The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost ---- 29 October 2017 (Trinity Anglican Church, Aylmer, ON)

(Since I'm presently serving a Lutheran congregation AND an Anglican congregation, I thought I'd post both Sermons, especially since the readings and celebrations were different.)

Matthew 22:34-46

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?

·       The Pharisees come to test Jesus, to see if he is ready and willing to toe the line they’ve drawn. The Pharisees – whose name comes from a term that means “set apart”- were dedicated to the Law and Mosaic teaching. They opposed the mixing of Greek culture, philosophy, and thought with the Hebrew understanding of things, as opposed to the Sadducees, the upper-class party of the Temple, who were less strict on this. We might imagine that they were checking if Jesus was an ally of theirs since he was surely no Sadducee.

·       The “lawyer” among them (a teacher of the Law, a Pharisee specialty, rather than a barrister or attorney) asks what Jesus considers to be the greatest commandment. Jesus responds ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

·       We might wonder what answer the lawyer expected. Which of the 613 Commandments of the Law of Moses would Jesus single out as the greatest and the first-est, and best-est.

·       Was this a trap? A test? Or an honest question? Matthew implies it was a test and as I said earlier maybe it was a test to see how much of a Pharisee Jesus was, to see which side he was on in the religious squabbles of the day. Maybe they just wanted to see what his favourite was… like we’d ask what someone’s favourite hymn is.

·       The answer Jesus gives might not have been satisfactory to the lawyer and his crew. What he said encompasses all of human life, whether that would be our life with God or our life with each other. Jesus’ answer goes right to the root of the thing and he even says that On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

·       If the law and the prophets come out of these two commandments, it has an effect on us today. If we don’t love God, we won’t desire to keep any commandment. If we do love God, love of neighbor (and love of ourselves) follows like day follows night. Loving God and loving neighbor fulfills all the command-ments. Every commandment has something to go with either God or neighbor. No killing, no stealing, no lying, no infidelity, no idols, no using God’s name to curse… it’s all there.

·       Jesus also couches his answer in such a way as to remind his listeners of the most well-known and most prayed prayer in all of Jewish life. It is called the Shema, and it is the first and last prayer of the day for a Jewish person. Every person in ear-shot of Jesus that day would know it by heart: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” This was something they all KNEW; it was second nature to them.

·       You may never have heard this story but it has a bearing here. The famous theologian, Karl Barth is said to have been asked what he thought was the most profound of all theological truths. The man was brilliant and scholarly. Still, instead of giving some heavy academic answer using words like heavy calibre theological words or tems that wouldn’t make sense to the average person (or a preacher who knows his or her people, Barth simply said, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

·       It isn’t always that easy. But some days it IS just that easy. Simple and profound truths are often the toughest to apply. ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

·       When I leave here, I’ll be going to celebrate and worship with the people of St. John’s, where we celebrate Reformation Sunday. So I simply have to drop some Luther on you. How about this one. “What is it to serve God and do his will? Nothing else than to show mercy to our neighbor. For it is our neighbor who needs our service; God in heaven needs it not.”

Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? (You already know the answer.)

Reformation Sunday ---- 29 October 2017

Romans 3:19-28

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For "no human being will be justified in his sight" by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. 21 But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; 26 it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.

For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus

·       This wonderful passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us again what we need to know. I say again because we can often forget this and get tangled up in the web of worthiness the world around us weaves.

·       The question “am I worthy?” will tie us in knots and weigh us down, or rather, drag us down into the drowning depths of sin and fear and even despair.

·       Speaking of webs and knots, there is an old saying which you may have heard: When you are at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

·       As Lutherans, we actually have five knots to hang on to. These knots are expressions of what we have received. Theologians call them the “Five Solas”, which we could call the “Five ‘Alones’ ”

·       To list them – although you know them well - the Five Solas are:

ü Scripture alone

ü Faith alone

ü Grace alone

ü Christ alone

ü Glory to God alone

·       Our understanding of what Jesus has done for us is based on “Scripture alone.” In the past, other legends of what Christ had done were found all around. Lovely stories for the most part, although some were bizarre and even frightening. Our faith in God is formed and settled in the revealed Word of God found in the Scriptures. The other stories might be worth reading and they might be enjoyable, but only the Word of God enlightens us to the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

·       This redemption is given to us and is grasped by faith alone. No works of mercy or of religious practice can reach out and take that redemption. As Paul wrote For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. It is by faith that we know and live in the redemption freely given to us.

