All Saints A November 1, 2023

Prayer

Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Great is the multitude, God of all holiness, countless the throng you have assembled from the rich diversity of all earth's children.  With your church in glory, your church in this generation lifts up our hands in prayer, our hearts in thanksgiving and praise.  Pattern our lives on the blessedness Jesus taught, and gather us with all the saints into your kigndom's harvest, that we may stand with them and, clothed in glory, join our voices to their hymn of thanksgiving and praise.  We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and riegns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year A, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992. 

Some Thoughts on Matthew 23:1-12

"What would it mean if we honored those whom God honors? What would happen if we stopped playing all of our culture's games for status and power and privilege? What would it cost us if we lived more deeply into justice, and mercy, and humility?"

Dylan's Lectionary Blog, Epiphany 4, 2005. Biblical Scholar Sarah Dylan Breuer looks at readings for the coming Sunday in the lectionary of the Episcopal Church.


Jesus saved for last the ones who side with heaven even when any fool can see it's the losing side and all you get for your pains is pain. Looking into the faces of his listeners, he speaks to them directly for the first time. "Blessed are you," he says.

You can see them looking back at him. They're not what you'd call a high-class crowd—peasants and fisherfolk for the most part, on the shabby side, not all that bright. It doesn't look as if there's a hero among them. They have their jaws set. Their brows are furrowed with concentration.

"Beatitudes," Frederick Buechner, Beyond Words.

Oremus Online NRSV Gospel Text


This week most congregations will be celebrating All Saint's Day.  Yet, as we do so, we attempt to weave a major Feast of the Church into the Scripture from Matthew.

I want to step back and take a look at Matthew first, then see how we might allow the scripture to speak to our Feast.

As we look at Jesus’ ministry, it is important to see that there is a framework at work in Matthew.
In the first chapters of the Gospel of Matthew, we see that the individuals who come in contact with Jesus do not have to do anything. Jesus is not teaching about discipleship. He is not charging them to reform the religion of the time -- he is simply giving of himself.

Jesus is intentionally offering himself to those around him. The people in the first chapters of Matthew and in the Sermon on the Mount receive Jesus; this is the primary interaction taking place between those following and the Messiah himself.

Jesus is giving of himself to others.

The Sermon On the Mount begins in Chapter 4.25, and the introduction runs through 5.1. We are given the scenery: the mountain beyond the Jordan (previous verse). This continues to develop an Exodus typology, the foundation of Matthew’s interpretive themes in these early chapters. It follows clearly when one thinks of the passages leading up to this moment: the flight from Egypt, baptism and now the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew’s Gospel, the first five chapters parallel the Exodus story. So, Jesus now arrives at the mountain where the law was given.

The structure of the following verses is beautiful and I offer them here so you can see how they play themselves out in a literary fashion (5.3-5.10).

5.3 Inclusive Voice: Theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

5.10 Inclusive Voice: Theirs is the kingdom of heaven

5.4 Divine Passive Voice: They shall be comforted

5.9 Divine Passive Voice: They shall be called sons of God

5.5 Future Active Voice with Object: They shall inherit the earth

5.8 Future Middle Voice with Object: They shall see God

5.6 Divine Passive Voice: They shall be satisfied

5.7 Divine Passive Voice: They shall have mercy
Matthew uses these formulas and structures throughout the Gospel.

Scholars tell us that the classical Greek translation illustrates the pains that Matthew took as he rewrote Luke’s and Q’s Beatitudes to create the parallels we see. Matthew also writes so carefully that when he is finished, there are exactly 36 words in each section of the Beatitudes (5.3-5.6 and 5.7-510). This, combined with the parallels, highlights the two sections that must have been meaningful to the church at Antioch (comprised of those who have fled persecution).

5.3ff describes the persecuted state of the followers of Jesus

5.7ff describes the ethical qualities of the followers of Jesus that will lead to persecution

This view is taken from the work of Allison and Davies in their hallmark text on Matthew's Gospel, volume 1.

In the Beatitudes offered by Jesus, it is easy to see that these words are blessings, not requirements. The teachings therefore are words of grace.

In the initial teachings of Jesus’ ministry, healing comes before imperative statements, here Jesus preaches that grace comes before requirements and commandments. This is a perennial Christian teaching: one must receive first before service.

The difficulties required of followers of Jesus presuppose God’s mercy and prior saving activity.

The Beatitudes are clear that the kingdom of God brings comfort, a permanent inheritance, true satisfaction and mercy, a vision of God and divine son-ship. This may be Matthew’s most important foundation stone within the salvation story. We are given, through grace, our freedom to follow.

We are like the Israelites and sons and daughters of Abraham, delivered so we may follow and work on behalf of God.

The Beatitudes also are prophetic, as in the passage from Isaiah 61.1. Jesus is clearly the anointed one. Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecy from Isaiah, bringing Good News to those in need. Furthermore, the words of Jesus are the result of the prophecy, so they set him apart from all other teachers.

The beatitudes then are also words which not only promise Grace to the follower, they fulfil the prophetic words of the old message from Isaiah: Jesus was meek (11.29; 21.5), Jesus mourned (26.36-46), Jesus was righteous and fulfilled all righteousness (3.15; 27.4, 19), Jesus showed mercy (9.27; 15.22; 17.15; 20.30-1), Jesus was persecuted and reproached (26-7). The beatitudes are illustrated and brought to life in Jesus’ ministry, they are signs that he stands in a long line of prophets offering comfort to God’s people, and he is also clearly the suffering servant who epitomizes the beatitudes themselves. Origen wrote that Jesus is offering this grace he fulfils and embodies his own words, thereby becoming the model to be imitated.

The Beatitudes are words of proclamation. Are we in a place where we can articulate Jesus’ story and life as a fulfilment of God’s promises to his people? God's promise to me personally?

