Seeing the Unseen

Listen to the sermon.

In today's gospel, Jesus is telling a parable.  As I read these parables I see more and more that Jesus uses humor in his stories to get the attention of the people he is talking to.  This is one of those stories that functions like a joke.     And when we read these parables, we nod our heads and make noises like, “Oh yes, that’s so true – or – I understand…”  What we so often don’t get is how outrageous his stories were.  We only think they make sense – that they made sense in his own time.  We are too familiar with them and we need to understand better, just how outlandish his stories are.  They had an impact on the people who heard them because they turned the current day values upside down.

I'm sure you know in first century Palestine – rich, well dressed, feasting means this man is obviously blessed by God – see how God has given him all good things…

“This is very true – he is favored by God and has therefore been given good things.  The problem is that along with great gifts comes great responsibility.  The responsibility is to share with those who do not have good things…  The responsibility is to reach out and help those who are less fortunate.

Lazarus on the other hand is a poor man, who has no money, or power or means of support, AND he is also ill.  He has sores that the dogs come and lick.  Lazarus is at the rich man’s door for a reason.  According to the Torah, the wealthy have a charge to help those less fortunate.  But this rich man doesn’t pay Lazarus any mind – he might even come and go through another entrance so he doesn’t have to look at him – and when he’s forced to go through that entrance, he steps over Lazarus and pretends he isn’t there.

This rich man is not evil.  He doesn’t go out of his way to hurt Lazarus or even to get rid of him.  He just ignores him – sees right through him as if he were not there.

There is a big gap between these two men – a gap that is not easily bridged.  Now I want you to pay attention to something else – this poor man has a name – Lazarus – but the rich man – Jesus never tells us his name.  Again, Jesus is telling a story – and in this story, both of these men die.  You know the kind of story – two men died and went to heaven…  except one of them didn’t.

One man went to heaven – and everyone knew that it was the rich man – except it wasn’t.  There was a great chasm that separated the two men – Lazarus in heaven and the rich man in Hades.  The rich man looks up to heaven and sees Lazarus and he calls out to Abraham – “send Lazarus to cool my tongue – send Lazarus to wait on me, to serve me, to do my bidding…”   He doesn’t quite get the point – he still thinks of Lazarus as being below him, and worthy only to be a servant.

Abraham tells him, there’s a gulf between us – no one can cross over, even if they want to…  There is no bridge – and I think, that had there been any kind of relationship between Lazarus and the rich man, then a bridge might have been possible.  But there was no relationship to build on.

We lived in Houston for four years and there is a corner where street people beg.  Benny usually manned one corner and Diana sat on the other corner.  I had been talking to Benny for four years.  Diana was a new comer – she’d only been out there for about 6 months.  Occasionally I would give them something (a little money, or left over food), but regardless of whether or not I had anything to give them, I at least talked to them when I went by.  But if I catch the light green and drove on through, they made a point to wave at me because they knew my car.  I tried to build bridges while I was there – to see those less fortunate as human beings, created in the image of God and who deserve to be treated as such.

God has created us and as our compassionate creator, he pronounced us "good" and he wants us to succeed at life.  He is our teacher, (the Bible is your textbook) and he is our cheerleader - cheering us on to success.  When we are sad, God cries with us and when we are happy, he rejoices with us.  But this compassionate Father will not protect us from the consequences of our own actions.  We make decisions about our life, and God honors those decisions - he doesn't necessarily come running to bail us out of trouble.  He allows us to make mistakes - and live with the consequences.

Remember the image of Jesus standing at the door and knocking - He does not barge in and order our life - he waits to be invited in.  That's what being baptized and confirmed is all about -- inviting God into our lives.  And then God will guide us and direct us - and one of the ways he does that is through the use of parables.

I believe there are two things that we need to learn from this parable.
1)  Death is not an end - it is a transition to another place.
2)  What we do (or don't do) here on earth, and what we believe, has eternal significance - yes, eternal - even past the grave

As a people, we have a tendency to get so caught up in the living of our lives, that we sometimes forget to look around us.   The rich man (remember, he doesn't have a name) most-likely believed in a compassionate God - and he was probably grateful for all God had given him.  But he may have just gotten to caught up - so involved in the living of his life, that he forgot to look around and didn't notice Lazarus on his doorstep.  Lazarus was part of the landscape - melted into the background - invisible.

God is calling us to notice those in distress - like Lazarus, like those kittens.  God is calling us to have compassion on those who are less fortunate.  A few years ago a new song became popular called, "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord."  It goes:
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord.
Open the eyes of my heart,
I want to see you, I want to see you.   -

We are being encouraged to see Jesus in the midst of this parable - in the outcast and the lonely.  We are being encouraged to look past our own lives and to see the world around us.  On Wednesday, I spent time at "The Gathering Place" - an area outreach ministry to Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers.  These are people who are really easy to overlook in this life.