·       It is by grace alone that Christ’s redemption comes to us. It is not based on our own piety, or worth since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… It is not bought and paid for my anything less than the blood of Christ and it come to us now justified by his grace as a gift… God’s gift is freely given out of the love God has for us, shown in Jesus, and sustained in us to this very hour and minute by the Spirit of God.

·       Where does this graced salvation come from and how does it come to us? Through Christ alone! There is nowhere else to look for grace. The free gift of grace from the Father comes to all through Jesus Christ, whether this is known and acknowledged or not.

·       If all this touches us, our only response could be gratitude. That gratitude finds its expression in praise and prayers of thanksgiving. Whether those prayers are simple “thank you’s” spoken before meals, thanksgivings offered between yawns just before our heads hit the pillow at night, or sung around the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper here at our altar (or any altar) in the Great Thanksgiving, the glory is given not to any human or living spirit of some type or other, but to God alone.

·       Our thanks also finds expression in the service and care we give to our neighbors. We live by faith, and that faith leads us to action. To quote Luther: “What is it to serve God and do his will? Nothing else than to show mercy to our neighbor. For it is our neighbor who needs our service; God in heaven needs it not.”

·       These Five knots in our rope – the Five Solas are pieces of our history. They are also pieces of our present day living.

·       Sola scriptura – Scripture alone

·       Sola fide – Faith alone

·       Sola gratia – Grace alone

·       Solus Christus – Christ alone

·       Soli Deo Gloria – Glory to God alone

·       We commemorate 500 years of Reformation with these principles in the front. We don’t celebrate the Reformation as a finished or dead thing because it still goes on… with these principles in the front. God grant that we might live them out.

For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus 

The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost ----- 15 October 2017

Matthew 22:1-14

1 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, "Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.' 5 But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his slaves, "The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.' 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12 and he said to him, "Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, "Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14 For many are called, but few are chosen."

"Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless

·       How are we to dress for a wedding? I imagine our best clothes for a formal setting or maybe somewhat-less-than-best for a wedding in a barnyard. (I’ve seen both.) It really does depend on the setting. One classic wedding I was involved in saw the groom’s male family members - who had travelled from Scotland – attended the service in full kilt, hose, and doublet. One less-than-classic one consisted of the groomsmen decked out in the jerseys of their favourite NFL teams. (I remember saying to myself “It’s not my wedding.”)

·       So much for wedding clothing… except that it is important in understanding the Gospel chosen for today. The wedding robes, the garment that one guest missed or refused and so got thrown out, were provided by the host. Each guest did not necessarily bring their own. To refuse to wear the robe provided would be a grave insult to the host, who in this case is a king.

·       So commentators find this parable almost unacceptable. The violence involved in punishing those who do not answer the invitation, the violence done to the slaves of the king who go out to remind the invited to come to the wedding banquet, even the violence done to the man without the wedding robe are all rejected as being against an understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

·       Even taking this into account, I, for one, have to say “It’s a parable; it’s a story.”

·       The basic teaching in the parable shows that the kingdom is open to those who were found unacceptable and rejected in the mind of the hearers. Those invited could come to the wedding, but chose not to, and in the story, backed their choice with violence. All their excuses were options, not requirements. They laugh it off and go about their business or they abuse the messengers. In return for their stubbornness, they received violence.

·       The crowds “from the streets” – both good and bad - take the place of those invited first. (Maybe some had shown up; who knows?) They receive their robes and take their new-assigned places at the banquet. The one hapless fellow has no robe; nor does he have an excuse: "Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless. The man finds himself blackjacked, trussed up like a Christmas turkey, and tossed into the dumpster in the alley out back. (I’m taking liberties here, but this sounds about right.)

·       The parable implies that he refused or avoided the robe, not that he missed it. His action was deliberate and insulting. Could we say that he refused to be clothed in grace?