The Beatitudes are words of mercy. Are we in a place where we can hear Jesus’ words for us? Have we allowed ourselves to be saved before we begin to work on Jesus’ behalf?

The Beatitudes are words of care for the poor. Are we in a place where we can hear Jesus’ special concern for those who are oppressed in the system of life? Are we ready to follow him into the world to deliver his people, imitating the work of Moses and Jesus?

As we reflect on the Feast of All Saints, it is clearer how this passage might speak to the church. We understand the saints of the past (holy and common) and the saints of today, along with the saints of tomorrow, to be those who, in their lives, offer us a vision of this grace, mercy, and vision for God's special friends - the poor.  Who are the ones we look up to from the past?  Who are the ones in our life today?

Can we see the potential of saints yet unknown to us already out in the world working and serving? Can we be open to the next saint who is yet to cross our path and offer us a vision of the kingdom of God?

Excerpt from Holy Women Holy Men

In the New Testament, the word “saints” is used to describe the entire membership of the Christian community, and in the Collect for All Saints’ Day, the word “elect” is used in a similar sense. From very early times, however, the word “saint” came to be applied primarily to persons of heroic sanctity whose deeds were recalled with gratitude by later generations.

Beginning in the tenth century, it became customary to set aside another day—as a sort of extension of All Saints—on which the Church remembered that vast body of the faithful who, though no less members of the company of the redeemed, are unknown in the wider fellowship of the Church. It was also a day for particular remembrance of family members and friends.

Though the observance of the day was abolished at the Reformation because of abuses connected with Masses for the dead, a renewed understanding of its meaning has led to a widespread acceptance of this commemoration among Anglicans and to its inclusion as an optional observance in the calendar of the Episcopal Church.  (page 664)

Some Thoughts on 1 John 3:1-8

"It may be significant that this text is full of indicative verbs, not imperative."

Commentary, 1 John 3:1-7, Brian Peterson, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.

"The church's integrity wells up from, and is channeled by, God's calling (3:1b; 3:3). To be a saint is to live in the same love by which God has loved us (3:16-18; 4:7-12)."
Commentary, 1 John 3:1-3 (All Saints A), C. Clifton Black, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.

"We get Christian hope confused when we think that our hope is based on now nice we are, or how well we behave, or on some hidden piece of us called 'the soul' that will survive through death and destruction."
Commentary, 1 John 3:1-7, David Bartlett, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.

Oremus Online NRSV Epistle Text 

In this letter from the Johannine community, we understand that they take their familial ties with God seriously. They are God's followers and are called the "children of God”. God loves them, and Christ, as Savior of the world, has unleashed that love, and it now claims them. They are God's children.  

New Testament scholar David Bartlet writes:

...John's Gospel points to a future hope. Sometimes that is a kind of individual future hope: "In my Father's house are many dwelling places... I will come and take you to myself" (John 14:2-3). At other times, there seems to be hope more like what we find in 1 Thessalonians, i.e., hope for a general resurrection at the end of time. "Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28-29).

The author reminds the readers that Jesus was not listened to in his own lifetime, and so it is unlikely that his children will be listened to... nevertheless, they are his children now and in the future. There is an understanding that what they experience now is only in part what they will experience once they are unified with God in his kingdom.  They do not know what that will be like, but as his children, they have a sure and certain hope.

So, the author tells the reader live a virtuous life.  Live an ethical life.  Be like God - good and pure.  Now what is important here is that we are not simply talking about a set of words that we interpret through our own lens. We must understand that for John and his readers in the community to be good and pure is to be like God, who loves.  We are to love. Love, love, love, love - Christians this is your call...as the old song goes.  I like how Loader (one of my faves) says it:

It is not about how many morality boxes we can tick to qualify ourselves as righteous or as a child of God. It is about whether love flows. Here, too, it is not about how many acts of love we summon up our energies to perform - ticking the goodness boxes, but how much we open ourselves to receive the love which God gives, which in turn flows through us to others. Love gives birth to love. Later the writer will speak of our loving because we were first of all loved by God (4:19). The author might say today: no amount of doing good deeds and no amount of having impressive spiritual experiences will count for anything if it is not connected to a real change that is relational. It may be cosmetic goodness and religion, but without that love it is nothing much. Paul made much the same point in 1 Corinthians 13.

We are saints and children of God because God makes us so...we are loved. We are the beloved of God.  And our response to this belovedness is to in turn, love others.  This is the chief if not the primary work.  How are we doing with that, I wonder? I wonder how God thinks we are doing with that?

I think rather than pointing a finger at our people and telling them to love more. Giving them new boxes to check and new tasks to fulfil...perhaps we might simply begin by loving them and by telling them that they are loved. Tell them you love them. Tell them they are loved. By all means, please, tell them God loves them. 

Some Thoughts on Revelation 7:9-17

"Led by their Shepherd-Lamb, God’s redeemed people will come through the tribulation into God's new Promised Land.”

Commentary, Revelation 7:9-17 (Easter 4C), Barbara Rossing, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2013.

"So much of the imagery is strange if not, perhaps, even estranging. Yet it is a way of asserting hope for people who faced hopelessness. It is a way of making God central and keeping the vulnerability of God in our vision."
"First Thoughts on Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," Easter 4, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.

Oremus Online NRSV First Text 

All that is needed is faith in God through Jesus Christ that the great abyss has already been traversed and an eternal bridge erected. 

In the New Testament, this is the idea that it is only through God’s work upon the cross – that is the death of Jesus that one enters the reign of God on the last day. Today’s lesson from Revelation describes that day and completes the prophetic words of Jesus.

