Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost – (Proper 16) Year B (RCL) 2009
Joshua 24: 1 – 2a, 14 – 18; Psalm 34: 15 – 22; Ephesians 6: 10 – 20; John 6: 56 – 69
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish, Portland, OR
Sunday, August 22, 2009


THE GOD WHO OFFENDS

Let us pray: Do we offend you God? Is your power and distance great enough to ignore our feble attempts to limit you by our understanding? You offer us all that you have, even to the point of dwelling among us in the flesh – and we are often unwilling or unable to hear your voice. What we do not understand we fear and what we fear most greatly we destroy. In offering your Holy One you risked everything to continue your covenant with us as you promised. Guide us in your ways that are not our ways and speak to us in thoughts that are not our thoughts. May your Word be among us as the truth which we cannot ignore – so that your Gospel may bring hope to the hopeless and love to loveless. We pray this in name of the Holy One of God, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

(SUNG) SUNDAY MORNING VERY BRIGHT – I READ YOUR BOOK BY
COLORED LIGHT THAT CAME IN THROUGH THE PRETTY
WINDOW PICTURE.

As I was sitting in my very crowded home “office” on Saturday morning and collecting my thoughts for the words which God might give me to speak – I was able to slip my not so worse for the wear surgically altered knee under the table we use for a desk and back up the chair against the 6 drawer standing bureau that are jammed into the “spare bedroom” since our home is in the misdt of a remodel. I’m told that many in this immediate situation would avoid the cluter and confusion of our living space – the reminiscent touch of college dorm life that comes with having one’s mattress and box-spring on the floor of the living room – and the activities of this remodel event like the plague and that the bedlam and crowding of the hallways and living spaces with other family “treasures” would drive them to distraction. Several people during this weeks long process have commented to me that I don’t seem to be anywhere near as distrubed as others might be. My guess is part of that has to do with growing up in a four bedroom one bath house with thirteen other individuals all of whom had their collections and possessions; and another part of it is that I’m basically a lot more “laid back” kind of guy in many aspects then many others including my partner, who is having a much more difficult remodel expereince than am I. As I stepped out into the hallways and picked up boxes of clothes to be taken to William Temple House and chachka’s to move into the great unknown of others lives, I was struck to ask what is this thing we call “church” that will gather us in from the distance of our private lives to share with others in community and fellowship? Why do we, who live in the most “unchurched” state in the union gather together to do church, or rather to be church? The collection of individuals and families who join together every Sunday to remember God’s promise to be with us whenever two or three of us gather in God’s name is one thing. In our liturgical and eucharistic gathering and sharing in the gifts of God for the people of God we are fed and nourished by Christ’s Body and Blood; and while this happens in the midst of the gathered community that sharing can also be deeply personal and private between ourselves and our God. What amazes me even more though is our commitment to the Church and to each other, which gathers us on a weekday afternoon to contribute to the feeding program; for a bible study meeting or a Saturday at 8:00 in the morning to make coffee, pour juice and set banquet hall table to reach out and offer them to the greater community in order to feed the hungry and share the good news of God’s love in our lives with those who deperately need to hear that message. We give of our time and our money for a good cause, whatever that cause may be in our communal life. The rasing of our consiciousness around our mission and ministry in the downtown neighborhood in which we find oursleves proclaiming God’s love to the world is important and difficult work. I commend those of you who have given of your time in working out the details of our mission and ministry – I ecnourge those of you who have not to find someone in parish leadership and share your thoughts and fears; feelings and concerns with them. Perhaps what is more important and glorifying to our God is the witness which the gathered community makes to say “we are the presence of God’s Body and Blood in the downtown south park blocks of Portland Oregon for the past One Hundred and forty five plus years and we are always looking to invite others into that community of witness. “To feed those that are hungry in body and spirit, and provide spritual comfort and heartfelt welcome”

(SUNG) I VISITED SOME HOUSES WHERE THEY SAID THAT YOU WERE
LIVING – AND THEY TALKED A LOT ABOUT YOU AND THEY
SPOKE ABOUT YOUR GIVING. THYE PASSED A BASKET
WITH SOME ENVELOPES, I JUST HAD TIME TO WRITE A
NOTE; AND ALL IT SAID WAS “I BELIEVE IN YOU.”

