The heart of the Seeker and those for whom He searches . . .

     Like you all, I am still settling into this new pattern of our worship. In some ways, it is kind of cool to only have to do half the sermon preparation that I have been doing for the last 10-12 years. By that, of course, I mean that Holly is doing half and I am doing half, not that I am being lazy in my duties! Maybe it’s that reduction in duties, but I have to confess I don’t really feel relaxed when I have a sermon by Monday or Tuesday in the week. I have grown far more accustomed to settling on a sermon later in the week. This week, though, I knew I would be preaching from Luke. Not that I necessarily wanted to. Really, the prideful and lazy me wanted to preach from Jeremiah. Prideful, in the sense that I could show off in the tohu vabohu of the passage; lazy, in the sense that our work in the Genesis Bible study class on Tuesday evenings meant I did not have to do a lot of reading for sermon preparation – it has already been done! The same is true, of course, of Psalm 14. We have studied that one at length on Tuesday mornings at the Psalm Bible study, so I was well prepared for that! But here I was, certain early in the week that we should look at Luke.
     By the way, since I have already given a commercial for two of our Bible studies, I might as well commercialize the whole thing. In your Order of Worship inserts you will see a card asking about a lectionary based Bible study to be offered by Holly. If you are a bit intrigued by my hints of Genesis and the Psalm, maybe you should be in a lectionary Bible study with Holly. That way, you get to skim the surface of all four readings assigned each week! Now, back to our regularly scheduled sermon . . .
     Turn in your orders of worship to Luke. Have you ever noticed how good we are in the Church at drawing boundaries? We have this innate ability to decide who belongs in and who belongs out of the presence of God. Some of us who have belonged to other denominations have had that instinct well-honed and developed in the course of our membership in those denominations, but we Episcopalians are pretty good at it, too. We are in good company. We are much like our brother and sister Jews.
     Luke sets the stage for today’s teaching by showing the blurring of the boundaries. Jesus is teaching, and tax collectors and sinners, as well as Pharisees and scribes, were coming near to listen to Jesus. Tax collectors, of course, were the Benedict Arnold’s of their day. They worked with the Roman occupiers and, more often than not, enriched themselves at the expense of their brother and sister Jews. Tax collectors were, at best, often distrusted and, at worst, often hated. As a nation remembering the fifteenth year since the destruction of the Towers, we probably relate to the Pharisees and Scribes better than we would like to think. How many of us would be happy if Muslims had joined us in our walk with God through Christ during the intervening years? My suspicion is that we feel about as lovingly toward our Muslim brothers and sisters as Jews did toward their tax collectors, but that is another sermon, and Julia is here to tell us about Rooftop Ministries today.
      Anyway, the holy folks are grumbling. “Doesn’t He know who she is?” “Doesn’t He know what that guy does?” “What kind of holy man associates with sinners?” We still do this today. As most of you all know, my work in the fight against human trafficking caused me to meet some . . . interesting people. My former parish was not too concerned that I hung out with prostitutes or foreigners, though other churches and other clergy sometimes fussed at me about the “optics.” They meant well, most of the time. And when they didn’t, I got really excited. It’s pretty cool confirmation when people tell you that you are acting too much like Jesus. But even those who supported me struggled when I started hanging out with the pimps/slavers. A few members of my last parish had some serious heart to hearts with me about whether I was doing the right thing drinking beers with pimps, not praying for the destruction of slavers, or wandering into some . . . not quite the Garden of Eden spots of our midst.
     Perhaps the best example of this parable in modern times happened a couple years ago over in Rome. The Holy Father, as you all know and now come to expect, reminds us that we are supposed to be an inviting people, that we are supposed to mirror the behavior of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That instruction, naturally, extends to the College of Cardinals and to the bishops. A couple years ago, Francis had reminded or chided, depending on who told the story, his brother bishops that they were supposed to give up their fancy cars and luxurious homes and to serve others as Christ had served them. One bishop, a cardinal actually, was heard to complain by the press that the Holy Father had lost his mind. Francis actually expected them to eat with homeless people! Had he never smelled them? Had he never seen their table manners? Just who did he think he was telling them to eat with “those” people.
