This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday July 27, 2008, the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time.
Genesis 29:15-28
Psalm 128
Romans 8:26-39
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
In 1991, a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode named “Darmok”[1] introduced a new and different language structure to Trekkies[2] everywhere. The crew of the Enterprise meets a species of humanoids named the Tamarians. While everyone speaks English well enough to understand the words, the syntax of the Tamarian language is just so much gibberish to the crew of the Enterprise, and vice versa. Great dialogue like, “Darmok, and Jalad at Tanagra!” “Shaka, when the walls fell,” and “Darmok, and Jalad on the ocean!” stupefied our heroes.
What was just a little too dumbed-down for my taste is that it took a crew of rocket scientists over half an episode to figure out what I did as soon as the first Tamarian opened his mouth—and you figured out as soon as I said “Darmok, and Jalad at Tanagra”— these people spoke in figures of speech. Metaphors and parables are the basics of their language and culture; idioms which have absolutely no meaning to us.
So when the crew finally figures out how the Tamarians are trying to communicate, they realize that they have no idea what they are trying to say, even though they understand all of the words. This demonstrates the inherent difficulty with parable, metaphor, and allegory; without common reference, the message is lost.
Shoot, if you have any question at all about this conclusion, you don’t have to go any further than my illustration. Unless I gave you enough background information to make the connection or you know the lore of Star Trek, then I’ve just made my own point by giving you a useless illustration.
This reading from Matthew introduces us to five more images of the Kingdom of Heaven to go with last week’s. These images are given to us as parables, similes, forms of speech which open the mind in different ways. These forms of speech take ordinary words and twist them and recast them into extraordinary images.
Our reading uses five images common in the day Jesus told them to illustrate the kingdom of heaven; the so-called parables of mustard seed, leaven, treasure, pearl, and fish. All of these were a part of ordinary life when these parables were spoken. But in the hands of the almighty, they become extraordinary things.
Our reading begins with two images of the kingdom of heaven Jesus shares with the crowd. The tiny seed, the mustard seed, becomes a plant big enough to support life. A pinch of yeast is folded into three measures, that’s seventy pounds[3] to you and me, where it works until the entire batch is leavened. Commentaries say these are tales of growth, teaching stories[4] which tell us how the kingdom of Heaven will encompass all that ever has been, all that ever will be.
These are also stories of faith. These stories do not teach us what to do or how to be the people of God. These are stories of the nature of God and creation. These are stories of how the kingdom of heaven is like the natural way of life. The mustard seed is planted, and it grows. Just a bit of leaven is added to a huge amount of flour and it all rises. This doesn’t happen because of anything we do. It is a matter of the way things happen in God’s good creation.
But these parables have a strangeness in them. After all, the mustard seed wasn’t the smallest known seed. Even in Jesus’ time the orchid seed was known to be smaller than the mustard. And as an annual, one that had to be planted every growing season, it isn’t even a tree. Even stranger, the use of leavened bread in holy sacrifice was absolutely prohibited.
What we have come to accept as symbols of growth would have been dramatic puzzles in the time when they were told. A mustard seed can’t produce a tree, how can it be like the kingdom of heaven? Leavened bread cannot be holy, how can it be like the kingdom of heaven? These questions don’t occur to us because we have heard these parables over and over again for two thousand years, but in their day, they were scandalous.
These parables weren’t written to encourage the church to be all it could be. These stories were told to the people assembled at the lake shore to shake up their image of kingdom of heaven. Reminding them the growth of the kingdom of heaven is the Lord’s work, not theirs.
Still the Lord calls us to pay attention to our vocation. A farmer plants the seed. A woman kneads the dough which the leaven permeates the flour. Yes, we are called to participate in the work of the kingdom of Heaven, but the work of growth itself is the Lord’s.
Our reading then shifts to Jesus alone with his apostles. The parables of the treasure, the pearl, and the fish teach the disciples more lessons. Traditionally, these parables are decoded as human response to the kingdom of Heaven, but I am not so sure.
The apostles are told that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure found in a field, and when discovered, the finder sells everything to purchase the field. The traditional interpretation is that humanity is the finder and treasure alone is the kingdom. This is pretty straight forward. But what if, instead of just one element of the parable, the treasure, is like the kingdom; we look at the whole phrase as being like the kingdom of heaven.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” What happens when we plug into the code that God the Father is the one who finds the treasure and pays the great price to redeem it? Instead of teaching our response to the kingdom, we learn of God’s faithful actions toward the treasure of creation. We have been redeemed; we have been purchased for a great price.
Likewise, when we talk of the pearl of great price, traditional interpretation breaks this down so that it seems to reiterate the parable of the treasure in the field, noting our faithful response to the gospel. But a closer look reveals that this parable is not about the pearl, it is about the merchant.
In this parable, the kingdom is not like the pearl, “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.” So it does reiterate the words of the prior parable, but it reiterates that we have been redeemed and purchased for a great price.
We have been paid for with the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, and what greater sacrifice could be made by the Father than the life of his Son? Instead of these parables showing our faithful response to the gospel, I believe it might be showing us God’s faithful response to creation.
These parables, when interpreted as the work of God’s saving grace toward the creation, reinforce the glory of the sovereignty of God through Matthew’s parables. The kingdom of heaven is not in our hands, it is in the hands of the Almighty, the finder, the merchant. We are the created and God is God.
God is in control. And like we read last week in the parable of the wheat and the tares, the work of grace and salvation is God’s. It is our call, our vocation to respond to God’s grace through faith. It is our call to be redeemed by the Lord who came before us and purchased us with his life. It is our call live as the kingdom people of the triune God, and the reason follows in the final parable of this chapter.
The parable of the net which drags in every kind of fish reminds us of how the parable of the wheat and tares ends, with judgment and weeping and gnashing of teeth. Both of these parables show us an image of the sorting of good creation at the end of the age. Last week we read how the weeds are separated and the grain is brought into the barn. This week we read how the net scoops every fish from the sea, but when the good fish are separated from the bad, the good are put in baskets and the bad thrown out.
The only difference between this parable and the parable of the wheat and the tares is that where last week the parable was heard by the crowd, this week, the parable of the dragnet and the fish is shared with the apostles alone.
So Jesus asks the apostles, “Have you understood all this?” and they answered, “Yes.” Do they understand; can we ever really understand? No, we can’t really completely understand, not on this side of the sorting, certainly. To paraphrase Saint Augustine, when I say that I understand God, what I understand is not God.[5] God is more wonderful than we will ever know or imagine.
The Lord continues to reveal the Almighty presence in our lives everyday, from the history of God’s sovereignty found in scripture to revelation of God incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ to the continuing work of God on earth in the person of the Holy Spirit, God’s work is around us, finding us and redeeming us.
And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
In the church universal, and Presbyterian Church in particular, there is great debate about how to interpret scripture, how to bring out the treasure if you will. One way to frame this question is how the history of the people of Israel is still valid for us today. I believe the history of Israel is still important for us today, without the Old Testament, our witness is incomplete.
As important as history is in the revelation of God, no less important is what God continues to do. Jesus teaches the scribes, those trained for the kingdom of heaven are not just called to teach history, but to teach living history too. We are called not to simply regurgitate the ancient words, but to discern the word fresh for us today. And we are called not just to speak to today; we are called to listen to yesterday.
By the end of the Star Trek episode, the Captain of the Enterprise was on the planet El-Adrel IV with the captain of the Tamarian vessel, trying to communicate while fighting against a dangerous monster. By the end of the episode, Captain Picard of the Enterprise understands the story of Darmok, and Jalad at Tanagra, and Tamarian Captain Dathon hears Picard tell a similar earth story, the epic of Gilgamesh and Enkidu at Uruk. Together the civilizations leave with a new shared history, the story of “Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel.”
Listen to the history. Listen to the words of the Old Testament as it teaches us the story of Jacob, the man the Lord renames Israel. Listen to the words of the apostle Paul as he teaches us how the Holy Spirit of God continues to intercede on our behalf. Listen to the words of the Lord as he teaches us to use not just the old but the new.
The things which are ordinary become extraordinary in service of the Lord. What makes no earthly sense to us is perfectly logical in the redeemed presence of God. What we understand, we can only understand by God’s perfect grace; accepted and exercised in our imperfect faith. This much, we understand.
[1] “Darmok,” http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Darmok_%28episode%29, retrieved July 26, 2008.
[2] Yes, yes, I know the great Trekkie/Trekker debate, I prefer Trekker but I am going with the more common Trekkie for the sake of the congregation who don’t know the difference. And it goes with Rodenberry’s take on the controversy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trekkie#Trekkie_v._Trekker retrieved July 27, 2008.
[3] About 32 kilos
[4] Hare, Douglas R. A., “Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Matthew.” James L. Mays, Ed. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1993, page 156.
[5] Augustine wrote, “We are talking about God. Which wonder do you think you understand? If you understand, it is not God.” I wish I could find the citation.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
What Endures
Back from vacation, there will be no more summer re-runs until September when I celebrate my nephew's wedding.
This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on July 20, 2008, the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Genesis 28:10-19a
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
I read this in a paper from the Reformed Church in America Commission on Theology:
“The relationship between divine freedom and God’s use of human agency is a mystery. It is wise for us to confess with conviction what God has revealed—that the only assurance of salvation revealed to us is found through explicit faith in Jesus Christ. At the same time it is also wise for us to avoid saying what we do not know—exactly how God will deal with all those who have not heard or responded to the gospel. We do know that God is both completely gracious and completely just. That is enough for us. With Abraham we confess in hope, ‘Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?’ (Gen. 18:25)”[1]
God is free to do as God will do for God’s own glory and the benefit of all creation. God’s authentic divine freedom does not point toward doing just any old thing. God is good, not malicious, and God’s use of human agency is always directed toward glory, not shame. Within the witness of scripture, the works of God are toward righteousness, not spite or malevolence. Perhaps this was the Lord’s first freedom, choosing glory above shame. But, that’s for another day.
The parable of “The Wheat and the Tares” tells the story of a man, a farmer and presumably the land owner; his seed; his servants; the fruit of his crop; his harvesters; and his enemy with seed of his own. While there are several methods of interpreting scripture’s parables, one of the most ordinary is to analyze the parable like a code. In the code, each parable element directly represents something specific.
In this case, this parable has been dissected as a code within scripture itself. Verses 36-43 tell us that the one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, the fruit of the harvest is righteous, and the reapers are angels.
The passage even goes as far to tell us that the angel/reapers will collect the causes of sin and all evil doers and they will be thrown to the fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Returning to the Reformed Church paper for just a moment, while this describes the consequences of God’s complete justice, it does not exclude God’s complete grace. In the meantime, the harvest, the righteous, the fruit of the children of the kingdom will shine like sun in the kingdom of their Holy Father.
In my reading, one of the things that caught my attention about this section of the reading is that above all other things; each of the elements in the code has a very specific purpose. And this specificity, this particularity, this peculiarity must be remembered and followed as we interpret the code.
For instance, it is the responsibility of the reapers, the angels, to separate the good wheat from the bad weeds. It isn’t the responsibility of the servants to separate the wheat from the tares. It isn’t even the farmer’s chore since he has delegated that to the reapers. And above all, it isn’t the responsibility of the seed to separate its fruit from the weeds.
In fact, Jesus is very specific about this point, at no time before the end of the age is anyone to attempt to separate the wheat from the weeds. If anybody tries, the wheat will be uprooted along with the weeds. Trying to make the crop pure before the harvest time will cause more harm than good.
The Essenes were an important Jewish community flourishing in Palestine along side the Pharisees and Sadducees during the lifetime of Jesus. Their teachings and practice were well known for centuries through the writings of Philo and Josephus.[2] Most of us know the Essenes through the work they left behind. In 1947, a series of wonderful discoveries were made in the Palestinian wilderness. Clay pots containing manuscripts were found in dozens of caves. This collection is what we call the Dead Sea Scrolls. These scrolls have fueled important Old Testament scholarship for over sixty years.
Nobody knows for sure the origin of the name Essene. Certainly nowhere in the scrolls does this community use this title to describe itself. The name could have been derived from numerous Greek and Hebrew words including the nouns for “seer,” “observers of the law,” “watchers,” or “silent ones;” or the adjectives for “holy,” “powerful;” or “modest;” or even the verbs for “to bathe” or “to do.” Even the East Aramaic word for “pious” has been suggested as a source of the name Essene.
These and other derivations represent attempts with varying success to find linguistically plausible reasons for the name Essene in view of their known traits. There is no scholarly consensus on this, which seems to have been a mystery since the days of Philo. But something that seems consistent is that these traits which could have been the inspiration for their name could have led to their extinction.
You see, these observers, these silent ones, these holy and pious people separated themselves from the general community of Palestine and set up shop in a little corner where they wouldn’t be infected by others’ impurities. In the words of the parable, they plucked themselves up and gathered themselves away from the tares to a place where they would not be tainted by the seed of the farmer’s enemy.
There is one problem with this; after the community uprooted itself it died off. Information is scarce. Honestly all we know of them is the fruit of their labor, the library of scrolls they left behind. Don’t get me wrong, what they left is valuable, but it is all that exists of what was once a wonderfully fruitful crop. There are no Essenes, as there are no Pharisees or Sadducees. These groups which tried to separate themselves from the world have succeeded more completely than they had hoped.
When the seed tries to do the job of the reaper, it can’t survive.
Another problem we run into as the seed is that it is not our job to even identify the weeds. If there is one thing human beings can do all too often it is judge someone else to be a weed. This is not only true between Christians and other world religions; it is true between different Christian denominations. It is even true between different denominations of Presbyterians.
And when the seed tries to do the job of the reaper, it can’t survive.
We though are called to live a life of righteousness, which can only happen when the seed remains firmly rooted in the soil of the one who planted us. We can never bear good fruit if we try to be a weed. Scripture reminds us we are called to be in the world, but not of the world. When our actions become those of God’s enemy, we do not live into the goodness of creation. The wheat will forever be with the tares, but it must not become the tares. According to this passage, what is left in the fields after the weeds are gone is called the righteous. When the wheat becomes the weed, it will be taken away.
Again, when the seed tries to do the job of the reaper, it can’t survive.
But, we run into a problem. It’s the same problem we run into whenever we try to interpret a parable as a code. The problem with this model or any model is that in God’s good creation things can change. In a world where the Lord is sovereign, it is quite possible for those who were sown by his enemy to become his disciples. In God, by God, and through God; the weeds can become wheat. In agriculture this doesn’t happen, but in God, all things are possible.
The Reverend Doctor Cindy Rigby was one of the preachers at the PC (USA) General Assembly in San Jose a couple of weeks ago.[3] She said, “The point is changing the world, but we’re called to change it not by focusing on change, but by abiding in Christ.” Our role is not to sow the seed, weed the garden, or bring in the crop; our role is to be the seed and abide in Christ.
To fruitfully reach the harvest, we must remain in the soil; even if, no, especially since there are weeds in there with us. This is our call and our vocation; because when a kernel of grain falls from the head, it has the potential to abide in the soil. And when a single seed abides in the ground, its fruit can multiply beyond imagination, continuing the process of life in the arms of the everlasting Lord.
The Reverend Doctor Rigby used a quote from the late theologian Letty Russell which has stayed with her since Russell first uttered it: “The problem with the PC(USA) is that we are of the world, but not in it.” Explaining this she said that it is not enough to give the poor fish, or even to teach them to fish so the poor can eat for a lifetime.
