Pentecost 24 Christ the King

At this the end of the Church year we have had a series of lessons looking at end times. We have dealt with the apocalypse and our preparedness  and today we deal with final judgement on this, Christ the King Sunday. First it is important that we remember what we have learned about the Kingdom of God. It is not an earthly kingdom fixed in any particular time and place. Therefore we must look at the prospect of final judgement in that context.

 The old covenant dealt in law. Obedience was rewarded and disobedience punished both on an individual level and on a national one. The freedom granted by the new covenant is subtle. There is a sense in which we prejudge ourselves. If we have not prepared ourselves for life in the Kingdom of God we have condemned ourselves to a future life of exclusion, my idea of hell. If we have embraced the Kingdom in life we will barely notice the transition because like the malefactor on the cross we are already with him in paradice. As the prophet said, Today you are given the choice of Heaven and Hell, choose LIFE.

Pentecost 23

The exploitation of talent is a delicate matter. Many of the world’s greatest artists labored in obscurity during their lifetimes. Overnight sensations typically  report that they worked as unknowns for decades before they were ‘discovered’. The tabloids are cluttered with reports of young sports, pop, and movie stars who handled fame badly. The loss of privacy and the inability to handle sudden wealth weigh heavily on most. It is not good for the male ego to have thousands of woman throwing themselves at you. Hollywood is littered with the graves of child actors who died young due to drugs, alcohol, or  riotous living. The examples of televangelists who became hypnotized by their own personas is legion.

Most of us do not possess the good looks of runway models or are unlikely to be discovered by talent scouts so what does it mean for us to use our God-given talents. How can we best use them to further God’s work on Earth. I am reminded of the Anglican priest who is asked how his son is doing in  college. His response, “Great, he’s an atheist at the moment.” This vignette makes the point that the opposite of faith is not disbelief but apathy and indifference. Faith that is not striving and struggling to find itself is stagnant and dead. Those who know what they believe, who have all the answers have lost faith.

So what does all this mean for the average person? Just because you don’t have the voice of an opera star doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t sing. If we adopt the self-defeatist attitude of the slave with one talent we become the agents of our own failure. No one can succeed without trying. Finally we look to our fellow travellers on this journey for support, this is why we come to church.

Pentecost 22

There are those who subscribe to end of the world scenarios. Many such days of apocalypse have come and gone. In 4.5 billion years one is almost certainly guaranteed--not that we have to be concerned. Nor do I expect men in white robes blowing C-note trumpets to appear in the sky to announce God's final judgement. However we all face the inevitability of our own personal demise at a time and place we have no way of knowing. Today's lessons are about being prepared for that day. That is not to say that we should be like those former southern slaves who sat and waited for their freedom to arrive. In fact we are admonished to be found doing the Lord's work until that fateful day.

Such is Amos' message to us. We should not be seeking the apocalypse, we should just not be found wanting should it arrive. As the Psalmist assures the Lord will deliver the faithful  and  Our Epistle every good thing will come to those who died in the Lord.

The parable of the wedding feast admonishes the faithful to live their lives in faith that no harm can come to them but like Luther, even knowing that the world may end tomorrow planting that cherry tree today. We should never allow fear of tomorrow to paralyse us into inaction today. Whenever the Day of the Lord should arrive we should be found doing his work here on earth.

All Saints Day

As the commentary points out on Sinai Moses acquired commandments/laws. When Jesus  ascended the mount to preach his Sermon he presented not laws but declarative statements most of which run counter to common accepted wisdom.

These texts mark All Saints Day. The Holy Catholic Church has at least 10,000 known official saints, early records being sketchy. A more liberal perspective acknowledges that:

Rom 3:23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

All are saints and sinners before God. Today we acknowledge  that as members of Christ's body the church we are as one with the saints of all times in the eternal Kingdom of God. None are better than any other, none can afford a holier then Thou attitude.  Today a list of those who have died in the last year will be read in many parishes but all baptised members of Christ's body the church are members of the list of Saints Eternal. We can take comfort from this holy priesthood and rejoice in the presence of the saints of every time and place and acknowledge our responsibility to continue the work they began and continued. We are one in the spirit.

Reformation

Reformation Sunday

What is truth?

Joh 18:36  Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world."
Joh 18:37  Then Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice."
Joh 18:38  Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, "I find no guilt in him.

Joh 8:31  So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
Joh 8:32  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Freedom is a an illusory term here. Absolute freedom does not exist. The truth offered here is that membership in the Kingdom of God entitles the members of Jesus' body, the church, to freedom from the weight and guilt of sin. Freed from those shackles they are empowered to respond in love; to become Christ's witnesses and the agents of his love on earth.

This is the new covenant alluded to in Jeremiah. God's people are no longer subject to the punishments meted out to breakers of the law, they have internalized the law with a code that is far more restrictive than the letter of the law but being internalized makes them free.

Psa 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psa 46:2  Therefore we will not fear

Our passage from Romans is a very loaded text.

"In Adam we have all been one
One huge rebellious man"

Rom 3:23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

So all are saints and sinners. No one has a right to boast even of their humility, for before God all are equal. Justified by Grace through Faith.

Someone called Luther made this the cornerstone of his message.

Pentecost 19

Today's lessons emphasize the duality of our human existance. We are in the world but not of the world. God appoints earthly rulers to bring order to earthly affairs but all are subject to God's heavenly authority and answerable to him for their actions. There is no separation of church and state for all are God's. In earthly matters we are subject to the rulers of this world but all are subject to God's heavenly rule and all will be accountable for their stewardship of the resources given them.

Pentecost 18

Pentecost 18 presents us with the Parable of the Wedding Banquet. In my mind's ear I am hearing the Medical Mission Sisters' singing:
"I cannot come, I cannot come to the Banquet
Don't trouble me now,
I have married a wife, I have bought me a cow."

Interesting that these lessons coinside with Thanksgiving. God is the giver and his people respond. Depending on that response this is a joyful occasion or to the rejected a cause for the gnashing of teeth.

In Isaiah we begin with God's banquet feast on the God's Holy Mountain where God's faithful celebrate and the mighty are put to shame in their ignorance.

Psalm 23 presents us with every good thing if we but trust in the Lord.

And the Epistle:

Php 4:6  In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

Today's Gospel Parable is truly apocalyptic in nature. The banquet is the Kingdom of Heaven and God himself is issuing the invitation which is open to all. The parable is a cautionary tale against complacency. It is not enough to put in an appearance to be seen to be present, one must fully participate or one has spurned the invitation as much as those who pass it up in the first place.

The commentator on Psalm 23 puts it best:

First, that God gives peace in the midst of conflict, life in the shadow of death. Second, the shepherd calls us to follow in a world where God’s mercy is often scorned. Walking in paths of righteousness for the sake of God’s name will put us at odds with the rest of the world.

Pentecost 17

Today's Gospel and OT Lesson concern parables of the vineyard and its landlord. God is the landlord, the Earth is his vineyard, and we its tenants. In the OT context a vengeful God wreaks havoc on his recalcitrant people. In the Gospel he sends his son who is Jesus himself. The passage quoted is from Psa_118:22-23. Psalm 80 and today's Epistle talk of redemption.