Rectors Rambling October 2010 II
After the refreshment of an early morning rain, the heaviness of the September heat is already beginning to assert itself. The terriers, after their early morning constitutional, are draped rather unceremoniously across the master bed, and the rooster is announcing his dominance of the day. There is a hint of fog in the front pasture, and Tristan’s deployment flag hangs listlessly. I pray that his day is as uneventful as this morning seems to be.
Yesterday at the mid-week communion, we heard the lessons for the autumnal ember days, those days set aside by our holy mother the church for all of God’s people to pray for “the increase of the ministry.” The old phrase has nothing to do with my girth or the size of my bank account. Rather it has to do with the setting apart of persons to serve God in Christian ministry. While all ministry is included in the concept, there has historically been an emphasis on the vocations of priest, deacon, monk, nun, and friar. I hope with all my heart that at this turn of the seasons, we might all pray that God would do his work in the hearts of many that they might hear and follow God’s call in their lives. I would also encourage all of us who have influence in the lives of the young to help them consider God’s call in their lives. Our society does so much to prepare our children and grandchildren for the future. We make sure that they study math and English and history. We teach them about healthy choices and encourage them to play sports that they might learn about the challenges and hardships of life. But we do a very poor job of calling them to consider God’s claim on their lives. We ask them what they would like to do after graduation, and all of our pre-admissions college testing is designed to help them determine where they might be successful, but we so seldom lead them to ask what God would have them to do. Let us fulfill our responsibilities on these ember days to be God’s agents for the increase of the ministry… And His Holy Name will be glorified in this place.
Fall also marks the beginning of our stewardship process at St. John’s. The vestry has already discussed how we might proceed, and the budget committee will be meeting in the days to come. I hope everyone who loves St. John’s will consider how God would have you to give of your time, talents, and money as we begin this period of discernment. I would offer a short list of suggestions as you consider your pledge this year.
1. We need volunteers in the area of worship such as lectors, ushers, choristers, altar guild members, and acolytes.
2. We need volunteers in outreach, especially in nursing home ministry, prayer ministry on Monday night and on Thursdays at Pickering House, parish health, and pastoral care.
3. Pray and ask God what he would have you to do. Remember that it is very easy to get too many irons in the fire. When he calls you to engage in one ministry, he may be calling you to disengage in another.
4. Pray and ask God what he would have you to give financially. The answer he gives you will probably surprise you by its size. Step out in faith and make adjustments to your discretionary spending patterns in order to fully fund the figure that seems right to you as you pray. God will be glorified by your obedience, and the work of the Kingdom will be accomplished.
5. Never forget that we are called to follow Jesus in the way of the cross. If stewardship seems easy, we are probably not giving enough in some category.
6. Finally, consider giving of yourself by attending Christian worship every week in the year to come. Jesus gave us very few direct admonitions, but he says that we should receive the sacrament when we meet together, and the Scriptures tell us to “forsake not the assembling of ourselves.” In the long run, the Kingdom of God will go forth with or without our time, talents, and money. We would be the poorer in such a world, but God’s kingdom would continue to exist and function. The real basis of our life together is to follow him in obedience, and a significant part of that obedience is to meet together each week to hear the Word and receive the Sacrament.
As a sultry September rolls into October, let us give thanks for small things in our lives, for dogs and gentle rains, and blued metal on fine walnut, for bamboo fly rods, and the abundance of the world. May God bless us all, and guide us as we pledge ourselves, and all that we love, to his service.
Sincerely,
Bill+
Saturday, September 25, 2010
What Really Matters
Sermon Proper 21 C The Sunday closest to September 28
I Timothy 6:6-19
Luke 16:19-31
Preached at St. John’s Lancaster
We Americans tend to be a rather pragmatic people; and that is not a bad thing- as a general rule. Like the Ancient Romans, whose heirs we are in so many ways, we are inventive and flexible, willing to borrow good ideas whatever their source, and generally ready to put in the hard work to make a program work if we are convinced of its value. But the problem with pragmatism is that it tends to imagine that whatever works is ultimately right, and that is not always the case. Slavery worked pretty well in the pre-machine era. Paying sub-living wages without benefits works pretty well in a geographic area where there are lots of undocumented workers (or illegal aliens, you choose the term) and little enforcement of fair labor practices. A second potential problem with pragmatism is that it can easily come to value that which is quantifiable and measurable over that which is harder to conceive in material terms. Instead of valuing “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness” as our epistle lesson today encourages us to do, pragmatism taken to excess can lead us to measure the worth of our lives and the lives of those around us in terms of more visible economic factors. Disposable income, short term financial security, diversification of resources, and running in the right circles, power or control over others, can and often do replace those more illusive and hard to define virtues commended by St. Paul.
Today’s Gospel lesson tells the story of Dives and Lazarus, who lived in a town in ancient Israel and saw each other almost every day. One was very poor and one was very rich. But after their deaths, the poor man went into Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man went to that other place. Their Earthly roles were as it were reversed. When the rich man, Dives, cried out for mercy and sought relief for his 5 still living brothers if not for himself, he was told in no uncertain terms that we are all responsible for the decisions we make in life, and that his 5 brothers, like himself, must use the many resources God had given them to turn to him, amend their lives, and do the right thing. Jesus goes on to say that even the miracle of one rising from the dead would be unlikely to change their hearts, because they had decided long ago to pursue wealth and power and pleasure rather than the things of God. The blessings they had received had become idols and in effect turned their heads, and caused them to ignore those things which really are important, those things that we cannot measure in an account book; things like “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.”
