This Ain't All There Is

Brad Sullivan
5 Lent, Year C
Sunday, March 17, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City
Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:4b-14
John 12:1-8

Today’s scripture readings don’t really seem all that Lenty, do they?  Other than Judas, there is no focus on our shortcomings.  The passages are about praising God, the wonderful deeds God has done, and the hope we have in the resurrection of Jesus.  Forget your past deeds, great and ill…rejoice in Jesus, in the narrative of redemption, salvation, reconciliation, restoration, and re-creation that is unfolding.

Mary was rejoicing in that narrative when she anointed Jesus’ feet.  She was spending time with the Lord, rejoicing in the narrative of love and forgiveness which he gave.  Some folks say we Christians spend too much time praying and worshipping God, too much time being like Mary, that instead we should take that time to be out serving the poor.  Well, that’s what Judas said when Mary anointed Jesus’ feet.  Jesus’ response was, “you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” (John 12:8)  Jesus wasn’t saying, “don’t serve the poor.”  Jesus spent a lot of his ministry serving and healing the poor.  Jesus also spent a lot of time in prayer and worship. 

Jesus knew that our hope lies not in ourselves but in God.  Jesus knew that if we are really going to bring healing into the world, we must be rooted firmly in God, with our hope resting squarely on God.  That way, when we serve the poor, we can bring healing for the body as well as for the soul.  That healing of the soul is ultimately accomplished by God, and we have a part to play in that healing, helping to heal people in this life, and giving people hope of God’s continued healing in our lives after this life.  Today’s passages of scripture remind us we were formed as God’s people to focus on our hope for life in heaven, to bring that hope to others, and to praise God. 

Our lives unquestionably have a focus and a point right here and now, our earthly lives important in and of themselves.  Our lives are also pointing to something more, something greater beyond this life.  We’re striving for this life and for continued life after this life. 

In childhood, kids are hopefully enjoying life, living each day purely for the joy of each day.  Kids are also becoming who they are going to be.  Generally speaking, the more joyful a childhood one has, the more joyful one will be as an adult.  We’re constantly becoming who we are going to be.  Our lives and how we live our lives are important for the here and now and for continued life after this life.

Our hope for this life and the next life, however, is not placed in ourselves, but in God.  “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.  I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19)  God spoke those words through Isaiah to the people of Israel when they were about to be restored after their captivity in Babylon, and God speaks those words continually to all of creation.  “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.  I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” 

“Forget your past deeds, good and ill, God is saying, for I will make all things new.  I will restore you and heal you.  I will forgive you and love you.”  This is the cornerstone of our hope in God.  As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)

I’ve just begun reading a book called, “Revealing Heaven” by The Rev. John Price, a priest in the diocese of Texas whom I have known since seminary.  In his book, John writes about near death experiences, about people who have died and come back to life or been resuscitated.  Over the years, John has collected over 200 stories of people who have had these experiences, and he wrote the book to describe what was revealed to these people about God, Heaven, and continued life after this life.  John writes:

God loves us and understands us.  God forgives us and redeems us.  God takes care of us, especially in our hour of greatest need.  God is always present in our lives.  We are a soul with a temporary body.  Death is only a moment in the ongoing life of a consciousness, of a person, of a soul. (John Price, Revealing Heaven, p. 17)

Those words describe some of the basic elements of our faith and our hope in God, and yet it is a faith and hope which many people, even some Christians, don’t have.  Kirk was one such person about whom John writes in his book.  He was dying of cancer, and while he was a Christian, he was terrified of death.  John met him in the hospital and shared several of the stories he’d heard about near death experiences:  meeting loved ones, seeing a person of light, experiencing peace, love, and forgiveness. 

Hearing these stories and coming to believe in Heaven changed Kirk.  He became joyful, rather than afraid of death.  John writes:

“It was clear to me that Kirk knew that no matter what happened, God would take care of him.  He had accepted in his heart God’s invitation to unconditional and eternal love, with immediate acceptance into heaven after one’s death.” (John Price, Revealing Heaven, p. 20)  Kirk died few weeks later, joyful, looking forward to his next “Great Adventure.”

Proclaiming this good news so that others like Kirk is a large part of why we were formed as God’s people.  God formed us so that people might not despair out of their fear of death, but might rejoice in the next great adventure to which death is but a doorway.  “For I give water in the wilderness,” we hear from Isaiah, “rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.” (Isaiah 43:20-21)  We were formed as a people to hope in God and to share that hope with others. 

I started today’s sermon by pointing out that today’s passages of scripture don’t seem all that Lenty, not a great focus on our sin or the need for repentance.  Today’s passages of scripture remind us why we would focus on our sins and our need for repentance.  We focus on our need for healing so that we might more fully experience God’s love, forgiveness, peace, in this life and we focus on our need for healing so that we might have even greater hope for a life of love, forgiveness, and peace in the next life.  We’re seeking God’s help so that we might see clearly our hope in heaven, rather than with darkened vision, see only this life and the challenges we all face in this life.  We’re not fixing ourselves to get into heaven.  We’re seeking God’s help to fix us so that we might unreservedly hope in heaven.  Amen.

