Sermon Oct 8th: Three emphases in the life of a disciple of Jesus (NOT an easy 1-2-3 step process to easy Christianity!!!!)

How would you describe your understanding of the meaning of your life? In your church?

In what way does your life bear the mark of Jesus’ call to communicate good news (in word, in deed, in growth in Christ)? To confront evil (idolatry in its various forms, evil in yourself, in the church, in the world)? To be a presence for healing (willing to suffer with others, to endure conflict and set an example as a maturing Christian, to pray for others)? Where is your weakness? Where can you grow?

Matthew 10:11 From the time of John (the Baptist) until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful people take hold of it.

(italicized words are those used in present tense by Jesus...kingdom is not far off somewhere beyond death, but begins when we submit our lives to God...plus it gives an image we should not be afraid of; an image of invasion, of light bursting into darkness. There are plenty of these images throughout the New Testament; but we must separate the reality of the invasion from the expectation placed on us by God to love radically and give ourselves for the sake of all.)

Luke 10:23-24 Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings (considered "important" people) desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.

1. Proclaiming Good News

If the gospel is really good news, does it mean good news primarily for Nate, or does it mean good news for the world…I think that question is central for those of us who claim to be followers of Christ…

A continuing image of the meaning of life to work with:

You’re high up in the air, in an aisle seat, looking past your neighbor and out the window. Down below you is a mass of cloud cover looking like fresh snow, marbled, with mountains and valleys throughout. Imagine that your understanding of reality is defined by this view: what you see in the cabin and outside your window. The airplane and its passengers are what you might call a small, unique closed system moving inside what appears to be vast space with a boundary of white mass below.

Imagine this being the understanding of reality that world lives with. They invite you to view reality from a very small window, and they are quite certain they’re providing you with an absolutely truthful view of reality. If you join them, you are expected to see as they see. Failure to embrace their view means you’re misunderstood, excluded, and even eliminated.

Let’s imagine some more. Get out of your seat, reach into the compartment above, and carry the yellow package to the front of the plane. It’s a parachute. Strap it on. Now go to the big door with the red sign, open it, and jump. When you pass through the white stuff, pull the cord. As you pass through the white boundary of clouds, down below, previously hidden from your view, is a world of wonder and struggle, joy and pain, truth. And there’s land and promise. It’s a place where men and women, boys and girls learn how to emerge from serving themselves to serving the God of the sea and the land and the sky and all that ever was and is. It’s the world you were meant to see.

When you touch the ground and look up, do you see the plane? No? But it’s there, isn’t it? You know it exists, you’ve just come from there. Remember this: You know about the world’s story, but they don’t know about the one you’ve just dropped in on.

And now the hard work begins…because as we dedicate ourselves to becoming a part of the story of God and God’s people that is forcefully advancing into the world of illusion and confusion, we will have several more of those parachute moments. And with each one, the view will widen and the clouds part further…and we see more of the real Story, the one that was always there but had been hidden from our sight.

And all along we find clues along the trail, like children who find special stones along the seashore…and we get excited about them…but it’s slow work, figuring out what it means to be a part of this community of God’s people.

The struggle of this reality of learning is that we tend to learn best through our mistakes and failures

Jesus and the inner circle of disciples come down off the mountain after the transfiguration right into the midst of a mess: the scribes, the crowd, and a distraught father. The scribes and the disciples are in a hot debate when Jesus arrives. In order for everyone to get a sense of what’s going on, Jesus asks his disciples, “What are you arguing about with them?” Out of the crowd the voice of the troubled father sounds in reply.

Read Mark 9: 17-18

In this instance, the father delivers the ministry report publicly, exposing before everyone the disciples’ failure in their attempts to cure his son.

Jesus is terribly insensitive with all the folks around him, and draws the peoples’ attention to the bigger picture (the world outside of their airplane compartment), the larger sphere of unbelief in which they live. “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you?” Jesus laments.

