May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: THANKSGIVING
PROPER:
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: November 22, 2001
TEXT: Deuteronomy 8:1-3,6-10, 17-20 – He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. . . . . Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant the he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.
ISSUE: Saying “thank you” is a basic admission and acknowledgment that we need someone else. From the Christian point of view, we acknowledge on this Thanksgiving Day our dependence upon and need for God. The Scripture reminds us that we do not live by our own power but we live by faith and trust in God. It is God who is the giver of all good things. We are the beneficiaries of God’s grace and the stewards of his gifts. To assume otherwise is to lead us into pride and human perversity.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I heard something on the news, in passing, recently that indicated that the United States, and maybe Canada, are the only two countries in the world that set aside a national day for Thanksgiving. I may not have gotten that just quite right. I do know that we Americans are celebrating a nation day of Thanksgiving, and that Canadians do have a Thanksgiving Day in October. Whatever some nations do, I can’t be quite sure, but I do know that the concept of stopping to reflect and to give Thanks to God is routed deeply in Christianity and Judaism all over the world. Modern Americans don’t have the corner on being Thankful. The Jewish Feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles are all thanksgiving celebrations. Passover has overtones of thanksgiving for the birth of animal flocks, lambs especially. Pentecost was celebration of the harvest of grain, and Tabernacles gave thanks for the new wine. These are thankful moments express to God for material things. Throughout history of Europe and England, and in the middle ages there were various celebrations of thanksgiving to God for deliverance from plagues and war.
When the puritans came to New England, they too gave thanks in 1621 for their deliverance from famine and death. The year before, 1620, had been an extremely difficult year for the puritan pilgrims and they were taught some agricultural and survival skills by the Native American Indians. Which makes the point that we rarely save ourselves, but are in need of others, and the powerful grace of God.
The reading from Deuteronomy recalls the history of the Jews who were wandering in the wilderness for some forty years after they had fled from oppression in Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The complained at Moses that there was not enough food. They were truly humbled. But in the wilderness was provided the manna, believed to be manna or bread from heaven. Upon it they survived as they saw it as a gift from God. Indeed it was. The sweet manna is the sap from tarmarisk trees processed by insects, and left behind on the leaves of trees and bushes. It was a new and strange food, provided by God for the Israelites. They were reminded that they did not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. God’s grace was there for them, and they are not to say that their own power and might of their own hands got them their wealth, or their salvation.
In Christian Scripture, Jesus picks up on this very theme when Jesus himself is in the wilderness for forty days Jesus too is hungry and is tempted by the devil to turn the stones into familiar loaves of bread. Jesus quotes the Deuteronomy passage, “Man cannot live by bread alone, but needs every word that God speaks.” (Matt. 4:4; Luke 4:4) Out of these traditions and scripture, both the Jewish Passover Feast, and the Christian Holy Communion, more specifically named the Holy Eucharist, which means “thanksgiving” allude to being Thanksgiving Festivals that are celebrated around the world, the Christian Eucharist daily. The Jewish community gives thanks for their deliverance by God from evil oppression. The Christian community gives thanks to God for deliverance from evil and death and for the presence of God’s word in our midst. We do not live by bread alone, but by the Word of God revealed in the ways and teachings of Jesus Christ, his life and ministry reveal God, and we give thanks for that very fact of our existence. Do we need bread and material things, of course, but they are not the be all and the end all of our lives. We do not live by bread alone, but by the Word of God, and Thanks be to God that is given to us in Jesus Christ our Lord, as our way, our truth, and our life’s meaning.
There are rich accounts in the Christian Scriptures that highlight the fact that Jesus is the word of God, and the spiritual nourishment of human lives. The great story of the out pouring of the water transformed into abundant amount of wine is profoundly symbolic of the spiritual sustenance that comes from Christ as a gift to the inadequacy of the human situation without him. Without Christ there would be humiliation and dishonor. The feeding miracle of the 5,000 and 4,000 repeated over and over again tells of the abundant spiritual life giving spiritual bread of the Word of God graciously given without having to buy or earn it! From Jesus Christ we learn the fullness of life of the meaning of life. It is not merely in the accumulation of stuff to fill our barns, basements, and attics. It is not merely honor and prestige in the community and the way we can buy whatever we want. Fullness of life is how much we can love, forgive and, yes, forget. Fullness of life is in sensitivity to human need and the willingness, ability- better still - the unconscious sharing of resources, talents, gifts, treasures that God has so abundantly given to us.
Our prayer life can be full of things that we tell God we need, but be deficient in thanking and praising God for what we have already been so abundantly given to us.
Being thankful for what God gives and how he delivers us is deeply rooted in our faith tradition. It is not something peculiar to Americans and Canadians alone. This Thanksgiving is the day of the year that after we have spent so much time moaning, groaning, complaining, about how little that we have, and how poor we are, and how so much is expected of us, and how unappreciated we are, and how awful the stock market is doing that we realize just how much it is that we do, in fact, have to give and share. Our health, wealth, giftedness, resources are all God given to us to share with others and for the benefit of others. So we stop worrying about what shall we eat or drink or wear. And we simply place ourselves in the hands of God, who is the giver of all good things and perfect gifts, and strive to be instruments, channels, conduits, of his grace that flow from the Kingdom of God.
Thursday, November 22, 2001
Sunday, November 18, 2001
PENTECOST 24
May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: PENTECOST 24
PROPER: 28C
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: November 18,2001
TEXT: Luke 21:5-19 – Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven . . . . . . . . But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.”