     Francis handled the criticism well and used it as a teaching moment for the public while beginning to shape his successor. A reporter noticed construction around St. Peter’s Square. Eventually, it became clear that public showers were being installed in the Square. As God or Francis would have it, the reporter had occasion to be at a press conference with the Holy Father and have the opportunity to ask questions—this guy knows what he is doing, but so does God. The reporter asked why showers were being installed, reportedly at the instruction of the Holy Father. Francis stated that he had seen the interview with his brother bishop discussing the smell of the homeless. His brother bishop was right. Because the homeless had no access to showers, they often smelled badly. He thought it only fair that the homeless should be given places to shower so that when his brother bishops invited them to dinner, they could clean up. That way, the olfactory senses of my brother bishops will not be offended, and the homeless will have no reason to apologize to the host bishop for their condition. Talk about a Jesus-worthy lift up and smack down!
     Jesus, of course, responds to the indignity of the Pharisees and Scribes by telling a couple parables. In one way, these are common parable and we can well understand them, right? A shepherd loses a sheep and leaves the flock in search of the lost one. In economic terms, such an action is kind of crazy. The one sheep represents only 1% of his wealth, his work. Yet he leaves the 99% behind to search high and low for the one. We might like to think he left his flock with others, but Scripture does not tell us he did. Scripture says he left the 99 in the wilderness and went in search of the one. He sure does risk a lot for one sheep. Similarly, the woman loses a coin. In economic terms, the coin is 10% of her wealth. Symbolically, it is worth more. So maybe we can understand her focused searching a bit more. She tears the house apart looking for the lost coin, searching everywhere, in the cushions, under the refrigerator, digging through the trash until she locates it.
      We do this kind of stuff all the time, right? Jesus’ example is from everyday life. Those here on Tuesday can tell you how discombobulated I was without my Prayer Book. How many red ones are laying around here? They all have the same words on the same pages, but I needed mine! And heaven help me when I lose my cross. People give me crosses as presents all the time. There is no particular power in this cross compared to others—the only one of importance has been lost to history; yet, because I value the giver and the testimony it gives, I go nuts if I misplace it or one of my kids “uses” it. How crazy is that?
     My guess is that you have similar little things that you have to have. Keys do not count because, well, we need them to drive our cars and get around. But maybe there are things that, when you lose them, you go nuts searching for them. Anyone here ever walk way more searching for a lost remote than they ever would getting up immediately to change the channel? Ever miss a program while searching for a remote rather than manually changing the channel and watching your program? Caught you, did I?
     Jesus’ teaching, and our own modern illustrations, provides several important lessons. I want to focus on only two this day, as we try to be brief on Outreach Sunday. (1) Jesus’ parables, and our own, teach us much about the heart of God. God is every bit a determined seeker of the lost as we are for those items that make no sense. One of the meta-narratives of Scripture, one of the over-arching themes, is one of a love story. A heavenly Father is rejected by His children. Much of the rest of the book describes the lengths to which He will go to restore them to Himself. It’s true, right? We reject God, and He spends the rest of the time wooing us back into right relationship with Him. He sends people, prophets, kings – many of whom screw up everything, but He never gives up!
     Think of our own personal histories, those of us who remember a time when we rejected Him. There we were, going our own way and doing our own thing. What prompted that repentance in our life? What caused us to turn from our own desires and to seek His wisdom and salvation for our lives? Were you really responding to the cosmic threat of a principal or authority figure blasting you? Or were you wooed? Did people in your life exude a confidence, a hope, a joy in circumstances that made no sense to you? Did people point out how your Father in heaven was answering your needs? My guess is, for most of us with conversion experiences, they are closer to love stories than a response in fear. God seeks after us the way a shepherd seeks after a lost sheep, the way an ANE woman searches for a lost coin, or the way you and I search for a remote. He is enduring and His searching is unending.
