Pentecost 23, Year C

Proper 25:
Joel 2:23–32
Psalm 65
II Timothy 4:6–8, 16–18
Luke 18:9–14

“BUILDING ON A SOLID FOUNDATION”

(A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at St. Thomas, Salem, Illinois, on Saturday, October 26; and at St. John's,Centralia, and Trinity, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, October 27, 2013.  Homily text:  Luke 18:9–14)

            I am constantly amazed at the great buildings that human beings have created over the years, and especially those that were built in ages past when just about all of the work was done by hand.

            For example, consider the Temple mount in Jerusalem, whose construction began under King Herod the Great in about 20 BC.  The level platform that the Temple itself stood upon still exists today (although the Temple itself was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD).  It is huge!  Its walls stand many, many feet higher than the surrounding landscape, and some of the stones in those walls weigh 20 tons.  All of this stands on a foundation that has supported everything above it for nearly 2,000 years now.

            Those who created this enormous structure surely did their homework when the business of establishing a solid foundation for everything that would be built above it is concerned.  Maybe some of those who worked so hard on the Temple may have thought that it might be OK to skimp a little on the digging that was required to get to some solid ground.  After all, perhaps they thought that, since the foundation itself would be covered over, they could cut corners here and there.  No one would see it anyway.  But, as we know well, a faulty foundation will reveal itself, sooner or later.

            Having a good foundation is at the heart of today’s gospel reading, the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.

            Luke alone passes along Jesus’ teaching to us.  Luke delights in providing us with situations in which the unexpected happens, with situations in which the high and the mighty are brought low, situations in which the little guy comes out the winner.

            The Pharisee in today’s tale has built his spiritual house on a solid foundation, at least by all outward appearances.  Notice that the Pharisee trumpets his accomplishments….He uses the personal pronoun “I” five times.  He fasts twice a week, and gives a tithe (10%) of all that he gets.  Both actions go above-and-beyond the requirements of the Law of Moses. 

            By the standards of his day, the Pharisee is doing very well…he is keeping the Law, but is so careful to build his relationship with God that he takes additional and extra steps to ensure his standing under the Law.

            Moreover, as the Pharisee stands in the Temple, he is careful to stay away from anyone who was unclean, and who might cause him to become unclean, as well….people like the tax collector, who was unclean by the judgments of the Pharisees and others, were to be avoided.

            But as we turn to the tax collector, we cannot help but think that he has no foundation at all upon which to relate to God.  Perhaps the Pharisees would want to have him – and his ilk – banned from the Temple’s precincts altogether.  By the estimation of those who were considered to be holy and righteous – people like the Pharisees – this tax collector is a sinner, pure and simple.  And, it should be added, the Pharisees and their allies most likely felt that tax collectors would always be sinners, with no hope of ever being able to change.  The stains of their sins were so deep that no cleansing agent could ever restore their purity.

            Now, however,  the business of true self-awareness comes into play.

            The Pharisee seems to be quite self-aware.  His awareness looks good, like a wall that stands for awhile, but which eventually shows the faults in the foundation that lies beneath.  The Pharisee is aware of his own outward appearance, the way that his deeds look to others.  And perhaps that is the reason that Jesus often castigates the Pharisees, because much of what they did was calculated to draw attention to themselves, and to create a good-looking show.  Jesus’ words are harsh when they are applied to the Pharisees and their allies….He says that “They do all their deeds to be seen by others,” (Matthew 23: 7) and that they “Are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23: 27)

            So it seems like the Pharisee has been building and building, but has skimped on the hard work of laying a solid foundation for his relationship with God.

            By contrast, the tax collector is doing the hard work of digging to get at the heart of things…he does not even lift up his eyes toward heaven (notice the contrast between the body language of the tax collector and the Pharisee), but beats his chest and cries out, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

            With this prayer, the tax collector arrives at the bedrock of a relationship with God:  It always begins with the confession of our true spiritual state….we are all sinners in God’s sight.

            Once we have arrived at this point, acknowledging before God what God already knows about us, then God can begin the building process.  Notice that God will do the building….anything we might try to erect ourselves will have a faulty underpinning, which is, of course, the Pharisee’s problem exactly.

            Acknowledging our true spiritual condition, absent God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness, allows us to take no pride in our own accomplishments.  It does allow us, however, to see that we have the same spiritual condition with everyone else, for they, too, are all sinners as well. 

