Proper 19 B

Proper 19 B

Mark 8:27-38

Psalm 19

Transcribed from a sermon given

September 16, 2012

Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be always acceptable in your sight oh our Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen

Now you know where I got that statement I make before each sermon, from the psalm that we read today. In fact the Prayer Book is quite full of direct quotes from scripture, we just don’t always put down chapter and verse. 

I want to talk to you today about the Gospel reading and the questions that Jesus asks. Because these are the most important questions any person wrestles with. The first question is, “Who do people say that I am?” “Who do people say that I am?” Any thoughts? Who do people say that Jesus is? Lucille, any thoughts? Who do people say that Jesus is? 

“The savior.” “The son of God.” 

Anyone over on this side?

“A really good man.” “Our Lord.” “A perfect example.” “The good shepherd.” “The messiah.” “A healer.” “A great teacher.” “Son of man.”

We’ve got lots of words for him. Later we will be saying the Nicene Creed which is the ancient statement of faith that says such things as “God from God.” Some of those words we’re pretty familiar with. You can probably tell me what a teacher is, because we know teachers. Or a good man, we know about good men. But what does “Savior” mean? What does it mean to say that Jesus is the savior? Saving whom? From what? 

Or the Messiah. Now that’s the “correct” answer that Peter gave. But the Messiah? What does the word messiah mean? For the Jewish people of Jesus’ time the Messiah was going to be a warrior king like David, who was going to come and get the Jewish people to once again have control of their land, that would fight Rome so that once again they would be free and a great nation. That’s not what Jesus turned out to be. He was a very different kind of messiah. A different kind of savior. 

One of the problems with trying to say who Jesus is, when we listen to all the different ways he has been described, is that most of the time it is kind of complex. It is not easy language. We’ve heard a lot about who Jesus is. If you went to Sunday School as a child you heard one thing. In the secular world you might hear something else. Here in church we hear other things. So we have lots of answers to, “Who do people say that I am?” 

But all of those comments, all the theology, all the books written about who Jesus is, all the creeds - all of that doesn’t really matter. It is the second question that really matters. That’s when Jesus looks at his disciples and says, “Who do you say that I am?” How do you know who Jesus is? What do you say? Not quoting someone else, not based on what someone else says that Jesus is, but who is Jesus to you? Right now, today, this morning. 

I find that when we are on a spiritual journey our understanding of who Jesus is changes over time. Sometimes from day to day. It changes as we study scripture. It changes as we are in discussions with others. It changes as we read meaningful books. 

“Who do you say that Jesus is?” is the most important question. It makes all the difference in the world. And only you can answer that question. Some might answer that to you Jesus is a great teacher. That is accepted pretty much around the world. There is almost no one who doesn’t say that he had some wonderful teachings and that he showed a great deal of wisdom. That is one way to approach Jesus. It is not quite consistent, though, with what he said. C. S. Lewis wrote that if you say that Jesus was just a great teacher then you have to assume that he was either a liar or insane because he said that he was much more than that. It is hard to take the wisdom and teachings that we find in the Gospels and separate it from what he said about himself. But often the first way we get to know Jesus is as a great teacher. And that is important.

What about when we say that Jesus is my savior or my Lord. Well savior is a tricky word. What does savior mean? How has he saved you? Think about your own personal life. What have you been saved from? What have you been saved for? Or when we say he is my Lord, we don’t have lords these days. We live in a time and place where we have senators and presidents, but we don’t have lords. So there isn’t a real existential sense of what it means to serve under someone else. 

So maybe you might want to think about what other language would describe your relationship with Jesus. As I have sat with this Gospel reading for the last week, preparing this sermon, it has affected how I describe my relationship with Jesus, and I’m going to share that with you. It is personal; it is where I am today having studied that scripture. Where I am this morning, it may change, but it is what’s true for me right now. 

I would say that who Jesus is to me is that he is my friend. He is my friend who loves me no matter what. He is my friend who values me and holds me precious because he helped to create me. I am of incredible worth to this friend; and he accepts me for who I am. Loves me for who I am. And loves me enough to not let me stay who I am but encourages me to become more than I think I can be. He is my friend who is always there, whenever I need him. He always cares. 

And he is my friend that gave his life for me. And no love is as great as offering your life for another. We don’t have a lot of experiences of what it means for someone to give their life for us. People who have been in war or people like police or firefighters know what it is like to have companions that go into dangerous and difficult situations together. And they know that these companions will offer their lives to protect each other, risk their lives to protect each other. It is said that when soldiers go into battle once the battle gets intense they are not concerned with their country, they are not concerned with any grand statements of principle, they fight because of their comrades, the ones they are fighting with. And they want to protect them, and they will risk their lives in order to protect their friends, and they would be willing to die for one another.

Christ died for me. He is my friend that was willing to die for me, and in this passage he asks for me to be willing to do the same. To pick up my cross and follow him. To be his friend the way he is a friend to me. That might mean giving my life, although being in the United States it is unlikely I will give up my physical life for being a Christian. Although there are other parts of the world where that is not so sure. But it does mean transforming my life. It means giving up my self-centeredness. It means giving up my sense of ego control. It means changing my priorities, and it affects every decision that I make every day of my life. There is a prayer in the prayer book that I often say in the evenings. It is called a prayer of self dedication. It is on page 832 in the red prayer book. It is prayer number 61. I invite you, if you like, to pray along with me. 

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to thee, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly thine, utterly dedicated unto thee and then use us we pray thee as thou will, and always to thy glory and the welfare of thy people through our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Who do you say that Jesus is?

Sermon Proper 17 B

Rules, rules, rules - there seem to be so many rules.

