Through the Fire & the Flames

Brad Sullivan
4 Easter, Year C
Sunday, April 21, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City
Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30
   

I’ve been talking in several classes and conversations lately about the lens through which we read scripture.  We could read scripture as a something of a manual for how we’re supposed to live, basic rules or guidelines for moral living.  That’s not bad, but it misses out entirely on God and has no mention of Jesus.  Looking at the overall story, I see the Gospel narrative, the narrative of scripture to be a story in five acts:  Creation, Fall, Judgment, Redemption, and Re-Creation.  The overall lesion that I see taught throughout this story is “Love God, and Love your Neighbor.”  That’s the lens through which I believe we would read scripture.  The overall narrative is creation, fall, judgment, redemption, and re-creation, and the lens through which we read this story, the purpose of our lives would be “love God, and love your neighbor.” 

So then, within that narrative and lens, we heard today this beautiful image from Revelation chapter 7.  “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."  (Revelation 7:17)  This feels like pure Easter joy:  resurrection, and Jesus’ victory over death.  In our Revelation reading, we have this beautiful image of a vast multitude of people gathering before God singing their love and praise for him.  “They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:16-17)

We see in this vision that John was given, the re-creation, the last act of the story.  We see “love God and love your neighbor” lived without sin, harm, and death.  We see a restored creation where there is no suffering, no harm inflicted upon us by each other, and no harm inflicted by creation.  There will be no Bay City summers, just a nice cool and breezy 78°.  This is where we believe all of life is headed, to a restored creation.

Now, in this vision that John was given, he was told that this vast multitude are those who have come out of the great ordeal which of course makes me wonder, what is the great ordeal?  Is it simply death?  Is it some persecution of the church?  Well, in the overall narrative of the Gospel, we would call the great ordeal judgment and part of redemption. 

If you look on either side of this story in Revelation, you find rather terrifying images of judgment and destruction, much of it divine destruction.  Angels bring plague and destruction down upon the earth.  Millions die.  The face of the earth itself is largely destroyed.  That definitely seems to fit the judgment piece of the story, but how do we view that aspect of the story through the lens of “Love God and love your neighbor”?

Well, in Unabashedly Episcopalian, Bishop Andy Doyle writes about the fire of God, the fire of Jesus about which Jesus speaks in Luke chapter 12.  “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49)  Bishop Doyle uses the image of a forest fire.  He writes:

Fire, we understand today, renews the forest.  It builds diversity within the trees, recycles nutrients that lie barren on the forest floor and decreases diseases in plants. It destroy, creates, regenerates, recycles; and in fact, some species depend on the fire to grow new seeds into trees.  This is one of the many places where we see God’s creative hand at work, and we still have much to learn from this process.  What is there to learn?  That we need not be wholly afraid of fire.  That we must respect its power.  (The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, Unabashedly Episcopalian, Chapter Four)

The judgment and calamity we see in Revelation must be read in the context of the full Gospel narrative and with the lens of “Love God and Love your neighbor.  The judgment and calamity of Revelation can be understood like a forest fire which destroys in order to renew.  The purpose is not destruction, but to bring about re-creation. 

Even so, we may wonder, what is the great ordeal?  When will it come?  What will it be like?  Is it every day life or is it some ultimate cataclysmic event that God will bring?  Why don’t we have all the answers?  We don’t tend to continue striving once we have all the answers.  We tend to need some mystery to keep our interest.  Mystery novels are fun to read, trying to figure out what’s going to happen next.  Once we’re finished, though, once we have all the answers, we put the book back on the shelf and move on to something else.  I can’t help but think we’d do the same with scripture with the Gospel story.  If it was totally clear and we had all the answers, we’d move on, eventually forgetting the story.

So we wrestle with the unknowing, looking forward with hope and peace and joy to the final re-creation when God will wipe every tear from our eyes.  In the mean time, if we’re totally honest, the fire is still kinda frightening.  Even if the fire is cleansing, even if the fire brings about new creation, we’re not particularly fond of fire.  Bishop Doyle goes on to write that our natural response is to stand back from fire.  How are we to live then, when, as he writes, our lives are on fire.  There are blazes which can burn us daily.  The world is itself on fire.  There are fires of individual calamity, political unrest, economic woes.  There are fires of terrorist bombs in Boston, fires of explosions in west Texas, fires of murder and anger.  The world is burning, Bishop Doyle writes, and he writes amidst all of this fire:

Jesus walked into the flames to heal the blind man.  He walked into the flames to save the adulterous woman.  He walked into the flames to feed a crowd of people who were hungry and thirsty, to still the stormy waters, to face down death on Good Friday.  Can we follow him?  

