Oct. 19, 2003

Pentecost 19

First Reading: Isaiah 53:4-12 (New Living Translation)

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all.

He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among the people realized that he was dying for their sins—that he was suffering their punishment? He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man's grave.

But it was the Lord's good plan to crush him and fill him with grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord's plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of what he has experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among those who were sinners. He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners.

Second Reading: Mark 10:35-45 (New Living Translation)

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to Jesus. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do us a favor."

"What is it?" he asked.

"In your glorious Kingdom, we want to sit in places of honor next to you," they said, "one at your right and the other at your left."

But Jesus answered, "You don't know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of sorrow I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?"

"Oh yes," they said, "we are able!"

And Jesus said, "You will indeed drink from my cup and be baptized with my baptism, but I have no right to say who will sit on the thrones next to mine. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen."

When the ten other disciples discovered what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, "You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials lord it over the people beneath them. But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many."

Sermon: “Are You Dead Yet?”

In this Gospel reading we get a glimpse of the human frailty of the Apostles. As Jesus’ closest friends they sense that they have a special position in God’s plan for the world, and that feeling of importance goes to their heads. They begin to focus more on their positions, titles, personal importance than the mission that God has for them. Sound familiar? In light of all that the church has been going through lately, we would all do well to consider this Gospel carefully. What is it that we are most concerned about? Our own position? Our institutional identity? Our fondly held pride in our own traditions? Or is our first concern truly “God’s mission in Helmetta?”

Jesus quickly brings them back to reality. Before you can even talk about thrones in heaven you must first be prepared for crosses on earth. Can you indeed drink from the cup of suffering that Christ drank? Will you undergo the baptism that Christ endured, not only the baptism in water at the hands of John the Baptist, but the baptism in His own blood at the hands of sinners, politicians and religious leaders whose own power and position was more important to them than their call to serve God? Will we, as a church, allow ourselves to be so broken and emptied of self that God can begin to use us in extraordinary ways?

(From Rev. Alan Hansen, President of Acts 29 Ministries)

“My mother used to tell me, ‘The devil always goes too far.’ Crucifying Jesus must have seemed like a good idea at the time, but it certainly backfired! Perhaps in God’s wisdom and love for His Church there eventually will be a resolution. Perhaps that time has come. The Father may be pruning the vine (John 15) or separating the wheat from the chaff on the threshing floor.”

“The actions of General Convention seem to be bad news for orthodox Christians. But ultimately who’s to know. God has a wonderful habit of taking what was meant for evil and turning it to good. Only time will fully reveal His plans, but we do know one thing for sure: the Lord is preparing His Bride (the Church) for His Son. He wants us pure, holy, radiant and expectant. Faithfulness and obedience are high on His list.”

-Acts 29 Newsletter

My own association with Acts 29 back when it used to be called “Episcopal Renewal Ministries” got me thinking. Many of us remember fondly how the Holy Spirit was moving all across the church in the 60’s and 70’s. The Charismatic renewal brought a fresh wind of joy and vitality to the church. People were flocking to renewal weekends and special church conferences or healing services.

We long for that to happen again, but the church and the world were different then. America was still a nominally Christian society then. Our children said the Lord’s Prayer at the start of the day in public schools. Children still respected their parents and their teachers. They watched “Ozzie and Harriet” and “Leave It To Beaver” on TV and never heard about sex until they were at the age when they needed to hear it and asked about it. The Church may have been a little too dry and formal in its worship, but it was faithful. All God needed to do for a Church like that was pour out a fresh wave of vitality to give new life to the doctrine that was already in place. A church that at least believes the Bible is true can receive revival, even if it has never seen the power of the Holy Spirit move before.

Today God has an entirely different Church on His hands, and an entirely different America. We have thrown all mention of God out of our schools, business and government. We don’t hesitate to work seven days a week to make an extra buck without ever thinking that we are dishonoring God’s commandment. We watch the vilest pornography and immorality on prime time TV every night and call it “entertainment.” And even the Church is now in open rebellion against the commandment of God. Do not expect another “charismatic renewal” to solve our problems. What God is calling for now is not renewal but repentance.

The Episcopal Church is going through a terrible ordeal right now, but do not despair. This is a work of God. It is a work that will proceed in a series of movements, and it will take many years to see it all the way through, so be patient. God is not finished with us yet. What are these movements?

1. Shaking

2. Breaking

3. Cleansing

4. Rebuilding

5. Renewal

So far we are only at the shaking stage, so don’t get overly worried when you see things being shaken up. It is God’s way when he sees us getting out of His will and decides to bring us back. Shaking means that things are going to appear to be quite out of control for a while. Just like people in an earthquake, we will see the spiritual landscape around us rocking and heaving, and the best we will be able to do in such a time as this is to try to stand still. Hold your place. Grab onto whatever solid support you can find, and that means the Word of God. Jesus said “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

Don’t be surprised if we move fairly quickly into the second phase, the breaking. Structures, fellowships, alliances and institutions that we have grown accustomed to and become far too dependent on will be smashed and reduced to rubble until we learn to depend on God alone. It will hurt. We humans do not easily let go of our idols, even when we know that it is God who is taking them away from us. This will be a time of intense spiritual warfare. The power of God will come head on against the forces of darkness. In the breaking stage we learn our limitations. When God knocks something down, don’t try to repair it. Just let it go. The kind of Episcopal Church that we have been we will never be again. Don’t despair. That’s a good thing!

