Just a Bunch of Rocks

(Parkway Presbyterian Church)

Preached for the Pastor Nominating Committee of 

***** Presbyterian Church, *** *******, **

Communion Meditation

"Just a Bunch of Rocks"

Sunday, 2 October, 2011

World Communion Sunday

Compare apples to apples and stones to stones.

Text: Matthew 21.33-46

NRSV  33"Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 

34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.' 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 

40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" 41 They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time." 

42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'?  43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls." 

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Confession time: one of our favourite temptations as preachers  is neither the seventh or the ninth commandment. It is to extract what we like from a passage of scripture and drop the rest like an old orange peel. Take for example  “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” It makes a great proverb to carve on a church building, or we can turn that idea into a glorious hymn: “Christ is Made the Sure Foundation” or we can even insert it into a mysterious Masonic ritual that has more to do with patriotism and civic duty than Christ. 

But we’re still left with the orange peel: “The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls." That’s pretty harsh, yet that’s just the the beginning of the difficulties with this passage of scripture, in which a number of people are being beaten up, assaulted and finally murdered, while still later in the passage, others are even tortured and lynched.

On this Peacemaking Sunday we have a text that is not peaceful; on this World Communion Sunday we have a text which does not bring us together as one world family. So to explain this hard scripture to you, I’m going to use a technique I learned from my boss. I’m going to tell you another parable.

On this World Communion Sunday consider this: The Kingdom of Heaven on earth is like an orchard of windfall apples. Now Windfall apple trees in the green slopes of Vermont are famous for planting themselves in very nicely spaced natural orchards. Unlike other trees, apple seeds won't grow if they fall right beneath the tree. Windfall apples only begin to seed when the tree is very, very old and brittle and dying. In the late fall, when the winds buffet the hills and mountains of Vermont, the storms often break off branches which tumble to the ground just beyond the farthest reach of the tree. It is only then when they are far away from the mother tree that the apple seeds take root and begin to grow.

This is exactly like Christianity in our world today. Like a windfall apple tree, the civilizations of Western Europe and North America have spread a canopy of protection over the gospel for more than a thousand years in all directions to bring the Word of God to the furthest distances men and women could reach. This golden circle has existed since the time of  the Emperor Constantine who championed this upstart religion called Christianity and even outlawed all other religions in known world. And in this rich soil, nurtured by martyrs, seeded by saints, versions of Christianity grew and thrived.

 Until we arrive in our century when all this is now 1500 years old, and where this elderly system of arcane rules and power structures is beginning to no longer make sense. I’m not talking about the gospel or Jesus, I’m talking about the web of culture we’ve woven around our penniless Jewish saviour named Jesus. 

 We are discovering while traditional Christianity in Europe and North America is stately and refined and elaborate, it is more often than not gathering dust in echoing emptiness, But, like the windfall apples, at the very edges of western influence are places of wild growth and enormous faith and excitement. Christianity is incredibly strong in the most unlikely places.

Take for example the Presbyterian church in Korea. In Seoul there are so many people wanting to come to church that some churches have to have 15 church services each weekend so that everyone gets a chance to worship at some point. Several Presbyterian churches in Korea have memberships of 15,000 people. But they are doing things in a Korean way, and doing it really well. What could we learn from them? In China, house churches are so strong that the Communist government can’t control them, and it’s growing so quickly both in cities and rural areas that it is speculated that Christians now outnumber official communist party members.

Or think of the church in Africa where the new growth is not due any longer to white missionizing, but to the strong Christians that developed after Westerners finally got out of the way in the 1970s . These are churches whose Christianity is bound up in the African experience of life and grace and spiritual strength, with the result that it proclaims the gospel in powerful new ways in missions to people living with AIDS, in setting up businesses where incidentally, folks can come to hear the gospel while their clothes are sewn up or their cars are repaired, as well as in established village churches that look and feel a whole lot more like the native medicine hut next door.

In Chicago presbytery, I know a pastor from Pakistan who grew up as a Muslim, converted to Christianity and was such a strong evangelizer that he was beaten nearly to death and after years of struggle finally had to leave or simply lay down his life. Now, here in the US, he is overwhelmed by the number of Pakistanis immigrants who want to learn about Christ now that they are free to do so--but they hear it cross-legged and shoeless in a room that looks more a mosque than a church.

