9 Pentecost, Year B

Proper 12:  II Samuel 11:1-15; Psalm 24; Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21
A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, July 29, 2012.

“ALL THINGS NECESSARY FOR THE JOURNEY”
(Homily text:  Ephesians 3: 14 - 21)

“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.”  (Ephesians 3: 20 – 21)

This morning, we continue our journey through St. Paul’s marvelous letter to the early Church in Ephesus.  This letter is full of wonderful, mind-boggling truths about the great and gracious God we love.  Its statements lift our heads up, asking us to look beyond the immediate, ordinary cares of everyday life, and to see God for the majesty that is His.  Its statements ask us to recognize the power that is His as well, a power that is made available to us in Christ.

The passage before us this morning has all the hallmarks of St. Paul’s writing style….Sentence after sentence reveals yet another truth for us to contemplate.  The writing is dense and complex.  Welcome to St. Paul’s literary world!

Perhaps it might be best if we approach this text with a common, ordinary image in mind, an image that can serve as our framework for a consideration of what Paul has to say to us this morning.

The image and experience that I have in mind is this one:  Remember back to the first vehicle we were privileged to drive when we were first licensed.  Let’s go back to that point in life.

If your experience is anything like mine, I could count the years, months and days until I turned 15, the age at which (in those days) a person could drive a car in my state.  (I still hear teenagers tell me how long it will be until they are able to drive…some things don’t change down through the years.)

That first vehicle that I drove was a 1957 Buick Special, red-and-white. When my dad bought it, when it was three years old, he had some reservations about buying that car, because he thought it might be “too flashy” for us to drive.  It was a good-looking car, and it was powerful, as well:  One time, my father got that car up to 110 miles-per-hour!  When he reached that speed, he looked over at me and said something like, “Pretty hot car, huh?”

So I knew what that car could do….its large, V-8, high-compression engine[1] was capable of generating a lot of power and a lot of speed.

So the time came when I got my learner’s permit, and learned to drive.

That’s my image.  Can you remember and call to mind your own experience like this one?

Now hold that image in mind, and let’s turn to today’s text….

St. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians (and for us) is that they may receive the gift of the vehicle of salvation, that is, Christ Jesus.  In verse 17, he says that he wishes that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”

At baptism, Jesus Christ comes to dwell within us, becoming the vehicle, the means of working out God’s plans for us as life unfolds.

Having the vehicle is just the start.  Now, we need to realize that the responsibility for carefully making our way down the road of life is in our hands.  We have our hands on the wheel.

The next thing that we’ll need is the fuel that will allow the vehicle move forward through the coming days and years. 

Again, we return to the image of God the Father, the one who has provided the vehicle of salvation, Jesus Christ.  The fuel that God provides is the Holy Spirit.

Let’s see how St. Paul states this reality:  He says that “according to the riches of his (God’s) grace he may grant you (us) to be strengthened with might through His spirit in the inner man.” (Verse 16)

Essentially, Paul is reminding us that it is the Holy Spirit that provides the power for the vehicle of salvation, so that it may negotiate the ways of life which lie ahead.

Reviewing what we’ve considered thus far, we can see that:

·          God the Father is the provider of all things,

·         He provides the vehicle of salvation, Jesus Christ,

·         He puts us in the driver’s seat of that vehicle at baptism,

·         He provides the means to allow us to move forward through life, through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

With all of these things in place, we are now ready to consider the impact of all of these necessary parts  of the journey of faith.  And as we do, we return to the image of the vehicle, the driver and the fuel that makes everything move….

Recall your experience as a young driver….If you were like me, perhaps the  things we thought about were the immediate benefits that we realized once we could set our bicycles aside and get behind the wheel of a car.  We could drive to school, to the store, to the bank, to the movies, to church.  We could go for joy rides or just tour the countryside.  We could load up the car and head off for vacation.

All of these things were benefits to us, the operators of the cars.

But, perhaps as the years went by, we also realized how much of a broader impact our driving had on others in the community.  For example, when we drove, we bought fuel which kept the gas station and the oil industry in business, and that, in turn, offered employment to many people.  Our driving helped and shaped the local economy as we went shopping.  In due time, perhaps it became our task to carry our parents or grandparents to medical appointments, so that their quality of life was improved and protected.

Just a little bit of reflection might turn up all sorts of ways in which our travels impacted others.

