Our readings today are very sacramentally focused and lead us to ask, why did the ancient Jewish people gather to worship? Why do we?
The answer is simple, and the same for both of us: to foster a sense of unity within the covenant community. In a covenanted community, both God and the people make promises. God promises to be present with us and to act to redeem all things until, ultimately, the will of God is happening on earth as it is in heaven. We promise to cling to God’s promises and to one another while God works that reality into being.
We also promise to be present for God just as God is present for us. It is by being present to God that we can discern God’s will for us and for the world - in each moment - as the big picture of God’s plan of redemption unfolds in earthly history. This takes faithful vigilance because since God is responsive to the world, God’s path forward will change and adapt, and we can only know the path of God by being continually present with God.
One of the most important and functional ways we remain present with God is through services of worship which use prayer and ritual. In the ancient world, services at the local synagogue offered sacrifices for atonement or peace, or festivals celebrating the stories of their redemption by God. They were gathering places for community events and education, and central not only to the religious and community life of the ancient people, but also where legal issues were judicated and the political life of the Jewish people was shaped.
The temple in Jerusalem remains an iconic earthly symbol of the unity of Jewish people everywhere. Each time the temple was destroyed it was devastating to the people but did not deter their moving forward in faith. The same might be said about our churches. We love them, tend to them, worship in them, but if destroyed, as happened to some of the churches in my former diocese of WNC, the people and their service to God continue on.
Worship, however, isn’t enough by itself to fulfill our part of the covenant with God. In the story from Isaiah, God is kinda yelling at the people, saying, ‘Don’t come and worship me while you continue to do evil.’ Evil here refers to dividing the people into two classes: the rich and powerful, and the poor and weak, with the rich class heaping heavy burdens and suffering on the poor, oppressing them.
God knows we are masters of defending the systems we create even when they oppress some among us, because we are benefitting. So, God invites the conversation, ‘let’s argue this out,’ and here is where God’s eternal promise is lifted up again: even though your sins are like scarlet, they shall become like snow… In other words, God will forgive us.
When we accept God’s forgiveness and amend our ways, we will live in peace and enjoy God’s abundance. When we don’t, we will be destroyed by the consequences of our own choices.
The Psalm repeats this message using a court metaphor where God is witnessing against the people of Israel who do not keep their part of the covenant. They forget God and in doing so, lose sight of their only path to redemption. But those who remain present with God will continually witness God’s redeeming love in action.
The letter to the Hebrews was written to early Jewish Christians who knew the stories of the faith of their Jewish ancestors. They could see the big picture of God’s plan of love and connect themselves to those promises fulfilled now in Jesus Christ. It is a beautiful exposition, clarifying that faith is living in expectation of the fulfilment of God’s promises, even though we may not see it happen during our time on earth.
The gospel of Luke was written about 60-70 years after the resurrection to a group of mostly Gentile Christians who were new to these stories and promises. This group of converts was being persecuted and the promised second coming seemed not to be coming at all.
Fear and doubt were creeping in and without a strong historical tether to the stories of their forbears in faith, they were becoming frightened. We can imagine then, how very comforting Jesus’ words were: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is God’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
The reign of God, or as our Scripture calls it, the kingdom of God, is both a ‘where’ - in heaven and earth, and a ‘when’ - all that was, and is, and is to come. It is a living, developing, eternal reality. The Greek word, βασιλεία, translates as God’s reign and control over the whole cosmos. It’s also the time when God’s will is being done on earth as it is in heaven.
As we look around at our world today, we see rampant destruction and escalating wars, starvation, appalling poverty and oppression, financial duplicity, and obsessive selfishness. It doesn’t look much like God’s βασιλεία yet, does it?
I’ve mentioned before that we live in a time called the “already, but not yet.” Jesus has already redeemed all creation for all time. It has already happened but is not yet complete.
We have been chosen to be partners with God to work toward the completion of this process, and we have work to do. Each of us has been created and gifted for our part in that work. In order to fulfill our purpose, we must choose to open our eyes to our gifts, then nurture and develop them so that God can use them to bring about the βασιλεία of God.
And Jesus offers us four (4) bits of advice on doing that…
1. Sell what you own. Jesus advises us to be unattached to any earthly thing that gives us security or identity. We can have them, but we can’t give them priority over God or neighbor. The test is: would we willingly detach from it if God asked us to?
2. Give to the poor. Money = power. Jesus calls us to use our power as he used his: humbling himself and giving his life for the sake of our redemption. Now we are to do the same for the sake of those who have no power: the refugee and immigrant, the poor who work and those who can’t or don’t, the mentally ill, people in the midst of war, our veterans who gave so much serving us, the hungry and oppressed here and around the world – the list is a long one . Give until no one has priority over or is esteemed better than anyone else. Be forewarned, though, the world doesn’t respect those who give up power. It panders to those who accumulate it.
3. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” This, Jesus tells us, is how we will know where we really are in our effort to love God, other, and self. What kind of wealth do we spend our time, attention, and gifts storing up? This is an especially difficult balance for a church which must have money in order to be a community who serves – but where is the focus? Is it on the church’s survival? Or is it on building and strengthening a community that prays, listens, and serves the needs of the world?
4. Jesus’ last bit of advice is a familiar Biblical theme: Be awake. Be ready. To illustrate this, Jesus tells the parable of the master (God) who shows up unexpectedly and - even more surprisingly - serves the one who serves, translated as slave (us). Be ready, Jesus says, because God will come to you - the one who serves - sit you down to eat, and serve you. I can’t think of a better description of our Holy Communion – if we’re awake to it – and we are called to be awake to it.
God chooses each one of us and calls us into this worshipping community to nourish us, strengthen us, and send us into the world to be co-creators of the βασιλεία of God, until everything is on earth as it is in heaven.
I close with a prayer from the Iona community. Let us pray.
[O God] For your love for us, compassionate and patient, which has carried us through our pain, wept beside us in our sin, and waited with us in our confusion. We give you thanks.For your love for us, strong and challenging, which has called us to risk for you, asked for the best in us, and shown us how to serve. We give you thanks.O God we come to celebrate that your Holy Spirit is present deep within us, and at the heart of all life. Forgive us when we forget your gift of love made known to us in our brother, Jesus, and draw us into your presence. Amen.
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