Resurrection Life: A Sermon for the 22nd Sunday After Pentecost

May only truth be spoken and may only truth be heard. Amen.

 

The tensions are rising in the relationship between Jesus and the religious authorities of the day. Jesus is confronted in the Temple by the Sadducees who ask him: If a woman was married seven times to seven husbands, who will she be married to in the resurrection? You see, the Sadducees don’t believe in life after death because, as far as they’re concerned, if something isn’t mentioned in the Torah (the five books of Moses), then it doesn’t exist. The Sadducees claim that resurrection is not found in the Torah, therefore they don’t believe in it. In this confrontation, they wish to mock Jesus and make the belief in resurrection appear ridiculous. But what does this have to do with marriage?

 

Nothing, but here’s why the Sadducees are using this example. In the time of this encounter, women had no rights, had no access to land, had no way of supporting themselves. They got married so that they could be taken care of someone other than their father. If they have a son, then that responsibility passes down to him. According to the law of the time, if a man dies, his brother is to marry the wife until there is a son old enough to take over. If that brother dies, the next brother takes over, and so on. Now, I guess this family was extremely unlucky because seven brothers died without bearing any children (or at least male children), leaving this woman with nothing and no one. She finally dies herself, putting us at the Sadducees question – which one of these brothers will be the woman’s husband after death?

 

As is Jesus’ way, he doesn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he teaches and turns the argument upside down. And it certainly has mothing to do with marriage, but everything about resurrection. What is resurrection life like? What is life after death like? What is "eternal life"? We have all had these questions. People 2000 years ago had them. And many people have them today. These questions are the mystery of our faith. We will never know what’s it’s like to die, or to be resurrected. It’s not like a person dies and then reports back! In our limited human capacity to think about heaven and the life to come, we tend to imagine it as simply a more glorified version of what we already know and have experienced here in this earthly life. But Jesus is trying to tell us that eternal life with God is beyond our imagining! Everything will be changed. Everything will be made new.

 

With this Gospel reading falling between All Saints’ Day and Remembrance Day, it is a perfect time for us to consider what we think resurrection might be like, what heaven might be like. Often people question whether or not they deserve to go to heaven, or are worried that their loved one won’t make it into heaven, or ponder who they might meet in heaven. These are questions we will never know the answer to. Even for our loved one on their deathbed, in that last moment before death, we don’t know what happens at that point. Does God meet them at that last breath to give them full and eternal forgiveness and mercy?

 

That is the mystery of our faith. That is the good news that we have received through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That Jesus died for the forgiveness of all our sins so that we may have eternal life with God in heaven. That is the Gospel that we are to be sharing through the actions in our lives.

 

The Sadducees’ biggest argument was that they didn’t believe in resurrection because it never happened in the Torah. But it did! Just not how they were imagining resurrection to be. When we keep the memories of our ancestors and live through their teachings, we are keeping them alive! Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses….These are all Jewish ancestors that have taught us through the millennia how to maintain right relationship with God. When we keep the memories and teachings of our own ancestors, we keep them alive in ourselves and through ourselves. This is resurrection!

 

It's not all about what’s going to happen to us after we die. Resurrection is about how we continue to keep our ancestors alive by telling their stories and living out their teachings here, today. The last line of the Gospel today is like this, “Now he is God not of the dead but of the living, for to him all of them are alive.” God is not just sitting around waiting for us to get to the other side so that the real work can begin. No! God wants us to live the resurrected life here and now, while we are still alive.

 

And we are invited to begin this resurrected life where we are – in the reality of our broken and beloved world. It is out of the blue and in surprising moments that God meets us, surprising us with what God has had in store for us all along…resurrection from deaths, both big and small, experienced at a variety of points in our lives. For example, we can think back on the woman in our story. A world of resurrection life does not contain the many deaths we inflict on one another by treating one another as objects. Instead, a world in which a person's belovedness is based on nothing else but that they have been hand-made by a loving God. In God's world of resurrection life, all are beloved and cherished because of who they are in themselves, and communities in which the resurrected Jesus brings that world into the present, are beloved and cherished because of who they are in themselves.

 

Ultimately, life after death will look nothing like life before death. In our resurrection, we will be redefined as a person, our relationships to one another will be changed, and our relationship with God will be strengthened. But Jesus is saying that we don’t have to wait until we physically die to experience resurrection life. Jesus’ announcement of the resurrected life changes the present world by bringing God's intended future to us right now! We can participate in resurrection life now! This is how Jesus changes the present world! That is the good news of Jesus' resurrection life for us now! Think of how freeing the future resurrection life will be for that woman the Sadducees speak of. A life in which she can simply enjoy being in the safe, unconditional love of God.

