One of the
dangers of using a lectionary is that we are dependent upon the skills of the
committee that produces the readings. I
don’t mean that, of course, as if their PhD’s do not prepare them to examine
the texts and edit them. I suppose my
real gripe is with the editing and the breaking of texts in a parish
setting. When they put the lectionary
together, it’s done rather academically, though I imagine covered in
prayer. Sometimes, readings will be
grouped in ways that may make perfect sense to academics, but not to those of
us living in messy parish life. Other
times, the groupings are clearly meant to introduce a concept, like sabbath
this week, to a congregation, when what the congregation needs is something
else from the readings. Thankfully, our
Anglican forebears have recognized this danger.
The celebrant, in our tradition, has been given wide latitude to add to
the chosen readings in the interest of parish well-being, even when we used the
BCP lectionary. It being Rally Day, and
an opportunity for folks to sign up for various ministries over in the Parish
Hall before we descend like locusts on the potluck and hamburgers, it seemed a
good time for us to consider our ministries, corporate and individual, in light
of God’s accusations against His people.
So settle in, pay attention, and consider what God is saying to you in
the readings and in the needs in your wildernesses.
Way back in
chapter 5 of Isaiah’s book, we read an interesting poem. It is interesting for a variety of reasons,
among them the word play and the fact that the song is actually a lament. I know most everyone remembers the song from
three years ago, the last time we read it, but we do have some newcomers among
us, who have joined us within the last three years, and I’ll take a moment to
catch them up. In chapter 5, God
describes Himself as a farmer. In
particular, He describes Himself as a Vintner, a grower of grapes. He has chosen the best land. He has selected the best grapes. He has dug a wine press in the very center so
that the workers will not have to haul the harvested grapes too far. He has built a watchtower to protect the
vineyard, and He has placed a wall around it to protect it. What should He expect as a result? What kind of fruit would you expect this
vineyard to produce?
Correct! Great grapes. The best for making wine, right?
Instead,
this vineyard has produced rancid grapes.
If you flip back in your Advent Bible it will probably say wild or sour
grapes. The Hebrew term used actually carries
a rancid smell. God describes the rancid
grapes as producing injustice and cries of suffering. In fact, in a really cool wordplay that the
Psalms Bible Study groups would love, God expected His vineyard to produce
mishpat and tsedaqah, justice and righteousness. Instead, His vineyard produced mispakh and
tse’aqah, bloodshed and cry. In many
ways, the song hinges on the interplay of those four words. Add to the mispakh and tse’aqah the rancid
smell and possibility that the grapes were red and we have an interesting
metaphor regarding blood, don’t we?
To this
point, of course, it’s rather academic. Ah,
God is a Vintner. He chooses great
land. He selects the best grapes. He protects His vineyard and makes it
function economically. The real
pastoral problem, of course, is that at the end of His self-description, God
declares that Israel is the vineyard!
Whoa! God’s people are producing
rancid smelling grapes? God’s people are
producing bloodshed and cry? That can’t
be, can it?
If we had
more time today to delve into the image selected by God, tse’aqah is not just a
cry of sadness. It is the forlornness of
misery. It is the word used to describe
the plight of God’s people in slavery in Egypt—I have heard the cries of My
people---and the accusation against Sodom and Gomorrah—I must go down
and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come
to Me. These are loaded terms. God is effectively telling Israel, and us,
that He gave them everything and they perverted His work, producing rancid
smelling fruit in their lives!
I see the
squirms. Yeah, how would you like to be
on the receiving end of this pronouncement?
Can you imagine standing before God’s throne, Him saying He gave you the
very best land and seeds, and you produced rancid injustice and suffering and
bloodshed with His gifts?
