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| 21 Pentecost October 29, 2006 The Rev. Robert C. Granfeldt |
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If you look at the lesson insert in your bulletin, you will see that it says today is the
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, and that our lessons are called, “Proper 25.”
Proper 25, that is, out of 29 Propers. And you’ve noticed, I know, that the leaves are
changing and falling – though I’m afraid that , in spite of the weather people telling us
the colors, this year , are going to be especially spectacular, the beating the leaves
have taken from the wind, in these past weeks means our fall colors aren’t going to
be what we’d hoped or what we’re used to. The Newspaper tells me this is day #302
of the year. And I didn’t notice anyone hanging around for an hour, already, so I
guess we’ve all figured out that today is the day we’ve gone OFF Daylight Saving
Time!
All of which means the year is drawing to a close. The Church Kalendar comes to an
end in just four weeks. The Winter Solstice comes four weeks after that, ending the
solar year. The secular calendar, tied to it, a week later – 63 days from now. The
calendars of our lives and of the world, itself...? Who knows?
But which calendar it is that’s drawing to a close doesn’t REALLY matter, much,
because whatever calendar we might use, the end IS coming.
All things come to an end, and the end is always coming.
To us human beings, that’s a melancholy thought: the approaching end. Something
we don’t much like to think of. But “the end” IS inevitable, and sometimes, as it
approaches, it becomes insistent. And when the end is seen to be approaching –
even such a simple, normal thing as the end of another year – we have a natural
tendency to become introspective, and retrospective – looking within ourselves at
the same time that we look back at the year, at our lives, at history, at time itself. And,
of course, the recent death of Mary’s sister – MY little sister for the past 49 years –
amplifies the tendency a bunch in me!
In a couple of weeks – for the last few weeks before the season of Advent begins –
we’ll be reading in our lessons about the SIGNS of the end time. But at the moment,
our lessons have simply become – like us – like ME, at least, certainly – introspective
and retrospective in what they see as the end approaching. In doing so, our lessons,
today, become about as melancholy as our lessons ever get!
The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews looks and sees a people that is slow – slow to
learn, slow to change, slow to grow in the Spirit! “By this time you ought to be
teachers, yourselves,” he says, “but look at you – still children in the faith; not yet
weaned, still drinking milk! You have not yet learned the difference between good
and evil!”
And the writer of this part of the Book of Isaiah, likewise: “Justice is far from us,” he
observes, “we look for light and, behold, darkness; and for brightness, but we walk in
gloom. We grope for the wall like the blind, we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men.”
We have not yet learned the difference between good and evil, so they tell us. Ironic!
Adam and Eve gave up life in Eden for the privilege of learning to know good and
evil, but we haven’t managed to learn it, yet!
Our problem, once again, is one of perspective; our problem is limited vision! – a
vision SO limited we think our own petty, daily failings are what the Gospel is about.
Our parents taught us to “be good,” and that was right and useful – for children.
Indeed (if I may use an image I’ve used before), most of us learned from our parents
to take a MICROSCOPE to our lives. But there comes a time when we are supposed to
grow up and learn what REAL evil really IS. A time when we are supposed to put away
the microscopes we focus on our OWN lives, and on the lives of those closest to us –
our families and friends – to look beyond our selves and learn about the WORLD. A
few of us do, but most of us have our gaze so fixed on our own microscopes, remain
so careful to watch our language, lest we let slip a bad word, to watch our
imaginations lest we entertain a bad thought, that we never realize that most of what
we think are our SINS are really only petty mistakes – better, certainly, if they’d been
avoided, but of no real consequence. The great English apologist, whom I’ve
mentioned so often, C.S. Lewis, has not been the only person to observe that most of
us lack the CREATIVITY to commit a really GREAT sin. Yet SURROUNDED by great sin,
we remain focused on our own petty failings; so busy looking at ourselves through
our little microscopes that we never even notice the REAL sins that abound all
around us, the real sins that fill the front pages of our newspapers – the real sins that
are the concerns of the prophets who abhor our blindness for failing to see them,
the apostles who lament our childishness – our inability to discern good and evil – to
recognize evil when we see it.
And what is real evil, what are REAL sins? All we need do is listen to the words of the
prophet, when he cries,
“Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands at a distance; for truth
stumbles in the public square, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The LORD saw it, and it
displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and
wondered that there was no one to intervene.”
“It displeased (the Lord) that there was no justice,” and he wondered – he was
appalled – that “there was no one to intervene.”
That is real evil. That is real sin. Injustice! With no one to intervene!
It is not the job of the faithful to worry about the petty failings their parents warned
them against. Those things have a way of taking care of themselves when we learn to
pay attention to business. And the business of the Christian is JUSTICE, and the TASK
of the Christian is to INTERVENE in INjustice!
It was in the twenties and thirties of the last Century that a group of Christians began
to preach what came to be called ‘the Social Gospel.” Concerning itself with things
like social welfare and peace, it was widely condemned as getting into things that
were “none of the Church’s business!” A few decades later, the Church got involved
in issues of race and equal opportunity, in economic concerns, in questions of war.