Churches arranged like mosques and Christians who dance around a drumming circle before communion; Chinese preachers who chant the gospel like a daoist monk---  all this scares the heck out of us in the US, because just like Jesus’ parable of the tenants, Western christianity has been a little apprehensive about giving up control of "our" Christianity. Make that a lot apprehensive. Because if you look carefully at the scripture for today, it’s about control.  The tenants want to be in charge, and when we’re not in charge, we tend to get anxious, don’t we?

 In Jesus story, the tenant farmers have things just where they want them. If the owner isn’t around, it's easy for them to imagine themselves important and capable. For many centuries the West has used Christianity as a way to order the world and make handsome profits. Think conquistators in Mexico and Presbyterians in New England. In colonies in India and Africa and South America the bible has been used as a weapon to keep colonies submissive. “Just as the church is subject to Christ, so slaves should be subject to their masters that God has given to rule over them”. Makes sinister sense doesn't it? 

Until you come to this parable. Here Jesus is exposing the corruption plainly. To paraphrase CS Lewis “Our God is not a tame God.”

 The whole point of this appalling story in today's gospel is about ruthless workers in the vineyard who wanted to keep the status quo, and who were willing to employ any means necessary to keep things the way they are, even killing the very thing that would insure their continued life together. Should'nt we prick up our ears? This World Communion Sunday, should'nt we examine the vineyard we're working in to see who’s really in charge?

Then Jesus begins to talk plainly about stones that the builders rejected. Just a bunch of rocks lying around, but they can be used for stoning others as well as for building. Now, 1st century builders would often scavenge older stone buildings for materials, and build new buildings from old ones, just turning the used bits to the inside. But these builders would only consider stones that were a certain size colour and shape that fit their ideas. In the same way, missionaries and churches in past years tended to think that the living stone with which they were building the church of Christ in distant places had to look like Scotland or France or Spain . Anything that looked African or Asian or Latin American wouldn't really work for them. Anything that came from popular culture had to be inferior. But here we are in 2011 looking and learning in amazement at the things that can strengthen and enrich our faith from Christianity in the world, yet the only reason that these voices are heard is because these rejected stones cry out their passion for the good news of Christ in voices that are too strong to ignore any longer.

Jesus words about the rejected stones should be profoundly comforting to us in our daily lives as well. There are times in our lives when rejection and despair seem to leave us sprawled like a heap of stones, dusty and forlorn at the end of a long road, but this scripture is telling us that what looks like just a bunch of rocks can truly be something marvelous and amazing, the keystone not only to our own success and fulfillment, but to a whole new life as a community of gathered stones living in Christ Jesus. Like the windfall apples we began with, here we are sitting in the branches of the old tree of faith worrying about whether we will make it through the storms of another winter without crashing to the ground. Yet God has placed help just at the edges of our reach. Just beyond us are firm strong Christian boughs bearing good fruit from trees grown in other cultures that can teach us things like "peer-evangelization", "young adult ministry", "urban empowerment", "mission focused living". Like Jesus' parable of the tenant farmers, the owner of the vineyard's messengers are coming to us from Kenya and Pakistan; from the dirt-poor Cherokee reservation, and inner city Atlanta. We have just a bunch of rocks--you, and you, and me. What should we do with them?

Amen

Yes, Sir

(First Presbyterian, Union, SC)

Sermon

Evangelism Sunday

“Yes, Sir”

Sunday, 25 September, 2011

Jesus is telling is we have to keep it

R...E...A...L

Text:  Matthew 21.23-33

NRSV Matthew 21:23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" 24 Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?" And they argued with one another, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?' 26 But if we say, 'Of human origin,' we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet." 27 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 

28 "What do you think? A man had two children; he went to the first and said, 'Child, go and work in the vineyard today.' 29 He answered, 'I will not'; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, 'I go, sir'; but he did not go. 

31 Which of the two did the will of the father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

There is a lot going on in the passage of scripture, and we will deal with it in a minute, but for me the part I always hear loudest is the story of the two kids in the vineyard. The first refuses to do what he is asked to do, yet later on goes and does it; and the second child who says he will, but never shows up. 