If it makes
us squirm, that’s good! At least we are
beginning to see what God might have to say to His people today, right? Our Collect today reminds us of part of our
purpose, right? God has gathered His
Church together in unity by His Holy Spirit so that it may show forth His power
among all peoples, to the glory of His Name, right? I mean, when I said that Collect earlier, who
hear did not think it was describing the modern Church? Ok, let’s make it easier, who hear did not
think it an apt description of the Church in the United States? I mean it’s unfair for Him to think we can
bridge national borders, isn’t it? Ok,
well at least it described us as a parish, right? We are gathered in unity to show forth His
power, right? For those of you newer to
the parish, that feeling as you considered those questions, and others related
as prompted by the Holy Spirit, is what I mean by a spiritual wedgie. We know what God expects and desires, and we
also know we are falling short. Sinning
against Him. That realization or
recognition makes us uncomfortable, like a wedgie in junior high, just as God
intends!
And, unlike
our Hebrew forebears, we have the Incarnation, Passion, death, Resurrection,
and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ in full view. To use the words of last week’s Collect, we
see clearly the atonement for sin and pattern for holy living in the life and
work of Jesus Christ. Isaiah’s audience
had none of that. We really got God’s fullest
and best, and what have we produced?
Ouch? Unfair?
You and I
live in a country where many claim to be Christian and where many claim that
our laws are based on God’s torah. Make
no mistake, I love my country. I am
often thankful that I was born here and not any number of other countries
around the world. But do we REALLY want
God thinking of us as His chosen nation?
We are fighting political battles over how to care for children; what
quality of education our youth, especially poor urban youth, should get;
whether certain types of guns and ammunition are needed for personal defense or
sport; whether systemic injustices like the prison for profit business model
should be tolerated or encouraged; whether individuals without homes should be
tolerated in our communities; whether good medical care is an inalienable,
never mind human, right. And I have not
gotten to the really fun fights in our society over the death penalty, abortion,
trade, or any other of a host of really divisive issues. Oooh.
And look at the squirms. We
worship together in a parish that calls itself a multigeneration family, and do
we really want to tackle the hard questions?
In truth,
that uncomfortable feeling we are feeling at the prospect I might launch into a
discussion on one or more of those societal debates ought to make us
uncomfortable. The accusation that God
lays at the feet of His people in Isaiah can be levelled against us. Are we using what He has given us to glorify
Him in our lives? In our
communities? In the wildernesses where
we labor or play daily and weekly? Are
we using our position to nudge those around us to begin producing the sweet
fruit that God desires, or are we content to hide behind our wealth or
influence or other advantages, allow the rancid fruit to fill God’s nose, and
then hope He passes over us?
Some of you
wrestling with God over this question, or maybe you think it’s me, may well be
saying to yourself, what can I do, I’m only one person? How many Scripture lessons do we read each
week where the faith of one person saves others, even whole communities?! We’ve spent some time with Abraham this summer,
a man whose faith made the birth of Jesus ultimately possible. If you need a New Testament example, look no
further than Mary, whose “let it be as He desires” brought forth the
Incarnation and the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation. If God can save the world through the work
and faith of one or two people, what CAN’T He accomplish with your faith and
your obedience? Others of you wrestling
may well be saying, Brian, I’m ok, I have Jesus. Do you?
Can someone really have Jesus and not proclaim with their lives what
they profess with their lips?
Ultimately, thankfully and mercifully, the guy who hung on the Cross has
the final say. But it’s that guy who
hung on the Cross for each one of us who places these claims, these calls on
our lives. If we constantly reject His
calls and claims, are we truly His?
Make no
mistake, I am not interested in evaluating your faith. My job is NOT to tell you you are a good
enough Christian or that you should be worried about your salvation today. That’s God’s job. That’s His Holy Spirit’s job, wrestling with
each one of us, about 75 or 80 I’d say.
It’s also His Holy Spirit’s job to nudge us back toward God, right? As we wrestle with His Word and the example
of His Son, our consciences provoke us. Am
I doing what I am supposed to be doing?
Am I glorifying God in my life?
Isaiah,
again, points to helpful self-examination.
Have we removed the yoke that exists between us? Do we point fingers and claim that these
fights should be the works of others, or do we recognize that God may well have
called us into those fights. Are you
feeding the hungry? Are you assisting the
refugee and immigrant among you? Are you
meeting the needs of the afflicted around us?
Make no mistake, in the Parish Hall you may see ways that Adventers are
doing these things that surprise you.