ISSUE: The passage tells of Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the Temple in troubled times. His prophecy is authenticated in 70 A.D. when in fact the Temple is destroyed along with Jerusalem. The Romans and their own families persecute many of the disciples. The message calls for an awareness of difficult times to come, but to live in hope by faith. God will save his own people.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As we approach the end of the church year in these last days of the Pentecost season, the Sunday Lectionary calls for the readings of some of the apocalyptic sections of both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. The apocalyptic scriptures usually deal with times of great disaster or the prediction of them, as if the world were coming to an end.
In the passage from Luke we have Jesus’ prophecy of a coming apocalyptic age: Beware that you are not led astray for there will be false prophets arise in the name of God. There will be wars and nations will rise against nation. It will be a time of terrorization, along with earthquakes, plagues and famines in some places. It will also be a time of betrayal by relatives and friends, because of the acceptance of Jesus. Not a pretty picture!
When Luke was writing this section of his Gospel account, the people who would first read it, knew quite well what Luke was talking about in his Gospel. They also knew that what Jesus had prophesied some fifty years prior had to a large extent come true. Their generation had come through very difficult times. The Temple, which had an extraordinary beauty, and which was quite large, had in fact been destroyed and nothing but its crumbled foundations remained. The city of Jerusalem had been destroyed as well by the Romans. A few daring but ill-advised insurrectionists had taken on the Roman conquerors and were met with overwhelming powers and destruction. Nations had risen up against nation. It is not unusual for the war to bring with it famine and sickness, or plague. Smoke and dust block out the heavens. The very foundations of the existence of the people are shaken, as if being in an earthquake.
The early followers of The Way of Jesus had also been persecuted. The Romans persecuted them for their new found faith and worship. Only the Jews had been exempt to worship as they desired, simply because the Romans knew they could not change the Jewish insistence up its worship of Yahweh and no man emperor. Christians who had left Judaism were persecuted if they did not pay homage to the Roman Emperor. Furthermore, early Christians were persecuted and rejected by their immediate families for their acceptance of Jesus. At the same time, when the Jewish community was being persecuted and devastated by the Romans, they were more likely to cling tightly to their Jewish Faith and reject any changes in a time of such anxiety and uncertainty. Hence you have an apocalyptic age. It is an age of the battle between good and evil. There is often a need for Superman, or Spiderman, or some extraordinary figure of power and of bringing hope to the world.
Notice that in this passage what the ultimate message is. Stand fast. Endure. Keep your faith. By your endurance you will gain your souls. For Luke and his community the message is to know Jesus and see in him their extraordinary hope. He’s the prophet, the power, and the one close to God revealing the truth. He’s the man of God upon who depends the new age that is to come, and becomes seen as the hope of Israel by the early church.
Various times in history, we have seen an apocalyptic age, which reveals the struggle between good and evil. We are experiencing one now in lieu of the infamous September 11th event. Airplanes fell from the sky. The temples, certainly symbols of American economic faith, were destroyed. Those beautiful alabaster towers plummeted to the ground. The smoke, ash, and dust blotted out the sun on one beautiful day. The repercussions make nations and people rise up against one another in war. The ongoing threat of nuclear and biological warfare is very much with us. The battle between good and evil is very much with us. The earthquake of human anxiety and uncertainty of the present threatens morality and ethics, routine forms of justice and civil rights. Our very symbols of power and financial stability are tumbled. Are the foundations of our very existence being threatened? I think so. Where do we turn? Curiously, some folk immediately think we need to rebuild the Trade Centers just as they were. We should get out the stars and stripes and continue to wave our imperialistic banners on high. Maybe not? Maybe we need to return to God in quietness and thoughtfulness. Maybe we need to endure in a faith that gives us of hope of resurrection to something new, to the Kingdom that is in the likeness of God. Maybe the time for recognizing what is really important in the sight of God has come. Maybe we are on the verge of a new era of hope for the world. From the time of the Towers of Babel in the Genesis story, God has never been very impressed with human pride and the need to usurp the powers of God. Apocalyptic moments are occasion for the revelation of something new, grand, and of God. They tell us that the world needs salvation. Our enduring faith tells us of the presence of God in Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, and the life. It is Christ alone who leads and knows the way in to the Kingdom of God, and into a new age of hope. The interesting thing about apocalyptic events in the Christian perspective is that the enduring faithful will survive in hope and faithfulness.
Presently we struggle with routing out what we believe to be the evil terrorists. But there is another step, which is the rebuilding and the rethinking of a world that leads to suspicion and hatred and seems to virtually enforce its destruction. The world is never at peace when there are people who are not treated with dignity. There can never be peace and hope when there is poverty in the world somewhere. There can be no peace or hope when there is hunger. There can be no peace in the world when there is more interest in material economic concerns than in raising the poor, the afflicted, the oppressed. There can be no hope for a world that eliminates its need for the God of love.
There must be more dialogue between peoples and nations. We must be more acutely aware of how we look to the world as Christian people and not as warmongers. We need to be ready to fly a banner that is not merely red, white, and blue, but a banner that symbolizes world hope, and affection for the goodness of the nations of the world, and our commitment to a greater understanding of a world of nations that belong to God.
Right now we are in the midst of the struggle for an end of violence and injustice. Unfortunately we are still fighting the evil, and the dust of the destruction has not yet settled and the sunshine is still clouded by the storms of war. But our hope lies in our faith and trust, that the battle shall be won by God, and the Christ who died for the sins of all the world will reclaim his world in peace, and the demons themselves will be converted and seek to enter the Kingdom
SEASON: PENTECOST 24
PROPER: 28C
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: November 18,2001
TEXT: Luke 21:5-19 – Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven . . . . . . . . But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.”
