Year A Ash Wednesday 2023 Counterintuitive

 Year A Ash Wednesday 2023, 22 February 2023

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Counterintuitive”

Collect: Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says,

"At an acceptable time I have listened to you,

and on a day of salvation I have helped you."

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! We are putting no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see-- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Matthew 6:1-6,16-21

Jesus said, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

"So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Friends, there are many things I have learned to be true. This is one. Sometimes life is just counterintuitive.

Many of you may have seen the show Seinfeld. The characters in this “show about nothing” were supposed to make no point, to learn no lessons, and to be pretty despicable along the way. Funny much of the time, but unrepentant and never learning from their mistakes, they were unredeemable.

At one point in the series, Jerry’s friend George decided that his life was so bad, he needed to think of what he would do, and just do the opposite. As Jerry put it,  "If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right." He would become the Anti-George. And in doing what he normally would not, he found that his life was so much the better. 

Friends, so often our Christian walk is so much like the Anti-George. We think we know best, we think we can make it on our own, but we need to often do the opposite of what we think for things to come round right.

Jesus’ instructions for true piety from today’s readings are much the same. To be truly pious we need to do the reverse of the way of the world. 

“When you give alms, let it be done in secret.” 

“When you pray, go to a private room.”

“When you fast, go out of your way to keep it personal, clean up and look good so no one will know.”

We need to be anti-worldly to get the most out of our devotions.

We do it all for an audience of one, God the Father Almighty. If it is for anyone else, we have, as Jesus said, “received [our] reward.”

One of my great heroes of the faith from the last century is the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Dag Hammerskjöld. He was a tireless worker for human rights, and he died while on a peace mission in Africa. He very well could have been assassinated and it is one of the great cold cases of the 20th Century.

But just as surprising was a journal of thoughts and prayers that he left behind. It was published posthumously. A quiet Swede, his deep faith was something he held in secret. The depth and intent of his faith was a surprise to many when his journal was discovered. Poet W. H. Auden wrote the foreword for his friend. While his faith was unknown to most, there were some hints.

In 1953, in an interview with Edward R. Murrow, Hammerskjöld said this:

I found in the writings of those great medieval mystics for whom 'self-surrender' had been the way to self-realization, and who in 'singleness of mind' and 'inwardness' had found the strength to say yes to every demand which the needs of their neighbors made them face, and to say yes also to every fate life had in store for them when they followed the call of duty as they understood it.

 It was this self-surrendering, this giving up of our way, that he found life-giving. He modeled it in his work as a diplomat, and privately as a follower of Jesus Christ.

He is an embodiment of how I see Lent, a time of setting self aside, to more fully embrace Christ and be more fully embraced by Christ. He put all his life on his discipleship, and that discipleship came in the form of serving the world.

He died as he lived, all in on Jesus Christ. Entirely unknown, storing up his reward in heaven. In Markings, his only published work, he spoke of full commitment. He said, this:

“There is a point at which everything becomes simple and there is no longer any question of choice, because all you have staked will be lost if you look back. Life's point of no return.”

Friends, for a season, may we be challenged to go all in, to embrace “Life’s point of no return.” 

It may seem counterintuitive, and it is.

Like when you are on a swing, to go higher what must you do? Lean back!

And to swing back harder, what do you do? Lean forward!

We sometimes must do what is opposite for the outcome to be what we truly want. If so, then what St. Paul said to the Church in Corinth can ring true.

We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 

as unknown, and yet are well known; 

as dying, and see-- we are alive; 

as punished, and yet not killed; 

as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; 

as poor, yet making many rich; 

as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

In Christ, the man fully God, in Jesus, the God fully man, the contradictions are true. To be who we truly are we must die to self. To be fully rich, we have to give it all away. This is nonsense to the world. It is clear to those who follow along Jesus’ way.

Blessings on all of us as we enter into a Holy Lent. Amen

Year A Last Sunday after Epiphany 2023 Lessons in Awe

 Year A Last Sunday after Epiphany, 19 February 2023

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Lessons in Awe” 

Collect: O God, who before the passion of your only begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2 Peter 1:16-21

We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Matthew 17:1-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

awe /ô/  noun

a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.

