“What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?”

Most of you have by now met or know about our daughter Katie, who is now two and a half years old. This past Wednesday morning we got up as usual and started on our regular morning routine. Getting her ready for her day while I feel half asleep is usually a challenge and Wednesday morning proved to be no different. Beginning the routine, we fed the dog and I asked her what she was going to do at school today. She asked me for chocolate milk and I asked her what she wanted to eat. So far, everything seemed to be going fairly well. She said, “I want to eat grapes, Daddy”. This was an unusual request for breakfast, but seeing no harm in it, I prepared a bowl full of grapes for her. Everything seemed to be going so well when the bottom fell out. She threw the bowl of grapes on the floor and began to cry.

As she began to melt down, I just stood there completely confused. And, almost as lifted directly out of the text of our first reading, I asked myself “what more was there to do to get your morning off to a good start that I have not done”. The answer is…nothing. She had been given love, some responsibility, some playtime, her favorite drink, and the food that she asked for. So what was the problem? The problem, it seemed, was that she was still sleepy, and, being unable to articulate it, she simply cried.

However, there is an important difference between the cry of a two year old, who cannot articulate her feelings and the cry of violence being spoken against in our first reading. Jesus illustrates it well when he uses the same imagery from Isaiah against the religious leaders that were continually confronting him.

He speaks of the vineyard planted by the householder, who we are to understand to be God. He provides everything for the vineyard that is necessary to produce the fruit that he wants: the hedge, the winepress, the tower, and of course the good land. All that is required to produce this fruit is for the people to take care of the vineyard. It should take care of itself as long as they simply follow the “Growing Grapes for Dummies” handbook.

The difference between the cry of a sleepy two year old reacting out of instinct and the cry that arises from the vineyard can be summed up in this statement that comes from the vineyard tenants: “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.” That, ladies and gentlemen is malice and forethought.

Our Lord is convicting the tenants not only of taking the blessings that have been provided and using them for their own ends rather than the purposes for which they were intended…but of deliberately and maliciously striking out against true faithfulness in favor of comfort and self-interest.

Jesus is saying that these tenants will stop at nothing, including murder, to keep what they have and to get more of what they want. The very next sentence after the end of today’s reading says “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them”. Indeed he was. Jesus was telling them that they had received the blessings of God’s promises as well as the messages, warnings, and comforts of the prophets and because of these things, they had been entrusted with the mission of producing the fruits of justice and righteousness demanded by God. However, instead of seeking first the kingdom of God, they built and maintained institutional systems that elevated the system over the mission with which they had been entrusted.

Of course, as Jesus said in the parable, the tenants, otherwise known as the chief priests and Pharisees did indeed cast Jesus out of the vineyard, putting Jesus to death outside the gates of Jerusalem. There are certainly many reasons why they did this, and one person’s reason may not have been the same as someone else’s reason. But, as Jesus spoke in the parable, the underlying reason for the behavior of the tenants was the comfort of maintaining a system built on their own self-interest.

And though we should feel a sense of anger towards them for the actions they took in order to maintain a system, we should also be careful that we do not pat ourselves on the back too hard for not being like them. After all, have you ever heard the phrase, “it’s never been done that way before”? Usually, when we hear that, it has something to do with maintaining a system or a way of doing things in which we have become comfortable. Although there is nothing wrong with feeling comfortable, we all have a responsibility to be vigilant against allowing our comfort zones to overrule the mission of producing the fruits of the kingdom of God. If we are not careful, we are no different from the tenants in the vineyard or the chief priests and Pharisees that they represent.

As I’ve said before, we all have reasons for doing what we do… our dear daughter had a reason for reacting in the way that she did, even if she is not old enough to understand it or articulate it. However, we aren’t 2 years old anymore, and by now we should know what our reasons are. God expects fruit from us. He expects anyone living in the vineyard to produce results for him…not just results…but results for HIM. If we don’t…if we keep the benefits to ourselves, or if we are armchair Christians then he asks, “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?” The answer, of course, is nothing. He has given everything necessary for growth.

When we consider what bearing fruit for the kingdom of God means, we often get overwhelmed by thinking that we don’t have what it takes to be a superhero for Christ. But God has already said that he has given us everything necessary, not to be a superhero…but simply to be faithful. Faithfulness produces its own fruit. The question we have before us is this…do we care more about being faithful or being comfortable?

Last week we had the great privilege of having Fr. Philbert Kalisa from Rwanda with us. This was his third visit with us. Fr. Philbert is the Founder and Director of REACH Rwanda, an organization that promotes reconciliation in that country in Africa.

When Fr. Philbert first visited us a couple of years ago his organization was new and word was spreading about what had happened in Rwanda back in 1994. A film came out about the same time about the genocide in Rwanda, which really helped Americans understand what happened there. In a period of 100 days one million Rwandans of the minority Tutsis were massacred by militant Rwandan Hutus.

Fr. Philbert’s organization works to reconcile family members of the victims with those who murdered their loved ones. One way this is happening is through the building of homes. Those who did the murdering are building houses for the families of the victims. Those family members bring lunch to the builders. Slowly, relationships form and reconciliation, which is strongly encouraged, takes place.

It’s hard for me to imagine a more difficult task than that which Fr. Philbert and his helpers have taken on. Forgiveness is never easy, but when you’re talking about forgiving someone who killed your husband, or your mother, or your children, or your siblings, or your best friend – and in some cases it would be all of these and more in the case of just one person – it would be so difficult. Most in our society would say, “No way. I don’t want anything to do with that person. I will always hate him for what he did.” Even Christians would say that, after going to mass and saying, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” “Oh,” we would say, “but surely God doesn’t expect me to forgive such a heinous crime as that.” Oh, but he does.

Well, we don’t have to worry about that. I would venture to guess that the vast majority of us have not experienced a person murdering a loved one, although indeed some of us have had even that happen. But what about the other ways we have been hurt?

I have heard many confessions over the years. God has blessed me with a terrible memory for such things, so I don’t remember who says what. But I do remember that I have rarely heard a confession in which forgiveness isn’t one of the problems that the penitent is dealing with. “How do I forgive my wife who cheated on me? My business partner who stole from me? My son or daughter who won’t speak to me?” I suspect that nearly everyone in this room has a relationship problem. If you don’t, then count your blessings. And if you have a relationship problem, forgiveness is going to be part of the equation.

The Gospel for today deals with forgiveness, even though that word is never mentioned. A householder has a crop to harvest. He must get it in quickly and he hires harvesters throughout the 12 hour work day. At the end of the day he pays everyone the same wage. Those who worked all day were furious because they didn’t get any more than those who worked one hour. They were all paid a denarius, a day’s wage.

The first thing we need to understand about this parable is that it really isn’t about laborers in a vineyard. Jesus is not trying to revolutionize economic theory. The parable is about God’s judgment and mercy. There are those who have loved God and served him all of their lives, and those who give him no thought until their death bed conversion. The parable is saying that no matter when in your life you repent and turn to the Lord, your sins are forgiven and you will inherit eternal life. God is generous, and he accepts our repentance whenever it comes.

But the parable isn’t just about God. It’s about those laborers who worked all day. Like the elder brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, they resent the householder’s generosity. Those who have been faithful all of their lives feel cheated that their reward of eternal life isn’t any greater than those who turned to God at the last hour. God is generous and they are petty.

There are many lessons here, but the one I wish to key in on is about forgiveness. There is now a rift between those who feel cheated and those who got a really good deal, or so it would seem. There is resentment in their hearts. And that’s the problem.

I had some difficulty understanding some of what Fr. Philbert had to say last week. I heard his sermon three times. The first time I thought he said that those Rwandans who could not forgive were in a prison they had made for themselves. I thought to myself, “That is a really good metaphor for a lack of forgiveness.” At the 9 o’clock mass I realized he wasn’t saying prison at all. He was saying poison. Those who harbor a grudge have a poison in their system that poisons everything in their lives.

Both metaphors work, don’t they? You forgive, and you get out of your self-made prison. You forgive, and you purge your system of that poison of resentment. The irony of being a victim of someone’s ill will is that you can be hurt twice, the first time when the person does the deed, and the second when you choose not to forgive. That second time is the hurt that goes on hurting. It hurts us emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. The reality, though, is that we all have the power not to be hurt the second time. We can forgive.

Every year or so a movie comes out that deals with the afterlife. A familiar theme of such movies is a person dies but his spirit is trapped on earth until he takes care of some unfinished business. The newest such film is Ghost Town. Linda and I saw it just the other day. A young man is hit by a bus in downtown New York and instantly dies, but his spirit remains. I’m not going to tell you the plot, in case you want to see the movie for yourself, but suffice it to say that he had some unfinished business with his wife that had to be resolved before he could meet his Maker. That unfinished business included, of course, this issue of forgiveness.

Brothers and sisters, we spend so much of our time in pursuit of things that won’t matter a year from now; in fact, we spend a great deal of time in things that won’t matter five days from now. And yet, we have problems in our relationships that can be resolved if we are simply willing to take the time and make the effort and yes, take the risk. How we deal with our relationships does matter—eternally. The makers of Ghost Town know that. Fr. Philbert works with that concept every day. Jesus taught it over and over again. We have heard it so many times it’s easy to ignore it. And yet, if we were told we have only one week to live, all of a sudden those relationships would be thrust front and center. Why put off what is most important in life? Why not resolve to do something today toward reconciliation or simply to strengthen the relationships you have with those you love?

I’m going to let you in on a little secret, in case you didn’t already know… on a scale of 1 to 10, I’m about a 9 ½ on how introverted anyone can possibly be. I would also consider myself quite shy, which is not necessarily the same thing. So…being an introverted, shy person, climbing into this pulpit in front of hundreds of people on any given Sunday is not exactly something that I ever thought I would be doing. So, why do I do it? That is a question that I ask myself sometime.

Our first reading speaks of a watchman. Someone who stands on top of the city walls and keeps watch for anything out of the ordinary…for something that might cause damage to the city or its inhabitants. The idea is that if there is enough warning, the people of the city can prepare themselves to fight, or brace themselves against what’s coming, or run for safety. Having enough warning can make all the difference, as anyone concerned about hurricane season can tell you.

We read about the prophet who is called a watchman that the people can be given enough divine warning so that there is time to turn away from the path of destruction before it is too late. If the people who hear the warning pay attention to it and take action they will save themselves. If they hear the warning but do nothing to make ready then they bear the sole responsibility for the consequences. However, if the watchman sees the sword coming but does not sound the alarm the people will be harmed but the watchman will be held responsible for the harm that comes to them.

Being a watchman is a great responsibility knowing that the safety of so many is depending on you. I would imagine that it is also a great burden because the watchman must take care to stay alert for trouble and that vision remains clear enough that it can be recognized when it appears.
Because as we all know, there is no shortage of trouble to be found in this world, and it takes so many different forms. This watchman is responsible for alerting everyone that the sword is coming.

So, getting back to my earlier question about “why do I do this” when my personality would much rather read a book or have a conversation with a very small group…or sometimes even hide under a rock?

