RonBlog

Sunday 13th June, 2010 Third Sunday after Pentecost

Sentence
It is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20

Collect
Christ Jesus, Whose glory was poured out like perfume and Who chose for our sake to take the form of a slave; may we also pour out our love with holy extravagance that our lives may be fragrant with You. Amen

Old Testament Lesson 1 King 21: 1 – 10 &15 – 21a

Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. And Ahab said to Naboth, "Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money." But Naboth said to Ahab, "The LORD forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance." Ahab went home resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him; for he had said, "I will not give you my ancestral inheritance." He lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat.
His wife Jezebel came to him and said, "Why are you so depressed that you will not eat?" He said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it'; but he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'" His wife Jezebel said to him, "Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal; she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. She wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly; seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them bring a charge against him, saying, 'You have cursed God and the king.' Then take him out, and stone him to death."
As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, "Go, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead." As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab set out to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria; he is now in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. You shall say to him, "Thus says the LORD: Have you killed, and also taken possession?" You shall say to him, "Thus says the LORD: In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood." Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?" He answered, "I have found you. Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, I will bring disaster on you.”

Psalm 5: 1 – 7

Hear my words, O Lord, give heed to my groaning: listen to my cry, You that are my King and my God
In the morning when I pray to You, surely You will hear my voice: at daybreak I lay my prayers before You and look up
For You are not a God Who takes pleasure in wickedness: nor can any evil dwell in Your sight
The boastful cannot stand in Your sight: You hate all those who work mischief
Those who speak lies You destroy: You abhor the treacherous, O Lord, and those that are stained with blood
But because of Your great goodness I will come into Your house: I will bow down toward Your holy temple in awe and fear of You.
Led me, Lord, in Your righteousness for my enemies lay in wait: make straight Your way before me

Epistle Galatians 2: 15 – 21

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will the works of the law. But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

GOSPEL Luke 7: 38 – 8: 3

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.
Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man was a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him--that she is a sinner." Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied, "Speak."
"A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly."
Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

NOTES ON THE READINGS

Old Testament Lesson
‘Life is brutish and short’ someone once wrote, but while we may feel it does not describe our own time, I suspect there will be others quite ready to disagree. Neither Ahab nor Jezebel, nor most of the other characters who populated much of the early Old Testament story would have been the nicest of neighbours to have had around your place. It is appalling to stop and consider the extent to which people in high places, even big fish in very little ponds, decided that their needs were far more important than anyone else around. So you can see that, even in our own culture, not a lot has changed over 5,000 years of Biblical and Christian history.

Add to that the fact that even the prophet Elijah could see little further than the ‘eye for an eye’ response to Ahab’s murderous actions. (Don’t blame it on God: people’s understanding of God had not evolved far, even though Elijah lived well before King David’s time. Modern history has lots of examples, from people of other faiths as well as our own, who see no further than revenge. That, in spite of the major faiths not seeing that as an option! We humans have one hell of a long way to go, do we not?)

Psalm
On the other hand, there were people, even quite early on, whose perception of God, and of what God needed to be! – were rather more advanced than others. This psalm is a fascinating example of a clear insight into what was needed even way back then. Is this the start of Israel’s slow but clear climb from the vengeful expectation from God? If so, it is an interesting and quite challenging beginning.

Epistle
Although rather too many people see the Christian Gospel as the escape from the consequences of their sin, it is far more powerful and challenging than that, and this is what Paul was presenting. If I repent out of fear of consequences of my sin, then I have progressed rather little along the path of understanding God, or life. Even the Psalmist saw the need to respond positively to his ugly opponents, as much for their sake as for his own. If I am in Christ, then I have chosen to align myself with the resistance to self-obsession and to follow the service and care of fellow humans. Self-giving is the direction the gospel points, even when that runs quite contrary to the spirit of the age.

GOSPEL
Familiarity with the story probably robs us of the sharp edge of what Jesus so often did. His breaking down of taboos, of barriers, and of sheer human ugly divisions is absolutely remarkable. For a nation and religion that fed so much on appearances and superiorities, Jesus must have been utterly shattering. When a society is built so totally on status, on superiority and on rule-keeping, it is small wonder that our Lord survived as long as He did. (One of the aspects of Australian life that still gets me cross is that which is based on wealth or position. ‘Pretty people,’ in my rather long experience, are something of a contradiction in terms.) And the situation that faced Jesus in today’s Gospel must have had Him fuming underneath.
This Lord of ours does not simply break down barriers. He provides clear reasons for so doing, and that includes taking the whole range of the given circumstances into account. One of the great delights of this God of ours lies precisely there: all factors concerning that woman were taken up, so that she was seen for exactly who and what she was. There is no better or clearer path to justice and peace than this.