In our shared story with the Hebrew people we heard this morning from the final chapter of the Book of Joshua which is a piece of a unique and extensive history of the wandering period in the wilderness for God’s chosen people. This final chapter is a piece of Joshua’s farewell discourse and talks of the covenant ceremony at the holy place of Shechem and of Joshua’s death. God is depicted in this history as closely involved in the events described as a God of battles whose power is clearly manifested in the conquests and successes of the people of Israel. In our pericope from the book this morning several verses are combined to create a vision in which Josuah gathers all the people, the elders, heads of families, judges and officers of Israel from all of the tribes together at the Holy place of Shechem to remind them of their covenental promise and to seek their commitment to that promise once more before he dies. It is from this pericope, in the final sentence of the 15th verse that we encounter the phrase which has become familiar to us on plaques and wall hangings in Christian bookstores, “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Now I will just bet that as you listened to Choi (or Mic or Jean) this morning, you were struck by imagery and depiction of the author of the early letter to the Ephesians request that the believers “put on the whole armor of God.” I know that I was struck by it when I realised that in the epistle reading for the day all of the imagery and metaphor that speak to battle and forces of the evil one and the wiles of cosmic forces of darkness; the author encourages the faithful of Ephesus to put on their feet whatever will make them ready to proclaim the Gospel of peace – I’m sorry, say again – I didn’t hear very much of a Gospel proclaiming peace in that pericope. When we gathered in the sacristy after last Sunday’s services; I was thrilled and delighted to be reminded by Stephen that this weeks Gospel reading, was ONCE AGAIN – about Jesus’ disturbing message regarding the flesh and blood presence of our God among us. The mainline liberal protestant preaching sites and blogs which I visit on a pretty regular basis for insight and inspiration were all abuzz this week with the difficulty of finding ANYTHING more to say about the end of the sixth chapter of the author of John’s gospel, and with the challenge of addressing the author of Ephesian’s militaristic metaphor in inviting us to be strong in God and in the strength of God’s power. As difficult as that passage might be for some of my sister’s and brothers who will climb the pulpit today – I am grateful beyond description that I do not face the challenge of my brother priest’s who must address (or more probably will totally ignore) the lesson chosen for the Roman Catholic lectionary from Ephesians for today which speaks of “wives submitting themselves to their husbands.” If you think I’m going to near that, you can think again.

What I do find fascinating in the pericope from the Ephesian’s text is that “the armor” pieces which the writer identifies are, with the exception of the sword, all defensive weapon’s, to be used by the believer’s not in agression or military dominance; rather as defense against the spiritual forces of evil. The metaphor would certainly have spoken to the audience of it’s day (around 100 C.E.) which lived in the reality of the Roman Empire and it’s soldier’s, fully armed for their opression and control of the populace. How clever, for this author whom most scholars agree is of the “Pauline school” and not Paul himself, to use the common descriptors and images of the oppressive military regime and turn them into a description of the power of God to shield the faithful with salvation, righteousness, faith, truth, peace and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God! The end of this letter speaks directly to those of us who have as a principle part of our ministry the preaching of God’s Good News. The challenges and rewards of Sunday after Sunday seeking out the kernal’s of God’s guidence hidden in the treasure of our Scriptures and seeking to apply its wisdom and insight for God’s people and God’s Church. The author writes, “Pray also for me, that I may be granted the right words when I speak, and may boldy and freely make known the the hudden purpose of the gospel…” The Rev. Dr. Linda Clader who is professor of Homiletics at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, CA wrote in the introduction to her book Voicing the Vision: Imagination and Prophetic Preaching, the following comment which I share with you, “Preaching is dangerous because it opens doors to the holy. Whether it occurs in the context of a eucharistic liturgy or a service of lessons and carols, we believe that somehow Christ is present in the Word proclaimed and that our preaching is part of that proclamation. Whether we are guest preachers in cathedrals or long-time pastors of small churches, we believe that somehow we are called to make God's ways known anew to this group of people at this time. And whether we speak in an informal vernacular or painstakingly craft a piece of poetry, we understand that the words we use are only a small part of the message our listeners receive, and that a large share of that message is entirely out of our control. We can be totally misunderstood,. We can touch someone's hot button and spend the rest of the week having to pour water on a brush fire. And sometimes we discover to our amazement that while we thought we were preaching a sermon hurriedly prepared or ill-conceived, one of our parishioners was hearing something life-changing. We can't make that happen and yet we understand that we have a responsibility to prepare and to act as if it might.”.

