Pentecost 15, Year C (2016)

Proper 17 :: Sirach 10: 12–18; Psalm 112; Hebrews 13: 1–8, 15–16; Luke 14: 1, 7–14

This is a homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given before St. John's Annual Picnic at Greenwood Furnace State Park near Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, August 28, 2016.

“FRIEND, COME UP HIGHER”

(Homily text: Luke 14, 1, 7-14)

There’s a wonderful song from the Broadway musical “Annie, Get Your Gun”, written by Irving Berlin and which premiered in 1946, entitled “Anything You Can Do”.

The sentiment of this song forms a good introduction into our gospel reading for this morning, in which a group of Pharisees seem to be jockeying for the most prominent seating positions at a dinner party to which Jesus had been invited.

So, borrowing from Irving Berlin’s song, here is the entryway into our consideration of the Pharisees’ behavior:

The original song begins this way: “Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you.”

Applying the sentiment of these lyrics to the Pharisees, we might say: “Any law (of Moses) you can keep, I can keep better. I can keep any law (of Moses) better than you.”

Applying the song’s theme to their behavior at the dinner party, we might say: “Any place you can sit, I can sit higher, I can sit any place higher than you.”

The picture we have in the gospel accounts of the Pharisees isn’t a pretty one:  They seem to be proud of their achievements in keeping the slightest and smallest requirements of the Law of Moses. They relish their position in society. They make their prayer boxes (worn on their foreheads) broad (the technical terms for these prayer boxes is phylacteries) and the tassles on their prayer shawls long. They love to be greeted by their titles in the marketplaces, and they love to parade around in their long robes. (See Matthew 23: 5, 6 for Jesus’ description of these persons.)

Furthermore, these Pharisees looked down on everyone else who didn’t measure up to their own conceptions of holiness. That would include those whom Jesus specifically named in His parable:  The poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. These persons were regarded by the Pharisees as being unholy people whose tragic lot in life was directly due to their sinful condition. Such persons were to be avoided. For the Pharisees, all of this is a matter of knowing who is “clean” and who is “unclean”. The fear of contamination by associating with or by coming into contact with a person (or persons) who was “unclean” governed their attitudes. Of course, by the Pharisees own reckoning of themselves, they were “clean”, totally “clean”.

To our modern sensibilities, the attitudes of the Pharisees might strike us as arrogant. It seems like their attitudes struck Jesus as being arrogant, as well.

Notice that the Pharisees are going about the business of making a closed circle for themselves. Jesus remarks that “when a banquet is given,” these Pharisees are not to “invite (their) friends, brothers, relatives or rich neighbors.” Apparently, Jesus is exposing the common practices of the Pharisees, who wanted to associate only with people like themselves.

Holy Scripture has a forward-looking aspect to it. (The technical term for this forward-looking vision among biblical scholars is proleptic. That is to say, Scripture has a sense of anticipating what is to follow.)

It is in this sense that Jesus names people who will be invited to come into an ongoing relationship with God through the work that Jesus came to do. In time, it will be the “unholy” ones of society who will be the focus of Jesus’ ministry. It will be the “unholy” ones of society who will respond to the Good News that Jesus proclaimed, those who would come into the Church. It will be those who had the least to lose and the most to gain, that is the poor, the spiritually crippled, lame and the blind, who would be drawn into the Church, where they were introduced to God’s love. As a result, they came to dine at God’s table in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

It has been said that a unique aspect to the Church’s identity and reason-for-being is that the Church exists primarily for the benefit of those who are not yet part of it.

If the Church is to be true to its founding principles, then it cannot allow its members to glory in their own achievements. Here the Pharisees offer us a valuable object lesson. The Pharisees were self-made men. They were proud of what they had accomplished by their own spiritual bootstraps. But the Church proclaims that there are no such spiritual bootstraps, for each and every one of us has been saved exclusively and only by God’s grace, made known in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

So, as God has redeemed us by taking the initiative in sending Jesus Christ among us to show us the way to the Father, so we have received God’s wonderful gift of grace, God’s unmerited goodness toward us, God’s free gift which none of us could ever earn.

So, remembering that each one of us were once the “nobodies” in God’s plan, remembering that each one of us was spiritually “unclean” before God at one time, we can invite others into the loving fellowship that God has offered each one who is willing to respond to God’s invitation.

