RonBlog

Sunday 19th September, 2010 Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Sentence
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich 2 Corinthians 8:9

Collect
Loving Father, Whose Son Jesus Christ has taught us that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters we do also for Him; give us the will to be the servant of others as He was the servant of all, Who gave up His life and died for us, and yet lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen

Old Testament Lesson Jeremiah 8:18 – 9:1

There is no cure for my grief; I am sick at heart. Hear my people's cry of distress from a distant land: "Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?' Why do they provoke me with their images and with their futile foreign gods? Harvest is past, summer is over, and we are not saved. I am wounded by my people's wound; I go about in mourning, overcome with horror. Is there no balm in Gilead, no physician there? Why has no new skin grown over their wound? Would that my head were a spring of water, my eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the slain of my people.

PSALM 79: 1 – 9

O God, the heathen have come into Your land: they have defiled Your holy temple, they have made Jerusalem a heap of stones
They have given the dead bodies of Your servants as food for the birds of the air: and the flesh of Your faithful ones to the wild beasts of the earth
Their blood they have spilt like water on every side of Jerusalem: and there is none to bury them
We have become a mockery to our neighbours: the scorn and laughing-stock to those about us
How long, O Lord, shall Your anger be so extreme: will Your jealous fury burn like fire?
Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You: or the kingdoms that have not called upon Your name
For they have devoured Jacob: and made his dwelling-place a desolation
Do not remember against us the sin of former times: but let Your compassion hasten to meet us, for we are brought very low
Help us, O God our Saviour, for the honour of Your name: O deliver us and expiate our sins, for Your name’s sake.

Epistle 1 Timothy 2: 1 – 10

First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for sovereigns and for all in high office so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life, free to practise our religion with dignity. Such prayer is right, and approved by God our Saviour, whose will it is that all should find salvation and come to know the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and man, Christ Jesus, himself man, who sacrificed himself to win freedom for all mankind, revealing God's purpose at God's good time; of this I was appointed herald and apostle (this is no lie, it is the truth), to instruct the Gentiles in the true faith.
It is my desire, therefore, that everywhere prayers be said by the men of the congregation, who shall lift up their hands with a pure intention, without anger or argument. Women must dress in becoming manner, modestly and soberly, not with elaborate hair-styles, not adorned with gold or pearls or expensive clothes,
but with good deeds, as befits women who claim to be religious.

GOSPEL Luke 16: 1 – 13

Jesus said to his disciples, "There was a rich man who had a steward, and he received complaints that this man was squandering the property. So he sent for him, and said, "What is this that I hear about you? Produce your accounts, for you cannot be steward any longer.'' The steward said to himself, "What am I to do now that my master is going to dismiss me from my post? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am too proud to beg. I know what I must do, to make sure that, when I am dismissed, there will be people who will take me into their homes.''
He summoned his master's debtors one by one. To the first he said, "How much do you owe my master?'' He replied, "A hundred jars of olive oil." He said, "Here is your account. Sit down and make it fifty, and be quick about it.'' Then he said to another, "And you, how much do you owe?" He said, "A hundred measures of wheat," and was told, "Here is your account; make it eighty." And the master applauded the dishonest steward for acting so astutely. For in dealing with their own kind the children of this world are more astute than the children of light.
So I say to you, use your worldly wealth to win friends for yourselves, so that when money is a thing of the past you may be received into an eternal home. Anyone who can be trusted in small matters can be trusted also in great; and anyone who is dishonest in small matters is dishonest also in great. If, then, you have not proved trustworthy with the wealth of this world, who will trust you with the wealth that is real?
And if you have proved untrustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you anything of your own? No slave can serve two masters; for either he will hate the first and love the second, or he will be devoted to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve God and Money.
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and scoffed at him.

NOTES ON THE READINGS

Old Testament
If ever you want to get the feeling generated by the threat and then the reality of the fall of Jerusalem and the being taken into exile in Babylon, then try to imagine how you would have felt (about God and about everyone else) if you had been caught up in the Holocaust. The sense of having been deserted – without any sign of vindication! – would have been horrific. And if you thought you had a God Who would look after you, then the embitterment would have been multiplied. We have the wisdom of hindsight, allowing 20-20 vision as we look back.
Jeremiah was facing the impossible and inevitable, as the Babylonian armies surrounded Jerusalem and threatened annihilation. Where the hell was God in all this? Why all this pain and death and destruction. And that would have been amplified by the fact that people around them would have operated on the thesis that if someone’s temple was destroyed, it meant only one thing: that God did not exist ......ever!!!

Never be surprised if / when God puts His people through some horrific situations! He is not there to protect but to encourage people to grow. (Even demand that they grow!) And that may well involve considerable pain and hurt in the process. Do you not learn rather better from your mistakes and problems than from whatever goes right?

Psalm
This ancient author was facing the same real historical event as Jeremiah was dealing with! He was unable to come to terms with the devastation of it all, and the cost in lives, and damage to people and the city. Note his concern that other people, other cultures, would be affected by the vision of Israel being decimated! Where is your god in all this?