I remember Judy in Huntsville who would ask me every Sunday, "Oh, are you going to be able to stay a while?"  And I remember Mishka at Redeemer who carried her copy of Dr. Zhivago everywhere she went, but couldn't communicate because she only remembered her native Polish language.

On Wednesday, at the Gathering Place, there was a woman, Maria, who didn't connect with anything we were doing until we started singing, "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do,  I'm half crazy all for the love of you."  Her smile broke out and she sang beautifully - knowing every single word of each song we sang.  The joy was unmistakable.  These are ones who matter deeply to God - the Lazarus's of this world.

In Matthew 19:23 when Jesus tells the disciples how hard it is for a rich man to enter heaven, they are astonished and ask, “well, then who can be saved?”  Now we have to remember that it is not in being rich that we are condemned for money is only a tool.  But it is what we do with what we have, that is called into question.  It might be money, or time or talent - God wants us to be aware of how we use those resources.

The lesson from First Timothy re-enforces this idea.  He said, “As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share.”

There is a reason these lessons have been chosen for this time of year.  They remind us of God's call on our own life.  Grace is beginning its stewardship campaign.  So remember that this parable speaks to stewardship - just like last week's parable called us to be good managers of our resources, so this parable reminds us not to ignore those needs around us.

As Grace enters the search process, you are also building a foundation that will be the basis for calling a new rector.  Are we good stewards of what God has given us?  Money is only one tool that God gives us to further his kingdom on earth.  The other tools are time and talent.  We are all called to pay attention to how we use those gifts also.  I ask God to bless each of you richly, so that you may be a blessing to others.

Amen.

Creative Accounting 101

You may have heard the story about the time the multi-millionaire, Henry Ford, made a donation to a charity hospital. The hospital trustees begged Ford for a donation, so he sent off a check for five thousand dollars.

The next day one of the trustees telephoned Ford and apologized profusely. He said there had been a terrible mistake. The local newspaper had printed a huge page one article. The headline read HENRY FORD DONATES FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.

The trustee offered to make things right. He would demand a retraction. The retraction would read that Henry Ford, the world’s richest man, had donated just five thousand, not fifty thousand dollars to their hospital.  Grumbling, Ford wrote out a check for the remaining forty-five thousand dollars and sent it off, with one provision. The trustees had to erect a marble arch in front of the hospital. It was to read, "I came among you, and you took me in."

Now, what does that have to do with today's gospel?  The hospital trustee was very shrewd.  He found a way to turn $5000 into $50,000.   Today's gospel lesson is a strange little story for the Bible - one that makes you want to scratch your head and say, "Huh?"  It doesn't seem to make any sense when compared to the many other stories that Jesus told.  It makes you wonder what lens we should use to understand it.  It's not really about money - it's not really about honesty - it's not really about fairness - it's not really about any of the qualities we consider to be "God-like."   But this manager is ultimately commended for his shrewdness - some of us might even call it his dishonesty.

There are too many variables in this story that we don't have a clue about.  Jesus is being somewhat cryptic.

First:  The manager is squandering the rich man's property:  maybe it's left up to us to decide what that means - being wasteful in some way?  skimming some off the top?  paying too much for items bought?  overcharging for items sold?  Maybe he's running some kind of "ponzie" scheme.

Second: He's called in to give an accounting. . . you can no longer be my manager...  Well, obviously he's being fired, but not just yet.  Is the accounting like a trial, or maybe like a senate hearing? or just a showing of the books?  The owner may not be asking for an accounting of the financial records. He may referring to an accounting of his relationships with the clients - his reputation.

Third: And even though the manager is being fired, he has the time and freedom to call in the master's debtors and change the amounts that they owe.  There's just a lot going on here that we don't necessarily understand.

But here's something we do understand - it's scary to lose a job.  How many people do we know that have lost their jobs in recent years? - not because they were being unethical in any way, but because in our economy - layoffs and company closings have been all too abundant.  So maybe it would be easier for us to tie into what's going on in the mind of the manager who is losing his job.

We can definitely understand his anxiety in how he is going to provide for himself and his family.  He knows that he is not suited for hard labor.  Getting up in years myself, I can relate to this. I know that there are definitely things that I could do years ago, that I am no longer physically able to do.

And I sure don't see myself out begging on the street corner.  While I was rector of Church of the Redeemer in Houston, I had ample opportunity to get to know street people.  They lead a hard life, and they can be there by choice or by chance.  Some will go on to get back on their feet and become productive members of society, but others never will.  I can understand the manager's reluctance to beg.

So he turns from the idea of "What can I DO to make money to survive" --  and begins to look at the idea of "How can I BUILD RELATIONSHIPS that will help me to survive."  In other words, he becomes creative and begins to think outside the box.  All of his life he has been self-sufficient, doing whatever he needed to do to get ahead.  And now he finds himself on the outside, without recourse to his usual resources.

The manager’s intentions in his scheme were clearly selfish, but the results where that both he, and the rich man, were seen as generous, and that appearance of generosity helped to build relationships.  And he begins to understand that we are NOT alone, and sometimes to survive, we need the presence and the help of others.