Soaked in the waters of baptism, [Bishop Doyle writes] we become impervious to the fire…We know that every child of God will encounter the fires of life:  disappointment, heartache, injustice, sickness.  But we also know Jesus Christ has promised to be with them, always…when we pray for those to be baptized, we are together proclaiming, “No harm will come to you.  The fire of Christ will not burn you but will burn within you.”  Jesus and his church are gathered around us to hold our hands, as we stand together in this all-consuming fire of Christ.  (The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle, Unabashedly Episcopalian, Chapter Four)

Our hope in Jesus is for how we will choose to live in this life as disciples of Jesus.  Clothed in the waters of baptism, will we walk through the world with the fire of Christ burning within us, bringing peace and healing where we go?  Will we walk through this life, unafraid of the fires which blaze all around us, trusting in God to carry us through the great ordeal to the waters of life?

Will we let the lens through which we view life be “Love God and love your neighbor,” trusting in the story of creation, fall, judgment, redemption, and re-creation?  Will we trust in the vision God gave to John, believing in the beauty of the image we heard today from Revelation?

These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  For this reason, they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.  They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:14b-17)

Amen.

 

Resurrection Life

Brad Sullivan
3 Easter, Year C
Sunday, April 14, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City
Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
Psalm 30
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19
 

Today, we got to hear the power of Jesus’ resurrection, the power of the Gospel to give new life where there was death.  From our story in Acts, Saul was a devout Jew, a Pharisee, who was so devout in his faith, that he actively pursued imprisonment and death for followers of Jesus.  Saul was a bringer of death.

Then enter the Gospel into Saul’s life.  Saul met the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus, and while he was on his way to bring and spread even more death, Saul was given new life to become an apostle.  He was later renamed Paul and, as we know, wrote letters to the churches he founded, letters which became the majority of New Testament scripture.  The power of the Gospel is to bring new life where before there was only death.  That’s the resurrection life which Jesus gives us.

Peter was given new life amidst death by Jesus’ resurrection also.  Before Jesus’ arrest, during the last supper, Jesus had told his disciples, “where I am going, you cannot follow.”  Now, he says, “follow me.”  Previously, during the last supper, Jesus told his disciples, and specifically Peter, that they could not follow him.  Peter said that he would follow Jesus even into death, and Jesus responds by telling Peter he would deny Jesus three times that morning.

Well, Jesus was right.  The disciples abandoned Jesus, and Peter denied him.  Where Jesus was going, they could not follow.  Their lives as Jesus’ disciples were dead. In our story today, however, Jesus’ disciples are given new life in Jesus’ resurrection. 

At the beginning of the story, the disciples had already seen Jesus, he had already appeared to them after he was raised from the dead.  They were overjoyed at the return of their beloved, and yet, the last thing they had done was abandon and deny Jesus.  Their life as Jesus’ disciples was dead.

That’s where we find them this morning, wondering what they are supposed to do.  Jesus had been raised, but “what are we supposed to do now?” we find them wondering.  If they could no longer follow Jesus, then Peter decides they should go back to their previous way of life and go fishing.

So, they get in the boat and try to fish, only to find they aren’t any good at that any more either.  Their life as fishermen was dead.  Their life as Jesus’ disciples was dead, then Jesus shows up and gives then new life.  After fishing all night and not catching anything, Jesus says, “hey guys, they’re obviously not biting there; try fishing someplace else.”  Then Jesus gives them a sign of his resurrection in the huge catch of fish they take in simply by trying the other side of the boat.  Jesus shows them new life, from no longer being fishermen who are worth anything at all to being the greatest fishermen ever.  Jesus gives then new life, sharing in his resurrection.

Then Jesus gives then new life to once again be his disciples.  “Feed my sheep,” Jesus tells Peter.  “Feed my sheep,” and “follow me.”  You abandoned me and denied me, and I don’t particularly blame you, Jesus was saying.  All is forgiven.  Have new life.  Share in my resurrection.  Feed my sheep and follow me.  That’s the power of the Gospel, the power of Jesus’ resurrection, the power of new life amidst death.

            Saul, Peter, the other disciples, were all given new purpose and new life by Jesus resurrection.  Saul, a bringer of death was given new purpose as a bringer of light and life.  Peter and the disciples, now crummy fishermen on a very unsuccessful comeback tour, now the founders of Jesus’ church, continuing his ministry of proclaiming and enacting God’s kingdom here on earth.

Resurrection means that in the midst of death, Jesus gives us new life, and it is not going back to life as usual.  Resurrection means new purpose and new creation. 

The vast scope of this cannot be overstated.  In our reading from Revelation today, we heard about John’s vision of the Heavenly court, with “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,

‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’”  They were all worshipping Jesus and his victory over death.

This image helps us understand the enormity of who Jesus is and the cosmic scope of what Jesus accomplished in his resurrection.  Through John’s vision, we catch a glimpse of the beauty of the heavenly court, of the power and significance of Jesus and of Jesus’ resurrection in the vast hugeness of everything.  This is wonderful to see and helpful to understand the importance of Jesus’ resurrection for all of creation, not just for us.  By and large, however, we don’t live in the vast hugeness of everything.  We live, by comparison, simple lives here on earth, and here on earth is where Jesus showed up to bring resurrection life to his beloved. 

The power of the gospel is the power to bring us new life amidst death as well.  We are all amidst death in this world.  Our bodies die.  Our relationships die.  Our jobs and livelihoods die.  Our dreams sometimes die.  Our loved ones die.  Amidst all this death, Jesus comes, bringing new life.

“Feed my sheep,” and “follow me,” Jesus said, and even amidst death, receive new life, new purpose.  Receive back your beloved, Jesus, and be transformed, like Peter and Saul, into a new creation in the resurrection life.  Amen.

                         

Death is No Longer An Enemy

Brad Sullivan
Easter Sunday, Year C
Sunday, March 31, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City
Isaiah 65:17-25
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
John 20:1-18
    

"Do not hold on to me,” Jesus told Mary Magdalene, “because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, `I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'” (John 20)  Do you think Jesus could have stayed for a bit with Mary Magdalene?  She was so overjoyed to see him, couldn’t he have just said, “yeah, give me a hug; let’s talk for a few minutes.”?  Apparently not.  “Do not hold on to me,” Jesus said, “because I have not yet ascended to the Father.”

Even in Jesus’ resurrection, his death still meant a goodbye, although it was only a goodbye for now.  Before his crucifixion, Jesus told his disciples, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3)  In Jesus’ death and resurrection, he was going to God the Father to prepare a place for us so that through death, we too might be with him, our soul’s beloved, and through death, we would be reunited with all of those whom we call beloved. 

Paul wrote that the last enemy to be destroyed is death, that in Jesus, death is swallowed up in victory.  I think of death as having been destroyed as an enemy, no longer something to be feared.  While death is still a less than wonderful thing, not something we would generally wish on people, Jesus revealed death to be a doorway, so that through Jesus, death is not the end, but an entry into continued life with God, Jesus preparing that way for us. 

Jesus had a way of turning things around, didn’t he?  Love you enemies.  Blessed are the poor and the meek. An implement of torture and death turned into a symbol of faith and life.  Through death, our great enemy, I give you new life and bring you to God the Father.  Through death, I will grant you the deepest longing of your heart, dwelling with God, with me, and with all those whom you love.  “Do not cling to me because I have not yet ascended to the Father.  Let me go so that I may go prepare a place for you so that where I am, there you may be also.”

For thirty some odd years living among us as a human being.  Through Jesus all of this was made, and then he came and lived among his own creation.  Jesus loved this life.  He partied with his friends.  They prayed together.  They worshipped God in the beauty of God’s creation.  Jesus created as a carpenter.  He sang songs.  He shared meals with his friends.  He taught us about life, about God.  Jesus taught us about who we truly are as God’s beloved children.  Jesus, our great beloved, lived among us for only thirty some odd years, and we still love him, still tell stories about him, still long to be with him, just as the throngs of people who stood for hours in the heat of the day just to catch a glimpse of him and to hear what he had to say. 

