16th Sunday after Pentecost 2007
Proper 19
September 16, 2006
the Rev. Ken Kroohs
(Exodus 32:1,
7-14; Ps. 51:1-11; 1st Timothy 1:12-17; Luke 15:1-10)
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
Some preachers from other denominations ask me how I can stand to
be constrained by a lectionary. How can
I live with using Bible readings each week which were chosen for us? I point out the great advantage to YOU ...
the congregation. You are not faced with
hearing Ken’s 10 favorite Bible passages over and over again! I am forced to consider virtually ever part
of the Bible during the 3 year cycle. I
am forced to consider passages I would just rather ignore.
But today’s lessons illustrate another advantage of the
lectionary. I doubt I would ever have
thought to put this Exodus reading together with this gospel. Somebody put a lot of thought into the
linkage between these two passages.
Did you see the radical change? These two passages show two radically
different images of God. In Exodus the
people walk away from God and begin to worship other gods. Yahweh’s reaction? “Let my
wrath burn hot against these stiff necked people so I can consume them!” The people wander away from God and God
immediately plans to destroy them. They
sinned and God planned to destroy them.
In Luke the people walk away and Jesus speaks about God going
looking for them.
The Pharisees are still in the “consume the stiff necked people”
mode. The Pharisees cannot understand
that any righteous person would even associate with sinners. They believe Jesus is siding with those who
asked Aaron to lead them to worship other gods.
To this Jesus tells them there will be more joy in heaven over
one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.
I suspect there is some irony or even sarcasm going on here. Jesus knows there are no totally righteous
people who need not repent! So Jesus is
saying, I believe, there is joy in heaven over the person who repents because
there is no joy in heaven over those who refuse to repent! Like the Pharisees.
Jesus tells the Pharisees that God, rather than consuming the
sinner with hot wrath, will instead go to the greatest possible extent to find
and recover that person.
So where are you in these pictures? Which character most closely fits your
life? Which character most closely fit
your life at other times?
Are you the lost sheep that wandered away? Or maybe a lost sheep that is actively
seeking to hide from God? Or one of the
other characters?
For the next few minutes I may not be speaking to everyone in the
room. I may only be seeking to a segment
of this congregation. But I suspect many
of us fall into, or have fallen into that segment, or know people who have.
Maybe when I ask which character represents you in these stories
your response is: “none of them — I would
be the person who agreed with God about the Israelites. I would be the person who told God – “you are
absolutely justified in consuming them. Do not hesitate.” “
Maybe you are the person who finds God’s willingness to go to
extraordinary lengths to help people just impossible to believe. Maybe you are the person who finds the idea
of God’s forgiveness difficult to understand, much less accept.
Ever been there? Ever been
at the place where your prayer life, such as it was, consists of: “God, you
CAN’T love me! – Heck, I don’t even
like me very much!!”
Ever been in the place where you fully expect God to come down on
you with a ton of bricks — and know that is exactly what God SHOULD do?
Been there? .... Many of us have been. I wish I had the magic words to help you
understand how much God really loves you.
I don’t.
The best I can do is assure you that God does love you very
much. More than you, or I can imagine,
God loves you that much.
“BUT – we say ... but what about how bad I have been? What about the things I have done? What about those things I cannot forgive
myself for – how can God forgive me?”
There is a very brief passage in Mark’s 3 chapter which I believe
is frequently misunderstood. Jesus has
been preaching but even His family is doubting Him. They believe He is possessed by Satan. The Jewish teachers say He has been
possessed. Jesus asked how Satan could
throw out demons – how can a house divided survive. Then He goes on to say that anything can be
forgiven except cursing the Holy Spirit.
Now many people interpret that as meaning if you say certain
words ... the two word phrase that begins with God and ends with ____. You know what I mean.
I don’t think that is the teaching at all. I don’t believe Jesus would say that murder
could be forgiven but saying two words could not be. So you look back at the entire teaching and I
believe Jesus is saying that a house divided ... a person who will not accept
God cannot be forgiven by God. The only
unforgivable sin is not accepting God’s forgiveness. NOT because God does not want to forgive, but
because God will not force it on us.
In fact, take it one step deeper, I fully believe God has ALREADY
forgiven us ... the challenge is for us to ACCEPT God’s forgiveness.
And that is hard. That can
be very hard. Because to accept God’s
forgiveness we have to truly accept our own forgiveness. We have to forgive ourselves.
Another well known scripture passage I think is usually
mis-understood: “forgive us our sins as we forgive the sins of others”.
I don’t believe this is a quid pro quo ... a trade off .... a
deal. I don’t believe God is saying,
“you do this and I will do that”. I
believe God is saying to us that we cannot accept forgiveness unless we know
how to forgive – forgive others and ourselves.
Many people are able to forgive others, but not themselves. Those same people usually find it impossible
to believe in God’s forgiveness .... “how can God forgive me if I cannot
forgive me” ... “can God do something I cannot do?” .... yeah, that is funny
when you think about it!
I believe the Lord’s Prayer includes: “forgive us our sins as we
have forgiven ourselves”
OK, if you have been sleeping through this because you are not in
the segment I said I would talk to, wake up because I am jumping to the other
side!!
On the one extreme are those of us who believe that if we were
with the Israelites, God’s wrath should have consumed us.
On the other extreme are the Pharisees. Remember, by their own laws it was impossible
for them NOT to sin! They would have all
admitted violating this Jewish law or that one.
BUT — and I am making generalized assumptions here so with
apologies to any Pharisees who are not in this group — But the Pharisees did
not believe they needed God’s forgiveness.
They knew they broke the laws — but nothing important.
In many ways the Pharisees are a sadder case than those who think
God should consume them. Those people
may not believe God can forgive them, but the Pharisees do not believe God
NEEDS to forgive them.
Which extreme are you closest to? ..... I hope that if I asked
“are you a sinner” everyone would say “yes”.
But how often do we sincerely say: “God I need your forgiveness”? How willing are we to admit we fall short?
Any teacher or coach knows that the student who believes they are
doing “good enough” will never do better.
Do we believe we are doing “good enough”?
Whichever extreme we are closest to, let’s remember the good news
... the Gospel as proclaimed today by Luke — that God will go to any lengths to
help us find our way back.
Thanks be to God.
AMEN
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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)