What is true in the physical world of operating a vehicle is also true in the spiritual journey we are taking….

St. Paul reminds us of the greater and bigger picture as he says that he hopes that we “may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Verses 18 – 19)

As we make our journey from the baptismal font forward, the Holy Spirit’s presence changes the way we live, and the way we love.  Our love for God grows and matures, and we begin to grasp what is the breadth, the length, the height and the depth of God.  As others see us, they too, catch a glimpse of all those things, as well.  In the process, the course of our journey changes, and theirs does, too.

And along the way, God’s power, which is at work within us, proves to be able to do far more abundantly than we can ask or imagine.

Thanks be to God!

AMEN.

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[1]   It had a 364 cubic inch (CID) engine…in modern terms, that’s 6.0 litre engine.  It had a compression ratio of 10-to-1, requiring high test gasoline.

8 Pentecost, Year B

II Samuel 7: 1 – 14; Psalm 89: 20 – 37; Ephesians 2: 11 – 22; Mark 6: 30 – 34, 53 – 56
A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, July 22, 2012.

“WHO’S IN, AND WHO’S OUT?”

(Homily text:  Ephesians 2: 11 – 22)

 
            Who’s in, and who’s out?

            This question is one that we ask ourselves quite frequently. 

            For example, who’s in the playoffs and who’s out of them?  (Feel free to name your favorite sport.)

            Who’s in and who’s out when it comes to things like celebrities (how do they get to be celebrities, anyway?  Who determines who’s in and who’s out?  Wouldn’t you like to know?)

            Who’s in and who’s out when it comes to our leaders?  Aren’t the polls that we see every week essentially trying to tell us who will be “in” and who will be “out” come election day?

            So, the premise seems to be true:  We are concerned with many categories of who’s “in” and who’s “out”.

            Today’s epistle reading has to do with the question of who’s “in” and who’s “out”. 

            Of course, St. Paul is concerned with the old definitions of “in” and “out”, definitions that applied to the Jewish people (those who were “in”), and to Gentiles (those who were “out”).

            It’s worth reminding ourselves about the mindset of ancient Judaism, which was very much concerned with the question of “in” and “out”.  One was “out” if one was of the wrong ancestry (Gentile), if one was unclean through disease, or through contact with someone who was also “unclean”.  A person was “out” by virtue of sin…..remember that Jesus was often accused of being “out” because He hung around with those who were “out” because they were tax collectors and prostitutes. 

            But Jesus’ ministry had everything to do with erasing the lines which separated the “ins” from the “outs”.  That’s the reason that He chose to associate with the “outs” of the world, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, and others…He wanted to offer them a new lease on life, a new relationship with God the Father, and hope for this life and for the life of the world to come.  Jesus comes, offering hope in situations where there was no hope.

            Now, Jesus’ offer of being counted among those who were “in” with God the Father is extended every further:  This new definition goes beyond race and ancestry. 

            Writing to the early Christians in Ephesus, St. Paul reminds them that they were once “out”…. “out” because they weren’t blood descendents of Abraham.  They were Gentiles, goyim (foreigners) in the Hebrew language.

            But notice that Paul tells these Gentile Christians that Christ Jesus has come to end the separation, to end the alienation from the commonwealth of Israel, and to end their status as strangers to the covenants of promise.

            Paul now turns to an image which is drawn from fortresses and houses….structures:  He says that Christ has come and has broken down the “dividing wall of hostility” between Jew and Gentile.  The reason for this is that Christ Jesus has come in order to build a new house, a “household of God”, a house which is built upon the foundation of Christ Jesus Himself.

            One has to wonder if St. Paul had the structure of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem in mind as he wrote these words.  After all, that ancient Temple was like a fortress, a place of protection where God Himself resided.  It had a Court of the Gentiles, a place where non-Jews could come and enter the sacred space.  But there were limits to the places they could go….there were limits on their participation in the sacrificial rites which took place there, offerings of animals which served to pay the price for sin, offerings which gave thanks to God for His mercies.