The Fathers of the Church generally studied the scriptures by employing various independent methodologies to examine and evaluate the text, much like our Education for Ministry group does today when they engage in theological reflection. One of their standard methodologies was to look for hidden allegorical meanings in the Scriptural passage they were prayerfully studying. They sought to discern if God was telling them anything in the symbols, the numbers, or the circumstances of the story itself. St. Jerome, who lived from 347 to 420 and translated the Bible into Latin, looked into the symbolism of Lazarus and the 5 brothers of Dives, the rich man, and noted a deep and abiding truth about the nature of that pragmatic outlook which is so prevalent among us today. In his Homily on Lazarus and Dives, Jerome observed that Lazarus, the poor man, had much in common with the call of Jesus for us all to walk away from the wealth of the world and to embrace the things of God. He went on to say, “…you have five brothers: sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch. These are the brothers to whom formerly you were enslaved. Since they were the brothers you loved, you could not love your brother Lazarus. Naturally, you could not love him as brother, because you loved them. Those brothers have no love for poverty. Your sight, your sense of smell, your taste, and your sense of touch were your brothers. These brothers of yours loved wealth, and they had no eye for poverty.” You see, Dives found himself unable to see and respond to Lazarus, the true spiritual poverty of Christ, because he was so enamored by the wonderful sensory input that was all around him. He was so focused on those things that he could experience in a measurable and tactile manner that he lost sight of those more immeasurable and spiritual things: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. So in our pragmatism, we must be very careful or we will become so caught up in those things that we know by the means of this world, that we fail to apprehend the truths of the Holy Spirit, which are again: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.
We, like the men and women of every era, have a tendency to focus on those things that are immediately around us, and in our busyness and amidst the responsibilities of life, we tend to focus on those things which we immediately perceive with our five senses. Perhaps the pragmatic, or “do what works” nature of our own age even makes these tendencies more pronounced. It is good to be attentive, and it is good to be practical, and it is good to employ those five senses that our Lord has given us and blessed by his own incarnation. But we must be very careful not to overdo a good thing, giving primacy to our sensory perceptions and our willingness to declare something good just because it works to the exclusion of those more important things: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. It is so easy like Dives to become so enamored by the distractions of sensory luxury and pleasure that we fail to see our brother Lazarus, who is Christ’s call for us to focus on the development of that spiritual poverty which is the door to heaven’s joys.
Before concluding today, I must return from St. Jerome’s spiritual interpretation of the parable of Dives and Lazarus to a more conventional interpretation which is every bit as valid. If we fail to see the poor in our midst and do what we can to help them, we will pay the price for our failure at the judgment. God expects us to use the gifts with which he has entrusted us to help our neighbors in need. Among us there will be differences of how this might best be done. Some will advocate for increased government action and some will call for more private sector efforts. Some will call for a greater proportion of direct aid in cash and kind and others will stress education and joint service to a greater degree. Some will call for immediate and direct aid , and others will call for more stringent, and perhaps slower, methodologies of delivery to address the possibility of fraud. We may disagree about how best to help those in need, but every Christian must heed the call of our Saviour to help those in need. The consequences of failing to heed this call are eternal.
In today’s lessons, I see a dual message. The more immediate reality is that there are many people today who suffer the ravages of poverty, and we as Christians are required to help them. The second is just as real, but perhaps seems less immediate in our day to day lives. It is that we sometimes get so caught up the physical aspects of life that we neglect those spiritual realities which ought to define who we are and how we behave. Would the people who know you best say that you are righteous, godly, and filled with faith and love for God and man? Would they say that your daily life is characterized by endurance and gentleness which is an inspiration to those around you? If not, perhaps you have chosen over the years to serve those five brothers of whom blessed Jerome preached. Perhaps today is the time to invite God to turn your heart from the pleasures and responsibilities of this world, that you might see Jesus more clearly, and serve him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
I Timothy 6:6-19
Luke 16:19-31
Preached at St. John’s Lancaster
We Americans tend to be a rather pragmatic people; and that is not a bad thing- as a general rule. Like the Ancient Romans, whose heirs we are in so many ways, we are inventive and flexible, willing to borrow good ideas whatever their source, and generally ready to put in the hard work to make a program work if we are convinced of its value. But the problem with pragmatism is that it tends to imagine that whatever works is ultimately right, and that is not always the case. Slavery worked pretty well in the pre-machine era. Paying sub-living wages without benefits works pretty well in a geographic area where there are lots of undocumented workers (or illegal aliens, you choose the term) and little enforcement of fair labor practices. A second potential problem with pragmatism is that it can easily come to value that which is quantifiable and measurable over that which is harder to conceive in material terms. Instead of valuing “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness” as our epistle lesson today encourages us to do, pragmatism taken to excess can lead us to measure the worth of our lives and the lives of those around us in terms of more visible economic factors. Disposable income, short term financial security, diversification of resources, and running in the right circles, power or control over others, can and often do replace those more illusive and hard to define virtues commended by St. Paul.
Today’s Gospel lesson tells the story of Dives and Lazarus, who lived in a town in ancient Israel and saw each other almost every day. One was very poor and one was very rich. But after their deaths, the poor man went into Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man went to that other place. Their Earthly roles were as it were reversed. When the rich man, Dives, cried out for mercy and sought relief for his 5 still living brothers if not for himself, he was told in no uncertain terms that we are all responsible for the decisions we make in life, and that his 5 brothers, like himself, must use the many resources God had given them to turn to him, amend their lives, and do the right thing. Jesus goes on to say that even the miracle of one rising from the dead would be unlikely to change their hearts, because they had decided long ago to pursue wealth and power and pleasure rather than the things of God. The blessings they had received had become idols and in effect turned their heads, and caused them to ignore those things which really are important, those things that we cannot measure in an account book; things like “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.”
