Sermon for Epiphany 4B
Judy
Dear Friends,
This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “No Matter How Hard Life Gets, God Is in Charge!” or “Rough Side of the Mountain” and deals with the epistle (Acts 10:34-38). Here it is:
2015 is not off to a good start. It seems like every time I turn on the television set, I hear of another shooting. the world’s economy seems to be falling apart, more shooting; schools closing; the jobless rate going down, but few jobs are in our area and Stars doesn’t run at night and on week-ends; ISIS has beheaded many innocent people, two recently; and citizens are afraid to drink the water from one of Michigan’s prime cities- Flint. Top executives getting huge bonuses and workers have stagnant wages. In other words, the rich are getting richer and everyone else is getting poorer! And then- from a personal perspective, Fr. Bill died after a long, struggling, painful lingering! You know the old statement that goes: “There are only two things you can count on in life- death and taxes.” Well, I can put it a better way. “There are only two things you can count on in life: life is hard and God is in charge!” Even after all the tragedies I just mentioned- there’s no question that life is hard. Those of us who’ve walked through the valleys also know that GOD IS IN CHARGE. These two truths are what I’d like us to focus on this morning, and I’d like us to explore what today’s Bible lessons have to say to us about them.
The first truth is the pure reality that life is hard and loss is inevitable. We parents and grandparents try so hard to shield our beloved children from the roughness of living, but anyone who’s lived a while really knows this is true. Through much of our lives, we find ourselves climbing up the rough side of the mountain- as the song says. Today’s Bible lessons speak to two of the difficulties we all face in life. The Old Testament scripture tells how Moses, who has led the Israelites forty years through the dessert, will not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. Another prophet, Joshua, will lead them in, and Moses will die after being allowed to look at the Promised Land from a distance. Moses’ situation is much like that of Dr. King- he went to the mountain top, he saw the Promised Land, but he died before he could enter it. Anyone old enough to remember the grief when Dr. King was shot? I remember- it was the day before my birthday, and it seemed like everyone I knew grieved for a long time. That must have been how the Israelites felt- huge grief over losing their leader of 40 plus years. No question about it- life is hard, and loss, with its accompanying grief, is inevitable.
Another way life is hard is that it is unfair. Both the Old Testament reading and the epistle show us people of God who are dealing with this painful reality. Do you remember how unfair Dr. King’s murder was? We’ve seen many episodes of war on television; in fact our own country is responsible for the disastrous Iraq war that ended a few years ago. Disregarding any specific war- just consider the unfairness of all the innocent people who are killed or wounded. Another kind of unfairness is shown in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. Do you know anyone who is interested in exerting his or her own rights at the expense of others? Examples- I can play my stereo as loud as I want- it’s my right! Or- I don’t care if you are on trying to give up smoking (or on a diet, or whatever), I can eat, drink, smoke anything I want. It’s my right. Well, the Corinthians were like that. They were divided- Jewish Christians against Gentile Christians about eating meat. In their society, the best place to buy really good meat was at the pagan temple, because after the animal had been sacrificed to idols, it was sold. The problem was- Jewish Christians knew idols were nothing, so they had no problem eating meat that had been sacrificed to a nothing, i.e. an idol. Many gentile Christians, on the other hand, had actually been part of that worship before they were saved, and they felt really uncomfortable having anything to do with that temple or those idols- even if the idols were really nothing at all. When they couldn’t resolve their problem, they wrote to Paul. You heard his response. He assured the Jewish Christians that they were correct- they really did have the right to eat whatever they chose, including meat offered to idols. After saying that, he shifted gears from “rights” to “love.” He told them that they did NOT have the right to weaken the faith of a person for whom Christ died. He concluded by saying in verse 13, “So if I hurt one of the LORD'S followers by what I eat, I will never eat meat as long as I live.” So much for rights. Life is not fair. No matter how unfairly we are treated, as Jesus’ followers- we are expected to carry our cross and do what is best for others.
We’ve seen two examples (out of many that we could use) that life is hard. What about the other truth- that God is in charge? How can we claim the power that comes from this sure knowledge? First- let’s look at what it doesn’t mean. When we say that God is in charge, does it always mean that all we have to do is pray and God will make our troubles and hardships go away. Sometimes it does mean that, and we get a miracle; but what about when we don’t? What about when that person we love (like Fr. Bill) suffers mightily for a long time before they die, or that leader (like Moses or Dr. King) is taken from us? What about when the diagnosis is inoperable cancer and it continues to progress? What about when our loved ones are in the way of those bullets? What if when we pray for peace, instead our sinful world or city or neighborhood erupts into war? If you’ve walked with the Lord, you already know the answer. Sometimes God expects us to strengthen our faith by walking hand-in-hand with him through the valley as in the 23rd Psalm, even when it’s the valley of the shadow of death. In times like that, his promise in Romans 8 is absolutely true: “There is NOTHING that can separate you from my love.” By ourselves- we would crumble, but with the Lord, the Word, the Sacraments, the Church- nothing can crush our spirits. That’s one way God is in charge.
The Gospel shows another way God is in charge- by using Satan’s worst tricks to the advantage of the Kingdom. Today’s gospel tells of a man who had been afflicted by evil for much of his life- truly a tragic waste of human potential. What did Jesus do? By healing the possessed man, he proclaimed his Lordship so many could come to know him as Lord! That kind of spiritual karate is what God expects us to do. When you are faced with evil- whatever it is; redirect the negative energy into positive energy and get something good out of it for yourself or someone else. Has someone treated you unjustly? Take it to the Lord in prayer, then figure how to get justice for yourself and other people. Do you have a habit that threatens to enslave you? Take it to the Lord in prayer, then get healing for yourself and learn to be an instrument of healing for others. Even facing sickness and death, touch lives with your faith and spiritual power, like I can testify Fr. Bill did. Don’t ever waste trouble. The worse it is, the more we must get good out of it.
So- two things are sure in life: life is hard and God is in charge. Let’s close by bowing our heads and praying together the Prayer of St. Francis on page 833 of the Book of Common Prayer. It is number 62. Let us pray.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .
Blessed preaching,
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan