Celebration Sunday

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas

October 21, 2012; 21 Pentecost, Proper 24, Year B

Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(Mark 10:35-45)  James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."

When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

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Today parishioner Jen Lewis and a team of her friends have prepared a wonderful breakfast for us.  Jen is a gourmet cook and runs her own Jen’s Art of Cooking business.  She’s giving St. Paul’s a bit of her talent today, and it is a wonderful gift. 

I’m reminded of a story from a few years ago.  We were recruiting people to help serve a Stewardship Banquet that we were planning.  Someone was telephoning parishioners to get volunteers, and dialed a wrong number.  “Hello, I’m calling from St. Paul’s to see if you would be willing to help us with the upcoming Stewardship Banquet.”  “You are from where?”  “From St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.  I’m recruiting helpers for the Stewardship Banquet.”  There was a pause.  “Well,” came the voice, speaking with a bit of perplexity.  “I’m not a member of your church, but I sure admire St. Paul’s, and I like what you offer to our community.  Yes!  Sure!  I’d be glad to help with the Stewardship Banquet.”  And she did. 

A couple of years ago church consultant Bob Gallagher visited to help us think about addressing some long range planning needs.  He interviewed a number of parishioners, talked to staff members, met with the Vestry.  Near the end of his visit, he said something interesting. 

He reminded us of our heritage from the Church of England.  In England, our denomination is the established church of the nation.  That means a C. of E. church in a particular village has a relationship with everyone in that village, not just with those who are members, or those who belong to our particular denomination.  So if someone dies in that village and needs a funeral, they have a right to be buried from the village church, and the church will serve them regardless of their religious affiliation.  That’s where we get the word “parish.”  A parish is the geographical boundary that is served by a particular church.  Everybody within that boundary is served by the parish church.

Bob said, “St. Paul’s is a ‘Parish Church’ in the traditional sense of the word.  You really do serve the whole community of Fayetteville.  And I get the understanding that the whole town senses that.  They know you have a commitment to the whole community, and the community has a stake in St. Paul’s.” 

So that’s why you’ll see St. Paul’s hosting a candidates’ debate or the Fayetteville High School Chorus’ Madrigal Feast.  You’ll see us welcoming for lunch anyone who needs a meal every Monday and Wednesday, and nurturing friendships with a handful of neighbors each Thursday for families who entrust to us their loved ones living at home with dementia or early Alzheimer’s.  In the recent past, our Parish Hall has been transformed into a Hindu Temple for a beautiful wedding, into a place of prayer and feasting for Muslims breaking their Ramadan fast at sundown, and into the Buddhist community’s inclusive celebration following the Dalai Lama’s visit.  Community non-profits like Lifestyles, OMNI and the Mental Health Association have their annual events in our space, not to mention the plucky Scots who celebrate their unique heritage and loud music at their annual Burns Night.  When a group wanted a place to hold an Interfaith Harmony Day for all of the religious expressions in our area, naturally they asked St. Paul’s to host it.  And, did you know that our local Unitarian congregation holds their annual Stewardship Banquet in our Parish Hall?  Our church is truly a space for the entire geographical “parish”.  We intentionally seek to live as servants of our whole village.

What we do in our corporate ministry, we also intend for individuals in our congregation.  We seek to serve each other.  We connect people with God, in community.  We connect people with God in our prayers, and most profoundly in the mystery of the sacrament of the Eucharist.  We invite everyone to be welcome at the table of God where we feast on divine life and become one – healed within ourselves, united with God and with one another.  We are a holy people committed to the holy things of God.  We receive God’s blessing, and we give God’s blessing.

At St. Paul’s, we believe that everyone has a ministry.  What’s yours?  Our staff exists to help you exercise your ministry, to serve and to grow. 

Most people in our congregation exercise your ministry, your service, in your day-to-day life in the world.  At St. Paul’s, we seek to help you ground that work in God.  We hope to help you find God’s empowerment – the spiritual strength, relationship and nurture to do what you need to do to serve your family, your vocation, your community and the world. 

Some of you exercise some of your ministry, your service, through the church.  That’s why we have so many ministries here.  Someone saw a need and felt a call to respond.  Our cultural norm at St. Paul’s is to say, “Yes” to ministry.  What can we do to empower, resource and connect you to do what you see needs doing? 

