Paul's Worry and Joy

Sunday, 10/12/14

Philippians 4:1-9

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

When was the last time you remember feeling pure, unadulterated joy?  How do you define that feeling?  It’s happiness right?  But it’s deeper than that – like a profound contentment with what is happening here and now – in the moment – with no worries or anxiety about what was – or is – or is to come.

Earlier in Matthew’s gospel before Jesus starts shocking his listeners with challenging parables like the one we just heard – he teaches about worry.  Don’t worry about what tomorrow will bring.  Why do you worry about what you will eat, what you will wear, he says.  For as your heavenly Father clothes the lilies of the field and feeds the birds of the air – God will give you all that you need.  Don’t worry – but strive for the kingdom of God – and everything else will fall into place.  Don’t worry about tomorrow – for today’s trouble is enough for today (6:25-34)

Personally speaking – telling myself not to worry – is rarely helpful.  It’s too intellectual.  Because worry is a state of being.  I’m agitated, anxious. Stressful scenarios and possibilities play on a loop in my head – and it’s pretty hard if not impossible to simply turn the worries off – like flicking a switch.  Is that what Jesus is telling us to do?  How does striving for God’s kingdom help me deal with my own problems?  And is it only when all the problems are solved and the worries are over that I will know pure, unadulterated joy - again?

Well alongside these parables of Matthew (Ch. 22), we have also been reading through Paul’s letter to the Philippians and this morning, we reach the end.  It’s a letter that I think, helps us with these questions – and offers a spiritual practice to help us live into Jesus’ words. 

This letter is unique to Paul’s epistles in that it exudes unadulterated, joy. And, if there is one line that summarizes all four chapters – it’s this – Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say rejoice! 

Right at the beginning Paul says, I thank my God every time I remember you, being filled with joy when I pray for you (1:4).  And he goes on to say that just thinking of the faith of the Philippians – the first community Paul founded in Greece – his thoughts of them brings joy to his faith.  For he knows that they struggle – they have worries – but he knows they are trying  – and simply praying about that, even though they are far away,  he says, those prayers makes his joy complete (1:25, 2:2)

Now maybe, you’re thinking, well that’s great for Paul, 2,000 years ago!  What did he know about my worries and my problems?  Maybe you’re thinking he wrote this letter at the end of his ministry – in the comfort of his retirement – after a fine meal while gazing over the vineyards and mountains of the Grecian countryside.   The strife is o’er the battle done – and with thoughts of the glory of heaven that awaited him he wrote a letter of encouragement and farewell to a church he’d left long ago.

(Sometimes I wonder if Paul was a little like a preacher.  Does he write his letters to encourage his communities?  Or, to encourage himself?)

Because Paul certainly was not enjoying a luxurious retirement.  He writes from a dank, dark, prison cell in Rome.  Who knows what his meals, if he had any, even were.  Who knows if there was a window – let alone a shaft of light – to let him see the countryside?   Paul sits imprisoned facing a death sentence. Because he has committed treason with his preaching and teaching. He’s been sharing the good news, in this letter and in the streets: that The Son of God did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited – like the rulers of Rome, and most rulers do – but Christ emptied himself taking the form of a slave.

Meaning – Christ did not come to earth as a god, using supernatural powers to magically make all our – or his - worries disappear.  Jesus cared – he cried – he worried, he got mad and frustrated – and yet he was able to abide in God.  And for that – for fully entering into our human experience, and still walking towards a culminating act of love – God highly exalted him, giving him the name that is above every name – so that at the name of Jesus – not the name of the emperor – every knee should bend on heaven and on earth and under the earth. And every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord.

That’s chapter 2 of Philippians and it’s the treason that gets Paul thrown in prison.

Don’t you think Paul sat there with worries?  Don’t you think he was scared?  Surely he thought at some point – well the birds of the air and the lilies of the field really have no idea what real worry is?

So how is it in the midst of that experience he says – Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say rejoice?

You know how when something big (really big) happens in your life – maybe you get something or someone you never thought you would.  Maybe you suffer the loss of something or someone you never thought you would.  And in that experience – in the days surrounding the event, whatever it is, you realize very quickly what matters.  What, the theologians say, is of ultimate concern.  The people, the relationships, the stuff of living that is really and truly important.  What the Mastercard commercial calls – priceless. 

Paul, like Jesus, is encouraging us to remember what is priceless – always.  That is how we hold onto, how we can connect with our joy in the midst of our worries.

Beloved, Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure,  whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is excellence in anything worthy of praise, you’re your life – and surely there is - think about that – Paul writes. (Philippians 4)

The lilies of the field and the birds of the air – don’t have to remind themselves of their connection to God – for some reason, we do.  I’m sure all of us are bringing our prayers, our worries, our supplications to God this morning – hoping for the results we want or the answers we crave.  Paul says – when you bring those cares, bring the thanksgivings too.  Remind yourself what you already know to be good in your life.  Because it is that awareness of what we’ve already been given that helps us reconnect with joy. 

  

For as Christians, we rejoice in the Lord.  God is good – all the time!  All the time – God is good! Our joy cannot be separated from our belief that all good things, all the priceless things, are of God.  And they are still there - even when we are worried, even as we struggle.

That is knowing the Lord is near.  That is tapping into the peace of God which surpasses intellectual understanding – by thinking on these things.

One way of striving for the kingdom of God (in Jesus’ words) is by thinking on the kingdom now (in Paul’s words).  Those good things that have been and are being done for us and giving thanks for that treasure.  It’s not a quick fix to our problems – but a way of being, that we cultivate.  So put on the mind of Christ today – For the Lord is near.  Rejoice in the Lord, always and again I say rejoice.  Amen.

The Rev. Arianne R. Weeks

Faith after the "But"

The Rev. Joshua Rodriguez-Hobbs

Isaiah 5:1-7

Matthew 21:33-46

Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard…

That’s how Isaiah begins our Old Testament lesson this morning, one of the most heart-breakingly beautiful passages of scripture. It moves back and forth between Isaiah’s voice and God’s, speaking of the back-breaking work of planting and tending a vineyard that never produces good fruit. It is beautiful and poetic, but it is also hard to hear, especially on a day like today, when we have a baptism. Actually, the lectionary cuts off the reading before we get to the really hard parts. The rest of this chapter is a list of the sins that the leaders of Israel have committed. Isaiah calls them to account because they join house to house and add field to field, until there is room for no one but you. And for this, Isaiah says, God is sending Israel into exile.

This portion of Isaiah was written immediately after Israel went into exile in Babylon. The wounds are fresh, and the grief is raw. Isaiah and his community are trying to make sense out of why God has abandoned them, why the temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed, why their people has been scattered to the four winds. The explanation Isaiah offers, the explanation that Israel eventually finds satisfying, is that God has punished them for being unfaithful to the covenant they swore with God. Now, when we talk about this, we usually talk about idols and worshiping false gods, and that is certainly one of the things that prophets like Isaiah decried. But more than idolatry, the prophets talk about economic injustice. The reason, Isaiah tells us, that God’s vineyard has not borne good fruit is because God’s people have exploited one another, and have pursued their own profit above the common good. The covenant Israel swore with God was based on the Exodus: the story of God delivering the children of Israel from slavery. The Law God gives them at Sinai is based on this experience of slavery and deliverance. Because they have been slaves, the children of Israel are not to exploit one another. Because they have been slaves, the children of Israel are not to pursue profit at all costs. Because they have been slaves, the children of Israel were supposed to rest from labor every seventh day. They were supposed to let the land rest from agriculture every seventh year. But they did not. And so, they went into exile, devastated, wondering how they could sing the Lord’s songs in a strange land.

Jesus takes up Isaiah’s vineyard song in our Gospel reading today. Like the vineyard song, this isn’t an easy parable to hear, is it? There’s a strong element of condemnation. We’re told that the owner of the vineyard will put the wicked tenants to a miserable death. But who tells us that? It’s not Jesus. It’s the chief priests and Pharisees who prescribe this punishment for the wicked tenants, not yet realizing that this parable is about them.

How many times have you done that? How many times have you pronounced a harsh word of judgment against yourself, sure that God would judge the same? What is your response when tragedy strikes? Is it that God must be punishing you for your sins? You can point to a few verses in the Bible that would support that: "I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.[1]" It’s easy to focus on that first half, isn’t it? The thing is, in the story of God and God’s people, the emphasis is always on what follows after the but. And there is always a but. Always.

Isaiah sings other songs for the vineyard, later, songs of how God will replant it and how it will bear fruit. Jesus never tells us what happens to the tenants. He tells the chief priests and Pharisees that the rule of the kingdom of God is going to be taken away from them, but he doesn’t tell them that they will be kicked out of the kingdom. God’s story never ends in judgment. God’s story always ends in redemption, in grace.

That’s why it is good for us to hear stories like Isaiah’s vineyard song and Matthew’s parable of wicked tenants today, when we are going to baptize two beautiful girls. They are a reminder that our unfaithfulness is never the last word. We’re about to make a lot of promises when we renew our baptismal covenant. You know the drill; we've talked about it for three weeks in a row now. But this morning, I hope you notice the exact response we each make to the promises: I will, with God’s help. We don’t do it on our own. God’s people never have. We are tenants in God’s kingdom by God’s grace. The only possible response we can have to this is humble gratitude. Gratitude because God’s love for us is so great that it always comes in mercy. Humility because we can never earn or merit God’s love, but God loves us anyway, just because we exist.

The growth in the knowledge and love of God that we each began at baptism ends with God's perfect love casting out all our fears. It may take a long time for us to get there, but when we do, we learn to focus on what comes after the “but:” God’s steadfast love to the thousandth generation, the return from exile, the patience of the master of the vineyard, and love made concrete in water and in bread and wine. Amen.

