Rev. Trish Lisa
Early on in my ministry, I talked with one of my mentors who also served as the Head of Staff; and I was commenting on how challenging I found it to write a sermon. He explained to me that as he had transitioned into preaching weekly rather than occasionally as an Associate Pastor, how much easier he found it because he could develop a rhythm and he didn’t try to pack too much into a single sermon.
So, here I am- and I am going to do exactly what he warned against- trying to pack so much into one sermon!
I had initially asked to preach because I wanted to share about the program I’ve been involved in for a year or so through the Center for Congregations. And then it occurred to me that today is Reformation Sunday, a part of our liturgical calendar, and that should be addressed. I think it is also good to connect with cultural references, so “The Upside Down.” It’s been too many years since the last season of the show Stranger Things for me to really explain this reference- the Upside Down being some sort of parallel world or possibly an alternative world; but actually, that phrase does lend itself well to today’s Gospel lesson.
We are continuing on in the Gospel of Luke, and we revisit a theme of Luke’s- commonly called the Great Reversal. Jesus flips expectations and societal norms upside down (Ok, see my connection to the Upside Down; check that off my list)? The first shall be last; the last shall be first.
We have been in the Gospel of Luke for almost a year; and recently, we have read several stories about Jesus refuting the way society operates to teaching and showing us how God’s Kingdom works.
The story of the poor beggar Lazarus getting into heaven while the Rich Man who refused to share or care for the poor did not. The persistent widow who kept her rights as a widow in front of the Judge; she reminded him of the injustice she was experiencing her rights as a widow and the injustice he refused to correct until she nagged him.
Today, we have the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
Pharisees were a Jewish sect that held in esteem the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and also the oral traditions that were passed down. The commitment of the Pharisees were to pass down these learnings- Torah and oral traditions; and their focus were the ethical teachings from these scriptures and traditions.
I appreciate the knowledge the Pharisees had of the Torah; and the stories they were committed to share to guide people in faith. What Jesus wants us to notice and contrast is the attitude and approach of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
In Jesus’s time and society, Pharisees were highly esteemed as they were grounded in ethics and in matters of faith; Tax Collectors worked for the Roman government and often took advantage of those they collected taxes from. So one listening to Jesus would anticipate this teach of the faith to commend the Pharisee for his righteousness. BUT, Upside Down. The Great Reversal. What Jesus is looking for is humility and repentance.
The posturing is so different; the repentance and humility of the tax collector and the boastfulness and comparison game the Pharisee is playing.
No one wins the comparison game. But here’s the thing; putting others down is NOT a way to build ourselves up. God has more than enough room, more than enough love, to build ALL of us up, not on the shoulders of others.
We are drawn to the tax collectors’ posture and prayer because he is so vulnerable. He confesses his shortcomings and takes responsibility. Some think these behaviors- admitting mistakes or sin- indicate weakness. Jesus is sharing the Upside Down world of God’s Kin-dom. This scripture teaches us that it takes much more strength to do the self-examination, repentance and transformation.
And then to our other scripture for the day: 2nd Timothy.
Pastor Ken shared a helpful teaching a couple weeks ago about the 13 Pauline letters.
As a quick refresher, scholars look at the original language to determine styles of writing and wordsmithing and theology they used to determine authorship. Educated consensus is high that 2nd Timothy was not written by Paul, but a follower of Paul who was honoring Paul by writing under his name.
In this letter, Paul is writing to his young apprentice and follower, Timothy, while he is imprisoned in Rome. Because a violent Roman leader is in charge- Emperor Nero- Paul knows his time on earth is coming to an end. This scripture is a lamentation about his loneliness; but not so much the fear of death.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day.”
Luke’s scripture has Jesus extoling the Tax Collector for his confession and humility. Then interestingly, Paul talks about what he deserves- a crown of righteousness. It’s not a humble posture; makes me a little uncomfortable in light of the lesson from Luke today. I guess we can take comfort in the fact that Paul’s intention is more likely the encouragement of his young protégé; as he also hopes the crown of righteousness for others. I just find the pairing of these two scriptures by the Biblical scholars who developed the lectionary as an interesting combination.
During the course of over a year, I’ve been part of a group for the Center for Congregations called Rooted in Spirit. For those of you who aren’t aware, living and serving in Indiana congregations is the BEST because we have amazing access to the Center for Congregations, which is funded by the Lilly Foundation.
The Executive Director is a Presbyterian pastor; and he will retire early next year after 17 years as the ED. I’ve known him for awhile and over the past 10 years or so, the Center has evolved to offering all of their educational opportunities for free, due to Lilly’s commitment to faith communities. I’ve helped a congregation receive a grant from them and I know Orchard Park has received at least one grant as well. My point being, they are very faithful and in tune with pastors and congregations in Indiana.
So as the Executive Director is preparing to retire, he had a program he really wanted to complete; and that is, he wanted to be able to provide a balance to so many statistical studies that paint a picture of doom and gloom about Christianity in America. He wanted to be able to share stories of hope, so he started a learning cohort called Rooted in Faith, Growing in Impact.