·       Maybe. To support this, we could cite Romans 12:14: Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Or Colossians 3:12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

·       It comes down to a simple question: If we think we are among the unworthy who were gathered into the banquet at the king’s invitation, what do we do after the invitation?

·       Are we to come to the banquet as we are? Yes, just as the hymn says “Just as I am- without one plea,/ but that Thy blood was shed for me” There is a catch to this: Putting on the wedding robe changes the one wearing it. The man who refused to take the wedding robe stood outside grace and could be seen as depending on his own righteousness, to use Christian terms here. To take the wedding robe, he would become someone else, since in the ancient world, you were what you wore. A person’s status, place, nation, religion, and even political allegiance could be seen in what they wore.

·       The clothing I wear to celebrate this worship of God is an example. The basic garment, the white one, reminds us of the baptismal robe of the ancient Church that finds it modern echo in the white garment on the child or the one given to the child at baptism. It is not a priestly vestment, but a simple robe that is a reminder of our baptism.

·       This parable not only proclaims grace to all those who need to hear it – which is everybody, it declares that we should be what we are called to be. In putting on the Lord Jesus, we cannot remain the same; we will become filled with the same compassion, love, and dedication to the kingdom that he has and that he showed in his life on earth. We are to become “little Christs” to one another and to the entire world. In that the entire world can see who we are and what we are about. The very life of Christ, within all of us, will not leave anything the way it was… not even us.

·       And thanks be to God for that.

"Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless

The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost ---- 8 October 2017

Matthew 21:33-46

33 "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, "They will respect my son.' 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.' 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" 41 They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time." 42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'? 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls." 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes

·       Years ago, I heard this bit of cock-eyed wisdom: “God made us in God’s own image, and we have been returning the favour ever since.”

·       I also heard this one: “If your god holds all the same values and priorities you do, you’re worshiping an idol.”

·       The present rarely differs completely from the past. People rob banks… because that’s where the money is. People take other people’s belongings or land or even lives… because what they have is not enough, whether in reality or in their own eyes. Natural disasters will be interpreted as a divine punishment and scapegoats will be found… and punished. We could go on and on.

·       As people, we’ve almost always looked for the easy answers. We’ve looked for someone else to blame. In short, we’ve looked for a way to defend ourselves and our actions from criticism, from confrontation, from change.

·       The officials in charge of the Temple in Jerusalem were no different. The Temple and the worship there were in their charge. Ultimately they saw themselves as being in charge of God’s complete relationship with God’s people. They believed that they were the ones who knew what God wanted and how God wanted things done. No prophet or teacher would tell them what to do. They would decide who carried the Word of God and they would decide what would happen to those who challenged their dominion. They defended the “what-we’ve-always-done” and lauded those who affirmed their status quo as true representatives of the mind of God.

·       Jesus challenged this. He called himself “the stone rejected…” that is now “the cornerstone.” This was not expected. This was not how the Messiah of God was envisioned to be. Since the leadership “knew better”, Jesus and his message was discounted and rejected. Still Jesus quotes Psalm 118 and calls himself the rejected cornerstone, which the Psalm says the world finds amazing. His parable that precedes this appears to be a reference to Isaiah’s parable of the vineyard which made up our first reading.

·       Rejection… it goes to show that people shy away from those things that might require change and that make them uncomfortable. We like to set our own limits and set our thrones up where we want them to be. We don’t like the unexpected. Oh, a surprise birthday party is okay now and again, but things that are truly unexpected often mean bad news, at least in our minds.

·       When it comes to God, the unexpected is very uncomfortable. We want a predictable Deity and one we can completely understand, and, in that understanding, control.

·       Not going to happen. We will not understand, nor will we figure the whole thing out. God will not be put in a box and wrapped up like a birthday present. Grace, which some call the very life of God, will not be categorized, inventoried, and shelved. Our sovereign selves would like that, but we might watch for the opposite.

·       This is the reason for the parable in today’s Gospel reading. The tenants had decided that they really owned the vineyard and they abused the servants sent to receive the landowner’s produce. When the son comes, will they treat him differently? Jesus says no, and with that, causes a lot of trouble. The truth can do that… especially if truth confronts a favourite fiction.

·       Jesus’ recurring theme – that the Son of Man must suffer and then rise from the dead – is not liked by those who oppose him, since it doesn’t fit their version of Messiah and it indicts them. His followers don’t like it either, since it doesn’t fit their version of Messiah either. Both are confronted by the reality of Jesus as a suffering Messiah, an image that is just as hard for many of us to accept today as it was in Jesus’ time.

·       God will be what God will be… for us and for all of creation. Unexpected and amazing, forgiving and merciful to those who have no claim on such a judgement.

·       The unexpected mercy of God, coming to us in unexpected ways. A good thing really, no matter how upsetting. In our celebration of Thanksgiving this weekend, this is something more to be thankful for.

The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost ---- 1 October 2017

Philippians 2:1-13

1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross.

9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

(Should this sermon sound odd in some of its references, it was delivered at both Trinity Anglican Church and St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, both of Aylmer.)

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus

·       Paul wrote letters. I think we all know that. He addressed concerns he had with the various churches he was familiar with. He also wrote to present what might be called his “faith credentials”, such as his Letter to the Romans, written to a church he never founded and did not yet know.

·       What then is Paul concerned about in this letter to the Church at Philippi? In other letters, he addresses problems such as the relationship of rich and poor in the church, or issues of morality. So what is he talking about here?

·       In a way, he is telling the Philippians this simple thing: Be like Jesus. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. The next step in that advice would to ask what is Jesus like and how can we do this?

·       Paul then uses a piece of poetry which many scholars think is an early Christian hymn to tell the Philippians what Jesus is like. We have no idea what this hymn may have sounded like and we’d have to say that the theology expressed is quite profound, taking it far beyond a devotional piece. Who knows? Maybe the Philippians would’ve recognized it and sing along.

·       This hymn addresses Jesus’ origin as well as the depths to which he stooped to become one of us. His birth as a human being is spoken of and more is expressed in speaking of the death he endued on the cross.

·       We are so used to the symbolism of the cross we sometimes forget the meaning of it to the people of Jesus and Paul’s time. As a means of execution, it degraded the one being executed in such a way as to serve as a reminder of how powerful the crucifying power was. It was a sign so shameful that the Christian Church did not use it for hundreds of years. The iconography of Christ as the good shepherd and the “Icthus” fish served to identify Christians and to decorate their place of worship. Only later did the cross come into use as an outward sign for Christians.

·       Paul uses the hymn to retell the ultimate meaning of the story of Jesus, from emptying through humiliation to exultation by the Father. In effect, Paul tells his readers “This is the mind of Christ Jesus. Be this way.”

·       How to “be this way” is not a simple thing, but Paul’s first statement about this hold the key: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. It is a matter of changing how one thinks. We all know how easy that is!

·       It could be that Paul is counseling his readers to develop a new way of thinking. The society around them was obsessed with seeking honours and glory. (Sound familiar?) In light of this, Paul is actually recommending the opposite: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God… emptied himself…

·       This does not come easy and it usually doesn’t happen over-night either. The issue often comes down to guiding true humility through the rocky shoals of over-whelming pride and a self-hating perversion of humility. Real humility is being just what you are and seeing that as a gift from God. As C.S. Lewis put it: “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” (Mere Christianity) In a very real sense, practice make perfect, even when it comes to humility.

·       In his letter, Paul invites the Philippian Christians (and the Christians of Aylmer) to reflect on the Good News and orient their lives on Jesus Christ. The passage we’ve been looking at also takes us beyond this to the point of praise, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

·       Paul then says something that a number of people might find troubling: work out your own salvation with fear and trembling

… To many, this sounds like self-salvation or a righteousness based on works. That’s something Paul would never endorse. We might interpret this to mean that each Christian is to strive to live out their faith, even with a sort of fear and trembling. This may well involve a daily renewal of our baptism through daily repentance. {This is a real Lutheran concept, but it works for Anglicans, too.}

·       The last thing that Paul says in our passage today reminds us that it is the grace of God that permits, propels, and guides us in our daily striving: for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

·       So let’s not be fearful, but let’s trust in the one who humbled himself to raise us up by no less means than the cross, an ancient symbol of pain and humiliation that has become for us a symbol of awe and salvation.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus