August 17, 2008 Sermon
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Proper 15 - A
August 17, 2008 Emmanuel, San Angelo
We have arrived at the final days of summer vacation. For some the vacation ended weeks ago. School will be starting soon. Even for us older folks, there is that looming sense of anticipation, or dread, as traffic mushrooms and every other page in the paper is an ad for a back to school sale. I can't imagine what it would be like if I had to do it again!
I see now the hardest thing for me as a kid, and as a parent, was the anxiety and fear of the unknown. On his radio show last week, Garrison Keillor spoke on how so much of life is about fitting in. For Kids: Will I be cool? Will my clothes look funny? Would I be able to get my locker open? Will my friends be in the same class? For Parents: Will they adjust? Can they handle the work? Will they make their grades? Older folks know that never goes away. So how do we find hope and good news today?
We have to do some digging in the readings. The OT lesson about the Patriarch Joseph. Joseph had been sold into slavery in Egypt. Still God turned a bad situation to the good. Joseph rose in stature in the court of the Egyptian pharaoh. By their hostile actions God averted the extinction of the Jews as God's Chosen people: "God sent me before you to preserve life." The impossible becomes possible.
Matthew at first it seems odd, with all the fuss about the ancient dietary laws. Does God really care so much about what we eat or what we say? In our day we count calories and try to have a healthy lifestyle. But in Jesus day eating was a statement of one's belief about God: "You are what you eat" as they say. To an observant Jew following strict dietary laws spoke to one’s seriousness as a follower of God. There were literally hundreds of laws to follow. Many people did indeed take offense when they heard Jesus say that one's attitude was as important as the Laws of Moses.
Nearly a century after Jesus the greatest struggle of the earliest Churches was to accommodate the range of different people who were becoming Christian. Christianity had taken root in the Roman culture and was cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic, but there were still many people who still believed that true followers should adhere to the special laws of Moses. Keeping Kosher wasn't a trivial thing it was a critical moral issue.
"Listen and understand" said Jesus. Respect for God will always involve a change of heart as well as a change of behavior. Matthew records this gospel to show Jesus as the pioneer of a new outlook: Placing a new emphasis on one's inner relation with God. The attitude of the heart is what is most important.
How well we know that words can hurt! Evil intentions and all the vices which our Lord mentions...these wreak havoc on our relationships with others. Perfection is not a requirement for salvation, but within us we find our resolve to serve God. As the old General Thanksgiving says, we show our sincerity to God;
"not only with our lips but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days." (Prayer Book, pt. 101)
One of the great voices on the inward spiritual journey was St. Benedict (480-547) in his Rule. Benedict said that if we want to reach the highest summit of wholeness and wellness, we should envision a ladder leading from earth to heaven:
"Now the ladder erected is our life on earth, and if we humble our hearts the Lord will raise it to heaven."
The sides of the ladder he calls our body and soul. Note how both are important.
The first step is to Put God first above all things. You don't get very far thinking only of yourself.
Two, Be Open to God's will.
Three, Be open to the advice and correction of others. Note that this isn't about you!
Four, Be persistent in your faith:
"In this obedience under difficult, unfavorable or even unjust conditions the heart quietly embraces suffering and endures it without weakening or seeking escape."
Five, Don't be afraid to confess your faults. No one is perfect.
Six, Be content with what you have and who you are. As they say, Be comfortable in your own skin.
Seven Strive to put others first. Not just think about them, but serve others.
Eight, live in harmony with others.
Nine, Be slow to speak and slow to anger.
Ten, Be mature in your faith.
Eleven, Be modest in all your doings.
Twelve, Be humble in your outward bearing and in your heart.
"Now therefore," says Benedict,
"After ascending all these steps of humility the seeker will quickly arrive at that perfect love of God which casts out fear. He will begin to observe without effort and out of habit, not out of fear, but out of the love for Christ."
This then is the hope and the promise in everything we do here at Emmanuel: That in Jesus Christ the two sides God and humankind brought together. And everyone has a place and is welcome at the table of God. In Jesus Christ the outward nature and the inward nature are reconciled:
"Let us fear and love him,
Holy God eternal
Loving him, let each
Love Christ in one another.
God is love, and where true love is God himself is there."
( Hymn 577)
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Revised: 08/25/08