May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: Thanksgiving
PROPER: A,B,C
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: November 28, 2002
TEXT: Matthew 6:25-33 – What will we eat?
What will we drink? What will we wear?
Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear . . . . But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
See also: Deut. 8:1-3, 6-10, 17-20. “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. . .
James 1:17-18,21-27 – Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.
ISSUE: We live in a very anxious and worrisome world. We feel pressure to accomplish and gain wealth and prestige. We like being thought of as a self-made man or woman. Yet, scriptures from long ago share a more basic truth. It is first that God gives all we have, and for that gift from God we are grateful.
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The appointed scripture readings for this Thanksgiving Day are always rather startling. We can give thanks as Americans for so many “things.” Yet often in the back of our minds most of us were taught, or at least got the message that we have to be self-made men and women. We were taught that we had to make something of ourselves. Idleness, the devil’s workshop was frowned upon. Another big emphasis in our culture has been that of getting an education. Getting an education is certainly important, but what lay behind the emphasis on education was that with an education you can get a job, and make a lot of money so you can make it in the world, and be seen as successful. It’s a do it yourself world. It’s interesting to me how these cultural attitudes often play out in the life of the church. Often the heads of committees or leadership figures end up saying, “I’ll just do whatever the task is by myself.” And then comes the accolades from others for the accomplishments of the person in point. It becomes something of the need for reward from our peers. Being successful in the our work, marriages, raising our children often creates for us enormous worries and anxieties. Can I? Will I make it in the world? Do I measure up to the world’s expectations?
What is startling about the Scriptures today is that they address the world with and from a very different point of view. They dare to say, “Simply keep the words and Word of God, and all the rest of the stuff that we so worry about will come.” Keep the commandments and all that your physical need will come. It is a genuine call to faithfulness and trust in God.
Often we Christians are likely to say the Hebrew law is not very important in the light of God’s free gift of grace. But a Jewish person loves the law of God and cherishes the opportunity to keep the law. It reveals a covenant relationship with God. God is first and foremost, which in fact is what the first four commandments are about. The final six laws of the commandments are a person’s relationship with others, with the community. And Jesus himself summarized it by saying Love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul, and mind. Just like it is the command to love your neighbors, you community, as yourself. It seems that out of this relationship with God and fellow human beings flows a bounty for all. The bounty comes from God. Everything begins and ends with God, not in what we do.
The James Epistle makes it very clear that everything is from God, every good and perfect gift is from above. Don’t be just hearers of the word of God, but embrace it and put it into action in terms of sharing. The word of God is about the law of loving God, and loving one another, seeking liberty and justice for all in world order that sometimes deprives people of all that God has to offer. Love God, and stay concerned about the needs of others. This teaching was for James an essential part of true religion. True religion is not escaping from the world but sharing the bounty of God with the world.
This concept was difficult in our Lord’s time just as it is today. We worry about what we’ll eat, drink, or wear, that is the material concerns. Again Jesus offers another approach: Don’t worry about all that. Step into the Kingdom of God, which is not anxiety driven. The birds of the air neither plant or sow, or build barns, yet they have enough. The lilies of the field neither work not spin wool, and yet they are an expression of God’s beauty. First we seek the Kingdom of God, a place of love and peace. “All the rest will come, says Jesus, trust me.”
The world clamors with noise, explosions of hatred, injustice, and with greed. Jesus is telling his followers to knock-it-off. First claim the Kingdom of God where the values are very different. He offers sacrificial love, forgiveness, peace, healing, hopefulness for the future, and a bounty of spiritual food for the crowds. What have we to be truly grateful for? Being over weight as a nation. The accumulation of so much junk we hardly know what to do with it all? But what of a basic spirituality, which comes from God, that is love? We are given knowledge of what is good, just, beautiful, and caring through the life and the teaching and the healing miracles of our Lord. All the rest, St. Paul, would say is refuse. God love us, and we in turn do what we can to love one another as doers of the word, and not just hearers.
It was hard for the peasants of Jesus’ time not to worry. They often did not know where the next meal was going to come from. But they also had to be aware that with working for justice their anxiety would never go away. Jesus challenges: Seek first the Kingdom of God. It’s hard for us too not to be anxious; there is such pressure upon us to be successful as the world demands, and pay the bills. Yet what freedom and joy it is, what perfect liberty to be liberated from that kind of pressure, anxiety, torture even, and look to a God of love and bounty who gives himself to us, and charges us with the commission to be the channels of that love for the world for others. To change our focus between what the world expects and demands, and what God would have us be and do is certainly liberating. And, it is a passage and way certainly based upon the re-ordering of our lives.
Thursday, November 28, 2002
Sunday, November 24, 2002
LAST PENTECOST – Christ the King
May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: LAST PENTECOST – Christ the King
PROPER: 29 A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: November 24, 2002
TEXT: Matthew 25:31-46 – “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
SEE ALSO: Ezekiel 34:11-17 – “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep.”
ISSUE: The passage is a vision of the Kingdom of God. Where those who have joined with Christ in his compassionate ministry inherit the Kingdom. The basic issue is not imperialistic achievement and status, but the ability to love one another as brothers and sisters, and to be in and with Jesus Christ, like suffering servants.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Today’s gospel reading is a blend between a parable and a vision of the Last Day. It is an appropriate ending to the church year. It stands as a vision on this last day of the church year, as the final reckoning for the world on the last day of God’s final judgment. Remember parables like that of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. Normally, the gospel accounts are assuring in that they offer forgiveness and opportunity for change and renewal. We are very comfortable with those stories and parables. Even the infamous Prodigal Son gets another chance. But there is also the final time of reckoning, when life is over and the day of reckoning comes, and there’s no turning back to try again. There comes a time, when the door is slammed shut. The party banquet begins and the Bridegroom doesn’t remember those who come late, and the door is shut and that awful trumpet of God sounds: “I don’t know who you are!” and the foolish are shut out in the darkness. There is an ultimate time of reckoning. Be alert; be ready.
Before I get into Matthew’s vision of the Last Day, and the Parable of the Last Day, I want to begin by saying a few things about the Hebrew Scripture reading from Ezekiel. At the time Ezekiel was writing, kings and rulers were considered to be the guiding shepherds of their people. Remember that chosen King David was a shepherd boy, who becomes a shepherd of his people in Israel. But David was certainly not totally successful in his leadership. Kings that followed divided the kingdom into Judah and Israel. Other empires in turn captured them. The rulers uprooted the people. Their homelands were destroyed, and the people were often exploited and treated unjustly by the ruling monarchs and emperors. Israel and Judah suffered significantly at the hands of imperial governments. Finally, you have Ezekiel’s great vision of hope where God himself says, “I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them . . . and bring them to their own land. . . feed them with good pasture, . . . they shall like down in good grazing land. . . and shall feed on good pasture . . . I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep and I will make them like down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: I shall judge between the sheep and sheep, between rams and goats.”
In this passage there is much, which is similar to the 23rd Psalm, but much which is similar to what Jesus Christ does when he gathers a flock of 5,000 to feed in green pasture. What we have in the Christian Scriptures is Jesus Christ revealed as The Word, that is, what God has to say. In the ministry and the teaching of Jesus Christ, you see the shepherding of God in Christ to reclaim a lost creation. We see the prophetic utterances of Ezekiel played out in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. He becomes for the Christian Community The Good Shepherd and Christ the King!
Then we are given the visionary parable of Matthew’s Gospel. The Son of Man, the Shepherd of God, Christ the King, has all the nations of the world and their rulers standing before him. The Good Shepherd, Christ the King begins the process of separating the sheep from the goats. The imagery here is fascinating. Sheep were honorable animals and were taken care of by shepherds. They were largely honorable because the male sheep were protectors of their females and families, because when they were slaughtered they did not cry out. Women in the family, on the other hand, cared for goats. Male goats shared their females with other males, and thereby were considered dishonorable in their unfaithfulness. Therefore, the separation of sheep from the goats meant that the shepherd was separating the honorable from the dishonorable, and the faithful from the unfaithful.
