A Sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on December 6, 2009 (II Advent) at teh Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center, Huntington, WV.
Collect: Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Readings:
Baruch 5:1-9
Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem,
and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God.
Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God;
put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting;
for God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven.
For God will give you evermore the name,
"Righteous Peace, Godly Glory."
Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height;
look toward the east,
and see your children gathered from west and east
at the word of the Holy One,
rejoicing that God has remembered them.
For they went out from you on foot,
led away by their enemies;
but God will bring them back to you,
carried in glory, as on a royal throne.
For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low
and the valleys filled up, to make level ground,
so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.
The woods and every fragrant tree
have shaded Israel at God's command.
For God will lead Israel with joy,
in the light of his glory,
with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.
Luke 3:1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:‘Prepare the way of the Lord, [1]make his paths straight.5 Every valley shall be filled,and every mountain and hill shall be made low,and the crooked shall become straight,and the rough places shall become level ways,6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
Something to Sing About
When I was young, my parents would often take us to a performance of the Messiah at Christmas time. One famous pair of arias from that work is: Comfort, ye my people/Every Valley Shall be exalted. - based on Isaiah 40:4. It's for a tenor voice, and there's this wonderful way that Handel treats the melody.
When he gets to the world 'exalted', the tenor sings exal-al-al etc. The song itself imitates the nature of what the Lord will do. The valleys will be exalted, every mountain and hill made low, the cro - oked straight and the rough places plain.
There's also a dramatic part in Comfort ye my people". The music pauses and the tenor sings: "The voice of one crying in the wil-derness, Prepare ye the way of the Lo-rd. make straight in the desert, a high-way. For our G-od! (Bum-Bum.)
As Christians, we've learned to associate the 'one crying in the wilderness' with John the Baptist. He was crying in the wilderness - and the people were going out to him to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. His was a ministry of calling people to repentance - of asking people to make their hearts straight before God.
John is not a real warm-fuzzy kind of guy. It's true he did wear wild animal pelts for clothing, but his demeanor was not exactly meek and mild. It was more like,
"COME OUT HERE YOU MISERABLE SINNERS! CONFESS YOUR SINS! FLEE FROM THE WRATH TO COME! - RIGHT NOW!
Maybe the closest thing that many of us can relate this to would be going to the principle's office to be rebuked for some infraction. I remember one time when I was in junior high school, acting up in class and being sent down to Mr. Maturen's office. (He was actually the Vice-Principle). It wasn't a real pleasant experience.
I think John the Baptist was his cousin.
He was kind of a hatchet-faced sort of man. He didn't smile very much, and you wondered whether or not his face wasn't permanently cast into a frown. When you went to Mr. Maturen's office, you knew you were going to be "called on the carpet" - 'dressed down' - 'taken down a notch'. Yelled at!
Believe me, when I went to his office, I was not rejoicing that I was going to get the book thrown at me. Being happy or joyful was the farthest thing from my mind at that time. And believe me, too, that I wasn't so much interested in confessing and repenting of my sins, as I was finding a way out of the trouble!
By way of contrast, Cindy tells about one of her sisters, who seemed to have a penchant for being bad at times. When the tension would get too great, she would almost beg to be whipped. She just wanted to hurry up and get it over and clear the air, so things could get back to normal. (Both Cindy and I were amazed by that behavior.)
Cindy's sister probably had a better understanding of repentance than either Cindy or I: Confess the crime, take the whuppin', cut the tension and get back on the right track! She knew there was something on the other side of repentance - in her case 'normalcy'. But thinking about it as Christians, we know God wants something infinitely better for us: JOY! And that's what we are going to talk about today: Joy - because that's what repentance is For.
Baruch, Jeremiah and Isaiah
Now let's go back and look at our texts. There's an interesting similarity between our reading from Baruch and the quotation from Isaiah found in our Gospel reading: Baruch says, "For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground"...
Sounds pretty similar to the text from the Messiah aria from Isaiah 40:1 quoted in Luke: "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low. The crooked straight, the rough places plain..." ( KJV) Some writers think that Baruch's writing depends upon the book of Isaiah for its content - and judging from the two sentences we just quoted, they're probably right.
At any rate, Baruch was Jeremiah's scribe. He was the one who actually wrote down the prophecies. The book that bears his name is from the Old Testament Apocrypha. Scholars call it a 'deutero-canonical' book. That means 'second-string' - not quite up to snuff, not accepted by everyone. Although his book has some beautiful and powerful passages, and we read it out in church, yet it is not included in the canon of scripture. In this case, it's likely because Baruch was the scribe, not the prophet himself and so his work lacked prophetic authority.
Regarding the circumstances of Baruch's writing - he was with Jeremiah from before the siege of Jerusalem, when the prophet tried to warn the people of what was coming: wrath, destruction of the city, and exile to Babylon.
Sadly, the people ignored the warning and disaster came upon them. The city was destroyed and the best of the people were exiled to Babylon. After the destruction, Jeremiah continued to live in Palestine for a time, and then went to Egypt, where he probably stayed until he died. Baruch was likely taken to Babylon and lived their until he died.
His words that we read today are addressed to the Jewish people in the midst of their bitter captivity. They are words of hope, words of promise to a beaten- down people, words that indicate that the tide is about to turn in their favor.
"Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem,
and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God.
Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God;
put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting;"
Take off something and put on something. Take off sorrow and mourning and put on joy. This sounds similar to Isaiah 61:3: "To grant those who mourn... a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning..."
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting (NASB). Joy and Gladness; these are the results of Repentance. These are the things that the Lord wants us to have in abundance.
In our readings today, we can also see several other marvelous things He wants for us:
Beauty
Glory
The Robe of Righteousness
Splendor
Peace
Godly Glory
Joy
Mercy
Righteousness
Laughter
Grace
Peace
Purity
Blamelessness
The Fruit of Righteousness
Quite a list, eh?! These things add up to more than just mere happiness. They indicate something deeper than pleasure when something goes right at work, satisfaction when you've had a fun day, or excitement when Marshall or WVU wins a game. These characteristics are indicative of being reconciled with God - something that only comes about through repentance.
Now the most dramatic story of repentance I can think of in the Gospels is the story of the Prodigal son. When this young man got to the lowest point of his life, He came to his senses and went back to his Father and said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”
As we know from hearing the story many times, the father " felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. He told his servants to bring the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, so they could celebrate (Lk. 15:11-32). The son came into his father's joy after he had repented.
In the story of Job, a righteous man loses everything. He longs to plead his case before God, but when God shows up and starts asking Job questions, such as: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?Tell me, if you have understanding" (Job 38:4), Job can only respond by saying:
..."I have uttered what I did not understand,things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
I had heard of you [God] by the hearing of the ear,but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself,and repent in dust and ashes.”Job 42: 2-6).
It's the Hebrew equivalent of saying, "Well, shut my mouth!"
Most of us can relate to this. I see it all the time in my counseling practice - especially as people deal with sexual abuse in their backgrounds. They suffer, and God doesn't respond to their suffering the way the think He should. They withdraw from God, and seek solace in material things, promiscuous relationships or drug and alcohol abuse. And then, during healing prayer, when we invite Christ to come into a picture of the abuse, invariably they say, "I see him now....He was there all along, I just couldn't see it."
How often we do this. We jump to conclusions about things we don't understand and we get all bollixed up and stuck. This is a clue to repent - to be like Job and say, "Shut my mouth!" - To give up trying to make it come out the way I think it should - to acknowledge that God is God and I'm not. To repent of our Pride and Self-Sufficiency.
We need to get to a place where we can be like the psalmist who said,
"O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me. (Psalm 131:1,2)
This is what it sounds like to be repentant: calm and quiet, unstuck, In that quiet place of listening all of a sudden you can realize that God is in charge after all.
The psalmist admonishes us:
O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 131:3)
In other words, Repent of the Sin of Frank Sinatra! Stop doing it your way! Put your trust in the Lord. Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your paths straight. Prov. 3:5)
The Bible promises us that when we repent, when we turn around and walk the other way, that he will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We might have to take a whuppin like Cindy's sister did, or get dressed down, like I did in Mr. Maturen's office, but the goal is not to weigh us down and discourage us, but to lift us up, to turn us around and get us going in the right direction, to to lead us with joy, in the light of [God's] glory, with the mercy and righteousness that come from him, to exalt every valley, bring down every mountain, straighten the crooked, smooth out every rough place and to 'restore to us the joy of our salvation" (Ps. 51).
Jane's Story
Last week, we received an amazing phone call from a woman we have known for many years. Let's call her Jane. We met Jane and her husband 'John' through church during our days at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Jane had grown up in a very rigid environment and struggled with being rigid and obsessive herself. John too was rather compulsive and driven, having been raised in poverty. Money and security were very important to both of them, but it was also obvious they had a heart for ministry.
Despite their strugles, they really were kind and gracious people and we hit it off with them as a couple. We spent a lot of time with them when we lived close and after we both moved away, we've have been as involved with them as you can be when you live hundreds of miles apart from each other.
Up until about ten years ago, John always worked in the business world and he had well-paying corporate type jobs. But we always knew his heart was in ministry. He finally became sick and tired of the work that he was doing and launched into full-time ministry - much to Jane's consternation. She just couldn't see how they could support their family and make it financially with him in this very insecure ministry.
Sure enough, finances became very tight, and they didn't make it very well financially. Jane's world began to crumble and she began to lose hope that things would ever be different. When we talked to her she sounded flat emotionally and she began to develop some real severe emotional problems. Her husband questioned whether she was actually a Christian, and we wondered ourselves.
Some time in the last six months, Jane reached a breaking point. Everything within her just came to a screeching halt. In her desperation, she finally broke down and called out to God. She told Cindy that her prayer went something like this:
Jane's Prayer:
"God, I'm not even sure you're out there, but if you are, will you reveal yourself to me, even if it means tearing down everything I have ever believed about you? "
She said that after she prayed that prayer, she was emotionally spent and numb. As she sat there, exhausted, she began to have a dawning realization that she wasn't alone. Over the coming days and weeks, God began to show her, in many small ways, that he really was there with her and for her. She began to understanding that He is actually taking care of her.
He also impressed upon her this profound truth: "Ultimately, all anger is anger at God."
This allowed her to repent of her anger at God and become like that weaned child on its mother's lap. So, even in her pain she began to have joy. Even though her marriage was teetering on the brink of failure, God began to minister hope to her and give her a will to go on. He began to lead her to books that taught her about His true nature. He gave her a close friend that she could confide in - an Anam Chara - who listened well and kept her confidence. Her walls began to come down, and now, by God's grace she is starting to sound like a faithful Christian for the first time in her almost six decades of life!
And it's all because she was willing to repent, to say to God, "Shut my mouth! - and teach me about You!
God is answering her prayer - because He wants her to experience JOY! He is helping her to make the crooked straight and the rough places plain, to enlarge her heart so that she has a place for Jesus, a place where the God of the Universe can love and nurture her as one of His own dear children. This is what repentance is all about - what its' FOR - in a word, JOY!
Friends, this same God is calling out to you. Today, if your hear His voice speaking to you, I urge you, like the Psalmist, not to harden your heart as the people of Israel did (Ps 95), but to repent - so that you may know JOY!
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, AMEN.
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Zechariah's Endtime Prophecy
A Sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on the first Sunday of Advent, November 29, 2009. Given at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center in Huntington, WV and based on Zechariah 14:4-9:
On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
6 On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. 7 And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.
8 On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
Times aren't what they used to be...
Two clay tablets dating back to 2800 BC were recently unearthed at Babylon in an archaeological dig. They both commented on the trends of the day. One read: 'Times are not what they used to be". The other tablet reflected a major concern of the people of the time. Their complaint: "The world must be coming to an end. Children no longer obey their parents and every man wants to write a book."
Concern about the end of the world - Eschatology - seems to be an enduring topic of speculation. This past Wednesday evening, some of us were chatting about the movie 2012 - in which the Mayan calendar abruptly ends, bringing with it world-wide cataclysm - much to the delight of the movie's special effects people.
Other recent movies ranging from Independence Day to the Transformers to Wall-E treat this fascination in their own ways - all of them dystopic - the opposite of Utopic.
People just seem love to predict the End of everything. In 960 AD, Bernard, a visionary in the former German state of Thuringia, announced that the world would end on Good Friday in 992AD. It didn't.
Nor did the end time arrive as Mary Bateman of Leeds, England, said it
would. In 1806, Bateman claimed that her hen was laying eggs inscribed
with the words, "Christ is coming". When Bateman began selling
"tickets" to heaven for a shilling each, she was arrested, convicted
and hanged! (Think about that - some people actually bought a ticket!)
The world did not end - though it did for Mary.
The world didn't end all the times that the Jehovah's witness newspaper The Watchtower predicted it would.
And it didn't end in the 1970's when Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth created quite a stir, or in the 1980's when newspapers worldwide announced that Lord Maitrayea had arrived and would shortly usher in the End.
We are fascinated with the End. I think it may be in part that the Human Race remembers that we were created pure and whole, knows that we have made a hideous mess of things, and realizes that we will surely be judged accordingly.
Of course, for the last 2,000 years the words of Christ have echoed in our ears: “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." (Luke 21: 25-27)
Even the most complacent among us are given pause by such statements.
As a prophet, Jesus stood as one in a long line who spoke of the end of all things. Today we are reading about Zechariah's prophecy of the End, some 500 years before Christ. Zechariah was given a series of dreams and visions on three very specific dates. In our calendar they are: October/November 520 b.c, February 15, 519 and December 7, 518, during the time of King Darius of Persia. Darius' predecessor, Cyrus had allowed the exiles of Israel to return to their land and begin the rebuilding of the temple under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. But the Samaritans had objected to the work and there was a 14 year pause in building.
During that time, the people became discouraged and decided that building the temple was just not part of God's plan. Zechariah and his contemporary, Haggai, stirred up the people through their prophecies and the work was finally finished in 516 BC. Thematically, Zechariah's prophecies address the restoration of the Temple, the spiritual life of Israel at the time, but also the future events leading up to Messiah's return and reign - a vision of the End that places Christ on the throne.
For at least 2500 years then, this prophecy of the End of all things has been reverberating in the Judeo-Christian consciousness. It's obviously very different from the Mayan version of the End. But also very different from contemporary versions of the End, in which Global Warming or Cooling overwhelm the world - or in which a meteor crashes into the Earth, destroying everything.
Our understanding of the outcome of all things is very different from the world's various visions. And because of it, we live differently and have a different Hope for our lives. Just like the early Christians, we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord of our Lives and of the World. When we say "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his Kingdom will have no end"... we really mean it. We really believe that Jesus Christ will come to earth and reign.
In regard to Zechariah 14:4 and following, the Wycliffe Bible Commentary
says: "Words cannot express more plainly the personal, visible, bodily, literal return of the Lord Jesus Christ in power."
Zechariah said it this way:
"Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him." (v.5)
Yet, right before he comes in glory to set up His kingdom, there will be yet another sack of Jerusalem. The nations that hate Israel will be drawn by their hatred to the city for one last attempt to annihilate it. And apparently they will almost succeed. In vv. 1-3 of chapter 14, Zechariah tells of the city being taken, the spoil divided and the women violated. But at that very moment, "the Lord will go forth." The Mount of Olives will be split in two, allowing the people to flee. Messiah will then stand on the Mount with his saints and decisively defeat all the enemies.
At that time, there will be unusual phenomena. Verses 6 & 7: "On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.
John Calvin translated verse 7 this way: "The light shall not be clear, but dark" (literally, "condensation," that is, thick mist); like a dark day in which you can hardly distinguish between day and night. English Version renders it: "There shall not be altogether light nor altogether darkness," but an intermediate condition in which sorrows shall be mingled with joys. (Wycliffe Bible Commentary).
Going on in verse 8: "On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.
9And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one."What we are talking about of course is known as the Millennium - the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth. Although some try to deny that there will be a millennium and some say that we are currently in the millennium, passages such as Zechariah's cannot be explained away and really do point to a literal time of Christ reigning with his saints here on earth.
Please note that this period of time is NOT the "Blessed Hope" - that is our Resurrection at the very end of all things. The Millennium is a time when Christ will do what many people say they wish He would do: make things so that there will be no rebellion and that all the world will obey Him.
Because Satan will be bound (Rev.20:2) during this time, there will be no Adversary around to tempt people to rebellion, but note what Psalms 2 and 110 say about this time:
Psalm 2:7 I will tell of the decree:The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;today I have begotten you.8Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,and the ends of the earth your possession.9 You shall break them with a rod of ironand dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
Psalm 110:
The Lord says to my Lord:“Sit at my right hand,until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies
He will Rule with a Rod of Iron. That means that there will still be unbelievers present during the Millennium, but they will not be allowed to stir up trouble. Human society will be perfectly ordered here on earth as it is in Heaven -with Jesus being manifestly present.
Yet ultimately, this arrangement will not be adequate, because of the aspect of force involved - the mingling of joys and sorrows. God desires to dwell with his people in a loving relationship, not a coercive one. So to consummate everything, Satan will be released to rebel one final time. And one final time there will be a battle to end all battles.
God will decisively win this battle and the very End will come. All things will be burned up and the new Heaven and the new earth will come down out of Heaven. Believers will enter into the joy of their master and the Devil and all who follow him will be cast into the lake of fire - the second death. Thus will all things be summed up.
Eschatological Counterfeits
As you can imagine, the final state of things for the Devil is less than desirable. Although he knows his end is fixed he is fighting to the bitter end to take as many of us humans with him as possible. To that end, he counterfeits God's plan; he imitates what the Lord will do, and tries to make it seem as if the peaceable kingdom can be established here on earth by natural means.
Thus we have seen numerous attempts over the last 100 years to bring in such a millennial kingdom: The League of Nations under Woodrow Wilson, The Eugenics Movement of the 1920s and beyond, Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, the establishment of the United Nations, the worldwide Communist movement, and most recently Eco-fascism: the attempt to bring all nations together under the banner of Climate Change in order to create some sort of Worldwide governing body which can finally right the inequalities brought on by capitalism and Christianity - those 'rapacious' forces which have created poverty for millions and the destruction of the natural environment - or that's how the critique goes anyway.
It's all an attempt to create a counterfeit Kingdom - a unified world community that will finally 'do the right thing' by the poor, minorities and the environment; an attempt to atone for the crimes of the past via economic sanctions and create a secular shining city set on a hill - a return to Babel, a restoration of the Garden of Eden. It's a millennial kingdom without the King - Jesus.
As Christians, we know that attempt will ultimately fail. It must, because it is not based on the Lordship of the King of Kings. As Christians, we are resident aliens, citizens of a heavenly country, who will bow to no one but Christ. At some point that might put us in hot water with the secular authorities. If past history is any indication, some of us might even be required to die for our faith. At the minimum, we can expect things to heat up before Christ returns. According to Zechariah, we can expect the nations to gang up on Israel in an attempt to destroy her.
In the meantime, we are waiting for the Return of the King. We long for his return - and while we long for him, we prepare our hearts to receive him. As John Paul II said: To prepare our hearts to welcome the Lord...we must learn to recognize his presence in the events of daily life. Advent then is a period of intense training that directs us decisively to the One who has already come, who will come and who continuously comes".
Practicing His Presence in our midst means loving one another as Christians - who after all, carry the Spirit of God within them. It means doing good to all, but especially to the household of faith (Gal. 6:10). It means that we actively seek the welfare of our city (Jer. 29:7) - because in doing so we find our own welfare as well, and we in so doing, we extend the love of Christ to our community.
Practicing the Presence means voluntarily limiting our consumption of goods and giving to the poor -- because it is in the poor that Christ is especially seen and honored (cf. RB and Mother Teresa).
Practicing the Presence of Christ means respecting the Earth as God's creation and ourselves as His stewards. We don't worship the earth as our Mother, but we do honor her has our sister. Ps 24 says The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. ...The Lord is present everywhere and his creation speaks to us night and day if we will but listen to it (Ps. 19). Saving the planet is not the 'Sumum bonum - the highest of all goods - but it is a matter of stewardship and we would do well to consider how best to take care of God's Creation.
Finally, as Christians, we Worship. We celebrate and give thanks for His presence in our midst now and we look forward to Christ's return. We worship the One who will come again in glory - not anyone or anything else. We proclaim our allegiance to the High King of Heaven every time we come to church, witnessing to our confident belief in the One who Rules in our hearts. Thus, we worship as a subversive political act, an act which says emphatically that we will accept no earthly substitutes - ever - even in the face of death.
And just as Jesus was taken, broken and given for us, so we offer ourselves to Jesus, to be taken, broken and given to the world all the while longing for the second advent of our Lord.
Augustine said, " Give me one who yearns;...give me one far away in this desert, who is thirsty and sighs for the spring of the Eternal country. Give me that sort of man; he knows what I mean."
May we be people who know our End and who actively yearn for its revealing in Christ. AMEN.
On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
6 On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. 7 And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.
8 On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
Times aren't what they used to be...
Two clay tablets dating back to 2800 BC were recently unearthed at Babylon in an archaeological dig. They both commented on the trends of the day. One read: 'Times are not what they used to be". The other tablet reflected a major concern of the people of the time. Their complaint: "The world must be coming to an end. Children no longer obey their parents and every man wants to write a book."
Concern about the end of the world - Eschatology - seems to be an enduring topic of speculation. This past Wednesday evening, some of us were chatting about the movie 2012 - in which the Mayan calendar abruptly ends, bringing with it world-wide cataclysm - much to the delight of the movie's special effects people.
Other recent movies ranging from Independence Day to the Transformers to Wall-E treat this fascination in their own ways - all of them dystopic - the opposite of Utopic.
People just seem love to predict the End of everything. In 960 AD, Bernard, a visionary in the former German state of Thuringia, announced that the world would end on Good Friday in 992AD. It didn't.
Nor did the end time arrive as Mary Bateman of Leeds, England, said it
would. In 1806, Bateman claimed that her hen was laying eggs inscribed
with the words, "Christ is coming". When Bateman began selling
"tickets" to heaven for a shilling each, she was arrested, convicted
and hanged! (Think about that - some people actually bought a ticket!)
The world did not end - though it did for Mary.
The world didn't end all the times that the Jehovah's witness newspaper The Watchtower predicted it would.
And it didn't end in the 1970's when Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth created quite a stir, or in the 1980's when newspapers worldwide announced that Lord Maitrayea had arrived and would shortly usher in the End.
We are fascinated with the End. I think it may be in part that the Human Race remembers that we were created pure and whole, knows that we have made a hideous mess of things, and realizes that we will surely be judged accordingly.
Of course, for the last 2,000 years the words of Christ have echoed in our ears: “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." (Luke 21: 25-27)
Even the most complacent among us are given pause by such statements.
As a prophet, Jesus stood as one in a long line who spoke of the end of all things. Today we are reading about Zechariah's prophecy of the End, some 500 years before Christ. Zechariah was given a series of dreams and visions on three very specific dates. In our calendar they are: October/November 520 b.c, February 15, 519 and December 7, 518, during the time of King Darius of Persia. Darius' predecessor, Cyrus had allowed the exiles of Israel to return to their land and begin the rebuilding of the temple under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. But the Samaritans had objected to the work and there was a 14 year pause in building.
During that time, the people became discouraged and decided that building the temple was just not part of God's plan. Zechariah and his contemporary, Haggai, stirred up the people through their prophecies and the work was finally finished in 516 BC. Thematically, Zechariah's prophecies address the restoration of the Temple, the spiritual life of Israel at the time, but also the future events leading up to Messiah's return and reign - a vision of the End that places Christ on the throne.
For at least 2500 years then, this prophecy of the End of all things has been reverberating in the Judeo-Christian consciousness. It's obviously very different from the Mayan version of the End. But also very different from contemporary versions of the End, in which Global Warming or Cooling overwhelm the world - or in which a meteor crashes into the Earth, destroying everything.
Our understanding of the outcome of all things is very different from the world's various visions. And because of it, we live differently and have a different Hope for our lives. Just like the early Christians, we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord of our Lives and of the World. When we say "He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his Kingdom will have no end"... we really mean it. We really believe that Jesus Christ will come to earth and reign.
In regard to Zechariah 14:4 and following, the Wycliffe Bible Commentary
says: "Words cannot express more plainly the personal, visible, bodily, literal return of the Lord Jesus Christ in power."
Zechariah said it this way:
"Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him." (v.5)
Yet, right before he comes in glory to set up His kingdom, there will be yet another sack of Jerusalem. The nations that hate Israel will be drawn by their hatred to the city for one last attempt to annihilate it. And apparently they will almost succeed. In vv. 1-3 of chapter 14, Zechariah tells of the city being taken, the spoil divided and the women violated. But at that very moment, "the Lord will go forth." The Mount of Olives will be split in two, allowing the people to flee. Messiah will then stand on the Mount with his saints and decisively defeat all the enemies.
At that time, there will be unusual phenomena. Verses 6 & 7: "On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.
John Calvin translated verse 7 this way: "The light shall not be clear, but dark" (literally, "condensation," that is, thick mist); like a dark day in which you can hardly distinguish between day and night. English Version renders it: "There shall not be altogether light nor altogether darkness," but an intermediate condition in which sorrows shall be mingled with joys. (Wycliffe Bible Commentary).
Going on in verse 8: "On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.
9And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one."What we are talking about of course is known as the Millennium - the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth. Although some try to deny that there will be a millennium and some say that we are currently in the millennium, passages such as Zechariah's cannot be explained away and really do point to a literal time of Christ reigning with his saints here on earth.
Please note that this period of time is NOT the "Blessed Hope" - that is our Resurrection at the very end of all things. The Millennium is a time when Christ will do what many people say they wish He would do: make things so that there will be no rebellion and that all the world will obey Him.
Because Satan will be bound (Rev.20:2) during this time, there will be no Adversary around to tempt people to rebellion, but note what Psalms 2 and 110 say about this time:
Psalm 2:7 I will tell of the decree:The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;today I have begotten you.8Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,and the ends of the earth your possession.9 You shall break them with a rod of ironand dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”
Psalm 110:
The Lord says to my Lord:“Sit at my right hand,until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies
He will Rule with a Rod of Iron. That means that there will still be unbelievers present during the Millennium, but they will not be allowed to stir up trouble. Human society will be perfectly ordered here on earth as it is in Heaven -with Jesus being manifestly present.
Yet ultimately, this arrangement will not be adequate, because of the aspect of force involved - the mingling of joys and sorrows. God desires to dwell with his people in a loving relationship, not a coercive one. So to consummate everything, Satan will be released to rebel one final time. And one final time there will be a battle to end all battles.
God will decisively win this battle and the very End will come. All things will be burned up and the new Heaven and the new earth will come down out of Heaven. Believers will enter into the joy of their master and the Devil and all who follow him will be cast into the lake of fire - the second death. Thus will all things be summed up.
Eschatological Counterfeits
As you can imagine, the final state of things for the Devil is less than desirable. Although he knows his end is fixed he is fighting to the bitter end to take as many of us humans with him as possible. To that end, he counterfeits God's plan; he imitates what the Lord will do, and tries to make it seem as if the peaceable kingdom can be established here on earth by natural means.
Thus we have seen numerous attempts over the last 100 years to bring in such a millennial kingdom: The League of Nations under Woodrow Wilson, The Eugenics Movement of the 1920s and beyond, Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, the establishment of the United Nations, the worldwide Communist movement, and most recently Eco-fascism: the attempt to bring all nations together under the banner of Climate Change in order to create some sort of Worldwide governing body which can finally right the inequalities brought on by capitalism and Christianity - those 'rapacious' forces which have created poverty for millions and the destruction of the natural environment - or that's how the critique goes anyway.
It's all an attempt to create a counterfeit Kingdom - a unified world community that will finally 'do the right thing' by the poor, minorities and the environment; an attempt to atone for the crimes of the past via economic sanctions and create a secular shining city set on a hill - a return to Babel, a restoration of the Garden of Eden. It's a millennial kingdom without the King - Jesus.
As Christians, we know that attempt will ultimately fail. It must, because it is not based on the Lordship of the King of Kings. As Christians, we are resident aliens, citizens of a heavenly country, who will bow to no one but Christ. At some point that might put us in hot water with the secular authorities. If past history is any indication, some of us might even be required to die for our faith. At the minimum, we can expect things to heat up before Christ returns. According to Zechariah, we can expect the nations to gang up on Israel in an attempt to destroy her.
In the meantime, we are waiting for the Return of the King. We long for his return - and while we long for him, we prepare our hearts to receive him. As John Paul II said: To prepare our hearts to welcome the Lord...we must learn to recognize his presence in the events of daily life. Advent then is a period of intense training that directs us decisively to the One who has already come, who will come and who continuously comes".
Practicing His Presence in our midst means loving one another as Christians - who after all, carry the Spirit of God within them. It means doing good to all, but especially to the household of faith (Gal. 6:10). It means that we actively seek the welfare of our city (Jer. 29:7) - because in doing so we find our own welfare as well, and we in so doing, we extend the love of Christ to our community.
Practicing the Presence means voluntarily limiting our consumption of goods and giving to the poor -- because it is in the poor that Christ is especially seen and honored (cf. RB and Mother Teresa).
Practicing the Presence of Christ means respecting the Earth as God's creation and ourselves as His stewards. We don't worship the earth as our Mother, but we do honor her has our sister. Ps 24 says The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. ...The Lord is present everywhere and his creation speaks to us night and day if we will but listen to it (Ps. 19). Saving the planet is not the 'Sumum bonum - the highest of all goods - but it is a matter of stewardship and we would do well to consider how best to take care of God's Creation.
Finally, as Christians, we Worship. We celebrate and give thanks for His presence in our midst now and we look forward to Christ's return. We worship the One who will come again in glory - not anyone or anything else. We proclaim our allegiance to the High King of Heaven every time we come to church, witnessing to our confident belief in the One who Rules in our hearts. Thus, we worship as a subversive political act, an act which says emphatically that we will accept no earthly substitutes - ever - even in the face of death.
And just as Jesus was taken, broken and given for us, so we offer ourselves to Jesus, to be taken, broken and given to the world all the while longing for the second advent of our Lord.
Augustine said, " Give me one who yearns;...give me one far away in this desert, who is thirsty and sighs for the spring of the Eternal country. Give me that sort of man; he knows what I mean."
May we be people who know our End and who actively yearn for its revealing in Christ. AMEN.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Stars
A Sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on November 15, 2009 at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center, Huntington, WV, and based on Daniel 12:1-4
The Time of the End:
12:1 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
Several weeks ago, we used the metaphor of a sponge to describe the condition of some soggy Christians, who, like a sponge, Sit Soak and Sour.
In a subsequent sermon, Fr. Mark modified this to describe real, active Christians, who:
Sit, Soak and SERVE
Today, we have two more S’s to add to our list.
The fourth S comes from our reading from Hebrews (10:32) today:
"But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,"
How does this suffering occur? By “ sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.” And by “joyfully accept[ing] the plundering of your property,” (vv.33,34).
We have quoted before the verse: All who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer – the ESV says ‘will be persecuted’ (2Tim. 3:12). The difficulty comes because (vs.1,2) in the last days … people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.
They will not endure sound teaching, “but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2Tim 4:3,4).
Paul exhorts Timothy not to be discouraged by this, but rather to “be sober-minded, [to] endure suffering, [to] do the work of an evangelist, [and thus, to] fulfill [his] ministry.
Paul knew what he was talking about. Almost every time he opened his mouth to share the Gospel, somebody would throw rocks at him, beat him with rods, or start a riot. He knew that the World, the Flesh and The Devil would war against him and his message, and that it would be a fight to the death.
Going on in 2 Tim chapter 4, Paul says that he is ‘already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of [his] departure has come. He proclaims with confidence: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.’ (v.7) And he is looking forward to his reward: “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. “(v.8).
Referencing our reading from Hebrews again:
Paul has endured the suffering, done the will of God, and is looking ahead to receiving what is promised (Heb. 10:35), namely, the crown of Righteousness.
But there is something else promised to him – and us - that comes from our Daniel reading.
Because he has ‘turned many to righteousness’ and because he is wise, he will shine like the brightness of the sky above…like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3).
Think of it! To shine like the stars forever and ever! How wonderful and amazing!
In medieval times, a legend developed that "falling stars' actually fell to earth and became human. This legend is reflected in the movie, Stardust – in which a shooting star falls to earth and becomes a beautiful blond-haired woman, who shines when she is happy, and whose essence can confer renewed youth. CS Lewis also uses the star legend in his Chronicles of Narnia series. The adventuresome party who takes a Voyage on the ship Dawn Treader finds themselves on the “Island of the World's End.” There, the ancient ‘Ramandu’, and his daughter live on this Island where Aslan's Stone Table is preserved until the end.
When the crew of the Dawn Treader expresses consternation over why Ramandu seems to shine, he tells them:
"I am a star at rest...When I set for the last time, decrepit and old beyond all that you can reckon, I was carried to this island. I am not so old now as I was then. Every morning a bird brings me a fireberry from the valleys in the Sun, and each fireberry takes away a little of my age. And when I have become as young as the child that was born yesterday, then I shall take my rising again... and once more tread the great dance. Pg. 180
This is a picturesque treatment of our theme, but I think it does evoke some of the wonder of ‘shining like a star forever’. A little later in Ramandu’s narrative he tells the crew of the ship what they must do in order to un-enchant their mates, who have been put into a deep sleep. They will face great danger, but there is also the promise of Glory:
“Every man that comes with us shall bequeath the title ‘Dawn Treader’ to all his descendants - and when we land at Cair Paravel on the homeward voyage he shall have either gold or land enough to make him rich all his life” ( Pg. 185).
There is suffering ahead, but also the opportunity to Shine forever. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul echoes this heavenly theme, tying it to the Resurrection:
"The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable." (1 Corinthians 15:41-42 NIV)
Now recall Daniel 12:2, 3:
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
In the Resurrection, Shining like the stars forever and ever is the reward for being wise and turning many to righteousness. Even, better, by ‘holding fast to the word of life’ and acting faithfully, the children of God ‘shine like stars in the universe’ now. They (we) become “Luminaries of the Cosmos” (Philippians 2:15, 16). Paul tells the Philippians to hold on “so that in the day of Christ – the Resurrection - [he] may be proud that [he] did not run in vain or labor in vain. He is willing ‘to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of [their] faith (v.17) because of the reward he anticipates when Christ appears.
Now, like Paul, I am eager that every one of us Saints in All Saints Anglican Church should shine ‘like a luminaries of the Cosmos’ – both now and in the Resurrection. How is this to happen? By being faithful in our Christian walk and by ‘turning many to righteousness.”
And how are we to turn many to righteousness? Is it not through helping people to know and love Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? – Through fulfilling the Great Commission – through making disciples of all nations?
Yes it is! Isn’t that Great?! …
Yes – with the small little caveat that most of us Christians don’t know any non-believers.
It’s not that we may not know of some…It’s that we don’t know them well – spend time with them – or go where they go. And that’s generally because the longer we are Christians, the more likely it is that we hang out with other Christians - either because of our personal preference for like-minded, comfortable people like us – or because we are afraid of the influence of Worldlings – (which is not an unreasonable fear.)
We want to be ‘innocent and blameless’ like Paul says, but by segregating ourselves from the world, we don’t ‘turn many to righteousness.’ (God forbid that we don't do this because WE are Worldlings!)
We must have both if we are to receive the reward that Scripture promises. Just being innocent of evil is not enough to cause us to ‘shine like stars forever’. Our righteousness must result in service to the physical and spiritual needs of those in the world who are perishing – so that they may be ‘turned to righteousness”! Remember the third S in our series: ‘SERVE”?
And here, please understand that we’re not interested in a merely selfish reward – but we are striving for the pleasure of God – for knowing the joy of participating with Him in His redemptive purpose in this world – to bring many to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, to create a People for Himself, and to enjoy that People forever.
This is the GREAT DANCE that Ramandu was talking about: Bringing all things and people into the joy of knowing and serving God.
And this is where we have got to be willing to consider suffering for the Gospel.
In the United States of America, in 2009, so far, we still have great freedom to talk about our Faith. It’s true that there are some limitations: There are some circumstances in which we cannot speak openly. In the future there may be more. But for right now, the biggest threats we face are Inconvenience and Embarrassment.
It’s just too darn much trouble to go out there and spend time with the un-churched. We prefer to have cozy fellowship with each other, to study something nice – and then go home and live as if none of it matters!
Friends, unless they suddenly started going to First Baptist or Christ Temple last week and we don’t know about it, there are still 75,000 people at home this morning in Cabell County alone!
If we are going to be the Body of Christ, if we are really going to fulfill the Great Commission in our lifetime, - even if we just want our little church to grow, this is UNACCEPTABLE!
We MUST devout ourselves to reaching the lost! Each of us personally MUST do this!
Why? Because each of us will be personally held responsible by the God of Heaven for this!
And because we have something Wonderful to offer! Jesus! Life with God! Eternal Life beginning RIGHT NOW! Resurrection Life! Peace Freedom!
If we’re not willing to suffer a little discomfort or embarrassment for the sake of Christ and our perishing neighbors can we really call ourselves faithful? Can we really expect to Shine Like Stars forever when our efforts here on Earth for Christ are lackluster?
We have simply got to devote more time to personally reaching out to those around us!
We must find ways of developing enough trust with the ‘church-free’ people out there so that they are willing to hear our story and become inspired to want a relationship with God for themselves. This is our job as Christians: to make disciples - to turn many to righteousness!
That is why I feel an urgent and pressing need to focus our attention during Advent on this very thing. While we are meeting together for fellowship and devotions leading up to Christmas, I challenge us to think of ways that we will begin personal outreach to our neighbors – those in our ‘oikos’ or circle of acquaintances.
This includes those who are already Christians but for some reason have no church, those who are completely lost and have never made Christ Lord of their lives - and perhaps harder, those who are 'Church-Free', disillusioned or fed up with 'Churchianity'. Each one of these groups is ripe for discipleship.
I will warn you that this project will require your time. In a culture like ours, busy and hurried by many pressures and demands on our time, it may actually feel like suffering to give up some of your time for the sake of reaching the lost. But we MUST do it! Reaching out to your neighbors will require getting out of your regular routine and patterns so that you can meet and get to know new people.
Friday a week ago, several of us were picking up trash around the Hope House block. While we were chatting among ourselves, a young woman came up and spontaneously engaged us in conversation. She saw what we were doing and connected with us because she had done something similar in her previous town before moving to Huntington two months prior.
She was very pleasant and talkative and volunteered her email and phone number. So we invited her to come over to Hope House during our work day to see what we are doing there.
Had we not gone out of our way to do something that put us out there beyond our regular routine and comfort zone, we would never have met her. Now, we have the opportunity to begin to know her - and possibly help her to foster a relationship with God. And we'll have to continue to go out of our way to follow-up and try to stay connected.
Of course, this is just an example. There are certainly an almost infinite number of ways to meet and engage the people around you. The point is to do it! In the words of Todd Hunter, newly ordained AMIA missionary Bishop, to become a 'Church for Others".
I am personally committed to helping you in whatever way I can to accomplish this mission. I know that Father Mark and Father Peter are as well. If you need help in writing out your testimony, or need some knowledge you don't have, or you would like to have home Eucharists with your neighbors who don’t go to church - or you want to have an outreach prayer group or bible study – you say the word and we'll do whatever we can to help you make it happen. We cannot do it for you, but we can do it with you!
I think if we are really going to reach out we must multiply the impact of our small groups. For the past three years we have met and talked and studied and fellowshipped together,building up one another and learning more about our Faith. But just as the believers in Jerusalem were forcibly thrust out of the city during the siege of Jerusalem in 69,70 AD so we too may need to be thrust out of our comfortable little groups in order to accomplish our mission.
During the upcoming Advent season, I ask you to seriously think about and pray about taking the season between Christmas and Lent to 'do something different' for the Lord. To fore go your small group meetings in order to devote more time to developing your own unique outreach to your neighbors.
Let's listen to what the Lord would have for us, making ourselves available to him, offering yourself to Jesus as an instrument of his love so that we may be wise and turn many to righteousness and so shine like Stars forever and ever!
May God help us and give us the Grace we need! AMEN.
The Time of the End:
12:1 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
Several weeks ago, we used the metaphor of a sponge to describe the condition of some soggy Christians, who, like a sponge, Sit Soak and Sour.
In a subsequent sermon, Fr. Mark modified this to describe real, active Christians, who:
Sit, Soak and SERVE
Today, we have two more S’s to add to our list.
The fourth S comes from our reading from Hebrews (10:32) today:
"But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,"
How does this suffering occur? By “ sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.” And by “joyfully accept[ing] the plundering of your property,” (vv.33,34).
We have quoted before the verse: All who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer – the ESV says ‘will be persecuted’ (2Tim. 3:12). The difficulty comes because (vs.1,2) in the last days … people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.
They will not endure sound teaching, “but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2Tim 4:3,4).
Paul exhorts Timothy not to be discouraged by this, but rather to “be sober-minded, [to] endure suffering, [to] do the work of an evangelist, [and thus, to] fulfill [his] ministry.
Paul knew what he was talking about. Almost every time he opened his mouth to share the Gospel, somebody would throw rocks at him, beat him with rods, or start a riot. He knew that the World, the Flesh and The Devil would war against him and his message, and that it would be a fight to the death.
Going on in 2 Tim chapter 4, Paul says that he is ‘already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of [his] departure has come. He proclaims with confidence: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.’ (v.7) And he is looking forward to his reward: “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. “(v.8).
Referencing our reading from Hebrews again:
Paul has endured the suffering, done the will of God, and is looking ahead to receiving what is promised (Heb. 10:35), namely, the crown of Righteousness.
But there is something else promised to him – and us - that comes from our Daniel reading.
Because he has ‘turned many to righteousness’ and because he is wise, he will shine like the brightness of the sky above…like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3).
Think of it! To shine like the stars forever and ever! How wonderful and amazing!
In medieval times, a legend developed that "falling stars' actually fell to earth and became human. This legend is reflected in the movie, Stardust – in which a shooting star falls to earth and becomes a beautiful blond-haired woman, who shines when she is happy, and whose essence can confer renewed youth. CS Lewis also uses the star legend in his Chronicles of Narnia series. The adventuresome party who takes a Voyage on the ship Dawn Treader finds themselves on the “Island of the World's End.” There, the ancient ‘Ramandu’, and his daughter live on this Island where Aslan's Stone Table is preserved until the end.
When the crew of the Dawn Treader expresses consternation over why Ramandu seems to shine, he tells them:
"I am a star at rest...When I set for the last time, decrepit and old beyond all that you can reckon, I was carried to this island. I am not so old now as I was then. Every morning a bird brings me a fireberry from the valleys in the Sun, and each fireberry takes away a little of my age. And when I have become as young as the child that was born yesterday, then I shall take my rising again... and once more tread the great dance. Pg. 180
This is a picturesque treatment of our theme, but I think it does evoke some of the wonder of ‘shining like a star forever’. A little later in Ramandu’s narrative he tells the crew of the ship what they must do in order to un-enchant their mates, who have been put into a deep sleep. They will face great danger, but there is also the promise of Glory:
“Every man that comes with us shall bequeath the title ‘Dawn Treader’ to all his descendants - and when we land at Cair Paravel on the homeward voyage he shall have either gold or land enough to make him rich all his life” ( Pg. 185).
There is suffering ahead, but also the opportunity to Shine forever. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul echoes this heavenly theme, tying it to the Resurrection:
"The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable." (1 Corinthians 15:41-42 NIV)
Now recall Daniel 12:2, 3:
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
In the Resurrection, Shining like the stars forever and ever is the reward for being wise and turning many to righteousness. Even, better, by ‘holding fast to the word of life’ and acting faithfully, the children of God ‘shine like stars in the universe’ now. They (we) become “Luminaries of the Cosmos” (Philippians 2:15, 16). Paul tells the Philippians to hold on “so that in the day of Christ – the Resurrection - [he] may be proud that [he] did not run in vain or labor in vain. He is willing ‘to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of [their] faith (v.17) because of the reward he anticipates when Christ appears.
Now, like Paul, I am eager that every one of us Saints in All Saints Anglican Church should shine ‘like a luminaries of the Cosmos’ – both now and in the Resurrection. How is this to happen? By being faithful in our Christian walk and by ‘turning many to righteousness.”
And how are we to turn many to righteousness? Is it not through helping people to know and love Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? – Through fulfilling the Great Commission – through making disciples of all nations?
Yes it is! Isn’t that Great?! …
Yes – with the small little caveat that most of us Christians don’t know any non-believers.
It’s not that we may not know of some…It’s that we don’t know them well – spend time with them – or go where they go. And that’s generally because the longer we are Christians, the more likely it is that we hang out with other Christians - either because of our personal preference for like-minded, comfortable people like us – or because we are afraid of the influence of Worldlings – (which is not an unreasonable fear.)
We want to be ‘innocent and blameless’ like Paul says, but by segregating ourselves from the world, we don’t ‘turn many to righteousness.’ (God forbid that we don't do this because WE are Worldlings!)
We must have both if we are to receive the reward that Scripture promises. Just being innocent of evil is not enough to cause us to ‘shine like stars forever’. Our righteousness must result in service to the physical and spiritual needs of those in the world who are perishing – so that they may be ‘turned to righteousness”! Remember the third S in our series: ‘SERVE”?
And here, please understand that we’re not interested in a merely selfish reward – but we are striving for the pleasure of God – for knowing the joy of participating with Him in His redemptive purpose in this world – to bring many to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, to create a People for Himself, and to enjoy that People forever.
This is the GREAT DANCE that Ramandu was talking about: Bringing all things and people into the joy of knowing and serving God.
And this is where we have got to be willing to consider suffering for the Gospel.
In the United States of America, in 2009, so far, we still have great freedom to talk about our Faith. It’s true that there are some limitations: There are some circumstances in which we cannot speak openly. In the future there may be more. But for right now, the biggest threats we face are Inconvenience and Embarrassment.
It’s just too darn much trouble to go out there and spend time with the un-churched. We prefer to have cozy fellowship with each other, to study something nice – and then go home and live as if none of it matters!
Friends, unless they suddenly started going to First Baptist or Christ Temple last week and we don’t know about it, there are still 75,000 people at home this morning in Cabell County alone!
If we are going to be the Body of Christ, if we are really going to fulfill the Great Commission in our lifetime, - even if we just want our little church to grow, this is UNACCEPTABLE!
We MUST devout ourselves to reaching the lost! Each of us personally MUST do this!
Why? Because each of us will be personally held responsible by the God of Heaven for this!
And because we have something Wonderful to offer! Jesus! Life with God! Eternal Life beginning RIGHT NOW! Resurrection Life! Peace Freedom!
If we’re not willing to suffer a little discomfort or embarrassment for the sake of Christ and our perishing neighbors can we really call ourselves faithful? Can we really expect to Shine Like Stars forever when our efforts here on Earth for Christ are lackluster?
We have simply got to devote more time to personally reaching out to those around us!
We must find ways of developing enough trust with the ‘church-free’ people out there so that they are willing to hear our story and become inspired to want a relationship with God for themselves. This is our job as Christians: to make disciples - to turn many to righteousness!
That is why I feel an urgent and pressing need to focus our attention during Advent on this very thing. While we are meeting together for fellowship and devotions leading up to Christmas, I challenge us to think of ways that we will begin personal outreach to our neighbors – those in our ‘oikos’ or circle of acquaintances.
This includes those who are already Christians but for some reason have no church, those who are completely lost and have never made Christ Lord of their lives - and perhaps harder, those who are 'Church-Free', disillusioned or fed up with 'Churchianity'. Each one of these groups is ripe for discipleship.
I will warn you that this project will require your time. In a culture like ours, busy and hurried by many pressures and demands on our time, it may actually feel like suffering to give up some of your time for the sake of reaching the lost. But we MUST do it! Reaching out to your neighbors will require getting out of your regular routine and patterns so that you can meet and get to know new people.
Friday a week ago, several of us were picking up trash around the Hope House block. While we were chatting among ourselves, a young woman came up and spontaneously engaged us in conversation. She saw what we were doing and connected with us because she had done something similar in her previous town before moving to Huntington two months prior.
She was very pleasant and talkative and volunteered her email and phone number. So we invited her to come over to Hope House during our work day to see what we are doing there.
Had we not gone out of our way to do something that put us out there beyond our regular routine and comfort zone, we would never have met her. Now, we have the opportunity to begin to know her - and possibly help her to foster a relationship with God. And we'll have to continue to go out of our way to follow-up and try to stay connected.
Of course, this is just an example. There are certainly an almost infinite number of ways to meet and engage the people around you. The point is to do it! In the words of Todd Hunter, newly ordained AMIA missionary Bishop, to become a 'Church for Others".
I am personally committed to helping you in whatever way I can to accomplish this mission. I know that Father Mark and Father Peter are as well. If you need help in writing out your testimony, or need some knowledge you don't have, or you would like to have home Eucharists with your neighbors who don’t go to church - or you want to have an outreach prayer group or bible study – you say the word and we'll do whatever we can to help you make it happen. We cannot do it for you, but we can do it with you!
I think if we are really going to reach out we must multiply the impact of our small groups. For the past three years we have met and talked and studied and fellowshipped together,building up one another and learning more about our Faith. But just as the believers in Jerusalem were forcibly thrust out of the city during the siege of Jerusalem in 69,70 AD so we too may need to be thrust out of our comfortable little groups in order to accomplish our mission.
During the upcoming Advent season, I ask you to seriously think about and pray about taking the season between Christmas and Lent to 'do something different' for the Lord. To fore go your small group meetings in order to devote more time to developing your own unique outreach to your neighbors.
Let's listen to what the Lord would have for us, making ourselves available to him, offering yourself to Jesus as an instrument of his love so that we may be wise and turn many to righteousness and so shine like Stars forever and ever!
May God help us and give us the Grace we need! AMEN.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Seeing Being and Doing
A Sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on All Saints Day, 2009 at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center, Huntington, WV and based on Ecclesiasticus 2: 1-11
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, AMEN.
Because there was Benedict, there was Gregory. Because there was Gregory, there was Augustine. Because there was Augustine, there was Canterbury. there was Canterbury, there was Anglicanism – and us, All Saints Anglican Church. But it was nearly not so. For it seems that Augustine got cold feet on the way to the land of the Angles.
Author Albert Holtz tells the story in his book “A Saint on Every Corner”: “as Augustine and his little band traveled overland through Gaul, they began to hear disturbing tales of the savage and murderous English natives. They heard graphic details of the strange customs and the unpronounceable tongue that awaited them. There were sailor's hair-raising reports of the treacherous currents and killer storms that lay in wait for them in crossing the English Channel. It seemed the list of hazards grew longer by the day.”
Finally the “missionaries' enthusiasm evaporated and they held a meeting to discuss whether their mission was really such a good idea after all. [Apparently] their caution won out and they elected to send Augustine back to Rome to explain to Pope Gregory how impossible their mission was and to ask for permission to return to their monastery in Italy.”
Fortunately for us, Gregory was having none of it and told Augustine to high- tale it back to England and not come back until he had accomplished his mission! ... Today, says Holtz, “these monks are venerated as great pioneers and saints”, but it's somehow comforting to know that “they too, were subject to an occasional case of cold feet! Like the rest of us, they were susceptible at times to discouragement and doubt”.
I can relate! I've told you all before – only half in jest, that I'd almost rather do anything but trust God... meaning that following God and doing things His way requires that I 'Trust in him" (Eccl.2:6). As I do so, "he will help me and make my ways straight". Sounds a lot like Prov. 3:5,6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." But trusting the Lord often brings trials, and we should be prepared for this.
The writer of Ecclesiasticus admonishes us:
“My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for testing. Set your heart right and be steadfast, and do not be impetuous in time of calamity...(2:1,2) One wonders if Augustine had ever heard these words – and if he had, did he just forget them momentarily – or did he really not know that he had to be prepared for hardship in the service of the Lord? ... I tend to think he just got cold feet momentarily.
Surely he would have read Paul's letter to the Ephesians – just as we read it together today – and he most likely would have known the Beatitudes by heart. His knowledge of God's Word would have given him a Vision of Life in the Kingdom.
This vision of the Kingdom is one which sees that God the Father loves us and has sent Jesus Christ his Son, to reconcile us to Him, to unite all things in him, to give us an inheritance sealed in the Holy Spirit, and to accompany that inheritance with wisdom, enlightenment about God, and immeasurable power coming from the right hand of God the Father, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (Eph 1:1-23).
Only a Great Vision could have inspired Augustine and his little band to set off to England in the first place. And only a Great Vision could have stiffened up their backbones to go back once they had doubts. Because they saw something the World did not see, they were willing to forsake all and give themselves to a seemingly impossible mission. Because they did, we are sitting here today.
So we thank God for the Saints who went before us, who made it possible for us to worship God in Spirit and in truth. And we look to their courageous example as a challenge to See what they saw, to Be what they were and to Do what they did. Appropriately enough then, we are focusing today on Seeing, Being and Doing as Saints of God.
Seeing
In their book, Resident Aliens, Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon challenge us to think about the Beatitudes that we read today as a 'vision of the 'in-breaking of a new society' – a picture of the way God IS. The Beatitudes, they say, are not a strategy for achieving a better society, they are a Picture, a Promise, an imaginative example of life in the Kingdom of God. (pg. 84)
The Beatitudes show us a picture of blessedness diametrically opposed to the wisdom of the World. Jesus says that we are blessed when we are poor, sad hungry and hated. The World says we are blessed when we are rich, happy sated and well-connected. Jesus shows us a Vision of blessedness that depends upon God for sustenance; the World demands that we be Self-Sufficient. The Picture Jesus shows us is a picture of what heaven on earth would look like. It's a foreshadowing of how things will be when all is summed up in Christ, but it's also a picture of how the Church is to look now. It's a picture of a peculiar people, living in a peculiar way because they See something the World does not see. In Sum: they see that 'in Christ, God has already made history come out right.” (Resident Aliens, pg. 87)
In other words, Christians see that God is moving history towards fulfillment and redemption, reconciliation of all things in the Beloved – and ultimately to a New Heaven and a New Earth. We, as the Saints, or 'called-out' ones of God, know that we have been called out of seeing the World as our all-in-all. We are a community - a 'resident alien colony' that affirms a different reality than the World.
Instead of worshiping money, power, position and security; instead of accepting the world's claim to be all there is and accepting its demand that we worship It as Ultimate Reality, we, as the Saints of God, worship the One who IS Provision, Peace, Shalom and Victory. Instead of trusting in what we can SEE with our physical eyes, we as the Saints of God, see a true Vision of Reality with the eyes of our heart.
We look up to Christ crucified and see One who was willing to give up everything worldly for the JOY set before him. We see in Christ God's self-giving LOVE and we learn that freedom comes from doing the will of another, peace comes from submitting to a violent death, and power is perfected in weakness. What we see looks like foolishness or madness to the world. What we see is the END of the world and the beginning of the Kingdom of God established here and now.
We are a people who See something different than the world sees.
Being
We are also a people who understand our Being differently than the worldlings around us. The people of the World see themselves as having erupted out of a primordial soup by chance over the course of unimaginably long periods of time. Religions and traditions of the past developed to help people deal with their ignorance and superstitions, but through the rise of Science and Technology, belief in the supernatural or the miraculous has largely been discredited. Old sources of Authority have been shrugged off and people have been set free to pursue their own understandings of life and morality.
The average person has become so thoroughly independent that it is now a secular 'sin' to suggest that there is something called Truth that is bigger than myself and which demands my allegiance. Since all 'truths' are equally valid it has now become 'hateful' to proclaim that some things are right and some things are wrong.
This past week, our President signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act which creates additional penalties for violent crimes motivated by the victim's "actual or perceived" gender, "gender identity," sexual orientation, or disability" - all of which sounds upright, until you realize that "evangelist Michael Marcavage, director of Philadelphia-based Repent America, was one of 11 Christians who were jailed and charged with a hate crime for carrying Bible verse banners and preaching at a 2004 homosexual pride event in Philadelphia. The charges were later dismissed -- and in 2008, the state's Supreme Court ruled the law had been passed illegally by the Pennsylvania legislature. (Jim Brown, OneNewsNow, 10/29/2009)
But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the recent federal legislation is a new incarnation of the Pennsylvania law and is, as Marcavage says, 'an effort to silence Christians.' In an ironic twist then, those who seek freedom for themselves are willing to imprison those who use their freedom to dissent from the demand for absolute license.
Granted, not everyone is so militant. The basic attitude of most folks towards Truth today is that of someone who has a not-too-compelling hobby that they dabble at once in a while. Moral behavior has been so privatized that almost everything is now merely a lifestyle choice – with the exception of murder, child molestation, being a Nazi or a wife-beater, or listening to the Great Satan himself, Rush Limbaugh.
The only trouble with this radical sort of Freedom is that life becomes rather trivial and meaningless. The World cannot affirm an essential meaning and goodness in human Being because it thinks it arose by accident. Religion and Spirituality are essentially props to secular existence; they have value only insofar as they 'help' us – or assist us to feel more comfortable in our Worldly life, keeping the despair at bay.
But our understanding of ourselves as Christians is fundamentally different from the World's. We believe that God had us in mind when he began the Creation and that we as the Church embody God's highest plan for Creation – to have intimate fellowship with those He has created and to bring them up into himself in a Love relationship – to create a community of Saints if you will. We understand that the physical world and everything in it was created to facilitate our love relationship with God – and thus we have a sense of security and Meaning in our Being.
We ARE because God made us. We live and move and have our being because we live and move and have our being IN GOD. We understand that we were made to love God and thus Worship is central to WHO we are in Christ. We believe that in worshiping God we are most truly ourselves and that in the Eucharist that we BECOME what we already are: the Body of Christ. As we worship God around his table, we come together with all the Saints who have ever lived and we cry out Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of heaven and earth. We cast down our crowns before him and He receives our love and worship, giving us Himself in return – most especially in the Body and the Blood of his own dear Son.
Thus, our worship of God can be thought of as part of our essence as Human Beings. We exist to Worship and to receive back God's love in return. Since the Eucharist embodies the self-giving love, we are most truly ourselves at the moment of Communing with our God. The Eucharist is the wellspring of our existence and we cannot live without it. At this table, we become what we are: God's people, created before the foundation of the world to be Saints - those 'called out' of the World.
Doing
Our fundamental identity as the Saints of God is to be a worshiping community. Thus, Worship is the fulfillment of the first great Commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart mind soul and strength.
The second commandment gives us our marching orders in the world: love your neighbor as yourself. God loves us and gives Himself to us through the Incarnation and the Sacraments. He now commands us to give Christ to the world the same way he did: Incarnationally and Sacramentally.
Look around you Saints. You are the Presence of Christ in the World. Because God has placed His Holy Spirit within you, you are Sacramental - an outward sign of an inward and spiritual reality, and a means of communicating God's Grace – you are the living, moving means of God's grace to this world. God incarnates you with Himself and Communicates Himself to the world through You! That means that your basic vocation as a Christian is to be a minister and missionary. You are the hands and feet of Christ. You are the A team. That's all, there ain't no B Team. If the world is to know Christ, it will come to know Him through YOU. Just like Augustine and his little band, You are to Tell what you know and Give what you Got.
It's an exciting and daunting challenge. Especially when we face so many struggles ourselves. We're surrounded by family problems, problems at work, financial problems, sickness and death. Each day seems a struggle just to keep body and soul together, much less run around and save the world!
And yet, this is what we are called to do: to love and serve God by loving and serving the world. We are to embody Christ and to communicate His love to the world through our words and our work. If we fail to do so, we have simply and basically failed to be what we are – Christ's body on earth.
This is why we need to celebrate All Saints Day. We need to remember exemplars of the faith who have demonstrated how to pour themselves out in the world for love of God and their neighbors. We also need to remember that the good we do in the world is not simply Social Work. The good works we do are done 'to a person' as Mother Teresa used to say -that is, to Christ.
If we See correctly – if we have a right Vision of the World, we will see ourselves as Christ's body, ministering to Christ in all people. We will seek the welfare of our city, our nation, and the world, not so much to prop up the the man-made structures of the world, but to bring God's love into the world, so that all people may know Him and enjoy Him forever.
This is a tough job because the World is fundamentally opposed to God. The world doesn't want to submit itself to the Lordship of Christ- and it especially doesn't want you to remind it that there is a God to worship apart from the World. That's why the world will persecute you and tell you to SHUT UP! Go Away! Leave us to pursue our path of destruction! We're Happy that way!
The Bible tells us that all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And so we shall. Friends, we are coming into a time, when Christians will more and more be pressured to shut up, go along, and get along with the World. If we love our God and we want to be faithful to Him, we cannot do this. And that will mean difficulty for us.
The witness of the Saints who have gone before us is that they persevered – sometimes under fair conditions, often under persecution. We must do what they did if we are to be found faithful - we must share our Vision that God is All in all, and that He is reconciling all things to Himself in Christ. We must pray for those who can't see this vision. We must minister to a hurting world as if we are ministering to Christ Himself. And we must always remember who we are: Creatures of God, our Father, created in Christ Jesus for Love and Good Works (Heb. 10:24).
We may struggle with difficulty and doubt. We may even try to turn around and go back like Father Augustine. But we must go forward for Christ and we must trust Him as we go.
I don't think I can do better than to repeat today's admonishment from Ecclesiasticus:
My Child,when you come to serve the Lord,
prepare yourself for testing.
Set you heart right and be steadfast,
and do not be impetuous in time of calamity.
Cling to him and do not depart,
so that your last days may be prosperous.
Accept whatever befalls you,
and in times of humiliation be patient.
For gold is tested in the fire,
and those found acceptable, in the furnace of humiliation.
