The Gospel for the Sixth Sunday in Easter (May 16, 2004)

John 14:23-29
Jesus replied: Anyone who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him. Anyone who does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not my own: it is the word of the Father who sent me. I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you. Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace which the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me say: I am going away and shall return. If you loved me you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe.

Jesus is here answering one of his disciples, the "good" Judas, at the last supper. The question which he answers is, "what has happened that you intend to show yourself to us and not the world?".

What had happened was that Jesus' trial and execution was about to happen, and Jesus needed to leave some final words of instruction and encouragement. He also described the benefits of believing in Him. Those that don't -- the "World" -- will go on oblivious to Him, while believers will accrue the benefits.

We Christians must certainly appear crazy to the World. We beg for a Peace that yields no relief from trouble, but seems only to pile more strife on to us. When we are Christians at our best, we seem like idiot lightning rods, punching bags, easy targets. I am reminded of the inflatable clown with sand at its rounded base; when struck, it falls over, and then rebounds. That's Christian behavior. That is Peace. William Alexander Percy, who died in 1942, wrote the following words that form verse four of the favorite hymn, "They cast their nets in Galilee:"

4. The peace of God, it is no peace,
but strife closed in the sod,
Yet let us pray for but one thing --
the marvelous peace of God.

The Roman emperor Nero was fond of binding Christians to poles, setting them in the earth, covering them with pitch, and setting them afire to provide illumination for whatever he happened to be doing that night. "A light unto the Gentiles," indeed.

When Jesus appeared to Peter that early morning in Galilee, to offer him and James and John breakfast after a night's bad fishing, he was being more than loving and social. He was reminding them that he had done his part, and he expected them to get on with theirs. He didn't expect them to go back to fishing for fish in a quiet Palestinian village.

He expected them to go fishing for humans, with Himself as the bait, and God's peace as the reward.

The Gospel for May 15, 2004

Matthew 7:13-22
‘Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it; but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

‘Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits. ‘It is not anyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?” --  The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985.

A Study

There are actually two teachings here. The first reminds us that we do not achieve good things without labor, and lots of it.

Thomas Edison is given credit for saying that discovery is all about the word laboratory: 95% of the first five letters, -- labor -- and 5% of the last seven -- oratory. He echoes the sentiments of most people who have worked hard and produced value when they hear those who are always talking about their own value without having produced much.

The second teaching is connected to the first because it, too, concerns the difference between acting right and talking about acting right.

Prophets are those who "speak before" or "speak for" -- sometimes both. Jesus warned of pseudoprophetes, who would have done some wondrous exorcism or such, but who were not speaking for Him or the Father, and who were in fact corrupt and corrupting.

This Jesus spoke with authority, not like the scribes, who could only refer to someone else's teaching as his authority. And Jesus here cautions those who would speak with authority to be very careful; and he cautions us to use great discernment in hearing the words of those who claim to speaking for God.

I freely admit to being greatly disturbed at those who speak loudly and claim to have the only way, the straight way: orthodoxy, as their shield and buckler. The almost neon-sign-like mark of these [usually] men is their frequent use of scriptural citations ripped from various parts of the book with which they angrily thump the lectern, or punch into the air.

It has become so bad of late that whenever I see quotation marks following by parentheses I can almost hear an alarm bell going off. The practice of using "proof texts" is an ancient one. I am saddened because the effort spent using the proof text could have been spent reading the rest of the Bible -- that often corrects the mis-interpretation given by the proof text standing alone.

In fact, today's lectionary selection actually ends at verse 21 ("not anyone who says to me, Lord, Lord"), almost at the end of Jesus' discourse on false prophets. But letting it just hang out at that point leaves the reader at the end of just such a proof text, which much earlier caused Jonathan Swift to pen the words,

“We are God’s chosen few,
All others will be damned;
There is no room in heaven for you;
We can’t have heaven crammed.”

And so I added the next verse of Jesus' teaching, to return context. This has the unfortunate side effect of leaving the reading at a point not so dramatic, but also not so likely to cause misunderstanding such as Mr. Swift's.

Preach the Gospel always. Use words if necessary.

The Gospel for May 14, 2004

Matthew 7:1-12
‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; because the judgements you give are the judgements you will get, and the standard you use will be the standard used for you. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the great log in your own? And how dare you say to your brother, “Let me take that splinter out of your eye,” when, look, there is a great log in your own? Hypocrite! Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye. ‘Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces. ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. Everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened. Is there anyone among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or would hand him a snake when he asked for a fish? If you, then, evil as you are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! ‘So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the Law and the Prophets.

Does Jesus echo Micah 6:8?: ‘You have already been told what is right and what Yahweh wants of you. Only this, to do what is right, to love loyalty and to walk humbly with your God.’

One of my early mentors always asked me if I were doing the right things, or just doing things right. There is a big difference between the two, isn't there?

Jesus manages always to set our minds alight with thought and counter-thought. To do good, or not to do bad. Which is better?

The newest bishop in the US Episcopal Church is the suffragan for the Diocese of Olympia. Her father is one of the bishops who refuses to allow women clergy in his diocese. What is he thinking? What is she thinking? My father opposes my holy orders? My daughter goes against my wishes as a Father of the Church, and her father, as well?

Jesus started with this easy commandment: treat others as you would like them to treat you. He expanded it to love God, love your neighbor. And then, for his finale, he told us to love one another as he love us. In modern politics, they would call this "escalation." Jesus called it the Law, and the Prophets

The first comment below is a "feature" of Radio Userland. It is not contemporary, but left over from a crash. Sorry.

The Gospel for May 13, 2004

Matthew 6:25-34
‘That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and what you are to wear. Surely life is more than food, and the body more than clothing! Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, however much you worry, add one single cubit to your span of life? And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the wild flowers growing in the field which are there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you who have so little faith? So do not worry; do not say, “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? What are we to wear?” It is the gentiles who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on God’s saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’

Yesterday's lectionary reading of Matthew's gospel cautioned us about putting up stores of treasure for the future. Today's tells us not to worry about the most imminent future: tomorrow.

Recall, imbedded in this lengthy section is the Lord's Prayer, which contains the famous "give us this day our daily bread." In Luke's version, that plea follows "Lord, teach us how to pray."

How many thousand times have we had those words course over our lips? Sometimes with meaning, with feeling. Other times as our minds were off on the golf course or the marina or back at home in front of the playoff game on the TV?

These teachings made it into half the gospels! They are canonized in scripture and in prayer. And yet only a sliver of a per cent of us in the United States act as if we believe or are bound by the teachings. In much of the rest of the world, people do count on their daily bread, for it is only daily that the garbage heap will yield another scrap for the children to bring home.

While we count grams of carbohydrates.

The first comment below is a "feature" of Radio Userland. It is not contemporary, but left over from a crash. Sorry.

The Gospel for May 12, 2004

Matthew 6:19-24
‘Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroys them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be too. ‘The lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is clear, your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be darkness. If then, the light inside you is darkened, what darkness that will be! ‘No one can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached to the first and despise the second. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money. --  The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985.

In our case, God demands that He be our sole owner. We may be able to put Him off for awhile -- we often do, to our great discredit -- but we all know that:

The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (Psalm 24:1)

But even churches have pension plans for their clergy. Shall we live so simply that we become wards of the state, living in penury in our dotage? For a slap-in-the-face education, find out what it costs to die. Look at the sales contracts for cemeteries that are owned by churches, and discover the current ecclesiastical charge for "owning" a six-foot deep hole in the earth. Showing the vestry these verses from Matthew will not change their minds.

There are, of course, communes in which we could live. Very few succeed for very long, human nature being what it is in not subjecting self to slave-like obedience to communal rules.

I am still wondering what Jesus means for us to do. My current tack is to avoid piling up more possessions, to be a good steward for those I currently own, and to increase charitable giving. At once I am accused of being a relativist -- by my own conscience!

Hence the dilemma. Setting ambiguities before us may very well be our Lord's best way of keeping our thoughts returning to Him and His will for us. It certainly works for me.

The Gospel for May 11,2004

Matthew 6:7-15
‘In your prayers do not babble as the gentiles do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us. And do not put us to the test, but save us from the Evil One. ‘Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.

 Before we begin to think about the Lord’s Prayer in detail there are certain general facts which we will do well to remember about it.

We must note, first of all, that this is a prayer which taught his disciples to pray. Both Matthew and Luke are clear about that. Matthew sets the whole Sermon on the Mount in the context of the disciples (Matthew 5:1); and Luke tells us that Jesus taught this prayer in response to the request of one of his disciples (Luke 11:1). The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer which only a disciple can pray; it is a prayer which only one who is committed to Jesus Christ can take upon his lips with any meaning.

The Lord’s Prayer is not a child’s prayer, as it is so often regarded; it is, in fact, not meaningful for a child. The Lord’s Prayer is not the Family Prayer as it is sometimes called, unless by the word family we mean the family of the church. The Lord’s Prayer is specifically and definitely stated to be the disciple’s prayer; and only on the lips of a disciple has the prayer its full meaning. To put it in another way, the Lord’s Prayer can only really be prayed when the man who prays it knows what he is saying, and he cannot know that until he has entered into discipleship.

We must note the order of the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer. The first three petitions have to do with God and with the glory of God; the second three petitions have to do with our needs and our necessities. That is to say, God is first given his supreme place, and then, and only then, we turn to ourselves and our needs and desires. It is only when God is given his proper place that all other things fall into their proper places. Prayer must never be an attempt to bend the will of God to our desires; prayer ought always to be an attempt to submit our wills to the will of God.

The second part of the prayer, the part which deals with our needs and our necessities, is a marvelously wrought unity. It deals with the three essential needs of man, and the three spheres of time within which man moves. First, it asks for bread, for that which is necessary for the maintenance of life, and thereby brings the needs of the present to the throne of God. Second, it asks for forgiveness and thereby brings the past into the presence of God. Third, it asks for help in temptation and thereby commits all the future into the hands of God. In these three brief petitions, we are taught to lay the present, the past, and the future before the footstool of the grace of God.

But not only is this a prayer which begins the whole of life to the presence of God; it is also a prayer which brings the whole of God to our lives. When we ask for bread to sustain our earthly lives, that request immediately directs our thoughts to God the Father, the Creator and the Sustainer of all life. When we ask for forgiveness, that request immediately directs our thoughts to God the Son, Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer. When we ask for help for future temptation, that request immediately directs our thoughts to God the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Strengthener, the Illuminator, the Guide and the Guardian of our way.

In the most amazing way this brief second part of the Lord’s Prayer takes the present, the past, and the future, the whole of man’s life, and presents them to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, to God in all his fullness. In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus teaches us to bring the whole life to the whole of God, and to bring the whole of God to the whole of life.

The Gospel of Matthew : Volume. Edited by William Barclay, lecturer in the University of Glasgow. The Daily study Bible series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 2000, c1975.

I am often led to pray for others whose need is great, particularly in regard to health. I feel guilty coming before God's power in my own relatively good health, asking Him to spare someone with terminal cancer, or to give peace and strength to the survivors. It's impossible for us to know God's will in these matters. I suspect that His will is that His universe operate according to its laws, that a brother with cancer might be healed if we have pursued the right drugs or other treatment. Otherwise, that brother becomes one more statistic that motivates us to fund research. He gave us dominion over all his creation; that we have not yet mastered the parts that can run rampant and destroy us should motivate, not cause despair!

I remember a child a year younger than I who missed the first round of Polio vaccines, back in the early 50's, who subsequently took ill with the disease, and has worn braces on his legs to this day. Was that God's will? Of course not.