Now notice carefully what this visionary parable is saying about the Last Day. The judgment of the shepherd is based on faithfulness and what is honorable. The shepherd here is not some imperialistic type. The Good Shepherd, Christ the King’s status is based on something quite different from the imperialist way of the world. The new imperialism is based on the compassion and the caring of the shepherd for his flock. Furthermore, the flock is also judged on its ability to be compassionate as well.
The caring shepherd brings the sheep to his right hand, the hand or place of honor, saying to them, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Why? Well, not because of your achievements, not because of your status, but because you gave food to the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, took care of the sick, clothed the naked, and visited those in prison, and incidentally a fair number of early Christians were in prison at one time or another. Those who are the righteous are those who faithfully served with Jesus Christ in a spirit of hospitality and compassion. Without moaning and complaint they sought justice for one another, all as brothers and sister with Jesus Christ, and caring hospitality becomes a way of life.
It becomes relatively clear, I think, that if you live in a world of injustice, and world without patience, a world without caring, then you live in a world that is on its way to hell, to the garbage dump where the flames don’t go out, and where nations are nothing more than an ambitiously competitive to the point of destroying one another. It becomes a world where there is no peace.
We must not trivialize the gospel of Christ. Remember last week’s parable of the Talents. It was not about a master giving his servants a few bucks in hopes of a return of a few more bucks. It was about a master who gave millions to his servants, and some of them doubled the money, while one buried his. Participating in the church and the Kingdom of God is not about giving you a buck, and asking you to double it. It is rather about the understand of the wealth of love and forgiveness, the shepherd of God in Christ for his creation, and having his servants share in and participate in the great mission of God’s eternal love and hospitality.
While certainly this visionary parable calls God’s people to a caring for their own families and rejoicing in the privilege of being suffering servants for one another without complaint. It is also about the care of God’s total world community, especially for a nation that has so much. Too often the church itself becomes self-satisfied, if not complacent with contributions to food pantries and other such charities. That is well and good, and is as it should be to handle emergency situations for people who face rough times. There is still a far greater picture. We have to ask ourselves why it is that we give and give and give to the Food Pantry, and there are still people coming week after week, month after month, and the need does not decline. It in fact increases. There needs to be a systemic change as to how the poor can find ways to move to more lucrative work, and have available more lucrative wages that sustain single parent families in our world. It is not just in the giving of a few canned goods, but it comes to the way we vote, and the way we challenge and inform our leaders of their need to be good shepherds in the world order. We all may have to reduce our own expectations of what we get out of life for the benefit of others. “We may have to live simpler, that others may simply live,” is a common aphorism of our day.
Some years ago, the Episcopal Church had an outstanding evangelist. Her name was Gert Behanna, and she had written an autobiography entitled, The Late Liz, referring to her pen name, Elizabeth Burns. Gert went through a remarkable change, a period of grand repentance. She had been very wealthy, but as she lived out her life she went through several divorces, and her health declined significantly due largely to a serious alcohol problem. When her wealthy but extraordinarily miserable life was finally in the pits, by the grace of God, Gert had a conversion experience. She sobered up with the help of God and Alcoholics Anonymous. She set up her wealth into a fund for people in need, and her health dramatically improved. She spent her last days, well into her 70’s speaking at churches and to AA groups about her life. And Gert had a feeling, or perhaps, her own vision of the Last Day. Gert used to say that on the Last Day, “We will all stand before our Good Shepherd and he won’t ask about your great accomplishments. All the Shepherd will ask is, “How much did you love?”
SEASON: LAST PENTECOST – Christ the King
PROPER: 29 A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: November 24, 2002
TEXT: Matthew 25:31-46 – “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
SEE ALSO: Ezekiel 34:11-17 – “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep.”
ISSUE: The passage is a vision of the Kingdom of God. Where those who have joined with Christ in his compassionate ministry inherit the Kingdom. The basic issue is not imperialistic achievement and status, but the ability to love one another as brothers and sisters, and to be in and with Jesus Christ, like suffering servants.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Today’s gospel reading is a blend between a parable and a vision of the Last Day. It is an appropriate ending to the church year. It stands as a vision on this last day of the church year, as the final reckoning for the world on the last day of God’s final judgment. Remember parables like that of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. Normally, the gospel accounts are assuring in that they offer forgiveness and opportunity for change and renewal. We are very comfortable with those stories and parables. Even the infamous Prodigal Son gets another chance. But there is also the final time of reckoning, when life is over and the day of reckoning comes, and there’s no turning back to try again. There comes a time, when the door is slammed shut. The party banquet begins and the Bridegroom doesn’t remember those who come late, and the door is shut and that awful trumpet of God sounds: “I don’t know who you are!” and the foolish are shut out in the darkness. There is an ultimate time of reckoning. Be alert; be ready.
Before I get into Matthew’s vision of the Last Day, and the Parable of the Last Day, I want to begin by saying a few things about the Hebrew Scripture reading from Ezekiel. At the time Ezekiel was writing, kings and rulers were considered to be the guiding shepherds of their people. Remember that chosen King David was a shepherd boy, who becomes a shepherd of his people in Israel. But David was certainly not totally successful in his leadership. Kings that followed divided the kingdom into Judah and Israel. Other empires in turn captured them. The rulers uprooted the people. Their homelands were destroyed, and the people were often exploited and treated unjustly by the ruling monarchs and emperors. Israel and Judah suffered significantly at the hands of imperial governments. Finally, you have Ezekiel’s great vision of hope where God himself says, “I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them . . . and bring them to their own land. . . feed them with good pasture, . . . they shall like down in good grazing land. . . and shall feed on good pasture . . . I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep and I will make them like down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: I shall judge between the sheep and sheep, between rams and goats.”
In this passage there is much, which is similar to the 23rd Psalm, but much which is similar to what Jesus Christ does when he gathers a flock of 5,000 to feed in green pasture. What we have in the Christian Scriptures is Jesus Christ revealed as The Word, that is, what God has to say. In the ministry and the teaching of Jesus Christ, you see the shepherding of God in Christ to reclaim a lost creation. We see the prophetic utterances of Ezekiel played out in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. He becomes for the Christian Community The Good Shepherd and Christ the King!
Then we are given the visionary parable of Matthew’s Gospel. The Son of Man, the Shepherd of God, Christ the King, has all the nations of the world and their rulers standing before him. The Good Shepherd, Christ the King begins the process of separating the sheep from the goats. The imagery here is fascinating. Sheep were honorable animals and were taken care of by shepherds. They were largely honorable because the male sheep were protectors of their females and families, because when they were slaughtered they did not cry out. Women in the family, on the other hand, cared for goats. Male goats shared their females with other males, and thereby were considered dishonorable in their unfaithfulness. Therefore, the separation of sheep from the goats meant that the shepherd was separating the honorable from the dishonorable, and the faithful from the unfaithful.
Now notice carefully what this visionary parable is saying about the Last Day. The judgment of the shepherd is based on faithfulness and what is honorable. The shepherd here is not some imperialistic type. The Good Shepherd, Christ the King’s status is based on something quite different from the imperialist way of the world. The new imperialism is based on the compassion and the caring of the shepherd for his flock. Furthermore, the flock is also judged on its ability to be compassionate as well.
The caring shepherd brings the sheep to his right hand, the hand or place of honor, saying to them, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Why? Well, not because of your achievements, not because of your status, but because you gave food to the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, took care of the sick, clothed the naked, and visited those in prison, and incidentally a fair number of early Christians were in prison at one time or another. Those who are the righteous are those who faithfully served with Jesus Christ in a spirit of hospitality and compassion. Without moaning and complaint they sought justice for one another, all as brothers and sister with Jesus Christ, and caring hospitality becomes a way of life.
It becomes relatively clear, I think, that if you live in a world of injustice, and world without patience, a world without caring, then you live in a world that is on its way to hell, to the garbage dump where the flames don’t go out, and where nations are nothing more than an ambitiously competitive to the point of destroying one another. It becomes a world where there is no peace.
We must not trivialize the gospel of Christ. Remember last week’s parable of the Talents. It was not about a master giving his servants a few bucks in hopes of a return of a few more bucks. It was about a master who gave millions to his servants, and some of them doubled the money, while one buried his. Participating in the church and the Kingdom of God is not about giving you a buck, and asking you to double it. It is rather about the understand of the wealth of love and forgiveness, the shepherd of God in Christ for his creation, and having his servants share in and participate in the great mission of God’s eternal love and hospitality.
While certainly this visionary parable calls God’s people to a caring for their own families and rejoicing in the privilege of being suffering servants for one another without complaint. It is also about the care of God’s total world community, especially for a nation that has so much. Too often the church itself becomes self-satisfied, if not complacent with contributions to food pantries and other such charities. That is well and good, and is as it should be to handle emergency situations for people who face rough times. There is still a far greater picture. We have to ask ourselves why it is that we give and give and give to the Food Pantry, and there are still people coming week after week, month after month, and the need does not decline. It in fact increases. There needs to be a systemic change as to how the poor can find ways to move to more lucrative work, and have available more lucrative wages that sustain single parent families in our world. It is not just in the giving of a few canned goods, but it comes to the way we vote, and the way we challenge and inform our leaders of their need to be good shepherds in the world order. We all may have to reduce our own expectations of what we get out of life for the benefit of others. “We may have to live simpler, that others may simply live,” is a common aphorism of our day.
Some years ago, the Episcopal Church had an outstanding evangelist. Her name was Gert Behanna, and she had written an autobiography entitled, The Late Liz, referring to her pen name, Elizabeth Burns. Gert went through a remarkable change, a period of grand repentance. She had been very wealthy, but as she lived out her life she went through several divorces, and her health declined significantly due largely to a serious alcohol problem. When her wealthy but extraordinarily miserable life was finally in the pits, by the grace of God, Gert had a conversion experience. She sobered up with the help of God and Alcoholics Anonymous. She set up her wealth into a fund for people in need, and her health dramatically improved. She spent her last days, well into her 70’s speaking at churches and to AA groups about her life. And Gert had a feeling, or perhaps, her own vision of the Last Day. Gert used to say that on the Last Day, “We will all stand before our Good Shepherd and he won’t ask about your great accomplishments. All the Shepherd will ask is, “How much did you love?”
Sunday, November 17, 2002
PENTECOST 26
May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: PENTECOST 26
PROPER: 28 A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: November 17, 2002
TEXT: Matthew 25:14-29 – The Parable of the Talents
Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.”
ISSUE: Here’s a tough parable. Two men what the master has given them, and one does what was actually expected at the time; he buried the talent, and justifies the action by saying that the master was a hard man and he was afraid. This surreal tells of the enormously abundant bestowal of money given to his servants, and he is expecting a reversal of common culture to save up, and live in fear. The parable dares to call for risks, and to make us all aware of the great abundance bestowed upon us that we miss.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Here’s a parable that shocked the hell out of the disciples of Jesus, and certainly as Matthew tells it, it shocks the early Christian Church. It is shocking enough that even most modern Biblical scholars believe that it can be attributed to Jesus himself. Bear with me. For many of us today, the parable is not nearly as terribly shocking to us, as it was in Jesus’ time and the first century. Most of us are born again capitalists, so we think we sort of know what this parable is all about, and rejoice with the servants who double their money. At the same time, however, the parable is often trivialized in terms of what it may mean in our time. Bear with me.
This parable is really very surreal. A master is going to go away for a very long time. So he generously leaves with three of this servants an extraordinary sum of money. To one he gives five talents, to another two, and to the last servant one talent, according to what he thinks their ability is. Obviously he has knowledge of this servants, and sort of what might be expected. Please keep in mind that a talent was a sum of money, and not gifted abilities of his servants. Much of the time the Christian Scriptures speak of denarii, which is a day’s wage. This passage speaks of talents. There are different estimates, but William Loader says that a talent was around 6,000 denarii, and the first gets a total of 30,000 denarii, which comes to about in today’s money some 5 million dollars! Five million dollars was more than the budgets of most large countries of that period. We’re talking big bucks, surreal amounts of money.
When the time of reckoning comes, and the master returns to collect the money he has left with his servants. It was not a gift, but rather the money was left in their care. So the first servant reports that he has doubled the money. Now we’ve got Ten Million Dollars! The master commends him, and puts him in charge of bigger things. The second servant declares he has doubled his money. Now, all totaled, the master has some Fourteen Million dollars. “Well done good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” But the last, servant buried his one talent, and returns it to the master in the same amount that had been given to him. No interest not even from the bank. He argues that he knows the master is a harsh man, who reaping fruits that he had not sown, and gather where he had not plant; so he was afraid and hid the money in the ground.
The master becomes very angry with him. The least he could have done was put the money in the bank and collect a little interest. The slave thought he was harsh; well we’re about to see how harsh the master can be. “So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and thy will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” We find this rather startling, and indeed harsh, but in our capitalist thinking, we can understand the master’s displeasure.
However, in this period the good people were not capitalists. Peasants listening to this parable would really have been shocked. Getting ahead and moving above your station, and accumulating money was what evildoers did. The rich were always suspected of gouging and abusing the poor, and accumulating more than what they were entitled. The last servant did what he thought was expected of him. He kept the talent safe and secure for his master, and returned it accordingly. He took no risk with what was not his. He did what was expected of him self in the world. The peasants and the early church were really startled by this parable! The master was demanding the opposite. Jesus was calling for, once again, the reversal of thinking.
What’s being reversed? The parable is not about the world. It is about the Kingdom, realm, dominion of God, which is quite different from the world. God is Judge, and we do live under his judgment, but God is also bountiful in love and the giving of grace, and gift giving. If you think God is harsh and cruel, vengeful, then that’s what you’ll get out of life and the world. But this parable is about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is surreal. The master is bestowing an incredible bounty, and inconceivable bounty upon his people in the Kingdom of God. The millions of bucks be thrown all around the place is the symbol of that very bounty.
Think of what it is that we have been given as the creatures and people of God. We have been given life itself, and an incredible sense of self-awareness and consciousness. We have been given minds to think and reason. We have kills to build and create. We can make music. Have you listened lately to the rich gifts of the masters? We have been given a universe and a world coupled with a sense of the beauty, awe, and wonder. We have been given the gift of sexuality that enable us to participate in the creative processes of God. We have been given a sense of moral rule and commandments, civility that can enables us to live in peace and harmony with one another. What’s more we have an image of the God of Love revealed in Jesus Christ who is the living expression of the God of Love, and the gift of forgiveness, and the hope of ascension and resurrection, when we have fallen, failed, or stumbled. We have been given a love through Jesus Christ that is the very outpouring of God on a cross that forgives, renews, and resurrects. I believe that this is the richness that is implied in this surreal parable where the master is throwing around enormous sums of cash for his servants to invest and with which to live.
There is that parable of the Sower, where he spreads seed indiscriminately, which would never have been done by a farmer in Jesus’ time that ends up yielding crops in an unheard of abundance. There is the parable of the two fish and the five parley loaves that in the hands of the disciples feeds a multitude. The Kingdom of God is perceived of as an inordinate amount of yeast in a loaf that will abound to be the size of a house! Jesus saw in God abundance, and he expanded it and risked and gave himself to all who would hear him an awareness of the greatness of the bounty of God, and at the same time of the risky discipleship that was called to invest in the magnificent loving abundance of God.
David Buttrick tells of a Catholic Church, that after the Vatican II conferences, which called for renewal of the church, removed an old crucifix of Jesus over the altar. It had a spear stuck in the side of the corpse with blood running down the side. In its place they put in large letters over the altar the word LOVE. After awhile those letters seemed so saccharine. Finally, they put the crucifix back over top of the word LOVE, and it all made so much more sense. Love is the pouring out, and the investing in the human condition. The Kingdom of God is that place where the inhabitants join with God, and join with Christ of pouring them selves out in the Holy Spirit of God, and join in God’s rejoicing.
Now there are always choices. We call it free will. What we can see the pain and the suffering of the world. We can see that God seems to let terrible things happen. We can perceive God as harsh, judgmental, and cruel. We fear the war that may come, the threats of terrorism. We fear cancer and the dwindling economy. We may see this as a truly harsh world controlled by a vengeful God, and become paralyzed in hopelessness and despair.
The parable changes things around; it is a wake-up call to the disciples, the poor, and the elite of Jesus’ time. Look at what God pours out on the travesty of the world, and what those who are his are called to appreciate and participate in. Take some risks, become involved in the world with God’s love and blessing. Become the agents, the conduits of his grace, the channels of his forgiveness, embracing the world of God’s with the arms of his love. Examine what you do, and who you are, as a baptized child, a man or woman, of God who has been welcomed into the Kingdom of God, and into God’s bounty. How do we as individuals and a church, spend and invest what God has given to us?
This parable of the Talents is indeed a parable of judgment. Yes, we are under the judgment of God. At the same time, we are under the incredible outpour of God’s wealth. The master goes away for a very long time. But there is coming a reckoning, and those who have served him well and appreciate his abundance of grace have absolutely nothing to fear.
ADDENDUM: God is like a Father, not a grandfather or grandmother. The latter will be inclined to spoil, but the Father, and the Mother require discipline.
SEASON: PENTECOST 26
PROPER: 28 A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: November 17, 2002
TEXT: Matthew 25:14-29 – The Parable of the Talents
Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.”
ISSUE: Here’s a tough parable. Two men what the master has given them, and one does what was actually expected at the time; he buried the talent, and justifies the action by saying that the master was a hard man and he was afraid. This surreal tells of the enormously abundant bestowal of money given to his servants, and he is expecting a reversal of common culture to save up, and live in fear. The parable dares to call for risks, and to make us all aware of the great abundance bestowed upon us that we miss.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Here’s a parable that shocked the hell out of the disciples of Jesus, and certainly as Matthew tells it, it shocks the early Christian Church. It is shocking enough that even most modern Biblical scholars believe that it can be attributed to Jesus himself. Bear with me. For many of us today, the parable is not nearly as terribly shocking to us, as it was in Jesus’ time and the first century. Most of us are born again capitalists, so we think we sort of know what this parable is all about, and rejoice with the servants who double their money. At the same time, however, the parable is often trivialized in terms of what it may mean in our time. Bear with me.
This parable is really very surreal. A master is going to go away for a very long time. So he generously leaves with three of this servants an extraordinary sum of money. To one he gives five talents, to another two, and to the last servant one talent, according to what he thinks their ability is. Obviously he has knowledge of this servants, and sort of what might be expected. Please keep in mind that a talent was a sum of money, and not gifted abilities of his servants. Much of the time the Christian Scriptures speak of denarii, which is a day’s wage. This passage speaks of talents. There are different estimates, but William Loader says that a talent was around 6,000 denarii, and the first gets a total of 30,000 denarii, which comes to about in today’s money some 5 million dollars! Five million dollars was more than the budgets of most large countries of that period. We’re talking big bucks, surreal amounts of money.
When the time of reckoning comes, and the master returns to collect the money he has left with his servants. It was not a gift, but rather the money was left in their care. So the first servant reports that he has doubled the money. Now we’ve got Ten Million Dollars! The master commends him, and puts him in charge of bigger things. The second servant declares he has doubled his money. Now, all totaled, the master has some Fourteen Million dollars. “Well done good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” But the last, servant buried his one talent, and returns it to the master in the same amount that had been given to him. No interest not even from the bank. He argues that he knows the master is a harsh man, who reaping fruits that he had not sown, and gather where he had not plant; so he was afraid and hid the money in the ground.
The master becomes very angry with him. The least he could have done was put the money in the bank and collect a little interest. The slave thought he was harsh; well we’re about to see how harsh the master can be. “So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and thy will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” We find this rather startling, and indeed harsh, but in our capitalist thinking, we can understand the master’s displeasure.
However, in this period the good people were not capitalists. Peasants listening to this parable would really have been shocked. Getting ahead and moving above your station, and accumulating money was what evildoers did. The rich were always suspected of gouging and abusing the poor, and accumulating more than what they were entitled. The last servant did what he thought was expected of him. He kept the talent safe and secure for his master, and returned it accordingly. He took no risk with what was not his. He did what was expected of him self in the world. The peasants and the early church were really startled by this parable! The master was demanding the opposite. Jesus was calling for, once again, the reversal of thinking.
What’s being reversed? The parable is not about the world. It is about the Kingdom, realm, dominion of God, which is quite different from the world. God is Judge, and we do live under his judgment, but God is also bountiful in love and the giving of grace, and gift giving. If you think God is harsh and cruel, vengeful, then that’s what you’ll get out of life and the world. But this parable is about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is surreal. The master is bestowing an incredible bounty, and inconceivable bounty upon his people in the Kingdom of God. The millions of bucks be thrown all around the place is the symbol of that very bounty.
Think of what it is that we have been given as the creatures and people of God. We have been given life itself, and an incredible sense of self-awareness and consciousness. We have been given minds to think and reason. We have kills to build and create. We can make music. Have you listened lately to the rich gifts of the masters? We have been given a universe and a world coupled with a sense of the beauty, awe, and wonder. We have been given the gift of sexuality that enable us to participate in the creative processes of God. We have been given a sense of moral rule and commandments, civility that can enables us to live in peace and harmony with one another. What’s more we have an image of the God of Love revealed in Jesus Christ who is the living expression of the God of Love, and the gift of forgiveness, and the hope of ascension and resurrection, when we have fallen, failed, or stumbled. We have been given a love through Jesus Christ that is the very outpouring of God on a cross that forgives, renews, and resurrects. I believe that this is the richness that is implied in this surreal parable where the master is throwing around enormous sums of cash for his servants to invest and with which to live.
There is that parable of the Sower, where he spreads seed indiscriminately, which would never have been done by a farmer in Jesus’ time that ends up yielding crops in an unheard of abundance. There is the parable of the two fish and the five parley loaves that in the hands of the disciples feeds a multitude. The Kingdom of God is perceived of as an inordinate amount of yeast in a loaf that will abound to be the size of a house! Jesus saw in God abundance, and he expanded it and risked and gave himself to all who would hear him an awareness of the greatness of the bounty of God, and at the same time of the risky discipleship that was called to invest in the magnificent loving abundance of God.
David Buttrick tells of a Catholic Church, that after the Vatican II conferences, which called for renewal of the church, removed an old crucifix of Jesus over the altar. It had a spear stuck in the side of the corpse with blood running down the side. In its place they put in large letters over the altar the word LOVE. After awhile those letters seemed so saccharine. Finally, they put the crucifix back over top of the word LOVE, and it all made so much more sense. Love is the pouring out, and the investing in the human condition. The Kingdom of God is that place where the inhabitants join with God, and join with Christ of pouring them selves out in the Holy Spirit of God, and join in God’s rejoicing.
Now there are always choices. We call it free will. What we can see the pain and the suffering of the world. We can see that God seems to let terrible things happen. We can perceive God as harsh, judgmental, and cruel. We fear the war that may come, the threats of terrorism. We fear cancer and the dwindling economy. We may see this as a truly harsh world controlled by a vengeful God, and become paralyzed in hopelessness and despair.
The parable changes things around; it is a wake-up call to the disciples, the poor, and the elite of Jesus’ time. Look at what God pours out on the travesty of the world, and what those who are his are called to appreciate and participate in. Take some risks, become involved in the world with God’s love and blessing. Become the agents, the conduits of his grace, the channels of his forgiveness, embracing the world of God’s with the arms of his love. Examine what you do, and who you are, as a baptized child, a man or woman, of God who has been welcomed into the Kingdom of God, and into God’s bounty. How do we as individuals and a church, spend and invest what God has given to us?
This parable of the Talents is indeed a parable of judgment. Yes, we are under the judgment of God. At the same time, we are under the incredible outpour of God’s wealth. The master goes away for a very long time. But there is coming a reckoning, and those who have served him well and appreciate his abundance of grace have absolutely nothing to fear.
ADDENDUM: God is like a Father, not a grandfather or grandmother. The latter will be inclined to spoil, but the Father, and the Mother require discipline.
Sunday, November 10, 2002
PENTECOST 25
May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: PENTECOST 25
PROPER: 27 A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: November 10, 2002
TEXT: Matthew 25:1-13 – The Wise and Foolish Virgins
ISSUE: How many times has Christ’s Holy Spirit come to us, asking us to be ready to serve and lighten the way for him? The story of the Wise and Foolish Virgins is a call to readiness, preparedness, and eager anticipation for lighting the way of the Lord in the darkness of the world. We lead the way to joy and hope as symbolized by the Wedding Feast.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Matthew’s gospel account tells us a parable of what is popularly referred to as the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. We might also tag it as the Parable of Here Comes the Bride or better still, Here Comes the Bridegroom. In short, the parable is saying simply< “Be ready for the coming of the Lord.” It has that advent theme, and at one time, I believe, it was one of the gospels appointed to be read in Advent, a church season of getting prepared for the coming of the Lord at Christmas.
Modern biblical scholars believe that the Parable was probably not a parable that really belonged to Jesus, but was rather a story of the time that Matthew inserted in his gospel account to make certain points. The reason that modern scholars fail to attribute it to Jesus is because it seems about himself, and there is reason to believe that Jesus was not really fully aware of himself as The Messiah of God, the bridegroom of God, who was to come at this point in his ministry. They also seem to think that the parable is a bit too pat and moralistic. The wise virgins are fully prepared for the coming of the Lord, but the foolish virgins are lacking in their taking their part seriously enough, and are unready for what they were supposed to be doing. And for their foolishness they get locked out: “Truly I tell you I don’t know you.” So the moralistic conclusion is that you had better be good, and be ready to receive the Lord at all times, or you are going to get locked out of the Kingdom of God! IT is as if Matthew is trying writing his gospel account long after Jesus’ life is expressing and urgency and trying to drum up the enthusiasm and energy need in the early formation of the Christian community. Shape up, be ready, alert, awake, and ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ, and if you’re not, then you’d better watch out! Many scholars say that for these reasons the parable doesn’t sound exactly like Jesus, and more like a pep talk for the early church.
Personally, I can see that argument, but there is another point that the Parable makes that is somewhat in keeping, I think with Jesus’ message. And the startling conclusion of the possibility of being locked out is very alarming and thought provoking. Actually I think the uncertainties and the arguments about the scriptures and what they mean are really rather interesting, fun, and challenging. How boring Christianity can be, and how small God becomes, when we think we’ve got it all figured out.
Any way here’s the story: A couple is going to be married in a first century Middle Eastern community. This was a big deal. The groom goes to the home of his bride to bring her to his father’s home, because that was the custom and the new bride would live with her husband’s family, mother and sisters. His family had made the arrangements with dad making all the arrangements for the dowry, and mother checked out and dotted the “I’s,” and crossed the “T’s” of the contract. People in the community were all invited, which included the young unmarried girls, teen-agers, in the community, of which there are ten in this town. They wait along the road to greet the new couple and light the way with their lanterns if it gets late. For some reason the couple are held up, keeping in mind that punctuality was not exactly a virtue of the time, and there may have been some last minute things to discuss between the families regarding the marriage contract, and lots of farewells, hugs and kisses for the departing bride. Back home the guests are waiting, and the teen-age girls are out on the road waiting to announce their coming and light the way in the dark.
It is late, and the virgin teen-age virgin maidens see that the wedding party is coming so they get ready to light their lamps. Now the wise maidens brought extra oil and are ready for the procession. The foolish teen-agers have not brought enough so they want the wise maidens to share, but the wise maidens are teen-agers too, and they refuse, which really doesn’t say a lot for the wise maidens. (Spoken child like:)
“Go get your own oil.”
“But the stores are closed now.”
“Tough luck. We got ours; now you go get yours.”
Meantime, the bridegroom comes, and there is a procession to the wedding feast, to the grand party.” Those with the oil lamps lead the way. They enlighten the way. What’s more they are filled with the oil, bearing the fruit of the Spirit. Are these they who have been sealed by the Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever?” Where is all this leading? It is leading to the Feast, one of the most joyful occasions of the time! I think so! And the silly foolish girls are left out, and we may be inclined to feel sorry for them. But don’t! They were invited. They knew the way but they didn’t take it seriously. Like the guy who as invited to the Wedding Feast in another parable, but who didn’t wear his wedding garment. He got thrown out with the girls. This parable of Matthew, and Jesus, I think, is told at a difficult time in their history. Jesus foresaw the potential doom of the destruction of Israel, and Matthew lived through it. The parable stern call to come to the Wedding Feast, to the banquet in the Kingdom, and take it seriously and keep focused as the children of light, and as those anointed with the oil of the Spirit. Don’t miss the boat; don’t miss the party. Look for the coming of Christ of Christ in the darkness as faithful servants. That is what we are called to, faithfulness, loyalty, commitment to Jesus Christ as the Bridegroom and Lord that we serve.
Let’s shift for a minute to the Hebrew Scripture Lesson from Amos. A great lesson. No, a powerful lesson. Amos is saying to his people the coming day of the Lord is not light. It is a day of gloom and darkness. “It is as if you were running away from a lion and ran into a grizzly bear.” The day of the Lord is not always sweetness and light. There are very difficult and painful times. I take no delight in your solemn assemblies, you half-attended church services, and your fattened lamb dinners. I take no delight in your songs, your harps, your bell choirs, Christmas Bazaars and flea markets. “I want justice to roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos speaking on behalf of God calls his people to a genuine spiritedness that addresses the doom and the gloom of the world, and leads the way to the party, to the feast, to a new world kingdom where everybody has enough, and nobody has too much; where we become deeply spiritually involved in the pain and suffering of the world, both its people and the environment.
