Simply Grace

31 October 2021 – Reformation Day

So Joseph asked Pharaoh’s officers, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.” Genesis 40:7-8

We’ve been studying the book of Genesis in Bible Study. Have you ever studied the book Genesis? I mean really studied it? I got to be honest with you. It’s a lot of fun! My grandma Jean, who authored Sunday School curriculum was known to say that every single type of family dysfunction can be found in the book of Genesis. My wife Sheri recently said that reading Genesis was like watching the Jerry Springer show. The level of scandal and human depravity is quite honestly, off the charts. Some things never change; like human capacity for sin. 

Let me give you an example. Adam and Eve have two sons: Cain and Abel, until Cain gets jealous and kills Abel. This was the first family. Many generations later we read about Jacob.

Jacob had twelve sons and at least one daughter with Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah. Dinah, the daughter, was gifted with diplomacy and almost was a nation builder. The twelve brothers were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. From these twelve brothers would come twelve tribes of Israel. Of the twelve boys, Joseph was different, special, and favored by his father. As a youth he was kind of a brat. Joseph had a special coat and had fanciful dreams and his brothers thought he had delusions of grandeur. So what did his brothers do to him? They took a page from their ancestor Cain, and sought to kill him! Reuben the firstborn son intervened, worked out a compromise, and Joseph was sold into slavery. He was sold to Ishmaelites, the descendents of his great uncle: his cousins basically. His cousins sell him to Potiphar in Egypt. Joseph is betrayed by Potiphar’s wife and thrown in jail. Joseph always seems to land on his feet, and soon is working for the jailor and has a degree of authority among the other prisoners. 

Then one day Pharaoh’s baker and cup-bearer are imprisoned and feeling down for the terrible and troubling dreams that they have. Joseph sees that their faces are downcast and asks them what is wrong. They tell him they have had terrible dreams. What does Joseph the dreamer say? In true rabbinic form he asks a question: “Do not interpretations belong to God?” Interpretations belong to God!

We don’t get to choose our dreams, at least not the ones that come to us while we sleep. We don’t get to choose holy scripture. We don’t get to choose our families. We don’t get to choose whether or not we pay taxes or for how many days we will walk on this earth. People like to say that God gives you a free will. Really? Where does it say that? 500 years ago our dear brother Martin Luther was summoned to debate the brightest minds of his age, including Erasmus of Rotterdam. What was it that they debated? Nothing less than whether or not the will was free. Erasmus was put forth to represent the intellectual power of established dominant teachings of the church. His position was that the will was free. Erasmus and many o

24 October 2021

This past week I spent three days in the desert at a continuing education event for pastors, deacon, and church leaders. Thank you for the opportunity to go! Our keynote speaker was pastor Wilk Miller who had served in downtown San Diego. The theme of his presentations was the tradition of the Holy Fool. A Holy Fool and by the way it is from Russia that this tradition comes, is someone who the world sees as a crazy, insane maybe mentally ill, and unreasonable person. Such a person incessantly talks and mumbles about Jesus. A great example from history is St. Basil who is buried under the cathedral in Moscow with the colorful and gorgeous Onion Shaped domes. The Tsar Ivan who was known to be terrible for how he ruthlessly punished cities that did not obey him was confronted by Basil. Basil offered the Tsar raw meat to eat. He told Ivan, “Why not eat raw meat on a fast day since he was so accustomed to eating raw human flesh anyway.” Ivan was so shamed by this fool that he spared Basil’s town nor did he harm Basil. The irony is that Basil wished to die a humiliated death like Christ and the cross, but instead became venerated and buried as a hero of the people. 

The point of all of this; is that Pastor Wilk was encouraging us to embrace the calling to be Holy Fools, because being a Holy Fool might be the most appropriate way to serve God during such a time as this. Pastor Wilk retired right before Covid, and he reminded us a number of times how lucky he felt about being able to do so, and at the same time how utterly useless he felt at the same time. His favorite part of Zoom worship was being able to work on the NY Times crossword puzzle during worship! So the truth comes out. 

