The Rev'd Kenneth H. Saunders III
Christ Episcopal Church
Cleveland, NC
As a parent, sometimes our teaching and instruction falls on deaf ears. We may tell our children over and over again, show them, and carefully and lovingly teach them, but sometimes they just don’t listen. Sometimes we know that we go through the motions with them, knowing that we were the same way when we were kids, and we did the same things… We longingly pray for them to listen, but their quick response “I know” seems to send the message in one ear and out the other. It’s almost as if we haven’t spent ANY time at all trying to teach them the right ways… It is almost like they have some kind of convenient amnesia.
Bill Cosby, the famous comedian, calls this “brain damage.” According to Cosby, children suffer from selective “brain damage” when they go “I don’ know” after being asked why they did or didn’t do something… It has got to be the most frustrating thing that we ever get to do as parents is teach our children.
Any parent that has raised teenagers, or anybody that has ever kept any children - EVER, can relate to our Old Testament prophet this morning…
The people of Israel seem to have contracted some kind of selective amnesia, so the prophet starts out, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Have you not been told from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?” Like we do with our children, he goes on and on telling them and reminding them about the things that they already know…
This portion of Isaiah was written when Israel is in Babylonian captivity, and they all seem to have forgotten. They have contracted a sort of “theological amnesia” – they have forgotten who God is. So the prophet is reminding them… Reminding them that God is the ground of all being and the source of all that is, all that was, and all that will be… and that there is nothing that they can do to hide from God.
He reminds them that God is still God, despite of everything that is going on around them to the contrary… Times are tough for the Israelites in captivity, they have been beaten down, fallen into ruts, been subjected to worship of false idols. They have been trying to deliver themselves… and they have forgotten. They have developed theological amnesia, and forgotten who God is… They have stopped trusting in God to deliver them.
But, the problem for them isn’t only that that they have forgotten God, but they have also forgotten who they are… They are God’s people / God’s children, and God loves them and wants the best for them. They have not held onto their interconnectedness as God’s people… learning from each other and leaning on each other to nurture their common thread to God.
The prophet begs them to remember, and wait for the Lord, and the Lord will renew their strength… so they will mount up with wings like eagles, and run and not be weary, and walk and not faint.
Now, we are a long way from being captives in Babylon, fearing for our lives… Most of us could be considered extremely well off by global standards… We all know that money is a little tighter than we would probably like it to be… but all in all, we are ok.
We have a roof over our head, we eat pretty well, and most of us drove here this morning in an automobile… we could actually be considered privileged in some circles. Yet sometimes we get that same theological amnesia and forget who God is. This especially troubling for us… How easily we forget God when everything in our life is on track and going well… We forget to praise and thank God for the blessings that we receive every day. We forget that God is our Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and Friend…
So, the second that something doesn’t go the way we want it to, when something runs amuck, falls apart, or we confront trouble in any way, then we collapse into anxiety and stress. There is so much stress among people these days. Everyone is stressed out, because they lack trust in God. This is why the prophet Isaiah reminds the Israelites that it’s God who really DOES reign over all nature and history, “who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.”
It is almost a motivational speech to them… and it speaks to us today, enlightening us throughout the ages, telling us that God hasn’t forgotten us… and asking us, why we keep forgetting God? The God who’s understanding is beyond all measure. The God who came down to earth to be one of us, to teach us, and show us God’s way.
Jesus leaves the synagogue after teaching and goes immediately to the home of Simon’s mother-in-law who had a bad fever. Without question, Jesus goes into action, takes her by the hand and lifts her up. Immediately the fever leaves her, and she reengages her domestic role as the hospitality giver and serves them, as if she were never sick. Jesus stays there a while and cures many who are sick and casts out many demons. Then he goes out to rest and pray. Then Jesus is on the move again, going into the neighboring towns to proclaim the message and show them that the kingdom of God has come near.
I said last week that when Christ comes near, the demons come out… the demons who are the forces that keep us from proclaiming the gospel. The demons who give us that “theological amnesia” and make us forget who God is, and the wonderful things God has done for us. We forget to praise and bless God for all the wonderful blessings that we have.
Like the ancient Israelites, we encounter God though the interconnectedness of the community we are in, but beyond that, we encounter God… who loves us so much that God become one of us, in the person of Jesus Christ, so that we might be reconciled with God. For us, Jesus makes God accessible.
But we can’t ever really KNOW God, in all of God’s vast glory, and abundant power. We can only hope to ENCOUNTER God. And it is in the community, in our relationships with each other, our interconnectedness, that we encounter God, in the teaching, in the fellowship, in the breaking of the bread and in the prayers. Our mission as the people of God is to let Jesus into our lives and experience God’s presence among us, let God work in our lives and form and transform us… not let what God is trying to tell, or what God is trying to teach us fall on deaf ears…
Let Jesus remove the demons in our life that block us from sharing the gospel with others so we can engage the mission together. Because we are all on a mission together, it’s the mission of the church, to reconcile others to God through Christ. Unless we are on that mission and remain true to that mission, we can never encounter God.
We have a chance to encounter the living God this morning when we, as an interconnected community break the bread and share the cup… We worship and celebrate our life in Christ. Christ nourishes us with the spiritual food of his body and blood that will sustain us on our mission and enlighten our paths.
Then we can go forward from this place, doing the work God has given us to do, proclaiming the good news to others that the kingdom of God has come near...
Bill Cosby, the famous comedian, calls this “brain damage.” According to Cosby, children suffer from selective “brain damage” when they go “I don’ know” after being asked why they did or didn’t do something… It has got to be the most frustrating thing that we ever get to do as parents is teach our children.
Any parent that has raised teenagers, or anybody that has ever kept any children - EVER, can relate to our Old Testament prophet this morning…
The people of Israel seem to have contracted some kind of selective amnesia, so the prophet starts out, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Have you not been told from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?” Like we do with our children, he goes on and on telling them and reminding them about the things that they already know…
This portion of Isaiah was written when Israel is in Babylonian captivity, and they all seem to have forgotten. They have contracted a sort of “theological amnesia” – they have forgotten who God is. So the prophet is reminding them… Reminding them that God is the ground of all being and the source of all that is, all that was, and all that will be… and that there is nothing that they can do to hide from God.
He reminds them that God is still God, despite of everything that is going on around them to the contrary… Times are tough for the Israelites in captivity, they have been beaten down, fallen into ruts, been subjected to worship of false idols. They have been trying to deliver themselves… and they have forgotten. They have developed theological amnesia, and forgotten who God is… They have stopped trusting in God to deliver them.
But, the problem for them isn’t only that that they have forgotten God, but they have also forgotten who they are… They are God’s people / God’s children, and God loves them and wants the best for them. They have not held onto their interconnectedness as God’s people… learning from each other and leaning on each other to nurture their common thread to God.
The prophet begs them to remember, and wait for the Lord, and the Lord will renew their strength… so they will mount up with wings like eagles, and run and not be weary, and walk and not faint.
Now, we are a long way from being captives in Babylon, fearing for our lives… Most of us could be considered extremely well off by global standards… We all know that money is a little tighter than we would probably like it to be… but all in all, we are ok.
We have a roof over our head, we eat pretty well, and most of us drove here this morning in an automobile… we could actually be considered privileged in some circles. Yet sometimes we get that same theological amnesia and forget who God is. This especially troubling for us… How easily we forget God when everything in our life is on track and going well… We forget to praise and thank God for the blessings that we receive every day. We forget that God is our Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and Friend…
So, the second that something doesn’t go the way we want it to, when something runs amuck, falls apart, or we confront trouble in any way, then we collapse into anxiety and stress. There is so much stress among people these days. Everyone is stressed out, because they lack trust in God. This is why the prophet Isaiah reminds the Israelites that it’s God who really DOES reign over all nature and history, “who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.”
It is almost a motivational speech to them… and it speaks to us today, enlightening us throughout the ages, telling us that God hasn’t forgotten us… and asking us, why we keep forgetting God? The God who’s understanding is beyond all measure. The God who came down to earth to be one of us, to teach us, and show us God’s way.
Jesus leaves the synagogue after teaching and goes immediately to the home of Simon’s mother-in-law who had a bad fever. Without question, Jesus goes into action, takes her by the hand and lifts her up. Immediately the fever leaves her, and she reengages her domestic role as the hospitality giver and serves them, as if she were never sick. Jesus stays there a while and cures many who are sick and casts out many demons. Then he goes out to rest and pray. Then Jesus is on the move again, going into the neighboring towns to proclaim the message and show them that the kingdom of God has come near.
I said last week that when Christ comes near, the demons come out… the demons who are the forces that keep us from proclaiming the gospel. The demons who give us that “theological amnesia” and make us forget who God is, and the wonderful things God has done for us. We forget to praise and bless God for all the wonderful blessings that we have.
Like the ancient Israelites, we encounter God though the interconnectedness of the community we are in, but beyond that, we encounter God… who loves us so much that God become one of us, in the person of Jesus Christ, so that we might be reconciled with God. For us, Jesus makes God accessible.
But we can’t ever really KNOW God, in all of God’s vast glory, and abundant power. We can only hope to ENCOUNTER God. And it is in the community, in our relationships with each other, our interconnectedness, that we encounter God, in the teaching, in the fellowship, in the breaking of the bread and in the prayers. Our mission as the people of God is to let Jesus into our lives and experience God’s presence among us, let God work in our lives and form and transform us… not let what God is trying to tell, or what God is trying to teach us fall on deaf ears…
Let Jesus remove the demons in our life that block us from sharing the gospel with others so we can engage the mission together. Because we are all on a mission together, it’s the mission of the church, to reconcile others to God through Christ. Unless we are on that mission and remain true to that mission, we can never encounter God.
We have a chance to encounter the living God this morning when we, as an interconnected community break the bread and share the cup… We worship and celebrate our life in Christ. Christ nourishes us with the spiritual food of his body and blood that will sustain us on our mission and enlighten our paths.
Then we can go forward from this place, doing the work God has given us to do, proclaiming the good news to others that the kingdom of God has come near...
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