Pentecost 13

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 13, Proper 17

30 August 2009 

Text:  Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

Others: Song of Solomon 2: 8-13; Psalm 45: 1-2, 7-10; James 1: 17-27 

      When I first studied the lessons for today, I was delighted to find the passage from the Song of Solomon which has only become part of the Sunday lectionary with the new Revised Common Lectionary.  Preaching was the first class I took in seminary, & my first sermon was to preach a wedding sermon.  Since my son was engaged at the time, I chose to write a sermon as if it were for their wedding, based on this scripture, & when they heard the sermon, they asked me to preach it at the wedding, so it became my first public sermon. 

      The poem quoted here is the bride's voice describing her groom's arrival as he woos her, both full of first unbridled love as the springtime bursts forth with the ripeness of new life.  The Israelites saw the Song of Songs describing God's joy in a loving relationship with the Hebrew people who were beloved & cherished.  This allegorical interpretation allowed this unabashed love poetry to be acceptable as Holy Scripture, & early Christian commentators believed the overflowing expressions of love  represented Christ's love for the Church, yet the abundant joy of this poetry also celebrates human love at its onset with the accompanying anticipation of a full, rich married life.

      Psalm 45 follows along these same lines as early court singers celebrate a royal wedding, singing to the groom, "You are the fairest of me; grace flows from your lips, because God has blessed you for ever."  How appropriate it is for us at the beginning of our school year, the day of the Ministry Fair, to praise God's faithfulness & eternal love for God's people, the utter joy of new beginnings.  I pray we join in this celebratory spirit as we move into our fall schedule & begin again with new & renewed commitments in our parish life!

      The other 2 lessons for today help us recognize again Jesus' encouragement to focus on the two great commandments:  love of God & love of neighbor.  One of the skills we develop as we grow in discipleship is our ability to relate our own story to The Story, the Gospel Story which defines us as Christians.  I think back to my own childhood as I hear of Jesus' encounter with the Pharisees & scribes.

      As a young girl, I liked to play outside, & that meant I got very dirty.  Mother would make me wash my feet & knees before dinner after I had dug in the dirt & gone barefoot.  Even as a teen, I had a hard time keeping my fingernails clean, & I can remember looking down at my hands in horror more than once at the dinner table because my nails were black underneath.  If my father noticed, he was likely to fly into a rage, causing the whole suppertime to be unpleasant.  I would sit with my hands curled in a ball like this (*), hoping he wouldn't notice.  Now it's not easy to hold silverware with your hands like this (*).  So my father almost always noticed, & I was in for a stern lecture or worse.

      Now my father's rage was uncalled for, but he had a point about sanitation.  Expecting his daughter to wash her hands before a meal so her fingernails were clean wasn't unreasonable in itself; it was a matter of good health.  But in today's passage from Mark, the issue is not one of sanitation but of ritual defilement.  The Jewish law required the priests to go through an elaborate ceremony of handwashing before meals, & the Pharisees extended that law to lay people.  They called it "a fence around the law," going beyond the Law itself just to make sure to show they were holy enough.  It was sort of like thinking if one aspirin is good for you, two must be better.  Such ritual washing had become a burden which had nothing to do with how clean people were.

      The Pharisees were anxious to discredit Jesus & his disciples by showing they weren't good Jews because they didn't keep all the ritual laws.  Jesus was clear throughout the Gospels that he & his disciples observed laws which guided people to love God & each other with all their heart, mind, soul, & strength, but they didn't feel bound by those laws which created problems for the common people.

      Who made the decisions?  Jesus did, & that's what infuriated the Pharisees.  Jesus quoted Isaiah in reminding the Pharisees & scribes that God wants the people to worship & honor God in their hearts & not just in their outward actions.  Jesus made the same distinction that Isaiah had: God's commandments often got neglected in order for people to follow all the traditions the elders had developed as a "fence around the law."  The danger, Jesus said, is when people separate religious observance from the rest of life.  Jesus' emphasis is on how people treat each other.

      Jesus continues by saying people aren't going to be made unholy by germs which come in on unclean hands.  They may get sick from the germs, but that's not going to make them unholy.  We can't use the old excuse of "the devil made me do it," for whatever inappropriate behavior we're trying to justify.  For what comes out of ourselves, we have to take personal responsibility. Certainly if people drink too much alcohol or do too many drugs, it's going to mess up their lives, but Jesus' emphasis is on the evil thoughts & actions that come out of a person which create the problems.  Now I deal very well with some of this list because I haven't murdered anyone & I'm pretty straightforward so I'm not deceitful. But I can be pretty envious of others' good fortune, & I can really get off on telling you about someone whose actions I don't like, especially if that person has treated me or others unkindly.  Yet who am I to judge them?  Which of the evil thoughts or actions listed in the Gospel defile you? 

      Remember, I told you my father had quite a temper?  Even when he wasn't drinking, he could blow up without warning, & I lived in fear most of my childhood & teen years that I wouldn't do things just right & then he would explode.  You know what?  I could never do everything just right, because the problem wasn't about my behavior.  It was about those things within him that he hated & couldn't deal with, so he would blow up at others.  I hated him when I was a teenager, & I felt ashamed because I knew I was supposed to honor my father yet I was scared to death of him.  He was a preacher, too, so I couldn't figure out how God could let him be so frightening at home yet be so honored & loved by the church members out in public. 

      It took me a lot of years & work with my spiritual director & sponsors to forgive my father, to understand what a troubled, sick man he was, to realize he had been treated just as abusively as a child as he treated us.  By that time, I had passed on some of that sick, abusive behavior to my own children.  But I was luckier than my father.  I learned a different way of living while my children were still fairly young, & I was able to make amends to them.  Part of the way I continue to make living amends is to treat them today with the dignity they deserve.  Another way is to pass that love & grace I have received on to others.  I've learned there are spiritual disciplines that help me live a moral life, to love & honor myself as well as my neighbors.

      The epistle reading today is from James, a book that urges us to continual conversion throughout our Christian lives, behaving as Easter people, redeemed human beings.  Notice that the passage begins by reminding us that all we have & all we are comes from God, the God of lights, from whom we receive the truth that allows us to bear first fruits of the Spirit.  When we talk about Christian stewardship, we speak of returning to God a portion of the abundance God has lavished on us.  It is just such stewardship of life which James encourages us to honor God by passing on to others. 

      James gives guidelines for people who live in community, very important for us as we deepen our community life at Hope.  He tells everyone to be quick to listen, slow to speak, & slow to anger.  It is not by accident that we are created with 2 ears & only one mouth.  Not only do we grow from what we can learn from others, but we also honor the dignity of others when we truly listen to them.  James recognizes that we will feel anger, yet if we are slow to express our anger, it can be balanced by our being made in the image of God.  Thus, it is God's word implanted in us which allows our anger to energize us to work for justice & peace for all God's people. 

      James urges all of us to move from being hearers of God's word to behaving as Christ would have us act.  The most famous line in the book admonishes us to "be doers of the word, & not merely hearers who deceive themselves."  As we all know from experience, we learn how to behave as Christians by acting as redeemed Easter people.  James encourages us to care for ourselves & each other:  watching after the orphans & widows—those who are most vulnerable in society—as well as keeping ourselves unstained by the world.  As part of the faith community at Hope, I join James in encouraging you to attend the Ministry Fair today, prayerfully considering how you will help strengthen Hope parish in the next several months as we continue in hope to grow in mission & ministry this year.  Hope needs each of us; we need each other to respond to the generous gifts which God has given us.  God who has provided abundant life also gives us the strength & joy of returning some of that abundance to God, in many cases by passing it on to others.  How will you be a doer of the word this year?

Pentecost 12

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 12, Proper 16

23 August 2009 

Text:  John 6: 56-69

Others: I Kings 8: (1, 6, 10-11) 22-30, 41-43; Psalm 84; Ephesians 6: 10-20 

      David had wanted to build a temple to worship God & for housing the Ark of the Covenant, but God made it clear that the temple was not to be built by David but rather by Solomon, his son.  Now, in today's reading, Solomon has completed the temple, & as he stands before God's altar, he prays that God will keep the covenant made with David to continue to have members of David's family rule Israel. 

      Solomon's wisdom shows itself as he realizes that God is greater than this temple just built, yet he asks that God bless this place of worship & be present to those who worship here. Our psalm for today celebrates the temple & the joy of having a place to worship, perhaps coming from this historical period. In addition, Solomon is open to foreigners' worshipping at the temple as he envisions all the peoples of the earth worshipping God here.  Solomon characterizes God's promises as covenant, & even today, we are called to respond to God's offer of covenant.

      A covenant is a solemn binding agreement freely entered into by 2 or more parties, typically including terms, oaths, & some sort of ritual such as a sacrifice, a meal, an exchange of tokens, or even a handshake. Throughout Judeo-Christian history, God has initiated covenants which we humans have responded to in varying degrees, & we also make covenants with each other.  We all know, however, how difficult it can be for us to fulfill what is required of us.  Remember when we renew the Baptismal Covenant, we declare that we WILL fulfill each of the vows, but we add, ". . . with God's help." 