            So, as God has had mercy on us, we can, in turn, have compassion for others, as well.  It allows us to live out the phrase in the Lord’s Prayer which says, “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

AMEN.

           

Pentecost 22, Year C

Proper 24

Jeremiah 31: 27 – 34

Psalm 119: 97 – 104

II Timothy 3: 14 – 4: 5

Luke 18: 1 – 8

A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, October 20, 2013.

“AGAINST ALL ODDS”

(Homily text:  Luke 18: 1 – 8)

            Those of you who know me well, know that trains and railroads are one of my passions.  Some years ago, a group of us got permission to run our railroad track cars on the Gettysburg  Railroad, which runs north and a little bit west from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania toward Carlisle.

            While most everyone else brought a powered car, I brought my railroad handcar.  Fortunately, three other sturdy and healthy guys joined me for the day’s fun.

            Once we had all set our cars on the track, we had a safety meeting, and then headed off toward Carlisle.  Since my handcar would be slower than the powered cars, we were at the back of the line.

            Soon, the four of us came to Biglersville, north of Gettysburg, where we stopped for awhile to look at some historic passenger cars that were sitting on a siding.  Once north of Biglersville, the track began to climb a hill.  I didn’t know the line or the nature of the ups and downs, since this was the first time I’d ever been on it.  So on we went, pumping away on the handles, keeping the car headed uphill.

            For quite awhile, it seemed, the track kept going uphill.  Eventually, I said to the other three, “I think this hill will level out just around the bend ahead of us.”  But once we’d rounded the curve, it turned out that the track just kept climbing.

            On we went.  And again, I said, “Guys, I think this hill will level out just around this curve.”  Again, it didn’t, it just kept climbing.

            And on it went…I must have made the same remark to the others in my crew a total of at least four or five times, each time proving that there was more climbing to do.  (None of them, to their credit, said in response to my remark, “Tucker, we don’t believe you anymore!”)

            Eventually, however, the track did level out, but not after we’d climbed for five miles.  Once at the top, I said, “Fellows, I think this track now goes downhill into Carlisle.  And I know that whatever goes down, must come up again…..How about we head back south into Gettysburg, downhill?”  They all agreed that that was a great idea….we’d had enough hard work for the day, and had reached the top of the hill (as it turned out).  So, we waited for the powered cars to meet us, and we assumed the last place in the lineup.  Needless to say, we enjoyed the ride back down the hill we’d worked so hard to climb.

            This event illustrates quite well the uphill climb of the widow in Jesus’ parable, which is known today (generally) by the title “The Parable of the Unjust Judge”.

            Jesus paints a picture of a hopeless situation, one in which the summit of reaching justice seems out-of-reach.  Time and again, Jesus says, the widow appeals to this unjust judge to grant her a righteous judgment.  Time and again, just as her hopes of seeing the top of the legal hill appear, it turns out there is more climbing to do.

            Might we pause for a moment and look at some of the background of the society in which Jesus lived to understand just why it is that He told such a tale?  I believe that a review of the conditions that pertained to those who sought justice in His day will shed important light on the hardships that many faced in that day, time and place.

            A central facet of this story resides in the fact that women in Jewish society 2,000 years ago had no legal standing whatsoever.  It was a “man’s world” totally and completely.  (I can’t resist making this comment:  Isn’t it a good and great thing that this aspect of society has changed!)  So the widow in Jesus’ parable had no ability to go before the court and this unrighteous judge to plea for justice.  Instead, the practices of the day demanded that some male relative make the plea on her behalf.

            But Jesus says that she, herself, makes the plea.

            Jesus’ original hearers would have taken note of this aspect of the story, and might well have concluded that here was an impossible situation, one that was totally without hope, not only because the woman was unable to approach the court, but because the judge himself was corrupt.

           

            But Jesus makes the point that the woman keeps after this corrupt official, pleading again and again for justice, until she finally wears him down, and her request is granted.  She is undaunted, faithfully pursuing her goal, even against impossible odds.

            Jesus is making what biblical scholars call a “lesser-to-greater” argument.  Essentially, such a rhetorical device lays out an easily understandable situation, then draws a comparison to a greater and larger truth.  Here, we see this quite clearly as Jesus makes the application of the parable clear by saying, “And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night?”  In this statement lies the lesser-to-greater argument.