Epistle
It has to be said that this passage bears all the hallmarks of a particular point in time, and development of the Infant Church. There is a clearly Jewish background is there not, even to the separation of the sexes in worship. And then there is an apparently strange view of the invading Roman control. Do not be surprised at this, for if there was one common threat in those days, it was of invasion from the north-east, the marauding tribes who would bring only utter chaos and ruin. Thus government, of whatever sort, was a bulwark against chaos. (The passage of time and the decadence of Rome would later have its impact on such views. John’s Revelation is clear evidence of that development.) It all indicates that the Christian and the Church is ever at a state of flux in relation to government and rule.

GOSPEL
I have been rude enough to insert verse 14 to underline something that may well have been missed otherwise. Many commentators ask people to realize the extent to which Jesus preached about money and its use and abuse. The result will be rather educational.
This passage has provided some problems for some readers, for Jesus appeared to be congratulating a rogue! But read the fine print as ever: He was drawing attention to the fact that ‘religious’ people are often far too naive for their own good, and do not consider all the issues.
The real issue is one of proper and balanced attitude to money, and a more focussed attention on the matter of honesty and integrity. There are no short cuts for Christians. You cannot serve God and money, though I understand that there are sects who pronounce otherwise! It is all a bit like the Pharisees obviously.



NOTES FOR A SERMON

If there is one thing that the Old Testament prophets really did rail against, it was against opulence. Against greed. Against the growing distance between well-off and poor. From Amos to Malachi, the cry went up about Bulls of Bashan living the soft life while those in need went unnoticed and uncared for. The early prophets, such as Amos, were convinced that the Northern Kingdom would suffer defeat and annihilation basically because the huge division between rich and poor had reached damaging proportions. So often countries and cultures collapse from within, with this issue the most damaging. Apart from anything else, our own recent experience of Global Financial Crises should have reminded us that money is not the sound and dependable factor that many seem to assume. And that is the real point surely.

Now we can go all holy and suggest that the love of money is the root of all evil, and pontificate to our hearts content, but I have a sneaky suspicion that while part of us goes along with the idea, the other part still hangs on to what we have. Are we kidding ourselves, or are we painfully aware of the fact that – where we live at least – one cannot survive without at least some money.

God and mammon. That is the rub is it not? And it has to be said that the rub is rather great in this day and age. Do you recall the series of adverts on television several years ago: from one of the Super Fund and Financial Managers – ‘for the most important person in the world, YOU! Like the Oriol ad, the focus is the same. All a bit selfish you may feel, but it runs far deeper than that. Call me old-fashioned if you like, but one of the great difficulties I have with city living is ... that no one seems to know their neighbours, nor care a damn about them anyhow.

If ever you wondered why the old Israelites had such a thing about cities – from Genesis on – it was because of that rather strange situation. Like Robyn felt when she was in London decades ago. There were mobs of people all around, and no one dared look at let alone speak to anyone else. It was a case of isolated individuals in a rushing, roaring crowd. And yet, the further one went out into the country – and even more in the Outback! – you were valued as a human and supported especially if you were in strife. That is community, and I am nothing unless I interact with you. We need each other; we belong with each other. The old aboriginal position was ‘what’s mine is ours, not mine.’ It had its disadvantages, and still does. But there is that vastly different approach to things.

If ever you want to know why both Old Testament and New punch the drum about distribution of wealth, it is because humans have always had that determination to be head and shoulders over anyone else, and the major measure of that is wealth. It might be cash or house or car or land; it may be anything. It can even be status, which more of the aforementioned illustrate. And the real issue is that – in such situations – the reality of a human being is overlooked completely, rubbed out by the rule that my dollars are more important that your life. Why do so many people, these days, erect enormous houses, and have so few children? The question answers itself.

I don’t know if you are aware of the old Jewish law of jubilee. It is an interesting situation, though I wonder if ever anyone ever acted upon it. If I had to sell you all or part of my land because I was in strife, the law required that, after 49 years, you had to hand it back, because it was an inheritance and was not to be abused. The year of jubilee was an important reminder of the importance of a person, of a family. Even the poor were treated better than most in those times. If I had a crop of wheat or whatever, when it came to reaping, I was required to leave unreapt the edges of the crop. It was not mine; it belonged to the poor. But, interesting to note also, the poor were expected to come and reap that part of the crop for themselves. In that way, their pride was untouched and their hunger was met. So even in those so-called unenlightened times, people were treated as humans and not as ciphers.

So there is the whole point of it. Any prosperity is there to be shared. Not amassed, and used as a lever against other people. It may sound rather idealistic, but in this day and age, it is a fascinating leveller and well worth exploration. Should you consider this to be all ‘pie in the sky,’ I would hasten to add that in my experience, many of those who are less-well-off are far from amendable to receiving ‘charity.’ And with that I agree entirely.