Pentecost 16, Year C (2022)

Proper 21 :: Amos 6:1a, 4 – 7 / Psalm 146 / I Timothy 6:6 – 19 / Luke 16:19 – 31

This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, September 25, 2022

“DRAWING US OUT OF OURSELVES”

(Homily texts:  Amos 6: 1a, 4 – 7 & Luke 16: 19 – 31)

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[1] [2](Matthew 22: 37 – 38)

The Lord made this statement in response to a question, posed to Him by a lawyer, about which one of the commandments in the Law of Moses was the most important.

Implicit in Jesus’ answer is that, if one loves God, loves the neighbor, and loves oneself, then our perspective in relation to all three, God, neighbor and self, will change.

Put another way, the change that will take place is that we will be drawn out of ourselves, out of the tendency to be self-focused and self-absorbed, into a wider perspective which holds ever in our minds and hearts the reality that, to live life fully and well, we must maintain a wider perspective beyond the concerns of the self alone.

Or, put another way, our walk with God in this life has as its primary goal the requirement to allow God to pull ourselves out of our own shells.

The essential problem with the ancient residents of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the time of the prophet Amos’ ministry there was this: The rich, idle on their ivory beds and self-indulgent in their consumption of large amounts of wine, had forgotten their allegiance to God and their responsibilities to their neighbors, particularly the poor among them. We might even say that they didn’t have a healthy relationship with themselves, focused as they were on their material wealth and status in society.

Jesus’ Parable of the Rich Man[3] and Lazarus, heard this morning, describes much the same sort of problem: The rich man is self-indulgent in his consumption of large amounts of food every day. He is one who is clothed in the manner of royalty, wearing purple and fine linen.[4] But the man ignores the plight of Lazarus, who lays at the rich man’s gate, covered with sores. Lazarus’ condition has just about hit bottom, for Jesus says that the dogs came and licked his sores.[5]

Though Amos’ mission to the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Jesus’ parable were separated by about eight hundred years, it appears that the problems in Amos’ time were still a problem in the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Indeed, it seems as though they were, for the prevailing attitudes among the prominent members of society back then back then, the scribes, the Pharisees and the priestly class, were self-absorbed. Moreover, they regarded those who were poor, or who were sickly, as being unclean, victims of their own sinful actions. Instead of loving and caring for these neighbors, the scribes, the Pharisees and the priestly class ignored them and stayed away from them.

Both of our readings this morning carry the message that the roles of the high and the mighty and the poor and the lowly will be reversed. (This is a favorite theme throughout Luke’s Gospel account.) The idle rich of the Northern Kingdom will be the first to go into exile.[6] In the Lord’s parable, the rich man finds himself, after death, in a place of torment, while Lazarus is comforted.[7]

Now, let’s return to Jesus’ summary of the law.

Notice that He doesn’t reverse the wisdom found in Deuteronomy. He doesn’t say, “You shall love yourself, your neighbor and God.”

The order in which the statement unfolds is important, it seems to me.

God is to be foremost in our thoughts, in our worship, and in our devotion. Elevating God to the most prominent place in everything we do, think and contemplate is meant to draw us out of ourselves into a much wider and deeper awareness and relationship. Such an understanding is the most effective antidote to self-indulgence and self-centeredness.

It’d be easy to follow the examples of the scribes, the Pharisees and the priestly class in Jesus’ day, ignoring the poor, the downtrodden and the needy, regarding them as victims of their own poor judgment and wayward ways. It’d be easy, like the rich man in this morning’s parable, to look away from the problems of the world and the needs of those who most need our help. Yet, when we ask God to help us step outside of ourselves, we realize that, without God’s relating to us from the beginning, we would be bereft of hope, alone in this life. Our love for others is a reflection of God’s love for us. In loving others, we are conduits of divine love.

Finally, we are commanded to love ourselves. That part of the commandment might seem a bit odd. Love ourselves? Really? Yes, absolutely. A healthy love of ourselves guards against two extremes into which we human beings might fall: An inordinate love of self which leads to self-indulgence on the one hand, and a self-loathing on the other.

If our perspectives aren’t widened and changed as a result of our relationship with God, then something’s missing, something that needs to be fixed. If so, then we’d best be asking God to help us to amend the way we see things.

AMEN.

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[1]   This is a reference to Deuteronomy 6:5, which is recited by devout Jews twice a day.

[2]   In our traditional language (Rite I) eucharistic liturgy, this statement is read near the beginning, and is known as the “Summary of the Law”.

