What do you think?

A Sermon for the 15^th Sunday after the Pentecost (RCL A) 9-25-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

 

Texts:              Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16; Matthew 21:23-32

Themes:         complaining, water from the rock, John the Baptist, righteousness

Title:               What do you think?

 

My dear friends, sisters and brothers together in the Lord: What is it that you truly want? What is it that your heart desires?

We have just heard this brief little parable from the mouth of Jesus which was originally given to convict the chief priests and the elders of their lack of faithfulness, their corruption, their hypocrisy.

This parable was given in just the same way as the prophet Nathan delivered his parable to King David after he contrived the murder of Uriah the Hittite (see this great story at 2 Samuel 12:1-15).  Both parables were very cleverly delivered to create an opportunity for the hearers to indirectly convict themselves.

It is intended to challenge the assumed authority of the chief priests and elders to provide spiritual guidance for the people. But here in this short parable from the Lord, he asks a question of these supposed leaders which has a deeply profound meaning for all of us.

“Which of the two (sons) did the will of his father?”

In the original Greek text, the last phrase actually reads “the will of the father” (ta thelayma tou patros). It is a turn of phrase which is fairly common here in the Gospel of Matthew, but every other usage refers to the will of the One whom Jesus called “Abba”.

The will of the Father. Now I ask you: what image does that conjure up in your mind?  What idea do you think of when you consider the will of God?

Do you think of a cold, static, determined course of events, like the ancients use to think of fate determining the course of their life?  

Or do you think of the active, dynamic desire of One who is inherently creative, like the will of the artist guiding the creation of a brilliant new painting on canvas?

For most of us, I suspect that we have been conditioned to think in the former categories; that is, to think of the will of God as a set of cold, hard directives by which God is determining the course of history. And with this concept comes the idea of the will of God as something about which we no control or influence at all. It is certain, it is fixed, it is unwavering; and we are subject to it.

But, iIn contrast to that idea, consider once again this parable given to us in Matthew’s Gospel. Which one of these two sons does the will of the father? The father comes to each one in due course and communicates his desire for that day.

Here, in these words, we are given a glimpse of God’s will as the desire of God, the longing of God, the passion of God. What this Father longs for more than anything else is that the entire family works together toward one goal and purpose: to have a healthy vineyard and an abundant harvest.

There is no discussion. There is no debate. There is only desire and communication. The father’s desire is communicated clearly and directly to the sons.

 But note, please what happens.

Note how the father represents God, and the sons represent humanity. God communicates God’s desire, God’s hopes, God’s longing for the human family  - in this case, that the sons work faithfully in the father’s vineyard.

But never is there any sense of coercion. Each son is free to make his own choice in his own time.

It is the visionary Dame Julian of Norwich who spoke and wrote of God as “our courteous Lord”, as the strong and mighty One who is so courteous and respectful of human beings as to act toward us always with politeness and chivalry. God calls, God offers, God communicates, and God opens the door to life together in the kingdom.

We, of course, are free to receive, to reply, to go and work in the vineyard. This is the voluntary principle, and it is at the very heart of the Gospel.  ****

You know that it is very rare for me ever to venture into the realm of politics. Faithful Christians over the years have taken up many divergent position on all the thorny and difficult issues at work in our common life, and I am not competent to provide any definitive guidance on many of these issues.

But I will draw your attention to this one principle of life in God’s kingdom which has implications for all human beings in every aspect of life. All people everywhere instinctively reject coercion and compulsion. The freedom and ability to choose, to make one’s own choices for direction in life, is so profoundly sacred to the human soul.

Everything in the kingdom of God flows out of this voluntary principle. We are free to choose life in the kingdom with our Lord Jesus Christ, and we are free to choose a different path, a different teacher, a different mentor.

Whether it is in our household, in our local parish, in the broader church, in our city or town, or in our national life, we can be certain that if we walk down the path of compulsion and coercion, we have wandered off of the path of God’s will, God’s desire, God’s longing for humanity.   

Of course, to be honest, it becomes very difficult to think about this parable and this voluntary principle and how to apply it to our family life. To be practical, if I go to my son and say, “Son, go and clean in the bathroom today” (and this does happen every week, by the way!, and he says, “I will not”, then I can assure you that I’m not about to simply walk away and go over to our second child and make the very same request, with the hopes that she might follow it! There would be consequences if I received that kind of attitude from my son! He’s not allowed to say “I will not clean the bathroom” without facing negative consequences. Amen?

That is a reality of our parenting process and of his growth and maturation. At this point, we have to apply some level of coercion, because our children are not yet ready to make their own responsible decisions (even though our son is convinced that he already knows more than we do!)

So we parents have to compel our children to help, with care and patience, of course.

However, the goal always remains the same: that each of our children will reach a point where they can make the choice to help us of their own free will, simply because they desire to be of service, they desire to do what is right, and they desire to please us. 

This is where the will – or the desire – of God connects squarely with our wills – our desires.

We are the sons in this parable, and we have to ask ourselves: what is it that we truly want?

Martin Smith, the Senior Associate Rector at St. Columba’s Church in Washington, DC, has suggested that the Gospel is in fact the place where God’s desires and our deepest human desires meet and merge together.

God longs and desires to see human beings working together in a community of compassion and justice, where the poor are fed and the naked are clothed and the sick are tended, where we love one another as we love ourselves.

But God will never coerce us into that community. And God is not interested in hollow words and empty promises. We have to want it. We have to desire it along with God.

And that is what happens when we draw near to Christ. For then do our hearts become transformed to reflect the heart of God, and God’s desires become our desires, and we can labor together with joy in the vineyard of the Lord.

 May it be so among us here in this family of God. Amen.

Because I am Good

A Sermon for the 14^th Sunday after the Pentecost (RCL A) 9-18-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Exodus 16:2-15; Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45; Matthew 20:1-16
Themes:         manna, complaining, equality, justice vs. generosity
Title:               Because I am Good

Today, my friends, I invite you to think for a while about two very different attitudes toward life that we human beings can take. In both of our stories this morning, you may have noticed that we encountered people who are grumbling and complaining, even though both groups received a wonderful blessing. Unfortunately, however, this blessing did not seem to be enough for them.  

Let us look especially at our parable from the mouth of Christ: “The kingdom of the heavens is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.”

It seems that it was harvest time, and the vineyard required picking urgently or else the grapes would be lost. At the same time, the day laborers had gathered as usual in the marketplace with one solitary hope and prayer for the day: that they might be able to find work, so that when the day is done they could return home – not with empty hands – but with their daily bread.

Notice please one crucial characteristic of these laborers, which they in fact share in common with the wandering Israelites in Exodus. The laborers had no control over the work. They could not manufacture a day of paying work for themselves. The work had to come to them. It came as a gift.

The Israelites in the wilderness had no control over the food supply. They could not manufacture food to feed their whole wandering mass of humanity, any more than they were able to flee their slavery in Egypt by themselves. Both their freedom and their daily food came to them as a gift. A free gift of grace from the hand of God.  

And this is where the fork is stuck in the proverbial road, where we have to choose which direction we will take in our attitude toward the gifts of grace that we have received beyond our control.

Let’s look briefly at the first two questions given in our Catechism. They are found on Page 845 in the Book of Common Prayer. Please turn there now. I will ask you these first two questions under the section titled “Human Nature” and you will please respond in unison with the answers.

Q.	What are we by nature?
A.	We are part of God's creation, made in the image of God.
Q.	What does it mean to be created in the image of God?
A.	It means that we are free to make choices: to love, to create, to reason, and to live in harmony with creation and with God.

Here, my friends, is the most fundamental truth of who we are: made in the image of God, free to make choices, free to live in harmony with creation and with God.

Would you like to live your life in harmony with creation and with God?

Well, here is one sure-fire way of NOT doing this. Try complaining about your sorry lot in life. Try grumbling about how unfair life has been to you. Try being angry at God for not giving you the things that you think you have deserved.

The late John Claypool, a wonderful priest and amazing preacher, called this way of life “the side-long glance”: that is, always looking SIDEWAYS at what other people have, how other people look, what success others are experiencing, and then always finding your own life to be lacking by comparison.