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[1] Exodus 20:5-6, NRSV

Forgiving as We Have Been Forgiven

The Rev. Joshua Rodriguez-Hobbs
Matthew 18:21-35

I remember hearing this Gospel lesson read aloud in church as a child. I was eight or so, and I had just learned multiplication. The King James Version, which is what I heard that morning, translates the number in the passage as “seven times seventy,”and I sat in the pew trying to figure out the exact number of times I had been wronged by my younger brother, so that I could subtract that number from four hundred and ninety. I was so very determined that I was not going to forgive him any more times than Jesus said I had to.

I think that’s the mindset that prompts Peter to ask Jesus this question, “How many times do I have to forgive?” I think he probably felt pretty magnanimous about offering a number as large as seven. As a child, I remember thinking to myself, four hundred and ninety is way too many times, Jesus. Matthew’s Greek is a little confusing here, but seventy-seven times or four hundred and ninety, the point is that Jesus gives Peter a number that’s too large to practically keep track of, whatever our eight-year-old selves might think. But part of me still wants to.

I’m willing to guess that’s the reality for most of us. Forgiveness is a hard, messy, and uncomfortable business, especially when we are talking about wrongs that have been done to me, or wrongs that I have done. And that’s what Jesus is talking about this morning. Peter’s question isn’t about abstract conflicts. Peter’s question begins “If another member of the church sins against me…” It comes at the end of an entire chapter in Matthew’s Gospel that is devoted to handling conflicts within the church, not outside it. This is intimate stuff, where we wrong and are wronged by people that we know, people that we hope will love us and who hope that we love them. It’s not easy. I wish it were. I’d like it to be easier, but I’m not any more comfortable with forgiveness at twenty-eight than I was at eight.

This past week, a seminary colleague who remembered that I live in Baltimore called me and asked, “Don’t you feel called to preach about Ray Rice this week?” Don’t worry; I said no. But I think this question, which was an attempt to deflect this question about forgiveness to something that is so external to our life together as a parish community, represents an attempt to make things easier. Let’s face it: it so so much easier to talk about someone else’s sin, especially someone who we don’t know, especially a celebrity. Talking about our own sins, talking about the people who we need to forgive is hard. Jesus knows that it’s hard. But he doesn’t make it easier. He doubles down with the parable he tells in answer to Peter’s question. Do you notice the shift that’s happened? Peter asks about forgiving someone else, but Jesus responds with a parable that is equally about our own need to be forgiven.

Now, it’s really easy to get caught up in the details of this parable.We’re trained to thing that kings the Jesus’ parables always represent God. Maybe that’s not a good thing this time, because this parable is about a king who’s willing to sell us into slavery to cover our debts, and who tortures us when we fall short of forgiving. We believe that God is more merciful than that. We’ve got to pay attention to how very exaggerated this parable is, though. That’s a sign that Jesus doesn’t intend us to take it literally. The first slave in the parable owes ten thousand talents. A talent was equal to about fifteen years’ wages for an ordinary worker in those days. So this slave owes the equivalent of one hundred and fifty thousand years’ worth of income. No one ever owes that much money. Like forgiving seventy seven or seventy times seven times, this is supposed to be an absurdly large sum. But this slave, who has been forgiven, doesn’t extend that forgiveness. He immediately goes out and finds someone who owes him some money, an amount that was equal to about one hundred days’ worth of work. It’s not insignificant, but it’s nothing like the debt that he just got out of paying. And you’d think that this slave would show mercy, having been showed mercy. But he doesn’t. He wants revenge. And it’s his downfall. And he receives the exact same punishment he subjected his fellow slave to, but our first slave can never repay his debt, so he’ll never finished being punished. And Jesus tells us that God will do the same thing to us if we don’t forgive others.

That’s harsh. That’s not what I want to hear. I wonder though, since we’re not supposed to take this very hyperbolic parable literally, if this punishment that we’re promised doesn’t occur here and now. When you are really caught up in keeping track of wrongs done, in how many times you need to forgive someone, you get miserable quickly. All the more so if you just flat out refuse to forgive. It takes a lot of energy to carry a grudge, especially against someone close to you. There’s release in forgiving, just like there’s release in being forgiven. St. Paul puts it this way in his letter to the Colossians: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.”

Close your eyes, and take few moments to ask yourself: “Who do I need to forgive? What grudge am I carrying?" Remember, you have been forgiven much. Extend that forgiveness to that person in your life this week. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. Amen.

What is Church?

