July 19 & 20, 2003 - Proper 11B

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Sermon preached by Father Armand Kreft

Associate Rector for Family Ministry, Church of St. Paul in the Desert, Palm Springs, California

July 19/20, 2003 Proper 11B

You know, there's a lot of name calling in the our Scriptures. People are referred to as being unclean or abominations. For the Judeans to refer to someone as being "uncircumcised" was in a very real way, saying that person was not as good as they. It was an "us" against "them" mentality. Or , I'm better than you are. Or God loves me more than you. But Paul goes on to say "but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets."

To be referred to as uncircumcised by the Jews was a degrogatory remark. Recently there's been a lot of name calling in our church, pointing fingers and making threats of pulling out of the church. Is it a coincidence that in the Anglican Cycle of Prayer we are praying for the the chuch in Nigeria when the Archbishop of Nigeria is threatening to split the Anglican Communion. Certainly back-stabbing and hostility amongst Christian churches is a scandal, and perhaps it's desirable to be separate from each other. We have a variety of religions, a myriad of denominations, and traditionalists and progressives. Those who worship diffferent or hold diffierent doctrine should be free to enjoy worship and beliefs just as we should be able to enjoy our worship and doctrine, but we should all be supporting each other and working together despite disputes.

Unity isn't about sweeping disputes under the carpet, but is about remaining in close touch with each other and certainly in communion with each other, while we openly discuss any differences of opinion we might have. Those discussions should be within the framework of love, because Christianity is based on love. Those who love don't walk away from others at the first sign of conflict. More than that, those who love never walk away from others with whom they disagree. We're all safe in that God never walks away from us, no matter what we do or say or think, because God is always loving and always forgiving.

In the next few weeks the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in America will convene. There are several items on the agenda, some of which are controversial and will garner media attention. Please remember that the media is out for sensationalism rather than accurate reporting. During the recent past weeks there has been a lot of name calling within the Episcopal Church, within the Church of England and within the Anglican Communion. Threats have been made regarding splitting the Communion Please remember that the Anglican Communion is not like the Roman Catholic Church. The Anglican Communion is only 100 years old and was founded as part of the British Empire. We are more like the Commonwealth of Nations than a monolithic organization. The Archbishop of Canterbury is our spiritual leader, not a dictator. With all this name-calling and finger pointing, we are seeing the dark underbelly of the humanity of the institutional church. What has struck me most is the vitriolic hatred, the vile accusations and the half-truths and outright lies being spread by leaders of the church.

When Paul faced similar huge issues in the early Church, he was very clear that Christian love meant listening to each other with sufficient openness to allow a change of mind, if necessary. Those on both sides of the debate about whether or not Christians should be circumcised, were sure they were right. It was unthinkable for Jewish males to be uncircumcised because circumcision was the sign of God's covenant with his people, and those who were uncircumcised meant that the covenant was broken. So the Jewish Christians argued for circumcision as part of the conversion rite, they had a huge weight of scripture and tradition on their side.

Those who were working with the Gentiles soon became aware of how unrealistic it was to demand circumcision for adult males, with only primitive health care available. Many would not survive such an operation in adulthood, so for them a conversion to Christ was putting your life on the line. Paul and others working with Gentiles knew all about the tradition and scripture, but felt that God was doing a new thing which was beyond the covenant, and set out to explain their thinking to others. In order for the Church to survive, both sides had to listen to each other and respect each other's views, even though they didn't hold to those views themselves. Some people had to be so open in their listening that they accepted a change of mind, and so the Church moved forward.

In today's reading from Ephesians, Paul reminds his gentile readers that they were once regarded as completely outside God's love, but that Jesus Christ showed that God's love was for all people. He says, "For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us." He goes on to say, "He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it."