The Fathers of the Church generally studied the scriptures by employing various independent methodologies to examine and evaluate the text, much like our Education for Ministry group does today when they engage in theological reflection. One of their standard methodologies was to look for hidden allegorical meanings in the Scriptural passage they were prayerfully studying. They sought to discern if God was telling them anything in the symbols, the numbers, or the circumstances of the story itself. St. Jerome, who lived from 347 to 420 and translated the Bible into Latin, looked into the symbolism of Lazarus and the 5 brothers of Dives, the rich man, and noted a deep and abiding truth about the nature of that pragmatic outlook which is so prevalent among us today. In his Homily on Lazarus and Dives, Jerome observed that Lazarus, the poor man, had much in common with the call of Jesus for us all to walk away from the wealth of the world and to embrace the things of God. He went on to say, “…you have five brothers: sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch. These are the brothers to whom formerly you were enslaved. Since they were the brothers you loved, you could not love your brother Lazarus. Naturally, you could not love him as brother, because you loved them. Those brothers have no love for poverty. Your sight, your sense of smell, your taste, and your sense of touch were your brothers. These brothers of yours loved wealth, and they had no eye for poverty.” You see, Dives found himself unable to see and respond to Lazarus, the true spiritual poverty of Christ, because he was so enamored by the wonderful sensory input that was all around him. He was so focused on those things that he could experience in a measurable and tactile manner that he lost sight of those more immeasurable and spiritual things: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. So in our pragmatism, we must be very careful or we will become so caught up in those things that we know by the means of this world, that we fail to apprehend the truths of the Holy Spirit, which are again: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.
We, like the men and women of every era, have a tendency to focus on those things that are immediately around us, and in our busyness and amidst the responsibilities of life, we tend to focus on those things which we immediately perceive with our five senses. Perhaps the pragmatic, or “do what works” nature of our own age even makes these tendencies more pronounced. It is good to be attentive, and it is good to be practical, and it is good to employ those five senses that our Lord has given us and blessed by his own incarnation. But we must be very careful not to overdo a good thing, giving primacy to our sensory perceptions and our willingness to declare something good just because it works to the exclusion of those more important things: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. It is so easy like Dives to become so enamored by the distractions of sensory luxury and pleasure that we fail to see our brother Lazarus, who is Christ’s call for us to focus on the development of that spiritual poverty which is the door to heaven’s joys.
Before concluding today, I must return from St. Jerome’s spiritual interpretation of the parable of Dives and Lazarus to a more conventional interpretation which is every bit as valid. If we fail to see the poor in our midst and do what we can to help them, we will pay the price for our failure at the judgment. God expects us to use the gifts with which he has entrusted us to help our neighbors in need. Among us there will be differences of how this might best be done. Some will advocate for increased government action and some will call for more private sector efforts. Some will call for a greater proportion of direct aid in cash and kind and others will stress education and joint service to a greater degree. Some will call for immediate and direct aid , and others will call for more stringent, and perhaps slower, methodologies of delivery to address the possibility of fraud. We may disagree about how best to help those in need, but every Christian must heed the call of our Saviour to help those in need. The consequences of failing to heed this call are eternal.
In today’s lessons, I see a dual message. The more immediate reality is that there are many people today who suffer the ravages of poverty, and we as Christians are required to help them. The second is just as real, but perhaps seems less immediate in our day to day lives. It is that we sometimes get so caught up the physical aspects of life that we neglect those spiritual realities which ought to define who we are and how we behave. Would the people who know you best say that you are righteous, godly, and filled with faith and love for God and man? Would they say that your daily life is characterized by endurance and gentleness which is an inspiration to those around you? If not, perhaps you have chosen over the years to serve those five brothers of whom blessed Jerome preached. Perhaps today is the time to invite God to turn your heart from the pleasures and responsibilities of this world, that you might see Jesus more clearly, and serve him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Real Stewardship
Sermon Proper 20C
Luke 16:1-13
Preached at St. John’s Lancaster
Today’s Gospel lesson has always left me scratching my head just a bit. Why would Jesus take a man as deceitful as the steward and use him as an example of anything good? I suppose in the past, I’ve always avoided looking up the answer by simply preaching on one of the other texts, but this year, I have decided to work through the question, and here is the answer I found in a book by the Rev’d Canon Leon Morris, who served as Warden of Tyndale House Cambridge, Principal of Ridley College, Melbourne, and visiting Professor of New Testament studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School outside Chicago. Canon Morris holds a Ph.D in New Testament studies from Cambridge, and was the general editor of the Tyndale New Testament commentary, probably the last great Anglican commentary produced in the 20th century. By anyone’s standard, he is one of the ‘go to’ scholars of the last century.
It seems that the unjust steward in today’s lesson was what today we would call a factor; an estate manager who was responsible for the day to day running of the estate, and usually acted as he saw fit without the knowledge or daily oversight of the owner. It may be that the amounts by which he discounted the accounts were commissions which were coming to him, but even if that were the case, and we cannot be sure that it was, he was a man who was guilty of employing the law in a way that left the letter intact, but ignored the spirit of the same. Jewish usury laws were designed to protect the poor from avaricious lenders, and to prevent the rise of widespread penury in the land. But over the years, a legal fiction arose which maintained that as long as the transactions were done in kind, and not in cash, and as long as the debtor’s entire store of the commodity was not exhausted by the creditor, usury had not taken place. By means of this fiction, individuals and families were left with a barn full of grain or a relatively substantial supply of oil, but came to assume tremendous, and even crippling debts. Think of an unscrupulous credit card company or bank today who charged say 15 or 18% interest, but added fees upon fees to make the debt virtually unpayable, and which was almost always willing to increase credit limits for customers who were in trouble. A cursory reading of the contract might seem to indicate a fair rate for unsecured debt, but the devil was in the fine print, where the fees and penalties multiplied so quickly. The amounts involved in these transactions were enormous. In the first example of the oil, the amounts indicate the entire annual output of 146 olive trees, a sizable orchard for the time. In the second example of the wheat, they are talking about the output of about 100 acres by the production standards of the day. Remember that all labor was by hand, and the only machine was a simple wooden plow without a moldboard and pulled by oxen or donkeys. In this case, the Factor, the unjust steward, seems to have built himself quite a little empire, completely legally, but utterly unscrupulously, without the knowledge of the Laird of the manor. When the Laird returned from his travels and discovered how his factor was treating his neighbors, he was furious. There was no grounds for imprisonment, but dismissal was certainly in order. And so the Factor went to the debtors whom he had lured into debt, and offered to cut his own profits (his commissions if you will) in order to ingratiate himself with his victims. His thought was that even when the Laird sacked him and blackballed him with the other lairds, he would be welcomed into the houses of those debtors whose fortunes he had saved. The Laird was astounded, and decided to keep such a cunning businessman on the payroll, but in all probability, he watched him a bit more closely in the future.