Economies of Exchange / Grace & Love

Brad Sullivan
4 Lent, Year C
Sunday, February 24, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City
Joshua 5:9-12
Psalm 32
2 Corinthians 5:16-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Did you notice how similar the two sons were in the story Jesus told?  The younger son didn’t seem to care all that much for his father, he just wanted to get as much stuff as he could from his dad.  “Give me my inheritance,” he said.  The older son  seemed at first to care a bit more for his dad than the younger son, but as it turns out, their hearts were identical.  “You owe me and I want what’s mine,” the younger brother said at the beginning of the story.  Those same words, “you owe me and I want what’s mine,” were on the heart of the older brother.  His heart just wasn’t revealed until the end of the story.

The older son seemed to feel he was due a party for working so hard for his dad.  He presumably never asked for a party, nor for the dead goat he so desperately wanted.  He seemed to think his relationship with his father was one of employer and employee.  “I work, and you give me stuff.” 

I think the father in Jesus’ story might have said something like, “Well, Son, I thought you were with me all these years and working with me all these years because you had some amount of affection for me.  I didn’t know it was all so I would give you a dead goat.”  The son seemed to lack love for his father, just like his brother did. 

To be fair, the son was probably spouting off because he was a bit jealous of his brother, but still, he seemed to feel his father owed him something.  “I’ve been faithful to you, Dad, therefore you owe me.”

The Pharisees were the older brother, feeling God owed them something for being so darn religious.  They also despised those who were not as deeply religious.  They had abandoned the image of God in which they were made, the image of one who loves others, and they had replaced that image with an image of one who works for wages. I do this, and then you owe me that.  That’s basically a form of idolatry.  Remember from a couple of weeks ago, I talked about turning God into an idol, worshipping God in order to get something from God rather than out of love for God.

The tax collectors and sinners, on the other hand, having been forgiven of their sins and shown a more beautiful way of life by Jesus, loved God for the gift of love and grace he had shown them.  They had come to their senses like the younger brother in the story.  There was no tit for tat exchange going on.  There was love given by God and loved received by the tax collectors and sinners, who then gave God their love and found their loved received by God

We can look at this story and apply it to any deeply religious person who feels God owes him something for being faithful in his religious observance.  “I haven’t eaten anything all Lent, God, so you should give me something great come Easter.”  Having been faithful in religious practice and observance, some might feel that God owes them something.  We from time to time might feel the same way.  Shouldn’t we be rewarded for our faithfulness? 

“Faith, hope, and love abide, these three, and the greatest of these is love,” we’re told in 1 Corinthians 13:13.  Faith or raithfulness is good, but love is even greater.  We act kindly toward those whom we love in order to love them and be loved in return, not in order to get some reward from them or to be paid what we’re due.   Otherwise what would we say?  “I loved you really well for 45 hours this week; I’ll expect my paycheck next Monday…oh, and I’d like a raise.  You’ve been rather insufferable lately.”

Of course not!  Our relationships are based not on an economy of exchange, but on an economy of grace and love.  Life in God’s kingdom is also based not on an economy of exchange, but on an economy of grace and love.  

An economy of exchange means goods and services of equal value are exchanged.  I work, providing this service for you, and you give me money, or food, or housing, or something else in exchange for my work, basic economy of exchange.  An economy of grace and love, on the other hand, is not based on exchanging good and services of equal value. 

Rather, an economy of grace and love is based on giving and receiving freely gifts of grace simply for the sake of love of the other.  Again, we aren’t kind to those whom we love so that we can get something out of them.  We’re kind to those whom we love simply because we love them.  When we are harmed by those whom we love, as we all will be, we forgive the beloved, giving that gift of grace, simply out of love for the beloved.  There is no exchange of equally valued items.  In an economy of grace and love, there are simply gifts of grace and love given and received freely.  An economy of grace and love is the basic economy of our relationships with each other and the economy of our relationship with God.

The Father’s love in the story Jesus told was based on this economy of grace and love.  He did not love his sons based on how well they did in life or even how faithful they were to him.  The older son was faithful to him, the older was not, and he loved them both equally.  He gave the younger son the gifts of the robe, the ring, and the fatted calf and party, not because he had done anything to deserve those gifts.  The father gave the younger son those gifts simply out of the grace of forgiveness and the love he had for his son.

  So too with the older son, the father said, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.”  In other words, “Son, you are not working for me like a slave, and you’re not working for me like an employee.  I owe you no wages.  I love you, and all that I have I give to you, not because I owe you for your work, but simply because I love you.” 

“Faith, hope, and love abide, these three, and the greatest of these is love.”  The older son was faithful to his father.  The younger son hoped for his father’s forgiveness.  The Father loved his sons.  In this story, Jesus reveals to us our hears, often similar to the sons hearts, and Jesus reveals to us God’s heart, the heart of the Father who loves his children.  “Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sin is put away!”  We heard in our psalm today. “Happy are they to whom the LORD imputes no guilt, and in whose spirit there is no guile!” (Psalm 32:1-2) 

Happy are those who have accepted God’s gift of grace in the forgiveness and love he freely gives.  Happy are those who have come to their senses and no longer demand an inheritance from God, but love God for the gifts already given and seek only to dwell with God and share in his love.  Happy are those who love God and love others not with an economy of exchange but with an economy of grace and love.  Amen.

