June 28, 2005







  • Jeremiah 20: 7-13
    Psalm 69: 7-10, 16-18
    Romans 5:15b-19
    Matthew 10:24-33


    Jeremiah gets a bad rep - people always think of him in terms of gloom and doom, of his lamentations.  "Violence and Destruction" he declares, but rightly so!  The world around him is filled with dangers -- Israel is an occupied country and its populace are about to be sent into exile as slaves.  Jeremiah's enemies mock his warnings, and he becomes so fed up with being excoriated for preaching the word of God that he decides to stop. 


    But God will not be denied; the Word wells up in Jeremiah and won't be stifled.  He is bested by God and yields.


    So with all this message of gloom and doom, why keep the book?  Because the underlying message is one of hope.  Jeremiah realizes that even though God has forced him to yeild, God is NOT his enemy, but an awesome, almighty Champion, a warrior hero.  And as the warrior hero, God will prevail against all of Jeremiah's enemies; therefore, not only will Jeremiah continue to preach the word of the Lord, but will sing God's praises as well.


    Psalm 69 is filled with images of water.  Now, for those of us who live near water or go to church here at St. Peter's, two blocks from the bay, this seems none too important.  But consider what these images would be like to someone who could not swim well.  Consider what these images were like to the Israelites -- a desert people who normally saw only enough water to wash in or to drink.  Now they are faced with an invasion of this foreign element that will rush down, cover, and drown them!  And so the psalmist speaks/cries out to the Lord to come and save him from his enemies before they roll over him like a flood.  Once again, the Lord is portrayed as a warrior hero...


    Paul, in his letter to the church at Rome, has been talking about personal salvation and its benefits; but here, in the fifth chapter, he switches his focus to the universal salvation of humanity.  To discuss this, Paul separates time into two epochs or eras -- the first is the era of Adam, whom he portrays as a tragic hero in the Greek sense, and the second is the age of Jesus Christ, the redeeming hero.  In Greek tragedy, the hero is the one who causes a universal disaster; by the hero's action or trespass, evil befalls an entire nation.  By Adam's transgression, his sin, all of us are condemned -- truly a tragedy of cosmic proportion. 


    And yet, there is hope -- the new era, the age in which we live, is that of Christ, the redeemer hero.  By the sacrifice of this redeeming hero, all are saved.  And this salvation is ours right now!  Already we have been saved, but not yet has this salvation been fully realized.  We live in this tension of already/not yet, and it is our task to bring about the full coming of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, to work for the realization of Shalom...


    So, we have readings about three types of heroes, with God being seen as both the warrior hero and the redeeming hero.  And yet, Jesus says in our Gospel reading that this does not mean that the world is safe.  I was recently reunited, after 17 years, with a friend, the Reverend Barbara Crafton, who sends out almost every day a motivational message via e-mail to her subscribers.  Her e-mo from Thursday, 6/14, had this to say:
       "Faith is not an amulet - a magic something you carry around with you to protect you
        from harm.  The cross around your neck is not an amulet - it doesn't protect you from
        harm.  It helps you to understand the place of harm in the overall scheme of our life, to
        discern the measures of bane and blessing that come your way, and see them each
        for what it is [sic].  Faith is what lives in you no matter what harm befalls.  It is the
        assurance of the presence of God through the worst of it."


    Jesus himself tells us that we will still face harm, and even die, when he says not to fear those who kill only the body, but to fear very much that which kills both body and soul.  But God, both as warrior and redeemer, is aware with intense scrutiny of all that befalls us, since God is intensely aware even of the demise of sparrows...


    Those of us fortunate enough to have heard the Bishop preach last week heard him tell the tale of a church in California that had a statue in front of a huge Christos with his arms outstretched to encompass the world.  One day it was vandalized - its hands were cut off - but the church decided not to have it repaired, feeling that it now served as a reminder that Christ has no hands in this world except us.  We are the hands of Christ in the world.


    Now, in this dangerous world of ours, where we are to be the hands of Christ, what sort of hero would be appropriate for our world?  That of the stereotypical father.  I was lucky to have a dad like that, for my dad was my hero - a father who kept me safe, although not necessarily physically, for I still skinned my knees and fell from trees like any other kid.  But he kept me safe from the things that could damage my soul and spirit.  Some of you may not have been that fortunate, and may not a father who could be your hero.  But hopefully, you had a father-figure, someone who could be that guardian, guide, and safety net.  And if you didn't even have that, don't let that hold you back from being a father, or parent if you are a woman, to someone who needs it. 


    That is my challenge, and my invitation to you on this Fathers' Day -- that you honor all those in your life who have parented you, and that you extend that in turn to those in your life who need parenting... not in the pat-on-the-head patronizing fashion, but in a nurturing and mentoring way.  So go out into the world, and parent well....   Amen


     


    and to the one with whom i share the  and the รด... many many s