“The rich need to sit down with the poor and join in the fishing, emptying themselves.” Rigby continued “We have the opportunity here and now to repent in our complicity in the destructive systems of the world — not because we hate the world, but want to be more fully in it.”
The renowned Christian mission scholar Lesslie Newbigin wrote this about the church being called to be witnesses to the presence of the Holy Spirit as a foretaste of the kingdom to come:
“It is immediately necessary to say that this fundamental truth can become a source of disastrous error if it is used to withdraw those who believe the gospel from responsible engagements in the immediacies, the relativities of political and cultural life of their times. The vision of the ultimate goal of the human story must not be used to withdraw attention from the immediate possibilities which the Lord of history offers.”[4]
It is necessary for us to be the good seed, to grow into the harvest in the soil prepared by the Lord our God. We are to be the seed among the weeds sharing the bread of salvation, not the bitter fruit of human judgment. It is up to us not to produce stuff that will survive after we are gone, but to develop relationships, develop communities which God will continue to bless.
This was the vocation of the saints that have come before us. This is the work we have been called to continue today. This is call of those who will follow us in the future. Yes we are called to do good works, but without building communities, we will not be a part of what endures. We don’t know what ever became of the Essenes; and they are gone. We do know what became of the body of Christ, because after 2,000 years we are a part of that community.
We are part of the body which was seeded on Good Friday and planted at Pentecost. We are a part of the body which eats a meal instituted on Maundy Thursday, called to do this remembering Jesus the Christ who rose on Easter. We are planted as the body that will grow until the angels come to gather the harvest in the end of the age.
[1] Commission on Theology of the Reformed Church in America, “The Crucified One Is Lord. Confessing the Uniqueness of Christ in a Pluralist Society.” Louisville: Congregational Ministries Publishing, 2000, page 26.
[2] Essene, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Supplemental Edition, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1976.
[3] Walking Humbly, We Aren’t Good at That, Preacher Says, http://www.pcusa.org/ga218/news/ga08114.htm, retrieved August 16, 2008
[4] Newbigin, Lesslie, “The Gospel in a Pluralist Society.” Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989, page 139.
This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on July 20, 2008, the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Genesis 28:10-19a
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
I read this in a paper from the Reformed Church in America Commission on Theology:
“The relationship between divine freedom and God’s use of human agency is a mystery. It is wise for us to confess with conviction what God has revealed—that the only assurance of salvation revealed to us is found through explicit faith in Jesus Christ. At the same time it is also wise for us to avoid saying what we do not know—exactly how God will deal with all those who have not heard or responded to the gospel. We do know that God is both completely gracious and completely just. That is enough for us. With Abraham we confess in hope, ‘Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?’ (Gen. 18:25)”[1]
God is free to do as God will do for God’s own glory and the benefit of all creation. God’s authentic divine freedom does not point toward doing just any old thing. God is good, not malicious, and God’s use of human agency is always directed toward glory, not shame. Within the witness of scripture, the works of God are toward righteousness, not spite or malevolence. Perhaps this was the Lord’s first freedom, choosing glory above shame. But, that’s for another day.
The parable of “The Wheat and the Tares” tells the story of a man, a farmer and presumably the land owner; his seed; his servants; the fruit of his crop; his harvesters; and his enemy with seed of his own. While there are several methods of interpreting scripture’s parables, one of the most ordinary is to analyze the parable like a code. In the code, each parable element directly represents something specific.
In this case, this parable has been dissected as a code within scripture itself. Verses 36-43 tell us that the one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, the fruit of the harvest is righteous, and the reapers are angels.
The passage even goes as far to tell us that the angel/reapers will collect the causes of sin and all evil doers and they will be thrown to the fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Returning to the Reformed Church paper for just a moment, while this describes the consequences of God’s complete justice, it does not exclude God’s complete grace. In the meantime, the harvest, the righteous, the fruit of the children of the kingdom will shine like sun in the kingdom of their Holy Father.
In my reading, one of the things that caught my attention about this section of the reading is that above all other things; each of the elements in the code has a very specific purpose. And this specificity, this particularity, this peculiarity must be remembered and followed as we interpret the code.
For instance, it is the responsibility of the reapers, the angels, to separate the good wheat from the bad weeds. It isn’t the responsibility of the servants to separate the wheat from the tares. It isn’t even the farmer’s chore since he has delegated that to the reapers. And above all, it isn’t the responsibility of the seed to separate its fruit from the weeds.
In fact, Jesus is very specific about this point, at no time before the end of the age is anyone to attempt to separate the wheat from the weeds. If anybody tries, the wheat will be uprooted along with the weeds. Trying to make the crop pure before the harvest time will cause more harm than good.
The Essenes were an important Jewish community flourishing in Palestine along side the Pharisees and Sadducees during the lifetime of Jesus. Their teachings and practice were well known for centuries through the writings of Philo and Josephus.[2] Most of us know the Essenes through the work they left behind. In 1947, a series of wonderful discoveries were made in the Palestinian wilderness. Clay pots containing manuscripts were found in dozens of caves. This collection is what we call the Dead Sea Scrolls. These scrolls have fueled important Old Testament scholarship for over sixty years.
Nobody knows for sure the origin of the name Essene. Certainly nowhere in the scrolls does this community use this title to describe itself. The name could have been derived from numerous Greek and Hebrew words including the nouns for “seer,” “observers of the law,” “watchers,” or “silent ones;” or the adjectives for “holy,” “powerful;” or “modest;” or even the verbs for “to bathe” or “to do.” Even the East Aramaic word for “pious” has been suggested as a source of the name Essene.
These and other derivations represent attempts with varying success to find linguistically plausible reasons for the name Essene in view of their known traits. There is no scholarly consensus on this, which seems to have been a mystery since the days of Philo. But something that seems consistent is that these traits which could have been the inspiration for their name could have led to their extinction.
You see, these observers, these silent ones, these holy and pious people separated themselves from the general community of Palestine and set up shop in a little corner where they wouldn’t be infected by others’ impurities. In the words of the parable, they plucked themselves up and gathered themselves away from the tares to a place where they would not be tainted by the seed of the farmer’s enemy.
There is one problem with this; after the community uprooted itself it died off. Information is scarce. Honestly all we know of them is the fruit of their labor, the library of scrolls they left behind. Don’t get me wrong, what they left is valuable, but it is all that exists of what was once a wonderfully fruitful crop. There are no Essenes, as there are no Pharisees or Sadducees. These groups which tried to separate themselves from the world have succeeded more completely than they had hoped.
When the seed tries to do the job of the reaper, it can’t survive.
Another problem we run into as the seed is that it is not our job to even identify the weeds. If there is one thing human beings can do all too often it is judge someone else to be a weed. This is not only true between Christians and other world religions; it is true between different Christian denominations. It is even true between different denominations of Presbyterians.
And when the seed tries to do the job of the reaper, it can’t survive.
We though are called to live a life of righteousness, which can only happen when the seed remains firmly rooted in the soil of the one who planted us. We can never bear good fruit if we try to be a weed. Scripture reminds us we are called to be in the world, but not of the world. When our actions become those of God’s enemy, we do not live into the goodness of creation. The wheat will forever be with the tares, but it must not become the tares. According to this passage, what is left in the fields after the weeds are gone is called the righteous. When the wheat becomes the weed, it will be taken away.
Again, when the seed tries to do the job of the reaper, it can’t survive.
But, we run into a problem. It’s the same problem we run into whenever we try to interpret a parable as a code. The problem with this model or any model is that in God’s good creation things can change. In a world where the Lord is sovereign, it is quite possible for those who were sown by his enemy to become his disciples. In God, by God, and through God; the weeds can become wheat. In agriculture this doesn’t happen, but in God, all things are possible.