      Such a dilemma confronted the disciples—& confronts us—in today's gospel.  Last week, we explored Jesus' command that the disciples must eat his flesh & drink his blood if they want eternal life.  Jesus makes a strong case for being part of a community who share the Lord's Supper together as the surest sign of our unity with him.  Last week we talked about Jesus' urging us to both form & strengthen community by coming frequently to the communion table & receiving the body & blood of Jesus.  However, Jesus doesn't tell us that all our problems will be magically solved by our taking communion each week.  If that were true, we wouldn't be able to fit all the communicants into this nave.

      The hard saying that Jesus hears the disciples grumbling about is his insistence that he is the life-giving revelation from God & will return to God's right hand.  The Jewish people are unhinged when Jesus claims to be the Son of God for they consider that arrogant.  Much like the Hebrews from old, many of the 1^st century Jewish people can't get past their unbending tradition & their own insistence that God cannot appear in human form, providing the salvation for which they yearn.  They have been looking for a prophet, but Jesus comes as Messiah, the Son of God.  They have been looking for a military rescuer, but he comes as the Prince of Peace.  For many, this is simply too great a challenge to their long-held beliefs.

      Jesus has offered them a choice, a turning point in their lives, sort of like the covenant which God had continually offered the children of Israel.  Jesus wants to covenant with them, & the ritual to affirm that commitment is eating his body & drinking his blood.  Many turn away because they cannot trust this new way of believing.  Jesus' ministry has been very popular up until now, & crowds have come to him to see & receive his sign & wonders, but now many think he's just asking too much.  Furthermore, he's not behaving the way they expect the Messiah to act.

        Jesus tells them that the Son of Man must ascend to God & that the Spirit who comes gives life.  The Greek word for the life the Spirit offers is "zoe." Zoe doesn't mean life's duration like just living a long time but means joyful & abundant life, life that matters enough that you want to live it.  Jesus offers a quality of life through the Spirit which surpasses just putting in more than average years.

      Can you imagine the despair & disappointment Jesus feels when he asks the 12, "Do you also wish to go away?"  By this time, many have turned away from the Covenant that God grants them through Jesus.  So many have refused to believe all they must do is love God with all their heart, soul, & mind & love their neighbor as themselves.

      Peter, who often answers for all the disciples, responds, "Lord, to whom can we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe & know that you are the Holy One of God."  This isn't one of Peter's most enthusiastic responses, for he actually says, "Where else do we have to turn, Jesus?  We've thrown in our lot with you, & we don't have a Plan B."  But you know what?  That's enough.  Peter has accepted the condition for belief that the New Covenant requires.  And he has spoken for the 12.

      Jesus calls us to believe also, & to continue to grow in that belief.  We talk of this as continual conversion, & we never grow too old for it.  Jesus asks us to make a choice, to turn around, to love God with all our heart & soul & mind.  How do we show that love?  We worship God on a regular basis, support our worship community, & love our neighbors as ourselves.  We fulfill our part of the bargain, not alone, but in the Christian community.  What is the ritual, the process we go through?

      Most Christians become part of the faith community through the sacrament of baptism.  Jesus was baptized by John the Baptizer, & ever since Jesus initiated the rite, it has been the way we become Christians.  We will have baptisms again on All Saints' Day, 1 November, in case you want to be included or to have your child baptized.  Please check with me soon so we can schedule the baptismal preparation class. 

      Those who have already been baptized, even as infants, don't need to be baptized again.  Regardless of what you thought about baptism then or what you've done since, God did it just right the first time.  If you are now ready to respond to the gift & grace of baptism which Christ offers you, the way to become a member of the Episcopal Church is by the sacramental rite of Confirmation.  Confirmation is the mature sacrament by which you accept your baptismal responsibility of living as an adult Christian.  Bishop High will come to Hope for Confirmation in December which is a great opportunity for you to be confirmed or received or simply to reaffirm your baptismal vows.  Please sign up for our class at the Ministry Fair next week for we will begin Discovery Class soon.  Anyone who wants to learn more about the Episcopal Church is welcome to join our classes.  Of course, those who have already been confirmed may ask us to request your membership be transferred to this parish.

      How do we continue to grow in our walk with Christ?  Well, that's why we have a Christian community?  Think about it: if God needed the community of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit, then it makes sense that we need a community, too. We aren't created to live alone.  We're supposed to develop our faith in a Christian community where we can praise God together & learn from & strengthen each other.  We have the awesome & amazing opportunity to break the bread & drink the wine, being strengthened by Christ's own flesh & blood.  The Holy Eucharist is the ritual through which we renew our covenant with God through Christ often.  By pouring over God's Word & taking his body & blood into us, we learn in the community to fashion our lives after the life & mind of Christ. 