[3]   Somewhere along the way, the rich man acquired a name, Dives, which is a translation of the Latin word for “rich man”.

[4]   In biblical times, purple cloth was very difficult to make, and therefore, it was expensive. Wearing purple was reserved for royalty and for the wealthy.

[5]   In biblical times, dogs were regarded as unclean animals.

[6]   The Assyrians swept into the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC, and carried off many of its inhabitants into exile.

[7]   Abraham’s Bosom was a common way of referring to the soul’s presence with God after death in the time of the Lord’s ministry.

Pentecost 15, Year C (2022)

Proper 15 ::  Amos 8:4 – 17 / Psalm 113 / I Timothy 2:1 – 7 / Luke 16:1 – 13

This is the  homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, September 18, 2022.

 

 “GOD IS ALWAYS IN THE ROOM”

(Homily texts:  Amos 8:4 – 7 & Luke 16:1 – 13)

 

In our kitchen at home, there’s a little sign over the sink which says, “God is always in the room…say ‘hi’.”

One of the challenges of being human is that the temptation to think that what we can see and what we can experience is all that there is to be seen. We might be aware that what we can see might be seen, under certain circumstances, by other human beings. But that’s the extent of others knowing things about us and about our actions. Such a temptation fails to take into account God’s nature, which is to be a “pervading presence” (God’s omnipresence) and to “know all” (God omniscience).

Whatever we do, and whatever we think, therefore, is known by God, even our innermost desires and thoughts. No pressure!

Our reading from the Old Testament prophet Amos (one of my favorites!), and our Gospel reading for this morning, Jesus’ Parable of the Dishonest Steward, counter the idea that God isn’t watching, and that God doesn’t know what we’re doing.

In the time of Amos’ ministry to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, sometime in the eighth century BC, the wealthy and the powerful were oppressing and dealing deceitfully with the poor. Our reading this morning recounts how false weights were being used in business transactions, and how the poor were being sold poor quality wheat. To such swindlers, Amos declares that God will “surely never forget any of their deeds”.

Turns out, Amos says, God was present in all this deceitful stuff, watching, remembering and recording.

Now, let’s turn to today’s parable.

The first thing we might notice is that Jesus’ teaching is directed to His disciples. However, verse fourteen (following the passage we hear this morning) tells us that the scribes and the Pharisees, who were the target of last week’s reading, the Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, were overhearing what Jesus said. So it’s possible that Jesus had some of their deceitful ways in mind as He spun out the tale of the dishonest steward.

At first hearing, some details of the Parable of the Dishonest Steward don’t seem to make sense. (In fact, one such detail, the amounts that the steward reduced from the master’s debts, are thought by some biblical scholars to be the commission the steward got for his work. Given the fact that one of the reductions is about 50%, that seems unlikely.)

Whatever things there might be in the parable that don’t seem to make sense, the basic outlines of the parable are clear. They are:

·         The steward’s dishonest ways have already been discovered.

·         The steward seeks to build a network of future support by enlisting some of the master’s debtors in a scheme to defraud the master.

Jesus’ teaching is a classic lessor to greater model. He says, making a direct application of the meaning of the parable to His hearers, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much.” Seems like the Lord is telling us that the small things matter. They matter a lot.

Why is such a high degree of integrity important. Why is it so critical that those who claim to be followers of God strive for holiness of life (defined as being in a state where our “outsides are matched by our insides”, each side reflecting God’s image)?

Perhaps the answer lies in the sacramental[1] nature of life: What we do, what is observable by others, is a reflection of our innermost self, which should reflect the movement of God’s Holy Spirit to remake us into the image of God.

We would do well to remember that, ultimately, it’s going to have to be the Holy Spirit’s moving within us to effect any sort of change in the direction of being an image of God. We surely can’t make such changes on our own power and initiative (I think St. Augustine of Hippo would agree!)

Our role in allowing such a transformation to occur has to do with our own awareness of the need for change and the goal that God has in mind for such change. We are also tasked with allowing the Holy Spirit to begin and continue this work.

AMEN.

       

       

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[1]   A Sacrament is defined as being “An outward and visible sign of an inner and spiritual grace”.

Pentecost 14, Year C (2022)

Proper 19 ::  Jeremiah 4:11 – 12, 22 – 28 / Psalm 51:1 – 11 / I Timothy 1:12 – 17 / Luke 15:1 – 11

This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, September 11, 2022

 

“THROW-AWAY PEOPLE?”

(Homily text: Luke 15:1 – 11)

Let’s ask ourselves this question this morning: “Have I ever encountered a ‘throw-away person’?”

