Once For All

Sunday, October 29th, 2006
Proper 25 B
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Hebrews 7:23-28

23Furthermore, the former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; 24but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. 28For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Once and for all, once is enough, only once. No need to do it over. How many different ways can it be said?

As we’ve been going through the letter to the Hebrews these last couple of weeks, the central theme has been the sufficiency of Christ as both priest and sacrifice, as set against the requirement in the Hebrew religion to have the high priest to offer sacrifices, as well as, of course, the sacrifices themselves.

This goes to the heart of the critical distinction between the Christian faith and all other faiths, and it is what is essentially counterintuitive about our faith, this ‘once and for all’ business. For some reason, it goes against the grain of human nature to believe in an easy out – maybe that is why we are so drawn to it when it presents itself.

If we were to sit down and compare other faiths of the world – and I have to preface what I am going to say with the statement that I am knowingly using a broad brush here – each of the other world religions has an element of the need to somehow through some form of repetition – whether of actions – sacrifices or otherwise – prayers, or even LIVES – for those that believe in reincarnation – that we will somehow attain righteousness, worthiness, enlightenment, in one way or another, in a word: salvation. The essential distinction between Christianity and other faiths is that it is a central tenet – in other words, a central belief – of the faith that it is not by anything we DO that salvation is attained – it is a gift; unmerited – or undeserved, and unattainable. There is nothing we can do to affect our position in relation to it. That is what was scandalous foolishness to the Jews and the Greeks of the first century. Even today, we are sometimes unknowingly of the same mind that considers our salvation something that we can influence. It is reflected in the comment we so often hear surrounding the death of someone “he was such a good person, they HAVE to be let into heaven.” The connection is made, consciously or not, between the way a life is lived and the attainment of salvation.

It’s an understandable struggle when we see the world around us reflect that causal relationship between action and response. “If I do this, if I work hard, apply myself, sacrifice … I will one day reap the rewards of my labor.” There is a universal understanding that in order to receive something, we must somehow, someway, somewhere, PAY for it.

How do we square that …cycle, that system … with what we are presented in the Gospel? That is what I mean when I say that it is counterintuitive of the Gospel to essentially offer something for nothing when our culture – this North American, Capitalistic, Hedonistic, Materialistic culture of ours – tells us at every turn that that is the way it works and that is the RIGHT way!

The short answer is, the Gospel was not born in the United States, and it is not constrained in any way whatsoever by the dictates of any earthly culture – ANY culture, but by the heart of God in relationship with humankind.

Christ was born into a context – a nation, a land, a people, a point in history, that necessarily informed the way we read the relationship he modeled for us, but that is not to say that the RELATIONSHIP is limited by the parameters of that context.

It is helpful and informative and illuminating to know and understand the layers of meaning that are brought out in any given passage by studying and understanding their context – what was going on in the region, at that time, what certain words and images meant to a people at a particular time, how the use of them might have resonated with the folks who first heard a letter read to them. That is why it is not wasteful to take time to study and learn about these things – whether in seminary or in small study groups – in Sunday School or in Bible Study. It is what we are doing on Monday mornings at 10:30 and on Wednesday evenings here at Jerusalem. But ultimately, it is the nature of the relationship that makes all the difference in our lives as Christ-followers. Following is a section from a commentary on the passage. As I read through it, listen to what is happening – the discussion is about images, about the context of what the hearers – those people who first received the letter – might have been thinking as they heard it read to them.

The perfect adequacy of Christ in his moral qualifications as High Priest is emphasized in such a high priest. Holy sums up the perfect piety of Jesus including his possession of such virtues as obedience, faith, humility, loyalty, and reverence. Blameless denotes his perfect innocence. He not only had no harmful attitudes toward others, he practiced no evil deeds against them. Unstained carries the picture of the essential moral goodness of Jesus in contrast with the ceremonial purity of the Levitical priests, who were required to separate themselves from all people for seven days before the Day of Atonement, that no defiling touch might disqualify them to offer a pure sacrifice. In contrast, Jesus was so essentially good that he did not have to be hypersensitive about mingling with sinners.