      Next week, we have the opportunity to continue to God in Christ's love within the Christian community.  We will be able to choose what groups & ministries we will commit to this year at the Ministry Fair.  Please pray this week for God's guidance as you covenant with your church community for this next academic year. 

Pentecost 11

The Reverend Martha Frances
Year B, Pentecost 11, Proper 15
16 August 2009

Text:  John 6: 51-59
Other Readings:  I Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14; Psalm 111; Ephesians 5: 15-20

 

When I was a young child, my family traveled from wherever we lived to my mother's family home for Thanksgiving.  Leaving after school on Wednesday, we drove until far into the night, but upon leaving Ft. Worth, my sister & I began to watch ahead on the eastern skyline for the illuminated figure of Pegasus atop the Magnolia building in downtown "Big D."  We each wanted to be first to see Dallas, & Dad was always relieved that we quit asking him "How much further?"

The next day came the Thanksgiving feast.  As you might guess, the women in my family have always been good cooks.  They left nothing off the menu for Thanksgiving: turkey & cornbread dressing, candied yams & green beans & those little crabapples, & more desserts than could go on one table.  As the oldest grandchild, I was the first of my generation allowed to eat at the "big people table" in the dining room, taking great pleasure in bragging to my cousins.  Various relatives came from afar; I'll never forget the year the St. Louis aunts graced our table.  Family stories were almost as exciting as the food at holiday meals.  At that table, I first heard my great-grandmother recall the train ride from Missouri with my own grandmother & great aunt when she was befriended by the famous train robber Frank James!

We all have memories & tales of special meals, don't we?  Perhaps your favorite was your 5th birthday, or like another of mine, my granddaughter Amelia's first one.  One of the lynchpins of our ministry at Lord of the Streets was the Sunday morning breakfast following the Eucharist—a hot breakfast for 250 or so homeless people served to them at table while they fellowship with one another.  For many homeless, Sunday breakfast is their one meal they don't have to stand in line for—festive in itself.

Hospitality is a basic Jewish as well as Christian value. Remember that Abraham killed the fatted calf to provide for the strangers at his tent.  Sharing a festive meal is at the heart of developing community.  None of us should be surprised that the primary repeatable sacrament of the Christian Church is a sacred meal.  Each Sunday we make Eucharist together around the altar table, preparing & offering the bread & wine of Holy Communion for all to receive.

        The 6th chapter of John—our gospel text for the past several weeks—shows Jesus personalizing the celebratory meal, shocking the Jewish community by emphasizing that when they consume the Eucharist, they actually eat his flesh & drink his blood.  The Jewish people to whom Jesus spoke must have been scandalized when he said, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man & drink his blood, you have no life in you."  After all, ever since Moses, they had drained the blood from their meat before cooking it.  That they were actually to drink the wine Jesus claimed was his blood must have been hard to swallow, literally!

        But our eating of the body & drinking the blood of Christ in a sacred meal is exactly the point, Jesus is saying.  The power of Jesus' incarnation is that Jesus came to earth as a human being, fully human as well as fully divine, to live among us earthlings, to invite us to fulfill our lives as God created us to do, as God's children—brothers & sisters of each other as well as of Jesus.  Jesus says here that his flesh is true food & his blood is true drink, so those who consume this sacred meal abide in him.

        What does it mean to "abide" with Jesus?  To abide is to trust without wavering, not having to have reassurance.  And the marvelous gift which Jesus offers is that he abides with those of us who eat & drink at this table.  Jesus Christ, the ruler of the universe, lives within those of us who commune with him & each other.  How extraordinary!  How enriching, once we wrap our minds around that wonderful gift which Jesus offers.

        How long has it been since you have really meditated on the idea that Jesus wants to hang out with us, even though we aren't bigwigs in the world?  Who did Jesus hang out with during his earthly lifetime?  Yes, he got to know some important people like Nicodemus & Joseph of Aramathea, but most of the time, he hung with fishermen & tax collectors & people whom he healed from paralysis & leprosy & other diseases which made the "nice" people avoid them.  Jesus told those who criticized the quality of his friends that those who are well have no need of a doctor.  Jesus sat down & told stories with common folk like you & me.

