Sermon - The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
Proverbs 1.20-33
Psalm 19
James 3.1-12
Mark 8.27-38
Have you ever been talking to someone and been a bit uncomfortable – thinking they were acting strangely, and when you got home realised that they were actually having a dig about something to you?
The give away phrase is “you see what I mean, don’t you?”, and because we sometimes nod and smile in conversations, we miss the real message behind the words. To help me, I think people should wear a sticker on their head that changes with their mood – this would help immensely. It would stop that “OH! That’s what they were talking about” moment, followed by the “…that cheeky monkey….pass me the phone” moment.
If I had the telephone number of the person who has been writing the lectionary, I think I would need to telephone them and let them know what I think, because today brothers and sisters, vicars, curates, readers and even bishops are being soundly told off. In fact, anyone who attempts to preach from these readings is being told off.
We are being told off, not for any specific naughtiness, or any particular indiscretion, they are pieced together to a general finger-wagging in our direction – because the lectionary person has assumed the mantle of judge, jury and executioners, and of course he or she (although I am sure it is a he) knows what we are like.
It all starts with the reading from the Wisdom literature in the Bible – Proverbs chapter 1; “Wisdom cries out in the street” and it continues, “Because I have called you and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one heeded”, so the Vicars are thinking – could they mean me? Surely not me.
After a PSALM about happiness being more important that Gold, it strangely doesn’t end where this reading usually does, but goes on to include the bit “O cleanse me from my secret faults”. The readings tumble on, stopping at JAMES again, where the very first line gives all Vicars or Ministers a fright.
“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”
Not every minister will have noticed this – but I think that many will. At this stage, if we were reading the lectionary and looking up the readings as we went along, we could have had a competition to guess what Gospel they would use to go with these readings. We would probably think for a bit and then we would realise that it could be only one – the bit in Mark’s Gospel where Jesus says “Get behind me Satan” to a rather confused Peter. Lo and behold….
You can see the link can’t you? Please say yes….
Not to be put off, I looked at the evidence again, and thought about it. I thought it would be a good idea to put defence forward – and this is what I think. This applies to all Christians, not just the teachers.
The last line of the Gospel tells us that those who are ashamed of their faith, God will be ashamed of them at the end of time. This helped a bit, because however bad a Christian I am, I am never ashamed to stand here and tell you about what God has done for me (and some of the things I am still waiting for). God calls us to tell others about Him.
In James, it might be that not many should become teachers. I agree, mainly because this reading warns of the difficulties and challenges – but it says nothing of the love, care and support you feel when you do your best to support others and teach them about the love of GOD.
What this reading fails to say is that we should be careful what we teach, but without honesty about our own situation and journey with God, thinking about our own successes and failures, we are really just a faceless nobody who judges others with standards we cannot keep ourselves. There are so many people like this…
When I was a child, I remember an old man who used to live locally. Upon hearing me swear he said “you mustn’t say that, you must say…you are a stranger to the truth”. “ok I said”, thinking he was probably right. A few years later, I spotted the man in a pub swearing like as though it was going out of fashion, I crossed from the bar and waited for him to use the particular phrase I enjoyed so much, when he did I said ““you mustn’t say that, you must say…you are a stranger to the truth”. He looked at me and called me something I couldn’t possibly repeat.
The problem here is one of perception. If we pretend to be someone who we are not, we will be caught out. If a Vicar judges on a Sunday, he will be sorry by Monday. At the end of time, we will not be judged by how many people we have judged ourselves, but by the way in which we have accepted that we are all imperfect…all looking to God for help…all on a journey to learn more about ourselves and how God still loves humanity because we are all part of His creation.
So the fight back is well and truly underway here…I’ll show those lectionary writers a thing or two. How dare they judge us from their mighty university, cathedral or theological association?
So, the seconds have left the ring and the final round of the fight is starting. Lectionary writers are wobbling a bit, and we spring out like a lion on a pogo stick, roaring with righteousness.
Proverbs they said! They tried to judge us using proverbs.
What they couldn’t do was remove the first part of the reading. “Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice”. However much they think we have missed the point, we know we haven’t…
We don’t find God in the damp and dark cloisters of a Cathedral. We find Him out there with the people we live, work and share our lives with. This church knows that GOD is out there with the people who suffer and are in need, and we know that is where we can find Him.
God cries out to us from the voices of the poor, oppressed, lonely, depressed and broken people of the world. We know this, and we have heard His voice.
The knockout punch is landed on the lectionary writer; he reels a bit and falls over. The referee steps in and stops the fight. And we congratulate ourselves that we have done what we can.
We also know that tomorrow is another day, and the GOD who calls, calls us to move forward in our faith, doing all we can for others, seeing new ways to recognise Him in the face of those we serve in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN
posted by ---=8== TED ==8=--- at 8:43 am
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