I feel like I have to deal with this part in the interest of full and honest disclosure, because it’s about me. This parable carries me back across time and space to stand in a big field of corn, okra, tomatoes and cantaloupe under the blazing South Carolina sun. To this day I remember that morning. I was 19, just home from my first year at Winthrop college and had been ordered out of bed 45 minutes earlier to weed and hoe and rake in the hot June sun. As the sweat tricked down my back and my eyes squeezed into tiny slits, I just snapped. Out of no where I heard my own voice snarl “I am NOT going to do it. and lo and behold, the hoe flew smack into a row of corn all by itself and my feet stomped all by themselves through the dust and grass back into the house. What followed was an argument of monumental proportions. Even today, if I could freeze that moment in time and walk around inside it; prod my emotions , open up my soul and ticker with what was there, I still don’t think I could fully understand why I behaved the way I did.  I could easily be a bulletin illustration for this bible story. All I know is that it was just too much. It was the ultimate unbearable thing and I just couldn’t deal with doing the task.

What a strange story for Jesus to insert in this passage! It’s pretty easy  hear this parable and to say, “Oh that’s just kids for you--they change their minds like remote controls change TV channels”. It’s easy to hear this parable and miss what else is going on. But, in the end, we know that Jesus  wasn’t really talking about kids and chores...He was talking about US and the complicated sets of actions and reactions that adults deal with every day. He was answering the real question of the scribes and chief priests: ““Why are the people listening to you and to John and not us? WHY? TELL US!!”

The leaders were asking questions about authority, but that was really a fancy way of asking what have  you got that we don’t?” 

And you know, those are really good questions for Evangelism sunday. Why is it that people aren’t listening to what we as a church are saying? What would possess a hardened prostitute to give up a lucrative job and throw herself headlong into a new one? Or a tax collector to promise to repay 10 fold what he had stolen? What would lead an out of work mother to quit dealing drugs and start a rehab center? Why would lead a lesbian christian to open her life to serve a church that is hostile and vicious to GLBT people? Why would a muslim bomb maker lay down her tools and work in a refugee hospital?

John was an authentic witness to who God is. That’ s why the tax collectors and prostitutes listened to him. Jesus is an authentic image of who God is. That’s why the drug addicts and terrorists listen to him. The answer is that John and Jesus are REAL.  In the study of evangelism the acronym R. E. A. L.  stands for four things that that all effective christians are. 

First of all “R” reminds us to relate to people. Not from up here in a pulpit, but being where others are. At work, at MacDonalds, at our child’s swimming lesson. Jesus was completely like that. He was where the action was, he was with people who were often fun, but sometimes sad and sometimes hurting, but he was right there with them. And it is entirely true that the most effective way to share our faith is through our relationships. 80 percent of new followers of Jesus said that their decision was because of a friend, family member, or acquaintance. That makes sense because God has created us to be relational; it’s wired into our genes to be social.

the “E” in REAL is that quality of Jesus, and John for that matter, that EMBODIES their faith. Jesus didn’t only talk, his every action was a sonnet on the love of God and truth of the Kingdom of Heaven. John talked a bit more and a bit louder than Jesus, but his unique gift of prophecy embodied his words and made his witness authentic.

Then there’s the “A” which stands for authenticity. John the Baptist wore weird shirts woven out of smelly camel felt and ate desert bugs dipped in honey. He didn’t conform--he rebelled! he said “NO, I’m not going to waste God’s time worrying about  how many fringes are on my coat or whether I’ve walked one mile or two miles on the sabbath. Let’s talk about what obedience to God really means; doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God.”

So often we think that Christians have to be cookie cutter conformists. We have to dress "right" on Sunday, we have to know certain passages of the bible, we have to espouse certain doctrines and beliefs. But that’s not being authentic. Being authentic is being who God has made you and speaking the words that God has put in your mouth and heart to share. So what if you have doubts about the Virgin Birth or only feel truly yourself in blue jeans? Faith sharing must come from the joy and transformation that we continually receive from a vibrant idiosyncratic relationship with God. No one else has the same perspective as you, and the wonderful thing about the church is that there is room for all of us, and we learn joy in the gifts of those who are different from us.

Finally we get to the “L” word. What made Jesus different was that he was LED his whole life through by the Holy Spirit, and so must we be.  Being a faithful authoritative evangelist does not mean we force things to happen; we cannot change hearts, God does. Allowing ourselves to be lead by the Spirit simply means we make ourselves constantly available to try and figure out what God is already up to in in our life and ask God to lead us in how best to be a witness of the gospel.

So there in a nutshell is what made Jesus and John different, and what perplexed the leaders and pharisees. Jesus and John were relational; they met people where they were in their lives, and accepted people for who they were.  They embodied and represented with DEEDS the truth they told.  They were AUTHENTICALLY themselves, camel hair, bugs and all. And lastly, they accepted the Leadership of the Holy Spirit. 