But, if in fact you would like to live in harmony with creation and with God, then try a different approach. You, my friend, are made in the image of God! You exist! You are alive! And you are free! The cold hard fact is that God did not have to make you at all. You had no control over your birth whatsoever. But you were made, you were created, you were born and you were given an amazing gift: the chance to live!

When we choose not to look sideways in comparison, but rather to look straight at the gracious face of God, we find that we are able to receive everything as a gift, even the challenges are struggles that come our way and which brings gifts of their own.

Look once again at what vision of life we are given in this parable of the landowner. The kingdom of the heavens is like a landowner who distributes the means of living generously and equally to everyone who comes to work! Some work more than others, but each one receives the same precious gift. 

So it is with us. God gives to each one of us the same gift of life. And through Christ, God gives to each one of us the same gift of new and abundant life. No matter what our strengths and weaknesses, no matter the particular circumstances of our life, we all receive these same gifts of grace.  

There is an old Jewish parable about a farmer who had two sons. As soon as they were old enough to walk, the father took them out to the fields and he taught them everything that he knew about growing crops and raising animals. When he got too old to work, the two boys took over the chores of the farm and when the father died, they had found their working together so meaningful that they decided to keep their partnership. So each brother contributed what he could and during every harvest season, they would divide equally what their father’s farm had produced. As the years passed, the elder brother never married; he remained an old bachelor. The younger brother did marry and was blessed with eight wonderful children.

Some years later, when they were having a wonderful harvest, the old bachelor brother thought to himself one night: "My brother has ten mouths to feed. I only have one. He really needs more of his harvest than I do, but I know he is much too fair to renegotiate our agreement. I know what I'll do. In the dead of the night, when he is asleep, I'll take some of what I have put in my barn and I'll slip it over into his barn to help him feed his children.”

Just as he was thinking along these lines, the younger brother was also thinking to himself and he thought: "God has given me these wonderful children. My brother has not been so fortunate. He really needs more of this harvest than I do so that he can prepare for his old age. But I know him. He's much too fair to renegotiate our agreement. I know what I'll do. In the dead of the night when he's asleep, I'll take some of what I've put in my barn and slip it over into his barn."

And so one night when the moon was full  - as you have probably already imagined – those two brothers met in the moonlight face to face, each on a mission of generosity.

The rabbis said that even though there was not a cloud in that full-moon sky, a gentle rain began to fall. You know what it was? It was God weeping for joy, because these two children of God had gotten the point!

We can choose to live our lives with “the side-long glance of comparing” (see Claypool’s wonderful sermon here at http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/claypool_4317.htm), always checking to see how much more others have than we do, choosing to complain about our lot in life.

Or we can choose to live our lives with a simple and straightforward gratitude for the gifts of life and salvation, recognizing that each day is a gift, and allowing that gratitude to become joyful generosity toward those around us.  

At the end of this parable, the landowner asks this question: “Are you envious because I am generous?” In the original Greek, he asks very concretely: “Is you eye evil because I am good?”

God is good, and God is generous, and you have been blessed by that generosity.

Make the choice today, my friends, to not look sideways and compare your life with others, but to look straight ahead with your chin held high and to live a grateful life in harmony with creation and with God. Amen.  

September 11th Children's Sermon

A Sermon for the 13^th Sunday after Pentecost (RCL A) 9-11-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Exodus 14:19-31; Psalm 114; Matthew 18:21-35

Themes:         deliverance from Egypt, anger and forgiveness

Children’s Sermon

Good morning! Do you know what day it is today?

That’s right. Today is Kick-Off Sunday, because you guys are starting a new school year, and we are beginning a new year of Church School here, and because the football season is kicking off!

Today is also the day that we are remembering the horrible attacks upon our country 10 years ago.

And so today we need to talk about two things: anger and forgiveness.

Did any of you hear this story that I just read which Jesus told about anger and forgiveness? 

Here was a servant who had borrowed a lot of money from his master – nearly $100 million dollars! His master wanted it back, and there was no way that he could do it. So the master ordered that he and his entire family be sold into slavery to pay it back! But he begged and pleaded for more time and he promised that he would pay it back eventually.

Then when he was leaving, that servant met another fellow servant who owed him about $200 dollars, and he was angry because he wanted his money!

