Prayer 284 (Lord's Prayer Cycle)

Our Father in heaven, we are called to forgive others as much as You forgive us. 

Help us let go of anger and resentment when we have been wronged, and nurture understanding in place of feeding the weeds of rage. Help us to understand that all are wounded and in need of healing, including ourselves. Help us to lower our defenses and not impugn the motives of those we love, and remember they love us. Help us to judge only as harshly as we ourselves wish to be judged, and no more. For You are our loving God, and You forgive us repeatedly when we fail You. Teach us that in bearing grudges we grip a weight that will sink us, and when harboring anger we risk loss in a sea of recrimination. 

Let us embrace those who seek our pardon, and repair mutual injury with the balm of Love that never fails. O Loving One, hear our prayers and grant your benediction and grace to those whose needs we now raise before You.

Amen.

Prayer 283 (Lord's Prayer Cycle)

Our Father in heaven, we thank You for your forgiveness of our manifold sins. Again and again You call to us when we have wandered from your ways, and stubbornly separate ourselves from your Love. We repent of the evil we have done, and the evil that is done on our behalf, and the very real hurt we have caused.

Forgive us when we place our selves as an idol in the sanctuary of our hearts, which should be dedicated to worship of You alone, O Redeemer.

Help us to acknowledge the sins done because we do not try to prevent them, and arouse in us the will to take action.

Teach us that the root of righteousness and salvation is found in fully opening our hearts to each other and to You.

Help us clothe ourselves and our motives in charity and obedience, O Christ. Help us direct our wills to the establishment of justice and peace.

Come into our hearts, O Spirit, and guide us in matters great and small, for your Love heals all our woundedness.

O Loving One, hear our prayers and grant your benediction and grace to those whose needs we now raise before You.

Amen.

Prayer 282 (Lord's Prayer Cycle)

Our Father in heaven, we ask that you give us our daily bread. 

Help us to remember and help those who are hungry each time we ourselves give thanks at table. Bless the farmers with a bountiful harvest and for their love and care of the earth. Grant that all who produce our food do so safely, sustainably and humanely. You sustain us with abundant grace: make us hunger for that bread that gives eternal life. Bring us together at your table for that heavenly banquet which unites all in your kingdom. May we be strengthened and renewed in communion with You and each other and inspired to spread your Love into the world. 

Watch over those whose needs we now remember.

Amen.

Prayer 281 (Lord's Prayer Cycle)

Our Father in heaven, we pray that your kingdom come on earth as in heaven. 

Reign over us, Almighty God, that we may live our lives in service to You and to each other. Let us always remember that You are God, and we are not. Let us be dedicated to doing your will by being a holy people founded upon mercy and fellowship. Let us demand justice and equity of ourselves and of our leaders. 

Watch over those whose needs we now remember, especiallythose we now name.

Amen.

Prayer 280 (Lord's Prayer Cycle)

Our Father in heaven, we pray that your name be made holy: let what we do hallow your Name, for it is through our actions that You are made known. 

Let the words of our mouths enlighten darkness, dispel enmity, and heal ancient wounds. Let us act honorably and compassionately toward the least in our society, that all may live together in justice and peace. Let us remember that your Love is a sacred calling, and as your people we minister in Your Name in everything we do. Grant us the strength to be gentle and the wisdom to be foolish in the name of Love. 

Watch over those whose needs we now remember, especially those we now name.

Amen.

Prayer 279

Our hopes rise with the sun, O God: let us dwell in your sight forever. We thank You for the gift of your creation: let us treat all living things with care and respect. Make us like little children, to see this world with eyes of wonder at the glorious works of your hands. Help us to see ourselves as part of your creation, whose beauty sings a song of your Love to us. Help us walk gently with each other, spreading compassion in every step. Look with favor on those whose needs we raise before You today

Prayer 265 (Inspired by Psalm 131)

(Inspired by Psalm 131)
O God, we come before You, 

humble in heart, 

rejoicing in your manifold mercies. 

Let us not puff ourselves up with pride, 

for we seek to be worthy of your Name. 

Let us still our souls to rest upon You, 

as a small child turns into the arms of her mother, 

resting upon her breast. 

Let us fasten upon this simple Truth: 

that You are our God, 

the root of all we are and all we do. 

Let us center our determination 

upon honoring your Word in our lives, 

for we depend solely upon You 

for wisdom and truth. 

Knit us together in love and brotherhood, 

united in purpose to serve You 

through each other. 

