It Is All About Our Actions
/Luke 16:10-12
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?”
We are defined by what we do.
It is what our scriptures are telling us this morning. We’ll take a quick look at the scriptures. This morning’s scriptures are the moral explained at the conclusion of the story of the Unjust Steward.
The Unjust Steward: What has happened is the owner has found out that his steward is cheating him. The owner has determined something is wrong and has determined to fire the steward. You can see in the photo how the owner is bringing the steward to account, but the steward has an idea on how to make this work to his advantage and it includes the associates pictured in the upper right of the painting behind the steward. Painting Mainus Van Reymerswaele 1540, Kunsthistorisches MUSEUM
I’ve been thinking a lot about integrity lately,. I’ll blame it on Rod and his Wednesday Bible Study where we have been going through a study titled Act Like Jesus, not think like Jesus, or what would Jesus do. It is a study about putting our faith into action in our daily lives. What do we have to do to demonstrate that we are Christians by our behavior?
Looking at the world around us, I keep thinking about the standards of our current social interactions. Which keeps bringing me back to integrity. And so I started by taking a look at some examples in the Bible.
I’ll start with the Unjust Steward. What has happened is the owner has found out that his steward is cheating him. We do not know what the steward is doing, probably some form of stealing, but the owner has determined something is wrong and has determined to fire the steward.
You can see in the photo how the owner is bringing the steward to account, but the steward has an idea on how to make this work to his advantage and it includes the associates pictured in the upper right of the painting behind the steward.
The steward goes to the people who owe the owner materials. To the one who owes 900 barrels of olive oil he says change your bill to 450. To the one who owes 1,000 bushels of wheat he says make it 800. And so he goes to the others who owe the owner and makes deals. The objective is that when the owner fires the steward, the steward will have made friends who will take him in. Scripture tells us even the owner is impressed by this move.
Jesus tells his listeners this might be how the world works, but it is not the way we should do business….hence this morning’s moral. We need to focus on what is fair and right.
The Book of Ruth: I think the story of Ruth and Naomi is one of the best in the Bible. It contains, love, loyalty, integrity and a happy ending.
The Death of the Innocents: The pictures are tiles on floor of the Cathedral in Siena, Italy and it depicts the death of the Innocents. After Jesus is born in Bethlehem Magi, who had been following a star from the east, arrived in King Herod’s court asking about the new born King of the Jews. Herod’s advisors tell him according to the prophets the child will be born in Bethlehem. Herod sends the Magi on to Bethlehem telling them to report back to him so that he might also go and worship this new king.
The Magi find the Jesus child and were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod. Joseph was also warned in a dream to take his family and escape to Egypt.
When he learns he has been betrayed by the Magi Herod sends his troops with orders to kill all the male children 2 years old or less in the area of Bethlehem. Why 2 years old, the Magi may have been traveling a long time, but Herod definitely wanted to make sure this potential king would not be a threat to his throne.
During the Last Supper Jesus told Peter that he would deny him three times before the cock crowed. After Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane he is taken to Annas, the former High Priest, for questioning. Peter, according to the Gospel of Mark, with curses denies he knows Jesus, and the cock crows and Jesus looks at him.
There are some orders which should never be given. There are orders which should never be executed. This is an example of both. This is about power, and maintaining power, and Herod was afraid of a contender for his throne.
The Book of Ruth: I think the story of Ruth and Naomi is one of the best in the Bible. It contains, love, loyalty, integrity and a happy ending. During a time of famine Naomi and her husband move from Bethlehem to Moab with their two sons. The sons marry local girls. The husband dies. The two sons die, and Naomi plans to return to Bethlehem where she has relatives. She tells her two daughters-in-law to return to their families and find replacement husbands. One does as she is told.
Ruth refuses to go. “Where you go, I will go. Where you die, I will die.” They return to Bethlehem. There is a rich farmer there named Boaz, who is a distant relative to Naomi. Ruth goes to work in his fields as a gleaner, picking up the grain the field laborers missed. Boaz was impressed with her hard work and the fact that she was taking care of her mother-in-law. Eventually Ruth and Boaz marry and all is well. Ruth also becomes the Great Grandmother of King David.
Next, I have the Apostle Simon Peter. During the Last Supper Jesus told Peter that he would deny him three times before the cock crowed. Jesus is actually tried six times. Three times by the Jewish community with the High Priest and the Sanhedrin. Three times within the Roman system by Pilate and Herod.
After Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane he is taken to Annas, the former High Priest, for questioning. Peter follows, and is identified by a servant girl, Peter replies that he does not know the man. The servant girl tells the others standing around them that Peter is one of Jesus followers. Peter denies that he knows Jesus. Finally, a group of the those who have been listening to the servant girl, approach Peter. They accuse him of being one of the disciples, and again Peter, and according to the Gospel of Mark, with curses denies he knows Jesus and the cock crows and Jesus looks at him.
This final denial with the roster crowing is finally Peter understanding, and finds him weeping uncontrollably.
It was at this point I came to an understanding. When you are in a relationship with God, God will never walk away from you. You may walk away from God, but God is always there to welcome you back if you are truly sorry and repent of your actions. All through scripture there is this process of Repentance, Renewal and Redemption.
Peter is the perfect example.
His repentance is in the tears, his renewal comes with Jesus’ resurrection. When Jesus appears with the Apostles, Jesus asks Peter three times if Peter loves him. And each time Peter replies yes. Jesus tells Peter to feed his sheep, meaning the Christian Community, and Peter affirms that he will. Peter works within the new Christian community forming in Jerusalem, even traveling to Samaria to meet the new Christian Community forming there. Peter goes to Rome where between 64 and 68 CE he is crucified upside-down on a cross, because he felt he was unworthy to die the same way as Jesus.
