3rd Sunday of Advent 2007
December 16, 2006
the Rev. Ken Kroohs
(Isaiah
35:1-10; Psalm 146:4-9; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11)
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
You know the phrase: God works in mysterious ways? Well, I can attest to that — again. Last night I sat down to finish up the sermon
for today, a sermon I was not exactly excited about but hoped another edit
would make it passable ... only to discover that all copies of it had disappeared
from my computer ... my back disk ... everywhere! God may work in mysterious ways but sometimes
those ways are fairly direct and clear!
I have long felt that this is one of the most important passages in
Christian theology. So I had struggled to understand and explain what these
lessons say to me. And I knew I had not
done a very good job. But if I had found
the draft sermon you would have been stuck with it.
Possibly my focus on this lesson comes from growing up in the
1960's. Whether it was done well or not,
our generation truly wanted to change the world. Whether all the efforts were well thought
out, or even positive when later considered, the intent was to change the world
for the better. The church generally
responded to that ... possibly going too far.
An argument can be made that until the 1960's there was more
worship and spirituality in church life, and somewhat less social action. Understand I am not suggesting this was
predominant or overwhelming. We are
probably talking about 60-40 splits, not 90-10.
Then with the chaos and conflict of the 1960's, the church tended
to change from 60-40 worship and spirituality versus social action, to 60-40,
or even 70-30 in favor of social action.
If you weren’t there it is hard to imagine. Even if you were there it is hard to
imagine!! Remember when woman were
largely ignored? Not just in the pulpit,
but on the Vestry, even female acolytes were not allowed.
Divorce and re-marriage would throw you out of the church. A woman who attends here occasionally left
the Episcopal church in the 1960's because she married a divorced man — and
that was not acceptable.
Or the conflicts over the role of blacks and other minorities. I moved to
If you cannot remember those times then it is hard to remember that
the church owed it to society to be a leader in social thought, discussion, and
action.
Not long ago I was speaking to a long time Episcopalian, not a
member here, who was talking about the divisions in the Episcopal church and
when he reached for an example he did not mention homosexuality, or women
priests, or revising the Prayer Book ... he went on for several minutes about
how bad it was that the national Episcopal church had purchased something for
the Black Panthers — an ambulance. .... Whether that was a good decision or
not, the intensity of the reaction 40
years later tells us a lot about the times.
I have not even mentioned the
With that context, is it at all surprising the church became
focused on social action and ethical issues?
Is it at all surprising that a person coming out of that context would
feel Jesus’ words today are central Christian theology?: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight,
the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and
the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no
offense at
This passage can be heard as Jesus saying: results matter. He doesn’t say, as some of my Roman Catholic
friends were told, attend church every first Friday. He doesn’t talk about knowing when to kneel,
stand, and sit in the Episcopal service.
He doesn’t say anything about shouting “amen” in the Baptist
service. Jesus says that what matters is
how people are treated.
If you have listened to my sermons over the years you have heard me
come from that perspective. Jesus says
that the greatest commandment is to love God BY loving your neighbor ... the Ken Kroohs totally unauthorized
translation.
...... Last week I spoke about some of the large, fast growing
churches in which you will be told what to believe as well as where to shop and
who to vote for. I commented that part
of their attraction is the security of not having to have doubts and questions.
But many of those churches have another attractive element. Their focus tends to be more on spirituality
and worship, and less on social action.
Again, we are talking 60-40 not 90-10 and you certainly can find
exceptions but many of those churches spend much more time in Bible study and
church services than in feeding the poor.
And there was a time in my life when I would, with smug arrogance,
quote Jesus words from today’s gospel and point out that Jesus did not say: Go and tell John what you have seen and
heard - loud worship services and Bible studies! Those were not on Jesus list.
And, confession time, that smug arrogance on my part is not totally
gone! However, with a sincere belief we
learn the most from those we disagree with — I have begun to believe that many
main stream Protestant churches, the Episcopal church among them, have gone too
far. Not too far INTO social action, but
too far AWAY from worship and spirituality.
Maybe the goal is not 60-40 in either direction but 50-50.
I look at both the national Episcopal newspaper and our Diocesan
newspaper and so much of both could be written about any civic group. GOOD ACTIVITIES!! Good things we should be proud of. Good things we know God will appreciate. Good things which fit into Jesus’ description
today of what it means to be Christian.
The issue is not REPLACING but supplementing.
The newspapers talk about mission trips to
As I read them I wonder ... where is the religion? There are wonderful, moral, ethical discussions
and actions. But in so many cases a
devoted atheist would be comfortable.
Our lives should include a noticeable number of activities that would
make a devoted atheist uncomfortable.
Not because we want people to be uncomfortable but because we are
different.
We need to ask ourselves, if an atheist posed the question to
us: Is religion the one, is Christianity
the one, is Jesus the one or should I go looking for another? ... If we were
asked that question by an atheist, or even more likely by someone who said they
are spiritual but not religious, how could we respond?
If the
response should begin: notice what you see and hear _______ . What do we say?
Don’t mis-understand! Given
a focus ONLY on worship services or a focus ONLY on social action, I believe
the social action would be best. I am a
product of the 1960's and believe the letter of James was one of the most
important books in the Bible – despite what Martin Luther said!
James 2:18: But someone will
say, "You have faith; I have
deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by
what I do. .... I am much more impressed by someone who can show me their
faith by what they do, and I believe that is Jesus’ teaching today, and in many
other passages.
BUT, it is also important to have the deep, spiritual basis for
what we do. To serve at the homeless
shelter, or IHN, or angel tree or wherever brings a wonderful sense of
accomplishment and well being.
To have the same service grow from a deep spiritual connection with
God is an indescribably different feeling.
The atheist, and the “spiritual but not religious” person can obtain
that sense of accomplishment and well being but miss the connection with God.
What do we tell them to come and hear, see? Certainly this worship service is an
important part but what else? Is there
our personal prayer time we could describe to them? Are there times away at retreats or
conferences? Jesus went off by Himself
to be with the Father — why do we think that is not important?
I have told the Vestry that two things I very much want to see
happen is an online, internet based Bible study so the “I can’t be sure of my
schedule” excuse disappears for many of us, and at least a quarterly workshop
or teaching on prayer and being in connection with God. I sincerely believe these will deepen our
social action .... our Christian caring, not reduce it.
I also hope to encourage more focused time away at retreats and
conferences – for you and me. The first
time it may be a bit uncomfortable because it is not something we are used
to. But quickly it becomes something we
do not want to live without.
If this church is missing an opportunity to help your spiritual
life ... say so! I may ask you to help
with the efforts, but it will be worth it!
Thank God for erasing that first draft!
AMEN
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)