Money and financial means will come and go as many people have found out as the economy turns topsy-turvy and stock markets crash and burn.  Something you have saved for all your life can be gone in a flash.  And what is left when the money is gone?  I will tell you that the only thing which will live on forever, even after death, are the relationships that you build here on earth.

Houses can be destroyed by fire, flood, tornado or earthquake - but the relationships you build within those houses (and outside those houses) will last forever.  Money may buy you lots of things and surface friends, but hackers and stock markets and con artists can drain you dry faster than you can say "Jack Robinson."

Therefore the relationships that you build, even using that money, have the ability of lasting forever.  For example, if you buy an important person a fancy lunch to win their favor for whatever reason, when your money is gone, they may not even remember your name.  But if you use that same money to buy a poor man a pair of shoes when he's trying to get on his feet, chances are he will remember you when you are trying to get on your feet.

As the annual stewardship season kicks off, one of the things we learn in this lesson is that it all belongs to God - the money, the relationships, even our very lives.  We are only stewards in this life.  One day we will all be lifted up to Him, and we will give an accounting of how we have used the resources He has provided for us - the money, the relationships, even our very lives.   You've heard it before, "store up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not consume, where robbers do not break in and steal."  Instead, build your relationships on earth and they will live on, both here and in heaven.

Amen

Let's Find the Lost - September 11

Our second lesson holds the key to today's scriptures.  Paul writes to Timothy saying, "I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief... but... in me, Jesus Christ displayed the upmost patience, making me an example... to others."  If we look at our lessons as a whole, they give us a glimpse into the heart of God - they vividly illustrate God's concern for those who lack the ability to recognize God in their life.

From our first lesson, we find God ready to destroy the Israelites in the desert, because they got worried and made a golden calf to worship - they had no patience to wait for Moses to come back down the mountain.  The people acted ignorantly in unbelief...  And Moses presumes to argue with God - to tell God he is wrong - and "God repented of the evil which he was about to do to his people."

When I was a lay vicar in Rockdale and was talking about prayer, I had a parishioner named Penny who said, "Why should I pray.  God's not going to change his mind about anything.". This scripture tells us that he does change his mind.  Do you remember in last week's lesson from Jeremiah when God said, I will change my mind about the disaster I intend to bring?  Or when Jonah preached to the Ninevites and they repented and God forgave them?  Even the Old Testament tells us that our God is a God of forgiveness.

Today gospel lesson starts off with the Pharisees and Scribes complaining because Jesus is consorting with sinners and tax collectors.  These two parables that Jesus tells actually reinforces that our God is a compassionate God and it explains why Jesus is allowing sinners and tax collectors to follow him.

These two parables - familiar parables - are about the lost sheep and the lost coin.  But if we were to read on in Luke's gospel, we would find a third parable in this sequence - that of the Prodigal Son.  It's interesting that the lectionary divides this unit into parts. You heard part of it on the fourth Sunday in Lent - that part about the Prodigal Son.  The three parables taken together provide a real insight into one nature of God.

If we set the scene, Jesus is on his journey to Jerusalem. - everywhere he goes people gather - the crowd that is following Jesus is a rag-tag b\and - fishermen, zealots, tax collectors, sinners, - not the kind of people that most ordinary folk would invite to their homes for dinner.  And as Jesus talks, these tax collectors and sinners keep edging to the front of the crowd.  Jesus doesn't condemn the tax collectors, he doesn't tell them (in most cases) to quit their job - he simply tells them not to cheat anyone - to collect no more than they are supposed to collect.  Jesus doesn't condemn the sinners - he tells them to "go and sin no more."

The Pharisees may have thought that Jesus was one of them.  After all he preached resurrection which was a Pharisaic belief.  And they may have been testing Jesus to see if his beliefs and teachings were orthodox enough for him to be considered a Pharisee...  This group may have come from Jerusalem at the request of the local synagogue for the express purpose of examining Jesus teachings and to pass judgment on him.

Here's the thing - Pharisees are the righteous - they are living their lives for God, they are doing the best they can to be acceptable to God.  They don't associate with sinners because they don't want to become tainted.  (How many of you encourage your children to hang out with good kids rather than the bad kids who are going to get them in trouble?)

The problem with the Pharisees is not that they are wrong about the people who they consider to be sinners...  The Pharisees are wrong about the nature of God.  And they don't understand God's desire for communion with all people.  They underestimate his compassion for all people.  As our psalmist says -- Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving kindness.)

So these stories are about loss.  A lost sheep, a lost coin, and if we read the third parable, a lost son.  There are many different ways for something (or someone) to become lost.  Ever misplaced your keys?

I want to tell you a story about my daughter.  One summer, Sam's sister-in-law decided that she wanted to take Cyndy to spend a few days with her in the big city (Houston).  They did lots of fun things - and one of the things they did was to go up to the top of one of the tall buildings downtown.  On the way up in the elevator, the elevator stopped at one floor and the door opened and somehow Cyndy stepped out and was on the wrong side of the doors when they closed and to Jane’s horror the elevator started up again with Jane on the inside and Cyndy left behind in the hallway.

