Sermon Archive
Readings for 26 August 07
Proper 16
Year C
Isaiah 28:14-22
Hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through
it will not come to us;
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter";
therefore thus says the Lord GOD,
See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation:
"One who trusts will not panic."
And I will make justice the line,
and righteousness the plummet;
hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.
Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through
you will be beaten down by it.
As often as it passes through, it will take you;
for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.
For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it.
For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim,
he will rage as in the valley of Gibeon;
to do his deed-- strange is his deed!
and to work his work-- alien is his work!
Now therefore do not scoff,
or your bonds will be made stronger;
for I have heard a decree of destruction
from the Lord GOD of hosts upon the whole land.
Hebrews 12:18-19,22-29
You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! At that time his voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken-- that is, created things-- so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe; for indeed our God is a consuming fire.
Luke 13:22-30
Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few be saved?" He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, `Lord, open to us,' then in reply he will say to you, `I do not know where you come from.' Then you will begin to say, `We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' But he will say, `I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!' There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out. Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. Indeed, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."
Sermon
The Rev. Jack Zamboni
Today’s Scriptures have two things in common with each other – but those two things are very different from each other. First, each offers words of strong assurance and joyful grace.
From Isaiah:
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD,
See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation:
"One who trusts will not panic."
From Psalm 46:
The LORD of hosts is with us; * the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
From the Letter to the Hebrews:
You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, … [and] are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
And from Luke:
People will come from east and west, from north and south and will eat in the kingdom of God.
What a set of promises! What a collection of good news!
A foundation stone of trust which removes all panic;
a God who is with us as refuge and stronghold;
an invitation to the City of God and the gift of an unshakeable kingdom;
the vision of the messianic banquet to which the breadth of humanity is invited.
This is wonderful stuff! -- a secure foundation we can build our lives on; a Protector who guards us; a hope we can lives our lives towards. God’s love for us and generosity toward us rings through all these promises.
Yet coupled with them – indeed, often overpowering them in these texts, are words of judgment and warning.
From Isaiah:
When the overwhelming scourge passes through you will be beaten down by it.
As often as it passes through, it will take you;
for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night;
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.
From Psalm 46:
Be still and know that I am God.
From Hebrews:
See that you do not refuse the One who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the One who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the One who warns from heaven!
And from Luke:
Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.
How utterly different these words are from those just a few verses away – harsh words, not gracious; frightening words, not hopeful.
A threat of destruction;
a stern call to silence in God’s presence;
a solemn warning to obey the heavenly voice;
an urgent summons to strive to enter the narrow door, lest we be shut out of the Kingdom.
This is tough stuff; it challenges our confidence and disturbs our hope.
What are we to make of the juxtaposition of these strong contrasts in these biblical texts? How do words of protection and hope go together with words of judgment and warning? What do they have to do with each other, not just in the writers’ minds, but more importantly, in our lives?
The answer is simple and fairly simply stated, if not simple to live.
The first set of words I quoted – God’s gift of a secure foundation stone and the assurance that God is our stronghold; the promise of an unshakeable Kingdom and the vision of its banquet -- these are extraordinary graces, life-giving pledges from God; commitments from God to be there for us and with us in our need and for our joy.
If they are true, these are the most important words in the world. They promise to give direction, purpose and security to our loves. And because they are so important, these gifts and promises deserve nothing less than our whole-hearted response. God has offered us fullness of life; in turn, we need to embrace the gift of the fullness of ourselves. We need to take God’s extraordinary commitment to us seriously. God’s gifts to us matter. In our response, the very wholeness of our lives is at stake
The stern words of judgment and warning, the urgent summons to enter by the narrow door -- these challenging words are there to tell us just how much what God has given matters, how seriously we are to take God’s promises. Life with God is not to be taken lightly, tossed off, trivialized. If we do, we are warned, the cost may be great.
Isaiah’s words of judgment are said to the scoffers in Israel who say they can get along quite well without taking God seriously, thank you very much. The author of Hebrews warns a lackadaisical congregation that having been given greater gifts than their ancestors in faith, a greater response of faithfulness is required – or else. Jesus tells his hearers that people who presume they will feast at the messianic banquet risk finding themselves looking in from the outside unless they strive with all their might to enter by the narrow door.
That God’s gifts are so rich, so precious, is exactly why we must respond with the commitment of our hearts and our lives. As one commentator on Isaiah puts it: “[The foundation stone] is a symbol of assurance of the good news of god’s presence. But at the same time the good news is a test. The people are called to respond … to this good news [by trusting] in God and living according to justice and righteousness.” i Only so will their response be commensurate with the good news they have been given.
Similarly, a commentator on the Gospel writes, “Strive [to enter by the narrow door] as one who does not presume on God’s grace. Strive as though admission to the Kingdom depended entirely on your own doing, but know it depends utterly on God’s grace.” ii The messianic banquet is coming – and it is worth so much that it deserves every effort on your part to get into the banquet hall.
As I will pray on our behalf shortly: “Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this table for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only and not for renewal. Let the grace of this Holy Communion make us one body, one spirit in Christ, that we may worthily serve the world in his name.”iii
I would put it yet more simply: In the words of the Psalmist, we are to know that God is God. God is not to be played with and life with God is not to be played at. God and life with God are far too important; the stakes are too high.
In Christ, God has given us everything -- but only by embracing that gift with the whole of our lives can we reap the fullness of what God is giving us. Christian life is a serious – though also joyful – thing. It is not something to be tried on for an hour or two on Sunday morning and put aside for the rest of the week. God’s claim is on the whole of our lives – family, work, time, money. As Jesus taught elsewhere in the Gospels, we are to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength and our love our neighbors as ourselves. There is nothing more important to which we can give our lives.
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i Tucker, Gene M. in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VI (Abingdon, Nashville, 2001), p. 240
ii Culpepper, R. Alan in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume IX (Abingdon, Nashville, 1995), p. 279
iii The Book of Common Prayer (Church Publishing, New York, 1977), p. 372
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