Refresh the souls of the weary, Lord Christ, 

and give your peace to those we now name.

Amen.

Prayer 278

Glory to You, Loving One, glory to You: we rise to sing your praise.

All things come into being at your Word: let all I do and all I am be inspired by You.
You have molded all creation to work in harmony: let our love and obedience be a witness in the world.
You abide with us in faithfulness even when we falter: may we seek you always in our need.
You hold all our times in your hand: be with those who laugh and those who weep.


May your Spirit rest upon those whose needs are known to You alone, and those whom we now name.

Amen.

Prayer 246

 

Merciful God, let me arise each day with your praise on my lips and your song in my heart. Let each beat of my pulse echo with gratitude for your manifold blessings You have placed at my feet. Let me remain steadfast on your path of love and kindness to each being within your creation, and walk with justice. Let me take up the cause of the poor, the outcast, the broken-hearted; let me be a warrior for peace. Sing out praise and honor to the Holy One, and join hands that all division may cease. Remember now, O Loving One, the prayers and petitions of your children, especially those we now name. Amen.

Prayer 245

Loving One, we hunger for your presence, and praise You for your constancy. Let us walk faithfully in the path You have shown us through your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Send your Spirit among us as a mighty wind to propel us across the seas of our troubles. Regard not our weaknesses but our desire to draw closer to You; forgive us for failing to see your goodness in others. Let us knit ourselves together in gentleness and kindness; hasten your kingdom within us. Lord, we lay our cares and concerns at your feet: send your peace to those whom we now name, especially those we now name. Amen.

Prayer 244

 

On the beach in Barbados

Draw near, O God, and hear our praises and prayers. Our faith in You is never shaken: Your Love endures forever. Let your mercy roll down like waters, a healing stream for those oppressed by anxiety. Your compassion rises for all those who cry out to you: You know our joys and our pain. Give us the will to act for the good of our brothers and sisters, obeying your commandment to love each other. Let us be your hands in the world, Loving One, that all may praise your Name. Watch over those who work, or watch or weep this day, those in joy or those who struggle, especially those we now name. Amen.

Prayer 243

Photo from the Hubble Space Telescope

O Loving, Abundant God, in You we find both rest and strength. All creation sings its praise to You, for your Love burns brighter than a billion suns. You are our ever-present Help in times of trouble; You are our Companion and Friend in times of joy. Your compassion and mercy are a stream that pours out crystal waters that soothes the fevers and cares of our lives. At this moment, let us be still and rest in You, grounded in your beauty. With each breath, let us breathe in strength, and breathe out love. Here, O Lord, are all our burdens and concerns that we place before You, including these concerns. Amen.

Shaped, Loved, and Reconciled: Sermon for Proper 18, Year C

 

Shaped, Loved, and Reconciled

Sermon for the 16^th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 18, Year C

Leslie Scoopmire

September 8, 2013

Texts: Jeremiah 18:1-11, Psalm 139

If you are a gardener in St. Louis, you know clay as your enemy, the bane of your garden’s existence—hard as stone after a baking Missouri summer; slick as ice, turning that hill in your backyard into a firehose in the rain. In scripture, clay is often used as a symbol. When we find out a hero has fallen into some sort of temptation, we say that we found out that he has “feet of clay,”—an expression from the Book of Daniel. Compared to gold, bronze, steel, or iron, clay is common, cheap, easily shattered. It is no surprise that we human beings are often compared to clay, as we see in our passage from Jeremiah. Jeremiah is sent to watch a potter at work. The clay symbolizes the people of Judah. God is the potter. And Judah is in danger of being destroyed by God for not trusting God to lead and mold them.

But remember that the Book of Jeremiah was written in a time of intense crisis for the people of Judah. So, being a history teacher, let me explain a little history here. Judah was a tiny people surrounded by hostile empires—Egypt, Assyria and Babylon, and Persia, and later on there is going to be Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire. Judah suffers from oppression, droughts, and warfare. The only thing they have going for them is that they are God’s chosen people. The people of Judah believe that they live under a covenant with God. Yet sometimes, terrible things happen. And the Book of Jeremiah is written right after what was undoubtedly the worst event in Judah’s history to that point. In 587 BC, the Babylonians swept in, crushed Jerusalem, carried off its priests and its ruling class, and destroyed the Temple.