Jane had always been a praying woman and she prayed and went up and came back down - stopping at the same floor - and there was Cyndy - even at 6 years old, standing there waiting to be found, Cyndy got lost not because she was defiant, or because she wanted to - she just sort of ended up on the wrong side of the door and it was purely an accident.

In our gospel lesson, Jesus talks about people being lost -- ... - he often referred to "the lost sheep of Israel" -- he said, "They are like sheep without a shepherd."  If we look at these three parables - they address the issues of how people get lost -- and how God responds to them.

 People get lost like the sheep in the first parable - not from viciousness or deliberate choice - but from weakness or heedlessness -- from not knowing any better – wandering off to look for greener grass, or chasing a butterfly, (or as one of my favorite stories goes, to play with a frog.)

2)  People get lost like the coin in the second parable - not from one's own guilt, but from another's fault or the mischances of life -- the circumstances of the time.  I had a cat named Gracie - Gracie loved to climb up on a chair and look over a table, especially when I was working a jigsaw puzzle.  She would reach out with a paw and find a piece and pull it off the table.  Or a coin, or a pencil, anything you left on the table within reach would eventually end up on the floor.

3)  And people get lost like the prodigal son - through calculated self-will - a desire to have things one's own way – a desire to be one’s own god even - regardless of the cost.

We can see all kinds of reasons how or why one might be "lost".  And Jesus addresses God's reaction - he doesn't tell the people that this is a parable - and he doesn't use the common formula, "The kingdom of heaven is like...."  He simply starts out saying, "Which of you...."

Have you ever noticed how Jesus' parables are about ordinary everyday things for people of that time?  The idea of a shepherd is very familiar - and the lost sheep is something else that happens not infrequently...  But then Jesus puts a twist on this story...  which of you would not leave the ninety-nine and go search for the one lost...   Well, the truth is that not very many of them would... I mean think about it... you have one hundred sheep - ninety-nine are where you can see them, but one has gotten lost, you have no idea where or when this sheep wandered off.

A lot of the places where sheep graze you can see quite a distance and you might go looking – but always staying where you can see the sheep you’ve left.  But you're not going to leave ninety-nine sheep unattended on an open hillside while you go look for one -- when you come back you're most likely going to be missing a bunch more...

One minister did some research and found that the average price of a sheep today was $250 - so you're going to leave $25,000 worth of sheep to their own devices without protection (in an unfenced pasture where wild animals roam) while you go away and look for $250 worth of sheep.  So if we're perfectly honest, in the world of Jesus, one sheep would probably be considered an acceptable loss.

The the world economy 1% is an acceptable loss for most us in this day and age also.  That really is obvious in this digital day and age - If you have a smart phone or tablet, you know that when you go to the App Store - or if you buy a song for your iPod, the cost is 99 cents.  1% is an acceptable loss.

But not for our God - God never gives up on us - regardless of why or how we got lost, God never gives up - he continually reaches out to us inviting us to come in - in more ways than we can imagine.  It is God's desire that no one feel left out of a relationship with God.  Whether or not we know or understand this, God keeps searching for ways to bring us in, never giving up.

This is why Jesus had come to earth - to seek out the lost and provide them an avenue to return to the Lord; the redemption for the sinner who has lost his way.  Like the shepherd and the woman in our parables, God seeks us out and doesn't give up until he finds us.

God is always willing to listen to a plea from us, just as he listened to Moses' plea for the Israelite children.  God is always ready to give us that second chance when we stray.  Can we do any less with the people around us?  Shouldn't we be willing to give others a second chance?  Shouldn't we be willing to listen to a plea on behalf of another?  Shouldn't we be willing to seek out a relationship with people from whom we've drifted apart?

God never cuts us off - He never washes his hands of us -- God never turns his back on us.  And God is always ready to gather us in and take us home when we have been found.  Shouldn’t we be willing to do the same for others?  Shouldn't we give them the same kind of chance that God gives us?

Amen.

The Potter's Hand - September 4

Our lesson from Jeremiah is about building in a way.  God calls Jeremiah out to a pottery shop – and God has Jeremiah watch the potter at his work.  In our image, the potter becomes God, working with each of us, molding us, shaping us, building us into the image he has for our life.

Our psalm reinforces that idea – Now I’m going at it a little backward here - Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb…they were fashioned day by day when as yet there were none of them.  God is that potter, molding, fashioning, creating us in the womb.  Our response should be “I will thank you because I am marvelously made…”

But there’s more than the creation in the womb.  After we have been born, we are still being created, day by day, hopefully becoming who God intends us to be come.  And when we have learned to walk and to talk, -- God wants to walk with us and teach us about himself and help us to learn his ways.  And at any point, God has searched us out and known us and discerned our thoughts from afar.  He traces our journey and knows every word on our lips.  And what God really wants is for us to seek his thoughts and to dwell on them and to learn them and from them.

