{Due to time constraints and out-right neglect, This sermon is being posted far too late.}
I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ...As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
- Let's talk about the world for a few moments. The world is where we live and work. The Book of Genesis says that God looked at all God had created and found it “very good.” So the world is not a bad place in and of itself. The problem comes in when we add sin, but sin is not part of the world itself. It's been added and it has infiltrated (for lack of a better word) the entire creation. Well, nobody likes to talk about sin, unless it's someone else's sin; then we make movies about it.
- So we can't escape the world and we are part of it. Some Christians talk about not being part of the world. That was how the early monks described themselves, saying at times “When I was in the world...”. One of my seminary professors – herself a religious sister - responded to a young friar who said exactly this by asking him: “So where do you think you've been recently?”
- There are Christians who declare themselves separate from the world and become a society apart, with more or less success. Their aim is remove themselves from all that the world is filled with. It is quite difficult, however, to remove a person from themselves and all the baggage they each carry.
- What Jesus says in John's Gospel is that his disciples do not belong to the world, which is quite different than saying the disciples are not in the world. In fact, he says we are sent into the world.
- Lutherans in general do not have a difficulty with this. Lutheran theology and practise includes engagement with the world. We take part in what the world around us is doing. We find our holiness in the everyday Gospel of living our lives in grace right here and right now. We trust in God's promises regarding what is to come.
- In the world, our role is to be the presence of the Gospel here and now. it can be inspiring and compelling even while it is difficult and troubling.
- We are in the world because there is no where else to live. We are body creatures, created to live in this world. This is the reason we rejoice in the promise of the 'resurrection of the dead' as our Creeds confirm; We are not meant spend eternity as disembodied spirits.
- Still, we all know the tension between being “in” the world and 'belonging' to the world. Belonging to the world brings with it an acceptance of all that the world holds as important - power, riches, status, acclaim, and all those other idols that can be sins against the First Commandment.
- What Jesus calls us to is a very radical life style. Now radicals often have a bad name, since they often make extraordinary demands based on their beliefs. “Radical” comes from the Latins word for “root”, as in the bottom of the plant, the part that holds it to the soil and draws nourishment for the rest of the growth.
- So if we are to be Christians, we are to be rooted in Jesus Christ and draw our lives from his grace. The fruit we bear is this: to love one another. We've been hearing this for weeks (for years actually) and we need to hear it again and again. And we need to know that it is really hard work.
- Last Sunday, we heard Jesus telling his disciples that he has chosen them to bear fruit that will last. Put that together with this Sunday's reading, we see we have been chosen by Jesus to be sent into the world. We are to love one another and witness to the truth of God.
- We might protest that we are not the best people for the job, but that doesn't matter, because it isn't about us. It is about Jesus and the Good News we have been chosen and sent to share.
- Chosen from the world and sent to the world. The circle is complete. Blessed be God forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment