RCL Year C - 5 Pentecost (Proper 7) - June 23, 2013

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
Trinity Church
Towson, MD

RCL Year C - 5 Pentecost (Proper 7) - June 23, 2013

Click here for the scripture readings

I wonder why it is so hard for us to proclaim our faith?  I mean, really claim it for ourselves and then share it with others around us…  Is it that we think that we will be judged or ridiculed because of what we believe?  Or is it possibly that we haven’t developed the language to be able to express the deep seated awe that we feel when we think about God and all the wonderful things that God has done for us?

 

I would like to think it was the latter…  I would like to think that we do not share our faith because we are dumb struck by the awesome and tremendous power of the loving and living God…  However, I feel it’s because we do fear that people will think we’re those weird church people, those Jesus freaks, or what our society considers to be superstitious fools.

 

There’s some truth even today to the ridicule that the prophet Isaiah tells us about when God tries to reach out to a nation that did not call God’s name…   They followed too much the devices and desires of their own heart, and they told others, “keep to yourself – I am too holy for you,” for we are the chosen people of God… 

 

That’s some of the things we encounter today, isn’t it?  We are reluctant to proclaim the love and restoration that we have experienced – that we know is from God – because of what people might think.  We are scared because it might make them uncomfortable or even angry…  

 

We don’t call out to God – at least not in public!  And we may come to worship on Sunday,  but other than that we go on into the week and follow our own devices and we keep to ourselves…  We fail to share our faith story.

 

In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus and his caravan have entered into Gentile territory.  This is the only account in Luke of Jesus being in a Gentile country.  East of the Sea of Galilee to a place called Gerasa – the country of the Gerasenes.  This is clearly NOT Jewish territory… 

 

The scripture says that it is opposite Galilee – and it is just that – opposite, both spiritually and geographically…  a place of the unclean filth that the Jews consider to be the Gentile world.  A place where pigs graze on the hillside…  A place of Roman occupation. 

 

Jesus encounters an interesting character there as soon as he gets out of the boat…  a man who is running around without any clothes on that lived in the tombs.  We don’t know who this man is...  He is thought by a colleague of mine to possibly be a roman war veteran who has been discharged and given a means of support, a portion of land, and some pigs to raise. 

 

But regardless of what he is or isn’t, the scripture tells us that on top of living in this unclean land, the man is tormented by many demons.  Tormented so much that the folks around him feel the need to restrain him with shackles and chains – Ironically the same type shackles and chains that the Romans would use when they begin to round up those who proclaim in public that they follow the way of Jesus.

 

So Jesus meets up with this man and immediately the divine power is recognized as the demon falls down and says, “what have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I beg you, do not torment me.”  The interesting thing is that demonic forces always seem to know who Jesus is…  They call Jesus by name, and are quick to acknowledge his divine power.   In this case, they know Jesus to be the Son of the Most High God.   They may not know completely about the God of the Hebrews, but in this pagan country in their pantheon of gods, they knew of the God of Gods they referred to as the Most High God. 

 

Jesus responds and asks him very simply to him, “what is your name?”  The demons tell Jesus that their name is Legion; for many demons had entered him.  A legion is a division of Roman soldiers – at full strength, a legion could include some 6,000 men.  And Legion begged Jesus not to go back into the abyss.

 

So Jesus granted Legion permission to enter the herd of swine that was feeding on the hillside, and the herd rushed down the steep bank and was drowned in the lake.  The people that were tending the swine ran off and told others what they had seen – about this man called Jesus, whom they just saw exorcise power over the Legion of demons, and many came out to see what was going on…  They found the man who they knew to be possessed - the naked man from the tombs clothed and in his right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus.  And they were scared to death! 

 

Scared so much they run Jesus out of town…  and the man whom Jesus healed wanted very much to go with Jesus, but Jesus sent him home and told him to declare how much God has done for him…  and he went away proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him…

 

How come it’s so hard for us to proclaim our faith?  How come it’s so hard for us to proclaim how much Jesus has done for us?

 

We could be like the man that was tormented…  It was probably easy after living a life in anguish, naked, and in the tombs – finally being free to proclaim Jesus throughout the city.  It is often the case that the most broken that have been healed by Jesus have the most to proclaim.

 

But, instead of proclaiming Jesus, we act more like the folks in the scripture that witness the miraculous act, standing there scared to death. 

 

We recognize the power of God, and we know the healing power of Christ, but we are seized with fear…  so we drive Jesus, and religion, and deep spirituality away…  We fear that people will think we’re those church people, those Jesus freaks.  Or we think we have it all under control…  so we seek out a Jesus only when it’s convenient but day to day we follow our own devices and keep to ourselves until the world comes crashing down around us.  

