July 21, 2002 - Ninth Sunday After Pentecost

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July 21, 2002 - Ninth Sunday After Pentecost - Father Fred Myers

THE FIRST READING: GENESIS 28: 10-19a

Jacob left Beer-Sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the LORD stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place-and I did not know it!" And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel.

PSALM 139: 1-5, 22-23

1 Lord, you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar.

2 You trace my journeys and my resting-places and are acquainted with all my ways.

3 Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, but you O Lord, know it altogether.

4 You press upon me behind and before and lay your hand upon me.

5 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain to it.

22 Search me out O God, and know my heart; try me and know my restless thoughts.

23 Look well whether there be any wickedness in me and lead me in the way that is everlasting.

THE SECOND READING: ROMANS 8: 12-25

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!", it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ-if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we are saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

THE HOLY GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO MATTHEW (13: 24-30; 36-43)

Another parable Jesus put before the crowds saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then did these weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds, you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell my reapers, 'Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!"

Don't you love those disciples? I do. Jesus tells the story, and the disciples get him aside afterwards and say, "What did that mean?" I exactly know what they are saying. What did that mean? And, of course, Jesus then gives them an allegory of what His parable meant. Jesus taught in parables, primarily because they were picture-stories, and that was the way that people got ideas across. They were stories that gave a picture of what the concept was supposed to be, and Jesus had many of those parables, especially about the grain and the wheat and the seed and the mustard seed - you will hear about that next week, I think. He had a lot of those kinds of parables. These were instructional parables. He also had parables that He used with the Pharisees and the Sadducees that were kind of admonishments - "you Pharisees, you do this, but, if you really understood what the Kingdom of God was all about, you would do this."

But, this parable is kind of a teaching parable, and some of the things that I gleaned out of this after reading it several times again, was that Jesus is telling us that the Grace of God, which is the Kingdom of God, requires something different from us than judgment. It requires something different from us. There is a danger when we think that there is something that is evil, and we want to do something about it; because we fall into that mind-set of judging. We judge people. There may be those who look the same, like the wheat, but they aren't really the wheat, they were something different. And we look at those who might look the same to us, but they operate in a different way, and we want to eliminate them. We don't want them in our presence, and we want to eliminate them immediately. All I have to do is recall to you Nazi Germany. They look the same, but they don't worship the same way we do; and they are different, so let's eliminate them. Racism is like that. If they are different from us, or if they maybe look like us but act a little bit differently from us, we want them eliminated. We want our way to be the right way, and we justify that in different ways.

But, there are also weeds in our own lives. They are non-productive, those things in our own lives. They are an aggravation - things that aggravate us and don't meet our expectations. There are thoughts and feelings that we have sometimes, and, by some standards, somewhere, are considered to be inappropriate or even wrong; and those are weeds in our lives.

And then there are those weeds we call culture, different cultures from our own. They are annoying, and they infiltrate our own culture and take away some of our most precious thoughts and ideas and ideologies. These are the kinds of weeds that grow up around us, and our concentration always seems to be on the weeds. We want to get out the weedkiller and do away with them. We feel that we have to defend, and that is the operative word here. We have to defend our way of life. We have to defend our ideas. We have to defend our culture, and we have to defend even God. I don't think God needs much defense, but we sometimes feel that we need to defend God. So, we get out the Weed-No-More. We put up placards. We carry signs. We give out rhetoric against these weeds that are in our lives - these things that don't belong there - and we use things like Smart Bombs and missiles, and sometimes we even use our own Bibles to weed out the weeds.

But, look what I just said. We have concentrated on the weeds. We have concentrated on that which we consider, from our perspective, to be evil. That is not what I hear Jesus saying in this parable. Jesus is saying, "That is not your business. It is not your business to judge. It is not your business to weed out. I will determine when that happens, and that is not even for you to know." God wants us to nourish the good. God wants us not to be quick in judgment toward others, or even toward ourselves. God wants us to nourish the good in others and to nourish the good in ourselves - to nourish the good seed that was planted, even though there are weeds. We don't always have the knowledge to discern what is good and what is evil. We don't always have complete knowledge, like God has, and so sometimes we make erroneous kinds of decisions. What may look like a weed may not be a weed. Perhaps it needs to mature and then to find out whether or not it will produce fruits - that is fruits of the Spirit, kindness, gentleness, and forgiveness, those kinds of fruits. The Kingdom of God - that is all that is in creation, that is all people - Jesus, in His parable, says, "Yes, there is good, and there is bad." But, it is not our place to judge. It is our place to nourish the good in one another and to leave the judgments to God. It is our place to hold up each other and be creative in helping each other to be the best people they can be, no matter who they are, or what their creeds may be, or what their ideologies may be, or whatever, but to find the good and to nourish that, and to let God take care of the weeds.

