RCL Proper 19B
11 August 2024
Church of the Epiphany
Surrey BC
Choosing to Commit
In the fall of 1960 my father was transferred to an overseas assignment in Germany. His assignment came during that time of heightened international tensions we call ‘the Cold War’. Because there was inadequate family housing in Germany, my mother, sister and I lived with our grandparents in England while my father lived on base in Wiesbaden. I went to an American school on a nearby US Air Force base.
It was a presidential election year in the United States. Richard Nixon, the Vice President and a Republican, was running against Senator John F. Kennedy, a Democrat. Even as schoolchildren we became embroiled in the emotions of the election. Because Kennedy was a Roman Catholic, some of his opponents questioned whether his loyalty was to the Pope or to the Constitution. In an era of black and white television, Nixon did not come across well. No matter how closely he shaved, he always looked a bit sinister. But, as you know, Kennedy was elected, the first Roman Catholic president and the first president to have been born in the twentieth century.
In January of 1961 Kennedy was sworn in as president and gave his first and only inaugural address. Even though I was only seven going on eight years old, I remember these words: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” He asked the American people to choose to commit to becoming the country they desired rather than waiting for something to happen.
Waiting for Bread
Over the past weeks we have been hearing portions of the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to John. Again and again we hear Jesus talk about himself as the ‘bread from heaven’ or the ‘bread of life’. These words of Jesus follow the feeding of the five thousand (John 6.1-14), a miraculous multiplication of meagre supplies of bread and fish. What is draws my attention is not so much the miracle, but the response of the people to the miracle.
To be sure the people of Judea in the time of Jesus did not enjoy what we now call ‘food security’. People struggled to feed their families and themselves, so it’s no wonder that a miraculous meal would appeal to the real physical hunger people were experiencing. But the miracle obscures what Jesus is asking of the people. They want bread to feed their immediate hunger; he wants commitment to lives that embody the eternal life that Jesus is living and proclaiming. The bread that Jesus is offering to them, the bread that lasts, is God’s invitation to live as members of God’s beloved community in the here and now.
The writer of the Letter to the Ephesians describes what living as members of God’s beloved community means.
· It means speaking the truth.
· It means preventing anger from guiding what we do and say.
· It means building one another up rather than tearing one another down.
· It means choosing tender-heartedness and forgiveness over bitterness, wrath, slander and malice.
· It means walking in the same love as Christ has shown to us.
If we look around us at the world today, at Canada today, then it is not difficult for us to see that there is still much for us to do in living as God’s beloved community.
Sometimes it seems to me that people keep hoping that something or someone will drop down from heaven and magically solve our every need. Someone has come, but, in order to benefit from God’s invitation and gift, commitment is required. We are, as the writer to the Ephesians puts it, to become “a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5.2b).
We forget what the word ‘sacrifice’ actually means. We are used to thinking about sacrifices as something we give up in order to achieve a goal. But the roots of the word are ‘to make something holy’. To sacrifice is not about giving something up or self-denial, unless that helps us become ‘imitators of God (and) beloved children’ (Ephesians 5.1). Sacrifice is the choice to every moment of our lives a living witness to the love of God made flesh in Jesus of Nazareth and, dear friends, made flesh in us, the on-going community of God’s beloved.
Walking in over Our Heads
There is a Jewish story about the parting of the Red Sea. Although Nahshon, the lead character in this story, is mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the New Testament, the story is not found in the Scriptures themselves. It’s a story told in the Jewish tradition to interpret and to expand upon the biblical story itself.
The story goes like this. When the Israelites arrived at the Red Sea, the waters did not immediately part. With Pharaoh’s army fast approaching behind them, the people began to despair. They knew that Moses had promised a miracle, but they would not commit to entering the waters. They wanted the waters parted and a clear path. But nothing was happening.
God has promised to protect the people. God had already performed many signs on their behalf. But were they ready to act in faith and go forward?
From among the people Nahshon emerged. He entered into the waters of the Sea and continued to walk until his head was under the water. Then the waters parted and the people were able to cross in safety. But only after someone had taken the risk, made a commitment and walked in over their head.
Taking the Risk
These are not easy times to be a Christians, especially for communities such as ours that have rich traditions of worship, theology and spirituality. Our way of following Jesus and of seeking ways to become more truly a community of God’s beloved requires taking risks and making commitments.
We are here today because people have taken risks and made commitments. I am here because my parents took the risk of getting married and having children. They also made the commitment to raise their children in the Christian faith. Each one of us here has a similar story of risks taken and commitments made that we can tell. Perhaps the stories are of the risks we have taken and the commitments we have made.
Miracles and signs from heaven do not just happen. They happen when people such as you and I decide to enter the waters of faith and to continue to walk forward even as those waters rise to our ears, to our noses, to our eyes – perhaps even over our heads.
We are at such a point in the life of this Parish. We know what our needs are. We know what our fears are. I trust we know what our hopes are. The Bread of Life that God offers us in Jesus continues to feed us and to sustain us, so that we can enter the waters and experience the promises.
We do not enter the waters alone. We have the beloved community of Epiphany. We have the beloved community of our Deanery and Archdeaconry. We have the beloved community of the Diocese. There is no end to the beloved communities with whom we are joined through the Spirit in the Body of Christ. So let us walk with confidence and see how wet we need to get.
No comments:
Post a Comment