 

Homiletician Luke Powery says, “In order to experience life, resurrection, or hope, one must go through death.” Even as the liturgical season turns back towards Advent, the texts for this Sunday continue to teach the reality of the deaths in which we live. So what does that mean for our community of St Peter? How can we experience God’s resurrected life? Are there any small deaths that need to happen in order for St Peter to be redefined in resurrection?

 

These are the questions I ask you to consider as we proclaim with confidence our faith that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob raised Christ from death and promises to do the same also for us. Here at the little church on the hill where all are welcomed, where all are fed, where healing happens, where peace is made, and where justice is pursued. Here, in this place, is where God's resurrection reign comes into the present. So with Jesus and all those witnesses to resurrection life and resurrection living, let us say, "Amen."

Resources

workingpreacher.org

Out of the Blue Resources

Pastor Michael Kurtz

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 41

Chapter 41 – God or Mammon

 

When thinking about the debate between God and Mammon, and whether or not money and love should be mutually exclusive, I’m drawn to the parable of the dishonest manager. You know, the story about the manager who skims money from the land owner, who then finds out and has the manager fired, but before he leaves the manager makes shady deals with all the customers? Ebenezer Scrooge comes to mind, too.

 

According to Eberhard Arnold, “Mammon is the rule of money over people…. Dependence on material affluence and financial security – that is mammon.” (p. 259) The bottom line is that you cannot serve both God and wealth. If all we care about is getting wealthier, our relationships grow less important. We don’t care about the customer, just the customer’s money. That doesn’t mean there is anything inherently wrong with being wealthy. It’s all about what you do with that wealth. Do you hoard it or share it? Are you selfish with it or generous with it?

 

We can’t love God and money, but there needs to be balance. We need to pay the rent, buy shoes and school supplies for the kids, save up for college funds, and make sure we’ll someday be able to retire without burdening those kids. There is nothing inherently wrong with money, but money should never overshadow our values or faith. There is nothing inherently wrong with having wealth, but God calls us to steward our resources faithfully, letting go of the desire to hold on to wealth and, instead, centering our lives on generosity and compassion.

A Review of the Book "Persistence is Futile" by S. V. Moroz

Title: Persistence is Futile

Author: S. V. Moroz

Publisher: Self-published

Year; 2017

108 pages

From the Back: In this minimalist self-help guide, personal coach and counsellor Moroz warns about the dangers of persistence and the importance of taking pause, breaks, and quitting.

Personal Thoughts: Two things got me to read this book. The title reminded me of the Borg from Star Trek - "resistance is futile" - and the subtitle "how taking a break can move you forward" captured my attention. I have to admit, though, that I am not a fan of the content. The main principle is that sometimes it's ok to quit what you're doing rather than forcing yourself to persist. In principle, I can see where the author was trying to go. Staring at a blank screen waiting for inspiration gets you no where. Forcing yourself to work extended days to finish a project can lead to poor workmanship and exhaustion. But encouraging someone to quit their job because they don't like it doesn't sit well with me.

    I was intrigued by the Pomodoro Technique of taking regular breaks in order to increase productivity, as well as the author's insistence that we should be sure to know that we are persisting for the right reasons. Points such as these were useful.

    However, overall, I wouldn't recommend spending time reading this book. For me, it didn't feel worth my time.

Good Times. Bad Times. Blessings. Curses.: A Sermon for All Saints' Sunday

May only truth be spoken and may only truth be heard. Amen.

 

While originally of pagan origin, the Hallowtide Triduum has become a Chrisitan tradition of a three-day observance that includes All Hallows' Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. All Hallows' Eve is celebrated on October 31 and is the first day of the triduum. It is a time for preparation and reflection on death, often including services and visits to cemeteries to prepare graves for All Saints' and All Souls' days. All Saints' Day is celebrated on November 1 and is a day to celebrate and honor all saints, martyrs, and the faithful departed who have lived holy lives. It is a time to celebrate the "mystical body of Christ" and the "company of all faithful people". All Souls' Day on November 2 is the final day of the triduum. It is a solemn observance for remembering and praying for all the faithful departed, especially relatives and loved ones. Traditions include visiting graves, lighting candles, and giving "soul cakes" to the poor in exchange for prayers for the dead.

 

From an Anglican perspective, the Hallowtide Triduum is a significant part of the Anglican liturgical calendar, often observed with specific services and a focus on the communion of saints. As with other traditions, it is seen as a time to reflect on the victory of Christ over sin and death and to contemplate our own mortality and eternal life. The commemoration of all faithful departed on November 2 is a key element, reinforcing the Anglican belief in the communion of saints and the church, both living and dead.

