    All of this attests to Jesus’ brutal honesty. He never told any of his disciples it would be easy. He told Peter, he would deny him – three times – that in a time of peril, he would deny him for his own safety’s sake. Peter then would suffer the agony and shame of his failure.

    No nothing about being a follower of Christ was going to be easy. We have Jesus’ word on that. And we can believe that it is true because we have the history of the church that bears out what happens to each of the disciples.

    Philip is the first to be killed by being stoned by Saul outside the city of Jerusalem. Matthew was killed by sword in Ethiopia. Mark was dragged through the streets of Alexandria by horses. Luke [though he was not an original disciple] was hanged in Greece due to his fervent preaching of the Gospel. Peter was hung on a cross-upside-down in Rome. James, the son of Zebedee, was beheaded in Jerusalem. Andrew was crucified on a cross. And Thomas whose mission took him to India was stabbed with a spear. Paul [who was the man Saul who stoned Philip] was beheaded by Nero in Rome for his constant preaching. There are countless other martyrs in our church history whose sacrifices were no less severe. And I am not going to minimize any of our own struggles and blowback in the work place, or with family and neighbors when we try to live out our faith.

    Now this is my point, and I think it is the point that John is trying to make in his Gospel. If Jesus was truthful about how difficult following him would be, then He must certainly be telling us the truth about going to his father’s house to prepare a room for us.

    And that is the truth that jumps out at me from today’s lectionary. Jesus is telling us the truth when we hear him say, He is going to the Father’s house to prepare a room for each of us. That is a truth for us to latch onto no less valid than his warnings he gave us about how difficult it would be to be one of his followers.

    Now, Jesus and John don’t go into great detail about what the Father’s house would look like, what size our rooms may be, or what the style of architecture the house would be. Or, what this multiplicity of rooms means.

    And that lack of detail has opened the door to many differing theories of what it could mean. And I have to be honest with you, most of them, don’t land on solid ground for me. I mean, I think the explanations become too much of a stretch for me to buy into.

    The Jews who believed in resurrection, thought that there were different grades of blessedness in heaven which would be given to people according to their goodness and fidelity on earth. In other words, if you led a pure and righteous life, your accommodation in heaven might be quite luxurious. But if you led just an OK life, failing most of the time and being good only part of the time, then your room might be much smaller with fewer perks. Perhaps we can expect something in between the two. I don’t know. This vision of the afterlife doesn’t resonate with me.

    Clement of Alexandria said something similar. He said there were degrees of glory and rewards and stages that a person achieved in proportion to their holiness in this life. This says pretty much the same as the Jews did. Both ideas of the afterlife were based upon the notion that our good works would impact what our heavenly experience would be like. But all that flies in the face of God’s gracious mercies which are poured out on all of us indiscriminately by the Father.

    Now one of the words used in translations of this passage is the Greek word “monai” which translates to stages along the way. And what it means here is that after death, our souls continue to progress through stages in heaven. Our souls continue learning and getting ever closer to God by progressing through higher and higher levels of holiness until we reach the final stage of being one with God in heaven.

    Again, William Barclay characterizes it this way. “There is something attractive in the idea of a development which goes on even in heavenly places.” And that is a nice thought. That even as we have ascended to a nearness to the Father, our souls continue to learn, continue to grow, continue to have the Holy Spirit reveal more about God to us. Barclay continues, “it suggests that even in heaven we would need to be purified and helped onward to face even greater glory.”

    I guess that is a nice way of thinking about heaven. But still I hesitate and point out that it wasn’t something Jesus ever said or suggested. All of these explanations of what we may want heaven to be like are borne out of our need to define God. And I don’t really think that we should be in the business of trying to define God. I think we should allow Jesus to reveal God for us.

    Here, I think the simpler meaning is more lovely. It is this. That there are many abiding places in the Father’s house because in God’s heaven there is room for all. That is the notion that appeals more so to me. That God’s heart is wide enough, big enough, expansive enough to accommodate every soul that turns to God’s Truth for the Light on their path.

    And Jesus tells us that “I will welcome you to myself so that where I am, you will be also.” Isn’t that enough?

    My friends, these are the Truths that you can believe and cling to.

    That the Father’s love for you is gracious beyond any measure. There is nothing that you can do to earn it. No good work that you can do can make you grow in esteem or righteousness before the Father.

    Now this is NOT to say that good works are not an important part of Christian life. If we use Jesus’ life as an example [and that is what we are called to do]; if we live the life of the servant who washes the feet of his friends; if we live the life of the Good Samaritan who bends down to aide his neighbor in need; if we live the life of the loving Son who submits totally to the Father’s will because the love the Son has for the Father goes beyond a love of life itself – then good works would come naturally flowing out of the love Jesus calls us to share for one another.

    For Jesus has given us the commandment that we “…Love one another. Just as he loves us, we should love each other.Our love for one another will prove to the world that we are his disciples.”

    In other words, the love we share with one another will shine out to the world and would be evidenced by our works. But those works, no matter how numerous, will not buy us a more luxurious room in the Father’s house. And we shouldn’t be doing them to earn a greater reward. We should just let them happen.

    Jesus tells us the truth when he tells us the Father pours out God’s mercy upon you simply because the Father loves you. As the Psalmist has suggested, “…This is how the gates to the Kingdom are opened so that the righteous may enter in.”

  • Bewilderment, Confusion, and Doubt

    Luke 24: 13-35

    Offered to the United Presbyterian Church of Alpha, NJ on April 19, 2026

    Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder PCUSA

    We have here in Luke’s Gospel what Bible Scholar William Barclay calls one of the more extraordinary and immortal short stories of the Bible.

    In the Contemporary English Version, Chapter 24 of Luke’s Gospel is subtitled “Jesus Is Alive”. We know it as our resurrection and salvation story, and we celebrate the victory won for us over sin’s death by Jesus. However, what we also have here in Luke’s narration is a story of bewilderment, confusion, and doubt. Today, I want to look at both sides of Luke’s Resurrection story.

    Previously Luke has already told us, some women had gone to the tomb where Jesus was laid to rest. They wanted to properly complete the task of preparing his body for final burial. You will recall after Jesus was certified as having died, he was hurriedly taken down to be entombed before the start of the Sabbath. But Luke tells us that when the women arrived, they found the stone at the entrance of the tomb had already been rolled away and that when they entered the tomb, they did not find Jesus’ body there. Luke says, “they did not know what to think.”

    Then suddenly, we are told, they see two men in shinning white garments standing beside them. Bewilderment.

    They asked the women, “Why are you looking in the place of the dead – for the living?” [As an aside, I will remark to you that understanding that question is the key to understanding Luke’s story.] The men continue, “Jesus isn’t here. He has been raised from the dead.”

    They go on, “Remember … he told you, the Son of Man would be handed over to sinners who would nail him to a cross. But that in three days he would rise again to life.”

    Yes, Jesus had said these things, but they didn’t understand any of it then and they aren’t sure about what it means now. So now add to their bewilderment, confusion.

    This is an underlying theme that of course we see in the Gospels time and again. It is that Jesus’ disciples really had no firm idea of who he was and what he was about. And when he spoke of what was coming, they didn’t understand what would happen or after the fact what had happened. He was their teacher, their Lord. They even spoke in whispers of him being the Messiah. But if he was dead, what did any of it mean now? More confusion.

    Let’s look at what the women were doing. They were going to the tomb where they believed Jesus’ dead body lay.

    Now to understand what Luke is describing here we need to take note of the fact that the women were going to a place of death. Despite being told by Jesus what would happen – that he would be crucified and that he would rise again to life, they were still searching for him amongst the dead. Maybe now add doubt to their confusion and bewilderment. Did they really believe what he was teaching them or did they harbor more doubt than belief?

    What follows is that the women run to the disciples to tell them what they had just witnessed – that the tomb was empty and of their encounter with those strange men in shinning white garments.

    What was the reaction of Jesus’ inner circle? Luke tells us, they thought it was nonsense and they did not believe. More doubt.

    Even after Peter and John run to the tomb and verify what the women found, they do not understand or know what to believe. They return to that locked room to hide away. They locked themselves in a place of darkness – in a place where they believed death still ruled the day.

    Eventually, the group of Jesus’ followers begins to break up and two – at least – are returning to their homes in the village of Emmaus which lay west of Jerusalem. They are walking along the road, and they are talking and thinking – trying to understand what had happened in Jerusalem during this Passover celebration. Luke describes them as sad and gloomy.

