Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – Year C Proper 20 (RCL) 2010
Jeremiah 8: 18 – 9: 1; Psalm 79: 1 – 9; 1 Timothy 2: 1 – 7; Luke 16:1 – 13
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish, Portland OR
Sunday, September 19, 2010

GOD AND MAMMON

Let us pray: Holy God we are tempted to squander the opportunities you place before us for ministry and service in your name. We are busy furthering our own fortunes and we often neglect the fortunes of others who have so much less than we. You, however, call us always to service to discipleship in your name with an unswerving devotion. That commitment is beyond our grasp without you, O God, give it to us in your grace. We ask that you help shape our priorities so that we might spend what you give us on things which truly matter. We pray this in the name of the One, Holy and Living God. Amen.

(SUNG) THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD, TO MAKE THE WOUNDED WHOLE. THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD, TO HEAL THE SIN SICK SOUL.
SOMETIMES I FEEL DISCOURAGED, AND FEEL MY WORK’S IN VAIN, BUT THEN THE HOLY SPIRIT REVIVES MY SOUL AGAIN.

Admit it, when you heard that phrase [Is there no balm in Gilead?] in the reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, your mind immediately jumped to this old chestnut! In my previous parish we had a training session in the church for Lector’s and we used this reading to give each person an opportunity to read aloud for the group and be critiqued. One of the lectors, Sandy commented that it was not until she began to learn to read that she realized that she had heard the phrase incorrectly – and her young mind searched for some logic around why God would have planted a bomb in the city of Gilead. In the midst of Jeremiah’s chastising of the people of Judah and Jerusalem around their creation of graven images and foreign idols Yahweh speaks to the chosen people. God speaks in first person voice of hurt, grief and dismay and tells them that a fountain of tears would pour from heavenly eyes as God wept day and night for the wounded and slain people God claimed as God’s own. Gilead was a region of the Transjordan and was a major stop along the trade route called the Kings Highway, which stretched from the Gulf of Aqaba all the way to Damascus. The exact composition of the famed balm in Gilead is unknown to this day. Jeremiah speaks of this balm at several other points in the oracles collected in the book attributed to this major prophet and it always serves as a metaphor of the healing power of God’s love for the people.

Fr. Jim, who was here last week to cover for my short trip to British Columbia, gets to preach on the beautiful parable story of the shepherd who leaves the ninety nine to go and search for the one lost sheep. The previous week was an opportunity for my colleague in ministry and our Deacon extraordinaire to tackle the difficult text from this author’s account wherein Jesus tells the crowd that they must hate their father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters; and even life itself in order to be a disciple. If I thought he had a difficult Gospel text to preach on two weeks ago, the lesson from the author of Luke/Acts chosen for this Sunday wins the “difficult” prize hands down. All of Jesus’ parables are challenging but the story of the dishonest manager who is praised by the master for acting shrewdly (while, incidentally, he appears to be robbing him blind) is one which will make any hearer turn there heads and ask “what is that all about? This Gospel stuff has surely risen to the heights of obscurity today – I wonder what he’ll have to say about this one”! The fact is, I have nothing to say about this one – so if we could all just sit and meditate upon what we think might be happening in this story we’ll get on with the Nicene Creed and press on. Seriously, I have studied commentators and searched through preacher’s galore to see what God’s Holy Spirit might be leading me to say about this challenging text. One of the first courses which I enrolled in at the Episcopal Seminary, Church Divinity School of the Pacific was titled; God and Mammon – the Politics and Theology of money. Dr. Marion Grau crafted this course and challenged those of us who took it to discern for ourselves our understanding of the theology of money. Dr. Grau cited the number of times that Jesus spoke to issues of economics and money (including in those statistics mention of the poor and our responsibility toward them) and the number though I cannot find in the mess of my seminary 1st semester notes the exact citation, was astronomically high – and certainly many times higher than the number that Jesus gave mention to the current issues which divide our Anglican sisters and brothers so fractiously. My point in bringing this up is that Jesus, in this morning’s Gospel narrative opens the door for the followers and disciples to have those conversations and discussions, which we find to difficult to have and they mostly center on money. Not necessarily how much we have or don’t have – but most especially about how much we give away; that is truly the taboo topic in our Christian theology of economics.

(SUNG) THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD TO MAKE THE WOUNDED WHOLE THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD TO HEAL THE SIN SICK SOUL.
IF YOU CANNOT PREACH LIKE PETER, IF YOU CANNOT PRAY LIKE PAUL, YOU CAN TELL THE LOVE OF JESUS, AND SAY HE DIED FOR ALL.