Sermon for Proper 17 B

Given by Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

September 3, 2006

St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Brentwood

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

James 1:17-27

There is a story about a man who had the opportunity to visit hell. Upon entering he saw that people were divided up into groups. He asked Satan about the groups. Satan pointed to the first group and said that those were Jews that worked on the Sabbath. He pointed to the second group and said that they were Catholic (pre Vatican II) who ate meat on Fridays. The third group was made up of Methodists who danced and drank wine. Who is that last group that seems to try to keep themselves apart from the others? Oh, those are the Episcopalians who used their dinner fork to eat their salad.

I remember my mother carefully teaching me exactly were things were to go when I set the table. The forks on the left with one to be used first on the outside. The knife and spoon were to be put on the right with the knife blade pointed inward. The napkin on the left. The water glass above the knife, etc. etc.

Our acolytes are taught that the gospel candle, the one on the left of the altar, should never burn alone, so it is always the last to be lit and the first to be put out.

We stand when we listen to the Gospel, out of respect, but only during a Eucharist. We don’t stand for the Gospel during Morning Prayer. Is it that we don’t respect the Gospel as much during Morning Prayer?

Rules, rules, rules, there are lots and lots of rules. My mother used to sum it up by saying, “It just isn’t done.”

We all have an idea of how we are “supposed” to act. We can easily discover we are judging ourselves if we don’t live up to these various rules which in the gospel today would be described as the tradition of the elders.

It is not that there is no basis for many of these rules. Washing one’s hands before eating is a healthy thing to do. But some people take the rules to an extreme.

For example someone with a compulsive disorder will have an action, such as hand washing, which they will do over and over again. A person with compulsive hand washing may wash their hands, come out of the bathroom, and then go and wash them again. They are not doing it because their hands are dirty. In fact often their hands will get red and soar from too much washing.

They don’t do it to get clean, but to relieve their anxiety. When we are anxious, when we have that sort of generalized fear that doesn’t have a name, we look for something solid, stable, consistent. Rules provide a structure. They keep us safe. They make it easier to make decisions. They are predictable.

We tend to get particularly anxious during times of change. When our world is changing around us we want something, anything that is unchanging. We look for stability.

Often we look to the church for that stability. But now is a time of change in the church. General convention this summer has lots of people talking. There are questions about our relationship to the Anglican Communion, who should be ordained and the implications of a woman presiding bishop. The Episcopal Church is changing and that can be a source of anxiety.

And St. Alban’s is in a time of change. I will be leaving October 1. There is be an interim time while you look for a new Vicar, and then there will be a new priest to guide this congregation. Some of you now, or during the next few weeks, may find yourself anxious and unsure. The church you look to for stability is now anything but stable.

It is a temptation in times of anxiety to cling to the rules. To try to find the correct way to do things. We look for something solid, predictable. We want things to be done the way they always have or at least the way they are “supposed to”.

But that is not of Christ. He was constantly changing, stirring things up. There was nothing predictable about him.

And to those who would cling to a set of rules he says, “You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human precepts as doctrine.” He is saying that rather than focusing on what God wants – to love God and love our neighbor – we tend focus on less important, but more measurable, things.

Let me ask you, would you rather have a neighbor that does all the right things, mows his lawn, doesn’t make noise at night, etc. or one who has a good heart?

Would you rather have a friend who said and did all the right things, or one who had a good heart?

Would you rather have a spouse that did all the right things, he would open doors for you, she would cook great meals, or would you want one who had a good heart?

And would you want a son or daughter who always obeyed all the rules, or one who had a good heart?

Jesus said that there is nothing outside a person that can defile; rather it is what comes from the heart.

It is easy for us to look at the outside and judge based on whether someone is following the rules. Only God can judge the heart.

Let’s take a look at the end of the Gospel reading, Mark 7:21-22. This is one of the few lists of behavior from Jesus. Usually our behavioral lists come from Paul. But here Jesus spells it out, the evil intentions that come from a person’s heart.

I had one person, not from this congregation, use these verses as evidence that gays and lesbians should not be ordained because they don’t live up to Jesus’ standard. Well, let’s take a look at this list.

Fornication, theft, murder – ah – murder. Just what is murder? Some would say that abortion is murder and judge everyone who is involved with abortion as breaking Christ’s rules. Others would look at the heart of a young girl who struggles with the decision for an abortion. Some would say that capital punishment is murder and pass judgment on everyone involved, others would look at the heart of a governor trying to consider the concerns of the victims loved ones and honor the law. Some consider war to be murder and judge those involved while others would see a soldier with a good heart trying to do his duty and protect her fellow soldiers.

The rules look simple, but they never are. They always have to be considered with the heart.

But lets move on with the list – adultery – avarice. Oh, that’s getting a little close to home, wanting too much for ourselves. Then we have wickedness, deceit, licentiousness – okay – but then comes envy – guilty – slander, pride – guilty again – folly – I know that I am foolish sometimes.

Whenever we look at a list in the Bible and start using it to judge others, or ourselves, we can get into a lot of trouble. It looks so clear, so black and white, but Jesus never spoke of black and white. He spoke of mercy, compassion, forgiveness, and love.

Yet we are always judging others, and even more so ourselves. We see others as not doing it right, or we see ourselves as not doing it right. And we are often prone to do it at church – in spite of Christ’s continual message that we should not judge.

This is a time of change at St. Alban’s. There will be anxiety. It will be easy to get lost in the little rules. It will be tempting to judge one another. But remember what James said in the Epistle today:

“If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless.” Worthless. Think before you speak, pray before you judge.

He goes on to say “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

Compassion, self control, that is what religion is all about.

Remember, it doesn’t’ matter which candle is lit first. What does matter is that you love one another.

During this coming time of change, whenever there is change in your life, whenever there is anxiety, remember that there is only one adequate response – Love God with all your heart and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. That will get you through the tough times, and that is the only rule that ever really matters.