How does Jeremiah explain this? God expects faithfulness from Judah and obedience. When Judah scorned God, God allowed its destruction as punishment. Therefore, the only way to escape further punishment is to return to God. Then perhaps God will forgive and rebuild, and restore the special relationship of blessing to the people of Judah. It’s a simple matter of justice, and fits so well with the idea of God’s incredible power.

Lots of faithful people throughout history have read these stories and believed that they’ve now got a grasp on how God works. It’s neat. It’s simple. They then transfer these same ideas to explaining how God works with individuals. It’s a simple calculus: 1. God punishes wrongdoing with tragedy and suffering; 2. We are suffering; 3. Therefore, God must be punishing us for something we have done, and we need to repent so that the suffering will stop. It certainly seems to make sense! When we are really honest with ourselves, we admit that we often are filled with mean, selfish, sinful impulses. We understand that tendency every time something bad happens, and our first thought is straight out of a country song: Why me Lord? What have I ever done to deserve this?

Now, there are some in our society today who look at texts like the one we have in Jeremiah, and see a warning about God’s judgment upon us as a people. You know the kind—the kind who peer out at us through our television screens and claim that airplanes filled flown by madmen into skyscrapers are a direct punishment from God. The kind who picket funerals and claim that God is allowing people to die because God hates us due to our sins.

Yet many of us--I HOPE many of us!-- hear these kinds of claims, and realize that they just do not match up with the loving, generous, merciful God in which we believe. They want to interpret scriptures like this as bad news about punishment rather than good news about forgiveness and redemption.

If we just look at the threats at the end of our reading from Jeremiah, we ignore another huge truth, one that all too often gets forgotten by those who talk about God’s judgment and punishment. Here it is: God also loves Judah and forgives Judah, over and over again. God sends prophets to Judah over and over again to convince them to return! Jeremiah uses these vivid images, but then says that it doesn’t have to happen. God’s will is not set in stone. If those who claim to love God follow three steps, all will be well: to confront the truth of their sin, and then to reconcile with God, a new Israel will be established with a foundation of peace.

Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann states that what makes Jeremiah different in the Old Testament is the depiction of God as constantly approaching Judah, demanding reconciliation. We get so focused on the punishment part, we forget about the grace part. God sends the prophets to point out the truth of the sin, and call on Judah to acknowledge that truth. But then God calls again and again to the lost. And again and again and again.

But we are not Judah. How do we take the ideas in our readings today and use them as individuals, to shape our relationship with God, and even with each other? How do we take anything from this, given that we are live in a different time and culture? Because we have to take a big step back, here, and remember that we are also people who have been shaped and moved by our understanding of God through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Nonetheless, there is still truth for us in this text. So let’s return to the idea of the potter and the clay.

We take great pride in the fact that we are modern people. In the centuries since Jeremiah was written, we have acquired great knowledge about science, medicine, and technology. We explain human behavior through relatively new fields, like psychology. And for some people, that is enough. They think they’ve got it all figured out, and that we human beings are in charge. Yet the idea that we, like clay, are molded and shaped through life is something that we can still agree upon.

There are many influences that shape us throughout our lives. Yet, one crucial difference remains that separates us from clay. Clay has no voice in choosing who will shape it. It is true that, while we are children, we are most profoundly influenced by our families, and we have very little choice in the matter. As we grow older, however, we begin to push away from our families, and begin to allow ourselves to be shaped by friends and heroes that we admire and mimic, but we have choice in who those people are. Then, when we are adults, we like to trumpet our individualism and independence, imagining that we ourselves are in charge of the people we have become—that we, all by ourselves have shaped ourselves. You know, we love that phrase: “He is a self-made man!”

Yet we know that’s not really true. We are also shaped by others. It is good for us every now and then to remind ourselves of how we are similar to clay. If we do not allow ourselves to be molded by skillful hands, we will never be useful. And indeed, every person who has passed through our lives has a role in shaping the person each of us have become. Sometimes, we are shaped lovingly, kindly, and we become better, stronger, more beautiful. Sometimes, we fall into harsher hands, hands that attempt to squeeze us too tightly, or press upon us too hard, and we have trouble maintaining our balance as we limp away, misshapen, listing to one side.

Some people spend a huge chunk of their lives trying to make up for the injuries inflicted upon them by some of those influences in their lives. Some of us have lived through episodes in our childhoods that haunt us and have threatened to crush us—the shouts of our mothers and fathers that arose in the night and awakened us from childhood sleep night after night, or alcoholic rages that break the dishes. Hands that have touched us in anger, seeking to break us rather than shape us. Hands that have attempted to shape us for their own ends, who have used us and then discarded us.