        You know what else?  Jesus still wants to hang out with us.  Jesus told his disciples, near the end of his life according to John's gospel again, that one reason he had to die was so the comforter, the Holy Spirit, could come & be with them but also be with those precious to Jesus far beyond his earthly lifetime.  And because we are physical human beings who need to see & hear & touch & taste, Jesus provided an astounding ritual which is at the same time very ordinary, & he told us to perform this ritual every time we could.  So we come to this altar table every Sunday in this beautiful worship space to commune with Jesus & with each other.  And we're all invited—Jesus wants us all!

Of course, I respect the wishes of parents who want their children to wait until they are older to receive the Eucharist.  I prefer, however, that children never remember a time when they were not fed at Jesus' table.  Just as they do not have to understand the digestive system to be fed earthly food, there is also true grace in their being nurtured spiritually as soon as they are baptized.  Baptism is full initiation into the body of Christ for all of us, no exceptions.  After we baptized the 2 little ones a couple of weeks ago, I made sure they received a little piece of the bread for their first communion.

        The ordinariness is that we're eating a meal together, a festive meal just like the Thanksgivings I remember from my childhood.  What's absolutely amazing is that somehow, in ways none of us fully understand, Jesus is present in this meal, so present that we can taste & see Christ's goodness as we eat the bread & drink the wine.  In the Episcopal Church, we don't have to explain HOW Jesus gets into the bread & wine.  We call the method a mystery, content with believing that since Jesus tells us whoever eats him abides in him, we don't have to explain the mystery.

        Jesus' Jewish ancestors had presented fruit & vegetable & animal sacrifices to God in their worship, but Jesus' sacrifice on the cross effectively fulfilled the sacrificial system.  Christians have always believed that Jesus made the one holy & living sacrifice & we are called to make only a sacrifice of praise & thanksgiving here at the altar in order to intermingle with Jesus & have Christ live in us.  We're called to eat & drink with Jesus so we may go forth from here transformed people to live as new creations in the world & to invite others to this marvelous feast & the way of life it typifies.

        Some have misused this scripture to indicate that Jesus separates us into the saved & unsaved, but Jesus performed the ultimate sacrifice for ALL of us & invites us ALL to the table.  We may choose to respond to the invitation or not to respond, but Jesus hasn't left any of us behind; God's love doesn't have limits.  A lot is made in some circles of the importance of each person's accepting Jesus Christ as his or her personal Lord and Savior.   Some individuals & churches are pretty intent on giving us the formula for that salvation event & then they hint or proclaim outright that their chosen method is the only way.  What arrogance to limit the God of the Universe to only one set formula or experience!

        Barbara Crafton in her on-line meditation recently helped me in verbalizing the short-sightedness of such an approach.  She says, "I may engage a personal shopper or a personal trainer or a personal assistant, but I don't have a personal savior.  I have the same one everyone else has, & I have him by virtue of having been created through him.  My salvation is my return to him, from the midst of the worst muck-ups into which I can stumble.  It is not my reward for good behavior or for having the right answer when someone asked me a question about him."

Certainly, our ever-growing & maturing relationship with God through Jesus Christ is a life-long journey we travel in concert with a community of faith, & our personal prayer & meditation time allows us access to the on-going process of sanctification, but Jesus offers & even urges us all to respond to an inclusive invitation.  Brother Roger, the founder of the Ecumenical Religious Community of Taize which Ladelle & I visited in France this past May, remarked, "I think that I have never lost the intuition that community life could be a sign that God is love and love alone."  Here at Hope our building & living in community can be that sign of God's love to the wider world.

        How many of us, at some time in our lives at least, hold back our response because we're scared of what kind of new creation Jesus expects us to be?  What would it mean if you really let go & gave yourself fully to Christ?  How would your life have to change, not in order to earn Christ's salvation—that's already been won for you.  All you have to do is accept it, nourish yourself with Christ's gift of body & blood, & ACT redeemed.  Further, what would Hope Church look like if we were fully living as a Christlike community?  Perhaps we're just a little afraid of who we'll become if we get fully infected with this Jesus bug.  Many avoid growing into maturity as Christians so they don't have to take responsibility for living as grown-up Christians.

        Grown-ups need regular nourishment, & this sacramental table offers us the best—Jesus' body & blood.  When we come to the banquet table, we risk continual conversion, for that is what it is.  Those of us who have thrown in our lot with Jesus must be vulnerable enough to listen in our hearts to what Christ would have us do with our lives.  Regardless of where you are on this Christian journey, as you receive Christ's Holy Communion this day & from now on, may you experience the deep & abiding love Jesus has for you, just the way you are.  May you also hear Jesus' call to take a chance on him, to commit to grow into the person Jesus created you to be.  May we all risk becoming the community which fulfills God's hope for us.

