That We All May Be One

When I was a parish priest in the 1980s, I did a second theological degree at the General Seminary in New York. It took four summers and a lot of reading and paper writing in between. In those days, General Seminary, which is located just north of Greenwich Village in an area called Chelsea, was in a pretty tough neighborhood.

It’s now all become quite “gentrified” and the apartments are all co-ops or condos that sell for an incredible amount of money. But in those days one regularly came across homeless people and folks asking for money on the street. One of our Church History professors used to carry a pocket full of one-dollar bills so that, when he ventured out in his clerical collar and black suit, he would have something to give when he would be asked for assistance…as clergy invariably are.

I used to wonder what kind of response my friend would have gotten with his one dollar bills when the needs before him were so obviously much greater than that!

But clearly he wanted to avoid turning people down and appearing to be like the rich man in today’s Gospel “who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day” but who apparently had walked right by the “poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table.” (Luke 16:19)

Those very tables get turned in the afterlife when the poor man was rewarded and the rich man punished for his neglect of the poor. I was reminded of Judith’s quote in last Sunday’s sermon that it may be the responsibility of the rich to take care of the poor in this life, so that the poor may take care of the rich in the next! Although in this story a great “chasm has been fixed” forever dividing the poor man from the rich one!  It’s too late in this case. The rich man had “missed his wake up call!”

Certainly it’s clear from the pages of the New Testament that Christians have a responsibility to minister to the poor. In Matthew 25 Jesus makes the point that we will be judged, at least in part, on the principle of “ inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, you have done it unto me.” And there are least two ways that we can respond to that calling.

One is by direct services to the poor (a “ramped up” version of my old seminary professor passing out one-dollar bills to people on the street). In some ways that’s what our PUNCH churches and Churches United try to do through CareLink, food pantries, and other such programs here in the Quad Cities. Another method is to “get upstream” of the problem…to try to figure out why there are so many poor and hungry people around the world (and even in this rich and prosperous nation) and to try and do something about the causes!

Our church tries to name both of those approaches in something called The Five Marks of Mission” set out in the Anglican Communion’s MISSIO Report of 1999, affirmed by the Lambeth Conference of Bishops, and our own General Convention. It identifies  five challenges in our mission as Christians:

“to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God” ;

“to teach, baptize and nurture new believers”,

“to respond to human need by loving service”,

“to seek to transform unjust structures of society”;

“to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and to sustain and renew   the life of the earth”

So, both approaches are found here: “to respond to human need by loving service” and “to seek to transform the unjust structure of society.” Anglicans in Africa and other parts of the “Two-Thirds World” expend a lot of prayer, time and energy on those two aspects of poverty reduction and they challenge us regularly to do the same thing!

Two years ago at the Lambeth Conference I joined 670 Archbishops and Bishops from across the worldwide Anglican Communion in marching through the streets of London passing out copies of something called the “Poverty and Justice Bible.” This is an edition of the Holy Bible which has more than 2,000 passages that speak of God’s attitude to poverty and justice highlighted in bright colors. You literally “cannot miss” the many references!

That was a pretty dramatic gesture and the color-coded Bibles may have been helpful to those who may rarely – or never – open the pages of our Sacred Book.

But we really shouldn’t need such reminders, dear friends. We have Matthew 25. We have today’s story of the rich man and Lazarus. And we have our Epistle today from I Timothy:

“There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these…But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the LOVE of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains…

As for those who in the present age ARE rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainly of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really IS life.” (I Timothy 32 passim)

That’s a “wake up call” for all of us! And I don’t think we even need a “color coded Bible” to know what God is asking of us today!

When Susanne and I returned from vacation so that I could officiate at the funeral of our beloved Ann Gardner last week, one kind parishioner asked me at the reception, “Did you know what you were getting into when you agreed to be interim Dean here at Trinity Cathedral?” I think she meant that we have had more than our share of funerals in this parish over the last eight months or so…but, of course, I did ‘know what I was getting into.’

I’ve been ordained for nearly forty years and I know well that parish ministry is not only preparing sermons and presiding at the Eucharist season by season throughout the Church year, but an ongoing cycle of baptisms and weddings and hospital and nursing home calls and, yes, funerals as well for those of our parish family whose earthly sojourn has ended.