The Reverend Doctor Cindy Rigby was one of the preachers at the PC (USA) General Assembly in San Jose a couple of weeks ago.[3] She said, “The point is changing the world, but we’re called to change it not by focusing on change, but by abiding in Christ.” Our role is not to sow the seed, weed the garden, or bring in the crop; our role is to be the seed and abide in Christ.
To fruitfully reach the harvest, we must remain in the soil; even if, no, especially since there are weeds in there with us. This is our call and our vocation; because when a kernel of grain falls from the head, it has the potential to abide in the soil. And when a single seed abides in the ground, its fruit can multiply beyond imagination, continuing the process of life in the arms of the everlasting Lord.
The Reverend Doctor Rigby used a quote from the late theologian Letty Russell which has stayed with her since Russell first uttered it: “The problem with the PC(USA) is that we are of the world, but not in it.” Explaining this she said that it is not enough to give the poor fish, or even to teach them to fish so the poor can eat for a lifetime.
“The rich need to sit down with the poor and join in the fishing, emptying themselves.” Rigby continued “We have the opportunity here and now to repent in our complicity in the destructive systems of the world — not because we hate the world, but want to be more fully in it.”
The renowned Christian mission scholar Lesslie Newbigin wrote this about the church being called to be witnesses to the presence of the Holy Spirit as a foretaste of the kingdom to come:
“It is immediately necessary to say that this fundamental truth can become a source of disastrous error if it is used to withdraw those who believe the gospel from responsible engagements in the immediacies, the relativities of political and cultural life of their times. The vision of the ultimate goal of the human story must not be used to withdraw attention from the immediate possibilities which the Lord of history offers.”[4]
It is necessary for us to be the good seed, to grow into the harvest in the soil prepared by the Lord our God. We are to be the seed among the weeds sharing the bread of salvation, not the bitter fruit of human judgment. It is up to us not to produce stuff that will survive after we are gone, but to develop relationships, develop communities which God will continue to bless.
This was the vocation of the saints that have come before us. This is the work we have been called to continue today. This is call of those who will follow us in the future. Yes we are called to do good works, but without building communities, we will not be a part of what endures. We don’t know what ever became of the Essenes; and they are gone. We do know what became of the body of Christ, because after 2,000 years we are a part of that community.
We are part of the body which was seeded on Good Friday and planted at Pentecost. We are a part of the body which eats a meal instituted on Maundy Thursday, called to do this remembering Jesus the Christ who rose on Easter. We are planted as the body that will grow until the angels come to gather the harvest in the end of the age.
[1] Commission on Theology of the Reformed Church in America, “The Crucified One Is Lord. Confessing the Uniqueness of Christ in a Pluralist Society.” Louisville: Congregational Ministries Publishing, 2000, page 26.
[2] Essene, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Supplemental Edition, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1976.
[3] Walking Humbly, We Aren’t Good at That, Preacher Says, http://www.pcusa.org/ga218/news/ga08114.htm, retrieved August 16, 2008
[4] Newbigin, Lesslie, “The Gospel in a Pluralist Society.” Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989, page 139.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Soils and Seeds
Still on vacation, this is the third sermon I preached here in Berryville. This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas three years ago (by the liturgical calendar) on Sunday July 10, 2005, the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time. This time frame is important since this sermon references events which are no longer current events. In my opinion, ignore the first few paragraphs and it's a better sermon.
This is the 100th sermon I have posted on line. Let there be rejoicing!
Genesis 25:19-34
Psalm 119:105-112
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
When preaching the parables, the greatest danger for the newly ordained minister is thinking, “Ah, here's something I can sink my teeth into. Not only is this a famous story, but it explains itself.” The biggest problem with preaching the parables of Jesus is that when the preacher thinks there’s a handle on the lesson, there is a tendency to over simplify. Preaching simple meanings is sort of like water skiing over the passage like it’s a placid lake, all speed, no depth. But still, I hope this is not where I prove to you that fools go where angels fear to tread.
Let's go back over verses 19-23 and see how the parable deciphers itself:
"When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path."
This seems easy enough, the Word is what is sown, the seed, the path is a hard and crusty heart, and the bird is the evil one. Since the seed would have trouble germinating on the hard path, it becomes bird food. The word is snatched by the evil one without even penetrating the listener. So far so good. Let's continue...
"As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away."
Without roots the word cannot be nourished so it becomes scorched and withers away. All right, this is someone who is excited about the word, but when called a "Jesus Freak" or "Bible Thumper" they fall away. Someone who starts to move toward living in the Word, but after being mocked rejoins the big bad world. Nice flowers, no roots, dust in the wind. Well, next...
"As for what was sown among the thorns, this is one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the cares of the word, and it yields nothing."
On the high plains, you can see Russian thistle, tumbleweed, up to six feet around rolling across fields. When a plant becomes snared in tumbleweed, it cannot thrive. Shoots, leaves, and flowers become entangled and torn. And then when the stalk of the thistle snaps and the plant begins to tumble; it tears out any plant tangled in it. So this is like when someone is tempted by the ways of the world, because of the lure of riches and glory. And like leaves and flowers tangled in thorns, as they try to grow they are ripped and torn from the way of the word until they too fall away. Okay, finally...
"But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yield, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."
Passing any well prepared row crop, you can imagine the bountiful harvest to come just by looking at it. So this is like someone who hears and responds to the Word and is faithful to it. They become fruitful. Soil like this is well prepared and receives what it needs in the way of tilling, feeding and tending.
There are several ways to look at parables. This way is called “code.” It is the easiest and most enduring way of interpreting parables. This particular parable is built like a code. The first half of today's reading is the word problem, and the second half is the solution. In this case, the parable is offered to us like a puzzle which is then solved for us.
There is nothing wrong with this reading. But if this is all there is to the passage then we would be cheating ourselves and the One who gave this to us. It would not be a very deep or involved reading of the passage. If that was all there was to biblical interpretation we'd be singing hymns now. But there is so much more…
This gives you an idea of where I was going with this sermon on Wednesday night. Then Thursday morning I woke up and I turned on the news; I knew this would have to change. Like so many, I awoke to the news of the bombings of the London Underground and Mass Transit System. (Again, I remind you, these attacks were a little over three years ago.--PAA) I woke to the confusion of the world. I woke hearing of up to seven explosions, an estimated 140 injured and dead.
I woke to British Prime Minister Tony Blair's steely condemnation of the events and their perpetrators. I saw the leaders of the G8 nations standing ramrod straight in support of the people Prime Minister Blair called "civilized persons." I woke to President Bush's denunciation of these events.
This brought me back to the Genesis passage. It brought me back to Esau and Jacob; how they came into this world; and into their own spheres of influence. Esau is called Edom, the “red man,” because of his skin complexion at birth. Jacob earns his nickname “ankle grabber” because of how he left the womb. The name Jacob even comes from the same Hebrew root as the word for heel.
One hunts and the other a farms. One loves the wilderness and the other lives in the tents. One is his father's son and the other is momma's boy. Later in Genesis, Jacob becomes Israel, the father a great nation, and Esau is the father of the Edomites, another great nation. It seems that the only thing these two ever shared was a womb, and that didn’t work out well. By the end of this passage, the only thing that they had in common was Esau’s birthright, and that was only when Jacob bought it from him.
The children struggled within her, they struggled against one another in their lifetimes, and the peoples they begat continue their struggle today. In a nationalistic way, this could describe what we are experiencing in the world right now. Looking at this historical piece as a coded parable, we could say that as the children of Jacob, we are still faced with struggles against the peoples of Esau.
Thursday night I was watching BBC World Report on PBS. The commentator was a young British man. He reflected on the events of the last couple of days. He talked about days when he felt like a Londoner. As a Londoner he was proud that the Olympics were coming to his city. He was proud that the city showed itself as a multicultural setting, a place of the world’s people for the world’s people. Then he said that after Thursday’s events, he felt like a Muslim.