Pastor Wilk told us about churches he had served. Churches that had once been buzzing with life, organization, activity, vibrancy, and that now in some cases, didn’t even exist. They have been replaced with high rise apartments and condos. They are gone from the face of the earth. The point in telling such stories is to bring to light that a group of people can dedicate their whole lives to building something, to making something great, and in a few short years it can all fall apart. 

One response would be to redouble our efforts, to reshape our strategies and to set out to keep build back better. Another response would be to ask a deeper and more foolish question. Is this what God wants us to do in the first place? Are we to builders of buildings, activities, groups, and organizations? Is that what this is all about? It gets to the heart of the question about mission. What is the reason we are here? 

What if our purpose and calling is to be Holy Fools? What if your calling is to be a Holy Fool? What if our only purpose is to ramble on about God, not worrying so much about the outcome, but to simply embody a foolish disposition about God? Bartimaeus, who we learn about in the Gospel according to St. Mark chapter 10 could have been a Holy Fool.

You are saved by grace through faith, and not by your works.

What happened at Jericho? Jesus presumably went there for some reason. But we hear absolutely nothing about what he did there. They came to Jericho. As they were leaving Jericho with the disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was outside; on the way out. What Jesus did in Jericho had to be impressive because this large crowd is going with him. Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus. How did a blind man know that it was Jesus? Obviously he had to listen. Did he know what Jesus sounded like or did he hear people talking about Jesus? It says that he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth. This makes it sound like Bartimaeus already had heard about Jesus. Jesus had a reputation that had reached Bartimaeus before this encounter. That’s really something because this was before “social media.” This was back when people talked to each other; back in

James and John wanted Jesus to give them whatever they wanted. In the same breath Jesus says, “no,” and tell them true leader are servants of all. How could Jesus tell them to be servants while Jesus’ doesn’t even give them what they want? The answer is that true service and servanthood is not about pleasing people or giving them whatever they ask for. True servanthood is about doing the best thing for someone, even if they don’t see it or appreciate it at the time.

Did you hear about the rich man who died? He wrote in his will to take all of his money and buy gold bars with it. Then he wanted to be buried with it. Some people told him this was foolish, because you can’t take it with you. He insisted, however, because he said he was a righteous man who earned his money honestly and he believed that God would let him take it. So one day the man died. His body was buried in a coffin with bars of gold. After he was buried mysteriously his soul was able to grab the gold, and when nobody was looking he took the gold up with him to heaven. St. Peter welcomed him at the pearly gates. Indeed the man’s name was written in the book of life, so the gates were opened and he was permitted to go in. As he got ready to walk into heaven St. Peter stopped him and said, “I’m curious. Why did you bring pavement with you?” The rich man was puzzled and then looked into heaven and saw that the streets were literally paved with gold!

You can’t take it with you. That’s one of the lessons we can get from this morning’s gospel reading from Mark  10 and a rich young ruler. He asks Jesus how to have eternal life and Jesus tells him to give away his wealth. This makes the young man sad. No doubt he has worked very hard for his wealth, and so giving it away doesn’t seem so appealing. Jesus takes the opportunity to turn this into a teachable moment. He tells us, the disciples, that it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to get into heaven.

The disciples ask, “If this guy can’t do it, then who can?” They were perplexed and astounded. The disciples believed, as many still do today, that material wealth is a sign of God’s blessing. They believed that if you are a good person, and follow the rules, as the rich young ruler said he did, then God would shower you with…money! This is called the, “prosperity gospel.” Jesus flatly rejects this point of view. He turns it completely upside down. Rather than wealth being a sign of God’s blessing, Jesus says that it is a hindrance and roadblock from being able to go to heaven and be saved. But the question remains: why does Jesus have such a problem with wealth and success?

The answer is that the more successful a person is on earth the less they believe that they need God. The problem with having a lot of money is that the mind can be tricked into a false sense of security. The mind and the heart begin to put their trust not in God, but in…money. Money is not necessarily evil, but it can be a very tempting idol that people adore, worship, and dedicate their whole lives to. Even more sinister than the lure of money is the lure of “works righteousness.” This is our most deadly sin: the sin of believing that we are capable of saving ourselves, that we and not God, are the real person in charge of saving ourselves. 