By this question, I mean that, do we ever think of a person as one who is beyond God’s ability to redeem and change? Such a person might be one whose life is an absolute mess, perhaps due to their own, personal choices along the way of life’s path. Or, such a person might be someone whose views and outlook on life are radically different from our own. (After all, we live in a deeply polarized and divided world these days, a world which encourages us to demonize those who differ from us.)

We might think that those who fit into either of these categories (or others we might think of), as “throw-aways”, people who seem to have no redeeming qualities or usefulness.

The Pharisees had quite a long list of “throw-aways” during the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry: Tax collectors, prostitutes, and other notorious “sinners”.

To these self-righteous, intolerant types, such people were beyond any hope of redemption. There was no way, according to the Pharisees, that anyone who was in their group of “throw-aways” could ever become clean again, no matter how hard they tried, and no matter how much they followed the requirements of the Law of Moses in order to become ritually clean again. They were forever stuck in their unclean, undesirable condition. They belonged on the human rubbish heap. By the reckoning of these Pharisees, no one should care about these “throw-aways”, and it shouldn’t matter if they simply died, for no one should ever even remember that they had lived.

Let’s ask ourselves this question: “Do we ever harbor such attitudes?”

To the Pharisees’ astonishment, Jesus deliberately seeks out these undesirable people. He eats with them, He heals them, He gives them hope and the chance for a new and better life.

Seeing this, the Pharisees said, “This fellow receives sinners and eats with them.” (Remember that, to do so, was to make oneself ritually unclean, unable to enter the Temple in Jerusalem to worship and to make sacrifices.)

The contrast between Jesus’ behavior and the attitudes of the Pharisees might present us with two challenges:

          1.  To what degree are we guilty of some of the same attitudes as those of the Pharisees? After all, one of the images we get of the Pharisees is that they were blind to their own failures and their unwillingness to step outside themselves in order to have a good, long look at their own attitudes and behaviors.

          2.  To what degree do we model our Lord’s behavior, deliberately breaking down the walls that separate one person from another? To what degree do we deliberately seek to bring God’s love and God’s power to change people’s lives for the better to those who would, otherwise, be without hope?

Come, Lord Jesus, and enable us to follow your example in word and in deed.

AMEN.

       

       

         

Pentecost 13, Year C (2022)

Proper 18 ::  Deuteronomy 30:15 – 20 / Psalm 1 /     Philemon 1 – 21 / Luke 14:25 – 33  

 

This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, September 4, 2022.

 

“PLAN AHEAD”

(Homily text: Luke 14:25 – 33)

Most of us, perhaps, have had the experience of getting a new car or truck (or, at least, one that is new to us). And, for most of us, getting that new means of transportation is a major event in our lives.

It’s exciting to get such a new acquisition. But even as we enjoy the newness of that new vehicle, and its shiny appearance, new features, and so forth, two realities are already present with that new possession, things that we must plan for as time goes along.

Those two realities are: 1. Before going on a long trip, we would do well to check the vehicle over carefully to be sure that things that might go wrong along the way are prevented; and 2. As time goes along, and as the vehicle accrues more and more mileage, it will require more and more expense as repairs will have to be made.

In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus issues stark warnings about the need to take a long view of the cost of becoming one of His disciples. In essence, what He is saying is that we must plan ahead.

Our Lord’s warning comes just as this new movement, led by a man of humble beginnings, was beginning to attract more and more people and more and more followers. Jesus, this man of humble beginnings, was becoming known as a leader of people, one who genuinely cares for people (unlike the leadership of the people in that day and time). His teaching was like one with authority. He healed people, and deliberately sought out those who lived on the margins of society (also unlike the leaders of the people)

This new movement was attractive. Its appeal was much like gaining a new vehicle. It was shiny. Its appearance was a welcome change from the attitudes and the ways of much of society. Its features seemed to offer so many things that people had longed to enjoy for such a long time: freedom, someone to care genuinely for their welfare, someone to challenge the deceitful ways of those in power, the chief priests, the Pharisees and the Scribes.

But Jesus challenged those who’ve come to possess this new, exciting movement, telling them that they’d better plan ahead, to calculate just how costly taking possession of this new and wonderful thing will be.

The blunt truth, for those who came to be followers of Jesus back in the time of His earthly ministry, and for us today, is that becoming a disciple of the Lord will require changes. We cannot, if our conversion to the ways of Christ is genuine, escape the need to change, and the cost that making such changes will require. It’s best that we see this reality clearly and plan accordingly.

AMEN.