Jesus said, "If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone...For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." Matthew 18:15ff

Well – I have to tell you – for some of us this is day 3 of church, church and church!  Josh and I – and the clergy of this diocese and many of the people of this diocese have been together non-stop for 72 hours!  And are finally at the resurrection day of completion for celebrating the gathered faithful giving thanks to God in Christ.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about – let me explain.  Yesterday, as you may know from our announcements, we ordained Heather Cook a bishop and consecrated her ministry as a Suffragan bishop in our diocese.   Of course when a someone is ordained bishop – the person who does so – is our presiding bishop Kathryn Jefferts Schiori.  And it is her practice – maybe the practice of all presiding bishops to meet with the clergy of the diocese before the big event.

So Friday morning Josh and I and I guess about 100 other priests gathered at St. Michael and All Angels downtown to hear her – but she didn’t do much talking.  She had us think about God’s words at Jesus’ baptism – you are my son and with you, I am well pleased.  And she reminded us of our baptism – because at our baptisms – regardless of whether or not we are priests – God speaks those words to us as we are marked with the sign of Christ.

You are my beloved – with you I am well pleased.  She invited us to close our eyes, sit with the thought quietly for a few minutes.  And then she invited us to turn to our neighbor and talk about what that phrase made us think about.

And then, she opened it up – and one by one – many of us shared our thoughts on that phrase.

Someone once said to me – you know, priests are a little like fertilizer – they shouldn't be all clumped together, its much better to spread them around.  And yes, some truth to that.  Because we tend when we’re speaking in those situations – to want to prove our spirituality, our faith, our knowledge.  And, I’m one of that group, and yes – I lump myself and my insecurities in with that need to.  And listening to everything being said – I wondered to myself – Jesus, is this what you were thinking of when you talked about the church?  Jesus never seemed really keen on the religious experts.

  

And then yesterday – the 11am service at Redeemer – holy moley was that an event.  It started at 11am I got there at 10 and had to park down the road, on a side road that was already packed with cars.  And inside the building was swarming with people – clergy getting vested, a gazillion acolytes – choir members – people preparing the reception inside and outside.  Signs for restrooms and gathering rooms and special orders for the procession.  Hats off to the organization team, honestly, it was truly controlled chaos.

And then they line us up for the procession – and I was part of I think the 3^rd section of the procession which began with banners from every single church – our banner carried faithfully by Cynthia Frasier (thank you Cynthia) – then all the clergy (even though the first shall be last, somehow clergy always get the best seats) – then the bishops.  And as we process into the church – the church is packed like Easter morning – with Praise my soul the King of Heaven joyfully being sung full voice by everyone there.  It was indeed the church triumphant!  And I wondered to myself – is this it Jesus?  Is this what you imagined when you talked about church?

Because I totally underestimated that event – Josh and I scurried out of that service right after the sermon because at 2 o’clock we had a funeral.  Hugh Stierhoff, 83, member of Good Shepherd for at least 20 years if not more.  Taught Sunday school, came regularly, and it was pretty full in here.  Family and friends from near and far – I think we counted about 100 people.  And yep, in the midst of that I wondered – how about this Jesus – is this what you imagined your church would be?

And then – at the end of the service the the family and I and Josh processed to our columbarium – holding the “earth to earth, ashes to ashes and dust to dust” that we are at the last – and now we were down to 15?  18 people – gathered around a niche and tearfully saying final prayers – a small flock, a family taking comfort in the faith of God’s eternal promise.

This, I think, is what Jesus imagined when he talked to his disciples about church.  Its not a building – stones will always topple, Jesus said (Matt 24:1-2).  It’s not pageantry and banners and us looking and singing our best – they did that right before the crucifixion with those shouts of Hosanna in the highest (Matt 21:1).  It’s the small gatherings – its 12 disciples – or 18 vestry – or 15 mourners – or 2 or 3.  A community of people working through something in Jesus’ name – that is what church is really all about.

You know that phrase – where 2 or 3 are gathered there Jesus is.  You hear that one a lot, its pretty well know.  It’s either the phrase we use when only a few people have shown up for a church event.  Or we use it when talking about prayer and worship.  If only 2 or 3 are gathered to pray Jesus is there.

But this morning we have the phrase in context (and this is the only place it occurs in the scripture) is not about prayer or worship – it’s about conflict and disagreement.  Specifically when one member of the church has a conflict with another – feels they’ve been sinned against or wronged. 

So, that tells me something else about what Jesus thought church would be.  He thought it would be a community of people who make mistakes, who hurt one another, who disappoint one another – BUT – just as God does with us – it is a community of people who have been given the grace to work through hurt and anger and disappoint – in a whole, new way.

For example, let’s pretend Jesus is talking to a 21^st century Peter – he might say, if another member of the church sins against you in an email – do not reply with an email!  We’ve all been there, right?  We read this epistle in our In box that gives a one-sided, and totally unfair representation of an point of contention.  In the church – I think Jesus wants us to then go and talk it out!

Jesus has this crazy idea that relationships are in person – not on Facebook, or email, or through an opt-in opt-out dialogue box or tweeting or texting what we think and feel and want to say.  Jesus says – go and talk to the brother or sister you have an issue with because – you are a member of the church.  You are a member of a family that gathers in Christ’s name.