It is because I am supposed to be a watchman…for that matter, every preacher is supposed to be a watchman. You can see it in the way pulpits are built. In addition to the very practical reasons to allow the preachers voice to carry more easily in the days before microphones, they also give the impression of a watchman’s post. Symbolically, the preacher can see what’s out there and then tell the people what he sees…to give them warning if necessary.

Today, I am here to give warning. There is a sword coming. This is not something that we are used to hearing in our comfortable church building, but I must speak it. There is a sword coming. Now, I would not be so bold as to presume that I know what form that sword will take. I am not a supermarket tabloid looking for sales by flashing a sensational headline. I am simply here to speak the truth. And, although I am not here to predict what might happen to us in our personal, communal, national, or international life I can with great certainty say that at some point in time, you…and I…and everyone will die…a sword is coming to carry you away.

It is, of course, something that we all know, at least on some level, but how we live our daily lives often does not give that impression. The reason I say this is because we seem to spend so much time living for ourselves that we are caught living a double life. On the one side we spend our time and money, our thoughts and our plans on ourselves – how we will get ahead, how we will protect our interests. On the other side, once the party is over, we are looking to be received by the one who says “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” And whether we like it or not, those are two very different attitudes.

So, with this in mind, I’d like to look now at this Gospel passage that we often hear, seldom understand, and rarely practice. Jesus tells us the steps to take when there is a problem between Christians. First, would everyone agree that there are problems between Christians? Of course there are, because we have all done things wrong, every one of us has done something to cause someone to be upset with us. Sometimes we have done it intentionally, but often we have done something completely by accident and without even realizing it. The bottom line is that it is not whether or not you have hurt someone in the past or in the present that determines if you are living the life of a Christian…it is what you choose to do about it that determines if you are truly following him.

Taking my two earlier points about living for yourself, your advancement, and your interests and living for the one who says deny yourself and take up your cross will produce two very different ways of handling the inevitable conflicts that come up. When the one who lives for him or herself gets offended or is sinned against, the reaction becomes an exercise in insulating the self.
There is anger, that then becomes resentment. Because it is about the self, the person is occupied in proving to themselves and others that they are right and the other person is wrong. This type of behavior often involves talking behind the other person’s back often to justify one’s own position.

In contrast, Jesus tells us that the object of conflict resolution is not to justify ourselves but to seek the others good. Notice that he says that if your brother sins against you…go to him…not to justify yourself to your brother…but in hopes of gaining your brother back. The focus is not on you as much as it is on the relationship you have with those around you. To this end, there is nothing behind the back. It is all up front. Ideally, the conflict will be addressed at this first level, but we know all too well that it doesn’t always work this way. Jesus then tells us to get other people involved…again, not to prove our rightness to others… but so that the community can help you gain your brother back.

I think we would all agree that there are enough problems in the world without adding to them. We often add to them by carrying around our hurts, our pains, our resentments, our broken relationships. We spend a lot of time convincing ourselves and others that we are the one that is right and the other is wrong. You or I may, in fact, have been right, but when you die and the one who slighted or offended or hurt you dies who will know the difference?

By Jesus words, we are all watchmen. It is not simply reserved for the one standing up high in the pulpit. We are all supposed to be looking out for one another. As I said, a sword is coming, we will all die. Don’t let the sword catch you unprepared in your relationships. We’ve been warned…we have time to prepare…now the choice is ours to make.

Have you been watching the Olympics? I have only watched parts of the competitions, but the parts I have seen are truly amazing. I saw a segment of women’s gymnastics in which those young women somersaulted with twists and double-twists and were still able to land on their feet! It is simply amazing that human beings can do that!

The swimming competitions have been especially exciting. Michael Phelps is the star and has now beaten Mark Spitz’s record in the number of gold medals he has won. He has beaten all of the records, many of which were set by him. We want him to succeed. We want him to go as far as he can go. We want to see our fellow human being and fellow countryman push the limits. Did we want him to beat Mark Spitz’s record? I know I did. And I also know, and Michael Phelps knows, that one day someone will come along and beat his record. And I hope that happens, too!

But I ask you this question: Do you think God is concerned about how well Michael Phelps does in the Olympics? You know, I think God is concerned about that. I think God rejoices whenever we succeed in conquering a difficult task. I think he rejoices when a human being is able to do something physically that no human being has ever before been able to do. After all, God created our bodies. He knows what this creation of his is able to do, and he must rejoice when someone discovers that his or her body is capable of more than anyone ever thought possible.

I don’t know if Michael Phelps is religious in any way. I haven’t seen any evidence of that; neither have I read anything that dealt with his faith. If he is like so many of his generation in this country, he has no faith. I also believe that God is concerned about that. God wants Michael Phelps and all of the other Olympic competitors to seek after him and find him. God has put that desire for him deep within each of our souls, whether we recognize it or not. He wants each of us to know him, to love him, and to serve him through our Lord Jesus Christ with the single-mindedness of an Olympic competitor.

Daniel O’Leary, a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Leeds in England, wrote in the periodical The Tablet, “The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote, ‘To be a saint is to will one thing.’ People rarely do. The world is too much with us. Even the most steadfast stalwarts get distracted. To persevere in the quest of an inner passion, to take on and transcend the competition of a shadowed nature, to keep an eye on the horizons of the spirit, requires a divine hunger, an infinite appetite for God, an incessant yearning for what is always just beyond our reach.”

The Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel had that kind of will of which Kierkegaard and O’Leary speak. The woman, being a Canaanite, represented everything that was godless to the Jews. Jesus and his disciples had left Israel for a time of rest and renewal. They needed to get away from it all, and the disciples urged Jesus to dismiss the woman.

