Charlotte
Collins Reed
Christ
Church Episcopal
September
4, 2016
18 Proper C
Some years ago, I was meeting a friend
for lunch at a restaurant in Dayton, Ohio when I got a text message from her
that she was running late. So, I spent
some time looking at the various newspaper articles the restaurant had framed
and hung on the walls in the lobby. Most
of them were reviews of the restaurant, describing the wonderful Italian food,
the good service, and reasonable prices.
However, one of them was not a positive review and I was very surprised
to find it hanging on the wall. This
review described soggy bread, slow service, and unreasonably high prices for
the amount of food served. Obviously
that reviewer had eaten at the restaurant on an off day. But why on earth would the restaurant frame
and post such a review?
I have no idea what the answer to that
question is, but, in the context of a wall full of glowing reviews, the
negative review seemed like a little truth in advertising. Not every day is a good day. Not everyone is going to love what is cooked
or the speed with which the food is served.
Not every loaf of bread comes out perfectly. Most do, and the attempt is made to make
things right when things go wrong. The
review served as a reality check for both the restaurant and life in general.
Our readings this morning are about as
uplifting as that negative restaurant review.
Nothing in these readings alone makes the life of faith sound very
appealing! Jeremiah calls us to turn
from our evil ways and amend our lives so God will change God’s mind about the
disaster God has planned. From that, we
could infer that disaster is God’s response to evil, which is a theology the
book of Job wrestles with. There are too
many examples of faithful people who suffer to believe that suffering is God’s
punishment for evil.
Then we have the reading from
Philemon, or rather the reading of Philemon as this morning we hear an entire
letter from Paul. In this letter, Paul
writes to Philemon to ask that Philemon’s slave, Onesimus, be released to Paul
so that Onesimus can continue to serve Paul during Paul’s imprisonment for the
gospel. Paul is sending Onesimus back to
Philemon, but asking that Philemon treat Onesimus as he would treat Paul, which
is to say, that Philemon will return the slave to Paul. This is all well and good, except that Paul
misses an opportunity to condemn slavery and this little letter has been used
as Biblical justification for slavery throughout much of history. This letter is a problematic review hanging
in the metaphorical lobby of the Christian faith.
Then there are Jesus’ teachings in the
gospel this morning. I don’t think any
of us signed on to the Christian faith in order to hate our families. And if we did know the complete cost of
following Jesus and counted that cost before signing on, would any of us really
be here? And who is willing to give up
all their possessions to follow Jesus?
Jesus makes the life of a disciple seem quite impossible. Truth in advertising is one thing. Scaring away anyone who might think about
being a follower is something else.
So…where is the good news this
morning? Do we have anything to commend
the life of faith in these readings?
Of course, the answer is “yes.” The reading from Jeremiah may have some
theological problems, but the basic message is that God recognizes that we will
do wrong and calls us to amend our lives- to repent and turn from our evil ways. God, through Jeremiah, tells us that such
repentance is possible and does impact our relationship with God. Our baptismal covenant asks the same thing of
us. We are asked “Will you resist evil
and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?” Both Jeremiah and our own baptismal covenant
recognize that we will fall into sin.
The good news is that we can repent and be reconciled with God and each
other.
Paul’s letter to Philemon was written
at a time when slavery was an acceptable practice. While that is abhorrent to us now, rather
than condemn Paul we might be called to wonder what practices are acceptable in
our 21st century society that will be called into question and
considered abhorrent in future generations.
The good news is that God is not finished with us yet, and that we have
the ability to repent, both collectively and individually. God used Paul despite his failings and God
will use us despite ours as well.
Then there is Jesus. Do we really have to hate our families and
give up all our possessions to follow him?
And what about counting the cost?
Don’t we need resources to go to war or build a tower? And don’t those actions require cooperative
effort? How are we supposed to do that
if we hate everyone and have given everything away?
I think the answer to these questions
is found in Jesus’ statement “Whoever does not pick up his cross and follow me
cannot be my disciple.” If the question
is “What do we need in order to follow Jesus?” the answer is that the only
thing we need is to pick up the cross and follow. As wonderful as our
relationships can be, we don’t need them to follow Jesus. As much as we might enjoy our possessions,
they are unnecessary to following Jesus.
In fact, following Jesus would be easier without relationships to tend
or possessions to deal with. We wouldn’t
have to worry about what our boss thinks, or the neighbors, or the coach. We wouldn’t have to make house payments, or
fix roofs. We could devote all our time
to following Jesus. But that is not the
reality of our lives, and, if taken literally, Jesus’ followers would have died
out after a generation. But Jesus is
clear that 1) nothing, absolutely nothing, not any human relationship or any
abundance of possessions is required to follow Jesus and 2) if we are blessed with
relationships and possessions, we are to follow Jesus and not them. In a nutshell and to put it simply, to be a
follower of Jesus, all we have to do is pick up the cross of Christ and follow
Jesus. Carrying the cross of Christ means living as
people who believe that, in Jesus, love triumphs over hate, faith triumphs over
fear, and life triumphs over death.
Following Jesus is simple, but
following Jesus is not easy. When taken
together, our readings remind us that we will not always be successful in our
attempts to follow Jesus, but God knows that and simply calls us to repent and
return when we fail. Again, simple, but
not easy. But we do not travel alone. When we are asked in baptism “Will you resist
evil, and whenever you sin, repent and return to the Lord,” the answer is not
“I will” but “I will. With God’s help.”
Amen.
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