Rise Up Ye Saints of God

 

 

SERMON

October 08, 2023

Matthew 21:33-46 

Wow! That’s all I have to say after reviewing today’s readings. We begin with Moses proclaiming God’s Ten Commandments to the Israelites who are wandering in the desert in search of the promised land. The commandments represent the initiation of a unique relationship between God with his chosen people. Nahum Sarna in his wonderful book, Exploring Exodus: The Origins of Biblical Israel, writes “[The Ten Commandments] forge a special relationship between God and Israel. This relationship is sealed by a covenant, which establishes Israel as God’s ‘treasured possession,’ a ‘kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.”’

Sarna closes this portion of his exegesis saying, “The narrative tells us that Moses transmitted to the people God’s vision for their future destiny, and that ‘All the people answered as one, saying, ‘All the Lord has spoken we will do!’ God’s election of Israel as his chosen people is matched by a corresponding response and commitment on the part of the people. The mood has been set for the solemn, formal enactment of a covenant between God and Israel. A covenant that will seal for all time this reciprocal relationship.” (p. 130-131)

From there we move on to Paul’s advice to the Philippians as he urges them to maintain a steady path in their right relationship with Jesus Christ. He points out, not for the first time, that in order to maintain this right relationship it is mandatory to cease boasting of worldly achievements in order to gain salvation through their relationship with Christ. Rather, in humility they must fully engage in their covenant with God to be a holy people. A people set apart by God for him and his purposes.

Paul spells out the difficulties that he has suffered in his journey to adhere to this covenant. He writes “For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him…forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Toss out the rubbish in your life, the worldly stuff. Strain forward to meet the divine and the prize of the heavenly call of God given to us through the incarnation of his Son, Jesus Christ. 

And finally, in our Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples “…I tell you; the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken into pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

Jesus is placing a big exclamation mark on the Father’s commandments issued to us way back in the desert when Moses descended from Mount Sinai. Stay in the path outlined in the covenant that establishes you as a holy people. Straying from this covenant will lead you into the weeds. Will lead you far astray from my Father’s heavenly kingdom.

God lays it all out for us, right from the very beginning he sets the score straight with the ten commandments: I am God, your God…you shall have no other Gods but me…and I am a most jealous God, punishing those for any sins their parents pass on to them…But I am also an unswervingly loyal God to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments. If you want to be on my team, you must be loyal, and I must be your only God.

Centuries later Paul urged the Philippians to steer clear of being influenced by those who publicly do anything to keep up their appearance of loving God. Paul reiterates that real believers are those who quietly seek to be in relationship with Christ. Those who work tirelessly at Christ’s ministry. Christ’s ministry of love, compassion, and healing. Christ’s ministry of loving “The least of these.” Paul urges the Philippians to embrace true righteousness. Righteousness that comes from trusting Christ and being in continual relationship with Christ. Righteousness comes from keeping God’s covenant with us.

And then we have Jesus in the Jerusalem temple teaching the crowd that gathers around him, eager to hear what he has to say. Speaking in the midst of his followers, Jesus shares the parable of the two sons and the vineyard owner. Through this parable Jesus makes clear that those who do what the father says, no matter who they are, will go immediately to God’s kingdom. But those who fail to heed the father’s commandments will fall away from God’s covenant with his people and become lost in their search for membership in God’s eternal kingdom.

Amidst all of these critically important words from scripture, Dr. Kwok Pui-Lan’s exhortation that I spoke of last week rings loud and clear. “Awake, Arise, Act. It is time to make Jesus Christ known again. 

No matter what page we turn to in our bibles, the message is always the same. The same now as it was in the time of the Exodus which took place about 1310 BC, or in the time of Jesus around 30 CE, or of Paul around 60 CE. That message is that God has chosen us to be in right relationship with us and it is up to us whether or not we chose to be in right relationship with him.

It is our choice, and that choice carries with it many responsibilities. Responsibilities which many of us throughout our community, and throughout the world have lost sight of. We are chosen to be a holy people. And being chosen as a holy people means being fully devoted to and invested in God's kingdom.  

We are called to be a holy people. A people called to be fully devoted to and invested in God’s covenant with us. 

Of course, this devotion and investment looks different for different communities, in many different periods of time, and in many different places. But no matter time or place it remains the basis of our covenant with God and our life as Christ’s disciples.

In all cases it means that we must continually discern what the Spirit is saying to us. Where the Spirit is leading us. 

Now more than ever we at St. Simon’s must awake, arise, and act to the call of the Holy Spirit, to the covenant that we have with God and the relationship that we have with Christ.

What is the Spirit saying to us St. Simonites? Where is the Spirit leading us? How must we strain forward to what lies ahead? What rubbish must we toss aside in order to hear our call from God as we strive to live a life as true followers of Christ Jesus? As our participants in God’s covenant with us? 

With the words of Dr. Kwok in our minds and hearts, how do we press on, how do we ensure that the voice of the Holy Spirit is speaking loudly to all of us sitting here today and to others who are not here today? How do we make St. Simon’s shine like a star and move into the night to light all who are seeking, all who are lost so that they too many become members of God’s astounding covenant and Jesus Christ’s offer of eternal salvation? 

Rise up ye saints of God! Have done with lesser things, give heart and soul and mind and strength to serve the Kings of Kings.

Rise up ye saints of God! His kingdom tarries long: Lord bring the day of truth and love and end the night of wrong.

Lift high the cross of Christ! Tread where his feet have trod: and quickened by the Spirit’s power, rise us, ye saints of God!