These phrases, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens, unite to show that, when Jesus sacrificed himself for the sins of men once for all, he had no further contact with sin in the priestly sense. The only vital contact he ever had with sin was in his perfect resistance of its temptation and in his perfect sacrifice for the sins of others. Now that such a sacrifice has been completed, his work for sinful men is over. He does not have to sacrifice repeatedly as did the Levitical priests. He now resides in a higher sphere, immune to the contagion of human sin. (Charles A. Trentham, The Broadman Bible Commentary, © 1972, Broadman Press, Nashville)

Do you hear what is happening? There’s a filling in going on – a fleshing OUT, may be more appropriately stated – of the gaps in our knowledge, of the words on the page. But it doesn’t move us to become more like our first century Jewish and Gentile brothers and sisters; it moves us towards Christ, and towards God.

And that is where, in a wonderfully miraculous and contradictory sort of way, we DO become more like our first century brothers and sisters, or 10th century, or 15th or 18th or 21st … regardless of the time and the place, because that is what happens when we open scripture and our hearts and minds, all at the same time.

What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?

When we open scripture, we are confronted with Jesus. We are faced with the Jesus of history, and the impact he had THEN on those who chose to follow him THEN. And we have the testament of history, of the church, and of that cloud of witnesses that preceded us in the faith. Through the hymns and stories of our faith, we see the fruits of that heritage, that legacy. As Virginians, we stand on a history that includes the first statute on Religious Freedom, and right here in this sanctuary, we stand just about 12 or 13 miles from where 4 Baptist preachers were imprisoned for practicing that freedom even when the law of the land had not yet changed to OFFER it.

What we also stand on is the promise of God in Christ to be our welcome, be our home, and to be our strength. To be our intercessor, our pray-er, and the sacrifice in our place. It is a solemn and joyous promise, this salvation that is so freely offered.

The question for us here today is if we can take that gift to heart and offer it just as freely in the way we live our lives, share our dreams, and hopes, and talents – with each other, with the community, with the world?

(Below is a transcription from the conclusion of the message – extemporaneously given in conversation with the congregation)

How will we do that? (I’m done with the manuscript). How will Jerusalem live that out? How will we … how DO we? We have ways that we do it already. Can you name them? Go ahead! How do we share this gift, how do we … shine?

(Telling others of Christ), okay,
(The youth meals), yes,
(Going and visiting people), yes,
(Shoeboxes), yes,
(Visiting Farnham Manor), um-hmm,
(Visiting the sick and the bereaved), yes.

On an introspective level, gathering on Mondays and Wednesdays – because it’s not just to study, it’s to pray, it’s to intercede.

(Our prayer chain), yes, it has sometimes worked overtime, but that is also an example.

(In the Women’s Missionary Union), learning about missions around the world, yes, and working to support that, yes,

(Not only internationally, but locally as well, through the Hispanic Ministry of the Association, this church shares its Pastor.) Yeah, you do.

And I am forever grateful for that – the willingness to open up to the possibilities.

Everything we’ve named for the most part has been things that we’ve done all along. It’s what in a lot of ways … we’re getting ready to celebrate one hundred and seventy-five years of history … it is what ties us to the cloud of witnesses that preceded us.

(To Lottie Moon) – Yes, supporting Lottie Moon, yes.

It is what makes us greater than who we are individually or even as a local congregation – we are part of The Church, and the body of Christ in the world.

Coming up on the anniversary will be a time to look back on 175 years, but it is not ONLY that. I think in looking back on 175 years we’re going to realize that those 175 years have been … have created a momentum for us as a church to move FORWARD, not just to look back. The 175 years have built a legacy and built, (again the physics) built up the motion that is going to push us forward.

The challenge is to figure out what we’re going to look like as that happens. The challenge is stepping out of our comfort zone, away from the manuscript J and open up to what God can move us to do. Things that we could hardly imagine ourselves doing, we could DO! Because …

(This row is our future, the front row – our future is sitting on the front row) (FYI: the front row was filled with the children of the church)

Yes, but not only. Everybody in every row is our future, because y’all don’t stay here when we finish the service on Sundays. Everybody in this room … scatters.

(the comment was something along the lines of the fact that the future starts with us – our children learn from us and from the family of faith that is the church) That’s right, yes, it does.

So it’s not just a matter of leaving it to the children. It’s a matter of walking alongside them, guiding, mentoring, directing ... and allowing for the freedom for the Spirit to move them in directions that we might not be comfortable with, but which are yet a reflection of the glory and the love of God in the world.

… What’s the song, ‘Holiness’? You all know the words, I think.
“Holiness is what I long for, holiness is what I need.
Holiness is what you want from me”

In one sense, holiness is perfection, but in the sense that we’ve mentioned before, perfection is completeness, we need to understand that that holiness is the holiness that we have through Christ, it’s not our own holiness.

