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Pentecost 19 Proper 23A October 11, 2020

Posted on October 11, 2020 by Beth Crane

Exodus 32:1-14
Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23
Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 22:1-14

In our first reading today, Moses is spending a great deal of the time on the mountain receiving the law from God. The people get upset about Moses’ long absence and ask Aaron to make them a God. Aaron collects all their gold earrings and makes a calf. God sees this and tells Moses that he needs to go down the mountain and set things right, referring to the people as “your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt.” God tells Moses to let God alone so that God can “consume them,” and then God promises to make Moses “a great nation.”

Moses’ response is worth our notice. The  text says, “But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, ‘O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you  brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?” Moses makes several more wise comments and then reminds God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom God promised descendants as numerous as the stars and the sands of the earth.

In reference to God’s anger, Biblical scholar Beverly Zink-Sawyer writes,  “Rather than instilling within us fear of a vengeful, angry God,… these characteristics should comfort us with the realization that we, indeed, have been made in the image of a God who feels as deeply as we have been created to feel—and feels not only the negative emotions of anger and disappointment expressed in the text, but positive emotions such as love and forgiveness.”  (Zink-Sawyer, New Proclamation Year A 2008, p. 224.

What struck me this year was Moses’ ability to calm God down, remind God that God, not Moses, had brought God’s people out of slavery in Egypt, and help God to remember that God had promised to Abraham and his descendants that God would make them as numerous as the stars. In a time when people believed that you could not see God or even be near God and live, Moses shows amazing courage and presence of mind.

Edwin Friedman was a rabbi and a family therapist who worked with families and organizations around the world. One of his major ideas is that leaders should provide a “non-anxious presence.” Moses certainly does that in this passage. Biblical scholar Shauna K. Hannan says that we have often referred to this story as “the ‘golden calf’ incident,” and suggests that we might want to give it the title, “God changes God’s mind at the request of Moses.”  (Hannan, New Proclamation Year A 2011, p. 183.)

Our gospel for today is extraordinarily challenging. Professor Hannan says that Martin Luther called this parable “the terrible gospel which  he did not like to preach.” (Ibid, p. 185.) Luke’s version of this parable is far more popular. The king sends his servants out to invite people. The prospective guests give excuses but no one is beaten or killed. The king finally invites everyone, the lame, the halt, and the blind, and the message of God’s inclusiveness is clear.

Matthew’s gospel was written around 90 C.E., and his community was made up of Jewish people who had become followers of Jesus. The injuring and killing of the slaves refers to the treatment of the prophets and of Christian missionaries. The burning of the city is a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 C.E. When the king sends the slaves out to invite everyone to the banquet, that symbolizes the opening of the new faith to the Gentiles. God’s kingdom is open to everyone.

But then there is the  portion that does not appear in Luke’s gospel. Scholars tell us that wedding garments were easily available and that almost everyone had one. In addition, these garments were often passed out to guests. So, this is not an issue of what the guest was wearing. The point is that God graciously and generously invites all people into God’s kingdom. But, when we accept God’s  invitation, we need to have the proper attitude. God’s love, grace, and mercy are great gifts to us, and we are called to accept those gifts with gratitude, openness, and faithfulness. Matthew is telling us that this man did not have the right attitude.

In today’s new testament lesson, Paul is showing his deep love for the congregation in Philippi. He has known these people for a long time. He urges Euodia and Syntyche to resolve whatever their difference has been. We do not know exactly what it was, but we do know that we are called to be of one mind in Christ. Scholars tell us that these two women were leaders in the congregation, and their oneness in Christ was crucial to the health of the community.

Paul also calls us to “rejoice in the Lord always,” not an easy thing do in the days of Covid 19, but essential to our faith. He also calls us to be gentle to everyone. Gentleness is one of the fruits of the Spirit. He reminds us that “the Lord is near.” As near as our breath. We can reach out and touch our beloved Good Shepherd who is leading and guiding us. Paul calls us not to worry but to pray. If we are worried about something, we need to pray about it and put it into the hands of God.

And then he writes, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Whatever we have learned from our dearest teachers about God and Jesus and the Spirit, Paul is calling us to think about these things. 

One of the most powerful things he mentions is that when we are worried, we should pray. If we’re worried abut a friend or a relative; if we are deeply troubled about all the people who are dying of this virus; if we are worried about the strife in our country; if we are worried about kids, teachers, administrators, and staff returning to school—all these are things we are called to pray about.

God’s kingdom is open to all. May we have an attitude of trust and gratitude. The risen Christ is in our midst. May we follow him every step of the way. Amen.