Our great sightseer into the dream of Revelation sees the many who are saved. When wondering who the people are, he is told, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

Jesus offers The sign of Jonah that in the last days, the wedding feast will be consummated by his own death. Not by miracles at Cana nor by telling parables or working miracles. No, all who enter, enter by his grace and work on the cross. It is only for us to believe that it is so. No amount of our work or repentance gets us in – only the blood of the lamb.

It is a macabre image rooted deeply in the psyche of the first-century mind. Nevertheless, it is an image that reminds us of our powerlessness in the face of death.

This second vision, though, is one that is to bring us hope. The passage has been paid. All is needed is faith. For those who come to believe and turn over their lives in this world, the next, even in the last moment as they are faced with the reign of God, their way is afforded to them. Even in the Divine Comedy, all is never lost, and hope has the last word. So the clothes are washed in blood that is already spilt.

So, for everyone then comes the promise: “They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

This is comforting apocalyptic imagery for the believer. But there are many who are living in their own personal apocalyptic world today. People who are the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, and many more…the lost, the lame, the least, and the lonely… They face death today. Will there be food on the table and a roof over their heads? For those Christians who have found the depths of Sheol paved for them, then it is their work, in turn, to do some washing in this world. It is for the faithful to make the paths straight, the valleys high, and the mountains low for the poor who in this world have no way out of Sheol. For the faithful, they are to carry their own cross, lay down their own lives, and sacrifice for the other who faces death as a daily companion. In this way, then the promise of relief is not something to be received in death only but may be received by being given in life now.

I believe the Book of Revelation's author was writing about his present time. It may provide hope today as well, and it may even provide a transformation of community life. But we will have to get over the idea of being afraid of death. It is such a trivial thing if we but believe and then act out our belief.

Proper 25A, October 29, 2023

Prayer

Drive from our hearts the idols this world worships, money, and power, privilege and prestige, that we may be free to serve you alone, and, by loving our neighbor as ourselves, may make your Son's new commandment of love the law that governs every aspect of our lives. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year A, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.

Some Thoughts on Matthew 22:34-46

"It leaves each generation with a new challenge: how do we speak about God in Christ in a way that communicates the essence of the good news to people in our culture?"
"First Thoughts on Year A Gospel Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 19, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.

“Being a Christan is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God's will.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Oremus Online NRSV Gospel Text


I have decided that the world would be better off if people (including myself) followed this basic rule - this summary of the law is given in this passage.

We spend a lot of time figuring out how we are to follow Jesus and what we are supposed to be doing. Truth is, it is not that difficult.

We are to: love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

In Paul's letter to the Galatians, he claims that the summary of the law is from Leviticus 19:18: "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord." This passage is the most often used passage in the Gospel of Matthew, and here in Jesus' teachings, we see it once again reflecting what was an essential ingredient in Jesus' own teaching and in the teaching of the early church. (Allison/Davies, Matthew, 247ff) This statement fulfils the moral commands of the whole of the Decalogue from the rabbinic perspective, and so we see that Jesus continues this teaching with a few changes.

Just as Jesus broadens the family of Abraham with a Gospel mission to all people, so too does he broaden the burden of the Decalogue's teaching beyond the neighbour who is family to include all people. His command is one that is universal. The Christian, in fulfilling all righteousness (as did Jesus) must love all people and work for their well-being. This is the very core of what it means to be a Christian - to love others and work for their well-being. The mission of the Gospel is a message for all people, and our love for our neighbour is to be an action to all people. Just as Jesus came into the world, we are sent with all power and authority to love all of his who are in the world.

The other piece of Jesus' important teaching is his understanding that the measure of our love for others is revealed by our love towards God. In other words, so connected is God to all the people of his creation that one cannot measure your love of God without the measurement of your love for all people.

To love God with all we are and have is ultimately incarnated in our love for ourselves and the people in our lives and whom we meet.

So why is it that the reality is that we can all name people? Indeed, we can convict ourselves (I can convict myself) for a lack of love of God based upon my lack of love for myself and my neighbour? The reason is quite simple: we just flat out don't love God, and we don't love our neighbour more than we love ourselves. The age-old truth about human anthropology is this - we are bound and determined to create the world in our own image, run things for our self-service, and ensure that we are cared for first and last over and above everyone else's needs. Sure, on my best days, I can do okay on this love others bit. We should cut ourselves some slack...I mean, we do a lot of good work as a community, and I know a lot of saints of God who do amazing service in the name of God. That is true. But mostly we serve ourselves. It is true. And we should own it.

Our world and our church run on the notion that we can create laws and ordinances, canons, and policies that will guide the human being into the right action.

We believe in our own needs so much that we universalize them, pretending they are God's desires for us and God's desires for our neighbours.

What is the solution, like the pietist I say, in the privacy of your own heart, your life, and your actions and words (including emails) towards others? Set a rule of life that offers the opportunity to reflect on how you are doing. Get into an accountability group of some kind and see a spiritual director or seek the guidance of clergy. Your rule should also include confession. Take stock and confess honestly how you have fallen short. Only by doing this will you have the ability to reflect on opportunities to live more carefully in the virtue of Jesus' directions. Only then will you rest upon the Grace of God and Jesus Christ for the strength to try again? Go to church and place yourself in the presence of the God you love, and see there in the community others struggling to love themselves, love others, and love God. Join in a bible study and discern your ministry and what God would have you do.

Most of all, act. Do outreach. Serve the poor. Help your neighbour. Look for opportunities to do something good for someone every day, and don't tell anyone about it. That is one of the best takeaways from my years in Alanon. Do something good, help someone, and don't brag about it. Begin to see that your life is better when it is focused on others and helping others with their needs.

Allison and Davies write this about this passage, "Jesus' words fulfil the law and the prophets; religious duties are to be performed not for human approval but grow out of the intimate relationship with the heavenly Father, out of love for and devoted service to him; and the neighbour is to be loved and treated as one loves and treats oneself." (247)

When I die, I would hope the simple life of having loved my neighbour will be a measure adequate for my fellows to say I was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ; and for my God to see that I have worshipped him in all faithfulness.

