What God Thinks of Our Worship: Nov. 12 2023

 Year A, Pentecost 24                             Amos 5:18-24                                                                                       

God is awfully grouchy today…at least in our Old Testament reading. None of the readings are warm and fuzzy, but today I want to talk about the most grouchy of them all, Amos.  Not much is known of the prophet Amos.  He lived about 700 years before the birth of Jesus and seemed intent on calling out the Hebrew people on hypocrisy and exploitation of the poor.  He was preaching in a period of relative calm which might have led people to be a little more complacent than they should have been. Apparently this period of calm enabled some people to do quite well for themselves….which created more space in the chasm between the very poor and the very rich

            He starts by talking about the day of the Lord.  By itself, “the day of the Lord” can mean a lot of different things.  Here, it probably means the final judgment.  Amos talked a lot about judgment which few Episcopalians like to hear.   Yet God’s role as a judge is all over the scriptures. Most people have a lot of negative associations about judgment.  I think if we were to drill down into our negative feelings about, we will find most of the negative associations come from people judging one another, often unfairly. That was and is not the kind of judging God does.  God’s judgment is fair and merciful.

Amos said that day of the Lord was not a time to be anticipating with joy.  It was a day of darkness.  Why? Because the people Amos was talking to were not following God’s commandments.  According to other parts of Book of Amos, the rights of the poor and marginalized were being trampled. There were human judges who were accepting bribes, which meant the ones who were judged harshly were not those who were the bad operators but those who had no resources.  It would seem that the people who were participating and enabling this corrupt system were supposed to be the followers of the one true God.  They should have known better.  Amos wasn’t the first prophet to tell them they had veered way off course. But they had gotten far too comfortable.

            Then Amos provided a list of the things God detests--their festivals, their solemn assemblies, their animal sacrifices, their feasts, and even their music.  Everything, God was hating every form of worship that they were providing.  Now, I get it that God was angry, but why take it out on worship? It’s not like they were worshipping a golden calf or erecting altars to false gods. This was all the kind of worship that God had asked for.  These were traditions they had been following for years.   It would be like God coming down and saying: I hate Christmas and Easter. I detest your candles and your bells. I really loathe those little hosts you call bread.  And the preaching…please just stop.  I think a few of us would take that personally.  Of all the things to complain about, why would God complain about worship?

            The problem wasn’t the worship itself.  I am sure God didn’t have a problem with harp music.  It seemed that participating in worship and seeking holy places had become and end unto itself.  Earlier is the chapter God said, “Seek me and live, but do not seek Bethel, and do not cross Gilgal or cross over to Beer-sheba.”  It had become too much about the place and the presentation and not enough about just being in God’s presence.  People were isolating their worship to a certain time and place, rather than a state of being.  

Amos was talking to the Hebrew people, but I am sure that Christians have been accused of the same thing.  We occasionally use Sunday worship as a box to check off rather than a place to encounter the holy.  And we’ve seen politicians over the years use their church attendance as proof that they are good and moral, even when their behavior is anything but Christian.  And most of us, have our moments of hypocrisy.  It’s important to acknowledge that. Because if we can acknowledge that and be honest about our own failures, then we can move past them and even improve.  Some people have told me that they are uncomfortable in worship because they are not sure how much they believe and isn’t that hypocrisy? No.  Hypocrisy is when we use worship as a cover or an excuse rather than an attempt to connect with God’s presence. It’s not the same as doubt.

            So fine, God wants more than worship.  What is it?  The very last line is one of the most famous verses of the Bible because it was often quoted by Martin Luther King.  “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.”  I have heard that so often and you know, I have never really thought about what it means.  Why the analogy to water?  Consider the symbol we use for justice in America.  It’s a blindfolded woman holding a set of balances.  It is supposed to indicate impartiality and fairness.  It’s a static symbol.  But the image that Amos depicts is a powerful and cleansing stream.[1]  Water brings life. It also cleanses us. It’s chaotic at times, but when channeled it can do so much good.  God didn’t want justice to be confined to places like courts that administer justice.  God wants us all to be conduits for this life giving water. 

