The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 11, 21 July 2019

“Balancing”

II Kings 5:2-24

Psalm 15

Colossians 1:15-28

St. Luke 10:38-42

INI

Disciples as Dependents

Two Sundays ago, in the Gospel reading we heard of Jesus sending out seventy disciples (a perfect number) to make people aware that the Kingdom of God was near to them. What is interesting in this sending out is that Jesus sends them out in a diminished state, dependent upon the hospitality of others. They were to accept what was set before them, taking the bare minimum in support of there bodily needs. In this, Jesus prepares his disciples with the discipline born in the wilderness, in the wanderings of Israel, and in the return of the exiles. The examples of this dependency help us to understand what it means to follow – to go into a new land or place, a situation to which God has called us. Clearly the focus is on where we have been sent, and the message that we bring to that place. So, it is no surprise that the disciple, no matter how high or low, are focused on the message.

What about those who provide for dependent messengers? And so, it is that three strangers appear in Abraham’s camp. That they were angels (messengers) is not important right away. Abraham takes the initiative and offers them hospitality – water for refreshment and bathing, a place to rest, and a bit of bread. Later there would be the luxuries of a meal – veal and milk curds. The bulk of the reading in the lectionary acquaints us with the details of Abraham and Sarah’s hospitality to the stranger. So, our focus is here first. 

In the Gospel we hear of Martha, who greets Jesus by the roadside in the village where she lived with her sister. Martha understands the rule of hospitality and invites Jesus, and presumably the other disciples, into her home. She quickly works to make that hospitality real, as she observes the ancient requirements of the road and wilderness. And she serves as an example to the disciples, preparing them for their duties as dependent disciples.

In the psalm for today, the author poses both a question and an answer that may guide us in our attention to the texts for this Sunday. The psalmist asks, “LORD, who will sojourn in Your tent, who will dwell on Your holy mountain?” In other words, who will be the dependent stranger seeking God’s hospitality? And then, just as quickly he or she provides the answer, “The one who walks blameless and does justice and speaks the truth in their heart.” The psalmist attempts to get at the heart of righteousness, as does Jesus as he guides his disciples amongst the people that they are sent to proclaim the kingdom to. 

Righteousness, it appears, was a common objective in the ancient world, and it was closely aligned not so much with the knowledge one had of the heavens and the gods as how one was responsible to fellow human beings. This week while perusing a new collection of Ancient Egyptian Literature[1], I chanced upon a monumental inscription from the tomb of Nefer-Seshem-Re, called Sheshi. In it he describes a righteous life.

“I judged between two so as to content them,

I rescued the weak from one stronger than he

As much as was in my power

I gave bread to the hungry, clothes,

I brought the boatless to land,

I buried him who had no son,

I made a boat for him who lacked one,

I respected my father, I pleased my mother,

I raised their children,”[2]

It is a grander view of hospitality than just food, drink, and rest. It is an attentiveness to the neighbor, much like we read about in the story of the Good Samaritan, last Sunday. Discipleship, it seems, is an attentiveness to all that encompasses our neighbor. The dependent disciples see the needs and dependencies of a fellow human being.

Disciples as Attentive

In the Divine Liturgy celebrated in the Orthodox Churches, the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, at the Gospel, there is a dialogue between priest, people, and deacon and people. It goes like this:

Priest:         Wisdom. Arise. Let us hear the Holy Gospel. Peace be with all.

People:        And with your spirit.

Deacon:      The reading is from the Holy Gospel according to (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John).

Priest:         Let us be attentive.

People:        Glory to You, O Lord, glory to You.[3]

The word that captures the moment for me is the priest’s injunction, “Let us be attentive. And with this we come to the second part of the Gospel for today.

The reverie about Martha’s hospitality, indeed Abraham’s and Sarah’s as well cannot last long. Jesus’ gently chides Martha about getting lost in her hospitality and focuses on Mary’s attentiveness to the message that Jesus is bringing. We have the same situation in the first reading. The strangers, after their sumptuous meal, bring the attention of their hosts to a promise that they bring (and here we discover them as angels, or as the Orthodox see it, the Godhead itself). They call Abraham and Sarah’s attention to the message, the promise that they bring, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a sun.” This is a big surprise to the woman who thought herself barren and to the man who though he would have no heir. The message is of hope – the Kingdom of God is near.

What would I like for you to take home with you today? It is simply that following Jesus, being a disciple of his is a delicate balance of these two aspects: hospitality and attentiveness to the message all done in the ancient virtues of righteousness. The righteousness God provides to us, for God sees us righteous beings, objects of God’s love. The other two aspects are our responsibility. We see both these elements in our liturgy – examples of what life must be like for those who follow Jesus. Hospitality in the Eucharist, and attentiveness to the message, the Gospel. As you continue to walk into the future, I hope that these elements will inform the steps you plan to take. If these elements were a reality, a virtue in our country and in our society our times might be different. 

It won’t be easy. Sarah laughed at the promise, and I am certain that Martha and countless other women who have been marginalized by the church were offended and diminished. Our giving to the stranger, our attentiveness to the stranger, our good news for the stranger, this is what Jesus has asked us to give.

SDG

---

[1]     Lichtheim. M. ed. (2019), Ancient Egyptian Literature, University of California Press, Berkeley

[2]     Ibid, page 49f.