And, again, the cry went up that these things were none of the Church’s business.
That the Church should mind its own business, and just preach the Gospel!
But JUSTICE IS the Gospel, in all of its applications; and OPPRESSION is the CONCERN
of the Gospel, in all of ITS manifestations.
And if, after two thousand years, the Church still hasn’t learned its real concern, and
if, after two thousand years, Christians still don’t know what the Gospel calls them to,
then we are, indeed, as infants, unskilled in the words of righteousness. And, indeed,
righteousness does not reach us, and we continue to grope in gloom, while the
prophet Amos proclaims, “Let justice roll down like the waters, and righteousness
like an ever-flowing stream.”
In our Gospel, this morning, Jesus is continuing his final Journey toward Jerusalem,
as we’ve noted, and he is very near his destination, now, reaching the city of Jericho,
less than 20 miles away! There in Jericho he meets a blind beggar, the son of
Timaeus – which is what Bartimaeus means. We read this story, and we think, how
wonderful! Jesus heals a blind man1 But Mark doesn’t put this story here as a story
of healing – He puts it here as a PARABLE!
You’ll recall that in recent weeks, as Jesus has journeyed toward his destiny, he has
been beset by those who just didn’t get it – who didn’t understand – from the rich
young ruler who couldn’t bring himself to give up all he had and follow Jesus; to
Peter, whom he has to rebuke, comparing him to Satan; to James and John and the
others, arguing about their positions in the Kingdom, about who would be FIRST!
Now here, into this mix of constant misunderstanding and Jesus’ frustration, Mark
brings us an example – and a ray of hope – as a kind of parable – a lesson for our
lives!
Blind Bartimaeus; blind as the rich young man; as blind as Jesus’ disciples; as blind
as we – groping like the blind along a wall; groping like those who have no eyes...
Blind Bartimaeus comes to Jesus, crying, “Teacher, let me see, again.”
And Bartimaeus’ eyes are opened. And he sees.
As this year draws to an end, in these coming days, and weeks; as our lives move
inevitably toward their ends; as this age and even this world slowly wind themselves
down, we need to do as people have always done, facing the end. We need to
examine our lives – melancholy as that exercise might be – we need to evaluate who
we’ve been and where we’re going. We need to recognize and to evaluate OUR
blindness
.
And we need, with Bartimaeus, to pray the Lord to open our eyes; to pray the Lord to
let us see the world as HE would have us see it; that we might follow him on the way
he calls us to follow: the way of JUSTICE and of TRUTH – which is, by its very
definition, the way of love!
In Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, and that our lessons are called, “Proper 25.”
Proper 25, that is, out of 29 Propers. And you’ve noticed, I know, that the leaves are
changing and falling – though I’m afraid that , in spite of the weather people telling us
the colors, this year , are going to be especially spectacular, the beating the leaves
have taken from the wind, in these past weeks means our fall colors aren’t going to
be what we’d hoped or what we’re used to. The Newspaper tells me this is day #302
of the year. And I didn’t notice anyone hanging around for an hour, already, so I
guess we’ve all figured out that today is the day we’ve gone OFF Daylight Saving
Time!
All of which means the year is drawing to a close. The Church Kalendar comes to an
end in just four weeks. The Winter Solstice comes four weeks after that, ending the
solar year. The secular calendar, tied to it, a week later – 63 days from now. The
calendars of our lives and of the world, itself...? Who knows?
But which calendar it is that’s drawing to a close doesn’t REALLY matter, much,
because whatever calendar we might use, the end IS coming.
All things come to an end, and the end is always coming.
To us human beings, that’s a melancholy thought: the approaching end. Something
we don’t much like to think of. But “the end” IS inevitable, and sometimes, as it
approaches, it becomes insistent. And when the end is seen to be approaching –
even such a simple, normal thing as the end of another year – we have a natural
tendency to become introspective, and retrospective – looking within ourselves at
the same time that we look back at the year, at our lives, at history, at time itself. And,
of course, the recent death of Mary’s sister – MY little sister for the past 49 years –
amplifies the tendency a bunch in me!
In a couple of weeks – for the last few weeks before the season of Advent begins –
we’ll be reading in our lessons about the SIGNS of the end time. But at the moment,
our lessons have simply become – like us – like ME, at least, certainly – introspective
and retrospective in what they see as the end approaching. In doing so, our lessons,
today, become about as melancholy as our lessons ever get!
The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews looks and sees a people that is slow – slow to
learn, slow to change, slow to grow in the Spirit! “By this time you ought to be
teachers, yourselves,” he says, “but look at you – still children in the faith; not yet
weaned, still drinking milk! You have not yet learned the difference between good
and evil!”
And the writer of this part of the Book of Isaiah, likewise: “Justice is far from us,” he
observes, “we look for light and, behold, darkness; and for brightness, but we walk in
gloom. We grope for the wall like the blind, we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men.”
We have not yet learned the difference between good and evil, so they tell us. Ironic!
Adam and Eve gave up life in Eden for the privilege of learning to know good and
evil, but we haven’t managed to learn it, yet!
Our problem, once again, is one of perspective; our problem is limited vision! – a
vision SO limited we think our own petty, daily failings are what the Gospel is about.
Our parents taught us to “be good,” and that was right and useful – for children.
Indeed (if I may use an image I’ve used before), most of us learned from our parents
to take a MICROSCOPE to our lives. But there comes a time when we are supposed to
grow up and learn what REAL evil really IS. A time when we are supposed to put away
the microscopes we focus on our OWN lives, and on the lives of those closest to us –
our families and friends – to look beyond our selves and learn about the WORLD. A
few of us do, but most of us have our gaze so fixed on our own microscopes, remain
so careful to watch our language, lest we let slip a bad word, to watch our
imaginations lest we entertain a bad thought, that we never realize that most of what
we think are our SINS are really only petty mistakes – better, certainly, if they’d been
avoided, but of no real consequence. The great English apologist, whom I’ve
mentioned so often, C.S. Lewis, has not been the only person to observe that most of
us lack the CREATIVITY to commit a really GREAT sin. Yet SURROUNDED by great sin,
we remain focused on our own petty failings; so busy looking at ourselves through
our little microscopes that we never even notice the REAL sins that abound all
around us, the real sins that fill the front pages of our newspapers – the real sins that
are the concerns of the prophets who abhor our blindness for failing to see them,
the apostles who lament our childishness – our inability to discern good and evil – to
recognize evil when we see it.
And what is real evil, what are REAL sins? All we need do is listen to the words of the
prophet, when he cries,
“Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands at a distance; for truth
stumbles in the public square, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The LORD saw it, and it
displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and
wondered that there was no one to intervene.”
“It displeased (the Lord) that there was no justice,” and he wondered – he was
appalled – that “there was no one to intervene.”
That is real evil. That is real sin. Injustice! With no one to intervene!
It is not the job of the faithful to worry about the petty failings their parents warned
them against. Those things have a way of taking care of themselves when we learn to
pay attention to business. And the business of the Christian is JUSTICE, and the TASK
of the Christian is to INTERVENE in INjustice!
It was in the twenties and thirties of the last Century that a group of Christians began
to preach what came to be called ‘the Social Gospel.” Concerning itself with things
like social welfare and peace, it was widely condemned as getting into things that
were “none of the Church’s business!” A few decades later, the Church got involved
in issues of race and equal opportunity, in economic concerns, in questions of war.
And, again, the cry went up that these things were none of the Church’s business.
That the Church should mind its own business, and just preach the Gospel!
But JUSTICE IS the Gospel, in all of its applications; and OPPRESSION is the CONCERN
of the Gospel, in all of ITS manifestations.
And if, after two thousand years, the Church still hasn’t learned its real concern, and
if, after two thousand years, Christians still don’t know what the Gospel calls them to,
then we are, indeed, as infants, unskilled in the words of righteousness. And, indeed,
righteousness does not reach us, and we continue to grope in gloom, while the
prophet Amos proclaims, “Let justice roll down like the waters, and righteousness
like an ever-flowing stream.”
In our Gospel, this morning, Jesus is continuing his final Journey toward Jerusalem,
as we’ve noted, and he is very near his destination, now, reaching the city of Jericho,
less than 20 miles away! There in Jericho he meets a blind beggar, the son of
Timaeus – which is what Bartimaeus means. We read this story, and we think, how
wonderful! Jesus heals a blind man1 But Mark doesn’t put this story here as a story
of healing – He puts it here as a PARABLE!
You’ll recall that in recent weeks, as Jesus has journeyed toward his destiny, he has
been beset by those who just didn’t get it – who didn’t understand – from the rich
young ruler who couldn’t bring himself to give up all he had and follow Jesus; to
Peter, whom he has to rebuke, comparing him to Satan; to James and John and the
others, arguing about their positions in the Kingdom, about who would be FIRST!
Now here, into this mix of constant misunderstanding and Jesus’ frustration, Mark
brings us an example – and a ray of hope – as a kind of parable – a lesson for our
lives!
Blind Bartimaeus; blind as the rich young man; as blind as Jesus’ disciples; as blind
as we – groping like the blind along a wall; groping like those who have no eyes...
Blind Bartimaeus comes to Jesus, crying, “Teacher, let me see, again.”
And Bartimaeus’ eyes are opened. And he sees.
As this year draws to an end, in these coming days, and weeks; as our lives move
inevitably toward their ends; as this age and even this world slowly wind themselves
down, we need to do as people have always done, facing the end. We need to
examine our lives – melancholy as that exercise might be – we need to evaluate who
we’ve been and where we’re going. We need to recognize and to evaluate OUR
blindness
.
And we need, with Bartimaeus, to pray the Lord to open our eyes; to pray the Lord to
let us see the world as HE would have us see it; that we might follow him on the way
he calls us to follow: the way of JUSTICE and of TRUTH – which is, by its very
definition, the way of love!
In Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.
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| Calvary Episcopal Church, Rockdale |
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