Jesus loved this life, and yet when it was time to go, Jesus said, ““Do not cling to me because I have not yet ascended to the Father.  Let me go so that I may go prepare a place for you so that where I am, there you may be also.”  If Jesus had not gone to the Father, he would have remained as he was.  Jesus left to be with the Father, to prepare a place for us to be with the Father, and so Jesus is still here among us, within us. 

Jesus turned an implement of torture and death into a symbol of faith, hope, and love.  Jesus turned our great enemy death into a friend, a doorway through which we share eternal life with him, with each other, with God.  Jesus, our great beloved is with us, has been with us, and will be with us now and always.  Alleluia, Jesus is Risen.  Amen.

 

Acting as Though Jesus Doesn't Exist

Brad Sullivan
Maundy Thursday, Year C
Thursday, March 28, 2013
St. Mark’s, Bay City
Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Psalm 116:1, 10-17

 

    “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  More than anything else, Jesus wanted his disciples to love one another.  Fulfill the law?  Continue in the appointed feasts and festivals?  Continue in worship and prayer in your daily life?  Those things were pretty well understood.  That’s who Jesus’ disciples were as faithful Jews.  They worshipped God with the appointed feasts and festivals and in their daily life. 

Translating that to modern Christianity, worshipping God with the appointed feasts and festivals and in our daily lives is also understood.  That is who we are as Christians, following Jesus as his disciples in the Episcopal Church.  We live out the way of prayer of prayer and service that we have been given in the Episcopal Church and worship God in the particular ways that are a part of our life in the Episcopal Church, and above all else, as Jesus’ disciples, Jesus wants us to love one another. 

Let’s face it, worshipping God in the Episcopal Church is pretty easy.  It is beautiful and meaningful, but it isn’t overly difficult.  Loving one another?  That’s where the rubber meets the road. 

I was having some conversations with folks earlier this week, and we noted just how often we treat one another as though Jesus never even existed.  We talked about the ways we often nitpick and grumble and often don’t seek reconciliation with one another.  Sometimes it’s over big things and it’s awful hard to offer and seek forgiveness, and still we often try. 

It’s the little things that sometimes get us.  It’s the little things that the Pharisees kept complaining that Jesus wasn’t doing in fulfilling every possible aspect of the Law.  They got so upset about the little things, they didn’t even notice the way Jesus was fulfilling the purpose of the law, loving God and loving people. 

Earlier this week, we were noting how often we also let the little things upset us way more than we need to.  We all do this.  I think.  At least I do this.  I let little things get to me.  Why?  Is that the narrative I want for my life?  Irritable when little things don’t go my way?  Not particularly. 

I’d rather have the Gospel as the narrative for my life.  Love one another.  Forgive one another.  When there is death in a relationship or an aspect of your life, look for and expect resurrection.

That’s Jesus prayer for us, that we allow him and seek for him to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life in every part of our lives:  our prayer life, our family life, our work life, our social life, our worship life.  Jesus’ prayer for us is that his story be the story for our lives.  When we mess up, we seek forgiveness and we give forgiveness.  In our relationships with one another, we seek grace and love, and we give grace and love. 

When there is death in our lives, whether physical death, or a relationship dies, or a path which we are taking in our lives dies, whenever there is death, we grieve the loss.  We mourn the death, but as Jesus’ disciples, with the Gospel as the narrative for our lives, we don’t grieve death as those without hope.  Our hope in death is for new life, for resurrection.  Our hope in the Gospel is that even in death, we can still live out Jesus’ command to love one another. 

That is why “love one another” is Jesus greatest and final commandment to his disciples.  We can’t control when death occurs.  We can’t control how others treat us.  Sometimes, in certain moments, we can hardly control how we treat others.  We can, however, continue to love each other.  This is ultimately how people will know that we are Jesus’ disciples.  That is ultimately how we will know that we are Jesus’ disciples, if we have love for one another.   Amen.

 

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.