SERMON 47 - SUNDAY 12 OCTOBER 2014

Sermon at St. John’s Parish Church, West Grimstead, Wiltshire, – Sunday 12^th October 2014

Exodus 32:1-14; Phillipians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14

May I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and may these words be a blessing to all who hear them.  Amen

“DISTRACTION” AND “DISCERNMENT”

 

Like last Sunday, each of today’s readings blends in nicely with the others and a clear message, I think, comes from a study of these scriptures and one word springs to mind – the danger of being distracted from God’s call.  Let’s just remind ourselves what is being said in each.

In our first reading we hear of Moses’s delay in returning to the people of the exodus with the covenants and design for the tabernacle which God had given to him at the summit of Mount Sinai.  With impatience they turn to Moses’s brother, Aaron, and demand that the one true and living god, Yahweh or Jehovah should be replaced by a god of their own making using gold from the the same golden earrings with which they were expected to cover the ark of the covenant. This god was to be a golden calf (symbolic of the use of real calves which were sliced in two to seal ancient covenants in the past) and which they themselves would have some control. We see that act, in hindsight, as a blatant blasphemy – the breach of the second commandment which we looked at last week – the two timing of God, the worshipping of another false god or idol. In terms of black and white, as Tom Wright puts it, it is clearly wrong. But if we look at it in shades of grey, maybe we can better understand what is going on here. A dispute has, in fact, arisen as to whether the tribes of the exodus are God’s chosen people or those of Moses.  The people have been led out of slavery in Egypt, yes, but there they did have plenty to eat and drink and life was pretty predictable.  Since Moses has led them they have been wandering around not entirely sure where they are going or why.  They have come to the conclusion that Moses himself may be acting as a god and if he, as their leader, goes off to commune with the real living god there is a vacuum which must be filled.  They need a god to trust in to give them some reasoning as to why they are there in the first place. 

It actually seems as though God, Yahweh, himself is acknowledging this to be the case because in verse 7 he says to Moses ”Go down at once!  YOUR people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have acted perversely. In other words, they are not my people but yours and you need to bring them back on to the straight and narrow in order that they can once again be God’s chosen people. In fact, at first, God,  wants to destroy them – “my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them but will make Moses’s a great nation” – just as he had promised Abraham. Following this exchange, and Moses imploring Yahweh to accompany the people rather than simply sending angels, the relationship between Yahweh, Moses and the People is never quite the same and whilst the people return to being chosen of God yet they are tainted with the darkness – the unfaithfulness – shown by their blasphemy.

In our Gospel reading, we are again confronted by distractions.  Here the King has prepared a sumptuous wedding feast for his son but for some reason the guests are reluctant to attend.  They have other distractions to attend to – the distractions of everyday life it seems – those quite familiar to all of us here – farming, business meetings, etc.  Again, as in our first reading, people chosen to take part in the feast and like those chosen people in the Exodus, they rebelled and refused to come.

The King, a representation of God in the parable, is even more insulted when his slaves, an allegory on the prophets, are ignored and in fact killed by those same invitees.  They not only reject the offer of attendance but act violently towards the King’s messengers. Clearly he was an unpopular man in this parable.

The King destroys them, just as God would have destroyed those of the Exodus if Moses had not intervened and invited anyone they could find in the streets, both good and bad we are told.  Theologians have debated on this point and some think that the good and the bad gathered together represent Jews and Gentiles and that the destruction of the homes of those invitees who refused to attend represent the destruction of the Temple and the birth of the Christian church.  I think that is a nice idea but I believe that the message is far more reaching than that and is to remind us all that, like those people who made the golden calf, we disobey the call of God at our peril. Neither distractions nor a deliberate ignoring of the call will be expected by God.

The parable of the wedding feast gets even more complicated. The king notices that one of those who was gathered up from the streets, whom, presumably had never been expected to attend the wedding feast in the first place, is inappropriately dressed, and is not wearing a wedding robe.  This would have been the height of discourtesy – a little bit like turning up at a black tie do in jeans and a teeshirt. The man had been called to attend the wedding feast, after those previously invited had refused to come, and therefore it would have been expected that those fortuitous enough to be chosen a second time would have taken the time and extended the courtesy of robing themselves properly. The king orders the perpetrator to be bound and thrown out of the party and Jesus ends his parable with the words – “Many are called but few are chosen”.

What exactly is he trying to say here?  Some theologians think the lack of the wedding robe is a separate parable but I like to think that here Jesus is simply saying whatever situation we find ourselves in we must be prepared for God’s call and if we are not prepared then we will not be chosen.  I do feel sorry for the person in this story – he might have been homeless or could ill afford a robe but if he really wishes to attend the feast he should make the effort to acknowledge the invitation from the king.

This part of the parable reminds me of a story from my early days as a solicitor.  I was asked to attend the County Court in Bury, Lancashire and it was not until I arrived at court that morning, all the way from London, did I find that the hearing was to be in open court and that I should be suitably robed when I went before the judge.  I watched feeling rather helpless as another advocate, like myself, had been caught out by finding the this morning’s hearing were not in private chambers, as usual, but in open court.  He decided to risk it and began addressing the judge in just his business suit. “Mr. Smith” the judge glowered rather ponderously at our man over his half moon spectacles, “I am really sorry but I simply cannot hear you”.  “Oh”, shouted the young advocate, “Is that any better your Lordship” . “I am sorry I cannot hear you” repeated the judge.  For a third time the young advocate addressed the judge, rather frustratingly “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW” the advocate screamed at the top of his voice. “Mr. Smith”, then explained the judge “I cannot hear you because you are improperly dressed before me in an open court” (no robe or tabs). With this I hastily ran out the court, to the robing room, borrowed some tabs and the ushers gown and hoped the judge didn’t notice that I was not wearing my proper solicitors’ robes – which incidentally later got borrowed and never returned by my secretary for a vicars and Tarts Party!  The moral of that parable of my own was – when going to court, when you are called on make sure you have the correct dress.

Paul in our second reading writes something which I have always held very dear to my heart – he says, towards the end of our piece of scripture – “Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”. 

In each of these readings we see the effects of true discernment on the one hand – knowing when we are called and the value of that call to God - and of distraction on the other – allowing other things to move us away from what God is trying to do for us and the preparations we must make.

Paul, in writing to the Church in Philippi, was well aware of the distraction of that city – but clearly was pleased in which the way the church had, so far, kept itself faithful to the message of the gospel and this letter shows Paul’s great desire to go back there and extols the virtue of the church encouraging it to remain faithful to the gospel and not rely too heavily on the observance of the law.

The message is simple, I think.  We should at all times concentrate our lives on serving God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit – listening and being ready to for the call when it comes to minister to his people.  Not to be distracted, as we so often do by the everyday things of our Earthly life.  It’s a tall order I know.  We frequently make excuses not to do things – especially in relation to our personal faith – putting them off or telling ourselves we are too busy.  We sometimes find replacement gods like the golden calf – because we can’t wait for God, Yahweh, to call us or guide us.

Let’s not be like those people with Aaron, lets not be like those people of Philippi who were distracted and lets not be like those who either turned down the opportunity to to go the feast or when we were called weren’t ready.  By following the two commandments left to us by Jesus, and by following the rule set out by Paul – “Whatever is true, honourable, commendable etc. – think on these things”.

If we follow those rules we will be walking alongside Jesus and the true Christian way.

 Amen

 

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SERMON 46 - SUNDAY 5 OCTOBER 2014

Sermon at St. Mary’s Parish Church, Alderbury, Wiltshire Wiltshire – Sunday 5^th October 2014

Exodus 20:1-4; 7-9; 12-20; Phillipians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46

May I speak in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and may these words be a blessing to all who hear them.  Amen

There is an immense richness about each and every one of our readings this morning which I think can all be linked together with the one word “faith” – or in the words of Paul “justification by faith” – the belief that salvation and forgiveness can be obtained by a true belief in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and not simply a strict adherence to the law.

In the first of our readings we are reminded of the Torah, the book of law handed down to the Hebrews by Moses and upon which the Jewish faith is so heavily founded – laws or a code of conduct given by God directly to his people for the proper governance and guidance of his chosen people – laws which were frequently broken but which, by a strict adherence the Jews thought would ensure that Yahweh or Jehovah, the unspeakable God looked down favourably upon them.

 Let us just recall those Ten Commandments and here is a very easy way to remember them in the order they appear in the Exodus:

1.         The is only one God – no others

2.         Don’t two time God by falsely worshipping other idols

3.         There are three names for God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – don’t use them wrongly.

4.         Remember the Sabbath – the letter “4” looks a bit like a deckchair to rest in

5.         Honour your father and mother – How often do children take their parents for granted and think of them as simply a cash machine – No. 5 “lend us a fiver Dad”,

6.         Do not murder – the letter “6” resembles a hangman’s noose

7.         Do not commit adultery – think of the “seven year itch” we are sometime told about

8.         Do not steal – the letter eight looks like a pair of handcuffs if turned on its side

9.         Do not bear false witness – No 9 is not 10 – it is not the last of the commandments

10.       Do not covet etc. Think of thin “1” and fat “0”. Have and have not.

 

That was just a bit of fun but I bet you will remember the order of the Commandments after this.  

The Old Testament is full of examples of where those commandments were broken – time and time again and we only have to look at David as a really good (or should I say bad) example of somebody who broke nearly every one of them – especially murder, coveting, adultery and theft.  We read how, during the course of the history connected with the Jewish people an attempt to keep to the law still brought about trials and tribulations and eventually, God sent down his only son, Jesus, to redeem his people – and us today.

