Sermon
St. Simon's on the Sound
Proper 28 – Year C
Luke 21:5-19
As complex and rather unnerving
as this week's readings from Scripture may seem, I believe that they are
incredibly relevant to our journey as Christians in this very troubled world. I
also believe that today's readings leave no doubt about the importance of Scripture
as our road map in that journey. For us as Christians, Scripture provides the theological
and ethical compass that guides our journey – our way of being in the world.
Let's have a closer look at what
we just heard.
Right of the bat, the Collect for
the day leaves no wiggle room for a possible misinterpretation of our mandate
to hold Scripture as our guide, "Blessed Lord who caused all holy
Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read,
mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may ever embrace and ever hold
fast the blessed hope of life everlasting, which has been given us in our
Savior Jesus Christ."
Hear, read, mark, learn, and
inwardly digest all holy Scriptures…. our work is cut out for us.
Next comes a lesson from the Old
Testament reading.
Malachi, which means "my messenger," wrote
in the fifth century B.C.E. He claimed to have received the words he spoke
directly from God.
His severe warning to the
Israelites – particularly the priests - should cause us to perk up our ears and
listen closely.
Malachi accused the Israelites of
failing to fill their newly rebuilt temple with the glory of God. Rather, he
asserted, they have prioritized the intrigue and the power-hungry greed of the
royal court. They have allowed these ways of being to invade the sanctity of
God's house.
Malachi did not mince words, he railed against
their manipulative worship, corrupt leaders, oppression of hired workers,
widows, and orphans, rejection of aliens. He proclaimed that those who had turned away
from God – the arrogant and the evildoers - were not acceptable to God. The day
is coming, he prophesied, when all evildoers will be burned up – annihilated.
Malachi implored the Israelites
to honor their covenant with God – to be faithful; to love justice; to do
mercy; and to walk humbly with their God. He promised that those who did so would
be blessed and those who failed to do so would be doomed.
Paul's warnings to the
Thessalonians were not dissimilar from those of his ancestor, Malachi. Keep
away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the
tradition that they received from us, wrote Paul.
Paul knew all too well the
challenges that are faced on a day-today basis for those who profess to follow
the way of the Lord; for those who proclaimed Christ as their savior. He
understood the need to have strength and courage – endurance – in staying true
to the teachings of Jesus.
Wherever he went, and whomever he
wrote to, his theme was always the same, “continue in what you have learned and
have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood
you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you
wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2nd Tim 3:14-15).
Paul, like Malachi, was a
messenger of God, proclaiming the importance of becoming a living member of
God's covenant with us.
Paul lived a life filled with
hardship and hard work. He walked and sailed thousands of treacherous miles to preach
and to teach God's Word. He sustained endless rejection and multiple floggings,
and stonings. He continually wrote letters to his communicants throughout the
world, sometimes building them up, encouraging them, and sometimes chastising
them, always with the goal of underscoring the need to stay steady on the
course of faithfulness to God.
Paul begged his beloved
communities, "do not weary in doing what is right."
Like
Malachi, Paul warned those who will listen about the perils that lead us on a
path quite divergent from the path that God has prepared for us. The path that
will lead us in love, to peace, to God's eternal kingdom.
In Luke's gospel we hear a
parallel message. We hear Jesus, so very near the end of his life, once again
expressing fears that his disciples do not "get it." In this
particular passage, he worries that they see only the external adornment of
Herod's spectacular temple – a fifteen story structure covered on all sides
with massive plates of gold. Gold that in the sunlight radiates fiery flashes
of light. Jesus fears that the disciples are easily distracted, tempted, and swayed
by the world of power and wealth – the easy route.
Jesus warned the disciples to
beware. To be bedazzled by the temple's extravagance – by wealth and power – indicates
a failure to see the spiritual bankruptcy behind the golden façade – the
hypocrisy – the oppression – the rejection of God and the Gospel. Jesus
prophesied, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when
not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down." In
other words, things of this world are ephemeral, short-lived. Only God's
kingdom is eternal.
In the midst of proclaiming
countless disasters that would befall the land, the community, and the
disciples themselves, Jesus urged the disciples, "Beware that you are
not led astray…do not be afraid…do not go after them." Rather, said
Jesus, have courage - stand up, testify, be a witness to God's Kingdom.
He promised, "I will give
you the words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to
withstand or contradict…by your endurance you will gain your souls."
By your endurance you will gain
your souls – it sounds so simple, but is it really? Malachi and Paul understood
that it most certainly was not. They understood that that it was far easier, very
easy to be distracted by power, wealth, greed, jealousy – a whole host of ways
of being that lead us far astray from God.
Jesus warned against these very
same temptations, but he had no patience for the possibility of succumbing to
them. He commanded his disciples – he commands us - to stand up, to witness the
truth and the power of the gospel. To see beyond the glitter, the glamour, and
the gold. To see beyond hypocrisy and greed. To see beyond the destructive and
divisive behaviors of those who seek a life based on power and wealth. To
resist the lure, the temptation to follow false gods.
Jesus commands us to go forth into
the world – into difficult situations -proclaiming the gospel, with the faith
that he is with us. With the assurance that the Spirit will breath into us the
words and the ways of being that will support our witness in a manner so
stunning that no one – no foe – will any longer have power over us.
Jesus commands us to endure – to
die with him so that we may live with him. To endure so that we may gain our
souls.
As I wrote this sermon, I was
also reading Martin Luther King's book Strength to Love. I was shocked to learn
how frightened King was most of the time. In several sermons he speaks of
almost paralyzing fear of being killed and of the terror both he and his family
experienced as a result of 12 jailings, continual death threats and multiple
bombings of their home.
He wrote, "I must admit
that at times I have felt that I could no longer bear such a heavy burden and
have been tempted to retreat to a more quiet and serene life. But every time
such a temptation appeared, something came to strengthen and sustain my
determination. I have learned now that the Master's burden is light precisely
when we take his yoke upon us."
Martin Luther King, Jr. endured.
In his words, "The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid
pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may."
All of this takes me back to the very
beginning, our Collect for today:
"Blessed Lord who caused all
holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read,
mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may ever embrace and ever hold
fast the blessed hope of life everlasting, which has been given us in our
Savior Jesus Christ."
Today, and hopefully every day,
we ask Christ for the discipline to hear, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest
Scripture.
What does this Collect mean to
you? How does it affect your reading of Scripture? How does it affect your
daily life?
Do you hear the words of Malachi,
Paul, Martin Luther King, Jr. and so many others who have chosen to inwardly
digest Scripture and to, with God's help, intentionally live out their call to bring
justice and peace to all people? To take up Christ's yoke.
Do you imagine yourself at Jesus'
feet as he says, "Beware that you are not led astray…do not be afraid…do
not go after them…endure so that you may gain your soul."?
While the TV incessantly tells us
what to think – what to believe, and Facebook, Twitter, etc. shoot brief,
disruptive messages at us all day, do you stay the course? Do you remain based
in your understanding, your inward digestion of Scripture?
Are we individually and as the
church of God faithful witnesses to Scripture as we go out into the world each
day?