    Bible Scholar William Barclay points out that they were walking to the west towards the setting sun. This is important imagery. Barclay suggests that Christians should always walk towards the rising sun, that is the dawning of the new covenant, that is towards the Risen Christ. These men were walking to the setting sun not towards the Risen Christ. Perhaps that is why in their sorrow and gloom they did not recognize their Risen Lord when he came to walk alongside them.

    They probably had been following Jesus from Galilee to Bethany where he resurrected Lazarus from the grave and then they probably had joined with his disciples in an awe inspiring, jaw dropping and triumphant entry by Jesus into the Holy City. They probably ran along the side of the road waving palms and singing Hosanna, “Save Us”. They like so many others thought he was the Messiah coming to free Israel. Jesus was entering the city like a king, and they probably were convinced that he would take charge of the City and drive out the Romans.

    Hosannah! Save us!

    As they walked along the road that evening, they were still confused. They didn’t get it.

    Jesus did not drive out the Romans. Moreover, Jesus had been crucified by the Romans and was lying dead in a tomb or so they thought. They didn’t understand anything of what the women had witnessed or what the two strange men in shinning white garments had told them. Bewilderment, confusion and doubt.

    Then what happens?

    Luke tells Jesus comes near and begins to walk alongside them. And this is the thing. Make note of this. They don’t recognize him. In John’s Gospel, we hear the Mary encounters Jesus at the tomb and takes him for a gardener. She doesn’t recognize him until she hears his voice. When Jesus appears to his disciples in the locked room, they don’t recognize him until he shows them his wounds. There was something about the risen Christ that was different from the Jesus that they knew.  Eventually, when Jesus reveals himself, they can see him but before that, they are confused and not sure.

    So now, Jesus comes near to these two men walking home to Emmaus, listens to their conversation and asks them, “Hey guys, what’s up?” Casually. Nonchalantly. Hey guys, what are you talking about?

    They look at this man who has interrupted their walk as is he has a multiplicity of heads. One of them, Cleopas looks at him and asks, Hey Dude, are you the only one in Jerusalem who doesn’t know what has just happened there?

    Jesus plays dumb. “No. What do you mean?”

    It’s almost as if he is waiting for them to tell him of the good news of the empty tomb and they found out that their Rabbi, God’s Messiah who had entered the Holy City on Passover, but who had been crucified by the religious leaders and the Romans had stunned the world by rising from and conquering death. Jesus is waiting for them to tell him that despite everything the Jewish authorities had tried to do the thwart God’s plan – that Jesus had flipped the script on them and walked out of the tomb. He had risen and was alive.

    Hurrah! Right?

    No! Instead, they recount only the horrifying events leading up to Jesus being placed into the tomb. They throw out that some women went to the tomb and said they could not find the body and that some angels told them he was alive, but still they did not understand.

    What is it that Jesus next says to his followers? It is right there in verse 25.

    “Why can’t you understand? How can you be so slow to believe all that the prophets have said?” Can you just hear and even feel the exasperation, the disappointment and even some sarcasm dripping from Jesus’ voice?

    “Why can’t you understand?”

    Even with Jesus standing before them, they could not see or understand. Remember I had said to you, there was something different about Jesus’ appearance. Mary didn’t recognize him. His own disciples don’t recognize him. These two men don’t recognize him. There was something different about him. I wasn’t there, so I can’t tell you exactly what it was, but I believe there was something different about Jesus that these witnesses could not fathom. All I can surmise is that they were still looking backwards into the darkness of sin’s death. They had not yet come into the Light.

    So, Jesus, begins to teach them again the whole that Scripture had said about him from Moses through all the Books of the Prophets. They listen to him as they walk along. But they still did not see.

    As they approach the village it is beginning to draw to the end of the day, so they ask this amiable fellow who they had been chatting with for at least a couple of hours to come and stay with them. As good hosts, a dinner is spread out for this guest.

    What happens next? Jesus takes the bread from the table. He raises it in thanks to God blessing it and giving honor and praise to God’s Holy name. Now this is something they have seen before. Then Jesus breaks the bread and gives it over to them. What happens next?

    THEN! THEN! Their eyes were opened, and they recognize him. It was like a “mike drop” moment. In an instant now they recognize Jesus and then – he disappears from their midst.

    What do we have now? Still bewilderment and confusion.

    These two men get up from the table, leave their homes and rush back to Jerusalem. They run to the room to find the other disciples, and they tell them of this extraordinary experience. But when they begin to tell their story, they find out that Jesus had already appeared to Peter [and the rest]. They conclude finally, it must have been the Lord. They recognized him when he broke the bread. The disciples recognized him when he showed them the nail holes in his hands.

    So, these stories of how Jesus reveals himself as the risen Lord all have a common underlying theme running through them, as I had suggested earlier.

    First Mary at the tomb. Bewilderment.

    After she tells the disciples that the tomb was empty. After Peter and John run to verify her story, they return to their locked room. Confusion.

    Mary is left sitting in tears left behind at the tomb staring into the emptiness where death lay. She is looking into the darkness of the tomb unable to see the light of the Risen Lord. Doubt.

    Those two fellows walking on the road in their somber gloom were still facing the setting sun. They had been talking with Jesus for a couple of hours. Still, they didn’t recognize him until he broke the bread and gave it to them. And then finally, they recognized him. Finally, the Light that had come into the world was beginning to shine upon them and come into focus.

    The disciples in the locked room didn’t recognize him until he showed him the wounds in his hands and side. And he then said, “give me something to eat. I’m hungry.” Finally, the darkness of that locked room was flooded with the Light so that they could see the risen Lord.

    All of this doubt, confusion and bewilderment was finally giving way to the Light of the Christ shining on them. It’s an amazing story.

    It is an amazing story, and it is our amazing story of both bewilderment, confusion and doubt and then a sudden flooding of our reality with the shining Light of the Risen Christ.

    My friends, this story of how our God stopped the world so that God could enter into our time, space and reality is a mike dropping event.

    The notion that God, the immortal creator of the cosmos, would stop everything and enter into our time, space and reality just to keep a covenant promise is bewildering to some. They read through our scriptures looking for scientific proof and find only confusion. Others, who even if they want to believe, still have their doubts. And all of that is OK. It is all a part of our collective faith journey.

    And this is the thing; it is OK to be bewildered by the awesome nature of our God. It is OK that when you read these stories you are somewhat confused. And it is OK to doubt that God would want to repair the brokenness of creation by taking up God’s hand and personally becoming a part of it.

    Yes, it’s OK. Jesus and God understand you because they have seen it before. And they will help you deal with your bewilderment, confusion and doubt in the same way they helped the women standing at the door of the tomb, in the same way they helped the disciples hiding in that locked room, in the same way they helped those two men walking towards the setting sun on the road to Emmaus. They will send God’s Holy Spirit to nurture and guide you; to help to turn you away from the darkness of sin’s dark tomb and help you to turn and walk toward the Light of the Risen Lord.

    My friends, it is OK that bewilderment, confusion and doubt are a part of our faith journeys. In fact, we might pray that it be so. Let us pray, Creator God fill us with bewilderment when we hear the story of your amazing love and mercies. And then, when we are confused and doubt that you can love us in this way, let your Holy Spirit shine your Light upon us to show us your way.

  • Thomas was the First

    John 20: 19-31

    Offered to the congregation of the Long Valley Presbyterian Church, Long Valley, NJ

    April 12, 2026, by Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder PCUSA

    This passage from John begins the story of the culmination of Jesus’ first day being resurrected as the Christ [the Chosen One] of God. Previously, his body has been taken by Joseph of Arimathea and placed in a tomb carved out of rock and then a large stone was rolled across the entrance.

    The disciples are locked in a room hiding in fear, no doubt huddled in their dismay and grief over what has happened. Their leader, their Rabbi was violently taken from them. They ran away deserting him. Now, they feel that they have been left adrift unprotected – are they next to be crucified? Will the authorities be coming for them next?

    Then Mary comes knocking, no pounding on the door. “They have taken his body. The tomb is empty. We don’t know where they have taken him.”

    Peter and John break out of the locked room and run to inspect the tomb. They get there. And, that bull in a China shop Peter brashly rushes in and inspects the linens. He looks around. The tomb was empty just as Mary had said. What does this mean? Was his body stolen? Who would do such a thing?

    They did not understand. They only had questions, no answers. They returned to that room. And once there, they relocked the doors.

    But Mary who had run after them, remains crying at the tomb. It is then she encounters a gardener – or so she thinks. She is still weeping. Her eyes blurred with grief. But then she hears that voice say her name, “Mary.” It was the voice of the Good Shepherd, and his sheep recognized the shepherd’s voice. She turns and she sees the Risen Lord. Is it him? He looks different, but that voice. She speaks, “Rabboni”. Jesus reveals himself to her. They speak to one another, and Jesus tells her to go and tell his disciples to meet him in Galilee.

