November 11, 2018 Sermon

Pentecost 25 – St. John Chrysostom Church, Delafield, Wisconsin

November 11, 2018

V. Rev. Steven A. Peay, Ph.D.

[texts: 1 Kings 17:8-16; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44]

            The lessons today relate the stories of two widows. These rather insignificant souls – neither is even given a name -- serve to demonstrate the goodness, generosity, and power of God. They also remind us what we are called to be and how we are called to love, and to live.

            Elijah is sent to a widow in the town of Zarephath. It’s way on the outskirts of the land, out amongst the Canaanites. God has brought judgment on the wicked king Ahab and a drought, which brings on a famine, grips the land. God provides for his prophet, Elijah, whose name means “the Lord is God,” even in the midst of the desolation. First food was brought to him by ravens. Now he’s sent to a widow with next to nothing.

            He arrives in Zarephath, finds his destination, and seeks hospitality, something that all people were honor-bound to give. Want to know how desperate her situation was? She tells Elijah that she’s sorry, but she’s gathering some sticks, so she can make a couple of little cakes for her son and herself – and then they’re going to wait to die. The situation was truly dire.

            Elijah, however, persists. He tells her to do what she proposes, but to feed him a little cake first. Oh, and don’t be afraid, because God has this situation, and what you have is not going to run out – not until the rains come, and abundance returns to the land. So, what does she do? She feeds him….God is good, God is generous, God honors His promise.

            Years later another widow comes into view, this one in the heart of things, at the Temple in Jerusalem. There Jesus spies her putting two tiny coins into the treasury, they probably didn’t even make a nice noise when they dropped they were so light, but they were all she had. He tells his followers that what she’s done has outstripped all of the other givers, because she’s given out of her poverty – her real substance – and the others have given from abundance, their leftovers. She invests herself when she gives her gift – who she is, not just what she has. She is relying on God’s goodness and God’s generosity.

In the stories of those two unnamed women we get a picture of how we’re supposed to approach life. We’re to do it generously, because that is what God does. Generosity is the hallmark of the Christian person, the one who is righteous. There’s a psalm that came to mind as I thought about these readings. In Psalm 112 we read, “he scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever.” What this references in the “righteousness” that “endures forever” is “generous almsgiving.” The liberality of the one who gives is that which endures and is remembered.

            Generosity, liberality, then, indicates an attitude and an orientation. I think the term ‘liberal’ is best applied here. ‘Liberal’ derives from the Latin ‘libera’ – free. The one who is able to give demonstrates his/her freedom and that is why God is the freest of all beings. God gives freely of himself in the act of creation, in the sustaining of life, and in the redemption of the world through Jesus Christ. The other way this word can be interpreted is “singleness” or “simplicity of heart.” It is to this Jesus refers in Matthew chapter 6 and it is this singleness of purpose, this generosity of spirit that God shows again and again. Such singleness elicits a response, or at least it should, and that response is thanksgiving.

            So the way of God is one of generosity that reaps a harvest of goodness in thanksgiving. Christian life is then to be reflective of God’s life by generosity, singleness/freeness, on our part in response to God and to each other. We are to invest ourselves, just as those widows did.

            Why should we make this investment of ourselves, of our time, and of our resources? Let me give you three reasons. First, it does something for other people. When we give of ourselves or of our substance we help another to be relieved of need. How many times have any of us found ourselves in a difficult situation, financial or otherwise, when someone has helped us? I would venture to say all of have been and so we know what it’s like to be helped. Every college student in the world knows the joy of a “care package” or a check from home. Such help also restores faith in humanity. When someone is even minimally kind, as in opening a door, returning a smile, or helping with a package, we feel better about being alive. Help from another says there is hope for our world. Ultimately it leads a person to thank God and to remember there is one whose infinite love and kindness under-girds the world.

Note, too, that I talked about giving from ‘substance’ and not ‘surplus,’ there is a profound difference in that type of giving; it’s what we saw in the stories of both widows. To give of one’s substance means to give freely of what one has of necessity, the very stuff of life. To give of one’s surplus is to have met all of one’s own needs and if there is any extra, then we give. God gives of his substance, in Jesus Christ he did that in a profound and literal fashion, for the Christ is “of one substance” with the Father. God himself provides the model for giving; that’s exactly what the writer to the Hebrews is talking about in describing this new high priest who takes us – poor humans – before the very throne of God. God has invested in us, but how reluctantly do most of us respond in the way we go about giving?