Let’s sing.

Holiness, holiness is what I long for
Holiness, holiness is what you want from me

So take my heart, and form it
Take my mind transform it
Take my will conform it
To yours, to yours, oh Lord

Faithfulness, faithfulness is what I long for
Faithfulness is what I need
Faithfulness, faithfulness is what you want from me

So take my heart, and form it
Take my mind transform it
Take my will conform it
To yours, to yours, oh Lord

Brokenness, brokenness is what I long for
Brokenness is what I need
Brokenness, brokenness is what you want from me

So take my heart, and form it
Take my mind transform it
Take my will conform it
To yours, to yours, oh Lord

So we have this opportunity, we have this gift; we have this wonderful push behind us. How will we take advantage of that motion? Be open to what could happen as we leave this form of worship, and move into the worship that is our daily life. Be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit, maybe in the smallest thing, in the smallest detail, in the single word that can change somebody’s day.

Let’s commission ourselves:

And now, may the Lord bless you and keep you,
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you,
and be gracious unto you.

May God give you grace never to sell yourself short,
Grace to risk something big for something good,
Grace to remember that the world is now
Too dangerous for anything but truth,
and too small for anything but love.

So may God take your minds and think through them,
May God take your lips and speak through them,
May God take your hearts and set them on fire,
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Learning Obedience

Sunday, October 22nd, 2006
Proper 24 B
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Hebrews 5:1-10

1 Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; 3 and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. 4 And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; 6 as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” 7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10 having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

A few weeks ago Time© Magazine’s cover story was entitled “Does God want you to be Rich?” The cover pictured a close-up of a Rolls Royce, and the hood ornament was not the double R’s that are normally seen on a Rolls, but a gleaming, golden cross.

I remember the same argument raging, as it were, in the early ‘80’s while I was in college. It seems to have resurfaced. It is an ongoing debate within Christianity, but to be fair, it would seem to be a debate concentrated among Christians from developed countries. If we were to ask a brother or a sister from a developing nation of the world whether or not God wants us to be rich, I suspect we’d get an exasperated shake of the head and the reply would be, “You already ARE rich! Why are you asking if God WANTS you to be?”

There was a quote from one of the leading ‘prosperity theology’ proponents in the story. Her words were, “Who would want something where you’re miserable, broke and ugly and you have to muddle through until you go to heaven?”

Who indeed? That actually sounds like life, to me.

It would seem to be that popular culture marketing and advertising has sunk its claws into the realm of faith. It’s not a new phenomenon. People have always been drawn to those who promise them a life of ease and freedom from worry. Who wouldn’t be? If the promise can be delivered, then all the better. There’s enough pain in the world why NOT try to avoid as much of it as possible?

The question is not one of how much pain and misery we can avoid, but rather, what would that accomplish in our lives of faith?

You may already be familiar with the story of the little boy who is watching a butterfly struggle to emerge from its cocoon, and as he sits engrossed in watching it strain and strain against the enclosure, he feels sure that it is about to give up and die, and so he reaches out and widens the opening with the slightest of motions, and the butterfly climbs out, finally free. You know the rest of the story. The boy’s father comes by and notices what is happening. When the boy tells him what he did, the father, with a sad look on his face, explains that now the butterfly is doomed to die much sooner than it otherwise would have, because the struggle to free itself from the cocoon that imprisoned it, while terrible in itself, had the effect of strengthening the muscles with which the butterfly would be able to flap its wings in order to fly. In freeing it too soon, the boy sidestepped the necessary exercise that would have enabled the butterfly to fly from flower to flower and feed.

The lesson must not be lost on us. It is the same one that the writer of Hebrews is attempting to communicate. Indeed, the likelihood that he or she had personally experienced suffering and anguish similar to what they describe in this morning’s passage is high indeed, if not a certainty. The history of the early church is full of example after example of the martyrs of the faith. Men and women, young and old, who suffered what to us would be inconceivable pain and agony for the sole reason that they professed Christ as their Lord. Some of the hymns we sing, that hold the deepest lessons of the Christian life were born from the womb of unimaginable grief and anguish.

I can’t remember who the speaker was, but a Pastor was relating a comment that one of his parishioners shared with him as he was exiting the sanctuary after the service one Sunday. The comment was roughly this: “your preaching seems to be getting worse. You must be happy.”

I can identify with that statement on one level – as one who enjoys writing, I can say from experience that, at least from THIS perspective, the writing that happens in the midst of some life crisis is more cathartic – more healing, energizing, or invigorating – than the writing that happens when I am happy. There’s something TO being able to sit down and put down in words something to the effect of “OH GOD why is this happening” than there is to sitting down and writing “today we had a family picnic and the weather was beautiful.” There is less angst, of course, there is more peace, and there is more contentment. None of those things are readily conducive to some blazing insight on the human condition.

But what is it that is being discussed? The ability, qualifications and character of the high priest to SERVE as the High Priest – to preside and instruct people regarding their status, or offering of sacrifices.

Glancing back for a moment to our text from last week – we read in Hebrews 4:15:

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.

And the thought is continued here in chapter 5. There is an emphasis on the fact that in the incarnation, God did not exempt his son from the rules laid out – including the rule about suffering that is a result of the broken relationship WITH God which colors every aspect of our lives.

I think we need to remember that God’s call on our lives is not a call TO suffer for suffering’s sake, but a call to care, a call to be compassionate – literally, to suffer alongside – those who DO suffer. What you can probably tell me better than I can understand from my own experience is that there simply IS no avoidance of suffering. We have all, to one degree or another, lived through events in our lives that we would rather have not lived through – for the sake of the sorrow – if asked to live through them again, we would most likely say “That’s okay. Once was enough.” Even though we understand that what and who we are now was and is being formed in no small way by what we experienced in that ‘vale of tears’.

What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?

The learning can happen on an individual level, of course, but can it happen as well on a corporate level?

What experiences has Jerusalem, as a family of faith, walked through together, pain and all? Have those experiences drawn us closer together or caused us to distance ourselves from one another? Have we learned to “deal gently” with each other in the wake of those trials? Have we truly learned how precious we are to each other, as individuals, as family, as brothers and sisters seeking to honor God and follow God’s will for our life as a congregation?

We must not, will not, cannot sidestep an experience into which we are thrust simply because it is painful. We must understand that it is through those experiences that we are learning what it means to follow Christ in the fullest sense of the word – through whatever circumstance we are passing.

As we have noted before, as Christ followers, we are following the example of Christ. We are living the life of Christ through our participation in the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God. While that has moments of incredible glory, as we well know, it also has moments of incredible sorrow. While we pray for blessing and protection and health of loved ones and family members, we know and understand that there is no guarantee that we will not be struck down in any number of ways – cancer, an accident, there is really no way to know what might happen this afternoon or this evening, much less tomorrow. Christ himself claimed no special knowledge of what was to come, but accepted what came – up to and including his crucifixion and death – and relied wholly on God to be with him through it. So let that be our lesson – to rely wholly on God, no matter what our condition.

Let’s pray.

Naked and Laid Bare

Sunday, October 15th, 2006
Proper 23 B
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Hebrews 4:12-16

12Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

14Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Do I really want to dwell on the fact that God knows what I was doing on July 1st, 1988, or February 23rd, 1978, or April 26th, 1983? Some people in my life are aware of what was going on in my life at those times, but in regards to GOD knowing … it’s not something I remind myself of on a regular basis. So reading this morning’s passage in Hebrews just sort of woke me up again to the fact that there is NOTHING I have done, am doing, or will do that is hidden from God’s knowing.

So while the first couple of verses may not be designed specifically to discomfit us – to cause us to be uncomfortable – they do anyway. It’s a sobering thought, when we really sit down and think – God knows my heart. God knows my mind. God knows the intentions of my heart, and those thoughts in the deepest, darkest reaches of my brain, where those thoughts seem to linger … and fester … and swell … you know, the ones that are SERIOUSLY incompatible with who I am trying to become as a Christian.

But we need to be reminded … sometimes repeatedly … of that reality … along with the reality that is brought out in the very next verses.

The passage this morning actually straddles the first divide in the message to the Hebrews. Up to this point, the writer has been talking about God and the word of God – in some ways, a review of the Old Testament concept of God … and the emphasis changes between verses 13 and 14. From that judging, holy, and to some degree distant God, to God incarnate – in Christ Jesus.

The NRSV, which does not, in this version or the ones in the pews, include the headers of sections as you might find in the New International Version or other contemporary versions of the scriptures, actually adds a space between those two verses. It signals the start of a new idea, a new concept, and a new emphasis.

