The Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost - October 28

Doing Religion
Mark10:46-52
Stewardship

One of the more significant insights I have gained recently from the insights and scholarly work of others is the recognition that for the early Christians faith was a verb. Faith was what you DID, not what you believed. To be a person of faith was to act in a certain way. The church has spent centuries exploring and articulating doctrines that are the corpus of belief. And these can be extremely helpful in our journey Godward. But I think we can also benefit greatly by reclaiming the ancient understanding of faith as what we do, more than what we believe.

Faith is what we do. Today’s Gospel brought this to mind again. Jesus says to formerly blind Bartimaeus, “You faith has made you well.” Our first thought is probably to assume that it was what Bartimaeus believed about Jesus that was important. But maybe, just maybe it was because Bartimaeus called out, because he asked for help, because he sprang towards Jesus… maybe it was these words and actions that moved him towards God and God’s wholeness. Maybe the faith that led him into healing was what he did, not what he believed.

I’m going to springboard from this understanding of faith to talk about religion. Faith is individual. Religion is corporate. What if we think of religion in the same way the early Christians thought about faith, except that it is corporate. What if we define religion as what WE DO together? Faith is what I DO; religion is what WE DO. It is less then about what we, as a group believe, which is probably how most of us would have defined religion. Religion is what we, plural, do together. It is the group expression of faith. You will sometimes hear people speak dismissively of “organized religion.” But, yes, religion is organized… Religion is a group activity. Group activities have to be organized to some degree.

It’s interesting to me that the words religion and ligament come from the same root. It means to connect, or bind together. And doing religion, participating in the group activities that are religion, clearly connect us to one another as sisters and brothers in Christ. But doing the group activities of religion also connect us to God, to our own individual faith (beliefs and actions), and to the needs of the world.

How are theses connections built? For example, our corporate worship connects us to God. It’s certainly possible for an individual to feel connected to God, but as we worship together we are surrounded by the words and witness of the saints…. Both the historical saints who populate our windows, and also the saints sitting next to you in the pews. Their witness, their words lift you to God beyond your individual efforts. Our awareness of God immanence is heightened by the sights and sounds of altar and music. And the sacraments, the heart of our corporate worship, bring us beyond connection into communion with the living God. Doing worship as a group connects us to God.

The activities of organized religion, our group activities also connect us to our individual faith (both its beliefs and activities). Religion nurtures faith, more than vice versa, I think. You do not have to have a deep personal faith to do religion as part of the group. And participation in the group activities of religion deepens and strengthens your individual faith. Remember that the great doctrines of belief were developed in messy group meetings. In conversation, discussion, group study we are connected to the faith within us. These help us see and know God better and live our individual faith better.

Doing religion as a group also connects us to one another. We are knit together through Christ into caring community. A community where Democrat and Republican love one another. And I’m not being flip! God, the world needs communities like these. We are connected to a community where our individual needs are met with prayer, support and compassion and our joys celebrated together. Where no one ever need be isolated or alone.

Doing religion as a group also connects us to the needs of the world. We serve others best as the Body of Christ. Yes, an individual can do a lot to help others in need, and secular agencies also do good work. But we serve the needs of the world best as the Body of Christ.

So religion is a verb. It is what we, plural, do together. Group activities like worship, fellowship, learning and conversation, outreach. When we do these activities together, they connect us to God, to our own faith, to our fellow human beings, both within the church and beyond. We need those connections. We need to do religion.

You need religion.
The world needs religion.
Your neighbor, your kids, your parents need religion.

We need to be a part of these group activities that connect us to God and to one another.

Religion is not an abstract set of beliefs; it is not some institution with an organizational chart. It’s what… WE. DO. What we do together. And we do it in the parish. The parish is the group, the community that does religion.

You are that group. But to be a part of it, you have to be a part of it. It’s not like public radio where you can get the music or the news without participation. You have to do religion, do the group activities that connect us to God, enrich our faith, bless our lives, heal the world.

The only way to do religion is to be a part of the group.

Showing up is very important. Your presence, your prayers, your voices are important. Showing up regularly is very important. For you; for all of us. Your presence makes the group.

But the group activities also need your participation, your offering of yourself. The religious activities of this parish community cannot happen without your time and your talents. For these things to happen it means you doing tasks, some interesting, some less so, you attending meetings, you giving generously of your money and your self. To do religion, it certainly helps to have a building and at least some staff. Maintaining those are up to you.