     Jesus’ teaching is a wonderful snapshot of the heart of God, just as Jesus’ life is a wonderful family video. When we could not hear others, when we could not hear or outright rejected the message of the prophets, when we found our eyes scaled over and our ears plugged, He came down from heaven! He incarnated in these fleshy bodies. He dwelt with us, healing, curing, casting out demons, and teaching us about the heart of the Father who sent Him. And even then, even when we still did not understand His heart or His intent, He went willingly, obediently to the Cross, that you and I and countless other souls who were lost might be reconciled to His saving embrace. Beautiful, is it not? How deeply does He love us!
     But there is one other side to this little coin of Jesus’ teaching. I have read this passage hundreds of times, probably you have as well. Nowhere in the story does the sheep repent for wondering off; nowhere in the story does the coin apologize for losing its thread and falling. The seeker simply finds the sheep or coin worth searching for. The seeker places the value on the lost item; just as God places the value on us. Yes, the proper response to God’s seeking is eventually repentance, but this story does not go to that point. It simply reminds each one of us that we, and all whom we encounter in this world, are of incredible value to God! In fact, He values us so much that He is willing to die for us!
     A couple weeks ago, when I preached a sermon on the reminder that you and I are fed and strengthened in the sanctuary but then sent out into the camp to minister in His name, bearing crosses, some of you came to me with ideas. More, though, came to me with disqualifications. Father, I am not a good speaker. Father, I am not quick on my feet when it comes to talking about God. Father, I’m just me; God can’t possibly expect me to . . . What can I do in the midst of that work? Too many of us sold Him and ourselves short. God loved each and every one of us so much that He never gave up looking for us until He found us and we found Him. God loved each and every one of us so much that He was willing to pay the cost of our reconciliation to Him. He thought each and every one of us, and all whom we encounter in our daily life and work, worth dying for! In economic terms, it makes no sense. In use of time or energy, it makes no sense. Nevertheless, He sought and sought and sought us, even though it cost Him that horrible Passion and precious death. And our reconciliation to Him was so important that it caused a celebration in heaven! The angels and archangels and all the company of heaven partied when you and when I accepted Him as Lord!
     Brothers and sisters, that voice that tells you that you are not special, that you are a nobody, that you are just ordinary is not His voice! His voice is the one that has been whispering into your ear that you were gloriously made, that He has a purpose for you, that you are His well-beloved son or daughter! And so that we might not pine away listening to the voice of His enemy, He came and dwelt among us and showed us what His love for us was like. And that we might know, know that He has the power to redeem all things in our life, to accomplish His will for us in our lives, He raised His Son Jesus from the dead and promised each and every one of us who found Him finding us a share in that same power, that same glory, that same hope, and that same joy!
     In a few minutes, Julia will speak of incredible evil as the directrix of Rooftop Ministries. Homelessness, or the threat of homelessness, is far more pervasive in Nashville than many of us know. The darkness that she will describe may well seem overwhelming. Our efforts may well seem impotent when measured in economic or other terms. You may hear her words and wonder what difference little old you can make. And yet, our marching orders are, our joyful response to His redeeming work in our lives is to love Him with everything, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We serve a Lord who had, at times, nowhere to lay His head as He walked and taught among us, who reminds us that it is among the marginalized, the hopeless, the lost where is to be found. We need only to model obediently His command that we seek in His name. He will take care of the rest. He will find. He will provide. He will empower through the Holy Spirit. And in the end, He will be glorified not only in our lives, but in the world! And we, ordinary you and me who accepted Him as Lord of our lives, we will share in that glory for all eternity! If that's not the complete opposite of ordinary, well, . . . I don't know what is!
Peace,
Brian†

