(St. Andrews, Carbondale. Evensong)
God was silent.
In fact, he’d been silent for a long time. It had been about 400 years since the last of the prophets. And Israel, the Jews, were still waiting. Waiting and watching. Wondering when God would send the messiah. When Israel would once again be a kingdom, a nation. How long will you tarry, o Lord? How long?
Sure there had been a few uprisings, but the Jews were tired of living under foreign domination, foreign oppression. First the Greeks and their successors, and now the Romans. Pax Romana—hah!! Peace as long as you don’t ruffle any feathers. Peace as long as you pay your taxes. Peace, what kind of peace was that. Obey Caesar. Obey Herod. Herod that Jewish pretender, he wasn’t any better. They all wanted to be worshipped. But the Jews were called to worship only God. The one God. The God of their forefathers, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. The Creator God.
There’s been a few Jewish revolts and uprisings, but they didn’t have any kind of lasting impact. And lately it seemed that every few years someone would rise out of obscurity, claiming to be the messiah. But they didn’t last either. Rumors of messiah flew faster than gossip, faster than the wind. They seemed to be looking for the Messiah under every rock almost.
And then, a new voice. A voice in the wilderness. They called him John the Baptizer. He certainly looked like a prophet, wearing clothes made from camel hair and a rough leather belt around his waist. And he ate locusts and wild honey. But he was popular in a way I suppose. Popular as a spectacle. Popular because perhaps he’s the one. He’s out there at the Jordan River, saying “Repent!! The Kingdom of God is near1” Thousand flocked to him to be washed in that great muddy river, washed as they repented from their sins.
There was a man named Andrew and his young friend John, a fellow fisherman from his village. They thought that maybe this guy was the Messiah. They became followers, disciples. They lived with him, followed him. And he was pretty strict about his religion. No soft pillows, no testing the limits of the law. They spent a lot of time in prayer. I mean, a lot. And to hear him preach sounded like thunder and lightning. But when the Pharisees came out to see what was going on, they asked the Baptizer point blank: Who are you? And his response? I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. Then they asked: Why are you baptizing if you are not the Messiah, not Elijah? And he said, one is coming. One is coming after me and I’m not worthy even to untie his sandals.
It was just a few days later that Andrew and his friend John were standing around with the Baptizer. A man walked by—a man who had been baptized a day or two earlier. Yeshua, they called him. Jesus. And the baptizer pointed him out to his disciples: look, there goes the Lamb of God.
The Lamb of God? They began searching their minds for the scriptures. Even Jewish fishermen knew more about the scriptures than we do. The Lamb of God. Isaiah spoke of one who is “like a lamb led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent . . . [and who] bore the sin of many.” The Lamb of God—perhaps it’s the paschal lamb, whose blood on their doorposts saved the Israelites from death back in Exodus, before they were delivered from Egypt.
Andrew and his friend were curious. After all, the Baptizer wouldn’t have pointed him out if he wasn’t important, would he? And so they began to follow him. They had only gone a few steps when the man, Jesus, turned to them and asked, “What are you seeking?” Andrew was caught of guard by this question. All he could think was to ask the rabbi, the teacher, “Where are you staying.” And he said, “Come and see.” And so they followed him to where he was staying, and remained with him all day. They came to see where he lived, and they found that he had life in himself. They went to see where he lived, and they found life. They listened to him, and knew that he was something special. He wasn’t like the other teachers and religious leaders. There was something else . . . something deeper. And his manner, his eyes. Maybe, maybe, this one is the hope of Israel.
Andrew went looking for his brother. He had special news to share, and the one he wanted to share it with was Simon. Simon the bold one. Simon the older brother. Simon who was always first. But now Andrew was first. Andrew had news, and he found his brother—and told his brother, “We have found the Messiah!” Andrew the younger brother took Simon by the hand and almost dragged him – to meet the Rabbi. Strangest thing! Jesus took one look at him and said. You are Simon, son of John. But now you will be Peter. You are Rock.
But it was Andrew who brought him. Andrew who was first. Andrew who was the first witness, the first missionary, the first evangelist. Andrew probably repeated Jesus’ words, “come and see.” We have found the Messiah—come and see. The Greek word for found is the word heurisko – the source of our word “Eureka.” It’s an astounding discovery, more of an awareness really. Something is there and you learn something previously unknown. There’s an element of surprise. Finding the Messiah really was an unexpected surprise, the surprise of Jesus breaking into their minds and their lives in a way that they knew things would never be the same. Eureka!!
Jesus should have that effect on people. When he enters into our minds and hearts and lives, we are changed, and we will never be the same. And like Andrew, we are called to come and see, and then to ask our friends and brothers and sisters to come and see.
What is the best form of advertising? No, it’s not a multi-million dollar 30 second spot during the Superbowl. It’s word of mouth. Friends telling friends. The best form of advertising is when a friend tells you about a new restaurant, or their doctor, or their hairstylist. Friends invite friends to join the Lion’s Club, or Rotary. Friends invite friends to hear about new products in home parties or marketing schemes. So why is it so hard for us to invite people to church?
For one thing, our culture really doesn’t like to talk about religion, about Christianity. And Maybe we think that religion is a private matter, and we don’t want to force our beliefs on anyone. Not good enough. Jesus came to save the whole world—and if we don’t tell them, how will they know. Maybe we are shy and don’t like to talk to people—but even the shyest probably speak to dozens of people a week. Maybe we don’t feel confident enough in our faith—but we need to be prepared and confident. We don’t have to have all the theology and the doctrine, but we need to be able to tell someone what a difference Jesus has made in our lives.
And maybe we have concerns about our church. Maybe we don’t think there’s much worth inviting others to? Do we think our services are boring, or predictable, or perhaps confusing? What can we do to make our church more positive, so that we are more comfortable inviting people. In everything we do, we should think about how it would be perceived by an outsider, a visitor.
And it’s certainly not just about gimmicks and the right kind of worship—none of this is meaningful if we don’t point to Jesus. There must be something substantial for visitors to receive. And I think the Episcopal or Anglican Church has a lot to offer, even—and especially--to this postmodern world.
What will people ‘come and see’ in our congregations? Will they see that we are Jesus’ disciples by the way we love one another (13:35)? Will they see that we have heard Jesus’ word so that his joy is in us and our joy is complete (15:11)? Will they see us pointing to ourselves, to our own achievements and hard work or will they see us being proper symbols and witnesses, pointing to Christ? Will they see us as sinners who confess our imperfections and unholiness and receive new life from Christ?[1]
When we say, come and see, I pray that those who come will say “Eureka!” We have found the Messiah. We have found Jesus. We have found his Church—and it’s St. Andrew’s.”
[1] http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/john1x29.htm
Monday, December 1, 2008
Year B Advent 1, 11/3/08
Happy New Year!! Today is the first day of the New Year according to the church calendar. A fresh start, a new era. Wake up!! Last year featured the gospel according to Matthew, and now we move on to the Gospel according to Mark. Matthew was all about Kingdom and discipleship, while Mark has a different flavor. His gospel might be the Cliff Notes version, or perhaps Joe Friday’s version: just the facts, ma’am, just the facts. And his favorite word was “immediately.” Everything happens “immediately.”
Today marks the beginning of Advent. The season of Advent begins 4 Sunday’s before Christmas. And I love how countercultural Advent is. We are looking ahead to Christ’s coming, but we aren’t singing Christmas carols. In contrast to the hustle and bustle of the holidays, Advent is a time of quiet preparation. Instead of shopping, it’s waiting and watching. Instead of light, it’s darkness, just before the dawn.
We are waiting. Waiting for Christmas. Waiting for the 2nd coming of Christ. Advent means. Arrival. Dawn. Beginning. And in the middle of our quiet waiting today’s readings come crashing in like an out of tune symphony. Discord and dissonance.
From our Old Testament reading in Isaiah (from the Message bible) Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend, make the mountains shudder at your presence—As when a forest catches fire, as when fire makes a pot to boil—To shock your enemies into facing you, make the nations shake in their boots!You did terrible things we never expected, descended and made the mountains shudder at your presence.
And our gospel
in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
This is apocalyptic writing, looking at the end of the world, the end of the age. Here we are at a beginning, looking at the end.
We’ve heard much ado about the current economic crisis, and that it is an apocalyptic event resulting in much destruction and change. The naysayers are in every newspaper and on every television. And it’s not hard to find those who view this economic crisis as part of God’s warning to the world. They say that if God’ can’t get our attention through famines, wars, earthquakes and the like, he will hit our pocketbooks. After all, money is the real god of the age and our God is a jealous God. This too is warning and judgment. The collapse of our economy is only one sign. And then I found a guy who said that not just Wall Street, but all of New York City will be destroyed-- by nuclear attack—at the end of 2008, around Christmas.[1] I guess we will have to wait and see on that one!!
The apocalyptic literature in the bible, mostly in Daniel and in Revelation, but also in the Gospels as we read today and in Paul’s letters has invited more interpreters, timelines, and forecasts than anything in history, and perhaps more kooks and crazies! History is riddled with vain predictions about the end times, about Christ’s coming again. There are those who are fascinated by eschatology, the signs and the times, and there are those who are turned off by this whole things, thinking that it’s too strange and disturbing, just the province of fools and fanatics, like the guy who said the end of the world begins in December of this year.
But I think our readings in Mark are supposed to provide a voice of reason. While assuredly Christ will come again, there is no timetable given either in Mark or anywhere in scripture. Jesus does not intend for us to try to figure it all out. Speaking only to Peter, John, James and Andrew, his inner circle, Jesus simply says, “in those days, following that suffering.” He’s teaching his disciples to be ready for anything, anytime. But trying to figure out times and dates is fruitless, a distraction from doing God’s work in the world.
Yes, the end is certain, and the cosmic distress will make it clear that the end of the world has come. We don’t need to search here and there, to analyze the world news in light of biblical prophecy. When it happens, even the sky will tremble in fear and terror, and the sun will be dark and the moon won’t give light, and the stars will fall from the sky. These will happen because Jesus appears. There won’t be any warning, but Jesus will come in glory. And those who have faithfully responded to the gospel will be gathered by the angels, from the four corners of the earth.
But we don’t know when the end will come. It will come on a day just as ordinary as the summer bringing leaves to the trees. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the words of Jesus will not. And yet, no one knows when the end will come. The kooks and crazies and fanatics don’t know, we don’t know, the angels don’t know, and even Jesus himself doesn’t know. Only the Father knows when the end will come. No one knows but God the Father. The end will come without warning and no amount of calculations will enable people to predict it.
And so the disciples and servants are to beware, to keep watch, for we don’t know when the time will come. Like the doorkeeper of a man going on a journey, we are to keep watch, to be ready.
What kind of servant is it that requires a master to look constantly over his shoulder to make sure he does his job faithfully and properly? How can the doorkeeper fulfill his duties if he spends his time computing how long the day will last? Jesus’ warnings affirm that only those who are valiant under fire and vigilant during the delay will be vindicated in the end. We are to work faithfully because the Master will return, and we are created to work with assurance because it’s the Master who returns.[2]
The end will come, and it will come suddenly. Therefore Jesus challenges his disciples then and now to keep awake.
Keep awake!!. We have lost sight of the immanence of Christ’s return, and we have become complacent. We must be alert, living in hopeful expectation, with our eyes, minds and hearts focused on the task at hand. One source said that the worst “ism” in the world is not fascism or communism but somnambulism. Somnambulism is sleep walking. We don’t realize that our ideals are being wilted away, that our purposes are being pared down, that the evil forces in the world are gaining strength. We need to watch and pray against the sin that trips us up, how easily we make compromises which seem so reasonable but end up so wrong. We need to watch and pray that we don’t neglect our communion with God and with each other. We need to watch and pray, seizing opportunities to be of service to God’s kingdom.[3]
Wake up!! Be ready! We are ready when we are involved . . . when we are feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting prisoners. We are awake when we have regular times of prayer and communion with God.
Do you know who Barbara Brown Taylor is? She is an Episcopal priest well known for her preaching. In fact, Baylor University called her one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English speaking world. She pastored a small church in Georgia with great success, and has written probably a dozen books, many of them collections of her homilies. Several years ago she got burned out and left parish ministry for a teaching position at Piedmont College in Georgia. She then wrote a book, a memoir about her experiences called “Leaving Church.” I read it a couple of years ago, and to me, it was about how not to do ministry. She was so busy being successful, being a priest, that she didn’t take time with God. She didn’t take time to pray. Barbara always thought that when such and such happened, she would take time. But it never happened. She eventually realized she wasn’t doing any good for her church, for her family, or for God because there wasn’t any time to be quiet and still and pray. It was a great reminder to me to take time, make time with God, to watch and to listen and to pray! And we all need time with God in order to serve him—wherever we are.
Wake up!! Be alert!! Watch and pray!!
[1] http://www.apocalypse2008-2015.com/apocalypse-chapter7.html#NewYork
[2] Garland, David E. The NIV Application Commentary: Mark. Zondervan, 503.
[3] The Interpreter’s Bible , vol 7. Abingdon Press, 1951: p.865.
Today marks the beginning of Advent. The season of Advent begins 4 Sunday’s before Christmas. And I love how countercultural Advent is. We are looking ahead to Christ’s coming, but we aren’t singing Christmas carols. In contrast to the hustle and bustle of the holidays, Advent is a time of quiet preparation. Instead of shopping, it’s waiting and watching. Instead of light, it’s darkness, just before the dawn.
We are waiting. Waiting for Christmas. Waiting for the 2nd coming of Christ. Advent means. Arrival. Dawn. Beginning. And in the middle of our quiet waiting today’s readings come crashing in like an out of tune symphony. Discord and dissonance.
From our Old Testament reading in Isaiah (from the Message bible) Oh, that you would rip open the heavens and descend, make the mountains shudder at your presence—As when a forest catches fire, as when fire makes a pot to boil—To shock your enemies into facing you, make the nations shake in their boots!You did terrible things we never expected, descended and made the mountains shudder at your presence.
And our gospel
in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
This is apocalyptic writing, looking at the end of the world, the end of the age. Here we are at a beginning, looking at the end.
We’ve heard much ado about the current economic crisis, and that it is an apocalyptic event resulting in much destruction and change. The naysayers are in every newspaper and on every television. And it’s not hard to find those who view this economic crisis as part of God’s warning to the world. They say that if God’ can’t get our attention through famines, wars, earthquakes and the like, he will hit our pocketbooks. After all, money is the real god of the age and our God is a jealous God. This too is warning and judgment. The collapse of our economy is only one sign. And then I found a guy who said that not just Wall Street, but all of New York City will be destroyed-- by nuclear attack—at the end of 2008, around Christmas.[1] I guess we will have to wait and see on that one!!
The apocalyptic literature in the bible, mostly in Daniel and in Revelation, but also in the Gospels as we read today and in Paul’s letters has invited more interpreters, timelines, and forecasts than anything in history, and perhaps more kooks and crazies! History is riddled with vain predictions about the end times, about Christ’s coming again. There are those who are fascinated by eschatology, the signs and the times, and there are those who are turned off by this whole things, thinking that it’s too strange and disturbing, just the province of fools and fanatics, like the guy who said the end of the world begins in December of this year.
But I think our readings in Mark are supposed to provide a voice of reason. While assuredly Christ will come again, there is no timetable given either in Mark or anywhere in scripture. Jesus does not intend for us to try to figure it all out. Speaking only to Peter, John, James and Andrew, his inner circle, Jesus simply says, “in those days, following that suffering.” He’s teaching his disciples to be ready for anything, anytime. But trying to figure out times and dates is fruitless, a distraction from doing God’s work in the world.
Yes, the end is certain, and the cosmic distress will make it clear that the end of the world has come. We don’t need to search here and there, to analyze the world news in light of biblical prophecy. When it happens, even the sky will tremble in fear and terror, and the sun will be dark and the moon won’t give light, and the stars will fall from the sky. These will happen because Jesus appears. There won’t be any warning, but Jesus will come in glory. And those who have faithfully responded to the gospel will be gathered by the angels, from the four corners of the earth.
But we don’t know when the end will come. It will come on a day just as ordinary as the summer bringing leaves to the trees. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the words of Jesus will not. And yet, no one knows when the end will come. The kooks and crazies and fanatics don’t know, we don’t know, the angels don’t know, and even Jesus himself doesn’t know. Only the Father knows when the end will come. No one knows but God the Father. The end will come without warning and no amount of calculations will enable people to predict it.
And so the disciples and servants are to beware, to keep watch, for we don’t know when the time will come. Like the doorkeeper of a man going on a journey, we are to keep watch, to be ready.