If we try to heal the scars inflicted upon us, we often do not know where to begin. Sometimes, people who have experienced these kinds of events collapse, much like a misshapen pot upon the wheel. But countless others recover from their lives and move on. How can this be so? Maybe they had a good therapist, or a good doctor. Can’t we heal ourselves? Can’t we look within our own human resources to remake ourselves? Isn’t that what our society celebrates most?

Maybe. Maybe that works for some people. But there’s a reason why we are sitting here in these pews today. Perhaps some of us have tried to heal ourselves, and it hasn’t quite worked. Perhaps we’ve tried to heal ourselves with alcohol or drugs or food, or with bad relationships we thought would support us and make us whole. Maybe we’ve tried to heal ourselves by trying to acquire things until that’s all we hope to see instead of the emptiness within us. There are a lot of us who have tried everything, and yet we still feel misshapen. We are hurting, and sometimes we then hurt others. Sometimes we’ve been those harsh hands in someone else’s life. We’re ALL still searching.

Or some of us may be sitting in these pews today because we have experienced an overwhelming reshaping. Some of us have experienced a profound sense of release, a profound reconciliation, a profound sense of peace—the kind of peace that comes from being in the presence of a love that is so amazing that we are reshaped, and are never the same again. A love that leads us through the truth of our brokenness, through reconciliation with ourselves or those we have hurt, to a peace which not only passes all understanding but enables us to get through the next trial without being misshapen. A peace that comes to us through a God that reaches out to us, again and again, constantly trying to work us and shape us on that wheel, if only we will allow it.

There it is in our psalm today. God has known us and shaped us, the psalmist writes, from before the very beginning of our existence. God knows us and treasures us so much that God knows our thoughts and actions—and loves us anyway. That is the power of love and reconciliation that leads to peace! And it’s a power our world needs more than ever today.

To talk about a God who is waiting to crush us is to show that we do not understand God’s message at all. It just doesn’t fit with the God we have experienced in dark moments in our lives—a God of incredible power, yes, but the power to support us with limitless love, a God whose faith in US forgives us for our sins and foolishness and lack of faith over and over again. The problem with using verses like these to attempt to frighten us into some sort of rigid behavior is that it ignores the overriding thrust of the truth that God has revealed to us over and over again: that God reaches out to us repeatedly, and loves us unconditionally, even when we go our own blind way. God understands our weaknesses and through the gift of unlimited grace calls us again and again to reconcile with God and with each other, to allow ourselves to be shaped, to acknowledge that God can transform and sustain us even in our darkest moments because God made each of us, whether saint or sinner, cares for us, and loves us for all eternity. And that’s actually right there in the same readings that others twist for their own ends.

Are we willing to allow ourselves to be molded and shaped so that we can be the very best version of ourselves both as individuals and as a society, or are we more prone to resist and go our own way? Are we willing to accept that we are forgiven? Are we willing to forgive those who have hurt us, even if sometimes that requires forgiving them anew each new day, as the hurt and pain arises afresh? To forgive them, not necessarily because they deserve it, but because we recognize that they may be misshapen too and they—and we—deserve to live in peace. To forgive because we all deserve to live in peace, and to try to love them anyway as God most certainly loves us?

Sometimes we all get misshapen. But if you have ever watched a potter at the wheel, you know that she never throws the clay away; she just persists in working on it until she gets it right. God presses upon us behind and before, God’s hand is upon us, shaping us, never giving up on us, reconciling who we are with who God intends for us to be – a people forgiven, healed, renewed, shaped! A people empowered to go forth into the world, reconciled and at peace with ourselves, and with our God, and with one another.

Hallelujah!

Prayer 235

O God, we come before You in humble prayer. We know that we allow many hands shape us; let Your hand, O God, rebuild us and strengthen us. We lay before You our wounded hearts, for we trust in You to take them up and mend them. We are fragile vessels; make us strong in love, and help us let go of anger or bitterness that threatens to shatter us. We bless You and praise You as our loving Maker, and thank You for your mercy which never fails. We ask that You rest your hand especially on those beloveds whom we now name. Amen.