500 years ago brother Martin in Germany saw a very sad situation. Salvation was basically for sale in the church. One could buy indulgences, and pay for religious services that were advertised to be efficacious to get one into heaven. So basically the rich could buy their way into heaven, but the poor who could not do so were left feeling as if they could never be saved. It was implied that they were more sinful, it was implied falsely that poverty was the consequence o

Not too long ago my wife took our daughter back to school shopping. The next morning when we were getting ready for school my daughter was wearing what looked to be gym clothes. I said, “Do you have P.E. as the first class of the day?” She rolled her eyes and said, “No!” So I asked why she was wearing workout clothes to school. Do you know what she said? She said, “Dad. These days, everyone wears this.” 

These days. Not those days. We’re talking about: these days.

Saturday morning I was sipping a cup of coffee. I decided to take a look at Instagram. I scrolled a little bit. And finally I said: I don’t get it. I don’t like Instagram. Sheri backed me up. Across the table sat my daughter, she looked at me with pity, she sighed, and said, “Well dad, these days that’s what everyone uses.”

So I detected a pattern! I said, “What do you mean by these days?” My daughter said, “You know about the old times, and the old days. I know about these days.” 

These days. She’s right! She’s absolutely right! Most of the time I have no idea at all what is happening these days. The old tried and true patterns of understanding the world just don’t seem to work as well as they used to. Something has changed that can’t be put back. We are living in different days. We are living in “these days,” not “those days.”

Those days are long gone. Long ago, or in those days according to Hebrews, God used to stay in touch with us, with humanity, through prophets. Prophets were special people who were close to God that would receive messages, words, visions, form God and share them with the people. God would also send angels, messengers with divine power, to carry out special tasks on earth. That was then. That was, those days. 

These days, God has spoken to us through a Child. God birthed a child into the world who has been with God who has been God since the beginning of time. This spitting image of God although far superior to angels, for a time was made low and lowly and walked this earth as any other human being suffering just like any other human. 

If Jesus were alive today and walking the earth he would suffer just like you. He got hungry and thirsty. He suffered physical pain and could even die. He could get Covid. He could die from it. He would have to get vaccinated just like all of us. This pain and suffering wasn’t accidental. It was intentional. It was necessary. For how could he understand and save us from the suffering of these days if he didn’t know the pain and the struggle to live in these days. 

“It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” Hebrews 2:10

The glory of God isn’t being coated in teflon and being bright, shiny, white, sparkling clean. No. The glory of God is revealed in the cross. When Jesus was nailed and hung on the cross there all of creation was placed below his bloody nailed feet. That is the glory of God. That is fully knowing these days.

It’s no picnic being a kid, or a teen. The price our children pay for being in touch with these days is a price I’m not sure anyone would willingly choose. How many of you would like to be twelve again and go to junior high? It’s a privilege to not know what is going on these days. It’s a privilege to have the luxury to shield oneself from the vagaries of life and live in a bubble. Children don’t get that luxury. They, because they have no other choice than to live at the whim of adults, teachers, schools, societies, churches, clubs, teams, cliques, social media trends, they experience first hand exactly what is going on these days. The price they pay is a high price. 

You know that. You know that the children suffer. You know that mental illness is a real issue in young people. Y

Rev. Wesley Menke

26 September 2021

The Problem

Congratulations! You made it through another week! That is no small task. There are big problems and challenges to surviving everyday. It is remarkable that we as a species, the human race, have come so far. It really is quite remarkable all the things we have achieved like the increases in standards of living for so many people. Sociologists and Anthropologists believe that the reason that we as a species are as successful is because we are so highly social. We are phenomenally social beings. Even the most introverted among us, like pastors for example, are able to step away from our silent meditations on scripture to interact with other people. It’s phenomenal. But you know what? It comes at a price.

Our highly social nature as human beings is a two sided coin. On one side you have empathy, and on the other side you have jealousy. The two social responses are related and in tension with one another. One of my professors of pastoral care in seminary told us of an experiment conducted on babies. It was a very benign experiment in which crying was recorded in nurseries in hospitals and observations were made. You have probably heard that babies have different kinds of cries. Parents can often tell if a baby needs milk, sleep, burping, or a diaper changed. Well scientists have studied the social nature of babies crying.

