Both/And: A Sermon for the 6th Sunday After Pentecost

May only truth be spoken, and truth received. Amen.

Interesting things always seem to happen when Mary and Martha are involved. It was Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus that Jesus called out of the tomb and into new life. And it was at a dinner at their house just before Passover that Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with a pound of costly perfume. Makes me wonder if Jesus routinely heads back to visit these friends because he felt most comfortable there, and they provided a change of pace to the stress and hard work that occupied most of Jesus’ time. In any case, here we are, once again, at Mary and Martha’s house in Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem.

 

They say that the biggest motivator to clean one’s house is to have a guest arrive on their doorstep. How about if you have 70 guests show up? The disciples had just returned from their travels, weary and probably hungry. Jesus probably thought, “hey my friends Mary and Martha live around here. I bet they won’t mind if we drop in!” As you could imagine, Martha went on a tear around the house – cleaning, getting started on cooking food, putting out drinks, filling bowls of water for people to wash their feet – all of the things a good host would do. Is it any wonder that Martha felt a little annoyed when she looked in on the company and found her darling sister Mary just sitting there, listening to Jesus teach. What would you do if it were you? How would you feel?

 

Martha put up a stink and complains to Jesus, trying to get him to convince Mary to help her with the chores and the tasks. I suppose she has grounds for such a complaint because, in that time, women were supposed to be servers not learners. So, by sitting at Jesus’ feet instead of running around taking care of their guests, Mary was going against acceptable customs. Martha’s expectation that Jesus would chastise Mary for going against the rules makes sense. Instead, Jesus takes Martha to task, telling her, “You are worried and distracted by many things, but few things are needed – indeed only one. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

 

The competition between Mary and Martha has always been the typical understanding of this story. Mary, the ever-loving disciple who sits obediently at Jesus’ feet and is often described as the ultimate goal for all Christians. Martha, the always-busy never-just-sitting-and-listening host who cries to Jesus about how she has to do all the work while Mary just sits there at Jesus’ feet. The common lesson being a plea for us to be less like Martha and more like Mary. But this is an awful lesson, one that pits two sisters against each other, that pits women against each other, and pits each of us against the other as we fight to win some sort of “I’m a better Christian than you” competition.

 

There is no reason for this to be an either/or situation. There are times for listening and there are times for action, with no need for debate on the priority of contemplative listener and the dutiful activist. It’s not about choosing to be one or the other, but about doing what is needed in the moment, being in the moment, and focusing on God in the midst of duty and routine. As Rachel Held Evans states, “If we censure Martha too harshly, she may abandon serving altogether, and if we commend Mary too profusely, she may sit there forever.  There is a time to go and do; there is a time to listen and reflect.  Knowing which and when is a matter of spiritual discernment.” Jesus is not chastising Martha for her hospitality for hospitality is very important to Jesus. The work that Martha is doing is necessary and important, but it seems that she has put being the perfect host above hearing the word of God. And that is the warning Jesus is giving to Martha in this moment. It’s also a warning to us that if we make ourselves too busy, we might miss out on hearing God’s message.

 

What Martha needed was to just stop. Sit down. Listen. Sometimes, whatever we are doing, even if we’re trying to do good, God really needs us to stop. Stop doing so much, stop trying so hard. Stop trying to fix everything. Stop trying to justify yourself by looking busy. Stop doing and start listening. Sit down at Jesus’ feet and try to hear where God’s Spirit is moving in your life and in the world around you. The world we live in is full of problems, problems we all want to fix. But sometimes we want to fix problems more than we want to understand them. The problems we are facing today don’t have easy fixes: how best to protect the environment? How to distribute resources fairly? How to protect ourselves while staying open and welcoming? All of these issues require careful, prayerful discernment. At least, they do if we are going to respond from a place of love and not fear. Jesus’ call is to come more and more into the way of love. But finding love amid the fear that surrounds us takes some work on our part. We have to seek out God’s presence. We have to set aside the noise and distractions of the world before we can best hear God’s voice. Today, we need to sit and listen. Tomorrow, we can act.

 

Mary chose to sit still at the feet of her teacher, Jesus. Martha was asked to stop and join them. And we too are called to stop, to put aside our many tasks and all that distracts us, and to sit at Jesus’ feet. We can pray to God, read the Scriptures regularly, be present to God and God’s presence in Christ to us, and listen for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. It is there and God is always reaching out to us in love. During St. Joan of Arc’s trial, she was questioned as to whether the voice of God she claimed to hear wasn’t merely a voice in her head. She responded by saying essentially, “How else do you think God speaks to us?”