ISSUE: The passage tells of Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the Temple in troubled times. His prophecy is authenticated in 70 A.D. when in fact the Temple is destroyed along with Jerusalem. The Romans and their own families persecute many of the disciples. The message calls for an awareness of difficult times to come, but to live in hope by faith. God will save his own people.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As we approach the end of the church year in these last days of the Pentecost season, the Sunday Lectionary calls for the readings of some of the apocalyptic sections of both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. The apocalyptic scriptures usually deal with times of great disaster or the prediction of them, as if the world were coming to an end.
In the passage from Luke we have Jesus’ prophecy of a coming apocalyptic age: Beware that you are not led astray for there will be false prophets arise in the name of God. There will be wars and nations will rise against nation. It will be a time of terrorization, along with earthquakes, plagues and famines in some places. It will also be a time of betrayal by relatives and friends, because of the acceptance of Jesus. Not a pretty picture!
When Luke was writing this section of his Gospel account, the people who would first read it, knew quite well what Luke was talking about in his Gospel. They also knew that what Jesus had prophesied some fifty years prior had to a large extent come true. Their generation had come through very difficult times. The Temple, which had an extraordinary beauty, and which was quite large, had in fact been destroyed and nothing but its crumbled foundations remained. The city of Jerusalem had been destroyed as well by the Romans. A few daring but ill-advised insurrectionists had taken on the Roman conquerors and were met with overwhelming powers and destruction. Nations had risen up against nation. It is not unusual for the war to bring with it famine and sickness, or plague. Smoke and dust block out the heavens. The very foundations of the existence of the people are shaken, as if being in an earthquake.
The early followers of The Way of Jesus had also been persecuted. The Romans persecuted them for their new found faith and worship. Only the Jews had been exempt to worship as they desired, simply because the Romans knew they could not change the Jewish insistence up its worship of Yahweh and no man emperor. Christians who had left Judaism were persecuted if they did not pay homage to the Roman Emperor. Furthermore, early Christians were persecuted and rejected by their immediate families for their acceptance of Jesus. At the same time, when the Jewish community was being persecuted and devastated by the Romans, they were more likely to cling tightly to their Jewish Faith and reject any changes in a time of such anxiety and uncertainty. Hence you have an apocalyptic age. It is an age of the battle between good and evil. There is often a need for Superman, or Spiderman, or some extraordinary figure of power and of bringing hope to the world.
Notice that in this passage what the ultimate message is. Stand fast. Endure. Keep your faith. By your endurance you will gain your souls. For Luke and his community the message is to know Jesus and see in him their extraordinary hope. He’s the prophet, the power, and the one close to God revealing the truth. He’s the man of God upon who depends the new age that is to come, and becomes seen as the hope of Israel by the early church.
Various times in history, we have seen an apocalyptic age, which reveals the struggle between good and evil. We are experiencing one now in lieu of the infamous September 11th event. Airplanes fell from the sky. The temples, certainly symbols of American economic faith, were destroyed. Those beautiful alabaster towers plummeted to the ground. The smoke, ash, and dust blotted out the sun on one beautiful day. The repercussions make nations and people rise up against one another in war. The ongoing threat of nuclear and biological warfare is very much with us. The battle between good and evil is very much with us. The earthquake of human anxiety and uncertainty of the present threatens morality and ethics, routine forms of justice and civil rights. Our very symbols of power and financial stability are tumbled. Are the foundations of our very existence being threatened? I think so. Where do we turn? Curiously, some folk immediately think we need to rebuild the Trade Centers just as they were. We should get out the stars and stripes and continue to wave our imperialistic banners on high. Maybe not? Maybe we need to return to God in quietness and thoughtfulness. Maybe we need to endure in a faith that gives us of hope of resurrection to something new, to the Kingdom that is in the likeness of God. Maybe the time for recognizing what is really important in the sight of God has come. Maybe we are on the verge of a new era of hope for the world. From the time of the Towers of Babel in the Genesis story, God has never been very impressed with human pride and the need to usurp the powers of God. Apocalyptic moments are occasion for the revelation of something new, grand, and of God. They tell us that the world needs salvation. Our enduring faith tells us of the presence of God in Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, and the life. It is Christ alone who leads and knows the way in to the Kingdom of God, and into a new age of hope. The interesting thing about apocalyptic events in the Christian perspective is that the enduring faithful will survive in hope and faithfulness.
Presently we struggle with routing out what we believe to be the evil terrorists. But there is another step, which is the rebuilding and the rethinking of a world that leads to suspicion and hatred and seems to virtually enforce its destruction. The world is never at peace when there are people who are not treated with dignity. There can never be peace and hope when there is poverty in the world somewhere. There can be no peace or hope when there is hunger. There can be no peace in the world when there is more interest in material economic concerns than in raising the poor, the afflicted, the oppressed. There can be no hope for a world that eliminates its need for the God of love.
There must be more dialogue between peoples and nations. We must be more acutely aware of how we look to the world as Christian people and not as warmongers. We need to be ready to fly a banner that is not merely red, white, and blue, but a banner that symbolizes world hope, and affection for the goodness of the nations of the world, and our commitment to a greater understanding of a world of nations that belong to God.
Right now we are in the midst of the struggle for an end of violence and injustice. Unfortunately we are still fighting the evil, and the dust of the destruction has not yet settled and the sunshine is still clouded by the storms of war. But our hope lies in our faith and trust, that the battle shall be won by God, and the Christ who died for the sins of all the world will reclaim his world in peace, and the demons themselves will be converted and seek to enter the Kingdom
Sunday, November 11, 2001
PENTECOST 23
May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: PENTECOST 23
PROPER: 27 C
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: November 11, 2001
TEXT: Luke 20:27-38 – “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.”
ISSUE: The passage from Luke emphasizes the fact of resurrection as a part of Hebrew Scripture teaching. At the same time it stresses the broader concept of being a part of God’s family. The Christian community is raised up to a relationship with God as Father, and the followers of Jesus Christ as the sons, or children, of God. The Christian family is not lost from its faithful relationship with God.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The passage of the Gospel from Luke today gives us another one of those moments that tells us how hard it was for Jesus living in a very difficult time. This affront to him by the Sadducees comes to him, according to Luke, immediately following the testing by the Pharisees as to whether or not it was legal for Jews to pay taxes to Caesar. Questions in public to Jesus were attacks, or traps, to dishonor him. To catch him in some false teaching, or to impose a question that he could not answer, and thus, diminish his importance and honor, which would also diminish his following.
We are familiar mostly with Pharisees. These were members of Judaism who were followers of both the written law and the rabbinical teachings of the oral law. They had some vague concept of resurrection, and they believed in angels and spirits. Some were friendly to Jesus, but from the Scriptures we mostly from the more hostile Pharisees who tested Jesus. Jesus himself was associated with the Pharisaic party. Interestingly enough, at the end of this scene from today’s reading, the Pharisees praise Jesus for his response to the Sadducees.
Now as for the Sadducees, they were also a religious party of Jews who were of the higher and wealthier class. Religiously they believed in, or taught only the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. They did not believe in angels or spirits, nor did they believe in any kind of a resurrection. They were the priestly class associated with the Temple and were they leadership class. They were often in collusion with the Romans for the sake of their own status, and perhaps for the safety of the country as well. Of course the teachings of Jesus and his popularity with the poorer classes may have been considered a real threat to the stability of the country. Thus, the Sadducees attack Jesus with the entrapment question about resurrection. Can he respond appropriately to maintain his honor and status with the peasants?
So the Sadducees raise for Jesus a problem issue about whether or not there can possibly be a resurrection. They set up what would be a difficult situation if there were such a thing as resurrection. If a man died and left his wife childless, and she were married by his second brother, who also died and left her childless, and so on through the next five brothers, all leaving her childless, whose wife would she be in the resurrection, because she had seven husbands?
There was in the Hebrew Scriptures a practice called Levirate Marriage, from Deuteronomy 25:5-10. If a man died, his brother was expected to take his wife and have a child with her for the purpose of carrying on his brother’s line in Israel. The practice would also give a widow a child, hopefully a son who could grow up to he her spokesman. In a sense it was the way a man lived on after this death, through his offspring, but offspring provided through his brother. The issue for Jesus to answer deals with, whose wife will such women be, if there is a resurrection when they all get to heaven, for they all had married her? Thus, they believe the resurrection concept is ridiculous.
Now, Jesus’ answer: In the time of the resurrection, in the time of the coming of the Kingdom of God, people don’t marry. They are like angels and are the children (sons and daughters) of God. Moses himself, the very one to whom the Sadducees pay so much attention, when he was in the wilderness tending his sheep and saw the burning bush heard God say: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (Exodus 3:6) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had lived long before Moses. But God saw them as still living, and part of a living faith. “Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive,” says Jesus. Jesus answers the attack and maintains his position. The Pharisees (teachers of the Law) congratulate him on his good answer, and no one dares to ask him any more questions.
Why does Luke include this incident in his Gospel account? It does tell and highlights the stresses that Jesus encountered from both Pharisees and Sadducees. But Luke’s gospel is also directed and aimed at Gentiles, many of whom at the time came from pagan or mythological religions that had concepts of resurrection. Thus, Luke is saying to them, and so does Christianity. So join us. It is evangelical, missionary, in its approach. Luke is concerned with revealing that Christian Faith is about resurrection with the true God of Israel who is with his people always.
Underneath that concept, there is still lurking another teaching. Jesus was never very taken with the cultural understanding of family as an exclusive, turned in on itself unity. We remember things like, “Who ever comes to me cannot be my disciple unless he loves me more than he loves his father and his mother, his wife and his children, his brothers and his sisters, and himself as well.” (Luke 14:26) “No servant can be the slave of two masters; he will hate on and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other.” (Luke 16:13) On another occasion Jesus is told, ‘Your mother and brothers have come for you.’ To which he replies, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 8:21) The Kingdom of God, Heaven, the Domain of God is far more inclusive. Those who are faithful, and are focused on God the Father are a part of a much larger family. The faithful are the sons and daughters, the children of God. Life in the Kingdom of God is not dependent upon the institutions of this world. Rather, those of faith are raised up, resurrected to the Kingdom of God.
The issue for us today is to consider what is the impact of this story on our lives. We are comfortable with a faith that teaches resurrection and hope for life eternal. The crowds at Easter bear witness to that. Although, I’m not really sure the greater crowds understand what that means. So many people have the folk-concept of resurrection that everything is going to be the same when we get to heaven. Today’s response by Jesus indicates that it is not. But the teaching in this days lesson tells us of our being with God. Giving up familiar concepts as to what is really important and turning to faith, loyalty, and trust in God is our ultimate salvation and hope. How we manage our family, and live according to cultural trends of this day is hardly important. We are worthy of the presence of God, and being children, son and daughters of God. What’s more is that we become as God’s faithful, like spirits and angels. We develop through Jesus Christ a new raised up spirituality. We are raised from being the children of Adam to the children of Christ. We live in the spirit of love, in the spirit of hope, in the spirit of openness. We live in the spirit of acceptance. We live in the spirit, which gives the message of an abiding love and hopefulness to the world around us.
We are presently living in a world where our foes surround us. Remember that old hymn by St. Thomas Acquinus: “O Saving Victim opening wide, the gate of heaven to man below. Our foes press on from every side. Thine aid supply, thy strength bestow.” (Hymnal 1982) The stresses and the strains of our lives surround us. The present fears of terrorist attacks can frighten us, and create all kinds of fears and anxieties. It is the unseen terror. We may find ourselves feeling like children in the dark; frightened by the shadows we cannot decipher and understand. Yet Jesus Christ enables us to be resurrected, raised up, lifted up out of the darkness and into the light, and assured that we are the children of God. We are the messengers of hope to a fear-filled and threatened world. We are raised up beyond mere knee jerking responses of vengeance and doing the same thing the same old ways. We are raised up to seek understanding and make the changes required that are resonant with God’s Kingdom.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: they were all men who were raised up from insignificant lives to be in the service of God. Moses was raised up, which his name actually means, from out of the Nile River, and raised up as a man with a speech impediment to become one of the greatest of all the sons of God and messenger of God, to deliver and to remove his people from evil and oppression. Job, surrounded by friends telling him how evil he must be to have to endure such punishment. Yet Job is raised up in faith to be able to say, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19:23-27a)
SEASON: PENTECOST 23
PROPER: 27 C
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: November 11, 2001
TEXT: Luke 20:27-38 – “Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.”
ISSUE: The passage from Luke emphasizes the fact of resurrection as a part of Hebrew Scripture teaching. At the same time it stresses the broader concept of being a part of God’s family. The Christian community is raised up to a relationship with God as Father, and the followers of Jesus Christ as the sons, or children, of God. The Christian family is not lost from its faithful relationship with God.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The passage of the Gospel from Luke today gives us another one of those moments that tells us how hard it was for Jesus living in a very difficult time. This affront to him by the Sadducees comes to him, according to Luke, immediately following the testing by the Pharisees as to whether or not it was legal for Jews to pay taxes to Caesar. Questions in public to Jesus were attacks, or traps, to dishonor him. To catch him in some false teaching, or to impose a question that he could not answer, and thus, diminish his importance and honor, which would also diminish his following.
We are familiar mostly with Pharisees. These were members of Judaism who were followers of both the written law and the rabbinical teachings of the oral law. They had some vague concept of resurrection, and they believed in angels and spirits. Some were friendly to Jesus, but from the Scriptures we mostly from the more hostile Pharisees who tested Jesus. Jesus himself was associated with the Pharisaic party. Interestingly enough, at the end of this scene from today’s reading, the Pharisees praise Jesus for his response to the Sadducees.
Now as for the Sadducees, they were also a religious party of Jews who were of the higher and wealthier class. Religiously they believed in, or taught only the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. They did not believe in angels or spirits, nor did they believe in any kind of a resurrection. They were the priestly class associated with the Temple and were they leadership class. They were often in collusion with the Romans for the sake of their own status, and perhaps for the safety of the country as well. Of course the teachings of Jesus and his popularity with the poorer classes may have been considered a real threat to the stability of the country. Thus, the Sadducees attack Jesus with the entrapment question about resurrection. Can he respond appropriately to maintain his honor and status with the peasants?
So the Sadducees raise for Jesus a problem issue about whether or not there can possibly be a resurrection. They set up what would be a difficult situation if there were such a thing as resurrection. If a man died and left his wife childless, and she were married by his second brother, who also died and left her childless, and so on through the next five brothers, all leaving her childless, whose wife would she be in the resurrection, because she had seven husbands?
There was in the Hebrew Scriptures a practice called Levirate Marriage, from Deuteronomy 25:5-10. If a man died, his brother was expected to take his wife and have a child with her for the purpose of carrying on his brother’s line in Israel. The practice would also give a widow a child, hopefully a son who could grow up to he her spokesman. In a sense it was the way a man lived on after this death, through his offspring, but offspring provided through his brother. The issue for Jesus to answer deals with, whose wife will such women be, if there is a resurrection when they all get to heaven, for they all had married her? Thus, they believe the resurrection concept is ridiculous.
Now, Jesus’ answer: In the time of the resurrection, in the time of the coming of the Kingdom of God, people don’t marry. They are like angels and are the children (sons and daughters) of God. Moses himself, the very one to whom the Sadducees pay so much attention, when he was in the wilderness tending his sheep and saw the burning bush heard God say: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (Exodus 3:6) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had lived long before Moses. But God saw them as still living, and part of a living faith. “Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive,” says Jesus. Jesus answers the attack and maintains his position. The Pharisees (teachers of the Law) congratulate him on his good answer, and no one dares to ask him any more questions.
Why does Luke include this incident in his Gospel account? It does tell and highlights the stresses that Jesus encountered from both Pharisees and Sadducees. But Luke’s gospel is also directed and aimed at Gentiles, many of whom at the time came from pagan or mythological religions that had concepts of resurrection. Thus, Luke is saying to them, and so does Christianity. So join us. It is evangelical, missionary, in its approach. Luke is concerned with revealing that Christian Faith is about resurrection with the true God of Israel who is with his people always.