This time is not a particularly jolly time for us. We stand on the edge of a war. War is not fun. People suffer and die on both sides, and even if you win for many of the afflicted there is no fun. There is the constant threat of terrorist attack against a world that some people see as arrogant. One of the most insidious problems in our society, which has persisted for a long time now, is the drug problem in our culture. But as long as the general population thinks “pot” is fun, then we’ll have to live with the drug intrusion, and its consequences. We are living in a world where the AIDS-HIV problem is becoming an ever more serious problem, creating unrest and serious problems around the world, creating terrible havoc in some poorer nations. Poverty continues expand, and often what the greater church does is apply band-aid handouts. Older people have difficulty paying for their medications. The teenyboppers in the parable have all been invited to walk with the bridegroom, to walk with the Lord, but they failed to take the invitation seriously and commit themselves and to stay ready in their mature relationship with the Lord, like people who miss the point of the Spirit of God given at their baptism. So they get left out, but don’t forget that those who do take their relationship with the Lord and the community seriously get to go into the party. The parable is a call to maturity in faith, and the joy of seeing the Kingdom Banquet of God become realized.
When I was in college I met a young man, Dennis Livingston, whom I enjoyed to very much. We used to have many late night discussions. I was a philosophy major, and Dennis was an art major, and was quite good. We had many good times together. But time passed, and each of us went our separate ways. Years passed. One day at a city festival, I saw a man, I was sure was Dennis.
“Are you Dennis Livingston?” I asked.
“Why, Yes I am,” he replied with a somewhat puzzled look on his face.
“Remember me? I’m David Remington.”
“Who? Dennis questioned.
“David Remington. You remember, from Washington College.”
“Sorry, Mr. Remington, I don’t know who you are.”
To be the church of God, to be friends with God, we have to do our faithful part in keeping the relationship going from day to day.
SEASON: PENTECOST 25
PROPER: 27 A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: November 10, 2002
TEXT: Matthew 25:1-13 – The Wise and Foolish Virgins
ISSUE: How many times has Christ’s Holy Spirit come to us, asking us to be ready to serve and lighten the way for him? The story of the Wise and Foolish Virgins is a call to readiness, preparedness, and eager anticipation for lighting the way of the Lord in the darkness of the world. We lead the way to joy and hope as symbolized by the Wedding Feast.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Matthew’s gospel account tells us a parable of what is popularly referred to as the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. We might also tag it as the Parable of Here Comes the Bride or better still, Here Comes the Bridegroom. In short, the parable is saying simply< “Be ready for the coming of the Lord.” It has that advent theme, and at one time, I believe, it was one of the gospels appointed to be read in Advent, a church season of getting prepared for the coming of the Lord at Christmas.
Modern biblical scholars believe that the Parable was probably not a parable that really belonged to Jesus, but was rather a story of the time that Matthew inserted in his gospel account to make certain points. The reason that modern scholars fail to attribute it to Jesus is because it seems about himself, and there is reason to believe that Jesus was not really fully aware of himself as The Messiah of God, the bridegroom of God, who was to come at this point in his ministry. They also seem to think that the parable is a bit too pat and moralistic. The wise virgins are fully prepared for the coming of the Lord, but the foolish virgins are lacking in their taking their part seriously enough, and are unready for what they were supposed to be doing. And for their foolishness they get locked out: “Truly I tell you I don’t know you.” So the moralistic conclusion is that you had better be good, and be ready to receive the Lord at all times, or you are going to get locked out of the Kingdom of God! IT is as if Matthew is trying writing his gospel account long after Jesus’ life is expressing and urgency and trying to drum up the enthusiasm and energy need in the early formation of the Christian community. Shape up, be ready, alert, awake, and ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ, and if you’re not, then you’d better watch out! Many scholars say that for these reasons the parable doesn’t sound exactly like Jesus, and more like a pep talk for the early church.
Personally, I can see that argument, but there is another point that the Parable makes that is somewhat in keeping, I think with Jesus’ message. And the startling conclusion of the possibility of being locked out is very alarming and thought provoking. Actually I think the uncertainties and the arguments about the scriptures and what they mean are really rather interesting, fun, and challenging. How boring Christianity can be, and how small God becomes, when we think we’ve got it all figured out.
Any way here’s the story: A couple is going to be married in a first century Middle Eastern community. This was a big deal. The groom goes to the home of his bride to bring her to his father’s home, because that was the custom and the new bride would live with her husband’s family, mother and sisters. His family had made the arrangements with dad making all the arrangements for the dowry, and mother checked out and dotted the “I’s,” and crossed the “T’s” of the contract. People in the community were all invited, which included the young unmarried girls, teen-agers, in the community, of which there are ten in this town. They wait along the road to greet the new couple and light the way with their lanterns if it gets late. For some reason the couple are held up, keeping in mind that punctuality was not exactly a virtue of the time, and there may have been some last minute things to discuss between the families regarding the marriage contract, and lots of farewells, hugs and kisses for the departing bride. Back home the guests are waiting, and the teen-age girls are out on the road waiting to announce their coming and light the way in the dark.
It is late, and the virgin teen-age virgin maidens see that the wedding party is coming so they get ready to light their lamps. Now the wise maidens brought extra oil and are ready for the procession. The foolish teen-agers have not brought enough so they want the wise maidens to share, but the wise maidens are teen-agers too, and they refuse, which really doesn’t say a lot for the wise maidens. (Spoken child like:)
“Go get your own oil.”
“But the stores are closed now.”
“Tough luck. We got ours; now you go get yours.”
Meantime, the bridegroom comes, and there is a procession to the wedding feast, to the grand party.” Those with the oil lamps lead the way. They enlighten the way. What’s more they are filled with the oil, bearing the fruit of the Spirit. Are these they who have been sealed by the Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever?” Where is all this leading? It is leading to the Feast, one of the most joyful occasions of the time! I think so! And the silly foolish girls are left out, and we may be inclined to feel sorry for them. But don’t! They were invited. They knew the way but they didn’t take it seriously. Like the guy who as invited to the Wedding Feast in another parable, but who didn’t wear his wedding garment. He got thrown out with the girls. This parable of Matthew, and Jesus, I think, is told at a difficult time in their history. Jesus foresaw the potential doom of the destruction of Israel, and Matthew lived through it. The parable stern call to come to the Wedding Feast, to the banquet in the Kingdom, and take it seriously and keep focused as the children of light, and as those anointed with the oil of the Spirit. Don’t miss the boat; don’t miss the party. Look for the coming of Christ of Christ in the darkness as faithful servants. That is what we are called to, faithfulness, loyalty, commitment to Jesus Christ as the Bridegroom and Lord that we serve.
Let’s shift for a minute to the Hebrew Scripture Lesson from Amos. A great lesson. No, a powerful lesson. Amos is saying to his people the coming day of the Lord is not light. It is a day of gloom and darkness. “It is as if you were running away from a lion and ran into a grizzly bear.” The day of the Lord is not always sweetness and light. There are very difficult and painful times. I take no delight in your solemn assemblies, you half-attended church services, and your fattened lamb dinners. I take no delight in your songs, your harps, your bell choirs, Christmas Bazaars and flea markets. “I want justice to roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos speaking on behalf of God calls his people to a genuine spiritedness that addresses the doom and the gloom of the world, and leads the way to the party, to the feast, to a new world kingdom where everybody has enough, and nobody has too much; where we become deeply spiritually involved in the pain and suffering of the world, both its people and the environment.
This time is not a particularly jolly time for us. We stand on the edge of a war. War is not fun. People suffer and die on both sides, and even if you win for many of the afflicted there is no fun. There is the constant threat of terrorist attack against a world that some people see as arrogant. One of the most insidious problems in our society, which has persisted for a long time now, is the drug problem in our culture. But as long as the general population thinks “pot” is fun, then we’ll have to live with the drug intrusion, and its consequences. We are living in a world where the AIDS-HIV problem is becoming an ever more serious problem, creating unrest and serious problems around the world, creating terrible havoc in some poorer nations. Poverty continues expand, and often what the greater church does is apply band-aid handouts. Older people have difficulty paying for their medications. The teenyboppers in the parable have all been invited to walk with the bridegroom, to walk with the Lord, but they failed to take the invitation seriously and commit themselves and to stay ready in their mature relationship with the Lord, like people who miss the point of the Spirit of God given at their baptism. So they get left out, but don’t forget that those who do take their relationship with the Lord and the community seriously get to go into the party. The parable is a call to maturity in faith, and the joy of seeing the Kingdom Banquet of God become realized.
