Proper 26 / Pentecost 24 / Ordinary Time 31
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VIII, Cycle A
Object:
Theme For The Day
Role-models are important to us in our life of faith.
Old Testament Lesson
Joshua 3:7-17
Crossing The Jordan
This passage is a little Exodus. At long last the people are ready to cross over the Jordan into the promised land. Acting on express instructions from the Lord, Joshua commands the people to walk down to the water's edge and wait there while the priests bear the ark of the covenant into the water. As soon as the feet of the priests touch the river, the waters part, and the people walk over, dry-shod -- just as they did at the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22). The miracle is all the more wondrous because this is the season of the spring flood -- the river water is at its highest (v. 15a). Thus, the people's long years of wilderness wandering are bracketed by two experiences of divine deliverance. Moreover, it is clear that the power that will open the way before the people is the law (as symbolized by the stone tablets within the ark). Years later, Israel will be able to think back on this day and remember that obedience to the Torah is their salvation. These words from verses 3-4, referring to the ark of the covenant, are heavy with meaning in this regard: "Follow it, so that you may know the way you should go, for you have not passed this way before."
New Testament Lesson
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13
Paul's Servant Leadership
Paul takes great pains here to fully explain his motives in pursuing his evangelistic ministry. He has evidently been encountering some opposition from traditionalist elements within the Thessalonian synagogue, who distrust his new message of salvation in Jesus Christ. His opponents have been resorting to character assassination. The apostle's response, therefore, is to defend his own character and that of his fellow-workers. The Thessalonians know well that Paul and his associates have been "pure, upright, and blameless" (v. 10). They have exercised benevolent, paternal authority (v. 11). Their method has not been coercive force but rather, gentle exhortations (v. 12). How fearlessly Paul holds up his own life as a moral example! How many of us would feel comfortable doing the same?
The Gospel
Matthew 23:1-12
Hypocrisy Of The Scribes And Pharisees
"Do as I say, not as I do," is the child-rearing technique of last resort for weary parents who are all too well aware of their own character flaws. Jesus says much the same thing of the scribes and Pharisees: "Do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach" (v. 3). He then goes on to expose their hypocrisy in no uncertain terms. They lay heavy burdens on others (v. 4). They are spiritual dandies, reveling in their smartly turned-out garments while they only confirm their own ignorance of the true spirit of the law. They are prideful and obsessed with social status (verses 5-6). Jesus' disciples are to live differently, eschewing honorific titles in favor of servant ministry (verses 8-12). The emphasis Matthew places on this polemical material is indicative of the struggle he himself was undergoing with traditionalist factions within Judaism.
Preaching Possibilities
We learn some of our most powerful lessons in life -- both positive and negative -- from other people who serve for us as role-models. The epistle lesson and the gospel lesson for today have to do with role-models.
In 1 Thessalonians, Paul fearlessly holds himself and his associates up as role-models. "You know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake," he writes in verse 5. In other words, "Did we not demonstrate for you the true way of Christian living?" In Matthew 23, Jesus has some harsh words for certain Pharisees who have been serving as negative role-models, distracting God's people from true discipleship by their emphasis on the minutiae of obedience to the law.
Paul and Matthew speak from hard, personal experience. Both of them have been trying to advance the Christian gospel, but they have been hindered at times by the recalcitrance of certain traditionalist elements within their religious communities. These people have heard the good news but have not fully internalized it. They take on some of the outward trappings of Christian life, but they continue to live as though they were enslaved to legalistic teachings.
In preaching on passages such as these, it is well to avoid drawing simple distinctions between Jews, or Judaizing elements, and Christians -- thereby avoiding anti-Semitism. In the case of the gospels, there was as yet no Christian church; everyone we read about, if not Greek or Roman, is Jewish. As Paul is writing the first letter to the Thessalonians, his very earliest letter, there is as yet only an indistinct dividing line between church and synagogue. The body of believers, in this very early community, probably reflects a spectrum of viewpoints as to whether or not a person's confession of faith in Christ requires a break from the Jewish community. For these reasons, it is essential that we avoid introducing distinctions into the biblical material that are not present.
In a Protestant Hour sermon, J. Bennett Guess tells a story from the life of Christian preacher and civil-rights activist Clarence Jordan. Jordan made his profession of faith in 1922, as a boy of twelve, in a Baptist tent revival in Georgia. One of his most vivid memories, on that occasion, was the image of a man in the choir who was singing with evident joy and gusto the hymn, "Love Lifted Me."
