RonBlog

Sunday 24th October, 2010 Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

Sentence
Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. Luke 15:7
Collect
O God, Who alone can probe the depths of the heart, You hear the prayer of the humble and justify the repentant sinner: grant us the gift of humility that, seeing our faults clearly, we may refrain from judging our neighbour and rely solely in Your saving grace. We make this prayer through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Old Testament Lesson Joel 2: 23 – 32

O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God; for he has given the early rain for your vindication, he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before. The threshing floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent against you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, the LORD, am your God and there is no other. And my people shall never again be put to shame. Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit. I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

Psalm 65
You are to be praised O God, in Zion: to You shall vows be paid, You Who answers prayer
To You shall all flesh come to confess their sins: when our misdeeds prevail against us, You will purge them away
Blessed are those whom You choose and take to Yourself to dwell within Your courts: we shall be filled with the good things of Your house, of Your holy temple
You will answer us in Your righteousness with terrible deeds, O God our Saviour: You that are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the distant seas.
Who by Your strength made fast the mountains: You that are girded with power
Who stilled the raging of the seas, the roaring of the waves: and the tumult of the peoples
Those who dwell at the ends of the earth are afraid at Your wonders: the dawn and the evening sing Your praises
You tend the earth and water it: You make it rich and fertile
The river of God is full of water: and so providing for the earth, You provide grain for us all.
You drench its furrows, You level the ridges between: You soften it with showers and bless its early growth
You crown the year with Your goodness: and the tracks where You have passed drip with fatness
The pastures of the wilderness run over: and the hills are girded with joy
The meadows are clothed with sheep: and the valleys stand so thick with corn that they laugh and sing

Epistle 2 Timothy 4: 6 – 8 & 16 – 18

As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

At my first defence no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.



GOSPEL Luke 18: 15 – 30

People were bringing even infants to Jesus that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they sternly ordered them not to do it. But Jesus called for them and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it."
A certain ruler asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: 'You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honour your father and mother.'" He replied, "I have kept all these since my youth."
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." But when he heard this, he became sad; for he was very rich. Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" He replied, "What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.”
Then Peter said, "Look, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not get back very much more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life."

NOTES ON THE READINGS
Old Testament
Whilst part of this passage from Joel is fairly well-known, the earlier section is rather less familiar. One needs to read and understand this prophet in terms of where he understood God, which will be a little different and perhaps more sophisticated in our present day and age. As repeated constantly, Israel’s understanding of God grew, not from eremites who went into the desert to pray and think; that sort of spirituality is not really part of Hebrew culture or religion. What they did was wait and watch and understand from the exigencies of ordinary life, and from those experiences catch sight of what was necessary and true and good. As with all human searches, there were potholes along the way.

What the prophet was expecting was fairly normal for then: when Israel was true to God, then there would be moves forward. In this context, Joel was indicating that not only would prophets and important people have clear indication from the Almighty, but that ordinary and even unexpected people would catch sight of truth and have visions. Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that the Holy Spirit is, in fact, given to all humans, if only they keep their eyes and ears, and more importantly their hearts, open to truth.

Psalm
Obviously this ancient psalmist is on the same wave-length as Joel, when he expected that God would replenish his people with abundance of food if and when they returned to Him. Mind you, the ancient Jews were always very aware of from where the benefits of life came. That is something that moderns, unconnected with rural reality, lose sight of with great speed.

Epistle
Here is an interesting and somewhat well-known section of Paul’s writings: and you might notice something of a contrast between the promise of faithfulness and the difficulties likely to be experienced. While I find it odd that Paul was left to his own devices in the stressful time of his house arrest in Rome, it would be hard for anyone to be identified as Christian, for they would be likely to suffer the same fate. (Mind you, I am not sure that the Apostle would have been all that easy to cope with; such people can be quite demanding in expectation even when they do not see it that way!)

