June 5, 2016
Pentecost 3
Luke 7:11-15
Galations 1:11-24
(prayer)
If you were here at St.
David's last week, you would have heard me speak about how each of us faces many limitations (beyond our control) that require
us to make decisions of what/who is worthy of our time, energy and resources.
I spoke about the
scriptural example of Jesus stretching the envelope of care beyond those who
shared his cultural and religious and political heritage some 20 years before
the Apostle Paul would pen the famous words that (in Christ), there is no slave or free, jew or greek,
male or female.
I pointed to the idea that
Jesus' decision to heal the centurion's servant provided a glimpse into the
unlimited compassion of God.
Last week, I briefly
mentioned that a very common means by
which people prioritize their decision-making is based on the goal of achieving
a 'comfortable amount of contentment' in their lives. The variations in how this is lived out for
different people depend on how widely an individual is concerned that
contentment and comfort is extended beyond themselves.
My main message last week
was an open one: each of us is invited to consider (for ourselves) how wide we want our
circles of care to be - given the
natural limitations we all face as finite beings.
//
I feel the prescribed
lectionary readings for today are inviting me to take a step back and explore
more deeply what it can mean to be content
and comfortable. And ask... is there some encouragement from
our scriptures and the history of faith that might pull us in a particular
direction?
So, here it goes!
//
I think we seek to advance
comfort and contentment for basically three reasons:
1.
our
own safety and self-preservation;
2.
to
advance ourselves and our place in society - which may include a campaign of
looking good to others;
3.
out
of compassion for others - to varying degrees of how we define
"others".
Numbers one and two are not
wrong in and of themselves. We all - for good and fair reasons - care
about our own comfort and well-being.
And... I will claim that
even the most self-focused person makes some decisions for the well-being of
others.
I suggest that we can begin
there.
We all make decisions...
-to protect ourselves,
-to advance our own happiness, and
-to (sacrificially) build others up.
It is the proportions we
assign that define us and distinguish us.
//
Let's explore the examples
of Jesus and Paul from today's readings.
//
//
The very next story
included in the 3rd Gospel after the cross-cultural healing we read last week
is another healing tale, this time in the hebrew village of Nain (about 50km SW
of Capernaum).
As we heard this morning,
Jesus and his disciples arrived in town as a large funeral profession was in
progress. It was for a relatively young
man. His mother was the focus of the
mourners. She was a widow and this was
her only son.
Culturally, after her
husband died, the duty of care for this woman rightly fell to her son. But, on his death, she would be teetering on
the edges of the cracks of first century cultual social services.
Widows without family
support needed to rely on the charity of others for their sustenance. Very few peasant women in Jesus' time had
opportunities to work and provide for themselves without a lot of support from
the community.
//
There are three groups that
the Hebrew Torah dictates special care for: orphans, widows, and
immigrants. There are specific laws in
Deuteronomy that stated that:
²
every
third year there was to be a special offering to support these people in need
(Dt 1:29); and
²
at
harvest time, the field workers were not to go back and clean up the
produce they missed the first time over - this was to be left for the widows,
orphans and aliens to collect (Dt 24:20).
//
Unless, the mother in Nain
re-married, she would spend the rest of her life relying on scrounging for
forgotten grain and going to the first century equivalent of food banks. Hardly a life of dignity.
This woman's future, in the
shadow of her only son's death, was to live meal-to-meal in hopes that people
would be faithful to the Torah most of the time.
Given the size of the
funeral crowd, it does appear that she will have support within her
community... at least in the short term.
//
Everyone of us who has
experienced grief, know the reality that - for understandable reasons - the
visits and explicit support from fellow mourners wanes, as time progresses.
People move on with other priorities in their lives.
But often the needs of the
family endure beyond the intial that everyone felt.
//
And she would have to hope
and worry that there were not too many others who might need to draw on the
limited charitable resources.
//
The gospel of Luke tells us
that not long after Jesus expanded his circle of care by healing a gentile
slave in Capernaum, he made it clear that this was not a move away from the
needs in his own people.
The story goes that - out
of compassion for the mother - Jesus interrupted the procession to the
cemetery. He transformed tears of grief
into tears of joy, when (at Jesus' command), the dead man sat up and embraced his mother.
Amazing.
Wonderful.
Unexplainably miraculous.
//
//
In the story last week, the
impact of renewal went beyond the life of the healed slave.