I hope you received the mailing this week that listed over 130 ways St. Paul’s people express our ministry and service.  It’s an extravagant list.  We intend to be a church that expresses the extravagant love of God. 

So today we are celebrating.  We’re calling today Celebration Sunday.  It is a day to celebrate the many ways that God is incarnate through the service and ministry of the many members of this church.  We especially chose this day because it is the Sunday when we hear Jesus remind his disciples that we are called to be servants:  “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.”  We hope to be a community of servant leaders.

So today we say “thank you.”  Thank you for all of the ways you give and receive the services of this parish church.  And do note, for any act of service to have meaning and significance, there must be a recipient of that service.  So, “Thank you” first to those who willingly receive the gifts and ministries of our congregation.  You complete the generous circle of giving and receiving. 

We also celebrate and give thanks to everyone who gives so generously of your time and your skills to express your ministry though our common life together. 

Today we initiate a season of Stewardship, leading up to our annual Stewardship Sunday on November 11, when we will invite people to pledge their money to underwrite our ministries in the coming year.  We want to begin that season by celebrating today, thanking you for your ministries.

We also want to say “thank you” for your monetary gifts.  Your pledges and contributions are the foundation that supports the extravagant love and service of this congregation.  When you give to St. Paul’s, you are giving to God’s work expressed through our corporate life.  It is good work.  I hope you give gladly and gratefully.  I know you serve gladly and gratefully.  You make this community and its many gifts possible.

Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.

Jesus and the Rich Man

Jesus and the Rich Man

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas

October 14, 2012; 20 Pentecost, Proper 23, Year B

Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(Mark 10:17-31)  As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and 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 murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'" He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 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." They were greatly astounded and said to one another, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible."

Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age--houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions--and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."

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It’s a question of challenge that only an arrogant, privileged person would ask:  “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  In Middle Eastern culture, his question is either an insult or a word of condescension.  In an “Honor Culture,” honorable persons never complement other honorable persons.  To complement someone is to accuse them of rising above their proper level.  For this man to say, “Good teacher,” to Jesus is to challenge Jesus, implying that the rabbi from Nazareth has claimed an inappropriate status above his station.

Jesus repudiates the complement.  “Why do you call me good?  No one is good but God alone.”  That is the correct, proper response to such a challenge. 

Jesus challenges the man right back.  “You know the commandments?” and Jesus lists a handful that have to do with our relationships with one another.  The man maintains his presumption of status.  “Rabbi, I have kept all of these from my youth.”

He’s pretty sure of himself, isn’t he?  You don’t get the feeling he’s expecting any real earth shaking wisdom from this iterant teacher, after all, he’s kept all of the commandments.  Maybe he’ll learn an interesting tip from this new rabbi.  More likely he’ll earn a congratulatory complement from the little beginner.  This privileged man of status visiting Jesus is like a great artist visiting a beginner’s class.  Show me your work little fellows, and I’ll speak nicely to you.  Tell me teacher, if you will, what I, a rather perfect person, must do to inherit eternal life.

But the man has exposed himself.  His statement is audacious.  He claims to be righteous according to the law, according to the Torah.  He has not sinned, he claims.  Yet the Talmud, the authoritative interpretation of the Torah, says only three men of history ever kept the entire law – Abraham, Moses, and Aaron.  This man would presume to place himself in their company?[i]  Jesus knows he has a hypocrite before him.  An arrogant, defensive hypocrite.

Yet, the text next says, “Jesus looking at him, loved him…”  Jesus loves us at worst:  our blind and arrogant worst.  I find that very comforting.

“You lack one thing,” Jesus begins.  Now Jesus will speak like the word of God, as Hebrews says, “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; …able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

It is an incredible, awful and wonderful invitation.

By talking about his wealth, Jesus has exposed his other hypocrisy.  During Jesus’ day, the only Jews who were rich were those who fully cooperated with the occupying Romans as collaborators, exploiting the conquered land and people.  “Change sides,” Jesus says.  Give the money back to the poor peasants you’ve oppressed.  The money and privilege will never make you truly happy.  You’ll always be afraid – over-compensating for your guilt with claims of self-righteousness, defensive of your position and wealth, subject to the whims of the market or of the Romans.  Your money is worthless.  It’s got you so defensive that you are pretending you are perfect.  Give it up. 