The following night, Jordan was awakened by a terrifying sound. His family home overlooked a prison and from his bedroom window he could see right into the prison yard. There, below him, he could see a prison guard beating -- torturing, really -- an African-American prisoner. He couldn't take his eyes away from the dreadful scene. Then, to his amazement, he realized that the brutal prison guard was the very same man he had seen the night before singing "Love Lifted Me," with an expression of pure joy upon his face.
As we pursue our Christian journey, for some of us it is a long time before we encounter such blatant hypocrisy -- but for Clarence Jordan, it took only one day. The experience changed him forever. For some people, such an experience might turn us from the faith, but for Jordan, it energized him. He would grow up to become committed to the radical nature of Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. He became a biblical scholar, translating the New Testament into the common language of the rural people of his part of Georgia, in the famous "Cotton Patch" Gospels. Although he could easily have taken a "tall-steeple" church or assumed a seminary professorship, he and his wife, Florence, founded Koinonia Farms, a racially inclusive Christian community near the place where he had first witnessed that brutal beating. A young businessman named Millard Fuller was later inspired by what he had seen of the Christian life at Koinonia Farms to found Habitat for Humanity.
One of Clarence Jordan's favorite sayings was, "God is not so much interested in our talk as in our walk." The passion of his life was effort to live not as a hypocrite but as someone who takes the teachings of Jesus very seriously indeed.
So serious were he and his wife, Florence, in that commitment that their church expelled the entire family from membership because of their commitment to racial inclusiveness. Here is Bennett Guess telling that part of the story:
"Today in Georgia, just up the road from Koinonia Farms, on your way to Americus, you can still see the pretty white frame Southern Baptist Church that is best known for 'dis-fellowshiping' Clarence Jordan and his family for their commitments to racial justice and economic sharing. As I've heard the story, whenever the congregation met in 1950 to consider the motion to kick Clarence and Florence Jordan out of the church, Florence attended that spiteful meeting even though Clarence was out of town at a speaking engagement. In fact, she not only attended, she sat on the front row, and when the motion was made to 'dis-fellowship' the entire Jordan family because of their work to promote racial integration and equality, Florence Jordan raised her hand and seconded the motion. If the crime was loving her neighbor and working to protect their God-given human rights, she stood guilty as charged. Sometimes that's what carrying the cross looks like. Sometimes that's the type of courage that is required of us and the kind of peace that sweeps over us whenever we seek to follow Jesus in the way."
Prayer For The Day
Lord,
may we always remember
that we do not practice our faith in private.
Always there are those who are looking on,
observing, drawing conclusions
not only as to the integrity of our commitment,
but as to the very worth of the gospel message.
Keep us ever faithful.
Give us the courage to stand up to injustice
and the hypocrisy that feeds it,
witnessing to the all-inclusive,
all-encompassing love of Christ,
who came to set us,
and all people, free. Amen.
To Illustrate
In 2003, the Associated Press ran a story about a Louisville man who was arrested for stealing money and a credit card from purses in three different churches.
The police caught him after he used the credit card at Christian bookstores. He used the card at one Christian store; then was arrested when he tried to use it at a second location.
And what did the man purchase? Ten copies of a Bible study called "Making Peace With Your Past" as well as a follow-up study, "Moving Beyond Your Past."
One would hope, from the titles, that he was a spiritual seeker, eager to make a change in his life -- however, from the fact that he purchased ten copies of each, it would seem likely he was some kind of Sunday school teacher or Bible-study leader.
***
Almost three quarters of Americans who haven't darkened the door of a church in the last six months think it is "full of hypocrites," and even more of them consider Christianity to be more about organized religion than about loving God and people -- according to a survey conducted by the Barna Group in late 2007.
Almost half those surveyed -- 44% -- agreed that "Christians get on my nerves."
The findings echoed a previous study by the Barna Group that found the vast majority of young non-Christians view Christianity as anti-gay, judgmental, and hypocritical.
-- Adelle M. Banks, "Survey: 'Unchurched' Americans say church is 'full of hypocrites,' " Presbyterian News Service release #08037, January 15, 2008
***
Max Beerbohm, the British cartoonist and writer, wrote a short story called "The Happy Hypocrite." It's a curious tale about a self-centered man whose name was descriptive of the character of his life: Lord George Hell. He burned up his younger years frantically pursuing pleasures of various kinds until his bloated, careworn face caused him to look much older than his years.
Then, something unexpected happens to Lord George Hell. He falls in love. The object of his affections is a young woman whose life is as virtuous as her face is beautiful. Lord George knows enough about what people think of him to realize this woman will never have him for her husband -- not if she knows what he's really like.