Everything we know of Jesus would suggest that he would never turn away someone who was truly in need. But for reasons he only knows, he did dismiss her. He tells her that his mission is only to the lost sheep of Israel. He even speaks harshly to her, saying that helping her was akin to giving children’s bread to the dogs. The woman even accepts being in that category, yet she persists by saying, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

The story ends by Jesus praising the woman for her great faith, and telling his disciples that in all of Israel, the place where God had called him to minister, he had not found such great faith. He healed the woman’s daughter as the result of her mother’s faith.

We shouldn’t get too hung up on why Jesus would originally respond the way he did to the woman. Perhaps it was to test her faith as a sign to the disciples, or perhaps he was joking with her. We simply are not given that information. What we are given is that the woman’s faith in Jesus was great and single-minded, and that as a result he healed her daughter.

I believe that the single-mindedness of the Canaanite woman is the place where the Gospel most closely touches us as Christians in the United States in the 21st century. Like Canaan, our culture has much that is non-Christian in it, even though there are many in our country who profess Christ as Lord. True, we want everything that God will give to us, but all too often we are not willing to submit ourselves to his will. We know we are to turn the other cheek when someone hurts us, yet we still harbor grudges and seek revenge. We know we are not to tear down the reputations of others, yet we see our gossiping not as sinful but as a bit of harmless talk. We know the scriptural norms concerning our sexuality, and yet we follow the culture in believing that we have grown beyond those pre-modern injunctions. We know we are to support the work of the Church, yet we are more likely to cut our giving to God before we give up our Latte at Starbuck’s or our membership at the club.

We live like that, and then we wonder why God isn’t more active in our lives. We cut off his arms and his legs in our lives, speaking metaphorically, and then we wonder why he isn’t doing Olympic style works. One follows the other.

Our Lord died on the cross for our sins. But the meaning of the cross doesn’t end there, as the Collect for today beautifully states. The cross is also the example of how we are to live our lives.

Do you want God to be more active in your daily life? You must sacrifice your time in order to pray.
Do you want God to be more active regarding the concrete aspects of your life? You must sacrifice the first fruits of your income to God.
Do you want peace regarding your lifestyle? You must sacrifice your desires to conform them to God’s will.

The extent to which God is able to penetrate our lives is determined by our willingness to let him in. He wants us all to be as successful in things of the spirit as Michael Phelps is in swimming in the Olympics. Are you and I willing to make the sacrifices that are necessary to accomplish that?

Let us pray. Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Each one of us brings to church a whole variety of concerns. One concern that we all have in common right now is the economy. Not a few prayers have already been offered, I suspect, about the economy. I know that some of us are hurting financially. Redeemer has actually lost some members because they had to move out of the area in order to find work and more affordable housing. People in real-estate and related fields have often found their income stream slowing to a trickle. My heart goes out to everyone who is having a difficult time right now.

We are in the season of vacations, and the news media have picked up on the ways vacations have changed due to the economic circumstances. The Wall Street Journal a week and a half ago had an article about people who are foregoing trips this year and staying home. Some have gotten pretty creative about it. One woman in New York City, Karen Ash, decided to take a week-long vacation. “She’ll buy postcards and souvenirs at a traditional Japanese market. She’ll admire bonsai plants and view Japanese films. She’ll eat raman, ordering in Japanese. And she’ll never leave the Bronx.”

Ms. Ash had planned a vacation in Japan, but rising air fares, “the weak dollar-to-yen exchange rate and difficulty saving travel money while keeping pace with bills forced her to rethink her summer plans. So she’s determined to have the ultimate “staycation,” or vacation spent at home.”

The article goes on to say that some are putting tents in their living rooms to simulate going camping with the kids. The problem with that is that the kids enjoy it so much that they want to do it all the time!

Businesses have sprung up to provide the ultimate staycation. You can have your home refitted to look like a hotel suite, complete with maid service, room service, and mints on the pillow. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

Staying at home and getting away from it all-two realities that seemed incompatible are now working together. I would submit to you that such a concept for Christians is as old as the faith itself. We live in the world, we are fully a part of the world, and yet we proclaim that there is another reality right here with us, invisible, yet more real than anything you can see or touch. To borrow a phrase, you might say it’s the ultimate staycation. But you can be there all the time-at home, at work, at play, and certainly at worship. Jesus called it the kingdom of heaven.

We sometimes get confused and think of heaven as a place that is far away, some place you have to die to get there. While we look forward to the time when heaven will be our only reality, that heaven is available to us right here and now. Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It’s within your grasp. You can be there in the twinkling of an eye. It is a state of mind, a place of the heart. It comes from faith, the relationship we have with God the Father through his Son in the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, who was given to us at our baptism. That reality is available to us all the time.

Jesus says it’s the greatest reality there is. It starts in a life in a very small way, like the smallest of seeds, so small it is almost imperceptible. And yet, if given half a chance, it will become the greatest of shrubs. Do you know a truly loving person, one who is generous to a fault, one who goes out of his or her way to be merciful, to forgive? That one is one whose faith has grown to the extent that it nourishes everyone it touches. You want to be around that person, don’t you? You want to learn from that person, soak up the love that overflows from that person. His or her faith has become a huge shrub, “so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” That person has the ultimate staycation. That person lives a good deal of the time in the kingdom of heaven. That person has begun to approach the life God intends for every person on this earth.

It is the most valuable thing on earth. The person who truly discovers it values it above every possession, every relationship.

I want to be that kind of person. I want to live always in the kingdom of heaven. I’m not there yet, by a long shot. I am not going to confess my sins to you; that is for my confessor! But I surely can identify with St. Paul when he says, “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do…So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” To put it in the context of what I am trying to say right now, St. Paul is saying that he wants to live always in the kingdom of heaven, but his sinful nature prohibits that from happening at least some of the time.