Some Thoughts on 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

"As Christians, we are all community builders, not just the pastor, or the choir leader, or the theology student. Paul calls each one of us to interact with one another in our present Christian community with bold speech, personal integrity, and soul-sharing."

Commentary, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Richard Ascough, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.

"...we each need to be faithful stewards, loving mothers, and concerned and involved fathers."
A Compelling Example for Ministry, from An Exegetical and Devotional Commentary on 1 Thessalonians, by J. Hampton Keathley III at the Biblical Studies Foundation.

Oremus Online NRSV Epistle Text

Paul is having a tough go of it in his planting of churches in Philippi and Thessalonica.  At every turn, there is a stumbling block.  Yet his work and the work of the communities are fruitful and growing.  

He now encourages his growing community at Thessalonica and reminds them that the fruit that is being born from their efforts is a fruit that arises because God is at work in their midst. It is God who approves of their preaching of the gospel and authorises their mission.  It is not about popularity but about God's intentions coming into reality.

You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, 2but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition.3For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, 4but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts.

It is not a crafty message or tricks that draw people into this fledgling community but God and God's spirit. It is not about people feeling good about themselves or flattery that draws them in but the message of God's love and grace.

Paul then has that beautiful passage about being emissaries of Christ.  That they are gentle and kind to those seeking God and greater knowledge of him.  Their generosity and their own imitation of Christ is what is having an impact on the broader community. Sure, there are still people who proclaim them crazy and a charlatan. Paul and the community, though, are simply being faithful to the Gospel they received.

But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. 8So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

Paul reveals in this passage that he truly loves them and cares for them.  A friend of mine once told me that when looking at a congregation and considering your life and ministry in their midst, you have to ask yourself, do you, can you, love them. I think there is something important in that idea - something quite Pauline.  What would our churches be like if we loved the people within as well as the people without?  

I learned a long time ago that it is much more important to tell people you love them than it is to hear that you are loved.  It is an amazing thing, and I have tried to look at those given into my care and to love them. To be gentle. Sometimes I have failed miserably! Oh my, and what a mess.  But in those instances where I have loved, far greater things have happened.

Some Thoughts on Deuteronomy 34:1-12

"Moses has been obedient and has had faith for so long that it must have been a profound gift to have his hopes and convictions confirmed by what he did see."
Commentary, Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Sara Koenig, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.

"That story can continue to speak to people today who, even in the midst of disappointment, live by faith in the God of Moses, the God who does indeed fulfil promises."
Commentary, Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Kathryn Schifferdecker, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.

Oremus Online NRSV First Text


Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes:

The simple answer is that obsession with death ultimately devalues life. Why fight against the evils and injustices of the world if this life is only a preparation for the world to come? Ernest Becker in his classic The Denial of Death argues that fear of our own mortality has been one of the driving forces of civilization. It is what led the ancient world to enslave the masses, turning them into giant labour forces to build monumental buildings that would stand as long as time itself. It led to the ancient cult of the hero, the man who becomes immortal by doing daring deeds on the field of battle. We fear death; we have a love-hate relationship with it. Freud called this thanatos, the death instinct, and said it was one of the two driving forces of life, the other being eros.

Sacks then writes, “Judaism is a sustained protest against this world-view.” (Sacks, Jonathan. “Nitzavim (5774) - Defeating Death.” Rabbi Sacks, The Office of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, 4 Apr. 2016, rabbisacks.org/nitzavim-5774-defeating-death/)

I believe religious powers and authorities, at our worst, have used the scriptures to inspire a fear of death to gain support for their agendas. When in fact, Jesus’ ministry was the opposite. Jesus’ work was to deal head-on with the powers of this world that we might have life in the here and now. Jesus sought to remove the fear of the future that we might have a life here, knowing well that we have life in the future. The Gospel, especially Mark’s, is for those afraid that they might have hope in the face of the apocalyptic life lived in this world and in the face of fear of the apocalyptic doom preached about the future.

With this in mind, we turn to the story of Moses in Deuteronomy. Moses has led the people to the promised land, but he will not see it. A leadership fable reveals the very nature of leadership especially shared leadership. The person who steps out and leads rarely sees the results of such leadership. They write the story of transition and faithful sacrifice of self but do not write the last chapter. The next/last chapter is always written by someone else. Moses’ epitaph is a life well lived in service to God. “Never again did there arise a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to display in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land, and for all the mighty acts and awesome sights that Moses displayed in the sight of all Israel. (Deut. 34:10-12)

Moses loved God even though he himself was not perfect like God. Moses loved God’s people even though they did not always get along. Moses loved his partners, not because he needed them but because God needed them to help Moses fulfil his work. Most people do not know where the ordinary man is buried though some know where the famous are buried. “No man knows [Moses’] burial place” (34:6). Here is a great prophet who has no great monumental tomb because of all the things Moses was – he was a humble leader.

Moses is the ordinary man in everyday ordinary life (where the battle of the powers and authorities is waged), with whom and through whom God did extraordinary things. When life is over, we have no fear of death. And, when we look back, we will value most the things that Moses valued: the love of friends and family, the love of God’s work well done, and the love of having been part of a blessed community of shalom – peace.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes as he ponders Moses' life and his end: “The greatest tribute the Torah gives Moses is to call him eved Hashem, the servant of God. That is why the Rambam writes that we can all be as great as Moses. (Hilkhot Teshuvah 5:2) Because we can all serve. We are as great as the causes we serve, and when we serve with true humility, a Force greater than ourselves flows through us, bringing the Divine presence into the world.” (Sacks, Jonathan. “Moses' Death, Moses' Life (Vezot Habracha 5775).” Rabbi Sacks, Office of Rabbi Sacks, 4 Apr. 2016, rabbisacks.org/moses-death-moses-life-vezot-habracha-5775/)

Proper 24A, October 22, 2023

Prayer

Let those who exercise authority over others defer always to the primacy of conscience; and help us to use rightly the freedom you have given us, that we may fulfil Jesus' teaching, by rendering to others what is rightfully theirs but rendering to God alone the deepest loyalty of our hearts. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.

From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year A, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.

Some Thoughts on Matthew
[Some lectionaries may have Matthew's transfiguration - 17:1-9. Please see last Epiphany A for this text commentary]

"It is God who claims us, who made us in his own image. We do not belong to anything or to anyone else." Commentary, Matthew 22:15-22, Clayton Schmidt, Preaching This Week ,WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.

"How can a Jew be faithful and observant and also stay alive under Roman rule? Yikes. But it is precisely this position of being caught in a bind of irreconcilable, conflicting obligations and duties that make real life so interesting. The desire to make the tension go away, to solve it, is the enemy of true faithfulness. " Holy Textures, Understanding the Bible in its own time and in ours, Matthew 22:15-22, David Ewart, 2011.

Oremus Online NRSV Gospel Text


As we have noted, we are in the midst of a confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders of his day. This week's passage is on giving to God what is God's.  The leaders in the story are trying to get Jesus to make a seditious, revolutionary statement so they can accuse him and dismantle his ministry.

This is a masterful moment of play and humour. It is a masterful moment of debate in which Jesus is seen outclassing his verbal opponents.  The reality is that all things are God's. So Caesar can think that the coin is his and we should indeed give it to him. But the message is clear all things are Gods.

This is not an argument for a division between church and state. Surely, Christians over the years have understood that they have a virtuous citizen role to play in the world of government and politics.  But this text is far from being a text that offers a view of the nature of our current debate between religion and the public square.

In this passage, Jesus is clear: all things are God's.  Even in the subtext, as we see the plotting and the future revelation that Jesus is surely to die for his teaching and for his eating with undesirables (as taught in the previous week's text and lived out by Jesus), we are sure that God will prevail. Even the personhood of Jesus is God's own possession.  The workings of the state may indeed be crucified and tortured, but the kingdom will belong to God and to his son Jesus.

So this Sunday, situated in the midst of the fall, is located right in the middle of many a stewardship campaign.  And I think the message Jesus offers his detractors and the people around him is just as applicable today.

Every week we proclaim through the Nicene Creed a particular kind of God. We proclaim and give voice to a God whom we have faith in, the very one who has created all things and for whom all things were made.  The whole of creation was ordered and breathed into so that it might reflect the glory of God.  Our Gospel today reminds us that, in fact, all things are God's.

This flies into the face of our modern conception of stewardship.  We teach and preach that God gave us all things, so we are to give back to God.  That is not the same thing, though.  When we teach that, we change the meaning of the whole text and the whole of scripture.

The reality is that all things are created by God and are God's.  So the question isn't what am I supposed to do with my 5% or how do I get to my tithe goal.

The chief stewardship question I would challenge you to ask the members of your congregation is this: If all things are God's, how does God want me to use everything?

That is a radical notion.  Yet it fits with the understanding of creation. It fits with the understanding of Christian stewardship in the New Testament. It is very uncomfortable, and it is so culturally foreign to Americans that most people will not preach it, and when it is preached, most people won't be able to hear it.

If all things are God's, how does God want me to use everything?

You see when we get this confused, and we then adapt the stewardship notion (the idea that all things are God's and we are God's stewards), we get the idea that the owner has actually given over the property to the steward. That, really, the steward is the owner.  When the steward becomes the owner, then there is a new owner, and that owner is not God.

It is a very subtle concept. Perhaps it is so subtle that our authorities challenging Jesus don't even get his joke.  You see, we can pretend all we want. Yet as we are reminded on Ash Wednesday and at every funeral: dust we are, dust we shall return.  Yep. All things are God's, they are God's now, and they will be God's when we are finished using them.

The very heart of stewardship is understanding that all that we have and all that we are is God's and purpose for God's use. The only stewardship question is how does God want me to use all this stuff!

There is another more sinister stumbling block in this text, and that is the one that is sneakily portrayed by the emperor's image.  You see, we, not wholly unlike the emperor, believe most days we deserve what we have. We deserve what we have; in fact, we deserve more than what we have. Remember, the one with the most toys wins.  That's right.  The reality is that most of us Americans are still firmly rooted in the false notion that if we work hard, God will bless us; if we believe right, God will bless us; if we do the right things, God will bless us.  Therefore, all the stuff we have is because God blessed us.  No matter how you look at it, the second most human way of life (behind it is all mine) is the notion that the more I have, the better I am.

In varying degrees, all humans are hoarders.

We believe if we can have, possess, keep, hide, and collect it, then we are good, safe, whole, and holy.

I love the wake-up call that Charles Lane gives in his book Ask, Thank, Tell: Improving stewardship ministry in your congregation.  He writes:

Our American culture has trumpeted the "self-made man at least since the time of Horatio Alger. The rags to riches story of a person who has pulled himself or herself up by the bootstraps and made something out of nothing has a long-standing place in our nation's mythology. We tend to take a very individualistic view of "success," ignoring the multitude of complicated factors that have caused one person to achieve wealth and power, while others have not.  ...Countless forces over which we have no control have helped make us what we are. The brains and the hard work for which we want to take credit for are God's, and God entrusts them to us.

What we have should not focus our attention on how kingly, wealthy, or blessed we are; it should make us ponder and think about how God would have us help others with what we have been given.  How do I, as a steward of God's stuff, understand and enact the kingdom of God?