Pentecost 10

The Reverend Martha Frances
Year B, Pentecost 10, Proper 14
9 August 2009

Text:  John 6: 35, 41-51; Ephesians 4: 25-5: 2;
Others:  2 Samuel 18: 5-9, 15, 31-33; Psalm 130

       Last week we ended our Gospel lesson where we begin this week, with
Jesus' first great "I am" statement in John:  "I am the bread of
life."  Throughout the 6th chapter of John, Jesus talks with his
disciples about what it means for Jesus to be the bread for the world.
 As is usual in John's gospel, multi layers of meaning intertwine, &
Jesus uses several expressions to remind us that bread is a very basic
building block of a healthy diet.  For example, when we say we're
going to break bread together, we know we're going to have a meal, not
simply bread.
       Today, Jesus continues his conversation about bread & about being the
Bread of Life.  Jesus' focus on the first part of this scripture,
however, is on his close relationship with God & God's acceptance of
all those who believe in him.  He says those who come to him will
never be hungry or thirsty.  Jesus continues that he came to do God's
will.  Now I think we all want to do God's will, at least on our good
days.  But the closeness with which Jesus lived with his Father had to
have been awesome.  I find it equally amazing to hear Jesus say it is
God's will that all who believe in God will have eternal life.
       Now I don't know exactly what eternal life is, at least the part that
comes after our death, & I don't believe any of us on this earth know
eternal life in its fullness, but notice that Jesus isn't talking
about the future here as much as the present.  Jesus says all who see
the Son (notice the present tense—right now), all who believe in
God—right in the here & now, may have eternal life.  Eternal life
begins when we begin to believe.
       Do you remember the man who asked Jesus to heal his daughter?  Jesus
told him all he had to do was believe.  The man answered, "Yes, Lord,
I believe.  Help my unbelief."  He told Jesus he already believed yet
also realized his belief wasn't completely formed.  He knew he had
some growing in faith to do.  His daughter was healed, not because of
her own belief, but because of her father's incomplete belief.  How
many of you think you believe as much as is possible for you?  Hmmmm.
There don't seem to be any hands up.  Remember that Christian
formation is a lifelong proposition.  We start with a kernel of
belief, & it grows to deeper faith if we nourish it.  This fall we
will be offering several opportunities for you to grow in your
Christian faith, & you'll learn about them at the Ministry Fair on the
30th of August.  I hope all of you are here that day to join others in
our faith community who are likewise living out eternal life in the
present.
       Back to the gospel passage: Are the Nazareth folks happy to see that
a hometown boy made good?  Absolutely not.  We're told that
familiarity breeds contempt, & these folks figure they've known Jesus
all his life, so they figure that's just ole Jesus.  We knew his dad,
& his mom is around town much of the time when she isn't off with this
small band of Jesus' followers.  Perhaps we've even said ourselves
that his dad didn't amount to much & neither will he.  Well, some
authorities around Jesus said the same thing.  They were complaining,
this text says, but the better translation is that they were
"grumbling."  They couldn't believe what Jesus was telling them about
being the bread that came down from heaven because, after all, they
knew he was just old Joseph's son, the carpenter's son, & who could he
be that amounted to much?  They grumbled about Jesus, even after he
had fed over 5000 men & who knows how many women & children with bread
that was miraculously multiplied, because he was too familiar to them.
       Do you remember the Israelites who grumbled in the wilderness whom
God humbled by letting them be hungry & then fed them manna?  Then,
even after they received the God-given manna, they grumbled that there
wasn't more variety.  Isn't it true that we'll find something to
grumble about if we don't already have something?  We humans are
pretty ungrateful if we're not careful, aren't we?
       Jesus tells us no one can come to him unless the God who sent him
also sends others to him.  Jesus tells us straight out that God takes
the first action.  God reaches out to us first & earnestly hopes for a
response from each of us.  God can't do all the reaching, though.  We
have a responsibility to respond & to act on the belief that we begin
to develop in Jesus.
       And Jesus is clear in the last paragraph of our gospel today that he,
the Bread of Life who comes down from heaven is not just like ordinary
bread & isn't even like the manna the Israelites ate in the desert,
but is what he calls living bread.  This bread feeds people who need a
renewal in their own personal lives, but we'll we're told he also
gives his flesh as bread for the world.  Once more, Jesus reminds us
this precious bread which he must give is not just for one person or
even for a small group of people but is for the whole world, that the
whole world will live life more abundantly.  We're all called to
support & uplift the community just as Christ did. (family beyond our
community??)
       There are hints in this passage of Jesus' life being a sacrifice, &
that is spelled out in the reading from Ephesians today, Christ loving
us so much that he gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering & a
sacrifice to God.  And what are we to do?  We're told we're to be
imitators of God as beloved children.  We're to live in love, to
experience Christ's love & then pass that same love on to others.
Watch small children as they play dress up.  They're being imitators
of their parents or the other adults around them.  Kids learn more
from what we do than what we say, of which we're all reminded when we
see a small child put a cigarette in her or his mouth just like the
adult members of the family.  But we have all seen the adoration with
which small children mimic adults around them.  That's before the kids
get to be 12 or 13 & all of a sudden the adults become the stupidest
people in the world.  We are to imitate Christ with just that same
intensity.  And is that in order to build ourselves up?  No, not at
all.   We're to build up the body of Christ & make the members
together stronger.
       This part of the 6th chapter of John wanders around the subject of
the Eucharist, but Jesus guides us back to it at the end of this
passage.  Jesus says, "Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; &
the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
Today you have the opportunity to share in the precious meal of the
body & blood of Jesus Christ right here at this communion table.
Jesus invites you.  In fact, Jesus summons you & tells us all to do
this in remembrance of him.  All are welcome.  Come to be fortified
for the journey.  After all, this is our altar call in the Episcopal
Church, & all are welcome to respond to that call which God puts to us
through Jesus Christ.
       What about the children?  Last week we baptized 2, & they both
received from Christ's body & blood because I never want these
children to remember a time when they were not welcome at Christ's
table.  We don't make them memorize the whole digestive track before
we feed them a meal.  Neither does our belief have to be firmly in
place & settled in order for us to be nourished by Jesus' body &
blood.  We are in the process of growing in belief, & Jesus calls us
to take a leap of faith & receive his own bread for the journey.
       How do our actions change because we are practicing Christians?
There's a rather amazing story with which I'll close.  It was April of
1940, & German tanks rumbled across the borders of the peaceful
country of Denmark.  The Nazis already possessed control of Austria,
Czechoslovakia, & Poland, & soon other countries fell to the Germans:
Norway, Holland, Belgium & France.
       The Germans announced that every Dane of Jewish origin would be
required to wear a yellow Star of David just as they'd done in
Germany.  Any Jew who failed to comply would be put to death.   The
Star of David, proud symbol of the Jewish faith & culture, would be
used to mark them as undesirable—to rob them of possessions & dignity
& even their lives.
       The Danish government & its people were in no position to do battle
against the powerful Germans, but their leader, King Christian the
10th, made a bold move.  He called for all of his country's citizens
to wear the Star of David, for every Danish household to stand as
partners with their Jewish neighbors.
       Tremendous fear must have gripped the hearts of those first Gentile
citizens as they ventured from their homes the next day.  Would they
be the only ones who had heeded the call?  Or would they be singled
out?  Would they be executed with the Jews?  What they saw was nothing
short of a miracle.  There were Stars of David everywhere.  The Jews
among them wept when they saw the people's love & support.  And
because the people stood together, the Nazis' full plan of persecution
against the Jews was never carried out in that country.  May we find
just such courage to stand for what we believe.

Pentecost 9

The Reverend Martha Frances

Year B, Pentecost 9, Proper 13

2 August 2009 

Text:  John 6: 24-35; Ephesians 4: 1-16;

Others:  2 Samuel 11: 26-12: 13a; Psalm 51: 1-13 

      Today we are celebrating the baptism of 2 young children.  Levi's & Zoe's parents have brought their little ones to our community because, at the very least, they understand it takes a village to rear a child, & indeed we are all participating in the rite of initiation practiced by most of the Christian community in some form.  Baptism is one of the two dominical sacraments in the Episcopal Church; that is, the 2 sacraments Jesus commanded us to continue were Baptism & Eucharist.  Today, we celebrate both of these ancient rites &, in so doing, make some pretty radical promises on behalf of these children as well as continuing ancient traditions which we believe are part of our responsibility in building the Reign of God.  We welcome these two children into the Christian Church as commitment to their present as well as hope for the future. 

      The lessons for the day were not specifically designated for baptism, yet the baptismal service began this morning with a salutation taken directly from the Ephesians passage today:  "There is one body & one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one, faith, one baptism, one God & Father of all. . . ."  The book of Ephesians is called a letter yet was probably written as a manual for baptismal training in the 2^nd generation after Jesus' death & resurrection. 

      Notice that this writer is urging the Christian communities to "lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called. . . bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."  Even the earliest Christians needed encouragement to continue to make the main thing the main thing & to maintain unity, loving one another.  All of us are called by our baptism to build Christ's realm in our world just as these Christians were to use their various gifts—talents & abilities—toward the building up of the whole community.  We're often told that the Holy Spirit doesn't choose the equipped but rather equips those who are chosen, & with baptism, we affirm the beginning of such a call to ministry which for most is lay ministry—no less vital & often more effective than ordained ministry. 