Through a sort of magic, Lord George puts on the mask of a saint that hides his sinner's face. The subterfuge works. He woos the young woman, wins her, and marries her.
All is well until a woman shows up who knows Lord George Hell from his former life. She vows to unmask him -- and does so very literally one day, tearing off his mask in the presence of his wife.
The effect is not as she expects it to be. For behind the mask of the saint is not the ravaged face of the sinner Lord George once was, but the face of saint. He has become so by wearing the mask.
***
There's nobody who doesn't have problems with the church, because there's sin in the church. But there's no other place to be a Christian except the church. There's sin in the local bank. There's sin in the grocery stores. I really don't understand this naive criticism of the institution. I really don't get it.
Frederick von Hugel said the institution of the church is like the bark on the tree. There's no life in the bark. It's dead wood. But it protects the life of the tree within. And the tree grows and grows and grows and grows. If you take the bark off, it's prone to disease, dehydration, and death.
So, yes, the church is dead but it protects something alive. And when you try to have a church without bark, it doesn't last long. It disappears, gets sick, and it's prone to all kinds of disease, heresy, and narcissism.
In my writing, I hope to recover a sense of the reality of congregation -- what it is. It's a gift of the Holy Spirit. Why are we always idealizing what the Holy Spirit doesn't idealize? There's no idealization of the church in the Bible -- none. We have 2,000 years of history now. Why are we so dumb?
-- Eugene Peterson, "Spirituality for All the Wrong Reasons: Eugene Peterson talks about lies and illusions that destroy the church," interview by Mark Galli in Christianity Today, March 2005
***
She say, "Celie, tell the truth, have you ever found God in church?" I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I ever felt in church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They come to church to share God, not find God.
-- the character, Shug, speaking in Alice Walker's novel, The Color Purple (Women's Press, 1983), p. 165
***
Utterly dedicated to preserving their self-image of perfection, they are unceasingly engaged in the effort to maintain the appearance of moral purity. They worry about this a great deal. They are acutely sensitive to social norms and what others might think of them... they intensely desire to appear good. Their "goodness" is all on a level of pretense. It is, in effect, a lie.... They cannot or will not tolerate the pain of self-reproach. The decorum with which they lead their lives is maintained as a mirror in which they can see themselves reflected righteously.
-- M. Scott Peck, speaking of hypocrites in People of the Lie (Touchstone, 1998)
Role-models are important to us in our life of faith.
Old Testament Lesson
Joshua 3:7-17
Crossing The Jordan
This passage is a little Exodus. At long last the people are ready to cross over the Jordan into the promised land. Acting on express instructions from the Lord, Joshua commands the people to walk down to the water's edge and wait there while the priests bear the ark of the covenant into the water. As soon as the feet of the priests touch the river, the waters part, and the people walk over, dry-shod -- just as they did at the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21-22). The miracle is all the more wondrous because this is the season of the spring flood -- the river water is at its highest (v. 15a). Thus, the people's long years of wilderness wandering are bracketed by two experiences of divine deliverance. Moreover, it is clear that the power that will open the way before the people is the law (as symbolized by the stone tablets within the ark). Years later, Israel will be able to think back on this day and remember that obedience to the Torah is their salvation. These words from verses 3-4, referring to the ark of the covenant, are heavy with meaning in this regard: "Follow it, so that you may know the way you should go, for you have not passed this way before."
New Testament Lesson
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13
Paul's Servant Leadership
Paul takes great pains here to fully explain his motives in pursuing his evangelistic ministry. He has evidently been encountering some opposition from traditionalist elements within the Thessalonian synagogue, who distrust his new message of salvation in Jesus Christ. His opponents have been resorting to character assassination. The apostle's response, therefore, is to defend his own character and that of his fellow-workers. The Thessalonians know well that Paul and his associates have been "pure, upright, and blameless" (v. 10). They have exercised benevolent, paternal authority (v. 11). Their method has not been coercive force but rather, gentle exhortations (v. 12). How fearlessly Paul holds up his own life as a moral example! How many of us would feel comfortable doing the same?
The Gospel
Matthew 23:1-12
Hypocrisy Of The Scribes And Pharisees
"Do as I say, not as I do," is the child-rearing technique of last resort for weary parents who are all too well aware of their own character flaws. Jesus says much the same thing of the scribes and Pharisees: "Do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach" (v. 3). He then goes on to expose their hypocrisy in no uncertain terms. They lay heavy burdens on others (v. 4). They are spiritual dandies, reveling in their smartly turned-out garments while they only confirm their own ignorance of the true spirit of the law. They are prideful and obsessed with social status (verses 5-6). Jesus' disciples are to live differently, eschewing honorific titles in favor of servant ministry (verses 8-12). The emphasis Matthew places on this polemical material is indicative of the struggle he himself was undergoing with traditionalist factions within Judaism.