What kind of servant is it that requires a master to look constantly over his shoulder to make sure he does his job faithfully and properly? How can the doorkeeper fulfill his duties if he spends his time computing how long the day will last? Jesus’ warnings affirm that only those who are valiant under fire and vigilant during the delay will be vindicated in the end. We are to work faithfully because the Master will return, and we are created to work with assurance because it’s the Master who returns.[2]
The end will come, and it will come suddenly. Therefore Jesus challenges his disciples then and now to keep awake.
Keep awake!!. We have lost sight of the immanence of Christ’s return, and we have become complacent. We must be alert, living in hopeful expectation, with our eyes, minds and hearts focused on the task at hand. One source said that the worst “ism” in the world is not fascism or communism but somnambulism. Somnambulism is sleep walking. We don’t realize that our ideals are being wilted away, that our purposes are being pared down, that the evil forces in the world are gaining strength. We need to watch and pray against the sin that trips us up, how easily we make compromises which seem so reasonable but end up so wrong. We need to watch and pray that we don’t neglect our communion with God and with each other. We need to watch and pray, seizing opportunities to be of service to God’s kingdom.[3]
Wake up!! Be ready! We are ready when we are involved . . . when we are feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting prisoners. We are awake when we have regular times of prayer and communion with God.
Do you know who Barbara Brown Taylor is? She is an Episcopal priest well known for her preaching. In fact, Baylor University called her one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English speaking world. She pastored a small church in Georgia with great success, and has written probably a dozen books, many of them collections of her homilies. Several years ago she got burned out and left parish ministry for a teaching position at Piedmont College in Georgia. She then wrote a book, a memoir about her experiences called “Leaving Church.” I read it a couple of years ago, and to me, it was about how not to do ministry. She was so busy being successful, being a priest, that she didn’t take time with God. She didn’t take time to pray. Barbara always thought that when such and such happened, she would take time. But it never happened. She eventually realized she wasn’t doing any good for her church, for her family, or for God because there wasn’t any time to be quiet and still and pray. It was a great reminder to me to take time, make time with God, to watch and to listen and to pray! And we all need time with God in order to serve him—wherever we are.
Wake up!! Be alert!! Watch and pray!!
[1] http://www.apocalypse2008-2015.com/apocalypse-chapter7.html#NewYork
[2] Garland, David E. The NIV Application Commentary: Mark. Zondervan, 503.
[3] The Interpreter’s Bible , vol 7. Abingdon Press, 1951: p.865.
Thanksgiving 2008
West Frankfort Ministerial Association Community Service—Northern Baptist Chuch
I hope you are finding this service of Evening Prayer interesting—I enjoyed putting it together for you all. I would guess that most all of your churches, your denominations, at some time or other came out of either the Roman Catholic church, or the Church of England, so in a sense maybe we are worshipping in a manner consistent with our shared heritage. Perhaps its part of our common story. And in a sense, that’s what I’d like to talk about this evening. Our stories.
First of all, if I were to use the word “myth” – M-Y-T-H—what comes to mind? I have a feeling that if I were to talk about “the Creation myth” for example, more than a few of you would be disturbed by that. In common usage, we’ve come to consider the word Myth to mean something that isn’t true, something made up, a fable or fairy tale. But in its proper sense, myth is the truth in the form of a story. One source said that “a myth is a true story, and it may also have happened.”[1] In a book I’m reading by Madeleine L’Engle, she talks about the ancient meaning of myth; “that which was true, that which is true, that which will be true,.”[2] A myth is what we know in our hearts to be true.
The Israelites used the idea of story, of myth, in many ways. Dozens of psalms recount the great work of God in delivering his people. Every year at the Passover they recounted how God delivered them from Pharaoh and brought them out of Egypt—and this is still an integral part of the Jewish faith and tradition. Myths and stories define a people, define a nation. And a nation needs a common story in order to be united. As Christians we are united by the story of Christmas, the story of Easter, the story of Jesus. We are united when we pray the Lord’s Prayer together. We are united here tonight.
The psalm we read together, Psalm 145, also has been used as a common prayer and was important in Jewish worship and liturgy. I discovered that the Dead Sea Scrolls contain Psalm 145, with each verse followed by the same refrain: “Blessed is God and blessed is his name forever.” Later rabbis made it the norm to recite this psalm 3 times a day—it was that important. They pointed to verse 17, where God opens his hand and satisfies the need of every creature—this shows God’s grace and providence towards his creation—and they believed that those who recite this psalm would gain entry to the world to come. It was that significant.
While we know that we gain entry to the world to come only by faith in Jesus, this psalm still speaks to us. The first few verses show the psalmist’s purpose: to bless the Lord continually, to praise him and bless him, every day, for ever and ever. God is the King, the ruler of the universe, and great beyond our comprehension. The next section shows what praising God consists of. First of all, we must appreciate his greatness which is revealed in his works, in his mighty acts, in the splendor of his majesty, in his glorious works, and in the might of his wondrous acts. Do you hear a theme? Something about the greatness of God and the works of God? The psalmist seems to recognize God’s divine greatness, and he wants others to share in that understanding. The world and all of creation, the glory of the heavens, all declare God’s sovereignty, and so does his goodness and righteousness, his providence in caring for creation. We need to appreciate God’s goodness and mercy. And in light of God’s goodness and his compassion, his loving-kindness, we should be moved to praise Him. God knows that man is frail and needy and in need of his mercy. He is patient and slow to anger. An all your works praise you, and your faithful servants bless you! Blessed is God and blessed is his name forever!
For God’s kingdom is filled with justice and mercy, and his power and his might are demonstrated in his kingdom. The existence of the Kingdom of God will reflect the power of God in the universe. But God is personal, too. He supports those who fall and lifts those who are bowed down. He provides food for his creatures and opens his hand in love and grace. He is near to those who call him with faith, and he responds to the requests and pleas of those who love and respect him. But God is still a God of justice. He preserves those who love him but will destroy the wicked.
God’s love and justice as recited in this psalm are shown to all of mankind. God is faithful, just and kind to those who call on him. For all that he is, and for all that he does, the Lord is to be praised by all flesh, all people. Blessed is God and blessed is his name forever!!
When we pray the psalms, we are sharing in the stories of 2000 years of Christianity, and another thousand years of Judaism. The psalms are part of our common heritage, our story. The psalm spoke of the might of God’s wondrous acts; and the Exodus story was probably in mind, another one of our shared stories, a true myth.
The Exodus story is a good story, a common story. When the pilgrims landed in New England, they used the story of the Exodus to understand what had happened to them, too. They considered Europe to be equivalent to Egypt, and the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean was the Red Sea. The new world was their promised land. While the hardships of their first years were more difficult than we can even imagine, in their struggles they identified with the struggles of Israel, and were able to persevere. They believed that God had delivered them from the yoke of bondage to freedom in the New World, and their suffering would be worth it all—they would have a better life for themselves and for their children.
So the story of the Exodus is a universal story, defining the present, bringing strength to endure in difficult times, and giving hope.
And as Americans we have another common story, that of Thanksgiving. We are united as a people because we accept and identify with this story. While there were other, earlier Thanksgiving observances in the New World, the one we commemorate goes back to 1621: 387 years ago
In any event, the colonists arrived in winter of 1620, and in the first few months nearly half of them died! Talk about discouraging. But by the summer of 1621 things were looking up. The expected a good corn crop, though other crops weren’t doing very well. Even so, the governor of the colony arranged for a harvest festival. Harvest festivals were an ancient idea, but it seemed a good one, a good idea to thank God for his sustenance and providence. And the feast lasted 3 days. Ducks, geese and turkeys were on the menu, along with clams, fish, wild plums and leeks, cornbread and watercress. Indians who had helped them survive their first year were also invited and brought deer meat. It was a great celebration. A couple years later, as the colony prospered, Governor Bradford announced a day to be set aside to “render thanksgiving to the Almighty God for all of his blessings.” And the idea spread, but not with any real regularity. It wasn’t until Abraham Lincoln declared a national holiday that the celebration of Thanksgiving became uniform, became more truly our shared story.
On October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, by Act of Congress, an annual National Day of Thanksgiving "on the last Thursday of November, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens." In this Thanksgiving proclamation, our 16th President says that it is…
"…announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord… But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, by the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own… It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people…"[3]
As we gather with our families tomorrow, may we remember and give thanks to God for his gracious open hands, and for all that he has done. Blessed is God and blessed is his name forever. Amen.
[1] http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/trotter_3823.htm
[2] L’Engle, Madeleine. Story as Truth: The Rock that is Higher. Wheaton, IL: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1993, p.24.
[3] http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/ednkc002.html
I hope you are finding this service of Evening Prayer interesting—I enjoyed putting it together for you all. I would guess that most all of your churches, your denominations, at some time or other came out of either the Roman Catholic church, or the Church of England, so in a sense maybe we are worshipping in a manner consistent with our shared heritage. Perhaps its part of our common story. And in a sense, that’s what I’d like to talk about this evening. Our stories.
First of all, if I were to use the word “myth” – M-Y-T-H—what comes to mind? I have a feeling that if I were to talk about “the Creation myth” for example, more than a few of you would be disturbed by that. In common usage, we’ve come to consider the word Myth to mean something that isn’t true, something made up, a fable or fairy tale. But in its proper sense, myth is the truth in the form of a story. One source said that “a myth is a true story, and it may also have happened.”[1] In a book I’m reading by Madeleine L’Engle, she talks about the ancient meaning of myth; “that which was true, that which is true, that which will be true,.”[2] A myth is what we know in our hearts to be true.
The Israelites used the idea of story, of myth, in many ways. Dozens of psalms recount the great work of God in delivering his people. Every year at the Passover they recounted how God delivered them from Pharaoh and brought them out of Egypt—and this is still an integral part of the Jewish faith and tradition. Myths and stories define a people, define a nation. And a nation needs a common story in order to be united. As Christians we are united by the story of Christmas, the story of Easter, the story of Jesus. We are united when we pray the Lord’s Prayer together. We are united here tonight.
The psalm we read together, Psalm 145, also has been used as a common prayer and was important in Jewish worship and liturgy. I discovered that the Dead Sea Scrolls contain Psalm 145, with each verse followed by the same refrain: “Blessed is God and blessed is his name forever.” Later rabbis made it the norm to recite this psalm 3 times a day—it was that important. They pointed to verse 17, where God opens his hand and satisfies the need of every creature—this shows God’s grace and providence towards his creation—and they believed that those who recite this psalm would gain entry to the world to come. It was that significant.
While we know that we gain entry to the world to come only by faith in Jesus, this psalm still speaks to us. The first few verses show the psalmist’s purpose: to bless the Lord continually, to praise him and bless him, every day, for ever and ever. God is the King, the ruler of the universe, and great beyond our comprehension. The next section shows what praising God consists of. First of all, we must appreciate his greatness which is revealed in his works, in his mighty acts, in the splendor of his majesty, in his glorious works, and in the might of his wondrous acts. Do you hear a theme? Something about the greatness of God and the works of God? The psalmist seems to recognize God’s divine greatness, and he wants others to share in that understanding. The world and all of creation, the glory of the heavens, all declare God’s sovereignty, and so does his goodness and righteousness, his providence in caring for creation. We need to appreciate God’s goodness and mercy. And in light of God’s goodness and his compassion, his loving-kindness, we should be moved to praise Him. God knows that man is frail and needy and in need of his mercy. He is patient and slow to anger. An all your works praise you, and your faithful servants bless you! Blessed is God and blessed is his name forever!
For God’s kingdom is filled with justice and mercy, and his power and his might are demonstrated in his kingdom. The existence of the Kingdom of God will reflect the power of God in the universe. But God is personal, too. He supports those who fall and lifts those who are bowed down. He provides food for his creatures and opens his hand in love and grace. He is near to those who call him with faith, and he responds to the requests and pleas of those who love and respect him. But God is still a God of justice. He preserves those who love him but will destroy the wicked.
God’s love and justice as recited in this psalm are shown to all of mankind. God is faithful, just and kind to those who call on him. For all that he is, and for all that he does, the Lord is to be praised by all flesh, all people. Blessed is God and blessed is his name forever!!
When we pray the psalms, we are sharing in the stories of 2000 years of Christianity, and another thousand years of Judaism. The psalms are part of our common heritage, our story. The psalm spoke of the might of God’s wondrous acts; and the Exodus story was probably in mind, another one of our shared stories, a true myth.
The Exodus story is a good story, a common story. When the pilgrims landed in New England, they used the story of the Exodus to understand what had happened to them, too. They considered Europe to be equivalent to Egypt, and the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean was the Red Sea. The new world was their promised land. While the hardships of their first years were more difficult than we can even imagine, in their struggles they identified with the struggles of Israel, and were able to persevere. They believed that God had delivered them from the yoke of bondage to freedom in the New World, and their suffering would be worth it all—they would have a better life for themselves and for their children.
So the story of the Exodus is a universal story, defining the present, bringing strength to endure in difficult times, and giving hope.
And as Americans we have another common story, that of Thanksgiving. We are united as a people because we accept and identify with this story. While there were other, earlier Thanksgiving observances in the New World, the one we commemorate goes back to 1621: 387 years ago
In any event, the colonists arrived in winter of 1620, and in the first few months nearly half of them died! Talk about discouraging. But by the summer of 1621 things were looking up. The expected a good corn crop, though other crops weren’t doing very well. Even so, the governor of the colony arranged for a harvest festival. Harvest festivals were an ancient idea, but it seemed a good one, a good idea to thank God for his sustenance and providence. And the feast lasted 3 days. Ducks, geese and turkeys were on the menu, along with clams, fish, wild plums and leeks, cornbread and watercress. Indians who had helped them survive their first year were also invited and brought deer meat. It was a great celebration. A couple years later, as the colony prospered, Governor Bradford announced a day to be set aside to “render thanksgiving to the Almighty God for all of his blessings.” And the idea spread, but not with any real regularity. It wasn’t until Abraham Lincoln declared a national holiday that the celebration of Thanksgiving became uniform, became more truly our shared story.
On October 3, 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, by Act of Congress, an annual National Day of Thanksgiving "on the last Thursday of November, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens." In this Thanksgiving proclamation, our 16th President says that it is…
"…announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord… But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, by the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own… It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people…"[3]
As we gather with our families tomorrow, may we remember and give thanks to God for his gracious open hands, and for all that he has done. Blessed is God and blessed is his name forever. Amen.
[1] http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/trotter_3823.htm
[2] L’Engle, Madeleine. Story as Truth: The Rock that is Higher. Wheaton, IL: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1993, p.24.
[3] http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/ednkc002.html
Monday, November 24, 2008
Year A Proper 29, the Feast of Christ the King
23 Nov. 2008
Today is the Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday after Pentecost, and the last Sunday of the church year—and it is truly an honor and privilege to be here with you all today!! This is a relatively new feast as those things go, instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. It emphasizes the idea that the kingdom of Christ embraces all of mankind, that Christ is King of all. It was instituted to serve as a reminder that individuals as well as rulers and princes are to give honor and obedience to Jesus Christ, the King of kings.
This day and age in our country we don’t have a good grasp of what kingship is, of what it means to be ruled over by a sovereign. We live in a democracy, of the people, by the people and for the people. And even in England with Queen Elizabeth, she is more of a figurehead. A king, or queen, is a head of state, the ruler of a kingdom or territory. And like anything else, there are good and bad rulers. They can be very benevolent or quite dictatorial or even evil. In any case, most of us really don’t know what it means to live under the rule of a king, do we? But perhaps we should. . . .
The Bible talks a lot about kings, and even more about the Kingdom of God. In fact, God created the world to be in perfect relationship to him, the sovereign Lord, the King. The first kingdom was in Eden, where Adam and Eve were God’s people, living under God’s rule.
The problem came when Adam and Eve wanted to be kings too. Reminds me of Campus Crusade’s “Four Spiritual Laws” which asks, who is sitting on the throne in your life? Who is king? Adam and Eve wanted to be kings, and things went downhill from there. But from earliest times of salvation history, as early as Abraham, God spoke about kings. In establishing his covenant with Abraham, God said, “I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.” (Gen 17:6).
Years and generations passed, and the Hebrews ended up in Egypt, subject to a harsh king. And God delivered them, and led them and guided them. He was their king, their ruler and their guide. He led their armies and provided for their needs—water and manna. But they rebelled . . . and wanted a king like the other nations. They wanted a king to govern them, to go before them and fight their battles. The Sovereign Lord God, King of the Universe was not enough. NO, they wanted to be like the nations. And after dire warnings about the results, God gave them kings. The first king, Saul, was not a particularly good king, and the second was King David, the shepherd King. David, a man after God’s own heart, made his share of mistakes, especially within his family. David’s son Solomon was the next king, and while he is remembered for his wisdom, he was an ambitious and even harsh ruler, requiring many of his subjects to work for his building programs. And so it went, good kings and bad kings. Even the best fell far short of the glory of God’s Kingdom. But in a sense the good kings, the good kingdoms reveal and point towards God’s kingdom. The good kings are types or foreshadows of God’s kingship.