And Jesus, Himself, is our example. Look at the chums He ran around with - those disciples who said, "What does that mean?" Look at the people He was with - sinners, and drunkards, and all kinds of people. Jesus was looking for the good - the goodness in each and every person - and listen to what He taught in His parables. Nourish the good and leave the judgment and the punishment to God.

Now, this is not to say that we don't uphold our civil laws and give out justice in accordance with our civil laws. This is where we are. But, in our everyday action with ourselves and with others, we need to nourish the good that is in each and every one of us that is part of God's Kingdom and is part of God's Grace.

So, what is most important is - what is our attitude? Do we find the bad in everybody? Do we find the bad in every situation? Do we find the negative of every situation? Or do we look for the good? Do we nourish that? Do we keep it up and keep it going? And then, I have to look at myself, and I have to ask myself, "Well, are you wheat, or are you a weed? Are you producing good fruit? Are you looking for the good in everyone? Are you producing what is expected from God? Or am I a weed that chokes out the good in everything and produces nothing?

Jesus' parables are very clear, I think, and, even though I would be one of the disciples saying, "What does that mean?", I still think that, deep down, they really understood what Jesus was saying. This is what God's Love is all about. This is what God's Grace is all about - nourishing and holding each other up, and being a part of God's Kingdom and spreading that out.

Remember, an analogy only goes so far. Jesus was talking about weeds and wheat, but we are people. We have the ability to reason. We have the ability to change. And, in all of that, we can grow. Even though we may start out as a weed, we can grow into something that produces fruit. We can grow into wheat. We have that ability as people, and we are God's people. Thanks be to God! That is what God's Grace is all about.

AMEN
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November 10, 2002 - 25th Sunday After Pentecost

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November 10, 2002 - 25th Sunday After Pentecost - Father Fred Myers

THE FIRST READING: JOSHUA 24: 1-3a, 14-25

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors-Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor-lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Then the people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God." But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good." And the people said to Joshua, "No, we will serve the Lord!" Then Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him." And they said, "We are witnesses." He said, "Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel." The people said to Joshua, "The Lord our God we will serve, and him we will obey." So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.

PSALM 78: 1-7

1 Hear my teaching, O my people; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will declare the mysteries of ancient times.

3 That which we have heard and known, and what our forefathers have told us, we will not hide from their children.

4 We will recount to generations to come the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the Lord, and the wonderful works he has done.

5 He gave his decrees to Jacob and established a law for Israel, which he commanded them to teach their children;

6 That the generations to come might know, and the children yet un-born; that they in their turn might tell it to their children;

7 So that they might put their trust in God, and not forget the deeds of God, but keep his commandments.

THE SECOND READING: 1 THESSALONIANS 4: 13-18

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

THE HOLY GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO MATTHEW (25: 1-13)

Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, 'Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise replied, 'No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us.' But he replied, 'Truly I tell you, I do not know you.' Keep aware therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

When I hear and read this passage from First Thessalonians about the rapture, as it is sometimes called, about being taken up into the clouds and so on, my imagination just runs rampant. The only think I can think of is - I am a Trekkie - and the only thing I can think of is Star Trek and say, "Beam me up, Jesus!". In Seminary, we had a postcard that circulated through the students at Seminary, and, on this postcard was a picture that was supposed to be a picture of the rapture. It was a street scene, and there were automobiles and buses and taxis and whatever in the street; and there were people walking along. But, the difference was that the taxis and the automobiles and the buses were running into lampposts and into each other, and people were being drawn up off the streets and were meeting Jesus in the sky. This was the rapture - this was the end-times! So, that scene - as I say, my imagination just goes rampant. It just goes everywhere with that. So, I am not going to talk about that!

I would like to draw our attention to the wise and foolish bridesmaids, or virgins, as they were once called. Again, at this time, Jesus is talking to His disciples, and He is trying to teach them about the end-times. He has already explained to the Pharisees and the Sadducees what the end-times are going to be like, and they are in trouble. He is saying that the end-times are going to be disastrous, and there are going to be wars and all kinds of things happening; but, the Kingdom of God is like this - and then He tells the story about the bridesmaids.