From intense personal experience I know that God will let us lean on Him when things don't work out our way. He will provide comfort and assurance as we watch the wonders of his creation work toward their own ends, with us a minor cog in them, but with His endorsement to make it better. We seem to have quite a distance to cover.

N.B. The first two comments below are left over from a crash of Userland in April. They will eventually go away. But I have no idea how to wipe them out. My apologies to the original commenters!

The Gospel for May 10, 2004

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
‘Be careful not to parade your uprightness in public to attract attention; otherwise you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win human admiration. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you. ‘And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your private room, shut yourself in, and so pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you. .... ‘When you are fasting, do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they go about looking unsightly to let people know they are fasting. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put scent on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you. --  The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985.

The compilers of the Lectionary snip out the Lord's Prayer, here. If they had not, it is doubtful that very much attention would be paid to the remainder of Matthew 6:1-18! But the redacted verses with which we are left have much meat to them, even standing alone as bookends for an omitted Lord's Prayer.

One of the meanings of the greek word hupokrites is "actor." Someone who is not what she or he pretends to be. Matthew's author here makes a clear and very broad distinction between what we do to be seen as good works, and what we do for our reward from God. It is almost reminiscent of Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage, and all [the people] merely players...."

In a work published in 1903, A. Plummer aptly summarizes vv. 1–18 as follows: “The light of a Christian character will shine before men and win glory for God without the artificial aid of public advertisement. Ostentatious religion may have its reward here, but it receives none from God.”

Almost all Jews of that time conducted themselves as Jesus encourages. For example, in Ezekiel's plans for the Temple to be rebuilt upon return from exile in Babylon, there is a special room for private alms-giving. The idea that "the Jews" were a bad lot is easily mis-read from the New Testament. Almost all of them were quite the opposite.

Jesus was clarion-clear about judging/condemning. He said not to do it. The Articles of Religion of the Episcopal Church are straightforward:

XXVI. Of the Unworthiness of the Ministers, which hinders not the effect of the Sacraments.

Although in the visible Church the evil be ever mingled with the good, and sometimes the evil have chief authority in the Ministration of the Word and Sacraments, yet forasmuch as they do not the same in their own name, but in Christ's, and do minister by his commission and authority, we may use their Ministry, both in hearing the Word of God, and in receiving the Sacraments. Neither is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken away by their wickedness, nor the grace of God's gifts diminished from such as by faith, and rightly, do receive the Sacraments ministered unto them; which be effectual, because of Christ's institution and promise, although they be ministered by evil men.

Nevertheless, it appertaineth to the discipline of the Church, that inquiry be made of evil Ministers, and that they be accused by those that have knowledge of their offences; and finally, being found guilty, by just judgment be deposed.

Gene Robinson has been accused, but no one in ecclesiastical authority is willing to try him as an "evil Minister."

What will Jesus, who Himself reserves the right to judge when he is seated by the father, call the proclamation of judgment in the face of the very Articles of Religion that the accusers claim to support? Are we hearing actors?

The Gospel for May 9, 2004

John 13:31-35
When he had gone, Jesus said: Now has the Son of man been glorified, and in him God has been glorified. If God has been glorified in him, God will in turn glorify him in himself, and will glorify him very soon. Little children, I shall be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and, as I told the Jews, where I am going, you cannot come. I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. It is by your love for one another, that everyone will recognise you as my disciples. --  The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985.

When asked, by some trying to trap him, "What is the greatest commandment?", Jesus answered that this is the first and great commandment:

"‘Listen, Israel: Yahweh our God is the one, the only Yahweh. You must love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, NJB)

And that the second is like unto it:

"You will not exact vengeance on, or bear any sort of grudge against, the members of your race, but will love your neighbour as yourself. I am Yahweh." (Leviticus 19:18, NJB)

But then just before his great sacrifice on the cross, he says:

"I give you a new commandment: love one another; you must love one another just as I have loved you. It is by your love for one another, that everyone will recognise you as my disciples." (John 13:34-35, NJB)

Perhaps contemplatives can succeed in acting as these three commands direct. Living in contemplation of God gleaming on His throne, with Jesus by His side, loving us, contemplatives can fill their hearts and minds with little else, if they choose to do so.

We also have the example of Thomas Merton, a contemplative, who was able to break out of his silence onto the printed page, and provide beacon-like thinking for us. He is among the rarest of monastics.

Yet, in our daily endeavors, we must deal with those who don't care whether we love them, or not. As long as we don't cause them grief, or extra work, we've met their need for our particular contribution to their social matrix.

I have been successful in using click on some occasions: to say "Peace be on this place" as I enter a room, for example.

As hard as I try, it has been almost impossible to click into seeing Jesus every time I see another face. If I could do that, following the second and third commands cited above might be easier.

Then again, I don't think most of us have the courage to follow through on the famous "What would Jesus do?" question. Jesus would not have a bank account, or a fancy house or a car at all. He would take himself into the ghettos and under the overpasses where the homeless people live, and love them and teach them with authority. He would be like Mother Theresa.

In our churches, should we build a new building, buy a new organ, put in stained glass, re-pave the parking lot? Or do we take those funds and endow a trust that provides food and clothes for the homeless? What would Jesus do? If someone tells you that "the poor you shall have always," remind them that Jesus used those words to upbraid Judas because the woman at Simon's house poured out a jar of expensive oil to anoint Jesus, and Judas objected. Jesus' words conveyed the message that the poor will always be around, but that He was to be with his friends for only a bit longer.

How do we love one another as he loves us? Are we brave enough? Do we have the courage?

The Gospel for May 8, 2004

Matthew 5:38-48
‘You have heard how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. But I say this to you: offer no resistance to the wicked. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; if someone wishes to go to law with you to get your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him. Give to anyone who asks you, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away. ‘You have heard how it was said, You will love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even the tax collectors do as much? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Do not even the gentiles do as much? You must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’ --  The New Jerusalem Bible. 1995, c1985. Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y

The last verse has always bothered me. "You must therefore be perfect...." The Greek word used for perfect, teleios, has the concept of well-completed at its heart. Of the aging of humans, it was used to describe mature, functional adults. It was also meant to describe consummate human virtue.

Like so many other efforts to translate well, this translation uses the same word to describe God and man. It is of course impossible for our common understanding in the 21st century of the word to be equivalent to that two millenia ago. But it is also clear that we are not blemish-free or faultless like God. We can make the honest attempt to become to be a person of consummate human virtue, perhaps.

But perhaps the best modern analogy is that we should act like adults.

As someone who delivers a homily (a short -- 3 minutes -- sermon) on that day's gospel every third week, I can tell you that picking even one verse, as here today, and then going after one aspect of that verse, is often excruciatingly difficult. We would like for the homily to be pertinent to the gospel, perhaps even illuminating it, while at the same time being preached with authenticity -- that is, the preacher not only gets it, but is also both with it and into it. And it must be relevant to those hearing the homily, and by God's great grace, it must change them the way that Scripture changes her readers.

The book of Ezekiel, for a long time, was forbidden to be read in its entirety by those under thirty years of age. Whether this is because of the book's somtime's racy content, or the fact that Ezekiel was called by God at age thirty, we do not know. It is an almost impossible read, however, as are many of the books that the Priestly writers "edited."

Just telling people to "read the Bible" will not make them knowledgeable in it, and may serve only to frustrate them and turn them away from all its hard sayings and hidden meanings. Even the best, easy modern translations, like The Message, are still imponderable in many areas.

I think we are all called by the Great Commission to "go forth." As we do so, how can we make the Book of our faith available to the unchurched in a way that is both compelling and meaningful while not being boring and tedious?