Jesus doubtless struck a chord with his hearers when he told this story. They had all run into men like the unjust steward. Perhaps many of them had found themselves in debt to such a man. While they were simmering with anger at their own memories of such men, Jesus said. “Such men know how to make the most out of even a bad situation. What do you do with the situations of your lives? God gives all of you certain opportunities, certain commodities with which to make your way in the world. Are you using them wisely to advance the kingdom of God? Do you use your resources to help your neighbors in need? Do you squeeze the last bit of good out of every bit of wealth with which God has entrusted you? Or do you simply sit back and do nothing, letting the resources of God accumulate dust while people made in His image are suffering all around you. I call upon you to use everything God has given you actively and wisely and boldly to advance the kingdom of God. The children of this world are so much better at this than you. Learn to be faithful in small things, and God will entrust you with much. Be wise in your work to establish the kingdom of heaven, and at the end of the age you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings!”
The question remains for us today. How are you doing as a steward of the blessings that God has brought into your life? Do you give of your money to support the work of God in the world? The Bible indicates that 10% is a reasonable place for us to start. Do you nourish your soul and mind , the imagio Dei, the image of God, by regular study of God’s ways and by attendance upon the sacraments Christ has given for our salvation? Do you volunteer at church and in the community in order to help those less fortunate than you? At the end of the day, today’s lessons are about stewardship, and they call us to invest boldly in the things of God. Our time, our talents, our treasure, and the care of our own souls are all the proper objects of stewardship. God gave his all for us, and now, he calls us to take up our cross and follow him by sacrificing and taking the risks necessary to do the work of his kingdom. Sometimes, those who are in the world do a much better job than we do in cultivating and employing the resources at their disposal. We are called to give to the maintenance of our holy mother the church, to relieve the suffering of the destitute, and to enable the good news of Jesus to be proclaimed to all people. Think on these things this week as you divide your time, as you do your banking, and as you have opportunity to apprehend the needs all around us. God will bless you as you put him first, and you will lay up for yourself treasure in heaven. AMEN.
Luke 16:1-13
Preached at St. John’s Lancaster
Today’s Gospel lesson has always left me scratching my head just a bit. Why would Jesus take a man as deceitful as the steward and use him as an example of anything good? I suppose in the past, I’ve always avoided looking up the answer by simply preaching on one of the other texts, but this year, I have decided to work through the question, and here is the answer I found in a book by the Rev’d Canon Leon Morris, who served as Warden of Tyndale House Cambridge, Principal of Ridley College, Melbourne, and visiting Professor of New Testament studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School outside Chicago. Canon Morris holds a Ph.D in New Testament studies from Cambridge, and was the general editor of the Tyndale New Testament commentary, probably the last great Anglican commentary produced in the 20th century. By anyone’s standard, he is one of the ‘go to’ scholars of the last century.
It seems that the unjust steward in today’s lesson was what today we would call a factor; an estate manager who was responsible for the day to day running of the estate, and usually acted as he saw fit without the knowledge or daily oversight of the owner. It may be that the amounts by which he discounted the accounts were commissions which were coming to him, but even if that were the case, and we cannot be sure that it was, he was a man who was guilty of employing the law in a way that left the letter intact, but ignored the spirit of the same. Jewish usury laws were designed to protect the poor from avaricious lenders, and to prevent the rise of widespread penury in the land. But over the years, a legal fiction arose which maintained that as long as the transactions were done in kind, and not in cash, and as long as the debtor’s entire store of the commodity was not exhausted by the creditor, usury had not taken place. By means of this fiction, individuals and families were left with a barn full of grain or a relatively substantial supply of oil, but came to assume tremendous, and even crippling debts. Think of an unscrupulous credit card company or bank today who charged say 15 or 18% interest, but added fees upon fees to make the debt virtually unpayable, and which was almost always willing to increase credit limits for customers who were in trouble. A cursory reading of the contract might seem to indicate a fair rate for unsecured debt, but the devil was in the fine print, where the fees and penalties multiplied so quickly. The amounts involved in these transactions were enormous. In the first example of the oil, the amounts indicate the entire annual output of 146 olive trees, a sizable orchard for the time. In the second example of the wheat, they are talking about the output of about 100 acres by the production standards of the day. Remember that all labor was by hand, and the only machine was a simple wooden plow without a moldboard and pulled by oxen or donkeys. In this case, the Factor, the unjust steward, seems to have built himself quite a little empire, completely legally, but utterly unscrupulously, without the knowledge of the Laird of the manor. When the Laird returned from his travels and discovered how his factor was treating his neighbors, he was furious. There was no grounds for imprisonment, but dismissal was certainly in order. And so the Factor went to the debtors whom he had lured into debt, and offered to cut his own profits (his commissions if you will) in order to ingratiate himself with his victims. His thought was that even when the Laird sacked him and blackballed him with the other lairds, he would be welcomed into the houses of those debtors whose fortunes he had saved. The Laird was astounded, and decided to keep such a cunning businessman on the payroll, but in all probability, he watched him a bit more closely in the future.
