Twelfth Pentecost

             August 19, 2007

       Many colleges and universities will begin the fall semester this week, followed quickly by public and private schools.  It is always a busy and exciting time.  Remember all of them in your prayers this week and beyond.  I did want to tell you about the first day of college some time back, the name of which shall remain anonymous, and the opening address by the Dean of Students.  He wanted to point out some of the rules.  The Dean said, “The female dormitory will be out-of-bounds for all male students after 11:00 PM and the male dormitory will be out-of-bounds for all female students after 11:00 PM.  Anybody caught breaking this rule will be fined $20 for the first offense.”  He went on to say, “Anyone caught breaking this rule the second time will be fined $60.  Being caught a third time will cost you $180.  Are there any questions?”

     A male student in the back of the room raised his hand and asked, “How much for a season pass?”

     At least he wasn’t being hypocritical about it.

    Have you noticed the number of times Jesus used that word “hypocrite?”  The meaning in the Greek is that one is being an actor.  Being hypocritical simply means one lacks authenticity, a basic lack of honesty between words and actions.  It is central to my understanding of Jesus the Christ to say that hypocrisy was not a part of his mission, ministry, and message.  Jesus never promised to eliminate the problems from the lives of people who believed in him.  The “health and wealth” message of this modern age is hypocritical.  He did not guarantee would-be disciples a worry-free existence or harmonious relationships.  The “we really are all the same” folks are being hypocritical.  He did not say there would be no inner turmoil and heartache, no anguish of soul.  Even less did Jesus promise physical health, material prosperity (which is not the same thing as “showers of blessings”), or respectability within the society of fellow human beings.  Wanting your presidential candidate to be a good Christian is an invitation to hypocrisy.

     In Luke’s telling of the Good News, appointed for today, we hear the real cost of discipleship.  The only promise is an abiding presence in the midst of trouble, not the elimination of troubles.  The promise is that if we choose to yoke ourselves to him, the burden is made bearable, not that burdens become non-existent.  The promise is that in the church or community of faith where the truth is told as best it can be we find comfort, nurture, forgiveness, positive relationships, and challenges and opportunities to make spiritual progress day by day.   

     What I pray we do not find, today or in the future, in this or any other church is a place where our prejudices and stereotypes find validation and confirmation.  Rest assured; if that happens, the church is failing to do its job in this world.

     In Holy Scripture, particularly in the Gospels, there is not an obvious progression from trouble to triumph, from distress to success, for those who live by faith Jesus the Christ.  What it comes down to is this; life if not made easier, if easier means pain-free, struggle-free, carefree, or crisis-free, by having faith in Jesus the Christ.

     Jesus’ coming into the world and our coming to him in faith is like a sword.  That sword slices at the false sense of security that comes from complacency and conformity.  That sword cuts the fetters of poverty and ignorance and asks those who would be his followers to remember there is only one Gospel and it is filled to overflowing with social implications.  It is that sword upon which we impale ourselves when we willingly adjust our values and personal code of conduct to accommodate the massive injustices and inequalities in the world that helps make possible so many of the advantages we enjoy.

     His coming into the world and our coming to him in faith are like a sword that whittles away at self-satisfaction and false allegiances and our earthbound aspirations.  That sword slices away our self-serving projects and our idol worship that puts things ahead of people and profit before the sanctity of persons.

     I don’t particularly like it and you may not either, but there is something shattering in the call of Jesus the Christ that puts in jeopardy the structures, the boundaries, and barriers we have constructed about us.  There is fierceness about Christ’s call to discipleship that we sometimes seek to suppress.  We are tempted to accept half-truths about Jesus the Christ and what his invitation to discipleship means for the way we live our lives.  We sometimes forget that discipleship means we no longer do as we please, but as Jesus the Christ pleases.

     The one who said, “Peace I leave with you; my own peace I give to you…”  That Jesus we know and accept readily.  But, the Jesus who said, “Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division!”  What of that Jesus?  Those words seem so foreign to us, so discomforting.  We may be tempted to ask, “Where is the good news in that?”  I simply remind us all that before the good news can comfort, it must offend.

     I would like to submit that Jesus the Christ does not come into our lives merely to supplement a basically satisfactory life.  It that’s all he was sent to do in this earthly life I doubt the authorities would have found it necessary and expedient to crucify him.  He was killed precisely because he called into question the values, teaching, and traditions that were considered foundational to the political and religious hierarchy of his day.  Sadly, many today would just as soon crucify him again because he calls into question much of what is considered foundational to the political and religious hierarchy of our own day.  We give tacit approval when we persist in cheapening what his coming into the world was intended to do in and us and, thereby, in and the world for which he died.

     It is absolutely true that God in Christ desires that we know peace.  But, the far greater desire is that we know glory.  For that to happen our faith, firmly grounded in the person, mission, ministry, and message of Jesus the Christ gives us peace, but it is a peace that first disturbs.  It is a peace that only comes from seeking and striving to fulfill the will of God in our lives.  That is done one day at a time.  No season pass will be issued.  Amen.

             ~The Rev. G. Thomas Mustard