In his eyes, as Tony Blair was shocked and blamed Muslims for the terror in London the commentator said Prime Minister Blair should not have been so shocked considering British foreign policy, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq. Perhaps the commentator’s point of view did not include the British Foreign Secretary’s office and Parliament as “civilized persons.”
As I was listing to him plugging variables into the code of the parable I had the very sharp realization that we did not share the same point of view. Considering the story of Esau and Jacob, he might remind us that Jacob stole what belonged to Esau, buying his birthright at an unjust price. Where is brotherly love? Where is there any love in this story? Esau looks at his birthright with contempt, after being forced to sell it so that he may eat, so that he may live.
If we use this as a sort of code to describe the world today we would be taking a very limited look at both this scripture and our global political setting. Only a pessimistic, depressing turn of events will follow this horrid event. This spiral will continue downward until all that is left is chaos and someone saying, “We should have seen this coming; it’s been this way since the beginning of time.” This is an attitude we are not allowed to have as long as there is hope.
One of the most common questions about any parable is “who am I in this story?” In this Old Testament story I assigned us the role of Jacob, or at least the offspring of Jacob in the Genesis passage. Historically this is who we are, the children of Jesus, a child of the tribe of Judah, son of Israel. In the context of this section, it is not a flattering image. As horrid as Thursday’s destruction is, as children of Jacob we are not the image of perfection, purity and light.
In the Gospel, there are two roles in the story left uncast. Reviewing the elements of the story, the bird is the evil one, the story tells us this. The sower is obviously the Lord. I think that’s a gimme. What is sown is the Word of the Lord. But this is a little trickier. According to the Swiss theologian Karl Barth, the Word of God is the word written, incarnate, and proclaimed. The Word sown in the field is the word of the scripture, and the word in the body and life of Jesus Christ, and the word in the proclamation of the word. But proclamation does not come only in sermons and lessons. It is in our very lives.
So I offer this possibility; we are the plants. We grow from the seed of the Word of the Lord. It is through our words and works that fruit that is produced as we proclaim Christ in our lives. Our lives bear fruit of the Spirit.
But part of this doesn’t set well with me. From this parable, it would seem that as long as the seed is sown in good soil we will be able to bear a hundred fold of fruit. It can’t be this easy; it seems that being a fruitful Christian comes from the good fortune of falling into good soil. This cannot be true. It cannot be true. And I don’t think it is.
As God sows the seed of the word into the soils of creation; I ask you to consider this, let the soil represent the church. Through the Holy Spirit, the church has now and forever been ordained to bear the fruit of the word in the world. We are called to act with love and peace and compassion in a sinful and broken world. The church belongs to the Lord. As a seed is not able to sprout in mid air, only when we are planted in the soil of church can we possibly bear fruit.
But the church is not just the good soil, the church can be the good soil, but it can also be hard and crusty like the road. It can be rocky. And it can be filled with thorns. For the church to become good soil, it must be cultivated. Preparing a garden takes more than simply throwing seed. The ground must be tilled and tended to be productive. A garden becomes fruitful when prudently fertilized and watered.
We participate in cultivating the soil as we participate in the sacraments. In remembering the waters of our baptism and receiving the spiritual food of the Lord’s Supper we are prepared by God. Through this work of God, the fields are cleared of rocks and thorns.
We participate in cultivating the soil through the work of the church. Project Self Esteem[1] will soon need people to help fill and distribute backpacks for local school children. As this work is done, children will be better prepared to learn. This mission is a valuable outreach to the community of Berryville and toward the kingdom of God. Our contributions to the Presbytery through the annual per capita contribution and the Two-Cents-a-Meal offering are other mission responses which prepare the soil of the church for the seed of the word.
Spiritual disciplines including worship, prayer, fasting, celebrating the Sabbath and stewardship are other things we do to clear the fields of rocks and thistles so that we may grow. These are some of the disciplines which help us become more fertile and fortify the soil so that we may bear fruit.
Only when the ground is properly prepared, only when we cooperate and participate in the tilling of the soil can we accept the word and participate in the work. When the people of God, are firmly rooted in the good soil of the church we are nourished. When we respond to the word, freely given as the sower scatters seed, we can bear the fruit of the Spirit; the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
In the story of Esau and Jacob, I asked “where is the love?” None of the fruit of the Spirit is present in this story. The soil these men walk on is hard and crusty. Jacob is lost seeking the riches of his father’s estate, Esau’s birthright. He would rather starve his brother to death for land, livestock, and riches than lift a single finger. This is a sad story.
We must work the soil; we must be receptive and responsive to the call of God in our lives. Only then will we be able to forgive and be forgiven. With this attitude of hope, through God we will be able to overwhelm the rage and be able to mourn the events of last Thursday. As the seed is sown on the good soil, we will be able to take root in the word in the soil of the church, and bear the fruit of the Spirit. This is what God wants for all of us. The word is sown, the gift is freely given, the soil is here. The seeds and soils of God are good. Let us thrive in it.
[1] Project Self-Esteem is a mission project of this church which provides school supplies to needy children in Carroll County, Arkansas.
This is the 100th sermon I have posted on line. Let there be rejoicing!
Genesis 25:19-34
Psalm 119:105-112
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
When preaching the parables, the greatest danger for the newly ordained minister is thinking, “Ah, here's something I can sink my teeth into. Not only is this a famous story, but it explains itself.” The biggest problem with preaching the parables of Jesus is that when the preacher thinks there’s a handle on the lesson, there is a tendency to over simplify. Preaching simple meanings is sort of like water skiing over the passage like it’s a placid lake, all speed, no depth. But still, I hope this is not where I prove to you that fools go where angels fear to tread.
Let's go back over verses 19-23 and see how the parable deciphers itself:
"When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path."
This seems easy enough, the Word is what is sown, the seed, the path is a hard and crusty heart, and the bird is the evil one. Since the seed would have trouble germinating on the hard path, it becomes bird food. The word is snatched by the evil one without even penetrating the listener. So far so good. Let's continue...
"As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away."
Without roots the word cannot be nourished so it becomes scorched and withers away. All right, this is someone who is excited about the word, but when called a "Jesus Freak" or "Bible Thumper" they fall away. Someone who starts to move toward living in the Word, but after being mocked rejoins the big bad world. Nice flowers, no roots, dust in the wind. Well, next...
"As for what was sown among the thorns, this is one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the cares of the word, and it yields nothing."
On the high plains, you can see Russian thistle, tumbleweed, up to six feet around rolling across fields. When a plant becomes snared in tumbleweed, it cannot thrive. Shoots, leaves, and flowers become entangled and torn. And then when the stalk of the thistle snaps and the plant begins to tumble; it tears out any plant tangled in it. So this is like when someone is tempted by the ways of the world, because of the lure of riches and glory. And like leaves and flowers tangled in thorns, as they try to grow they are ripped and torn from the way of the word until they too fall away. Okay, finally...
"But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yield, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."
Passing any well prepared row crop, you can imagine the bountiful harvest to come just by looking at it. So this is like someone who hears and responds to the Word and is faithful to it. They become fruitful. Soil like this is well prepared and receives what it needs in the way of tilling, feeding and tending.
There are several ways to look at parables. This way is called “code.” It is the easiest and most enduring way of interpreting parables. This particular parable is built like a code. The first half of today's reading is the word problem, and the second half is the solution. In this case, the parable is offered to us like a puzzle which is then solved for us.
There is nothing wrong with this reading. But if this is all there is to the passage then we would be cheating ourselves and the One who gave this to us. It would not be a very deep or involved reading of the passage. If that was all there was to biblical interpretation we'd be singing hymns now. But there is so much more…
This gives you an idea of where I was going with this sermon on Wednesday night. Then Thursday morning I woke up and I turned on the news; I knew this would have to change. Like so many, I awoke to the news of the bombings of the London Underground and Mass Transit System. (Again, I remind you, these attacks were a little over three years ago.--PAA) I woke to the confusion of the world. I woke hearing of up to seven explosions, an estimated 140 injured and dead.