(SUNG) I VISITED YOUR HOUSE AGAIN, ON CHRISTMAS OR
THANKSGIVING – AND A BALDED MAN SAID YOU WERE
DEAD, BUT THE HOUSE WOULD GO ON LIVING. HE RECITED
POETRY, AND AS HE SAW ME STAND TO LEAVE – HE SHOOK
HIS HEAD AND SAID I’D NEVER FIND YOU.


So my sisters and brothers we reach - for the fifth Sunday in a row - the author of John’s account of the Good News of God in Christ’s 6th Chapter and the discourse on the “Bread of Life”. I would also point out that we are on page 5 of my sermon text and my sermon’s are rarely longer than 5 typewritten pages in 12 point font at space and a half per line. So, I have successfully avoided having to preach on this text for which I have absolutely nothing left to say. Seriously though, in this particular visit the lectionary places the emphasis on Jesus’ question to the twelve after the other disciples have decided that the message which is being taught to difficult and they turn away from following the Nazarene carpenter’s son. Jesus turns to them and asks, “Do you also wish to go away?” Who among us at one time or another, faced with difficulties or heartbreaks, grief or burden’s has not wanted to say “yes, I do wish to go away; this is too hard, it is just more than I can bear.” Peter, in one of the brief shining moments of his ministry responds not as “ever Peter” and has the grace, and strength and blessing to respond “Lord, to whom can we go?” I can almost hear couched in that simple response the sub-text in Peter’s mind “we might not know where we’re headed, when we’ll get there or what the ending point will look like; but we’ve come this far and we ain’t turnin’ back now.” The miracle of our relationship with this carpenter’s son is that we are free to go away. God, in Christ loves us so much and so unconditionally that we are free to leave whenever we choose. We are free to stop following and Jesus will never stop loving, giving, healing and protecting, because of the covenant God made with God’s people and because of the truth revealed in Peter’s faith declaration, “You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Amen.

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 15) – Year B (RCL) 2009
1 Kings 2: 10 – 12, 3: 3 – 14; Psalm 111; Ephesians 5: 15 – 20; John 6: 51 – 58
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish, Portland, OR
Sunday, August 16, 2009

HOLY GIFTS FOR HOLY PEOPLE

Let us pray: Saviour Jesus, we know you in incarnate and eucharistic revelation. In the obscure and distant “facts” of your earthly presence among us, and in the intimate and immediate gifts of your body and blood which we share week after week. When we think we have you all figured out – you enter our hearts and our souls to upset our routine and remind us of your mystery. Fill our minds with your Word, and our bodies with your body. Feed us with your holy gifts that we might be worthy to be your holy people. Comfort us with your truth – and shock us with your mystery that we might become all that you deign for us to be. Amen.

(SUNG) GIVE US A SIGN, THAT WE MIGHT BELIEVE IN YOU – MOSES
GAVE US MANNA FROM THE SKY.
LOOK BEYOND THE BREAD YOU EAT – SEE YOUR SAVIOUR
AND YOUR GOD. LOOK BEYOND THE CUP YOU DRINK – SEE
GOD’S LOVE POURED OUT AS BLOOD.