And it is in this new aspect that we move away from the judging, demanding, even COLD concept of God to an image of God that is a fleshing out of what and who Jesus was. The writer begins to unfold for us an image of a God who, in his infinite wisdom, and more, in his infinite love, set himself in the place of the high priest of Israel for the NEW Israel – became both mediator and sacrifice for a people who, just like the tribes in the desert, were unfaithful, turned their backs on God, and ignored God’s calls to righteousness, to holiness, to purity, to obedience and to service.

What is important to remember is that, in providing God’s self as the intermediary between us, there is no change in the original structure of the relationship. God is STILL a demanding God. Not in a childish, spoiled way that the word ‘demanding’ can sometimes be interpreted to mean, but by virtue of who God IS. It is because of the very nature of God that we are expected to present ourselves holy, unblemished, perfect in every way before the throne. And it is with that understanding that we read those first two verses of the passage today. In some ways, it’s a word of advice and warning. The writer is reiterating what Paul says in his letter to the Romans, and the Corinthians, and the Galatians, and so many others – that God expects us to CHANGE as we follow him, as we draw closer to him, as we find ourselves IN him. Entering into a relationship with God is nothing, if not transformational to our very core.

That transformation, that change of heart, that changed mind that we hear of in the Gospels, and in Paul’s letters to other Christians, is the very one that the writer here is speaking about being naked and laid bare before God. I can’t think of any more … vivid description of what it will be like for us to acknowledge who we really, truly are before God.

Can we approach the thought of being naked before God and feel comfortable with the idea, if we really explore our hearts, and our minds, and our souls? Are we really comfortable with the idea that, that which we are too afraid or too embarrassed or too uncomfortable with to speak of even with our spouse or our very best friend will be the subject of open conversation when we are face to face with God?

If you are like me – and I truly don’t think we are that different, any of us, from one another – you’ve got a mixture of emotions running through you right now, thinking about that meeting someday. There’s eager anticipation at the prospect of being face to face with God. So many unanswered questions will be … resolved – not necessarily answered – but possibly – either with answers or with perspective – what is truly important will be revealed as that, and what is not … will go by the wayside.

The prospect of seeing loved ones whom we KNOW are in the divine presence, which have joined the heavenly choirs and have been singing hallelujah is thrilling in itself. As humans, we can anticipate events that have not yet come to pass. By that same token, we can anticipate events that will likewise cause us anxiety, like that part about God knowing our emotions and our attitudes and our thoughts and intentions. The Psalm we read as our responsive reading in some ways highlights that aspect of our relationship with God that would lead us to feel uneasy. In fact, it is the opening words of that Psalm that Christ himself quoted from while hanging on the cross at Golgotha. The words and the Psalm speak to those moments when we feel most distant from God, when we recognize just how broken and unworthy we are, how traitorous, how weak, how frail.

The good news of the Gospel comes out in the opening phrase of verse 14 –

14Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.

The writer is saying, yes, there is God, but here is our high priest – and what is HE like? ‘Let us hold fast to our confession’ – what exactly is our confession? As we recount at any of our baptism services, the earliest confession of faith of the church is comprised of three simple words: “Jesus Is Lord”.

15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.

When Jesus came to us, he could have come as a super hero, untouchable, blazing in all his glory to complete the destruction of the forces of evil, and usher in a glorious reign … but, had it happened that way, it would have been on some level coerced, imposed, a foregone conclusion to a sequence of events for humanity to have followed him. It would have required no faith to see a super-being triumphant over mere mortals. Christ was tempted with that outcome at the beginning of his public ministry, and he rejected it.

He rejected it because that was not the messiah he WAS. He knew that to really get people to follow him, it was going to have to be voluntarily, freely, with openness and willingness, and a love that would persevere through all things – to the point of suffering and death.

The hope of the Gospel is found in the fact that salvation doesn’t depend on us, but on Christ.

16Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

There’s a recognition of our brokenness, our fallenness, our weakness, and in that recognition there is an understanding that is full of gratitude, since our ability to approach God does not depend on our own merits, but on Christ’s.

It is a word of exhortation, and of encouragement, and comfort, all wrapped up together, to know that it is not US God sees, but Christ.

What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?

Think about it. If God sees Christ and not us … why is it that we seem to be distracted by the … outward appearances, by the ‘us’ that we see on the surface? We so easily fall into the trap of categorizing some as ‘good people’ others as ‘no count’, others as ‘ok, but keep them at arm’s length’.

