THE SIXTH SUNDAY of EASTER 2008
April 27, 2008
(Acts 17:22-31; Ps. 66:7-18; I Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21)
the Rev. Ken Kroohs
St. Christopher’s,
MAY
THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS
ACCEPTABLE TO YOU --- OUR STRENGTH AND OUR REDEEMER AMEN
Today’s lessons send us in several different directions. So if this sermon feels disconnected ---- you
have been warned!
First, notice the comment from 1st Peter: “Always be ready to make your defense to
anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is you; yet do it
with gentleness and reverence.” The
context is that the chapter has been all about behaving well so people around
you will know you are different – you are a Christian.
That’s why he says to always be ready to explain the difference,
your Christianity, to anyone. These
readings give us several important teachings to help us be ready. That said, pay special attention to his
strong advice that when we do talk with others: “do it with gentleness and reverence.”
I love this translation of the Acts reading. I have studied Acts
several times and yet, someone slipped a word in there I had never seen
before! I have always been impressed
with Paul being comfortable enough in his faith to change the packaging without
changing the product. We would do well
to emulate that model — worrying less about the packaging and more about the
product.
But despite the number of times I have read that account I just
never really noticed the part: “he made
all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allocated the times of their
existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so they would search for God, and perhaps grope
for him and find him -- though indeed he is not far from each one of
us.
Remember we are reading a passage written in ancient Greek so the
nuances of the words can change. One way
to get a feel for such nuances is to look at other translations. Our website has a link to a great site that
will allow you to look at several translations and paraphrases at the same
time.
Most translations said people would “look” for God, some said
“seek”, and one used “search”.
So, in a way, the word “grope” has been added since I last read
this passage! But I love that word. “Look” sounds a bit more passive. The word carries less urgency and less
uncertainty than other words. “Seek” and
“search” seem to me to include a bit more energetic response. But “groping” suggests an active, possibly
desperate attempt to find something in the dark.
I know this is just semantics but sometimes the semantic
understanding of a word can color our understanding of the entire passage.
I suspect all of the words describe our attempt to connect with
God at various times in our lives. Paul
tells us that God designed the world in such a way that we have to make some
effort to connect, or Paul would probably say “reconnect” with God.
Paul also tells us that it really is a very short journey. God is not far from any of us and in fact, it
is in God we live, and move and have our being.
But God is a bit like oxygen – we are utterly dependent on it but pay it
no attention unless it is missing! In a
fascinating irony, we tend to be furthest from God when things are good, and
closest to God when things are bad.
A small group format I have used many times asks each person to
comment on several issues in their lives: How is your prayer and worship life
going? What are you learning about
God? And how have you responded to God’s
love?
The format includes the question: “When have you felt closest to
Christ?” — Frequently that is a wonderful discussion question. When we take the time to examine our recent
past and ask when we felt closest to Christ we discover times we may not
otherwise notice. We then acknowledge
our closeness when we may have ignored it.
I suspect that is true because most of use are groping – when we
should be searching or seeking. Most of
us are randomly reaching around without any plan.
Back to that in a moment but first, back to Bible study! (Told you this was a bit disconnected.) This passage from Acts and the parts before
and after are one of the reasons we have denominations. ..... BIG statement and
actually an exaggeration - but let me explain.
One of the primary differences between Roman Catholicism and
Protestantism is whether God continues to reveal things to us and specifically
reveal new truths through the church. I
am not talking about revealing a deeper or clearer understanding of scripture
but something entirely new. The bodily
accession of Mary for example ... that Mary never died as a human being but was
taken bodily into heaven. NOT found in
scripture. If true, it was revealed to
the Roman Catholic church after the scriptures were written.
The reformation wars were fought partially over whether you could
depend on scripture only or needed the “new revelations”. The Protestants favored scripture only
whereas the Roman Catholic church said God could and did continue to reveal teachings
– but only through the church.
One way to defend the “continuing revelation” argument is these
passages about the Holy Spirit – the advocate – the comforter – the Spirit of
truth -- who will come and teach the disciples ... that’s the link to the new
teachings being through the church --- that only the disciples could learn.
The Protestant argument is that Jesus is referring only to His
death and resurrection. That the Holy
Spirit would help them understand Jesus’ death and resurrection ... not
anything more.
OK – now look at what Jesus says will happen. When people know about Him ... that He is
with God and that we are with Him ... people will keep the commandments.
The Greek here is a bit confusing.
Where is the “if” part of the statement?
Is it “if you keep the commandments I will love you?” or “if you love me
you will keep the commandments?”
At first it is easy to read this as conditional love ... the first
option ... if you obey -- Jesus will love you.
But a careful reading discovers it is actually the second option ... if
you love Jesus — you will obey.
Clearly it is not about “obedience” out of fear or even
respect. It is following the
commandments because we love Jesus, know He loves us, and know following the
commandments is part of that relationship.
Weak example — you love your spouse or partner very much but they
are allergic to dogs ... very allergic.
You love dogs and want one but because of the allergies you don’t get one or even get close to
one. You do this not because you have
been ordered to obey, but because you know that is what your love means.
I said that was a weak example but maybe it hints at the
truth. We follow the commandments not
out of fear or even respect but out of love.
And that is a two way love because we recognize that God knows us better
than we do so when God says to do something or not do something God is
operating out of a knowledge of what is best for us.
Now, part three — jump back into the Gospel reading. It includes a wonderful phrase we usually
ignore. Jesus says “I will not leave you orphaned”
Again the word translation is important and fascinating. I suspect most translators use “orphaned” to
get at a family connection between God and humans. It is a good word ... a good
translation. But we may miss the impact
unless we actually have been left orphaned.
So try the words “abandoned” or “alone”.
Have you ever felt abandoned by God? ... Is OK! You can admit that! Mother Teresa’s greatest ministry may have
been her writings we only learned about after her death. Writings which revealed she felt alone,
without God’s presence for years at a time!
If Mother Teresa can feel that way — why can’t we?
So it is important to read this passage and understand we may feel that God has left us alone,
abandoned us, orphaned us but that is simply not true.
Which loops us back to the Acts reading ... our need to seek for,
search for, even grope for God. Our need
to continue our search for God. To
continue to deepen our relationship with God.
If we simply “look” for God — that could be the casual observation
out the car window. I suspect most of us
fall into that category. If something
jumps up in front of us we are alert enough to notice. But the slightest distraction and we will
miss God in our lives. I love the phrase
in Eucharistic Prayer C — open our eyes
to see your work in the world around us.
But if we can move from “looking” for God to “seeking” or
“searching for God” ... move from the relatively passive attitude to an active
attitude we stand a better chance of finding God.
It may be possible to make this move independent of other people —
that MAY be possible but I strongly doubt it.
We need other people to help us in our journey. People who can guide us and people we are
accountable to.
We could decide we are going to seek God through Bible study —
alone. We decide we will study one book
every month. Well first there is a good
chance we will not understand what is in the Bible. But even more importantly it is likely we
will not keep the commitment. Other
priorities are likely to slip between the Bible and us. BUT if other people are involved we are more
likely to keep the commitment. Even if
these other people are not studying with us but we are telling them about our
studies. We are less likely to drift
away from our commitment if we are accountable to other people.
Notice again the Acts reading.
It says that God created us in such a way that we will search for Him,
perhaps grope for Him – and find
him. In other words we have a promise
from God that if we make the effort we will see the result.
What more could we ask?
We
have previous sermons on our website. To
read an earlier recent sermon just enter: www.st-christopher.org/sermon.html.
CLICK HERE TO RESPOND: I would enjoy reading your comments about this sermon. Please feel free to discuss content or presentation. (If you wish to use another email system send your comments to: ken@st-christopher.com)