We are not unlike the Roman legions occupying the holy land who produced that coin Jesus held many years ago.  We occupy our fortresses and think only of the small offerings we should make to the Lord our God, who has created all things, gives them life, and has brought them into being by his hand.

We are invited into a sacred relationship with the gardener, the vineyard owner, and the one who is God above all Gods, Lord of Lords, and King of Kings.  And we are given the privilege of serving as stewards for all things come from thee O'Lord, and of thine own have we given thee.  All things are God's and we have the honor as stewards to ask how God wishes us to use all things.

Only when we begin here by opening our eyes to our faithful claim of a creator God and our role as stewards may we begin the journey of discernment about how to use God's stuff.

Some Thoughts on 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

"It can be tempting, when we receive the 'word', to think that we have received a special revelation, understood only by God and ourselves, and we allow this to become a justification for all we do and think. But the Holy Spirit moves in others as well as ourselves."
Commentary, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Holly Hearon, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.

"The content of the Gospel is grounded in faith and action? Faith insofar as one must accept the message of the return of Jesus, and action insofar as one must turn away from the practices of idolatry. The presentation of the Gospel is found in words and action."
Commentary, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10, Richard Ascough, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.

Oremus Online NRSV Epistle Text 

This week we shift to the first letter of Paul to the community in Thessalonica.  Typical of most letters, we have an introduction which was routine at the time of Paul's writing. It is possible this intro was done by a scribe in preparation for the rest of the text; this would also be true for the ending of the letter.  This is in part, why so many of the Pauline texts begin and end in a similar manner.

After the greeting, Paul tells them that despite their adversity, they have continued in faith.  They have undertaken a labour of love and a work of faith.  They are responding to God and God's love for them and have endured their sufferings.  

6And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit,7so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

They have done all this not because of their faith but the faith of Christ that is in them. They have been chosen by God.  Yes, they are faithful, but Paul is clear it is God working his purposes out in them. In this combined way (God's faithfulness and their own), they are successfully imitating Christ for the community around them to see.  

The families connected together in this gathering (which is really the meaning of the word church here) are known as people who worshipped the Roman gods.  They probably had altars and idols in their homes.  Yet they have come to know that Christ was resurrected and is a living God - he is not dead or a useless idol.  Moreover, it is this living God who will save them regardless of what their end may be.  Their witness is spreading from Thessalonica across the region, and it is having a great effect.

in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. 9For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,

What kind of witness are we making to the world around us? How are we letting God's faithfulness be revealed in our actions and in our daily lives? What false Gods do we continue to manifest in our lives, and what altars do we have set up in our homes?  Paul challenges us today to figure out how we are living like Silvanus and this gathering of faithful people or how we are not. I don't think this is a moment for shame but rather an honest question about asking: do we really believe the altars and statues we erect in our lives will save us?  And, are our actions in the world revealing the kind of God we believe in?

Some Thoughts on Exodus 33:12-23

"The fact that Moses' request is not granted reminds Moses, and us, that God is still God. For all his chutzpah, even Moses cannot presume too much. Even Moses cannot know or comprehend God completely." Commentary, Exodus 33:12-23, Kathryn Schifferdecker, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.

"Preaching on this passage could address the uncertainty that is a necessary part of faith, or it might emphasise the way in which worship and discipleship are themselves acknowledgements of the presence of God with us." The Old Testament Readings: Exodus 33:12-23. Weekly Comments on the Revised Common Lectionary, Theological Hall of the Uniting Church, Melbourne, Australia.

"YHWH extends grace, mercy, and assures the promise of a holy presence and a communal presence. YHWH also sets up a tension that is at the heart of our own relationship with God. God gives of Godself, but in God's infinite holiness, God also places limits on accessibility." Commentary, Exodus 33:12-23, Eric Mathis, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.

Oremus Online NRSV First Text 

In today’s passage, Moses complains that God has not revealed who God is going to raise up to assist Moses, then he angles for a view of God, and God essentially responds by showing Moses his backside.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks points out that this passage falls between the Golden Calf story in 32 and the “Thirteen Attributes of Mercy” in 34, including the second set of tables. And Sacks questions: what is Moses trying to accomplish here? (Sacks, Jonathan. “The Closeness of God (Ki Tissa 5776).” Rabbi Sacks, Office of Rabbi Sacks, 25 July 2016, rabbisacks.org/the-closeness-of-god-ki-tissa-5776/.)

Let’s face it, the passage is weird. Leaning on Sacks here to fetter out the strands, we clearly see that a) the people of Israel are lost in many ways, a “national crisis” is at hand, and Moses is seeking theological understanding and a look at God; b) the actual sentences don’t make sense together (editor’s mistakes, see verse 14 specifically and the order of things); C) some confusion on what the people’s sin was – actually. (Ibid)

Not to mention Moses has moved his tent outside the encampment! The whole story is a bundle of emotions and leadership anxiety.

Sacks writes:

It was as if Moses was saying, “Until now, they have experienced You as a terrifying, elemental force, delivering plague after plague to the Egyptians, bringing the world’s greatest empire to its knees, dividing the sea, overturning the very order of nature itself. At Mount Sinai, merely hearing Your voice, they were so overwhelmed that they said, if we continue to hear the voice, ‘we will die’ (Ex. 20:16).” The people needed, said Moses, to experience not the greatness of God but the closeness of God, not God heard in thunder and lightning at the top of the mountain but as a perpetual Presence in the valley below. 

That is why Moses removed his tent and pitched it outside the camp, as if to say to God: it is not my presence the people need in their midst, but Yours. That is why Moses sought to understand the very nature of God Himself. Is it possible for God to be close to where people are? Can transcendence become immanence? Can the God who is vaster than the universe live within the universe in a predictable, comprehensible way, not just in the form of miraculous intervention?