    This news that Mary brings is no doubt received with bewilderment. The disciples knew with certainty that Jesus was crucified, that he was dead, that he was buried behind that huge stone. But his body was missing.

    Then this news that Mary brings, what does this mean? They didn’t know if she was crazy or if …if…what? They did not know. So, their fear and grief kept them locked in that room.

    Now grief is a very strong emotion. It is one that is very real and cannot be dismissed if we are to understand the motivations and actions of the disciples. Grief can take control of us and push us down a rabbit hole where it can be difficult to see the light of day much less the light of the risen Christ.

    So here in probably the same upper room that they had celebrated Jesus’ Last Supper, they are locked away in their fear, and sorrow, and grief. But there is one thing that I would call your attention to. For the most part, the disciples were together and that they shared their grief and fear in community. This is a very human thing, a very Jewish thing, a very Christian way of dealing with the loss that death brings. Not to be trite but misery really does prefer company. Most of the time.

    Most of the time but not for Thomas. Thomas chose to deal with his grief, his sorrow and pain, his own loss in private. John doesn’t account for where Thomas was or why he wasn’t with the others. So that gives us the opportunity for conjecture.

    Perhaps, Thomas could have been at the Garden of Gethsemane praying for the strength and guidance that Jesus had received there from the Father. He could have been standing at Golgotha looking at the empty cross wondering what had happened, what had gone so terribly wrong, retracing the events of that day. He had said to the others, “Let’s us go so that we may die with him, also.” He might have been asking himself, Why wasn’t he there, too, and why didn’t he die with Jesus as he had imagined it would happen? We don’t know. John doesn’t tell us.

    But more than the other three Gospels, John focuses on Thomas and makes him the center of attention in this part of the resurrection story. John tells us more about Thomas in these few verses than we can learn anywhere else in the other three Gospels. So, I would like us to take a look at Thomas and why John focuses so narrowly on him here in the aftermath of Jesus’ resurrection.

    What do we know about Thomas?

    In John 11, at the time when Jesus decides to go back to Jerusalem, to go to Martha and Mary to grieve with them over the passing of their brother Lazarus. At that moment, the disciples try to talk Jesus out of returning there. The last time he was there, the authorities tried to stone him. In their opinion it was a bad idea and just plain crazy to return there. No! Don’t go there!

    But John tells us it was Thomas who said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Thomas was the one whose courage was the strength that the others needed.

    What does this tell us about Thomas?

    First, it is that he has a firm grip on reality. He is perceptive and realizes the dangers of going to Jerusalem. But he also knows that there is no talking Jesus out of what he has planned. He knows the man Jesus is head strong and cannot be swayed. He knows that Jesus has a plan. He doesn’t understand it, but he knows there is no derailing Jesus from his path he has chosen.

    We learn here that Thomas is totally devoted and loyal to Jesus – that is, to the real man that he can see in front of him – and that is an important detail to know of Thomas’ character in John’s story. But we also learn from this brief verse that Thomas has the courage to follow Jesus even to his death, or so he thought.

    “Let us go so that we may die with him.”

    If this was as far as it was going to go; if this was how Jesus wants it to be, then without hesitation, we must support him and go with him, no matter the consequences. Thomas’ devotion and loyalty are a total commitment – as close to the point of death as his humanity could take him. Thomas wanted to be loyal to the man Jesus that he could feel and touch in front of him.

    Maybe Jesus had Thomas in mind when he said to them, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Maybe, he saw that love and devotion in Thomas.

    Here, I am going to take a brief detour from John. Thomas was called the twin. There is conjecture that it was because Thomas looked so much like Jesus. There is in Christian legend that Thomas was also a carpenter like Jesus. I don’t know if that is true, but it is interesting if it is true.

    In my experience, I have come to learn that there are carpenters and then there are carpenters. I have a brother who has a ministry out on Long Island. He, like Paul, is a tent maker with a secular job to support his ministry and his family. He, for a time, was a Cabinet Maker. In conversation, I once told him that I mentioned to a friend that my brother was a carpenter. He was visibly insulted. “I am not a carpenter”, he told me. To which I responded, “Oh really? What are you?”

    “A Cabinet Maker!”

    I chuckled and asked what was the difference? “About 3/16s of an inch” (with all seriousness) was his answer. In other words, his work needed to be exacting to a fine line. His work demanded no margin for error, no guess work, no eyeballing, none of the broad strokes carpenters use, just fine lines.

    If Thomas was a carpenter, I think, this was the kind of carpenter Thomas was. You can tell from what we learn about him that he will believe what he sees in front of him if it is presented in fine and exacting detail.

    For instance, at that final supper, Jesus tried to reassure the disciples that he is going to the Father to prepare a place for them. That he will return for them and that they know the way.

    But it is Thomas who says to Jesus, “How can we know the way?” In other words, I need details. I need to have more information. Be specific, tells us where you are going and how we can know the way.

    John builds for us a character in Thomas that is devoted and loyal to Jesus but at the same time is demanding of details. In other words, don’t tell me the cut is about ¼ of an inch. Tell me precisely the measurement to 1/16 of an inch.

    Jesus tries to tell Thomas, If you know me, you know the Father. If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. Jesus tried to reveal to Thomas what he needed when he said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

    When I read this passage, I get the visual image in my head of Thomas’ reaction. Like any of us, I can imagine Thomas listening and nodding his head saying,

    “O-K, I guess. Wait! What?”.

    All of this gives us some insight to how Thomas decided to deal with his grief over the loss of this man that he loved and was devoted to.

    Thomas couldn’t find his solace in a community locked in fear behind closed doors. Whether he was isolating himself in his own pain or retracing his steps – Jesus’ steps hunting for answers, Thomas was searching for the real hard details that this real man Jesus had spoken of. Jesus spoke of “The Way. Where is this way and how do I find it? Jesus said, I would know it. How can I know it? Where is the way so that I can follow him?

    So, when Jesus first appears to the disciples in that closed room, Thomas is not there. Thomas is searching for answers but because he has isolated himself in his own grief, he missed the opportunity to find the way he was looking for.

    So, when the other disciples tell Thomas, “We have seen the Lord,” he responds to them with his characteristic demand for exacting details and for some hard visual evidence that he can see and understand.

    “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

    Can you hear him saying, I am a master carpenter. I know exactly what size nails were used to crucify him and exactly how large a hole it would make in his hands. I need to see them and measure them for myself so that I know to the 1/16 of an inch it is really him.

    So now in John’s story, a week passes and here we have the disciples locked away in that room again, but this time Thomas is with them.

    The doors are shut. John is clear about that. This time Thomas is with them. And Jesus enters into their midst and greets them, “Peace be with you.” Then, he turns to Thomas and invites him to put his fingers into the wounds in his hands and his hand into Jesus’ side. Come, do the holes fit your notion of what the size of the nails had to be? You doubt that it is really me, the real man who you loved with complete devotion and loyalty. Come and touch the physical evidence that you need to overcome your doubts.

    Now, my friends, we have a moment. It is the critical moment for all humankind. This is the moment when humankind witnesses and affirms for the first time who the Christ really is. Thomas is the first to recognize it when he utters the words, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas is the first one recorded by John or any of the Gospel writers to acknowledge that right there in front of him was his God. God the Creator, God the Word, and the God whose Spirit would show him the way.  Thomas is the first to bear witness that it is his God standing before him.

    That is a moment for us to take pause. In that moment, Thomas recognizes that not only is this the man Jesus – his teacher, his leader, his friend, his RISEN Lord – but standing before him was his God.

    John closes this story by having Jesus say to Thomas, “ Because you have seen me, you have believed.” In this moment, I perceive grace. I feel that Jesus understands the difficulty that Thomas has in understanding and in believing. And he is accepting of Thomas’ weaknesses. So, in this gracious moment, I believe that Jesus forgives Thomas his doubts.

    And I think in his closing words, Jesus is speaking to us. “Blessed are you who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” For those of us who’s faith is rock solid based upon the witness of the Gospels and the Saints that have gone before us, Jesus blesses us.