You want salvation?  Give away that worthless stuff that you are so dependent upon, and be free:  “Come, follow me.”  Be in a real community, doing things that really bring life.

You’ve done the money thing, and what’s it left you with but an arrogant, defensive fake self.  Your money is like cotton candy.  It looks so good.  It tastes so good for a second.  But it doesn’t sustain, and it doesn’t leave you healthy.

“Come, follow me.”  You’ll have real life.  We’ll heal lepers and feed multitudes.  We’ll make friends with drunken and gluttons.  We’ll tell wonderful stories and party like it’s 1999.  We’ll show the crazy man in the cemetery so much fearlessness that he’ll get happy.  We’ll sabotage the money changers and shut down the Temple for a day.  We’ll see the deaf hear and the lame walk and the blind see.  We’ll bless little children, and we’ll give people their lives back.  You can have all that.  For nothing.  Just get rid of that junk you’ve become dependent upon and “come, follow me.” 

He’s the only person in the gospel who turned Jesus down.  Such is the power of stuff.  The power of money and wealth.

Now I know that this story can easily make us feel guilty.  Especially those of us who are rich, and I count myself among the rich.  Barbara Brown Taylor says, “God could care less for our guilt.  The one thing guilt is good for is to move us to change.  If it does not do that, then it is a sorry substitute for new life.  ‘I can’t do what you’re asking me God, but I sure do feel bad about it.  Will you settle for that?’” [ii]

If you feel some guilt because you are wealthy like this presumptuous man, then do something about it.  We’ve got some good examples in the gospels. 

Joseph of Arimathea is a rich man, a man of power and privilege.  He uses his influence to claim the body of an executed capital criminal and he buries Jesus in his own tomb.[iii] 

Nicodemus is a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews.  He is so protective of his reputation that he first comes to Jesus at night, and he doesn’t seem to get it when Jesus tells him that he must be “born anew, born again, born from above.”[iv]  But when the chips are down as the authorities plot to arrest Jesus, Nicodemus defends him to them,[v]  and at the last, Nicodemus helps Joseph prepare the body for burial, bringing the expensive embalming spices.[vi]  Zacchaeus was a tax collector who was so moved by Jesus’ attentions that he made restitution for his ill-gotten gains and gave away half his wealth.[vii] 

“As far as Jesus is concerned, money is like nuclear power,” says Barbara Brown Taylor.  “It may be able to do a lot of good in the world, but only within strongly built and carefully regulated corridors.  Most of us do not know how to handle it.  We get contaminated by its power, and we contaminate others by wielding it carelessly ourselves – by wanting it too desperately or using it too manipulatively or believing in it too fiercely or defending it too cruelly.  Every now and then someone manages to use it well, but the odds of that are about as good as they are of pressing a camel through a microchip.”[viii]

We all have the challenge of living with our money – our lack of it or our abundance. 

In some way we are all victims of our own way of life.  Whatever it is that we cling to for our worth, and for our sense of worthiness.  Is it money?  Is it the need to be right?  The man in today’s story was haunted by both of those needs.  What do we think we have to have in order to be okay, in order to be worthy, in order to be happy?  Let it go.

The gospel says, we need only an open hand.  A hand open to receive life as it is given to us, to receive love and worth from God who loves us infinitely, and to trust the future as a gift from God.  The gospel tells us to give up and to give away anything else that we believe we are dependent upon for our security. 

That seems pretty impossible though.  I mean we’ve got bills and responsibilities and expectations to meet.  It seems like it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for me to change my patterns of dependence and compulsion.

You want salvation?  Jesus says, Give up that worthless stuff that you are so dependent upon, and come, follow me.

“For mortals, it is impossible.  But not for God; for God, all things are possible.”

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[i] Paul McCracken, Sunday’s Lectionary Text, October 14, 20 Pentecost, published online with the Jerusalem Institute for Biblical Exploration

[ii] Barbara Brown Taylor, Bread of Angels, Cowley, Boston, 1997, p. 111

[iii] John 19:38f

[iv] all three translations work; John 3:3

[v] John 7:50f

[vi] John 19:39f

[vii] Luke 19:1f

[viii] Barbara Brown Taylor, The Preaching Life, Cowley, Boston, 1993, p. 124