So, he figured out a way at the end of September to turn it into a “stewardship” Sermon. The Christian Scripture reading from First Timothy and the Lukan text about the dishonest manager suggest some alternative ways of addressing stewardship in our community. First we are urged by the writer of Timothy to pray. Why, because when we pray we are giving voice to the relationship we have with our maker and redeemer. Relationships require communication, and prayer is the principle form we use to signify our relationship with God. Will be doin’ a lot of prayin’ in this stewardship season. Learning about prayer deepens our relationship with God, and lays a foundation for our response in giving from what God has given to us. Learning to pray also begins to order our life around a subject that is still difficult to talk about in our culture – money! Oh, we can talk about how to spend it, how to save it, how to invest it – but few talk about how to give it away. That is where today’s parable from the Author of Luke/Acts sixteenth chapter can give us some insight. As we noted, Jesus talks about money, a lot; and in today’s Gospel story Jesus talks about it in ways we can really identify with – getting it anyway you can. Of course, the point of the parable is that the crafty steward uses his cleverness to assure himself a place when the bottom falls out of things. Jesus commends that cleverness – though not the dishonesty, for us. Jesus also says that we cannot serve God and Money (Mammon), that’s because Jesus knows how we struggle with our limited resources; how we wish we could have more and how we even say, “when I get rich I’m going to give a whole bunch to charity.” Jesus doesn’t want to hear that, Jesus wants us to feel freedom and joy, and to give from what we have – right now. God knows how bound we are by our feeling of scarcity – God wants us to claim abundance.

It is important to remind ourselves of the setting of this story, nothing in the narrative indicates a movement by Jesus or the disciples or the Pharisees so we can safely assume that we are still at the same dinner party sitting with outcasts and sinners and religious authorities who have their noses pretty out of joint. Throughout this party Jesus has offered the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the two lost sons (or the Prodigal Son). These three stories talk about the generosity of God’s love, not the rejection of sinners and outcasts, plus the setting of the telling is in intimate table fellowship. This setting can give the disciples and followers a sense of what potential there can be when they join together around that table and share gifts with each other. They learn that the appropriate outlook on outcasts and sinners is an open heart, one that expresses itself in the love for one another, in their willingness to be the best for another no matter where that other comes from, or what treatment popular opinion says they deserve.

As if to drive home the point, Jesus tells an outrageous story that has some pretty dicey ethics, at best. To say that Jesus is encouraging his hearers to “think outside the box”, is an understatement, but in doing so Jesus illustrates the zeal and determination that is being sought from the disciples to choose the Kindom of God and to live in it. Richard Obach and Albert Kirk in their commentary on the Lukan Gospel have a great description of this story:

“As the parable unfolds, a servant is about to be dismissed for wasting his employers money; he was neglecting his responsibilities. The servant’s future looks very bleak. Beggary awaits him because he lacks the strength for manual labor. As he ponders the bind he is in, he receives a flash of insight and realizes how he can solve his dilemma. He then makes a decision that makes a bearing on his entire future – the security of being welcomed into the homes of his master’s former creditors; he reduces their indebtedness by giving up his rightful commission. As a steward he had a right to a percentage of what he collected for his employer. The employer praises the steward not for his earlier neglect of his duty, but for having the foresight to give up his commission for the sake of what would be needed later on when he had no job…”

A possible moral for this story is that Jesus wants those who are listening to see that the choice before them is of the same gravity and magnitude as the one before the steward. Their whole future hangs in the balance. Jesus wants them, and us, like the steward to be shrewd, daring and willing to sacrifice for the future. This is an all or nothing proposition. The people in fellowship around the table that evening have already tasted something new in what life can be. Jesus is asking if this is going to be for one night only, or do they (and we) see the importance of re-orienting the way we live to the standards present only in the Gospel – and in the Kindom of God, which is present among us.

(SUNG) THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD, TO MAKE THE WOUNDED WHOLE. THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD, TO HEAL THE SIN SICK SOUL.