      As a priest & member of the Hope community, I tingle with joy & anticipation yet also tremble with sense of responsibility for the upbringing of these young folks.  The parents & godparents who present Zoe & Levi dare to be bold enough to invite us to support them as they are the primary religious educators of their children, yet all of us are part of the teaching staff for our youngsters as well as for each other as we continue to be lifelong learners.  We speak of Christian "formation" because we are called to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit who will transform our lives if we but trust God's process.  Baptism recognizes publicly God's enfolding us as beloved which began with Levi & Zoe—& indeed with each of us—as we were knit together in our mother's womb. 

      Several times a year, even when we don't have baptisms, I invite you to stand & renew the baptismal covenant which is our manual of discipleship for how to increase in wisdom as well as stature in favor with God & with our neighbors.  This is an open book lesson, so please open the Book of Common Prayer in front of you to page 304-305 now.  You'll need this in a minute anyway. 

      First, a covenant is not a contract.  A covenant is a promise, a solemn commitment God & humans make between each other, & it's not between 2 equals at all.  There's no fine print with God, & even when the covenant is broken, the covenant remains.  We renew the Baptismal Covenant fairly often because we not only promise to uphold & support the parents & godparents of our young people in their living out these vows but also because we need reminding what we've promised for our own lives.

      The Covenant is a dialogue because we are community in conversation with one another, so the first 3 paragraphs state our basic Trinitarian beliefs in the Apostles' Creed.  Next, we have 5 questions which we get to answer, "I will, with God's help," knowing we can't fulfill them alone. 

      The first states the elements necessary for developing & maintaining a Christian church family—committing to lifelong learning of the apostles' teachings but also in celebrating through our fellowship with each other, our regular participation in Holy Eucharist, & by our personal & corporate prayer.  Which of these have you gotten slack about lately, family?  Today is a good time to recommit.

      We promise to resist evil, knowing that we will fall into sin, but that's not the last word.  Because God's love is never-failing, we always have the opportunity to repent, & the sooner we do so, the less pain we endure.  Returning to God & to God's community allows us to continue to be made a disciple & to make more disciples.

      The next vow is tricky because we Episcopalians don't really like to talk about Jesus; we'd prefer you just guess that we must be Christians cuz we're such nice people.  We promise in our baptismal covenant to witness to what God is doing in our lives & to behave like our relationship with Christ is the most important one we have.  St. Francis was fond of saying, "Preach the Gospel; when necessary, use words."  Word & example—both are necessary.

      Remember Jesus' 2^nd great commandment?  He said to love our neighbors as ourselves, & then he wouldn't let his followers eliminate even one's avowed enemies from the neighbors' list.  Here's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.  Here's where we realize just how much we are dependent on the Holy Spirit to fulfill our promises.  I don't know about you, but there are some people whom I just can't love without God's help.  Ain't gonna happen!  It's helpful, though, to remember that each of us is made in God's image so we can serve the Christ in others & even seek them out.  And we get to depend on God's help.

      Finally, we recognize that there are institutions & organizations through which we can & must care for one another, & for those to be just & peaceful, we must commit to justice & peace in our own lives.  If we respect the dignity of every human being, how can we use or abuse those persons or allow the larger structures of society to strip away their dignity either?  Such a task often requires that we become activists & agents of change in our community, & that takes prayer, study, organization, & action.

      Whew!  These 5 promises in the Baptismal Covenant touch pretty much every crack & cranny of a person's life, don't they?  Hmmm.  Do you reckon there might be a reason we need each other in developing as disciples so we can make disciples?  And we need to reaffirm our commitment to these vows frequently. 

      The gift to the gathered community which strengthens us for ministry most frequently is sharing a meal with our sisters & brothers in Christ around this altar.  In today's Gospel, (bet you thought I'd forgotten it, didn't you?), we find the precursor to our Eucharistic meal, the sacrament we will celebrate later in our worship.  Jesus reminds the people that even when they are miraculously & bountifully fed with bread & fish, it is only his gift of himself which brings eternal life.  Just as God set the seal upon Jesus, the Son of Man, so I will pass that oil of Chrism—Christ's oil—on to those we baptize today in God's name.  And we, the Body of Christ on earth in this holy place today, are privileged to stand with Zoe's & Levi's parents, godparents, & family to affirm that we will do our part in rearing them to be vital parts of Christ's Holy People—we will, with God's help!