I woke to British Prime Minister Tony Blair's steely condemnation of the events and their perpetrators. I saw the leaders of the G8 nations standing ramrod straight in support of the people Prime Minister Blair called "civilized persons." I woke to President Bush's denunciation of these events.
This brought me back to the Genesis passage. It brought me back to Esau and Jacob; how they came into this world; and into their own spheres of influence. Esau is called Edom, the “red man,” because of his skin complexion at birth. Jacob earns his nickname “ankle grabber” because of how he left the womb. The name Jacob even comes from the same Hebrew root as the word for heel.
One hunts and the other a farms. One loves the wilderness and the other lives in the tents. One is his father's son and the other is momma's boy. Later in Genesis, Jacob becomes Israel, the father a great nation, and Esau is the father of the Edomites, another great nation. It seems that the only thing these two ever shared was a womb, and that didn’t work out well. By the end of this passage, the only thing that they had in common was Esau’s birthright, and that was only when Jacob bought it from him.
The children struggled within her, they struggled against one another in their lifetimes, and the peoples they begat continue their struggle today. In a nationalistic way, this could describe what we are experiencing in the world right now. Looking at this historical piece as a coded parable, we could say that as the children of Jacob, we are still faced with struggles against the peoples of Esau.
Thursday night I was watching BBC World Report on PBS. The commentator was a young British man. He reflected on the events of the last couple of days. He talked about days when he felt like a Londoner. As a Londoner he was proud that the Olympics were coming to his city. He was proud that the city showed itself as a multicultural setting, a place of the world’s people for the world’s people. Then he said that after Thursday’s events, he felt like a Muslim.
In his eyes, as Tony Blair was shocked and blamed Muslims for the terror in London the commentator said Prime Minister Blair should not have been so shocked considering British foreign policy, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq. Perhaps the commentator’s point of view did not include the British Foreign Secretary’s office and Parliament as “civilized persons.”
As I was listing to him plugging variables into the code of the parable I had the very sharp realization that we did not share the same point of view. Considering the story of Esau and Jacob, he might remind us that Jacob stole what belonged to Esau, buying his birthright at an unjust price. Where is brotherly love? Where is there any love in this story? Esau looks at his birthright with contempt, after being forced to sell it so that he may eat, so that he may live.
If we use this as a sort of code to describe the world today we would be taking a very limited look at both this scripture and our global political setting. Only a pessimistic, depressing turn of events will follow this horrid event. This spiral will continue downward until all that is left is chaos and someone saying, “We should have seen this coming; it’s been this way since the beginning of time.” This is an attitude we are not allowed to have as long as there is hope.
One of the most common questions about any parable is “who am I in this story?” In this Old Testament story I assigned us the role of Jacob, or at least the offspring of Jacob in the Genesis passage. Historically this is who we are, the children of Jesus, a child of the tribe of Judah, son of Israel. In the context of this section, it is not a flattering image. As horrid as Thursday’s destruction is, as children of Jacob we are not the image of perfection, purity and light.
In the Gospel, there are two roles in the story left uncast. Reviewing the elements of the story, the bird is the evil one, the story tells us this. The sower is obviously the Lord. I think that’s a gimme. What is sown is the Word of the Lord. But this is a little trickier. According to the Swiss theologian Karl Barth, the Word of God is the word written, incarnate, and proclaimed. The Word sown in the field is the word of the scripture, and the word in the body and life of Jesus Christ, and the word in the proclamation of the word. But proclamation does not come only in sermons and lessons. It is in our very lives.
So I offer this possibility; we are the plants. We grow from the seed of the Word of the Lord. It is through our words and works that fruit that is produced as we proclaim Christ in our lives. Our lives bear fruit of the Spirit.
But part of this doesn’t set well with me. From this parable, it would seem that as long as the seed is sown in good soil we will be able to bear a hundred fold of fruit. It can’t be this easy; it seems that being a fruitful Christian comes from the good fortune of falling into good soil. This cannot be true. It cannot be true. And I don’t think it is.
As God sows the seed of the word into the soils of creation; I ask you to consider this, let the soil represent the church. Through the Holy Spirit, the church has now and forever been ordained to bear the fruit of the word in the world. We are called to act with love and peace and compassion in a sinful and broken world. The church belongs to the Lord. As a seed is not able to sprout in mid air, only when we are planted in the soil of church can we possibly bear fruit.
But the church is not just the good soil, the church can be the good soil, but it can also be hard and crusty like the road. It can be rocky. And it can be filled with thorns. For the church to become good soil, it must be cultivated. Preparing a garden takes more than simply throwing seed. The ground must be tilled and tended to be productive. A garden becomes fruitful when prudently fertilized and watered.
We participate in cultivating the soil as we participate in the sacraments. In remembering the waters of our baptism and receiving the spiritual food of the Lord’s Supper we are prepared by God. Through this work of God, the fields are cleared of rocks and thorns.
We participate in cultivating the soil through the work of the church. Project Self Esteem[1] will soon need people to help fill and distribute backpacks for local school children. As this work is done, children will be better prepared to learn. This mission is a valuable outreach to the community of Berryville and toward the kingdom of God. Our contributions to the Presbytery through the annual per capita contribution and the Two-Cents-a-Meal offering are other mission responses which prepare the soil of the church for the seed of the word.
Spiritual disciplines including worship, prayer, fasting, celebrating the Sabbath and stewardship are other things we do to clear the fields of rocks and thistles so that we may grow. These are some of the disciplines which help us become more fertile and fortify the soil so that we may bear fruit.
Only when the ground is properly prepared, only when we cooperate and participate in the tilling of the soil can we accept the word and participate in the work. When the people of God, are firmly rooted in the good soil of the church we are nourished. When we respond to the word, freely given as the sower scatters seed, we can bear the fruit of the Spirit; the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
In the story of Esau and Jacob, I asked “where is the love?” None of the fruit of the Spirit is present in this story. The soil these men walk on is hard and crusty. Jacob is lost seeking the riches of his father’s estate, Esau’s birthright. He would rather starve his brother to death for land, livestock, and riches than lift a single finger. This is a sad story.
We must work the soil; we must be receptive and responsive to the call of God in our lives. Only then will we be able to forgive and be forgiven. With this attitude of hope, through God we will be able to overwhelm the rage and be able to mourn the events of last Thursday. As the seed is sown on the good soil, we will be able to take root in the word in the soil of the church, and bear the fruit of the Spirit. This is what God wants for all of us. The word is sown, the gift is freely given, the soil is here. The seeds and soils of God are good. Let us thrive in it.
[1] Project Self-Esteem is a mission project of this church which provides school supplies to needy children in Carroll County, Arkansas.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
The Weight
Since I am on vacation this week (and next) I am posting an old sermon. This one was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville Arkansas three years ago on Sunday July 3, 2005, the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time. I'm hoping after you read this you may agree that I've come a long way in the last three years.
Genesis 24:34–38, 42–49, 58–67
Psalm 45:10–17
Romans 7:15–25a
Matthew 11:16–19, 25–30
At the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, her brother, the Ninth Earl Spencer said something that I will never forget. He declared to all who would listen, “Diana, on your behalf. We will not allow [your sons] to suffer the anguish that used regularly to drive you to tearful despair. Beyond that, on behalf of your mother and sisters, I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative and loving way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men, so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition but can sing openly as you planned.”
These were contentious days for the British. Because of the great sense of national mourning, the people wanted the British flag lowered to half mast. In Britain this is only done at the death of a monarch. The traditions of the crown are complex and extensive. The House of Windsor, the British royal family, was sensitive to the opinions of the people, but they were also tied to their traditions and symbols. The Union Jack was not lowered to half mast.