It turns out that almost immediately out of the womb and into the world babies are social. They demonstrate both empathy and jealousy. How do we know this? We know this because when one baby begins to cry in a nursery out of hunger, the same or similar type of hungry cry spreads throughout the nursery. Babies are naturally empathetic; they feel what their neighbors feel. Emotional intelligence theory says that feelings are contagious. This is a beautiful thing, because it means that built into the fabric of our beings is the capacity to relate to others and have an understanding of what they are going through. But as I mentioned before, there is a flipside to this phenomenon.

The flipside is jealousy. Babies are also naturally jealous. The same experiment mentioned above yielded proof of natural jealousy. When one baby is picked up in the nursery and it’s needs are attended to, the other babies change the tone of their cries to one of anger and pain if they do not receive the same care. Babies naturally know and are hurt when they feel they are not being given the same love and care.

Both Josua son of Nun, the second in command to Moses, and the 12 disciples of Jesus demonstrate their very human capacity for empathy and jealousy. In both cases there is unsanctioned ministry happening. Elded, Medad, and some unnamed people get inspired, get in front of people, and start doing the work of the Lord even though nobody asked them or gave them permission. Joshua and the disciples don’t like it. They are jealous. This very human response highlights the strength and weakness of being so social. While these disciples excelled at empathizing with people in need and with their leaders, they weren’t prepared to handle the emotional challenge of being upstaged as it were. They were suffering from jealousy. 

Works-righteousness, that old stubborn sin, is perhaps the greatest contributing factor to jealousy. Joshua and the disciples had worked hard and sacrificed much. This was admirable. But it was no doubt the devil whispering in their ear that tricked them into believing that they had earned the authority and ministries they had been given. They had forgotten that God does not call the equipped, but God equips the called. It seemed unfair that Eldad, and Medad who couldn’t even show up to a meeting on time, nor wanna-be’s who didn’t even know Jesus could be afforded the Holy Spirit of God, ministries, and recognition. So Joshua and the disciples went to their leaders to express th

The Problem

It can be difficult when you figure out that people are out to get you. When you thought someone was your friend, but then you find out that they are scheming to do you in. That is what happened to the prophet Jeremiah. He lived in Jerusalem in the time before the Babylonians conquered them. He was a different kind of prophet. Most of the prophets in his day said that there was nothing to worry about. Most of the prophets said that God would protect them from their enemies. They shouldn’t worry. Jeremiah was given a different message from God. The message that God told him was that Jerusalem was in deep trouble. All round there was injustice. The Babylonian army was coming form the Northeast and they would utterly destroy Jerusalem. God also told Jeremiah not to think that anyone else would save them either. Don’t be tempted to go to Egypt for help. 

At first Jeremiah thought that he was okay. The company of prophets had always had different prophecies. He believed that he was safe and protected to speak the truth, and even though not everyone agreed, he was okay to speak the words given to him by God. But that is not what happened. Jeremiah figured out that he had been betrayed by people he trusted. Powerful rulers and prophets who didn’t like his message conspired and had him arrested, beaten, and thrown into a pit to starve and suffer because of the message he gave. 

Jeremiah understandably felt abandoned and betrayed. Perhaps you have felt this way. Perhaps you have tried your best to speak the truth, and rather than have your words received you have felt betrayed and rejected by the very people you thought were your friends. What do you do when this happens? Jeremiah asked God to take vengeance on his behalf. The Psalmist shares a similar theme in psalm 54. Sometimes things happen in life that push people in different directions.

The Solution

I heard from one of our previous members this week. Emily was a member here at Grace, and she taught biology at Chaffey College. Emily is now living in Albuquerque working in bio-medicine, and attending another Lutheran church. I was so happy to know that Emily was a part of a worshipping community. Sometimes things happen in life that makes us lose people in our community. This is always sad, but knowing that people find new churches for me, is a sign of the resurrection.

Emily introduced me to the work of Dr. James Lawson. Dr. Lawson is a Methodist pastor and leader of the civil rights movement. Some say he was the architect and intellectual that accompanied Dr. King. One of the things Lawson teaches is how to love your enemies. He emphasized that non-violent action isn’t passive. It is an active way to change the heart of your enemy. It is ingenious because it is about converting an enemy into a friend. It isn’t about dominating. It is about loving. 