I will tell you this. I need the Church. I need fellowship with you. I need the nourishment of the Body and Blood of Christ as often as possible. When we gather together on the Lord’s Day to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, I feel closer to the kingdom of heaven than at any other time. Earth and heaven are joined, and I am renewed. And I pray that that is the experience of every soul gathered.

Karen Ash may think she has discovered the ultimate staycation, but the truly ultimate staycation is not to be found in buying Japanese postcards in the Bronx. It is to be found through faith in Jesus Christ, leading to baptism, nourished by his Body and Blood, and flowing out in loving relationships with others. That is the ultimate staycation. That is the kingdom of heaven.

]]> http://www.redeemersarasota.com/wp/2008/07/29/sermon-27-july-2008/feed/ http://www.redeemersarasota.com/wp/2008/07/24/sermon-july-13-2008/ http://www.redeemersarasota.com/wp/2008/07/24/sermon-july-13-2008/#comments Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:38:26 +0000 admin http://www.redeemersarasota.com/wp/?p=46 Pentecost IX 2008
Fr. Joseph Scalisi

Have you ever felt like a failure? Like you had done something or failed to do something that disappointed someone or disappointed yourself? Maybe there was something you could have done to prevent what happened…or maybe it was completely beyond your control…but for whatever reason, you feel as though you failed in some important way.

I’m sure that, for most of us, it would not take long to recall such a time. In fact, when I began to read this weeks readings just such a time came to my mind.

I’ve spoken, on a number of occasions, about my time of service in Tanzania, on the east coast of Africa. I was there to serve a term of two years; however, I was there for only six months as a result of numerous and persistent illnesses. Taking crowded vans and walking great distances to the hospital nearly every week only seemed to make it worse, until it became apparent that I would have to make a difficult choice.

While I must admit that the desire to return home was strong, to see family and friends and to get some proper medical care for my increasingly frustrating condition, I also felt obligated to stay. I had made a commitment for two years and I wanted to keep it. Besides, God had worked very visibly and powerfully just to get me there. If I left, I would fail….I would fail myself…I would fail God.

I spent a great deal of time praying about what I should do; meanwhile, the same scripture passage kept appearing in various ways over the ensuing weeks. That passage, which has become one of my favorites can be found in our first reading for today: “For as the rain and snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Eventually, the decision was made for me to return home to seek medical treatment. I felt defeated…and I carried that burden around with me for some time. However, I began to discover that, as a result of my early return, events were set in motion that are still bearing fruit today. It has never ceased to amaze me that, as a result of what I believed to be my greatest failure, God brought about my heart’s desire, brought me closer to him, renewed my calling, and allowed me to be an instrument of his that I could not have been done if I had stayed. In fact, I stand before you now as a result of what I had originally judged to be a failure.

So I ask you again…have you ever felt like a failure?

We hear that God’s word is living and active. It does not return empty, but it shall accomplish that which he purposes and prospers in the thing for which he sent it.

And this brings about a contrast that many of us do not stop long enough to think about…who are we really living for anyway. Are we living for ourselves or are we living for God?

To live for ourselves is to act in ways that will give us the things we want and the belief that things should turn out the way we want if we just work hard enough. We judge the success or failure of our life based on if we have obtained those things or not. This is why I felt like a failure, because I failed to complete what I thought was the goal.

On the other hand, to live for God is to hold an entirely different standard. It is not measured by things obtained but by relationships developed. It is marked by an attitude of peace even as the walls seem to fall down around us because our hope is in God not in the walls. It also means that we recognize that things do not always work out the way we want them to or think they should…and it has nothing to do with how much work we put into it. But we still have hope because scripture says in Romans 8:28 we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

And this brings us to the parable of the seed and the soil in today’s gospel. Since our Lord has already given us the explanation of the seed and the different types of soil, I will only address it in summary since I certainly cannot improve upon it.

Of the four types he mentions, the path is when the seed simply sits there because what it contains is not understood and it is taken away. The rocky ground is someone who likes what he hears but does not have the discipline to sustain any growth, for to develop any relationship it takes time and effort. The thorns are those that hear the word but they’ve got too many other things to do. Their heart is set on other things, so the seed is crowded out among so many of them. And finally the good soil is one that hears the message and understands its importance.

Notice that the four different types of soil do not have a say in what the seed grows into. The soil simply receives it or not. So if the seed is the word of the kingdom of God it will grow in the hearts of its hearers if it is received. And it will grow into what God wants it to grow into because the seed of the Kingdom has its own purpose. To be the good soil does not mean that you need a doctorate in theology or to spend half your life in the mission fields. It means a desire to be open to God, both in his discipline and in his direction for your life.

How can you tell what type of soil you are? Well, let’s take this test. If we substitute the words “God’s desire and his call on your life” for the word “seed”, answer this question. During this Eucharistic celebration so far, the prayers, the hymns, the readings, and now the sermon, what have you been thinking about most? Has it been the items listed in the bulletin? Has it been thinking about how you will spend the remainder of your Sunday? Has it been worrying about things that have happened during this last week? Or is it waiting and hoping to hear something from the Lord? He is always throwing out seed, how are you receiving it? If it is not the latter, it is not too late. It’s never too late. He who has ears, let him hear.

Good morning. It’s good to be back with you after a refreshing vacation. We had a week in Edisto Beach in South Carolina, and most of the rest of our vacation we spent in Tennessee, with a few days out in Georgia, where we had a wonderful visit with Fr. Tom and Martha Fitzgerald.

I give thanks to God always for you. Linda and I are so blessed to be a part of this community of faith, and we are grateful for the time you provide for us to refresh and renew ourselves.

