RonBlog

Sunday 10th October, 2010 Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Sentence
What shall I return to the Lord for all His bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation, and call on the Name of the Lord; I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people. Psalm 116:12-14

Collect
Almighty God, You have so ordered our earthly life that we must walk by faith and not by sight; give us such trust in Your Fatherly care that, in the face of all perplexities, we may give proof of our faith by the courage of our lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Old Testament Lesson Jeremiah 29: 1, 4 – 7

These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. [This was after King Jeconiah, and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem. The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to Babylon to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It said:]
Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the LORD.

Psalm 66: 1 – 11

O shout with joy to God all the earth: sing to the honour of His name, and give Him glory as His praise
Say to God, ‘How fearful are Your works: because of Your great might, Your enemies shall cower before You.
All the earth shall worship You: and sing to You, and sing praises to Your name
Come and see what God has done: how terrible are His dealings with the children of Adam
He turned the sea into dry land: they crossed the river on foot: then were we joyful because of Him.
By His power He rules for ever, His eyes keep watch on the nations, and rebels shall never rise against Him
O bless our God, you peoples: and cause His praises to resound
Who has held our souls in life: Who has not suffered our feet to slip.
For You have proved us, O God: You have tried us as silver is tried.
You brought us into the net: You laid sharp torment on our loins.
You let our enemies ride over our heads, we went through fire and water: but You brought us into a place of liberty.

Epistle 2 Timothy 1: 8 – 14

Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

GOSPEL Luke 17: 11 – 19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean.
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."

NOTES ON THE READINGS

Old Testament
That attitude of Jeremiah must surely be a poke in the eye at the modern expectation that everything happens at the push of a button. Put yourself in the prophet’s position (without the wisdom of hindsight!) Surely everyone else at that point in time would have bemoaned the drastic situation for Israel and especially for its important ones. City and country gone; exiles in a foreign (and hated) country. No future; no hope; and despair at the heart of everything. How would you feel, eh?

And then comes the prophet, whose word from the Lord is, basically, get on with it. Take the long-range view. It is a stunning and comforting word, with enormous challenge at the same time. This is where you are; stop looking back or over your shoulder. Respond to the present. And respond positively. We Westerners find great hardship in that, and most of it is of our own making, is it not? LONG RANGE VIEW, do you see!

Psalm
If one steps on the shoulders of the OT reading, there is more of the same to come. Much of our problem stems from failure to ponder where God is leading His people. Whilst we tend to expect peace and tranquillity, it rarely comes, now does it. But when you look back, which is why we have the Bible unvarnished, one has to see that the times of real progress and the times of great struggle. One of my convictions, for many years now, is that when Israel was pilgrimming, all manner of lessons were learnt. When settled, lessons were forgotten with amazing speed.

Epistle
And there you have it. This is precisely what the Epistle for today is underlining!

GOSPEL
Funny, is it not? Those with the expectation of support and healing seem to be without gratitude almost completely. It is the outsider who really values the help when it comes. This – like the rest of today’s readings – are a challenge to those of us who have been faithful (and possibly quite blind in some respects!)

NOTES FOR A SERMON

Perhaps it is because that cameo of a Gospel passage is so well known, that is goes right over our heads, and does not remain long enough to have its important impact. It is because we expect Jesus to heal the leper, that we miss the point when He does. We would make great Jews in that situation, would we not? This is what God is supposed to do for His people and we get our knickers in a knot when He doesn’t fulfill our expectations. So the point of such exercises, surely, is not to twist our underthings, but spend a bit of time wondering what He is on about.

I really do love that Jeremiah passage: it is a boot in the backside of all conventional Christians – and Jews, too, come to that. Jeremiah lived in a critical period for Israel, for the Babylonian exile looked for all the world like the end of things for Israel, nation and religion. How would you feel if more than half of your congregation suddenly ceased to exist? How do you feel when, in lots of places to this day, you see your congregation ageing and failing? What does the future hold?

Jeremiah knew the answer to such questions, and responded to it with a great Australianism. Just get on with it. It was the word of the Lord through Isaiah, and when locals heard it, I bet they derided the prophet. ‘What do you know about things anyhow?’ they would have asked and challenged. In fact Jeremiah found himself imprisoned and threatened a number of times during his life. It was a most uncomfortable path for the poor man. But the prophet had, quite obviously, pondered, as all good prophets did, what God was saying to His people in this most horrific of circumstances.

And there lies the message for today. Stop complaining, and begin listening to God if there are issues in front of you. First of all, be glad that He trusts you with such a position, and then ponder. Listen. Pray. Think. And look back to see what our ancient worthies did to handle such crises.

Crises are there for very good reason. (Did you know that in the New Testament, the Greek word krisis is translated judgement? And that judgement is not some sort of punishment from God. It is a moment of choice, of decision, of picking the right path forward from that point on. And the choice you make is a clear illustration of who you are and what is important for you. Choose wisely, and it will be of great benefit to you and those around you. Choose foolishly, and you will find yourself in the pooh of your own making.

So the challenge that Jeremiah has for us is to take the long-range view of life – for God does not react like or to a press-button world. Nor does anyone else with any sense. ‘What are you saying to us in this, Lord?’ is the question that will provide significant answers if you stop long enough to listen and to see. And more often than not, the answers may well be evident from the time you ask such a question. The Lord does not much around with you and treat you with cotton wool. He treats you like an adult so that you will become more adult. And thank God that He does.