Ask yourself this question: was the early church built on the shoulders of the leading citizens of the day? The folks who were the biggest merchants, the governmental leaders? NO! It was it built in SPITE OF THEM -- on the shoulders of the people who were most readily drawn to the Gospel – the outcasts, widows, slaves, those for whom the meaning of true freedom was not competing against some imagined temporary freedom they enjoyed on a daily basis, but which in fact had little to do with the freedom Christ offered them?

The message of the Gospel is best understood by those who are more familiar with the underside of society – the mold of what is accepted and acceptable is easier to break when we ourselves find ourselves broken, at wit’s end, with nowhere left to turn.

Part of living into this faith that we share is understanding and not forgetting that we are all – however fine a veneer we can put on it – we are all broken. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and on that level we are ONE. And we ONLY rely on the grace of God through Christ Jesus to draw us together.

If we keep reminding ourselves that that is the case, no matter who walks into this building, we will more easily be able to accept, more readily be able to call brother and sister, more comfortably sit beside, more genuinely share.

Let’s pray.

All Things Subject
But we DO see Jesus …

Sunday, October 8th, 2006
Proper 22 B
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Hebrews 2:5-12

5Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. 6But someone has testified somewhere, “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? 7You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, 8subjecting all things under their feet.” (Ps. 8:4-6) Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, 9but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 10It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

The Revised Common Lectionary maps out passages from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the Gospels, and the epistles for each Sunday of the year, as well as for Holy Days on the Church Calendar, for those denominations that observe the church year.

Today’s passage, along with the passages over the next few weeks, will be drawn from the letter to the Hebrews. If you’ve still got your bookmark or ribbon in James from the last series of sermons, open there, and move the marker up a few pages. Hebrews is found immediately before James.

A little background on the Letter to the Hebrews: tradition holds it to have been written by Paul, but textual studies and comparisons with what can be called Paul’s undisputed writings bring out differences in style and form that lead scholars to present the possibility that, perhaps drawing from Paul’s notes, a disciple of his sat down to write the letter to the Hebrews – an undefined and unaddressed group of believers in the second half of the first century. By unaddressed, I mean that there is no greeting or identification of the writer at the beginning of the letter. It goes straight into the body of the message.

From the content of the letter – the drawing of the parallels between the duties of the high priest of Israel and the completion of that role by Jesus Christ – it would seem that it is written to a mostly Jewish congregation, but the arguments could just as well serve in addressing a congregation made up of a mix of Jews and gentile converts to Christianity.

The timeframe of the writing is also debatable. Since it speaks of temple sacrifices, a central element of Jewish worship, it would stand to reason that it was written before the destruction of the temple in the year 70. However, the strength of the arguments surrounding the sacrifices is not terribly diminished by the possibility that the letter was written after the destruction of the Temple, but not before the importance of the sacrifices performed there faded from the collective memory of the congregation to whom the letter was written.

Approaching today’s passage weighs heavy on me. Not because it’s a particularly difficult text, but because of how inadequate and … unfaithful I feel when I think of the trust that has been placed in me as a child of God, and how I am guilty of at times having squandered that trust.

Did you get where the writer to the Hebrews says “God left nothing outside their control”? Let me read it again – starting at verse 7:

7You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, 8subjecting all things under their feet.” Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, 9but we do see Jesus …”

That gets me. Right here (the heart). Right where I know God knows me. While there’s some consolation in the very next phrase, insofar as it is an admission of the fact that falling short of the mark is not unique to this generation, there is still no release from the initial fact that we have been left in charge. In other words, we have been made caretakers of this world we live in.

And what kind of a world is it?

It’s a world where enough food could actually be produced to feed everyone, and yet, every 5 seconds, somewhere in the world, a child dies from hunger.

It is a world where the citizens of the developed nations fund aid and relief organizations in their work in war-torn countries through charitable giving in the millions, if not billions of dollars, and it is a world where the governments of those same nations are the largest arms providers to the nations that are receiving that same aid.

It is a world where it is easy to lose sight of the fact that Christ died for ALL of us – for the entire world, IF we continually focus on the interior life of faith. Unbalancing the message of the Gospel opens us to loss of perspective. While it is appropriate and necessary – even crucial – to nourish that interior aspect of our faith, we cannot, MUST not, neglect, as we found in James, the faith that is expressed through action.