 

If you’re asking yourself why we are celebrating All Saints’ Day today then, when it’s November 2, well, it’s a complicated liturgical scheduling question that I’d be happy to answer to anyone interested at another time. Over time, as people stopped going to church on a daily basis, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day have been merged into a single Sunday service that focuses on remembering those in the church who have died in the previous year while also celebrating the saints and martyrs of the church. It is an important occasion for remembering and celebrating the blessed of the church’s story, both ancient and contemporary, those known to us only by legend and history, as well as those known to us in this life.

 

The Gospel reading for today lays out the characteristics of the blessed alongside the characteristics of the lost. Good times. Bad times. Blessings. Curses. We feel and experience them all. It is with these images that we approach the gospel of Luke and his account of Jesus’ beatitudes for today. We usually deal with the beatitudes from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5 when we hear Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Luke’s version is slightly different in that it is shorter, and it is delivered on the plains. It is possible that this is the same sermon with Matthew and Luke remembering it or writing it differently. But it is more likely that Jesus gave this sermon more than once and in more than one place. The beatitudes are, after all, the foundation of a Christian’s baptismal life, so is it hard to imagine that Jesus told them over and over again?

 

Luke’s version of the beatitudes is quite a bit more literal than Matthew, less spiritual. In Luke, Jesus declares that the poor, the hungry, the lamenting, the hated, the excluded, and the defamed are to rejoice, for their suffering will be reversed and turned into plenty and joy. By contrast, the rich, the privileged, the prominent, and the comfortable will find themselves outside of the realm of God. On the surface, this passage seems quite controversial. If you are poor, you are blessed and if you are rich, you are cursed? If you’re hungry, crying, hated, reviled, you are blessed? Full, happy, loved – cursed? You can see why this might be seen as controversial.

 

When reading the Gospel, you must consider Jesus’ audience. To whom is he speaking? Sometimes we must guess or do some historic digging to figure it out. But if you back up a little to verse 17, Luke tells us straight-up who the audience is – his disciples and a great multitude of people. In Matthew, Jesus delivers his beatitudes from on top of a hill or mountain. In Luke, he comes down to eye level, to equal ground, with his disciples and gives them his blessings and curses, his owes and woes.

 

Jesus is not saying, as we are often tempted to read into this passage, that to be poor is to be blessed. He is not saying that to be hungry is to be blessed, or weeping, or hated. Jesus is speaking to his disciples who happen to be poor, who happen to be hungry, who happen to be weeping, who happen to be hated. He is speaking to his disciples and helping them to figure out how to feel about being in this situation. He says, in verse 23, to rejoice in that day and to leap for joy. Jesus is telling his disciples that despite the fact that they are poor, hungry, sad, hated, reviled, because they have faith in God, they will be blessed with the rewards of heaven.

 

The reward promised to the first blessing is “yours is the Kingdom of God”. Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the Kingdom of God. What's the counterpart to that? “Woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation.” Jesus says woe to you who are rich now because that's what you get. In your poverty, you are the beneficiaries of the Kingdom. Jesus is your king, and you are rightful heirs of all that the Kingdom of God is. All that the king can do for you, he is doing for you and for your good, right now, even in the midst of poverty and weeping and slander. So when Jesus says “woe to you who are rich”, he means what is your portion right now? Rich is you wanted, you got it, then in the end, that's it that’s all. You have received your consolation, this is what you get, and that will be the end of it.

 

So what's my point here? The point is not that poverty and hunger and weeping and being hated are the way you become blessed, the means of blessing, the qualification you meet in order to get the blessing. That's not the point here. Jesus is not saying that if you want to be blessed, you better be poor. He is not saying if you want to be blessed, you better not have any food. He is not saying if you want to be blessed, you better be a weeper and not have any joy. He is not saying if you want to be blessed you better get yourself hated.

 

No, the point is many disciples are in fact poor, so how should you think about it? That yours is the Kingdom. Many disciples are in fact hungry, so how should you think about it? That you will someday get the reward of satisfaction. Many disciples are now weeping, and in all kinds of difficulties and pressures and afflictions. So how should you think about it? That day is coming when that's all going to pass, and you will laugh again.

 

And so, the point of this text is not to give us qualifications for how to receive the blessing of God. The point is that Jesus said “you are my disciples and therefore you are blessed. You are following me, and you are trusting me. Therefore, whether you’re poor, whether you're hungry, whether you're weeping, whether you're hated, you are blessed for all these reasons.”

 

By all worldly standards, I am rich, full, and well-spoken of. I have a home, food in the cupboards, and people who care about me and love me. As I have listened to Christ and experienced God’s love for all, I have learned that to be rich while others are poor is to not live in the promise of the kingdom of God. The consolation of self-contained riches is real but very limited, shallow, and fleeting. We all live in the house of God’s love and grace. Our response to the “Woe” should not be paralyzing guilt but receiving the gift of being put on a new path. What a great adventure of grace to discover ways we can live in the promise of sharing God’s abundance and knowing that God is always declaring “Blessed are you.”