On the other hand,  I have sometimes in my life made a commitment to an organization or a committee without first finding out all that would be expected of me, or how much time and energy would need to be expended. Haven’t you ever done that? Well, in today’s Gospel (Luke 14:25-33) Jesus is warning his followers not to make that same mistake if they plan to be committed to him and to his way of life! He’s talking today about what Dietrich Bonhoeffer once called “the cost of discipleship.” The cost of being a follower of Jesus.

To illustrate his point, he uses some practical examples: a construction project which might get launched before anyone got around to estimating the cost of materials and labor. Or the folly of declaring war without estimating the troop strength and fire power necessary to assure victory for the home team. Those would be pretty obvious mistakes (even if we know that they actually do happen in life!) but Jesus does not want his would-be disciples to make one like that as they
consider following him!

And, in today’s Gospel, he talks about putting our faith above even family if necessary; about carrying our crosses; and about prioritizing our relationship with him over material possessions. I think the way Jesus speaks of these things may be, to some extent, examples of what scholars call “Middle Eastern hyperbole.” It’s a sort of style in Arabic languages and in Hebrew to use strong and dramatic language in order to make a point.

You remember Saddam Hussein talking about the “mother of all battles” or some Iranian dictator talking about “destroying the United States” as if either of things were possible or within their reach. Or, more to the point, Jesus himself talking about it being easier for a “camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”  I think it must be that sort of exaggeration Jesus is using when he talks about ‘hating’ one’s “father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even life itself.”

He’s clearly making the point that our relationship with God is more important even than family relationships, but surely one who was committed to the Commandment about ‘honoring father and mother’ and once described his mission as bringing “life abundant” to all, cannot literally mean that we should hate our families or our lives.

Similarly, not many of us will be carrying literal crosses to our death as he did (even though Peter and Andrew and perhaps some of the other apostles were indeed crucified for their faithfulness!). And not everyone is called to “give up ALL our possessions” like monks and nuns and missionaries sometimes do. But we are asked to value God above money and to be generous in our giving and our sharing with those who have less than we do.

Now, none of us can know for sure whether we will be equal to the task or whether we will indeed be able to fulfill our commitment to being a disciple. Jesus is not asking for a guarantee of complete faithfulness in advance. If that were the case, perhaps none of us would qualify to be a disciple. But, through these parables and teachings, Jesus is asking us to consider in advance what real commitment to him requires.

If you listen to some televangelists or some mega-church preachers today, you might think they were trying to sell you a car or a kitchen appliance rather than the Christian gospel! In some parts of Africa this is called the “Prosperity Gospel” – just come to Jesus and you’ll be rich and famous! We certainly have our own versions of that in our own country (in fact, we actually exported it!) These charlatans make the gospel sound as easy as possible, as though no real commitment was required. Jesus’ call is far different. He was not looking, and is still not looking, for superficial commitment or a crowd of tagalongs. Instead he asks for our total commitment if we are to become his followers.

I tried to be pretty clear about that in the class of confirmands I prepared earlier in the year. I shared with them The Episcopal Church’s catechism including the part which defines “the duty of all Christians (which) is to follow Christ; to come together week by week for corporate worship; and to work, pray and give for the spread of the kingdom of God.” (BCP, 856)

We require all our baptismal candidates and confirmands to commit to the Baptismal Covenant which not only invites belief in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; but continuing in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread and in prayer. To resist evil and confess our sins when we fall into them. To proclaim by our words and the examples of our lives the love of God we’ve experienced in Christ. To look for that Christ in all people, so that we can love our
neighbors as ourselves. And to strive for justice and peace and to respect the dignity of every human being. (BCP, 304-305)

Those are lofty goals and we may not attain them perfectly. But we need to be clear about what Jesus asks of us from the get-go. That’s why I tried to emphasize that with our confirmands. That’s why we have over sixty young people in our parish this weekend participating in a Happening weekend where they are learning some of these things.

That’s why we will be launching our new Sunday School program – for children and adults – next Sunday and why I PLEAD with you as parents and godparents and grandparents to make sure that you and your young people are here every Sunday you possibly can be throughout the year!

This is not a casual commitment we are asking you to make, dear friends. We are asking you to be prepared to pay “the cost of discipleship.” There is really nothing more important!

I sometimes wonder if we often really pay attention to what we’re saying in liturgical churches like ours.  For the last two Sundays, we have had positively frightening Lessons from the Book of the Prophet Amos. Last week, the Reading ended with these words:

“Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be parceled out by line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.” (Amos 7:17) Then our lector said, “The Word of the Lord.” And we responded, “Thanks be to God.”

