Sermon Archive
Readings for 8 July 07
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 9
Year C
Isaiah 66:10-16
Thus says the Lord:
"Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her--
that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious bosom.
For thus says the LORD:
I will extend prosperity to her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm,
and dandled on her knees.
As a mother comforts her child,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
your bodies shall flourish like the grass;
and it shall be known that the hand of the LORD is with his servants,
and his indignation is against his enemies.
For the LORD will come in fire,
and his chariots like the whirlwind,
to pay back his anger in fury,
and his rebuke in flames of fire.
For by fire will the LORD execute judgment,
and by his sword, on all flesh;
and those slain by the LORD shall be many."
Galatians 6:(1-10)14-18
[My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor's work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads.
Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.
Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.]
May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! As for those who will follow this rule-- peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
From now on, let no one make trouble for me; for I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
Luke 10:1-12,16-20
After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, `Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.' I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.
"Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."
The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!" He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
Sermon
The Rev. Susan B.P. Norris
Luke 10: 1-12
Whenever you enter . . . and they receive you, eat what is set before you; heal the sick and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.” But whenever you enter . . . and they do not receive you, go into the streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet,
we wipe off . . . nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ ”
In nomine . . .
Christian congregations are still faced with the incredible tasks
which Jesus outlined for his disciples in today’s story.
They are the ministries to which we in this parish, diocese, church,
are now called
“Go out,” Jesus says.
“Preach, saying, “The Kingdom of God is near you.
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons,
. . . give without pay.”
In today’s scripture he reports that as he watched the disciples
at work, he “saw Satan fall from the sky like Lightening.”
That sounds like something I’d hope for in the new Harry Potter book,
but not anything I’m expecting to see over at the hospital
this afternoon, or at the Oasis meeting, or at VBS.
Yet summer is the time we’re given to take up with wondering just
who this Jesus is, and what exactly we are to do in his name.
Call that “evangelism” and most Episcopalians shudder
– including this one.
Very few things horrify me as greatly as someone’s presuming that we must all think alike, or at least similarly, about God.
I think most clergy know all to well how our familiar doctrines, symbols, and icons arose to suppose them to be objects of utterly necessary belief.
Yet our human instinct is to believe that Evangelism –
telling the good news of God’s actions in Christ –
is first of all in telling people what to think about God and about Jesus,
and how to talk about them in “Church-approved” ways.
BUT - notice this story.
Jesus does not send the disciples out to talk about himself.
Jesus himself preached his Abba, his Father.
He sends the disciples out to
heal the sick, eat with the people they meet, and
to preach the presence of God’s Kingdom among human beings.
Nothing here says that making disciples is about
agreeing to particular theological ideas.
At first that idea may have come from the initiation rites of the new faith,
and from a serious distrust of people who had not been baptized.
(If you are going to get tossed to the Lions
for having an opinion about God;
you will want to be VERY certain that the people around you
share in that opinion!)
However, I suspect there may also be other reasons.
The things Jesus asks of us aren’t always easy or pleasant -
except for the request that we share bread and wine in his memory.
Healing and raising the dead, and casting out evil Spirits,
seem rather impossible to us.
Preaching the Kingdom sometimes gets everyone who hears you -
except for the very poor - exceptionally mad at you.
Maybe we just don’t want to know that we are perfectly capable of
doing a great deal about the societal messes and problems we deplore.
We do know that cleaning them up is a messy, thankless,
and time consuming job, which pays badly or not at all.
Unless.
Unless we want Satan to fall from heaven,
Unless we want the Reign of God to come closer to us
and to those around us.
Unless we actually are rejoicing that our names are inscribed in heaven.
What does Satan’s falling look like?
Well, at the beginning.
God did not sent a committee of theologians to tell us how to think.
God did send her Son into the world to live with us,
to show us how to live with Her and with each other, and
to show us how to recognize God’s presence everywhere and in everyone.
If being a disciple, means that Jesus calls you –
is calling all of us -
to go out into the world like the first disciples,
preaching the Good News that the Kingdom of God is among us.
by healing, freeing, bringing life,
by cleaning out such human evil as we can,
and showing everyone any way we can,
where to look so that they can see for themselves
that God in Christ is living among us.
If that is discipleship,
then Satan falls whenever the poor have their lives
made more comfortable and hopeful,
whenever the sick are healed,
when someone talks to those who are lonely, or
feeds and shelters those who are hungry and without a home.
Satan falls when prisoners are given second and third chances,
children are protected, nourished and educated,
and society’s goods & services are given freely to whoever needs them.
To see God presence here on earth, or Satan falling,
or simply to figure out what you should be doing today or tomorrow,
may require thinking differently.
For pyrotechnics, go see the new Harry Potter.
For a place to minister in Christ’s name, look around.
See how much energy most of us need to put into simply living.
Look there for the ministry to which God calls us all.
Remember the day the disciples raced back to Jesus with news about the healings they had performed? In this story, Jesus tells them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning." Jesus’ eyes saw the disciples living into the world changing authority over evil that he had given them.
The disciples saw the little picture – people touched by the grace of a disciple’s care - clear water for the thirsty, a calm mind for the seriously upset, hope for those with no hope.
Jesus saw the larger picture. He saw what God could do through someone who was willing to be sent out into God’s harvest.
Part of a Christian’s work is to look around and actually SEE what can be seen, to look at our community, and care about its people. Jesus sends us out to live with people as he did. The disciples were to stay with people, visit their homes, become attached to them and their needs, heal their specific infirmities, and proclaim good news that they could hear and understand.
Christian witness is not supposed to be a “show.” The Gospel isn't a line outside a theatre suggesting a good play inside. Jesus asks us to get involved in life, to care enough to go below the surface, to get to really know people and to hear their needs.
That’s not easy. Getting close to people can be tedious or invigorating, simple or difficult, joyful or painful, rewarding or frustrating. We may be welcomed – or rejected.
Yet, when such proclamation occurs, it is as miraculous as anything the first apostles experienced. Lives change, darkness is vanquished, demons submit, hope blossoms, and the world is better. (The eight paragraphs above paraphrase a meditation by Tom Ehrich, (07/06/07) whom I thank for these ideas.)
If we trust that this is the way to preach about our faith,
Then perhaps Jesus’ name will become honored by all people,
Not because of some grand theology- though we may have several
But because of the love and caring and the vision of his disciples
As we work with God toward the coming of
Christ’s reign on our earth
In nomine . ..
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