Sermon for November 10, 2019Proper 27C RCl – Track 1
Some
Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him
a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies,
leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up
children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and
died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same
way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection,
therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her."
Jesus
said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in
marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the
resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they
cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being
children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses
himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of
the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."
Today we
continue with the temple authorities challenging Jesus and his interpretation
of scripture and practice. It started
with the question about by whose authority was Jesus doing his healings and
teachings. It went on to challenge Jesus
interpretation of paying taxes or tithing using coins with the picture of the
emperor on it. Now we have the test with
a group that Luke says do not believe in the resurrection who spin a story that
seems strange to us. We can’t imagine – or
at least I can’t imagine – a society in which the women’s sole purpose is to
produce an heir for her first husband to continue his name – and when that
doesn’t happen, she is required to marry successive brothers trying to produce
such an heir. The patriarchal society
that we hear about values the production of a male heir over
the humanity of the women. It sounds like a crazy scenario with the final
question to test Jesus orthodoxy, from those people we are told do not believe
in resurrection –
when the women dies and is resurrected whose wife will she be?”
Just like
with the questing regarding the paying of taxes Jesus does not directly answer
what his inquisitors thought they were framing as a simple question with just
one choice. Jesus turns their question
around and says that resurrected life is different that earthly life. That we are more like angles and are children
of God. Jesus then goes to say that God
is the God of the living and that to God all are alive – even those who have
passed thru the veil and have become resurrected.
Emerson
Powery, professor of biblical studies at Messiah College said, “Jesus’s response that this woman—and
all embodied individuals—are the “children of the resurrection” (and, so, lose ‘attachments’) is also striking. On the one hand, it seems to
be a denigration of embodied faith, a statement that implies that human
relationships do not matter. On the other hand, “children of the resurrection” ought
to care about more than their own; this is not American-style “family values.” Resurrection’s children ought to be God’s children
(Luke 20:36) and live as if their relationships can expand, becoming like the “angels”—God’s messengers and actors in
the world—living in God’s service...”[1]
What would it
look like if we lived our lives as “God’s messengers and actors” in this
world?
This weekend
was our Diocesan Convention. The theme was New Beginnings. In her opening address Bishop Megan talked
about the deep roots that we have in our diocese. About the deep roots that our churches,
including this church of St. Matthew, has in our communities and in the
world. Bishop Megan told the story of
her family’s apple farm – and her grandfather’s gift in taking branches
from other trees and grafting them onto a new tree – the gift of grating new
shoots onto old roots that can lead to some amazing fruit.
Bishop Megan
is inviting the diocese to celebrate our deep roots and to look for
opportunities to graft new branches onto those roots. New branches that will help us become God’s
Messengers and actors in our world.
To help us in
honoring our deep roots and look for ways to grow new shoots Bishop Megan
invited Mary Foster Parmer – from the Beeken School of Theology at the
University of the South in Sewanee (which some of you may know as the home of
the EFM or Education for Ministry Program).
Mary came to talk to us about her ministry of “Invite,
Welcome, Connect” A ministry that calls all of us to look
outside our doors into the world around us.
Mary takes
the scary word for Episcopalians – “Evangelism” and prods us to recognize that
Evangelism is nothing more than inviting people. Inviting people into our midst. Mary said that the deep truth of invitation
is courage. Courage that others might
want to experience God in the unique way that our congregations experience God’s
presence. She challenges the church to
move from passively waiting for people to find us to actively inviting people
to come into our doors. A challenge that
we have been working with at St. Matthew’s.
Not only do most Episcopalians have trouble inviting people into our
midst – here people who might want to stumble upon this hidden gem can’t even
find the right door to enter. We are
being invited to look at how we invite people and the obstacles that prevent
people from joining us. What can we do
in our church to invite people in and to make it inviting to come and worship
with us?
I have an “evangelism”
story. The leash I use for my dog is one
that has the Episcopal Church shield on it.
One Saturday we were at the farmers market with Eddie the Wonder Poodle when a couple stopped me and said “That’s the Episcopal Church Shield on your leash. It turns out that they were new to the area and were looking for an Episcopal Church to attend. They asked me
if I was an Episcopalian. I said “yes – I’m a priest” The conversation continued and I let them know about St. Paul’s in downtown and invited them to attend. Several
weeks later I got a message that the people who talked to me because of the leash had indeed come to check out St. Paul’s. Something as simple as an Episcopal Church dog leash started the
conversation.
The second
part of Mary’s ministry is that of welcome.
Once people come into our midst do we “teach, preach and model a
theology of welcome and hospitality?” Every
church that I have been a part of in our diocese says that they are a welcoming
and friendly church. But I also can tell
you that I have attended episcopal churches where no one really does more than
say good morning and hand me a program.
Mary challenged us that some churches that say they are a “friendly
community” are really a “community of friends.”
St. Matthew’s
does a good Job of welcoming the stranger.
In part that is because we are so small right now that there is no way
for someone to sneak in and out of the back door without us noticing them. In addition, the way that you all do coffee
hour with all of us sitting around the common table invites conversation. There are still things that we can do to
improve our welcome. We can create an
intentional way of welcoming people that ensures that we have a comprehensive
strategy/system for welcoming and following up with newcomers.
The third
pieces of Mary’s ministry is to Connect - a ministry of belonging. She says that we all need to “Model Connect,
helping people discern their giftedness vocation; then empowering, equipping,
entrusting and affirming them for ministry.”
Mary said that the church needs to hone our ability for deep spiritual
listening. We not only need to learn how
to invite people into the wonderful ministries that are happening we also need
to listen to where people are in their life and ministries. We need to connect at a deeper level to those
who walk in our doors.
Mary also
cautioned us against falling on a newcomer like the stereotypical used car
salesperson. Yes, we need to take our
ministries and as Jesus said to put them on the lampstand for the world to see,
but we also need to listen deeply to what those who come through our doors
need. The need to feel welcome. But sometimes that welcome is felt by our
providing a place of sanctuary and rest.
Our churches probably shouldn’t try to recruit everyone who walks
through the door to join every ministry group on their first day.
Mary also
reminded us that we need to connect with our com-minutes. St. Matthew’s has a unique strength here in
that we have invited our communities onto the campus for food, healing and
education. We are inviting them for
these things but how do we connect to them on a spiritual level?
One way we
can do that is by remembering that we are the members – the very limbs and
heart of Jesus. We are called to be the
messengers of God in our world. To be
the angels. We are called to model a
different economy. To model a
resurrection economy where we truly see all of our fellow inhabitants as
children of God. A tall order I
know.
But we have
deep roots. Deep spiritual roots that
will provide food for the new things that will be grafted onto our hearts and
souls. We can find new ways to invite
people, welcome people and connect with people and connect and foster the
ministry gifts that all of us are given by God for bring about God’s
resurrection economy into our world.