Jesus doubtless struck a chord with his hearers when he told this story. They had all run into men like the unjust steward. Perhaps many of them had found themselves in debt to such a man. While they were simmering with anger at their own memories of such men, Jesus said. “Such men know how to make the most out of even a bad situation. What do you do with the situations of your lives? God gives all of you certain opportunities, certain commodities with which to make your way in the world. Are you using them wisely to advance the kingdom of God? Do you use your resources to help your neighbors in need? Do you squeeze the last bit of good out of every bit of wealth with which God has entrusted you? Or do you simply sit back and do nothing, letting the resources of God accumulate dust while people made in His image are suffering all around you. I call upon you to use everything God has given you actively and wisely and boldly to advance the kingdom of God. The children of this world are so much better at this than you. Learn to be faithful in small things, and God will entrust you with much. Be wise in your work to establish the kingdom of heaven, and at the end of the age you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings!”
The question remains for us today. How are you doing as a steward of the blessings that God has brought into your life? Do you give of your money to support the work of God in the world? The Bible indicates that 10% is a reasonable place for us to start. Do you nourish your soul and mind , the imagio Dei, the image of God, by regular study of God’s ways and by attendance upon the sacraments Christ has given for our salvation? Do you volunteer at church and in the community in order to help those less fortunate than you? At the end of the day, today’s lessons are about stewardship, and they call us to invest boldly in the things of God. Our time, our talents, our treasure, and the care of our own souls are all the proper objects of stewardship. God gave his all for us, and now, he calls us to take up our cross and follow him by sacrificing and taking the risks necessary to do the work of his kingdom. Sometimes, those who are in the world do a much better job than we do in cultivating and employing the resources at their disposal. We are called to give to the maintenance of our holy mother the church, to relieve the suffering of the destitute, and to enable the good news of Jesus to be proclaimed to all people. Think on these things this week as you divide your time, as you do your banking, and as you have opportunity to apprehend the needs all around us. God will bless you as you put him first, and you will lay up for yourself treasure in heaven. AMEN.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Reflections on Forgiveness
Proper 19C: The Sunday Closest to September 14
Exodus 32:7-14
Psalm 51:1-11
I Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-10
Preached at St. John's Lancaster
And they said of Jesus, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” “So He told them this parable…and he told them, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Are you happy when a sinner repents? I don’t mean a person who has had some bad breaks and then things come together for them, or a person who really needs to grow up, who comes to his or her senses. I mean a really bad person who rebels against God and hurts other people. I would suppose that for most of us, it depends on who the sinner is and what the sinner has done. When I see someone who has squandered their life and happiness in drink, drugs, or sex that is not particularly related to my family, I am thrilled that such a person comes to terms with their past and with God, and I wish them nothing but the best. But what about when it is closer to home? What about that former spouse who was so abusive, and who destroyed the people who were nearest and dearest to me? What about the drunk driver who robbed my son or daughter of life or health or reason? What about the child molester or the murderer or the terrorist? Then, for almost all of us, the command to follow the example of Jesus and the Holy Angels becomes much, much more difficult.
The Gospel lesson makes it hard enough, that I should be happy over the repentance of such a person, and that I should be willing to welcome their presence; but today’s Old Testament lesson makes it even harder, and as it were raises the bar to a seemingly impossible level. The children of Israel had fallen into idolatry almost as soon as Moses left them to go up on the mountain. By their calculated actions, they had despised everything Moses had done, and mocked God Himself. By my standards, Moses would have been very justified to be angry with such a people, but when God announced His determination to judge the people there in the wilderness, Moses poured out his heart with all of the love and eloquence he could muster. “Oh Lord…turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people.” You see, Moses went far beyond simply standing back and being happy and welcoming those who had rebelled against God and hurt him personally after they decided to turn again to the Father. He actively interceded that God might have mercy on them and give them another chance to live lives of fullness, joy, and opportunity. The Bible calls us all today to consider whether we are willing to do as much.
Yesterday was the anniversary of the attack on our country, and on our culture, that we have come to call simply “9-11.” Flags across our land were flown at half-staff, memorial services were held, and patriotic and devotional e-mails were sent by the thousands between Americans who still struggle to deal with the shock and horror of that day. In the midst of our grief and anger, we still sometimes wish to strike out, and our words and attitudes seem intuitively justified. The only problem is that our religion, the way of the Cross, is counter-intuitive, and it calls us to love our enemies, to pray for those who despitefully use us and persecute us. In imitation of our Lord, we are called not only to be welcoming to sinners and to rejoice at their conversion. We are called as the people of God to actively work to be the agents of God’s mercy to the most guilty people in this world. We are called to be peacemakers where there is no peace, and to bring reconciliation where there is nothing but mistrust and hatred.
So often, we make excuses to escape the clear teaching of God to follow the example not only of Jesus and the Angels, but of Moses as well. We say that in the midst of our grief, we are working through the stages of healing, and that anger is an important part of that process. That may be true, but to stagnate in one stage of the process is not merely bad mental health- it is sin against God, because it represents a denial of his ability to bring us healing and a disregard for the clear command of Scripture. Many of us have also claimed the responsibility of bringing God’s justice and retribution on the evil that is so real in this world. St. Paul makes it abundantly clear that governments are instituted among men to restrain evil, but he, along with the rest of the Biblical authors, also makes it abundantly clear that it is God who is ultimately the judge, and the vindicator. We humans ought to be very careful that the power we may hold in our political and economic institutions is used with compassion and a true regard for justice for all who are made in the image of God.
