Sunday, August 28, 2011

11 Pentecost, Year A

Proper 17: Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 105:1–6,23–26,45b; Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28

A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, August 28, 2011.

“THE CHRISTIAN TRADEMARK”
(Homily text: Romans 12: 9 - 21)

St. Paul writes in our epistle reading this morning, “Let love be genuine.” This opening exhortation is then followed by a series of short encouragements, all of which are marks of Christian faith.

I hold in my hands this morning a cereal box from one of the major manufacturers of breakfast cereal. You all recognize not only the box, but the name on the box, and also the contents of the box. You all know that this particular maker of cereal has been making this type of cereal for a long time, and if you were to open this box, pour out a bowl of it, and eat it, you would know exactly what to expect in doing so.

Trademarks and brand names arose in the 19th century to do some specific things: they were meant to standardize products, they aided in identifying a particular brand name/trademark with a specific product, and they promoted loyalty in purchasing patterns.

We’ve already considered some of these aspects in our description of the cereal box that I continue to hold in my hand. For example, if you’ve sampled this particular type of cereal from this particular maker before, you are either inclined to buy and eat it again, or not.

If you’ve eaten this cereal before, you know what to expect in terms of its quality. It is either of consistently good quality, or it isn’t. (If it is of poor or inconsistent quality, you know not to buy it in the future.)

Having considered this much about brand names and trademarks, let’s consider the process that goes into the making of a product by the makers of it, and then let’s apply those lessons to the business of being a Christian. For St. Paul is urging us, in our epistle reading for today, to uphold the Christian brand name and the Christian trademark.

So, we begin by looking at the creation of the product itself: The makers have a specific concept in mind when designing a product. Usually, the product is intended to improve people’s lives somehow. (OK, I know that many of the claims made by manufacturers in advertising go far beyond what is reasonable in terms of a product’s actual ability to make people’s lives better or easier.) Then, the designers come up with the product, which is then created and inserted (in the case of the cereal box illustration we began with) into the box.

Next, the product is marketed, and (hopefully) builds “market share”, though advertising and through people’s experience with the product, which is then shared with relatives, friends and acquaintances. (Notice that much of the advertising we see today tries to combine those two elements.) The idea here is for people to make associations with the brand name and with the quality/usefulness of the product.

Finally, people try the product, and those who stick with it in their purchasing habits find it to be of value/a betterment to their lives. Feedback is often a part of this process, with users providing the makers with reports about how well their brand name/trademark matches up to the quality of the product and the claims that have been made for it.

Now all of what we have just observed about the creation, marketing and use of a product applies to the Christian life, and – in essence – is what St. Paul is trying to do by educating those early Christians who were members of the various churches that were in Rome in the mid-first century about.

So, let’s turn to Paul’s writing and see how this applies.

Our first observation has to do with the creation of the “Christian product.” (Sorry, I don’t mean to sound crass in describing the Christian faith, but I don’t have a better term at hand to use!). We should remind ourselves that God is the designer and creator of the Christian faith. It is God alone who chose to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to become one of us, fully human and yet fully divine. So, in a sense, God is not only the designer, but the demonstrator of the superiority of the Christian faith over all others. Jesus Christ becomes the first “marketer” of the faith (sorry again, I don’t mean to sound crass about Jesus Christ’s person and work).

Continuing in this line of thinking, we might remind ourselves of some of the key features of the Christian faith as Jesus taught and demonstrated them. They would include:

• “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Matthew 7: 12) (also known as the “Golden Rule”).

• “Do not resist one who is evil, but if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matthew 5: 39)

• “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5: 44)

• “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hell cannot be hid, nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, an it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5: 14 – 16)

So this is the “design” of the Christian faith as Jesus Christ created it and passed it along to His disciples, and to us.

The second observation that we ought to make is with the quality of the Christian faith and the associations with the name “Christian” and the quality of life that being a Christian brings. As Jesus died, rose again and ascended into heaven, His disciples became apostles. That is to say, they were “sent out” (the root meaning of the title “apostle”) into all the world, carrying the good news that Jesus Christ brought and taught with them. As people believed their testimony and saw that their manner of life was distinctly different and better, they too, discovered the richness of life and the quality of life that being a Christian believer brings along with it.