Having faith, charity, and hope: thoughts on Luke 12:32-40

Luke 12:32-40

Jesus said to his disciples, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

35"Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

39"But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

Luke 12 is a collection of sayings about having faith not in earthly things but in God. Last week we heard Jesus remind his listeners not to worry about inheritances but instead to place their attention on God. The lectionary then skips ten verses that are well-known:

“22 He said to his disciples, ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. ²³For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! ²⁵And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? ²⁶If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? ²⁷Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. ²⁸But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! ²⁹And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. ³⁰For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

As someone who can really relapse into worrying all through my life, these verses have always been very helpful to me. However, ultimately, all of our worrying about earthly matters really does nothing except paralyze us, which is really practical advice for everyone.

So let’s look at the assigned verses for this week. Once again, the topic is priorities and the trust that is required to have them in the right place.

One of my favorite albums for the past ten years is Zero Church, by Suzzy and Maggie Roche. It was collected and recorded after 9/11. One of the songs on it took a poem by Kent Keith, which had been a favorite of Mother Teresa’s. Here is the song, “Anyway.” I thought of it after our discussion last week about Mother Teresa and the attitude of the Teacher in the Ecclesiastes reading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83KXqVFaWYk

One of the great cures for worry and despair, I have found, is action. And here Jesus gives three commands to his followers, that makes that point clear to all of us:

1. Do not be afraid.

2. Sell your possessions and give alms.

3. Be ready for action, with lamps lit for a journey even in the dark.

Remember the classic trio of faith, hope, and love (or charity)? Here they are again! Look at the commands again. In other words:

1. Have faith.

2. Have charity.

3. Have hope for God’s kingdom here on earth.

1. Have faith- do not be afraid. (verse 32). Did you know that the command “Do not be afraid” occurs 67 times in the NRSV version of the Bible, 49 times in the Old Testament alone? I bet if you thought for a while you could name several instances when this phrase was used—to Zechariah, Mary, and the shepherds when an angel appeared to them in the gospel of  Luke, chapters1-2. Abram was told not to be afraid in our Old Testament reading today in Genesis 15:1. Jacob (Israel) was told not to be afraid before setting out for Egypt. Moses told the Israelites not to be afraid as the Egyptian army was bearing down upon them as they fled Egypt. Fear prevents us from thinking and seeing reality and instead causes us to react instinctively. Once we are not afraid, we can ACT. Specifically, in this reading, Jesus reminds us of God’s providence and love for us. Following the command not to be afraid, three command verbs are specifically used: sell, give, make. Sell your possessions, give to the poor, make a purse for your REAL treasure—life in God here on earth, which you will have so abundantly you will need a purse for it. We can trust this because God is “our Father” (v. 22), who is pleased to give us the kingdom.

2. Have charity (verses 33-34). The action that flows from conquering our fear is to show our love for neighbor, which the kingdom of God will be grounded upon, by taking care of others. That’s what alms are for. Give to those who can give nothing back. Your reward will be from God for putting your priorities and actions in the right place. Once you have faith, act upon that faith by focusing on others, especially the poor. I have also noticed in my life that being generous is freeing, just as not worrying is freeing. Just as the opposite of fear is faith and trust, the opposite of fear is being openhearted. This involves more than just charity, however, but a total realignment of the values human societies are all-too-often based upon. Some people nowadays claim that government has no function in doing things that should be the province of private charities. But at the bottom of this belief is the idea that government has no function in assuring the basic well-being of its citizens. This idea only works if we conceive of government as something apart from us, an alien institution. But, if one believes in the words of Abraham Lincoln that government is “of the people, by the people, ands for the people,” then government is us, and the gospel here is very clear that this entails obligations to establish a just and equitable society. The foundation of God’s kingdom is justice and generosity. St. Augustine of Hippo said, “Charity is no substitute for justice withheld.”

3, Have hope (verses 35-38). Be ready for “the master’s” return—here Jesus is talking about when the kingdom of God will be established here on earth and “he will come to judge the living and the dead.” We do not know when that will happen, but it is clear that we have a part to play in establishing it—we must act to bring it into being. This is another tie to the Hebrews reading, by the way—the audience was despairing that the Parousia—the return of Christ from Heaven discussed in the end of the second section of the Nicene Creed—had not occurred yet. Thus this gospel reading could be addressed to the same audience there, as well.