In Salvation History, the prophets next speak to God’s kingdom. The Nation of Israel is divided, and the Israelites are exiled, and returned, and still God’s promised kingdom doesn’t materialize. But the prophets begin to speak of a new nation, a kingdom perhaps, where the hearts of the people are changed, and a new spirit is given, so that the law is fulfilled with and in them. There will be a new David, a Son of the King who will reign as God’s shepherd king over his people. Ezekiel speaks to this in our Old Testament reading, the shepherd king. But centuries pass before this king and kingdom finally materialize—in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the true Adam, the one without sin. He is the promised seed of Abraham and the true and faithful Israel. And he is the Son of David-evidenced in the genealogies of Matthew and Luke. As the new king of David’s line, Jesus embodies and represents the people. And the kingdom is where Jesus now reigns, in the hearts of his people, and he is seated at the right hand of God the Father. This is where we go by faith in his gospel. We turn to Jesus, who is seated at God’s right hand.
The location of the kingdom is in Jesus himself-and Jesus is the messiah king, the promised one who will reign and rule forever. And we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus declared that “the kingdom of God is at hand;” and yet, when we look around us at a troubled and broken world, we certainly don’t see the kingdom of God. When and where is this promised kingdom?
Jesus did in fact inaugurate the kingdom. Through his death and resurrection he accomplished the perfect work for our salvation and redemption. The gospel which is embodied in Christ gives us the promised glory—already. But as Christians all that we have and all that we are we possess by faith, faith in Jesus and his promises. We live in an in-between time. All the work has been done, it has been accomplished, but we live between faith and sight, between the already and the not yet.
And we believe that Christ will come again. Don’t we say that every Sunday? Isn’t that the hope of Advent? Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. “For the believer, the second coming of Christ will be the manifestation of his glory and of the glory of his kingdom, a glory which we already grasp by faith. For the unbeliever the second coming will be a manifestation of judgment;”[1] as today’s gospel tells us. “Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.”[2] He will come as king and judge, and, as Paul noted in our Epistle, “Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. . . . When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.”[3] And he shall reign forever and ever.
When he established the feast of Christ the King, Pope Pius said this:
If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.[35] If all these truths are presented to the faithful for their consideration, they will prove a powerful incentive to perfection. It is Our fervent desire, Venerable Brethren, that those who are without the fold may seek after and accept the sweet yoke of Christ, and that we, who by the mercy of God are of the household of the faith, may bear that yoke, not as a burden but with joy, with love, with devotion; that having lived our lives in accordance with the laws of God's kingdom, we may receive full measure of good fruit, and counted by Christ good and faithful servants, we may be rendered partakers of eternal bliss and glory with him in his heavenly kingdom.[4]
Amen.
[1] Goldsworthy, Graeme. The Gospel and Kingdom p. 120.
[2] Matthew 25:31ff
[3] 1 Cor. 15:24ff
[4] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_11121925_quas-primas_en.html
Today is the Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday after Pentecost, and the last Sunday of the church year—and it is truly an honor and privilege to be here with you all today!! This is a relatively new feast as those things go, instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. It emphasizes the idea that the kingdom of Christ embraces all of mankind, that Christ is King of all. It was instituted to serve as a reminder that individuals as well as rulers and princes are to give honor and obedience to Jesus Christ, the King of kings.
This day and age in our country we don’t have a good grasp of what kingship is, of what it means to be ruled over by a sovereign. We live in a democracy, of the people, by the people and for the people. And even in England with Queen Elizabeth, she is more of a figurehead. A king, or queen, is a head of state, the ruler of a kingdom or territory. And like anything else, there are good and bad rulers. They can be very benevolent or quite dictatorial or even evil. In any case, most of us really don’t know what it means to live under the rule of a king, do we? But perhaps we should. . . .
The Bible talks a lot about kings, and even more about the Kingdom of God. In fact, God created the world to be in perfect relationship to him, the sovereign Lord, the King. The first kingdom was in Eden, where Adam and Eve were God’s people, living under God’s rule.
The problem came when Adam and Eve wanted to be kings too. Reminds me of Campus Crusade’s “Four Spiritual Laws” which asks, who is sitting on the throne in your life? Who is king? Adam and Eve wanted to be kings, and things went downhill from there. But from earliest times of salvation history, as early as Abraham, God spoke about kings. In establishing his covenant with Abraham, God said, “I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.” (Gen 17:6).
Years and generations passed, and the Hebrews ended up in Egypt, subject to a harsh king. And God delivered them, and led them and guided them. He was their king, their ruler and their guide. He led their armies and provided for their needs—water and manna. But they rebelled . . . and wanted a king like the other nations. They wanted a king to govern them, to go before them and fight their battles. The Sovereign Lord God, King of the Universe was not enough. NO, they wanted to be like the nations. And after dire warnings about the results, God gave them kings. The first king, Saul, was not a particularly good king, and the second was King David, the shepherd King. David, a man after God’s own heart, made his share of mistakes, especially within his family. David’s son Solomon was the next king, and while he is remembered for his wisdom, he was an ambitious and even harsh ruler, requiring many of his subjects to work for his building programs. And so it went, good kings and bad kings. Even the best fell far short of the glory of God’s Kingdom. But in a sense the good kings, the good kingdoms reveal and point towards God’s kingdom. The good kings are types or foreshadows of God’s kingship.
In Salvation History, the prophets next speak to God’s kingdom. The Nation of Israel is divided, and the Israelites are exiled, and returned, and still God’s promised kingdom doesn’t materialize. But the prophets begin to speak of a new nation, a kingdom perhaps, where the hearts of the people are changed, and a new spirit is given, so that the law is fulfilled with and in them. There will be a new David, a Son of the King who will reign as God’s shepherd king over his people. Ezekiel speaks to this in our Old Testament reading, the shepherd king. But centuries pass before this king and kingdom finally materialize—in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the true Adam, the one without sin. He is the promised seed of Abraham and the true and faithful Israel. And he is the Son of David-evidenced in the genealogies of Matthew and Luke. As the new king of David’s line, Jesus embodies and represents the people. And the kingdom is where Jesus now reigns, in the hearts of his people, and he is seated at the right hand of God the Father. This is where we go by faith in his gospel. We turn to Jesus, who is seated at God’s right hand.
The location of the kingdom is in Jesus himself-and Jesus is the messiah king, the promised one who will reign and rule forever. And we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus declared that “the kingdom of God is at hand;” and yet, when we look around us at a troubled and broken world, we certainly don’t see the kingdom of God. When and where is this promised kingdom?
Jesus did in fact inaugurate the kingdom. Through his death and resurrection he accomplished the perfect work for our salvation and redemption. The gospel which is embodied in Christ gives us the promised glory—already. But as Christians all that we have and all that we are we possess by faith, faith in Jesus and his promises. We live in an in-between time. All the work has been done, it has been accomplished, but we live between faith and sight, between the already and the not yet.
And we believe that Christ will come again. Don’t we say that every Sunday? Isn’t that the hope of Advent? Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. “For the believer, the second coming of Christ will be the manifestation of his glory and of the glory of his kingdom, a glory which we already grasp by faith. For the unbeliever the second coming will be a manifestation of judgment;”[1] as today’s gospel tells us. “Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.”[2] He will come as king and judge, and, as Paul noted in our Epistle, “Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. . . . When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.”[3] And he shall reign forever and ever.
When he established the feast of Christ the King, Pope Pius said this:
If to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.[35] If all these truths are presented to the faithful for their consideration, they will prove a powerful incentive to perfection. It is Our fervent desire, Venerable Brethren, that those who are without the fold may seek after and accept the sweet yoke of Christ, and that we, who by the mercy of God are of the household of the faith, may bear that yoke, not as a burden but with joy, with love, with devotion; that having lived our lives in accordance with the laws of God's kingdom, we may receive full measure of good fruit, and counted by Christ good and faithful servants, we may be rendered partakers of eternal bliss and glory with him in his heavenly kingdom.[4]
Amen.
[1] Goldsworthy, Graeme. The Gospel and Kingdom p. 120.
[2] Matthew 25:31ff
[3] 1 Cor. 15:24ff
[4] http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_11121925_quas-primas_en.html
Year A Proper 28 Nov. 16, 2008
Here's a true story: it's about pretty regular fellow, named Luigi Tarisio, [a carpenter by trade]. During most of his life, he lived alone and kept to himself. One day, his neighbor realizes that he hasn't seen Luigi today. Shortly, the neighbor and the authorities enter Luigi's house and find that he has died. Looking around, they're struck by the sparseness of the house. There are no pictures on the wall, no ornaments or figures and few shelves on which to place them anyway. And they discover something else. In the attic, they discover a fantastic collection. Put away in dingy boxes and the drawers of dreary old furniture, are 246 of some of the finest violins ever made. As the collection becomes public, folks discover that some of these instruments have been shut away and silent for as long as a 150 years. Someone said later that by their hoarding of these instruments, these collectors had failed both themselves and humanity. They'd deprived the world of incomparable and exquisite musical joys. They deprived themselves of the special joy of helping to bring it to the rest of us.[1]
Like fine violins, our talents are not museum pieces. They are not to be hoarded and stashed away. God has generously given talents, each according to his abilities. While we may wonder at the fairness of that, it’s easy to see it’s true. We are not all Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest painters of all time, who was also a scientist, mathematician, inventor, engineer, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician, and writer. Whew!! I don’t know where he had the time and energy to do all that!! And I’m sure we could come up with dozens or hundreds of examples of people who are greatly talented. God gives talents according to our abilities. And these talents are both our privilege and our responsibility.
IN fact, our English word “talent” comes from the Greek word talanton, which means ‘weight, or sum of money’ just as in our gospel parable. In fact, it was a large sum; altogether the very wealthy landowner gave out nearly $2 billion dollars in today’s money!! The first two servants invested wisely, and doubled the master’s money. And they were rewarded by being given more, and by sharing in the kingdom. They were both told the same thing: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.” Even though they were both given different amounts, they both were faithful in living up to their potential and giftedness, and both share equally in the greatest reward: the joy and presence of the master.
But then there’s the 3rd servant. He was afraid of the master, afraid to take a risk, and so he buried the money in his back yard. He didn’t lose anything, but neither did he gain anything! And in today’s economy and with the great volatility of the stock market, such would seem to be a sound investment, wouldn’t it. I’m sure there are many people who wish they had buried their money in their back yard!! As we know, investment requires risk. But the landowner calls him a wicked, lazy slave. His wickedness is related to his attitude towards his master, thinking him to be a harsh man; this lead to laziness and poor stewardship. “The way he conceives of [the master] causes him to fear and then to hide away the talent and not seek to advance the master’s capital. The servant’s misperception of the master had produced alienation, mistrust, fear, and then personal sloth. Had he truly loved his master, he would not have attempted to place the blame on him but would have operated out of love.”[2] He is blamed for not even putting the money in the bank to earn interest and so the master takes the talent and gives it to one who has been faithful. “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” Those who have a relationship with God are to be responsible stewards of their God-given abilities, using them with wisdom and diligence.
Our gospel reading skips the last verse in the story: the worthless slave is thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth—seems like harsh treatment!! But this is a parable of judgment, of the Day of the Lord and the contrast is between salvation and damnation. The first two slaves are faithful disciples, and the third is not. “A person’s faithfulness is evidence as to whether he or she is truly one of Jesus’ own. As the disciples await the return of the Son of Man, they must teach that industriousness of discipleship is a testimony of one’s love and trust of Jesus as Lord. But their perseverance should not come from a self-advancing motivation; it should be demonstrated in serving others as Jesus did.”[3]
God has given each of us many gifts and talents. We have potential to become the person God has made us to be. We have the raw materials, the “stuff,” and it is up to us to use them wisely. Peter Gomes, a chaplain at Harvard, has expressed God’s response to us in these words: "I have given you what you need. Now it’s up to you. YOU must build relationships that lead to love. YOU must do the necessary sacrificing. YOU must be truthful. YOU must forgive if necessary. YOU must communicate. YOU must care enough to want to do all those things and more. I made you a loving individual when I created you in MY image. You can become what you already are."[4]
Our faithfulness as stewards of all that God has given us depends upon having an accurate view of God. Some people think that God is mean, vindictive, and doesn’t care about our fate. The wickedness of the servant in the parable is due to having an inaccurate picture of the master, thinking him to be a hard man; and this gave him an excuse to be lazy and irresponsible. There are numerous ways we can distort God’s image. In his book, A Case for Faith, Lee Strobel looks at several objections to Christianity which distort God’s image. Here are a few of them:
· Since evil and suffering exist, a loving God cannot.
· Evolution explains life, so God isn’t needed.
· A loving God would never torture people in hell.
While each of these topics is a sermon or study by itself, I’m sure we could add to the list. There are people who blame God for their misfortunes. I’ve heard of people blaming God for their lung cancer caused by years of smoking. Then too we probably know of people who are so bogged down in grief and blaming God for the death of a loved one that they cannot see the light of God’s goodness.
The first two stewards saw God as being generous and gracious, and they were motivated to risk everything to gain a great reward. And God responds by saying “Well Done!!” Great job!! “God is that kind of God, not a policeman who almost hopes to catch men in wrongdoing. The world is that kind of world: it finally rewards the venture of faith. . . Of what nature were these men who won their lord’s approval? They were prompt: they went ‘at once’ (vs. 16). They indulged in no daydreams and entertained no fears, but set to work. They were good, a word that seems here to mean devoted. Christ was their central concern, whether he seemed near or distant. They were faithful: full of faith, persistent, and nobly adventurous.”[5]
And their reward was to share in their Lord’s joy.
I am reminded of a favorite quote, by Madeleine L’Engle: “We have to be braver than we think we can be because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are.” I pray that we too may be brave enough to risk it all, and then found to be good and faithful servants who share in the joy of the Lord. Amen.
[1] http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/predigt.php?id=1279&kennung=20081116en
[2] Wilkins, Michael J. The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew, Zondervan, 807.
[3] Ibid, 808.
[4] Quoted at http://lindynuggets.blogspot.com/
[5] The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VII., New York: Abingdon Press, 1951. P. 560
Like fine violins, our talents are not museum pieces. They are not to be hoarded and stashed away. God has generously given talents, each according to his abilities. While we may wonder at the fairness of that, it’s easy to see it’s true. We are not all Leonardo da Vinci, one of the greatest painters of all time, who was also a scientist, mathematician, inventor, engineer, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician, and writer. Whew!! I don’t know where he had the time and energy to do all that!! And I’m sure we could come up with dozens or hundreds of examples of people who are greatly talented. God gives talents according to our abilities. And these talents are both our privilege and our responsibility.
IN fact, our English word “talent” comes from the Greek word talanton, which means ‘weight, or sum of money’ just as in our gospel parable. In fact, it was a large sum; altogether the very wealthy landowner gave out nearly $2 billion dollars in today’s money!! The first two servants invested wisely, and doubled the master’s money. And they were rewarded by being given more, and by sharing in the kingdom. They were both told the same thing: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.” Even though they were both given different amounts, they both were faithful in living up to their potential and giftedness, and both share equally in the greatest reward: the joy and presence of the master.
But then there’s the 3rd servant. He was afraid of the master, afraid to take a risk, and so he buried the money in his back yard. He didn’t lose anything, but neither did he gain anything! And in today’s economy and with the great volatility of the stock market, such would seem to be a sound investment, wouldn’t it. I’m sure there are many people who wish they had buried their money in their back yard!! As we know, investment requires risk. But the landowner calls him a wicked, lazy slave. His wickedness is related to his attitude towards his master, thinking him to be a harsh man; this lead to laziness and poor stewardship. “The way he conceives of [the master] causes him to fear and then to hide away the talent and not seek to advance the master’s capital. The servant’s misperception of the master had produced alienation, mistrust, fear, and then personal sloth. Had he truly loved his master, he would not have attempted to place the blame on him but would have operated out of love.”[2] He is blamed for not even putting the money in the bank to earn interest and so the master takes the talent and gives it to one who has been faithful. “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” Those who have a relationship with God are to be responsible stewards of their God-given abilities, using them with wisdom and diligence.