There were negotiations about how her body would be taken through the streets. The traditional mode of transportation is on a caisson drawn by a horse, but many thought the princess would object to this militaristic procession, especially in light of her charitable works including the effort against land mines. Her casket was transported in a hearse instead.
But what still sticks in my mind were the words of Earl Spencer. These are obviously the words of a man who loves his sister. They are the words of a wounded man standing up for his sister who lost her husband to another woman. These words would not be uncommon from any man lifting up the memory of his sister recently lost. But there was more to the statement than just the words. You see, he spoke those words in Westminster Abbey.
Ever sense Henry the Eighth established the Church of England, one of the many titles taken by the British monarch is “Defender of the Faith.” What Earl Spencer did, so very brazenly, is not just tell his ex-brother-in-law that he was angry, he told the future defender of the faith that his family would take the lead in raising the princes. And he did this in the oldest shrine of the Anglican faith. Spencer used language which seemed to be angry, but instead what he did was use royal language, imperial language, in the most important abbey of the Church of England in the world.
I know that the words are brazen, but in the context of where they are delivered, they could have been considered treasonous. In a way Spencer invoked the language of a new empire. He said that the day Prince William is made king, the house of Windsor would be better called the house of Spencer-Windsor. He took imperial language in a place of the empire and shouted his dedication to the world.
Psalm 45, used as today’s Call to Worship, is an example of how imperial language is used in scripture. Beginning with “Hear, O daughter; consider and listen closely; forget your people and your father’s house.” This passage, part of a larger wedding psalm, tells the bride that she must leave her own family and act in loyalty to the new. All is glorious for the new bride, the people of Tyre bring gifts and she is dressed in Gold and fine embroidery. But this is only after she agrees that the king is her master and she must bring him honor, which means among other things bearing him sons, heirs to the throne. Commentaries suggest that this is a very difficult passage to preach in our modern age. I agree. But I want us to consider this Psalm for its use of language. This is an example of imperial language, and it is very specific. This is what a king expects from a bride.
The Genesis passage shows a way that a bride is found for a future leader. This passage recounts Abraham successfully sending his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac. And you just know when Rebekah’s father Bethuel and her brother Laban found out who the servant represented, they knew Isaac would one day be the master over Abraham’s vast fortune.
So in verse 51, a verse which is outside of today’s reading, we find Bethuel and Laban saying, “Look, Rebekah is before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has spoken.” This is when the family, Bethuel, Laban, and Rebekah were presented with fine clothing, ointments, and riches. A dowry if you will. They knew this was a good deal for them; so they tried to stretch out Rebekah’s departure for ten days, hoping for more wealth. This is where we reenter the reading and Laban asks Rebekah if she will go with the servant. While the splicing of this passage makes it seem as if she is a very modern woman, and Laban a very modern father, no longer bound by the traditions recorded in the psalm, this is not so. Instead of being asked if she wants to go, she is asked if she wants to go now or later.
It is important to note in this passage is that Abraham’s servant seeks the divine will of the Lord in finding Rebekah; Laban follows the wealth, knowing that his daughter will be married into a very important family, the mother of the heir of vast wealth. Laban is concerned with the earthly kingdom of Abraham and the many blessings which the Lord has bestowed upon him. The servant on the other hand is concerned with the Lord saying “Do not delay me, since the LORD has made my journey successful; let me go that I may go to my master.” He is doing the will of the Lord, and wishes to report the good news to his master.
Both of these instances use imperial language to make their points about earthly realms and the will of their kings. In these earthly realms there is wealth and power. But there is also abuse and anguish. There is a tremendous burden placed on every social exchange. Every interaction, every relationship is loaded with danger and intrigue. And this imperial language also existed in the time of Jesus.
Jesus begins this conversation by telling the listening crowd that they have no idea what is happening in the world. He compares the listeners to youngsters playing in the marketplaces, the village square. The piper plays a wedding song, but no body wants to dance. And then when the piper plays a mournful song, no body wants to cry. People want joy, but don’t know how to be joyful. People want mourning, but don’t know how to do that either.
So when John the Baptist brought his aesthetic mournful ways, the generation did not understand and said he was possessed by a demon. Then when Jesus arrives he is considered a glutton and drunkard in bad company. Neither was considered a good son in the eyes of this generation.
Then, Jesus does the unthinkable. He uses imperial language, directly addressing the Father. Such imperial language angers both the Pharisees and the Romans. The religious leaders know Jesus cannot directly address the Lord. It is blasphemous that he would chat and call on God with such familiarity. This is the realm of the religious leaders, not this man. This is also imperial language against the Roman Empire. He is also using this language as a protest against the government. This is not wise, calling anyone “Lord” but the Roman emperor is high treason.
But earthly wisdom is useless in the ways of God. The wise and the clever use their skill and knowledge to find God leaving no praise to the Lord. Instead it is the children, those who are given knowledge as valuable as life and give glory to God, the giver of such good gifts.
The wisdom that is given is a gift; it is not like a precious metal which needs to be mined and refined before it useful. Only when we accept this grace by faith will we learn the ways and the wisdom of Jesus. Only because the Father is revealed in the Son can we know God. Jesus is the Christ, the messiah, God’s special self-revelation to a wanting world. Our wisdom cannot teach us what can easily be seen in Christ, so it is in vain that we seek God any where else.
Jesus invites all that labor come to Him. He invites all who seek life come and all who hunger and thirst will be fed. Those who seek their own wisdom will be fed with the empty calories of earthly wisdom, intoxicated by their own self defined, self imposed righteousness. Instead we are called to take on the yoke of Jesus, be relieved of the burdens of life which we put upon ourselves and one another. We are called to learn that his yoke is easy, fitting, appropriate, and worthy.
The Band was a group of musicians who backed up Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan in the 1950’s and 1960’s before recording on their own, releasing their own music. In 1968 they released a recording called “Music from Big Pink.” (Named after their recording studio.) One of the songs on that recording, a favorite of mine, is called “The Weight.” It’s a story of various acts of kindness gone wrong. The first verse goes like this:
I pulled into Nazareth, I was feelin’ about half past dead;
I just need some place where I can lay my head.
“Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?”
He just grinned and shook my hand, and “No!” was all he said.
Take a load off Fannie, take a load for free;
Take a load off Fannie, and you can put the load right on me.
We carry many burdens, burdens which we do not have to carry. Jesus teaches all who will listen that the Kingdom of God is the only kingdom that matters. Our lives place many harsh burdens on us, but it is Jesus’ yoke which is appropriate, light, and easy. We are called to drop our burdens on him and take his instead.
Jesus offers us rest, the divine Sabbath. Jesus offers to refresh us from our ordinary daily toil. And we are called to take the divine rest in Jesus. A rest that is not passive to the world, but open to a different world, and a new level of discipleship. This sabbath is not a call to obedience to a code, or to external laws, but to the one who teaches a new way to live.
We are called to a gentle call and to the leader of this call. We are given this yoke, but it is up to us to participate in the work. The kingdom of God waits, not on the other side of this life, but here and now. When we participate in the work of God’s kingdom, we participate in the inbreaking of that kingdom now.
To paraphrase the words of Earl Spence, we are to be steered with the yoke of our Lord so that our souls are not immersed by duty and tradition, but can sing openly as the Lord Almighty planned. Seeking the divine will of the Lord we are able to serve a new king. Just as Abraham’s servant did. Today as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, let us dedicate ourselves to do this in remembrance of the Lord, our messiah.
Genesis 24:34–38, 42–49, 58–67
Psalm 45:10–17
Romans 7:15–25a
Matthew 11:16–19, 25–30
At the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, her brother, the Ninth Earl Spencer said something that I will never forget. He declared to all who would listen, “Diana, on your behalf. We will not allow [your sons] to suffer the anguish that used regularly to drive you to tearful despair. Beyond that, on behalf of your mother and sisters, I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative and loving way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men, so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition but can sing openly as you planned.”