I have to begin my remarks this morning by expressing my frustration at the compiler’s of the Revised Common Lectionary. We follow that prescribed lectionary which determines the sequence of readings from the Hebrew testament, the songs or Psalms of the people of Israel, the letters or teachings directed to the earliest Christian communities forming in the first and second centuries of the common era (more commonly called the epistles) and the narration of the events and teachings of Jesus the Christ as handed down in the four canonical Gospels. My difficulty with the readings chosen for this Sunday, the eleventh after Pentecost (Proper 15) of Year B is that we differ very little from the stories as we heard them presented last Sunday – and yes, even though we were on Vacation, Michael & I attended the 8:15 Sung Eucharist (Rite 1 I might add, complete with the “prayer of humble access”) at Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish in Colorado Springs, CO. If you can remember ALL that way back – we read from the telling of the Good News by the author of John’s account about the events just after the feeding of the five thousand with five barley loaves and two fish when Jesus makes the first of the “I Am” statements refering to himself as “the bread of life”. Well, thank you very much – but we heard all that last week! Now, we are given by those responsible for the lectionary this eight verse pericope which tacks onto the ending of that discourse about eating of the body and drinking of the blood. Couldn’t we be a bit more efficent and just have included these verses last week? Why do we have to have two Sunday’s in a row where we foucs on this difficult image of eating flesh and drinking blood? Why does the author of this Gospel have to pound it out so mercilessly? Eat my body, drink my blood, yes we get it already.

Now you, the small yet faithful attendees of this urban downtown Episcopal Parish did not hear from me last Sunday, yet I trust that Palmer wrote about the bread of life and I’m sure you do not need to be reminded just a short seven days later what he felt that “I Am” statement of Jesus has to say to us who gather in Jesus’ name and share the bread and wine each Sunday. Even though I was not your preacher last week, I can assure you that I would have writen a brilliant sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost and it’s basic thrust would have been that Jesus as “the bread of life” is not sliced white wonder bread that helps build strong bodies twelve ways. Sitting so smugly in the pew last Sunday morning, I was just thrilled that I wouldn’t have to preach, yet again on the Author of John’s text that can be difficult for anyone to hear. I suppose that I could have just “borrowed” the sermon I heard last Sunday and delivered it to you this morning – [and I always find that to be troublesome since God’s spirit is trying to say something through a preacher’s remarks which are specific for the particular audience to which they are written.] No, it would appear that we will have to probe deeper into these readings this morning and find out what God is trying to convey in this most disturbing of metaphors about eating flesh and drinking blood, and that is no easy task. Thank you, Holy Spirit!

(SUNG) I AM THE BREAD WHICH FROM THE HEAVENS CAME, THOSE
WHO EAT THIS BREAD WILL NEVER DIE.
LOOK BEYOND THE BREAD YOU EAT – SEE YOUR SAVIOUR
AND YOUR GOD. LOOK BEYOND THE CUP YOU DRINK – SEE
GOD’S LOVE POURED OUT AS BLOOD.

Most of us who have been part of this liturgical tradition of a eucharistic centered community have been able to “desensitize” our ears and understandings about this eating of flesh and drinking of blood – and the Church helps us to do this by using in our weekly commemoration of Christ’s memorial redemptive act the slight twist of the language which the synoptic writers left us “Take this all of you and eat it, this is my body given for you.” I don’t know about you, but for me it is a bit more tolerable to contemplate on the eucharist as Christ’s “body” than it is to focus on it being “the flesh of the Son of Man.” The Greek, however, in this 6th Chapter of the author of John’s account is “sarx” which is definitely translated as “flesh” and not the Greek “soma” which is translated as body. One of my sermon preparation resources also notices another surprise in the Greek text in this chapter and that is the word translated as “eat”. The Greek for the word in this discourse changes from the generic polite word for eating, “phage” to the much more coarse and earthy Greek word “trogan” which is perhaps better translated as “munch” or “gnaw” or “gulp”. So here we can translate as “those who munch on my flesh and gulp of my blood abide in me and I in them.” No wonder the hearer’s of this discourse are shocked and confused. Especially in a society where what was eaten and it’s level of purity and cleanliness was of paramount importance. No observant Jew would ever think of allowing human flesh and blood to pass their lips. We are told that many turned away and no longer followed after these events.