In clear language then, God calls all of us who have given our Lives to Jesus Christ to embrace a new way of forgiveness and sacrifice. He calls us to be willing to work and live in such a way that everyone, even our most decided enemies, might be drawn to know the love of God and the saving transformation of relationship with Jesus. When I consider such a high standard, such a difficult order, I realize that I cannot do this thing on my own, for my anger is too great, my hurt too deep. And this is where God speaks to us today in St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Paul humbly follows the example of King David in today’s Psalm and admits that this is not a thing he can do on his own. In fact, he acknowledges that in times past, he was the chief of sinners, a blasphemer who persecuted and hounded the church of God. But in spite of such a past, God strengthened him, judged him faithful, and appointed him to heavenly service. As the free and unmerited grace and love of God flowed through his heart, Paul was transformed into an example of God’s patience, that in Christ Jesus even the most notorious sinner might come to believe in Him unto eternal life. We serve that same God who called, cleansed, and empowered the Apostle to be an example of God’s love…that all people might come to acclaim Him as Saviour and Lord. As He empowered Paul, so He will empower you and me, for He has called us and set us apart for the task, and where He calls, He enables.
To be sure, the task is daunting. In a world so often filled with the darkness of hatred, violence, retribution, and justification of the same, we are called to bring the light of Christ. We are called to be different: to live beyond the hatred, to seek alternatives to the violence, to eschew the retribution, and to resist the attempts to justify the same. Through us, God has deigned for His light to shine into the world that all might be saved.
And so, as we come to our God at this table on this day, let us recall in our minds those most painful times, those most horrendous offences against ourselves and God, and let us seek his grace that we might forgive others as we have been forgiven. Jesus said that without such forgiveness, we will not find a place in His kingdom. Let us beseech Him today to heal our past memories, to fill our hearts with love, and to give us a strength not our own to rejoice over the sinner who repents, and to offer ourselves in service to even the most onerous people, that they might see the living Christ in us, and that by our example they might share with us in that forgiveness which comes only from God. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Exodus 32:7-14
Psalm 51:1-11
I Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-10
Preached at St. John's Lancaster
And they said of Jesus, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” “So He told them this parable…and he told them, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Are you happy when a sinner repents? I don’t mean a person who has had some bad breaks and then things come together for them, or a person who really needs to grow up, who comes to his or her senses. I mean a really bad person who rebels against God and hurts other people. I would suppose that for most of us, it depends on who the sinner is and what the sinner has done. When I see someone who has squandered their life and happiness in drink, drugs, or sex that is not particularly related to my family, I am thrilled that such a person comes to terms with their past and with God, and I wish them nothing but the best. But what about when it is closer to home? What about that former spouse who was so abusive, and who destroyed the people who were nearest and dearest to me? What about the drunk driver who robbed my son or daughter of life or health or reason? What about the child molester or the murderer or the terrorist? Then, for almost all of us, the command to follow the example of Jesus and the Holy Angels becomes much, much more difficult.
The Gospel lesson makes it hard enough, that I should be happy over the repentance of such a person, and that I should be willing to welcome their presence; but today’s Old Testament lesson makes it even harder, and as it were raises the bar to a seemingly impossible level. The children of Israel had fallen into idolatry almost as soon as Moses left them to go up on the mountain. By their calculated actions, they had despised everything Moses had done, and mocked God Himself. By my standards, Moses would have been very justified to be angry with such a people, but when God announced His determination to judge the people there in the wilderness, Moses poured out his heart with all of the love and eloquence he could muster. “Oh Lord…turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people.” You see, Moses went far beyond simply standing back and being happy and welcoming those who had rebelled against God and hurt him personally after they decided to turn again to the Father. He actively interceded that God might have mercy on them and give them another chance to live lives of fullness, joy, and opportunity. The Bible calls us all today to consider whether we are willing to do as much.
Yesterday was the anniversary of the attack on our country, and on our culture, that we have come to call simply “9-11.” Flags across our land were flown at half-staff, memorial services were held, and patriotic and devotional e-mails were sent by the thousands between Americans who still struggle to deal with the shock and horror of that day. In the midst of our grief and anger, we still sometimes wish to strike out, and our words and attitudes seem intuitively justified. The only problem is that our religion, the way of the Cross, is counter-intuitive, and it calls us to love our enemies, to pray for those who despitefully use us and persecute us. In imitation of our Lord, we are called not only to be welcoming to sinners and to rejoice at their conversion. We are called as the people of God to actively work to be the agents of God’s mercy to the most guilty people in this world. We are called to be peacemakers where there is no peace, and to bring reconciliation where there is nothing but mistrust and hatred.
So often, we make excuses to escape the clear teaching of God to follow the example not only of Jesus and the Angels, but of Moses as well. We say that in the midst of our grief, we are working through the stages of healing, and that anger is an important part of that process. That may be true, but to stagnate in one stage of the process is not merely bad mental health- it is sin against God, because it represents a denial of his ability to bring us healing and a disregard for the clear command of Scripture. Many of us have also claimed the responsibility of bringing God’s justice and retribution on the evil that is so real in this world. St. Paul makes it abundantly clear that governments are instituted among men to restrain evil, but he, along with the rest of the Biblical authors, also makes it abundantly clear that it is God who is ultimately the judge, and the vindicator. We humans ought to be very careful that the power we may hold in our political and economic institutions is used with compassion and a true regard for justice for all who are made in the image of God.