Now, that doesn't really ring too much with me, either. I mean, it doesn't say too much to me, but, as I was thinking about it, I thought - Well, O.K. I can be either a wise or a foolish bridesmaid, if you will, because there are times in my life (maybe in your life, too), that it feels like the end-times are near - at least my end-times are near. It feels like everything is going badly, and there is no hope. It is depressing, and I think, "If I just have enough faith . . ." I talk to people about it, and I ask, "Where do you get all your faith? How do you do this?" And then I am reminded - Oh yeah! There is a light, and there is oil in my lamp, and that oil and light in my life comes from my baptism. I was marked as Christ's own forever with the chrism or with oil, and then I was handed a candle; and the candle had been lighted from the Pascal candle and was to be, for me, the light of Christ - to go out into the world to show the light of Christ. And I got to thinking about that more - oil and light, the same as the wise and foolish virgins.

How do I keep that light lit in my life? How do I do that, and how do I remember what the chrism was all about when I was marked as Christ's own forever? And then, I looked up in the baptismal service, and I saw these promises that I had made. I had made these promises myself, because I was baptized when I was old enough to know what they were. The one promise I made was to continue in the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, to continue in the breaking of bread, and to continue in the prayers. That was one promise I made. And that is kind of the oil - the oil that keeps me going. If I continue to do that, then my faith is kept whole. Another promise I made was to persevere in resisting evil, and that, whenever I fall into evil, to repent and return to the Lord. Another promise I made was to proclaim by word and example the Good News or the Gospel of God in Christ - to do that in a real way. And then, I promised to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving my neighbor as myself, and the final promise I made was to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every person.

You know, it seems that, when I forget that I made those promises and go about my life not even thinking about them, my light grows dimmer and dimmer and dimmer. That candle that was handed to me just seems to grow dimmer, and my faith is not as strong. And, when I come up against those end-times, those times that feel like end-times in my life, I don't have the faith to keep going. Thank God there is you and my friends who have the faith, and who keep their light burning! When I think of the wise and foolish maidens, the wise maidens must have kept their lamps full with oil. They were ready for the coming of Christ. They were ready for the bridegroom. Those who did not keep their lamps full with oil were not ready. Sometimes, I feel like that in my life - that I am not ready, because I have not kept my lamp full with oil. I am not able to keep the light burning. I am not able to keep the light of Christ burning for myself or for others.

So, when I think about that, and I come up against those times, I have to go back to my baptism and remember what I promised - what I promised to God and to others - that I will continue in the Apostles' teaching, that I will continue to love others, that I will attend the Eucharist and break bread with my community, that I will pray with them and pray in solitude, and that I will continue to resist evil; and, when I fall into evil, that I will repent and return to the Lord, and ask forgiveness, and expect that forgiveness, and know that I have been forgiven, and ask forgiveness from others whom I may have hurt; and then to proclaim, by word and example, the Gospel of God in Christ - to tell others what my experience has been in knowing God, in having God in my life, and having Christ in my life - not reading Scripture to them, but just saying, "You know, evidently, God was in my life when this happened or that happened - I seem to have gotten saved from some disaster." And then I will seek and serve Christ in all people, to love my neighbor as myself - that is a big one! That is a promise that I made when I said, "O.K., I need to accept You for who You are, not for who I want You to be, but for who You really are. I want to know You for who You are, not for who I want You to be, and to accept You and to do that." And then the other is to strive for justice and peace in all the world, among all people; to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to do those things which are required of me to assist in that, and to respect the dignity of every human being, no matter who they are or where they come from. This keeps my lamp bright. When I keep remembering to do this, this keeps my lamp bright. And, what I find out is, when my lamp is bright, then I know that God is there. I know that God is helping me and encouraging me and, sometimes, confronting me, and saying, "O.K., Fred. It is O.K. You are going to make it."

So, whether we are foolish or whether we are wise is really up to us, and a good way to do that is to remember the promises that we made, or were made for us, at our baptism - to continue in the Apostles' teaching, to persevere in resisting evil, to proclaim by word and example the Good News, to seek and serve Christ in others, to strive for justice and peace, and, above all, to respect the dignity of every human being.

AMEN
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