The Beauty of Living

Brad Sullivan
3 Lent, Year C
Sunday, February 24, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City
Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 63:1-8
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Luke 13:1-9
 

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2)  This was God’s response to Job’s supposed friends who gave him easy answers to the questions of why Job had suffered.  He had been bad, they said, therefore God had punished him.  Jesus was making a similar point, likely in response to the people’s conversation.  They were probably saying that the Galileans whom Herod had killed deserved to die for being wicked, otherwise, God would have protected them.  At the heart of such talk is fear that we might die suddenly like the supposed bad ones, and we feel more secure, assuring ourselves that we’re good and so we’ll be ok, unlike the bad ones. 

Jesus doesn’t let them have such easy answers.  “Do you think they were worse sinners than all others?  No, but unless you repent, you will perish just as they did.” (Luke 13:2-3 paraphrase, NURSIV)  We’ve tried simplifying that answer too.  We’re all going to die eventually, and some faithful people still die suddenly, so obviously, Jesus meant that if you repent, then you’ll be alright with God when you die (unlike the Galileans Herod killed), or if you don’t repent, then obviously, you won’t be alright with God when you die. 

Then, of course, we could really get into trouble, constantly wondering if we’re repented recently enough.  What if I mess up, in some way and then die immediately before I have a chance for repentance?  We could end up worrying all the time about when we’re going to die, hoping it doesn’t come immediately after an impure thought. 

I don’t think a life of worry, fear, and anxiety is quite what Jesus had in mind in the lesson he gave.  Neither did Jesus want us simply to dismiss his words, assuming they were meant for someone else.  The problem with overly simple answers to lessons like the one Jesus gave in today’s reading is that such simple answers tend to leave us either fine.  It’s those other people that need to repent.  Then we find ourselves falling into the same trap as Job’s friends or the people of Israel to whom Jesus was speaking in today’s lesson.

“Do you think they were worse sinners than all others?  No, but unless you repent, you will perish just as they did.” (Luke 13:2-3 paraphrase, NURSIV)  Jesus wants us to listen to his words, to take his words seriously, and to examine our lives.  Where do we need repentance in our lives?  What harmful habits do we keep which we would be better off without?   How are we living in ways which aren’t loving toward God and other people?  Are we who we truly want to be?  If we were to die suddenly, would we be happy with who we are or who we have been? 

Life’s too short, to live it full of regret, wishing you’d cleaned up your act and stopped harming yourself and others.  Life’s also too long to live in constant fear of God’s punishment.  Remember, Jesus, who told us to repent and to take seriously his call to examine our lives is the same man who told the parable of the fig tree, asking for one more year to tend the tree and help it grow.  The Jesus who told us to repent and to take seriously his call to examine our lives is the same man who loves us so much that he became human for our sake.  He lived and died and was resurrected for our sake. 

The warnings and calls to repentance are made by one who loves us more that we can imagine.  Jesus loves us enough to call us to repentance, that we might fully live a beautiful life of love and service, loving God, loving other people, and loving ourselves.  To love more deeply is the purpose of Jesus’ call to repentance.  To live a beautiful life is the purpose of Jesus’ call to repentance.

Jesus came not to bind us with fear or self-righteousness.  Jesus came to set us free, to give us freedom from the darkness of the world, freedom from sin, freedom from fear, freedom from our selfishness, freedom from the ways in which we bind ourselves to darkness rather than light.  Repent, Jesus said, and be free.  Take time to examine you lives, turn them around where they’re going in harmful directions, and live in the freedom Jesus gives to love God, to love Jesus, to love each other.  Life’s too short not to fully love, and life’s too long to live bound by sin and darkness. 

 

The Beauty of Living

words and music by Brad Sullivan

 

Cries in the dark that no one hears,
His weary soul trying to make it through another day.
Tired of war, tired of fighting, time to go his own way.
Heads out to the open plains,
Refusing to live ‘neath another man’s thumb again.
Journeys on as he makes a play for freedom.
Oh freedom.

Chorus

 ‘Cause life’s to short to live with wasted dreams,
and too long to live in fear.
Step out in faith and love,                 
And keep your vision clear.                                       
Darkness can drag you down, if you listen to its call
But the light of God and those you love will guide you when you fall,
And the beauty of livin’ will keep you going on.
The beauty of livin’ will keep you going on.
 
He steers clear of the law’s long arm,
Hauling good across the Texas plains,
And only fights with those who mean him harm.
Made friends along the way,
He’s got a partner he trusts and a hired gun he pays well enough
To keep him loyal, at least for one more day.
 
Heads to town for resupply,
His friends there ask “Are you ever going to settle down?”
“Join us here for a quiet life in town?”
He says, “Friends that just can’t be.”
“Your life, it’s not for me.”’
“Not while there’s prairie sky and freedom,
Oh freedom.”

Chorus

Amen.