Every time you go past the giant cathedrals throughout Europe you see a statue of St. Peter. He is holding the Keys to the Kingdom. He is considered the first Pope by many denominations.
The Apostle Paul had a problem with Jesus the Messiah. Paul was from Tarsus. He was educated. He was smart. He understood the Jewish prophecies and he knew that the promised Messiah would be powerful. He would be a leader. He would unite and renew the Kingdom. He would chase out the invaders, and set Israel on a new path. The Messiah would not be a convicted criminal who died on a cross.
The Apostle Paul began as one of the prosecutors of the Way, which was the original name for the followers of Jesus. Paul was present for the stoning of Stephen, one of Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem. Paul was the person holding the cloaks of those throwing the stones. It was because of Stephen’s death that many Christians felt unsafe in Jerusalem and as a result the Christians left Jerusalem. They entered into the Pax Romana where they could travel safely from the Mideast to Spain, from Africa to the Rhine and Danube Rivers. Everywhere there were Jewish communities which took them in, and Christianity thrived.
In Jerusalem they heard about a gathering of the Way in Damascus. To check out the news, and stop the gathering, Paul was on his way to Damascus when Jesus suddenly seemed to attack Paul in a vision. Paul was knocked off his horse and blinded. Paul saw the living Jesus, and Jesus asked Paul why he was persecuting him.
This was new understanding. If God had forgiven Jesus, and brought him back from the dead, then Jesus was definitely the Messiah the Jews had been promised. Paul was convinced.
Paul continued to Damascus. His sight was healed by a Christian in Damascus and Paul eventually went on the road preaching the risen Christ.
While the other Apostles under Peter and James worked among the Jews, Paul took the message of Christ to the Gentiles, with huge success. He made three missionary journeys planting churches throughout Asia Minor, Greece and Macedonia.
Paul is credited with 13 books of the 27 book New Testament. These are mostly occasional letters to the congregations Paul established. Considered occasional because they were written for specific reasons to provide guidance for certain problems which were occurring in the congregations.
Paul’s final trip was to Rome where he continued to preach and teach. He was planning a trip to Spain. He was martyred in about 65 CE.
The photo shows a painting of Paul and his sometime traveling companion Barnabas. They are in Lystra which is in southern Turkey. They have healed a man who had been crippled from birth, and the people are going wild. The people are sure the gods Hermes and Zeus have descended into their midst. They are cheering, they are bringing in a bull to sacrifice to the visiting Gods. Paul and Barnabas are objecting, telling them they are not gods, but followers of Jesus. The rend their cloths in frustration. Visiting Jews from Iconium and Antioch convince the people they are frauds and Paul was stoned, but lived.
Paul’s conversion, his repentance for the persecutions, his renewal, and his redemption in his tireless work toward bringing Christ to the world. Aside from Jesus, Paul might be the most important connection to Jesus and the world in the New Testament.
Finally Jesus. The only person able to lead a sinless life. He carried God’s word throughout Israel. He set an example for all Christians to follow. Finally he died on the cross, the ultimate sacrifice which freed all who believe in him to stand before God clean and pure. Through his accession, we now have someone in heaven with the Father who knows and understands us.
This is Levanto, Italy. It is a small town, up the train tracks through the tunnel from Monterosso. We were are at a crafts market and we found a luggage tag. The young girl, probably mid 20s did not speak very good English and we spoke even worse Italian, but we finally agreed on the price, and I took out €50 note. When you go to an ATM in Italy it responds by giving you the biggest bills it can. I probably asked for €200, and got 4 €50 notes. I was hoping to get smaller bills and yes she could make change.
She took the bill and suddenly she was gone. We waited a couple of minutes and then her boyfriend came over from his booth and with his good English we talked about the Levanto, the walk we had taken through the tunnels to the north of town. We found out about about the community. Meanwhile more stalls were opening and more people were starting to wander through.
I asked him about his girlfriend. She is fine, she will be right back. But out of the corner of my eye I noticed her going from stall to stall. After about ten minutes she was back and she handed me the change. She had run from stall to stall to stall until she found someone who could change a €50 note.
To me that is Integrity. She was doing what it takes to make a customer happy.
In the Gospels, Jesus gave us two distinct commands. In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke Jesus was asked the question , “What is the most important of the commandments?” The answer is simple. “Love the Lord God with all your Heart, and Soul and Mind.” But the second most important is, “Love Your neighbor as Yourself.”
But then it gets complicated. Who is our neighbor? Is it our immediate family? Is it the person living next door? Is it the person I walk past during my morning walk? Is it a person I will never meet? Is it the person of a different nationality who lives in a different state? What should my attitude be toward them?
My only answer to this difficult question comes from Matthew 25:42-46: “For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me. Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
So how do we determine integrity? Well, a good way is to think before acting. Remember, we are defined by our actions. And always try to do the righ thing.
But how do we know what is the right thing? In one of the training classes I took in other jobs, their comment. “If what you did today, was in the newspaper tomorrow, how would you feel?”
None of us are perfect. The Good News is that we are not expected to be perfect. Living is a process. The hope is that we get better every day. The Good News is that God has a procedure for us. Repentance, Renewal, and Redemption. Take it seriously and believe it will keep us moving. God is helping us to become the people He envisions.