RonBlog

Sunday 26th September, 2010 Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Sentence
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. James 5: 16

Collect
O God, from Whom light rises in darkness for those who seek You; grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what You would have us do, so that in Your light we may see light, and in Your narrow way may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever Amen

Old Testament Lesson Jeremiah 32: 1 -3 & 6 – 15

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. At that time the forces of the Babylonian king were besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was imprisoned in the court of the guardhouse attached to the royal palace. King Zedekiah had imprisoned him after demanding what he meant by this prophecy: "These are the words of the Lord: I shall give this city into the power of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.”
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Jeremiah said: This word of the Lord came to me: Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is coming to you; he will say, "Buy my field at Anathoth; as next-of-kin you have the right of redemption to buy it.' Just as the Lord had foretold, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guardhouse and said, "Buy my field at Anathoth in Benjamin. You have the right of redemption and possession as next-of-kin, so buy it for yourself.' I recognized that this instruction came from the Lord, so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out the price for him, seventeen shekels of silver. I signed and sealed the deed, had it witnessed, and then weighed the money on the scales. I took my copies of the deed of purchase, both the sealed and the unsealed copies, and handed them over to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin and the witnesses whose names were subscribed on the deed of purchase, and of the Judaeans sitting in the court of the guardhouse.
In their presence I gave my instructions to Baruch: These are the words of the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel: Take these copies of the deed of purchase, both the sealed and the unsealed copies, and deposit them in an earthenware jar so that they may be preserved for a long time to come. For these are the words of the Lord of Hosts the God of Israel: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought and sold in this land.


Psalm 91: 1 – 6 & 14 – 16
Those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High: who abide under the shadow of the Almighty
They will say to the Lord ‘You are my refuge and my stronghold: my God in Whom I trust’
For He will deliver you from the snare of the hunter: and from the destroying curse
He will cover you with His wings, and you will be safe under His feathers: His faithfulness shall be your shield and defence
You shall not be afraid of any terror by night: or of the arrow that flies by day
Of the pestilence that walks about in darkness: or the plague that destroys at noonday

‘You have set your love upon Me,’ says the Lord, ‘and therefore I will deliver you: I will lift you out of danger because you have known My name
When you call upon Me I will answer you: I will be with you in trouble, I will rescue you and bring you to honour
With long life will I satisfy you: and fill you with my salvation.”

Epistle 1 Timothy 6: 6 – 19

Of course religion does yield high dividends, but only to those who are content with what they have. We brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out; if we have food and clothing let us rest content. Those who want to be rich fall into temptations and snares and into many foolish and harmful desires which plunge people into ruin and destruction. The love of money is the root of all evil, and in pursuit of it some have wandered from the faith and spiked themselves on many a painful thorn.
But you, man of God, must shun all that, and pursue justice, piety, integrity, love, fortitude, and gentleness. Run the great race of faith and take hold of eternal life, for to this you were called, when you confessed your faith nobly before many witnesses. Now in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Jesus Christ, who himself made that noble confession in his testimony before Pontius Pilate, I charge you to obey your orders without fault or failure until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ which God will bring about in his own good time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, King of kings and Lord of lords; he alone possesses immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; him no one has ever seen or can ever see; to him be honour and dominion for ever! Amen.
Instruct those who are rich in this world's goods not to be proud, and to fix their hopes not on so uncertain a thing as money, but on God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy. They are to do good and to be rich in well-doing, to be ready to give generously and to share with others, and so acquire a treasure which will form a good foundation for the future. Then they will grasp the life that is life indeed.

GOSPEL Luke 16: 19 – 31

"There was once a rich man, who used to dress in purple and the finest linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, who was covered with sores. He would have been glad to satisfy his hunger with the scraps from the rich man's table. Dogs used to come and lick his sores. One day the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and there, far away, was Abraham with Lazarus close beside him. "Abraham, my father," he called out, "take pity on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool my tongue, for I am in agony in this fire.'' But Abraham said, "My child, remember that the good things fell to you in your lifetime, and the bad to Lazarus. Now he has his consolation here and it is you who are in agony. But that is not all: there is a great gulf fixed between us; no one can cross it from our side to reach you, and none may pass from your side to us.'' "Then, father,'' he replied, ""will you send him to my father's house, where I have five brothers, to warn them, so that they may not come to this place of torment?'' But Abraham said, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them." "No, father Abraham," he replied, "but if someone from the dead visits them, they will repent.'' Abraham answered, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets they will pay no heed even if someone should rise from the dead.'' '

NOTES ON THE READINGS ...........

Old Testament
Here is a remarkably down-to-earth and brave Jeremiah putting his money where his mouth is, facing the doubtful future but confident that there will be one. As we have seen in previous weeks, Jeremiah lived through a traumatic period in Jewish history. Being prophet around the time of the collapse of the Southern Kingdom, and part of the elite really, he was (a) painfully aware of the fact that the breakdown of everything was coming, (b) that few people would hear let alone respond to his message about the forthcoming experience, and (c) was sufficiently forward-thinking to commit to a deal that sounded ridiculous in the extreme.

So please catch sight of the enormity of Jeremiah’s action. He of all people was painfully aware of the fact that Israel now faced extinction, as once before in its history. All was hopeless, and the life of the King and all his subjects were threatened. But in order to fulfill an obligation to a kinsman, he purchased a block of land – making a monumental statement of hope that somewhere there would be light at the end of a very long tunnel. That takes bravery beyond calculation! History proved Jeremiah right, though it took 70 years or so to reach fruition.