God is offering us an incredible blessing, but we have to be able to appreciate it as such. We are looking forward to the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth, and we ourselves have a part to play in bringing it about. All we must do is have faith, and then be animated to act, drawing strength from that faith and trust. As mentioned above in the discussion on Hebrews, “Faith is TRUST, which is required because we lack certainty. Yet, if we had certainty, how would we know when we are being blessed, and why would we need to admit our dependence upon God?” As we look at the verse right before this reading, we are reminded of the blessing that is most important—the establishment of God’s kingdom, and the establishment of justice, peace, and ultimately love as the defining values of our lives.

Uncertainty requires faith: thoughts on Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

8By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old-- and Sarah herself was barren-- because he considered him faithful who had promised. 12Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore."

13All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians to demonstrate the necessity of  faith in Christ as being the sole and complete revelation of and from God. Although some assume Paul was the author, it is more likely not Paul, although some scholars have thought it might have been one of Paul’s helpers, such as Barnabas, or it might have actually had more than one author—the text uses “we” amost exclusively, unlike Acts or other Biblical epistles that flip back and forth between “I” and “we.” The first generation of Christians are passing away, and the second generation seems to be faltering, given that the Messiah has NOT returned as they believed. Early Christians expected Jesus to return within their lifetimes, and yet that expectation was being confounded. Persecution was tempting them back into Judaism, or attempting to Judaize Christianity and expel Gentiles who would not follow Judaic Law. The Church was in danger of foundering and shrinking back into a local mystery cult instead of continuing to spread. This explains the context of todays reading.

Verse one is a wonderful summary of the significance of faith as the lynchpin of our search for God. Faith is the junction of the finite, material world which can be derived through the senses with the eternal world. Faith links us to the eternal and enables us to trust in God’s promises. It is what enables us to know God in response to God’s knowledge of us. Faith depends upon trust—a subject of our verses about Abram in the OT reading. Further, faith is what animates and motivates us to respond to God. Abram demonstrated faith enough to leave the only home he had known in Ur without even knowing what the land he was being given looked like—merely trusting that it was good land, which of course was at a premium.

Verses 4-7 of this 11^th chapter that are omitted name what some scholars refer to as “the Heroes of Faith” from the OT—Abel, Enoch, and Noah. Then our reading returns to the subject of Abram/Abraham. Left unsaid is the fact that Abraham is even willing to sacrifice that long-awaited son as a sign of his faith in God. So then the Promised Land of Canaan is tied to the heavenly promised land, the city of God, which is the true inheritance of those of us who come after Abraham but are willing to act based solely upon our faith and trust in God.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly remarks that faith is what made miracles possible—the faith comes BEFORE the miracle, not after, which is something that is very difficult for our modern, skeptical selves to understand. In Matthew 8:13, Jesus assures the centurion that his faith had led to the healing of the centurion’s servant: ‘Go; let it be done for you according to your faith.’ In Matthew 9:22, Jesus tells the hemorrhaging woman that her faith has made her well after she tells herself that just touching the fringe of his cloak, as well as praising the faith of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:28 who actually argues with Jesus when he first rebuffs her as she asks for healing for her daughter. Other instances include Mark 5:34, Mark 10:52, Luke 7:50, Luke 8:48, Luke 17:19, Luke 18:42 (See attached). Lack of faith could have the reverse effect, as well. In Luke 8:25, he rebukes his disciples for having little faith when a storm besets their boat.

Yet faith is not a magic wish-fulfillment device, regardless of how these anecdotes from the Bible sound. Faith is required because we are uncertain to begin with, because we cannot see. It is a paradox that faith is required BECAUSE we are not certain; people of faith still encounter prayers that are not answered, illnesses that cannot be cured, and so on. But look again at our heroes of faith. Abel certainly did not escape tragedy, by a long shot, yet his faith was still reckoned as righteousness. Noah witnessed the destruction of most of the people he knew. Abraham waited a very long time indeed for some of those promises to be fulfilled, and yet the twentieth century along visited untold horrors upon many of his descendants.

Faith is TRUST, which is required because we lack certainty. Yet, if we had certainty, how would we know when we are being blessed, and why would we need to admit our dependence upon God? We would just check the “faith” box and move on. However, the world is not perfect. Tragedies happen for unexplainable reasons. Faith enables us to move forward and live our lives without certainty.

Sermon at Camp Phoenix, 2013: We are the Body of Christ

 Readings:

Psalm 121

1 Corinthians 13

Matt 28: 16-20

Hymns

Amazing Grace

I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light

Seek Ye First

Take My Life

Here we are at the last full day of camp.