            What about righteousness? That is part of this too.  It’s another word we don’t like because we associate it with self-righteousness.  In the Bible righteousness is more about the relationship between the person and God, or the person and others.  It’s right relationship.  And that makes sense, we can’t be conduits of God’s mercy, love and justice if we aren’t in right relationship with one another, and with ourselves.

            That brings me back to worship.  It’s true that worship should not be the end goal.  We can’t just build and maintain lovely buildings and let God worry about the rest.  Worship is an opportunity to build ourselves up, to be fed and nourished with all we need to face what the world is throwing at us.  I feel like so much of what happens in the world sucks us dry.  It leaves us withered and exhausted.  Yet when I hear the bells, the organ, your beautiful singing.  When I drink from the cup and share the bread with you all, I feel like my parched soul is getting the water it needs.  How can we be conduits for justice and righteousness if we don’t have the water ourselves? The church is also the place where we form relationships, often with people who are different from us.  And maybe each one of us only has a few drops of water to spare….but together we can form that ever flowing stream that Amos prophesied thousands of years ago and the world desperately needs today.   

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[1] Interpretation Commentary: Hosea-Micah. Limburg. Pp. 105-109

Risky Business: Nov. 15th 2020

 Year A, Pentecost 24                                  Matthew 25:14-30  

              This is one of those parables that’s a bit confusing.  It starts with Jesus telling a story about a man he refers to as a master.  In this story the master went away and left enormous sums of money in the hands of three of his slaves.  He left 5 talents to one, 2 to another and 1 to the last.  Jesus was known to use hyperbole in his parables and this was a huge sum of money that the master left to his slaves. In Jesus’ time a talent was equal to 20 years of wages for the average worker.  It’s impossible to know exactly what that would equate to today, but 5 talents would have been at least a million dollars. 

The first two slaves traded with the master’s talents and doubled their money.  The last one buried it in the ground to keep it safe. The master commended the first two and punished the third because he didn’t invest the money and make more money for the master.  It is understandable that the master chose to reward the first two slaves who made him more money.   What always troubles me is the reaction he had to the third slave who chose to bury the money to keep it safe.  The master was so angry that he threw him into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth---which seems like a bit of an overreaction. I mean, this third slave could have lost it. He could have run away with it and never returned. He didn’t do anything like that.  He saved it and kept it secure.  Granted, he did not display the business savvy of the other two slaves, but at least he didn’t lose the money.  

            If we simply read it as a story of financial risk taking, then it would indeed seem like an odd story for Jesus to tell, especially in this part of the Gospel of Matthew.  This story comes grouped with a number of parables that directly precede the story of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion.  According to the Gospel of Matthew, these were some of his final words to his disciples.  He was preparing them for life without him.  While life with Jesus was certainly no cake walk for the disciples, life without him was an extraordinary challenge.  After Jesus died it was the disciples who had to carry out the Gospel.  That must have been a huge and terrifying endeavor.

The Gospel of Matthew was written in about 80 AD.  Most, if not all of Jesus 12 apostles were dead by the time this story was actually written.  Jesus had been dead for about 50 years.  There were small groups of Christians across the land, but it was barely even considered a religion at this point. We often talk about persecution of Christians in the early church.  But the Romans weren’t persecuting Christians at this point because they were so insignificant in numbers that they were not even a threat.  It was assumed this group would disappear in a generation or so. 

That certainly could have happened—but it didn’t.  Why? Was it because Jesus had left them with a clear structure for church governance? No.  Was it because they had money and powerful people leading the movement? No.  It was because they were bold, tenacious, and convicted.  The early Christians were confident in their belief that Jesus was the one true God and believing in him was essential for this life and the next.  They also believed that he was coming back and was probably coming back fairly soon, which is why there are so many references in the Bible to being ready.  That meant that there was some urgency in their actions.