To do so is to hear God’s words saying, “Friend, come up higher.”

AMEN.

Pentecost 14 - Year C (2016)

Proper 16 :: Isaiah 58: 9b–14; Psalm 103: 1–8 ; Hebrews 12: 18–29; Luke 13: 10–17

This is a homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at St. John's Church in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, August 21, 2016.

“RESTORATION”

(Homily text: Luke 13: 10–17)

This morning’s Gospel reading provides us with the wonderful account of Jesus’ healing of a woman who’d suffered from a debilitating condition in her back for eighteen years. Since the importance of Jesus’ regard for her goes beyond a simple demonstration of God’s power to heal, let’s do some theological work on this event, and for its implications for the ways in which God works to restore each and every human being to an ongoing, vital relationship.

When the word “theology” (or “theological”) gets mentioned, our temptation might be to shy away from the discussion of the event(s) at hand, or to want to move on to some other subject that won’t be so challenging. But, in fact, theological exploration – or the topic of theology – needn’t be the off-putting exercise many persons might think it to be.

Theology can be simply understood as an inquiry into two main areas:

1. What is God’s nature?
2. How does God interact with human beings?

Following up on these two questions, as we focus on the first question, we should notice that the things we know about God’s nature are (often) made known to us by the actions that God takes. (We can see this in our human relationships: We discern something about the unseen aspects of a person, things like their thoughts and intentions, by observing their actions.) So God’s self-revelation forms the basis for understanding something about God’s nature.

The second question has to do with the effects of God’s acting within the realm of human affairs. Put another way, we can ask the following question: How does God’s acting and moving within human relationships change those relations and the actions that take place within those relationships? Sometimes, we might see the effects a bit better by asking the question from the reverse position, asking it this way:  How would events be different if God weren’t involved in them somehow?

Now, equipped with these theological tools, let’s look at the healing incident which is before us this morning.

But we should begin our exploration by looking at God’s original relationship with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, for the pattern we see there will inform our investigation into the situation that the woman who was healed by Jesus faced.

So, in the beginning, God established a pattern of relating to our original parents, Adam and Eve. We can summarize theological aspects of this relationship and the unfolding drama that took place by stating the following:

1. Adam and Eve had it pretty good in the Garden of Eden. They had an intimate, face-to-face relationship with God.
2. They lived in a world that was created by God’s Sabbath rest, for Genesis tells us that “God rested from all His labors”[1] on the seventh day of creation. Adam and Eve, having been created on the sixth day,[2] the day before, enjoyed and knew God’s release and rest on the seventh day. And as creation began to work in the first new week of creation, Adam and Eve’s work of tending the garden took place in the shadow of that Sabbath rest and release.
3. But, of course, all this goodness, their close relationship with God and the relative ease of their lives in the garden, wasn’t enough, for they disobeyed God by eating of the fruit of the tree.[3]

The results of Adam and Eve’s actions were:

• The destruction of their close, face-to-face relationship with God,
• Estrangement from one another and from other human beings,
• The end of their living in the knowledge of Sabbath rest, for their lives, from that point on, would be marked by hardship, toil and tears.[4]

Hold these three points in view as we move forward into today’s Gospel text.

In the fullness of time, God sent His only-begotten Son, Jesus, to take on our humanity to the full.

Theologically speaking, Jesus’ mission from His Father was to restore the conditions that existed in the Garden of Eden prior to Adam and Eve’s disobedience. Put another way, Jesus came to:

• Offer us a renewed, face-to-face relationship with the Father through the Son,
• To break down the walls of distrust, dislike and hatred with divide human beings, one from another,
• To renew the sense of release and restoration that God’s Sabbath promises.

At this point, let’s look at the healing incident that is before us in our Gospel text.

Notice that Luke tells us that Jesus is teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. (Luke does not tell us where this synagogue was located.) As He is teaching, Jesus notices the bent-over woman. Though the text does not explicitly tell us, it’s possible that she was standing within His view, perhaps at the door. Jesus calls her before the assembly, and – most likely – into the building itself. Touching her, He heals her condition, and she is able to stand upright for the first time in eighteen years.

We would do well to examine these things from the perspective of theology.