    But like for Thomas, I think Jesus also understands when we have difficulty, when we question, when we need something more, when we need encouragement, when we need bolstering up.  He doesn’t come to provide physical evidence as he did for Thomas. For us he has given his Spirit and his church, his community of believers that repeat of the story of those first witnesses. He has given us not only the example of his Faith in the Father by going to the Cross; but also, he has given us a community of saints [real people in our lives] in whom we can also see his Spirit at work through their love and devotion to Father God. Look to them. Those are the hands that share with you and bless you with the Peace of Christ. Find in them Jesus’ love and his caring reaching out to you. Those hands are scarred with the holes of the nails that Thomas inspected and verified that there in our midst is our Lord and our God.

  • Jesus On The Edge

    Luke 17: 11-19

    Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA

    Offered to the Wharton Hungarian Church on October 9, 2022.

    Recently as we have been going through the Gospel of Luke, as we follow along the Lectionary for this year, we have been treated to some of Jesus’ most well know parables and stories. However, today’s text is not about one of Jesus’ parables but of an event that took place on this road between Samaria and Galilee.

    The circumstances are that Jesus is on his final approach to Jerusalem. And on this path, this road, he is walking between the borderlines of Galilee [that’s Jewish Galilee] and Samaria [that detested foreign land of blasphemers]. On this route, he enters into a town. Now we don’t know if this town is in Samaria or Galilee. We assume that it is in Galilee because of what comes later, but we really don’t know for sure.

    But what is most interesting about this day is that Jesus is walking on the borderline – on the edge, if you will. Now this is important for a couple of reasons. First, it gives us a clear visualization that Jesus is always where people on the edge are, where people are on the fringes of society. Now why do I think that is important to be aware of? It is because Jesus’ entire ministry is spent dealing and ministering to people who are on the margins of society – the lepers, the Samaritan woman at the well, the woman who reaches out to touch his robe to be healed, the tax collectors, the sinners, the neglected, those people who society has lost sight of. The story of the rich man and Lazarus that we read a couple of weeks ago makes it clear to us who [what kind of people] Jesus believes are important.

    Now, I know that we often see him dealing with lawyers and Pharisees and other teachers of the law who often try to trip him up in the law setting traps for him, but his ministry was always to people on the edge of society, people who are often not seen by those in power. By those who are blinded by their power.

    Second, from this vantage point, of Jesus on the borderline, we get a view of someone willing to love us when we are hidden within our own borderlines, that place where we hide our inner most weaknesses. That place where we go to hide when we, like Adam and Eve, are ashamed of our sin. There Jesus is walking on the borderlines seeking us out to minister to our needs.  

    That is where Luke tells us Jesus is while on his final journey to Jerusalem. While he is making his way to the Cross, He is on the borderline between our best and worst selves and reaching out to provide healing. Now this might be a great place to end a message but there is something more in this passage today that I want to look at.

    In the story today Jesus is approached by a group of ten lepers, they were standing far off away from the crowd that is following Jesus for that was the law and they call out to him, “Master, have pity on us.” Jesus’ response was to tell them to, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” Why would he tell them that. It was because lepers were outcasts from society. They are literally living on the borders of society. They were not permitted to be close to anyone for fear that their disease might be spread. But also, the mere fact that they were stricken meant, in Jewish society, that they were sinners being punished by God. And to be permitted back into society, they would have to present themselves to the priests to be certified that they had been cleansed. Therefore, Jesus, sent them off to the priests to be certified as clean. And the story tells us, they left to do just that and found that as they went off, they had been cleansed.

    But one of them, seeing that he had been cleansed, turned back to glorify God. “He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.” This was exceptional!

    So, let’s look at this leper’s reaction to being healed for just a bit. First, now we find out that one of the ten is a Samaritan, meaning the other nine were Jews. It was highly unusual for Jews and Samaritans to mix but for the reason of their common affliction, these ten did. In other words, in the face of their common misfortune they broke down their cultural, national, and religious barriers and came together to minister jointly to their common needs. But at the moment that they were cleansed, they separated again. The Jews went off to the temple and the Samaritan stayed behind. Why? Because quite simply, he was not welcomed at the Jewish temple. Once their common bound was broken, they reverted to reveal the things that separated them.

    Now, let’s look at what happens when this one man returns to Jesus. He returns giving glory to God in a loud voice and then he prostrates himself at Jesus’ feet to give thanks. This is WOW!. The Theologian William Barclay calls it the proper way of giving thanks to God. It is why, I try to focus on our giving thanks first during our Joys and Concerns each morning. We need to be grateful and give thanks for the gifts, the well-being, the healing that God gives us. Only one of the ten did just this. The other nine did as Jesus had instructed them and went off to the priests to be certified as clean so that they could reenter society. Now, I am finding it difficult to criticize too harshly that they left because it is what Jesus had told them to do. But Luke preserves the next part of this story for us for a reason.

    Jesus asks those around him who are witnessing this outpouring of thanksgiving, “Were there not ten? Where are the nine? Did none of them turn back to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”

    This is where we get the clarification that the foreigner was a Samaritan and the other nine were from Galilee. All were willingly given healing by Jesus. Only one was willing to give thanks to God.

    Luke lays out a pattern for us here. First there is healing; then, there needs to be glorifying of God, and finally there is giving Thanksgiving, prostrate at Jesus’ feet.

    Each of these steps is interpreted for us by Jesus. First, Jesus heals indiscriminately. All ten were healed. Then there is giving glory to God for that healing. Where are the others? Is there only this foreigner, the Samaritan here to glorify God? Where are the others who were healed.

    Then there is the final step that Luke shows us, it is to give thanks. But not just, “Hey, you did me a solid. Thanks, Bud. I owe you one.” Not that kind of thanks. But the kind of thanks that displays total awe of the one who heals. It is a thanks that bows down in praise.

    It is at this point that Jesus says to the one, Samaritan, “Rise and go. Your faith has made you well.” But the word that Jesus uses here is not to say that you are cured of leprosy. It is to indicate that his faith has saved him. Jesus uses the same phrase to the woman who had anointed his feet with oil (7:50), the hemorrhaging woman who touched his robe (8:48), and the blind beggar on the edge of the road (18:42). Jesus receives the one who returned giving glory to God and then who gives thanksgiving and then tells him he was “saved” by his faith. The other nine …? They were healed, yeah, they now have something that makes them happy in this world and they go running off to the priests but look at what they missed out on. They missed out on entering into the Father’s embrace and the joy of being with the Father. That is the saving that Jesus is speaking of.

    No story in all the Gospels more poignantly displays human ingratitude. Ten came asking for something that they wanted. All were healed. One returned to give glory to God and thanks to the One, and through that expression of faith, only one was saved.

    This tells so much about our relationship with God and how one-sided it can be sometimes.

    God created us and set us up in paradise. Our response was to sin and walk away. God loves us so much that God sent God’s only son to die for our sins so that we can be restored to a right relationship with God, so that we can once again enter into God’s eternal presence in God’s kingdom. God heals all our wounds, all our inequities. But are we grateful? Are we the one who returns to give glory to God and thanksgiving at the feet of the One who has saved us?

    I don’t like asking these questions because I don’t know if I have been grateful in my giving glory to God and thanksgiving at the feet of the One who has saved me. How much of my praise, my prayers, my worship – our praise, prayers and worship are just so much lip service and how much of it is heartfelt and sincere?

    Father God, we give glory and praise to your holy name for the grace and mercy that you have showered upon us, and we give Thanksgiving to the One who has saved us and brought us home to your house.

    CHARGE: My friends, today we see Jesus walking on the edges of society, ministering to those on the boundaries who are forgotten. My charge to you is this, if we are disciples of the Lord, then we have to also walk on the edges and look for and help those living on the edges who are neglected and forgotten.

  • The Law Upon Our Hearts

    Luke 14: 1, 7-14 / Psalm 112

    Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA

    Offered to the Wharton Hungarian Church, Wharton, NJ on June 19, 2022

    I have a concern about being in fear of the Lord. Psalm 111 tells us that Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. In other words, I am uncomfortable with the notion that Fear is how we are to approach God. That’s not what I want for you today.

    So, I want you to know that Fear of the Lord is not a slavish, subservient fear. We should not come before God in expectation of being reprimanded or condemn. Having fear of the Lord is more like a child coming to a parent with a desire to be obedient and loved. At least that is the lesson that Jesus would have us learn. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; that is, it is the start of a journey on which we will grow to know the very nature and character of the God Jesus knows.

    On that journey we have two guides. One is the example and the teachings of the Christ. Jesus’ teachings open up the meaning of Scripture for us allowing us to see the very heart of God. So that we can begin to know the nature of God and what God desires for us. Our second guide is God’s Spirit. The Spirit lives within believers. It stirs a yearning within us to move ahead on our faith journey and discover more each day about the God that loves us. The Spirit helps us to hear that wee, small voice of God when God speaks to us.