I start there today because we may see the worship and the majesty, but forego whenever we are faced with power beyond our comprehension there is a healthy fear that comes with it. It must. Without a tinge of fear, we don’t know what we’re dealing with.

Like a nuclear scientist knows after the Manhattan project, there is mighty power in an atom. 

Friends, we finish Epiphany every year because Epiphany means the Unveiling. And the Transfiguration, this event we unwrap today, is when Jesus was fully revealed to his closest intimates, his most trusted disciples, Peter, James, and John. And even with them the cost of their inclusion is their silence. Until the Resurrection they are not to mention this to anyone.

At this point in the story we see Jesus turning to Jerusalem with the intent and purpose of what we have come to call The Passion.

There are moments when we see people very differently.

This happened for me with our friend, Father Nana Kessie. Many of you know him. Some of you even ate with him and had him in your homes. I saw him as a counterpart.  I knew his name means Prince. But all that became more real when I walked into the throne room of the King of the Ashanti, and he greeted all of us with a nod of his head. But with Father Kessie, he looked at him and said, “My dear cousin!” and then asked about his family. I saw my friend differently after that. The Power of the Throne lifted him up and set him apart.

This is what happens with Jesus here at the Transfiguration. He is lifted up and set apart. These three intimate disciples saw him differently after that. Peter defends the Gospel message even with his words about this: 

We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain. (2 Peter 1:16-18)

The very voice of God affirmed Jesus as the Ho Agapetos, The Beloved.

Not just known of God, but beloved of God. Known and Loved, the longing of all our hearts. And in the voicing of it, Jesus is proclaimed by God as well.

For my travels with the Triangle of Hope we will receive from the Bishops of Liverpool and Kumasi letters of invitation. We came at their request and under their authority. They say to our State Department and  their countries’ equivalent that we are welcomed, desired, and needed to visit them. We will provide the same for them when they apply for visas to come here. Jesus received the equivalent in God’s pronouncement. 

Beautiful.

Wonderful.

Awe-Inspiring.

But lest we forget, there is a danger in being too near powerful things. We need a healthy respect for things that we do not fully understand and cannot control. As C.S. Lewis said of Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia, “He is not a tame lion.”

Jesus is now a bringer of power and might. It is right to be cautious. He is more than the disciples ever thought. And you must remember, when the Transfiguration is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the three synoptic Gospels). And in all three, just before this we have Peter declaring that Jesus is the Messiah.

Was this causative? I don’t think so. Peter’s declaration did not cause this Unveiling. However, I do think that when things got to the point that people, probably more than just Peter, thought he was the Messiah. Peter was just the first recorded one to vocalize it. I think more likely it is what we say when we use the phrase, “In the fullness of time…” The time was fulfilled. It had come to fruition. All the dominoes were stacked. We had reached the fullness of time.

[Ponder that.]

With all that background, I want you to consider three things that I take from the Transfiguration. These are my lessons, and yours may be different. But in this powerful and awe-filled moment with a tinge of fear I see these things.

 First, God has a plan.

For the fullness of time to get filled up, there is an intent, a purpose, and a plan. I worked a lot with kids diagnosed with ADHD. And often with them when working on things, it all came back to breaking it down into small manageable tasks. Do this, then this, then this. And then once they got the steps managed, the big picture came into view.

God has to have a plan, or what happened after this makes no kind of sense. After the Transfiguration, Jesus goes to Jerusalem, raises a ruckus with his teachings and confronting the religious authorities, and is crucified for the threat he posed. How do we juxtapose this with the Transfiguration if this outcome was not the intent?

For God to say, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” and for the rest of the story which we know to be the rest of the story then this must have been the plan or our understanding of God is nothing. A) For God to be God, B) for God to have said, “This is my Son, the Beloved,” and C) Jesus is killed a gruesome execution reserved for the worst of criminals, then there must be a plan. If not then God is 1) Powerless, or 2) a Liar, or 3) Clueless. I am not willing to go to any of those three choices. The Transfiguration linked into the rest of the chain of events in this story make it necessary, at least to me, that this all was the fore-ordained order of things. It has to be.

The part of the story that brings me as much comfort is the arrival of Moses and Elijah, heroes of the faith from centuries before. It shows me something simple. 