Last Friday night we celebrated Independence Day here at Redeemer among the three hundred or so folks who turned out for our annual barbecue. As always, Don Peet and his dedicated helpers provided a most entertaining evening. The highlight, of course, was sitting on the lawn or parking lot, watching the fireworks, at the end of which our beautiful bells pealed for a good five minutes.

As I was sitting, watching the fireworks display, I found myself meditating on the beauty of God’s creation. I don’t know about you, but I rarely just sit and look at the sky at night. And there I was, for almost half an hour, gazing into the heavens, brightly lit up with bursts of color. I found myself thinking about the vast universe of which we are a part. We know so much more about it today than we have ever known. Our sun is an average-size star in a galaxy with countless stars, and our galaxy is just one of many galaxies. For instance, the largest nearby galaxy to the Milky Way is the Andromeda Galaxy. It’s 2.5 million light-years away, which means that the image we see of it in the sky took 2.5 million years to reach us. The enormity of the universe is something beyond our comprehension.

As my awareness of the vastness of the universe expanded, my consciousness of the smallness of our part of the universe also grew. We in the Judeo-Christian tradition make an astounding claim in light of the vastness of the universe. There is a God who has made all of this. That God is not just a force, but a personal God, who has a purpose for his creation. What is more astounding: he knows each one of us, calls us each by name, and sees into our hearts.

The ancient Hebrews didn’t know what we know about the universe. They knew it was vast, but they had no idea how vast. Yet their knowledge led David to pen a psalm that certainly speaks to what we know today:

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, what is man that you should be mindful of him? The son of man that you should seek him out?
“You have made him but little lower than the angels; you adorn him with glory and honor;
“You give him mastery over the works of your hands; you put all things under his feet…
“O Lord our Governor, how exalted is your Name in all the world!”

This God, who made the earth, the sun, and all of the galaxies, cares so much for us that he took flesh and became a human being in Jesus of Nazareth. He lived among us for a time, and suffered and died as a sacrifice for our sin.

It’s an amazing claim, and yet, it makes sense. This God who is so powerful that he made, from nothing, this vast universe, must have a purpose. And what better purpose could there be than to create beings who reflect his own nature?

That’s why God works so hard to bring us back to him, to turn our hearts to the love that brought all of this about. This God, who became flesh, says to us, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

“Come to me,” says our Lord. Jesus seeks a response from us. Change your direction, he says to us. Stop looking for meaning in the wrong places, in seeking power over others, in acquiring things, in amassing wealth. Whatever you have made into your god has burdened you. Take your focus off of that and come to me.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.” Submit to my authority, says the Lord. Put away the pride that would have you trust in your own strength. Realize your dependence upon your heavenly Father. And realize that you can’t do it alone. You need one another. You need the Church. The image Jesus uses is of two animals harnessed together, so that what one could not do alone, two could easily handle. “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

That is what we are about. That is the faith into which you and I have been baptized. And yet, it’s not always easy to do. St. Paul recognized in his own life that there was a war going on in his own soul. “When I want to do right,” the apostle says, “evil lies close at hand.” For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.”

And so, it seems that we cannot even come to Jesus without his help, without his grace. And that is what we do together, coming, by grace, to his Altar to receive him who wills for us to find our rest in him.

The God who made the vastness of the universe comes to us again this day that we may take his yoke upon us and learn from him, that we might find rest for our souls.

This gospel lesson is a bit scary, isn’t it…
“Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven”

However, Jesus words are not meant to produce fear and anxiety. After all, just last week we heard him say “do not be anxious”. Last week we heard him challenge us to think more about God and His righteousness, knowing that He can provide for our needs, rather than thinking only about ourselves and all the worry that goes along with trying to get what we want.

When we come to church and when we read the bible, we are often looking for comfort and guidance. That is good to do and God knows that we need both. But we must also remember that the bible is full of challenge and conviction. Being a Christian does not mean choosing one and leaving the other, it means that if we wish to receive the benefits of the one, we must expect the other.

Or, to put it another way, we are comforted by the fact that God loves us as we are. We do not have to be better looking, smarter, have more money, or more hair, or think holy thoughts every hour of the day before he can accept us. The fact is that he has gone 100% of the way to show us that we do not need to do anything to earn his love and his desire to give us his best in this life and in the next. Jesus says, come…come as you are.

But the same Lord who says come as you are also says take up your cross and follow me. He says do not spend so much time being anxious about yourself but think more about God and what he wants for your life and for others. He even says “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”. This is better translated as be perfected…stated as a goal to strive for…into something new as a result of the relationship you have been given with the Almighty.

This section of the gospel that we have just heard is a part of a larger section in which we are given several warnings: we are warned to enter through the narrow gate, not to be tempted onto the broad road even though it is much easier because nothing really is asked of us. This broad road is the one on which people say there are many ways to get to heaven, and that I can do my thing and you can to your thing and no change is required by anyone.

In verses 15-18 we are warned against false prophets…those that speak sweet words of comfort without challenge and a god for every taste. Those that say that God does not really expect anything of you and that he only wants to make you happy rather than holy. Watch out, watch out for people who say you can have everything you want and nothing you don’t want. Watch out for people that say that God does not challenge us and call us to be more than we are at the moment.

In verse 19, immediately before our gospel for today picks up, he warns that every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

And this is the point at which we pick up. With this last warning about the trees not bearing fruit being thrown into the fire, he then tells us what bearing fruit means: Bearing fruit does not mean simply saying “Lord, Lord” or look what I’ve done. Bearing fruit means doing the will of the Father in heaven. It is not related to your political affiliation. It is not which church you go to. It is not your résumé, in which you may feel some pride. It is doing…let me be clear…DOING the will of God.

