Sunday 30 September 2007
18th Sunday after Pentecost


Collect

O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


The opening words of this collect express our human experience of God quite well. We know for a certainty that God is wonderful, terrible, grand, omniscient, and a host of other things we stretch to describe the One who is. And yet, we are able to relate to that otherness in a very individual way. When we stop for a moment to really consider this we are faced with the reality that it is the mercy and pity of God that we touch so often. We are not quite up to relationship with all that power in its undampened form. Not that we never experience it, we just can’t seem to maintain that level. So we have a name for the daily experience; we call it grace.
Sometimes it is grace that I have one foot on the floor and am struggling to keep the other along side it. That sort of grace often isn't recognized until later when I recover enough strength for reflection. It isn't a splendid eye-caching sort of thing but it is the sort of grace that keeps me going. This ever-present dull ordinary grace sustains life, mine and others. But the truly grand, wonderful, great, marvelous thing is that it isn't restricted to God’s offering it to me. I can pass it on to others. I tie it up in a package and hand it to my mother when I visit her. She really does not know I am her daughter but she is pleased with the visit and that too is grace, direct from God thru me to her. Grace tiptoes silently into every life visiting the grief-stricken with tears, the tired with just enough strength to rest, and parents with the ability to appreciate and cheer for the goalie who just made a marvelous save on the team opposite their own child. Today, look for just one instance of that sort of grace. It might be a good idea to write it down. For those who have the discipline to endure look for an instance every day and keep it posted on the refrigerator this week. And write the mustard seed song from our bulletin on there as well. God provides the grace, we pray for the eyes to see it.


Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him.

This first paragraph sets the scene and is a bit of a history lesson. It tells us that Jeremiah lived during what is known as an interesting time under very interesting circumstances. Zedekiah was king of Judah from 598 to 587 BCE. The respite Judah had experienced after the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrian army was over. The then current Mesopotamian empire marched out of Iraq through Syria and Lebanon into modern Israel to besiege Jerusalem. For the residents of Jerusalem things were very bad indeed. The siege lasted about two years. The city finally fell to starvation. Jeremiah had made himself very unpopular with his prophecies of doom and advice to the king, which was, surrender to the invaders. The authorities responded to these treasonable words by stripping off Jeremiah's clothing and putting him in the bottom of a dry well. The king ordered him taken out but confined to a small courtyard where his words would cause minimal upset. Everyone knew that if/when the city fell to Nebuchadrezzar those still alive would be either put to death or driven into a foreign land. Things were rather grim in Jerusalem. Thus the action proposed by Jeremiah's cousin strikes a somewhat peculiar note.

Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came to me: Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, "Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours." Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the LORD, and said to me, "Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself." Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.

When Jerusalem finally fell to the invading army all but the poorest of the people were removed from the land and the city destroyed. Although foreign peoples were shifted into the area the land remained mostly under-used. For all of his crying of present doom Jeremiah saw far into the future to a time when city and countryside would again be inhabited and productive. He was so certain of this that he bought the field from his cousin in anticipation of going out of the city to plant crops. For Jeremiah the word of God was solid fact to be trusted and acted upon. For generations his act was that of a prophet. The fulfillment was to be trusted and awaited.


Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 Page 719, 720, BCP

1
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, *
abides under the shadow of the Almighty.

2
He shall say to the LORD,
"You are my refuge and my stronghold, *
my God in whom I put my trust."

3
He shall deliver you from the snare of the hunter *
and from the deadly pestilence.

4
He shall cover you with his pinions,
and you shall find refuge under his wings; *
his faithfulness shall be a shield and buckler.

5
You shall not be afraid of any terror by night, *
nor of the arrow that flies by day;

6
Of the plague that stalks in the darkness, *
nor of the sickness that lays waste at mid-day.

14
Because he is bound to me in love,
therefore will I deliver him; *
I will protect him, because he knows my Name.

15
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; *
I am with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and bring him to honor.

16
With long life will I satisfy him, *
and show him my salvation.

Although it isn't apparent in our English translation, there are four different names for God in the first two verses of this psalm; Most High, Almighty, LORD, and God. Scholars who read the bible assiduously have noticed that each of these names is used somewhat exclusively in any given story. Different storytellers had favorite attributes they highlighted for their tribes. Thus it is assumed that each name comes from a different tradition of the many people who made up the tribes of Israel. In Psalm 91 the writer is calling the attention of the various traditions into a unified God. He is also calling the many tribes out of their family identities into unity. We all worship the same God although we use many names. Let us all recognize that we are one people. His call is just as relevant today. Instead of being distracted by our little differences we need to remember that we are all humans sharing a single planet.
In ancient times it was assumed that the king got to be king because he had the particular favor of the dominant deity; he was the chosen one. Besides bringing the tribal loyalties together, the Psalmist is about another end. By verse 14, he has woven the many names into a single acclamation - God and the chosen one will be so entwined that they will know each other by Name. The people of the nation state of Israel assumed that their king and God would know each other. The followers of Jesus made another connection. Jesus is The Chosen One. He is the one so intimate with God as to be one with him.


1 Timothy 6:6-19

There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

There it is folks the origin of the "old saying" only it is a little different from the commonly assumed meaning. It is the love of money that leads to evil. Not the money itself. Filthy lucre is still filthy, as a friend who worked in a bank said, “money passes thru so many hands that it picks up all kinds of dirt.” But it generally isn’t the physical dirt that harms us. It is the eagerness to obtain money that overcomes our best intentions and leads us astray.

But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time-- he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

This last part might be rewritten for today to say something like this. As for those folks who live in Redondo Beach with houses to protect them from the weather remind them that their security is not the house or the yard or the neighbors. Their lives now and later are bound much more tightly to the Lord. It is worth the remembering.


Luke 16:19-31

Jesus said, "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.' But Abraham said, `Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.' He said, `Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers-- that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' He said, `No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"

We could make a whole host of erroneous assumptions from this story. To begin with there is the thought that "Hades" is somehow available to wherever it is that Abraham is. The rich man can see Abraham and call to him. Abraham can answer. It all sounds very much like things as they are on earth here and now. This flies in the face of Jesus' put down of the Sadducees with his statement concerning marriage and heaven. This story makes life sound as though it extends into another very similar realm. The big difference is that in the continuum there is a reversal of places. This time the poor man gets the goodies and the rich man is left outside. For the follower of the way in the first three centuries this probably sounded pretty good. Many of the believers were part of the margins of society. They were excluded from the mainstream and wanted to know that it was all going to change and one day they could be on top and gloat over those who had excluded them. Boy does that ever sound like a very human desire; and a rather youngish goal at that. The older I get the less I want to gloat over anyone else. That gloating and getting even just do not promote any sort of genuine community. Right up until the final proclamation this tale seems to be all about human stuff.
Even the end is really about the human view. The request is that someone who has been there should tell the folks on this side of a partition what is on the other side. Jesus says even that is not going to change the basic human nature. The law and the prophets are as good a set of guides as is needed and it is all you are going to get. This view of things sets Jesus squarely in the line of the prophets. He is the fulfillment of the promises. Jesus lives out the demands that the prophets told folks were the demands of God. And we can see from the experience of history that even when one rose from the dead and came back not everyone believed. We have more than the people Jesus spoke directly to. Do we believe? Do we act on that belief?