But our story from Jeremiah is also a story about freewill.  We are free to behave and to act in ways that seem right to us – or in ways that are wrong.  Sometimes in expressing our freedom of will, our freedom of life, we do things that displease God, that take us out of his will for us.  Sometimes we choose to walk away from God or maybe just ignore him.  But that’s the freedom of choice that God gives to us.  He does not force us to do what he wants us to do.

Several years ago I read a novel, popular at the time, called The 13th Apostle.  I don't even remember who it was written by, maybe by Michel Benoit.  I think it’s trying to be a sensational novel like Dan Brown's DaVince Code, but I thought I might as well see what it had to offer.

It also has the same drawbacks that Brown’s movie was criticized for – there were slow parts because of evaluating the evidence of a newly discovered scroll.  But from this book, I took away one statement I want to share with you: “A person is not punished for their deeds, but rather by their deeds.”  I know people who can testify to that.  God doesn’t have to punish his children for doing wrong – their deeds (or misdeeds) punish them and testify against them.  God doesn’t have to do anything.  But those very same people can also testify that our loving God was there to pick up the pieces when they finally returned to their senses and it was through His grace that they were able to turn their lives around.

Jeremiah paints a picture of a God who pays attention to what individuals are doing and who will, when he sees errors in your ways, begin the process of remaking you.  When I was preparing for this sermon, I spent a morning at Gander Studio making an object - I'm not even sure exactly what it is, but it will be suitable for holding objects on my desk.  I had to start over several times, and as I neared its completion, I found that there were areas that were too thin, and I would have to add a little clay and smooth it and blend it into the project.  There were others areas that were too thick and I had to work at it to thin it out.  My creation is quite primitive, not like those of my friend Judy King.  Judy specializes in creating Biblical Characters in context from modeling compound.  She makes people from the Bible come alive through prayer and meditation and a God given gift.

I had asked for permission to come observe her at work making a figure from start to finish.  It was a delightful day and I was fascinated by the whole process and the tools and incidentals she used.  She had a collection of buttons that she used to make impressions in the clay.  She took longs walks on their property to pick up sticks, leaves, rocks, whatever she saw that she felt like she could use.

If she was making a part of the figure that didn’t come out right, she would rework it until it looked right.  Each figure was a creation of love – a work of art – not unlike us – God’s creation of love.  One of the hardest things for some of us to learn, is that we are acceptable in God’s sight – not because of anything we have done, but because we are made in the image of God.

What we do after that and what we become is up to us.  We can grow into the image God envisions for us and walk in his ways, or we can choose our own path.  But when we walk away, God begins to shape a new path for us to bring us back.  The one thing that God will never do is to turn his back on us.  He always provides a way for us to come back to him.  We can never stray so far that God cannot find us -- and we can never sin so badly that God does not want us.

Jesus tells us in today's gospel that following him is not easy.  He calls us to commitment.  We have to make sacrifices, and choices that will not be popular for those who do not know God.  But as we grow to understand the depth of His love for us and allow his hand to guide us, those decisions become easier each time.  We have to be willing to follow him with a love that echoes his own when he gave himself as a sacrifice for us.

In God's kingdom, the door is always open for our return when we allow God to be Lord of our life.   Amen.

Entertaining Angels - August 28

Three little boys were playing one day and the first one said, “My daddy’s a poet.  He scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, they call it a poem and he gets paid $100 dollars.”  The second boy said, “My dad’s a composer.  He scribbles some words on a piece of paper, they call it a song and he gets paid $1000.”  The third boy said, “My dad’s a preacher.  He scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, they call it a sermon and it takes 4 men to collect all the money he gets.”

It’s not unusual for people to play an ego game – to promote themselves as being bigger, or better or more important than those around them.  And you’ve all known people who feel compelled to tell you everything they’ve done and how important they are.  My response to bumper stickers saying things like, “world’s greatest lover” is “oh yeah?  If you really were, you wouldn’t have to advertise.”    So many people are so preoccupied with their status in the world and jockeying for social position that they never even notice the people around them.

And people find all kinds of reasons to tout themselves over others.  They’re a doctor, or a lawyer, or an artist or a musician, and they put on airs.  Have you ever seen the British sit-com called “Keeping up appearances?”

The main character, Hyacinth Bucket, insists that their name is pronounced “Bouquet” and is always letting everyone know how important she is.  In one episode she says, "People who try to pretend they're superior make it so much harder for those of us who really are."

Our gospel lesson today is addressing this kind of person.  It says, “When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable.”  Then Jesus launches into a ‘story’ that says essentially, “when you are invited to a dinner, don’t presume to take the place of honor.  Someone more important than you might come and then you will be embarrassed when you are told to move to a lower position.”

The first thing I want to point out about this is that it is not a parable – it falls more in the realm of a proverb or an aphorism.  For those of you who might have forgotten your high school English class – an aphorism is a short, pithy statement of an evident truth (or a wisdom statement) concerned with life or nature.