Our gospel reading skips the last verse in the story: the worthless slave is thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth—seems like harsh treatment!! But this is a parable of judgment, of the Day of the Lord and the contrast is between salvation and damnation. The first two slaves are faithful disciples, and the third is not. “A person’s faithfulness is evidence as to whether he or she is truly one of Jesus’ own. As the disciples await the return of the Son of Man, they must teach that industriousness of discipleship is a testimony of one’s love and trust of Jesus as Lord. But their perseverance should not come from a self-advancing motivation; it should be demonstrated in serving others as Jesus did.”[3]
God has given each of us many gifts and talents. We have potential to become the person God has made us to be. We have the raw materials, the “stuff,” and it is up to us to use them wisely. Peter Gomes, a chaplain at Harvard, has expressed God’s response to us in these words: "I have given you what you need. Now it’s up to you. YOU must build relationships that lead to love. YOU must do the necessary sacrificing. YOU must be truthful. YOU must forgive if necessary. YOU must communicate. YOU must care enough to want to do all those things and more. I made you a loving individual when I created you in MY image. You can become what you already are."[4]
Our faithfulness as stewards of all that God has given us depends upon having an accurate view of God. Some people think that God is mean, vindictive, and doesn’t care about our fate. The wickedness of the servant in the parable is due to having an inaccurate picture of the master, thinking him to be a hard man; and this gave him an excuse to be lazy and irresponsible. There are numerous ways we can distort God’s image. In his book, A Case for Faith, Lee Strobel looks at several objections to Christianity which distort God’s image. Here are a few of them:
· Since evil and suffering exist, a loving God cannot.
· Evolution explains life, so God isn’t needed.
· A loving God would never torture people in hell.
While each of these topics is a sermon or study by itself, I’m sure we could add to the list. There are people who blame God for their misfortunes. I’ve heard of people blaming God for their lung cancer caused by years of smoking. Then too we probably know of people who are so bogged down in grief and blaming God for the death of a loved one that they cannot see the light of God’s goodness.
The first two stewards saw God as being generous and gracious, and they were motivated to risk everything to gain a great reward. And God responds by saying “Well Done!!” Great job!! “God is that kind of God, not a policeman who almost hopes to catch men in wrongdoing. The world is that kind of world: it finally rewards the venture of faith. . . Of what nature were these men who won their lord’s approval? They were prompt: they went ‘at once’ (vs. 16). They indulged in no daydreams and entertained no fears, but set to work. They were good, a word that seems here to mean devoted. Christ was their central concern, whether he seemed near or distant. They were faithful: full of faith, persistent, and nobly adventurous.”[5]
And their reward was to share in their Lord’s joy.
I am reminded of a favorite quote, by Madeleine L’Engle: “We have to be braver than we think we can be because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are.” I pray that we too may be brave enough to risk it all, and then found to be good and faithful servants who share in the joy of the Lord. Amen.
[1] http://www.predigten.uni-goettingen.de/predigt.php?id=1279&kennung=20081116en
[2] Wilkins, Michael J. The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew, Zondervan, 807.
[3] Ibid, 808.
[4] Quoted at http://lindynuggets.blogspot.com/
[5] The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VII., New York: Abingdon Press, 1951. P. 560
Friday, November 14, 2008
Year A, Proper 27, 11/09/08
Back in the days when only young men prepared for pastoral ministry, a certain Dr. Eislen, president of Garrett Seminary, preached on [our gospel] parable in chapel. When he reached the climax of his message, he yelled at his seminarians, "Young men, tell me, would you rather be in the light with the wise virgins, or out in the dark with the foolish virgins?" Such laughter arose that chapel was dismissed early that day![1]
But seriously, folks . . .
If you notice, our gospel readings are changing from teaching about discipleship to teaching about the end times, the 2nd coming, the Parousia, the Day of the Lord. And in fact “The Day of the Lord” could be the heading for each and every one of our lessons today. Let’s take a brief look at all of them.
Amos was probably the first prophet to have his words recorded. He was the first to use the phrase, “The Day of the Lord,” about 2800 years ago. God called Amos, a herdsman, away from his flock to go and challenge the people in the town of Bethel, just 12 miles from Jerusalem. Now things were going pretty well in Bethel. Commerce was thriving, worship attendance was up, sacrifices were made as scheduled. But the people had become complacent. They were going through the motions. Israel expected the Day of the Lord—that day would be their day of triumph. God would intervene on their behalf, but selfishly they expected tribal victory. But God had other ideas, and in the words of Amos the Day of the Lord was to be God’s day. He asks them why they desire the day of the Lord, why do they want it to come, for it will be darkness, not light. It will be a catastrophic day of judgment, all doom and gloom and darkness. The Day of the Lord will be a terrible day of God’s visitation, a day of defeat because of Israel’s excesses and complacency. The next words are those of God himself, passionately rejecting sacrifice and feasts, offerings and music. God refuses to listen because they are not worshipping God in their hearts, they are just going through the motions. They are not humbly obedient, but arrogantly treating God as one of them. God calls not for worship and sacrifice, but for justice, a flooding torrent of justice and righteousness. We’ll get back to that.
The prophet is concerned for the day of the Lord as an occurrence within time and within history; the people of Israel were persuaded that human history is linear and purposeful, with a beginning and an end, and God was working out his purposes. One day God’s kingdom will come, “and the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Is 11:9).
Our reading from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians also speaks to the Day of the Lord. The early church believed that Christ’s return was immanent, and as such were getting quite concerned at the delay . . . and now here we are two thousand years later, still waiting with anticipation. Paul’s letter was meant to address the concerns of the faithful followers, as some of them were dying and Christ had not yet appeared. And while I’m not sure how much of Paul’s words we can take as absolutely literal, as parameters defining the sequence of events on that Great Day of the Lord, we can get the flavor. Some denominations will point to this text as a literal description, and have built great scenarios on what will happen, but I don’t think that’s what’s intended. Paul is obviously addressing the concern of the church regarding some who have fallen asleep—those who have died, and others have raised the question regarding the relationship of the dead to the 2nd coming of Christ. Paul’s answer is that those who have died will be included in the same way as those who are still alive at the coming of the Lord. Paul’s language is vivid and dramatic and it’s easy to get distracted by the imagery, but these verses are primarily a glorious reassurance to those who are troubled. All who die in Christ, remain in Christ and will join with him in the Day of the Lord. And in fact, elsewhere Paul points to the very resurrection of Jesus himself as proof and guarantee that the church, the saints, will be resurrected as well. Christians can be confident of their future, that they will be with Christ, that death is not the end but merely a door to a better future. But this knowledge and belief should shape how we live—and we will get back to that.
In our Gospel we heard of the 10 virgins waiting for the bridegroom who had been delayed. It was getting late, and they were tired – as anyone who has participated in a large wedding will understand. They even fell asleep, waiting for the bridegroom to arrive, probably with his bride. These bridesmaids were tasked with providing lighting for the celebration that was to follow, and they had all brought lamps, and oil for their lamps. But when they waited . . . and waited . . . and waited . . . and slept . . . half of them used up all of their oil. They weren’t prepared, they weren’t expecting a big delay. Fortunately the other five had planned ahead, and had plenty of oil to keep their lamps going, but not enough to share. As the foolish women went off to buy oil—not an easy prospect in the middle of the night—the bridegroom arrived and went into the house, bringing the wise bridesmaids with him. They went in and locked the door, and the foolish ones were left out. So what’s the point? A couple things come to mind. First is that each of us individually is responsible for being ready for Christ. The day of the Lord will come and we will be held accountable. Our neighbor, our priest, our parent, our church, cannot be ready for us. We each must answer for ourselves. We need to have enough oil. We need to build up treasures in heaven. We need to be prepared, to have more than enough oil on hand. We need to get ready . . . and stay ready.
We are ready when our relationships with God and others are what they should be. We are ready when at any moment of our day, whether in the privacy of our home . . . or in the recesses of our mind, we are not ashamed to have the Lord meet us. We are also ready when we make sure that our children are adequately cared for, when we will not be ashamed at our credit card accounts being made public.[2]
Another way we get ready is to live our lives in light of our hope, in light of the Day of the Lord, in light of the Bridegroom’s return. And Amos tells us how: by justice and righteousness. We need to get outside of our selves, our comfortable churches, our smugness, and our complacency and do something about the injustice in the world, to take care of those who are in need. We tend to feel pretty good about ourselves this time of the year when we help a needy family have a turkey on the table for Thanksgiving - - and forget that they are hungry in January. We give away an old coat, a cheap toy, and forget that children need clothing in the summer. How can we make this a lifestyle? Believe me, I’m talking to myself as much as I am to you. How do we do righteousness and justice? What can you do today? What can I do today?
The Rev. Dr. James Howell tells the following stories:
Once Mother Teresa was invited to a hunger conference in Bombay. She lost her way, and arrived late at the appointed place. On the steps outside, she noticed a man, dying of hunger. Instead of going in, she took him, and fed him. Inside, they were talking about so much food supply in so many years, statistics here, statistics there -- while a real person was dying on the steps outside. That's how we do it, one at a time, not just talking, but feeding, touching. In our Church library we have a documentary on the life of Mother Teresa. There is this great moment when a wealthy woman from America finds Mother Teresa, whips out her checkbook, and says, "I want to write you a check to support your work." Mother Teresa looks up, shakes her head and says "No money." "What?" "No money." "You won't take my money? I have a lot of money, this money can help you." "No money." "No money! Well then, what can I do?" Mother Teresa smiled that inimitable smile, took her by the hand, and said, "Come and see." She led this woman deep into the barrios of Calcutta, searching, until finally she came upon a small, grimy child. Mother Teresa said, "Take care of her." and so the woman took a cloth, and bathed the little girl, took a spoon and fed her. And she reported later that her life was changed. Come and see. Touch someone. When Mother Teresa first came to the United States, she made a great speech in New York, in which she said, "You don't have to go to Calcutta to share in my work. Calcutta is wherever you are. Wherever you are, there are people who hurt, who need love. Find them. Love them. For in loving them, you love Jesus."[3]
[1] http://home.twcny.rr.com/lyndale/pentecost%2026A.htm
[2] Wilkins, Michael J. the NIV Application Commentary: Matthew. Zondervan, p. 818.
[3] http://www.day1.net/index.php5?view=transcripts&tid=435
But seriously, folks . . .
If you notice, our gospel readings are changing from teaching about discipleship to teaching about the end times, the 2nd coming, the Parousia, the Day of the Lord. And in fact “The Day of the Lord” could be the heading for each and every one of our lessons today. Let’s take a brief look at all of them.
Amos was probably the first prophet to have his words recorded. He was the first to use the phrase, “The Day of the Lord,” about 2800 years ago. God called Amos, a herdsman, away from his flock to go and challenge the people in the town of Bethel, just 12 miles from Jerusalem. Now things were going pretty well in Bethel. Commerce was thriving, worship attendance was up, sacrifices were made as scheduled. But the people had become complacent. They were going through the motions. Israel expected the Day of the Lord—that day would be their day of triumph. God would intervene on their behalf, but selfishly they expected tribal victory. But God had other ideas, and in the words of Amos the Day of the Lord was to be God’s day. He asks them why they desire the day of the Lord, why do they want it to come, for it will be darkness, not light. It will be a catastrophic day of judgment, all doom and gloom and darkness. The Day of the Lord will be a terrible day of God’s visitation, a day of defeat because of Israel’s excesses and complacency. The next words are those of God himself, passionately rejecting sacrifice and feasts, offerings and music. God refuses to listen because they are not worshipping God in their hearts, they are just going through the motions. They are not humbly obedient, but arrogantly treating God as one of them. God calls not for worship and sacrifice, but for justice, a flooding torrent of justice and righteousness. We’ll get back to that.
The prophet is concerned for the day of the Lord as an occurrence within time and within history; the people of Israel were persuaded that human history is linear and purposeful, with a beginning and an end, and God was working out his purposes. One day God’s kingdom will come, “and the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Is 11:9).
Our reading from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians also speaks to the Day of the Lord. The early church believed that Christ’s return was immanent, and as such were getting quite concerned at the delay . . . and now here we are two thousand years later, still waiting with anticipation. Paul’s letter was meant to address the concerns of the faithful followers, as some of them were dying and Christ had not yet appeared. And while I’m not sure how much of Paul’s words we can take as absolutely literal, as parameters defining the sequence of events on that Great Day of the Lord, we can get the flavor. Some denominations will point to this text as a literal description, and have built great scenarios on what will happen, but I don’t think that’s what’s intended. Paul is obviously addressing the concern of the church regarding some who have fallen asleep—those who have died, and others have raised the question regarding the relationship of the dead to the 2nd coming of Christ. Paul’s answer is that those who have died will be included in the same way as those who are still alive at the coming of the Lord. Paul’s language is vivid and dramatic and it’s easy to get distracted by the imagery, but these verses are primarily a glorious reassurance to those who are troubled. All who die in Christ, remain in Christ and will join with him in the Day of the Lord. And in fact, elsewhere Paul points to the very resurrection of Jesus himself as proof and guarantee that the church, the saints, will be resurrected as well. Christians can be confident of their future, that they will be with Christ, that death is not the end but merely a door to a better future. But this knowledge and belief should shape how we live—and we will get back to that.
In our Gospel we heard of the 10 virgins waiting for the bridegroom who had been delayed. It was getting late, and they were tired – as anyone who has participated in a large wedding will understand. They even fell asleep, waiting for the bridegroom to arrive, probably with his bride. These bridesmaids were tasked with providing lighting for the celebration that was to follow, and they had all brought lamps, and oil for their lamps. But when they waited . . . and waited . . . and waited . . . and slept . . . half of them used up all of their oil. They weren’t prepared, they weren’t expecting a big delay. Fortunately the other five had planned ahead, and had plenty of oil to keep their lamps going, but not enough to share. As the foolish women went off to buy oil—not an easy prospect in the middle of the night—the bridegroom arrived and went into the house, bringing the wise bridesmaids with him. They went in and locked the door, and the foolish ones were left out. So what’s the point? A couple things come to mind. First is that each of us individually is responsible for being ready for Christ. The day of the Lord will come and we will be held accountable. Our neighbor, our priest, our parent, our church, cannot be ready for us. We each must answer for ourselves. We need to have enough oil. We need to build up treasures in heaven. We need to be prepared, to have more than enough oil on hand. We need to get ready . . . and stay ready.
We are ready when our relationships with God and others are what they should be. We are ready when at any moment of our day, whether in the privacy of our home . . . or in the recesses of our mind, we are not ashamed to have the Lord meet us. We are also ready when we make sure that our children are adequately cared for, when we will not be ashamed at our credit card accounts being made public.[2]
Another way we get ready is to live our lives in light of our hope, in light of the Day of the Lord, in light of the Bridegroom’s return. And Amos tells us how: by justice and righteousness. We need to get outside of our selves, our comfortable churches, our smugness, and our complacency and do something about the injustice in the world, to take care of those who are in need. We tend to feel pretty good about ourselves this time of the year when we help a needy family have a turkey on the table for Thanksgiving - - and forget that they are hungry in January. We give away an old coat, a cheap toy, and forget that children need clothing in the summer. How can we make this a lifestyle? Believe me, I’m talking to myself as much as I am to you. How do we do righteousness and justice? What can you do today? What can I do today?
The Rev. Dr. James Howell tells the following stories:
Once Mother Teresa was invited to a hunger conference in Bombay. She lost her way, and arrived late at the appointed place. On the steps outside, she noticed a man, dying of hunger. Instead of going in, she took him, and fed him. Inside, they were talking about so much food supply in so many years, statistics here, statistics there -- while a real person was dying on the steps outside. That's how we do it, one at a time, not just talking, but feeding, touching. In our Church library we have a documentary on the life of Mother Teresa. There is this great moment when a wealthy woman from America finds Mother Teresa, whips out her checkbook, and says, "I want to write you a check to support your work." Mother Teresa looks up, shakes her head and says "No money." "What?" "No money." "You won't take my money? I have a lot of money, this money can help you." "No money." "No money! Well then, what can I do?" Mother Teresa smiled that inimitable smile, took her by the hand, and said, "Come and see." She led this woman deep into the barrios of Calcutta, searching, until finally she came upon a small, grimy child. Mother Teresa said, "Take care of her." and so the woman took a cloth, and bathed the little girl, took a spoon and fed her. And she reported later that her life was changed. Come and see. Touch someone. When Mother Teresa first came to the United States, she made a great speech in New York, in which she said, "You don't have to go to Calcutta to share in my work. Calcutta is wherever you are. Wherever you are, there are people who hurt, who need love. Find them. Love them. For in loving them, you love Jesus."[3]
[1] http://home.twcny.rr.com/lyndale/pentecost%2026A.htm
[2] Wilkins, Michael J. the NIV Application Commentary: Matthew. Zondervan, p. 818.
[3] http://www.day1.net/index.php5?view=transcripts&tid=435
Friday, November 7, 2008
All Saints Sunday 2008
Good morning, friends!! What a fabulous day this is—and yesterday was! Amazing! And thank you all so much for everything you did to make yesterday wonderful, through your prayers, through your presence, and through your food. Thank you!