Our work outside the camp and outside the Temple . . .

     Today, we are going to finish up our sojourn through the book of Hebrews with a bit of Sacramental theology.  I see your faces.  Yes, you heard me right.  The sermon today will be more sacramental theology in nature than, perhaps, regular attenders are accustomed when it comes to my preaching.  What can I say?  I have a new assistant I have to impress.

     Now, before you decide this is a great time to catch a wink, let me use this bit as a commercial.  I will barely touch on some ideas that Tom and Larry will no doubt explore in much greater detail in the weeks to come in the Sunday morning Bible Study class on Hebrews.  If you are intrigued by anything that comes out of my mouth this morning, join us as we delve much deeper into the Scriptures.  For that matter, consider joining us for Genesis on Tuesday evenings, where we are looking at the Holy Family – the family that put the fun in dysfunction!  Or join us on Monday mornings as we explore the psalms.  Or join us on the Thursday evenings as we wrestle with our faith claims and the testimony of the world around us.  There is more information available on all that over in the Parish Hall after the service.  Back to the sermon . . .

     Regular attenders know I have a critical eye and mouth for our Lectionary editors.  They break up stories and periscopes for reasons known only to themselves.  They avoid “tough” readings because, we I guess because they do not realize that life is sometimes tough.  I suppose, to be generous, the new lectionary committee tried to make things easier on preachers.  On many weeks, there is a theme that is meant to unite the readings and allow the preacher to cover and of the readings but for you, the congregation, to hear the same general message as all other congregations.  I don’t know that it works well, but that seems to have been one of their intents.

     Those looking closely at today’s reading from the Letter to the Hebrews will notice that six verses are skipped in today’s reading.  I must confess I cannot fathom a reason to skip the verses in question.  They provide the reason, the theological justification for why we practice mutual love, why we gather in worship together, and why we serve others in God’s Name.

     To take us back a few weeks, though, the author has been building to this for a couple chapters now.  Last month the author reminded us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not yet seen.  He or she then went on to remind us that our faith is not dissimilar to the faith of Abraham and Sarah, of the faith demonstrated by the couple that sojourned through the Land, never receiving the promise in full, yet trusting that God would keep His promise to them.  The next week, Holly’s first, we chatted about all those names.  I offended Austin and Vaugh by reminding us that Samson was the right tackle of faith.  Not really.  They laughed, too.  But I reminded us that, although each of those names mentioned accomplish great things in God’s Name, they were normal, everyday people.  They had doubts.  Sometimes they obeyed.  Often they sinned.  Sometimes they argued with God.  But in those moments of obedient trust, God accomplished great things through them and reminded each one of us that He can accomplish great things through us!  He can feed the hungry.  He can free the slaves!  He can care for the sick and wounded.  He can even defeat armies.  But He accomplishes that work through men and women like you and me living out our lives faithfully.

     Last week, Holly preached on Luke and the healing on the Sabbath.  While she was preaching on that, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews was reminding us that we will one day stand before our Lord as He completes re-creation.  Once more He will shake the earth, and He will shake heaven.  Those of us who claim Him as Lord will find ourselves standing in full view of our inheritance.  And make no mistake, as good as life seems to be for many of us in the Nashville/Brentwood area, these good things pale when compared to what the Lord has planned for us.  Think of that for a second.  It seems outrageous.  But we are Music City.  Does anyone here doubt that the angelic choir will be better by orders of magnitude than any music artists in our city can produce?  And that is just the music.  If His attention to detail is that good, imagine the food, the architecture, the light, and anything else you esteem . . .

     This week, the author wraps up his or her encouragement to this group that is disappointed that they are suffering, that the Lord seems delayed in His return.  We might be sharing in the doubts of the Letter’s initial audience.  For those entering high school now, 9-11 is a historical event, just like peace.  For the entirety of their lives, we as a nation have been at war.  What are the consequences of that?  I know we like to pretend that the great economic turmoil caused by the housing bubble has passed, but it has passed Nashville because we are growing so quickly.  Even some of us, though, as fortunate as many Adventers are, still are not back to where we were in 2006-7, economically speaking.  And many of our fellow Americans are worse off.  I know politicians like to tout how unemployment is down, but how many people have given up finding a job equivalent to their job from before the meltdown?  How many are working two or three part-time jobs because full-time employment is simply not available?  How many find themselves pressured by bosses or owners to give more time for less money, or even to give money, for the privilege of “having a job?”

     Speaking of politicians.  One major party candidate has an unfavorable rating of about 2/3; the other major party candidate has an unfavorable rating of ¾.  Should we really be wondering why this is a weird election?  Can we understand why so many people have lost hope in the American dream?  Can you imagine John Hancock and George Washing and whatever hero of our country ever thinking the future campaign slogan would be “Our candidate is not as bad as the other”?