Can someone show me your angry face? "Rrrr, I want my money!" That's what this fellow said. (BTW, I had to use my angry face a few days ago when I made some sausage for breakfast. But I walked out of the room, and when I came back, the sausage was gone! And my dogs were just coming down off of the table! So I had to use my angry voice and say, "Rrrr, who ate my sausage!?")

Well, people saw all of this happen, and they went back and told the master. Now, the master had been very patient and kind, and when he heard that this servant had been so cruel and nasty to another of his servants, guess who else was angry?

That’s right. The master was angry. And so he punished that mean and nasty servant after all.

Sometimes it’s right to be angry, especially when we see people being mistreated, but we must always be ready to forgive.

A lot of people were angry 10 years ago when Sept. 11^th happened.

2,973 people were killed here – in New York City and in Virginia and in Pennsylvania - in the attacks on Sept. 11^th .

 It’s right to be angry when we see innocent people being hurt, if we see someone who is not being fair, like if you see a bully in school pushing someone else around. That’s not right, and it’s right for us to angry about that. And so it’s right also for us to do someone to help and stop that from happening!

But then we have to let it go. If someone hurts us, we cannot stay angry at them forever. We have to forgive them, because we hurt God and God forgives us! Always!

God always forgives us, and that makes us want to forgive others as well!

So, to help you to remember this message about anger and forgiveness, I have a present for each one of you. It’s a little football, and as you watch the Eagles play today, you can have your little football with you.

Do you remember your angry face? That’s what everyone has to have when they play football!

It’s right to be angry when you play football, because you need to be tougher and stronger than the other team, and you need to push them around. So remember that sometimes it is alright to be angry.

But when the game is over, then the players let their anger go. They can even get together with the other team after the game and pray together! Have you seen that? Some players from both sides will get together to give thanks that they were kept safe, and they will pray for the ones who got hurt.

So I want you to remember that, when the time is right, you need to let go of your anger and learn to forgive those who were your enemies. Just like they do in football. OK! Can you do that?

Praise God! Thank you for following Jesus along with me and learning from him how to forgive. Amen. 

Moments of Silence

8:46 AM – Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower

9:03 AM – Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower

9:37 AM – Crash of Flight 77 into the Pentagon

10:03 – Crash of Flight 93 in Schenksville, PA

September busy-ness!

September is a very busy month in my life! And weddings, funerals and visits by friends just add to the mix. Sorry for the delay in posting here, my friends. I'll catch up right now.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Start Over From Scratch

A Sermon for the 12^th Sunday after Pentecost (RCL A – Proper 18) 9-4-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Exodus 12:1-14; Psalm 149; Matthew 18:15-20

Themes:         the Passover, the beloved community
Title:               Start Over From Scratch

Beloved in the Lord: how do we build the beloved community of grace? How do we go about intentionally constructing a community that is united in love and care for one another in a way that is clearly visible for all to see?

Over the course of the centuries, congregations have attempted two primary, and divergent, methods of achieving this end.

The first is, quite simply, to lower the standards. We know that everyone makes mistakes. In theological terms, we know that everyone sins, because no one is perfect, except for Jesus our Lord.

Therefore, in order to create a harmonious and united community, we lower the standards so that everyone fits, everyone is accepted no matter what. Basically, in this method, if we don’t care too much about sin and the struggles that we have in living virtuous lives, then we won’t be bothered much when we struggle and sin, because the bar has been set low at the outset.

The other primary path is to set the standards high and to enforce those standards rigorously. If the sinner will not repent, then that one is thrown out of the community. In this way, a harmonious and united Christian community is formed, because everyone on the inside agrees to abide by the same strict code of conduct.

I’m sure that you can think of communities such as this. It is a common strategy that many Christian leaders have taken.

And those who have advocated this path have used for their argument biblical passages such as the one we heard just now in the Gospel, and particularly this climax: “if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:17).

The way the high-standard folks have understood this verse is quite simple: when confronted by church leaders about their transgression, if a member of the church refuses to confess and apologize and repent, then that member must be thrown out. The official legal word, of course, is to be ex-communicated. 