 

Friends - our life and our society are in trouble – tormented and oppressed by too many demons to count…  by demons of hate, injustice, ignorance, and ambivalence…  by fear, debt, misguided anger, and self-sufficiency…  I could keep going, but we would be here all afternoon.  It is too often that we favor the demon we know over the freedom we do not yet know…  we have developed a false sense of security from the dysfunctions that we have learned how to deal with and we fear taking any action or making any change… 

 

We all have good news to share about the healing and restorative power of Jesus Christ.  And yet, we are hesitant to tell our own story.  Each and every one of us today has an individual story to tell about what awesome wonder God has done for us.  (be it big or small)  That story is important and has value – and that individual story is part of God’s greater story.

 

These stories, honored and shared bring about trust, and restoration…  healing and change…  We are bearers of the story, witnesses to the mighty acts of God…  Acts that we have experienced first-hand in our own lives…  and we have been empowered by God to share it.  God calls us all into discomfort, and challenges us to declare how much God has done for us.

 

Jesus tells the man that has just been freed from the demons to “return to your home and declare how much God has done for you.”  With those words, Jesus sent the man who was healed back into his own city, to tell everyone what happened.

 

When we go from this place today, in order to take the first step, we should do what St. Francis referred to as preach the Gospel at all times, when necessary, use words.  We should show forth within our lives, the love that we know Jesus has for us…  the love that restores the world to God through Christ Jesus Our Lord.

RCL Year C - 4 Pentecost (Proper 6) - June 16, 2013

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III

Trinity Episcopal Church

Towson, MD

RCL Year C - 4 Pentecost (Proper 6) - June 16, 2013

Click Here for scripture readings

Doors are interesting things…  Yes, I am talking about those things with the knob and the hinges…  They are gateways to other places, portals to rooms or spaces that contain things known or unknown.  Sometimes we even use doors to hide the messiness of our lives.  I can remember when I was young, when I was told to clean my room, I thought I was really doing something by putting everything in the closet and closing the door.  Needless to say, the closet door was just a cover up that allowed me put off the inevitable.  It helped me hide that which was undone.

 

Beverly Braine spent all this past week cleaning up some of the stuff that was hidden behind the doors in our preschool.  She has uncovered things that we didn’t know we had, and things that we forgot we had.  As for me, since I have been at Trinity, I have found many things at Trinity hidden behind doors… 

 

The staff knows, as most of you know that I exercise what some call an open-door policy, which means, if my door is open, it is ok to come in.  However, if my door is closed, I usually can’t be or don’t want to be disturbed (which is extremely rare).

 

The gospel lesson this week made me think a lot about doors…  about why we have them, and about why we don’t have them - about why Kathleen’s office door sometimes sticks, and about which ones we keep open, and which ones we keep locked, and even which ones we keep a camera fixed on because of the dangerous evils in our society.

 

Homes in ancient Palestine didn’t have many doors…  not in the way that we have doors.  There were entryways that one could close off, but that was rare…  Because it prevented the movement of air through the space and closed off the light.

 

This made the homes subject to different kinds of intrusions from all sorts and conditions of folks and sometimes even animals…  That’s the situation in the gospel lesson that we are faced with this morning.  We don’t know why Simon the Zealot invites Jesus to his house to eat, but you can better bet that he was up to something…

 

Jesus goes to Simon’s home, and as they were taking their places, reclining at the table, a strange woman wanders into the house and begins to anoint Jesus’ feet with an alabaster jar of ointment.  Then she begins crying and starts to bathe his feet with her tears and dry his feet with her hair. 

 

The people at Simon’s dinner party find themselves in a strange predicament…  I can’t help but think, what would we do in this day and age if we went over someone’s house to eat and ended up with a strange woman coming in and anointing our feet with oil?  We would most likely call the police!  Yet, this intrusion didn’t seem to faze Jesus.

 

Jesus must have known what Simon was thinking…  Simon wanted to challenge Jesus on his prophetic abilities, and uses the predicament with the woman to do that.  But he hadn’t said anything yet…  but he was thinking, “if this man were truly a prophet, he would know what kind of woman this is who is touching him – that she is a sinner.”  Jesus then must have been reading his mind, because he tells Simon a wonderful short parable of forgiveness using a story about a creditor that had two debtors… one that owed 500 denarii and one that owed 50 denarii – and the creditor cancelling the debts for both of them.  Jesus asks Simon, who loved more and Simon rightly answered the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.

 

Then it seems that Jesus gets pretty bold, and admonishes Simon for not offering the expected cultural courtesies that would be expected…  water for the feet, oil for the hair, and a greeting with the kiss of shalom.  Jesus, who was just a dinner guest, then compared Simon’s lack of hospitality with the great hospitality offered by the strange woman.