    As we begin to read this Psalm, it is helpful to think of it as a response to the ending of Psalm 111.

    Psalm 111 ends with,

    “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.

    All those who practice it gain sound understanding.

    His praises endure forever.”

    Psalm 112 picks up:

    “Praise the Lord!

    Happy are those who fear the Lord,

    who are ardently devoted to his commandments.”

    Let’s put these two phrases together:

    “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom…

    Happy are those who fear the Lord.”

    Does this mean that happiness in our lives is born out of a cowering fear? No. I don’t think that is what the Psalmist is telling us. I read a commentary on this Psalm and specifically on the word translated as “Happy” in the verse. The original word connotes a life journey that leads to an experience of wholeness, both physical and spiritual – a life that has integrity and is filled with joy. I don’t believe that a life that brings us wholeness, integrity and joy is born out of cowering in fear. *

    I don’t think the God that Jesus is telling us about is one that we should bow before in fear like a slave that is expecting harsh judgement from its master. Remember John 3:16:

    God so LOVED the world that he gave his only Son,

    so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

    Then John 3:17 continues:

    God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world,

    but in order that the world might be save through him.”

    So, this fear that we should have for God is more of obedient reverence and not servitude. We should approach God with a desire to praise God by doing the things that will please the heart of God. When we grow to know that, that obedient reverence is the beginning of Wisdom.

    Now this begs the question, what will please the heart of God?

    The Psalmist tells us it begins with having a delight in God’s commandments; that is wanting to be obedient to God’s commandments because that will praise God not because we are fearful of eternal damnation. Sometimes, it might be easier in life not to do things – not to commit murder or not have an adulterous affair – than it is to do what is right because it will please God. I mean it is easier to fall in line with the negative than to do the positive.

    This is, I think, the prism that Jesus provides for us when he opens up Scripture to us. I will take as an example the Ten Commandments. On our own, we might look at them as burdensome as the ancient Israelites did and perhaps editorialize them and refer to them as the DON’Ts.

    • DON’T have other Gods
    • DON’T worship idols
    • DON’T make a wrongful use of the Lord God’s name
    • On the Sabbath, DON’T do any work
    • DON’T murder
    • DON’T commit adultery
    • DON’T steal
    • DON’T bear false witness
    • DON’T covet your neighbor’s house or wife

    This is what I refer to as a very Old Testament characterization of God and God’s Commandments. God’s image has a harsh, demanding, and judgmental side to it. For the orthodox Jew, the Law and the Jewish religion was a thing of burdens. Jesus said of the Scribes and Pharisees, “…they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the people’s shoulders.” For the Jew in Jesus’ time, religion had become a thing of endless rules. The Jew was always listening to that voice that said, “Thou shalt not…”

    In other words, if you DON’T fall in line with the don’ts, then something bad will happen to you. God’s judgment will be upon you. And indeed, we do see that playout in Scripture. Whenever the Israelites wandered and forgot their relationship with God, they were punished with captivity and exile. The promised land was taken away from them. But those punishments were not so much for rule breaking as they were for covenant breaking and relationship breaking.

    Because of this one-sided version of God, this notion that if you break the rules, you will be punished, it’s hard for our minds to depart from this image of a harsh God with rules to follow and punishments for failures. It’s been engrained into our Christian physique, as well. And that would be the message we hear if Old Testament Scripture was all we had to go on. What I mean is, if we did not have the Christ to reveal more about God to us.

    I guess what I am saying is that the ancient Israelites were a primitive, stiff-necked, and superstitious people and they required strict guidelines to keep them in a righteous relationship with God.

    But we have Jesus who gives a new, wider, and more full vision of who God is. Jesus, tells us in Matthew, “Take up my yoke and follow me … for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

    What Jesus is saying to us here, is that his view of how to approach God is far easier than what the leaders of the Jewish religion had placed upon the people. Jesus wasn’t approaching a judgmental God that we should be fearful of, a God who keeps a leger of our worst sins. Jesus was taking us to a God that loves us and who is ready to be merciful and forgiving regardless of the severity of our sins. And that yoke, that burden is far easier to bear under than what was being laid upon the people.

    Jesus gave us a new commandment that provided for us a new relationship with God – one that is based upon Love, not fear. Jesus tells us in John 13: 34

    “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.

    Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

    By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,

    if you have love for one another.”

    This is the prism though which we are to interpret Scripture. That is Love. And if we look back at Scripture, the Ten Commandments and reinterpret them through the Christ, things might sound differently. Let’s try this.

    • I am your God who loves you. My love will fulfill you.
    • If you love me, I will live within you, and you will have no need of idols.
    • My name is sacred. Love and praise it always.
    • I have created the Sabbath for your rest. Let me restore and refresh you on that day.
    • I gave you life through your parents. Honor them always.
    • Love the world and all the life in it that I have created.
    • My relationship with you is a blessed one and so are the relationships that I have given you. Honor them with love always.
    • My eye is even on the sparrow and more so on the least of you. I will provide for your every need.
    • In my love you will find truth.
    • I have given you all that you will need. Trust me and rely on my love.

    I want to be clear. I am not saying that Jesus has changed the Commandments given down to us by God to Moses on Mount Saini. Remember, Jesus has said that he had not come to change the Law but to fulfill it. Perhaps Jesus wouldn’t have said them differently, but I think he interprets them differently. He teaches them differently. He certainly wouldn’t interpret them as the Israelite scholarship of the time did. Would he have created 660 Mitzvahs? I don’t think so. Rather, I am saying that Jesus wants us to see a fuller vision of the God not before revealed in Scripture. He wants us to see the Creator God that loves all that was created. And if we respond to that loving God with the love that Jesus exemplifies for us and calls us to exhibit, we will want to be obedient and do things that will please the heart of God.

    So, where do we go from here?

    My friends, I want us all to begin a journey to grow in wisdom not in fear but in reverent obedience to the Lord. I would like us to grow in wisdom so that we can come to know how and what to do that can be pleasing the Lord, our God.

    Remember that God so loved the world that God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but to save it through the Son.

    • So, as your response to the first Commandment, come to the Lord, your God and praise God’s holy name because God loves you and has sacrificed all for your salvation.
    • Realize that there is nothing on this earth, there is nothing of higher value that can replace that love and that we have no need for us to seek idols in our lives that would replace God.
    • Always hold the name of the God who loves you in high and sacred reverence.
    • Take advantage of the Sabbath Day to rest with God and to let God refresh you because God’s love and God’s Spirit will fill you with a vigor that will help you to soar like eagles.
    • Honor your parents because God uses them to guide you and light your path.
    • Love all life that God has created. Respect and love all your neighbors as Jesus has taught us.
    • Love the covenant promises that God has made with us by honoring the covenants that we have made with each other.
    • Realize that in love God has and will fulfill all your needs. There is nothing you will need that your loving Father in heaven is not willing to give to you.
    • God is all truth. Being right with God means displaying that truth for all to witness.
    • God wants you to live in a right relationship with God. There is never a need to look elsewhere to fulfill your needs.

    This is the path I wish for you. May your journey to wisdom be blessed and the God of love be with you always.

    *Credit to Bob Naylor, These Days, August 24, 2022

    CHARGE: My friends, Jesus has called us to take up his yoke, not because it is a heavy burden difficult and arduous, but because his burden is easy and light. Take up the Christ’s yoke for within him you will find rest for your soul.

  • Lazarus and the Rich Man

    Luke 16: 19-31

    Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA

    Offered to the Wharton Hungarian Church of Wharton, NJ on September 25, 2022

    I want to start my message today by commenting that Luke’s retelling of Jesus’ parables is unique in its richness. We have here today the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus. This parable appears in no other Gospel. Luke also gave us the three parables of the Lost sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Sons. He also gives us the story of the Unjust Judge. None of those appear in other Gospels either. So, it is worthy of note that Luke is the Storyteller that has preserved the Jesus’ stories most fully for us. And in so doing, Luke has preserved many of Jesus’ most salient lessons, as well.

    So today, we have the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Now, most interesting, the poor man who Jesus calls Lazarus is the only character in any of Jesus’ parables that is given a name. Sometimes, the Rich man is referred to as Dives. But “Dives” is simply a Latin word for “rich.” It probably was assigned to this man as translations of the Bible were made into Latin so as to give the listeners a better understanding of who and what he was. But Lazarus is a Jesus given name.

    I find that curious so I thought I would do a little digging. I thought perhaps the name Lazarus had some specific meaning that would help us understand why Jesus used it.

