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The Gospel: Matthew 11:25–30
Jesus said, “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.” Prayer: Lord, you have promised that when two or three gather in your name you will be present with them. We depend on that promise today and pray that you will move among us. Lord, we pray that have you inspired Mike's preparation, that you will enliven his presentation and that you will empower our application. Amen The Message: We are stepping aside from our journey through the Gospel of Luke in our post Pentecost, Ordinary Time experience. Today we are celebrating The Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi. This afternoon at 2 pm on the steps of the Ohio St entrance we will have a Blessing of the Animals as part of that celebration. So, bring your pets along and we will pray God's blessing on them and you. Francis is a fascinating character. In his early life he was a man of extremes. Born into a wealthy family he led a carefree life with little regard or concern for the plight of others. He must have been a charismatic figure, as it seems he drew others to him and to his carefree existence. But then through a series of disappointments and failures he came to realize there was more to life than his personal satisfaction and enjoyment. According to the legend of St Francis it was an encounter with a leper that prompted him to finally understand his need for conversion. He then found himself praying in a disused and crumbling church where he believed he heard the voice of Jesus tell him to "rebuild the church." He initially thought he was being called to rebuild that particular church. Acting on an impulse he took fabric from his father's workshop to sell and raise the funds for the repairs. His father was angered by his actions and he dragged him before the Bishop, and demanded he give the money back. Francis stripped off his clothes and disavowed his father. He went on to rebuild the church with his own hands. When he began to preach people were attracted to his work and ministry and eventually a community grew up around him. His life and the life that he taught those who joined him was a life of simplicity and communion with nature. There are many stories of his interactions with animals and with his understanding of his oneness with nature. The brotherhood he founded grew to 5,000 in 10 years. But this brought pressure from outside of the order seeking to have it conform to less strict demands. The broader church at the time was struggling with scandal and avarice and needed reform. Eventually Francis resigned as the leader of the order and became one of the brothers. He is said to have had a vision and to have the marks of Christ's crucifixion appear on his body. Then he began to go blind and the Pope ordered that his eyes be cauterized to treat the illness. Francis became blind and never really recovered from the illness and surgery. He eventually died at the age of 45. I found great information about Francis on Catholic website and learned some new things about him. As I was thinking about his life and ministry I was struck by how radical his ideas seem in our world today. I found it interesting that he was seen as someone who worked within the church and its structures. One quote I found really intriguing: "Francis was never a priest, though he was later ordained a deacon under protest. Francis was not a reformer; he preached about returning to God and obedience to the Church. Francis must have known about the decay in the Church, but he always showed the Church and its people his utmost respect." But as his community grew Francis knew that he would need a way to unify those who came and he developed a "Rule of Life." "Francis knew he now had to have some kind of direction to this life so he opened the Bible in three places. He read the command to the rich young man to sell all his good and give to the poor, the order to the apostles to take nothing on their journey, and the demand to take up the cross daily. "Here is our rule," Francis said -- as simple, and as seemingly impossible, as that. He was going to do what no one thought possible any more -- live by the Gospel." I love the last sentence in that description from the website: "He was going to do what no one thought possible any more -- live by the Gospel." That really made me pause when I read it. I found myself having to consider how challenging that simple sentence is. Francis' life of simplicity is radical today as it was when he proclaimed it to the church of his time. But I was encouraged by the other aspect of Francis' life that was highlighted in the website information. Francis experienced great moments of joy and his life was touched by the simple pleasures of communing with animals and nature. Francis responded to his blindness and suffering when he wrote his beautiful Canticle of the Sun that expresses his brotherhood with creation in praising God. The Canticle of the Sun or Canticle of the Creatures Most high, all powerful, all good Lord! All praise is yours, all glory, all honor, and all blessing. To you, alone, Most High, do they belong. No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name. Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness. Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens you have made them, precious and beautiful. Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air, and clouds and storms, and all the weather, through which you give your creatures sustenance. Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure. Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten the night. He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong. Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs. Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, they will be crowned. Be praised, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whose embrace no living person can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Happy those she finds doing your most holy will. The second death can do no harm to them. Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks, and serve him with great humility. A couple of weeks ago when I was speaking about our opportunity to be advocates for our brothers and sisters I read the prayer attributed to St Francis to end my message. I would like to read it again today as we remember Francis of Assisi: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. The Gospel: Luke 16:19-31