Some of you may remember my experience of ex-communication nearly two years ago in the Monday night basketball league in which I participate in Moorestown. On the typical Monday night, people wander in and once ten people are there, then a pick-up game is started on one of the courts while we wait for everyone else to arrive. 

At 7 o’clock, that game stops and everyone gathers to be split into teams of equal size and the games truly begin.

Well, on this particular night, right at 7 o’clock, just as we were gathering to form teams, about 6 guys – the size of one of our four teams – just walked right out the door. As one of the regular guys was leaving, I asked him: “Jeff, what’s going on?” He pointed to a new guy who had just walked in, and he said: “We can’t play with him here.”

After the rest of us played for a few hours, we stopped for the night and I walked over to that new guy and introduced myself. His name is Ben and I asked if he knew why the others had left when he came in. Ben proceeded to explain to me that he had been raised as part of the local Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. But now, Ben has a son of his own and he has decided that he does not want to raise his son in that faith system.

Ben felt that the Witnesses were too narrow and fundamentalist, and he did not want his young son indoctrinated in this way. So he wrote the requisite letter to the church elders explaining his decision. This is all fine and good. The problem is that the elders then instructed the other Witnesses to shun Ben. That is, they must now treat him like an outsider, like “a Gentile and a tax collector.”

The shunning is so severe that they are not allowed even to play basketball with him! I had no idea that there were so many basketball-playing Jehovah’s Witnesses in Moorestown, but apparently there are! And that is why they walked out that night, and most of them have never returned.

This is an example of how many Bible-based communities have interpreted teachings such as this one from the mouth of Jesus by setting the community standards very high and demanding obedience to those standards or else be expelled.

But, do you know what? They are wrong!

I believe strongly that neither one of these two strategies for creating a unified community of faith

Is the method that Jesus has intended for us. I believe strongly, in fact, that there is a third way, a middle way that is both disciplined and compassionate.

Look again at this key verse that seems to justify this practice of excommunication: “Let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

For the Jewish followers of Jesus, the Gentiles and tax collectors were those who were outside of the covenant relationship with God, either by birth or through hateful abuse of their own people by collaboration with Rome.

So it is right, in fact, to view those who persist stubbornly in sin as outside of the covenant. This much seems clear in the intent of this teaching.

But then consider how our Lord himself acted toward those on the outside and toward the tax collectors. One of the very disciples to whom he was speaking, the one whose community recorded these very words, was himself a tax collector. Matthew was called from his tax booth to come and follow after Christ.

As usual, The Message translation of the Bible offers an excellent interpretation when Eugene Peterson translates this verse in this way: “If [the fellow believer] won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love.”

There it is: to treat someone as a Gentile and a tax collector does not mean to shun them. It means to conclude that here is one for whom Christ died and yet who has not yet truly understood or embraced the Gospel. If they had, then their heart would not allow them to be so cavalier about hurting other believers. A Gentile and a tax collector is one who needs to be loved into the kingdom of grace, not one who needs to be pushed out into the darkness.

A proper understanding of this teaching by Jesus introduces us to the middle way of life together in the church. What we do does matter. How we live our everyday lives is important. The ethics and morals and the lifestyle of each one of us is important for all of us.

In this community called the church, we do care to see that each one of us is growing in grace and virtue, and we work together toward that end. That means that we are bold and willing to hold each other accountable.

But we do so always in a framework of compassion, understanding that each one of us is in a process of growth, that we will all make mistakes and hurt one another at times, but that the journey in Christ together as a community is worth our labors.

After all, we have the promise that never fails: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Thanks be to God. Amen.  

Do It Anyway - Words of Wisdom

I know this is a trite aphorism, but I came across it today and I find the words still carry deep meaning for me. Particularly as they relate to the philosphy of R.W. Emerson in his classic essay Self-Reliance through which I have been working lately.  It is said that this poem was found at Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta. I don't know about that, but maybe these words will be a blessing to someone else out there.

ANYWAY

 People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;

forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, people may be jealous;

be happy anyway.

The good you do today will often be forgotten tomorrow;

do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;

it never was between you and them anyway.

(Engraved on the wall of Mother Teresa’s home for children in Calcutta, India)