Why didn’t the scribes, pharisees and elders see what was right before their eyes? They were the ones standing in God’s vineyard  saying: “We will do what you say”--but then not doing it. 

The answer is that  at the very bottom of it all, they were afraid of humans and afraid of God and didn’t really understand the things they were playing with. They were afraid to be authentically themselves. They were afraid to give up control to God. They were afraid to do anything for fear they might make a mistake. They looked at the misery of the people around them and were afraid that they would catch it by association, but poor little rich folks, they never realized that they were miserable as well... but the people knew. Their lives were stripped so bare that they didn’t have the luxury of playing with words and concepts. they needed a change and answers and help--and John and Jesus provided that.  

But what about us? On this evangelism Sunday can’t we be honest and say that we too  are just as afraid as the leaders of Israel. A deep part of us is afraid of that label “Christian” and wear it like ill fitting suit, or worse yet,  a halloween costume. But the truth is that your life can’t help but be a witness to something. Maybe it’s the power of Nascar, or the effects of a really good weight loss plan, or maybe the wisdom crooned by Kenny Chesney, or the power of the US army, but God would prefer for all those things to be vehicles for a wider witness to the love and reality of Christ Jesus.

In the beginning of this sermon I said that this story is about me. And it really and truly is, but it’s about you too. For most of my life I thought about myself:  “No one is going to listen to a short bald guy with a squeaky voice talk about Jesus.” You need to be this tall to ride this ride, not to mention handsome,  conservative and an encyclopedia of biblical knowledge. But when God gave me my witness it wasn’t like anyone else's. It was a passion for hospitality and an interest in foreign cultures, a too lively imagination and even something as simple as baking bread. And through these strange things God has woven a path between me and others. God is not done with me yet, so I don’t know how effective my evangelism is, but if I follow Christ’s pattern I will end up where I’m supposed to be. 

And your witness won’t be like any one else's. Soon all of you together will be beginning the work of revitalizing this congregation and refreshing the fabric of this church into something new and beautiful for a whole new generation of believers. There will be things for everyone to do, young and old, rich and poor, ordained and non-ordained. We can see it as tedious hurdle or an exciting adventure. God is giving each of us a choice. To each of us the voice of our parent in heaven comes to us in every morning: “Child, go and work in the vineyard today.” And you will answer......?

Amen.

Holy Communion with the Widow of Zarephath

Communion Liturgy  

of Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath

for use in times of public distress

This communion liturgy begins with a bare table laid with a communion cloth. Behind the table out of sight is a plain chalice (empty), and an empty plate, some sticks, a jar of flour and a little bottle of olive oil. There is no procession of the elements today. A large pancake (or pancakes if the community is large) and an partial bottle of juice have previously been entrusted to two children during the children’s sermon (* see below) in which the story of Elijah and the widow has been told.

------------------------------------

Children's Sermon on the Widow of Zarephath

Prepare beforehand and have next to the communion table when the children come to meet you there: 

--a little bundle of small sticks, neatly tied up,

--a little jar with some cornmeal in it

--some pancakes (one or more pretty large one(s) to be used for communion, and several smaller ones to share with the children), 

--a large white linen napkin to wrap the pancakes in, 

--a small bottle of grape juice, 

--enough plastic communion cups to serve all the children, 

--a little bottle of olive oil

Invite  the children meet you at the communion table.  Ask them to look around and see what is different about our space this Sunday. (Point out that the communion table is completely bare, even though it’s communion sunday) Tell them that today’s bible story is about another bare table. Then tell the story of the Elijah and the Widow, using the props--sticks, meal jar, oil jug, pancakes etc, allowing the children to try the meal (I used rough corn meal) The props are left in the centre of the communion table. 

With a rather large pancake/s (for communion) and a couple of smaller pancakes (for the children to try) in a napkin, and a small bottle of grape juice, ask the children how many people they think it can feed.  Tell them that there is a decision to make: if you keep it to yourself, then it will feed only one person, but if you share it, there’s probably enough for everyone in the church to have some. Give one child the bread and ask him/her what she is going to do with it. If there is some hesitation, encourage him/her to break the bread and to give each child a bit, because in God’s world, there is always enough if we share. 

As  the bread is being shared among the children, (followed by a little bit of grape juice in communion cups--bread is dry!) tell them the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, and how Elijah came to this poor woman and her son about to starve and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand” (1 Kings 17:11). 