And today, we heard, “The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.  They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.” (Amos 8:11-12)

And at the end of that Reading too, the lector said, “The Word of the Lord.” And we responded, “Thanks be to God!”  Thanks be to God that Israel went into exile? Thanks be to God that they could no longer hear the Word of the Lord? What are we giving thanks for? Sometimes, maybe it’s just better to say, “Here endeth the Reading!”

Now, as a matter of fact, it’s perfectly possible to thank God for times of stress and stain, for times of judgment and failure. Because it may be in times like those that we actually draw closer to God. But I’m not sure we really ought to be giving thanks for other peoples’ stresses and strains, for other peoples’ failures and judgment! Because Amos is telling his people that their God is not pleased with them!  Why? Because they were: trampling on the needy…bringing poor people to ruin…

They were neglecting the worship of God so that they could make a profit – not by honest labor – but by cheating in selling less than they advertised and overcharging for that! By using false balances, which were scales rigged in the merchant’s favor. They were engaged in the slave trade in at least two ways – by actually selling people into slavery, and by keeping people so much in debt that they were virtual slaves to those they owed money to. Sort of like Third World debt today in which it is mathematically impossible for some countries ever to get out of debt

So it was for that reason, for those reasons, that Amos was thundering God’s judgment upon his people. That’s why they were going into Exile. That’s why they were unable to hear the Word of God. Because they were too busy feathering their own nests to listen for God’s Word! (Pause)

But you know you don’t have to be a notorious sinner to be deaf to God’s Word. Sometimes, you can just be too busy…or too timid…like Martha in today’s famous Gospel story of Mary and Martha. Scholars tell us that this is actually a companion story to the one about the Good Samaritan that we had as our Gospel last week. In that story, the young lawyer had correctly identified that the two most important Commandments were loving God and loving neighbor, but he needed the Parable of the Good Samaritan to get clear about just who his neighbor was!

This morning, Martha is clear about serving her neighbor as she bustles about to make sure all is in readiness for Jesus and his disciples…but she was unable to see that it was she herself (and her sister Mary) whom Jesus was calling to listen and to follow, and to be disciples

Most of us, I know, feel a good deal of sympathy for poor Martha, but let’s see what’s really going on here! Jesus and his disciples are living out what he had told them previously about “whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you.” And Martha is working hard to see that happen. Her sister Mary, on the other hand, is sitting at Jesus feet, which is the place of a disciple! An old rabbinical teaching stated, “Let your house be a meeting-house for Sages and sit amid the dust of their feet and drink in their words with thirst…but do not talk much with women!”

By sitting at Jesus feet, Mary is pushing the envelope, acting like a disciple, and probably bringing shame on her family by neglecting her socially-mandated duty to help her sister in the preparation of the meal! So, Martha’s protest is probably justified by the standards of her day. But Jesus gentle rebuke to her is a reminder that nothing must “distract” us from hearing the Word of God. After all, “One does not live by bread alone,” Jesus had once said.  Like the disciples, Mary had left everything – even her expected subservient role – to follow Jesus.

So neither the story of the Good Samaritan nor the story of Mary and Martha is complete without the other.  Each makes its point – the Samaritan loves his neighbor and Mary loves her Lord. But the model of a good disciple is that we must do both. To the lawyer, Jesus had said “Go and do,” but he praises Mary for sitting and listening.  The life of a disciple requires both.

In both stories, Jesus is protesting the rules and the boundaries set by the culture of his day. Both stories expose the social barriers that categorize and restrict and oppress various groups in any society – Samaritans, victims, women — you name it!  To love God with all our hearts and all our souls and with all our minds and to love our neighbors as ourselves means that, then as now, sometimes we have to reject society’s rules in favor of the code of the Kingdom – which is a society without distinctions and boundaries between its members. (The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume IX, page 232)

If the Prophet Amos’ original hearers had understood that, perhaps they would not have had to go into Exile.  Perhaps they would not have had to experience a “famine” of hearing the Word of God.

If WE understand it, perhaps we can invite the Marthas of our day to join us…with Mary…where we all belong…at Jesus feet!

As our nation celebrates her birthday as a free and independent country today, our Gospel reading is about a kind of birthday and celebration of the expansion of Jesus’ ministry by the calling and sending of “the seventy.” Jesus had called his original disciples one by one and two by two, eventually ending up with “the Twelve,” with twelve followers.