First of all, it’s possible that this woman had no close and ongoing relationship with God. The reason is that, because of her physical condition, she would not have been able to go into the Temple in Jerusalem. It’s also possible that she would not have been allowed into the synagogue, for she would – most likely – have been regarded as a sinful person. Remember that, in those days, illness and physical deformity was often thought to have been the result of some sin in a person’s life. Furthermore, the Law of Moses, forbade a deformed or ill person from entering into God’s presence in the Temple.

Secondly, this unfortunate woman may well have been ostracized by the other residents of the village in which she lived. Here the matter of who is “clean” and who is “unclean” according to the Law of Moses comes into play…..the matter of who is “clean” and who is “unclean” had to do not only with being able to enter the Temple, but it also played itself out in daily life, for a person who was considered to be “unclean” was to be avoided for the sake of avoiding contamination. So, continuing our theological exploration of the woman’s situation, we see that there were dividing walls of suspicion and distrust which isolated her from others in her community.

The third observation has to do with restoration and release. For this woman, there was no respite from the burdens she bore socially and religiously. Life, for her, was a relentless cycle of suspicion, and of distrust and dislike, for she was an outcast, more than likely.

But, as we see so often in Jesus’ ministry and in the things He does, the walls which divide a person from God and the walls which divide one person from another are breached.

Jesus not only calls this (possibly) “unclean” woman into the midst of the synagogue, but He touches the woman, thereby becoming (possibly) “unclean” Himself in the process, according to the prevailing wisdom of that day. He cures her condition, and explains His action in the terms that His audience could understand, as He links her condition to the power of Satan.

It’s worth noting the release that is given to the woman, for Jesus describes His action in terms of release from bondage. That is a Sabbath release, a release which is given on the Sabbath day.[5]

What importance does this event hold for you and me?

Whenever we read or hear a passage from Holy Scripture, that is a question that ought to be foremost in our minds, for Holy Scripture has a forward-looking aspect to it. That is to say that it’s truths are timeless truths, truths that were as trustworthy in ages past as they are trustworthy today, and which will be trust-able into the future.

Perhaps one way in which this text challenges us is that we are called to continue Jesus’ ministry of restoration.

To do that, we must act – as He did and does – to restore all persons to an ongoing, personal, face-to-face relationship with the Father through the Son. We do this by modeling such a relationship ourselves. We nurture our relationship with the Father through a life of work, study and prayer, these three aspects which arise from a Benedictine pattern of living out the Christian life. By doing so, we can offer by our outward actions indicators of the inward, spiritual grace that an intense and personal relationship with God brings about. This is – in summary – sacramental living.[6]

To do that, we must examine ourselves to see if there’s any evidence that we think and act as those who were present in the synagogue on the day of Jesus’ healing of the woman, to see if we believe that some people are simply “unclean”, people who are forever beyond God’s ability to reach, to restore and to be given a new and holy life.

To do that, we must offer Sabbath rest and release to those who know no peace and who know no rest. Often, such ministries might take the form of addressing physical needs for food, clothing, and shelter, but they make take the form of forming personal relationships with those who are suffering from some sort of an addiction. They make take the form of working to give a single parent a day of relief from the care of children, or they make take the form of offering some form of recreation to a family that wouldn’t have the means to enjoy such a thing otherwise.

The possibilities are endless, if only we will ask God to enlighten and empower us to take up the mantle that Jesus has put upon our shoulders. If we accept this mantle and act upon its demands, then the watching world will know something about God’s nature, and they will know something about the ways in which God interacts with humankind.

May that ever be the case with those of us who claim the Name of Jesus as Lord and Savior.

AMEN.

 ____________________________

[1]   Genesis 2: 2, 3

[2]   Genesis 1: 26–31

[3]   Genesis 3: 1–20

[4]   See Genesis 3: 16–19.

[5]   By the way, it’s significant that the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, as Luke tells it, begins in the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath day. Quoting, Isaiah, Jesus says that His ministry is to “proclaim good news to the poor….to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4: 18, 19)

[6]   A definition of a Sacrament is that it is “a visible and outward sign of an inward and spiritual grace”.

Pentecost 13, Year C (2016)

Proper 15 :: Jeremiah 23: 23–29; Psalm 82; Hebrews 11: 29 – 12: 2; Luke 12: 49–56

This is a homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at St. John's Church; Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, August 14, 2016.

