"Taskmaster" Reformation Sunday

  Reformation Sunday Sermon 10-25-20

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit Amen.

Imagine if I were to climb into the pulpit today, and find a sealed envelope, containing at task to perform, from Martin Luther himself. 

(Opens envelope) “Reformation Sunday Challenge: You task is to preach a sermon that, to the best of your ability, integrates interpretations of the Bible readings with modern day relevance, in way that makes meaning and connections in people’s lives, and expands their understanding of God, their faith, their community, and themselves. You have ten to 15 minutes. Your time starts NOW.”

Sometime last this summer, we began watching newish British show called Taskmaster. 5 comedians are set ridiculous tasks performed under pressure, using creative and funny solutions, competing for points that are given by the highly subjective “Taskmaster.” These tasks range from – do something that will look impressive in reverse, eat as much watermelon as you can in 1 minute, or make the “best” noise.  The person with the most points at the end of each show wins that episode, and the winner of the most points at the end of the season is the Task Master Champion.

Some things are easy to judge – after all, you can measure how much watermelon is left, for example – but…. What constitutes the “best” noise? As you can imagine, the main gag of the show is navigating the mostly arbitrary whims of the draconian “Taskmaster.”

To our modern sensibilities, the world that Martin Luther lived in may seem equally nonsensical, most demonstrated by the confusing hierarchy, doctrines, and practices of the church at that time… especially on how a person “gets to heaven.” Earning indulgences – ways to shave years off of purgatory - must have felt a little bit like trying to earn points and navigate the nearly impossible tasks. Only this was very much not comedy. It was real life - a matter of life, death, the afterlife, and eternal damnation. And that set the stage for a monk named Martin Luther to call out this abuse of power of the church as a “real life Taskmaster” and to share his 95 objections this arbitrary “point system.” Which paved the way for us to be here today, over five centuries later.

And 15 centuries before Martin Luther, the taskmasters and gatekeepers of this point system in another form were very alive and well. In this and the previous chapter in Matthew, Jesus had been tested relentlessly, supervised by the religious leaders of his day. Last week we heard Jesus give a wise answer to a very tricky question about paying taxes. But apparently the religious leaders had one more demand up their sleeves.

With this newest question, the religious leaders would be able to gauge where the very core of Jesus’s teaching lies. “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” they demand to know. Who are you, really? What do you stand for? Answer us! Your time starts now!

As usual, and in a way very much consistent with Taskmaster the show, Jesus didn’t quite stay in the parameters he was given. Jesus did not reply with just one commandment, as they had asked, but instead two.  Apparently Jesus preferred a kind of both-and situation… which became a pretty solidly Lutheran idea a few centuries later. 

Jesus knew his Torah. He knew that loving God is intimately tied to loving your neighbor, and trying to separate one from the other is like trying to separate rice suspended in a jar of honey – part of an actual task in the show. Jesus said, “On THESE TWO commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” In other words, every single letter of the law and every single word out of the mouths of the prophets are supported by these two commandments. Without them, the Old Testament, and the New Testament for that matter, would fall in a heap on the floor, useless, like a coat without a hook. 

But love is a complicated word. Just what kind of love is Jesus talking about here? There are many kinds to choose from. I love watching TaskMaster…  I love my cats… AND I love my family. Is love what we see on the big screen, like Love Actually? Is what we experience like a Taylor Swift song or more like “Love Hurts”?

The people of Jesus’ time knew about a dozen words for “love” – it’s hard to fathom so much meaning in our one little word, L-O-V-E. Trying to define love as we know and experience it is like trying to figure out the best way to impress the Mayor of Chesham, which was an actual task on Taskmaster.  

Most of the time, we think of love as a strong emotion attached to someone who is dear to us. We all certainly know what love feels like, whether you have experienced love for a parent, a child, a spouse, or a dear friend. But love is more than just what we feel, - it’s what we do to show that love, sometimes at great personal cost to ourselves. Perhaps you know a parent who has given up a career to care for an ill child, or a friend who struggles day to day caring for an aging parent.

Loving the Lord our God with our entire heart, soul, and mind, and loving our neighbor as ourselves not in impossible task judged by a tyrannical Taskmaster.  Jesus did not come to be human among us to give us more rules to follow, on top all the regular challenges that life brings. Jesus did not come even to narrow down the rules to just the “really important ones.” Jesus did not come to give us the minimum requirement of getting into heaven – Love God and Love your Neighbor – because that is a pretty big ask.

This is a task that takes a lifetime to complete, and but you won’t have to do it alone. This is actually a “Team Task,” and here are your companions, present with us virtually, literally a “cloud” of witnesses. And beyond this place, our siblings of faith in different countries are following the same path. And even beyond this time, the saints have walked this path before us, loving God and one another, are present as well, cheering us on.

This is a strange and wondrous life that Jesus has called us to. It may not take us to foreign countries or encounter other cultures… but this invitation might just push you to do things that will test you in the name of love. Things that may seem impossible, but given creativity and vision, could turn out pretty surprising and amazing. But then again, love is pretty amazing, as Jesus has shown us – love arriving in the form a helpless child, healing for the sick, feeding the hungry, and advocating for the vulnerable, defending the poor and lifting up the weak. This love looks like a cross. This love looks like an empty tomb.

Now, this love looks like us. This love, is our task. We are the hands and feet of Jesus, called to show God’s love to the world. Are we up the task? I think we are…

Just a few minutes ago, I had a task to perform. Now it’s your turn. This one is from Jesus:

(Opens second envelope): “People of God: You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. You have… the rest of your life. Your time starts… Now!” Thanks be to God, amen.