So, today is the Sunday after All Saints Day, and I’m so glad we have the All Saints readings. But you know, All Saints Day wasn’t really my first choice for ordination. I knew it had to be a major feast day and on a weekend. And so, when I first contacted the bishop back in March regarding setting up a preliminary date—contingent of course upon the final approval of the Standing Committee—I started in mid-September with Holy Cross, and then the Feast of St. Matthew. And then to October: the 4th was St. Francis Day—who doesn’t like St. Francis? But that’s not a major feast in the Episcopal calendar. And it was the Youthquake Golf Tournament. October 18th would have been cool: St. Luke’s feast day. St. Luke is one of my heroes, too. He talks about women in Jesus’ life more than any other gospel writer. And the Feast of St. Luke was my dad’s birthday. But none of these worked for the bishop, for one reason or another. We even thought about doing it after Synod, but there wasn’t a major feast day, and I think it would have been just too much. So it was decided: November 1st, the Feast of All Saints. And the more I thought about it, the more I was delighted to have this day for my my ordination day. I don’t have just one Saint to remember, I have them all!! I don’t have just Capital S Saints, I have all the millions of lower case s saints. Ordinary people who lived ordinary lives for Christ, and who have died and joined him in the heavenly places. Shopkeepers and undertakers, teachers and authors, housewives and monks. [We will sing about all of these saints at the end of the service, hymn 293]
One of the images I’ve had regarding ordination in the Episcopal Church—in a church with apostolic succession through the laying on of hands—is the image of hands through the centuries, passing on the mantle of presbyter or priest. Hands after hands after hands being laid on heads after heads after heads. .And all those saints celebrating with us both yesterday and today. And when I think about All Saints, I think of the Apostle’s Creed where we say, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy catholic church, and the communion of saints.” I think of the part of the Eucharist where we praise God, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven. And then we ask God to sanctify us—to make us saints—that we may faithfully receive the Holy Sacrament, and serve God in unity and constancy and peace, and we pray that at the last day He will bring us with all the saints into the joy of the eternal Kingdom.
With a nod to my Welch ancestry, which seems to includes a 7th century archbishop in Wales, the ancient Celts believed that All Hallow’s Eve on October 31, which we know as Halloween, and All Hallow’s Day—which we call All Saints Day on November 1, and All Soul’s Day on Nobember 2nd, were thin spaces. These were times when the veil between heaven and earth was especially thin and permeable. And so I imagine thousands and millions of saints, peering through that thin space, an opening in the curtain that separates the earth from the heavens. Stadium seating where there are no bad seats, no back rows, somehow reaching into eternity. All the saints, everyone who has died in the faith, very much with us both yesterday and today. And at the very front, looking on with great love and joy, is my Dad, who has never ever been more proud of me.
So those are some of the images I have in my mind of being ordained on All Saints Day. And it’s such a great reminder that we too are all saints. We tend to think of All Saints as being a Christian memorial day, remembering those who have died in the faith, but saintliness is also for those who are alive in the faith—it’s for all of us. Our sanctification—our sainthood---our being made holy---is one of those things that’s already and not yet. Because of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, because he died for our sins once and for all, we are already made saints. In the book of Acts, Luke refers to the living saints in Jerusalem, the saints in Lydda, the saints in Joppa. Paul writes to the saints in Rome and even to the saints in Corinth—and the church in Corinth was as confused and dysfunctional as they come. Yet to Paul, to God, they were saints, not because they were sinless, but because they believed in Jesus.
To be a saint is to be sanctified, to be made holy. And we have all been made holy. We spend the rest of our lives growing into that. The work has already been done, it has been accomplished, but we need to learn how to be what we were made to be—through the death and resurrection of Christ. It’s kind of like when we get married, we are made one flesh, and we spend the rest of our married life perfecting that, growing into that, becoming closer to God’s ideal. And so in our holiness, we were made holy, bought with a price, once and for all, and we spend the rest of our lives growing into holiness, growing closer to Christ, closer to being his image, his arms and legs and feet in the world. Holiness is a gift from God, and all baptized persons are hagioi, holy, sanctified.
We are called to be holy, and like Paul said in Phillippians 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” God will give us the grace to be what he wants us to be, but we still have to make some effort, don’t we. Not that we have to try to be saints, to work at it, but that we already are. And what does a saint do? She prays and listens. He reads and studies. They are involved in outreach and mission. As saints, we might be like sailboats. We don’t go anywhere without the wind, which we can’t manufacture or control it. We need, however to set the sails, to discern for each of us as holy ones, where the wind is at work, and how we can position ourselves to sail gracefully. One way to do that is to find out more about some of the Saints who have gone before. Pick one and read about him or her, read biographies, read what he or she wrote, and you might find yourselves inspired to become a little more saintly.
I saw a great little story this week about Anatole France, the French novelist of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Anatole France said that when he was a little boy he read the story of the life of St. Simeon Stylites, that strange gentlemen of ancient times who lived for thirty years on top of a sixty-foot pillar in Syria, and for some reason Anatole decided he was called to perform a similar act of saintly heroism. So he went into the kitchen, climbed up on the kitchen cabinet, and stayed there all morning. At lunchtime he got down. His mother, who understood what was happening, said: "Now, you mustn’t feel bad about this. You have at least made the attempt, which is more than most people have ever done. But you must remember that it is almost impossible to be a saint in your own kitchen."[1]
But of course we are called to be saints in our own kitchen, saints in our own homes, saints at work, saints in the world. And in a few minutes, in our Holy Communion, we will
“join with the saints of all times and all places, in heaven and on earth, celebrating the love, grace, and forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ. As we Commune this morning, we are joined in a mystical communion with ourloved ones and saints, past and present, in the company of Jesus Christ,and we anticipate that Final Day when we will be reunited for all eternityto share this great banquet in the presence of Eternal Light, Joy, andPeace.
[May we sincerely take to heart this prayer]
Almighty God, whose people are knit together in the one holy Church, thebody of Christ our Lord: Grant us grace to follow your blessed saints inlives of faith and commitment, and to know the inexpressible joys you haveprepared for those who love you; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now andforever. Amen[2]
”
[1] http://www.homiliesbyemail.com/Special/Saints/siqs.html
[2] http://www.homiliesbyemail.com/Special/Saints/sermon4.html
So, today is the Sunday after All Saints Day, and I’m so glad we have the All Saints readings. But you know, All Saints Day wasn’t really my first choice for ordination. I knew it had to be a major feast day and on a weekend. And so, when I first contacted the bishop back in March regarding setting up a preliminary date—contingent of course upon the final approval of the Standing Committee—I started in mid-September with Holy Cross, and then the Feast of St. Matthew. And then to October: the 4th was St. Francis Day—who doesn’t like St. Francis? But that’s not a major feast in the Episcopal calendar. And it was the Youthquake Golf Tournament. October 18th would have been cool: St. Luke’s feast day. St. Luke is one of my heroes, too. He talks about women in Jesus’ life more than any other gospel writer. And the Feast of St. Luke was my dad’s birthday. But none of these worked for the bishop, for one reason or another. We even thought about doing it after Synod, but there wasn’t a major feast day, and I think it would have been just too much. So it was decided: November 1st, the Feast of All Saints. And the more I thought about it, the more I was delighted to have this day for my my ordination day. I don’t have just one Saint to remember, I have them all!! I don’t have just Capital S Saints, I have all the millions of lower case s saints. Ordinary people who lived ordinary lives for Christ, and who have died and joined him in the heavenly places. Shopkeepers and undertakers, teachers and authors, housewives and monks. [We will sing about all of these saints at the end of the service, hymn 293]
One of the images I’ve had regarding ordination in the Episcopal Church—in a church with apostolic succession through the laying on of hands—is the image of hands through the centuries, passing on the mantle of presbyter or priest. Hands after hands after hands being laid on heads after heads after heads. .And all those saints celebrating with us both yesterday and today. And when I think about All Saints, I think of the Apostle’s Creed where we say, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy catholic church, and the communion of saints.” I think of the part of the Eucharist where we praise God, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven. And then we ask God to sanctify us—to make us saints—that we may faithfully receive the Holy Sacrament, and serve God in unity and constancy and peace, and we pray that at the last day He will bring us with all the saints into the joy of the eternal Kingdom.
With a nod to my Welch ancestry, which seems to includes a 7th century archbishop in Wales, the ancient Celts believed that All Hallow’s Eve on October 31, which we know as Halloween, and All Hallow’s Day—which we call All Saints Day on November 1, and All Soul’s Day on Nobember 2nd, were thin spaces. These were times when the veil between heaven and earth was especially thin and permeable. And so I imagine thousands and millions of saints, peering through that thin space, an opening in the curtain that separates the earth from the heavens. Stadium seating where there are no bad seats, no back rows, somehow reaching into eternity. All the saints, everyone who has died in the faith, very much with us both yesterday and today. And at the very front, looking on with great love and joy, is my Dad, who has never ever been more proud of me.
So those are some of the images I have in my mind of being ordained on All Saints Day. And it’s such a great reminder that we too are all saints. We tend to think of All Saints as being a Christian memorial day, remembering those who have died in the faith, but saintliness is also for those who are alive in the faith—it’s for all of us. Our sanctification—our sainthood---our being made holy---is one of those things that’s already and not yet. Because of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, because he died for our sins once and for all, we are already made saints. In the book of Acts, Luke refers to the living saints in Jerusalem, the saints in Lydda, the saints in Joppa. Paul writes to the saints in Rome and even to the saints in Corinth—and the church in Corinth was as confused and dysfunctional as they come. Yet to Paul, to God, they were saints, not because they were sinless, but because they believed in Jesus.
To be a saint is to be sanctified, to be made holy. And we have all been made holy. We spend the rest of our lives growing into that. The work has already been done, it has been accomplished, but we need to learn how to be what we were made to be—through the death and resurrection of Christ. It’s kind of like when we get married, we are made one flesh, and we spend the rest of our married life perfecting that, growing into that, becoming closer to God’s ideal. And so in our holiness, we were made holy, bought with a price, once and for all, and we spend the rest of our lives growing into holiness, growing closer to Christ, closer to being his image, his arms and legs and feet in the world. Holiness is a gift from God, and all baptized persons are hagioi, holy, sanctified.
We are called to be holy, and like Paul said in Phillippians 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” God will give us the grace to be what he wants us to be, but we still have to make some effort, don’t we. Not that we have to try to be saints, to work at it, but that we already are. And what does a saint do? She prays and listens. He reads and studies. They are involved in outreach and mission. As saints, we might be like sailboats. We don’t go anywhere without the wind, which we can’t manufacture or control it. We need, however to set the sails, to discern for each of us as holy ones, where the wind is at work, and how we can position ourselves to sail gracefully. One way to do that is to find out more about some of the Saints who have gone before. Pick one and read about him or her, read biographies, read what he or she wrote, and you might find yourselves inspired to become a little more saintly.
I saw a great little story this week about Anatole France, the French novelist of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Anatole France said that when he was a little boy he read the story of the life of St. Simeon Stylites, that strange gentlemen of ancient times who lived for thirty years on top of a sixty-foot pillar in Syria, and for some reason Anatole decided he was called to perform a similar act of saintly heroism. So he went into the kitchen, climbed up on the kitchen cabinet, and stayed there all morning. At lunchtime he got down. His mother, who understood what was happening, said: "Now, you mustn’t feel bad about this. You have at least made the attempt, which is more than most people have ever done. But you must remember that it is almost impossible to be a saint in your own kitchen."[1]
But of course we are called to be saints in our own kitchen, saints in our own homes, saints at work, saints in the world. And in a few minutes, in our Holy Communion, we will
“join with the saints of all times and all places, in heaven and on earth, celebrating the love, grace, and forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ. As we Commune this morning, we are joined in a mystical communion with ourloved ones and saints, past and present, in the company of Jesus Christ,and we anticipate that Final Day when we will be reunited for all eternityto share this great banquet in the presence of Eternal Light, Joy, andPeace.
[May we sincerely take to heart this prayer]
Almighty God, whose people are knit together in the one holy Church, thebody of Christ our Lord: Grant us grace to follow your blessed saints inlives of faith and commitment, and to know the inexpressible joys you haveprepared for those who love you; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now andforever. Amen[2]
”
[1] http://www.homiliesbyemail.com/Special/Saints/siqs.html
[2] http://www.homiliesbyemail.com/Special/Saints/sermon4.html
Monday, September 8, 2008
Year A, Proper 18, 09/07/08, St.Stephen's
This weeks’ gospel reading sure doesn’t sound very Episcopalian does it? It might be fine for some of “those” kinds of churches to have certain steps for church discipline as it says, but we certainly wouldn’t do that. For us, it’s all about live and let live. And The Episcopal Church welcomes you (our Evangelism slogan . . . and method). In fact, our gospel reading almost doesn’t sound very Christian, with all it’s talk about casting sinners out of the congregation and lumping them with, well, sinners. For me, it was a struggle this week to figure out how to approach this text—one of the particular challenges of having a lectionary is we don’t have much freedom to pick and choose our texts, but must address those given us. And certainly the Old Testament lesson wasn’t any better!! I’m not sure I want to even touch that one . . . but of course I could.
One thing that is important to remember is that all our readings are always taken out of context, and context is important. In this section of Matthew, Jesus is talking with his disciples about the problem of sin in the fellowship. Right before our reading, Jesus talks about the 1 sheep that has strayed, and the shepherd leaves the 99 sheep on the mountain to go after the one, so great is his love for each one of his precious sheep. So the words we heard today seem to be a sharp contrast to that idea, and to the idea of grace. And in fact, the steps Matthew puts forward are very similar to the Law spelled out in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. And Matthew was writing to a predominantly Jewish audience, so this would have been familiar to them.
But there are several things that especially got my attention as I studied and reflected on this passage. First of all, look at how it starts. “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” Did you catch that? “If your brother sins against you.” “You” are the one that was wronged, you are the ‘victim’ of your brothers sin. And you are to reach out to your brother, quietly, in order to save your brother’s honor and maintain family ties. The victim takes the initiative. Not what we would expect, is it. We wait for the one who has hurt us to come and apologize, don’t we?
Then there is the talk about binding and loosing. The wording is almost identical to what we heard a few weeks ago when Peter said, “you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” And Jesus responded “I will give you the keys to the kingdom, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Same as today, but today Jesus is addressing the disciples. The “you” is plural—more like you all, or you’uns. What I discovered is that binding and loosing is a Jewish legal idea, where binding meant something was prohibited, and loosing meant it was allowed. The rabbis were called on to interpret the law, like what might be permitted on the Sabbath, and they ruled accordingly, whether some behavior was bound or loosed, prohibited or allowed.
And then I read something about the keys to the kingdom. In the Lutheran church, they have what they call the Office of the Keys. This is defined as “that authority which Christ gave to his church to forgive the sins of those who repent and to declare to those who do not repent that their sins are not forgiven.”[1] In support of this idea, they cite the scripture about binding and loosing, and then in John, Jesus said "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:23). So, at least in the Lutheran tradition, the “Office of the Keys gives power to forgive and retain sins (loosing and binding), i. e., not merely to announce and to declare to men the remission or retention of sins, but actually to give forgiveness to penitent sinners and to deny forgiveness to impenitent sinners.”[2] Sounds like our gospel reading, doesn’t it?
So, with all that as foundational material, I’m going to talk today about one of the greatest gifts the church offers today. And one of the most unnatural aspects of God’s grace. I’m talking about forgiveness.
In the Lord’s Prayer we say “forgive us our sins (or trespasses), as we forgive those who sin against us.” Wow. We ask that we are forgiven to the same extent that we forgive others. And forgiveness is hard!! When we’ve been wronged, when we’ve been the victim, it’s hard to forgive—to really and honestly forgive—isn’t it? Forgiveness is about reaching out to the one who has hurt us, the one who “done us wrong,” taking the initiative. Because if we don’t reach out, the chasm widens, the hurts grow, our heart gets harder and harder, and we become shut off from those who have hurt us.
Still, it’s not an easy thing, to forgive. Maybe little things, but what about the big things? What about when you discover your spouse has had an affair. What about if your child is murdered? What about if your niece is raped . . . ? The list could go on and on—there are probably people in your life you really don’t want to forgive, for one reason or another, probably smaller offenses than these. And yet, as Christians, we are called to forgive. That’s part of the grace we have received, forgiveness for our sins, and part of the radical, amazing grace and love we have to offer the world. Henri Nouwen describes forgiveness as “love practiced among people who love poorly;” and this is the process he describes.
I have often said “I forgive you,” but even as I said these words my heart remained angry or resentful. I still wanted to hear the story that tells me that I was right after all; I still wanted to hear apologies and excuses; I still wanted the satisfaction of receiving some praise in return—if only the praise for being so forgiving!
But God’s forgiveness is unconditional; it comes from a heart that does not demand anything for itself, a heart that is completely empty of self seeking. It is this divine forgiveness that I have to practice in my daily life. It calls me to keep stepping over all my arguments that say forgiveness is unwise, unhealthy, and impractical. It challenges me to step over all my needs for gratitude and compliments. Finally, it demands of me that I step over the wounded part of my heart that feels hurt and wronged and that wants to stay in control and put a few conditions between me and the one whom I am asked to forgive.[3]
Now take a look at the Epistle reading, Paul writing to the church at Rome (chapter 12). The whole passage has a lot of challenging words for us, but did you see how it ends?
