Homily for Sunday, August 28, 2011
Lessons:
Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 105: 1-6, 23-26, 45c
Romans 12:9-21 [Broadman Hymnal responsive reading #551]
Matthew 16:21-28
We have work to do! The collect for today reminds us of that and provides a rubric for the way God enables us to work: “Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works.” I’m reminded of the steps we take as gardeners: we tend the soil, adding improvements to it; we plant the seeds, then water and fertilize them; then, if we’ve done our part, the fruits of our labors come naturally. As God “increases in us true religion and nourishes us with all goodness,” out of gratitude and peace of mind, we bring forth the desired good fruits.
In his epistle to the Romans, Paul tells us what some of these fruits are supposed to be, and they don’t involve especially hard labor: “Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord; rejoice in hope; be patient in suffering; persevere in prayer; contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.” Paul is more than usually straightforward here, and what he considers to be the proper works for Christians (or saints, as he calls them) is also summed up in the Great Commandment: Love the Lord with all your heart and might and love your neighbor as yourself.
In today’s lesson from Exodus, God calls Moses to a work that sounds, not only to Moses, but to us as well, like a supremely difficult task to undertake. Moses, not unlike most of us given such a task, tries very hard to get out of doing it. Like us, Moses believes he simply is not equipped to carry out what God asks him to do: to lead the Hebrew people out of Egypt. But here’s the key statement God makes as he convinces Moses to obey him, and it’s well worth our remembering when we find ourselves undertaking a challenging task: God says to Moses, as he also says to us, “I will be with you.”
Jesus’s words in Matthew 16 are pretty clear, too: “If any want to be my followers, let them take up their cross and follow me…For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of the father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.” The ultimate work of Jesus’s life was to die on the cross for our salvation. In his life he modeled love, kindness and generosity to the poor, helpless, and sick people he encountered. The cross he asks us to take up is certainly not HIS cross. There have been saintly martyrs down through the ages, but martyrdom is not likely to be what we are called to do. However, we are called to do whatever God puts before us that needs doing; when we model our lives on Christ’s life of love, kindness, and generosity, then we have taken up our own cross.
I see that Christ-like kindness bearing fruit here in Graves Mill. This past winter, Michelle and Bill and Doug and Dreama and many others came to the aid of Cecil Berry, and you continue to provide for his needs. Fellowship and neighborly kindness seem to come naturally here in the valley, and that’s a wonderful gift.
My mother, Lillian Estes Haney, was born here and carried that Graves Mill spirit with her throughout her life. Mama never did anything noteworthy enough to call attention to herself, but she lived every day with a kind and loving spirit. She didn’t follow a call to do something deeply challenging for the Lord, as Moses did. But since her death, so many people (including people I didn’t know) have told me stories of the ways my mother helped them or treated them kindly or made them feel loved. Kindness was both her gift and her work.
Recently, the public radio station in Harrisonburg, whose program called “Virginia Insight” airs on Monday afternoons, delved into the topic of kindness, and I listened with great interest. A couple of scholars who have written books on the subject were the featured guests on the show, and what they had to say about their research on kindness sounded like simple common sense to me, expressed in “high-faluting” language. One of them said that kindness was an evolutionary imperative. Survival of the fittest depended on human beings learning how to give and receive help, learning how to value kindness. The other one said that sometimes kindness has an ulterior motive: a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” attitude. Both of those things are probably accurate.
What I really found moving and true was a story related by a woman who called in to the show. She told of an act of kindness she had witnessed in a grocery line one day, and it was both very simple and very profound. The checker had to deal with a customer who was slow and clumsy, handicapped in some way. Although most of those in line behind that patron were visibly expressing their impatience at having to wait, the checker continued to treat the person she was serving with kindness and patience. When the woman in line in front of the caller got to the checker, she said to her, “I really appreciate the way you took your time with that customer and treated him so kindly.” As she said this, the checker, who had heard a few complaints, smiled with gratitude.
So, really, there were two acts of kindness: that of the checker in handling her disabled customer and that of the woman who praised her for her generous deed. As small as both of these gestures may have seemed, it would be impossible to measure the way such kindness bears fruit, how far-reaching such acts can potentially be.
“Live in love as Christ loved us and gave his life for us.”
“Serve the Lord with gladness.”
Amen.
Monday, August 29, 2011
God's Will
Homily for Sunday, August 7 Buck Mountain Church
Lessons:
Genesis 37: 1-4, 12-28
Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22
Romans 10: 5-15
Matthew 14: 22-33
The collect appointed for today, like many others, could be a little sermon on its own. "Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will." As I interpret the collect, it suggests three things. The first is we want to follow God's will, but we find it hard to do so. Secondly, to follow God's will means to think and do what is right. Finally, the only way we can manage to do that is if God enables us. Hence, we pray. Does this really mean that whether we follow God's will or not is completely up to God? Surely human free will also has a role to play. How do we discern God's will for us?
In his famous book, The Will of God, Leslie Weatherhead offers a convincing clarification. He wrote the book because he didn't agree with people who explained away awful tragedies, like the death of a child, by saying they were the result of "God's will." He said such expressions made no sense, adding, "Surely we cannot identify as the will of God something for which a man would be locked up in jail." Weatherhead explained God's will by dividing it into three parts. The first is what he called "the intentional will of God," or "God's ideal purpose." Quite often, however, "God's ideal purpose" is thwarted by circumstances related to human free will and the existence of evil in the world. Then God has to work through such bad circumstances in order to fulfill his ideal purpose, and Weatherhead calls that "the circumstantial will of God." Finally, in spite of all of the difficult things that may have stood in the way, when God is able to bring about something truly good and fulfill his original intentional will, Weatherhead calls that the "ultimate will of God."
The familiar story of Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, and all of his brothers is a great illustration of Weatherhead's treatise on God's will. It is clear from the beginning that God has big things planned for Joseph, who can interpret dreams. Remember, Joseph had a couple of dreams--one about sheaves of wheat and the other about the sun, moon and stars--which he interpreted to mean that all of his brothers and even his parents would one day have to bow down to him. The problem was Joseph just couldn't help telling his older brothers about his dreams. How could they hear that prediction and not think Joseph was gloating over them? His words must have sounded like boasting, so there was at least a little bit of hubris on Joseph's part, and pride often comes before a fall, as the old saying goes. It didn't help the brothers feel any more tolerant of Joseph when their father gave him that special robe with long sleeves.
Siblings. If you’ve never had one, you’ve surely heard stories about sibling rivalry. This story about Joseph and his brothers is one of the most famous. You may have seen the movie version of “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” starring Donnie Osmond as Joseph. Even without Donnie Osmond, it’s easy to see why Joseph annoyed his siblings, and it wasn't just because of his "nanny nanny boo boo" dreams or the fancy coat. Joseph brought his father a “bad report” about his older brothers. Nobody likes a tattletale.
I can personally attest to that. When I was about four years old, I told on my big brother, who is eight years older than I, and got him into trouble. My brother cornered me, grabbed me by the arm, and said in a very soft and ominous voice, “If you ever tell on me again, I will kill you.” That was a message even a four-year old doesn’t need to hear twice. My tattletale days were over. Maybe Joseph's older brothers should have been kind enough to give him a warning. At least Reuben cared enough about him to figure out a way to keep Joseph alive. So, instead of being killed by his brothers, Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt.
The intentional will of God for Joseph, "God's ideal purpose" was that he would one day be the salvation of his family, the salvation, really, of Israel. The dream Joseph shared with them about their bundled sheaves of wheat bowing down to his sheaf may even have suggested the upcoming famine and Joseph's role in saving his family from starvation. The evil circumstances that nearly prevented that from happening--the jealousy and revenge of his brothers--had to be used and redirected by God--the "circumstantial will of God." The entire story of Joseph reads like a novel. When he is sold in Egypt, he ends up in the household of a prominent official in Pharaoh's court, a man named Potiphar. Potiphar learns to value Joseph and places him in a position of trust, but Potiphar's wife develops a thing for Joseph and tries repeatedly to seduce him. When he refuses, she accuses him of trying to "lie with" her, and Joseph is thrown into jail. It is in jail that Joseph's talent as an interpreter of dreams is finally revealed, and two years after he correctly interprets the dream of Pharaoh's chief cupbearer, he is brought before the Pharaoh, who has had some troubling dreams. Joseph predicts the upcoming seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, and the grateful Pharaoh makes Joseph his second in command. It is in that capacity, and during the famine, that Joseph is able to give help to his starving brothers when they journey to Egypt in search of food. Psalm 105 fills in the details: "Remember the marvels he has done/ the wonders and judgments of his mouth/ O children of Jacob his chosen...He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave./...They bruised his feet in fetters/ his neck they put in an iron collar.../The king sent and released him/ He set him as a master over his household." Think how many twists and turns and unpleasant circumstances had to happen, how many years went by, before the intentional will of God for Joseph could be fulfilled as an ultimate reality. Weatherhead's explanation of God's will supports my belief that God neither causes nor permits the bad things that happen to us. We are the victims of our own mistakes and emotions (fear or pride or envy or anger) or of the bad choices others make. Sometimes we are the victims of unlucky circumstances or natural disasters. But our God is capable of working through all of these things to bring us to his ultimate will for us--that we be happy, well, and free.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul reminds us that discerning God's will for us can be easier than it seems. Quoting Deuteronomy, Paul tells us, "The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart." If we have any conscience at all, if we "think those things that are right," as the collect suggests, then we ought to know how to do the right thing. Listening with our hearts, having faith, trusting in God's love for us will help to carry us through the dark circumstances over which we have no control. His faith in God sustained Joseph through his many trials and brought him to maturity and a gracious generosity when he was finally reunited with his family.
Yesterday was the celebration of the Feast of the Transfiguration. That event in the life of Christ revealed to his chosen disciples that the man they called friend, someone who was much like themselves, could be transformed into a light-filled heavenly creature in the twinkling of an eye. When God exercises his intentional will for us, we too can be transfigured. Our mistakes, our accidents, our weaknesses and sorrows do not have the last word. God can take our darkest circumstances and shed some light on them.
"Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will." How blessed we are to be the children of a loving and persistent God, who grabs hold of us and won't let go
Lessons:
Genesis 37: 1-4, 12-28
Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22
Romans 10: 5-15
Matthew 14: 22-33
The collect appointed for today, like many others, could be a little sermon on its own. "Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will." As I interpret the collect, it suggests three things. The first is we want to follow God's will, but we find it hard to do so. Secondly, to follow God's will means to think and do what is right. Finally, the only way we can manage to do that is if God enables us. Hence, we pray. Does this really mean that whether we follow God's will or not is completely up to God? Surely human free will also has a role to play. How do we discern God's will for us?
In his famous book, The Will of God, Leslie Weatherhead offers a convincing clarification. He wrote the book because he didn't agree with people who explained away awful tragedies, like the death of a child, by saying they were the result of "God's will." He said such expressions made no sense, adding, "Surely we cannot identify as the will of God something for which a man would be locked up in jail." Weatherhead explained God's will by dividing it into three parts. The first is what he called "the intentional will of God," or "God's ideal purpose." Quite often, however, "God's ideal purpose" is thwarted by circumstances related to human free will and the existence of evil in the world. Then God has to work through such bad circumstances in order to fulfill his ideal purpose, and Weatherhead calls that "the circumstantial will of God." Finally, in spite of all of the difficult things that may have stood in the way, when God is able to bring about something truly good and fulfill his original intentional will, Weatherhead calls that the "ultimate will of God."
The familiar story of Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, and all of his brothers is a great illustration of Weatherhead's treatise on God's will. It is clear from the beginning that God has big things planned for Joseph, who can interpret dreams. Remember, Joseph had a couple of dreams--one about sheaves of wheat and the other about the sun, moon and stars--which he interpreted to mean that all of his brothers and even his parents would one day have to bow down to him. The problem was Joseph just couldn't help telling his older brothers about his dreams. How could they hear that prediction and not think Joseph was gloating over them? His words must have sounded like boasting, so there was at least a little bit of hubris on Joseph's part, and pride often comes before a fall, as the old saying goes. It didn't help the brothers feel any more tolerant of Joseph when their father gave him that special robe with long sleeves.
Siblings. If you’ve never had one, you’ve surely heard stories about sibling rivalry. This story about Joseph and his brothers is one of the most famous. You may have seen the movie version of “Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” starring Donnie Osmond as Joseph. Even without Donnie Osmond, it’s easy to see why Joseph annoyed his siblings, and it wasn't just because of his "nanny nanny boo boo" dreams or the fancy coat. Joseph brought his father a “bad report” about his older brothers. Nobody likes a tattletale.
I can personally attest to that. When I was about four years old, I told on my big brother, who is eight years older than I, and got him into trouble. My brother cornered me, grabbed me by the arm, and said in a very soft and ominous voice, “If you ever tell on me again, I will kill you.” That was a message even a four-year old doesn’t need to hear twice. My tattletale days were over. Maybe Joseph's older brothers should have been kind enough to give him a warning. At least Reuben cared enough about him to figure out a way to keep Joseph alive. So, instead of being killed by his brothers, Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt.