Our gospel reading is a clear allegory for this.  The vineyard in the story represented Israel and the vines its people.  The tenants those who had been put in charge of its spiritual welfare – the holy ones – the priests, levites, Pharisees and sadducees. The fence with the watch tower around the vineyard represents the law we have just discussed from the times of the Exodus.  The Torah which was meant to keep the vineyard secure.  The allegorical picture painted by Jesus in this parable would have been clear and certainly it would have, and did, upset the chief priests and Pharisees who wanted to arrest Jesus.  The owner of the vineyard is God and, the previous slaves represent the prophets such as Elijah and Elisha.  Finally sending his son, Jesus, who is killed by those same tenants – representations of those in authority. In this parable Jesus is not only pouring scorn on the way in which the tenants are behaving towards the vineyard and its owner, but also predicting his own crucifixion.  He is also predicting the demise of those who reject it and pointing out that the same stone which is dug up and cast aside will be the cornerstone of a new Christian church.

I love the reading from Paul.  It has spoken to me personally on many occasions and it reminds me of an early occurrence in my professional career as a lawyer.

Shortly after completing my degree course in law at Liverpool I joined a large commercial food manufacturing company in my home town of Grimsby in its legal department. I was full of myself and probably was quite obnoxious – a bit of a know it all straight from law school! I was, nevertheless, a humble legal clerk still to take my final professional examinations to qualify as a solicitor and was given the task of collecting small debts for my employer.  One case which I had was for a debt of about £5.95 from memory.  I spent half a day reading the file, reviewing the law of contract and its ingredients  – offer, acceptance, invitation to treat, consideration etc. etc. and in law decided my client company had a cast iron case.  I then set about issuing proceedings, drafting the summons and a lengthy particulars of claim – complete with law of contract legal authorities – cases learned in law school – and finally went to see my boss to request a cheque for the issue fee – say £4.50. It was then that he pointed out to me the commercial nonsense of what I had just done and by the time we worked out the number of hours I had spent on the case, the issue fee and finally – something I hadn’t even thought about – the likelihood of getting the defaulter to pay anything back at all from his history, I realised that I had, in fact wasted an enormous amount of my employer’s time and money.  I protested that the case was legally watertight and that the law was clear.  My boss agreed with me and then quietly advised me to bin the case.  The answer was simply that the company would no longer supply this defaulter with food products – fresh fish if I recall correctly.

The moral of this parable of my own – let’s call it the parable of the chip shop owner – was that whilst the law is there to be observed and followed there are times when that alone will not provide the answer and can, in fact, work against those who would seek to uphold it if we don’t consider God’s separate hand in everything.  We often try and take matters into our own hand or think that the law or more earthly solutions will give us the answer.  Paul in our second reading makes it clear that having followed the law religiously for many years he sees that as “rubbish” – “rubbish” when compared to following the example and teachings of Christ. The law will not, of its own bring us that which we need.

Recently I have been studying and reflecting on the whole concept of forgiveness and grace.  My spiritual adviser, a very wise individual indeed reminded me that there are three distinct types of forgiveness – personal forgiveness which is us, as individuals, forgiving those who have wronged us – whether they have asked for forgiveness or not – something which Archbishop Desmond Tutu calls “a gift which we give to ourselves” not to the perpetrator of those who have wronged us; secondly legal forgiveness – the righting of the wrong by legal means – the issue of proceedings against those who have wronged us but not to our own detriment and finally the greatest of all of these – “divine forgiveness” – which is totally out of our hands.

Both retribution and forgiveness of a divine nature we must always leave to God but personal forgiveness is for us and us alone.

Paul was himself, as we know, someone who zealously persecuted Christians in his early youthful “law clerk” days.  Like me, as the young lawyer, he saw the law as being the most important thing in obtaining righteousness.  It’s the right thing to do.  But how often do we ask ourselves – is it the thing which God thinks it is right for us to do?  The tenants in the vineyard wanted to protect their tenure and secure it by foul means – even resorting to murder. But in the end, as the parable points out they ended doing what God had planned and bringing about their own destruction.

How often do we – you and me – seek to put things “right” without bringing God, through Jesus, into the equation?  Howe often do we stand on the solemnity and sometimes inflexibility of the law without looking at things from a deeper and wider perspective? How often do we, like the tenants, build a fortress which, whilst seeking to protect what we have, also shuts out the Holy Spirit which should be allowed to freely enter us – especially in times of trial – when we need him most.

In a moment we shall sing the hymn – “all I once held dear” which echoes what Paul was writing about in his letter to the church in Phillippi.  As we sing it let us each and every one think how we can be more open to receiving the Holy Spirit and setting aside some of our earthly bound habits, values and prejudices.

Amen

 

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