These were contentious days for the British. Because of the great sense of national mourning, the people wanted the British flag lowered to half mast. In Britain this is only done at the death of a monarch. The traditions of the crown are complex and extensive. The House of Windsor, the British royal family, was sensitive to the opinions of the people, but they were also tied to their traditions and symbols. The Union Jack was not lowered to half mast.
There were negotiations about how her body would be taken through the streets. The traditional mode of transportation is on a caisson drawn by a horse, but many thought the princess would object to this militaristic procession, especially in light of her charitable works including the effort against land mines. Her casket was transported in a hearse instead.
But what still sticks in my mind were the words of Earl Spencer. These are obviously the words of a man who loves his sister. They are the words of a wounded man standing up for his sister who lost her husband to another woman. These words would not be uncommon from any man lifting up the memory of his sister recently lost. But there was more to the statement than just the words. You see, he spoke those words in Westminster Abbey.
Ever sense Henry the Eighth established the Church of England, one of the many titles taken by the British monarch is “Defender of the Faith.” What Earl Spencer did, so very brazenly, is not just tell his ex-brother-in-law that he was angry, he told the future defender of the faith that his family would take the lead in raising the princes. And he did this in the oldest shrine of the Anglican faith. Spencer used language which seemed to be angry, but instead what he did was use royal language, imperial language, in the most important abbey of the Church of England in the world.
I know that the words are brazen, but in the context of where they are delivered, they could have been considered treasonous. In a way Spencer invoked the language of a new empire. He said that the day Prince William is made king, the house of Windsor would be better called the house of Spencer-Windsor. He took imperial language in a place of the empire and shouted his dedication to the world.
Psalm 45, used as today’s Call to Worship, is an example of how imperial language is used in scripture. Beginning with “Hear, O daughter; consider and listen closely; forget your people and your father’s house.” This passage, part of a larger wedding psalm, tells the bride that she must leave her own family and act in loyalty to the new. All is glorious for the new bride, the people of Tyre bring gifts and she is dressed in Gold and fine embroidery. But this is only after she agrees that the king is her master and she must bring him honor, which means among other things bearing him sons, heirs to the throne. Commentaries suggest that this is a very difficult passage to preach in our modern age. I agree. But I want us to consider this Psalm for its use of language. This is an example of imperial language, and it is very specific. This is what a king expects from a bride.
The Genesis passage shows a way that a bride is found for a future leader. This passage recounts Abraham successfully sending his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac. And you just know when Rebekah’s father Bethuel and her brother Laban found out who the servant represented, they knew Isaac would one day be the master over Abraham’s vast fortune.
So in verse 51, a verse which is outside of today’s reading, we find Bethuel and Laban saying, “Look, Rebekah is before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has spoken.” This is when the family, Bethuel, Laban, and Rebekah were presented with fine clothing, ointments, and riches. A dowry if you will. They knew this was a good deal for them; so they tried to stretch out Rebekah’s departure for ten days, hoping for more wealth. This is where we reenter the reading and Laban asks Rebekah if she will go with the servant. While the splicing of this passage makes it seem as if she is a very modern woman, and Laban a very modern father, no longer bound by the traditions recorded in the psalm, this is not so. Instead of being asked if she wants to go, she is asked if she wants to go now or later.
It is important to note in this passage is that Abraham’s servant seeks the divine will of the Lord in finding Rebekah; Laban follows the wealth, knowing that his daughter will be married into a very important family, the mother of the heir of vast wealth. Laban is concerned with the earthly kingdom of Abraham and the many blessings which the Lord has bestowed upon him. The servant on the other hand is concerned with the Lord saying “Do not delay me, since the LORD has made my journey successful; let me go that I may go to my master.” He is doing the will of the Lord, and wishes to report the good news to his master.
Both of these instances use imperial language to make their points about earthly realms and the will of their kings. In these earthly realms there is wealth and power. But there is also abuse and anguish. There is a tremendous burden placed on every social exchange. Every interaction, every relationship is loaded with danger and intrigue. And this imperial language also existed in the time of Jesus.
Jesus begins this conversation by telling the listening crowd that they have no idea what is happening in the world. He compares the listeners to youngsters playing in the marketplaces, the village square. The piper plays a wedding song, but no body wants to dance. And then when the piper plays a mournful song, no body wants to cry. People want joy, but don’t know how to be joyful. People want mourning, but don’t know how to do that either.
So when John the Baptist brought his aesthetic mournful ways, the generation did not understand and said he was possessed by a demon. Then when Jesus arrives he is considered a glutton and drunkard in bad company. Neither was considered a good son in the eyes of this generation.
Then, Jesus does the unthinkable. He uses imperial language, directly addressing the Father. Such imperial language angers both the Pharisees and the Romans. The religious leaders know Jesus cannot directly address the Lord. It is blasphemous that he would chat and call on God with such familiarity. This is the realm of the religious leaders, not this man. This is also imperial language against the Roman Empire. He is also using this language as a protest against the government. This is not wise, calling anyone “Lord” but the Roman emperor is high treason.
But earthly wisdom is useless in the ways of God. The wise and the clever use their skill and knowledge to find God leaving no praise to the Lord. Instead it is the children, those who are given knowledge as valuable as life and give glory to God, the giver of such good gifts.
The wisdom that is given is a gift; it is not like a precious metal which needs to be mined and refined before it useful. Only when we accept this grace by faith will we learn the ways and the wisdom of Jesus. Only because the Father is revealed in the Son can we know God. Jesus is the Christ, the messiah, God’s special self-revelation to a wanting world. Our wisdom cannot teach us what can easily be seen in Christ, so it is in vain that we seek God any where else.
Jesus invites all that labor come to Him. He invites all who seek life come and all who hunger and thirst will be fed. Those who seek their own wisdom will be fed with the empty calories of earthly wisdom, intoxicated by their own self defined, self imposed righteousness. Instead we are called to take on the yoke of Jesus, be relieved of the burdens of life which we put upon ourselves and one another. We are called to learn that his yoke is easy, fitting, appropriate, and worthy.
The Band was a group of musicians who backed up Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan in the 1950’s and 1960’s before recording on their own, releasing their own music. In 1968 they released a recording called “Music from Big Pink.” (Named after their recording studio.) One of the songs on that recording, a favorite of mine, is called “The Weight.” It’s a story of various acts of kindness gone wrong. The first verse goes like this:
I pulled into Nazareth, I was feelin’ about half past dead;
I just need some place where I can lay my head.
“Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?”
He just grinned and shook my hand, and “No!” was all he said.
Take a load off Fannie, take a load for free;
Take a load off Fannie, and you can put the load right on me.
We carry many burdens, burdens which we do not have to carry. Jesus teaches all who will listen that the Kingdom of God is the only kingdom that matters. Our lives place many harsh burdens on us, but it is Jesus’ yoke which is appropriate, light, and easy. We are called to drop our burdens on him and take his instead.
Jesus offers us rest, the divine Sabbath. Jesus offers to refresh us from our ordinary daily toil. And we are called to take the divine rest in Jesus. A rest that is not passive to the world, but open to a different world, and a new level of discipleship. This sabbath is not a call to obedience to a code, or to external laws, but to the one who teaches a new way to live.
We are called to a gentle call and to the leader of this call. We are given this yoke, but it is up to us to participate in the work. The kingdom of God waits, not on the other side of this life, but here and now. When we participate in the work of God’s kingdom, we participate in the inbreaking of that kingdom now.
To paraphrase the words of Earl Spence, we are to be steered with the yoke of our Lord so that our souls are not immersed by duty and tradition, but can sing openly as the Lord Almighty planned. Seeking the divine will of the Lord we are able to serve a new king. Just as Abraham’s servant did. Today as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, let us dedicate ourselves to do this in remembrance of the Lord, our messiah.
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