Please note, my friends, this instruction of Jesus’ is not to the crowds – this is specific to the people who want to be in a Christian community. I don’t say that to be exclusive – or to suggest we are any better than any other community or religion – but Jesus is saying, this community is to practice Christ-like behaviors when we are together.

You know, right that this is why we have committees?  We’re great with the jokes about committees – how many Episcopalians does it take to change a lightbulb?  1 to start the committee, 1 to suggest a motion, yadda, yadda, yadda.  But really – work done by committee is harder than just having one person do everything (the trap of church is that you know, one person doing everything)  Because in the committee we have to practice working together.

This – worship – this is practice too.  This is how as a community we practice reading the bible, praying the bible, praying for each other and the world, remembering Christ’s life and sacrifice for us, remembering our vows to seek and serve – this each Sunday is practice.  But conflict rarely comes into it because we are following a script!  It’s all spelled out, what we’re supposed to do.

But, when we have to deal with scheduling Sunday school – scheduling readers – making decisions about how we spend our money – how we raise our money – how we maintain the property – how we handle a problem – that’s when we see if we just talk the talk or walk the walk.  Where 2 or 3 are gathered struggling with something difficult in a loving way – that’s where Jesus says he is.

So, here we are again – start of the program year.  And it’s also a week that marks my third year as rector of this church.  And I have to tell you brothers and sisters I continue to be surprised that the people of this church do not know one another.  Very often I mention someone to someone else and they do not know who I’m talking about and I’m shocked because this is someone who attends regularly, who I see often.  And here we are in S’maltimore/Baltimore in a church that is not mega size!  So it seems in this community we need to do some relationship building, some being together in groups of 2 and 3 or more and working out what God wants us to be doing here and now.

I invite you therefore, if you have not participated on a committee or ministry team in this church for the last three years to try it out!  Get involved with some people and strengthen this community because it will not only be good for us as a church – but more importantly – it will be a witness to the beloved community that we are.  For that is what Jesus imagined a church would be – a beloved community of people who know that they too are beloved.  And that what we are called to do in Christ’s name to spread some much needed good news.  Amen.

- The Rev. Arianne R. Weeks

When It's Okay to Make Mistakes

Matthew 16:21-28
The Rev. Joshua Rodriguez-Hobbs

Pop quiz time: Do you remember last week’s Gospel lesson?

It’s really important for understanding today’s Gospel lesson, because it’s the first half of the story we’re hearing today. In case you’ve forgotten, or if you weren’t in church last week, let’s refresh everyone’s memories. Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And his disciples reply, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter replies, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus shouts, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” And yet, this Sunday, five verses later, Jesus tells Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!” What happens? How do we get from Jesus calling Peter blessed to Jesus calling Peter Satan?

It’s clearly got something to do with what Jesus tells his disciples between the two statements he makes to Peter. From that time on, Matthew tells us, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great sufferings at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed…Peter doesn’t like this. It goes counter to all his expectations about the Messiah. Peter believed that the Messiah was God’s Anointed One, sent by God to restore David’s kingdom on earth. That’s what he means when he calls Jesus the “son of the living God;” it was one of the titles of the kings of Judah, David’s heir. The king of Judah, the Hebrew people believed, was God’s agent on earth, adopted as God’s son on the day he took the throne. When Peter acclaims Jesus as the son of God, that’s what he’s thinking of, not that Jesus is God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Peter thinks Jesus is supposed to be the king who will defeats the Romans, and that means that he cannot go to Jerusalem to die. Peter is setting his mind on human things, not divine things.

I’m a lot more like Peter than I care to admit. I think that’s why I like Peter so much. He’s always messing up like today, when he goes from blessed to Satan, or a few weeks ago, when he tried to walk on water, but sank. Peter, try as he might to get it right, never seems to actually do anything right. But Peter, poor, misguided Peter, is probably the disciple that best exemplifies the Episcopalian and Anglican view of the spiritual life. Some Christian traditions focus on the fact that we humans are basically good. We’re made in the image of God, and we basically get things right. But that doesn’t seem true for Peter, does it? No matter what Gospel you read, Peter gets things wrong, even though he tries so hard to get them right. Other Christian traditions focus on how sinful and depraved we humans are. They tell us that we are incapable of even wanting to do anything good. But Peter proves them wrong, too. Peter really, really wants to get things right. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be trying nearly as hard as he does. In the middle, you’ve got us Episcopalians, there with Peter. We want to do the right thing, but a lot of times, we fall short, don’t we?

The truth is, I don’t always understand heavenly things. I don’t get this losing my life to find it. I’d much rather just keep it in the first place. But Jesus says that if I do that, I’ll lose it. And this reality that Peter and I share, this fact that we are all so prone to focus on the things we do understand, rather than the ones we don’t, this fact that we want the messiah we expected to arrive on our time table, this reality is at the heart of the way we Anglicans see the Christian life. We want to get things right, but so often we don’t.