 

Though Jesus doesn’t say it within the text of the parable, we know that Jesus is talking about the woman who was just crying all over his feet.  He knows what “kind” of woman she is.  Yet she showed her deep love for Jesus, and to the astonishment of the gathering there at the table, Jesus tells her that her sins are forgiven.

 

A woman wonders into the home of a Pharisee, Simon the Zealot, and Jesus uses this strange predicament to teach about love and forgiveness, about openness and responsiveness, and about humility and shame.  All this happened because the door was open, and this unnamed woman was received without question.

 

What would we have done, we would have probably called the police…  Yet, Jesus allows her to show her love and her faith with her actions while he remains receptive and vulnerable.  The woman has been shamed by society, yet Jesus lets her come to him, and without fear or condition, forgives her on the spot.

 

All the people that were gathered for dinner at Simon’s house were amazed that Jesus, just a dinner guest to them, assumes divine authority and forgives her sins.  And all this was possible because the door was left open.  There was no need for the police, no fear in their hearts, and nothing keeping Jesus from claiming his true divine identity.

 

The story has many layers and many dimensions, and sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the details.  Keeping my eye on the open door has personally helped me focus on God’s radical love and forgiveness that is expressed in today’s reading.  See, the physical barrier of a door — as thick or as paper-thin as it may be — not only muffles the communication on both sides, but it often closes us off to what may enrich us.

 

Keeping doors closed may seem like the best way to keep ourselves safe and our actions private, but if do it too often, we may find that we’ve missed out on a lot of important and wonderful things happening on the other side.  But it’s hard for us to keep the doors open.  The fear and the exposure and the vulnerability and danger in our society is sometimes way too much for us to deal with.

 

So, we don’t invite in as we should, and we often lock the door to keep people out… the door then is not only a physical barrier, but it becomes an impediment to our own formation and forgiveness.

 

I’d be one of the first to admit, if a woman (or anyone for that matter) wondered in here and started anointing my feet and then crying on them and drying them with hair that would give me the heebie-jeebies.  By not welcoming them, though, I would really missed out on the opportunity to be Christ to them, to let the experience change both me and them.

 

In Jesus’ time, doors were open, and you never knew what was going to happen.  Crowds gather, a woman walks in a sinner, and loves much, and walks out forgiven and renewed.  The doors are open to us, and we are transformed as God’s people, forgiven and renewed, and then nourished and empowered to serve others.  It’s what being Christian is about, it about living with open doors in our lives and letting the power of the divine Holy Spirit work through us – letting us be Christ to others.

 

God’s love is radical and changes lives.  The strange woman with the alabaster jar joins the company of all of us who want to live in love and serve Jesus.  The broken and flawed folks like us become a means of grace for the glory of God.  It makes us all part of the wonderful story, God’s continuing story.  The only thing required of us is having an open door and being ready to receive.  This is neither pleasant nor easy.  It involves a change in our attitude and ultimately a change in our actions.

RCL Year C - 3 Pentecost (Proper 5) - June 9, 2013

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III

Trinity Episcopal Church

Towson, Maryland

 

RCL Year C - 3 Pentecost (Proper 5) - June 9, 2013

Click Here for scripture readings

When we have faith, and trust, and when we are doing the will of God, there is NO doubt that BIG and wonderful things will happen!!!   I wonder who here among us has witnessed what would be considered a miracle?  I mean a real, bona-fide, honest to God, miracle?  Really?  Some of you have never witnessed a miracle?

Why not??? Miracles happen every day!

Don’t they?  So, if they do, why do we say that we haven’t ever seen one?  What do we think miracles look like?  What are we waiting for to happen??  Are we waiting for some “great prophet” to rise among us to declare “God’s Favor” for us…  if that happened, would we even know what a “great prophet” would sound like – or would look like?

I love the story of the old man, who when asked if he had ever witnessed a miracle, he said no…  and then when they asked him how did he know, he said, “I’ll know one when I see one – to me, it’s kind of like a duck – You know, if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck.”

Or the gentleman who – when he heard that the flood waters were coming, dropped to his knees and asked God to deliver him.  The rescue truck came by and they told him to get in and come to safety, he sent them away saying, “don’t worry, God will deliver me.”  The waters started to rise and the man was on his roof.  A boat comes by and tells the man, “get in and come to safety!”  He tell them, “don’t worry, God will deliver me!”  The waters get higher still, and he is standing on the chimney.  A helicopter comes and throws down a ladder.  They yell to the man, “climb up and come to safety!”  The man says again, “don’t worry, God will deliver me!”  The man drowns, and when he meets God, he asks, “God, why didn’t you deliver me?”  God says, “I sent you a rescue van, a boat and a helicopter, what were you looking for?”