            In a relatively rare move, Luke precedes his recording of this parable by inserting an editorial comment that sets the stage for understanding very clearly the way in which Jesus’ teaching is to be understood and applied.  Luke says, “Jesus told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.”

            Whenever we read Scripture, and particularly the gospel texts, it is helpful to pose three questions:

·         What did the incident or parable mean to those who originally witnessed or heard it?

·         What did the gospel text mean to the early Christians who received and read it?

·         What does it mean for us today?

            In answer to the first question, posed above, we might conclude that the situation that God’s chosen people faced in Jesus’ day seemed to be hopeless….they were under an oppressive Roman rule, unable to free themselves of the yoke of slavery that had fallen upon them as a result.  Moreover, many people in Jesus’ day suffered under the corrupt leadership of their own people:  the Sanhedrin, its priestly caste, and the scribes and the Pharisees, all seemed much more interested in taking care of their own welfare, rather than seeing to the welfare of the people.  At one point, Jesus laments that God’s chosen people were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9: 36).  And to those people and to that seemingly hopeless situation, Jesus may well have been saying, “Hang in there, keep praying, keep climbing.”

            By the time that Luke is writing down his gospel account, perhaps late in the first century in the time frame of the years 80 – 90 AD, the early Church had begun to experience brutal persecution.  The first organized persecution of Christian believers took place in the year 64 AD under the Emperor Nero.  It was at that time, traditional tells us, that Saints Peter and Paul were martyred.  As the next 25 or so years unfold, most of the original disciples-become-apostles were no longer living.  Most of them, tradition tells us, were also martyred.  These early Christian believers may have concluded that their lot was a hard one from the perspective of the Roman government’s attitudes and behavior toward them.  But then, when they surveyed the pagan landscape of the society in which they found themselves, there seemed to be little or no hope that those who practiced all sorts of pagan ways would ever come to faith in Jesus Christ.  The churches in those days were small and seemingly insignificant.  But to them, Jesus’ parable says, “Hang in there, keep praying, keep climbing.”

            And what of us, Christian believers in the contemporary world?  Much of what I have said in the preceding paragraph could easily apply to us, just as it did to the Christians of the late first century to whom Luke was writing….our culture is beginning to mirror the pagan ways of the Roman Empire, more and more as time goes along.  The Church is smaller now than it was in days gone by, and its influence seems to be relegated to the sidelines of society.  Attitudes of many in power now seem bent on limiting Christian expressions of faith, while other voices are tolerated and even encouraged.  Ours might seem like a hopeless situation, an impossible uphill climb.  And yet, to us, Jesus says, “Hang in there, keep praying, keep climbing.”

            To those who heard Jesus teach, those who came to Him in faith were rewarded with a new and full life in God.  To those who were descendents of Jesus’ original hearers, an end to Roman rule eventually came.  To those early Christians who read Luke’s gospel account, in time the Roman Empire would, itself, become Christian.  In each of these cases, faithful living, faithful praying, even against impossible odds, bore good fruit. 

            If we are faithful in prayer and in living, God will honor our faithful praying and faithful living.  He will honor our prayers and lifestyle in His own time, and in His own way.

            And so, Jesus’ question applies to us, just as it did to earlier believers:  “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

                       

Pentecost 21, Year C

Proper 23

Jeremiah 29: 1, 4 – 7

Psalm 66: 1 – 11

II Timothy 2: 8 – 15

Luke 17: 11 – 19

A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois on Sunday, October 13, 2013.

“THE INGREDIENTS OF A WELL-ROUNDED SPIRITUAL LIFE”

(Homily text:  Luke 17: 11 – 19)

            Social scientists tell us that having relationships with other human beings is an essential part of being able to live a healthy life.

            What is true in the everyday realm of being human is also true of our relationship to God….we need to be in relationship with the Lord.  We were created and designed to be in relationship with Him.

            In today’s gospel, we find all the ingredients that are necessary for having a well-rounded and healthy spiritual life.  The three key points that arise out of Jesus’ encounter with the ten men who had leprosy are:

• An expression of human need

• A test of faith (and a faithful, obedient response)

• Giving thanks

            As we turn to the text, we see that Jesus is making His way from Galilee, which is located in the northern part of the Holy Land, southward toward Jerusalem.  Luke tells us that He is now in the area near the border between Galilee and Samaria.