 Second, when we give of ourselves we help ourselves. When we offer “kindly giving” we are strengthening our Christian faith. There can be no Christian faith that is true which is self-centered. As Christ offered himself on the cross for all, we are called to do the same. Our faith is grounded and demonstrated by the love and generosity we express. How does the old saying go, “I would rather see a sermon than hear one”? Our faith is brought to fruition by our works, our acts of kindness and generosity. Our “single minded” service will also draw the prayers and the love those we serve and those to whom we give example. The fellowship of those who live their faith and practice it generously is incomparable. It is the true union of human hearts, “the fellowship of kindred minds,” the hymn writer says, “like to that above.” So we benefit ourselves by our generosity by bringing a piece of heaven to earth.

Third, our generous actions do something for God. When we walk in God’s way, demonstrating true care for others, giving of ourselves, we give glory to God. One of the great teachers of the early Church, Irenaeus, said, “God’s glory is humanity fully alive.” When we share life and self generously we are fully alive and God receives glory and praise. It is as Jesus said that when people see our works they see not us, but the One behind them. Our generosity reflects the generosity of God. It should be both humbling and exciting to think that something you or I can do could turn people’s hearts to God and can bring God himself joy.

            How do we make this investment that brings such a generous return? First, we must seek to live and act in God’s way as shown in the life of our Lord, Jesus Christ. In John 12: 24 he tells us “truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” In other words, unless it is planted, dies, it remains only a seed. A seed left to itself is a hard-shelled thing. It holds its precious gift of new life within it, but to get at that life it must move beyond its hard shell.

Jesus taught us that we must die to self so that hard shell can be broken down and the life-potential within us can break forth. A seed can’t do anything unless it’s placed in soil and takes root. We can’t do anything unless we sow ourselves in the lives of others by acts of love, of kindness, and of goodness. And we must sow ourselves generously. If we hold back the harvest we reap will be far less than it could be. It’s a sad thing to see someone who has many possessions, but doesn’t possess generosity of heart, mind, or life. They have sown and reaped an empty harvest because it does not produce fruit that will last. Our possessions pass, but the memory of the good we do and the love we share lives on. To reap bountifully, we must first sow bountifully.

Second, we must cultivate an attitude of gratitude in ourselves, in our families, and in our church. God is provident, loving and good. All that we have and that we are is a gift from God. We may work, but if God is not behind it nothing will come of it. God has shown himself generous time and time again. He has shared his very life with us, taking our flesh, living our life, and dying our death to bring us to new, abundant life in Jesus Christ. How can we not be grateful? How can we not be generous in our giving of self and substance in service to Christ and his church and to those in need? One who cultivates such an attitude of gratitude comes to it because of a profound experience of God’s mercy and love. Through that experience, because of the thanksgiving that marks that life, the grateful person has a deeper appreciation of all the gifts of life. Conscious of God’s love and care, assured of God’s presence that person experiences a generous return on the investment of self.

If you have not experienced the wonder of God’s love and mercy in your life, I pray that you will open your heart to it. The wonder of God’s presence and God’s love is all around us, if only we open our eyes to it. Plant the seed of life and of good works generously, out of love for God and his people, and you will experience a generous return on your investment – just like two widows did long ago.

November 4, 2018 All Saints Day Sermon

With all the angst that has gone on in the past few weeks and with an election coming in just a few days it is probably a good time to celebrate All Saints Day.  Before I explain why I have such a sentiment, let me first explain a little of what this day remembers, besides all of the saints.  There is some debate, not necessarily about the origin of this day but who it is that we mean when refer to all of the saints that we remember.  The Catholic and Orthodox Church have a process whereby they declare people to be saints.  The most recent for the Roman Catholic Church were the seven whom Pope Francis added on October 14th of this year. Probably the most famous among these being Oscar Romero – or at least he was famous at Santa Clara because he hung out with Jesuits.   In more Protestant circles the term saints is often given a more generous reading and often incorporates all believers.  In practicality, what such a definition means is that you and I are saints.  Now maybe it is because I know myself a little too well or because I am naturally a bit skeptical about human nature, I have tended to shy away from this more liberal interpretation and tend to think of saints as the sort of varsity team of the Christian faith.  That is they are the ones who live and have lived a life that reflects more of the glory of God.  Their light shines a little brighter.  You are probably getting tired of me quoting from The Mountain of Silence, that is the book we are studying in Sunday School, but I’m not, so here it goes again.  In the book the main character Fr. Maximos states, “The presence of saints among us provides a living testimony to the efficacy of the Gospel.”  That is the definition I am going to go with.  Saints are humans who are a little more filled with the Glory of God than the rest of us.  They are the ones who are in the Christian Hall of Fame and they testify that God is real and can change our lives.