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
20 To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
There’s a lot to think about, isn’t there, but note that it is God’s responsibility to avenge wrongs. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” When we forgive, we trust God to do justice and mercy as he sees fit. When we forgive, we let go of our own rights, our desire to get even, and leave the outcome to God.
Like I said, forgiveness is hard, and it’s unnatural. We want vengeance, we want justice, and it’s hard to walk away from that. But as Christians, we are commanded to forgive, as forgiven children of a forgiving Father. Forgiveness is the key that ends the cycle of blame and pain. It breaks the chains of harm and hurt. When we forgive, we are changing the whole pattern. When we forgive, we are saying “enough is enough!” When we forgive, the other party is freed from guilt. When we forgive, the wrong loses its power, and healing and wholeness result. Forgiveness has the unworldly, supernatural power to transform people. Even if your offer of forgiveness isn’t immediately accepted, you are set free. You are transformed. And because forgiveness is so radical, so unnatural, so countercultural, the world notices.
On Monday morning, October 2, 2006, a gunman entered a one-room Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. In front of twenty-five horrified pupils, thirty-two-year-old Charles Roberts ordered the boys and the teacher to leave. After tying the legs of the ten remaining girls, Roberts prepared to shoot them execution [style] with an automatic rifle and four hundred rounds of ammunition that he brought for the task. The oldest hostage, a thirteen-year-old, begged Roberts to "shoot me first and let the little ones go." Refusing her offer, he opened fire on all of them, killing five and leaving the others critically wounded. He then shot himself as police stormed the building. His motivation? "I'm angry at God for taking my little daughter," he told the children before the massacre.
The story captured the attention of broadcast and print media in the United States and around the world. By Tuesday morning some fifty television crews had clogged the small village of Nickel Mines, staying for five days until the killer and the killed were buried. The blood was barely dry on the schoolhouse floor when Amish parents brought words of forgiveness to the family of the one who had slain their children.
The outside world was incredulous that such forgiveness could be offered so quickly for such a heinous crime. Of the hundreds of media queries that the authors received about the shooting, questions about forgiveness rose to the top. Forgiveness, in fact, eclipsed the tragic story, trumping the violence and arresting the world's attention.
Within a week of the murders, Amish forgiveness was a central theme in more than 2,400 news stories around the world. The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, NBC Nightly News, CBS Morning News, Larry King Live, Fox News, Oprah, and dozens of other media outlets heralded the forgiving Amish. From the Khaleej Times (United Arab Emirates) to Australian television, international media were opining on Amish forgiveness. Three weeks after the shooting, "Amish forgiveness" had appeared in 2,900 news stories worldwide and on 534,000 web sites. [4]
Radical, unnatural forgiveness gets the world’s attention. It has the power to transform the world, as well as our homes and communities. Who do you need to forgive? And because the church is corporate—whenever 2 or 3 are gathered—who do we need to forgive?
[1] http://www.sundayschoollessons.com/keys.htm
[2] http://www.lcms.org/ca/www/cyclopedia/02/display.asp?t1=K&word=KEYS.OFFICEOFTHE
[3] quoted in Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing About Grace, Harper Collins, p. 92.
[4] http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787997617.html
One thing that is important to remember is that all our readings are always taken out of context, and context is important. In this section of Matthew, Jesus is talking with his disciples about the problem of sin in the fellowship. Right before our reading, Jesus talks about the 1 sheep that has strayed, and the shepherd leaves the 99 sheep on the mountain to go after the one, so great is his love for each one of his precious sheep. So the words we heard today seem to be a sharp contrast to that idea, and to the idea of grace. And in fact, the steps Matthew puts forward are very similar to the Law spelled out in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. And Matthew was writing to a predominantly Jewish audience, so this would have been familiar to them.
But there are several things that especially got my attention as I studied and reflected on this passage. First of all, look at how it starts. “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” Did you catch that? “If your brother sins against you.” “You” are the one that was wronged, you are the ‘victim’ of your brothers sin. And you are to reach out to your brother, quietly, in order to save your brother’s honor and maintain family ties. The victim takes the initiative. Not what we would expect, is it. We wait for the one who has hurt us to come and apologize, don’t we?
Then there is the talk about binding and loosing. The wording is almost identical to what we heard a few weeks ago when Peter said, “you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” And Jesus responded “I will give you the keys to the kingdom, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Same as today, but today Jesus is addressing the disciples. The “you” is plural—more like you all, or you’uns. What I discovered is that binding and loosing is a Jewish legal idea, where binding meant something was prohibited, and loosing meant it was allowed. The rabbis were called on to interpret the law, like what might be permitted on the Sabbath, and they ruled accordingly, whether some behavior was bound or loosed, prohibited or allowed.
And then I read something about the keys to the kingdom. In the Lutheran church, they have what they call the Office of the Keys. This is defined as “that authority which Christ gave to his church to forgive the sins of those who repent and to declare to those who do not repent that their sins are not forgiven.”[1] In support of this idea, they cite the scripture about binding and loosing, and then in John, Jesus said "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:23). So, at least in the Lutheran tradition, the “Office of the Keys gives power to forgive and retain sins (loosing and binding), i. e., not merely to announce and to declare to men the remission or retention of sins, but actually to give forgiveness to penitent sinners and to deny forgiveness to impenitent sinners.”[2] Sounds like our gospel reading, doesn’t it?
So, with all that as foundational material, I’m going to talk today about one of the greatest gifts the church offers today. And one of the most unnatural aspects of God’s grace. I’m talking about forgiveness.
In the Lord’s Prayer we say “forgive us our sins (or trespasses), as we forgive those who sin against us.” Wow. We ask that we are forgiven to the same extent that we forgive others. And forgiveness is hard!! When we’ve been wronged, when we’ve been the victim, it’s hard to forgive—to really and honestly forgive—isn’t it? Forgiveness is about reaching out to the one who has hurt us, the one who “done us wrong,” taking the initiative. Because if we don’t reach out, the chasm widens, the hurts grow, our heart gets harder and harder, and we become shut off from those who have hurt us.
Still, it’s not an easy thing, to forgive. Maybe little things, but what about the big things? What about when you discover your spouse has had an affair. What about if your child is murdered? What about if your niece is raped . . . ? The list could go on and on—there are probably people in your life you really don’t want to forgive, for one reason or another, probably smaller offenses than these. And yet, as Christians, we are called to forgive. That’s part of the grace we have received, forgiveness for our sins, and part of the radical, amazing grace and love we have to offer the world. Henri Nouwen describes forgiveness as “love practiced among people who love poorly;” and this is the process he describes.
I have often said “I forgive you,” but even as I said these words my heart remained angry or resentful. I still wanted to hear the story that tells me that I was right after all; I still wanted to hear apologies and excuses; I still wanted the satisfaction of receiving some praise in return—if only the praise for being so forgiving!
But God’s forgiveness is unconditional; it comes from a heart that does not demand anything for itself, a heart that is completely empty of self seeking. It is this divine forgiveness that I have to practice in my daily life. It calls me to keep stepping over all my arguments that say forgiveness is unwise, unhealthy, and impractical. It challenges me to step over all my needs for gratitude and compliments. Finally, it demands of me that I step over the wounded part of my heart that feels hurt and wronged and that wants to stay in control and put a few conditions between me and the one whom I am asked to forgive.[3]
Now take a look at the Epistle reading, Paul writing to the church at Rome (chapter 12). The whole passage has a lot of challenging words for us, but did you see how it ends?
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
20 To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
There’s a lot to think about, isn’t there, but note that it is God’s responsibility to avenge wrongs. “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” When we forgive, we trust God to do justice and mercy as he sees fit. When we forgive, we let go of our own rights, our desire to get even, and leave the outcome to God.
Like I said, forgiveness is hard, and it’s unnatural. We want vengeance, we want justice, and it’s hard to walk away from that. But as Christians, we are commanded to forgive, as forgiven children of a forgiving Father. Forgiveness is the key that ends the cycle of blame and pain. It breaks the chains of harm and hurt. When we forgive, we are changing the whole pattern. When we forgive, we are saying “enough is enough!” When we forgive, the other party is freed from guilt. When we forgive, the wrong loses its power, and healing and wholeness result. Forgiveness has the unworldly, supernatural power to transform people. Even if your offer of forgiveness isn’t immediately accepted, you are set free. You are transformed. And because forgiveness is so radical, so unnatural, so countercultural, the world notices.
On Monday morning, October 2, 2006, a gunman entered a one-room Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. In front of twenty-five horrified pupils, thirty-two-year-old Charles Roberts ordered the boys and the teacher to leave. After tying the legs of the ten remaining girls, Roberts prepared to shoot them execution [style] with an automatic rifle and four hundred rounds of ammunition that he brought for the task. The oldest hostage, a thirteen-year-old, begged Roberts to "shoot me first and let the little ones go." Refusing her offer, he opened fire on all of them, killing five and leaving the others critically wounded. He then shot himself as police stormed the building. His motivation? "I'm angry at God for taking my little daughter," he told the children before the massacre.
The story captured the attention of broadcast and print media in the United States and around the world. By Tuesday morning some fifty television crews had clogged the small village of Nickel Mines, staying for five days until the killer and the killed were buried. The blood was barely dry on the schoolhouse floor when Amish parents brought words of forgiveness to the family of the one who had slain their children.
The outside world was incredulous that such forgiveness could be offered so quickly for such a heinous crime. Of the hundreds of media queries that the authors received about the shooting, questions about forgiveness rose to the top. Forgiveness, in fact, eclipsed the tragic story, trumping the violence and arresting the world's attention.
Within a week of the murders, Amish forgiveness was a central theme in more than 2,400 news stories around the world. The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, NBC Nightly News, CBS Morning News, Larry King Live, Fox News, Oprah, and dozens of other media outlets heralded the forgiving Amish. From the Khaleej Times (United Arab Emirates) to Australian television, international media were opining on Amish forgiveness. Three weeks after the shooting, "Amish forgiveness" had appeared in 2,900 news stories worldwide and on 534,000 web sites. [4]
Radical, unnatural forgiveness gets the world’s attention. It has the power to transform the world, as well as our homes and communities. Who do you need to forgive? And because the church is corporate—whenever 2 or 3 are gathered—who do we need to forgive?
[1] http://www.sundayschoollessons.com/keys.htm
[2] http://www.lcms.org/ca/www/cyclopedia/02/display.asp?t1=K&word=KEYS.OFFICEOFTHE
[3] quoted in Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing About Grace, Harper Collins, p. 92.
[4] http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787997617.html
Friday, September 5, 2008
Year A, Proper 17 Aug.31, 2008 McLeansboro
As we heard last week, being one of Jesus’ disciples on the ground with him was not an easy thing. You never knew what he was going to say or do next. From easy questions, to hard ones, he kept his disciples on their toes!! Of course, they were delighted to be in his company, this great teacher and healer, and Peter had just said what they were all thinking, but were afraid to say out loud. “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” And Jesus confirmed this!! He was the Messiah, the hope of Israel. Somehow, maybe soon, he was going to get rid of the foreign oppressive government. He would be the king of Israel, the king like David. Surely the revolution was about to begin!! Or at the very least God was going to do something spectacular. The Day of the Lord was near. Israel would once again be great. And the disciples would be right there in the middle of it all. And Peter, Peter was thinking about what Jesus had said: You are rock, and on this rock I will build my church. Wow!! Pretty heady stuff for a Galilean fisherman.
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. I’m sure Jesus was reluctant to tell his followers what was going to happen, but after Peter’s confession he felt he could speak freely, and he could explain to the disciples what was ahead. This is his first prediction of what was to come, his impending death at the hand of the officials in Jerusalem. It was also the first clear prediction of his resurrection, but I don’t think the disciples, I don’t think Peter, heard that part.
Peter, never one to think before speaking, blurted out, “God forbid!!” That can’t be the way it is. What in the world was Jesus thinking? What about the new Israel, our hopes and dreams for liberation? What about God’s promises? What about the prophecies? No way!! It can’t be like that, and I won’t let it. Surely we can avoid Jerusalem. It’s a big world, isn’t it? You don’t have to go, we will protect you. You are the Messiah, you said so yourself, and we will keep you safe from harm. Just don’t go to Jerusalem. We want a triumphant Messiah, not a suffering servant!! We want the Son of the Living God, not a dead Messiah! That can’t be right, that can’t be the plan! This must never happen to you!!
This must have been a strong, attractive temptation for Jesus, and his response is harsh: “Get behind me Satan!! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Peter in an instant went from right to wrong, from hero to goat, from rock to stumbling block. As the tempter’s voice now, Peter is fully human, looking at things from a human perspective.
He may have gotten carried away with his own significance in understanding Jesus’ identity and mission, which made him vulnerable to Satan’s temptation. He undoubtedly thinks he is protecting Jesus. But as one commentator notes, “Jesus recognizes here His old enemy in a new and even more dangerous form. For none are more formidable instruments of temptation than well-meaning friends, who care more for our comfort than for our character.”[1]
Friends also care about their own comfort, their own expectations and hopes and dreams. They can’t see the big picture. They can’t see what must happen for God’s plans to be accomplished, for the grace and glory that is to come.
Jesus then addresses all of his disciples. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” More hard sayings!! In the first century, the cross symbolized crucifixion, a feared and repulsive form of execution, and it was a horribly painful and slow way to die. The Jews viewed crucifixion as a terrible, shameful way to die. It must have been shocking to the disciples to hear that the cross is an image of discipleship!! What??!! If you want to be my disciples, you must be willing to die with me, you must be willing to risk your neck for me, you must follow me to the cross, to the death
For Jesus, the road to the cross was the road of obedience to the Father. It is the central purpose for his life, the reason for which the Son of the Living God took on human flesh. For those who would follow Jesus, the cross is likewise a metaphor for obedience, for surrendering and dying to their own wills, and yielding to the Father’s will.
. “For those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Those who hang on to their own life and their own desires and reject God’s plans for their life will lose that which they are trying to protect. Disciples are those who will risk their lives, surrender their own wills and accept God’s will, and the result is life eternal, life in the kingdom of heaven.
“For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?” All the riches, pleasures, material goods, worldly powers, are temporal at best, and will not do anyone any good if they sacrifice their relationship with God in order to pursue theses things. True riches, true wealth, are found in the kingdom of heaven, in following Jesus to the cross. The condition of our souls is far more important than the condition of our pocketbooks. Paul understood that when he said in Philippians (chapter 3):
7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.
Jesus continues, “for the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.” When the Son of Man comes in glory, there will be an accounting of what each person has done, whether or not they have responded to Jesus. Judgment is coming, and the disciples—and we—will be held accountable.
This whole account seems far removed from our reality, doesn’t it. After all, we can’t follow Jesus to the cross? For most of us, following Jesus doesn’t involve the loss of life. We aren’t likely to be crucified. And yet, the cross is still central to our lives. A symbol of shame and cruelty has become a symbol of beauty, love, and worship. The cross is the center of Christian architecture. And it must be central in our minds as we follow Jesus. The cross represents self-denial, sacrifice, and service, all of which are part and parcel of being a Christian. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Harold Ockenga, an evangelical leader and author of the 20th century, says this:
The surrender of self to this principle is the greatest obstacle to our sanctification, our spiritual attainment and love, our exercise of power and our exhibition of holiness. Self does not want us to surrender. We believers pamper self, are proud of self, pity self, and seek self’s interest, which is the exact opposite of such service. Yet contemporary life demands redemptive living, Unless such self-denial are exhibited in the field of missions, evangelism, social service humanitarianism, the Christian testimony will be invalidated.[2]
Our pattern and guide in this Christian life is Jesus himself, Jesus who said “Follow me.” He led by teaching, ministering, healing, and above all by serving, by laying down his life for his friends and for us. He is our example. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was killed because of his opposition to the Nazi regime in Germany in the last century, said that “when Christ calls a man he bids him come and die.” Bonhoeffer lived for Christ, and died for Christ, and we are called to be willing to do the same, to identify ourselves with Christ and his cross. We are to die to self, to die to self will, self interest. We are called to lose our lives in Christ, in our identification with Jesus. In truth, at our baptisms we died with Christ, and now we are dead to self, to sin, and alive to Christ. We now live in Christ, our lives our hidden with Christ, and we spend our lives denying ourselves and growing into this “in Christ” life, this kingdom life. “Come and die.”
[1] Wilkins, Michael J. The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew. Zondervan, 571.
[2] Ockenga, Harold J. Power though Pentecost. Eerdman’s, 1959, p.119-20.
