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Sunday 17th June, 2012 Third Sunday after Pentecost Sentence In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 2 Cor. 5:19 Collect Almighty God, without You we are not able to please You; mercifully grant that Your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Old Testament Lesson 1 Samuel 15:24 – 16:13 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel. The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.“ And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you." Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you come peaceably?" He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is now before the LORD." But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one." Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one." Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen any of these." Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here." He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one." Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah. Psalm 92; 1 – 4 & 12 – 15 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 2 Corinthians 5:6 – 10 and 14 – 17 We are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord-- for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil. For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! GOSPEL Mark 4: 26 – 34 Jesus also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come." He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade." With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. © 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 Lesson As each three-year cycle comes up with this passage, I have to repeat my comment ‘ Never, never assume that the role of the prophet was a sinecure. A person of immense integrity was needed to be a prophet for JHWH, and it was a life-threatening risk that Samuel took in this process. With the evidence of the Libyan and Syrian revolt in front of us, and other Arab states having the same sort of unrest, most Westerners are appalled at the extent to which some Arab leaders would sacrifice their own population rather than surrender the power that they were abusing so extensively. There is nothing new about that!! Also underlined in this passage is the reiterated emphasis that God works through ‘little people’ rather than powerful ones. Mind you, David’s later actions underlines the extent to which positions of authority can so easily seduce people into self-service. Humans are not noted for being altruistic, now are they! Psalm This Psalm can be seen either as a sort of cringe behind the Almighty or the recognition that to live with integrity is the best choice for humans to follow. In other words, the Psalmist sees God as a guarantor – supporter if you like! – of all that is true and right. My support is for the latter! Epistle In my experience, this passage was always used as a sort of warning against ‘going against the Christian grain,’ and living the worldly life. It was seen as a sort of justification for being spiritual and looking for heaven as the escape from harsh reality. I see it quite differently these days – rather more as offering a rationale for living with integrity and truth in a world that operates on a vastly different wavelength. One needs only to ponder for a short while to recognize the huge difference to life if more people operate in such a manner. What a difference if one could trust all other people! GOSPEL And now here is all of the above ‘reduced’ to a series of pictures or parables about the Kingdom. So the entire range of readings for this Sunday has to do with the choice in front of all humans; either to live with integrity and honesty, or to refuse that and live self-centredly – and blow everyone else. One of the sad things, I find these days, is the rather great lack of teaching and preaching on the Kingdom. Correct that, and one suspects that the Faith may well have more people respond to it, though the opposite reaction is just as possible. Not too many people really want to know which way is really up! NOTES FOR A SERMON In all my debates and discussions about the Faith with those of atheistic and other leanings, the issue for them has been the perceived superstition in faith of any sort, and the perceived wisdom of being atheistic. Whenever I raise the main issue presented by Judaism and Christianity, and point to the huge issues underlined in today’s readings, there is a total blank in any reply for they are not interested at all. It is a strange hiatus, from where I sit, and the ‘problem’ has nothing to do with superstition. Atheists (like many other critics of the Faith) seem to have no answers at all when the focus is away from their favourite myopic issues. Today’s readings and their focus has always been a stunning emphasis for life, again from where I sit, for the most simple of reasons. That is to ignore this direction is to choose the sort of life that offers not only great chaos, but little or no hope for any future. However, this aspect of the Faith has tended to be overlooked, or avoided, for it appears to clash with the Atonement theology. Little could be further from the truth. So much of Jesus’ teaching had to do with the Kingdom of God (or of Heaven if you follow Matthew’s Gospel.) To sidestep that emphasis is to miss most of the point of the Gospel. Obviously if it comes from the mouth of our Lord, then full attention is required. When added to the fact that much of the OT prophets focussed on such issues, then to miss the point is inexcusable. As I have reiterated often, both Judaism and Christianity have very strong emphases on matters political, and on fundamental issues of human relationships. If and when I act unjustly or unfairly, I am not responding to the Faith. On top of that, I am not glorifying God, I am not reflecting His characteristics, I am not bearing witness to the point and purpose of the Gospel. Back, many years ago, when I was a pup, it was fashionable in evangelical circles to be disparaging about what used to be called ‘the social Gospel.’ A sense of superiority was engendered amongst evangelicals, showing that they had a far superior grasp of the spiritual Gospel than those who upheld that social Gospel. And I have to say that Scripture, life and the Faith has left me staggered at the narrow-mindedness that upheld such a view. Yes, I have long moved away from that perception. Pick up any of the OT prophets and see for yourself where their emphasis lies. Pick out all of the ‘Kingdom’ sayings of Jesus and see where His emphasis lies. And then ponder awhile how different life would be if/when people responded to such simple, powerful, utterly reliable reactions to relationships. Right from the very outset, the aim of Judaism was to offer to the world at large a method or system (whatever you like to call it) that would provide a remedy for the human ugliness in life and relationships. And there in the words of Scripture such a remedy is offered, from Genesis to Revelation. This is the good news, and great news it is and all. And there, in today’s parable, there is no hiding from the harsh realities of human evil. The Christian has to cope with the fact that loyalty will be tested in a no-holds-barred struggle against evil. There could hardly be anything more down to earth than that! And nothing anywhere near as valuable!