            Quite possibly, Paul did have the Temple in mind….For now, he tells us, the old dividing wall has been broken down, and we – all of us - are free to wander around in God’s house.   The old sacrifices are gone, and in their place, Christ has made one new body through the cross….Christ becomes the perfect sacrifice, putting an end to the old animal sacrifices.  Gone are the ways in which people will relate to God, by offering their sacrifices on the holy mountain, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

            Our Lord Himself predicts this eventuality…When He was speaking with the woman at the well in Samaria (see John chapter four), He told the woman that the time would come when people would no longer worship on the holy mountain for the Samaritans (Mt. Gerizim), and the time would come when people would no longer worship God on the mountain in Jerusalem, either.  Instead, Jesus said, the time would come when people would worship God everywhere, and they would worship God the Father “in spirit and in truth”.  It was those kinds of people that God wanted to worship Him, He said (see John 4: 21 – 23).

            St. Paul’s ministry follows in Jesus’ teaching, for Paul became an Apostle to the Gentiles, spreading the Good News of God in Christ to the non-Jewish world.

            And as the dividing wall of racial purity came crashing down, so did the access to God.  And along with the fall of that dividing wall, came also the abolishment of the ancient Law of Moses, with its dietary restrictions and its ceremonial requirements.  St. Paul carried this message far and wide:  All are welcome.  There’s a new way to relate to God.  Jesus Christ has made that possible.

            Well, how do we relate to God today?  How do we ensure that we are “in” and not “out”?

            After all, there are still some limitations, limitations that define who’s “in” and who’s “out”.

            The limitations come from the foundation of this new way of relating to God, the way that Jesus Christ Himself established.  Here Paul reiterates the point:  It is Christ Himself who’s broken down the wall of division, and it is Christ Himself who now forms the foundation for the new structure.  That structure rests on Christ, and on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets who followed Christ’s example and teaching. 

            We call this new house the Church.  For the Church is – at its basic level – people.  The Church isn’t buildings or properties, the Church isn’t institutions.  The Church is people, people who have been redeemed by Christ, people who follow the foundation that Christ established, and which the apostles themselves built upon.

            And how do we know how to rest on the foundation of Christ and His apostles?

            We rest securely on the foundation by resting on the pillars of correct belief and understanding.  Such a foundation rests, most importantly, on the Bible itself.  As Episcopalian Christians who are inheritors of the Anglican tradition, we affirm that Holy Scripture is the primary source of knowing about Jesus Christ, and therefore, about God.

            But we Episcopalian/Anglican Christians also have other tools available to assist us in building a temple, a holy temple, to the Lord:  We have Reason, and we have Tradition, to assist us in understanding what the Bible has to say.   (It was the 17^th century Anglican theologian Richard Hooker who articulated this concept of sources of authority in a threefold form:  1.  Scripture,  2.  Right Reason,  and 3.  Tradition.) 

            We ought to explore these two other sources of authority just a bit:

·         Reason:  Hooker’s use of the term “Right Reason” needs some explanation for modern readers.  Essentially, we might rephrase Hooker’s term and use the term “Common Sense”.  Hooker reminds us that each of us is given the gift to think, to reason things out, and to come to reasonable conclusions about what the things we read mean.  For Anglicans, this gift is quite important, for the Anglican expression of Christianity has always had a sense of moderation about it…As Anglicans, we might ask about any given topic, “Does this make sense?”

·         Tradition:  We also value the Church’s Tradition as a source of authority.  Put another way, we might say that Tradition asks the question, “What has the Church said about any given issue at any time in its history?”  So, as Anglicans, we look backward over our shoulders to see how the early Church Fathers would have dealt with an issue.  We might also look to the early ecumenical councils to determine what decisions they made about the matters which affected them, and which affect us now.

            So the structure of this new house grows into a “holy temple in the Lord”, joined together, each part of the structure doing its part.  As it studies the Bible, as it makes use of Right Reason, and as it checks into what the Church’s Tradition has to say, it remains a solid part of the whole structure, remaining “in” Christ as faithful believers and followers of the risen Lord.

AMEN.

7 Pentecost, Year B

Proper 10:  II Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19; Psalm 24; Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:14-29
A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, July 15, 2012.

“GOD’S GREAT, BIG PLAN … AND OUR PLACE IN IT”
(Homily text: Ephesians 1:3-14)

How important are you?

We live in an age in which many people sense that they seem to have no importance to anyone, and that they have absolutely no importance to God.  The pervasive attitude of many in our contemporary society may be summed up thusly:  I was born, I will live my life (not very well, perhaps), I will die, and no one will remember that I ever lived.

What a sad commentary!

The attitude I’ve just articulated was probably a widespread attitude in the Greco-Roman world of the first century as well, the world that Paul was writing to….Their attitude might have been much the same:  You live, you die, and no one remembers or cares.

