Year B Proper 9 WED 2024 Grace for the Vipers

Year B Proper 9 WEDNESDAY, 10 July 2024

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Grace for the Vipers”

Collect: O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your

Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus

Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Matthew 23:27-39

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside

they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you

are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous,

and you say, “If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the

prophets.” Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the

measure of your ancestors. You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?* Therefore I send you

prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from

town to town, so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood

of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.Truly I tell you, all this will come upon

this generation.

‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your

children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate.*

For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” ’

Not a happy Jesus. Not a Jesus pulling punches. He is sick and tired of being sick and tired.

He knows they know better, and they are doing it anyway.

And yet, even then, his grace flows out. Snakes! Brood of vipers! Hypocrites! He lets all the

names fly. But, as I said, he still desires to love and honor them:

‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to

it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood

under her wings…’

This is Jesus. He would not be doing his work if he did not warn and castigate the errant

souls. And even more, he would not be doing his job if he did not extend Grace.

Philip Yancey in his book What’s So Amazing About Grace? put it this way:

“Having spent time around "sinners" and also around purported saints, I have a

hunch why Jesus spent so much time with the former group: I think he preferred

their company. Because the sinners were honest about themselves and had no pretense,

Jesus could deal with them. In contrast, the saints put on airs, judged him, and sought

to catch him in a moral trap. In the end it was the saints, not the sinners, who arrested

Jesus.”

Yep, be careful around those church-y types.

It was nice being in a different place where my reputation did not precede me and my collar

did not stick out like a sore thumb. In my time at the school I attended, in the first two weeks

I had four conversations with folks who all had left the church for whatever reason and I was

able to present to them a different way, a different view of faith than they had heard before

and encouraged them to check out their local Episcopal Church. Once people got beyond

their expectations and prejudices, we were able to have some rich and wonderful conversations.

It really made me pay attention.

I am thankful, as I said on Sunday, that I was able to choose to be a part of a church I believe

in, and part of God’s Kingdom preaching a gospel of Grace and Peace. People need to hear

that they do not need to Fear, and that they are loved and accepted for who they are. They do

not need to get right to get loved. Another Philip Yancey quote: 

“God loves people because of who God is, not because of who we are.” (WISAAG?)

It was in Jesus’ nature to be Grace filled, even when he was accurately identifying the Snakes!

The brood of Vipers! The hypocrites!

God help is in the days of name calling and belittling to come. God help us not to fear. But

most of all, God help us be Grace-filled especially when the Vipers are all around us, and the

last thing we want to do is love. Amen