The intentional will of God for Joseph, "God's ideal purpose" was that he would one day be the salvation of his family, the salvation, really, of Israel. The dream Joseph shared with them about their bundled sheaves of wheat bowing down to his sheaf may even have suggested the upcoming famine and Joseph's role in saving his family from starvation. The evil circumstances that nearly prevented that from happening--the jealousy and revenge of his brothers--had to be used and redirected by God--the "circumstantial will of God." The entire story of Joseph reads like a novel. When he is sold in Egypt, he ends up in the household of a prominent official in Pharaoh's court, a man named Potiphar. Potiphar learns to value Joseph and places him in a position of trust, but Potiphar's wife develops a thing for Joseph and tries repeatedly to seduce him. When he refuses, she accuses him of trying to "lie with" her, and Joseph is thrown into jail. It is in jail that Joseph's talent as an interpreter of dreams is finally revealed, and two years after he correctly interprets the dream of Pharaoh's chief cupbearer, he is brought before the Pharaoh, who has had some troubling dreams. Joseph predicts the upcoming seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, and the grateful Pharaoh makes Joseph his second in command. It is in that capacity, and during the famine, that Joseph is able to give help to his starving brothers when they journey to Egypt in search of food. Psalm 105 fills in the details: "Remember the marvels he has done/ the wonders and judgments of his mouth/ O children of Jacob his chosen...He sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave./...They bruised his feet in fetters/ his neck they put in an iron collar.../The king sent and released him/ He set him as a master over his household." Think how many twists and turns and unpleasant circumstances had to happen, how many years went by, before the intentional will of God for Joseph could be fulfilled as an ultimate reality. Weatherhead's explanation of God's will supports my belief that God neither causes nor permits the bad things that happen to us. We are the victims of our own mistakes and emotions (fear or pride or envy or anger) or of the bad choices others make. Sometimes we are the victims of unlucky circumstances or natural disasters. But our God is capable of working through all of these things to bring us to his ultimate will for us--that we be happy, well, and free.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul reminds us that discerning God's will for us can be easier than it seems. Quoting Deuteronomy, Paul tells us, "The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart." If we have any conscience at all, if we "think those things that are right," as the collect suggests, then we ought to know how to do the right thing. Listening with our hearts, having faith, trusting in God's love for us will help to carry us through the dark circumstances over which we have no control. His faith in God sustained Joseph through his many trials and brought him to maturity and a gracious generosity when he was finally reunited with his family.
Yesterday was the celebration of the Feast of the Transfiguration. That event in the life of Christ revealed to his chosen disciples that the man they called friend, someone who was much like themselves, could be transformed into a light-filled heavenly creature in the twinkling of an eye. When God exercises his intentional will for us, we too can be transfigured. Our mistakes, our accidents, our weaknesses and sorrows do not have the last word. God can take our darkest circumstances and shed some light on them.
"Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will." How blessed we are to be the children of a loving and persistent God, who grabs hold of us and won't let go
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Wrestling With God
Homily for Sunday, July 31, 2011
Lessons:
Genesis 32: 22-31
Matthew 14: 13-21
Wrestling with God. At first glance, it seems like a pretty crazy thing to do. Who would stand a chance in a battle with the Almighty? Yet, in this famous story of Jacob spending all night wrestling with the Lord, it is the Lord who willingly enjoins the fight and who gives in first.
A couple of years ago, I delivered a homily I called "The Bad Boys of the Bible. " On my list of bad boys were Moses, David, and Jacob--all of whom, in addition to being notorious misbehavers, are three of the most significant figures in Hebrew history. Moses, remember, murdered an Egyptian taskmaster and had to flee from Egypt. When God spoke to him from a burning bush, Moses tried every ruse he could think of to get out of the task God gave him--leading all of the Hebrew people out of Egypt. And King David, remember, had an affair with a married woman and then had her husband killed when he found out she was pregnant. These are not the everyday sins of average human beings. In their efforts to do what they wanted to do rather than follow the will of God, Moses and David wrestled with God, struggled and failed more than once, but ultimately served God to the best of their abilities. Moses and David were big men and big sinners, but God still loved and forgave them.