     On the world front, China is building islands out into a sea and threatening its neighbors, most of whom are our committed allies.  Putin seems intent upon taking us back to the Cold War.  And does anybody understand the leader of North Korea?  Toss in a persistent terrorist threat, some foreign and some domestic, and do we really think our lives are that much better than the intended congregation of the Letter to the Hebrews?

     In spite of all that is happening around them, the author of the letter encourages the congregation to continue to show love to one another, to show hospitality to strangers, to help and pray for those in prison, to support those being tortured, to hold marriage in honor and keep the marriage bed undefiled, to love God rather than money, to be content with what they have, and to stay confident in God’s love for them and promises to them.  You can probably imagine me exhorting you in the same way.  Heck, some of you have probably heard similar advice in our pastoral conversations.

     On the one hand, such exhortations make sense.  Some of those imprisoned were their brothers and sisters, whose only crime was being discovered to be Christian.  It would make sense that the author would want them visiting with one another.  The extolling of marriage also makes sense, right?  God has compared His relationship with Israel to be like a marriage, with Israel being the adulterer who chases after every false god.  Now the Church has become the new Israel.  It makes sense that the author would remind us, married Christians, that we need to live a married life reflective of the Covenant to which we have all been called.  But our lectionary editors excised the why.  Why do we do these things?  Why are they important to God?  What purpose do they really serve?  And, I would argue for a while, the skipped passage speaks to our identity as Christians of an Anglican/Episcopalian flavor.  Hence our stroll down sacramental theology this morning . . .

     Listen to the verses skipped.  You can go and read them later and drop by during the week to talk more.  ⁹ Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. ¹⁰ We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.  ¹¹ The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. ¹² And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. ¹³ Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. ¹⁴ For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

     Those in Bible studies around here, and those in other conversations, have heard me speaking of the Temple and Tabernacle pointing to the heavenly reality.  In fact, in our Hebrews class we have spent some significant time looking at the imagery and meaning.  It makes sense in that class, right?  The author is clearly concerned with worship as a type and shadow of the life that is to come.  After the exhortations to do the good things, the author pauses and reminds us not to be carried away by strange teachings.  In fact, in a verse that no doubt warmed the heart of Martin Luther, the author reminds us it is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace rather than ceremonial foods.

     What is being described is the way you and I believe we are supposed to worship.  I say you and I believe because you and I have chosen to worship God in this particular denomination.  Our worship is divided into two major parts, and not by accident.  Some churches do a wonderful job of preaching.  Other churches focus on the Eucharist.  Many churches are legalistic, in the sense that they forget our hearts are to be strengthened by grace and not by the doing of good things and avoidance of bad things.  Our forebears focused on the liturgy of the Word and the liturgy of the Sacrament because they thought it captured the intent of God.

     Why do we gather to worship?  First and foremost, it should be because we are joyfully thankful for the saving work He has accomplished on our behalf in Christ Jesus.  Every time we Anglicans/Episcopalians gather for the Eucharist, we remind ourselves of His death, His Resurrection, and His promise that He will return.  Right?  I see the nods.  Yes, you say a variant of those words during the service.  We gather her to remind ourselves of what God has done.  In the liturgy of the Word, we go deeper, right?  We read about the matriarchs and patriarchs of our faith.  We read about and consider stories of those who have come before.  Some are meant to encourage us.  Some are meant to remind us that we can mourn or lament that things are not as they were supposed to be.  Some are read to warn us.  All are meant, though, to point us to Christ.  If everything in the Old Testament, the psalms, the torah, and the prophets spoke about or to His coming, as He asserted that they did, all those readings, and all our preaching, ought to be pointing us to Christ.  In some cases, we might be reminded that we have access to incredible power by virtue of our inheritance.  We can lay hands, we can pray, and we can expect God to act in accordance with His revealed nature.  He may not act the way we want, but we know He will act.  In other cases, we may be reminded that we have an incarnational share in Christ’s ministry.  Sometimes, God redeems our suffering for the benefit of others.  And so we gather to remind ourselves that, no matter our condition, no matter the evil arrayed against us, no matter the seeming insignificance of our labors, our Lord will be victorious and we will share in His eternal kingdom for ever!  Sacramentally speaking, the new temple is our hearts, right?  Where is Christ’s blood carried as a sin offering?  What place is purged of sin by His atoning work?  Our hearts.