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Pentecost 19 Proper 23 October 15, 2017

Posted on October 15, 2017 by Beth Crane

Exodus 32:1-14
Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23
Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 22:1-14

In our opening reading, Moses has gone up on the mountain to speak with God, and the people decide to make the infamous golden calf. Once again, we need to keep in mind that, in the early days of our human acquaintance with God, sometimes we attributed to God the worst of human characteristics. In this case, God becomes very angry and Moses has to calm God down.

Often in the Old Testament, God appears as what I call a bad parent, reacting in a childish or violent way to the bad behavior of God’s people. But this passage makes clear our human tendency to veer off the path and turn to idols of various kinds.

Our reading from Paul’s powerful letter to the Church in Philippi has many truths to tell us. “Rejoice in the Lord always,” Paul writes. “”Let your gentleness be known to everyone.” When we are deeply aware of the presence of God in our lives, when we are able to rejoice in God’s presence, we are more able to remain grounded and gentle. Paul also says, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” The shalom of Christ, his peace within us and his vision of shalom for the creation, enfold us in Christ’s love and fill us with the grace to enable us to live into his vision of shalom.

I want to take time today to focus on this very challenging gospel. Luke’s gospel has the story of the wedding feast, but it is more straightforward and has fewer complications than Matthew’s version. Let us see if we can bring some clarity to this passage.

A king is giving a wedding banquet for his son. He sends his slaves to those who are invited. The first thing we need to say is that we now know that holding slaves is not acceptable. Those on the guest list do not respond properly. Some of them go off and do other things, and the rest hurt and kill the messengers. Scholars tell us that Matthew’s community was a Jewish community which had tried to reach out to the synagogue and met with great resistance and even violence. They were inviting folks to follow Jesus and there was conflict, even violence.

So now the king tells the messengers to go out and invite everybody to the wedding banquet. We now know that Jesus invites everyone to the feast. But there is one person who does not have the proper wedding garment. Scholars tell us that this has nothing to do with literal garments. It isn’t that this poor fellow didn’t have a tuxedo or that he couldn’t afford to have decent clothing.

Scholars tell us that the wedding garment symbolizes our attitude to our Lord’s invitation. Do we have the proper attitude and do our actions match our words? Biblical scholar Charles Cousar writes that the wedding garment symbolizes “[doing} the will of my Father in heaven,” (Matthew 7:21) and having “a righteousness [that] “exceeds that of the scribes and the pharisees” (Matthew 5:20), producing “the fruits of the kingdom.” (Matthew 21:43.) All are expressions to identify the consistency between speech and life, words and deeds, that is appropriate for those who call Jesus “Lord.” The garment represents authentic discipleship and the parable prods the audience to self-criticism lest they find themselves among the “bad,” who are finally judged.  (Cousar, Texts for Preaching Year A, pp. 523-24.)

This is a challenging gospel. This past Tuesday, we had a clergy gathering at Trinity, Rutland. Almost all of the clergy were present. The title of the gathering was “Racial Reconciliation— Acknowledgement.” Acknowledgement is the first stage in our recognition, that, as white people, we have what is called “white privilege.” Our lives have been much easier than the lives of persons of color because of our white privilege. The other thing that we have is called “white innocence,” which means that we deny the existence of white privilege and thereby deny the existence of racism.

I have already sent to you the email which Bishop Tom sent to us as we prepared for this day. The email had readings and other resources which I hope you will feel free to use. Among them is the book Tears We Cannot Stop, by Michael Eric Dyson. This is a wrenching book which tells a truth we may be reluctant to accept.

Another resource is the RACE Implicit Bias Test. There is a link to that on the email. This is a test developed at Harvard University. It is a real eye opener. You are all welcome to take this test.

We also had two speakers. One of them is the Rev. Arnold Thomas, who is serving at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Underhill and has previously served as Executive Minister of the Vermont United Church of Christ. The other speaker was Shela Linton, a founding member of the Root in Brattleboro.

One thing that is clear from our speakers and from the resources on the list, is that racism is very present in our country and in Vermont.

This includes our migrant workers here in Vermont.

For me this means that, if I am to be wearing a proper wedding garment, I must be about the work I know Jesus is calling me to do, and as our 78th General Convention calls all of us to do, which is, “to find more effective and productive ways to respond to racial injustice as we love our neighbors as ourselves, respect the dignity of every human being, and transform unjust structures of society.” I hope and pray that we will all make a commitment to this work.

Blessed Lord, our Shepherd and Savior, give us the grace to be authentic disciples. Give us the courage to make our deeds match our words. Give us the creative holy energy to help you to build your shalom. Amen.

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