Trust in him, and he will help you;
make your ways straight, and hope in him.
You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy;
do not stray, or else you may fall.
You who fear the Lord, hope for good things,
for lasting joy and mercy.
Consider the generations of old and see:
has anyone persevered in the fear of the Lord and been forsaken?
Or has anyone called upon him and been neglected?
For the Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he forgives sins and saves in time of distress.
May God help us in our Seeing, our Being and our Doing. AMEN.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, AMEN.
Because there was Benedict, there was Gregory. Because there was Gregory, there was Augustine. Because there was Augustine, there was Canterbury. there was Canterbury, there was Anglicanism – and us, All Saints Anglican Church. But it was nearly not so. For it seems that Augustine got cold feet on the way to the land of the Angles.
Author Albert Holtz tells the story in his book “A Saint on Every Corner”: “as Augustine and his little band traveled overland through Gaul, they began to hear disturbing tales of the savage and murderous English natives. They heard graphic details of the strange customs and the unpronounceable tongue that awaited them. There were sailor's hair-raising reports of the treacherous currents and killer storms that lay in wait for them in crossing the English Channel. It seemed the list of hazards grew longer by the day.”
Finally the “missionaries' enthusiasm evaporated and they held a meeting to discuss whether their mission was really such a good idea after all. [Apparently] their caution won out and they elected to send Augustine back to Rome to explain to Pope Gregory how impossible their mission was and to ask for permission to return to their monastery in Italy.”
Fortunately for us, Gregory was having none of it and told Augustine to high- tale it back to England and not come back until he had accomplished his mission! ... Today, says Holtz, “these monks are venerated as great pioneers and saints”, but it's somehow comforting to know that “they too, were subject to an occasional case of cold feet! Like the rest of us, they were susceptible at times to discouragement and doubt”.
I can relate! I've told you all before – only half in jest, that I'd almost rather do anything but trust God... meaning that following God and doing things His way requires that I 'Trust in him" (Eccl.2:6). As I do so, "he will help me and make my ways straight". Sounds a lot like Prov. 3:5,6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." But trusting the Lord often brings trials, and we should be prepared for this.
The writer of Ecclesiasticus admonishes us:
“My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for testing. Set your heart right and be steadfast, and do not be impetuous in time of calamity...(2:1,2) One wonders if Augustine had ever heard these words – and if he had, did he just forget them momentarily – or did he really not know that he had to be prepared for hardship in the service of the Lord? ... I tend to think he just got cold feet momentarily.
Surely he would have read Paul's letter to the Ephesians – just as we read it together today – and he most likely would have known the Beatitudes by heart. His knowledge of God's Word would have given him a Vision of Life in the Kingdom.
This vision of the Kingdom is one which sees that God the Father loves us and has sent Jesus Christ his Son, to reconcile us to Him, to unite all things in him, to give us an inheritance sealed in the Holy Spirit, and to accompany that inheritance with wisdom, enlightenment about God, and immeasurable power coming from the right hand of God the Father, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (Eph 1:1-23).
Only a Great Vision could have inspired Augustine and his little band to set off to England in the first place. And only a Great Vision could have stiffened up their backbones to go back once they had doubts. Because they saw something the World did not see, they were willing to forsake all and give themselves to a seemingly impossible mission. Because they did, we are sitting here today.
So we thank God for the Saints who went before us, who made it possible for us to worship God in Spirit and in truth. And we look to their courageous example as a challenge to See what they saw, to Be what they were and to Do what they did. Appropriately enough then, we are focusing today on Seeing, Being and Doing as Saints of God.
Seeing
In their book, Resident Aliens, Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon challenge us to think about the Beatitudes that we read today as a 'vision of the 'in-breaking of a new society' – a picture of the way God IS. The Beatitudes, they say, are not a strategy for achieving a better society, they are a Picture, a Promise, an imaginative example of life in the Kingdom of God. (pg. 84)
The Beatitudes show us a picture of blessedness diametrically opposed to the wisdom of the World. Jesus says that we are blessed when we are poor, sad hungry and hated. The World says we are blessed when we are rich, happy sated and well-connected. Jesus shows us a Vision of blessedness that depends upon God for sustenance; the World demands that we be Self-Sufficient. The Picture Jesus shows us is a picture of what heaven on earth would look like. It's a foreshadowing of how things will be when all is summed up in Christ, but it's also a picture of how the Church is to look now. It's a picture of a peculiar people, living in a peculiar way because they See something the World does not see. In Sum: they see that 'in Christ, God has already made history come out right.” (Resident Aliens, pg. 87)
In other words, Christians see that God is moving history towards fulfillment and redemption, reconciliation of all things in the Beloved – and ultimately to a New Heaven and a New Earth. We, as the Saints, or 'called-out' ones of God, know that we have been called out of seeing the World as our all-in-all. We are a community - a 'resident alien colony' that affirms a different reality than the World.
Instead of worshiping money, power, position and security; instead of accepting the world's claim to be all there is and accepting its demand that we worship It as Ultimate Reality, we, as the Saints of God, worship the One who IS Provision, Peace, Shalom and Victory. Instead of trusting in what we can SEE with our physical eyes, we as the Saints of God, see a true Vision of Reality with the eyes of our heart.
We look up to Christ crucified and see One who was willing to give up everything worldly for the JOY set before him. We see in Christ God's self-giving LOVE and we learn that freedom comes from doing the will of another, peace comes from submitting to a violent death, and power is perfected in weakness. What we see looks like foolishness or madness to the world. What we see is the END of the world and the beginning of the Kingdom of God established here and now.
We are a people who See something different than the world sees.
Being
We are also a people who understand our Being differently than the worldlings around us. The people of the World see themselves as having erupted out of a primordial soup by chance over the course of unimaginably long periods of time. Religions and traditions of the past developed to help people deal with their ignorance and superstitions, but through the rise of Science and Technology, belief in the supernatural or the miraculous has largely been discredited. Old sources of Authority have been shrugged off and people have been set free to pursue their own understandings of life and morality.
The average person has become so thoroughly independent that it is now a secular 'sin' to suggest that there is something called Truth that is bigger than myself and which demands my allegiance. Since all 'truths' are equally valid it has now become 'hateful' to proclaim that some things are right and some things are wrong.
This past week, our President signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act which creates additional penalties for violent crimes motivated by the victim's "actual or perceived" gender, "gender identity," sexual orientation, or disability" - all of which sounds upright, until you realize that "evangelist Michael Marcavage, director of Philadelphia-based Repent America, was one of 11 Christians who were jailed and charged with a hate crime for carrying Bible verse banners and preaching at a 2004 homosexual pride event in Philadelphia. The charges were later dismissed -- and in 2008, the state's Supreme Court ruled the law had been passed illegally by the Pennsylvania legislature. (Jim Brown, OneNewsNow, 10/29/2009)
But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the recent federal legislation is a new incarnation of the Pennsylvania law and is, as Marcavage says, 'an effort to silence Christians.' In an ironic twist then, those who seek freedom for themselves are willing to imprison those who use their freedom to dissent from the demand for absolute license.
Granted, not everyone is so militant. The basic attitude of most folks towards Truth today is that of someone who has a not-too-compelling hobby that they dabble at once in a while. Moral behavior has been so privatized that almost everything is now merely a lifestyle choice – with the exception of murder, child molestation, being a Nazi or a wife-beater, or listening to the Great Satan himself, Rush Limbaugh.
The only trouble with this radical sort of Freedom is that life becomes rather trivial and meaningless. The World cannot affirm an essential meaning and goodness in human Being because it thinks it arose by accident. Religion and Spirituality are essentially props to secular existence; they have value only insofar as they 'help' us – or assist us to feel more comfortable in our Worldly life, keeping the despair at bay.
But our understanding of ourselves as Christians is fundamentally different from the World's. We believe that God had us in mind when he began the Creation and that we as the Church embody God's highest plan for Creation – to have intimate fellowship with those He has created and to bring them up into himself in a Love relationship – to create a community of Saints if you will. We understand that the physical world and everything in it was created to facilitate our love relationship with God – and thus we have a sense of security and Meaning in our Being.
We ARE because God made us. We live and move and have our being because we live and move and have our being IN GOD. We understand that we were made to love God and thus Worship is central to WHO we are in Christ. We believe that in worshiping God we are most truly ourselves and that in the Eucharist that we BECOME what we already are: the Body of Christ. As we worship God around his table, we come together with all the Saints who have ever lived and we cry out Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of heaven and earth. We cast down our crowns before him and He receives our love and worship, giving us Himself in return – most especially in the Body and the Blood of his own dear Son.
Thus, our worship of God can be thought of as part of our essence as Human Beings. We exist to Worship and to receive back God's love in return. Since the Eucharist embodies the self-giving love, we are most truly ourselves at the moment of Communing with our God. The Eucharist is the wellspring of our existence and we cannot live without it. At this table, we become what we are: God's people, created before the foundation of the world to be Saints - those 'called out' of the World.
Doing
Our fundamental identity as the Saints of God is to be a worshiping community. Thus, Worship is the fulfillment of the first great Commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart mind soul and strength.
The second commandment gives us our marching orders in the world: love your neighbor as yourself. God loves us and gives Himself to us through the Incarnation and the Sacraments. He now commands us to give Christ to the world the same way he did: Incarnationally and Sacramentally.
Look around you Saints. You are the Presence of Christ in the World. Because God has placed His Holy Spirit within you, you are Sacramental - an outward sign of an inward and spiritual reality, and a means of communicating God's Grace – you are the living, moving means of God's grace to this world. God incarnates you with Himself and Communicates Himself to the world through You! That means that your basic vocation as a Christian is to be a minister and missionary. You are the hands and feet of Christ. You are the A team. That's all, there ain't no B Team. If the world is to know Christ, it will come to know Him through YOU. Just like Augustine and his little band, You are to Tell what you know and Give what you Got.
It's an exciting and daunting challenge. Especially when we face so many struggles ourselves. We're surrounded by family problems, problems at work, financial problems, sickness and death. Each day seems a struggle just to keep body and soul together, much less run around and save the world!
And yet, this is what we are called to do: to love and serve God by loving and serving the world. We are to embody Christ and to communicate His love to the world through our words and our work. If we fail to do so, we have simply and basically failed to be what we are – Christ's body on earth.
This is why we need to celebrate All Saints Day. We need to remember exemplars of the faith who have demonstrated how to pour themselves out in the world for love of God and their neighbors. We also need to remember that the good we do in the world is not simply Social Work. The good works we do are done 'to a person' as Mother Teresa used to say -that is, to Christ.
If we See correctly – if we have a right Vision of the World, we will see ourselves as Christ's body, ministering to Christ in all people. We will seek the welfare of our city, our nation, and the world, not so much to prop up the the man-made structures of the world, but to bring God's love into the world, so that all people may know Him and enjoy Him forever.
This is a tough job because the World is fundamentally opposed to God. The world doesn't want to submit itself to the Lordship of Christ- and it especially doesn't want you to remind it that there is a God to worship apart from the World. That's why the world will persecute you and tell you to SHUT UP! Go Away! Leave us to pursue our path of destruction! We're Happy that way!
The Bible tells us that all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And so we shall. Friends, we are coming into a time, when Christians will more and more be pressured to shut up, go along, and get along with the World. If we love our God and we want to be faithful to Him, we cannot do this. And that will mean difficulty for us.
The witness of the Saints who have gone before us is that they persevered – sometimes under fair conditions, often under persecution. We must do what they did if we are to be found faithful - we must share our Vision that God is All in all, and that He is reconciling all things to Himself in Christ. We must pray for those who can't see this vision. We must minister to a hurting world as if we are ministering to Christ Himself. And we must always remember who we are: Creatures of God, our Father, created in Christ Jesus for Love and Good Works (Heb. 10:24).
We may struggle with difficulty and doubt. We may even try to turn around and go back like Father Augustine. But we must go forward for Christ and we must trust Him as we go.
I don't think I can do better than to repeat today's admonishment from Ecclesiasticus:
My Child,when you come to serve the Lord,
prepare yourself for testing.
Set you heart right and be steadfast,
and do not be impetuous in time of calamity.
Cling to him and do not depart,
so that your last days may be prosperous.
Accept whatever befalls you,
and in times of humiliation be patient.
For gold is tested in the fire,
and those found acceptable, in the furnace of humiliation.
Trust in him, and he will help you;
make your ways straight, and hope in him.
You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy;
do not stray, or else you may fall.
You who fear the Lord, hope for good things,
for lasting joy and mercy.
Consider the generations of old and see:
has anyone persevered in the fear of the Lord and been forsaken?
Or has anyone called upon him and been neglected?
For the Lord is compassionate and merciful;
he forgives sins and saves in time of distress.
May God help us in our Seeing, our Being and our Doing. AMEN.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Q & A on Healing
An Interactive Sermon done with All Saints Anglican Church on October 18, 2009 at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center, Huntington, WV.
Q& A on Healing
This weekend we have been receiving teaching on Christian Healing from our brother, Father Peter Schoew. We have retreated from the world for a few hours in order to Advance towards the Kingdom - and this morning we continue our Advance. This is the quiz part of the weekend. So take out a piece of paper and a writing utensil and move away from your neighbor ... just kidding ... But we actually do have space in our bulletin if you'd like to take notes as we interact.
What I'd like to do is just review the material we covered by asking you some questions and having you respond with the answers. So -
first question:
If 'Healing' was our primary theme, what are some additional themes or categories of our teaching? - (Kingdom of God, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Fruit, Love)
Who are we as Christians? (Children of God, Citizens of Heaven)
What role does Jesus play in the Kingdom of God? ( Messiah, Anointed One, Christ, King of Kings)
We talked about 2 A's regarding the Kingdom. What are they?
(Alignment and Assignment)
What slogan did Peter teach us regarding the two A's?
"Kingdom Alignment requires kingdom assignment."
Meaning?....
(If you are going to be aligned with the kingdom you should expect to be given a job or to be called on to pray for people)
Peter also talked about a B something. What was it (B Team)
What was the slogan he used re: the B Team?
(There is no B Team. .. in white robes waiting in the wings.)
What does this mean? (We're it. We are the A team.)
So, who does God use to extend His kingdom? ( US!We are God's Hands and Feet.)
Who is qualified to pray for the sick? (Everyone)
What kind of degrees must you have to pray for the sick? ( None)
What kind of ordination do you need to pray for the sick? ( None)
What is the job of the church's leadership re: spiritual gifts?
(Equip the saints for the work of ministry. Eph. 4:12. Recognize and draw out the gifts of the saints.)
So who are the ministers of this church? (All of us.)
Who owns the gifts? (God)
What are the gifts for? (Building up of the Body, Fruit Eph. 4:12)
What's more important, Gifts or Fruit? (Fruit)
What's the Greatest Gift? (Love. I Cor. 13:13)
What does John 3:16 say? (“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.)
Look at your Gospel reading for today. What does the last verse, Mark 10:45 say? ("For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”)
It's not in your insert, but does anyone remember what happens in Mark 10:46 and following? (Jesus heals Blind Bartimaeus)
Point: Healing is connected to God's Self-Giving). This is what I really want you to take away from the rest of our time this morning:
Healing flows from God's self-giving Love. If you don't remember anything else, I'd like you to remember this. Let's all say it together...
Healing flows from God's self-giving Love.
Now let's look at our reading from Isaiah 53: 4-12, but especially verses 4,5)
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
Notice (the underlined above) What tense are we talking about? Past.
What about "we are"? Present tense.
Going on. Look at v. 6, 7
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
Again we see the Past Tense. And Jesus is described as the Lamb of God, the 'Agnus Dei'
What do we learn about God's will for the Lamb in V. 10
(10Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;...to make his soul an offering for guilt...)