You may have never considered one of those ministries a need. But God did!
And a fellow Adventer answered His call!
And now you each have an opportunity to follow God’s call more
concretely. Better still, maybe in your
perusal this morning the Holy Spirit may prompt you with an idea. Maybe you think the work of Good Neighbors is
awesome, but there’s another need going unmet.
Share it with Leslie and others and with me. You may be right! And if you are, you can bet God may be
calling others to that work, too! Maybe
you think the work of Body & Soul is wonderful, but something else should be
done besides food, and clothes, and toiletries.
Again, you may be right! Share that
idea with Hilary or Nancy or a member of the Vestry or me. Maybe your real gift is a gift of voice. Maybe God is calling you to use that gift to
speak the most valuable words to ever come out of human mouths and so nurture
those who seek this sanctuary, this sabbath, before heading back into the
world. Maybe your gift is fervent prayer,
grant writing, who knows what, I can promise you, God gave you at least one and
wants you to use it to His glory in your life.
And, that,
naturally, is where the Gospel once again overwhelms and awes us. Isaiah, speaking the words of God today,
reminds us what happens when we satisfy the needs of the afflicted in our
life. Our light rises in the darkness
and our gloom is like the noonday! He
satisfies our needs in the parched places and makes our bones strong. Best of all, we become like a spring of
water, whose waters never fail! Can any
of us hear that promise and not think of the woman at the well with Jesus? When He tells her of that water, what does
she ask? Right! Give me this water always. Brothers and sisters, God is promising us, if
we obey His call on our lives, we will be like fountains of that life-giving
water. The source, the spring, is Jesus;
but you and I are promised that we will be like fountains to others in our life!
I should
film from the pulpit sometimes. Y’all went
from squirming and uncomfortable to wonder just like that. I know.
It’s almost too wonderful for words to contemplate. God is promising that those of us who meet
the needs of the afflicted in our lives that we will be little fountains of His
Son.
If the
Gospel ended there, it would be enough.
Such a promise from God would overwhelm us or cause us to blubber in
awe. Just give me heaven and I’ll be
fine with that, Lord. But He does
not stop with that promise. Some of
these evils that we are called to fight are gigantic, systemic,
deep-rooted. There seems to be no chance
that little ol’ me or little ol’ you can really do anything about them. And in human perspective, we are
correct. We are not strong enough, smart
enough, or whatever else enough. Thankfully,
God has a different perspective and power and wisdom.
God will
execute judgment on His people. Y’all
should know the story of the Exile as God keeping His promises made at Sinai
and again on the banks of the Jordan. Israel
will experience the prophesy named in Isaiah 5. Babylonians and Assyrians and any rogue bandit
of the day will, in fact, plunder her, as evidence of her disloyalty. But, one day in the future, another faithful
saint will respond to God’s call. Actually,
a number of God’s people will respond to His call. And all that was thrown down will be
repaired. Ezra, Nehemiah and others will
be known as repairers of the breach the restorers of the streets. And that same God, whose power working in
you, can make of you a modern version of that!
If it is God calling you to be the destroyer of an unjust system, that’s
just how you may be known! If it is God
calling you to be a rebuilder of something crumbled, that’s just how the world
may perceive you! And here’s the better
news, even if the world does not recognize your work, even if the world misses your
impact, those whom you served certainly will not! And God, who is a God who is near—remember last
week, He, too, will know who you are and vindicate you in the end!
I know we
came together this morning a bit disjointed expecting an opportunity to sign up
for the same old ministries. 8 o’clockers
have probably had a bit too much caffeine by now and 10:30 folks were still
asleep at the beginning. Heck, I only
got one go at this sermon! But we remind
ourselves this day, this particular day, that the ministries we do at this place
we call Advent, we do in His Name and to His glory, that others might be drawn
into His saving embrace. And for nothing
more than a bit of faith and obedience on our part, he offers us, no, He
promises us that He will make us ride upon the heights of the earth, that we
will share in His glory, not for a few years, but for all eternity!
In Christ’s Peace,
Brian†
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