         So with that out of the way, let me explain why I think it is so important to not only remember the Saints but also why it might not do us any harm to return the saints to a place of honor in our society.  I realize that the next part of my sermon may come off a bit like a grumpy old man rant, but I still stand by it.  The issue that I think we need to spend a little time thinking about and questioning is who we look up to these days.  If you judge by the supermarket checkout line it is celebrities, British royalty and reality TV stars.  If you judge by much of the clothing people wear you might say that it is professional athletes.  But whoever it is, it is not the saints.  Now I realize that some of the fascination with these aforementioned people is not because we want to emulate them.  People often pay attention to celebrities for the same reason they slow down for car wrecks and people often wear the jersey of athletes because they really enjoy watching sports.  But as the old expression goes – if you hang out in a barbershop long enough you will eventually get a haircut.  I can’t help thinking that when we are not looking to people whom we should truly emulate we are deteriorating our society. 

W. H. Auden in his poem For the Time Being gives the following dystopian vision of the future, which sounds a little like ours.  He says, “Whole cosmogonies will be created out of some forgotten personal resentment, complete epics written in private languages, the daubs of schoolchildren ranked above the greatest masterpieces. Idealism will be replaced by Materialism. Life after death will be an eternal dinner party where all the guests are 20 years old. . . . Justice will be replaced by Pity as the cardinal human virtue.”  It goes on for a while, but I think you get the gist.  A world where we emulate and look up to the JV team is a world where we experience things like the senseless tragedy we saw in Pittsburgh this past week.  Where as Auden says, “Whole cosmogonies [were] created out of some forgotten personal resentment.”  Why would someone scream, “All Jews must die”?  Because such a person either forgot or did not know that most basic of truths that we are all created in the image of God.  Again, going back to Fr. Maximos and his description of the saint.  He says the Saint, “Is that person in whose heart there is room for everybody.”  He continues his explanation with a discussion of Saint Isaac, a seventh century Saint who was actually from Qatar – who would have thought.  But he says that Saint Isaac, “Teaches that perfect love is shown by a person who prays even for demons and sheds tears at the thought that there are beings that are separated from God.”  That is what the saints call us to, to love and serve all of God’s creation.  Yes certainly they are wonderful and amazing individuals but at the most basic they show us a heart that has room for everybody.  What would our world look like if people spent more time in contemplation of this and less time enthralled with a world that rewards the exclusion and hatred of this group or that.

         I was reading someone recently discussing the rise of the internet and the great sorting that it has done in our society.  In the early idealistic days it was thought that the internet would draw all of humanity together, but instead people have discovered that it is now much easier to connect to groups that view the world just as we do.  The Pittsburgh shooter most likely had an online group who agreed that the Jews were really conspiring against him.  A group that told him that the heart did not have room for certain other groups.  And I realize this is all a bit depressing, but a world that casts its eyes downward rather than to those who have reached up to heaven is a depressing place.  However, it does not have to be like this, so let’s end with some sunshine.  Let’s review the story of one of the great saints and the next time we are feeling angry or mistreated let’s think about the saints who reacted with love to a world so often filled with hate.  Since we are the Church of England let’s go with one near and dear to Anglicans, the first British Martyr and Saint – Alban.  The story goes like this:

         Alban lived in Roman Britain and as best we can surmise was a soldier and followed the pagan religion of Rome.  One day he met a Christian priest fleeing from persecutors and sheltered him in his house for a number of days. While staying with Alban this priest prayed and "kept watch" day and night.  Alban was so impressed with the priest's faith and piety that at some point in his stay he converted to Christianity.  Well, eventually some of the Roman leadership learned that Alban was sheltering the priest. The official gave orders for Roman soldiers to make a search of Alban's house.  As they came to the house, Alban put on the priest's cloak and clothing and presented himself to the soldiers in place of his guest, saying that he was actually the priest.

         He was brought before the judge, who according to the Venerable Bede happened to be standing at the altar, offering sacrifices to pagan gods. By this time his true identity had been discovered and when the judge heard that Alban had offered himself up in place of the priest, he became enraged that Alban would shelter a person who, according to him, "despised and blasphemed the gods," and as Alban had given himself up in the Christian's place, Alban was sentenced to endure all the punishments that were to be inflicted upon the priest unless he would comply with the pagan rites of their religion. Alban refused, and declared, "I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things."

         The enraged judge ordered Alban scourged, thinking that a whipping would shake the constancy of his heart, but Alban bore these torments patiently and according to the accounts joyfully.  When the judge realized that the tortures would not shake his faith, he ordered for Alban to be beheaded. The place of his beheading is the location of St Alban’s Cathedral a little north of London.  Alban did not have to do what he did.  He could have given up the priest, he could have recanted his faith, but he had a heart that fully loved God and as a result fully loved humanity.  May we look to inspiration to Saints like Alban so that we may God’s both now and forevermore. 

October 28, 2018 Sermon

One thing I have noticed in doing extensive research (and by extensive research I mean sitting on my couch watching television).  But the thing that I have noticed is that there seems to be a lot more commercials on television these days that deal with retirement and living well in retirement.  When I was a kid commercials seemed to be focused on less philosophical issues and on more practical things like just how squeezable was Charmin (quite a bit evidently), ancient Chinese secrets and of course Sammy Davis Jr. singing about the virtues of Alka-Seltzer.  And even though Tootsie Pops did add a little existentialist angst to the mix by pondering the number of licks it took to get to its center, overall the commercials of my youth seemed to have come from simpler times.  These days it seems like when we are not being told how to fix our acid reflux it is all retirement all the time.  Most of these ads follow a similar tact – the bait is that you want to retire well and the solution to that is a company, with Athena like wisdom, who will make sure that this happens smoothly and there are also often images of whales for some reason.  But there is always something missing from these ads and it may sound morbid, but that is what happens after retirement, that is, how does it end?  These commercials are long on showing images of healthy looking 70 year olds plying the Pacific on their sailboats, but short on shots of nursing homes and hospital wards.  And I generally know the reason for this; it is the same reason that soda and snack commercials do not show a bunch of obese people; because such images do not move a whole lot of product.  But why do such images frighten us?  If death is just a stage of life like all of the others, why do we avoid this particular one so much?  Why is being young and vibrant or at least looking young and vibrant considered the only worthwhile way to live?  I would argue this is the case because we do not have a robust enough view of eternity.  What I mean by this is that even though every week in the Nicene Creed we say, “I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come” it seems that we want to hedge our bets a little.  That is, just in case all of this does not work out we want to make sure that we had some really good years before it all ended and avoid thinking about the perceived less than pleasant stuff until the very end.  But how would a life lived with a more robust view of eternity differ from those offered by companies that manage retirement funds?  Well to answer that let’s start with the Bible, which is generally a pretty good place to start in Church. 

         In Hebrews today we hear, “The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; but Jesus holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”  So just a little background on the book of Hebrews before we continue; the book of Hebrews often revolves around one theme, which is that Jesus is the new, better and eternal version of whatever it is being discussed.  In today’s bit the idea is that in the days before Jesus there were priests who served as the mediators between God and man, but there was a problem with those priests namely that they were mortal.  This meant that every now and then they would have to be replaced.  However, with the coming of Jesus this priesthood has become eternal.  In practicality this means that we have someone who permanently serves as the go between for God and us.  And that is all very lovely plus it saves some money on finding replacement priests, but the part that changes everything for us is the line where it states, “Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him.”  Not only is Jesus interceding but also solves this problem of death. 

         In the book The Mountain of Silence that we are reading for Sunday School the author states, “What we call death is nothing more than another beginning, a transition to a different plane of life and existence.”  If this is truly the case it changes the arc of this life, it is no longer about getting all the stuff in before it is over but rather about preparation for eternity, a preparation for this next stage of existence.  And I think the neglect of this understanding is one of the great sins of our times and to paraphrase St. Paul I am foremost among such sinners.  When we think of death we think of it as the end rather than as the gateway to the next stage.  And as I said this is a sin with which I struggle mightily.  I think fairly regularly about what I will do when I retire and even have spreadsheets with the way I plan to do it.  But such a mentality cuts me off from the day-to-day preparation that I am supposed to be going through for that next stage, the stage we call eternity.  If we only focus on our current wishes and desires for this world then we can stagnate and not have to do anything better.  But if this life is just a stage wherein we are to grow in our love and affection for God then retirement or whatever else we chose to focus on is less important.  They are things that happen, but they are not “the thing” that happens.  And that is the point that I am making.  It is not that retirement or living well in our golden years is evil or bad, but it is simply that these things are not the end goal. 

         It may be that Christians need to be reminded to take the long view and to see this life as preparation for what is to come.  That is life should be about preparing to be with God forever.  And being with God forever is not the heavenly version of a sweet retirement package but is rather a place where we act as God acts and love as God loves.  The problem with focusing solely on retirement or anything worldly is that it can be done on our terms.  We decide what we want and what we don’t want.  That is what retirement commercials are really selling.  They are telling us that with the right planning we will have enough money to do exactly as we want.  They might as well end by saying “our will be done.”  But for the Christian life is supposed to be about God’s will being done, I mean we do say it in the Lord’s Prayer every week when we state, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”  Our time on this earth is to be spent aligning our will with the will of God.  And if we are not doing this then why would any of us want to go to heaven?  For if heaven is the place where God’s will is done why would we spend our whole lives doing our own will then thinking that a place where it is all God’s will all the time is a place where we would want to spend eternity?  The author of Hebrews tells us today that now and for all time Jesus is interceding for us so that we can be saved.  In practical terms this means that a great retirement is not all that there is.  Rather it means that not only retirement, but our entire life should be in preparation for this salvation, preparation for being in the presence of God.  Meaning that we are to grow more like God every day, casting aside our selfish ambitions and our will so that we may be filled with the will of God so that we may be his both now and forevermore.