 

Amen.

Resources:

pulpitfiction.com

episcopalchurch.org

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

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 25

Chapter 25 – From the Heart

 

We live in a very transactional society. We do things in the expectation of something in return, and if we don’t see the benefit or the fruit of the transaction, we are less likely to do again. On the flip side, we have become a culture of people who distrust those who act in pure kindness. There is always a question of why they are doing this, or what do they want for it.

 

Jesus says that when you are giving, praying, and fasting, don’t do it in such a way that is obvious to others that you’re doing these things. Not because we should be ashamed that we are doing them, but that we should be humble about it. Our lives of faith shouldn’t be transactional, and part of the faith is knowing that we may never see the fruition of our giving, our praying, or our fasting. We do these things out of relationship with our neighbour, not relationship with our status or reputation.

 

Abraham Joshua Heschel states,

“A moral deed unwittingly done may be relevant to the world because of the aid it renders unto others. Yet a deed without devotion, for all its effects on the lives of others, will leave the life of the doer unaffected. The true goal is to be what we do…The means may be external, but the end is personal. Your deeds are pure, so that ye shall be holy.” (p. 161)

 

We are called by Jesus to act from our hearts – to love God, to love our neighbours, to love ourselves. Not because we want something in return, but because it’s what we are meant to do. God made us as creatures of love, but society has taught us that what we do means nothing unless someone has noticed and points it out – in recognition, in reward, in accolades. It is becoming increasingly rare that good deeds are done simply because they are good deeds that should be done.

 

Consider how you live your life of faith.

    Do you seek recognition for your actions?

    Do you act because it’s who you are?

    Do you need to see the results of your work?

A Review of the Book "The Tommyknockers" by Stephen King

Title: The Tommyknockers

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: GP Putnam's Sons

Year: 1987

558 pages

From the Back: It begins with nothing more frightening than a nursery rhyme; yet in Stephen King's hands in becomes an unforgettable parable of dread, a threat from an unimaginable darkness that drags the practical inhabitants of a New England village into a hell worse than their own most horrible nightmares...and yours.

    It begins with a writer named Roberta Anderson, looking for firewood in the forest that stretches behind her house. Bobbi stumbles over three inches of metal, which unusually heavy spring runoff has left sticking out of the soil. A logger's beer can, she thinks at first, but "the metal was as solid as mother-rock."

    It begins with Bobbi's discovery of the ship in the earth, a ship buried for millions of years, but still vibrating faintly, still humming with some sort of life...faint...weak...but still better left alone.

    Bobbi then begins to dig - tentatively at first, then compulsively - and is joined by her old friend (and onetime lover), Jim Gardener. Aided by a weirdly advanced technology, their excavation proceeds apace. And as they uncover more and more of an artifact both familiar and so unbelievable it is almost beyond comprehension, the inhabitants of Haven start to change.

    There is the new hot-water heater in Bobbi's basement - a not-water heater that apparently runs on flashlight batteries. The vengeful housewife who learns of her husband's affair...from a picture of Jesus on top of her TV, a picture that begins to talk. Not to mention the ten-year-old magician who makes his little brother disappear...for real.

    The townspeople of Haven are "becoming" - being welded into one organic, homicidal, and fearsomely brilliant entity in fatal thrall to the Tommyknockers.

Personal Thoughts: This was a very strange book. While I would typically categorize King as a horror writer, Tommyknockers was definitely more along the lines of the science fiction genre. Although the description of the alien creatures could be quite scary depending on either your imagination or the movie artist. While the sheer volume of words in this book resulted in my taking a long time to read it, the story was excellent and captivating. It was just weird enough that you wanted to keep reading to find out what happens next, but not so weird that it made me want to give up on it. Luckily I enjoy reading science fiction. So my only warning on this book would be that if you were looking for horror, you won't get it, and if you don't like science fiction, then you may not enjoy this particular novel. And, as I am discovering to be typical of King's writing, the story starts out slow but really builds by the halfway point and truly rollercoasters to the finish line. Overall, an excellent story that was worth the read.