Have you seen those white plastic wristbands that have the word “ONE” on them? I did a little research on the organization, and found that the focus of the organization is on eradicating poverty and AIDS. It is set up on the simple premise that if we all act as One, we can achieve what we set out to accomplish. Though the organization is not strictly a Christian organization, some of the leaders in it are. It would be nice to think that the Church gave THEM the idea – it IS, after all, a deep parallel to the Gospel – we all, being individual members of a body, function as one body – the body of Christ. But realistically, perhaps it would be wiser to hope that the learning would go in the other direction – the church might learn from them what it looks like to act as one.

If you had a chance to read the brief article on the back of your bulletins this morning, granted, the statistics quoted are from a couple of years ago, but you would have read of 12 to 14% increases in requests for emergency food assistance, and of the fact that 20 % of those requests went unmet, and also of the fact that over half of those requests came from families – children and their parents … of which slightly more than a third were families where the adults were employed.

What does that say about how we are taking care of what has been entrusted to us? What does that say about how we are taking care of each other?

While there are rays of hope in new technologies being developed, and a more conscientious effort being made by more companies, organizations, and individuals to be better stewards of that for which we have been made responsible, we still fall far short of the mark.

Grace is found in the fact that God tarries. God is waiting. God has extended the invitation, and the ball is still in our court.

We are still on the open side of the invitation. We have been asked to care for our world. We have been tasked with it. To paraphrase the opening words of a somewhat popular television show from the 1970’s, “our mission, if we choose to accept it.”

Because we really do have a choice. We really DO have the option. That is in part why the world is in the state it is in. It is in no WORSE shape by the same token. Decisions and choices can be made on the very local level that will impact the world at large, maybe not in ways immediately apparent, but nonetheless, significant in the long run.

Today happens to be World Hunger Day. That is part of the reason for the statistics earlier. But we cannot lose sight of the interrelationship between hunger and poverty, justice and peace, freedom and opportunity. Those are things we can not only pray for; we can also actively work towards eradicating the former and strengthening the latter.

That is Christ’s invitation to the table; to be an active participant in the breaking in of the Kingdom of God. To take into ourselves the life of Christ in the form of the Holy Spirit and to let him move us in ways that can change the world.

The invitation IS open, but when we accept it, the cost is … high. Grace is the free gift of God. Discipleship is costly. Christ asks for nothing less than our lives.

Just as his body was broken and his blood was shed, he calls us to be ready to give him our all.

We share a common loaf, and we share a common cup. When we tear off a piece of the bread, we are signaling our investment, our belief, our hope, and our prayer that as we leave this place, we will take Christ with us wherever we go. Christ does not remain here, to be visited on Sundays and Wednesday nights. When we dip that piece of bread in the cup, we are signaling our willingness to be poured out for each other – both those who are in this room with us, as well as those who are outside these walls and do not know what it means to know Christ.

How will you respond to the invitation?

(Communion)

(Blest Be the Tie That Binds)

So That You May Be Healed

Sunday, October 1st, 2006
Proper 21 B
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
James 5:13-20

13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest. 19My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Candidate Conference, February, 1985. I’d received the invitation in November of ’84. Being invited to the Candidate Conference was the second step in the process to becoming a Missionary Journeyman. The first was submitting an application. The third was being accepted as a Journeyman in training. The last was being commissioned upon completion of the 5 & ½ week training required for the program. From there you were individually scheduled to depart for your country of service.

All those who were invited to Candidate Conference did not go on to training. Along with 2 or 3 other candidates, I was invited to fly into Richmond earlier than the rest of the folks in the group. There were some issues that needed to be explored with each of us that, while they did not preclude our being considered for the conference, they did need to be addressed with each of us individually. Once we had each had our meetings with the consultants regarding those, the rest of the crew arrived, and the conference began in earnest. Over the two and a half days of the conference, we were presented with the various requests that had been submitted by missions around the world for journeyman positions, we sat through review and orientation sessions about what to expect to find as journeymen, and discussions about the expectations that might arise on OUR part as co-missioners on the field.

My roommates during the conference were Tom Blackaby and Phil Cain. Tom is from Canada. If you’ve heard of Henry Blackaby, Tom is one of his two sons. He and his family moved back to Norway and are serving a church there as Pastor. Phil is currently serving with his wife as a missionary in the republic of Niger, in West Africa.

At the time, however, none of us were certain where we would end up, if anywhere.

