Friday, September 26, 2014

The 15th Sunday after Pentecost - Seafarers & Laborers: Worthy or Not?


As I looked at today’s readings this week I've been wondering what they tell us about we should view life.  And in my wondering I think I see two dimensions cropping up in our readings from Jonah and Matthew: dependence and interdependence, accountability and grace.
Today has been designated Sea Sunday by the Seamen's Center in Wilmington.  As we think about the lives of those who work to bring cargo from all over the world to the Port of Wilmington, we may remember the seamen in the Jonah story:
“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, ‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.’ But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
“But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten it for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of the ship and had lain down, and was fast asleep. The captain came and said to him, ‘What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish.’
         “The sailors said to one another, ‘Come, let us cast lots, so that we may know on whose account this calamity has come upon us.’ So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, ‘Tell us why this calamity has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?’ ‘I am a Hebrew,’ he replied. ‘I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’ Then the men were even more afraid, and said to him, ‘What is this that you have done!’ For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them so.
         “Then they said to him, ‘What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?’ For the sea was growing more and more tempestuous. He said to them, ‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you.’ Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. Then they cried out to the Lord, ‘Please, O Lord, we pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not make us guilty of innocent blood; for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.’ So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.”
The person who wrote the story of Jonah depicted not only the dangers of a seafarer's life, but also the theology of both dependence on a power outside one's self and of interdependence among people when encountering power outside themselves.  These themes come back again in the portion of Jonah we heard: the repentance of the Ninivities came through Jonah's prophecy--although he deeply resented being the instrument in which God's mercy was shown to his people's enemies.
If this story of Jonah and the Ninivites doesn't unsettle us a bit, surely Jesus' parable of the Capricious Landowner should.  Matthew leads up to this parable by reporting that Jesus tells the rich young ruler to sell all he has if he wants to follow Jesus; then he tells the disciples that only God can save them for the kingdom of heaven; then Jesus tells Peter that only when you give up everything for God's sake will you receive eternal life.  And finally, Matthew brackets the parable with Jesus’ upsetting pronouncement that the first shall be last.
In the context of Jesus' ministry and at that moment in history, Jesus' demand for complete surrender of all that has mattered to you in the past makes a certain amount of sense.  The point of the kingdom parable about the landowner paying the same amount for different amounts of work appears to be this:  every one of the landowner's laborers, no matter how hard or little they labored, should be uncomplaining and grateful for his generosity.  So doesn't this imply that one's merit, the accountability for one's deeds counts for little?  Somehow in the light of this parable the grace moment of the last being first seems to make salvation too easy and grace too cheap.
So where does that leave us, we who fare forward on the stormy seas of life and labor daily hoping for God's grace now and in our life eternally?  Each of us will have the chance to decide how this sermon should end.  Ending 1: I preach that you should practice interdependence and gratitude, trusting in God's grace to calm the storm and to eternally provide for us no matter our worthiness.  Ending 2: I empathize with your frustration in trying to understand how anyone could possibly live the way Jesus told his disciples to live and with your difficulty in trying to accept that God might save our enemies; yet telling you to trust that in the end that God will find us worthy of forgiveness and eternal life.  [Ask for a show of hands in support of Ending 1 or Ending 2.]  Theologically, then, the question becomes should we consider ourselves unworthy or worthy?  How do you believe God sees you—sees us?  Could we be both?

Thursday, September 18, 2014

The 14th Sunday after Pentecost - Baptism into a Special Community


Today we have three readings that show three different ways of healing what has torn apart or threatens to tear apart relationships within a family or a household or a community.  Today we also will baptize V. E. and join her to the household of faith, the Body of Christ.  These two things may not seem related, but they are.
From the book of Genesis we hear about the reconciliation of Jacob's son Joseph and his brothers who nearly killed him before deciding to sell him into slavery.  They had behaved so badly, because they were jealous of their father's special love for Joseph--and because Joseph had gloried in how he favored he was!  Now, because of severe drought and the threat of famine, they were dependent on his good will.  He didn't let them forget his power over them, but he did not seek revenge.  He showed forgiveness, because he wanted his family preserved.
St. Paul wrote to the Christians in the church in Roman to prevent this community from splitting apart over eating practices and observing one day or another as holy to the Lord.  He said that no matter what your practice is, if your purpose is to give honor and thanks to God, it's o.k.  If he were to use modern ways of explaining himself, he would say, "Hey, it's not all about you--so don't stress--and don't write that other guy off!"  Judging each other as a good Christian, or not a good Christian--within this community--will only take away from our job, which is to love and praise God.
And then there's the radical forgiveness--again within the community of disciples--that Jesus commands them to practice.  The kingdom parable depicts the king (who we can assume is God) as forgiving a debt with enormous, unbelievable generosity of spirit.  Yet in return the king in the parable expects all in his household to behave as he has.
Thus we can see that in a God or Christ centered community:  We don't take revenge.  We show tolerance for those who disagree with us because we are more focused on Christ than on ourselves.  And we generously forgive others in our community--because we have been forgiven first by God through Christ!
So into such a community, V. E.'s parents, God-parents, and family--including her sister A--bring her today to receive the sacrament of baptism.  Now before we give ourselves to big a pat on the back for our perfect Christian community, we must own up to the truth.  Although we seek to fulfill our baptismal vows and be a community that focuses on Christ, sometimes we slip a bit.
Nevertheless being brought into the Body of Christ through baptism means that with her family's and godparents' guidance, she will find herself part of a very special community.  In this community we come to know the values Jesus taught his disciples, and we learn how the people we care about and who care about us try to live out those values.
Tracy Keenan, Sr. Pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church, in Columbus, Ohio, wrote this in a blog on her church's website: "Church may be anachronistic, quirky, and not terribly exciting.  And sometimes it’s deliciously mind-blowing. Life-changing.  And often you leave better than when you came in the door.
“Church is one of the only places where you can participate in intergenerational community that is intentional about learning to practice love, forgiveness, social justice, and generosity.  It is one of the few places where people actually try to love their enemies and admit when they are wrong. Who else does that?
“It doesn’t come naturally, and it takes a lot of support to keep trying to love the way we believe we are loved. And. Life is hard. It is also astoundingly magnificent.
“Church is where you learn how to recognize the powerful love of God and to find your place in that love, how to negotiate life’s crazy turns, how to do the best you can and leave the rest up to God.
It’s where you learn people aren’t perfect, but they will be there for you if you let them. It’s where you learn to accept that you’re not perfect either, and you are deeply loved no matter what.  Church life can help you do life better."
So this day we give thanks that we have the privilege of baptizing V. E. and welcoming her into Christ's Body right here at St. Nicholas'. May she, and everyone who comes into this church, find generosity, hospitality and forgiveness--with God's help--practiced here!

Monday, September 8, 2014

The 13th Sunday after Pentecost - What Kind of Community?


Once a parishioner told me--referring to a statement I had just made--"I hate that song!"  The song to which he referred was "They'll Know We Are Christians [by our love].  You may know how it goes:
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.

Refrain
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand,
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand,
And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land.

We will work with each other, we will work side by side,
We will work with each other, we will work side by side,
And we’ll guard each one’s dignity and save each one’s pride.

All praise to the Father, from whom all things come,
And all praise to Christ Jesus, his only Son,
And all praise to the Spirit, who makes us one.

I think he didn't like the "sappy" sentiment, because he had seen plenty of conflict in the church. However, the song may well be parsed as addressing a time when Jesus returns and the stuff that we have gotten into conflict over will fade away.  In the meantime, however, we have a community to tend and a friendship with Jesus to cultivate or, as St. Paul might say, our Lord Jesus Christ to put on.
I've grown quite fond of the writing of a seminary professor and blogger named, Dr. David Lose.  Dr. Lose has recently assumed the presidency of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.  In a commentary on our gospel lesson he urged preachers to ask their congregation members to think about sort of community they want to be.  Here's how he put it: "So what kind of community do we want from our congregation -- largely social, somewhat superficial (which is, of course, safe)? Do we want something more meaningful or intimate (which is riskier and harder)? Do we want a place that can both encourage us and hold us accountable? Are we looking for a place we can be honest about our hopes and fears, dreams and anxieties? Do we want somewhere we can just blend in or are we looking for a place we can really make a difference?" 
If you take the passage from Matthew's gospel as a model, the "accountability" peace may be a bit stronger than most of us would be comfortable with in most circumstances.  But Jesus' point is well taken that conflict between folks in a community can lead to the community coming apart.  Better for two individuals--both of whom may feel sinned against--to listen to each other and try to work things out between them.  One of the techniques used in mediation of a conflict has one person summarizing the other person's point of view until that person declares that his opponent has summarized his view correctly. Then the roles are switched.
The apparent shunning advice that comes if the offended person and the whole community can't work things out seems odd coming from Jesus' mouth.  Could he be confronting his disciples' attitudes?  After all, Jesus hung out with Gentiles and tax collectors regularly--including Matthew, himself a former tax collector.  Is he really saying that you should never give up trying to reconcile with even people you find difficult?  For he goes on to say that if two of the disciples agree on earth about something on earth, God will honor their agreement by doing what they ask.  What a radical statement! 
And I don't think Jesus talks like this about getting stuff from God, but rather about how God can work in a relationship when people have reconciled with one another.  Reconciliation in the context of this passage would be, I think, loosing the bondage of our sins and binding ourselves to God's way of justice and peace.
St. Paul talks about this same issue in the letter to the Roman Christians. He declares that in loving your neighbor as yourself, you will do no wrong to your neighbor.  And in doing "no wrong" you will avoid not only sins of the flesh, but also "quarreling and jealousy."  He calls this "putting on the armor of light" and "putting on the Lord Jesus Christ."  We will live in a reconciling spirit when we "put on" Christ.  We will create a community in which our decision to love others and doing no wrong to them makes our community a place where we can--in safety--be honest about our hopes and fears, our dreams and anxieties, to quote Dr. Lose.  Yes, a place where we can be both our honest selves and our best selves, living out our decision to love others and do no wrong to them.
As fallible human beings, we can never achieve the ideal of community in which no wrong is ever done.  But in the spirit of Matthew's gospel, as community committed to "putting on" Christ, our community can renew itself, can tend itself, by seeking always to find out how people who are at odds with one another can be reconciled.  Perhaps the third verse of the "sappy" song says it clearly enough:
We will work with each other, we will work side by side,
We will work with each other, we will work side by side,
And we’ll guard each one’s dignity and save each one’s pride.

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

David Lose, “What Kind of Community Will We Be,” Dear Working Preacher, August 28, 2011.