I was struck by a quote which was I came across while reading one of the sermon illustration resources to which I subscribe; it was credited to the Grand Dame Brook Astor who died at the ripe old age of 105. Ms. Astor, an American socialite and philanthropist, was the chairwoman of the Vincent Astor Foundation which had been established by her third husband, Vincent Astor, the last surviving member of the moneyed Astor family. Brook was quoted by some unknown sources as saying: “Money is like Manure, it should be spread around.” What a wonderful theology of stewardship, from this remarkable woman who knew that serving God and wealth (Mammon) is impossible. As we gather and pray with God and each other in the weeks ahead and look for the ways in which we might give back to God what God has so graciously given to us as part of our prayerful and personal stewardship. I share with you a Prayer written by former Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold:

“Lord God you gave bread to your people in the wilderness, and sent Jesus to be bread for the life of the world. May we, your family, who week by week break and share the bread of the Eucharist, be bread for one another, and for all who stand in need. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

I was on Vacation in Victoria BC for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost and the Rev. Jim Corbett presided and preached for Sunday, September 12th, 2010

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Deacon Ken preached the sermon for Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, for Sunday September 5th, 2010

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 17 (RCL) Year C 2010
Jeremiah 2: 4 – 13; Psalm 81: 1, 10 – 16; Hebrews 13: 1 – 8; 15 – 16; Luke 14: 1, 7 – 14
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish, Portland OR
Sunday, August 29, 2010

GUESS WHO’S (NOT) COMING TO DINNER?

Let us pray: Help us gracious God to live out your call to be followers of your Christ and not merely admirers. When the lessons are harsh, when the message is hard, help us to dare and take the risks you took in your time among us as The Anointed One, the Messiah of God. When we envision your Kindom come on earth – may we glory in the reversals of pride and poverty; of position and powerlessness and especially in the Angels who come among us disguised as strangers that they might teach us all that you have given in the ultimate act of salvation through Jesus, you’re Holy One and our savior. Amen.

(SUNG) NOW WITH GOD AT TABLE WE SIT DOWN,
NOW WITH GOD AT TABLE WE SIT DOWN.

The long green season of time after the feast of Pentecost is designed to allow us through the scriptures commended in the Revised Common Lectionary to hear from the authors of our Hebrew, Christian and Gospel texts lessons and examples of the truth of God and God’s plan for humankind and its ultimate salvation. Often those stories and examples handed down to us by our ancestors in the Faith (both Hebrew and Christian) are difficult for us in our twenty first century sensibilities to comprehend; and indeed probably were as difficult for those in the centuries before us. Jesus’ life and ministry as revealed to us by the authors of our Gospel texts was a prophet and preacher who was a threat to the religious and political authorities of his time and preached a message of reversal of fortunes for those who held the power and authority of humankind. I honestly believe that Jesus was not the kind of dinner guest that any of us would have been interested in hosting for a light evening of casual frolic and bon vivant! No, this “Irritant Preacher” as some author’s have referred to him – was all about turning the tables upside down and humbling the proud in the middle of their folly. Each and every Sunday that we gather around the Altar Table we pray, as a joined community of believer’s that Jesus will come among us and be our guest at God’s table; are we really and truly sure that we want that prayer to be answered? If we get the Jesus who is revealed to us in the author of Luke’s account this morning – I think I might hesitate at that invitation.

If we are to believe the events narrated from the Gospel story this morning, Jesus was not always the most pleasant of dinner guests. Here Jesus has been invited to the “house of a Pharisee”. As soon as we hear the mention of Pharisee’s in the author of Luke’s account, we can expect the conflict and drama of the story to intensify. Perhaps this Pharisee invites Jesus so that more ammunition can be gathered for the eventual payback that this group of religious leaders looked to exact. Perhaps this Pharisee invites Jesus into his home to try and negotiate some sort of peace between the established temple leadership and this rebel preacher who had been doing so much to rile up the crowds; the unkempt and unclean crowds; the irreverent and unapologetic crowds, the crowds that would eventually turn against him and echo the cries of the religious authorities to crucify him. “Maybe if we can just get Jesus to sit down at the table in the midst of us and offer the hospitality of our spacious home, we can negotiate some sort of peaceful resolution between him and those who look to stop him by any means possible.” I guess they can forget that pretty quickly. No sooner has Jesus arrived when he begins to stir up controversy and turns his indignation toward the gathered guests. Jesus calls them on their behavior by noting how they all scrambled as quickly as they could for the best places at the table. Think if you will about our own cultural norms when we are attending or organizing a dinner or banquet. Table cards are marked and set out in a seating arrangement that places the honored guest at the front or center of the gathering hall and seats are assigned to the “head table” or those tables closest according to the protocol of the most honored guests up front and the less notable or desirable further and further back. In today’s Gospel message, Jesus condemns this practice telling those who look for positions of influence that “those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

(SUNG) NOW WITH GOD AT TABLE WE SIT DOWN
NOW WITH GOD AT TABLE WE SIT DOWN.