Second, Time is less important than we think.

We are caught in a river we call time, and as we go through the rapids we cannot think of anything other than the rapid. When we are just meandering and going along we may reminisce, or think about what is to come around the next bend. But even then we are still mostly concerned with the flow of time we find ourselves in.

At the Transfiguration, we see Jesus moving freely in his prayer with Moses and Elijah. They are beyond time and space, and in his prayer, so is Jesus.

When I hear of someone’s passing, often I will say or write. “I am praying for your loved one, for you, and the whole family.” Present tense. Their loved one is dead. But do you think being dead stops God?

It didn’t with Moses and Elijah here. It didn’t with Jesus in the Resurrection, or in Saul’s ne Paul’s confrontation on the Road to Damascus, or John the Revelator’s vision in Revelation. Time and Death are both within God’s Realm, his Authority and Rule. And Prayer enables us to step in, out, and beyond time. 

Time is not the limit. God is not the limit. Our belief in our Prayers is the Limit.

There are no such things as small prayers. Each and every one is a power beyond our comprehension. Our Prayers are powerful when we realize what Oswald Chamber said to be true, “We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.” When God is the focus of our prayers, there are no limits.

Thirdly, Everything is Connected. Moses is connected to Elijah who is connected to Jesus, to Peter, to James, to John, to me, to you. We are all interwoven and interrelated. If time has less meaning than we give it, so does space and distance. We pray for the Ukraine even though you will probably never go there. We lift up our dear brother Father Nana Kessie and his ministry at All Saints Church in Akwosi-Kumasi. We are bound together, and as our brothers and sisters, and strangers and enemies are affected, so are we.

From the earliest of Scriptures, God has been trying to get it through to us that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ and strangers’ and enemies’ and everyone’s keeper. And they are ours.

In the Transfiguration, we see that all of time and space and existence are interwoven, full of power, awe, and fear.

This might be daunting if it were not for Jesus' words to his closest disciples who had fallen on their faces, terrified. May his words to them be his words to us, especially when we are faced with things that seem way too big for us to deal with, so big that we do not even know where to start.

“Get up and do not be afraid.” Too often like Peter we want to stop and feel like this is where we are supposed to land and set up tabernacles. But God is not done, with the world, or with any of us. “Get up and do not be afraid.” No matter the situation, that is probably good advice.

The Unveiling, the Epiphany, is over. God’s Revelation has been made clear. Jesus is the Beloved. And by letting us in on this, through Peter’s testimony, we are too. You are the Beloved of God through his Son.

God’s love is not a Zero Sum gain. When I do weddings, I always say to the parents of the bride and groom, “Expand your family, and add new rooms for your love.” We love those who our Beloved loves. And Jesus loves us, and invites us in. Never forget that.

So, the Beloved of God, know this. God has a plan. Time is less important than you think. And, Everything is connected. And when in doubt, “Get up and do not be afraid.” Amen

Yea A 6th Epiphany 2023 Root Out the Cause

 Year A 6th Sunday after Epiphany,  12 February 2023

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Rooting Out The Cause”

Collect: O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Matthew 5:21-37

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell. 

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”

Today’s readings are hard. They are seemingly impossible, and even horribly legalistic. But Jesus did not come to be nit-picky with us, the Pharisees were doing a fine job of that. He wanted us to look at the laws we had, and see them as important and good as they were, yet even these were inadequate. We could do everything right and still be cold-hearted stinkers.

There are some funny laws on the books. They make no sense, unless of course you know the context which made it make sense for the legislators to pass them. Some laws on the books in Virginia currently…

• Use profane, indecent, or threatening language on the phone. This includes the language you use in your text messages.

• Tickle a woman. Men, however, may be tickled.

• Hunt any animal other than a raccoon on a Sunday. If you are going to hunt a raccoon on a Sunday, however, you must do so by 2 a.m.

• Illegal to flip a coin to decide who pays for coffee in Richmond.

• Illegal to wash a mule on the sidewalk in Culpeper.

• Illegal to spit on a seagull in Norfolk. 

[Source: https://www.kffjlaw.com/faqs/strange-virginia-laws.cfm]

The context makes sense of these, maybe. But somewhere somebody did these things and someone else was so upset that they felt the need to make a law to prevent these bizarre things from happening again.

We make laws to control behavior, to hopefully prevent someone from doing something we collectively have decided that we should not.

There are human laws, which can be ridiculous as shown, and then there are God’s Laws. Those Ten Commandments are the biggies, but in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) there are more than 600 more, all with the intent that we would live good, godly, respectable lives. Some of them are godly. Some of them are contextual.

The laws stating that we cannot eat shellfish, anything without gills, is one I have a hard time keeping. I like my shrimp and oysters. I like my scallops. 

The law stating that I cannot eat pork is another one. And being a Virginia boy, the idea that a bacon wrapped scallop is anathema to the Almighty I find hard to believe. Bacon wrapped scallops are a gift from God not a sin, in this Virginia boy’s humble opinion. But these kosher dietary laws make total sense for a wandering nomadic people in a desert climate. These things do not keep and become dangerous once they turn. Another reason to thank God for Virginia. Contextually obvious, but when made universal it strains credulity.

Laws are made to keep us on the straight and narrow, or safe and healthy. And here we see in our third installment on the Sermon on the Mount in as many weeks, that Jesus wants us to not just be good, but holy or set apart from the rest of the way the world does things.

Two weeks ago I preached on how I read the Beatitudes, how all are welcome and loved and wanted in this new Kingdom of God Jesus is preaching about.

And last week, I preached that we are called to a higher place, to be the Light of the World and the Salt of the Earth. This naming of Christ’s expectations is transformative. Jesus does not want his followers to just get by, but to live abundantly. As he says in John 10:10, “I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly.” If that is the case, he has some work to do.

I taught for a long time. I wanted my students to excel, to be curious, to have a passion for learning and growing. Too often though, the question was asked, “Is this going to be on the test?” If I said no, then the lights went out and I turned into the teacher on Charlie Brown. “Wa wa wa wa wa wa.”

Jesus wants us to excel in life, and in his Sermon on the Mount he is aiming for that abundance for us, so he starts with the problem.

He names some of the Ten Commandments. Some that most people then could easily say that they had not broken. Don’t Murder. Don’t Commit Adultery. But then he names one that is much easier to break. Don’t Swear Falsely. And he presents a response to these commandments that may from the outset seem more legalistic and impossible than the Ten Commandments. Jesus seems a puritanical meanie. But what he is aiming at is the foundational problem of the human condition.

I know people who have committed very little sinful acts, but they are not nice or even good people. They are malicious, self-righteous, judgy, and no fun to boot. I am not saying being sinful is fun, but having an unloving and grace-filled heart is as bad as breaking the Big Ten (Commandments). As Jesus said, “The measure you give is the measure you get back.” (Luke 6:38)

Jesus starts with the biggies because he is juxtaposing the elementary school teaching from Moses coming down from the mountain, with his own Graduate School for those who recognize that we need something deeper and more the toddler’s NO! of the “Thou Shalt Nots.” Jesus is doing a traditional rabbinical technique, arguing with another rabbi from previous times, rebuking or clarifying or adding nuance.

To his listeners, he was as I mentioned in the previous weeks, another Moses with New Commandments that went beyond the “Thou-Shalt-Nots” and got to the root of the problem. The problem was not with what we did, but with who we are.

The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. We are deep down not who we can be, who we should be. To be about the Kingdom, Jesus is calling for heart transplants for us all!

The Root of Sin lies in the motivations of the human heart.

The Ten Commandments were about chopping down trees. Jesus was about plucking out the seeds before they ever sprout. This is a drastically different approach. It means that we do not let the things that could grow into sin even begin in our hearts.

There is a famous Cherokee story which makes much the same point.  

A young boy came to his Grandfather, filled with anger at another boy who had done him an injustice.

The old Grandfather said to his grandson, "Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and hate does not hurt your enemy. Hate is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times."

"It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one wolf is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offence when no offence was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way. But the other wolf, is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper."

"He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, because his anger will change nothing. Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, because both of the wolves try to dominate my spirit."

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which wolf will win, Grandfather?"

The Grandfather smiled and said, "The one I feed."