The Gospels were not merely written to educate people, they were meant to inspire.  Many Christians felt it was enough to simply practice their faith in the comfort of their homes. They saw no reason to try to share the message with others---partially because while Christians weren’t necessarily persecuted, they weren’t respected.  The authors of the Gospels and early church leaders knew that this faith would only survive past the 1^st century if every believer was willing to share the Gospel.  This story of the master and the three slaves isn’t about investing money, it’s about investing in your faith and the faith of others.  It’s about a willingness to take risks for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

When the master returned, the 3^rd slave told the master that he buried his talent because he was afraid.  His own security was his priority, not his service to the master.  He didn’t want to take risk because it wasn’t his money and it was all going to the master anyways.  I still think his punishment was a little extreme, but the stakes were high for the early Christian community.  They believed that Jesus was the way and the truth and the life. By keeping that Gospel message to themselves, they were saying that they didn’t care about the souls of others. They only cared for themselves.  If that were the case, and they kept it to themselves, we would not be Christians today. There would be no Christian faith.

Each one of us has taken some risk in our lives.  Maybe you went against your parents to pursue your own dream.  Maybe you started your own business, and took a great financial risk in doing so.  One of the riskiest things I ever did was going through the adoption process, knowing that there was always a chance that the birth mother could change her mind.  What I didn’t realize is that parenting in general is a huge risk because you become responsible for the life of another.  Marriage is a risk because it’s a commitment you make for the rest of your life.  Most things in life that are worth having demand risk. Yet for some reason, we have decided that our faith should not demand risk and courage.  We have decided that our faith should enable security and comfort.   I wish that was true, it would make things a lot easier.

We worship a God who risked everything on a helpless baby being cared for by a teenage, unmarried mother.  We worship a God who asked his son to risk his very life.  And all he gave him was a promise, a promise that death would not be the end.  We worship a God who demands that we too take risks, that we be willing to have our lives a little disrupted for the sake of the Gospel.  I can’t tell you what that will look like for your life.  It looks different for all of us.

Right now, it seems like the last thing we need is more risk in our lives.   Even going to the grocery store carries risk.  Most of are afraid of either getting sick ourselves or seeing someone we love sick.   Therefore when I tell you to take risk, I am not encouraging you to do lick a door handle of a public restroom. I would even discourage touching the handle.  Perhaps, we can each take some time to pray for direction from God.  Risk your own assurance of what and who you are supposed to be right now. Admit that maybe, you don’t have all the answers.  You don’t even have most of them. Sometimes, actually listening to God is the riskiest thing we can do.  

Unexpected Heroes: Nov. 19 2017

Year A, Pentecost 24                                      
Judges 4:1-7                                                           

 

            A couple of years ago I purchased an audio version of the entire Bible.  I thought that it would give me something peaceful and calming to listen to at the end of the day, perhaps before sleep.  When I came to the Book of Judges, I had to skip major chunks.  There was so much war and violence.  It was neither calming nor soothing.  Therefore, it will probably not surprise you that I have never preached on this book.   In my defense, this is the only time we have a reading from Judges in our 3 year lectionary cycle.  It’s also short, has complicated names, and makes no sense if you only read only the part that we heard today.

            Instead of skipping it entirely, I am going to provide a little context. The Book of Judges picks up where the Book of Joshua ends.  Moses had appointed Joshua to be his successor and Joshua had ruled the Hebrew people successfully for decades.  As you can imagine, following leaders like Moses and Joshua would be quite an undertaking.  When Moses died, he appointed Joshua to be his successor.  Joshua did not appoint a successor.  This lack of leadership was difficult for the people of Israel.  The first line of our reading is: “The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord…”  Again. 

The Israelites had a pattern in how they related to God.  Take yourself back to high school or college for a minute. You remember the couple.  They would be in love, then there would be a fight and they would break up. Then one person would decide that they could not live without the other. They would get back together and be happy for a time.  Then things would get difficult and they would break up again.  This is a loose analogy for what happened with the Israelites and God.  However, in this case, there was always one party who was at fault, and it was not God. 