What is important here is the arch of the narrative, which gets somewhat lost in our chip choppy way of reading it. The story goes that Moses is essentially pleading with God to come close to God’s people. That God cannot always be the God of mighty acts and transcendent power.

To this, God replies similarly to Moses as to Job – you people cannot and do not understand my ways. I imagine him saying to Moses, “Do you not know my story and how I have been with you and your ancestors in every step, in your dreams, and upon your lips? Do you not know how I have walked with my people in the garden of their lives? I am a mighty God of mighty acts, but I am also the God who knows the intricacies of human life, hairs on a head, and the sweat of your brow.” So it is that God does what Moses asks and comes and fills the people with his presence.

Such inexplicable transcendence and immanence are alluded to in the gospel of Mark chapter 6 when Jesus walks on water. Here the Gospel taps into this very idea alluding backwards to the story of Job 9:4-11 and our passage from Exodus for today. Jesus passed them by. (Richard Hays, Echoes of the Scripture in the Bible, p. 72.) Here in the Gospel, then is the revelation of God in the person of Christ Jesus (through whom all things were made), the eternal incarnation revealed. It is the very Christ, the incarnation, who may be seen passing by Moses and Job. The great mystery that Moses and the people can’t seem to comprehend is that God is and has always been nearby in God’s incarnation. The question Sack’s asks we see as a revealed and unequivocal “Yes!” God is both transcendent and cannot be contained fully in any vessel, though is revealed in the person of Jesus and all of creation and its history as immanently present.

There is always a quick move to keep God somehow contained in the vessels we make for God – whether that be a tent of meeting – the Mishkan, a church by the sea where Jesus walked on the water, or our hearts. This is merely religious thinking, though. The reality is that God is present and always present. We may glimpse this God only for a second and from time to time, but God is present always, in all places, and with all people. Religion inserts a notion of dualism here that is essential to religious power. But God is the God who shaped the universe through Christ and who floated down the Nile watching over a baby basket. God is both the mighty voice and presence upon a mountaintop and the one we intimately call our relative: father, mother, brother, and sister. Like a mother hen, he gathers us and with a mighty voice, she shatters a rock, and water comes forth that we may drink deeply of the mystery of a God revealed.

Proper 23A, October 15, 2023

Quotes That Make Me Think

Prayer

Open our community to all who seek you, and adorn it with the rich diversity which is your Spirit's special gift. Let our assembly on each Lord's Day bear witness as a living sign to the banquet of eternal life where all will be welcome. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.

From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year A, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.

Some Thoughts on Matthew 22:1-14

"I am drawn to understand this double parable through the lens of James 2, and the tension between his affirmation that one's faith can be seen in one's "works" (by which he means deeds, especially deeds of justice and compassion), and Paul's more famous affirmation (in Galatians and Romans) that our standing before God depends only on our acceptance of God's grace."
Commentary, Matthew 22:1-14, Sharon H. Ringe, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.

"The challenge of the story lies both in the warning about refusals and in the richness of the image of salvation as a feast...Beyond the strategy to save the party at the story level is the much richer notion of God's generosity, not as an afterthought, but as God's enthusiastic being and delight in all people and pain at their refusal to share the life freely offered."

"First Thoughts on Year A Gospel Passages in the Lectionary: Pentecost 17,"William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia,

Oremus Online NRSV Gospel Text

So the reality is that this parable continues themes from the preceding lessons in the Matthean text.  One of those themes is greatly defined by Jesus' own mission in contrast to the authorities of his own day; and the contrast between the growing Matthean community and the religious authorities some sixty+ or so years after Jesus' resurrection.  We can do a great deal of harm if we are not again careful with how we set up this parable.  The danger for the preacher is that the divisions of the past can easily slip into hatred for others today. I would think that no good preacher wishes to (intentionally or unintentionally) create hatred for any ethnic or another religious group. Moreover, when we focus on this one aspect of the text we completely miss what the text is saying to us today.

The second theme is the one that I think has the most traction from our pulpits today in our particular context.  We are a church that is in the midst of a great and diverse global society. We are a church that sits ethnically divided and does not typically represent the community around us.  It is easy to see this when we graph out the ethnic diversity of our church or the age diversity of the church.  

The second theme of the text is that the kingdom of God is passing from one generation to another. The kingdom of God was once something that meant belonging to a particular group but now through the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, God's fuller plan of inviting the whole world into fellowship and kinship is underway.

The parable tells us first and foremost that the kingdom of God is the (will be in the end) fulfillment of a universal mission.

The cautions of the text are well put by the scholars Allison and Davies who write in their third volume on Matthew:

The evangelist was all too aware that criticism of others as ell as the doctrine of election are both fraught with moral peril; for the former tends to nourish complacency -- censure of our enemies always makes us feel better about ourselves -- while the latter can beget feelings of superiority...the two things can foster illusions...Thus it is that Christian readers of 22:1-14, who necessarily identify with those at the king's banquet, cannot read the text and feel self-satisfaction over the wrath that overtakes others. They must, as the homilies on this text throughout the centuries prove, instead ask whether they are like the man improperly clothed, whether they are among 'the many' despite profession to be among 'the few.'  God's judgement comes upon all, including those within the ecclesia.  The author of 1 Peter well understood this when he wrote that judgement begins with the household of God. (p 208)

In this light and in light of the particular reflection of the kingdom of God we offer as a church we might readdress the parable and ask ourselves the following questions.  Are we going out on behalf of our householder? Are we going out and inviting all to come to the banquet feast?  Are we accepting the invitation to sit at the table and to invite others? Are we willing to invite and/or to sit at the table with both the good, the bad, and the ugly?  Are we really interested in sitting in a filled banquet hall?  Are we prepared for the feast?  The question is not so much are you wearing the right clothes but are you ready to invite, connect, and welcome the people God intends to gather around for the wedding feast?