Next this gentle dinner guest turns on the host. “The next time you give a dinner party, don’t invite those like you have invited here; your friends, your relatives and those who have power and influence in your circle and will be able to repay the favor by inviting you to their next soiree; rather invite the lame, the blind the poor and the destitute – those who would never in a million years have the ability to reciprocate your hospitality.” Does anyone here have that understanding of how a dinner party should be organized? Then again this is Jesus, this is the one who takes on the powerful and privileged of his society and turns them all on their heads with shocking regularity. This is the Jesus who speaks of the greatest banquet of all – the feast in the Kindom of God. Who is seated at this table? Those who have nothing are given everything – for nothing. The outsiders of our societies become the insiders of God’s Kindom. Do we remember the song that Luke’s author puts in the mouth of Mary at the announcement of Jesus’ birth? “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” As God has promised, so will God deliver. I wonder if I am blessed enough to be seated at God’s great banquet how surprised I will be at who is sitting next to me, and who is sitting next to them – and who is seated closest to the head table?
Would any of us fare any better if Jesus were the invited guest at one of our dinner parties? Are we humble enough to let our neighbor’s be that highly exalted, especially our neighbors that we would never think of inviting into our banquet tables? Are we prepared to sit with sinners and saints? Are we ready to extend our generosity to the prostitutes and drug addicts, to the dirty and bedraggled beggars? I want to share with you a story that I came across as I was searching for sermon ideas this week. It’s a story called Thank you, Mike.

This story appeared in a local newspaper years ago about a “regular” street beggar and a woman named Ellen Friedman and her son:
The man in question stands at the same street intersection every day, rain or shine, with a cardboard sign in hand, asking for money. On occasion, the Friedman’s have been known to give him a dollar, or even a sandwich. One rainy day Mrs. Friedman was ferrying her son from lunch at home to his music lesson and they saw that the beggar on their corner was barely able to walk. In fact, the man appeared to be staggering. The light turned green and off they went.
Later, Mrs. Friedman wrote: "Thinking out loud, I said to myself, 'he might have been drunk.' But being in the presence of the relentless honesty of youth, I had to add, 'but he looked like he was in pain.' We drove for several blocks in silence. At length my son said, 'Mom, I just don't feel right. We just ate pizza for lunch, and you let me have drum lessons, and pitching lessons, and camp, and that all costs lots of money, and he's sitting there in the rain.' I began looking for a place to U-turn. This was not the first time my children have urged me to turn around in the name of charity....At Krieger Schechter, the Jewish day school my children attend, they have learned that tzedakah (the Hebrew counterpart for 'charity,' but which literally means 'justice') is a way of life. Discovering she only has a 20 dollar bill with her; Mrs. Friedman pulls into a fast food chain and buys a meal, and returns to the corner on Roland Avenue to deliver the lunch. "...he turned toward the car, and (for the first time, I'm ashamed to admit) I looked into his face. He wasn't as old as I had expected. Maybe not much older than I. He was also visibly upset. Amid his thanks I caught another story. '...just drove by and threw somethin' at me. What makes people be so hateful? Don't they think I got feelings too?' The light changed, and we drove on with tears in our eyes. I was humbled when I thought how close we had been to just driving home. We could debate all day whether it's appropriate, safe, or good public policy to give to individual beggars, or whether all giving should be done through institutions. But when faced with the decision of whether or not to give to an individual, the Talmud, the ancient commentary on the Hebrew bible, instructs us that...if a beggar says, 'I'm hungry, please give me some food,' we should do so with a kind word, certainly without insults. Sometimes, as this experience has us, the words of encouragement may be the most important part."

The next week Mrs. Friedman and her son drove back toward the intersection with lunch in hand and asked the man on the corner how he was feeling. As the man explained to them, he had been to the emergency room for the pain he had been suffering. Mrs. Friedman noticed something for the first time. Scribbled at the bottom of his cardboard sign were the words, "Thank you, Mike."
"Now I knew his name.’Mike, we won't be coming this way for a few weeks. Take care of yourself.' Mike wished my son a good time at camp, and then the light changed. We'd like to think that the hot food and the kind words we gave Mike had a value beyond the dollars and the time it cost to give them, but we do know that what we learned from the encounter with Mike had a far greater value. Thank you, Mike."

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers” says the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, “for by doing that some have entertained Angles without knowing it.” I know I don’t have the insight to discern the bums from the Angels. I pray that God might lead us, in community to a closer understanding of how we might be better followers of this one we claim as our savior, this Jesus who calls us to open our banquet tables to a different seating arrangement than we have ever known before.

Amen.