Underneath that concept, there is still lurking another teaching. Jesus was never very taken with the cultural understanding of family as an exclusive, turned in on itself unity. We remember things like, “Who ever comes to me cannot be my disciple unless he loves me more than he loves his father and his mother, his wife and his children, his brothers and his sisters, and himself as well.” (Luke 14:26) “No servant can be the slave of two masters; he will hate on and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other.” (Luke 16:13) On another occasion Jesus is told, ‘Your mother and brothers have come for you.’ To which he replies, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 8:21) The Kingdom of God, Heaven, the Domain of God is far more inclusive. Those who are faithful, and are focused on God the Father are a part of a much larger family. The faithful are the sons and daughters, the children of God. Life in the Kingdom of God is not dependent upon the institutions of this world. Rather, those of faith are raised up, resurrected to the Kingdom of God.
The issue for us today is to consider what is the impact of this story on our lives. We are comfortable with a faith that teaches resurrection and hope for life eternal. The crowds at Easter bear witness to that. Although, I’m not really sure the greater crowds understand what that means. So many people have the folk-concept of resurrection that everything is going to be the same when we get to heaven. Today’s response by Jesus indicates that it is not. But the teaching in this days lesson tells us of our being with God. Giving up familiar concepts as to what is really important and turning to faith, loyalty, and trust in God is our ultimate salvation and hope. How we manage our family, and live according to cultural trends of this day is hardly important. We are worthy of the presence of God, and being children, son and daughters of God. What’s more is that we become as God’s faithful, like spirits and angels. We develop through Jesus Christ a new raised up spirituality. We are raised from being the children of Adam to the children of Christ. We live in the spirit of love, in the spirit of hope, in the spirit of openness. We live in the spirit of acceptance. We live in the spirit, which gives the message of an abiding love and hopefulness to the world around us.
We are presently living in a world where our foes surround us. Remember that old hymn by St. Thomas Acquinus: “O Saving Victim opening wide, the gate of heaven to man below. Our foes press on from every side. Thine aid supply, thy strength bestow.” (Hymnal 1982) The stresses and the strains of our lives surround us. The present fears of terrorist attacks can frighten us, and create all kinds of fears and anxieties. It is the unseen terror. We may find ourselves feeling like children in the dark; frightened by the shadows we cannot decipher and understand. Yet Jesus Christ enables us to be resurrected, raised up, lifted up out of the darkness and into the light, and assured that we are the children of God. We are the messengers of hope to a fear-filled and threatened world. We are raised up beyond mere knee jerking responses of vengeance and doing the same thing the same old ways. We are raised up to seek understanding and make the changes required that are resonant with God’s Kingdom.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: they were all men who were raised up from insignificant lives to be in the service of God. Moses was raised up, which his name actually means, from out of the Nile River, and raised up as a man with a speech impediment to become one of the greatest of all the sons of God and messenger of God, to deliver and to remove his people from evil and oppression. Job, surrounded by friends telling him how evil he must be to have to endure such punishment. Yet Job is raised up in faith to be able to say, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19:23-27a)
Sunday, November 4, 2001
SUNDAY OF ALL SAINTS
May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: SUNDAY OF ALL SAINTS
PROPER: C
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: November 4,2001
TEXT: Matthew 5:1-12 - The Beatitudes
“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
ISSUE: The setting of The Beatitudes is Jesus teaching his intimate disciples. He is teaches them that when they begin their ministries they are to be knowledgeable of what it is that God truly honors. What does it mean to be really honorable or blessed? It is not in great wealth, or having an happy life without problems. But it is in simplicity of life, of being in union with God, and yearning for what is right.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This celebration day of All Saints is a special one in the life of the church. It is a Holy Day set for November 1st each year, but the church in recent years provided that since many people worked and were not responding to the celebration of this day in the middle of the week that it could be celebrated on Sundays. It used to be a day when many of our deceased Christian friends and relatives were remembered, and those names all read aloud or printed in parish bulletins. However, the All Faithful Celebration, formerly known as All Souls Day was returned to the church calendar, for Nov. 2nd, and we have been celebrating that day remember many of our loved ones who had made a special impression on our lives as truly people of God.
I think that it is important to make the distinction of separating All Faithful remembrances from the All Saints Feast itself. On this day of All Saints, we look primarily at our part in the church’s definition of sainthood. Remember too, that this Sunday of All Saints is one of the special days that the church sets aside for our baptisms. Our baptism is our entrance into the church and into the fellowship of God’s saints or holy persons. There are the saints that have their special days. There are many remembered for their great contributions to the Christian Faith, like Francis of Assisi, St. Patrick, The Apostles, St. Teresa of Avila, and the fellowship of great men and women who led holy lives and sacrificed much for the Christian Faith. From earliest times in the church, the saints were the baptized faithful of God, sealed on their foreheads with the sign of the cross. They were the followers of Jesus Christ, each having their ministry and mission given to baptizing all nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them the things that Christ had taught them.
Notice that the appointed Gospel reading for this day is The Beatitudes from the Gospel account of Matthew. (A more abbreviated list of Jesus’ beatitudes also appear in Luke 6:20-26.) The setting tells us that Jesus takes his intimate group of disciples to a mountain get away. Jesus sits as was customary for a teacher or rabbi. He speaks to them about what is true blessedness. And of course they are peculiar, if not somewhat shocking to the disciples. Several of the beatitudes are sort of the exact opposite of what a person might think true blessedness was, and these are probably the most authentic of Jesus’ beatitudes. Why would Jesus say: Blessed are the poor, Blessed are the mournful, Blessed are the meek, the hungry and thirsty? These seem to be the exact opposite of what you might expect blessedness to be.