Psalm
Lining up in parallel with Jeremiah’s confidence in a dark place, so the Psalmist, writing centuries before almost certainly, evinced the same hope in spite of huge problems and threats. It is another encouraging action on the part of a faithful person. That man must have taken a very long-range view of life and outcomes, and this is something that any human must do, if they are to survive in rough and ready world.
In fact, the entire Bible needs to be seen, not as some basis for doctrine and tenets, but as a history over millennia of people’s experience of God. You are not asked to believe it; you are asked to line up your experience of life against these earlier examples. Does it work? Does it ring true? Can you find light in the dark also?

Epistle
In the light of what is written above, can you now see how Paul is asking of you exactly what the other authors have done! Paul would not have been confronted with Generation X and Y and their demand for everything yesterday, but there would have been greedy go-getters of various sorts. Be content with what you have does not sit easily on modern shoulders (who do not have to be X or Y!) The constant call of Scripture is to live within your means, and to act with justice and integrity with those around you. Transparency is the current buzz-word, and while it is available more in breach than observance, it remains and always will remain the mark of the Christian – because it aligns with the character of the Father.
Gospel
It was only a week or so ago that I referred to the many references of Jesus in the matter of the cold hard cash thing. Here is yet another example of how Jesus saw things: the wealthy could see no further than themselves, myopic, self-obsessed. The great fault of the rich man was that he never even saw Lazarus at his gate. He had no thought for anyone but himself. That is how he lived; and in this story, that is how he died.
Never imagine that this parable offers a picture of life after this: here is an illustrative tale, meant to be thought about. As that rich man – for the first time in his life- thought about anyone other than himself, it was for his brother. Jesus’ comment that if that man (and others) did not listen to Moses, then they would never respond to anything. Every human being has, at some stage in life, an active and listening conscience. If and when that capacity is silenced, then it would be better for that person if ....... something like a millstone .... you know what I mean. A dead conscience is a very dead human being indeed.

NOTES FOR A SERMON

If ever there is a challenge for the person of God, it is to hold to their position and integrity regardless of the conditions that surround that person. That, of course, is something far more easily said than done. So today’s Old Testament Lesson is one very serious challenge to the disciple of whatever age and under whatever circumstance and pressure. And no one who knows what they are talking about could ever say that the life of the prophet was an easy one.
It is a measure of the worth of a person when the times in which they live(d) are seen to be difficult and critical. Few people would have faced the issues as Jeremiah did, and probably fewer still would have survived. From the inception of his ministry, this prophet would have been most aware of the risks he would be called on to take, and the threats likely to emerge on his very life. As we have seen already in the readings from this man, his very call indicated quite something of the future.

It was a time of enormous threat and turmoil to the (southern) kingdom of Judah. Its twin nation, Israel, had succumbed to invasion from the north, and now it was Judah’s turn. Israel had never been one of the big players in world politics, though during David’s reign there was a brief flash of importance. But David had been 500 years before, or thereabouts, and whilst his memory had been heightened as is often the case in retrospect, no parallel ruler had emerged. It would have been during the 6th Century BC that this series of events would overtake the remaining nation, and threaten it with extinction. Reasons for such crises were listed as ignoring God (and all the remarkable emphases of justice and truth and integrity,) and going its own way – which roughly translates the same sort of direction that is evidenced in today’s life and history. People were divided into haves and haves not. And the gap was widening. Truth and justice and integrity were vanishing, particularly amongst the leadership religious as well as political.

It would not be long between the prediction of Israel’s defeat and destruction and the actual events, and whilst Jeremiah (along with the other major prophets) anticipated the final denouement, other people in leadership positions attempted, as such people always do, to overcome reality with spin, falsehood, and downright lie. If you have ever tried to correct such lies and falsehood, in rather less tense periods of history, you would know the likelihood of success and the greater likelihood of being (at the very least) disparaged and despised. Jeremiah was not put off by such put downs. Not only was his silence not obtained, but he acted in very surprising response to an awkward situation.

When a nation is under threat, one of the first things affected is the value of things. So when Jeremiah was advised that it was his responsibility to act as a kinsman – at considerable cost to himself – he did not avoid the issue, but acted, some might say, irresponsibly. Seventeen shekels of silver was far from a meagre sum, as you might imagine, and on the surface it would appear that there was no likelihood whatever of that land being found back in Jeremiah’s possession. Any lesser person would have refused to be part of the transaction because of the threat from the armies of Babylon which were waiting for Jerusalem to fall into their hands like some ripe fruit. It seemed to be a futile, empty and silly gesture, for there was no future at all for the stricken nation.

In other words, it was an act of great faith, and greater integrity. It was also a far-sighted action, as it would be 70 years or more before the people of Israel returned to their own land. It was a commitment to a future of which Jeremiah seemed sure, but for which he had little in the way of evidence. In fact the only evidence he would have had was the conviction that if God was the God of Israel, then somewhere, somehow, there was ‘a future and a hope.’

It strikes me that each of the readings for today require all of us to have rather longer range views of life, of history and of God. Like Jeremiah, we are living through a period when God seems to have been consigned to the edges of life, or even beyond the edges. I would not mind a fiver for every time someone has asked me ‘when will it all end, Ron?’ expecting some sort of final collapse of civilisation as we know it. Movies and other ‘entertainment’ seem to focus on cataclysm and what is popularly called ‘apocalypse,’ - strangely so that people can have their spines tingle without any damage to themselves.

Oddly, most Christians seem unaware that the tirades that emerge from the prophets have to do with precisely the sort of world in which we now live. Selfishness and greed are the real catalysts for implosion, which is why the Scriptures call constantly for justice and truth and integrity. Without those ancient verities life cannot but drop into the abyss. That very familiar Gospel parable of the rich man and Dives underlines exactly that selfishness that leaves the well-to-do not even caring about the unfortunate who live within eye-shot, and ear-shot, and one suspects smell-shot.

Pardon me, but it seems that the rest of this sermon is going on already right inside of you.