Sermons Preached at Church of the Redeemer
Return to Sermons Index
|
|
Home Sitemap | |
Sermons Preached at Church of the RedeemerReturn to Sermons Index |
||
|
Holy Partners in a Heavenly Calling Preached by The Reverend
Judith L. Stuart Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow
us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our
Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
forever. Amen We began our worship this morning, as we do each Sunday, with these familiar words found in the "Collect of the Day". These opening words point us towards the main themes in our appointed lessons; they "collect" and summarize The Word upon which we will reflect. In keeping with our Anglican tradition of common prayer, this Collect will be read in every Episcopal Church in the country this morning, so that we are joined together to become one body, the body of Christ, on this 18th Sunday after Pentecost in the year of our Lord, 2003. That is Good News, indeed! Our journey today also recalls the opening of the Decalogue--the Summary of the Law--and proclaims for Jews and Christians the sovereignty of God's rule. Similar lists of proper behavior are found in various forms in the scriptures of most world religions. The Qur'an contains the Islamic Decalogue. Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism contain the lists of ten precepts or ten charges for laypersons and monastics. The Buddhist eightfold path also contains a similar list of ethical values. This weekend, being a holiday weekend, especially reminds
me of the commandment to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
In the ancient world, the concept of Sabbath had its beginning in the
creation--God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2-3).
Later in Exodus (Exodus 16:23-30), we learn of Sabbath in connection with
the giving of manna. The
understanding of Sabbath was connected both to the creation and the
deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Sabbath
symbolized the Mosaic Covenant in much the same way as circumcision symbolized
the Abrahamic covenant. Mosaic Law
firmly established Sabbath keeping as a time to refrain from physical labor, to
join with the community, and to worship and offer sacrifice to God.
Additional Sabbath was prescribed for the seventh month, the seventh
year, and after seven sabbatical years--a year of jubilee--a time of forgiveness
of debt, restoration of property, and sharing of resources. In the New Testament, Paul claimed that God freed
Christians from the burden of Mosaic Law, "nailing it to the cross"
(Col. 2:14) and that there is no biblical basis for demanding Christian Sabbath
keeping in the modern age (Col. 2:16). But
the author of Hebrews countered that followers enter into God's rest when they
quiet their own labors, and encouraged followers to "make every effort to
enter that (spiritual) rest" (Hebrews 4:11), and seek the peace of Christ
that is the gift of salvation. We would be remiss not to notice how our concept of Sabbath
changed in the latter part of the 20th century. I vividly recall how life was altered when the shopping malls
began to stay open on Sundays. A
new work force emerged, of mothers and teens who could begin to work weekends
for premium pay, and the economic prosperity of dual wage earners reshaped the
life of the American family. But we
also lost something. We lost
Sunday's spent in church, rides to the country, visits and meals with relatives,
and relationships with our extended families.
Now we have to plan extravagant family reunions to recreate those moments
that happened naturally on the Sabbath, just a generation ago.
We have learned to seek Sabbath and retreat in new ways--at the gym, at
our children's sporting events, and on long holiday weekends.
And we are learning that wealth and modern convenience still cannot
replace our need for Sabbath time. Wealth created complex economic and social issues in Mark's
day as well. In the ancient world,
it was believed that wealth was a gift from God.
The wealthy built synagogues and temples to demonstrate their
relationship with the Divine. Wealth
brought title, prestige, honor and power. Even
though Old Testament prophets challenged these norms and values by calling for
the poor and vulnerable to be protected and comforted, it was generally believed
that the wealthy were closer to God and would be saved before the commoner. And so, this chapter in the Gospel of Mark, rife with
reversals of the human understandings of the day, astonished the disciples, even
as they left their various stations in life to follow Jesus and spread the good
news. "Then who can be
saved?" they demanded to know. Perhaps
they were really wondering…if no one can be saved, what on earth are we all
doing here? They were unprepared
for the reversals and struggled to understand that God is not limited by human
possibilities. Throughout the
Gospel of Mark, we see that Jesus was patient and understanding.
He didn't give up on his disciples.
He didn't give up on them when they pondered who was greatest among
themselves. He didn't give up on them when they complained that someone
was casting out demons…and not doing it right.
He didn't even give up on them when they argued over who would sit on the
right hand of Jesus in heaven. In
fact, it seems that most of the time, the disciples were either running scared,
jockeying for power and prestige in this world AND the world to come, judging
others, or arguing amongst themselves. And
Jesus loved them and invited them time and time again to walk in that love of
God. Jesus brought the disciples back to prayer, encouraging
them to reorient their lives to the ways of God, "For with God, all things
are possible". Clearly, God is
not finished with us either--like the disciples, we have miles to go before we
rest. Not everyone is called to abandon his or her life in the
same manner. Generally, scholars
now speculate that there were several circles of followers of Jesus.
The inner circle, the twelve (which may have been a somewhat fluid
group), traveled and spread the good news and spent much of their time with
Jesus. There were also other
followers who shared their passion and vision, perhaps providing hospitality,
food and shelter, protection from enemies.
Those who abandoned their lives depended on the wider community,
described by Jesus as the new family--those who "do the will of
God"--brothers and sisters in the Christian family.
Individual followers who had resources entered into a special
relationship with the disciples and the Divine--a mutual relationship. Like the rich man, many of us may feel like we do a fairly good job of keeping the law. And, like the rich man, Jesus calls us to seek God and surrender our personal power "to do the will of God". But power exists in context. And the context of our lives will vary. For some, like Francis of Assisi or the contemporary figure Mother Theresa, this means abandoning incredible wealth and privilege to serve in the streets. For others, it means entering into relationship with those who minister and live in the streets, seeking the face of God in the other. And for others, it means serving as benefactors providing crucial assistance. The challenge for the contemporary believer is to create a circle of discipleship that does not distinguish one person from another, one power from another, or one service from another. For we have learned today that what seems impossible to humanity, is possible for God. "For with God, all things are possible" - maybe even a Red Sox World Series Championship? |
|
Copyright © 2004-2007 Email the webmaster with questions or comments about this web site. |
379 Hammond Street,
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 |