    It turns out, Lazarus is a Greek name – born of another translation. It turns out Lazarus is a translation of a real Hebrew name. The name Jesus probably used was Eleazar. And while Lazarus doesn’t give us any clear understanding about the poor man, Eleazar does. Eleazar, translated from Hebrew means, “God is my help.” Now this helps us to understand something of Jesus meaning in this parable.

    The name may well have been used to emphasize the underlying truth in this parable that the poor man had no other hope or helper other than God. As we go through this parable lesson, we should realize that this poor person had no one other than God that would show him pity or bring him hope or help.

    So, let’s look more deeply into the two main characters of this parable. The first person described is the rich man. In the first line of the parable, the rich man is described as wearing “Purple and fine linen and as one who feasted sumptuously every day.” Right there is a big Red Stop sign for us to take note of. This is an off the chart description of excessive luxury. First, typically, only the high priests wore robes of Purple and linen. The cost of such garments by today’s standards would be approximately $550.00 US. While you or I might be able to afford a suit of clothes at that price tag today, back in Jesus’ Palestine it was an enormous sum of money. It is also worthy of note that Jesus dresses the rich man in the finery that the upper echelons of chief priests and Pharisees might have been wearing.

    The second part of Jesus’ description was that the rich man feasted sumptuously every day. The words Jesus used would give the impression to his listeners that the rich man lived life as a glutton.

    Now some Biblical scholars have pointed out Jesus’ use of the words of “every day”. They raise a question as to how this gluttonous behavior relates to the commandment concerning the Sabbath.

    If you recall, the commandment reads, “Remember the Sabbath Day and to keep it holy; on it you shall do no work.” We all know that part of the commandment. But God continues, “Six days shall you labor.”

    The second part of the Sabbath commandment is just as valid as the first and Jews of the day took it very seriously. The Jews held work in high esteem. Rabbis of the day were not compensated for their teachings. They were expected to have trades of their own to support themselves and their families. The Jews of the day had a saying, “A father that did not teach his son to work, taught him to steal.”

    For Jews, the commandment to work six days was just as valid as the commandment not to work on the seventh day. So, Jesus’ description that the rich man lived life feasting sumptuously every day branded him as utterly useless individual and a breaker of God’s commandment to work.

    That’s a lot packed into one sentence.

    Now let’s look into Jesus’ description of Eleazar. We are told that sores covered his body and that he was so weak that he was unable to ward of the dogs that licked at those wounds. That’s a pretty gross image. But I don’t want to gloss over that. I want it to hang out there for you to visualize, so that the image stays with you. No person gave him mercy. Only the dogs were there to administer to his wounds.

    Verse 21 says that he longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table. Now what does that mean? What was it that would fall from the table. In Palestine at the time, people did not use utensils to eat with or napkins to wipe their hands. They used their hands to eat and bread to wipe up and dry their hands. When they did that, they would toss the bread to the floor. That bread is what Eleazar hoped would be passed out to him to eat. Jesus does not indicate that any of that waste was ever shared.

    Jesus uses these two verses to set the stage of his lesson. On the one hand, we have a man living in opulent luxury beyond all excesses. It was a lifestyle that was foul of God’s commandment and Jewish law. And the other in total abject poverty and desperation. But note this. The circumstances weren’t that the rich man didn’t know of Eleazar. He wasn’t living under some bridge in a far-off part of the city. We know of some homeless people that live under the Route 46 overpass right here in Dover. We know they are there, but we don’t see them as we step over our threshold. NO, this creature was living on his doorstep. The rich man would have had to step over Eleazar in order to leave and then to reenter his home every day.

    This, of itself alone, is an aberration of Jewish law. It would have been considered a breaking of the law for someone not only to step over or around poverty without offering aid of some sort but to ignore it but not even seeing the pain of the needy around him, that was an abomination. Jewish law was clear in that it required that the poor be dealt with fairly and provided for. That is why during harvest, workers were not permitted to clean up the remains of the harvest that had fallen to the ground after the reaping was done. What had fallen to the ground was to be left for the poor to glean and collect. So, there was an element of social consciousness in Jewish law that this rich man was ignoring to the point of blindness. It is one thing to decide not to care when you see need. It is another to decide not to see it at all.

    What happens next is that both men die. The poor man dies and is carried away by Angels to be with Abraham. Remember his name means “God is my help.” The rich man dies and is buried. Eleazar is carried by Angels. The rich man dies, is buried in the ground and we next find him in Hades.

    Now in Hades we hear of some classic descriptions of hell: torment, fire, and thirst. Of paradise, we have an image of Elazar sitting on the knee of Abraham being comforted for eternity. And between the two, there is a great chasm. It is one that separates the two sides. On one side there are the blessings of being in the house of the Lord and  on the other there is the pain of separation for life eternal. A classic Jewish view of the afterlife was that the damned would live out eternity in view of the glory of God’s kingdom with no hope of crossing the chasm between the two. That was the fiery torment. Their thirst was that they could wish and desire and long to be with Abraham in God’s kingdom, but that thirst would never be quenched.

    The rich man begs for mercy, the mercy that he never once afforded to Eleazar. “Father Abraham, send him to dip his finger into the water and place a drop on my tongue to ease my thirst.” Abraham’s response, “Sorry. No can do. It’s this chasm thing. It’s fixed. We can’t cross it.” But remember, in your lifetime, you received all good things and Eleazar got the evil in life that you created. [My editing] But now, here, he is comforted, and you are in agony – also of your making. [My editing, again].

    At this point, the rich man makes a second request. It is that Abraham send Eleazar to his father’s house to warn his five brothers.

    Another thought strikes me about this line in Jesus’ story. This rich man was not even head of his house. He was living in his father’s house. He, himself had never produced anything in his life of value. He had not worked for his riches. He did not earn them by his labors. All his riches were showered upon him by his father, and he rolled in that excess like a pig in a mud filled sty. He had all the advantages of his father’s love and grace and gifts, and he squandered it all on his gluttonous and lavish living. He never once thought that those gifts should be shared. He kept all that the father had given him to himself. He died never having stored up any of the right kind of riches that would help him gain entry into God’s kingdom for the afterlife. He never tried to build a relationship with God. There must be a message in there somewhere for the Pharisees and Jewish leaders within earshot of his lesson. And maybe for us as well.

    So, the rich man asks that a messenger be sent to his brothers so that they might be warned to avoid the same fate. But Abraham’s response is that they have Moses and the Prophets as their messengers. They should listen to them. Yes they already have the Law of Moses and all the Prophets who were constantly admonishing Israel and Judah to stop their evil ways, repent and return to God. They already had all the teaching that they needed.

    But wait, says the rich man. If you send someone to them that comes from the dead, they will surely listen and repent. And now comes Jesus makes a closing swipe at the Jewish leaders prophesying his own resurrection. “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

    What is it that the Prophets have told them? What is it that God has told you? “O mortal, what is good? Do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

    And who is that is raised from the dead? It is, of course, Jesus. He is foretelling his own rising and their continued rejection of his kingship. The day will come when evidence and proof of his resurrection will be made plain to them through the witness of his disciples and the empty tomb, but their response will be to squelch and blot it out.

    There are only 12 verses in Luke for the retelling of this parable. But it is jammed pack with intentional meaning and lessons. I have unpacked some of them for you but there remains one more.

    It is the whole thing about living within the Father’s house and being showered with all of the blessings and grace that the Father lavishly and recklessly pours out upon us and then doing nothing with it. That is the core unforgivable sin of the Jewish leadership, the scribes, the pharisees, the chief priests. They had been given it all, but they held it tightly within their own grasp never letting others have a glimpse of it. That is what Jesus told them they had gotten wrong. They had misinterpreted their role as God’s chosen people. The lavish gifts poured on them by God, the righteous relationship that God wishes for all of humanity, were meant to be shared.

    And we have to be careful because we are similarly warned not to make the same mistakes.  We have this story to tell, this Good News and we have the burden of being called to share it. But we are also called to share all the other gifts that God has given to us. We are to share our wealth and resources. These are the gifts you have been given. Don’t let them blind you. We are to share God’s saving grace, God’s compassion, God’s love, and God’s justice. We can be rich. We can have wealth. What we cannot do is to use them to build a chasm between us and the need in this world around us.

    Charge: My friends, Jesus’ message has been sent. It has been announced by Moses and the Prophets and now one has died and has come back to life to repeat it for us. My charge to you is to listen and hear it.

  • What can we learn from the Unscrupulous Steward?