Let’s set the scene. Jesus gathers together his closest disciples. He sits. It is as if he begins to say to them, if you are going to be a follower of mine, lets begin by getting it straight. Let me tell you what it is that God blesses or honors in this world. That is to say, let me tell you what it is that God really holds up as honorable in this world, in spite of what the world tells you are blessedness or honor. Those who have no clout, no voice, no prestige, or power are the very ones to whom God extends his undeserved grace. These are the very ones that God loves and honors. You got that? Honorable and blessed are those that mourn, that are without hope, who know pain and suffering. These are the ones that God honors, and to whom he extends his grace. The world will tell you that the poor and the suffering are unimportant, but the mission on which you disciples sees the world differently. The world will tell you that the meek and humble folk, finish last. I tell you, says Jesus, that they will inherit the earth. Blessed and honored are those simple folk who hunger and thirst for what is right, for innocence, who are merciful and giving. Honorable in the sight of God are those who have been abused, maltreated, disenfranchised, dumped on by the world, and considered to be worthless and are persecuted. These are the very ones that God loves and seeks to embrace.
And finally Jesus says to the disciples gathered around him on their mountain get away, And honorable are you guys, who will be condemned and persecuted, slandered, avoided, thrown out of your families and out of the synagogues for faithfully caring on the ministry to which you have been called and responded. As you develop your ministries of teaching, caring, loving, in the name of God, you will come to know persecution and mockery at times from the world.
The beatitudes of Jesus are teaching, telling, proclaiming to the world, and Jesus disciples, his buddies, what real blessedness and honor is in the world that so often thinks very differently. Is that true or not?
What is often honored in our world today is wealth. Persons who have a large accumulation of wealth are often seen as “the blessed.” They are the ones who must have done things right to become so blessed. Many of us fear for the loss of our possessions. We cling tightly to them. We think of people who achieve positions of authority and power as the honorable or blessed.
For a long time, people who have good solid educations were thought to be the honorable by their accumulation of knowledge and wisdom, as opposed to people in lesser positions in life. The mantra was, “If you’re going to make it in the world, you have to get a good education.”
Now having wealth and possessions, having a fortunate life with a minimum amount of suffering and mourning, and having a good education with some wisdom and knowledge are not evil, nor dishonorable. It is, however, when these things become the total focus of our lives without God, and without the recognition of his grace that we are not honorable in the sight of God. There are many rich, educated, and healthy saints in the world and gone on before us. But neither are wealth, education, and lack of suffering honorable if we are without God, and conduct our lives as if we have made it on our own. Being a ‘hot shot’ in the world is not the stuff of which saints are made Jesus is telling his disciples and the Christians living in the world today. We frequently baptize infants on All Saints Day. These too are the ones whom God honors and blesses. They have no ability of their own and they do not have the capacity to earn anything, and they are by the grace of God, the new saints in the community whom God, loves, blesses, and honors. We grow them up, hopefully, in a community of saints whose blessedness is in their capacity to love and forgive and teach them about God.
Right now we are living in a very frightening world. People are scared and anxious. Most of us would never have dreamed that the day would come when we were afraid to go to the Post Office to pick up the mail, or even to pick it up out of the mailbox in front of our homes. It is sad, mournful, that we have to be on constant alert to anything strange, and afraid to fly in an airplane. It’s a sad comment that we are frightened to be in a tall building. It is a world where there is fear and great anxiety. Our imaginations are at work making us wonder what might be the next tragic event. Evil and terror for the most part has us just where it wants us. We are not quite so sure that we are in control of our lives like we once were. There are many people in mourning as a result of the recent acts of terror on Sept. 11, 2001. We now know only too well what it means to be persecuted as a nation, and for our Christianity. The sixteen Christian people murdered in Pakistan last week were members of our own Anglican Communion meeting in a Catholic Church.
Jesus takes his disciples up to the mountain get-away. He tells them there are many people who are afraid and have no one to speak for them, and feel anxious and powerless in the world. There are those who are in mourning, those who are hungry and thirst for what is right and need justice. These are the very ones I honor and love. Don’t ever forget that. They are the saints as you are. Now go and proclaim love to the world, give them a cup of water, hear their pain and their suffering, their fear and anxiety and take to them the peace that passes understanding. Hold fast to the presence of God and his love and fulfill you discipleship as the saints you are and are called to be.
SEASON: SUNDAY OF ALL SAINTS
PROPER: C
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: November 4,2001
TEXT: Matthew 5:1-12 - The Beatitudes
“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
ISSUE: The setting of The Beatitudes is Jesus teaching his intimate disciples. He is teaches them that when they begin their ministries they are to be knowledgeable of what it is that God truly honors. What does it mean to be really honorable or blessed? It is not in great wealth, or having an happy life without problems. But it is in simplicity of life, of being in union with God, and yearning for what is right.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This celebration day of All Saints is a special one in the life of the church. It is a Holy Day set for November 1st each year, but the church in recent years provided that since many people worked and were not responding to the celebration of this day in the middle of the week that it could be celebrated on Sundays. It used to be a day when many of our deceased Christian friends and relatives were remembered, and those names all read aloud or printed in parish bulletins. However, the All Faithful Celebration, formerly known as All Souls Day was returned to the church calendar, for Nov. 2nd, and we have been celebrating that day remember many of our loved ones who had made a special impression on our lives as truly people of God.