[3]     https://www.goarch.org/-/the-divine-liturgy-of-saint-john-chrysostom

The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 9, 7 July 2019

Preaching at Saint Mark's Church, Berkeley, California
The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 9
7 July 2019

“Sent”

II Kings 5:2-24

Isaiah 66:10-14

Psalm 66:10-14

Galatians 6: [1-6[ 7-16

St. Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

INI

Sent as an invalid

In the revised common lectionary, which we use here, during the period of Ordinary Time (you can tell when that is when the altar is adorned with green) there are optional readings for every Sunday. Track One’s first reading is a continuous reading out of the Hebrew Scriptures, the idea being that over time you would hear the continuity of the biblical witness. The same technique is used with the second reading that moves in continuous fashion through the Pauline corpus. Track One is not used here, at least in my experience. Track Two has the same second reading and gospel as Track One, but the first reading is thematically matched with that of the gospel for the day. This morning, however, the first reading from Track One is so important to our purposes this morning, that I have asked xxxx to read it to you now.

II Kings 5:1-14

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. And the king of Aram said, "Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel."

He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, "When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy." When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me."

But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel." So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and halted at the entrance of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean." But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, "I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?" He turned and went away in a rage. But his servants approached and said to him, "Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, `Wash, and be clean'?" So, he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

So then, what is the point of having you hear this familiar story of the Aramean general who was asked to go wash in the Jordan? Part of it might be the role of the young woman, a captive and slave of the Arameans, who none-the-less not only does not abandon her religion but risks in the midst of a precarious situation by inserting herself into her master’s intimate problems. She recommends her religious holy man, Elisha, as a possible solution to the general’s dilemma – his having some sort of dread skin disease. I could go on how her example might be an example to all of us in our need to share what it is we believe with those who need healing or by being someone to listen to their needs. There is more than this, however, in this reading.

It’s really quite minor, but it also serves as an example to us. The general is sent (the Greek verb here is apostellofrom which we get the word “apostle”) he is sent to do a simple thing. Elisha directs him to wash in the Jordan River. There are objections, because he insists that his own national waters are just as good as, if not superior to the Jordan. Does this sound familiar. Again, his servants take a risk, and remind him of the simple task that he has been given. 

Sometimes, when we are ill or in the need of healing, we are asked to do a simple thing, but our pride gets in the way. That is what is happening to a friend of mine at this point in his life. The simple needs of reordering life so that he might become healthy are made difficult by his pride, or perhaps his denial. Thus, the healing is prolonged by an emotional response to what is needed.

Sent to a difficult place

Sometimes we are sent to difficult places to not only be healed but to heal as well. Jesus asks seventy of his disciples to go out and to announce the Gospel, to heal not only themselves but others with the Good News. He sends them out diminished, without anything but the most basic of necessities. He sends them to places that will receive them, and places that will not. He sends them to people who will listen, and to people who will turn away. He sends them out as beggars and homeless! We don’t know that in our culture, where monks, religious, and clergy live quite well. In Asia it’s a different story, where the sight of a begging monk is common and expected. Thus, it’s a difficult sending out for some of us, taking so little for the task.

And, as we learned last Sunday, sometimes the sending to a difficult place is a difficult situation being sent to us. What that troubled young woman asked for were the essential parts of our faith. “Give me some water!” And when we responded with the water one would drink it soon became clear that she was talking about baptismal water – water that heals. Later it was another demand, “Where’s the bread and wine?” Again, more than food but rather a healing meal. It was a healing that we could not accomplish – others would be more equipped to do that. Perhaps, though, it was a healing for us – a realization that we have things here that people need. Water for healing, bread and wine to assuage spiritual hunger – these are common things for us. 

The seventy come back from their mission boasting at their success in casting out demons. Jesus will have none of it. He says, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” The spirits don’t seem to submit to us all the time, or in the manner we think that they should. Sometimes words of peace given to a troubled soul are lost on that soul. But you, your name is written in heaven. Again, I think Maria had an understanding of this. “Call me by my name; say my name!” The demand was not unfamiliar with the faith and her status before God. Her name is written in heaven as well as yours and mine.

Sent as a healer

I’d like to look at the real first reading for this morning, the reading from Third Isaiah, in which he pictures Jerusalem as a nursing mother – a provider of nourishment but who has her own needs. God is aware of her needs, our needs, Maria’s needs, the guy on the sidewalk’s needs. “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.” It was our world that visited us last Sunday, sick, needy, forsaken, yearning, angry, and comfortless. The question that we need to ask is, “Is this place, is this Jerusalem, the mother to those who are needy?” If we are apostles, then we are “sent ones” sent to heal and to comfort. God knows there is plenty of opportunity. I think we are sent to give witness to the call that Christians have to heal and to dare to heal in a world that seems to have turned its face away from what Christ has asked us to be. 

Isaiah, unlike many in our culture, sees the city as a place of salvation and healing. “You shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” The doing of that will be difficult and wrenching at times. So perhaps we are called to heal one another as we struggle with our being sent out to the difficult places of our time. The young girl in Aram, Namaan, Elisha, the Seventy, the whole of Jerusalem all saw the challenge of being God’s agent and God’s good news in times that were challenging and difficult. So, let us wash ourselves in the remembrance of our baptism. Let us be fed with the body and blood of Christ, and let us continue to be sent, to ourselves, to our neighbors, to our supposed enemies. Let us be sent to all that God has shown to us as the plentiful harvest.

SDG