One of the ways to do this is outlined by James in chapters 3 and 4. James says to sew peace and you will reap justice. For example, if you find yourself having a discussion with someone and they say things or have opinions that you strong

Have you ever thought about what it must have been like to be Jesus? Did he know everything that was going to happen to him? He asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” It seems like he was aware that there were different theories or rumors about him floating around. But perhaps because most of his time was instructing the disciples, he did not have as much contact with the conversation happening among the people. This is a consequence of leadership. Once you become a leader some people might act differently around you, so that it is difficult to get the whole story. By asking the disciples about what people think about him, Jesus indicates that to some degree he is living in a bubble, and that he needed to have a dose of reality. 

The disciples tell Jesus about the different theories. Some say that he is John the Baptizer. What a strange theory. John and Jesus were born within months of each other. Their mothers were cousins who were pregnant at the same time. How could Jesus be John? It doesn’t make any sense! And yet enough people must have believed that for the disciples to have registered it and reported back to Jesus. Another theory was that Jesus was Elijah. This makes a bit more sense. Elijah had been raptured away in a chariot of fire hundreds of years before, and to this day there are traditions of expectation for Elijah’s return. Others said that Jesus was one of the prophets. But both John and Elijah were prophets. What all of these theories have in common is an orientation toward the prophetic past. Jesus can be explained by one the previous people who have gone before

Then Jesus shrewdly turns the question onto his own disciples. Who do you say that I am? Peter nails it. You are the messiah. Wow. What a confession. Peter to his credit, does not look merely to the past or somebody else to explain Jesus. Peter makes a claim on the present. You are the anointed one, now! Of course Jesus wasn’t the first Messiah. There was Saul, David, Solomon, and the list goes on. Kings were anointed by prophets to rule the people on behalf of God. This was a daring claim. A prophet surely has power, but their power and role is to spur and influence kings and rulers. To be the messiah, was to be more than a prophet, it was to be none other than God’s own son appointed to rule over and above anyone else. 

But what did it mean to be the messiah or the son of man? Jesus said that he would be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law, and that he would be killed. Talk about cognitive dissonance. Peter had a hard time hearing this because it didn’t make any sense. How could Jesus be the chosen one of God, divinely appointed to rule, and so quickly suffer and die? The problem was that Peter was looking at things from a human perspective and not a godly perspective. This is the age old problem of works righteousness. It is the enduring opposition to the will of God. This is the perspective that you deserve what happens to you. Peter was afraid that people would lose faith in Jesus if he were to suffer and die like a common criminal.  Both then and now there is a temptation to believe that external metrics like power, wealth, and physical beauty were supposed signs of God’s favor. It is a toxic way of attempting to make sense of reality.

The cornerstone of Lutheran theology is that you are saved by grace through faith, and not by works. The Epistle of St. James seems to challenge this theology. James writes: 

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food,and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” James 2:14-17.

What a stinging criticism! Consider the weight of this implication. Ask yourself if you are guilty of ever sending someone away without attending to their physical needs. Ask yourself if you have turned a blind eye to the poverty and desperation of someone and rested in your own material comfort. If so, then James would have you wonder if your faith isn’t faith at all, but something dead. 

James criticizes the behavior of treating some people favorably at church based on their wealth. He indicates to his audience that they treat people with a lot of money better than people who are poor. He calls this foolish behavior, because it was the rich who were quick to haul someone to court for committing some small error. James says that it is the rich who oppress you. James’ is addressing all different kinds of people in the church whether they have money or not. 

To the poor James says, “You give special treatment to the very people who exploit you. You claim to have faith that God will save you, but you don’t live as if it were true. You are paralyzed with fear, and you willingly silence yourself and close your own eyes and ears to the truth. Call it willful ignorance and inaction. James dares you to prove that you have faith by unmuting yourself and daring to speak the truth, even in uncomfortable or awkward situations. To this wealth and power he dares them to open their eyes