Ask the children to guess what she did. Did she keep the bread to herself or share it with Elijah? Let them know that she DID share her bread, even though she had very little for herself and her son. Then surprise them by telling what happened next: Elijah “and her household ate for many days” (v. 15). 

Invite the children to eat the bread you have given them, and point out that when we share there is nothing we can’t accomplish, and pretty soon, there will be enough for all. Then tell them that you are going to give them the rest of the bread and the juice --but to consider not eating it right now because there maybe more people to share it with later on in the service. Pray with them and dismiss them to their parents.

----------------------------------------

Great Thanksgiving in Time of Uncertainty and Distress

One:  Let us pray together.

All:    The Lord be with you.

One:   But is God truly with us?

All:    YES, God is--now and forever. Now, lift up your heart!

One:   How can we lift them to the Lord when we are so worried?

All:    Goodness is stronger than evil. Love is stronger than fear; victory is ours through God who loves us. So give thanks to the Lord our God--always and everywhere-- and especially now and in this place.

One:   It IS right to give our thanks and praise.

All:    It is truly right and our greatest joy to give you thanks, O God. You are the One who encircles us, with ever open arms inviting every person in.

One:   Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer, You are the One who loosens within us tongues of fire and streams of living water. You are the One who gives life itself.

Invitation to the Lord’s Table 

One:  Whoever hungers and thirsts, whoever seeks hope and grace, whoever is on the Lord’s side, let them come and join with us at this table. Come, as Elijah came to Zarephath, saying...

All:   “Bring me a vessel, that I may drink. And bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

One: “As Yahweh your God lives, I have nothing to offer, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug. I am now gathering a few sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself, and for my own, that we may eat it...and die.”

All:   “Do not be afraid; go and do what as you have said...but the jar of meal and the jug of oil will not be emptied until the Lord has sent help”

The children who are holding the elements are invited to bring them forward to share them: 

One:  “N and N, we have nothing to offer; we are hungry, and our table is bare --no bread and no cup. Will you share with us?” 

 (Hopefully they say yes!) After they have brought the elements to they table they are invited to return to their seats (or invite them to stay if they would like to see more closely) Move the chalice and plate to the table to receive them.

One:    Let us continue to pray together. 

Always and everywhere, O God we do well to remember your care for us from of old, and to remember in this jar of meal (raise the jar) the fields of wheat, that sustained Adam our father and Eve our mother when the world was young, and we had sinned against you. But even in the midst of our sin, your first thought was the preservation of our lives, so you clothed us and provided for us. When we were unsure and frightened, you made covenants with us: a rainbow to show your love, night skies filled with stars to bear witness to your promise of fruitful lives. 

In these sticks (raise the kindling) we remember the faithfulness of Abraham and Isaac who were willing to prove their faithfulness even unto death. We remember that You provided a ram instead and saved your people Israel. This wood reminds us also of the staff of Moses and Aaron by which You led Your people through the wilderness until again your promises were fulfilled in a land flowing with milk and honey. And in the fulness of your time, you proved your love to us by allowing us to lift your only Son on the wood of the cross in heartache and misery. Yet he turned that misery into joy and that heartache into salvation out of love for us. And that joy and love will never die nor be defeated.

We give thanks that in Christ Jesus, water was turned to wine (lifting up the bottle of the fruit of the vine) and Christ’s blood that was shed for us has given us life and hope, in this cup that we share together, even in times of uncertainty and distress.

Words of Institution 

On the darkest night of the soul that Jesus had ever known, He took the last of the passover bread in His wonderful hands, and having given thanks in the face of death itself, broke it and shared it saying: “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me”. (the bread is broken)

Likewise, Jesus took the cup; the cup that was waiting for the Holy One of Israel to appear, the One who was coming in the name of the Lord. Christ took this cup and blessing it said: “This is the cup of new salvation that is poured out for you.  As often as you drink it, do so in remembrance of me.” (the cup is poured)

Even in these times, the wine of gladness and the bread of plenty  that we share reminds us that though weeping may endure for a night, joy comes in the morning.  Remembering all these things, in confidence we raise our voices with the saints who have passed through trials and arise triumphant, and with them we join in singing their unending hymn of praise....

All: Holy, Holy Holy! Lord God Almighty

All Thy works shall praise Thy name 

                    in Earth and Sky and Sea!

Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty,

God in Three persons, blessed Trinity!

One:      You are holy, O God and your wonders did not cease with Christ’s resurrection, but You are continually healing us through the work of the Holy Spirit, poured out like oil on troubled waters, like medicine on your hurt and wounded people. In this small jar of oil (lift the oil) we remember the rich sensuous flavour that the Spirit gives to life, and the promises to the Widow of Zarapheth that You are always mindful of us and will never abandon us. Through your work we are made one with Christ’s followers here in this place and throughout the entire world. Whatever happens to us, O God, we pray that you will keep us faithful to you and to the gifts that you have given each one of us. In this we praise you Father, Son and Holy Spirit, even as we dare to pray as one church the prayer that Christ taught us saying...

the Lord’s Prayer

Communion of the People (by intinction)

Prayer after Communion

Lord God Almighty we praise you as the Parent of Jesus Christ, Your dear son through whom we have come to know You. God of the angels and the powers; God of all creation, God of those who live in your presence, I bless You. You have considered me worthy this day and hour, to be numbered with your saints, and to drink the cup of Your Anointed One, and thus to rise and live forever, body and soul, in the purity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

(Final prayer of Polycarp (155 AD) 

before entering the arena

© 2010 Rev Fred J Powell, III Pastor, 

Uriel Presbyterian Church

Chester, SC, USA

Be Perfect

(Uriel Presbyterian Church)

Communion Meditation

“Be Perfect”

Sunday, 3 July, 2011

Final Sermon at Uriel Presbyterian Church

At the Lord's Supper, "Receive who you are; 

become what you've received."

--St Augustine

Text:  Deuteronomy 10.17-22 

NRSV 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, 18 who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. 19 You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the LORD your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. 21 He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen. 22 Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons; and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in heaven. 

Text: Matthew 5.43-48 ( NRSV) 

NRSV 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

    

There are a lot of texts in the bible that seem too difficult to preach. Sometimes they’re difficult to interpret, but sometimes the difficulty comes not in trying to understand the context of the passage, but that it’s just too difficult for people to hear and to bear. This is one definitely of those texts.

I mean, here we are, at the high point of the Sermon on the Mount, so to speak, listening as Jesus tell his disciples what real love is: turning the other cheek, not retaliating, loving your enemies, praying for those who attack you. I know this is what we're supposed to do. I also know that it's really, really hard for most of us to imagine, let alone carry out in any kind of consistent way.

 And then there's that last verse, the kicker: "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." 

As if it weren’t hard enough to do the other things that Jesus is talking about, now we have this. “Be perfect”. As hard as some of the other teachings in the sermon on the Mount are, this is perhaps the one that hits right between the eyes: "Be perfect." No where else in the gospel accounts of the Sermon on the Mount does this commandment appear. The closest thing to it is found  in Luke where Jesus says for us to be merciful. But no, Matthew heard Jesus saying to him “Be perfect”. 

There is perhaps nothing more heart sinking that hearing the one single flawless human who ever lived, command us that we must be perfect.  To hear this is to be set up to fail and fail constantly, in other words to be a absolute failure. 

 I know some people whose  high standards of perfection is soul-breaking, and even life threatening because anything less than achieving their goal means that they are utterly useless. I’m not talking about high achievers, I’m talking about perfectionists. The difference is that high achievers understand that the journey to excellence is littered with failed attempts whereas perfectionists see each setback as a failure and proof that they are irreparably flawed. 

You can find these people in all walks of life, but especially in the church. We vie with each other to be better and purer and higher, and end up judging and feeling judged according to impossible standards. Somehow we think that if Jesus can walk on water--and briefly, Peter, at least the most spiritually advanced among us should be able to too. The problem is that the quest to be perfect breeds anxiety. And deep down, pastors, and session clerks and officers are really stressed about this ‘be  perfect” injunction. Over and over congregations are scandalized because an elder or a deacon or a pastor isn’t living up to their idea of perfection. Over and over again at ordinations and installations, the  church is admonished, “Remember that you are NOT getting the perfect pastor or elder... and elders, remember that you are NOT getting the perfect church...because if you think you are, there is going to be trouble very soon”. It’s very useful advice, but unfortunately not very well heeded.