I was incredibly privileged to join this group because it was so diverse. Rural and urban and suburban; ages spanning probably 35 years; and evenly divided in thirds- white, Hispanic and black. We would then take what we learned back to our congregations and share with them the framework that we explored approximately every 8-10 weeks; the framework and theme started with the Fruits of the Spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I’ve had an amazingly thoughtful group of seven who have joined me in conversation and reflection.
As pastors brought back teachings, conversations and discernment from their various congregations, as we moved deeper into 2025, a few parallel spiritual gifts bubbled up. In August, we addressed courage. A couple of weeks ago, justice and patience.
Prior to this, several weeks ago, I had asked for a Sunday to preach. I am the only non-Head of Staff/Senior Pastor in the group. While everyone else had been preaching and teaching on the Fruits of the Spirit, I hadn’t done that, so I asked Kristin to share one of her Sundays with me, which she so generously did. When I asked for this Sunday to preach, I was fully intending to talk about the gift our group at OPPC has chosen to focus on: HOSPTIALITY. And we are getting ready to get going with this.
What is the saying, when humans plan, God laughs? Yeah, a little bit of that. The lectionary scriptures for this week and the conversation we had in Rooted in Faith a couple weeks ago have called me to head a different direction.
Would you like to hear me butcher some Greek words? In this scripture from 2nd Timothy, the word righteous – dikaios – (DEE-KAI-OS) can also be translated as just; and righteousness, or dikaiosune (DEE-KAI-O-SUNA) as justice.
There are words in these scriptures that I think we need to hold together; hold in tension. Righteousness. Justice. Mercy.
Paul claims righteousness, as does the Pharisee. The tax collector begs for mercy, and Paul asks for mercy for those who deserted him while imprisoned.
Justice is the word that I’ve been wrestling with. In our group, we noted that there are several types of justice- Political, Legal, Biblical (the one we are talking about today; the one that holds us accountable to Christ).
We also noted that different faith traditions experience justice in a variety of ways. These were shared in lived experiences and also by theologians with global perspectives.
Super-generalized here, but for Hispanic and Black congregations, liberation theology draws on the experience of the poor, marginalized and oppressed. It seeks an Upside Down- a Great Reversal- to right the injustice experienced. There is no separation between liberation and justice and faith and worship.
A “new to me” idea was that white congregations or congregations who have been the majority and in power tend to emphasize patience in the midst of Biblical injustice. I’m still sitting with that idea. I know my privilege; I just hadn’t considered that patience and process can be viewed as injustice. As we talked about, no one wants to be on the side of injustice; we pray for eyes that can see.
That brings me to ANOTHER thread to weave in: Reformation Sunday, always celebrated on the last Sunday of October.
On this day, we remember “The church reformed, always to be reforming according to the Word of God.” We are guided first and foremost by the Bible; and also, by the Book of Order (BOO) which structures how we meet and how we gather as community; and by the Book of Confessions, that are part instruction and part confession of what we believe.
What this means to me in light of the scriptures for this day is that we pray for open eyes to discover the ways in which we are part of injustice, the humility to ask for mercy, and the willingness to transform. The Theological Declaration of Barmen addressing the evil of Nazi Germany and the Confession of Belhar confesses our complicity in apartheid in Africa.
I watched a couple seasons of Yellowstone, the TV show. Can’t say I recommend it necessarily, but earlier this week, I was reminded of one episode. The main character, John Sutton, owns a huge cattle ranch in Montana. He is trying to impress an environmentalist, so he invites her to his ranch; and it happens to be on the day they are branding their cattle. This branding is done on a gorgeous day in this beautiful setting.
And at the end of the day, John asks her what she thought. She responds, “I thought parts were beautiful and parts were heartbreaking.” John says, “Then you and I saw it the same.” She responds, “I’m guessing we agree on the beautiful parts, but our heartbreaks are different.”
Our heartbreaks are different.
We all belong to a God who knows our heartbreaks; and we all belong to a God who recognizes our heartbreaks are different.
We want justice for our heartbreaks and mercy for the ways we break one another’s hearts.
If we long to be ones who confess, who repent, who want God’s mercy, I think there is something about seeing the heartbreaks of others. And perhaps, part of being righteous and just, is noticing when it isn’t righteous or just for others.
When the widow is mistreated by the judge; Lazarus who suffers poverty, hunger and thirst; when a disciple who has risked his life to share the good news is left abandoned by his friends in his jail cell in a horrific political environment. Jesus sees the injustice. Do we?
And what breaks God’s heart in our world today? How can we intertwine justice and mercy?
If I ever wrote a sermon before Saturday nights, I would have asked Mike to play this tune from Matthew 6:
Seek ye first the kingdom of God
And his righteousness
And all these things shall be added unto you
Alellu, alleluia.
May it be so this day and always. Alleluia. Amen.