[SOURCE: https://theacademy.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/two-wolves-cherokee-story.pdf]

Jesus is telling us not to feed the anger which grows to hatred which grows to murder. Jesus is teaching us that that sideways glance to get that sexy peak, gives birth to lust, and lust is the parent of adultery. Jesus says clearly that we need to be people of integrity and our word needs to be so trusted that people can take it at face value, our yes is yes, no question. Our no is no, no question. We begin to invoke the powers when we begin to “swear to God” or anything or anyone else.  And this slippery slope begins to lead us to bear false witness. These great Big Ten sins begin so small. Like pug puppies, they may be so ugly that they seem cute. But know what they are. Seeds which grow and become much bigger than we want to face much sooner than we might think. Don’t feed the wolf. Don’t water the seed.

The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart, and Jesus is teaching AND ENABLING us to be the type of people fit for the Kingdom. We cannot just act good, like Eddie Haskel from “Leave It To Beaver” behind when Mr. or Mrs. Cleaver is around. We need to not just do good, we need to BE GOOD. And if we are of Christ’s Kingdom of God it is truly about BEING HOLY.

When I was a child I loved blowing the seeds off of a dandelion. It was with great joy that I would find a full head of seed spores, and I would huff and puff and blow them all away.

Then I got to the age where I had to weed the yard. Scattering those seeds became a terrifying thought. Friends, unless you want a lot of weeding to do, do not scatter those wild oats or seeds or whatever. Play it smart. Play it safe. Listen to Jesus. Follow his teaching without being legalistic and rigid.

He wants us to be Blessed like he talked about in the Beatitudes. He wants us to be the Light of the World and the Salt of the Earth, our message he has given us to share is so necessary, and oh, so needed.  He encourages us today to be holier than the biggest holier-than-thou you have ever met in your personal ethics, and as gracious as God is in dealing with everyone else. This is utterly impossible if we try to do it on our own. But it is also his calling for each of us who take on his name. May it be so. Amen

Year A 5th Epiphany 2023 Scofflaws and Non-Prophets

Year A 5th Sunday after Epiphany, 5 February 2023

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Scofflaws and Non-Prophets”

Collect: Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Matthew 5:13-20

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

As many of you know, I was a camp director for years. Some folks that worked for me, did it as internships for college credit. It helped them and it helped us. It took some extra paperwork, which was usually easy to do. One of my assistant directors was working on an outdoor recreation degree (yes, there is such a thing) and part of this was he needed to write a reflective journal of his experience. Near the end of the summer, he had me read it for feedback before he turned it in.

In the first few pages I thought he was making a witty critique because he kept using a phrase which I assumed was a play on words because we were a religious camp. The word he invented was “non-prophet.” You are hearing me, so let me spell it out for you. N O N (hyphen) P R O P H E T. Non-prophet. As in, not proclaiming the word of God.

I enjoyed his witticism for another page until I saw that he just did not know how to spell non-profit. N O N (hyphen) P R O F I T. Non-profit. As in a 501(c)3 Corporation. An enterprise in our country which aims to serve a purpose, but not make a profit for anyone, individually or for stockholders.

But in the decades since that paper, and my, what a paper it was, that malapropism has stayed with me. Too often, I have seen that the supposed Church of Christ was non-prophet when Jesus commands us to be prophetic in our deeds and our words.

I do not want you to be confused this week, especially if you heard last week’s sermon. I stand by what I said, without question. Jesus meets us where we are, and loves us just the way we are. No ifs, ands, buts, or asterisks.

Grace is a gift, a free gift, no strings attached. Grace is that gift of God, and there is nothing we could do to make God love us any more and there is nothing we could do to make God love us any less.

We can never, could never, pay God back for the love and Grace showered on us. But we can respond, and that is what Jesus is getting at today. Today’s Gospel reading directly follows last week’s Beatitudes, so consider this an extension of last week’s sermon if you heard it.

We are given some very powerful images, and once again I want to read from a translation that makes you hear it again for the first time. 

13 Jesus said: “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Salt of the Earth, Light of the World. Two strong and powerful ideas and views of who God is calling us to be, or better yet, reminding us of who we are.

When you eat a dish, if it is good you delight and are astounded. You might try to put together what makes it taste so good. But more often then not, you just think, “Mm-mm-mm, THAT is GOOOOOOD!”

But if it does not have enough of the seasoning you expect, then what do we say? “It’s missing something. It could use a little salt.” And that, my friends, is so often where we are called to be. We are called to enhance the godliness, or as Peterson translated it, to bring out the God-flavors in this world. People notice when it is missing.

I think so many of our societal ills are coming from just that. We are promoting Salt instead of God. We should be present, but not necessarily noticed. We enhance, but we are not the main attraction. Subtle not overbearing.

Like Gandalf said of the simple, life-loving hobbits in The Hobbit:  “I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” That is salt. Simple. Just Enough. No more. No less.

Jesus describes us much the same way as Light. Light is there, and if things are lit correctly you do not think about it or notice. If it is too dark or too bright one does. But light, and salt, too, cannot be hid. If it is there, one does notice it. Especially in the dark, like a city on a hill, there is a glow from a distance. We are necessary, especially when times are dark. We stand out. We cannot be hid. We fight the darkness, and as John says in his Gospel, Chapter 1, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.” Sometimes we are sitting ducks, shining out in dark and hurting world. Yes, it is easier for Evil to take aim. But think of it this way, for those who are wandering in the darkness, they are desperately looking for a light, any light, and when they find us we can point to the “great light.” “For people walking in darkness have seen a great light.”

Salt of the Earth, Light of the World. Our high calling, a goal to be who we were born to be. We cannot pay God back, even if we tried. But we are called to be, and by that I mean behave, like we are of Christ.

Jesus goes on:

17-18 “Don’t suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures—either God’s Law or the Prophets. I’m not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God’s Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God’s Law will be alive and working. 19-20 “Trivialize even the smallest item in God’s Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won’t know the first thing about entering the kingdom.

So many people, and I should say, so many immature people, think that their freedom in Christ means that they are able to do whatever they want. No. That is not our freedom in Christ. We have been set free to do the GOOD that God birthed us to be in this world. We are free to do what we OUGHT, not whatever we want.

St. Augustine said that the following of God is to “Love God, and do what you will.” He did not mean whatever we want. But as we mature and grow in Christ, we do not take our freedom for granted. We slowly mature so that we are conformed to the Christ that we are growing into likeness of. 

I saw a video of people who had pumpkin molds. They put immature pumpkins in these molds, and as they grew and matured, the pumpkin expanded into the mold, and when it was done growing there was a face that had been molded onto the pumpkin. It was cool. As we grow in Christ, using our freedom to become more and more like Christ in the world instead of more worldly, people will begin to see Christ in and through us. We will have matched the mold we choose to place ourselves in.

We are good without a checklist that makes us legalistic and holier than thou. It is not about being good so we can say we kept all the rules. It is about being above the worldly and beyond the rules. It stops being a habit, and it becomes our identity. We become whatever mold we put ourselves in. We embody the laws without even thinking about it. It is in our spiritual muscle memory.

In a world where it screams at us to be ourselves, Christ reminds us that we can be better than that. We find our true selves in him. It is not about self-actualization, but about making the Kingdom of God real here on earth. God made us and births us into the Kingdom. Will we wake up, or enlighten up, or self-actualize enough to realize that?

I am more of me when I am less of me. I become who I am supposed to be by realizing whose I am. I am who I am because of whose I am. That is how I can be blessed coming from wherever, however, in this new Kingdom reality. I can be the salt that brings out the God-flavors. I can be Light to a darkened world.

Being a scofflaw of those traditional laws is nowhere in my thinking. I must be For-Prophet, P R O P H E T. Not non-prophet. We can neither be religious scofflaws or non-prophets. I am here to proclaim the word of God, and if you are in Christ YOU ARE, TOO! Maybe not in what you say, but how you choose to live your life. As St. Francis supposedly said, “Preach at all times. When necessary, use words.” You are the Light of the World.

We are being invited to help bring God’s dream for the world to reality. What a precious calling! Lord, help us be worthy!

We sang it as children, so we did not realize the power and truth in it. But it is what we were born to do. Sing it if you know it…

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine! Amen