Religion is what we do to connect us to God, to our faith, to a caring community, to the needs of the world.

Are you doing all you can to help us do religion?

The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost - October 14

Punishment and Reward
Job 23:1-9, 16-17
Hebrews 4:12-16
Mark 10:17-31

Do you see a connection between today’s readings from Job and from Mark? Can you believe that Job and Jesus’ words in Mark are related? The messages they convey are much the same. Both speak to how God acts in the world. Or, more accurately, how God doesn’t act. And both Job and Jesus radically challenged the presumptions of faithful people in their day. The Book of Job and at least part of what Jesus is saying in today’s Gospel passage both present a stark contradiction to peoples’ faith-view at the time these words were spoken and shared.

Job says: God does not send suffering as a punishment for sin.

Jesus, in Mark, says: God does not send wealth as a reward for righteousness.

Which is to say, you cannot look at your neighbor, assess their current state of life, and thereby judge whether they are sinful or righteous. Are they currently suffering with poverty, illness or loss? Or are they comfortable, thriving with abundance? You cannot assess your neighbor’s state of life and thereby deduce whether or not they are sinful or righteous. God does not send suffering as a punishment for sin. God does not send wealth as a reward for righteousness.

 I expect most of us would affirm those statements without hesitation. Intellectually, at least, we do not expect God to act that way in our lives, materially punishing or rewarding our individual behavior. But on a gut level, I do think we expect God to act that way. So much of life does. There are consequences for good and bad behavior… reward and punishment. We WANT life to work that way. And, while we may not want God to punish our bad behavior, there are times when we think he should punish other peoples’ bad behavior. And we’d definitely like him to reward our good behavior.

And Scripture, especially the Old Testament, contains many passages where God is understood by God’s people to act in exactly this way—punishing the sinful and rewarding the righteous. But the Book of Job and Jesus’ words directly contradict that perspective.

First, Job. We had a little bit of Job last week, a little this week, and we’ll get one more snippet next week. If you don’t already know the story, it’s hard to get a sense of the book as a whole. God does not cause Job’s suffering, but God definitely allows it. But over and over again, we are told that Job is righteous. He has done nothing wrong. In the passages that occur in the lectionary, we don’t hear from Job’s endearing friends, but they go on for chapters, persisting in their belief that Job must have done something terrible to deserve this suffering. They believe that Job’s suffering is punishment for sin. But no. Job is righteous and Job suffers. That is the heart of the entire book of Job. Job is righteous and Job suffers. Ultimately Job comes to a richer understanding of his place in God’s creation and a deeper relationship with God. But the through-going theme of Job is that Job is righteous and Job suffers. Therefore, suffering is not God’s punishment for sin. God does not send suffering as punishment for sin.

 The story we heard today from Mark appears in all three synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. There are variations, but in all three the young man has done well. He definitely has wealth in Luke he is a ruler. He has power and money. And yet he evidently still feels some lack, some absence of grace, uncertainty about salvation. And how, he might ask, can that be? I have done what I am supposed to do, observing the laws of Moses. I have been richly rewarded by God for my righteous observance of the law… Because I have followed God’s commandments God has bestowed power and wealth on me. How can I still feel a lack? And Jesus tells him, more or less, not only is his wealth not a reward for righteousness it may be an impediment to entering the kingdom of God.

Another detail in this passage is interesting. The disciples are surprised that it will be difficult for someone who is rich to enter heaven. They are astounded, Mark says. If the rich are not to be saved, then who is? It is certainly plausible that the disciples, like others in their day, viewed riches as a sign of righteousness. Wealth is the reward of the righteous, so surely the wealthy can expect salvation.

As you may know there is a popular strand in Christianity known as the prosperity Gospel. It teaches just this: that God rewards the righteous with prosperity. Jesus says, no.

 I do think we experience consequences based upon our behavior, when we are sinful or when we follow God’s will. But I think those consequences are self-imposed, not God-imposed.

There’s one implication of all of this that I find very helpful to remember. Neither suffering nor wealth are God’s purpose for us. They are not the endgame in God’s will for us. They are not the ultimate destination of our faith journey. Thus, they are not cause for despair or celebration before God.