But our epistle reading for today, which is from St. Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus, has a lot to say about this sort of helpless, aimless attitude.

Essentially, we might say that Paul is telling those early Christians in Ephesus that they matter to God.

What we are dealing with here is what theologians call “High Christology.”  High Christology focuses on Christ Jesus’ divinity, without ignoring His humanity.  Here, in Ephesians, Chapter One, we have High Christology in abundance!  High Christology reminds us that the Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity, existed before the foundation of the world, before the creation of anything that was made.  He is part of the process of creating all that is, He is the eternal Word which was spoken at creation when God said, “Let there be…,” and his coming to us in the person of Jesus shows the depth and the completeness of God’s love for us.

So, let’s dig into this wonderful, deep and rich passage.

We begin with “beginnings”….In verse 4, Paul says that we were chosen “before the foundation of the world.”  This is awesome stuff:  That God would choose each of us to be a part of His chosen people, before all things were created….from the very beginning!

Put another way, the truth of this may be stated by inserting your name and mine into a blank in a sentence that goes like this:  In essence, God says, “At the very beginning, before anything was made that was made, I knew that you, ___________ (insert your name), would be a child of mine.”  Moreover, God says, “I chose you specifically to be my child, at the very beginning of all things.”

You and I are known by name, to God.  We were known by God from the very beginning, eons and eons ago, and we are a specific, intentional part of God’s plan.

Notice that the action and the initiative are God’s, not ours.  God chose us, we did not choose Him.

Now, let’s turn to the second reality that Paul affirms:  Love.

In verse 5, Paul tells us that God “destined us in love to be His sons and daughters through Jesus Christ.”

The truth expressed here is that God’s destiny for us is that we should become sons and daughters through Jesus Christ.  In other words, we become sons and daughters, inheritors of God’s Kingdom.  Paul will state this reality elsewhere in scripture, saying, “… through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then and heir.” (Galatians 4:6)

The third aspect of our reading from Ephesians this morning has to do with holiness.

In verse four of today’s reading, Paul tells us that we are chosen by God in order that we might be “holy and blameless before God.”

We are called to show, by the way we live and by the things we say and do, that we are in relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Addressing the matter of the work God gives us to do, Bishop Martins recently stated that the idea that we are “God’s hands, to do God’s work, is pure theological claptrap.”  (These are his words.)  I agree….we are not called to do God’s work so much as we are called to be holy and blameless before God, showing by our lives that we are in an intimate, ongoing relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Then, and only then, can we show to the unbelieving world around us – that world that flounders in the restlessness of an attitude that there is not value to life, and no purpose worth living for – that God’s love lives within us, changing our sense of our own worthlessness into an attitude of extreme value and worth….Put another way, you and I matter to God…we matter a whole lot.  We matter so much that God gave His only-begotten Son, in order to offer a new relationship with God to each one of us (see John 3:16).

Coming into a deep, enduring and intimate relationship with God, we can show to the world that we matter to God, and so does everyone whom God has created.

Our task is, therefore, two-fold:

1. To accept our place as God’s chosen people, receiving God’s gift of new life in Christ with humility and thankfulness,
2. To show the effects of that new relationship, which gives ultimate and complete worth and value, to everyone.

AMEN.

6 Pentecost, Year B

On this Sunday, Fr. Tucker was serving as a Deputy from the Diocese of Springfield at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, Indiana.

5 Pentecost, Year B

II Samuel 1: 1 - 27; Psalm 130; II Corinthians 8: 7 - 15; Mark 5: 21 - 43

A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, July 1, 2012.

“BEYOND SELF”

(Homily text:  II Corinthians 8: 7 - 15)

           I hold in my hands this morning a bag of treats that are for our two Cocker Spaniels, Phoebe and Zoe.  I bought them on a whim at the farm supply store not long ago, and from the first time that I opened the bag and gave them a treat, they were delighted with them.  So delighted, in fact, that when I give one to Zoe, I have to be careful to offer them in my open hand.  If I hold it in my fingers, she just might take one or more of them with her in the process of gobbling up these treats.  (She likes these treats so much that she grabs them even more forcefully than she would a piece of meat!)

Now in buying these treats, inducements are at play.  Inducements are things that motivate us to do certain things.