    Luke 16: 1-13

    Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA

    Offered to the First Presbyterian Church of Franklin, NJ on September 9, 2022

    This is a difficult parable to understand. I think more than just a few of us scratch our heads and wonder, “What is Jesus telling us here? What does he mean by the “children of this generation are more shrewd than the children of light?” What is Jesus asking us to do?” I can envision Peter going up to Jesus and saying, “Hey, J. What does this story mean? Are you telling us that we should be as unscrupulous as the steward in your story? Are you telling us that we should cheat and lie to make friends and get ahead? I don’t get it. J man, help me out here.”

    I see Peter going to Jesus with these questions because that’s exactly my reaction when I read this passage and I suspect, you’re scratching your heads with similar questions.

    And what might Jesus’ response to Peter and us be? I can see Jesus looking at Peter with a wry smile saying, “Well no, but kind of, yeah.” Then Jesus smiles at Peter and tells him, “Peter, if you are focusing only on the Steward in my story, you are looking in the wrong place.”

    OK. That’s a start. So, let’s go there so that we can understand what about the Steward is and is not the point of the story. At the beginning of his story Jesus says the Steward is accused by the Master of “squandering his property”. He is not accused of fraud or some illegal action. He is accused only of allowing some of the master’s wealth to slip through the cracks. Someone has alerted the Master that this Steward may be squandering his property through mismanagement and perhaps the master is not earning as much as he should be. For that reason, the Master tells the Steward that he is being dismissed. Now the wheels go into motion.

    The Steward frets, what am I to do? Then he comes up with a plan to protect and provide for his future prospects after he is dismissed. Now remember this. This is important.

    The Steward calls his master’s debtors and begins to negotiate with them a “rebalancing”, if you will, of their accounts. Now, it would be advantageous for us to understand that the master was probably an absentee landowner, and the Steward was his manager. The debtors were probably people who worked that land, and their rent was to pay the Landowner a portion of their harvest. What do you owe, the Steward asks them? Change the records of what your harvest was and reduce what you owe. The debtors being as unscrupulous as the Steward go along with the scheme. They are as wicked as the Steward. Now, someone spills the beans and the Master finds out about what is happening. Perhaps, the person who originally alerted the Master in the first place or one of the debtors had a pang of conscience and told him what was going on. But now comes the curve ball.

    Instead of reprimanding the Steward, the Master congratulates him on his shrewd handling of the accounts and his circumstances. You see, the Master, being as unscrupulous as any of the characters in Jesus’ story, appreciates that the Steward may finally be coming around to doing business the way the Master wanted and expected of him in the first place. And here, the message Jesus intends in his parable starts to become clearer.

    Jesus isn’t applauding the lying and the cheating that the Master in the story appreciates. Jesus is pointing out to the disciples the shrewdness of how the Steward uses the tools at his disposal to provide for his future prospects.

    In verse 8, Jesus points out that the “children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of the light.” What does Jesus mean by this? It is that  “the children of this world” are wiser and more astute in setting up their accounts in this world, their business opportunities, their bank balances, their IRAs and 401ks, their retirement security than we, “the children of the light”, are storing up our riches in heaven. That is why Jesus would have us take an example from the Steward. He doesn’t want us to lie and cheat. But He does want us to be as committed to storing up and securing a place in God’s kingdom as they are committed to storing up the riches of this world.

    The Steward has reached out to his master’s debtors and made for himself friends that will help him on the day he is turned out. He has secured this in part by their gratitude for his reducing their debt but more so by the fact that he can blackmail them for their complicity in his illegal actions if they are not welcoming to him when he is ultimately turned out by his Master. What Jesus is holding up for us to see is the Steward’s commitment, his arduous determination to store up for himself a safe haven for after his service is terminated and he is kicked out on the street.

    In the next verse, Jesus says, “And I tell you, make for yourselves FRIENDS by means of your material possessions… so that when your money is gone, they will receive you into a dwelling that lasts forever.”

    The first word that we need to focus on from this verse is “And”. “And” isn’t just a word to suggest something will follow when we think of it. You know we do it all the time. We might be telling a story and we pause and say … “And…” while we’re trying to figure out what to say next. That is not what is happening here. “And” is a connector linking the commitment Jesus is describing in the previous verse: how the Steward deals shrewdly with his resources and the act of making Friends who will support him when the time comes. These two verses are linked with one another. Jesus tells us that we need to be as committed as the shrewd Steward in using the resources at our disposal AND to make the kinds of friends that will secure for us a dwelling place in God’s eternal kingdom.

    What are the resources that Jesus is telling his disciples to use. Use wealth if you have it at your disposal, yes. But also, there are other gifts that God has given us that are also at our disposal. They are but are not limited to healing, hospitality, compassion and justice.

    Now, the second important thing to be aware of is that Jesus is not talking about the types of friends the Steward is storing up.

    The Steward is making friends with likeminded reprobates who are as dishonest as he is that will provide for him a sanctuary and comfort of sorts when he is turned out on the street in this earthly realm.

    Who are the friends Jesus is talking about? The friends that Jesus is talking about are not the rich and powerful people that the Steward goes to. No. Jesus would not have us go there. That is not where Jesus would have us commit our resources. Rather it is to those who would benefit most by our faith in the Christ, that is the poor and needy. The greedy businessman hordes up his riches on this world only for it to come to naught because he dies before he has a chance to enjoy them. That is another of Jesus’ parables that you all have heard. You all know that parable. No, those kinds of friends are of no use to us as Christians because they can do nothing for us if our goal is eternal life in God’s kingdom. No, Jesus is looking at the poor and needy, those people who, if we use our resources wisely and aid them in this world, will help prepare a place for us and welcome us to that eternal dwelling place in God’s kingdom.

    Jesus uses the example of how the shrewd Steward acts to show us how much he wants us to be committed to his kingdom, that safe haven of eternal life and how to use our resources to attain it.

    Jesus tells us something about how we should use our gifts in this world. If we are faithful in little, then it follows that we will be faithful with larger gifts. If we squander the little gifts we have here in this world, how can we be trusted with the greater gifts of the kingdom. The greater gifts are referring to stewardship and responsibility in God’s kingdom. In other words, Jesus is telling us how we manage our wealth, and the gifts God has given us in this world is a proving ground for what will be given us in the kingdom.

    Jesus closes by telling us, “We cannot serve two masters.” We cannot be dedicated to hoarding up riches in this world for our own wellbeing and ignore the need of those around us. Now, I am not going to suggest to you that being rich, well-off, or comfortable in this life is a negative that saddens the heart of God. I’m not going there, because if nothing else, that would be hanging myself out to dry. I am telling you, that how you use those riches, your wealth, your healing love, the hospitality that you can offer, your compassion and your sense of fairness and justice; how you steward those resources (that are solely gifts from God) will either put a smile or a frown on God’s face.

    So, we have to first determine which master we will dedicate our lives to. Will we store up riches in this world for our sole pleasure and enjoyment? Or will we allow God to guide our actions? Will we be good stewards of God’s kingdom riches being faithful with the little things Jesus speaks of and sharing them along with the Good News or will we be unscrupulous and lookout for what will only benefit us in this realm?

    My friends, this is a difficult place to end a message. But that is the question Jesus presents us with. We have been given “little things” by God. Some of that may be material wealth. We may have some wealth. But we have also been given compassion, a sense of justice, we have the ability to be hospitable, we have the opportunity to bring healing to Franklin, to New Jersey and to the world. How we use all of those little things will determine what we will be entrusted with in God’s Kingdom. So, use all those gifts shrewdly.

    CHARGE: My friends, my charge to you this week is a simple one, be shrewd. Use the gifts and resources that God has blessed you with wisely. Use them to bless those in need around you as if you were action on behalf of the God that loves and blesses you and them. BY your actions make friends who will receive and bless you into God’s eternal Kingdom.

  • How Should We Do This Welcoming Thing?

    Genesis 18: 1-8 / Luke 10: 38-42

    Mel Prestamo, Ruling Elder, PCUSA

    Offered to the First Church of Hanover, NJ on July 17, 2022

    The two passages from the Old and New Testaments this morning make a curious juxtaposition of ways of being “Welcoming”.

    We see Abraham in this story from Genesis observes three travelers approaching his tent. And once he goes out to greet them, they immediately become honored guests. Initially, Abraham suggests first that he is their servant.  And that they might be weary and that they should stop for a brief respite, that water should be drawn to wash their feet while they rest under a tree and that a bit of bread be brought to refresh them. Nothing outlandish, just the bare necessities. They agree.