It is a disgrace that some groups of Christians today are now holding so fast to the law that they are reinstating the barrier broken down by Christ by making threats and calling other Christians abominations. No one has the right to destroy the unity which Christ built up through his death on the cross. Hegel writes, "an organization which concerns itself unduly with procedures has lost faith in its ultimate aims." The Holy Spirit is calling the Church to move and the church is crying out "no, we won't go." But being a Christian is about risk-taking. It is about risking for the love of it all. The most ultimate risk was when God sent his Son to fulfill the mighty acts of creation....and we killed him. We tried to kill God. But that wasn't enough to keep God away. That he raised his Son is another act of risk taking. Raising his Son to give us eternal life close to him, in his presence, basking in his love.

God who brought out of nothingness the creation, God who risked his only Son, God who continues to loves us and can, in the blinking of an eye bring to an end all time, this God of wonders does not need our protection. We are ones who need God's protection. With all the finger pointing, all the threats, all the name calling, all the jockeying for power, just step back and look how far we've wandered from the Gospels of Jesus. We are indeed like sheep without a shepherd, for we have strayed, lost our way. Make no mistake, Jesus, and Jesus alone is our shepherd. Our leaders are there to guide us, but it is Jesus who gathers us, Jesus who feeds us, Jesus who holds us together. From the 1940 hymnal, "O where are kings and empires now of old, that went and came? But, Lord, thy Church is praying yet, a thousand years the same. For not like kingdoms of the world, thy holy Church, O God, though earthquake shocks are threatening her, and tempests are abroad; Unshaken as eternal hills, immovable she stands, a mountain that shall fill the earth, a hous enot made with hands."

No matter what the outcome of the decisions at General Convention, some people will leave the Episcopal Church. Some people will be deeply distressed over the outcome and will continue to voice their disapproval. Others will rejoice because they will feel they "won". This isn't about winnning or losing. That's not what the gathering of Christians is about. It is about seeking the shepherd again. Of allowing us, the lost sheep, to be found and guided home. Oh how far we've wandered.

As Christians, let us encourage honesty and openness, even if we feel uncomfortable with what's being revealed. Let us discuss issues with humanity and integrity and love, so that we remain close but separate. Let us work together for good. Let us show the world that we respect and love each other because that's what Christianity is about.
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August 17, 2003 - "Proper 15 Year B"

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Sermon preached by Father Armand John Kreft

Associate Rector, Church of St. Paul in the Desert, Palm Springs, California

Proper 15 Year B

For the past few weeks we've been having summertime Scripture study between the Sunday services. We're using a very contemporary translation, The Message, by Eugene Peterson. The reason for this is so we can hear old familiar stories told a different way using sometimes startling language. We are studying Paul's letters to the church in Corinth. Believe me, there are some lively discussions, especially on the more controversial verses. The bottom line in our discussions is no one person is right and the others wrong. We are looking at Scripture with open hearts and open minds. We try to get beyond the printed words to the meaning of the letters, what was Paul addressing and how can we, 2000 years later, interpret this to have meaning in our own lives.

Sometimes during our children's worship service, instead of preaching a sermon, I open it up for questions from the kids. In Sunday School, our children are a bit more literal about their understanding of Scriptures. One question was "if Jesus came down from heaven does that make him an alien?" And another one, "When Jesus goes to other planets, does he look like them or does he still look like us?" Mind you, these questions (and answers) do not shake the faith of the children. They accept our Scripture stories. That is, until their teenage years.

This is what makes teaching Sunday School rather difficult, because so much of our Scripture and our faith is far from literal. A literal interpretation is probably as much as a child can undertsand. The problem comes when we mature but don't allow our faith to mature. We still hold onto the printed word (depending on the translation of Scripture) and go no further or deeper into the meaning of these holy words. What was acceptable for the understanding by a child becomes a sourse of anguish and disbelief with the adult.

When we begin to take literally the words of Scripture rather than the meaning of the message we get ourselves into deep trouble. We find in our Scripture many injunctions by Jesus about divorce, and these vary from Gospel to Gospel. Paul gives us examples of Christian behavior but also spells out the role of women and of slaves. The Old Testament gives us dietary rules, about mixing fabrics when we dress but also upholds polygamy.