If you ever get bored and flip to the back of your Prayer Book, you’ll find a section marked “Historical Documents.” One of these documents is called the “Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion.” They were originally written in Queen Elizabeth’s I reign, set out as a guide to the things that the Church of England believed. And one of these articles (the twenty-first, if you’re worried about that sort of thing) says something really remarkable, something that no one really said before it was written: “When [general counsels of the Church] be gathered together, (forasmuch as they be an assembly of men, whereof all be not governed with the Spirit and Word of God,) they may err, and sometimes have erred, even in things pertaining unto God." In 1571, when the bishops of the Church of England wrote this, no one made this claim. Everyone said that the mistakes that you thought other people in the church made were a sign that they weren’t really part of the church. That’s why Luther left the Roman Catholic Church. It’s only in England that you get a group of Christians admitting that the church gets it wrong sometimes. Peter got it wrong, and he had Jesus with him!

This is the heart of Anglican spirituality: we want to get it right, but sometimes we get it wrong. We pair this realistic view of our humanity with a high view of grace. We believe that somehow, in a way that we cannot understand, Jesus Christ shows up at the altar every Sunday, in bread and wine, to give us grace to journey on. Jesus teaches Peter why he’s wrong. He doesn’t just call him Satan and write him off. Jesus doesn’t write us off, either, even when we’re wrong. We, like Peter, are going to vacillate rapidly between the high and low points of our spiritual journey. We, like the counsels of the church, since they are made up of people, are going to get it wrong sometimes, even when we’re talking about God. The good news is that God doesn’t leave us there. God doesn’t abandon us in error. God gives us grace, and grace helps us to continue to journey closer to God, so that mistaken step is never our last. Thanks be to God for that. Amen.

Failure, Success and Faith

1 Kings 19/Matthew 14
Proper 14, Year A
The Rev. Arianne R. Weeks

  

In Jesus time his disciples needed step out of a boat.  In our time, this disciple needs to step out of the pulpit.

And like a boat on the water – a pulpit in a church sets the priest who is preaching apart.  Not just apart, but actually above all of you.  You all know that is done on purpose.  For acoustic reasons – and visual reasons.  But it also has other more subtle implications.

At our worship retreat this week we discussed – where does worship happen – on the altar (there) or in the nave (here) amidst the gathered faithful?  We all agreed that it’s a both/and.  Like a procession into church worship begins here – and moves towards the altar – then back through and into the world.  But our job as liturgical leaders is to always – through movement and through music – keep a constant connection – because otherwise, worship becomes performance.  You sit there and watch us up there.

For those of us here last week – when Jesus handed bread and fish to the disciples part of that teaching was – it’s not performance.  You feed them – we all participate.  Liturgy is after all, the work of the people.

So, I do believe standing here to preach, from time to time, helps us be mindful of the connection, how we are all in this together.  And for me, it’s also a risk.  I don’t have a script.  I could sink.  I could fail.

And that’s what I want to talk about this morning – failure.  Peter failed – he sank.  Elijah failed – we just listened to God decommission him as prophet.  And where I want to go is to say something we all know – every person here will fail.  And furthermore, it’s necessary. It helps us grow.  And theologically speaking I want to leave you with the question – what does God see?  Does God view us as successes or failures? Do those categories work in a life of faith?

With an average attendance of 150 people on a Sunday a success when compared with the church down the road that only sees 60?  Are we a failure as a faith community compared to the church up the road that sees 1,000?  Is that how God is judging us?

Let’s start with Elijah.  Even though he is atop a mountain – it is amazing how far and how fast he has fallen!  Just a chapter ago he had confronted a king and defeated almost 500 prophets of Baal in one of those – my God is better than your God and I’ll prove it Old Testament battles.  For all the specifics, read 18.  With one of the best lines in scripture, “How long will you people go limping with two different opinions?” he challenges the Israelites -  Choose a god – and choose Yahweh – for that is the true God of Israel.  That is the God who has kept his promise and remained faithful to you.  And he wins.  Baal’s prophets are defeated (killed actually – it’s amazing the psalm we just read, “God speaks peace to his faithful people” right after reading that God is killing people in Kings…but that is a sermon on the contradictions in scripture for a different day). And the king, King Ahab is left defeated and ashamed.

So he wins!  Elijah is a success.  But all it takes is a word – a threat from one of the king’s wives – Jezebel and it’s as if he lost all faith, al confidence, all hope in God’s abiding presence.  King Ahab tells Jezebel all about what happened and she sends word to Elijah saying – I will take your life by this time tomorrow.  Then he was afraid.  That’s all we know about Elijah’s reaction.  So afraid that he runs for his life into the wilderness and begs God to end his life.  Who knows – maybe he just had a nervous breakdown.  Even though it was a success, I’ll bet it took a lot out of him.  Doesn’t it usually feel like after a big success you should be done? Challenges complete? But they keep coming, don’t they.

And depressed, and a little self-righteous with his bemoaning that it is ALL up to him, he is zealous and the last faithful person left, atop Mt. Horeb God tells Elijah - Ok.  You’re done.  Go anoint Elisha in your place as prophet.  And by the way, Elijah, despite your protests that you are the ONLY one left who is faithful there are at least 7,000 others as faithful as you.

Ever thought to yourself – Oh, if everyone was just as faithful and as righteous as me!  If it all didn’t rest on my shoulders!  A reminder from this reading is that it really doesn’t.

Have you ever struggled to ask for help?  Have you ever thought you were better than everyone else and didn’t need help? Have you ever felt a failure because you couldn’t accomplish what you started out doing?  You realized you would have to pass the torch, you’d have to call in reinforcements?  You had to take a break.

For God – is Elijah failing – or is God caring for him?  Recognizing he is one in a long line of people who will participate in God’s purpose getting worked out?

  

And what about Peter.  This story is probably more familiar to us than Elijah’s.  Remember the feeding of the 5,000 has just happened.  The disciples had just witnessed something miraculous that they had all been a part of, but then Jesus sets them apart.  A community unto themselves.

And just like Elijah, despite their recent success they are afraid and doubting? It’s amazing how quickly that now-what-is-there emptiness can overtake us, isn’t it?

Now – maybe some of you remember an excellent sermon preached by Josh on the first Sunday of Lent and Matthew’s take on Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness.  Josh talked about that conditional clause the tempter uses – If you are the Son of God, then turn these stones into bread, and the like.  Generally speaking when you and I use that phrase in our relationship with God, or with someone else, it’s not the beginning of a good conversation.

Well what does Peter say to Jesus in his doubt – if you are Jesus then command me to walk on water.  The whole thing is Peter’s idea – not Jesus’!  And it sinks him.  He couldn’t do it.  And you know what – I don’t think Jesus expected him to be able to do it.   Because – I don’t think we can walk on water.  God in Christ – yes.  You and me – no.  That’s not the miraculous spectacle God has in mind for us.  When God uses us for miracles, then and now, it’s always to benefit someone else, not for supernatural successes that make us feel superior.  God’s miracles are practical and down to earth – feeding and healing people.

So, when Jesus catches him in his arms and says, oh why did you doubt?  Couldn’t he be referring to the FIRST doubt Peter had.  The same doubt that Elijah had – that Jesus had left them, that God had abandoned him.  The doubt that had Peter uttering the same phrase as the tempter – if you are Lord, then do such and such….

  

So here’s where I end up.  I don’t think life with God is about success and failure.  Elijah appears beside Christ at the Transfiguration.  Peter goes on to bring people to Christ and work miracles of healing.  I don’t think God looks at us and sees us and judges our ministries, our projects, our risks in those worldly success or failure terms.

Jesus in many people’s eyes was the ultimate failure.  A King, a Messiah, a prophet – punished, abandoned, naked and ashamed – left to die on a cross.  And while even he cried out that he had been forsaken – he acted as if he hadn’t.  He forgave those who crucified and mocked him.  He promised paradise to the thief who simply asked to be remembered.  He died faithfully – giving himself over to the Father out of love.

Acting in faith even when we feel forsaken.  Trusting God’s presence, without the tests, when we feel alone.  Giving thanks to God for any successes we may have.  Asking God to help us and help us reach out to others to accomplish our tasks. 

God does not call us to be successful – to walk on water - but to be faithful.  Take heart – that’s what God wants.  Intentions of the heart that radiate the truth that God is always with us and we are not afraid.  God doesn’t measure our successes like the world does. God wants our heart.

What Matters about Miracles?

Matthew 14:13-21
The Rev. Arianne R. Weeks

Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled.  Matthew 14:20

Given the incredible miracle we hear this morning, let’s spend some time talking about miracles.  It’s a word we hear and use often but there is a distinction between the more common use of the word and the very specific function and intention of the word used in scripture. 

Generally speaking, a miracle is an event, or occurrence that is unexpected that is for the good.  “It’s a miracle he caught that Hail Mary pass at the end of the game.”  Or, “it’s a miracle I made it on time given the traffic on the beltway.” 

And of course we also use the word when events of a much greater magnitude surprise us.  After the car accident – it’s a miracle I walked away.  After the diagnosis – it’s a miracle he’s still alive. 

In everyday vernacular we focus on the good outcome for an individual or group.  And some people assign agency to it – like God – but some people don’t.  A miracle is just one part of an interconnected universe, a coincidence to be grateful for.

But in the gospels, miracles are about more than the outcome.  We hear Jesus often say, “the kingdom of heaven is like this – or – the kingdom of heaven in like that.”  But when a miracle happens – that is God breaking into our world through Jesus or someone else to make “thy kingdom come, now!”  And it is never in secret.  It isn’t about just one person’s good fortune, but all those who see the miracle and think, “what does this mean for me?”

Lazarus is unbound and brought to new life and all who see (and hear) realize, “Ah!  That is kingdom living!”

The bleeding woman touches the fringe of Christ’s cloak and is healed and all who see realize, “No one is meant to be an outcast.  God desires health and inclusion for all!”

Water is turned into wine and all who witness the miracle are reminded, this is God’s son.

In John’s gospel miracles are always called, signs.  Because they orient our eyes and ears to the source, God.  So that we might ask why this miracle?  What does it tell me about God?  What does it tell me about God’s relationship to me and humanity?  How does it help me in my discipleship?

So, all that miracle preamble because today we read the one and only miracle that occurs in not 1, not 2, not 3 but all four gospels!  That is significant and amazing.  The birth – the birth of Jesus even – not the same in all four gospels, doesn’t even exist in two.  This miraculous story of something so simple – just a stressful situation that leads to people being fed – was critical enough to make the cut in all four.  Clearly, then, this miracle points to something very important about God that we are supposed to pay attention to.   

So, what matters about this miracle?  What does it teach us about God?  What does it teach us about discipleship?  While you could mine this miracle for many teachings, let’s focus on four.

5,000 men PLUS women and children.  In Mark it’s 4,000 but does the specific number matter?  I don’t think so – I think we’re supposed to see it is a WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE.  A crowd, nameless and anonymous. 

And we learn that God has great compassion for the anonymous crowds in our world.  There are many of them today – the poor, the undocumented, the ones in the city and the county.  Do we have compassion for the anonymous crowds in our world?  Or, like the disciples, do we want them to fix their own problems and go away?

Second point, Jesus wasn’t having a great day on this morning.  Our excerpt begins – Jesus withdrew in a boat – making it sound like he’s just doing his morning prayer.  But in the chapter it says, “Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat by himself.”  When Jesus heard what?  Jesus has just learned that his cousin, his friend, John the Baptist had been killed by King Herod.  But when the crowds (and we can include disciples) hear this same thing they follow Jesus.

Jesus is grieving over death.  The crowds and disciples maybe are grieving – but I bet they are also scared and anxious.  John the Baptist who we followed, who baptized us has been killed? What does this mean for our safety?  Jesus will know, he’ll fix it, he’ll take charge. 

Does Jesus get upset or frustrated or angry – that his disciples and this crowd have interrupted his grief with their anxiety and issues?  Nope.  Jesus has compassion and right away, tends to some of their needs by curing the sick. 

There is something miraculous in that, yes?  When we have the ability to stay calm, collected and compassionate in the face of another’s anxiety, fear, even grief.  That composure believe it or not can actually make a way for healing.

Number three. The disciples, they make a fair point don’t they?  It’s late, there are A LOT of people around, there are no Royal Farms in the area, it’s deserted.  So ok, we’ve done enough.  Jesus, it’s time to call it a day with our duties.  Tell them to go and get their own dinner.

Not necessary, says Jesus.  You, disciples, have the ability to feed them here and now, bring me what you have.  And one imagines with that same calm, collected and compassionate presence Jesus takes the gifts they bring, blesses them, breaks them and asks the disciples to share them.

Take, bless, break, share – this is what we practice together every week!  So I take an important point in Jesus teaching his disciples – they can’t just sit back and watch him do everything.  Their gifts, their actions, their doing is a part of the plan.  “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”  Jesus says.  A lesson and in invitation to discipleship, there.

Finally what is perhaps the most obvious, God wants the world to be fed.  God wants us with the resources we have – an abundance that can sustain all of creation – to feed and care for the hungry.  Pretty simple I guess – but give us this day, our daily bread – is still a prayer for actual bread for millions of children and adults in our world.

So, as I said, you could spend a year, a lifetime, I truly believe praying and reflecting on this incredible revelation about God in Christ.  And then you could apply what you glean – apply how the Spirit inspires your heart and mind to your and our life now.  We all know the headlines in the news right now.  You all know the situations of scarcity, or fear, or anxiety in your own life. 

God has compassion for the nameless and hungry crowds – how does that apply?

Jesus has a calm and collected presence in the midst of a group charged with sickness and stress – how does that apply?

God takes, blesses, breaks and asks us to share the gifts we have – how does that apply?

God wants men, women and children to be fed – how does that apply?

And with the questions and the challenges also comes our good news.  God looks on us with compassion – we are part of the crowd of humanity.  God offers us Christ’s calm and collected presence anytime we need it in the midst of our grief, fear or stress.  God takes, blesses, breaks open and shares Christ’s life so that we might know eternal life now and forever.  God wants our hunger – literally and spiritually – to be fed.

The challenges of this miracle and the good news of this miracle apply to us.  And there can be more miracles in the world as more and more disciples participate in the miraculous.  Amen.

Proper 13, Year A

The Rev. Arianne R. Weeks

8/3/14