Part of the reason for the use of the more gutteral and earthy words of Jesus around munching of flesh and drinking of blood in this author’s account might have to do with several early Christian heresy’s with which the Gospel’s audience would have been familiar. Most notably “docetism” and “gnosticism” which among other things discounted the human sufferings and death of the divine Son of God. The author of John’s account might have intentionally used this more human and earthy wording in the bread of life discourse to point up the truth that Jesus of Nazareth – the son of God, was also human and experienced all of the fleshly aspects of that humanity. Also, we should remember that way back in the prolouge to this Gospel account the author introduces Jesus as “the Word became flesh”. In this narrative event, Jesus points up that flesh and offer’s the followers this startling and shocking discourse about the eucharistic gifts which will be left as a memorial of his presence among us. Part of this, I think, also has contributed to the more protestant and evangelical branches of the Church retreating from Eucharistic centered worship and focusing more on the Word of God and not the Flesh of God.

(SUNG) THE BREAD I GIVE YOU WILL BE MY VERY FLESH, MY
BLOOD WILL TRULY BE YOUR DRINK.
THIS MAN SPEAKS HARSHLY, WHO CAN LISTEN TO HIS
WORDS, WE WILL NO LONGER FOLLOW HIM. LOOK BEYOND
THE BREAD YOU EAT, SEE YOUR SAVIOUR AND YOUR GOD.
LOOK BEYOND THE CUP YOU DRINK, SEE GOD’S LOVE
POURED OUT AS BLOOD.

So, where does that leave us, those of us who gather around this table each Sunday and share gifts of bread and wine, gifts of flesh and blood – holy gifts for holy people? We in the Catholic tradition of the Church who – although we do not hold to the understanding of transubstantiation in our eucharistic sacrifice, do hold to the understanding of consubstantiation; that in some unkown and mysterious way, through the actions of my hands and the function of our community Jesus become present to us in our bread and wine as body and blood given for the world God has made? We enter in this liturgical realm, deep theological mystery. We recall the events of the life, death and resurrection – the incarnation – of our God made flesh among us, both in the last supper narratives of the synoptic Gospels and in this earthy and gutsy retelling of the bread of life narrative in the fourth Gospel.

Folks we all come to this table loaded down with our understandings of what happens in this sacred mystery which we share each week; of what we have been taught to believe about this sacrament of God’s body and blood. I am not here to tell you what you “must” believe about this sacred moment in your week. That is one of the true graces of the “via media” in Anglican thought and theology. I would point out that if you question what the Church thinks about this gift of God for the people of God, there are no less than nine Eucharistic Prayer in our Prayer Book and Supplemental Liturgical materials which contain the details and understandings of Eucharistic Theology in nine different and wonderful ways – and even they cannot contain the totality of the grace and mystery present in events they narrate. The moment I think I understand what happens in the Eucharist, when I think I “know” what this Eucharist is all about – then I am in big trouble. Then the word of God fills my heart and my head with the nonsensical nature of eating flesh and drinking blood, of gifts given for the life of the world, of holy gifts for holy people of which I am totally unworthy of taking by any act of my own doing.

(SUNG) YOU MY DISCIPLES, WILL YOU ALSO LEAVE – LORD TO
WHOM CAN WE GO? LOOK BEYOND THE BREAD YOU EAT

SEE YOUR SAVIOUR AND YOUR GOD. LOOK BEYOND THE CUP
YOU DRINK, SEE GOD’S LOVE POURED OUT AS BLOOD.

When we affirm our “yes”, our “so be it”, or “so I believe” – our AMEN to the reception of the Body and Blood of Christ we continue the Church’s memorial commemoration of that act of Eucharist or thanksgiving which Jesus handed down to us; and we take that bread which is Body or Flesh and that common cup which is lifeblood for the Body of Christ, the Church and we are what we eat.

Amen