Sometimes, you have to wonder why God answers prayers the way He does. Even when He gives us what we want – what we've asked for, begged for at times – more of His response has to do with what we need instead. In today's reading from Jeremiah, we see the results of Him talking with the prophet, essentially planning an end run around the repetitive desire of the Hebrew people for a king. He'd already provided them with prophets. Saul, as we saw in the last couple of weeks, ended up being a complete failure as a monarch. The people didn't need a king other than His own reign, but they could learn a lesson or two along the way, and he would establish the line of David for His plans for their future.
In the meantime, we see His irritation at the scattering of His flock. Likewise, in our second lesson, we see the separations of people into categories has continued. That too, seems to be a human trait that we continue through the present time.
Samuel Colgate, the founder of the Colgate business empire, was a devout Christian, and he told of an incident that took place in the church he attended. During an evangelistic service, an invitation was given at the close of the sermon for all those who wished to turn their lives over to Christ and be forgiven. One of the first persons to walk down the aisle and kneel at the altar was a well-known prostitute. She knelt in very real repentance, she wept, she asked God to forgive her, and meanwhile the rest of the congregation looked on approvingly at what she was doing. Then she stood and testified that she believed God had forgiven her for her past life, and she now wanted to become a member of the church. For a few moments, the silence was deafening.
Finally, Samuel Colgate arose and said, "I guess we blundered when we prayed that the Lord would save sinners. We forgot to specify what kind of sinners. We'd better ask him to forgive us for this oversight. The Holy Spirit has touched this woman and made her truly repentant, but the Lord apparently doesn't understand that she's not the type we want him to rescue. We'd better spell it out for him just which sinners we had in mind." Immediately, a motion was made and unanimously approved that the woman be accepted into membership in the congregation.
How many times a day do we categorize people? How many times do we put ourselves into boxes? Some labels can outlast your lifetime. Let's try this: you finish the name:
As we become known as our titles, our roles, our circumstances of life, our labels, we tend to act in those ways. What people expect is what they're going to see, and getting out of those boxes is a long, uphill battle.
But we've also seen how Christ has renamed people – repurposed their lives for His use. Simon the fisherman became Peter, the fisher of men, the Rock upon which the Church was built; Saul was a destroyer of Christians, but upon becoming Paul, became a builder of the Church. So let's look at our second lesson.
How many different categories does Paul mention in his letter to the Ephesians? The circumcised and uncircumsized, aliens, strangers – but he points out what Christ is for us. In His flesh He has made us one. He has broken down the dividing wall and the hostility between us. He creates one new humanity, that they might reconcile to God in one body through the Cross. And in so doing, we become citizens with the saints, members of the household of God – joining together to become the holy temple of God.
So now we have different labels, far more positive, that call us to be our best selves. And we're brought to the Gospel. And brought full circle back to God's plans for humanity.
The liturgy today cuts out portions of this chapter of Mark, but we still know the stories. We know that Jesus is of the line of King David, established by God so long ago in our history. And we know that Christ is here to get across to the people that the kingdom is of God, and that God's kingdom is established here on earth through Christ. But the interesting part of today's Gospel is that in being physically here, God can see what is needed, right now. He sees a disparate group, separated by their labels, their roles, their preconceptions – wandering around like lost sheep, and knows that what they need, right now, is compassion, and a Shepard, giving them a direction to go. He provides us the way of uniting as one humanity, working together to form that Kingdom of God.
The challenge to us, the expectation that we accepted when we were baptized, is to live up to what the Shepard expects. Take a look at Page 305 in your Book of Common Prayer. "Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?" Our response, "I will, with God's help." The Shepard, the King sent to us by God is still our help. The Holy Spirit is right there, ready, willing and able to help us fulfill this baptismal vow.
"Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?" Will you set aside labels, categories, skin colors, where somebody came from? Will you recognize that they, too, are part of the Kingdom of God, that the Shepard has led them to us for a reason? Our response, "I will, with God's help."
And finally, "Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?" Our response, "I will, with God's help."
We have a lot going on in this country, where divisions are more and more rampant. I objected to the concept of a hyphenated American – African-American, Mexican-American, Irish-American – but what I was missing was that all of those hyphens ended with American, that the commonality was built into that hyphen. Our Shepard reminds us that even American is a label – "Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?" That's our challenge set before us in God's plan. We know that the only answer to that is that we will strive for that, through Christ. We will try to see through His eyes, so that all we can see are members of the community of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and realize that each one is a needed and necessary part of that community.