NOTES FOR A SERMON

It was something of a delight for me, just today. On the radio there was someone talking about his move from being a trenchant lawyer for civil liberties towards having a wider view of life, people and situations. He had realized that one of the huge issues for today’s society has been its move towards and worship of the individual over the community. He saw clearly the greater evil that such a move promotes, and the outcome of the breakdown of a society or community. There was no standing in harsh judgement. There was a simple and profound recognition of the facts of life.

In recent days, there has been a war of words between ‘religionists’ and ‘atheists,’ much of which has been reduced to futility (as far as I am concerned) because each side has been firing shots from their deep bunkers. Most of the shots are fizzers because each side – Christians included! – have produced parodies of their opponents, parodies very easy to shoot down and demolish. However, part of the real issue is the claim by atheists that Christians are far more concerned about the next life to take issue with unjust matters in the here and now. Whilst it may be said that there are such airy fairy Christians who hold such views, the real faith is rather more virile and immediate than that!

This may sound a little harsh, but please ponder the thought. If we focus on the epistle it is rather sadly easy to go off on that otherworldly: ‘I have been crucified with Christ’ was always presented as a devotional concept when I was young, and not a lot of use in the real world. But bounce off the other readings to get the solid earth under your feet.

As one who had been brought up with the horror of the Old Testament reading and that foul action of Ahab and his envy of Naboth’s vineyard, it was a simple and straight-forward matter of equating what one’s actions (as a human let alone a Christian!) should be. There was simply no argument; it was a case of QED, as they tried to teach me in maths. It is only in fairly recent times in my life that there had been any argument at all, until around now when what’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is mine also, to get well and truly lost (or worse.)
As that person on the radio enunciated, today’s selfish and demanding attitudes need to touch base with the reality of being human today, part of the society and community. To fail to learn that lesson and to move in that direction is –as sure as eggs is eggs – to discover what chaos means. And chaos is always singularly ugly. Ask anyone involved in warfare and its aftermath.

So this, all of the above, is what is encapsulated in ‘I am crucified with Christ.’ It is a matter of operating in a Christ-like way in relationship with those around me. And if anyone thinks that this is, of necessity, a soft and loving path, then one needs to face the reality of the Gospel at work at the ordinary level.

Going the extra mile is an aspect that shows up when it comes to that cameo in today’s Gospel. We Christians, even we ‘religionists,’ have a sad and hugely regretful history of standing in judgement on people who do not fit the ‘sausage skin.’ I remember to my utter regret, the challenge of my sister, many years ago. She had married in the early fifties, and her first child came along. Although I have no memory of it at all, she told me years later how hurt she was that I apparently had words to say about her daughter being conceived before their marriage. I must have been a most unpleasant and pious twit of the first order. It was only a few short years later than my sister died early in her mid-fifties, but I am grateful that I had the chance to apologize for being so judgemental.

Contrast that with the story in today’s Gospel. Those Pharisees of that day were as savage as I was apparently with my sister. Thank heaven that Jesus was not. His response to that woman – a human being like the rest of us, - was accepting, both of her the person and of the enormous gift that she bestowed on Jesus. In fact, as the story unfolded, the problem person was the religious devotee, not the apparently evil woman. All this was not just a matter of Jesus being nice and lovey-dovey; it was a matter of our Lord taking all the aspects (good and otherwise) of the situation into account, in spite of the contrary pressure of the ‘holy one.’ If ever you have been in such a situation, you will not that such is not an easy path to travel.

So it would seem that, in today’s selfish and demanding times, it is not easy to go against the tide. It is a path rather less travelled, but it is still one that needs to be returned to, for religious or non-religious alike. So much of the Christian Faith operates at the same level. The Faith is about the redemption of the world HERE AND NOW. It is about moving against the tide. It always has been; and it always will be. And so it will ever be the challenge to the status quo in any day and age.

And, as I have stated elsewhere, if my discipleship of Christ is because of the promise of some future benefit, then my discipleship must be suspect, because it, too, is a rather less than refined form of selfishness. To be in the Kingdom is to turn one’s back on such things: I am crucified with Christ.