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.