When I was in college I met a young man, Dennis Livingston, whom I enjoyed to very much. We used to have many late night discussions. I was a philosophy major, and Dennis was an art major, and was quite good. We had many good times together. But time passed, and each of us went our separate ways. Years passed. One day at a city festival, I saw a man, I was sure was Dennis.
“Are you Dennis Livingston?” I asked.
“Why, Yes I am,” he replied with a somewhat puzzled look on his face.
“Remember me? I’m David Remington.”
“Who? Dennis questioned.
“David Remington. You remember, from Washington College.”
“Sorry, Mr. Remington, I don’t know who you are.”
To be the church of God, to be friends with God, we have to do our faithful part in keeping the relationship going from day to day.
Sunday, November 3, 2002
All Saints – The Sunday After
May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: All Saints – The Sunday After
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: November 3, 2002
TEXT: Matt 5:1-12: The Beatitudes and The Baptismal Symbols: They Call Us to Mission with Christ
ISSUE: This sermon reviews the meaning of Baptism Symbols of water, oil, candle, chrisom, and the presence of people. The selection of All Saints as an appropriate time for Holy Baptism recognizes each of us as the community of God’s saints, not be virtue of achievements and talents but as a spirited people in union with Jesus Christ.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Feast of All Saints’ Day is one of the days that the church sets aside as especially appropriate for Holy Baptism. Today, I’d like to review for us all some of the symbols we use in Holy Baptism and how they express the meaning of the importance of Holy Baptism for the Christian Community. Unfortunately, there were some strange teachings concerning Holy Baptism in the Middle Ages that were used more to control people than they were to make Holy Baptism a confession of Faith in Jesus Christ. Some of you older folks will remember the teaching of Holy Baptism that said if your baby wasn’t baptized it would not go to heaven. Baptism was seen as a way to clean up people from their sins. Many folk, especially mothers, were left to wonder what sins their new born baby had committed. That whole mentality and belief was often a manipulation of making people afraid not to be Christian for fear of hell.
In recent years the church has struggled to restore the ancient meaning and theology of Holy Baptism. Holy Baptism is the outward and visible sign of our being made a Christian, or a follower of Jesus Christ, and a child of God. It is a ritual of renewed spiritual birth into the community of Christ Jesus, which we call the church.
The use of water is a birthing symbol. We were all carried in the womb in a sack of water. When we are born, we are born out of that water and into the world. Immersing or pouring the water over the child tells us this is a spiritual birth experience. The child is born again into the community of Christ, the church. The event may take place in a church building, but the church is the people of people baptized Christians. For that reason, we do not do baptisms privately, but when the whole church community is gathered at its main service of worship on a Sunday or Feast Day.
Water is also a symbol of new creation and hope that goes far back into the Hebrew Scriptures. Out of water came the creation of God with the Holy Spirit of God brooding over the chaotic waters. Out of it came the creation, and God scooped up from the clay the image of Adam the first human. Moses led the people of Israel to the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds). By the power and Spirit of God, he raised up his staff, and the waters parted, and Moses and his people fled oppression and slavery and the evil of the Egyptian pharaoh, crossing the Sea, and landing safely on the shore to continue an adventure toward the Promised Land. The sea closed up, and evil Pharaoh’s oppression was washed away. The Israelites with Moses begin a new life in anticipation of hope and finding the Realm of God’s Promised Land.
The Baptism of Jesus by John marks the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Coming up out of the water the Holy Spirit is there brooding over Jesus identifying him: This is my son, my child, the one in whom I am well pleased. Jesus is the new Adam, He comes up out of the water and begins his ministry, going just as Moses had done going into the wilderness and begins the journey to the Kingdom of God.
Notice the symbolism of a person or child’s baptism in the church today. It is the immersion into the water. It is actually a drowning experience. Early Christians were, and still some today are fully immersed into the water. Then they are raised up out of the water. It is rebirth, and it is death and resurrection to a new life. All the evil of the past is renounced and done away, and we begin a new life never beyond the reach of God’s mercy, forgiveness, and compassion, and that God’s the church. Listen for the voice of God saying: “This is my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Still another ancient symbol was that of the anointing with oil. The oil chrismation was all but lost for a while in our church, but has been returned to the ritual. The oil comes from a time when the prophets of God anointed priests and Kings, who were to serve His people. It was a marking with the Spirit of God. Today we make the sign of the cross (+) with the oil, saying, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and marked as Christ’s own forever.” (P.B. p. 308) The baptized are the sealed and anointed of Christ. Remember when Jesus asks the Herodians and the Pharisees whose image is on the coin, and they say, Caesar’s. And Jesus tells them to give that to Caesar, but give to God what is God’s. That’s us. We are the ones marked as Christ’s, anointed, signed, sealed, and delivered as his own coinage, priest, and prophets in the world today. See how this symbolism impresses, or imprints upon us who we are and who this child really belongs too, at her baptism. After the imprinting we all say together: “We receive you into the household of God. Confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his royal priesthood.” P.B. 308
Still another symbol is that of the Chrysom, which is a white garment placed upon the baptized person. It was an ancient garment of the very early church. Again for a period of time, it fell from use, but some parishes are restoring the custom. The white robe is reminiscent of the Resurrected Lord, of purity in Christ, of putting on Christ and being in partnership with Christ in the Church. These are the ones whose robes have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. (Rev.7:9-17) (The Chrysom was also used as a shroud in the event of the death of a child within the year.) Another common custom in baptism is to give the person a candle, which is lighted from the Paschal (Easter) Candle. It reminds us that we are the lights of the world in God’s world.
The role of this congregation, these parents and all parents, the sponsors or Godparents is to see that this child is brought up and raised in the community into of God’s church, learning the ways and teachings of God’s church so that it will join with us in that mission of proclaiming the love of the crucified Lord, proclaiming hope and resurrection, sharing faithfully in the royal priesthood of servanthood in the world, which is the work of the saints of God.
What we are doing today is making another saint. Alexa is born and acknowledged a saint of God today. We all know that there are famous wonderful saints who are remembered in books and stained glass windows. But there are many more saints of great simplicity, who were hardly ever known. Who were they?
Well Jesus took his disciples up on a mountain. He sat down and he began to tell them who were the saints, the ones whom God held as blessed. Indeed, the disciples were probably shocked again, because Jesus was always doing and proclaiming things different from the way the world thought. The Saints of God were not always people of great achievement and accomplishment. Let me tell you, says Jesus who the Blessed are . . . Let me tell you who the honorable folks are, the Saints. The honorable saints of God are the poor in Spirit. It is those who suffer and cry and mourn at the hand of injustice. The honorable and blessed are those who are meek and hospitable, who are merciful, and strive for righteousness and justice. The honorable ones, the saints are they are not the hot shots and big shots, but those who have been persecuted, but who remained faithful. You too, you disciples will know persecution, but remain faithful to me, and join me in servanthood for a troubled world, and you too shall be my saints, the honorable and blessed ones.
W live in a world where people set one another on fire, where people kill one another with guns and bombs. We live in a world threatened by war. We live in a world where people argue and fight for the right to put someone else to death by the death penalty. We live in a world where people use one another to have them selves made into hot shots and big shots. We live in a world where people will go to great lengths for fame and mostly for fortune at the expense of the poor and the struggling.