Let us pray: O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the meantime, we see His irritation at the scattering of His flock. Likewise, in our second lesson, we see the separations of people into categories has continued. That too, seems to be a human trait that we continue through the present time.
Samuel Colgate, the founder of the Colgate business empire, was a devout Christian, and he told of an incident that took place in the church he attended. During an evangelistic service, an invitation was given at the close of the sermon for all those who wished to turn their lives over to Christ and be forgiven. One of the first persons to walk down the aisle and kneel at the altar was a well-known prostitute. She knelt in very real repentance, she wept, she asked God to forgive her, and meanwhile the rest of the congregation looked on approvingly at what she was doing. Then she stood and testified that she believed God had forgiven her for her past life, and she now wanted to become a member of the church. For a few moments, the silence was deafening.
Finally, Samuel Colgate arose and said, "I guess we blundered when we prayed that the Lord would save sinners. We forgot to specify what kind of sinners. We'd better ask him to forgive us for this oversight. The Holy Spirit has touched this woman and made her truly repentant, but the Lord apparently doesn't understand that she's not the type we want him to rescue. We'd better spell it out for him just which sinners we had in mind." Immediately, a motion was made and unanimously approved that the woman be accepted into membership in the congregation.
How many times a day do we categorize people? How many times do we put ourselves into boxes? Some labels can outlast your lifetime. Let's try this: you finish the name:
- Attila the ---- Hun.
- Conan the ---- Barbarian.
- Billy the ---- Kid.
- Catherine the ---- Great.
- Rahab the ---- Prostitute.
As we become known as our titles, our roles, our circumstances of life, our labels, we tend to act in those ways. What people expect is what they're going to see, and getting out of those boxes is a long, uphill battle.
But we've also seen how Christ has renamed people – repurposed their lives for His use. Simon the fisherman became Peter, the fisher of men, the Rock upon which the Church was built; Saul was a destroyer of Christians, but upon becoming Paul, became a builder of the Church. So let's look at our second lesson.
How many different categories does Paul mention in his letter to the Ephesians? The circumcised and uncircumsized, aliens, strangers – but he points out what Christ is for us. In His flesh He has made us one. He has broken down the dividing wall and the hostility between us. He creates one new humanity, that they might reconcile to God in one body through the Cross. And in so doing, we become citizens with the saints, members of the household of God – joining together to become the holy temple of God.
So now we have different labels, far more positive, that call us to be our best selves. And we're brought to the Gospel. And brought full circle back to God's plans for humanity.
The liturgy today cuts out portions of this chapter of Mark, but we still know the stories. We know that Jesus is of the line of King David, established by God so long ago in our history. And we know that Christ is here to get across to the people that the kingdom is of God, and that God's kingdom is established here on earth through Christ. But the interesting part of today's Gospel is that in being physically here, God can see what is needed, right now. He sees a disparate group, separated by their labels, their roles, their preconceptions – wandering around like lost sheep, and knows that what they need, right now, is compassion, and a Shepard, giving them a direction to go. He provides us the way of uniting as one humanity, working together to form that Kingdom of God.
The challenge to us, the expectation that we accepted when we were baptized, is to live up to what the Shepard expects. Take a look at Page 305 in your Book of Common Prayer. "Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?" Our response, "I will, with God's help." The Shepard, the King sent to us by God is still our help. The Holy Spirit is right there, ready, willing and able to help us fulfill this baptismal vow.
"Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?" Will you set aside labels, categories, skin colors, where somebody came from? Will you recognize that they, too, are part of the Kingdom of God, that the Shepard has led them to us for a reason? Our response, "I will, with God's help."
And finally, "Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?" Our response, "I will, with God's help."
We have a lot going on in this country, where divisions are more and more rampant. I objected to the concept of a hyphenated American – African-American, Mexican-American, Irish-American – but what I was missing was that all of those hyphens ended with American, that the commonality was built into that hyphen. Our Shepard reminds us that even American is a label – "Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?" That's our challenge set before us in God's plan. We know that the only answer to that is that we will strive for that, through Christ. We will try to see through His eyes, so that all we can see are members of the community of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and realize that each one is a needed and necessary part of that community.
Let us pray: O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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