Jesus said, "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.' But Abraham said, `Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.' He said, `Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers-- that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' He said, `No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'" Prayer: Lord, you have promised that when two or three gather in your name you will be present with them. We depend on that promise today and pray that you will move among us. Lord, we pray that have you inspired Mike's preparation, that you will enliven his presentation and that you will empower our application. Amen The Message: I was struck this week by the Archbishop of Canterbury's words in his sermon at the Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. I felt these words tied in beautifully with the thoughts expressed in our readings for this morning. The Archbishop said: "The pattern for many leaders is to be exalted in life and forgotten after death. The pattern for all who serve God – famous or obscure, respected or ignored – is that death is the door to glory." "In 1953 the Queen began her Coronation with silent prayer, just there at the High Altar. Her allegiance to God was given before any person gave allegiance to her. Her service to so many people in this nation, the Commonwealth, and the world, had its foundation in her following Christ – God himself – who said that he “came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” "People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer. But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are long forgotten. These are powerful words and a powerful reminder of the need for us all to remember who give our allegiance to and how that will be reflected in how we live our lives. I spoke last week about how the Collect of the week can guide our understanding of the readings each Sunday. I feel that the Collect for this week is a wonderful example of that and so I am going to read it to begin my message this morning. "O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives, and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. So two things, from the Collect, that I would like to examine this morning are: "you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity" "that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure" I would like to bring our focus, particularly to the words "power" and "heavenly treasure." I want us to consider this morning what our understanding of power is and what it is to be used for. I want to also take some time for us to examine how we associate wealth - or treasure - with power. A secondary question which we will weave in and out of this morning is how do we as Christians act differently if we are seeking after heavenly treasure rather than earthly treasure? How does that affect our understanding of power and how we exercise power? As we look at the world we live in, at the society that we live in, we don't have to look very far before we see that many of the issues and challenges of our society revolve around who holds power and how they exercise that power. I would like to suggest this morning that this holds true for a small community like ours or for the exercise of power on a national or an international scale. The desire to gain power and the exercise of that power runs through all of our communities and through all of our lives. It is important to recognize that God exercises his power in many ways. But the Collect for this morning declares that he "chiefly" exhibits his power in "mercy and pity." God's long patience and in his responding to the people of Israel in mercy and pity many times is an example of God's exercise of power. So, what is it that we can see, learn and apply to our own lives because of these readings this morning? What is that we might term the "heavenly treasure" of these readings? Can I suggest that the reading from Jeremiah leads us to examine how we might maintain hope in our world even when the circumstances which we face seem anything but hopeful? Who is this God, of mercy and pity, that Jeremiah, and we, are being asked to put our hope and trust in? Jeremiah is under arrest and the city is under siege when the word of the Lord comes to him and tells him to purchase a field. Why under those circumstances would you want to invest in buying a property? Well, it seems that the point of this story is that Jeremiah is being asked to express his hope and trust in the Lord to right the situation of his life. He is being asked to put his trust in the God of mercy and pity, and to invest in a "heavenly treasure" that he cannot yet see. "For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land." Jeremiah 32: 15 The language of 1 Timothy 6 is even plainer. I am not going to read the whole thing. I would encourage you to take the Bulletin home this morning and to take some time sometime this week to read through 1 Timothy 6: 6 - 19. Paul speaks in a very straightforward manner about the challenge of wealth and our attitude toward wealth. He begins in verse 6 this way: "There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment." Then he rounds out the first paragraph with these very challenging words in verse 10: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains." Remember I said at the beginning of my message that many people associate power with wealth. The desire to hold and maintain power is sometimes so closely connected with the accumulation of wealth. Paul goes on to challenge that kind of reasoning in verses 17 through 19: "As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life." It is clear here that Scripture is not against accumulating wealth. But it certainly challenges those who have wealth or are keen to accumulate it, should remember the purpose of wealth. It is not for the creation of personal power. The Gospel reading this morning is once again an admonition and a reminder of the example we have to follow in God's exercise of power. That is why the Archbishop of Canterbury's words were so powerful this week. He reminded all those present in the cathedral and the millions of people watching across the world of Queen Elizabeth II's commitment to humble service. Because of her commitment to her Christian faith, she committed her life to the service of others. The Archbishop said: "In 1953 the Queen began her Coronation with silent prayer, just there at the High Altar. Her allegiance to God was given before any person gave allegiance to her. Her service to so many people in this nation, the Commonwealth, and the world, had its foundation in her following Christ – God himself – who said that he “came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”" May the Lord grant us a deep understanding of the challenge of this morning's readings. May these words shape and guide us in our daily lives here at Christ Church and throughout the coming week. May he grant us the fullness of his grace today and throughout the remainder of our lives? "O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen." |
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