What will happen 'Out of the anguish of his soul....?"
(V. 11: he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.)
In v 12: What does the Lamb of God do for 'the many"?
"Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Does anyone know what the word 'Oblation' means? (Sacrifice. Firstfruits. Offering of our best to God. I think of it particularly as in the OT: a drink offering, 'poured out')
Jesus poured out his soul. He gave himself as an oblation to God. This is why in the Eucharistic prayer of Rite I, (BCP. pg. 334) we read:
"All glory be to thee, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, for
that thou, of thy tender mercy, didst give thine only Son Jesus
Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; who
made there, by his one oblation of himself once offered, a full,
perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for
the sins of the whole world;..."
What is our 'takeaway' from today's teaching?
(Healing flows from God's self-giving Love)
Let's think about some other wonderful verses from Phil. 2:5-7:
Phil 2:5-7 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, (ESV).
NASB: laid aside His privileges.
NLT: gave up his divine privileges
Young's Literal Translation: but did empty himself, the form of a servant having taken, in the likeness of men having been made,
He poured himself out, emptied himself out...And because he did so ...
"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:9,10).
Who is Jesus in God's Kingdom? (Lord of all)
What else?
Look at your reading from Hebrews 4: 12-16, especially 14:
"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Who,What is Jesus?: ( Son of God, High Priest).
What can we expect to receive from this high priest?
(15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.)
Jesus is our High Priest. He is also the Lamb of God, the Paschal Victim who gave himself for us and for our well-being.
In the Words of Institution of our Eucharistic Prayer, we say:
This is my body, blood, given for you... and:
These are the Gifts of God for the people of God.
Gifts - Given - Get it?
What is our takeaway lesson?
(Healing flows from God's Self-Giving Love.)
When we come to the Table of the Lord, we partake of His Gifts, His outpouring of Love for us.
Jesus said, "This do in remembrance of me."
When we eat the bread and drink of the cup we are doing something. We are participating in God's self-giving love - the love that heals us by the outpouring of the body and blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God.
Therefore, there is no better time or place to seek healing from God, than immediately after having made your Eucharist or thanksgiving.
In John Chapter 6, Jesus describes Himself as the Bread of Heaven, given, for the life of the world. (51)
In the Lord's Prayer, we pray, Give us this day, our daily Bread...
When we come to the communion table, we eat of our daily bread, the manna from heaven, our very LIFE.
Now, Fr. Peter also talked about our Inheritance as Christians.
What is it? Healing. Body Soul and Spirit.
Healing is described as 'The children's bread' in Mt. 15:26. It's part of our inheritance as Christians.
St. Augustine called the Eucharist, the 'Medicine of Immortality."
And so it is.
Friends, if God was willing to give his very best to us 'while we were still sinners', enemies of God, and to reconcile us through the death of His Son, how much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life and receive all things from our God (Romans 5:14, 8:32) - including our healing?
Friends, RUN to the Communion Table of the Lord!
Why? Because Healing...flows from God's Self-giving Love. AMEN.
Q& A on Healing
This weekend we have been receiving teaching on Christian Healing from our brother, Father Peter Schoew. We have retreated from the world for a few hours in order to Advance towards the Kingdom - and this morning we continue our Advance. This is the quiz part of the weekend. So take out a piece of paper and a writing utensil and move away from your neighbor ... just kidding ... But we actually do have space in our bulletin if you'd like to take notes as we interact.
What I'd like to do is just review the material we covered by asking you some questions and having you respond with the answers. So -
first question:
If 'Healing' was our primary theme, what are some additional themes or categories of our teaching? - (Kingdom of God, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Fruit, Love)
Who are we as Christians? (Children of God, Citizens of Heaven)
What role does Jesus play in the Kingdom of God? ( Messiah, Anointed One, Christ, King of Kings)
We talked about 2 A's regarding the Kingdom. What are they?
(Alignment and Assignment)
What slogan did Peter teach us regarding the two A's?
"Kingdom Alignment requires kingdom assignment."
Meaning?....
(If you are going to be aligned with the kingdom you should expect to be given a job or to be called on to pray for people)
Peter also talked about a B something. What was it (B Team)
What was the slogan he used re: the B Team?
(There is no B Team. .. in white robes waiting in the wings.)
What does this mean? (We're it. We are the A team.)
So, who does God use to extend His kingdom? ( US!We are God's Hands and Feet.)
Who is qualified to pray for the sick? (Everyone)
What kind of degrees must you have to pray for the sick? ( None)
What kind of ordination do you need to pray for the sick? ( None)
What is the job of the church's leadership re: spiritual gifts?
(Equip the saints for the work of ministry. Eph. 4:12. Recognize and draw out the gifts of the saints.)
So who are the ministers of this church? (All of us.)
Who owns the gifts? (God)
What are the gifts for? (Building up of the Body, Fruit Eph. 4:12)
What's more important, Gifts or Fruit? (Fruit)
What's the Greatest Gift? (Love. I Cor. 13:13)
What does John 3:16 say? (“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.)
Look at your Gospel reading for today. What does the last verse, Mark 10:45 say? ("For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”)
It's not in your insert, but does anyone remember what happens in Mark 10:46 and following? (Jesus heals Blind Bartimaeus)
Point: Healing is connected to God's Self-Giving). This is what I really want you to take away from the rest of our time this morning:
Healing flows from God's self-giving Love. If you don't remember anything else, I'd like you to remember this. Let's all say it together...
Healing flows from God's self-giving Love.
Now let's look at our reading from Isaiah 53: 4-12, but especially verses 4,5)
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
Notice (the underlined above) What tense are we talking about? Past.
What about "we are"? Present tense.
Going on. Look at v. 6, 7
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
Again we see the Past Tense. And Jesus is described as the Lamb of God, the 'Agnus Dei'
What do we learn about God's will for the Lamb in V. 10
(10Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;...to make his soul an offering for guilt...)
What will happen 'Out of the anguish of his soul....?"
(V. 11: he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.)
In v 12: What does the Lamb of God do for 'the many"?
"Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Does anyone know what the word 'Oblation' means? (Sacrifice. Firstfruits. Offering of our best to God. I think of it particularly as in the OT: a drink offering, 'poured out')
Jesus poured out his soul. He gave himself as an oblation to God. This is why in the Eucharistic prayer of Rite I, (BCP. pg. 334) we read:
"All glory be to thee, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, for
that thou, of thy tender mercy, didst give thine only Son Jesus
Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; who
made there, by his one oblation of himself once offered, a full,
perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for
the sins of the whole world;..."
What is our 'takeaway' from today's teaching?
(Healing flows from God's self-giving Love)
Let's think about some other wonderful verses from Phil. 2:5-7:
Phil 2:5-7 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, (ESV).
NASB: laid aside His privileges.
NLT: gave up his divine privileges
Young's Literal Translation: but did empty himself, the form of a servant having taken, in the likeness of men having been made,
He poured himself out, emptied himself out...And because he did so ...
"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:9,10).
Who is Jesus in God's Kingdom? (Lord of all)
What else?
Look at your reading from Hebrews 4: 12-16, especially 14:
"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Who,What is Jesus?: ( Son of God, High Priest).
What can we expect to receive from this high priest?
(15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.)
Jesus is our High Priest. He is also the Lamb of God, the Paschal Victim who gave himself for us and for our well-being.
In the Words of Institution of our Eucharistic Prayer, we say:
This is my body, blood, given for you... and:
These are the Gifts of God for the people of God.
Gifts - Given - Get it?
What is our takeaway lesson?
(Healing flows from God's Self-Giving Love.)
When we come to the Table of the Lord, we partake of His Gifts, His outpouring of Love for us.
Jesus said, "This do in remembrance of me."
When we eat the bread and drink of the cup we are doing something. We are participating in God's self-giving love - the love that heals us by the outpouring of the body and blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God.
Therefore, there is no better time or place to seek healing from God, than immediately after having made your Eucharist or thanksgiving.
In John Chapter 6, Jesus describes Himself as the Bread of Heaven, given, for the life of the world. (51)
In the Lord's Prayer, we pray, Give us this day, our daily Bread...
When we come to the communion table, we eat of our daily bread, the manna from heaven, our very LIFE.
Now, Fr. Peter also talked about our Inheritance as Christians.
What is it? Healing. Body Soul and Spirit.
Healing is described as 'The children's bread' in Mt. 15:26. It's part of our inheritance as Christians.
St. Augustine called the Eucharist, the 'Medicine of Immortality."
And so it is.
Friends, if God was willing to give his very best to us 'while we were still sinners', enemies of God, and to reconcile us through the death of His Son, how much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life and receive all things from our God (Romans 5:14, 8:32) - including our healing?
Friends, RUN to the Communion Table of the Lord!
Why? Because Healing...flows from God's Self-giving Love. AMEN.
Come Follow Me
A sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on October 11 at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center, Huntington, WV, based on Mark 10:17-27
"One night, when Peter Pettinaio of the Third Order was praying in the Cathedral of Siena, he saw Our Lord Jesus Christ enter the church, followed by a great throng of saints. And each time Christ raised his foot, the form of his foot remained imprinted on the ground. And all the saints tried as hard as they could to place their feet in the traces of his footsteps, but none of them was able to do so perfectly. Then St. Francis came in and set his feet right in the footsteps of Jesus Christ." (from The Little Flowers of St. Francis, quoted in The Lessons of St. Francis by John Michael Talbot, pg. 251).
Thomas a Kempis, in his book, "The Imitation of Christ", said this about Il Poverello, "Francis sought not only to follow the words of Christ, he wished also to imitate the life of Christ as perfectly as he could, and he willed that his friars too should 'follow the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ."
October 4th is the Feast Day of St. Francis - and since we are so close to this anniversary, I'd like to consider some of the ways that Francis followed His Lord and in turn inspired others to follow him.
Francis heard the words that Jesus spoke to the Rich Young Ruler, "Come, Follow Me", and he obeyed them literally. He was a Rich Young Ruler himself and he heard the call of Christ in the present tense, desiring to know the joy of following his Lord as nearly as humanly possible. He did, in fact leave everything and follow Christ, giving with abandon to the poor - and he experienced the hundredfold blessing that Jesus talked about.
Francis also inspired others to follow Christ in love and simplicity - so much so that he had to create thee separate orders - one for men, another for women and a Third Order for those who wished to follow his Rule of Life but needed to stay in their families and Secular jobs. All of them heard the same words of Jesus, "Come, follow Me."
These are the words Jesus speaks to us. He calls us to follow Him. Sometimes the call comes with an admonition to leave everything, to sell all that you have. Sometimes, as in the case of Third Order people or like the demoniac set free by Christ, the admonition is to stay with your people and tell all that Christ has done for you (Luke 8:38,39).
But the call is still the same, "Come, follow me." Whether we stay at home or go away, the call is still to abandon yourself and follow Christ.
In the past several weeks, I have been privileged to preside at two Profession Services - one in Lexington, Ky, and one in Chattanooga, TN, in which five young men joined the Franciscan chapter of the Company of Jesus, promising to follow Christ by taking seriously the vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience that Francis himself observed. (We also had two Benedictine professions, but that's a story for another day.)
One of our newest Company of Jesus members, who made his Franciscan profession last year at our joint retreat at the Cabin in Virginia said this about wanting to become a Franciscan:
"I became aware of the Company of Jesus...when I began a search for some way to formalize my desire for a deeper prayer life and accountability in spiritual discipline. ...I am most intrigued by your dedication to sacramental life and how you have founded a community based on prayer, scripture, sacrament and the monastic tradition of learning and service, and yet be open to those who must... live in the secular world. ... I feel that a deeper, more formal commitment to prayer, worship, study and service would...be a faithful response to how I perceive God is calling me at this time."
This man has lived out his profession for one year now. He recently renewed his vows and here is what he wrote to me about what the past year has brought him:
Dear Father Abbot Andrew:
It pleases me greatly to submit this report to you as we are at the anniversary of my Service of Profession of Vows as a Franciscan in the Company of Jesus. As I look back over this year it is clear that God has been present in very clear ways - and I have experienced much joy as a result.Honestly, the year did not look like it would begin well. My trip up to the service in Virginia was one fraught with difficulties and some despairing moments. I had recently taken a career change which promised to be wonderful but was not working out that way. After nearly 40 years in public education I took a job with my church as a parish administrator. Lacking the skills or aptitude for that line of work I was failing miserably at it.
Friendships I had over a number of years at church became strained and my relationship with my pastor became so difficult that I began to attend another church. The difficult economy made the prospect of finding another job frightening as well. In addition, my marriage of 4 years was troubled. It was an odd time to go on a retreat weekend and the invitation to attend seemed so out of keeping with the circumstances that it was either a cruel irony or an moment of Grace sent in the midst of much anxiety. I went with Grace and elected to accept and attend the retreat. Because money was tight, I went to my pastor and asked for money to attend. I have never asked for a handout before and this seemed, at the time, like another in a line of humiliations but, either by faith or dogged determination I went ahead and did it.Much of the weekend is a blur to me now. There was a moment though where I began to understand where God was working in the midst of all this. At lunch on Saturday I was joined in conversation by Fr. Mark who asked some usual "getting to know you" sort of questions. I confided in him that I had at one time explored becoming a priest and had actually graduated from a seminary program with a Masters in Theology degree. We continued our conversation and had prayer time for several hours after lunch. It was the beginning of a relationship of spiritual direction between Fr. Mark and me. It was the vehicle though which God often spoke in our weekly conversations and marked many moments in a time I refer to as "desert time." I left the weekend on a very high note and was filled with joy all the way home.
Unfortunately, when I pulled into the driveway and unpacked the car my wife said at my taking out my monastic habit, "What's with the monkey suit?"
I crashed right back down to the earth that I had left for the weekend.My return to work showed no improvement. Our finances did not improve. Our communications remained poor. I continued to not be able to go to our church. My relationship with my pastor remained strained. But some things did begin to happen. Weekly, Fr. Mark and I would talk and pray. We understood this to be a time in the desert and to come to terms with that. I read scriptures about Jesus' time in the desert and meditated on the Desert Fathers. I began to follow along with Daily Prayer from the Northumbria Community on the Internet. Things began to follow a pattern.
There was something about this experience that was requiring me to look at the various callings and responses in my life. In reading and thinking about Francis I was no longer able to feel sorry for myself about what I perceived to suffering in my life. What had previously been perceived as victimization at least had the possibility of being a time of Divine cleansing.Out of this difficult time there came the realization that "if there is anything you want, then you must give it away." If I wanted love, I must love. If I wanted peace, I must bring peace to situations and others. If I wanted prayers, I must pray. It became a rule of life for me to follow.
During this time I decided to once again use my seminary training. It had been a long time. My church was not a place where that was particularly welcome for a variety of reasons so I began to offer my talents at a non-denominational church... The pastor there... was particularly curious about and interested in such things as liturgy, church history, the Emerging Church Movement, monasticism and, of course, the Bible and worship.
We began teaching a class on the development of the early church creeds. We team taught and it was great. During this time a homeless guy began attending ...and we were able to enter into his life and him into ours. I began to meditate on and ponder the phrase "the least of these". My prayers began to ask what it meant to be among "the least of these" and how I might, indeed, be the least of these in ways myself. It all seemed very....well,.... Franciscan!
There were two major decisions last year that I think reflect God's saying to me, "On this day I give you a choice between life and death. Choose life." The first life choice decision was the one to go to the profession service. The other was a decision to have bariatric "lap band" surgery.