The centurion who owned
this slave maintained a valuable relationship.
He would not need to feel the grief (or inconvenience) that the slave's
untimely death would have brought.
And... the synagogue elders
were poised to continue to benefit from their cosy relationship with the local
roman authorities.
//
The same is true today as a
result of the events in Nain.
Beyond the longer life for
the son, the future for the mother is transformed.
And... the benevolent
resources of the community would be available to serve other pressing needs.
//
In summary.
One of the side messages
that go with these tales of miraculous hearings is that acts of renewal
(focused primarily on one person) can enliven a culture of care that reaches
much wider.
//
//
//
The first time we meet the
Apostle Paul in the chronology of the New Testament is at the execution of
Stephen, one of the second wave of early Christian leaders who joined the
original disciples after Jesus' death and resurrection.
Acts, chapter six describes
Stephen as a person "full of grace and power" who performed great
signs and wonders among the people.
But... Stephen's words and actions didn't please everyone. Some people from the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called) led a movement to have
a Sanhedrin Council investigation into whether Stephen had committed blasphemy
by speaking against the Temple and the Torah.
Stephen's opponents got
their way and the Christian leader was dragged into the street and stoned to
death. The legend goes that Stephen kept
proclaiming the gospel of Jesus right up to the end.
Paul (Acts tells us) was
there and approved of the execution.
Acts then tells us that
Paul took an active roll to bring more of the followers of Jesus to
justice. He sought and received
authorization from the Temple leaders to arrest "Followers of the Way" (as the Christians called themselves)
wherever he found them.
//
Then something happened.
//
In his NT letters, Paul
never described the previse event that forced a change of heart, but twenty-plus
years later, the people of the church could read in the Acts of the Apostles (a
sequel to the gospel of Luke) about a dramatic vision of the Risen Christ that
left Paul temporarily blind and needing to rely on the very people he was
persecuting for his well-being (cf. Acts 9).
//
As we heard from Paul's
Galation correspondence today, he admitted that he was (by nature) a very
zealous person - who (when committed to a course of action) did not hold back.
When Paul became convinced
that he was on the wrong side of the Jesus issue, he became as fervent a promoter of 'The Way' as he had been a persecutor.
//
//
Why did Jesus choose to
heal the centurion's slave and the widow's son?
Why did Paul decide to
become an active follower of The Way?
//
It may very well be that
they were prepared to be guided (in the moment) by the Spirit and
Mystery of God.
Why these two specific
healings for Jesus? For the same reason,
people climb mountains. Because they
were there. Jesus didn’t seek them out
especially. He just happened upon them
as he was going about his day's business,
When the centurion's slave
and widow's son entered into the sphere of Jesus' influence, his heart was
moved and adjusted his schedule to include them... not only by their particular
need but the impact the healing would have on others in their lives.
//
When Paul became convinced
that the Spirit of the Risen Christ had invited him to join The Way (and to take a lead role in sharing the Gospel to the
gentile world), that was enough for him.
Paul sought no further affirmation - it wasn't until years later that he
even went and met with the established leaders of the Jerusalem Christian
community.
Paul's efforts were not
motivated by schmoozing with the right people to build himself up. Rather, he wanted to take his sphere of
influence directly out into communities that were totally unfamiliar with
Jesus, his traditions or the movement that evolved in his name.
To Paul, that is where the
Spirit was leading him - to be an apostle to the gentiles.
//
//
How do we prioritize our
mission and ministry?
//
To me, the answer begins
with focusing on the what is in our midst.
What opportunities do we encounter in the course of normal living. We practice the practice of ministry in the
places we already are.
Then, as the Spirit guides,
we move out as our abilities and opportunities increase:
Our St. David's motto says
it well... welcome in and reach out.
//
Why?
Because the Spirit of God
is in our midst and we serve Jesus with the aid of the Holy Mystery.
Just as Paul was not alone
as he blindly made his way to Damascus into compassionate arms of his enemies,
WE ARE NOT ALONE.
We will say that together
in a few minutes as we gather around this
table of community blessing.
Let those words ring true
for you.
//
//
We are within the sphere of
God's influence... and that empowers us to be courageous and faithful agents of
Jesus' Way with those within our circles of care.
//
//
Let us pray:
Holy One, may our experience with your
compassion transform us so we can make you known through acts of justice and
kindness in the world. Amen.
***offerings***
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