We believe he chose that number because of the original 12 tribes of Israel, indicating that his mission was to “renew” Israel and expand the message even beyond in a kind of “new Israel” including the Gentiles. But, of course, it didn’t stop there with “the Twelve.” In today’s Gospel we are told that he “appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.” (Luke 10:1)

And just as the number “twelve” reminds us of the Twelve tribes of Israel, the number “seventy” hearkens back to the book of Numbers when Moses is counseled to “gather…seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you. I will come down (God says) and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself,” (Numbers 11:16-17)

This was the beginning of a kind of “shared leadership” among the children of Israel, and I think Jesus must have had something of the same kind of thing in mind in the appointing of his “seventy.” If you’ll notice, he gives them a very similar kind of charge as he had given to the original twelve disciples, recorded just one chapter earlier in the Gospel of St. Luke (see Chapter 9:1ff). Namely, they were to:

Go “out like lambs in the midst of wolves, to carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and to greet no one on the road.” In other words to travel light and to be single minded in their purpose. And their task was just the same as the Twelve: to build real relationships with people, to heal the sick, and to announce that the kingdom of God has come near. They were to announce that the Reign and Sovereignty of God was already beginning to dawn in this world in and through the ministry of Jesus.

So, the calling and sending forth of “the seventy” was not just an example of the expanding AUDIENCE of Jesus like the crowds of hundreds and even thousands to whom he preached and who heard his message. No, “the seventy” – like “the Twelve” before them – were to have a share in that ministry. They too were to be empowered by the Holy Spirit (like those earlier ‘elders of Israel” under Moses) who were to be given “some of the spirit’ that was on Moses so that they could “bear the burden of the people along with” him!

I used to say that “calling of the Seventy” was the beginning of “lay ministry” in the Church but, in recent years, I have become less and less fond of using the word “lay” in connection with ministry. In our common usage, “lay” often is understood as meaning “un-professional” or “amateur-ish” rather than “professional” or “competent.” I think we should increasingly just speak of “the ministry” of the Church. The Catechism of The Episcopal Church asks, “Through whom does the Church carry out its mission?” and the answer is: “The Church carries out its mission through the ministry of all its members.” I think that’s right…and it’s about all that needs to be said really, about ministry!

Now, if we turn our attention to “the Church” and to “churches,” and to “this church,” a kind of old-fashioned way of “sizing up congregations” was to speak of “family sized churches” of about 50 active members, “pastoral sized churches” of about 150, “program sized churches of about 350 active members, and “corporation sized” churches numbering 500 and above. By that kind of reckoning Trinity Cathedral would be a “program church” and as such falls into a funny category.

We’re too large for everyone to relate equally to the Dean, or pastor, or for the Dean to know, or reach out to, every member of the congregation. But we’re too small to hire a large and multi-talented staff to meet everyone’s needs in that way. So, the old counsel was for the priest to function as an enabler and chief administrator and to be supported by a cadre of elected leaders and program leaders who are responsible for the various program areas in the life of the parish.

That’s actually pretty much the way we function. With a relatively small staff, the parish depends upon active and involved Vestry members, pastoral care visitation teams and Eucharistic ministers, “lay” as well as ordained teachers of adults as well as children, people involved in outreach and service to the community in the name of our church, that’s how we really need to be organized as we move ahead.

Now we need to do a better job in most of those things. We need more people visiting the sick and shut in, more teachers, certainly more people relating to PUNCH and Angel Food Ministries, and Salvation Army meals, and all the rest of it. You need to know that the clergy do not provide all the ministering in this congregation, and that, if you are visited by our parish nurse or one of our fine Eucharistic ministers or visitors, you HAVE been visited by the Church…by Trinity Cathedral.

But the point I want to make is that I don’t think that’s just the way so-called “”program sized” congregations ought to function. I think it’s the way the Body of Christ is intended to function! By virtue of your Baptism, and of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit you’ve all been given you ARE “the ministers of this Church!” Just like those “elders of Israel” who were given a portion of that spirit which was upon Moses; just like the 12 apostles who were called and sent out; just like the “Seventy” in today’s Gospel, you and I are to go outside these doors, knowing that though “the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few,” we ARE those laborers.

And it is our duty, and our joy, to do what we can to prepare the way for the kingdom, the reign, the sovereignty of God in this place – in the Quad Cities, and beyond. Which is why we say at the end of every service: “Let us go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit!” And you respond, “Thanks be to God!”

