Gave Himself for Me

Sermon for Proper 6 C RCL 6/13/2010, Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: 1 Kings 21:1-10, 15-21a; Psalm 5:1-8; Galatians 2:15-21; Luke 7:36-8:3

I must confess to you that I truly love the stories of the prophet Elijah, that feisty and fiery man of God who was fearless and brave and filled with the Spirit of God. Throughout the summer, we will be hearing the stories of his life and of the life of his successor, the prophet Elisha. If you have not read these stories in a long time, or perhaps ever before, let me strongly encourage you to pick up your Bible at some quiet point over the course of this summer, and read through the 2 Books of Kings, 1st and 2nd Kings. These books might not be quite as saucy as the mystery thriller or bodice-ripper novel that you are eyeing up for the beach, but these ancient stories and rich and deep and offer much in the way of intrigue and insight.

Without question, Elijah is one of the most important figures in the whole of the Bible. Today, we see him in his characteristic role of speaking truth to power, serving as the conscience of the powerful, to remind them that they have a duty to protect the innocent and to serve justice within the community.

More specifically, Elijah was called and commissioned by God to controvert the wickedness of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. In a very real way, his calling was direct and personal. God knew the thoughts and desires of Ahab, and knew the scheming greed of Jezebel, and sent Elijah to protect the innocent who stood in their path.

After all, God is the one “to [whom] all hearts are open, all desires know, and from [whom] no secrets are hid” (BCP P. 355).

In the Gospel of Luke, we are today presented with a woman very different from Queen Jezebel: the anonymous sinner, a woman of the city, who wept at Jesus’ feet, seemingly for no other reason but for the great love and compassion that she felt when he was near.

Both of these stories point to the direct and personal nature of God’s interactions with us. It is not enough to consider the gracious salvation that God offers to humanity in the abstract, and to give thanks for God’s actions with a detached sense of gratitude. With God, there is no abstract.

Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” It is the same with us today: Jesus has something to say to me, to you, something direct and personal to the state of our hearts today. We must open ourselves and allow the word of the Lord to our hearts directly and with immediate effect.

Like the woman of the city, we have to come to Jesus himself. This Christian life that we are leading: it is always direct and personal. It is never indirect and theoretical.

We are called to come to Jesus, the living Christ who loves you and gave himself for you. This is the same message that we hear in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Commenting on this letter of the apostle, the great St. John Chrysostom, the Bishop of Constantinople in the 4th century, spoke these words in one of his homilies:

"What are you doing, Paul, making common things your own, and claiming for yourself what was done on behalf of the whole world? For he says not [the Son of God] “who loved us” but “who loved me”…Burning with desire toward [Christ], [Paul] utters this. ..He shows that each of us ought to render as much thanks to Christ as though Christ had come for him alone. For God would not have withheld this gift even from one person. [God] has the same love for every individual as for the whole world.”

This is the peculiar distinctiveness of the Christian Church. It is not commitment to an ideal that brings us together, like a political party or philosophical club. It is our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and our personal relationships with one another.

There is so much misunderstanding about this in the world around us. Just a few weeks back, I received a phone call that displays this perfectly. Haven gotten my cell number from the Church of the Ascension voicemail, a woman called me and asked, “Yeah, I’d like to know, Pastor, does your church do weddings?” You know, that’s a pretty odd question, I think. So I said, “Yes, we bless the marriages of our people in our church. Yes, that is what we do. And who, may I ask, is calling?” She quickly replied, “Oh, I am calling for my mother-in-law. But we’re not church-goers. We believe in God but we don’t attend any church right now.”

Well, I thought at that moment, if that’s the case, then why bother with getting married in the church at all? I didn’t say it this time, but my usual response is, “Well, my friend, that doesn’t make a lot of sense. If you’d like to join the church and learn more about Jesus, then I’d be glad to talk with you about getting married in the church. Otherwise, you’re putting the cart before the horse.”

Think about it, my friends: to say that you believe in God but will not be part of a church community is exactly like saying you believe in marriage but are not willing to be married! You like the idea of being married but you are not willing to make the direct and personal commitment to another particular human being, which is what marriage is all about! It's like saying you believe in education but are not willing to ever enter a classroom! Like saying you believe in the practice of medicine but are unwilling to consult with a trained doctor!

Likewise, many people like the idea of God, but they have no plan to invest in a direct and personal relationship with Jesus, and so they are not ready or willing to make the commitment to be part of what God is actively doing in the world by joining together in the fellowship of the church.

But what really matters in life is not the abstract ideas in your head, but the practical, real-life, daily living with others, working together to do something important, to be something important, to live in a loving relationship with Jesus and with those others who have been baptized into his family.

This is why in reality I cannot be a Christian if I am unconnected to the Body of Christ! For then I am an orphan, cut off from my natural family. Then I am a Christian in an abstract sense only, but not in any sense that is real or meaningful.

And that is why I say over and over again that there is no such thing as Christianity. That abstract idea doesn’t exist. But what does exist is a real-life person, Jesus Christ, who is in relationship with real-life human beings, who gather together to love one another and to serve the poor, to worship and to learn. What does exist is concrete and tangible real: it is Jesus and his church.

What about you? How has Jesus spoken to you directly? Can you join with St. Paul in his passionate affirmation of what Christ has done in his heart?

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:19).

May it be so among all of us who are called by the name of Christian. Amen.