A Review of the Book "Inspired" by Rachel Held Evans

Title: Inspired

Author: Rachel Held Evans

Publisher: Nelson Books

Year: 2018

221 pages

From the Back: If the Bible isn't a science book or an instruction manual, then what is it? What do people mean when they say the Bible is inspired? When Rachel Held Evans found herself asking these questions, she began a quest to better understand what the Bible is and how it is meant to be read. What she discovered changed her - and it will change you too.

    Drawing on the best in recent scholarship and using her well-honed literary expertise, Evans examines some of our favorite Bible stories and possible interpretations, retelling them through memoir, original poetry, short stories, soliloquies, and even a short screenplay. Undaunted by the Bible's most difficult passages, Evans wrestles through the process of doubting, imagining, and debating Scripture's mysteries. The Bible, she discovers, is not a static work but is a living, breathing, captivating, and confounding book that is able to equip us to join God's living and redemptive work in the world.

Personal Thoughts: I so love reading RHE's works. She has an incredible way of reassuring you that doubt is not the opposite of faith, and that she is willing to sit down and have that conversation with you. This book was no exception and I highly recommend it to anyone who gets tripped up on the Bible being the literal word of God, rather than the inspired word of God. Her choice of book title was no coincidence. RHE's style of writing makes it so easy for anyone to pick up her books and read them. No theological degree required!

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 24

Chapter 24 – Perfect Love

 

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matt 5:48)

 

Thanks for the pressure, Matthew. God is perfect, so we must be perfect. There’s no way we can live up to that! We know we aren’t perfect; we will never be perfect. To err is to be human. Isn’t that how the saying goes? Do we really think that Gods expects us to be perfect? No. But God does expect us to love.

 

In this chapter, Addison Hodges Hart writes about the false idea that “perfect love” means we need to feel love for everyone. (p. 150) She discusses the impossibility of that idea but asks us instead to consider that God wants us to do good to all people, regardless of how we might feel about them. Not that this is an easy task to do, either. Being prepared to do good to all means having to acknowledge our prejudices and then put them aside for the needs of others, and to do good anyway. I cling to the hope that this is how people will act, especially if they are in any sort of position of leadership. I want to have hope that those in power whom I know to have bigoted ideas are able to compartmentalize their opinions from the person standing in front of them. We all have prejudices, but if we can’t even see the humanity before us, how will we ever learn to love perfectly?

 

In conjunction with these thoughts from Hart, Chiara Lubich reminds us that God’s love is free. (p. 152) Unlike the world’s love that is transactional in nature, expecting something as payment for being loved, God requires nothing from us to be loved and desires no payment of any kind. God doesn’t love us because we are good and perfect and deserving. God loves us even when we are not good and perfect and deserving. Ultimately, God’s love is transformational. If we allow ourselves to be loved without expectation, we can learn to love others in the same way.

 

This is the path to perfect love.

A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 23

Chapter 23 – Love of Enemy

 

One of the two most important commandments that God gives to us through Jesus is to love our neighbours as ourselves. It is the divine instruction that our entire lives as Christians ought to be based upon. And it really shouldn’t be that hard to do. But it is, isn’t it?

 

Loving someone you like is easy. Your parents, maybe? Or your siblings? Other members of your family? Your best friend? That neighbour you like? These can all be easy people to love. But what about that kid who teased you in school? Or your bully? Or that one person who always needs to be the center of attention? Or how about the stranger you meet in the street? Or the homeless person? Or someone of a different culture than you?

 

Both lists are endless. It is human nature to find it easier to love those who are like you than to love those who are different from you. It is easier to keep hating someone, than to start loving them. It is certainly hard to love someone who hates you.

 

Martin Luther King Jr states, “hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe…The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate.” (p. 143) The easy path is to seek revenge on another person rather than to seek reconciliation.

 

That said, reconciliation takes both parties but there’s no rule that states you can’t love the other person, allowing yourself to heal while working on everything external. King also states that, “love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals.” (p 145) Love leads to transformation; hate stalls it - whether in yourself or in others.

 

God, through Jesus, calls us to be people of love. And sometimes that means loving our enemies as much, maybe more so, than ourselves or our neighbours. Because, in the end, we are all neighbours to each other, connected to one another simply by the fact that we are all human.

Let There Be Peace! A Sermon for the 4th Sunday After Pentecost

Photo by Steve Johnson on pexels.com

May only truth be spoken, and truth received. Amen.