The conference was a pretty intense time; a full schedule of meetings along with a full plate of decisions to make in a fairly short time. It’s a combination that makes for not-too-restful sleep – if any—while there. Tom and I overslept that first morning. Phil was up and out of the room before either one of us stirred, and when we DID stir, it was to realize that we barely had time to throw some clothes on and walk to the mission board – we were staying at the Holiday Inn that was just a few blocks from the board.

As we walked side by side that morning, I remember a comment Tom made. Neither one of us had a chance to shower or do anything other than plaster our hair down with water and get dressed and brush our teeth. But we DID have time to throw on some cologne. Tom’s comment was ‘cologne covers a multitude of sins.’

To be honest, that was the first memory that popped into my head when I read this morning’s passage.

What is it that can truly cover “a multitude of sins?” If you’ll notice a recurring theme in the epistle of James, aside from the idea of putting faith into action, there is an underlying theme of community – of being a follower of Christ within the context of a community – a family – of faith.

That can be difficult at times. At best, we can find ourselves surrounded by caring, loving, affirming brothers and sisters who rejoice and pray with you, or cry with you as the situation warrants.

Friday evening we held a baptism of one of our Hispanic friends, and there was group of about 15 people here to share in the service. A small group, yes, but nonetheless, a group that was willing to come out on a work night, since most of them work on Saturdays as well as Mondays through Fridays, to say to Alejandra that they rejoiced with her, and would pray with her, and would walk with her in the way of Jesus.

At worst, that faith community can turn, can alienate, can ostracize and belittle, and expel someone or a group who most needs redemption or community.

What James is laying out in these verses is a … telegraphed message about what to do when. If you’re sick, pray – with your brothers and sisters. If you are cheerful, you should sing songs of praise with your brothers and sisters. If you are sick, you should call the elders – the deacons and ministers of the church – your brothers and sisters – to come pray with you.

The passage takes an interesting turn, I think, at verse 16.

“16Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.”

The context, having just been discussing the issues of illness, and anointing with oil and prayers that are effective for the healing of the sick would seem to indicate that what James was talking about was the physical healing in response to prayer.

But there is a critical shift in the impetus, the motivation, for prayer and confession in verse 16. What is the opening phrase? ‘Confess your sins to one another,’ that seems to be step one.

Step 2 is ‘pray for one another’, and step three is … not really a step so much as a result: ‘so that you may be healed’.

I hope we’ve grown to know each other enough to understand that I don’t hold a mechanistic view of scripture, of prayer, of action and response. I don’t believe the Bible teaches that “if you do A, B and C in that order you’ll end up with result D.” I am much more prone to view the action of God in humankind as one that honors intentions of the heart as much, if not more so, than outward acts – but not separating the two, that it is revealed as we are more willing to be obedient to God’s commands for our lives, and that they will manifest themselves in ways totally unexpected – from unexpected sources as well as in unexpected circumstances. God enjoys a good surprise as much as any of us.

But the heart of this passage speaks to what it means to be in community. This is the last in this series from James that we will be studying, and it caps off a month of studying what being part of a community of faith --- a community that ‘acts out’ its faith – means.

So what did James mean when he said ‘confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed’?

What does that mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?

Could we really take James’ words to heart, and actually walk up to each other and confess our sins to each other? Are we really willing to be that vulnerable, that open, that frank with each other?

Is there trust among the members of this congregation – enough so that there can be that degree of openness between us? It bears noting that verse 12, the verse immediately prior to this morning’s reading, contains the fairly well known entreaty to ‘let your yes be yes, and your no be no’ that we might be more familiar with than we realize.

James’ call is to one of openness and honesty. He doesn’t tell us it’s the easiest way. It’s not. His assessment of the human condition overall let’s us know that he is well aware that it can at times be the most difficult path to take. And yet, he calls us to it in the name of Christ.

And can we really understand the call of the gospel as anything else? Nowhere do we find Christ glossing over sinful conditions and broken relationships in order to make a situation more … palatable, or easy to walk away from. Jesus always faced the reality of a situation head-on. We are, as his disciples, to do likewise.

Christ calls us to model his behavior. He was firm, and gentle. Loving, and pointed. Honest and unblinking. He held people accountable for their actions and their words.

If we are in this relationship with each other, as a family of faith, holding each other both up in prayer and … to the task … and we’ve all come into the relationship understanding that to be the case, then we know what we ‘signed up for’ so to speak.

If we do not see the relationship that way, then we will need to reexamine what it means to be church, to be family, to be the body of Christ.

Let’s pray.