In clear language then, God calls all of us who have given our Lives to Jesus Christ to embrace a new way of forgiveness and sacrifice. He calls us to be willing to work and live in such a way that everyone, even our most decided enemies, might be drawn to know the love of God and the saving transformation of relationship with Jesus. When I consider such a high standard, such a difficult order, I realize that I cannot do this thing on my own, for my anger is too great, my hurt too deep. And this is where God speaks to us today in St. Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Paul humbly follows the example of King David in today’s Psalm and admits that this is not a thing he can do on his own. In fact, he acknowledges that in times past, he was the chief of sinners, a blasphemer who persecuted and hounded the church of God. But in spite of such a past, God strengthened him, judged him faithful, and appointed him to heavenly service. As the free and unmerited grace and love of God flowed through his heart, Paul was transformed into an example of God’s patience, that in Christ Jesus even the most notorious sinner might come to believe in Him unto eternal life. We serve that same God who called, cleansed, and empowered the Apostle to be an example of God’s love…that all people might come to acclaim Him as Saviour and Lord. As He empowered Paul, so He will empower you and me, for He has called us and set us apart for the task, and where He calls, He enables.
To be sure, the task is daunting. In a world so often filled with the darkness of hatred, violence, retribution, and justification of the same, we are called to bring the light of Christ. We are called to be different: to live beyond the hatred, to seek alternatives to the violence, to eschew the retribution, and to resist the attempts to justify the same. Through us, God has deigned for His light to shine into the world that all might be saved.
And so, as we come to our God at this table on this day, let us recall in our minds those most painful times, those most horrendous offences against ourselves and God, and let us seek his grace that we might forgive others as we have been forgiven. Jesus said that without such forgiveness, we will not find a place in His kingdom. Let us beseech Him today to heal our past memories, to fill our hearts with love, and to give us a strength not our own to rejoice over the sinner who repents, and to offer ourselves in service to even the most onerous people, that they might see the living Christ in us, and that by our example they might share with us in that forgiveness which comes only from God. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Choices
Proper 18C- the Sunday closest to September 7
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalm 1
Preached at St. John's, Lancaster
All of us make choices every day. Some of our choices are good, and some are, well, not so good. On occasion, all of us have even made choices that are just bad. I believe it was Archbishop Temple who said that “when we choose well, God reigns, and when we choose poorly, God reigns.” But today’s first lesson and Psalm are not about the impact of our choices on God’s sovereignty; rather they remind us that we are personally responsible for the choices we make, and that those choices do have consequences in this world, and in the world to come.
The problem with lectionary readings is that they tend to be removed from their context. Today’s first lesson, for example, consists of six verses which comprise an ancient near eastern suzerainty treaty offered by God to the people of Israel. The conqueror (God) offers to the subject people (Israel) a no nonsense proposition: “If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God…God will bless you…But if your heart turns away and you do not hear…you shall perish…” In reality, this “treaty proclamation” from a soverign Lord to a subject people is a small part of the farewell address of Moses to the Children of Israel. It begins at chapter 29, verse 2, and concludes at chapter 31, verse 15. It is just over two pages long, or 61 verses. Taken in the shortened form that we heard today, the choice sounds rather stark and forbidding, but taken in its full context, it paints a beautiful picture of the grace manifested usward by a loving heavenly Father. Let me illustrate by giving you a synopsis of Moses’ address to the people:
Paragraph 1: You all saw the great wonders by which God delivered you from the hand of Pharoah, but to this day you do not understand what really happened.
Paragraph 2: For forty years, you have been the recipient of God’s bounty and protection, your clothes never wore out, and you defeated enemies that were much stronger than you. Keep the provisions of His Covenant, and you will continue to be blessed by God.
Paragraph 3: You have come here today to pledge yourself to the covenant which God offered to our ancestors, but it is not with you alone that God makes the covenant. He makes it with your children and indeed with all those who will come after you.
Paragraph 4: If any of you today plan to give lip service to this covenant, but intend to follow your own stubbornness and serve false Gods instead of the true God, know that disaster will fall upon you, for you cannot hide your self-flattery and plotting from God.
Paragraph 5: If you refuse this covenant offered by God, your fate will become proverbial among all the nations of the earth.
Paragraph 6: There are mysteries hidden from the foundations of the world, but God has revealed this wisdom and this covenant to us and our children for ever, therefore let us keep its terms inviolate.
Paragraph 7: If you observe the terms of this covenant, God will gather you back to the land that He has prepared for you. Whatever you may have done, and wherever you may have been scattered, He will gather you back to the land of your ancestral yearning, and give you prosperity.
Paragraphs 8 and 9 bear repeating in full: “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and you will live. The Lord your God will turn all these curses against your enemies and the foes who persecute you. Then you will obey the Lord once more and keep all his commandments which I gave you this day. The Lord your God will make you prosperous in all that you do, in the fruit of your body and of your cattle and in the fruits of your soil; for, when you obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes, as they are written in this book of the law, and when you turn back to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, he will again rejoice over you and be good to you, as he rejoiced over your forefathers. This commandment that I lay on you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to the heavens for us to fetch it and tell it to us, so that we can keep it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to fetch it and tell it to us, so that we can keep it?’ It is a think very near to you, on your lips and in your heart ready to be kept.” and then comes today’s first lesson: “Today I offer you the choice of life and good, or death and evil.”