 

As I’ve previously said, there is nothing inherently wrong with living in abundance. It’s what we do with that abundance that shows how we are blessed, and how we are living out God’s kingdom today. Our reading today ends with a call to love our enemies, to “do to others as you would have them do to you.” By sharing in our blessedness, we are living out God’s command to love one another, including the radical call to love even our enemies. Today, on All Saints Sunday, we remember those saints across the centuries who have dared to love enemies, even at great personal cost.

 

Today as we remember the saints who have lived and heard the challenge to live like saints, the words of the Apostles’ Creed ring true: we believe “in the communion of the saints.” As the church of Christ, we have a purpose in this world to live for others with Christ-like love. Through God, we have inherited a promise to be reunited with our loved ones in death. As the body of Christ, we are called to seek Christ in everyone we meet. May God help us follow the example of Christ as we strive to live in unity and love through the power of the Spirit. Amen.

Resources

"Feasting on the Word" edited by David L Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor

workingpreacher.org

pulpitfiction.com

A Review of the Book "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson

Title: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Author: Barbara Robinson

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Year: 1972

108 pages

From the Back: The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, steal, smoke cigars, swear, and hit little kids. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant.

    None of the Herdmans has ever heard the Christmas story before. Their interpretation of the tale - the Wise Men are a bunch of dirty spies and Herod needs a good beating - has a lot of people up in arms. But it will make this year's pageant the most unusual anyone has seen and, just possibly, the best one ever.

Personal Thoughts: I'm not ashamed to say that sometimes I read children and teen books. There are times when nice, easy reads are required to allow the brain to rest a little. Even better are the books that end up with an amazing lesson within the pages. This little book is about more than just a Christmas pageant. It's about not judging other people, about caring for our neighbours, and about realizing that not everyone has heard the good news of Jesus Christ. In a multicultural and ecumenical world, we ca no longer assume that the majority of the people around us are Christian. Also, if you are going to talk about your faith, you can no longer assume the person in front of you has read a bible. This cute story is a lesson in humilty, and an understanding that if you're going to talk to someone about Jesus, you just might need to start from the beginning. And bring refreshments!

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 40

Chapter 40 – The Good Eye

 

As we get into the final few weeks of our exploration of the Sermon of the Mount, we begin to delve into some of the more difficult verses. Matthew 6:22-23 talks about eyes and lamps, darkness and light. Quite a curious pair of verses.

 

If your eyes are working properly, they will take in the light of the room and allow you to see. If they aren’t working, you will be in darkness. This same description is used in Luke 11. Timothy Keller links both metaphors to money, materialism, and greed. He declares that “Jesus says … this darkens your eye spiritually.” (p. 254)

 

According to Keller, the darkness comes from not wanting to talk about greed, not wanting to admit that we are quite likely greedy, we just don’t realize it. We compare ourselves to someone richer than us, and there’s probably always someone richer than us, and decide that because rich people exist, we aren’t greedy. But just because someone might be more extravagant than you, doesn’t mean your greed is non-existent. Did you choose your job because of enjoyment or money? Or are you turning a blind eye to the damage your employer is causing to the environment?

 

The darkness of materialism is everywhere in our society. Perhaps it’s time for us to reassess how we spend out money. Even just by focusing on buying Canadian and/or local, we are letting our eyes see the reality of where our money goes after it leaves our hands.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 39

Chapter 39 – Lasting Treasures

 

Not only is humanity full of selfishness and greed, but it also seems to be incapable of letting go of things and stuff. It’s as if the accumulation of “stuff” is the most important thing to many people. And the richer you are, the less likely you’re willing to let go of anything, especially money. Basil the Great states, “if everyone took for himself enough to meet his immediate needs and released the rest for those in need of it, there would be no rich and no poor.” (p. 249)

 

I took economics in school, and I still couldn’t tell you what’s happening in today’s economy. Pries are skyrocketing, especially when it comes to food and other necessities. And how about the salaries for professional athletes? Why do they need all of that money? Probably just to buy more stuff. It’s hard to comprehend why the few richest people feel like they need more when so many people have nothing, can’t even buy food to feed their family.

 

And it’s not like you can take it with you when you die. All these earthly treasures that are being accumulate will just be left behind once you’re gone, so why not spread the wealth while you’re around to see the joy on someone else’s face? As Clement of Alexandria says, “In the end it is not the one who keeps, but the one who gives away, who is rich.” (p. 251)