 Let’s examine what the inducements might be that were aimed at me, the owner of the dogs and the prospective purchaser of these dog treats, by the maker of the treats:

            1.  The treats are entitled “Guilt-Free Treats”.  The package says that these treats contain  1/3 less fat (and presumably, other less-than-desirable ingredients, as well) of other treats.

            2.  The package shows a dog, lying on its back, with its paws up above and behind its head.  Well, our Zoe loves to sleep on her back (never seen a dog who likes to do that as much as she does!), but the image of this leisurely dog, living the “life of Riley”, is meant to get me to buy the product.

            3.  The shape of the treats is in the shape of a heart.  The package says, “Spoil ‘em more often”…..Obviously, the message here is that, as you look at the treats as you are giving them to the dog, you are thinking about how much you love your dog.

            So, there are the inducements which are aimed at me, the master of Phoebe and Zoe, and the purchaser of the treats.

           Now what are the inducements that I am offering to Phoebe and Zoe?  Here are some ideas:

             1.  I want them to know that I love them (no, I realize they can’t tell what the meaning of the heart shape is on the treats).

            2.  I want them to be well fed (these treats have 1/3 less fat and other bad stuff in them, right?)

            3.  I might need these treats to affirm good and desirable behviors

            We said a moment ago that inducements are in play here….inducements to get me to do something, inducements which are offered to Phoebe and Zoe.

            Inducements are also at play in our epistle reading, from II Corinthians.

            Here, St. Paul is trying to induce the Corinthian Christians into giving some money for the relief of the Christians who are members of the Church in Jerusalem, who are suffering because of a famine in the Jerusalem area.

            Paul’s appeal falls into two main categories:

             1.  As fellow Christians, the Corinthians ought to be generous in supporting other Christians in their time of need.  This inducement is not specifically stated, but it lies at the heart of Paul’s original instruction to the Corinthians (see I Corinthians 16: 1 – 4) that they are to take up a collection for the relief of others.

             2.  Paul uses the Macedonian churches’ generosity as a lever to prompt (shame?) the Corinthians into giving.  He tells them that the Macedonian churches are not as prosperous as they are, but that, in spite of their relative poverty, they have given generously to the support of the Jerusalem Christians.

            Now why would Paul have to resort to this sort of triangulation, using the Macedonian example against the Corinthian believers?

            I think the answer is simple:  the Corinthian church had a significant number of members who didn’t give much thought to anyone’s needs outside of their own.

            In that attitude, they were a whole lot like my Cocker Spaniels, who think not of me or of anyone, but of their own instincts to gobble up food.

            Our instinctive behaviors exist to enable us to survive in the world….we need to eat, after all, in order to live.  And (going beyond the example of the Cocker Spaniels), there are a whole host of other behaviors which we exhibit whose purpose – rightly used – is to ensure our survival.  We can enumerate some of them:

-           A need for safety and security.

-          The need for clothing, housing, and so forth.
-          The need for social interaction with others.
-          The need to be loved.
 

            These are but some of the basic needs we have, and the instinctive behaviors which stem from them.

            But human beings are a whole lot different than Cocker Spaniels are….after all, a Cocker Spaniel doesn’t have the ability to think or conceive of someone else’s need (not much, anyway).  And where food is concerned, there is only one creature that has any importance at all:  the dog herself!

            Being made in the image and likeness of God, we human beings can discern the needs of others, and we can figure out ways to meet the needs of others.

            Here we come to one of the major failings of the Corinthian Church:  It was filled with extremely selfish, self-centered people.  In I Corinthians (chapter 11), we read that the Corinthian Church’s celebration of the Eucharist had devolved into a self-centered, drunken party.  One group has plenty to eat, so goes ahead, not waiting on others, and gets drunk in the process, while another group has little to eat.

            No wonder Paul has to goad the Corinthians into giving, pointing out that the Macedonians, who are much less well off, have already given generously to the mission to the Jerusalem Church.

            As we turn to our own situation, today’s epistle reading ought to be a reminder that we are called by God to be generous in supporting those who are in need.  Having the vision to see the needs of others, and the motivating power of God to actually do something in response to that vision comes, ultimately, from our own appreciation of God’s generosity towards us.

            Our study of the Letter of James (in a passage we considered this past week in our Informal Discussion Group) states the principle of faith-in-action well.  James says, “If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?  So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” (James 2: 15 – 17)

AMEN.