But what are we all to do? It’s there in black and white on page 5 in  our pew bibles. Jesus doesn’t say “TRY to be perfect” or “Getting as close as you can is ok”. There seems to be no mediating circumstance there. How does this square with our understanding of mercy, forgiveness and love? Thankfully, this is one place where the English language turns out to be very rigid, while the original language, Greek is more flexible. When we hear that command in English, we hear it as a clarion call to moral perfectionism. But that's not actually what the original language implies. "Be Perfect"--“ ;Esesqe te,lio,j” in this case, stems from telos, which is the Greek word for "goal," "end," or "purpose." The sense of the word “perfect” in Greek is more about becoming what was intended, reaching your end, accomplishing your God-given purpose in the same way that God constantly reflects God's own nature and purpose. It’s not the same thing at all. God intends for us to be the best we can be. It is God’s nature and purpose to be absolute perfection, ours is to be what we can be--good humans made of clay and quickened by the breath of God.  Eugene Peterson's recent translation of the bible called “The Message” gets closest to the mark, I think, in this passage of Matthew when he translates that last verse: "You are citizens of the kingdom of Heaven. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity."

 As I leave you today this is the kind of perfection that I hope for both you and myself. The work of becoming what God has intended; the living out of our God-given identity that is born in our baptism, finds roots in the gospel stories and in our personal mission. The best of who we are is fed at the table of the Lord’s Supper and is inspired by the Holy Spirit to be constantly renewed. These things give us a distinctively Christian understanding of perfection. Christian perfection is about maturity, wholeness and obedience in a life consecrated to the law of love revealed by Christ.

Does that let you and me off the hook with all the other things that Jesus spoke about in the Sermon on the Mount? Certainly not. But it does help us get to the root of the issue. We can only fulfill the other commandments of Jesus – to the degree that we can live into our identity as blessed and beloved children of God. You can't give what you don't have, and so only those who have experienced love can in turn share it with others.

 What kind of perfection is Jesus calling for? A perfect kind of love - a love that isn't stingy, but IS indiscriminate - a love that loves enemies as well as friends.  Just so we get what Jesus means, he piles on example after example:

First, if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also (v.39) - for a poke in the eye, turn the other cheek. That applies to us here at Uriel. Second, if someone wants to sue you for the shirt off your back , give your coat as well (v.40). Third, if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile (v.41)..AND with a smile!  Fourth, give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you (v.42).

In other words, Christians are to be people who overcome evil with good; who retaliate injury with healing; or who, “foil their foes with joy” 1.

 Archbishop Oscar  Romero of El Salvador who struggled mightily with evil and corruption in Central America, and who was shot to death by assassins while celebrating communion in 1980 had this to say about perfection. 

He said:

“It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the church’s mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about....

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.”

Alleluia, Amen.

------------------

1 Benjamin Britton in his "Ceremony of Carols"

Left Behind

(Uriel Presbyterian Church )

Sermon

“Left Behind” 

22 April, 2011

Fifth Sunday in Easter A

The stars may fall; the Messiah may die,

but no matter what happens, you will always have a home

Text: Acts 6.1-11, 7.51-8.1

NRSV 1Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.  2  And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables.  3  Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task,  4  while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.”  5  What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.  6  They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 

7   The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. 

8   Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.  9  Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen.  10  But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.  11  Then they secretly instigated some men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

Then  beginning in verse 12 Stephen begins to tell the whole history of Israel and how it foretold Jesus as Messiah. When he had finished, he said to his accusers in verse 51:

51“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.  52  Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers.  53  You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.” 

54   When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.  55  But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.  56  “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”  57  But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him.  58  Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.  59  While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  60  Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.  1  And Saul approved of their killing him.

Text: John 14.1-14

Jesus is sitting with his disciples at the Last Supper and talks to them for the last time before he is crucified.

  NRSV  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.  2  In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.  4  And you know the way to the place where I am going.”  5  Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  6  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  7  If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 

8   Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”  9  Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  10  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works.  11  Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.  12  Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.  13  I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  14  If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. 

I  frankly don’t know what to feel about the end of the world hullabaloo this past week. It was certainly a nonevent, but on some level it had a great many people worked up about it. The television news  mentioned it at some point in every show for the past few days and the prediction went absolutely viral on the internet. 

I fielded at least half a dozen calls and e-mails from friends all over the world asking what I thought; what was this end of the world stuff about, and was I scared? It was a hard question to navigate, because I have no idea what God’s plans are, I respect and worship the creator, redeemer and sustainer of the universe and place myself entirely in God’s hands, but am I scared if the end of the world happens? Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have faith or trust in God.