We have tie-dyed shirts. We have swam and solved puzzles and yelled and sang; we have led and we have been led. We have gathered around the campfire. We have learned new games, like GaGa, and Nine Square, and Quidditch. We have enjoyed the new mat out in the lake, and the beach party, and creek walks, and dock to dock swim.

But we could do all of that at any camp.

THIS is Camp Phoenix.

This is a gathering of kids and adults from the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, and their friends. And that makes this camp different, because when we gather together, we are the Body of Christ.

When we talk about the all the Christian Churches-- including the Episcopal Church, and the Baptist Church, and the Lutheran Church, and our hosts here at Camp Dubois, the United Church of Christ—When we talk about all those churches, we often call them “the Body of Christ.”

When we take communion, we talk about “the Body of Christ, the Bread of Heaven.” You’re going to hear those words in just a few minutes.

But we also have to remember that each of you individually ARE the Body of Christ.

Being the Body of Christ means we are called to do, and speak, and be good in the world.
So, then, this week, we have been talking about mission.

Each day we have learned about a different ministry: do you remember what they are?
Lui
Deaconess Anne House
Episcopal City Mission
Hunger Task Force

People in this diocese take part in these missions to carry the love and message of Jesus Christ out into the world. But in doing that, we also bring the message of Jesus Christ, and the love of God, right into our hearts and into our own lives! That’s how the love of God works—by giving, we also receive. By helping, we are helped.

By giving, we also receive. By helping, we are helped.

We’ve heard a lot of stories from the Bible this week. Our gospel reading today is a short but important section of the book of Matthew. In fact, these are the very last words of the gospel of Matthew. This scene took place right after Easter, and includes Jesus’s last words to his followers in that gospel. Often, our last words we say to someone before we go somewhere away from them are our most important words to them.

The disciples realize that they are not going to have Jesus physically present with them any more. However, his work was not finished. So Jesus gives his followers one last set of instructions. These instructions are known as the “Great Commission.” The term “Commission” has a word in it that we have been talking about a lot this week. What word is that?

MISSION.

So in this gospel, Jesus is sending his disciples on one last, very important mission. Jesus gives his disciples power—power to go do three things. Did you hear them? What are they?

The power to go make disciples of all nations,
The power to baptize those new followers to become disciples themselves,
The power to teach the new followers all the commandments Jesus has given them.

The disciples are also promised something—that Jesus will be with them, and all the disciples who will come after them.  Who are those new disciples? We are! And we know then that Jesus is with us, always! So we have been given the power to act into the world. We have this power because we aren’t just the disciples of Jesus—WE ARE the face, and hands and body of Jesus to a world that needs Jesus

desperately.

A wise woman of the Church named St. Teresa of Avila explains it to us in these words:

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Where can we get the power to be the Body of Christ? What makes all our actions work for good? The answer is in our reading from 1 Corinthians— what does it say?

Through love.

The love we receive from God,
the love God gives to us, and, just as important,
the love we have for each other—our friends, our families, our neighbors, even if those neighbors are halfway around the world.

WHAT is our mission? To spread the love of God out into the world, to be Christ’s body, right now, spreading out from Camp Phoenix and our homes and our churches like the rays of the sun.

HOW are we empowered to do our mission? Through the willingness to take action, supported by the love we give and receive from God. When we welcome and love the people we meet and care for each other, we are loved and cared for, too.

As you leave Camp Phoenix for this year, we hope that you will act upon this mission, because everyone here can do something. We hope you will look for ways to help others, to continue to support the ministries we have talked about, or even to come up with your own. You can see the hungry and feed them, comfort the sick, support kids served by ECM, offer a hand to those who need it, help rebuild our community.

This is your Mission-- and Mission Is Possible!

Reflection on 1 Kings 17:8-24- The Widow of Zeraphath

1 Kings 17:8-16 (17-24)      The Widow of Zarephath

The word of the LORD came to Elijah, saying, 9"Go now to Zarephath*, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you." 10So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink." 11As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." 12But she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." 13Elijah said to her, "Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. 14For thus says the LORD the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth." 15She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 16The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.

[17After this, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house at Zarephath, became ill; his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18She then said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!" 19But he said to her, "Give me your son." He took him from her bosom, carried him up into the upper chamber where he was lodging, and laid him on his own bed. 20He cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I am staying, by killing her son?" 21Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried out to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's life come into him again." 22The LORD listened to the voice of Elijah; the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and gave him to his mother; then Elijah said, "See, your son is alive." 24So the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."]