            As He nears a village, the ten men call out to Him from a distance:  “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

            Then, in response, Jesus tells the ten men to go and show themselves to the priest.  As they are on their way, they are cleansed of their disease.  But only one – the one we least expect – the Samaritan man, returns to give God thanks for his healing.

            Those are the essential parts of the incident.

            Now, we ought to unpack the details just a bit….

            First of all, we would do well to remember that, in ancient times among the Jews, anyone who developed a serious skin condition[1] was considered, under the provisions of the Law of Moses, to be ritually unclean[2].  So strong was the concern that some sort of a contagious disease might be spread by contact with others, that the Mosaic Law required that such persons be separated from society.  They lost much of their contact with their families, their communities, and the community of faith.

            Of course, economically, the impact on such persons’ lives was also enormous.  In fact, some scholars wonder if the ten men’s call to Jesus, that He would have mercy on them, wasn’t a plea for some sort of a handout.

            At any rate, though Luke doesn’t tell us so, it’s possible that the ten men had heard of Jesus and of the miraculous healings that He had been doing.  We don’t know that for sure.

            But what we can be sure of is the fact that these men recognized that Jesus could help them somehow, and so they make their request of the Lord.

            So much for the first of our three points:  The existence of need in our lives.

            Now, let’s turn to the second point, that of Jesus’ test of these men’s faith.

            The Lord says to the men:  “Go, show yourselves to the priest.”

            At first hearing, that command might not prompt much further reflection.  But Jesus’ statement does a couple of things:  For one thing, it shows that Jesus is operating within the requirements of the Law, for the Law demanded that anyone who had become diseased, and who was ritually unclean as a result, had to go and show themselves to the local priest, who was the one who had the authority to declare that they had been healed of their condition, and could be restored to the community and to the household of faith.  For another, we notice that the ten men obeyed the Lord’s command, taking off to see the priest.  But notice that Luke specifically tells us that, “As they went, they were made clean.”  Examining this statement carefully, we see that the ten men left without evidence that they were no longer afflicted with whatever condition they had had.  Their healing took place once they had started on their way to see the priest.

            Now, we come to the third point, the one about giving thanks to God.

            Only the Samaritan, the one we least expect to “get it right”, is the one who comes back to the Lord to give thanks for his restoration and healing.

            Now, let’s make some application to our lives of faith, taking these three points in order, one by one….

            First of all, most people recognize – at one time or another in their lives – that they have a need (or needs) that God alone can address.  As we used to say in the Army, “There are no atheists in foxholes.”  Difficult situations and circumstances can prompt most people to offer a prayer to God for help.  As we turn back to our reading for today, we can see that the ten men who approached the Lord were in very difficult circumstances.

            But the truth probably is that many people treat God like some divine ATM machine.  I don’t mean any disrespect for Almighty God, but offer this analogy as a way for us to think about the treatment that God often receives….many people think that they can demand something of God, and once they get it, they move on with their lives.  This, of course, was the response – most likely – of the nine men who didn’t come back to thank the Lord for what He had done.

            Is this not so?

            But many times, when we utter our prayer to God for help, the Lord will insert some sort of a test of our faith and of our faithfulness.

            Here, a human response to God is required.  Relating to God means that communication is a two-way street…..we offer our prayers to God, but also demonstrate in some way that we have faith that He can help us.

            The human response isn’t complete until we offer our thanks for what God has done.  We offer thanks even if the Lord’s answer isn’t exactly what we had in mind.  (Remember that it’s possible that the ten lepers were asking the Lord for money…what the Lord granted them was far more beneficial than a handout.)

            Now, in today’s incident, the three points unfold as I have listed them above:  expression of need, an obedient response to a test of faith, and the giving of thanks.

            But many times, the process may be reversed, with our thanksgivings coming first, to be followed by faithful believing and living, to be followed, finally, by our expression of the needs that lie in life’s pathway.

            No matter, however, what the sequence of these three necessary ingredients for a healthy and well-rounded spiritual life is, all three must be present for us to maintain a healthy walk with God.

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[1]   Leprosy in the Bible was not confined to what is known today as Hanson’s Disease, but the term, biblically, referred to a wide range of skin disorders.

[2]  Notice that Luke tells us that, as the ten men went their way, they were made “clean”.  Luke doesn’t say that they were healed, which, of course, they were.  Luke is referring to their condition with regard to being able to be a part of the community, and of the community of faith.