I think what disturbed me more than anything else though, were the looting sites where people  were planning what they would scavenge from all the rich celebrities’ homes and businesses.  First of all, if what I know about the Kingdom of God is true in the least, those rich celebrities and empty socialites would float into the skies about as high as a bunch of lead balloons. I imagine instead that they would looting on a more massive scale themselves. But what made me saddest were the thousands and thousands of these facebook bloggers who never even questioned for a moment that if God were to select those that God loved most, they all had zero confidence that they would ever be chosen to go. In their own minds already, they were sure they were going to be left behind.  LEFT BEHIND. Even the words are mournful and hopeless feeling, a replay of the times all children experience when our parents went out for the evening or for the weekend and we were left starring at the car disappearing down the street without us . 

Which brings us perfectly to our post Easter gospel reading today.  Today’s reading is a little out of order, because it takes place before Jesus’ passion and death, but it’s all about the anxiety of being left behind. 

Perhaps this  one of the reasons that this scripture is so often used at funerals--both because it opens a fresh box of hope just with the phrase: ‘in my father’s house are many mansions’ but also because there is straight talking Thomas who pipes up and honestly admits: “No, Lord, we DON’T know where you are going, so how the heck could we possibly know the way?” (the expletive is mine)

When someone dies, or is otherwise gone, we suddenly feel like we have lost our way. We may be entirely certain as to that person’s character and faith, but WE feel lost....and left behind. So Thomas’s words are our words too: “I don’t know the answers, TELL me; remind me again.” 

And the disciples, even though they don’t yet know exactly what Jesus is talking about, have felt the dread and apprehension the whole time that they were on the journey to Jerusalem. Thomas, always  the plain spoken one, even says “Might as well go to Jerusalem and die with you, Jesus”. And at this passover meal,  Jesus was frankly scaring them.

But here at the penultimate moment of their time together, Jesus  speaks these words of comfort.  He gives us assurances that none who want to be with him will be left behind. “In my father’s house are many dwelling places”. This has always been a puzzle to listeners. What does that actually mean? The word that Jesus uses for dwelling places literally means something like a staging post, or a rest-stop on long journey. The dwelling of God is a place so large and so roomy that there are  rest-areas  from one part to the next. 

All these people this past week who, even though they made jokes about not being part of the elect, none the less judging by their comments they felt acutely left out. All of these people seem to be saying “Obviously, I’m not worth much to God; I’m too poor and too ignorant of who God is, I’m not hip or chic enough to be favoured by God. I’m not like those rich, well educated churchgoers. They’re the ones who will disappear into the air, I’m just the mess that is left behind.  Jesus wouldn’t take ME.” That breaks my heart, and it should break yours too.

  These are  people we see every day in the grocery store, at work, in elementary, high school and college, they’re the people  who’ve never heard the beatitudes; yet in their self-effacing humour they are the poor in spirit. These are the people who haven’t yet felt the joy of understanding this passage of scripture before us today.

 Because the joy of John 14 is that there is something unbelievably calming about knowing that no matter what happens, you who believe in Jesus  DO have a home to run to and arms that will embrace you.  You have a room; a shelter; an abiding-place somewhere that is waiting for you; a place that is yours that no one can take away, prepared with Jesus own hands. The stars may fall; the Messiah may die,  but no matter what happens, you will always have a home.

But Jesus conversation doesn’t stop there. After the comfort comes the direction to trust and to believe. Jesus urges the disciples to “trust in God, trust also in me.” 

Suddenly “Do not let your hearts be troubled” is not just a comforting statement. It is a challenging statement as well. A command not to be sucked under into a tide of fear and panic. And if you are able to trust in God and Christ, then with that faith we will continue find things to do for God, not because it’s going to get us a bigger house in heaven, but because we have that open handed relationship with Christ. 

We started this morning reflecting on those concerned about being left behind when Christ comes again, and let us end with those same people. To borrow the rhetoric of the airline industry: In case of emergency, put on your life support, found in the Good News within you, pulling it tight around you and breathe deeply and normally. Then turn and make sure that your neighbor is taken care of too, never abandoning them until they are safe. The breathing mask of holiness may not inflate, but inhale deeply and rest assured that life is flowing the way it should.

 Being anxious about death or the end of the world or both is entirely normal. Both will happen sooner or later, but Jesus promises us that none who want to be with him will ever be left behind. That is a promise you can stake your life on.

Amen