One of the things that Jesus was trying to do during his time here on earth, was to reconnect the Jewish people with their heritage here on earth - reminding themselves  of who they are and why they are different from the surrounding people.  Most of the Jews had strayed too far away from the principles that God had passed down through the years: just like this saying about choosing a place of honor.

This was not really a new revelation when Jesus uttered these words.  You can find the same thing being said in Proverbs 25:6-7. -   Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great;  for it is better to be told, "Come up here," than to be put lower in the presence of a noble."  It was already a part of God's wisdom literature - but it was not part of the contemporary cultural behavior.  Jesus was simply quoting a proverb to people who were supposed to already know it.

The problem is – there are lots of people who go to church on Sunday to hear and affirm the principles of Christianity that Jesus embodied, but then they go off about their business during the week as if it meant nothing.  That’s something like the problem Jesus was pointing out.  The Jewish people knew this proverb, but popular life had filled them to the point that they thought it meaningless or had simply forgotten it.

One of my favorite songs is “Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord.”  The whole idea is that if you really are great, you don’t have to tell anyone.  They’ll find out without you ever saying anything.  That greatness will shine though.  I've heard it said, "People will forget what you said, and they may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel."  That is emphasized in the life of Jesus Christ.

Why are we sitting here today listening to stories about Jesus Christ?  it is because of the way he made people feel.  He gave them hope and a reason to live.  And they wanted to share that hope with others.  Jesus was one of the most humble people to ever live - and more books have been written about him than anyone else in history.

One of my favorite stories is about our friend Jimmy Larkin.  Sam and I met Jimmy when we were looking for a trip to Israel.  Jimmy was an unassuming little woman with an un-daunt able spirit and endless energy.

One of the stories that was told about her concerned a lecture she went to in Houston concerning the Western Wall in Jerusalem.  She was there quite early and was introduced to a man named Dan from out of town.  He happened to mention that he wanted something from a local store, and since they had time, Jimmy volunteered to take him.

It wasn’t until after they got back and the guest speaker was introduced, that Jimmy realized she had taken Dan Bahat (the head archeologist from the Western Wall in Jerusalem) to a convenience store.  That solidified a friendship between them, and we benefitted by a personal tour of the Western Wall in Jerusalem conducted by Dan Bahat himself.

That brings up a point also about our second lesson.  It says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”  That’s just what Jimmy did – she showed hospitality to a stranger, and she benefitted greatly from it.  This is another form of being humble.  Some people do entertain angels unaware, and others will never know that blessing.

We were on vacation several years ago, traveling from Durango Colorado to Taos New Mexico.  It was a long drive, without many towns along the way.  We had been traveling for some time without seeing so much as a house.  We got to a crossroads and there were several buildings and homes including a gas station.  This place was so remote there wasn't even a McDonald's there.

Sam pulled up close to the curb and I went in and asked for a restroom.  There was a hesitation and I was told that the restroom was broken, but there was one five miles down the road at a public park.  As I was leaving, a car pulled up at the gas pump and a woman got out and asked for a restroom and was told, “Sure, through the shop and to the left.”  I thought to myself, now there is a person who will never entertain angels unaware – he’s only interested in getting something in return.

So how do we show hospitality to strangers?  One of the frequent Episcopal jokes has to do with visitors who "sit in my pew."  Instead of getting mad, irritated or asking them to move, welcome them in and offer to help them navigate the worship service.  Be willing to reach out, and instead of spending your time telling others how great you are, how important you are, or how holy you are, -- take the time to find out who they are, and learn and be blessed by the life and experience of those around you.  Treat others no less than as equals and you may find yourself greatly blessed – with new friends and experiences and connections. Don't look for rewards from others, but from your Father who smiles down from heaven.

Amen.

August 21 - Using Your Sabbath Rest

There is a story about a man named Jack who challenged Mark to an all-day wood-chopping contest. The challenger (Jack) worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break. The other man (Mark) had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the day. At the end of the day, Jack was surprised and annoyed to find that Mark had chopped substantially more wood than he had.

 “I don't get it,” Jack said. “Every time I checked, you were taking a rest, yet you chopped more wood than I did.”

 “But you didn’t notice,” Mark said, “that I was sharpening my ax when I sat down to rest.”  

“Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.”  There is a reason that God has commanded us to spend time in rest.

In today’s gospel lesson, a woman who is bent over comes to the synagogue on the Sabbath.  She did not ask to be healed, she did not show the faith associated with healing that is often mentioned in the Bible.

She simply came to church – for whatever reason – to worship God, to find hope, to be around other people, looking for acceptance – it could be any number of reasons.  She might have come every Sabbath, we’re not told that.  But this Sabbath was different – Jesus was there visiting.  He had stopped in on his journey to Jerusalem.

Jesus saw the woman and called her over.  It doesn’t say, but we know that he had compassion for her and he sets her free from her malady.  He laid hands on her and she stood up straight for the first time in 18 years.