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. I’m sure Jesus was reluctant to tell his followers what was going to happen, but after Peter’s confession he felt he could speak freely, and he could explain to the disciples what was ahead. This is his first prediction of what was to come, his impending death at the hand of the officials in Jerusalem. It was also the first clear prediction of his resurrection, but I don’t think the disciples, I don’t think Peter, heard that part.
Peter, never one to think before speaking, blurted out, “God forbid!!” That can’t be the way it is. What in the world was Jesus thinking? What about the new Israel, our hopes and dreams for liberation? What about God’s promises? What about the prophecies? No way!! It can’t be like that, and I won’t let it. Surely we can avoid Jerusalem. It’s a big world, isn’t it? You don’t have to go, we will protect you. You are the Messiah, you said so yourself, and we will keep you safe from harm. Just don’t go to Jerusalem. We want a triumphant Messiah, not a suffering servant!! We want the Son of the Living God, not a dead Messiah! That can’t be right, that can’t be the plan! This must never happen to you!!
This must have been a strong, attractive temptation for Jesus, and his response is harsh: “Get behind me Satan!! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Peter in an instant went from right to wrong, from hero to goat, from rock to stumbling block. As the tempter’s voice now, Peter is fully human, looking at things from a human perspective.
He may have gotten carried away with his own significance in understanding Jesus’ identity and mission, which made him vulnerable to Satan’s temptation. He undoubtedly thinks he is protecting Jesus. But as one commentator notes, “Jesus recognizes here His old enemy in a new and even more dangerous form. For none are more formidable instruments of temptation than well-meaning friends, who care more for our comfort than for our character.”[1]
Friends also care about their own comfort, their own expectations and hopes and dreams. They can’t see the big picture. They can’t see what must happen for God’s plans to be accomplished, for the grace and glory that is to come.
Jesus then addresses all of his disciples. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” More hard sayings!! In the first century, the cross symbolized crucifixion, a feared and repulsive form of execution, and it was a horribly painful and slow way to die. The Jews viewed crucifixion as a terrible, shameful way to die. It must have been shocking to the disciples to hear that the cross is an image of discipleship!! What??!! If you want to be my disciples, you must be willing to die with me, you must be willing to risk your neck for me, you must follow me to the cross, to the death
For Jesus, the road to the cross was the road of obedience to the Father. It is the central purpose for his life, the reason for which the Son of the Living God took on human flesh. For those who would follow Jesus, the cross is likewise a metaphor for obedience, for surrendering and dying to their own wills, and yielding to the Father’s will.
. “For those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Those who hang on to their own life and their own desires and reject God’s plans for their life will lose that which they are trying to protect. Disciples are those who will risk their lives, surrender their own wills and accept God’s will, and the result is life eternal, life in the kingdom of heaven.
“For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?” All the riches, pleasures, material goods, worldly powers, are temporal at best, and will not do anyone any good if they sacrifice their relationship with God in order to pursue theses things. True riches, true wealth, are found in the kingdom of heaven, in following Jesus to the cross. The condition of our souls is far more important than the condition of our pocketbooks. Paul understood that when he said in Philippians (chapter 3):
7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.
Jesus continues, “for the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.” When the Son of Man comes in glory, there will be an accounting of what each person has done, whether or not they have responded to Jesus. Judgment is coming, and the disciples—and we—will be held accountable.
This whole account seems far removed from our reality, doesn’t it. After all, we can’t follow Jesus to the cross? For most of us, following Jesus doesn’t involve the loss of life. We aren’t likely to be crucified. And yet, the cross is still central to our lives. A symbol of shame and cruelty has become a symbol of beauty, love, and worship. The cross is the center of Christian architecture. And it must be central in our minds as we follow Jesus. The cross represents self-denial, sacrifice, and service, all of which are part and parcel of being a Christian. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Harold Ockenga, an evangelical leader and author of the 20th century, says this:
The surrender of self to this principle is the greatest obstacle to our sanctification, our spiritual attainment and love, our exercise of power and our exhibition of holiness. Self does not want us to surrender. We believers pamper self, are proud of self, pity self, and seek self’s interest, which is the exact opposite of such service. Yet contemporary life demands redemptive living, Unless such self-denial are exhibited in the field of missions, evangelism, social service humanitarianism, the Christian testimony will be invalidated.[2]
Our pattern and guide in this Christian life is Jesus himself, Jesus who said “Follow me.” He led by teaching, ministering, healing, and above all by serving, by laying down his life for his friends and for us. He is our example. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was killed because of his opposition to the Nazi regime in Germany in the last century, said that “when Christ calls a man he bids him come and die.” Bonhoeffer lived for Christ, and died for Christ, and we are called to be willing to do the same, to identify ourselves with Christ and his cross. We are to die to self, to die to self will, self interest. We are called to lose our lives in Christ, in our identification with Jesus. In truth, at our baptisms we died with Christ, and now we are dead to self, to sin, and alive to Christ. We now live in Christ, our lives our hidden with Christ, and we spend our lives denying ourselves and growing into this “in Christ” life, this kingdom life. “Come and die.”
[1] Wilkins, Michael J. The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew. Zondervan, 571.
[2] Ockenga, Harold J. Power though Pentecost. Eerdman’s, 1959, p.119-20.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Year A Proper 16; Aug. 24,2008
At St. James McLeansboro
I don’t know about you, but I think it would have been a pretty difficult thing to be one of Jesus’ 12 disciples, his inner circle. It would have been awesome, yes, to walk with Jesus and to witness all that he did, but it would have been difficult, because you never knew what he was thinking, what he would be doing next. Like Paul said in today’s epistle, “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways. Who has known the mind of the Lord?” While the disciples were privy to a lot of teaching and fellowship with Jesus, they probably couldn’t begin to fathom his mind. I’m sure they knew he was a great teacher, a healer, and they hoped that he was the Promised One . . but they didn’t really know.
As an example, right before today’s gospel reading, Jesus had a confrontation with the Sadducees and Pharisees who came to test him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to prove who he was. And Jesus replied that they could read the skies and tell the weather, but they couldn’t read the signs of the times, they couldn’t see who Jesus was, or what was his mission. Jesus said that the only sign they would see was the sign of Jonah. What about Jonah? He spent three days in the belly of a whale, just as Jesus would spend three days in the belly of the earth. And then Jesus left the Sadducees and Pharisees and their tests and entrapments, and they and the disciples were probably scratching their heads. The disciples went with Jesus in the boat, and when they arrived at their destination, Matthew tells us that the disciples had forgotten to bring bread. And Jesus said, “beware of the yeast of the Sadducees and the Pharisees,” and they thought they were in trouble for forgetting the bread. See what I mean? It wasn’t easy being his disciple. Jesus responds, You of little faith. Don’t you know that it doesn’t matter that you didn’t bring bread? Don’t you remember how I fed the 5000 with 5 loaves, and then fed 4000 with 7 loaves? Can I not supply us with bread? But I wasn’t even talking about bread; I was talking about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. And then they understood—duh!!—that he wasn’t talking about bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The disciples had to be intellectually challenged, most of the time. Jesus was always at least a step or two above and beyond their understanding, and he could come up with some pretty difficult ideas and hard questions.
Jesus and his disciples then traveled to the area of Caesarea Phillippi, named for Philip the Tetrarch, one of Herod’s sons, which was in a primarily Gentile area northeast of Galilee. In the 1st century, this was an important Greco-Roman district, but had also been a center for pagan worship to Baal, and then to the Greek god Pan, and then to Caesar.
And when they got there, Jesus asked them, “Who do they say the Son of Man is?” Now this is an easy question. All they have to do is regurgitate what they have heard. Some said he was John the Baptist brought back from the dead, not a new idea. Even Herod had said that. Others said he was the prophet Elijah who was to be the forerunner of the messiah and still others said he was the suffering prophet Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. You can see the disciples at ease, tossing ideas around like a ball.
But then he asks another question. But YOU, Who do YOU say that I am? I imagine there was a great silence, that they were somehow afraid to state what they thought, what they hoped. There was probably a lot of looking at each other, looking at their feet, looking at the sky . . . looking anyplace but towards Jesus. And finally Peter—Peter who is the outspoken leader of the 12, Peter who rarely thinks before he speaks, Peter who isn’t afraid to get out of the boat, impetuous, brash, open, transparent Peter, Peter who takes risks, stumbles, falls, and gets up again, Peter who is far braver and far more willing to ask questions and risk failure than I am, Peter says “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Peter finally gets it right! Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one, but he is much, much more. This is the first time that any person voices their hopes, that Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one, in the tradition of the great kings of Israel, anointed for leadership.
“Peter further expresses Jesus’ identity as ‘the son of the living God,’ an expression that has special significance in the area of Caesarea Philippi with its plethora of ancient Baal, Pan, and Caesar worship. Jesus is the Son of the God who is living, not like those mythical, superstitious figures etched in stone. Even more significantly . . . Jesus is uniquely Gods Son.”[1] As announced at his conception, at his baptism, at his temptations, and as the evil spirits stated when they were confronted by Jesus, Jesus has a special relationship with God the Father, with HIS Father. He is different than any other Messiah figure. He is Messiah, and the Son of God.
Peter probably didn’t fully understand what he was saying, but he is growing. And Jesus commends him. “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for God has revealed this to you.” Peter was blessed by God when he chose him to know this, to say this. Jesus continues: “From now on you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Basically, Jesus is saying, You are rock, and on this rock I will build my church. Peter will be a key figure in the church, the new community of believers. He is a natural leader who did play a foundational role in the early church, as the book of Acts tells us.
This is also the first time that the word “church’ is used, from ecclesia which means a community or assembly. His disciples will be his church, a fellowship of those who believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and who risk their lives for their faith. This church, this fellowship will endure. “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” “The powers of death and damnation are not as strong as the powers of God nor will those evil powers win the battle. The powers of death and evil are all around us, but these evil powers are not stronger than the church and its power of God within. Evil will lose out!!!”[2] And, through the power of God, the church, the body of Christ, will win!
Jesus then says that “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Jesus talked more about the kingdom of heaven than any other subject, and when he began his mission he said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near (Matt 3:2), and in the past months we have heard many parables referring to the kingdom of heaven as a pearl, a treasure, a grain of mustard, yeast, and even a farmer’s field. The kingdom of heaven is where Christ rules eternally. The kingdom of heaven is already and not yet, the once and future realm where Christ is king. While the Scribes and Pharisees work to lock people out of the kingdom of heaven, Peter and the church have the keys to let people in. The Scribes and the Pharisees had the authority for binding and loosing, which is to say what is permitted or forbidden. The church with Peter as its first leader is to open the door to the kingdom. “Through Peter’s preaching of the gospel and the preaching of others who follow him, sins are forgiven and entrance gained to the kingdom.”[3] Peter has the keys to the kingdom, and will open the doors to Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles. “People who receive the gospel are loosed from their sins so that they can enter the open door to the kingdom. People who reject the gospel message are bound in their sins, which will prevent them from entering the kingdom.”[4]
And the gospel reading ends with Jesus telling the disciples to be quiet about his identity, probably so his mission isn’t compromised due to misunderstanding. The crowds can be rather unruly, you know.
But Peter, Peter got it right for a change. You are the Christ the Son of the living God. Right for a moment, right this time, but next week it’s a different story.
So what is important for us? Perhaps the real key, the key to the kingdom, is linked to Jesus’ identity. There are lots of opinions on who Jesus is these days. Is he a great teacher, a prophet, a moral example? Is he one path among many paths? One truth among many truths? Is he relevant? Who is Jesus? Who do you say that I am? First of all, human opinion is not adequate. To understand Jesus is to be guided by the revelation of the Father in the teachings of the New Testament. The gospels clearly proclaim the good news of Jesus’ identity and his mission. Jesus is not just a way, he is The Way. Jesus is not just true for me, but he is The Truth. We are called to accept that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God—which is in fact more than we can comprehend on our own. Our understanding must be guided by God’s revelation as we open our hearts and minds to God and study his Word. But you, who do you say that I am?
[1] Wilkins, Michael J. The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew. Zondervan, p. 559.
[2] http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_the_keys_of_the_kingdomGA.htm
[3] Wilkins, 567.
[4] Ibid, 568.
I don’t know about you, but I think it would have been a pretty difficult thing to be one of Jesus’ 12 disciples, his inner circle. It would have been awesome, yes, to walk with Jesus and to witness all that he did, but it would have been difficult, because you never knew what he was thinking, what he would be doing next. Like Paul said in today’s epistle, “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways. Who has known the mind of the Lord?” While the disciples were privy to a lot of teaching and fellowship with Jesus, they probably couldn’t begin to fathom his mind. I’m sure they knew he was a great teacher, a healer, and they hoped that he was the Promised One . . but they didn’t really know.
As an example, right before today’s gospel reading, Jesus had a confrontation with the Sadducees and Pharisees who came to test him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to prove who he was. And Jesus replied that they could read the skies and tell the weather, but they couldn’t read the signs of the times, they couldn’t see who Jesus was, or what was his mission. Jesus said that the only sign they would see was the sign of Jonah. What about Jonah? He spent three days in the belly of a whale, just as Jesus would spend three days in the belly of the earth. And then Jesus left the Sadducees and Pharisees and their tests and entrapments, and they and the disciples were probably scratching their heads. The disciples went with Jesus in the boat, and when they arrived at their destination, Matthew tells us that the disciples had forgotten to bring bread. And Jesus said, “beware of the yeast of the Sadducees and the Pharisees,” and they thought they were in trouble for forgetting the bread. See what I mean? It wasn’t easy being his disciple. Jesus responds, You of little faith. Don’t you know that it doesn’t matter that you didn’t bring bread? Don’t you remember how I fed the 5000 with 5 loaves, and then fed 4000 with 7 loaves? Can I not supply us with bread? But I wasn’t even talking about bread; I was talking about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. And then they understood—duh!!—that he wasn’t talking about bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The disciples had to be intellectually challenged, most of the time. Jesus was always at least a step or two above and beyond their understanding, and he could come up with some pretty difficult ideas and hard questions.
Jesus and his disciples then traveled to the area of Caesarea Phillippi, named for Philip the Tetrarch, one of Herod’s sons, which was in a primarily Gentile area northeast of Galilee. In the 1st century, this was an important Greco-Roman district, but had also been a center for pagan worship to Baal, and then to the Greek god Pan, and then to Caesar.
And when they got there, Jesus asked them, “Who do they say the Son of Man is?” Now this is an easy question. All they have to do is regurgitate what they have heard. Some said he was John the Baptist brought back from the dead, not a new idea. Even Herod had said that. Others said he was the prophet Elijah who was to be the forerunner of the messiah and still others said he was the suffering prophet Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. You can see the disciples at ease, tossing ideas around like a ball.
But then he asks another question. But YOU, Who do YOU say that I am? I imagine there was a great silence, that they were somehow afraid to state what they thought, what they hoped. There was probably a lot of looking at each other, looking at their feet, looking at the sky . . . looking anyplace but towards Jesus. And finally Peter—Peter who is the outspoken leader of the 12, Peter who rarely thinks before he speaks, Peter who isn’t afraid to get out of the boat, impetuous, brash, open, transparent Peter, Peter who takes risks, stumbles, falls, and gets up again, Peter who is far braver and far more willing to ask questions and risk failure than I am, Peter says “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Peter finally gets it right! Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one, but he is much, much more. This is the first time that any person voices their hopes, that Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one, in the tradition of the great kings of Israel, anointed for leadership.
“Peter further expresses Jesus’ identity as ‘the son of the living God,’ an expression that has special significance in the area of Caesarea Philippi with its plethora of ancient Baal, Pan, and Caesar worship. Jesus is the Son of the God who is living, not like those mythical, superstitious figures etched in stone. Even more significantly . . . Jesus is uniquely Gods Son.”[1] As announced at his conception, at his baptism, at his temptations, and as the evil spirits stated when they were confronted by Jesus, Jesus has a special relationship with God the Father, with HIS Father. He is different than any other Messiah figure. He is Messiah, and the Son of God.
Peter probably didn’t fully understand what he was saying, but he is growing. And Jesus commends him. “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for God has revealed this to you.” Peter was blessed by God when he chose him to know this, to say this. Jesus continues: “From now on you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Basically, Jesus is saying, You are rock, and on this rock I will build my church. Peter will be a key figure in the church, the new community of believers. He is a natural leader who did play a foundational role in the early church, as the book of Acts tells us.
This is also the first time that the word “church’ is used, from ecclesia which means a community or assembly. His disciples will be his church, a fellowship of those who believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and who risk their lives for their faith. This church, this fellowship will endure. “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” “The powers of death and damnation are not as strong as the powers of God nor will those evil powers win the battle. The powers of death and evil are all around us, but these evil powers are not stronger than the church and its power of God within. Evil will lose out!!!”[2] And, through the power of God, the church, the body of Christ, will win!