How do we know?  How will we know that God is performing a miracle?  Do we need a flash of light, or a voice from heaven?  Do we need to have the dead brought back to life right before our eyes – maybe right here this morning during a Sunday morning service?  (wouldn’t that be something?)   And IF that happened, how would we deal with it?

Would we really know it when we see it?  Would we be better believers – would we then learn to engage our faith in a deeper or more tangible way?  Would we be able to take off the blinders…  the blinders of our own ideas and ideals of how things should be, enough to let the miracle be recognized?

We get so caught up sometimes in looking for something specific to happen, that we sometimes miss what is happening all around us…  I think it’s because miracles are always surrounded by suspicion.  So, in order for us to see them to happen, we must have faith and trust completely in God…

The widow in Zarephath that Elijah is sent to by God in our Old Testament story, is down to her last jar of meal and last jug of oil during a severe drought – she even makes the comment to Elijah that she is out collecting sticks to make a fire so that she can go home and prepare it for her and her son to eat it and die.

This sounds pretty tragic.  Especially for this poor widow… who in that culture was a little less than a second class citizen…   She had barely anything to live on, because she has no one to provide for her.  And it sounds a little selfish and even a bit far-fetched to have Elijah ask her to make him something to eat.

But Elijah told her to trust… trust that the Lord God of Israel will provide for her… trust that the jar of meal and the jug of oil would not be emptied until the rains came down.  And it happened just as Elijah said.

But like so many of us, the woman didn’t rejoice in the miracle, she may have not even recognized it, because her son still got sick and died.  And to make matters worse, she was quick to be angry and blame God through Elijah – but she was obviously feeling pretty guilty about her own life – somehow blaming his death on her recognized sin.

Elijah then took her son upstairs and laid him across the bed and prayed over him “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.”  Elisha prostrated himself over the boy three times and the child revived.  The woman was then finally able to recognize the miracle, and acknowledge that Elijah spoke the prophetic truth.

Is THAT what it takes for us to recognize a miracle?  Would we know the prophetic truth if we heard it?

 

Jesus and the disciples went to a town called Nain and met up with a crowd that was obviously involved in a funeral procession.  The body of a man was lifted up on a bier to be carried to his grave from the city.  Then, Jesus encounters his mother who was a widow (who now had less than nothing because of the death of her son and no one now to protect her).

 

She was obviously upset, and Jesus had compassion for her.  Jesus risked the social faux pas of speaking to an unprotected widow, and went up to her and told her not to weep.  Then, Jesus messes up again, making himself ritually unclean, and touched the bier where the dead body was and told the young man to rise!

 

The young man rose and began to speak – and Jesus gave him to his mother!  The scripture says that fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying “a great prophet has risen among us” and “God has looked favorably on his people” and they spread the word throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

 

We know that when we have faith, and trust, and when we do God’s will, BIG and Wonderful things happen…  the blind see, the lame walk, and the dead rise!  And things that are wrong are always restored to right.

 

In the lessons this morning, two widows lose their sons.  Two widows, who are on the low rung of the social ladder, lose everything that protects them from society’s ills.  And in the blink of an eye – a miracle, both of these women have restored to them what they have lost.

 

In compassion, God reaches out to both of them – touches them and brings them to new life.

 

What would it take for us to recognize a miracle?  Would it take us seeing the dead rise to new life…  Would it take us seeing that which was wrong being restored to right?

 

Every time a baby is born, it is a miracle!  Every time a flower in springtime comes back and beautifies a garden, it’s a miracle!  Every time we get to the end of our rope but somehow make it through till another day, it’s a miracle!  Every time a person that is vexed by guilt and self-hate turns to the self-affirmation found in Jesus Christ and is convinced that God loves him/her, it’s a miracle!  Every time a congregation that is on the edge of self-destruction because of prolonged conflict and polarization comes to a renewed commitment to the common life in the body of Christ, it’s a miracle! 

 

Why is it that we always seem to look for the odd and unusual acts that defy the natural order before we consider them to be a miracle?  These that I listed are pretty BIG and Wonderful things!!  And by every standard that I can think of, these would all be considered miracles!!  I think that miracles happen to us and around us all the time, we just have to have faith and trust in God in order to recognize them… 

 

We all have the opportunity today to participate in a great miracle, the miracle of the bread and wine becoming the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  You probably won’t see a flash of light or a voice from heaven, but you will witness and participate in the miracle none the less…  and in this miracle, we will feel Jesus’ presence with us, and his love and compassion surround us… and when we take in and feast on the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the sacrament, we are spiritually nourished and restored to new life.  And oh, what a miracle it is...