In the first century of the Common Era, the Roman Peace was the promise of peace through the conquest of lands. Roman armies traveled from place-to-place conquering smaller powers and ushering in protection and hopes for prosperity in exchange for tribute and obedience. The spoils of their campaigns brought material and cultural wealth to the Roman center, while leaving the townspeople in the subject lands to pay the price.

 

Starting with a small circle of twelve disciples which, in today’s Gospel reading, has now become seventy, Jesus instructs his followers to go from town to town to “share in peace” with whatever household they enter. What is this peace that Jesus instructs his apostles to proclaim? It is not a peace won on the backs of commoners and soldiers, it is not a peace reserved for the wealthy at the expense of the elite, nor a peace through destruction or death. The peace that Jesus’ apostles bring to each town is the peace of life.

 

But this was no starry-eyed expedition expecting universal interest and welcome. Jesus talks about the cities and homes that will welcome them, and about those that will not. They will not have been the only travelers on the road who had to rely on the hospitality of people who did not know them. The Seventy join the people who travel without resources, a group of wanderers and refugees, of aimless people, and people who have a definite goal, whether it is asylum or escape or a chance to earn money to support the family at home. There have always been such people on the road, then and now, and they have always met with both hospitality and hostility. And now the Seventy learn what that does to a person.

 

Sometimes, the common lectionary omits lines that someone doing the editing felt were unimportant. A lot of the time, the lines omitted are genealogies or mundane facts. But today, a line was omitted that I think is important for today’s lesson. Verse 12 says: “I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.” Now why does Jesus bring up the city of Sodom?

 

We all know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah from the book of Genesis. Throughout Jewish Scripture, with echoes also in Christian Scripture, Sodom and Gomorrah are remembered as examples of horrifying destruction, cities destroyed because the people were sinful and therefore God destroyed the cities. That’s a simplified telling of the story, but my point is that most people erroneously identify the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah as one of sodomy, of sexual misbehavior. But, in truth, their sin was one of inhospitality. Both Isaiah and Ezekiel identify the sin of Sodom as refusing to defend widows and orphans and not helping those in need. According to these prophets, the depravity of the city of Sodom showed itself in their refusal to offer hospitality to the travelers who came to them needing shelter. Instead of feeding and protecting these visitors, they demanded to be allowed to do some not-so-nice things to them. Isaiah and Ezekiel say that by loving religious ritual instead of caring for the poor and powerless, the people of God demonstrated deep depravity. Throughout Scripture the consistent analytic is clear: the real quality of a people is revealed by how they welcome travelers without resources.

 

In the households who do receive them and among the towns in which they reside, the disciples spread Jesus’ healing power, proclaiming the word of God. And it is significant that the only specific instruction given by Jesus to the seventy is to heal the sick. Increasingly for Christians today, the ministry of healing is strong and widespread. There is a realization that in a frantic and tense and fearful world, the strength of the Christian faith can bring healing to the lives of individuals, a renewed sense of peace. Peace is, and always has been, a catchword in politics. Everyone wants peace. No one (or, at least, only a small minority) wants conflict. And yet our world is ridden with conflict. Wars waged in the name of peace. Low-income homes leveled in gentrified neighborhoods for the sake of prosperity. Treaties are broken and religions demonized for the illusions of security and independence.

 

The Roman Peace was a great and glorious time for the elite few. For the rest of the world, it was a time of fear and trial. There are voices in our world who, for example, want to “make America great again”. Others are claiming a desire for reconciliation with Indigenous People but are not following their words with actions. For example, of the 94 calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a measly 13 have been proven to be completed. These movements will, without a doubt, benefit elite subsets in each nation. But, as Christians, we are called not to ask whether we will be on the side that benefits from or suffers from this imposed greatness. Rather, we are called to ask how to serve the only Great One, who sends us “like lambs into the midst of wolves” to bring a different kind of peace.

 

God’s peace is a peace founded on life, rather than death. On relationship, rather than enmity. On engaging in and accepting mutual hospitality, rather than building walls of division. Today’s generation of Christians are called to a ministry of healing, both in individual lives as well as in social and political situations.

 

Luke’s passage ends with the Seventy being surprised that they were able to heal others. But Jesus wasn’t surprised. He had faith in his followers then, just as he has faith in us now. While the road may be paved in hostility, let us be the ones to be hospitable to the visitor, the ones to bring healing to the people and to our nation. Do this, and “rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Amen.