Jesus then says that “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Jesus talked more about the kingdom of heaven than any other subject, and when he began his mission he said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near (Matt 3:2), and in the past months we have heard many parables referring to the kingdom of heaven as a pearl, a treasure, a grain of mustard, yeast, and even a farmer’s field. The kingdom of heaven is where Christ rules eternally. The kingdom of heaven is already and not yet, the once and future realm where Christ is king. While the Scribes and Pharisees work to lock people out of the kingdom of heaven, Peter and the church have the keys to let people in. The Scribes and the Pharisees had the authority for binding and loosing, which is to say what is permitted or forbidden. The church with Peter as its first leader is to open the door to the kingdom. “Through Peter’s preaching of the gospel and the preaching of others who follow him, sins are forgiven and entrance gained to the kingdom.”[3] Peter has the keys to the kingdom, and will open the doors to Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles. “People who receive the gospel are loosed from their sins so that they can enter the open door to the kingdom. People who reject the gospel message are bound in their sins, which will prevent them from entering the kingdom.”[4]
And the gospel reading ends with Jesus telling the disciples to be quiet about his identity, probably so his mission isn’t compromised due to misunderstanding. The crowds can be rather unruly, you know.
But Peter, Peter got it right for a change. You are the Christ the Son of the living God. Right for a moment, right this time, but next week it’s a different story.
So what is important for us? Perhaps the real key, the key to the kingdom, is linked to Jesus’ identity. There are lots of opinions on who Jesus is these days. Is he a great teacher, a prophet, a moral example? Is he one path among many paths? One truth among many truths? Is he relevant? Who is Jesus? Who do you say that I am? First of all, human opinion is not adequate. To understand Jesus is to be guided by the revelation of the Father in the teachings of the New Testament. The gospels clearly proclaim the good news of Jesus’ identity and his mission. Jesus is not just a way, he is The Way. Jesus is not just true for me, but he is The Truth. We are called to accept that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God—which is in fact more than we can comprehend on our own. Our understanding must be guided by God’s revelation as we open our hearts and minds to God and study his Word. But you, who do you say that I am?
[1] Wilkins, Michael J. The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew. Zondervan, p. 559.
[2] http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_a_the_keys_of_the_kingdomGA.htm
[3] Wilkins, 567.
[4] Ibid, 568.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Year A Proper 15, St. Mark's & St. James
I don’t usually title my sermons, but if I did, this one might be called “Who are those guys?” When I read the lessons for this week, what got my attention is that they are all about the “other.” Isaiah talks about the foreigners, the psalm talks about the nations, in Romans Paul talks about the Gentiles, and in our Gospel, Jesus has a curious exchange with a Canaanite woman. Who are those guys?
Those guys are basically anyone who wasn’t a Hebrew, anyone who wasn’t an Israelite, anyone who wasn’t a Jew. And I thought it might be interesting to review the Story of Salvation, God’s work in the world, in relation to the others, those who were not the Chosen people, those who are us. For the sake of simplicity, I will mostly call them The Nations. There’s the Israelites, and then there’s everyone else. The Nations.
In order to consider God’s work in the world, the story of salvation, of God redeeming his people, all in twelve minutes or less, we need to start at the beginning. The very beginning. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, and he pronounced it all to be Good. And the very pinnacle, the epitome of his creation was humankind, made in the very image of God. God made the whole universe for these people, and they were created for relationship: relationship to God as his highest creation and the focus of his purpose, and relationships with each other. Made in God’s image, which is trinity, which is relationship, humankind was created for relationship. And it was very good. In Eden, Adam and Eve enjoyed a perfect relationship with God and with each other. But God created them with free will. He wanted people to love him freely, to respond to him freely, but that also meant that they were free to rebel, free to choose something else. Wanting to be like gods, Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree. “The fall was a giant leap upward that went horribly wrong because it could not succeed. Dissatisfied with their humanness, the couple reached for godhood . . . [The result was] a condition that was less than human because it no longer consists primarily in a relationship with God that is characterized by love and trust.” [1] Sin and death entered the world, and increased over the next few generations until Noah, when God wiped out all but a small remnant. And still sin increased.
A few generations later, God put his plan into action. He chose one man: Abraham. Why Abraham? I think it’s mostly because he said yes. He was far from perfect, but for the most part, at important times, he trusted in God and was obedient to God’s direction. The real answer must be simply God’s grace.
To Abraham he promised many descendents, who would possess the Promised Land, and God would be their God. And through Abraham and his descendents, the entire world—the nations—would be blessed. God’s chosen people, his family, were to be a light and an example, a channel of blessing, to The Nations. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were chosen by God’s grace and it is through them and their descendents that God’s faithfulness will be revealed. Israel is God’s chosen nation, a people for himself.
Generations and centuries go by, and the Hebrew people are slaves in Egypt. God intervenes on their behalf through Moses, and they are delivered from their oppressors and they meet God at Mt. Sinai. “God has a job for them to do. They are to be a nation and kingdom that function like priests. Their task is to mediate God’s blessing to the nations and to act as a model people attracting all peoples to God (Ex. 19:3-6). This is the calling that will shape Israel from this point on: they are to be a showcase people and [a] model before the nations that embod[ies] the beauty of God’s original design for human life.”[2] And the people commit to being God’s faithful people. God goes with them, lives with them. They are his people and he is their God. And through this priestly people, all the Nations of the earth will be blessed. Through its own priests, Israel was to “learn how it as a nation could approach God through a priestly ministry. Then it would learn that the blessings of the covenant would one day overflow through them into the whole world.”[3]
But Israel failed, early on. Even while Moses was with God on the mountain, the people rebelled and were unfaithful and grumbling. They are sentenced to wander in the desert, and continue in their rebellion. Moses frequently intercedes with God on their behalf. But Israel seems incapable of keeping their side of the covenant. Israel’s unfaithfulness is matched only by God’s faithfulness. Finally, under new leadership, they enter the Promised Land, and it is good. God’s promise is fulfilled. And certain gentiles come to share with Israel in God’s promises. Through various ways and means, converts come into Israel. “There is no other revealed way of salvation than to become an Israelite;”[4] so Gentiles come in and share in God’s blessings.
God’s plan was for his people to live under his rule, but Israel cried out for a king, so they can be like The Nations. And God allows that. Israel’s kings were to live according to God’s covenant, to fear God and keep his commandments, and to be humble. Unfortunately that didn’t work out so well, either. While the Israelites desire safety and security, “they forget that God has committed himself in covenant to give them those things in a way that no pagan ruler could.”[5] The end up with Saul, David, Solomon, and the rest. Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem; and when the ark of the covenant is brought in, the glory of the Lord fills the house. God lives there, in the Temple. “Through this house and its ministry the covenant relationship is maintained. Even the promise to the Gentiles is focused here, for it is at the temple that foreigners can find acceptance with God. The temple is a witness to all the nations that God dwells in Israel . . . [and] a foreigner can be joined to the people of God only by coming to the temple, for it is here that God chooses to deal with those who seek him.”[6]
But things go downhill under a succession of ungodly, unfaithful rulers. Prophets warn the people about the way things were going, but it all continued to decline. God, who rules the entire universe, used the nations to chastise his rebellious people. The Kingdom of Israel divided and fell, its people scattered. All was not well. Finally a faithful remnant is able to return to Jerusalem, and rebuild the city and temple, only a dim shadow of its former glory. Through the prophets we come to understand that God’s grace alone will bring salvation to his people, people who fail, people who really deserve nothing. And though the prophets God “unfolds to them a way of salvation that not only applies to them, but that will one day in its fullness have significance for all the nations.”[7] Through a descendent of David, though a suffering servant of the Lord, salvation will come. He will bring salvation to Israel and light to the nations. And . . . eventually . . . Jesus comes into the world. Jesus, the seed of Abraham, the Son of David, through whom all nations will finally be blessed. The kingdom of God is at hand. It’s not what the Jews expected, and even Jesus himself saw his mission as being to the Jews. He ministered to Gentiles, including the Canaanite woman in today’s gospel, only at their initiative. But he also told his disciples to go into all the world, all the nations being witnesses to Jesus, bringing light to the nations. The nations will be gathered to Christ as the Gospel is preached in all the world, to all the nations. Go and make disciples of all nations.
The Apostle Paul did just that. His life mission was to take the gospel to all the nations, and he insisted “that the Gentiles were to be accepted into the community of believers apart from Jewish legal observance . . . solely on the basis of ‘faith in Christ’”[8]The barriers between Israelite and foreigner, between Jew and Gentile, were broken. Paul wrestled with the fact that the Jews in great part rejected Jesus, and concluded that the purpose of the calling of the Gentiles was to make the Jews jealous, and that salvation was still to come for the Jews.
At the end of the New Testament era, we find that the people of God include both Jews and gentiles, and the Church is the new Israel. The church is to be a light to the world. “Those guys” are us. That’s our calling, that’s our place in salvation history. To be a light to the world, to reveal God to the world, mediate God’s blessing to the world. The gospel is being preached among every people, tribe, language, and nation. And when Jesus comes again, he will rule all the nations. “All distinctions of gender, ethnicity or social class will be swallowed up in believers’ adoring relationship with God in Jesus Christ and their joint praise of the glory of their Lord and Saviour.”[9] Amen. Come Lord Jesus.
[1] Goldsworthy, Graeme. According to Plan The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible. IVP, 1991, p. 105.
[2] Bartholomew, Craig, & Michael Goheen. “The Story-Line of the Bible.” Retrieved 13 August, 2008.
[3] Goldsworthy, 141.
[4] Ibid, 153.
[5] Ibid, 165.
[6] Ibid, 169.
[7] Ibid, 181.
[8] Kostenberger, A.J. “The Nations.” New Dictionary of Biblical Theology,
[9] Ibid, 678.
Those guys are basically anyone who wasn’t a Hebrew, anyone who wasn’t an Israelite, anyone who wasn’t a Jew. And I thought it might be interesting to review the Story of Salvation, God’s work in the world, in relation to the others, those who were not the Chosen people, those who are us. For the sake of simplicity, I will mostly call them The Nations. There’s the Israelites, and then there’s everyone else. The Nations.
In order to consider God’s work in the world, the story of salvation, of God redeeming his people, all in twelve minutes or less, we need to start at the beginning. The very beginning. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, and he pronounced it all to be Good. And the very pinnacle, the epitome of his creation was humankind, made in the very image of God. God made the whole universe for these people, and they were created for relationship: relationship to God as his highest creation and the focus of his purpose, and relationships with each other. Made in God’s image, which is trinity, which is relationship, humankind was created for relationship. And it was very good. In Eden, Adam and Eve enjoyed a perfect relationship with God and with each other. But God created them with free will. He wanted people to love him freely, to respond to him freely, but that also meant that they were free to rebel, free to choose something else. Wanting to be like gods, Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree. “The fall was a giant leap upward that went horribly wrong because it could not succeed. Dissatisfied with their humanness, the couple reached for godhood . . . [The result was] a condition that was less than human because it no longer consists primarily in a relationship with God that is characterized by love and trust.” [1] Sin and death entered the world, and increased over the next few generations until Noah, when God wiped out all but a small remnant. And still sin increased.
A few generations later, God put his plan into action. He chose one man: Abraham. Why Abraham? I think it’s mostly because he said yes. He was far from perfect, but for the most part, at important times, he trusted in God and was obedient to God’s direction. The real answer must be simply God’s grace.
To Abraham he promised many descendents, who would possess the Promised Land, and God would be their God. And through Abraham and his descendents, the entire world—the nations—would be blessed. God’s chosen people, his family, were to be a light and an example, a channel of blessing, to The Nations. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were chosen by God’s grace and it is through them and their descendents that God’s faithfulness will be revealed. Israel is God’s chosen nation, a people for himself.
Generations and centuries go by, and the Hebrew people are slaves in Egypt. God intervenes on their behalf through Moses, and they are delivered from their oppressors and they meet God at Mt. Sinai. “God has a job for them to do. They are to be a nation and kingdom that function like priests. Their task is to mediate God’s blessing to the nations and to act as a model people attracting all peoples to God (Ex. 19:3-6). This is the calling that will shape Israel from this point on: they are to be a showcase people and [a] model before the nations that embod[ies] the beauty of God’s original design for human life.”[2] And the people commit to being God’s faithful people. God goes with them, lives with them. They are his people and he is their God. And through this priestly people, all the Nations of the earth will be blessed. Through its own priests, Israel was to “learn how it as a nation could approach God through a priestly ministry. Then it would learn that the blessings of the covenant would one day overflow through them into the whole world.”[3]
But Israel failed, early on. Even while Moses was with God on the mountain, the people rebelled and were unfaithful and grumbling. They are sentenced to wander in the desert, and continue in their rebellion. Moses frequently intercedes with God on their behalf. But Israel seems incapable of keeping their side of the covenant. Israel’s unfaithfulness is matched only by God’s faithfulness. Finally, under new leadership, they enter the Promised Land, and it is good. God’s promise is fulfilled. And certain gentiles come to share with Israel in God’s promises. Through various ways and means, converts come into Israel. “There is no other revealed way of salvation than to become an Israelite;”[4] so Gentiles come in and share in God’s blessings.
God’s plan was for his people to live under his rule, but Israel cried out for a king, so they can be like The Nations. And God allows that. Israel’s kings were to live according to God’s covenant, to fear God and keep his commandments, and to be humble. Unfortunately that didn’t work out so well, either. While the Israelites desire safety and security, “they forget that God has committed himself in covenant to give them those things in a way that no pagan ruler could.”[5] The end up with Saul, David, Solomon, and the rest. Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem; and when the ark of the covenant is brought in, the glory of the Lord fills the house. God lives there, in the Temple. “Through this house and its ministry the covenant relationship is maintained. Even the promise to the Gentiles is focused here, for it is at the temple that foreigners can find acceptance with God. The temple is a witness to all the nations that God dwells in Israel . . . [and] a foreigner can be joined to the people of God only by coming to the temple, for it is here that God chooses to deal with those who seek him.”[6]
But things go downhill under a succession of ungodly, unfaithful rulers. Prophets warn the people about the way things were going, but it all continued to decline. God, who rules the entire universe, used the nations to chastise his rebellious people. The Kingdom of Israel divided and fell, its people scattered. All was not well. Finally a faithful remnant is able to return to Jerusalem, and rebuild the city and temple, only a dim shadow of its former glory. Through the prophets we come to understand that God’s grace alone will bring salvation to his people, people who fail, people who really deserve nothing. And though the prophets God “unfolds to them a way of salvation that not only applies to them, but that will one day in its fullness have significance for all the nations.”[7] Through a descendent of David, though a suffering servant of the Lord, salvation will come. He will bring salvation to Israel and light to the nations. And . . . eventually . . . Jesus comes into the world. Jesus, the seed of Abraham, the Son of David, through whom all nations will finally be blessed. The kingdom of God is at hand. It’s not what the Jews expected, and even Jesus himself saw his mission as being to the Jews. He ministered to Gentiles, including the Canaanite woman in today’s gospel, only at their initiative. But he also told his disciples to go into all the world, all the nations being witnesses to Jesus, bringing light to the nations. The nations will be gathered to Christ as the Gospel is preached in all the world, to all the nations. Go and make disciples of all nations.
The Apostle Paul did just that. His life mission was to take the gospel to all the nations, and he insisted “that the Gentiles were to be accepted into the community of believers apart from Jewish legal observance . . . solely on the basis of ‘faith in Christ’”[8]The barriers between Israelite and foreigner, between Jew and Gentile, were broken. Paul wrestled with the fact that the Jews in great part rejected Jesus, and concluded that the purpose of the calling of the Gentiles was to make the Jews jealous, and that salvation was still to come for the Jews.
At the end of the New Testament era, we find that the people of God include both Jews and gentiles, and the Church is the new Israel. The church is to be a light to the world. “Those guys” are us. That’s our calling, that’s our place in salvation history. To be a light to the world, to reveal God to the world, mediate God’s blessing to the world. The gospel is being preached among every people, tribe, language, and nation. And when Jesus comes again, he will rule all the nations. “All distinctions of gender, ethnicity or social class will be swallowed up in believers’ adoring relationship with God in Jesus Christ and their joint praise of the glory of their Lord and Saviour.”[9] Amen. Come Lord Jesus.
[1] Goldsworthy, Graeme. According to Plan The Unfolding Revelation of God in the Bible. IVP, 1991, p. 105.
[2] Bartholomew, Craig, & Michael Goheen. “The Story-Line of the Bible.” Retrieved 13 August, 2008.
[3] Goldsworthy, 141.
[4] Ibid, 153.
[5] Ibid, 165.
[6] Ibid, 169.
[7] Ibid, 181.
[8] Kostenberger, A.J. “The Nations.” New Dictionary of Biblical Theology,
[9] Ibid, 678.
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