I think that it is important to make the distinction of separating All Faithful remembrances from the All Saints Feast itself. On this day of All Saints, we look primarily at our part in the church’s definition of sainthood. Remember too, that this Sunday of All Saints is one of the special days that the church sets aside for our baptisms. Our baptism is our entrance into the church and into the fellowship of God’s saints or holy persons. There are the saints that have their special days. There are many remembered for their great contributions to the Christian Faith, like Francis of Assisi, St. Patrick, The Apostles, St. Teresa of Avila, and the fellowship of great men and women who led holy lives and sacrificed much for the Christian Faith. From earliest times in the church, the saints were the baptized faithful of God, sealed on their foreheads with the sign of the cross. They were the followers of Jesus Christ, each having their ministry and mission given to baptizing all nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them the things that Christ had taught them.
Notice that the appointed Gospel reading for this day is The Beatitudes from the Gospel account of Matthew. (A more abbreviated list of Jesus’ beatitudes also appear in Luke 6:20-26.) The setting tells us that Jesus takes his intimate group of disciples to a mountain get away. Jesus sits as was customary for a teacher or rabbi. He speaks to them about what is true blessedness. And of course they are peculiar, if not somewhat shocking to the disciples. Several of the beatitudes are sort of the exact opposite of what a person might think true blessedness was, and these are probably the most authentic of Jesus’ beatitudes. Why would Jesus say: Blessed are the poor, Blessed are the mournful, Blessed are the meek, the hungry and thirsty? These seem to be the exact opposite of what you might expect blessedness to be.
Let’s set the scene. Jesus gathers together his closest disciples. He sits. It is as if he begins to say to them, if you are going to be a follower of mine, lets begin by getting it straight. Let me tell you what it is that God blesses or honors in this world. That is to say, let me tell you what it is that God really holds up as honorable in this world, in spite of what the world tells you are blessedness or honor. Those who have no clout, no voice, no prestige, or power are the very ones to whom God extends his undeserved grace. These are the very ones that God loves and honors. You got that? Honorable and blessed are those that mourn, that are without hope, who know pain and suffering. These are the ones that God honors, and to whom he extends his grace. The world will tell you that the poor and the suffering are unimportant, but the mission on which you disciples sees the world differently. The world will tell you that the meek and humble folk, finish last. I tell you, says Jesus, that they will inherit the earth. Blessed and honored are those simple folk who hunger and thirst for what is right, for innocence, who are merciful and giving. Honorable in the sight of God are those who have been abused, maltreated, disenfranchised, dumped on by the world, and considered to be worthless and are persecuted. These are the very ones that God loves and seeks to embrace.
And finally Jesus says to the disciples gathered around him on their mountain get away, And honorable are you guys, who will be condemned and persecuted, slandered, avoided, thrown out of your families and out of the synagogues for faithfully caring on the ministry to which you have been called and responded. As you develop your ministries of teaching, caring, loving, in the name of God, you will come to know persecution and mockery at times from the world.
The beatitudes of Jesus are teaching, telling, proclaiming to the world, and Jesus disciples, his buddies, what real blessedness and honor is in the world that so often thinks very differently. Is that true or not?
What is often honored in our world today is wealth. Persons who have a large accumulation of wealth are often seen as “the blessed.” They are the ones who must have done things right to become so blessed. Many of us fear for the loss of our possessions. We cling tightly to them. We think of people who achieve positions of authority and power as the honorable or blessed.
For a long time, people who have good solid educations were thought to be the honorable by their accumulation of knowledge and wisdom, as opposed to people in lesser positions in life. The mantra was, “If you’re going to make it in the world, you have to get a good education.”
Now having wealth and possessions, having a fortunate life with a minimum amount of suffering and mourning, and having a good education with some wisdom and knowledge are not evil, nor dishonorable. It is, however, when these things become the total focus of our lives without God, and without the recognition of his grace that we are not honorable in the sight of God. There are many rich, educated, and healthy saints in the world and gone on before us. But neither are wealth, education, and lack of suffering honorable if we are without God, and conduct our lives as if we have made it on our own. Being a ‘hot shot’ in the world is not the stuff of which saints are made Jesus is telling his disciples and the Christians living in the world today. We frequently baptize infants on All Saints Day. These too are the ones whom God honors and blesses. They have no ability of their own and they do not have the capacity to earn anything, and they are by the grace of God, the new saints in the community whom God, loves, blesses, and honors. We grow them up, hopefully, in a community of saints whose blessedness is in their capacity to love and forgive and teach them about God.
Right now we are living in a very frightening world. People are scared and anxious. Most of us would never have dreamed that the day would come when we were afraid to go to the Post Office to pick up the mail, or even to pick it up out of the mailbox in front of our homes. It is sad, mournful, that we have to be on constant alert to anything strange, and afraid to fly in an airplane. It’s a sad comment that we are frightened to be in a tall building. It is a world where there is fear and great anxiety. Our imaginations are at work making us wonder what might be the next tragic event. Evil and terror for the most part has us just where it wants us. We are not quite so sure that we are in control of our lives like we once were. There are many people in mourning as a result of the recent acts of terror on Sept. 11, 2001. We now know only too well what it means to be persecuted as a nation, and for our Christianity. The sixteen Christian people murdered in Pakistan last week were members of our own Anglican Communion meeting in a Catholic Church.
Jesus takes his disciples up to the mountain get-away. He tells them there are many people who are afraid and have no one to speak for them, and feel anxious and powerless in the world. There are those who are in mourning, those who are hungry and thirst for what is right and need justice. These are the very ones I honor and love. Don’t ever forget that. They are the saints as you are. Now go and proclaim love to the world, give them a cup of water, hear their pain and their suffering, their fear and anxiety and take to them the peace that passes understanding. Hold fast to the presence of God and his love and fulfill you discipleship as the saints you are and are called to be.
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