GOSPEL
Here is an interesting connection between little ones – children – and the ‘certain ruler.’ The Gospel writers will often present contrasts in situations or in people to get a clear message across. The first part of this contrast is not all that difficult to follow: but note the difference between child-like and childish!
That cameo of the ‘certain ruler’ needs some explanation, it seems to me. There was a person who was a product of Judaism of the time, all self-righteous and rigid, keeping to the Law. Sadly, such approach in any field of human endeavour seems to produce an inflexibility that soon becomes a self-justification and a refusal to accept anyone not likeminded.
There lies part of Jesus’ reason to challenge the ‘Good’ epithet. That man was probably being somewhat snide in calling Jesus ‘Good.’ If it was not a put-down, it would have been a signal that ‘we are both on the same wave-length.’ If so, that would be why Jesus refused the tag, simply because that assumption of that man was quite false. The measure of goodness is not you or me; it is the Father and no other. As the debate went on, Jesus made it clear, in His challenge, that if that man was to mature as a believer, then he had to let go his self-styled position of importance, and give himself (let alone his wealth) away. It was a challenge for him to be ‘fair dinkum,’ and to turn his back on legalism in his religion. As it turned out, it was a challenge too far, as it was shaping up to be even for the Twelve.

NOTES FOR A SERMON

I am not sure that you will follow me in the direction (seems to me) that today’s readings are taking us. I can only hope that you will see through the words to the reality.

Not far from where we now live is a Christadelphian Meeting Place, and the sign outside will often show the subject of next Sunday’s sermon or talk. It is a revealing pattern, often commented upon by my wife and me as we pass by. The latest sign indicated a Bible Study on, inter alia, Law and Order. At this time , that subject is close to the bone for South Australians, and whilst it may provoke quite some interest amongst locals, I am rude enough to wonder if the focus is somewhat outside the Christian range. Law and Grace is a contrast to which we are used; Law and Order seems to me to signify another path altogether.

Judaism at the time of our Lord’s life was very focussed on that sort of direction. The Mosaic Law lay at the very heart of Pharisaism, and keeping of the Law in ‘every jot and tittle’ was primary. With the wisdom of hindsight, it is clear that such a path in religion is both terribly divisive and ultimately is very self-centred. It is one of the great divisions between haves and haves not. As a holy one, I could take great pride in being ‘holy,’ and be despising of those lesser mortals who were unable or unwilling to travel that path. Legalism in any range of human endeavour tends to be most counter-productive, and often leads to the very fundamentalism in religion and politics that does little other than exacerbate whatever issue is being faced.

Our Lord, of course, having been brought up in such an atmosphere, was keenly aware of the issue. In fact, much of His ministry was directed towards pricking the bubble of such practices and attitudes. And that is a difficult direction to head, as that legalistic approach tends to be sanctified by tradition. Old habits are very hard to shift. On the other hand, if they are not shifted or abolished, there can be no progress or development of faith – and that can mean the end of that process.

Spend some time to read Scripture, especially the Old Testament, to see the extent to which this process of growth and development, of leaving behind old patterns and attitudes, is focal and vital. The OT Prophets’ writings are full of such challenges. Even today’s reading from Joel points to the need to leave behind outdated and ineffective approaches, in order to leave the path clear for all sorts of different and unexpected now growth. Having the ‘Spirit poured out on all flesh’ was a radical departure from what had been perceived as the normal way. All flesh! Even slaves, and women! Shock. Horror. But it could not happen unless there was a great mind shift in Israel.

In fact the Gospel for today takes that a step further. Jesus’ pointing to children as exemplars must have shocked those people: kids were important, but were nonage, non people until Bar Mitzvah. But kids have long been illustrative of capacity to sense when truth is being denied and justice hidden. It is from adults that children learn to lie and prevaricate.

So it is for truth in faith, in living, to which Jesus pointed. Being fair dinkum, and open and honest. And let’s be honest: there is not a lot of that around these days now is there?