Of all of the Scripture readings we heard today, Hebrews was written last. It presents a reflection on Jesus’ life and ministry, their meaning and implications for us. And Hebrews says that because we have a great high priest like Jesus, because the Son of God lived as one of us, because of these things, we can boldly approach the throne of grace. Grace is God’s purpose for us. To be filled with God’s grace is God’s desire for us. And, through Christ, we have courage, strength, boldness, encouragement to enter into God’s grace. There are no impediments to receiving God’s grace.

We can boldly pray the collect for today that God’s grace may always precede, follow, surround and fill us. And that makes all the difference in the world. In times of suffering God’s grace brings us God’s own peace and hope and healing. In times of prosperity or comfort or wealth, God’s grace brings us compassion and empathy and the motivation to generous good acts. In times of suffering God’s grace brings us compassion and empathy and the motivation to generous good acts. In times of prosperity or comfort or wealth, God’s grace brings us God’s own peace and hope and healing.

God sends us grace and the ability to live gracefully, filled with grace. And, whether you are facing suffering or prosperity, that makes all the difference in the world.

The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost - October 7

What Jesus Said
Mark 10:2-16 

Among the many wonderful collects in the Prayer Book, this is one I particularly like. And given the very unattractive options in the Scripture readings today, I planned to preach on the collect. I especially the phrase where we affirm that God is “always more ready to hear than we to pray.” Simple, powerful, reassuring.

No matter who you are, or where you are, or what’s going on. God is listening. God is eager to hear your prayer. I imagine a mega-Verizon moment. Billions upon billions upon billions of people across all time and space, saying to God, “Can you hear me now?” And God says simply, yes. And even those people who don’t or can’t ask God to listen, God is ready to hear them, too.

The Scripture readings really are challenging this week. First, there’s Job. What are to do with Job? We’re in it a few more weeks, so we may still have to grapple with it.

Then there’s today’s Gospel. Jesus’ apparent categorical judgment against divorce. In one of the resources I often consult, Karoline Lewis, a homiletics professor writes: “Let’s be honest. Few, if any, preachers out there will want to write a sermon on this Gospel text. There’s just no way around its challenges, its heartache and its ramifications for and ripple effects on all of the relationships involved.” She’s got that right! But then she continues: But, “it’s one of those texts in the Bible that if read out loud, you must preach on it. Divorce has touched too many lives to leave a passage like this, especially when Jesus is talking, just hanging out there for all to hear.”

Rats. Unfortunately, I agree with her. We’ve all heard it read out loud. We can’t just leave it hanging out there.

This passage is one of those we sometimes label, “Jesus’ hard sayings.” Usually, what we mean by that is not that they are hard to understand or interpret; they are hard to accept. In this case, harder for some than others, presumably.

To do anything with this passage, we need to both the passage and its context in some detail. David Lose points out that Jesus is on route to Jerusalem, walking purposefully to meet his cross. Jesus was often on a journey, of course, but place is frequently important for Mark. And at this point in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus has just crossed the Jordan, leaving his homeland, entering into unfamiliar country. Symbolically, Jesus goes beyond the proscribed boundaries of his day to proclaim the Gospel.

Second, the Pharisees initiate this conversation. They controlled the laws. Theirs was the power to interpret, promulgate and enforce the laws. They were attempting to draw Jesus into and test him in the world in which they had power.

Finally, very importantly, divorce (and marriage) were very different then. We know that intellectually, but we still inevitably hear this passage through the context of our own culture and context. Marriage was a contract, a contract about property of which the wife was one part. Divorce was allowed. Men had the right to divorce or dismiss their wives.

There was, evidently, some debate about the conditions under which a man could divorce his wife. David Lose again: “There were two schools of thought about divorce in Jesus' day – both believed a man had a right to put away, dismiss, or divorce his wife. One school was fairly strict – a man could do this only if his wife were unfaithful; the other was more lenient – a man could do this if his wife displeased him in any number of ways, including, according to one rabbinic source, "burning her husband's toast." Either way, the consequences for the woman were devastating – familial and public disgrace, potentially severe economic hardship, and limited future prospects for her and her children.”

Women had no standing or power.

Jesus doesn’t enter into the legal debate. He completely reframes the issue within the context of creation—God’s creation. And he gives women place, standing, even parity within the context of God’s creation. God’s vision, God’s will, God’s kingdom includes people who human society marginalizes or isolates.

I’ve tried to think of a modern analogy that would cast this story in a way that is more relevant to contemporary society. This is admittedly an exaggerated analogy, but consider this as a modern retelling of Jesus’ encounter and conversation with the Pharisees. There is a sweatshop owner, all-powerful in his factory. The entire lives of the laborers whom poverty has forced into the sweatshop are in his control. The sweatshop owner comes to Jesus to ask if the Ten Commandments, the Law of Moses, require him to give his laborers one day off, rest on the Sabbath. Jesus doesn’t answer that question. He says you need to respect the dignity of every human being. You need to seek and serve the image of Christ in every beloved child of God.

Taken by itself, this passage alone does not provide grounds to talk about the rightness or legalities of divorce today. I hope you know, that although we have not always done so, the Episcopal Church affirms that divorce can be the best, most faithful choice in some situations. Always an occasion for grief, but sometimes the most creative, most faithful choice. This passage taken on its own is also not sufficient to provide a definition of marriage for our time.

This passage does tell of Jesus going beyond the margins of Galilee on his way to his death and saving resurrection. And taking the Kingdom of God to people who are beyond the margin, outside boundaries of power. Today’s Gospel reading ends with the familiar scene where Jesus gathers the children to himself. If there was one group of people in Jesus’ day who had even less power and standing than women, it was children. The disciples, like society, try to push the children away to a place of insignificance. Jesus reaches out, beyond society’s marginalization, and touches them, blesses them. “It is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs”

Divorce marginalizes people today, makes them feel powerless and isolated. Even just talk of divorce, even dwelling on this reading can generate feelings of isolation. To the isolated, the powerless, the marginalized, Jesus brings touch, blessing and inclusion in the Kingdom of God.

So this Gospel passage speaks to everyone who feels powerless or isolated.

• People who are divorced and may carry lingering guilt, a feeling that they have failed expectations. Or who have known or perceived judgment by others or the church. 
• Divorce often leads to estrangements in all sorts of relationships, most sadly between children and parents. Isolated from family. 
• There are people who feel locked in a bad marriage, powerless for whatever reason to escape. 
• Think of all the people who yearn to be married but aren’t. For them divorce is a luxury they don’t even have access to because they are isolated from the world of marriage. Maybe they’ve never found the love of their life. Maybe circumstances like illness or handicap or other family needs or a job have blocked the possibility of marriage. Maybe someone more powerful has told them they can’t get married. Quibbling over the legalities of divorce only heightens their sense of isolation. 
• Or think of people grieving the death of someone with whom they were in a wonderful relationship. Debate over the possible choice to end a relationship only shines a glaring light on the loss they did not choose. 

Many things can leave us powerless or isolated. Divorce or debate over divorce is just one. But for all of these people for whom divorce or even just discussion of divorce is the cause of their isolation, their powerlessness, their marginalization.

To all of them. To you. To me. It is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs. That’s what Jesus says.

The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost - September 30

Fall Pruning
Mark 9:38-50

The Gospel from Mark appointed for today reminded me of this passage from John’s Gospel: Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2). I’ll come back to that.

First, let’s work our way through today’s Gospel. It starts with the disciples acting rather adolescent, ratting on someone else who was healing in Jesus’ Name. They came to Jesus bragging about how they had tried to stop the interloper because he was not one of them.

Whether they were doing it intentionally or not, what they were doing was trying to limit the healing work of Christ in the world. And Jesus reprimands them. Anyone who is not against us is for us. Acting on behalf of Christ is commendable. No matter who is doing it.

And Jesus goes on to say that offering water (refreshment) to those acting on behalf of Christ will also bring its own reward. It is good to offer refreshment and support to anyone who is acting in Jesus’ name.

And, conversely, “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me…” well, the consequences will be dire.

The “little ones” Jesus refers to here may be children, as I mentioned last week. Or they may be people new to faith.

So far, Jesus is talking to the disciples about the growth of faith in others. And he says, don’t do anything to impede that growth. He is also talking about others beyond the circle of disciples doing the work of Christ. Again he says, nurture and support everything done in the Name of Christ; don’t impede it.

Then we get to what I think of as the real Halloween part of the Gospel, full of images of people presumably bloodied, stumbling around missing all sorts of body parts. The gore of this passage is very vivid. Don’t let your children read the Bible!

“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire…” If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off.

A couple of modern commentators I read referred to Jesus’ hyperbole in this passage. He couldn’t have meant this literally; he was using hyperbole to make a point. So what was his point? What did he mean?

A well-established trend of commentary interprets this passage in Mark as a call to self-denial to avoid sin and eternal damnation. For example, Matthew Henry was a 17th century English Presbyterian minister, known particularly for his commentary on the entire Bible. First, he titles this specific portion of Mark, “Pain to be preferred to sin.” He writes: “Surely it is beyond compare better to undergo all possible pain, hardship, and self-denial here, and to be happy for ever hereafter, than to enjoy all kinds of worldly pleasure for a season, and to be miserable for ever.” It is “beyond compare” better to endure pain in this life in order to achieve happiness in eternal life.

The Greek word translated throughout this passage as “causes you to stumble” is our word scandalize. Modern translators shy away from that direct translation, I suspect, because scandal has come to have such sensational, “National Inquirer” sorts of overtones in contemporary usage. The King James translated it, “if your hand offends you…” “If you eye offends you…” And that’s the basic meaning of scandalize. But in this case the question is whether your own hand offends you.

Jesus’ challenge to the disciples and us is this: You who bear the name of Christ, you who strive to be the Body of Christ, are there parts of your life that are “offensive” to you? As a Christian, are there parts of your own life that are offensive to you?

Prune them out. And now I’m back to the passage from John. Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit”

Jesus seems to like the pruning metaphor. He uses it in this passage from John and elsewhere in his teaching. I like pruning as a metaphor. Pruning is less about self-denial in order to achieve eternal bliss in the future, not that there is anything wrong with thinking about that. Pruning, though, is about improving health and growth now in this life. It’s about cleaning out the dead wood. Pruning out, clearing out the parts of our lives that are not alive with Christ. In order that the better parts of lives may bear greater fruit. The fruits of life in Christ are things like healing, hope, wonder, peace, renewal, reconciliation. Who would not want those more abundantly? Prune out the parts of your life that are dead to Christ so that the parts that are alive with Christ can bear greater fruit.

In my own experience it’s really pretty easy to tell which is which.

So prune your life. And pruning is not the same thing as just simplifying. Simplifying may or may not help. Pruning is selective. We are not called literally to pluck out an eye. Rather prune out those things that you watch with your eyes that are life-numbing or denigrate the holiness of life. We do not need to actually cut off a hand. But do prune out the things you do with your hand that are destructive or wasteful of God’s creation. We are not called to cut off a foot. Instead prune out all of the useless places in life your feet take you!

Jesus doesn't say anything about plucking out your heart or your mind, but I expect there are some things there that need pruning, too.  Harbored resentments, uncharitable thoughts, sins repressed and unconfessed.

And I’d like to stretch the pruning metaphor just a little further. There are several reasons that gardeners might prune a plant. Certainly the most important within my context today is to promote growth and health.

But gardeners also prune to improve the appearance of a plant. And that’s worth thinking about. If we prune our lives, our appearance may show forth the Gospel more clearly to the world. A pruned life may better display the love and light of the Gospel for others to see.

Sometimes gardeners prune or thin one plant so that other plants can grow… so that other plants can receive the light and nutrients they need to grow and flourish. Remember that in the early part of today’s Gospel, Jesus is concerned with how the disciples’ actions might limit or impede the Christian growth of life of other people. I don’t have specific examples in mind, but maybe the dead wood in your life or my life is not only limiting our own Christian flourishing but also crowding out or blocking the Christian growth of others.

So think about pruning your life. Prune out the dead wood. So that the fruit of a life in Christ may grow more and more abundantly in your life and in the world around you.

The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost - September 23

Imagine That!
Mark 9:30-37

Jesus talks quite a bit about children. The Scripture passages about children are familiar to us and maybe we lost track of their significance. In this morning’s Gospel, Jesus is with the twelve in Capernaum. As he speaks to the disciples he lifts up a child. A child was there! Remember the passage: “Then they came to Capernaum; and when Jesus was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’” If we stopped the reading there, and I asked you to picture the scene in your mind… Jesus with the twelve… journeying on the way… gathered now in the house… Would you imagine any children in the picture? No? But a child was there.