But there were those who took offense at the healing.  Now, it doesn’t say, but I’d be willing to bet that the real reason this leader took offense was because the woman had been coming for 18 years and he couldn’t do anything for her.  Here he was, upstaged by this carpenter from Nazareth, and that had to be humbling – probably humiliating for him…  He wasn’t about to say that he was jealous, so he latches on to the first thing he can think of – “You did work on the Sabbath.  That’s against God’s law.”

Exodus 20 verses 8-11 says:    "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The Levites and the Pharisees went overboard in keeping the Sabbath – in living up to the letter of the law.  You could not walk over a thousand yards on the Sabbath.  In most villages, people would probably live close enough to the synagogue to be able to walk to it and back without going over a thousand yards.

In the summer of 1999, we went to Israel.  While we were in Jerusalem, Sam’s brother told a story about walking around inside the wall of the old city on Friday evening just after the start of Shabbot (the Sabbath.)  The Jewish area was deserted except for one woman who came rushing up to them and asked, “Are you gentiles?”  When they replied yes, she asked them to come to her home to adjust the air conditioning.  She had forgotten to turn it on before sundown.

Now I happen to think that it doesn’t make much sense to run all over the city looking for someone to come adjust the air conditioning.  She had to expend much more energy – done more work – than if she’d just adjusted it herself.  This is just an example of the letter of the law observed by this Jewish leader.

In Mark 2:27, Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."  In other words, the Sabbath is made for the benefit of humans, not to cripple them by legalisms.  Jesus worked on the Sabbath, he taught and he healed, but we also see him going off to be by himself on numerous occasions.  The Sabbath is a great gift to be used by us for our benefit – there are four suggestions of purposes for the Sabbath.

1. It is not just ceasing work for the day.  But also...
2. Resting from the daily struggles of life.
3. Embracing those who are important to us.   And
4. Feasting on the goodness of God and God’s creation.

The computer and the internet are interesting places to hang out.  I was on an Episcopal discussion list while I was in seminary, and someone got on the list and began to lambast us for having church on Sunday.  He declared that Saturday was the day given in the Bible as the Sabbath and Christians had no right to change it to Sunday.

This person was tied up in legalism as bad as that of the Pharisees.  The true Sabbath idea is that there is benefit from a day of rest, regardless of which day it is.

According to a Greek legend, in ancient Athens a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys.  He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity.

Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground.  Then he said to the critical Athenian, “Now, answer the riddle, if you can.  Tell us what the unstrung bow implies.”

The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make.  Aesop explained, “If you keep the bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack (remove the tension for a period of time), it will be more fit for use when you want it.”

The same is true for our minds and our lives.  We need a time of rest and refreshment.  Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, calls this "sharpening the saw."  Remember the story I started with, and the story about Aesop.  You can work more effectively if you take out time to refresh, even if you have spent less time on the work.  Covey encourages people to take out an hour of each day to spend in Sabbath activity – sharpening the saw – resting, recreating, preparing for the day ahead.  That time might be reading the Bible or playing with the kids, or some other leisure activity.    

Leonardo da Vinci said, “Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work, your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose your power of judgment.  Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller, and more of it can be seen at a glance, and lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen.”

Clergy are encouraged to take a day off every week.  A day off is considered to be a day where there is no planned activity.  We are always subject to being called in an emergency – that is akin to Jesus healing on the Sabbath.  God has given us the Sabbath for our benefit for rest and refreshment.  He encourages us to use it wisely, but we are not to allow it to bind us or keep us from doing his work.

Where is God calling you to take a sabbath rest?  That time apart can make your mind sharper - just like Jack sharpening his axe made it more efficient.  Look at your schedule and plan to spend a small sabbath time each day and one whole day each week to release the tension that builds up in your life.  Sometimes we already take time off in our life - and if you do, I would encourage you to begin to see that time as a sabbath rest.  Give thanks and allow God to be in the midst of that time, even if the activity has nothing to do with God.  Learn by experience how that time of leisure, that Sabbath rest, can benefit you when you see it as part of God's plan in your life.

 

The Fire of Christ - August 14

Our Gospel lesson today is really hard to hear and hard to understand.  And the reason is because even though there is much truth in it, it is confusing.  We often talk about and think about Jesus bringing peace to the earth – we want what Jesus brings to be peace.  Many of us have found peace in the gospel of Jesus, and being human, we want to share that with those we love.  We want our families and friends to experience the same kind of peace we feel when we shelter under the wings of our God.  We want those we love to find strength in the power of the Lord to heal and to restore and to forgive.

But the truth is that not everyone does.  There are those of us who have been touched by God in a special way.  We have felt his touch, his presence, even his powerv or his healing, in some area of our life.  And we know it’s real because we have experienced it.  And we try to tell those who don’t know God’s touch and they just sort of look at you like you’re crazy.  Their reaction tends to minimize the experience that we have had and they try to find other explanations for it, so sometimes that makes us hesitant to share our most intimate experiences of God.