Our third observation has to do with feedback to the designer of the faith (God) and the widespread sharing with others about the Christian brand name and what being a Christian brings with it, that is, a much fuller, more meaningful and joyful life. The Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ spread far and wide, throughout the known world. Within 300 years, the Roman Empire itself had become Christian. The Christian faith had overcome skepticism, harsh persecution and opposition to overcome all other claims by rival belief systems, pagan ones.

Well, then, what was it that distinguished Christians from all others? How were outsiders able to make connections between the Christian brand name and its distinctive trademark and the qualities that the Christian faith is made up of?

I think the simple answer is that they lived by the principles that new life in Jesus Christ demands we live by. These principles are part-and-parcel of the teachings of Jesus Christ (see the samples provided on page two). Notice how many of the principles that were listed there, all of them coming from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew, chapters five through seven), are consistent with what St. Paul tells us we ought to be doing as we bear witness to the claims of the superiority of the Christian faith. He says this:

• “Let love be genuine.” (Romans 12: 9)

• “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (12: 12)

• “Contribute to the needs of the saints.” (12: 13)

• “Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse them..” (12: 14)

• “Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.” (12: 17)

• “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (12: 21)

Notice how much of this is consistent with Jesus’ teachings. (Paul was an excellent student and a fine teacher!)

Our task is just the same as those who have gone before us in ancient times: We are called to be an excellent advertisement for the claims of the Christian faith, and specifically for the Christian faith’s ability to bring us into a close relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ, his Son, and for the Christian faith’s ability to bring with it fullness of life, peace and joy.

In so doing, the inner reality that the faith’s designer’s intent dwells in our hearts and minds will match the outer claims of the Christian brand name and trademark.

May it ever be so with us!

AMEN.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

10 Pentecost, Year A

Proper 16: Exodus 1:8 – 2:10; Psalm 124; Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20

A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, August 21, 2011.
 
“FINDING OUR TRUEST SELVES”
(Homily text: Romans 12: 1 - 8)

Two questions come before us this morning as we hear St. Paul’s writing in chapter twelve of his letter to the Romans:

1. Are you living life to the fullest?

2. Have you found your truest self?

These two questions are at the heart of Paul’s appeal to the early Christians who were members of the churches in Rome.

Paul feels very strongly about this matter. He begins (verse one) by saying “I appeal to you”. But the language is actually stronger than the word “appeal” might suggest: He is urging his listeners to find their truest selves, and to live the fullest life possible.

It should come as no surprise, then, that Paul insists that finding our truest self means giving up our lives as “living sacrifices” to God. 
 
Giving up our lives means finding it, in so many words, and this thought echoes one of Jesus’ important sayings: “He who loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10: 39b)
 
Before we look a bit more closely at what Paul has to say, let’s take a moment to define the terms “living” and “sacrifice”:

Sacrifice: Something that is given up, or offered, to God. A sacrifice can be an offering to make atonement (the ancient Hebrew word meant “to cover over”) for sins. A sacrifice can also be made to give honor to God, or to offer thanks to God.
 
Living: Something that is active, has an ongoing existence, and can respond to changing circumstances.

Now Paul tells us that three aspects of our being are involved in becoming “living sacrifices”. They are the three aspects of our nature that we possess as created human beings who are made in the image and likeness of God (see Genesis 1: 28):

Bodies: Our physical selves, that part of our nature that can be seen and touched, whose actions point to an inner disposition of the spirit and the mind. The physical aspect of our created nature comes from our having been made “out of the dust of the earth” (Genesis 2: 7).

Minds: Our rational nature, the God-given ability to think like no other created beings can, for we are made in the “image and likeness of God” (Genesis 1: 28)

Spirits: That part of our nature that comes from having been created by God specifically and intentionally. Genesis (2: 7) says that God “breathed into our nostrils the breath of life”, and that we became living creatures as a result. Possessing a spirit is also part of having been made in the “image and likeness of God”.

Now, let’s put all of this together.