“(Jesus) went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.” (Luke 8:1). As I mentioned in my Cross Currents article this month, we are now in the long “Pentecost season” (which is not really a season at all, but simply a succession of Sundays stretching through the summer and fall from the Day of Pentecost to next Advent).

And, during this period, in church on Sundays, we learn more about the actual teaching and ministry of Jesus. So much of the core of the Church year – Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter – covers what happened TO Jesus. The preparation for his birth and the birth itself; his experiences of baptism and transfiguration; fasting and temptation in the desert; and finally his death and resurrection.

Even in the Creeds, the emphasis is on those events… what happened TO Jesus, rather than what he did and taught during the three years of his earthly ministry. But if we are going to be followers of this man, that is precisely what we need to know – what did he teach and how did he live; and what does he expect from us?

Those are the themes we will be tracing for these next several months. And they are no where better summarized than in the verse I just quoted from Luke’s Gospel: “Jesus went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.”

The message of Jesus, like the message of the prophets and John the Baptist before him, was just this: the kingdom of God! What do you think about when you hear that phrase?

Many of us think of “heaven.” The kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven is where we go when we die. And there is no question but that eternal life with God is the culmination and destination of the Christian life. But there is so much more to “the kingdom of God” than that!

So many times in the Gospels we hear John the Baptist or Jesus say something like, “The kingdom of God is at hand” or “the kingdom of God is within you.” What did they mean by that? Well, first of all, it’s important to note that the word “kingdom” here really means “king-ship” or “reign” or “sovereignty.” So, when you hear the phrase “kingdom of God” or “kingdom of heaven” in the Bible, think “the king-ship of God” or, better, “the reign” of heaven or the “sovereignty” of God.

So we are not so much thinking of a “place” like a kingdom, but more a state of being, a relationship. Living in the kingdom of God really means consciously and faithfully living under the ‘kingship,” under the “reign,” under the “sovereignty” of God – and nobody else!    Bishop Tom Wright suggests that proclaiming and living in the kingdom of God means saying to the “powers that be”’ in the world – God is my king…and you are not!

That means that nothing else should ever try to claim our ultimate allegiance – not money, not sex, not power; not other good things like country or work or even family!  All these things have their place…but none of them must be put in the place of God! Why? Because God is sovereign…and these things are not

What happens when you begin to live under the sovereignty of God instead of cooperating with, and being coerced by, the principalities and powers of this world?

Well, for one thing, you may begin acting very strangely. At least strangely by this world’s standards!

For example, you might find yourself at a fancy dinner party when, out of the blue, a very unacceptable and perhaps even distasteful person latches on to you, desperately seeking your attention, and perhaps even your approval. Your embarrassment only grows when your host pulls you aside to whisper something like, “Don’t you know who that is? Why in the world are you putting up with this?”

And, at first you’re not so sure why you are!  But then you remember an old story about a relative who cancelled the debt of one of his co-workers and ended up with a dear friend for life.  You remember too what it felt like in high school always to be a little on the “outside,” never quite accepted by people (like your current dinner host) who were part of the “in crowd” and nearly worshipped by everyone. But how grateful you were one night at a party when his girlfriend sought you out for some conversation, and even danced with you a couple of times!

It also dawns on you that the first time your host has even spoken to you this evening was when he noticed your conversation with this poor, sad character who wanted nothing more than a little of your time.  So you turn away from your host…take your strange little companion by the arm…and find a quiet spot in the corner where you both can have a little privacy.

Can you imagine yourself doing something like that? Have you ever done something like that? If you have, then actually “you may not be far,” as Jesus once said, “from the kingdom of God.” You may not be far from understanding that you really only have to serve God and God’s people…not the selfish bigotry of people like the “host” in my story…or the “Pharisee” in Luke’s.

You may be discovering the incredible freedom of not really caring what people think about you because your ultimate identity and sense of self-worth does not come from them. It comes from God and the security you have that you owe your existence entirely to him…that you are secure in that love and the grace of that forgiveness…and that your sole purpose in life is to do what God would have you do.

If you can see yourself in that picture, then you really are beginning to live in the kingdom.  You really are beginning to be part of that “blessed company of all faithful people” the Prayer Book speaks of.

If you can’t see yourself doing something like that…

Well, this is a good day to ask yourself “why”…and then to begin again…