Listening to Jesus’ lament, the disciples recognize that they are more influenced than they realize by their lack of faith and the twisted belief systems of the larger society in which they live. Here we are given a lesson in contrast. Jesus lives, breathes, and acts from within the great reality of God’s presence and rule. He expresses his complaint in order to rescue them, to free them from captivity to what is false, and to open their eyes to the freedom of what is true.

So Jesus turns to the boy’s father and the crowd and says, “Bring him to me.” The evil spirit within the boy now reacts to being in Jesus’ presence, convulsing the boy, causing him to fall to the ground, to roll around, and foam at the mouth. Rather than allow the demon’s behavior to influence him, Jesus observes what is happening and digs deeper, “How long has this been happening to him?” Jesus asks the father. The distraught father responds, “From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.”

Jesus replies, “If you are able! All things can be done for the one who believes.” Jesus points to himself as the One who is able. (The kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing)

2. Confronting evil:

And that is a central reality of Christianity that is severely underemphasized in this day and age is the reality of sacrifice.

(Oscar Romero)

In life the Archbishop looked like a typical South American peasant. Oscar Romero was born on the feast of the Assumption in 1917 and raised in a remote El Salvadoran village. In early life he was apprenticed to a carpenter.

Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador. Like us, he could not find his voice at first. Like us, he went along with the status quo. And then, “something changed him,” and gave him the power to speak out for peace and justice. From that point forward, he could not condone war on the poor.

In one telling incident two weeks before his death, 72 sticks of dynamite were found in the basilica where, the day before, Romero had led a funeral service for a murdered Christian leader. Many followers of Jesus were present at the Mass. If the dynamite had exploded, the whole basilica would have been destroyed.

Romero was desperate. How could he reverse the worsening situation? His final sermons constantly return to the question of what should a Christian do in such a catastrophic situation.

"“I have frequently been threatened with death. I must say that, as a Christian, I do not believe in death but in the resurrection. If they kill me, I shall rise again in the Salvadoran people."

No, I strive that we may not just have on paper and grasp in our minds what the church has tried to further in us, but that we may live it and interpret it in this conflict-ridden reality, preaching the Gospel as it should be preached for our people ... though I continue to be a voice that cries in the desert, I know that the Church is making the effort to fulfill its mission".

The next day, as he was saying Mass in the chapel of the Carmelite Sisters’ cancer hospital where he lived, a single rifle shot was fired from the rear of the chapel. Romero was struck in the heart and died within minutes.

Romero was immediately acclaimed by the people of El Salvador, and indeed by the poor throughout Latin America, as a true martyr and saint. For Romero, who clearly anticipated his fate, there was never any doubt as to the meaning of such a death.

"Martyrdom is a great gift from God that I do not believe I have earned. But if God accepts the sacrifice of my life then may my blood be the seed of liberty, and a sign of the hope that will soon become a reality… A bishop will die, but the church of God – the people – will never die."

While we do the work of ministry, faithfully proclaiming, teaching, and healing, we are not able to make people see or understand the good news of the kingdom of God. This kind of knowing is a gift that God gives, God reveals, and the Holy Spirit helps us see.

3. To be an agent of healing

Seeking healing

Read Matthew 11: 28-30

As we give up our load, Jesus offers us his yoke. The image suggests an experienced ox who knows the furrows of our field, who bears the weight of the work. The younger, inexperienced ox yoked alongside bears the light and easy end of the yoke. In this yoked companionship, the older ox leads, heaves, and carries the load, while the younger ox stays alongside, learning the ways of the field. Jesus went the distance, set the example for us, and walks beside us , giving us the ability to follow Him. We are called to stay close, in yoked companionship, and learn the ways of Jesus.

Providing healing

Sometimes we may get discouraged because what we’re doing for the Lord seems unsuccessful. The children in the Sunday School class we teach are restless and inattentive. The neighbors we’re trying to reach with the gospel are politely indifferent. The members of our own family are far from the Lord. The world we lift up to God in prayer grows increasingly violent and rebellious. All of this can add up to deep discouragement about our self-worth.

But Oscar Romero wrote: “We plant the seeds that one day we will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development…We cannot do everything, and there’s a sense of liberation in realizing that.” This attitude helps us do small things and to “leave an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.”