We Are All Students

A Sermon for the 20^th Sunday after Pentecost (RCL A) 10-30-2011

Offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts:              Joshua 3:7-17; Psalm 107:1-7,33-37; Matthew 23:1-12

Themes:         crossing the river, hypocrisy, the unity of the new community
Title:               We Are All Students

Billy Graham tells a story of a time early in his preaching career when he arrived in a small town where he was scheduled to lead a revival meeting as a guest preacher for the local Baptist church. Wanting to drop a letter in the mail, he asked a young boy for directions to the post office. After the boy had pointed him in the right direction, Dr. Graham thanked him and said, “If you’ll come to the Baptist church tonight, you can hear me give directions on how to get to heaven.”

That young boy replied very seriously and said, “I don’t think I’ll come for that. You don’t even know how to get to the post office!”

(From The World’s Greatest Collection of Church Jokes, Barbour Publishing, Inc., 2003)

It’s not always easy to be a leader among God’s people, to be someone who is called to lead the people on their journey into being the kind of community which God desires them to be.

Today, we heard the conclusion of the story of the creation of the nation of Israel, which we began just after the Feast of Trinity Sunday back in June. Abraham’s descendents had been enslaved in the land of Egypt. God brought them out of the land by the hand of Moses, and in the wilderness of Sinai God made a detailed and arrant covenant with them, also through the leadership of Moses.

The promise which the LORD originally made to Abraham many centuries earlier was that his descendents would come back to Canaan and possess the land as a strong and mighty nation.

And so here today, we read the conclusion of this long journey to finally enter into the land of Canaan as the people of the Covenant.

The crossing of the River Jordan by the people of Israel under the leadership of Joshua is the final ritual act that establishes the Israelites as the unique community of God’s faithful people in this land chosen and prepared for them by God, and in which God promises to dwell with them in a unique and distinct way.

This story purports to tell us of events from nearly three thousand years ago, but please remember - their story is also our story.

Have you ever wondered WHY it is that John the Baptist was baptizing in the River Jordan, and that our Lord Jesus Christ was himself baptized in the waters of the Jordan?

It is no accident. Baptism is itself the ritual act by which you and I take our place as members of this unique community, as participants among God’s faithful people.

In and through the waters of Baptism, we are able to cross through the River Jordan along with the Israelites, along with the Ark of the Covenant, and enter the promised land along with our ancestors in the faith, in order to live as God’s covenant people.

The unfortunate reality, however, is that, as the people of God, we often fall short of God’s intentions and hopes and dreams for us.  

Today in Matthew’s Gospel, we hear these harsh words from the mouth of Jesus against the scribes and the Pharisees. They paint a very negative caricature of the leadership of the Pharisees during an abundantly difficult period in the life of the Jewish people. The criticism leveled here is clear: “they do not practice what they teach.” But notice that the words spoken by Jesus are directed to his disciples and the crowds gathered around them. This is a teaching sermon, and Jesus is teaching them – and us! – about the quality of community that God has always intended for the covenant people.

We’ve seen this vision before. This egalitarian vision of Jesus is seen quite clearly throughout Matthew’s Gospel.

It is a vision of a community based upon equality, simplicity, humility, and compassion, where the leaders of the community are it’s servants.

This is the kind of covenant community which God originally intended when the people crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan. And this is the kind of covenant community which God intends for us today.

There is no major surprise here. I believe that there is a deep hunger latent in all human beings for this kind of community which is envisioned by our Lord.

We can see this hunger in the Occupy Wall Street movement that has now spread around the world. Of course, the people in these random encampments have their own personal motivations and favorite causes which vary widely from person to person, and from place to place. But, at its core, and in its original impetus, we know there is the strong desire for humility, equality, and compassion to serve as the guiding values of our society, rather than greed, arrogance and selfishness.

It goes without saying that this is not the case, hence the reason that these protests continue!

Nor is this kind of widespread change in society likely to happen anytime soon.

You can label me a pessimist, but I prefer to think that I’m a realist.

I understand the reality of sin, the reality of self-interest among humankind. And I understand that it takes more than protesting to change the fundamental character of human beings.

It takes the power of a different vision for life, the wisdom of a Master Teacher, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

There is a story from the life of St. Francis which speaks powerfully to this alternative vision for human society. Once when St. Francis was very ill, Brother Leo – one of Francis’ early companions – was taking care of him. And one time, while in the room with Francis, Brother Leo entered into a time of deep prayer in which he had a vision of a large and fast-flowing river.

And as he was watching, Brother Leo saw several of St. Francis’ followers enter the river with heavy loads of their backs. But the powerful current of the river suddenly swept them away and they were lost. Some made it half-way across the river, some nearly all the way across. But – alas – all of these brothers finally fell and were horribly drowned because of the heavy burdens which they were carrying.

Then Brother Leo saw a new group of Franciscans come to cross the river without carrying any loads at all. And these brothers came and crossed over the other side without any difficulty.

After seeing this, Brother Leo awoke from his vision and he found Francis also awake and alert.

And St. Francis explained to Brother Leo the meaning of this vision in this way: “What you saw is true,” St. Francis said, “for the great river is this world.

The friars who were swallowed by the river are those who do not want to follow the teachings of the Gospel and do not keep voluntary poverty.

But those who went across without danger are the friars who, having the spirit of God, neither love nor desire nor possess any carnal or earthly thing in this world, but ‘having food and sufficient clothing’ they are ‘content’, following Christ naked on the cross. And joyfully and willingly they embrace, take up and carry every day the very light and sweet burden of His Cross and the yoke of His very holy obedience.

And consequently, they pass easily and without danger – indeed with joy – from this world to God, who is blessed for ever and ever” (The Little Flowers of Saint Francis, Image Books, 1958: P.124-125).

In the Lord’s sermon in Matthew’s Gospel, we hear these words: “You are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.”

Indeed, we are all students, learning together at the feet of the Master how to live this life the way that God desires, for this – we are convinced – is the way of joy and peace and freedom. To embrace the Gospel, to follow Christ naked on the cross in this way, is to embrace simplicity, humility, equality, compassion as the key values of our common life.

We all know that the world needs to change, that human beings need to change, that our society needs leaders who will guide us in the ways of truth and goodness.

Thanks be to God that here in the Body of Christ we have a Teacher, an Instructor, who is shaping us to be God’s faithful people in this world.

Thanks be to God that we can follow Christ in his way of the cross which is none other than the way of life and peace. Amen.