I had taken a trip to my doctor for a normal checkup and we talked a bit about my weight. I was "morbidly obese" (medical terminology for my condition), I was taking approximately 35 pills a day for diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, asthma, arthritis and other related things. I told my doctor that I thought I would like to live 10-20 years longer (I was 61) and his response was a shocking, "I'm not sure if I would count on that."
After that shocking remark I asked him about lap band surgery because a friend of mine had had it and was very pleased and successful. His eyes lit up and we arranged for me to make plans to have the surgery taken care of. "You are a perfect candidate," was the phrase I heard over and over again from the doctors and surgeons I talked to. I had the surgery in February and have lost 70 pounds with 30 more to go. I feel like I have indeed new life and have been granted a great gift that God surely was a part of.
Well, the year has brought many other things that I feel are an outgrowth of my becoming a Franciscan. My pursuit of the "the least of these" has led me to working weekly at a homeless feeding ministry called "Five Loaves". I have been called upon to preach sermons.. in the absence of [our] Pastor. I have recently taught a class on the book "Resident Aliens" by Stanley Hauerwas and Will Wilamon. A group of guys and myself have been meeting Wednesday mornings in a group called The Dead Guys (dead unto sin). Before I left [my previous]church I was regularly lay reading, chalicing and working the sound board and computer projection equipment for services. Now I am part of the worship team at [my new church] and have even taken up my old guitar and am playing weekly. Pastor Juan has asked me to speak about being a Franciscan at chapel at the Christian School where I used to teach and where he still works.
He has also asked me to come in my habit and assist with Communion at Father's House. I also have begun a blog called CrossPeace Community which I hope develops into a dialogue about serving others in the name of building Christ's Church.
A final piece of the puzzle of this year that has been very important in my exploring the notion of "the least of these" is that I left my job at the church last May and began working as a teacher at a juvenile group home run by Methodist Home for Children. These kids truly are the least. They are abused, have criminal records and are incarcerated. Many of them are functionally illiterate and have actually had very little formal schooling in their lives. It continues to be a wonderful experience working with them and serving them.
Because of some health issues my wife has, and because I reached retirement age this fall I have taken Social Security but work part time at the home and will continue to do so. It is definitely part of my charism as a Franciscan. I guess a final, final piece of this story is the relationship between my wife Becky and me. We have struggled and continued to do so but we both feel that God has brought us together and that one cannot discern the value of a relationship by gaging its ease. Becky fully supports and encourages me in my calling as a Franciscan and we both laugh when I take out my "monkey suit" God is good.
Now folks, this is what it sounds like to live out the call of Christ to 'Come, follow me." It's not easy, frilly, or especially 'holy' or 'saintly' in any sort of sentimental way. There's a lot of hard stuff in this story. But there's also Joy. Joy in walking away from things that weren't working and into new things that do work.. Joy in discovering lack of gifting in administration and in reaffirming gifts in teaching and serving at-risk kids. Joy in struggling through health issues and marital issues and financial struggles - and Joy in pressing into a life of prayer.
This is a story I think Francis and Jesus both smile about. It's a story that incorporates the basic building blocks of the Christian life: Worship, Community, Formation and Mission. It's a story that is really a template for Christian discipleship. And it's a story that I believe God is actively working into each one of us at All Saints Anglican Church.
Of course, the details of your story are specific to you. But it is my fervent hope and expectation that each one of us has a story of personal transformation to tell. Developing such a story takes hard work and tenacity. You can't tell of God's goodness unless you hold on through the tough times. And you also have to be honest about yourself and your struggles if you want to report about your Joy in Christ.
Friends, this ain't for sissies. It's hard, but it's Good.
It's real and substantial. It's what draws people to abandon all and follow Christ.
Today, I want to challenge you. Can you be as real and as honest as our Compan of Jesus
brother?
Will you hang in there with Christ while he transforms you into his own image?
Will you serve him with the same reckless abandon that Francis had and that our brother has shown in the midst of everyday life?
Let's ponder this seriously - and answer affirmatively.
May God grant us the grace and the comfort to hear this word and live it out.
AMEN.
"One night, when Peter Pettinaio of the Third Order was praying in the Cathedral of Siena, he saw Our Lord Jesus Christ enter the church, followed by a great throng of saints. And each time Christ raised his foot, the form of his foot remained imprinted on the ground. And all the saints tried as hard as they could to place their feet in the traces of his footsteps, but none of them was able to do so perfectly. Then St. Francis came in and set his feet right in the footsteps of Jesus Christ." (from The Little Flowers of St. Francis, quoted in The Lessons of St. Francis by John Michael Talbot, pg. 251).
Thomas a Kempis, in his book, "The Imitation of Christ", said this about Il Poverello, "Francis sought not only to follow the words of Christ, he wished also to imitate the life of Christ as perfectly as he could, and he willed that his friars too should 'follow the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ."
October 4th is the Feast Day of St. Francis - and since we are so close to this anniversary, I'd like to consider some of the ways that Francis followed His Lord and in turn inspired others to follow him.
Francis heard the words that Jesus spoke to the Rich Young Ruler, "Come, Follow Me", and he obeyed them literally. He was a Rich Young Ruler himself and he heard the call of Christ in the present tense, desiring to know the joy of following his Lord as nearly as humanly possible. He did, in fact leave everything and follow Christ, giving with abandon to the poor - and he experienced the hundredfold blessing that Jesus talked about.
Francis also inspired others to follow Christ in love and simplicity - so much so that he had to create thee separate orders - one for men, another for women and a Third Order for those who wished to follow his Rule of Life but needed to stay in their families and Secular jobs. All of them heard the same words of Jesus, "Come, follow Me."
These are the words Jesus speaks to us. He calls us to follow Him. Sometimes the call comes with an admonition to leave everything, to sell all that you have. Sometimes, as in the case of Third Order people or like the demoniac set free by Christ, the admonition is to stay with your people and tell all that Christ has done for you (Luke 8:38,39).
But the call is still the same, "Come, follow me." Whether we stay at home or go away, the call is still to abandon yourself and follow Christ.
In the past several weeks, I have been privileged to preside at two Profession Services - one in Lexington, Ky, and one in Chattanooga, TN, in which five young men joined the Franciscan chapter of the Company of Jesus, promising to follow Christ by taking seriously the vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience that Francis himself observed. (We also had two Benedictine professions, but that's a story for another day.)
One of our newest Company of Jesus members, who made his Franciscan profession last year at our joint retreat at the Cabin in Virginia said this about wanting to become a Franciscan:
"I became aware of the Company of Jesus...when I began a search for some way to formalize my desire for a deeper prayer life and accountability in spiritual discipline. ...I am most intrigued by your dedication to sacramental life and how you have founded a community based on prayer, scripture, sacrament and the monastic tradition of learning and service, and yet be open to those who must... live in the secular world. ... I feel that a deeper, more formal commitment to prayer, worship, study and service would...be a faithful response to how I perceive God is calling me at this time."
This man has lived out his profession for one year now. He recently renewed his vows and here is what he wrote to me about what the past year has brought him:
Dear Father Abbot Andrew:
It pleases me greatly to submit this report to you as we are at the anniversary of my Service of Profession of Vows as a Franciscan in the Company of Jesus. As I look back over this year it is clear that God has been present in very clear ways - and I have experienced much joy as a result.Honestly, the year did not look like it would begin well. My trip up to the service in Virginia was one fraught with difficulties and some despairing moments. I had recently taken a career change which promised to be wonderful but was not working out that way. After nearly 40 years in public education I took a job with my church as a parish administrator. Lacking the skills or aptitude for that line of work I was failing miserably at it.
Friendships I had over a number of years at church became strained and my relationship with my pastor became so difficult that I began to attend another church. The difficult economy made the prospect of finding another job frightening as well. In addition, my marriage of 4 years was troubled. It was an odd time to go on a retreat weekend and the invitation to attend seemed so out of keeping with the circumstances that it was either a cruel irony or an moment of Grace sent in the midst of much anxiety. I went with Grace and elected to accept and attend the retreat. Because money was tight, I went to my pastor and asked for money to attend. I have never asked for a handout before and this seemed, at the time, like another in a line of humiliations but, either by faith or dogged determination I went ahead and did it.Much of the weekend is a blur to me now. There was a moment though where I began to understand where God was working in the midst of all this. At lunch on Saturday I was joined in conversation by Fr. Mark who asked some usual "getting to know you" sort of questions. I confided in him that I had at one time explored becoming a priest and had actually graduated from a seminary program with a Masters in Theology degree. We continued our conversation and had prayer time for several hours after lunch. It was the beginning of a relationship of spiritual direction between Fr. Mark and me. It was the vehicle though which God often spoke in our weekly conversations and marked many moments in a time I refer to as "desert time." I left the weekend on a very high note and was filled with joy all the way home.
Unfortunately, when I pulled into the driveway and unpacked the car my wife said at my taking out my monastic habit, "What's with the monkey suit?"
I crashed right back down to the earth that I had left for the weekend.My return to work showed no improvement. Our finances did not improve. Our communications remained poor. I continued to not be able to go to our church. My relationship with my pastor remained strained. But some things did begin to happen. Weekly, Fr. Mark and I would talk and pray. We understood this to be a time in the desert and to come to terms with that. I read scriptures about Jesus' time in the desert and meditated on the Desert Fathers. I began to follow along with Daily Prayer from the Northumbria Community on the Internet. Things began to follow a pattern.
There was something about this experience that was requiring me to look at the various callings and responses in my life. In reading and thinking about Francis I was no longer able to feel sorry for myself about what I perceived to suffering in my life. What had previously been perceived as victimization at least had the possibility of being a time of Divine cleansing.Out of this difficult time there came the realization that "if there is anything you want, then you must give it away." If I wanted love, I must love. If I wanted peace, I must bring peace to situations and others. If I wanted prayers, I must pray. It became a rule of life for me to follow.
During this time I decided to once again use my seminary training. It had been a long time. My church was not a place where that was particularly welcome for a variety of reasons so I began to offer my talents at a non-denominational church... The pastor there... was particularly curious about and interested in such things as liturgy, church history, the Emerging Church Movement, monasticism and, of course, the Bible and worship.
We began teaching a class on the development of the early church creeds. We team taught and it was great. During this time a homeless guy began attending ...and we were able to enter into his life and him into ours. I began to meditate on and ponder the phrase "the least of these". My prayers began to ask what it meant to be among "the least of these" and how I might, indeed, be the least of these in ways myself. It all seemed very....well,.... Franciscan!
There were two major decisions last year that I think reflect God's saying to me, "On this day I give you a choice between life and death. Choose life." The first life choice decision was the one to go to the profession service. The other was a decision to have bariatric "lap band" surgery.
I had taken a trip to my doctor for a normal checkup and we talked a bit about my weight. I was "morbidly obese" (medical terminology for my condition), I was taking approximately 35 pills a day for diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, asthma, arthritis and other related things. I told my doctor that I thought I would like to live 10-20 years longer (I was 61) and his response was a shocking, "I'm not sure if I would count on that."
After that shocking remark I asked him about lap band surgery because a friend of mine had had it and was very pleased and successful. His eyes lit up and we arranged for me to make plans to have the surgery taken care of. "You are a perfect candidate," was the phrase I heard over and over again from the doctors and surgeons I talked to. I had the surgery in February and have lost 70 pounds with 30 more to go. I feel like I have indeed new life and have been granted a great gift that God surely was a part of.
Well, the year has brought many other things that I feel are an outgrowth of my becoming a Franciscan. My pursuit of the "the least of these" has led me to working weekly at a homeless feeding ministry called "Five Loaves". I have been called upon to preach sermons.. in the absence of [our] Pastor. I have recently taught a class on the book "Resident Aliens" by Stanley Hauerwas and Will Wilamon. A group of guys and myself have been meeting Wednesday mornings in a group called The Dead Guys (dead unto sin). Before I left [my previous]church I was regularly lay reading, chalicing and working the sound board and computer projection equipment for services. Now I am part of the worship team at [my new church] and have even taken up my old guitar and am playing weekly. Pastor Juan has asked me to speak about being a Franciscan at chapel at the Christian School where I used to teach and where he still works.
He has also asked me to come in my habit and assist with Communion at Father's House. I also have begun a blog called CrossPeace Community which I hope develops into a dialogue about serving others in the name of building Christ's Church.
A final piece of the puzzle of this year that has been very important in my exploring the notion of "the least of these" is that I left my job at the church last May and began working as a teacher at a juvenile group home run by Methodist Home for Children. These kids truly are the least. They are abused, have criminal records and are incarcerated. Many of them are functionally illiterate and have actually had very little formal schooling in their lives. It continues to be a wonderful experience working with them and serving them.
Because of some health issues my wife has, and because I reached retirement age this fall I have taken Social Security but work part time at the home and will continue to do so. It is definitely part of my charism as a Franciscan. I guess a final, final piece of this story is the relationship between my wife Becky and me. We have struggled and continued to do so but we both feel that God has brought us together and that one cannot discern the value of a relationship by gaging its ease. Becky fully supports and encourages me in my calling as a Franciscan and we both laugh when I take out my "monkey suit" God is good.
Now folks, this is what it sounds like to live out the call of Christ to 'Come, follow me." It's not easy, frilly, or especially 'holy' or 'saintly' in any sort of sentimental way. There's a lot of hard stuff in this story. But there's also Joy. Joy in walking away from things that weren't working and into new things that do work.. Joy in discovering lack of gifting in administration and in reaffirming gifts in teaching and serving at-risk kids. Joy in struggling through health issues and marital issues and financial struggles - and Joy in pressing into a life of prayer.
This is a story I think Francis and Jesus both smile about. It's a story that incorporates the basic building blocks of the Christian life: Worship, Community, Formation and Mission. It's a story that is really a template for Christian discipleship. And it's a story that I believe God is actively working into each one of us at All Saints Anglican Church.
Of course, the details of your story are specific to you. But it is my fervent hope and expectation that each one of us has a story of personal transformation to tell. Developing such a story takes hard work and tenacity. You can't tell of God's goodness unless you hold on through the tough times. And you also have to be honest about yourself and your struggles if you want to report about your Joy in Christ.
Friends, this ain't for sissies. It's hard, but it's Good.
It's real and substantial. It's what draws people to abandon all and follow Christ.
Today, I want to challenge you. Can you be as real and as honest as our Compan of Jesus
brother?
Will you hang in there with Christ while he transforms you into his own image?
Will you serve him with the same reckless abandon that Francis had and that our brother has shown in the midst of everyday life?
Let's ponder this seriously - and answer affirmatively.
May God grant us the grace and the comfort to hear this word and live it out.
AMEN.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Avoiding Hand, Foot and Eye Disease
A sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on September 27th, 2009 at St. Mary's Medical Center Convent Chapel, Huntington, WV, and based on Mark 9:38-48.
O be careful little hands what you do
O be careful little hands what you do
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So, be careful little hands what you do.
O be careful little feet where you go
O be careful little feet where you go
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So be careful little feet where you go.
O be careful little eyes what you see
O be careful little eyes what you see
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So be careful little eyes what you see
The Bible tells us in Psalm 139:14, that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." God has created our human body with amazing capabilities - which correspond perfectly to the physical world we live in. He's given us eyes to see the beauty around - two eyes, in fact, so that we can see in stereo and judge distances correctly. Eyes that can look around to see good things to eat, beauty to behold, and dangers to avoid. Our eyes are miracles of design and function, and glories which speak of the creative power of our God.
Our hands feature an opposable thumb - perhaps one of the key things that distinguish us from the animals - especially those found in Gary Larsen's cartoons.
And our feet are marvelously constructed so that we can walk upright, run and jump with amazing dexterity.