But what does God bless and honor, and who does God want to call his saints? Why Alexa Marie Harle, of course! Her parents and Godparents, this congregation and all who are poor in spirit, mourning and sadden over the world situation, and who want to be the lights of Christ in this generation working, hungering and thirsting for righteousness sake, and will to face persecution. Because we have been chosen and respond faithfully to proclaim the loving faith of Christ crucified, and share in his resurrection to a world of hope.
We have to understand the symbols of our rituals, because they call us to join with Christ, to be instruments and agents of his love and grace, resurrection hope, to be his saints in mission with Christ, and being partners in his vital ministry of hope for the world.
SEASON: All Saints – The Sunday After
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: November 3, 2002
TEXT: Matt 5:1-12: The Beatitudes and The Baptismal Symbols: They Call Us to Mission with Christ
ISSUE: This sermon reviews the meaning of Baptism Symbols of water, oil, candle, chrisom, and the presence of people. The selection of All Saints as an appropriate time for Holy Baptism recognizes each of us as the community of God’s saints, not be virtue of achievements and talents but as a spirited people in union with Jesus Christ.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Feast of All Saints’ Day is one of the days that the church sets aside as especially appropriate for Holy Baptism. Today, I’d like to review for us all some of the symbols we use in Holy Baptism and how they express the meaning of the importance of Holy Baptism for the Christian Community. Unfortunately, there were some strange teachings concerning Holy Baptism in the Middle Ages that were used more to control people than they were to make Holy Baptism a confession of Faith in Jesus Christ. Some of you older folks will remember the teaching of Holy Baptism that said if your baby wasn’t baptized it would not go to heaven. Baptism was seen as a way to clean up people from their sins. Many folk, especially mothers, were left to wonder what sins their new born baby had committed. That whole mentality and belief was often a manipulation of making people afraid not to be Christian for fear of hell.
In recent years the church has struggled to restore the ancient meaning and theology of Holy Baptism. Holy Baptism is the outward and visible sign of our being made a Christian, or a follower of Jesus Christ, and a child of God. It is a ritual of renewed spiritual birth into the community of Christ Jesus, which we call the church.
The use of water is a birthing symbol. We were all carried in the womb in a sack of water. When we are born, we are born out of that water and into the world. Immersing or pouring the water over the child tells us this is a spiritual birth experience. The child is born again into the community of Christ, the church. The event may take place in a church building, but the church is the people of people baptized Christians. For that reason, we do not do baptisms privately, but when the whole church community is gathered at its main service of worship on a Sunday or Feast Day.
Water is also a symbol of new creation and hope that goes far back into the Hebrew Scriptures. Out of water came the creation of God with the Holy Spirit of God brooding over the chaotic waters. Out of it came the creation, and God scooped up from the clay the image of Adam the first human. Moses led the people of Israel to the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds). By the power and Spirit of God, he raised up his staff, and the waters parted, and Moses and his people fled oppression and slavery and the evil of the Egyptian pharaoh, crossing the Sea, and landing safely on the shore to continue an adventure toward the Promised Land. The sea closed up, and evil Pharaoh’s oppression was washed away. The Israelites with Moses begin a new life in anticipation of hope and finding the Realm of God’s Promised Land.
The Baptism of Jesus by John marks the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Coming up out of the water the Holy Spirit is there brooding over Jesus identifying him: This is my son, my child, the one in whom I am well pleased. Jesus is the new Adam, He comes up out of the water and begins his ministry, going just as Moses had done going into the wilderness and begins the journey to the Kingdom of God.
Notice the symbolism of a person or child’s baptism in the church today. It is the immersion into the water. It is actually a drowning experience. Early Christians were, and still some today are fully immersed into the water. Then they are raised up out of the water. It is rebirth, and it is death and resurrection to a new life. All the evil of the past is renounced and done away, and we begin a new life never beyond the reach of God’s mercy, forgiveness, and compassion, and that God’s the church. Listen for the voice of God saying: “This is my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Still another ancient symbol was that of the anointing with oil. The oil chrismation was all but lost for a while in our church, but has been returned to the ritual. The oil comes from a time when the prophets of God anointed priests and Kings, who were to serve His people. It was a marking with the Spirit of God. Today we make the sign of the cross (+) with the oil, saying, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and marked as Christ’s own forever.” (P.B. p. 308) The baptized are the sealed and anointed of Christ. Remember when Jesus asks the Herodians and the Pharisees whose image is on the coin, and they say, Caesar’s. And Jesus tells them to give that to Caesar, but give to God what is God’s. That’s us. We are the ones marked as Christ’s, anointed, signed, sealed, and delivered as his own coinage, priest, and prophets in the world today. See how this symbolism impresses, or imprints upon us who we are and who this child really belongs too, at her baptism. After the imprinting we all say together: “We receive you into the household of God. Confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his royal priesthood.” P.B. 308
Still another symbol is that of the Chrysom, which is a white garment placed upon the baptized person. It was an ancient garment of the very early church. Again for a period of time, it fell from use, but some parishes are restoring the custom. The white robe is reminiscent of the Resurrected Lord, of purity in Christ, of putting on Christ and being in partnership with Christ in the Church. These are the ones whose robes have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. (Rev.7:9-17) (The Chrysom was also used as a shroud in the event of the death of a child within the year.) Another common custom in baptism is to give the person a candle, which is lighted from the Paschal (Easter) Candle. It reminds us that we are the lights of the world in God’s world.
The role of this congregation, these parents and all parents, the sponsors or Godparents is to see that this child is brought up and raised in the community into of God’s church, learning the ways and teachings of God’s church so that it will join with us in that mission of proclaiming the love of the crucified Lord, proclaiming hope and resurrection, sharing faithfully in the royal priesthood of servanthood in the world, which is the work of the saints of God.
What we are doing today is making another saint. Alexa is born and acknowledged a saint of God today. We all know that there are famous wonderful saints who are remembered in books and stained glass windows. But there are many more saints of great simplicity, who were hardly ever known. Who were they?
Well Jesus took his disciples up on a mountain. He sat down and he began to tell them who were the saints, the ones whom God held as blessed. Indeed, the disciples were probably shocked again, because Jesus was always doing and proclaiming things different from the way the world thought. The Saints of God were not always people of great achievement and accomplishment. Let me tell you, says Jesus who the Blessed are . . . Let me tell you who the honorable folks are, the Saints. The honorable saints of God are the poor in Spirit. It is those who suffer and cry and mourn at the hand of injustice. The honorable and blessed are those who are meek and hospitable, who are merciful, and strive for righteousness and justice. The honorable ones, the saints are they are not the hot shots and big shots, but those who have been persecuted, but who remained faithful. You too, you disciples will know persecution, but remain faithful to me, and join me in servanthood for a troubled world, and you too shall be my saints, the honorable and blessed ones.
W live in a world where people set one another on fire, where people kill one another with guns and bombs. We live in a world threatened by war. We live in a world where people argue and fight for the right to put someone else to death by the death penalty. We live in a world where people use one another to have them selves made into hot shots and big shots. We live in a world where people will go to great lengths for fame and mostly for fortune at the expense of the poor and the struggling.
But what does God bless and honor, and who does God want to call his saints? Why Alexa Marie Harle, of course! Her parents and Godparents, this congregation and all who are poor in spirit, mourning and sadden over the world situation, and who want to be the lights of Christ in this generation working, hungering and thirsting for righteousness sake, and will to face persecution. Because we have been chosen and respond faithfully to proclaim the loving faith of Christ crucified, and share in his resurrection to a world of hope.
We have to understand the symbols of our rituals, because they call us to join with Christ, to be instruments and agents of his love and grace, resurrection hope, to be his saints in mission with Christ, and being partners in his vital ministry of hope for the world.
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