“OF WHEELS AND FAITH”

(Homily texts: Hebrews 11: 29 – 12: 2 & Luke 12: 49–56)

Wheels are a wonderful invention. In fact, our world would be a very different place, were it not for the invention of the wheel.

Faith is a wonderful invention. Without faith in God, the world would be a very different place.

Perhaps the idea may be far-fetched, but this preacher hopes to draw some connections between wheels and faith.

To begin with, a wheel allows all sorts of things to happen:  It allows us to go places, it allows us to carry heavy loads with comparative ease, it allows us to connect with one another in a way that wouldn’t be possible otherwise …. without wheels, we’d be walking wherever we needed to go, or perhaps we’d be depending on an animal to do the walking for us.

But a wheel, by itself, isn’t enough to do these things. A wheel needs an axle around which to turn. An explanation is in order: A wheel, without an axle, cannot steer itself, and cannot go in a straight line forward. It needs an axle to allow it to do these things. (This point can be illustrated by remembering a game that children used play, which used a stick to propel a hoop or a wheel across a yard…the stick – wielded by the child, kept the hoop or wheel going in the desired direction.)

But a wheel needs something more than an axle. If we connect two (or more) wheels to one another by using an axle, we’ve created something useful. But the missing ingredient which is needed to make the wheel (or wheels) completely useful is a frame, which can connect the wheels and axles around which they turn, to a larger vehicle. We can see this point if we look at a two-wheeled cart (a hand truck) that might be used to ferry heavy objects around: The cart supplies the frame which allows the carrying of the objects, and the cart allows the direction of travel to be established as the person moving the object directs. Applying this concept to a four-wheeled vehicle such as a wagon or a car allows us to see the necessity for a frame, which makes the usefulness of the wheel complete.

So these three things – all of them - are essential to make the usefulness of the wheel complete:  Wheels need axles around which to turn in order to provide direction of movement, and wheels and axles need a frame to provide load-carrying capabilities.

OK, so much for a brief treatise on wheels, axles and frames.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the business of having faith, and, hopefully, to the matter of making a comparison of faith to our observations about wheels.

To begin with, it seems as though you and I are like wheels…we can do very useful things for God. In fact, to find our truest and most complete self, we must discover just what work it is that God has in mind for us to do. Like wheels, we can do very useful and helpful things, things that would not take place without our involvement in them.

But we, by ourselves, cannot do the work God has in mind for us to do without some direction. That is where God comes in, for we revolve around God’s central place in our lives. In essence, that’s what the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews is trying to say to the early Christians who received this letter…In so many words, the writer is saying that all these heroes of faith who are named in chapter eleven of Hebrews made God’s call the central-most important thing in their lives, even to the point of being willing to die for that commitment to God. God’s central place – like an axle around which a wheel rotates, provided direction and purpose for their lives.

That same sort of commitment shines through the Lord’s comment that we hear in our Gospel text for this morning…the Lord’s overwhelming commitment is to the work that God had given Him to do. Hear His words again: “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!” Jesus’ entire ministry revolves around the Father’s purpose in sending Him to live and die as one of us.

But the Lord’s comment has a forward-looking aspect to it: Notice that He says that He has come to divide “a father against a son, and a son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” By the time that Luke wrote down his Gospel account (perhaps sometime late in the first century), the early Christians were living out this reality, as members of households and families came to faith in Christ, while others refused to believe. So households and families were divided. As individuals came to faith, their lives took on a new and central focus, and a new direction was established as a result.

In the early history of the Church, individuals who had come to faith provided the basis for being able to do the work that God had assigned to the Church to do in the world. But along with the capacities and gifts that individual believers brought to the Church, there was a central commitment to God’s call and God’s command to live out the faith by the things that the members of the Church did to show forth by their actions the reality of faith that was in their hearts. The Church provided the framework which connected each individual to God, connecting each individual Christian to other Christians so that God’s work could be accomplished.

Little has changed in these basic relationships over the years…the Church still calls individuals into a living and vital faith in Christ, the Church still calls individuals to make God the central reality of life around which everything else in life revolves, and the Church provides the connections – the framework – between individual believers which allows good things to be done in the Name of Christ in the world beyond our doors.

Thanks be to God!

AMEN.