            We do not know why God didn’t appoint a leader after Joshua died.  It would be many years before David would become King.  In the interim, there were leaders called judges.  These judges were primarily military leaders who helped Israel defend itself from various enemies.  There would be peace and a good judge.  Then the judge would die and there would be chaos. The people would turn to other gods.  They would then be attacked by an army and realize that they could not survive without the one true God.  They would beg God to deliver them and God would send another judge.  Then the process would start all over again. 

            When we get to the point in today’s story the Israelites are in trouble again. They have been controlled by the Canaanites for 20 years.  They wanted to overthrow their oppressors, but they could only do so with God on their side.   The Canaanite army was led by a man named Sisera and had 900 chariots of iron.  When we hear chariots, we don’t think of something scary and deadly.  However, at the time, iron chariots were the top of the line military equipment. It would be like trying to fight 900 tanks with people armed with pistols…not a fair fight. 

            The judge who led the Israelites in this epic battle was an unexpected leader. She was a judge named Deborah.  As far as we know, Deborah was the only female judge living in a time when women had no authority.  She did.  What made her a strong leader was that she knew that her authority came from God.  She was also a good delegator.  She went to a man named Barak and told him that he would lead the army to defeat the Canaanites. 

This is where our reading for today ends, but this is also where it gets more interesting.  Barak told Deborah that he would only go if she came with him. This is almost unbelievable—a man of that time telling a woman that he would only go into battle with her at his side.  Her response was: “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.”  In other words, sure, I will come, but you are not getting any glory because God is giving the glory to a woman instead.  When we read this, we assume that it is Deborah who will receive the glory, which does not make her look very humble.  It isn’t.  God had another plan.  The Israelites fought hard and won great battles sending the general, Sisera, into hiding with an ally, the King of Hazor.  Sisera thought he was safe, but he wasn’t.  While he was sleeping the wife of the king killed him with a tent stake and then found Barak and showed him where the body was, which meant the Israeli people were victorious.       

            While this makes for a scintillating narrative, it is challenging to preach.  It is hard to find the good news in a story where there is so much violence.  Therefore, we have to look past the violence and focus on the people.  In Book of Judges and most of the Bible, we have a community of fickle people who continually turn away from God.  We might be able to identify with people who have trouble following God.  I know I can.  What we also have, are unlikely heroes.  We have a woman who should never have had the authority she had, not according to the norms of that time and place.  We have Barak, a man who refused to go to battle without the support of a woman. Then we have the wife of a King who wasn’t even an Israelite who showed great courage and cunning.  She should have had no part in this fight.  What those leaders had in common was humility and faith. They knew that they were instruments of God’s will.   They knew what so many have chosen to forget, that we owe everything we have to God.  There is no battle that we can win without the help of God. 

            One of our Eucharistic prayers  (which is what the priest reads before we all take communion) says: You made us the rulers of creation. But we turned against you, and betrayed your trust; and we turned against one another. As Christians, it is important to acknowledge that we too have had those moments when we have turned away from God. Sometimes we know that we are doing it. Sometimes we don’t because we can’t see past our own self-interest.  But then when we need God, we come back to him and he always takes us back. 

The story of the Jewish and the Christian community is complicated and beautiful.  It is full of twists and turns.  It is full of moments of betrayal and moments of desperation.  But what makes our story compelling, what makes our story one that does not end with the words of the Bible, is the unexpected heroes that permeate our faith stories.  Yes, we need to admit our sins and our moments when we turn away from God and one another.  I hope that we can also see those opportunities when we can be the unexpected heroes, the instruments of God’s love, grace and authority. The Christian story is unfinished. It is up to each one of us to decide what role we have in the story.   We do not have to be great warriors to be the heroes of this story.  We just have to be commit ourselves to following the will of God wherever it may lead us.