Now, if this doing the will of God thing is so important, it would seem that we should to everything we can to figure out what the will of God actually is…one of the reasons is because I doubt very seriously that the will of God somehow ends or ceases to exist once we walk out these doors.

Lucky for us Jesus tells us what God’s will is in the chapters immediately before this one starting with chapter 5: in v. 16 we are told that God wants us to let our light so shine before men, that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven.

And then he gets more specific. If we love God and choose to do his will, these are the things we will be doing:

v 17-20 we will keep and teach the commandments. Pop quiz…in the Ten Commandments, what is commandment number 4? It is to keep the Sabbath day holy. If you didn’t know that, then God wants you to polish up so you can keep it and teach it.

v. 21-26 we are to deal with anger and resolve conflict in a way that honors God and one another

v. 27-32 we are to maintain proper marital relationships, including doing everything possible not to put the relationship in harms way

v. 34-37 we are to speak honestly

v. 38-48 we are to act with generosity and love, even to our enemies

6:1-6 we are to give assistance (whether financially or not) and pray to our Father without wishing to call attention to ourselves for doing it

v. 14-15 we must forgive others for wrongs committed against us and for them being just as imperfect as we are

v. 24-34 and from last week we heard that we must seek first the kingdom of God. In other words, we must fly “rightside up” not allowing our anxiety and wants to consume us

7:1-5 we must refrain from judgment. Not because there is no right and wrong therefore no one can be judged. Rather, it is because God is the judge, and he is the one who will judge us all for our obedience to him. It is not our job to judge others for their obedience to us

This is the challenge that we are left with today. Our life, and everything we do with it is a reflection of how important doing the will of God is to us. The process of becoming a true disciple of the Lord and looking more like him than ourselves is downright impossible without his help.

But that is exactly what he requires of us…not just asks of us, not just wishes for us…but requires of us…demands of us. Come as you are, but leave different. And the difference between how you came in and the way you go out is the fruit that tells him that we are truly one of his.

Dallas Willard, a professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California, wrote a book titled The Divine Conspiracy. In it he reports that “a pilot was practicing high speed maneuvers in a jet fighter. She turned the controls for what she thought was a steep ascent-and flew straight into the ground. She was unaware that she had been flying upside down.”

He goes on to say that this “is a parable of human existence in our times-not exactly that everyone is crashing, though there is enough of that-but most of us as individuals, and world society as a whole, live at high speed, and often with no clue to whether we are flying upside down or right-side up. Indeed, we are haunted by a strong suspicion that there may be no difference-or at least that it is unknown or irrelevant.”

Later on in the first chapter of his book, Willard states: “Must one not wonder about people willing to wear a commercial trademark on the outside of their shirts or caps or shoes to let others know who they are? And just think of a world in which little children sing, “I wish I were a (certain kind of) wiener. That is what I really want to be. For if I were a (certain kind of) wiener, everyone would be in love with me.”

“Think of what it would mean to be a weenie, or for someone to love you as they “love” a hot dog. Think of a world in which adults would pay millions of dollars to have children perform this song in ‘commercials,’ and in which hundreds of millions, even billions, of adults find no problem in it. You are thinking of our world. If you are willing to be a weenie to be loved, what else would you be willing to do? Is it any wonder that depression and other mental and emotional dysfunctions are epidemic? Who is it, exactly, that is flying upside down now?”

Willard says that “our longing for goodness and rightness and acceptance…makes us cling to bumper slogans, body graffiti, and gift shop nostrums that in our profound upside-down-ness somehow seem deep but in fact make no sense.” Take this one for example: “All I ever needed to know I learned in kindergarten,” or “Practice random kindnesses and senseless acts of beauty,” and so on.

“Such sayings contain an element of truth, but if you try to actually plan your life using them you are immediately in deep, deep trouble. They will head you 180 degrees in the wrong direction…” A much more accurate way to live is by realizing “I don’t know what I need to know and must now devote my full attention and strength to finding out,” or “Practice routinely profound kindnesses and intelligent acts of beauty.” What is truly profound is thought to be stupid and trivial, or worse, boring, while what is actually stupid is thought to be profound. That is what it means to fly upside down.” I recommend this book to you: The Divine Conspiracy.

Dallas Willard, 21st century American philosopher, makes a good case that post-modern Americans operate their lives from a perspective that is completely wrong. And if you start out from a completely wrong perspective, unless that perspective is changed, you’re going to end up in disaster, like the pilot who didn’t know she was flying upside down. She undoubtedly thought everything was fine-until she crashed.

It’s a modern-day parable for an ancient condition. Medieval theologians called it original sin. St. Paul called it living according to the flesh. The Old Testament prophets called it worshipping other gods. It all amounts to the same thing-flying upside down, living life from the wrong perspective.

It’s not that we ever want to get it wrong. In fact, it’s the opposite, we want very much to get it right, and we think we know how to do that. And when things go wrong, which will always happen somewhere down the line, our tendency is not to think that we started from the wrong perspective, but that someone or some thing got in the way.

And so, when we hear something like we did today in the Gospel, if we think about it at all, we dismiss it, or we compartmentalize it. “That’s for religious people, and I’m not that religious, so it really doesn’t speak to me. I’ll just keep flying the way I’m flying, thank you very much.”

“Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, not about your body, what you shall put on…But seek first (God’s) kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.”