Theologian Miguel de la Torre writes about a hermeneutical privilege of the oppressed. What he means be that is the person or people who really have the best insight into the ways things are; are the poor and powerless. Think about the schoolyard playground. Which kid on the playgrounds truly understands the character of all the other students. It’s the kid who gets picked on. They know who is cruel and who is kind. They know who protects and who picks on. That’s the hermeneutical privilege of the oppressed. Then consider the playground bully. The kid with the most power and influence who almost always gets what they want. They are blind to the character of everyone around them, because they all just get out of the way and give the bully what they want. James sees this behavior happening and he basically says two things:

If you have a lot of power, then you should really try to open your eyes to better understand everyone else.If you don’t have a lot of power you need to speak up and share the truth so that others may understand

One such person who did have faith was the Syrophoenician woman described in the Gospel of Mark chapter seven. This story may throw you for a spin because Jesus comes off looking kind of biased. First of all he doesn’t want to be seen even entering the house, probably because it was not a Jewish house. Secondly, he calls this woman a dog, and tries to minimize her request as irrelevant to his mission to save Jewish people. But she persisted. Rather than challenging Jesus’ reasons or language she cunningly appropriates his label of “dog,” and pleads with him: even dogs get a few scraps that fall from the table. Surely you can give this dog a tiny scrap. Something that is small for you is big for me. Jesus doesn’t get mad at this. Rather he is impressed, and calls her a woman of great faith. She does exactly what James challenges you to do. She proves her faith by unmuti

Rev. Wesley Menke

Grace Lutheran Church

29 August 2021

14th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary 22, Proper 17, Complementary Series, Year B

Lutherans Christians highly value the law. We respect the rule of law, and we talk about not just one, but Three uses of the law. 

Social Order and Well Being

The first use of the law is to create structure and order out of chaos. When God’s people left Egypt in the Exodus they found themselves in the wilderness with no overlords and total freedom. God gave Moses the law to be a guide for the people. In Deuteronomy 4 Moses encourages the people to follow the law especially when they enter into the promised land. If the people would follow the law, then they would be very successful among the Canaanites and be a witness to the power and wisdom of God. In short, they will live a good life in the promised land.

When I was living in Orange County California I had the opportunity to take a tour of the Christ Cathedral as it was being remodeled. Rev. Dr. Robert Schuller had died, and the Crystal Cathedral had fallen on hard times. They sold their world class architectural buildings and land to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County. The catholic bishop invited the lutheran bishop to get a private tour. I got to go along with other Lutheran clergy and laity.

  As we walked through a courtyard there was a giant statue of Moses holding up two stone tablets; the 10 Commandments. Below the statue was a placard that talked about the “Good Life.” Following God’s laws, especially the 10 commandments is the way to experience and enjoy the “Good Life.” The logic is simple and unassailable: just complete the law. Don’t change it. Don’t add or subtract. Just do it. And you too can live the “Good Life.” The words on the plaque were reinforced by the towering glass cathedral behind it. 

One pastor who was in our group joked that she wished she had a can of spray paint to deface the plaque and say, “Wrong!” I thought that was a bit harsh, but I understood her criticism. As human beings we constantly fail at doing what we are supposed to do. We are sinners who break God’s law constantly. Which brings us to the second use of the law.

Total Depravity and the Need of Salvation

The second use of the law is that it helps us understand our hopeless condition and the need of salvation from our sin. God’s law shows us that we are sinners! Legend has it that a young Lutheran pastor became friends with the esteemed Dr. Schuller. One day Schuller invited this pastor up to his office at the top of the administration building at Crystal Cathedral. As they visited the young pastor saw a cancelled check framed and posted on the wall behind Dr. Schuller. The check was for One Million Dollars. And the person who had written the check was a name that was familiar to the Lutheran Pastor. It was a member of his own church in Garden Grove! 

When the young pastor saw this and put the name together he could not hold back from sharing this fact to Robert Schuller. Schuller was not surprised in the least. Many of the donors to that church were members of other churches. Dr. Schuller said to the young pastor that the Lutherans have the best theology. Your problem is that it doesn’t sell. You can’t market it or commodify it. That is why your members send me their million dollar checks! The irony is that that young pastor was now the bishop, and he told us this story as now the Catholic Bishop  sat in the old office of Dr. Schuller. None of the clever marketing lasted the test of time.

This is a similar criticism Jesus makes of some of the Pharisees. Some of the Pharisees made a big show of washing their hands, washing after th