In our Cathechism found in the Book of Common Prayer, put in question and answer form are doctrines and beliefs of the Episcopal Church. Under the heading: Holy Scriptures it reads in part: Q: What are the Holy Scriptures? A: The Holy Scriptures, commonly called the Bible, are the books of the Old and New Testaments; other books, called the Apocrypha, are often included in the Bible. Q: What is the Old Testament? A: The Old Testament consists of books written by the people of the Old Covenant, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to show God at work in nature and history. Q: What is the New testament? A: The New Testament consists of books written by the people of the New Covenant, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to set forth the life and teachings of Jesus and to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom for all people. Q: Why do we call the Holy Scriptures the Word of God? A: We call them the Word of God because God inspired their human authors and because God still speaks to us through the Bible. Q: How do we understand the meaning of the Bible? A: We understand the meaning of the Bible by the help of the Holy Spirit, who guides the Church in the true interpretation of the Scriptures.

To interpret through the Holy Spirit the meaning of our Scriptures requires work and thought. It's much easier to take the Bible literally and to condemn others because the Bible tells me so. But the faith of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church at large is based on three distinct things: Scripture, tradition and reason. All three must be present in order for us to form our faith.

If you just concentrate on the literal interpretation of Scripture and not take into account tradition and reason, it can be dangerous because such an interpretation can twist the words of the Savior, or at least the intention behind them, into something that is exclusive rather than inclusive, something that can be used as a weapon rather than a means of welcome.

Jesus encountered the same problem when he was trying to go beyond the literal, especially in today's Gospel. Again he's referring to himself as the bread of life. He tells his followers they must eat his body and drink his blood. And they were mortified and couldn't accept what he had to say. They couldn't get beyond the literal referral to cannibalism to the metaphor he was using about his role in Salvation. The Jews were horrified for their Scripture forbids them to eat any meat with blood in it, much less drink blood.

Further in this Gospel we read that Jesus lost many of his disciples at this time. They left in droves. Other disciples challenged Jesus and argued with him about the meaning of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. This dialogue gave Jesus the opportunity to explain what he means.

It's all to do with people abiding in Jesus, and Jesus abiding in them. How does a grown man abide inside anyone else? Certainly this cannot be taken literally.

When I look in the mirror I see that I have my mother's facial structure, my father's nose. I look like my parents and other relatives. Even though they are separate people and now resting with the Lord, they still abide in me by physical attributes and the values they taught me.

And so 2000 years later with the knowledge of the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we're in a much better position to understand what Jesus was trying to say than they were in Jesus' time.

It's easy for us to understand the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We experience Jesus and God through the Holy Spirit, the God who dwells within us. But how do you explain "inspiration of the Holy Spirit" to people who have no concept of the Holy Spirit?

Jesus said it was almost like feasting on him. If you were to eat his body and drink his blood, he would be inside you, abiding in you. And Jesus continues to say that his body will indeed be broken and his blood spilled. Yet it wasn't until the Last Supper on the night before he died, that Jesus really explained his words by using bread and wine to symbolize his broke body and spilled blood.

This action has caused great difficulty to the Church ever since. Different denominations interpret it in different ways. In the Roman Catholic denomination it is called transubstantiation. In the Lutheran denomination it's called consubstantiation. In the Anglican denomination it's called Real Presence. Yet even amongst ourselves we can't agree what Real Presence means.

Non-literal intepretations of the Bible are able to reach much greater depth than literal interpretations and are much more likely to be somewhere near the truth. But it takes work and may take you into regions unknown to yourself, but the Holy Spirit is to be your guide.

And so reading the Gospel today and for the past several weeks, as we speak of the Bread of Life, we can behold the Eucharist as still an opportunity for Jesus to abide in us and we in him. Whenever we receive the bread and wine we receive him. We may not literally receive Jesus the person, but we do receive his power and his love and his strength. He really does abide in us, through his spirit. And nothing can be more satisfying than that.
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