Jesus doesn’t want families to be divided, but the fact is that they often are divided.  I’d be willing to bet that many people have experienced some sort of strife in their family because of Christ.     A man or woman who comes to church without their spouse, parents who wish their child would embrace the faith, children who wish their parents were here.  There are brothers and sisters who are divided in their beliefs.  Our faith should cause a difference in the way we live our lives.  And that difference can sometimes cause strife in our family situations, or our work situations.  

(I even remember a time after Sam and I went to Cursillo and I was beginning to be drawn in by our Lord.  Mother told me one day, "Nan, don't you think you're taking this religion thing a little too seriously?"  --  "Well, no, Mom, I don't..."  I know she can see me now and I know she would be proud of me, but it did cause her to question me.)

Even outside of religion – two (or more) people living or working together in close quarters for any length of time – there are bound to be clashes – it’s part of human nature.  We will almost never agree on everything. And so part of life is a balance in learning how to get along with others in our communities.  Some of us have better examples to follow than others.  I only remember my parents arguing one time, but I know that they may not have been typical.

Jesus calls us to live in a world that does not always agree with us.  If we look back through the centuries, we can see over and over that people are not in agreement with one another, whether it is families, or neighbors, or villages or nations.  The people in this world are often in disagreement – at odds: families arguing among themselves, neighbors unhappy with each other, cities in competition, nations at war...  Just look at the international situations and even our current political situation.  A lot of strife and a lot of division.

One of the things they taught us in seminary was that no matter where you go, regardless if it is a Christian organization and typically believed to be more loving, caring, accepting, and tolerant than other organizations – It doesn’t matter what you do, what you say or what you accomplish, 14% of the people there will not like you.  Even with someone as special and gifted as Jesus - even he found opposition wherever he went.

Renown Episcopal preacher, Barbara Brown Taylor tells us that as Jesus set out on the road to Jerusalem, loyalty to God was to be primary, and loyalty to family had to be set aside.  She suggested that to Jesus, family is defined by the one whose image you are created in, not by what chromosomes make up the cells of your body.  That is why you hear Jesus talk about leaving family and home and following him.  Not just on Sunday but on everyday.

I remember when our son, Andy, worked for Montgomery Wards.  When they assigned him to work on Sunday, and he told them, “I can’t work on Sunday, I have to go to church.”  So they gave him Sunday off.  The next week they assigned him to work on Sunday again, and he told them, “I can’t work on Sunday.  I have to go to church.”  And they said, “But you went to church last week.”  He told them, “Yeah, I go every week.”

For much of the world, church is something you do on special occasions – like weddings, funerals, baptisms, Christmas and Easter.  I really feel sorry for those people, because they haven’t had the opportunity to experience the fullness of the gospel in their everyday lives – to know the love of Jesus in a personal way – to understand the power of God that makes a difference in your life – to receive the healing that is inherent in the gospel of Christ.

In today's gospel we also hear Jesus saying, “I come to bring fire to the earth…” – I misunderstood or just wasn't sure what it meant.  But I now know that “fire” refers to the passion that knowing God instills in our hearts.  It’s not judgment, but a blaze setting our hearts on fire for the Lord. – the kind of fire that burns and spreads from tree to tree – or person to person, house to house – that can’t be contained in a single building or area.  This is the kind of fire that reaches out to others.  The kind of fire that caused the disciples to go out into the world to tell the story of an itinerate preacher from Nazareth.  This is the kind of fire that inspired Mother Teresa to minister to the disenfranchised in Calcutta.  This is the kind of fire that inspired the people of Redeemer in Houston who wrote and made popular many of the songs that make my heart soar.

Many people in the world think that the gospel is too restricting – they don’t want rules – and some churches do put in some awfully silly rules.  They don’t understand that the gospel of Christ is about relationship, not rules.  It’s about how we treat each other, how we help each other, how we respond with love when those around us are hurt, are ill, are in trouble or any kind of need.

It’s about demonstrating that our God is a God nearby, who cares when we hurt, who cries with us and who rejoices with us.  Our God is a God nearby, who reaches out to everyone through those who have been set on fire by the gospel of Christ.  Our God is not distant or far off.  He is a God who cares, who loves, who creates, who heals, who strengthens, who gives us those things we need for life.  This is the God who sets our hearts on fire.  This is the God we should be sharing with the world!

Jesus says, “I come to bring fire to the earth…”  What kind of fire is Jesus lighting in you?  Does his gospel make a difference in your life – how you live it out every day – not just on Sunday?  Let his love fill you and inspire you.  Once you are filled with His spirit, allow it to overflow into all parts of your life and be bold enough to share that with others you meet.  Grace Church is at a crossroads and you are the ones who will decide where we go from here.

If you allow the love of Jesus to inspire you, this church will begin to grow again and to turn around it's downward spiral.  But that is going to take all of us working together to bring about a change.  Start thinking what more you can do to help this parish become more viable and think about who you know that can use the love of Jesus, the fire of Jesus, in their life.  Then encourage them to come and hear about the love of God and what it can do for them and for their life.   And together we will begin to make a difference here in church and in this tiny part of the kingdom known as Alvin, Texas.   Amen.