After the breaking comes the cleansing. The rubble has to be cleared away, and this is where we become much more personally engaged. Up to now the shaking and breaking has been entirely God’s doing, and all we could do was watch and hang on for dear life wondering what was going to fall next. At the cleansing stage we learn what it means to repent. This is the point at which the battle becomes much more internal than external. We will have to do our part in the cleanup. As it has often been said, “The Holy Spirit will haul away the garbage, but you have to bring it up from the basement.” The cleansing stage focuses us on deliverance, the casting out of everything in our lives that is offensive to God. This period needs to be allowed plenty of time. The great danger here is that we try to rush the process and move on to spiritual blessings before we have finished the cleanup.

This is also a time for re-aligning the fellowship of the church. When you are deeply engaged in repentance and accountability before God your friendships will change. You will discover who your true spiritual friends are. Who are the people you can really count on to help you stand honestly before God, not just flatter you. If you aren’t sure you can answer that question right now, don’t worry. In time that will become the clearest of all questions in your life, and you will know exactly who you can trust. And you will suddenly find yourself wanting to spend a lot more time in the fellowship of those people who are true spiritual friends. Worship will become a delight and a longing rather than an obligation.

The cleansing period is a time of deep inner struggle with our own sin nature. We must not be afraid to look in the mirror and see the kind of people we truly are, “warts and all.” And at the same time we must know that in spite of all the ugliness that has been revealed by the shaking and breaking, God loves us more than we can ever imagine. His purpose is not merely to embarrass us but to get us free!

Healing also goes hand in hand with cleansing. Some of the garbage in our lives we can simply cast out by our own will once we see how foolish and ugly it really is. But some of the hurt and brokenness that we will discover goes too deep for us to handle alone. We will need to trust the Great Physician, Jesus Christ, to bring His healing touch to parts of our soul that we don’t know how to touch. “The Spirit intercedes in sighs too deep for words….. the Spirit searches the deep things of God.” Repentance means more than saying you’re sorry. It means calling out for help to set things right. “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

When the cleansing has worked through the whole Body of Christ for a good long time there will come another phase, rebuilding. It will come gradually and quietly, a gentle shift in focus from inward conversion to outward expression. As our lives begin to re-center around God’s healing work in us, the fellowship of the church will be re-energized and re-structured in ways that support the ongoing work of divine healing and spiritual growth. Power and purpose will return to lives once devoid of any real meaning. The miracle will begin to spread. At first it will be like ripples in a pond radiating out from a single pebble that has been dropped in the water. But the ripples will grow and become waves, higher and stronger, bringing new life to a barren land. The structure of a new church will begin to emerge, a church that values honoring God more than perpetuating itself. People will even begin to use biblical language again in talking about the church: Kingdom of God, Temple of the Holy Spirit, A Royal Priesthood, A Holy Nation.

The rebuilding is a time of partnership between God and His people. He stays very close at hand as they learn to call on Him, listen to His voice, and follow His lead. Miracles become frequent expressions of faith at work rather than rare experiences of surprise. The new church arises, brick by brick, board by board, prayer by prayer. “The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

Finally, at a most mysterious time of His own choosing, God will move us from rebuilding into full blown renewal. Some prefer the word revival. Whatever you choose to call it, it is a time of overflowing joy in the Lord. The revelation of God will flow out of His church all across the land. Instead of a church that is conforming to society or running in fear from it, there will be a church that is transforming the society around it. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.”

The holiness of God becomes a tangible reality of daily life that draws the most unexpected people into the church. True renewal, revival, is not a gift for the church. It is God making His shaken, broken, cleansed and rebuilt church a gift to the world. “For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son to the end that all that believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

We say it every Sunday in the Eucharistic Prayer: “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” There’s a powerful message in that simple little phrase. You can’t rise until you’ve been dead and buried.

I have shared this once before, but Betty Leach brought it back to my attention last week and I offer it here again at a time when it seems especially important. It is call “Comment” and it was written by Bill Britton:

Comment:

When you are forgotten, or neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don’t sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight, but your heart is happy, being counted worthy to suffer for Christ, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When your good is spoken evil of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, or even defend yourself, but take it all in patient loving silence, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any annoyance; when you can stand face to face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility…. and endure it as Jesus endured it, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you are content with any food, any offering, any clothing, any climate, any society, any solitude, any interruption by the will of God, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, or to record your own good works, or itch after commendation, when you can truly love to be unknown, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you can see your neighbor prosper and have his needs met, and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and you are in desperate circumstances, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself, and can humbly submit inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up in your heart, THAT IS DYING TO SELF.

Are you dead yet?

There is a beautiful prayer in our Prayer Book that we could pray a lot these days.

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to You,

so guide our minds,

so fill our imaginations,

so control our wills, that we may be wholly Yours,

utterly dedicated to You;

and then use us, we pray, as You will,

and always to Your glory and the welfare of Your people;

through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.