*-Zarephath was in modern Lebanon, along the Mediterranean coast, at the location of the modern town of Sarafand.

Background: In 1 Kings 16, machinations over the throne caused all kinds of evil deeds (part of the protest by prophets that Israel didn’t need a king since they were ruled by God as God’s chosen people, and that instituting a king would simply lead to exactly this kind of problem). King Elah was made drunk and killed by his chariot officer Zimri, who named himself king and killed everyone else in the royal house to prevent another claimant competing with him for the throne (and this was supposedly God’s will for the sins of Elah’s father Baasha). Promptly the people of Israel made another military commander, Omri, their king. Omri besieged Zimri, who then set his palace on fire with himself inside rather than to be captured. Another man, Tibni, had some support to be king instead of Omri, and the two sides fought and Omri’s side won, with Tibni “dying.” Omri then ruled but also worshipped idols, and after he died his son Ahab became king. Ahab’s wife was Jezebel, who encouraged him to worship Baal.  And that’s all in just one chapter! In chapter 17, Elijah warns Ahab that because of his abandonment of God, there was to be a great drought. Elijah then fled from the wrath of Ahab and was sent on orders from God to the Wadi Cherith (a wadi is a dry valley or riverbed that fills with rain in the rainy season) east of the Jordan in what is now Jordan. It was even promised that the ravens would bring him meat and bread there. However, due to the drought, eventually even the wadi ran dry. God then told him to go the Zarephath, which is where our pericope begins.

There are two miracles in just this short reading: the flour and the oil lasting many days, and the bringing the widow’s son back to life, and if you count the miracle of the ravens feeding Elijah in the wilderness near the wadi, there are three. 

Once again, we see a Gentile having faith and acting upon that faith in a risky way. This widow takes in Elijah even thought the drought has affected her too, and she and her son are on the verge of starvation, and her lack of a husband and breadwinner only makes her situation more desperate. She has given up hope. Elijah asks the woman to get him a drink (remember Jesus had asked the Samaritan woman to get him a drink in John 4). Can you imagine what he must have looked like after being out in the wilderness for all that time? He’s not just a stranger, he’s probably filthy and unshaven. And the widow still does not turn him away. She takes an enormous leap of faith—and is a model of being willing to trust.

The expectations of hospitality at that time require that she do as he asks, but when he asks for a bit of bread, she has to confess that she has too little to share, and has resigned herself to the death of herself and her child. When Elijah still asks that she feed him (based on Elijah’s faith on a God that is not her own) she DOES it. That’s pretty amazing. A miracle is then given to her: she and her son are saved from starvation. Her meal and her oil do not run out—it feeds Elijah, the widow, and her “household”—which seems to be a pretty grand word to express a woman who is depicted as being by herself with just her child.

But just when it seems that there is nothing but a happy ending here, the additional part of this pericope plunges us back into a tragic situation. The widow’s little boy dies—her only prop for her old age in a patriarchal society in which women were dependent upon fathers, husbands, and/or sons to support them. She reflects an understanding of causation common in the Bible—her son’s deep illness and possibly death (is he dead? It says there is no breath left in his body…) is caused by God, at the very least by indifference to her plight after she has just evinced great, blind trust by taking in this strange man and feeding him at a time of severe deprivation. Her blame challenges Elijah to do something. He takes the boy from the mother, carries him up to a room, and prays to God to intervene. His charge in verse 20 agrees with the woman’s take on the situation: has God brought this calamity as a response to one who has given everything she has? He doesn’t argue against the woman’s charge, but lays it against God himself. He then stretches out over the boy and intercedes with God three times, and God restores the boy to life. I have always wondered what tone of voice Elijah used when he said “See, your son is alive.” Nonetheless, this is the first time in the Bible that someone is brought back to life. This miracle then proves the existence of God and the power of God to the woman, and that Elijah is truly a prophet, although this is not something she had ever doubted—even in her anger she had called Elijah “man of God.” This ties in beautifully with our gospel reading for today.

Notice also that twice in this pericope, the death of the widow's son was countenanced.  The widow was resigned to her child dying when she thought that they both would die, but when only her child is dying, she reacts not with resignation but with anger and grief.  I often tell my students that my generation is the first that did not regularly experience the death of a sibling in childhood. Both of my parents experienced at least one sibling dying. But the death of a child was actually very common throughout the vast majority of human history. This did not make such events any less tragic than they are today-- just less common.