Jesus is not telling us that we should not work to provide a good living for our families. He is not telling us that we should not get insurance or prepare ourselves against calamity. What he is saying is first of all that our perspective in living each day is to be focused on God, not on ourselves, not on any aspirations we have or problems we encounter. We must be centered on God and upon doing his will. And secondly, we must trust that our lives are in God’s hands and that he will care for us and supply what we need. And in that context, we are to conduct our daily lives.

Jesus deals with the problem of anxiety, of an over-careful worriedness about the future, because he knows that that is our tendency. We worry about the market, we worry about our children or our parents, our health, we worry about politics, the environment, you name it. That worry comes from real problems and real potentialities, and from not knowing what the future holds. But that worry cannot determine any outcome and in fact can debilitate us from acting positively to bring about change. Our Lord Jesus is admonishing us to live “in the present,” focused upon God. That is where true life is to be found, and where eternity is opened to us.

I was visiting with one of our parishioners just yesterday. I won’t give you his name, but he did give me permission to talk about him. He has had cancer, and recently underwent surgery. The doctor feels that he has removed the cancer and that he has a good prognosis. I asked this gentleman how his spirit was. He said, “Oh, that’s been fine all along. I’ve just taken the attitude that whatever the Lord has in store for me will be fine with me. I’m alright with anything that happens.”

That man is flying right-side up. He has chosen not to be anxious about his situation. He didn’t have to take that attitude. He could have wrung his hands, and worried and fretted. He could have gotten angry at God. But he didn’t. He is accepting whatever may happen. At the same time, he has done everything possible to get well, and that is a faithful response as well.

Daily prayer, confession, making one’s communion, reading Holy Scripture, are not just one way to live among many that are just as good. Jesus is telling us that they are the only way truly to live. Are you and I willing to try it or are we going to fly upside down, not realizing it?

Sermon preached by the Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida

2nd Sunday after Pentecost
25 May 2008

How do you know if you are hearing the voice of God? I think we have all asked that question before at one point or another. Or to put it another way, what does God want me to do…who does he want me to be…what does he want me to study…how does he want me to act…or who does he want me to marry. Sound more familiar?

And to an extent, we come here hoping to hear a word from God to help us answer these questions. If we do…that is a good thing because it means that we at least care about what God might have to say about such things.

But this brings me back to the original question: How do we know that we are hearing God’s voice answering our questions among all the other voices that are out there competing for our attention. So many voices out there saying so many different things. And the trap that we often fall into is the mistaken belief that someone’s opinion is just as good as the shepherd’s call.

To give you an illustration of how the two compare, we often hear from others or even from within ourselves that “the grass looks greener on the other side” while the shepherd calls out to us and says “come here and find pasture”. He says come here as opposed to go over there (even though the grass looks greener over there) because this is where he wants you to come. This is where you will find what you need. The trouble with opinion is that just because the grass looks greener on the other side, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it IS

That is why the Lord spends a lot of time talking about knowing his voice and following him and spends absolutely no time talking about how we should follow our own whims and opinions. In fact, scripture speaks very solidly against it when we read in Isaiah,

“All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned-every one-to his own way;

And it is for this reason that our wanderings were laid upon Jesus and our iniquities pierced him through on the cross.

But if Jesus is the Good Shepherd and we are his sheep, we are supposed to learn to hear his voice and follow him rather than our own or someone else’s opinions.

How do we do that?

First of all, we need to recognize that, just as Jesus says that he is the Good Shepherd, he also says that he is the very door that we enter through to get to that good pasture.

We hear the voice of the shepherd by listening to what he has already told us. While it is true that you can look through the bible every day for the rest of your life and never find the specific person you are to marry or the specific job you are supposed to have or the answers to your algebra final, the word of God does tell us the type of man or woman we should look for and who we are to be in marriage. It does speak about the gifts that God has given us and how we are to use them. But sorry, it still doesn’t say anything about algebra.

Next, we have to understand that Jesus does not play games with his sheep by changing what he says. That would be like the shepherd changing his voice every once in a while to see if the sheep can tell the difference. To illustrate how important this notion is, I would like for you to consider what would happen if your young child got separated from you in the grocery store. You would immediately start calling out for him or her in hopes that you would find each other again. Why? Because you know each other’s voice and the idea is that your child would hear your voice and come in the direction of it. You would never try to disguise or change your voice because your voice is the very connection that you hope will bring about reunion.

That is a major point that Jesus is trying to convey that God remains constant. We know his voice and it does not change. After all, if the intention of the shepherd is to lead his sheep, the goal is to actually get them to the destination. It is not to see if the sheep can find their own way despite the tricks the shepherd might play on them.

Lastly, we have to understand that God wants us to hear his voice and follow him. I’m reminded of the game that most of us are familiar with called Marco Polo. This is a game in which one person closes their eyes and tries to find the other person by listening to their voice. But of course, the object for the one with their eyes open is to avoid being caught. We can get frustrated with God if it seems that our spiritual life is like that. The person with their eyes closed begins to wonder “Am I ever going to find them?” “Are they playing tricks on me?” “Are they even still in the pool?” But God wants us to follow him. It is certainly not an easy road and not without confusion. But there are no games and no tricks.

The problem that we run into is that we often have it backwards. We do not get answers to our prayers by waiting for them to fall out of the sky. And they certainly don’t come all at once. Instead, answers come along the way by following the shepherd out of obedience. Along the way, we discover what the shepherd wants for us. Along the way, we realize his answers to the questions we have. Along the way, we realize that he is leading us to what we most needed all along…but in order for this to happen we must first be obedient and follow.

The way of obedience is very clearly spelled out. Do you know where to find it? It begins with the words “follow me” without having all the answers first. The result is eternal life. The middle is the process of thinking more highly of Him and what he has to say then about ourselves.

Delivered at Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Fr. Joseph Scalisi