The members of our physical body work together for the good of the whole body; any impairment in one part affects the whole. (cf. Rom. 12:5; I Cor. 12:12). Jesus uses the metaphor of body parts in our Gospel lesson today, warning us that if our hands or feet or eyes cause us to stumble, we should cut them off or pluck them out in order to avoid hell. Since this is alarming thing to think about, the title of today's message is "Avoiding Hand Foot and Eye Disease".
The Bigger Picture
As we begin, let's think of the larger context of this passage.
In Mark 8:31-9:1, Jesus is talking to the disciples about his impending death.
He admonishes them that: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.
He's getting ready to go to Jerusalem and face the cross. Six days later he goes up on the mountain and is Transfigured (9:2-13) - again in preparation for his death. He comes down off the mountain of transfiguration and is immediately confronted with the disciples inability to exorcise a demonized boy (9:14-29) and he again warns of his upcoming death (9:30-32).
The disciples argue about who is the greatest in the kingdom (9:33-37) and Jesus shows them a child and tells them that "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” ... and that “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me...(37).
Ever astute, the disciples ask about someone casting out a demon in Jesus' name and again, Jesus makes reference to 'the little ones who believe in my name', warning that whoever causes such a one to sin would be better off if he were thrown into the sea.
So the big picture is about Death: what Jesus' death will accomplish,what we have to do to avoid eternal death, and what it is that ultimately pleases God.
Jesus speaks about cutting off your hand or your foot and of plucking out your eye - but this is clearly not literal. As he does so often, he is speaking metaphorically, using the offending members as examples of bigger issues in our lives. So, let's look at the Hand, the Foot and the Eye respectively, asking what they represent in our lives with a view towards understanding what we must do to avoid stumbling through them.
Interpreting Symbols
When I was at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, one of the most interesting classes I took was Psychological Testing. In this class, we learned about something called 'Projective Tests' where the subject looks at pictures, tells stories or draws pictures of things, such as a House a Tree or a Person. The idea is that the subject 'projects' themselves into the picture or story. The job of the tester is then to interpret the meaning of the symbols projected. In order to help interpret the test, we had to look in a handbook that gave us suggested meanings as deduced through research into these tests.
For example, when interpreting a drawing of a person, we consider how old the draw-er is, whether they have included all the parts of the body, whether any parts of the body are exaggerated, whether there are marks or wounds on the body, and what kind of story the draw-er tells about the figure they have drawn. You collect your observations and you look in the handbook, which gives you various suggestions based on research findings. Then, using that information, you develop your hypothesis about what is going on with the person you are evaluating.
Hands
Broadly speaking, hands represent Power to interact with the physical world - how much power I think I have, whether that power is in proportion to my ability and my surroundings, and whether or not I have a realistic assessment of my relative power. Hands also represent our Work or our labors in life, especially for the Lord.
Once, many years ago, I was working with a four year old boy. He was fascinated by the Hulk comic character. In his play, he would imitate the Hulk and stomp around the room exclaiming in a deep voice, "I am the Hulk. I weigh four-hundred pounds and I can crush you!" Not surprisingly, when he drew a person, it looked like the Hulk and it had HUGE hands. This little boy came from a troubled family situation, where things were pretty chaotic and he was powerless to change things. In his drawings and fantasy play, he was projecting power that he wished he had.
"If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off." How can our hands cause us to stumble? Basically through various forms of injustice, such as:
Grabbing what is not ours: Genesis 3:22:Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” Adam and eve reached out to take what wasn't theirs and people have been stealing ever since.
Physical Violence: Genesis 16:12
He [Ishmael] shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
Presumptuous Self-Sufficiency: as in our reading from James 4:13-17:
... “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. ...you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting [in the work of your hands] is evil."
Sloth or Inactivity: Proverbs 6:10
"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest..."
We stumble through our hands when we work unjustly against others, or when we fail to work for righteousness, prompting James (5:6) to conclude: ..."whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin". So it is with the sins of the Hand
The Foot: Represents freedom, mobility, the power to run from harm and to walk with the Lord.
St. Benedict describes what he called 'Gyrovagues', which is a made-up word consisting of Latin for 'circle' combined with Greek for 'wander'. Literally, people who wander around in circles. Their feet wander from place to place, always restless, never submitting to a settled way of life, running away from problems, not being accountable to anyone; being licentious, refusing to stay put.
It reminds me of the Glenn Campbell song, "Gentle on My Mind":
"It's knowing that your door is always open
And your path is free to walk
That makes me tend to leave my sleeping bag rolled up
and stashed behind your couch
And it's knowing I'm not shackled
By forgotten words and bonds
And the ink stains that have dried upon some line
That keeps you in the backroadsBy the rivers of my mem'ryThat keeps you ever gentle on my mind..."
She's so gentle on his mind, that he feels no need to actually live with her!
Our feet can cause us to wander off the path and stop walking with others and with the Lord.
Eye
Jesus said that the "eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light," Matthew 6:22. The eye speaks of the ability to see what is right, to look beneath the surface of things to the truth beneath, and the ability to catch a vision of what God would have us to do in life.
By contrast:
The devil tempted Eve by appealing to her eyes, or her desire for spiritual understanding and power: "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:5)
..." when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths" (Gen. 3:6,7).
Sin entered the world through the lust of the eyes, through desire for what is seen.
1John 2:15-17 warns:
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.". Jesus spoke in parables that the wicked might see but not perceive (Mark 4:12). The eye needs to be connected with the heart to work correctly.
The Eye can betray Pride: Proverbs 21:4:
"Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin."
Through our eyes, we can judge others hypocritically: "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" Luke 6:41.
So, then, the eye causes us to stumble through Unrighteous Desire - which in turn leads us to Pride, Greed and Lust and Hypocrisy.
What should we do instead?
Hands:
Cleanse your hands and purify your heart so that you can resist the Devil", says James (4:8). Another way to say this is to humble yourselves and draw near to God. Let Him convict you of sin; ask for forgiveness when you are wrong, and keep a clear conscience with God.
Ecclesiates 9:10: "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might..."
Colossians 3:23: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men"...
Use your hands to work for God, who is your real boss, no matter who you work for.
Feet:
Walk with the Lord. Deuteronomy 5:33 says: "You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess."
Colossians 1:10: "... walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."
Micah 6:8: He has told you, O man, what is good;and what...the Lord require[s] of you: ... to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
God is your Creator. He loves you and wants to have a daily relationship with you. The right use of your feet is to walk with God day in and day out.
The Eyes:
Let the commandment of the Lord give light to the eyes, says the Psalmist (19:8,)
Use your eyes to see the Truth of God; let God show you his truth by pondering his commandments and by reading His Word daily.
Look unto Jesus, Fix your eyes on Him as the author and perfecter of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). Don't trust in anything else: money, houses, cars, stock portfolios, or other people. Jesus alone is our Savior. Everything else is "wood, hay and stubble" (1 Cor 3:12), unreliable and unsatisfying in the end.
Be Like Simeon who was able to say at the end of his life:
Lord, you now have set your servant free. For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see - a Light to enlighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel. Luke 2:29-32.
Summary:
Take care with your hands, your feet and your eyes. The Father up above is looking down in love, for as the Psalmist sings, his love and His commandments are :
More to be desired are they than gold,
more than much fine gold, *
sweeter far than honey,
than honey in the comb.
By them also is your servant enlightened, *
and in keeping them there is great reward (Psalm 19:10,11).
AMEN.
O be careful little hands what you do
O be careful little hands what you do
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So, be careful little hands what you do.
O be careful little feet where you go
O be careful little feet where you go
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So be careful little feet where you go.
O be careful little eyes what you see
O be careful little eyes what you see
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So be careful little eyes what you see
The Bible tells us in Psalm 139:14, that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." God has created our human body with amazing capabilities - which correspond perfectly to the physical world we live in. He's given us eyes to see the beauty around - two eyes, in fact, so that we can see in stereo and judge distances correctly. Eyes that can look around to see good things to eat, beauty to behold, and dangers to avoid. Our eyes are miracles of design and function, and glories which speak of the creative power of our God.
Our hands feature an opposable thumb - perhaps one of the key things that distinguish us from the animals - especially those found in Gary Larsen's cartoons.
And our feet are marvelously constructed so that we can walk upright, run and jump with amazing dexterity.
The members of our physical body work together for the good of the whole body; any impairment in one part affects the whole. (cf. Rom. 12:5; I Cor. 12:12). Jesus uses the metaphor of body parts in our Gospel lesson today, warning us that if our hands or feet or eyes cause us to stumble, we should cut them off or pluck them out in order to avoid hell. Since this is alarming thing to think about, the title of today's message is "Avoiding Hand Foot and Eye Disease".
The Bigger Picture
As we begin, let's think of the larger context of this passage.
In Mark 8:31-9:1, Jesus is talking to the disciples about his impending death.
He admonishes them that: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.
He's getting ready to go to Jerusalem and face the cross. Six days later he goes up on the mountain and is Transfigured (9:2-13) - again in preparation for his death. He comes down off the mountain of transfiguration and is immediately confronted with the disciples inability to exorcise a demonized boy (9:14-29) and he again warns of his upcoming death (9:30-32).
The disciples argue about who is the greatest in the kingdom (9:33-37) and Jesus shows them a child and tells them that "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” ... and that “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me...(37).
Ever astute, the disciples ask about someone casting out a demon in Jesus' name and again, Jesus makes reference to 'the little ones who believe in my name', warning that whoever causes such a one to sin would be better off if he were thrown into the sea.
So the big picture is about Death: what Jesus' death will accomplish,what we have to do to avoid eternal death, and what it is that ultimately pleases God.
Jesus speaks about cutting off your hand or your foot and of plucking out your eye - but this is clearly not literal. As he does so often, he is speaking metaphorically, using the offending members as examples of bigger issues in our lives. So, let's look at the Hand, the Foot and the Eye respectively, asking what they represent in our lives with a view towards understanding what we must do to avoid stumbling through them.
Interpreting Symbols
When I was at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, one of the most interesting classes I took was Psychological Testing. In this class, we learned about something called 'Projective Tests' where the subject looks at pictures, tells stories or draws pictures of things, such as a House a Tree or a Person. The idea is that the subject 'projects' themselves into the picture or story. The job of the tester is then to interpret the meaning of the symbols projected. In order to help interpret the test, we had to look in a handbook that gave us suggested meanings as deduced through research into these tests.
For example, when interpreting a drawing of a person, we consider how old the draw-er is, whether they have included all the parts of the body, whether any parts of the body are exaggerated, whether there are marks or wounds on the body, and what kind of story the draw-er tells about the figure they have drawn. You collect your observations and you look in the handbook, which gives you various suggestions based on research findings. Then, using that information, you develop your hypothesis about what is going on with the person you are evaluating.
Hands
Broadly speaking, hands represent Power to interact with the physical world - how much power I think I have, whether that power is in proportion to my ability and my surroundings, and whether or not I have a realistic assessment of my relative power. Hands also represent our Work or our labors in life, especially for the Lord.
Once, many years ago, I was working with a four year old boy. He was fascinated by the Hulk comic character. In his play, he would imitate the Hulk and stomp around the room exclaiming in a deep voice, "I am the Hulk. I weigh four-hundred pounds and I can crush you!" Not surprisingly, when he drew a person, it looked like the Hulk and it had HUGE hands. This little boy came from a troubled family situation, where things were pretty chaotic and he was powerless to change things. In his drawings and fantasy play, he was projecting power that he wished he had.
"If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off." How can our hands cause us to stumble? Basically through various forms of injustice, such as:
Grabbing what is not ours: Genesis 3:22:Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” Adam and eve reached out to take what wasn't theirs and people have been stealing ever since.
Physical Violence: Genesis 16:12
He [Ishmael] shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
Presumptuous Self-Sufficiency: as in our reading from James 4:13-17:
... “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. ...you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting [in the work of your hands] is evil."
Sloth or Inactivity: Proverbs 6:10
"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest..."
We stumble through our hands when we work unjustly against others, or when we fail to work for righteousness, prompting James (5:6) to conclude: ..."whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin". So it is with the sins of the Hand
The Foot: Represents freedom, mobility, the power to run from harm and to walk with the Lord.
St. Benedict describes what he called 'Gyrovagues', which is a made-up word consisting of Latin for 'circle' combined with Greek for 'wander'. Literally, people who wander around in circles. Their feet wander from place to place, always restless, never submitting to a settled way of life, running away from problems, not being accountable to anyone; being licentious, refusing to stay put.
It reminds me of the Glenn Campbell song, "Gentle on My Mind":
"It's knowing that your door is always open
And your path is free to walk
That makes me tend to leave my sleeping bag rolled up
and stashed behind your couch
And it's knowing I'm not shackled
By forgotten words and bonds
And the ink stains that have dried upon some line
That keeps you in the backroadsBy the rivers of my mem'ryThat keeps you ever gentle on my mind..."
She's so gentle on his mind, that he feels no need to actually live with her!
Our feet can cause us to wander off the path and stop walking with others and with the Lord.
Eye
Jesus said that the "eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light," Matthew 6:22. The eye speaks of the ability to see what is right, to look beneath the surface of things to the truth beneath, and the ability to catch a vision of what God would have us to do in life.
By contrast:
The devil tempted Eve by appealing to her eyes, or her desire for spiritual understanding and power: "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:5)
..." when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths" (Gen. 3:6,7).
Sin entered the world through the lust of the eyes, through desire for what is seen.
1John 2:15-17 warns:
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.". Jesus spoke in parables that the wicked might see but not perceive (Mark 4:12). The eye needs to be connected with the heart to work correctly.
The Eye can betray Pride: Proverbs 21:4:
"Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin."
Through our eyes, we can judge others hypocritically: "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" Luke 6:41.
So, then, the eye causes us to stumble through Unrighteous Desire - which in turn leads us to Pride, Greed and Lust and Hypocrisy.
What should we do instead?
Hands:
Cleanse your hands and purify your heart so that you can resist the Devil", says James (4:8). Another way to say this is to humble yourselves and draw near to God. Let Him convict you of sin; ask for forgiveness when you are wrong, and keep a clear conscience with God.
Ecclesiates 9:10: "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might..."
Colossians 3:23: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men"...
Use your hands to work for God, who is your real boss, no matter who you work for.
Feet:
Walk with the Lord. Deuteronomy 5:33 says: "You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess."
Colossians 1:10: "... walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."
Micah 6:8: He has told you, O man, what is good;and what...the Lord require[s] of you: ... to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
God is your Creator. He loves you and wants to have a daily relationship with you. The right use of your feet is to walk with God day in and day out.
The Eyes:
Let the commandment of the Lord give light to the eyes, says the Psalmist (19:8,)
Use your eyes to see the Truth of God; let God show you his truth by pondering his commandments and by reading His Word daily.
Look unto Jesus, Fix your eyes on Him as the author and perfecter of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). Don't trust in anything else: money, houses, cars, stock portfolios, or other people. Jesus alone is our Savior. Everything else is "wood, hay and stubble" (1 Cor 3:12), unreliable and unsatisfying in the end.
Be Like Simeon who was able to say at the end of his life:
Lord, you now have set your servant free. For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see - a Light to enlighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel. Luke 2:29-32.
Summary:
Take care with your hands, your feet and your eyes. The Father up above is looking down in love, for as the Psalmist sings, his love and His commandments are :
More to be desired are they than gold,
more than much fine gold, *
sweeter far than honey,
than honey in the comb.
By them also is your servant enlightened, *
and in keeping them there is great reward (Psalm 19:10,11).
AMEN.
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