Preaching Possibilities
We learn some of our most powerful lessons in life -- both positive and negative -- from other people who serve for us as role-models. The epistle lesson and the gospel lesson for today have to do with role-models.
In 1 Thessalonians, Paul fearlessly holds himself and his associates up as role-models. "You know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake," he writes in verse 5. In other words, "Did we not demonstrate for you the true way of Christian living?" In Matthew 23, Jesus has some harsh words for certain Pharisees who have been serving as negative role-models, distracting God's people from true discipleship by their emphasis on the minutiae of obedience to the law.
Paul and Matthew speak from hard, personal experience. Both of them have been trying to advance the Christian gospel, but they have been hindered at times by the recalcitrance of certain traditionalist elements within their religious communities. These people have heard the good news but have not fully internalized it. They take on some of the outward trappings of Christian life, but they continue to live as though they were enslaved to legalistic teachings.
In preaching on passages such as these, it is well to avoid drawing simple distinctions between Jews, or Judaizing elements, and Christians -- thereby avoiding anti-Semitism. In the case of the gospels, there was as yet no Christian church; everyone we read about, if not Greek or Roman, is Jewish. As Paul is writing the first letter to the Thessalonians, his very earliest letter, there is as yet only an indistinct dividing line between church and synagogue. The body of believers, in this very early community, probably reflects a spectrum of viewpoints as to whether or not a person's confession of faith in Christ requires a break from the Jewish community. For these reasons, it is essential that we avoid introducing distinctions into the biblical material that are not present.
In a Protestant Hour sermon, J. Bennett Guess tells a story from the life of Christian preacher and civil-rights activist Clarence Jordan. Jordan made his profession of faith in 1922, as a boy of twelve, in a Baptist tent revival in Georgia. One of his most vivid memories, on that occasion, was the image of a man in the choir who was singing with evident joy and gusto the hymn, "Love Lifted Me."
The following night, Jordan was awakened by a terrifying sound. His family home overlooked a prison and from his bedroom window he could see right into the prison yard. There, below him, he could see a prison guard beating -- torturing, really -- an African-American prisoner. He couldn't take his eyes away from the dreadful scene. Then, to his amazement, he realized that the brutal prison guard was the very same man he had seen the night before singing "Love Lifted Me," with an expression of pure joy upon his face.
As we pursue our Christian journey, for some of us it is a long time before we encounter such blatant hypocrisy -- but for Clarence Jordan, it took only one day. The experience changed him forever. For some people, such an experience might turn us from the faith, but for Jordan, it energized him. He would grow up to become committed to the radical nature of Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. He became a biblical scholar, translating the New Testament into the common language of the rural people of his part of Georgia, in the famous "Cotton Patch" Gospels. Although he could easily have taken a "tall-steeple" church or assumed a seminary professorship, he and his wife, Florence, founded Koinonia Farms, a racially inclusive Christian community near the place where he had first witnessed that brutal beating. A young businessman named Millard Fuller was later inspired by what he had seen of the Christian life at Koinonia Farms to found Habitat for Humanity.
One of Clarence Jordan's favorite sayings was, "God is not so much interested in our talk as in our walk." The passion of his life was effort to live not as a hypocrite but as someone who takes the teachings of Jesus very seriously indeed.
So serious were he and his wife, Florence, in that commitment that their church expelled the entire family from membership because of their commitment to racial inclusiveness. Here is Bennett Guess telling that part of the story:
"Today in Georgia, just up the road from Koinonia Farms, on your way to Americus, you can still see the pretty white frame Southern Baptist Church that is best known for 'dis-fellowshiping' Clarence Jordan and his family for their commitments to racial justice and economic sharing. As I've heard the story, whenever the congregation met in 1950 to consider the motion to kick Clarence and Florence Jordan out of the church, Florence attended that spiteful meeting even though Clarence was out of town at a speaking engagement. In fact, she not only attended, she sat on the front row, and when the motion was made to 'dis-fellowship' the entire Jordan family because of their work to promote racial integration and equality, Florence Jordan raised her hand and seconded the motion. If the crime was loving her neighbor and working to protect their God-given human rights, she stood guilty as charged. Sometimes that's what carrying the cross looks like. Sometimes that's the type of courage that is required of us and the kind of peace that sweeps over us whenever we seek to follow Jesus in the way."