     But we are not done with worship!  No matter how encouraged we are, no matter how warmed our heart is, we are still not done!  Proper worship involves more than just sitting here in the sanctuary listening to a preacher drone on, praying on behalf of ourselves and others, asking for forgiveness for our most recent sins, and snacking on some wafers and wine!  The author of the letter to the Hebrews is speaking to the Day of Atonement in the life of Israel.  One day a year, the High Priest carried the blood of the sin sacrifice for the people into the Holy of Holies to whip the blood at the sacred container of the Ark and at the mercy seat.  It was the only day of the year that they were allowed to glance into the Holy of Holies.  When finished, the High Priest would open the curtain and the doors so that everyone could peer in and know that their sins had been atoned for by the blood of the sin offering.  What happened to the flesh of the sin offering?

     In verse 11, the author reminds us.  The bodies were taken outside the camp in the days of the Tabernacle and taken outside the Temple in the days of the Temple and burned.  The author then ties that action to the death of Christ.  If you and I were planning to kill a Messiah to save us, where would we likely have that execution occur?  In the Temple?  Among us?  Jesus, though, suffered and died outside the camp, outside the Temple, out among the Roman camp, out in the wilderness.  Hmm.  He died on a cross, reminding us that he was accursed by God, and He died apart from God’s people.  And you and I are told by Him to, what is it again, oh, yeah, pick up our cross and follow Him.  What do you suppose He meant by that?  We cannot die for others to atone for their sins because we are sinners, too.  We can, however, die to selves and serve them, as Christ first serve us.

     I wish I had my phone out for some of your faces.  That’s right.  We do not serve others because we get brownie points or earn salvation—the latter is accomplished only through God’s grace and Christ’s work on our behalf.  We do not serve others because it makes us feel good about ourselves, though some experience that as a side benefit.  We serve others because it is part of our worship!  We serve others out of thanksgiving and joy for what God has done for us in Christ!  Where do we serve Him?  Here, navel gazing and praising in this sanctuary?  No, we serve Him outside the camp, outside these walls.  We go out from the sacred space, dying to self, trusting that He will use our faithful obedience, as He has countless saints who have gone before us, for His redemptive purposes.  Why do you think we end our services here with the prayer “Send us out into the world to do the work You have given us to do”?  Our ministries are every bit as much our worship as our songs of praise, as our wonderful liturgy, as our prayers of intercession, as our laments, and as our joyful thanksgiving.  If we stay here within these walls, if we refuse to work outside the camp, our worship is not Christ-like.  We are not bearing our crosses; we are not following Him.

     In a few minutes, we are going to gather in the Parish Hall to celebrate what we call the ministry fair at Church of the Advent.  There you will hear of opportunities to serve those outside this camp in the name of Christ.  You will hear of amazing opportunities and oppressive evil.  As those who share their ministries with you speak, you may begin to wonder why they even bother.  There are so many homeless in the midst of Nashville, how can we expect to make a dent?  There is so much hunger here in Nashville, of what value is the food you are willing to offer?  There is so much medical need, so much poverty, so much anguish, what can we ever accomplish through our meager assistance to places like Siloam, our prayers, or our thankful giving?  That voice, of course, is the voice of God’s Enemy.  It is the voice that tries to seduce us into believing we have no role to play, that we are unloved, that our labors are in vain.  Command that voice to get behind you in His name and prayerfully consider how God might be asking you to serve in His name.  Is He asking you to get involved in one of those ministries?  Are you at a point in life where all you really have is financial support of those ministries on your heart?  All you can do is pray for protection or provision or discernment?  Is there a ministry to which He is calling you that does not yet exist at Church of the Advent?  The possibilities, my brothers and sisters, are endless, as endless as the grace and power and love which He has shown each one of us both outside the camp, and within the sanctuaries we have fashioned, and those Temples He has cleansed in our own hearts!  It is that cleansed and redeemed Temple that He asks us to share with others in His name, bearing fruit of lips that confess His name and of hearts that are confident in those promises not yet seen, even as were our ancestors before us!

Peace,

Brian†