1. Paul says that each of us possesses a “measure of faith”. That measure of faith was given to us when we became believers. It is God’s gift, pure and simple. In contrast to very common beliefs in the first century (the Gnostics, e.g.) and in our own time today, possessing faith and the wisdom which can come from it isn’t something that we inherently have within ourselves, which we must simply discover. No, faith is God’s gift, a gift we can receive and cultivate into mature living.

2. Possessing this “measure of faith”, we are to use our minds to soberly assess how well we are living up to the example of life that we see in Christ Jesus. This means stepping outside of ourselves to have a serious look back at what we see, both good and bad. The truth is that, if we are honest about ourselves, we are all a mixture of successes and failures where Godly things are concerned. So Paul says, “Have a look, a serious, sober-minded look.”

3. If we have a good, long look at ourselves, we can – with God’s help – amend our lives, casting off the worldly ways (he says, “by the renewing of our minds”) in which we lived before coming to Christ. We are to look earnestly at God’s ways as seen in Christ Jesus, and by doing so, we will be able to discern what is the will of God, and will be able to discover what is good, acceptable (to God) and perfect.

The process leads to true living and true life. To discover what God’s will is, and to apply it to our lives day-by-day means that we will truly live, not in seeking the thrills that this life offers, not in the self-destructive ways that our contemporary culture would like us to follow, but in Godly living, building up one another in the works that Paul enumerates for us in verses four through eight of our reading today.

May we – by God’s grace and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit – come to the fullness of life and living that walking in God’s ways alone offers.

AMEN.

 

 

 

 

Sunday, August 14, 2011

9 Pentecost, Year A

Proper 15: Genesis 45:1-15; Psalm 133; Romans 11:1–2a,29-32; Matthew 15:10-28
This background piece is by Fr. Gene Tucker, and was provided to Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, August 14, 2011.

“A BASIC PRIMER ON WORSHIP”

(Introductory note: This present piece takes the place of the homily text for Sunday, August 14th, being the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. As such, it is printed and inserted into each bulletin for that day, to serve as a background for our Instructed Worship, during which time we explore the meaning of our worship practices and actions that we do during the service of Holy Eucharist each Sunday.)

Definitions

Liturgy: Derived from a Greek word (leitourgia) which was applied to any public act of service. The Greek word itself is literally translated “the work of the people”. Today, it denotes (generally speaking) any formal type of worship service in which a set pattern of events unfolds.

Worship: Webster’s Dictionary defines worship (in part) as “reverent honor and homage paid to God”, and the “formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor and homage”. The word has its origins in Old English, and seems to be a contraction of the two words “worth” and “ship”. So, in worshipping God, we are holding God in high esteem, in high worth.

Goals of Worship

God is the focus of worship: In a real sense, God is the audience for our worship. The congregation is not! We – the worshippers – are the actors on the divine stage, conveying the estimation with which we hold God, the honor we give him, by our actions.

A role for everyone: Everyone present for the worship service takes part in the divine drama. The Celebrant’s role is to lead the drama, much like a director would in a play. No one person’s role is more – or less – important than another’s role.

Worship, not entertainment: We meet to worship God, not to be entertained. For that reason, the music we use, the language we employ, is distinctly different from the music and the language that the secular, contemporary world makes use of.

Worship with body, mind and spirit: We are composed of body, mind and spirit, a unified being. In worship, we use our physical bodies as part of worship (bowing, crossing ourselves, singing, speaking, etc.), we use our minds to grasp the truths of God, and we employ our spiritual inclinations, being created in the “image and likeness of God” (see Genesis 1: 26).

Connecting with the saints: The liturgy that we use has its roots deep in Christian history (in fact, part of Eucharistic Prayer D – page 375 in the Book of Common Prayer – stems from the 4th century!). So, in using these words and these forms, we join with the Church Triumphant – that part of the body of Christ from times past which is now in eternity – uniting our voices and hearts with them in a unified chorus of praise to God. Knowing who we have been in the past makes it possible for us to understand who we are in the present, and allows us to face the future, offering the richness of Christian teaching and a veneration of God almighty as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.