In our story about Jacob, he is on his way home to encounter his twin brother Esau after living in exile for twenty years. Remember, Jacob had to go into exile after he manipulated the elder Esau into trading his birthright for a bowl of soup. Then he tricked his father Isaac into giving him the blessing that also rightfully belonged to Esau. Jacob was in fact an ambitious con man. Even so, the Lord willingly grapples with him, and Jacob's stubborn determination is rewarded when the Lord blesses him and changes his name to Israel. The twelve sons of Jacob became the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel, the people led out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and into the Promised Land by Moses. Once again, it is clear that even the worst of sinners (and the greatest of wrestlers) can be loved and used by God.
This is really good news, because I think most of us spend a lot of time wrestling with God. I wrestle with God when things around me seem to be going all wrong and I'm not patient enough to let God reveal a solution. I am also prone to wrestling when what God seems to be calling me to do is not at all what I want to do. We wrestle with God when bad things happen and we want to know why God allowed them. Jacob's story tells us that God not only understands why we wrestle but also encourages us to do so.
In other words, God can handle anything we might want to say when we are anguished or stressed. God seems to prefer that we speak our hearts honestly, express our anger if we need to do so--as long as we stay tuned in for God's response. There's a story about St. Teresa of Avila that illustrates the point very well. St. Teresa, who lived from 1515 to 1582, was traveling by cart one day, on the way to visit one of her monasteries. The cart overturned as it crossed a stream, and St. Teresa's leg was broken. She looked up to Heaven and said, "Lord, if this is how you treat your friends, it's no wonder you have so few."
St. Teresa also said,
Let nothing disturb you
Let nothing frighten you
Everything passes
God never changes
Patience obtains all
Whoever has God wants for nothing
God alone is enough.
Amen.
Lessons:
Genesis 32: 22-31
Matthew 14: 13-21
Wrestling with God. At first glance, it seems like a pretty crazy thing to do. Who would stand a chance in a battle with the Almighty? Yet, in this famous story of Jacob spending all night wrestling with the Lord, it is the Lord who willingly enjoins the fight and who gives in first.
A couple of years ago, I delivered a homily I called "The Bad Boys of the Bible. " On my list of bad boys were Moses, David, and Jacob--all of whom, in addition to being notorious misbehavers, are three of the most significant figures in Hebrew history. Moses, remember, murdered an Egyptian taskmaster and had to flee from Egypt. When God spoke to him from a burning bush, Moses tried every ruse he could think of to get out of the task God gave him--leading all of the Hebrew people out of Egypt. And King David, remember, had an affair with a married woman and then had her husband killed when he found out she was pregnant. These are not the everyday sins of average human beings. In their efforts to do what they wanted to do rather than follow the will of God, Moses and David wrestled with God, struggled and failed more than once, but ultimately served God to the best of their abilities. Moses and David were big men and big sinners, but God still loved and forgave them.
In our story about Jacob, he is on his way home to encounter his twin brother Esau after living in exile for twenty years. Remember, Jacob had to go into exile after he manipulated the elder Esau into trading his birthright for a bowl of soup. Then he tricked his father Isaac into giving him the blessing that also rightfully belonged to Esau. Jacob was in fact an ambitious con man. Even so, the Lord willingly grapples with him, and Jacob's stubborn determination is rewarded when the Lord blesses him and changes his name to Israel. The twelve sons of Jacob became the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel, the people led out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and into the Promised Land by Moses. Once again, it is clear that even the worst of sinners (and the greatest of wrestlers) can be loved and used by God.
This is really good news, because I think most of us spend a lot of time wrestling with God. I wrestle with God when things around me seem to be going all wrong and I'm not patient enough to let God reveal a solution. I am also prone to wrestling when what God seems to be calling me to do is not at all what I want to do. We wrestle with God when bad things happen and we want to know why God allowed them. Jacob's story tells us that God not only understands why we wrestle but also encourages us to do so.
In other words, God can handle anything we might want to say when we are anguished or stressed. God seems to prefer that we speak our hearts honestly, express our anger if we need to do so--as long as we stay tuned in for God's response. There's a story about St. Teresa of Avila that illustrates the point very well. St. Teresa, who lived from 1515 to 1582, was traveling by cart one day, on the way to visit one of her monasteries. The cart overturned as it crossed a stream, and St. Teresa's leg was broken. She looked up to Heaven and said, "Lord, if this is how you treat your friends, it's no wonder you have so few."
St. Teresa also said,
Let nothing disturb you
Let nothing frighten you
Everything passes
God never changes
Patience obtains all
Whoever has God wants for nothing
God alone is enough.
Amen.
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