Prayer For The Day
Lord,
may we always remember
that we do not practice our faith in private.
Always there are those who are looking on,
observing, drawing conclusions
not only as to the integrity of our commitment,
but as to the very worth of the gospel message.
Keep us ever faithful.
Give us the courage to stand up to injustice
and the hypocrisy that feeds it,
witnessing to the all-inclusive,
all-encompassing love of Christ,
who came to set us,
and all people, free. Amen.
To Illustrate
In 2003, the Associated Press ran a story about a Louisville man who was arrested for stealing money and a credit card from purses in three different churches.
The police caught him after he used the credit card at Christian bookstores. He used the card at one Christian store; then was arrested when he tried to use it at a second location.
And what did the man purchase? Ten copies of a Bible study called "Making Peace With Your Past" as well as a follow-up study, "Moving Beyond Your Past."
One would hope, from the titles, that he was a spiritual seeker, eager to make a change in his life -- however, from the fact that he purchased ten copies of each, it would seem likely he was some kind of Sunday school teacher or Bible-study leader.
***
Almost three quarters of Americans who haven't darkened the door of a church in the last six months think it is "full of hypocrites," and even more of them consider Christianity to be more about organized religion than about loving God and people -- according to a survey conducted by the Barna Group in late 2007.
Almost half those surveyed -- 44% -- agreed that "Christians get on my nerves."
The findings echoed a previous study by the Barna Group that found the vast majority of young non-Christians view Christianity as anti-gay, judgmental, and hypocritical.
-- Adelle M. Banks, "Survey: 'Unchurched' Americans say church is 'full of hypocrites,' " Presbyterian News Service release #08037, January 15, 2008
***
Max Beerbohm, the British cartoonist and writer, wrote a short story called "The Happy Hypocrite." It's a curious tale about a self-centered man whose name was descriptive of the character of his life: Lord George Hell. He burned up his younger years frantically pursuing pleasures of various kinds until his bloated, careworn face caused him to look much older than his years.
Then, something unexpected happens to Lord George Hell. He falls in love. The object of his affections is a young woman whose life is as virtuous as her face is beautiful. Lord George knows enough about what people think of him to realize this woman will never have him for her husband -- not if she knows what he's really like.
Through a sort of magic, Lord George puts on the mask of a saint that hides his sinner's face. The subterfuge works. He woos the young woman, wins her, and marries her.
All is well until a woman shows up who knows Lord George Hell from his former life. She vows to unmask him -- and does so very literally one day, tearing off his mask in the presence of his wife.
The effect is not as she expects it to be. For behind the mask of the saint is not the ravaged face of the sinner Lord George once was, but the face of saint. He has become so by wearing the mask.
***
There's nobody who doesn't have problems with the church, because there's sin in the church. But there's no other place to be a Christian except the church. There's sin in the local bank. There's sin in the grocery stores. I really don't understand this naive criticism of the institution. I really don't get it.
Frederick von Hugel said the institution of the church is like the bark on the tree. There's no life in the bark. It's dead wood. But it protects the life of the tree within. And the tree grows and grows and grows and grows. If you take the bark off, it's prone to disease, dehydration, and death.
So, yes, the church is dead but it protects something alive. And when you try to have a church without bark, it doesn't last long. It disappears, gets sick, and it's prone to all kinds of disease, heresy, and narcissism.
In my writing, I hope to recover a sense of the reality of congregation -- what it is. It's a gift of the Holy Spirit. Why are we always idealizing what the Holy Spirit doesn't idealize? There's no idealization of the church in the Bible -- none. We have 2,000 years of history now. Why are we so dumb?
-- Eugene Peterson, "Spirituality for All the Wrong Reasons: Eugene Peterson talks about lies and illusions that destroy the church," interview by Mark Galli in Christianity Today, March 2005
***
She say, "Celie, tell the truth, have you ever found God in church?" I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I ever felt in church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They come to church to share God, not find God.
-- the character, Shug, speaking in Alice Walker's novel, The Color Purple (Women's Press, 1983), p. 165
***
Utterly dedicated to preserving their self-image of perfection, they are unceasingly engaged in the effort to maintain the appearance of moral purity. They worry about this a great deal. They are acutely sensitive to social norms and what others might think of them... they intensely desire to appear good. Their "goodness" is all on a level of pretense. It is, in effect, a lie.... They cannot or will not tolerate the pain of self-reproach. The decorum with which they lead their lives is maintained as a mirror in which they can see themselves reflected righteously.
-- M. Scott Peck, speaking of hypocrites in People of the Lie (Touchstone, 1998)