So you see, this Covenant is not merely a demand uttered in a vacuum to us mere mortals. God recounts the history of how he has taken care of his people that we might be encouraged to believe that he will take care of us as well. He states again the prophesy that even though we are scattered by our sins and the bad choices of the past, He will bring us together and give us a new start in the promised land. He will come and recondition our hearts and motives, and protect us from the enemies of our souls. He will instill in us such an overwhelming love for Himself that we will gladly follow these laws and statutes which he has given for our own good. Those laws and statutes which are not strangers to us, for they are clearly taught in the books of nature and revelation, that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. And that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us. God has not hidden his will from us, nor has he rendered us incapable of doing this good. Rather he has acted to reveal his will to us in the clear words of the Bible, to write it upon our hearts, and to so fill us with love that we will desire to do that which is right. Far from a stark and impossible choice offered to a conquered people, the Covenant of God is a divine and blessed way offered freely to a chosen people by a loving and merciful God. And so we rejoice with Bishop Caesarius of Arles, and with the saints of God through the ages that “God has put it into the power of each one to choose and to stretch out his hand to whatever he wishes,#” to good or to evil, to life or to death, to heaven or to hell.
Know that on this day, the God who made you in his image, who loved you enough to send His only Son to die for your sins, that same God calls and enables you to make the most important decision you will ever make. Receive His love, walk in His ways, live in joyous obedience to His revealed statutes, and he will fill your heart with peace, and with joy, and in the world to come, he will gather you into the promised land, the new Jerusalem. AMEN.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalm 1
Preached at St. John's, Lancaster
All of us make choices every day. Some of our choices are good, and some are, well, not so good. On occasion, all of us have even made choices that are just bad. I believe it was Archbishop Temple who said that “when we choose well, God reigns, and when we choose poorly, God reigns.” But today’s first lesson and Psalm are not about the impact of our choices on God’s sovereignty; rather they remind us that we are personally responsible for the choices we make, and that those choices do have consequences in this world, and in the world to come.
The problem with lectionary readings is that they tend to be removed from their context. Today’s first lesson, for example, consists of six verses which comprise an ancient near eastern suzerainty treaty offered by God to the people of Israel. The conqueror (God) offers to the subject people (Israel) a no nonsense proposition: “If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God…God will bless you…But if your heart turns away and you do not hear…you shall perish…” In reality, this “treaty proclamation” from a soverign Lord to a subject people is a small part of the farewell address of Moses to the Children of Israel. It begins at chapter 29, verse 2, and concludes at chapter 31, verse 15. It is just over two pages long, or 61 verses. Taken in the shortened form that we heard today, the choice sounds rather stark and forbidding, but taken in its full context, it paints a beautiful picture of the grace manifested usward by a loving heavenly Father. Let me illustrate by giving you a synopsis of Moses’ address to the people:
Paragraph 1: You all saw the great wonders by which God delivered you from the hand of Pharoah, but to this day you do not understand what really happened.
Paragraph 2: For forty years, you have been the recipient of God’s bounty and protection, your clothes never wore out, and you defeated enemies that were much stronger than you. Keep the provisions of His Covenant, and you will continue to be blessed by God.
Paragraph 3: You have come here today to pledge yourself to the covenant which God offered to our ancestors, but it is not with you alone that God makes the covenant. He makes it with your children and indeed with all those who will come after you.
Paragraph 4: If any of you today plan to give lip service to this covenant, but intend to follow your own stubbornness and serve false Gods instead of the true God, know that disaster will fall upon you, for you cannot hide your self-flattery and plotting from God.
Paragraph 5: If you refuse this covenant offered by God, your fate will become proverbial among all the nations of the earth.
Paragraph 6: There are mysteries hidden from the foundations of the world, but God has revealed this wisdom and this covenant to us and our children for ever, therefore let us keep its terms inviolate.
Paragraph 7: If you observe the terms of this covenant, God will gather you back to the land that He has prepared for you. Whatever you may have done, and wherever you may have been scattered, He will gather you back to the land of your ancestral yearning, and give you prosperity.
Paragraphs 8 and 9 bear repeating in full: “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and you will live. The Lord your God will turn all these curses against your enemies and the foes who persecute you. Then you will obey the Lord once more and keep all his commandments which I gave you this day. The Lord your God will make you prosperous in all that you do, in the fruit of your body and of your cattle and in the fruits of your soil; for, when you obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes, as they are written in this book of the law, and when you turn back to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, he will again rejoice over you and be good to you, as he rejoiced over your forefathers. This commandment that I lay on you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to the heavens for us to fetch it and tell it to us, so that we can keep it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to fetch it and tell it to us, so that we can keep it?’ It is a think very near to you, on your lips and in your heart ready to be kept.” and then comes today’s first lesson: “Today I offer you the choice of life and good, or death and evil.”
So you see, this Covenant is not merely a demand uttered in a vacuum to us mere mortals. God recounts the history of how he has taken care of his people that we might be encouraged to believe that he will take care of us as well. He states again the prophesy that even though we are scattered by our sins and the bad choices of the past, He will bring us together and give us a new start in the promised land. He will come and recondition our hearts and motives, and protect us from the enemies of our souls. He will instill in us such an overwhelming love for Himself that we will gladly follow these laws and statutes which he has given for our own good. Those laws and statutes which are not strangers to us, for they are clearly taught in the books of nature and revelation, that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves. And that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us. God has not hidden his will from us, nor has he rendered us incapable of doing this good. Rather he has acted to reveal his will to us in the clear words of the Bible, to write it upon our hearts, and to so fill us with love that we will desire to do that which is right. Far from a stark and impossible choice offered to a conquered people, the Covenant of God is a divine and blessed way offered freely to a chosen people by a loving and merciful God. And so we rejoice with Bishop Caesarius of Arles, and with the saints of God through the ages that “God has put it into the power of each one to choose and to stretch out his hand to whatever he wishes,#” to good or to evil, to life or to death, to heaven or to hell.
Know that on this day, the God who made you in his image, who loved you enough to send His only Son to die for your sins, that same God calls and enables you to make the most important decision you will ever make. Receive His love, walk in His ways, live in joyous obedience to His revealed statutes, and he will fill your heart with peace, and with joy, and in the world to come, he will gather you into the promised land, the new Jerusalem. AMEN.
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