Saturday, July 26, 2008

Pentecost 11 Year A Sermon

Pentecost 11 Year A Matthew13:31-33. 44-52 July 27, 2008 The Rev.Benton Quest

Some of you told me that you were raised Roman Catholic, but the question is; “How many of you went to Catholic school?”

Ok, now those of you who went to Catholic school, how many of you had to read “The Lives of the Saints”?

Yep, when I was in school, I had to read these stories, and I must say, I really didn’t mind reading about the lives of the saints. It was kind of cool! These people doing all kinds of miraculous things. Meeting the devil in a carriage. Healing people. Seeing visions! It was cool! And I know that these stories were supposed to be examples to us and to challenge us to be better people. But I actually found that they did the opposite. Yes, they were exciting stories. And yes, they captivated my young mind. But I always thought, “What’s the use? God only selects certain people for the ‘Big Stuff’ and the rest of us are destined to go through a pretty boring life.”

Really, how many of us have actually ran into Satan? I am sure we all know a few people we could claim to be the devil incarnate, but the real thing, smell of fire and brimstone and all that? Or, how many of us have put on a pair of gloves and take them off only to find we have leprosy? And then put the glove back on and when we took them off again the leprosy is gone?

Me neither.

That is the problem with these stories; they are interesting, but they are so far beyond our usual life experience that we can usually disregard them. For the vast majority of us, performing spontaneous healings or getting mystical revelations is something that will probably never happen. These events make for interesting stories, but they really have no bearing on our lives.

So, what is up with us normal people? How do we fit in the plan of God? For the most part, we will never do anything that will get us on the evening news, let alone get a church or a cathedral named after us. For most of us, we probably will never do anything that would earn us the title of “Saint.”

So if we cannot fill the usual definition of saint, does that does not mean that we are to just give up and float through life? Does that mean that our lives are any less important than Augustine, or Paul, or Barnabus; those folks with the letters “ST” in front of their name? Of course not. Our scripture readings for today give us a sense of how we are to approach the world and how we can change the world.

We have six parables in today’s gospel reading that tell us what the kingdom of heaven is like. The one thing that strikes me about all of these parables is that the person who is the main actor is not really doing anything extraordinary. These people are doing simple things like making bread, walking in a field or planting a seed. Not huge miraculous things like those recorded in the Lives of the Saints. Jesus presents us with a vision of God’s kingdom that is very attainable by us all. This is not just for the ultra-pious, this for everyone.

What Jesus is telling us is that we are called to be about our lives. We are called to do the things that we normally do. But that is not all of it, we are also called to be living our lives for the kingdom of God. This means that we are to be living our lives mindful of God. For some folks, this might mean spending hours in prayer and totally dedicating one’s life to God, and these folks would probably come close to the saints we read about as children. But for most of us, we are to live keeping our attention focused on God. The kingdom of God was not compared to a woman sitting in temple hearing the teaching of the rabbi; the kingdom was compared to a woman at work, making bread. The kingdom was not likened to a fisherman praying on the Sabbath, the kingdom was compared to a net being thrown into the water. Yes, coming to church, prayer, spiritual discipline, and being part of a worshipping community is important, but what is more important is being out in the world and living our lives for the kingdom.

This may not always be easy. I know that often I feel I fall short of this ideal. This is where I take comfort in what we have heard in today’s reading from Romans. We are reminded that we are not left alone in this process but the Holy Spirit travels with us as we go through our lives. The Holy Spirit travels with us. The Holy Spirit prays for us in our weakness. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God. Throughout our ups and downs, the Holy Spirit travels with us and protects us.

Paul tells us in the reading that all things work together for good for those who love God and all called according to God’s purpose. That is a pretty big assurance. ALL things work for good. This is what we need to remember because from our point of view, it may not look like all is working for good.

We have seen a couple of weeks ago how God’s love is being spread throughout the world. And we considered last week how even though we may all have been considered weeds at one time or another, God still loves us and wants us to care for each other. Now we hear that we are being called to bring about the kingdom of God. Whatever we are able to do, we are to be out there doing it.

One of my favorite stories about Mother Theresa involves her desire to build an orphanage. Even though she wanted to build one, everyone she knew told her that all that she had was two cents to her name. Her response was, “Well, with my two cents and the grace of God, we will build an orphanage!”

I think we so often just get stuck looking at our two cents. We forget that our two cents exists within the context of the love of God and the intervention of the Holy Spirit. We look at the world around us and assume that what we see is all there is. We limit ourselves because we lack the trust that through God, all things work together for good. We forget that the one who raised Jesus from the dead is there, intervening for us even when we are too weak to intervene for ourselves.

Where are you being called to bring the kingdom? Do you feel the tug to spread God’s love through your home, workplace, or neighborhood? Where do you feel the Holy Spirit leading you?

Remember, the Mother Theresa’s, the Gandhi’s, the St. Augustine’s, were people just like you and me. They were people who sensed the call of God and answered in faith. The saints are not some special sort of human. Saints are people who heard the call and answered. The question is not IF you are called, trust me, you are called. The question is how you will answer the call that God is sending into your life.

It does not take some special to follow Jesus, it just takes faith. Well, faith and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But we have been promised that the Spirit is there, interceding. Now we just need to go out and live in the courage of our calling.

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