This Sunday many a sermon will focus on the violence of this parable. Some will focus on the "us and them" reading. Some will speak out only to make the insider feel better.  The truth-teller will challenge their community gathered to go out into the streets and gather in God's people, the sacred people of God, created by God, a diversity of ethnicities and beliefs. Yes, the preacher this week who speaks the truth will be the preacher who challenges our church to a missionary imperative of sharing the Gospel.

No, we do not intend to preach a Gospel that does violence to others but a Gospel of love that binds us together in the harmony of God's community. We shall invite with our actions of care and hospitality. We shall gather God's people in through actions which incarnate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I do believe in judgment; it happens every day. But I will tell you that I wish to be judged on the love and the kindness I show to my fellow man. I wish to be judged on the Gospel of love which invites all into God's heavenly embrace. I wish to sit at the table with the good and the bad, the old and the young, people of every color and people of every language.  After all...aren't those always the very best dinner parties?

Some Thoughts on Philippians 4:1-13

"Paul's concern is unity in the church, which can only arise once we recognize our redemption as coworkers for the Lord, giving us a spirit of gentleness, and thereby turning our sight from earthly matters that lead to petty squabbles, derision, and anxiety. Only then can we experience the peace that transcends all understanding."
Commentary, Philippians 4:4-7, Jacob Myers, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.

"But Paul sees a different reality alongside the violence and duplicity of Rome. The small and struggling Christian congregation in the Roman colony of Philippi is itself a kind of 'colony,' a separate polis with a more powerful Lord who alone has defeated death."
Commentary, Philippians 4:1-9, Susan Eastman, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.

Oremus Online NRSV Epistle Text 

Paul takes a bit of time with the Philippians to warn them of the trouble with appetites that will derail their pilgrimage with Christ.  So he comes now back to the intention of these last verses which is to draw the letter to a close. BUT he just can't bring himself to do it. So again he brings up a concern.

There are two individuals in the community Euodia and Syntyche and they don't agree about their understanding of a life lived following Christ. Sound familiar?!?  Moreover, their dispute is causing division in the community. REALLY! I hope you are reading my sarcasm here...  People are not agreeing with one another and then causing a division.  We don't know which one is the loyal or faithful person but we do know that Paul believes this is problematic for the mission.  Division is problematic and reconciliation is essential.

So Paul closes the letter reminding them of the need for gentleness and kindness, thanksgiving and peace.  God will be faithful in helping them through their divisions and trials. God will come soon. (Paul still believes at the time of this writing that God's second coming is approaching quickly.)  He blesses them and challenges them to be faithful.

This is apostolic leadership. The apostle rises above the division. In a nonanxious way, he points out with clarity that mission is the most important thing. He reminds them of their personal and individual journey with Christ and how this is important. Then he points out who it is that is causing problems and calls them to be unified. He challenges them to be reconciled one to another so that the mission may be undertaken with faithfulness.  And the apostle raises before the community their call to unity and mission over and above those who are divided. 

No matter what the division is, for too long we as leaders have been on the ground mucking it up instead of being the apostolic leaders we are intended to be.  I'd love to see a unified and prophetic voice rise up from leadership across every church and every denomination with a vision for evangelism and the cause of Christ - over and above the shouting, raising fists, and prophecy bent on dividing the people of God. Now that would be reformation worth listening for!

Some Thoughts on Exodus 32:1-14

"I suggest we discontinue referring to this text as the "golden calf" incident and begin calling it the "God changes God's mind at the request of Moses" incident."
Commentary, Exodus 32:1-14, Shauna Hannan, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2016.


"With the golden calf narrative, preachers have an opportunity to explore with their congregations the stunning, and even surprising, character of God and God's way with the world."
Commentary, Exodus 32:1-14, Amy Erickson, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.

Oremus Online NRSV First Text 

The commandments have been given to Moses and to the people. But, Moses is delayed in coming back. So, the people do what people do all the time…in the absence of leadership and God they make gods, idols.

It is possible that the story of the golden calf actually is a reference to a dispute between the later Northern and southern kingdoms. See I Kinds 12:28-30 where the story might link up and reveal the purpose here isn’t just that Israel has one God, but that Israel has one place of worship and one kingdom. But let us not dismiss the story too quickly a mere historical controversy in narrative form.

Essentially what happens is that God gets upset at the idol-making, the people plead with God not to be so angry, and God allows for a bit of grace. Moses gets angry and smashes the tablets. Aaron offers a lame excuse and blames the people. Then there is some killing as punishment while the rest of the people are spared.

Interestingly, Rabbi Abraham Ben Meir Ibn Ezra (in his work Ibn Ezra) believes that we get the story confused. The idols were not to take God’s place but instead to take Moses’ place. They were to become the means by which in the absence of a leader the people could commune with God.

Rabbi J. B. Soloveitchik (one of the great 20th century Jewish thinkers) wrote, “They felt that they themselves did not have access to the Almighty. Only somebody of great charisma and ability could have access to him. The people sinned because they were perplexed. Moses has been gone for a long time… They did not understand that, while Moses was the greatest of all prophets and the greatest of all men, every Jew has access to God… Sometimes it is a sense of one’s greatness that causes sin; sometimes it is a sense of one’s smallness.” (Vision and Leadership pg 131).

Finally, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of England, puts it eloquently, “Every Jew is an equal citizen of the republic of faith because every Jew has access to its constitutional document, the Torah…”(Radical Then, Radical Now; pg.129)

For the Christian then, this story is not truly about replacing God with other lesser gods but instead believing that man-made items will touch the divine in such a way to help us with our fear, anxiety, sense of lostness, despair, and hopelessness. For the Christian, we have not the church as an idol, nor clergy. We have not morality or some other stand-in. Instead, we have the life of Jesus as our mediator in whom all are made citizens of the reign of God.