    Abraham, however, goes in a completely different direction. He goes into his tent and tells Sarah to use the finest flour to bake loaves of bread. Then he runs to his herd and selects a tender and good calf and gives it to a servant telling him to prepare it. Nothing outlandish, only the bare necessities? It sounds a lot like my Italian grandmother’s house when a visitor came a knocking on a Sunday morning. “Sit. Manga. You looka so skinny.”

    All is prepared and served to these travelers, Abraham’s guests. Then he stands attentively nearby watching so that he would be able to not only respond to but anticipate their needs.

    This passage from Genesis is often selected as a Bible verse to study when congregations want to look inward on themselves and to plan how they can be truly welcoming. We have used it and it has become the template of: How to be a welcoming congregation. Get out front, smile, greet, say hello, invite the stranger in, lay out the most impressive spread possible. These are all things we have learned from Abraham. From the beginning, we have been taught by the Father of our Judeo-Christian heritage how to be welcoming. And this is all good.

    Now in the second passage this morning from Luke, we see Martha emulating Abraham in every way possible. She is doing what was expected of a host in the Jewish culture. She is doing everything that is expected of a household when a guest arrives. She is consumed preparing and serving the type of feast an honored quest like Jesus should be accorded. She is hustling. She is bustling, scurrying here and there trying to get everything in order, to get everything just right. Have his feet been washed? Does he need a drink? He must be thirsty. Most assuredly, he must be fed. What can we serve our honored guest? Start work, get it done.

    While all of this is going on around her, Mary is just lying there at his feet and not helping. Martha, while running around exhausting herself becomes annoyed that her sister is not helping. After all, it is just as much her sister’s burden to welcome the guest as it is hers. Why is she not helping? So, Martha goes to Jesus to complain. “Excuse me ‘J’, could you tell my good for nothing, lazy sister to get up off her duff and help. I’m knocking myself out here.”

    What happens next? It is Martha that is chastised. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. Only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part, and it is not going to be taken away from her.”

    OOO! Burn, Martha.

    Unfair? Perhaps. Martha is doing her best to do what is expected of her. This is how any Jewish household would be expected to welcome a visitor or a guest. To put out a lavish spread so as to display the importance of this guest. Father Abraham taught us that. And for Martha, Jesus was as important a guest she could receive. So why is it Martha that gets the talking down?

    There are a couple of things going on here; so, let’s look at each of them.

    First what we see in the passage is a clash of temperaments. We have the dynamo and the quiet, laid-back person. We know in our experiences of committee work as Presbyterians that some of us are dynamos and some of us are not. We charge into projects and rush on ahead of everyone else finishing half of the work before anyone else has a chance to get into the project at all. And, then we complain that no one is helping. We’re doing all the work ourselves. While others are quiet, reserved and patient workers. They will volunteer to help. It won’t be as showy as the dynamos; because perhaps they are listening first before making decisions on what should be done.

    Martha is caught up in going through the ritual, the work of doing what was expected. The first thing she didn’t do was to stop to consider the guest and his needs. What was it this guest needed?

    Now this is part of what is happening between Martha and Mary. Martha is assuming everything about the occasion of Jesus’ visit. This is a big deal. It calls for a lavish feast. She charges ahead to make him comfortable and to serve his every need before he even utters it, even before she knows that he really needs any of it at all. Martha is over-doing and over the top. Now, let’s not be too critical of Martha. We’ve all have done it, charged into a committee meeting convinced that we had all the answers and a complete plan of how to proceed. All anyone else has to do is listen and follow directions.

    Mary, on the other hand, reads the room. She is quiet and observant. She has a sense of where Jesus is going, to Jerusalem, that it will be the death of him. She sensed his inner turmoil and that what Jesus needed that day was quiet, a place of comfort, yes, but a refuge as well. So, she quietly sat at his feet wanting to give him just that.

    Now, Jesus, is not demeaning or ridiculing Martha’s work. He loves Martha equally to Mary. And, he is not saying that there would never be a point when it would be appropriate for Mary to help. Just, not now. Jesus needed both Mary and Martha that day. Both the work of the dynamo and the reserved quiet one are always both necessary for the success of the kingdom.

    Mary’s approach also says something to us about how to approach our good works. It is that we need to listen to what the people we are trying to help truly need. We need to read the room. Mary at a glance could see that Jesus was tired and struggling with that inner turmoil. Mary could see that he was most in need of quiet rest to ease his mind. That is what she was able to give Jesus because she observed and reacted to the need before her. She didn’t assume like Martha did. She didn’t go off halfcocked.

    That is the balance of our good work, isn’t it?

    Let me tell you this story. At LVPC, we participate in a Food Pantry program that is called the Long Valley Community Assistance Program. It is co-sponsored by 7 different churches and is now its own 503[3] [c] charity. Now here’s the interesting tidbit. All of us well-healed Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Lutherans and Methodists had assumed what types of food stuffs the people would need. And one of the items we would purchase a lot of was pasta. Every time Shoprite ran a sale on Ronzoni or Barilla pasta, the storeroom would be filled to the roof. But this is what we discovered after numerous of the clients turned down the offer of pastas. The clients didn’t use pasta as a staple food item. They used Rice and Beans. So, after a couple of years of head scratching, all of us dynamos finally figured out the problem and switched the suggestion for donations from pastas to other items and then the issue was resolved.

    Now this doesn’t mean that the pasta years were wasted or didn’t get the job done. What it means is that quite listening made the program better. Read the room. That I think should be the first rule of Christian mission and ministry. Once you’ve listened and understand what the need is, then build and execute a dynamic plan.

    So, let’s not be too hard on the Marthas in our congregation. We need them. But we can remind them to cool their jets at the beginning and make sure we are reading the room and understand the need. So too, we need the Marys, the insightful good listeners. But let’s not allow them to sit in the background and allow a hardy few do all the work, either.

    There is another thing that Martha is missing out on. She has busied herself so fully that she is missing out on a gentle time with Jesus. In these short verses we see Martha [or even ourselves doing any church work] worried to distraction. The Greek word used here to describe Martha’s work is Di-a-ko-ni-a. It can mean serving; but it can also mean ministry. You know if Martha was a Presbyterian, her time would be fully booked with committee meetings, leading Bible studies and hosting church events.

    For Martha, worry was ingrained. Her work is valuable, she knows that, but completing one task doesn’t calm her. She checks items off her To-Do- list but it doesn’t give her peace. Her anxiety just rolls over to the next task. Her time with Jesus is spent complaining about Mary and not being comforted or replenished by Jesus. When Jesus tells Martha that only “one thing is necessary” and that Mary has chosen the right thing, he is not only denying Martha that he should tell Mary to help; he is inviting Martha to come to him and rest as well. Martha, lay down your worries and rest with me.

    Years ago, I was listening to a radio preacher talking about those evenings when we are tossing and turning worried about this or that issue. You know the times when we are tired and want to sleep but our minds just start racing with all the things we have to deal with. We tell ourselves that we will deal with it tomorrow but as the night drags on, we lie there in fear that tomorrow will come and we will never get any sleep at all.

    This radio preacher said at those times she says this simple prayer, “Father God, here are my worries and concerns. I am laying them at your feet to deal with. I’m going to sleep. What the heck, you are up all night anyway. I expect all will be resolved when I awake in the morning.”

    Now this may seem a comical way of characterizing and dealing with our cares and concerns. But there is a real element of truth about how we need to deal with our jobs and the worries that seem to keep us awake all night. There is a time to dive into and deal with thorny issues and there is a time to lay them at Jesus’ feet and just lie there to rest and be restored. And we have to recognize when to stop working and just rest. The next evening that you are tossing and turning in bed, try it out. But really do it whole-heartedly. Take your Bible and read your favorite verse, a Psalm, or a Gospel parable. Let God’s Spirit calm you. Then dump everything at God’s feet, roll over and go to sleep.

    At the beginning of the service today, I greeted you and congratulated you on being here. I told you that this is the day the Lord God made for your rest and restoration. And I am serious about that. When you come here on a Sunday morning, you need to leave all your anxieties at the door and just lie here at Jesus’ feet and rest and be restored. Your To-Do lists will be there tomorrow morning. But today is a time for you to be with God, to hear God’s word, to be restored and refreshed by it so that you can go out and deal with the To-Do list tomorrow.

    So how do we do this welcoming thing? Read the room. Make sure you are serving the right need. Prepare your plans and execute them to the benefit of those you are serving. But don’t forget to lay at the feet of Jesus and rest.

    CHARGE: My Friends, my charge to you this week is to be “welcoming”, yes. But you must also read the room. Learn about the people whom you serve and fill their needs and not yours.