RonBlog

Sunday 3rd July, 2011 Third Sunday of Pentecost

Sentence
Come to Me all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Matt 11: 28 -9

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

Old Testament Lesson Genesis 24: 34-38, 42 – 49 & 58 - 67

Eliezer, servant of Abraham said, "I am Abraham's servant. The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. And Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and he has given him all that he has. My master made me swear, saying, 'You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; but you shall go to my father's house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.' I said to my master, 'Perhaps the woman will not follow me.'

"I came today to the spring, and said, 'O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now you will only make successful the way I am going! I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, "Please give me a little water from your jar to drink," and who will say to me, "Drink, and I will draw for your camels also"--let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master's son.' "Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, 'Please let me drink.' She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, 'Drink, and I will also water your camels.' So I drank, and she also watered the camels. Then I asked her, 'Whose daughter are you?' She said, 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.' So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. Then I bowed my head and worshipped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to obtain the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son. Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn either to the right hand or to the left."

And they called Rebekah, and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" She said, "I will." So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "May you, our sister, become thousands of myriads; may your offspring gain possession of the gates of their foes." Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way. Now Isaac had come from Beer-lahai-roi, and was settled in the Negeb. Isaac went out in the evening to walk in the field; and looking up, he saw camels coming. And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel, and said to the servant, "Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." So she took her veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

Psalm 45: 10 – 17

Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear: forget your own people and your father’s house
The king desires your beauty: he is your lord, therefore bow down before him
The richest among the people, O daughter of Tyre: shall entreat your favour with gifts.
The king’s daughter is all-glorious within: her clothing is embroidered cloth of gold
In robes of many colours she is led to you, O king: and after her, the virgins are with her
They are led with gladness and rejoicing: they enter the palace of the king
In the place of your fathers, you shall have sons: and make them princes over all the land
And I will make known your name to every generation: therefore the peoples shall give you praise for ever

Epistle Romans 7: 14 – 25
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.

GOSPEL Matthew 11:15 – 19, 25 – 30

Jesus said “Let anyone with ears listen! To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.' For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon'; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."

I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

© New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA, and used by permission. All rights reserved

NOTES ON THE READINGS …….

Old Testament
The story of Eliezar’s journey back to the north to find a wife for Isaac is a lovely one, with rather beautiful outcomes. It certainly indicates Abraham’s concern that his family did not mix with the local tribal people, and that may have had more to do with family rather than ‘racial’ issues. This tale, if not well-known, really ought to be

Psalm
As I have commented before, this psalm sounds more than a little like royal propaganda than anything else to me, and being selected here possibly indicates the selectors’ connection with the OT lesson. Otherwise there is not a lot that is of much other use.

Epistle
If there is one thing that has to be said for Paul’s writings, it is that he had no compunctions about revealing his own human struggles – ‘the good that I would I do not’ – although my own response to some of this is that I cannot blame ‘sin’ for my own short-comings any more than I can blame ‘Satan.’ It has long struck me that our present-day avoidance of personal responsibility has a lot to do with the breakdown of living and relationships. Even when I do wrong, I have to confess that I do ‘understand my own actions.’ Mind you, there is no doubt that if I turn my back on the Gospel and Spirit, then I would be most likely to retreat into self-directed living, and show up as ‘blow you Jack I am all right.’

GOSPEL
A previous and now deceased Archbishop of Sydney used to comment that someone had ‘dribbled a bibful’ when what they had to say expressed an enormous amount of sense. And this is the case in the first part of today’s selection. The further I go on living the more I am amazed at the extent to which people, individual and corporate, can be so schizophrenic, so to speak, in attitudes to things, events and people.
Jesus must surely have had a twinkle in His eye when He underlined the total inconsistency as people expressed their response to the Baptist and to Himself. Opposite excuses were given for refusing to respond to either – how pathetic and obvious. Certainly, the Baptist was the strict regimentalist, and our Lord rather more laid back. One might find John’s approach rather difficult to swallow, but surely not our Lord’s. But this is what people do, in their attempts to evade any response or responsibility to what they must know to be true. And we need to be aware of that evasion.
On the other hand, one of the significant reasons, seems to me, that Jesus had more to do with the ‘infants’ of this world was not that they were naïve, but that they were more likely to be fair dinkum. Proud and pretty people tend to be far more concerned about their own importance, and sidestep reality and truth far more easily. And the higher one gets in the social strata, the more this tends to apply.

So Jesus seems to have had a soft spot for ‘little people,’ and I have to admit that I go along with that, too.

NOTES FOR A SERMON

Recent comments by people of the Church have left me wondering somewhat on what basis they hold their faith. They have talked about a great lack of knowledge of the Biblical stories – and while they may not be all that significant stories, what facts have they to build on?

There is no chance of sorting out that problem by a single sermon no matter how powerful, but I do bounce off part of today’s Gospel to raise an issue that is both ancient and modern. It is that ironic comment by our Lord on peoples response then to the ministry of John the Baptist, and His own. Whilst there seems to have been quite a contrast in approach and understanding of the Faith and even of God, the reverse responses indicate a rather deeper fault in human integrity.

Certainly, the Baptist would have been a rather fearful antagonist. Never the one to mince words, John would tell it like he saw it, no holds barred, and not a lot of room for politeness. His conversations with those who asked what they should do in response to his preaching, the Baptist was unequivocal. His requirement that solders be content with their pay would not get past the ACTU, for instance. And when he told King Herod what he thought of his latest wife, she was the one who became murderous. It may well have been because of John’s upbringing, as many scholars seem to think, with the Essenes, that rather narrow Jewish sect, rigid and disciplinarian, that may well have led to John’s rather stringent view of God. Like many of his own time, and before, John expected a somewhat cataclysmic reaction from God, vindicating Israel’s view of life and history and making Israel the centre of the universe. That is what messianic expectation looks for.

Small wonder that John was disappointed in his Cousin! ‘Are You the One Whom we seek, or do we look for another?’ Jesus did not fit the picture in John’s head, even though it was not long before all this that he had baptized his Cousin in the Jordan. John’s strictness had the response from many people turning their backs on him because he was too hard to cope with. Because he was so upright and rigid, people decided to move away from him on the grounds of ‘demon-possession.’ Notice how easily people will maltreat those whom they choose to isolate. They tried the insanity card to avoid having to take notice. The guy is a nut-case, he is possessed (which was the 1st Century equivalent of saying that we do not have a clue what is wrong with this bloke but he is beyond all help.) You will recall that the crowd’s response to Jesus was to mock Him, before the Crucifixion. Purple robe, rod for a sceptre, and that crown of thorns, - not a symbol of torture, but of mockery. The sharp ends pointed out, not in.

When it came to Jesus, at this stage of His ministry, the crowd’s response was really quite pathetic. If John was too rigid and stiff, Jesus was far too laid back. His action – for instance – at the wedding at Cana showed that He was not averse to people having a good time. His treatment of sinners appalled the holy ones of Israel. So the contradictory approach of people showed up, all of it attempts to avoid taking the slightest notice of anyone who looked like disturbing their comfortable way of life. Doesn’t it sound like people today? Doesn’t it sound like people of any day and age and culture?

One of the things that has bothered me constantly is that this Gospel of ours has to do with singularly significant answers to huge human problems, and it calls for honest, committed action and reaction from people. It is not a naïve or useless answer to needs, it is totally suited to the issues, and provides answers that can be tested and found to be worthwhile and true. One would have thought that this would be exactly what thinking, caring people would grab with both hands. Thankfully there are many who do; but there are millions more who turn their backs on reality – and in doing so, chase after castles in the air. What fools we mortals be!