 In the feeding of the five thousand, Scripture says that Jesus fed 5000 men and—in addition—women and children. They may not have been worth counting, but they were there! Children were there! And there is the famous Gospel passage that begins (in the King James Version), “Suffer the children to come unto me.” It’s inscribed in the stained glass window back in the Mary corner, which of course was built as a baptistery. That Scripture passage is a sentimental favorite, even if we haven’t used the word “suffer” in that sense for hundreds of years. Despite these passages, I think we tend to forget that children were undoubtedly with Jesus throughout much of his teaching and ministry.

In fact, the more I think about it, I am struck by how often Jesus refers to children, incorporates children into his teaching… how often the gospels refer to children as being present with Jesus. Children were socially insignificant in that time and would normally not have been noteworthy at all. But, not only were they evidently present, the gospels mention their presence. It really is quite remarkable. Jesus’ adult life, Jesus’ adult ministry, Jesus’ adult “Christian education” of the people seems to include an awful lot of children. And Jesus includes the children in a very interesting way. Today, in society and within the church, most of us try, as adults, to be good examples for the children. We also know that it is our responsibility as adults to offer quality Christian education for children and opportunities for them to participate in the church. We earnestly want them to grow up into faith-ful adults, for their sake and for the church’s sake. We sincerely hope that, when they grow up into adults, they will know they have a place and will take their place in the life of the church.

Jesus offers a very different model. In Jesus’ teaching as it is presented in the gospels it is not the adults who offer the gospel to children; it is children who offer the gospel to adults. It is not the adults who are Christian examples for the children. It is the children who model and bring the kingdom to adults.

That is a powerful role for children to fulfill in the life of the church. And a radical one for Jesus to present. I have not done a thorough academic study, but I don’t see evidence for this sort of perspective in the earlier writings in the Hebrew Scriptures before Jesus. Children were valued in ancient Israel, but primarily as descendents. Descendents were and are a blessing for all sorts of reasons, but the very word “descendent” indicates their secondary status with respect to adults. So Jesus’ words are startling, culturally new, meant to grab peoples’ attention, leave them with an idea they cannot forget.

Except it seems that the church very quickly did forget. In John’s gospel, written later than the others, the stories of Jesus with the children don’t appear. And in Paul’s writings, written very early, but after Jesus’ life and ministry, childhood clearly connotes a time of weakness and maturity, to be outgrown I the journey towards God. “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.” That’s Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. It obviously doesn’t come easily to us adults to view children as a Christian model for us. We cherish them as children and potential Christians to be. But Jesus, radically and significantly, gives children a much ore important role.

In this morning’s gospel, and in parallel passages in Matthew and Luke, Jesus says, “whoever welcomes such a child, welcomes me and welcomes the one who sent me.” The child brings the presence of Jesus into the midst of the community. And a chapter or so later in Mark in the familiar “suffer” passage, translated in the NRSV, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop the; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” Children actually bear the presence of Christ into our midst and serve as models, examples to adults, of how to live as a citizen in the Kingdom of God.

There are several messages here for us. One is the obvious one. A reminder of the value of having children in our midst in the parish community.

But we might also ask: what are the qualities of childhood that are exemplary for Christians? Especially for those times when we are not blessed to have a child at our side, or in those times when children seem more of a distraction than an example: what characteristics of childhood did Jesus see that exemplified the kingdom of heaven?

The first answer that may come to mind when we think of “Christian” qualities of childhood might be simplicity or innocence. But are those truly dominant qualities of childhood? To see childhood as innocent or simple is an unrealistic view of childhood. And Jesus lived, and knows that we live, in the real world. Someone, I don’t remember who, said that anyone who believes in the pure innocence of childhood hasn’t raised a child! So perhaps childhood innocence or naiveté are not the qualities Jesus is highlighting.

Another quality of childhood is dependence. Children are powerless to acquire and achieve on their own. And it never hurts those of us adults who aspire to independence and self-sufficiency to be reminded of our ultimate dependence upon God and our total powerlessness to acquire God’s grace through our own efforts. So a child’s trusting dependence is a quality we would do well to imitate.

But the quality of childhood that seems to most resonate with Jesus’ message throughout the gospels as a whole is imagination. Imagination

At some point I read that the greatest impediment to the spread of the gospel, the greatest barrier to the flourishing of faith, is a lack of imagination. The kingdom fo God that Jesus brings, that Jesus continues to offer, is a world transformed. It is souls transformed; it is life transformed. Too many people cannot imagine that sort of transformation taking place. People are deaf to Jesus’ words because they cannot imagine their promise being true. People are blind to the presence of God’s kingdom because we cannot imagine that such a glorious sight could be real.

The past experiences and acquired cynicism of adulthood have stifled our ability to imagine God’s transforming power working in our lives and in our world. Children offer us imagination unstifled and unfettered. Some children, of course, have extremely vivid imaginations. And it is not so much the vivid creative fantasies that some children imagine that should form the model for our Christian faith. It is a simpler imagination. An openness. An openness to possibilities beyond our own experience, beyond our limited expectations. A willingness to imagine a better world coming into being, transformed by God’s grace.

Imagination is one of childhood’s greatest gifts. An openness to image that anything is possible. Children keep that imagination alive for all of us. They bear and see the presence of Christ everywhere and they joyfully live in the Kingdom of God. And they can help us grown ups do the same. Imagine that!

The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost - September 16

Their Sound Has Gone Out
James 3:1-12
Psalm 116:1-8

Children's Sermon

James writes:  "Who can tame the tongue--a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God."

This picture by Keith Haring is a very vivid description of the evil we can do with our tongues, with the words we say.

Haring, Keith, 1958-1990.
Ten Commandments, unnumbered,
from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55144
[retrieved October 4, 2012].

Words are such an important part of our Christian lives and vocations.  The things we say and the things we don't say can cause hurt and harm.  Or our words can bring hope and kindness and creativity into the world.  Our words can sing praise to God.

What would that painting look like?  A painting where our words were praising God?

From today's Psalm:

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament shows his handiwork.
One day tells its tale to another,
and one night imparts knowledge to another.

Although they have no words or language,
and their voices are not heard.
Their sound has gone out into all lands,
and their message to the ends of the world.

The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost - September 9

Seeing Beyond "the" Poor
James 2:1-17

Both the readings from Proverbs and from James speak about “the poor.”

Proverbs gives the instruction: Do not rob the poor. And stresses that the only advantage of being rich is that it provides the potential for generosity. And generosity, in turn, brings blessing.

James, writing to the Christian community says: Do not despise or dishonor the poor. The poor are rich in faith and will inherit the kingdom.

Somewhere along the way within my life in the church I was taught not to use language like “the” poor. Before you roll your eyes at one more rule from the PC language police, hear me out. I think it’s a point worth considering.

Both the Book of Common Prayers and the Bible are full of this sort of usage, but to use language like “the poor” takes individual human beings and lumps them in an anonymous group with just a single identifying characteristic, usually a negative one. It implies that the only thing that defines a particular person is that he or she is poor. Individual children of God lose their personal identity and become part of a group known only for being poor. It is better to say something like “a woman or person who is poor.” Then she is a woman first, who happens to be poor… among other things.

We do the same thing when we talk about “the elderly,” or “the disabled,” or even “the rich.”

In James, at least in our current English translation, the language usage is mixed. Sometimes he speaks of “the poor;” sometimes he speaks of people who are poor. Regardless of language usage, one point I think James is trying to make, is that poverty does not define a person. That’s good to remember.

But later on in this passage, James uses the language of brothers and sisters. When James is trying to rally the Christians to whom he is writing to provide for the bodily needs of another human being who may be naked or hungry, James says, “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?”

Brothers and sisters. When you feel related to someone else, when you acknowledge a relationship with another human being, usually that makes a difference in how you view and treat them. Assuming you feel a positive relationship, that tends to promote compassion, caring.

We’ve had quite a few funerals at St. John’s lately. The funerals got me thinking about relationships.

Just recently we had two funerals for two very different people. And they were very different services. But both were “good”. So, from a clergy standpoint, what makes for a “good” funeral? When they manifest relationships. Not necessarily quantity, but quality. Both lives, in their own ways, were rich in relationships.

And speaking of relationships, today is our annual fall ministry fair. Food and fellowship are a celebration of relationships, the relationships we share as members of this parish community. Be mindful of relationships. Especially those beyond family and chosen friends.

Be mindful of your relationships.  Within the parish. Within the world. Whether or not you feel close, be aware of your relatedness to others.

If we can remember that we are all related in Christ, poverty will not vanish, but “the poor” will disappear and we will see “a brother in Christ" who is in need whom I can help.