Sermon for the 3rd Sunday after Easter, May 3, 2009
“Y e shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. ”
MY WAY or God's way? That is a question I have to answer correctly, or I will be a long way from the object of my desire. We have things we don't want and we want things we don't have. Which are the things that are worth our time, our love, our very lives? Life is confusing. The world is very confused right now. The way everything is presented to us in the media, our entertainment, our schools, the public sector: they are not according to our expectations, our values, the truths we've always known. The world is upside down, and many people have accommodated themselves to it, but we see it as being wrong. Are we seeing it our way or God's way? We will never know, until we get everything in order.
A wealthy old man died and left a fabulous collection of oil paintings by famous artists, mostly impressionists. Cezanne, Matisse, Renoir, even a Van Gogh graced the walls of his estate, and the art world was all astir the day the collection was to go at auction. Dealers, anxious relatives, art fanciers all vied for seats and made ready their bids on the highly prized pieces. The auction began, but first with a rather amateurish painting by an unknown artist, a portrait of the dead man's son, who had died young in a tragedy. The buyers were impatient. No one bid on this worthless painting. “Do I hear $2,000? $1500? $1000? Will anyone start the bidding at $500? $200?” No one offered anything for it. “Who will give me $30? $20?” This was a waste of time, an insult to the wonderful offerings that had yet to be named for sale. Finally, a simply dressed man, the old man's gardener it would be discovered, offered $10 for the memory of the son he knew was close to the heart of his former employer. “That, ladies and gentlemen, concludes the auction!” cried the auctioneer. When a commotion ensued, he explained. “The owner of these paintings made it a provision of his will that only the one painting, that of his son, be auctioned, although this fact was to remain a secret until after it was purchased. The remainder of his collection which you see here is to go to whoever bought the portrait of his son.”
What we value and what is truly valuable may not be the same thing at all. Certainly we've found that out in growing from a child to adulthood, from youth to middle age. Our dreams change. The values of our relationships change. For some, the simple things become sufficient, and dear and close people fill our world with all the love we will ever need. For others, besotted with lust and greed for things in this world, everything is pointless and empty, because their jaded lives have never been fulfilled with anything that truly satisfies for very long. The order of things in heaven will be an entirely different thing altogether. And the order God places on things is the true order. Wouldn't it be better to know what God thinks is valuable?
Jesus said, “The first shall be last, and the last first.” He challenged the order of Jewish rules and regulations, placing people before the Sabbath laws. He set 99 sheep aside and sought out the one that was lost. He filled the banquet hall with tramps and strangers rather than let one seat be available to his ungrateful former friends. He came into Judea and Galilee and turned their world upside down. A carpenter's son from nowhere seems to think he's Messiah! Who is he to call the priests whitewashed tombs, and King Herod a sly fox? The priests had Jesus killed to set thing back in order, the order they were comfortable with.
The phrase “in order” comes several times in the Bible. Notably, it is sprinkled throughout the sacrificial instructions of Moses, that animal offerings were to be bled, cut in certain ways, and laid in order on the wood of the altar for burning or cooking. Once in a while, a king is told that his death is near, as Isaiah told Hezekiah, “Thus says the Lord : ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'” Isaiah 38:1 Getting your affairs in order seems a prelude to dying, though it's a good idea for any adult Christian at any time. St. Luke began his Gospel account addressed to Theophilus, “to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word.” Luke 1:1-2 And St. Paul admonishes his young churches that “all things be done decently and in order.” 1 Cor 14:40
Today's Collect asks God that all who are members of His Church “may avoid those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same:” Prayer Book language for getting our values and beliefs in order. St. Peter's Epistle admonishes us to get rid of fleshly lusts that war against our souls, submit to the laws of the land, and not be rebellious, honor the king, fear God. Get things right. At last, Jesus advises His disciples at the Last Supper “that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy… ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.”
What looks terrible to us today may in time become our most prized possession and fabulous source of wealth. The kingdom of heaven never looks like heaven from outside. If it did, the wealthy, the powerful, the highly placed and influential would rush to get inside before anyone else might. They would probably prohibit our even getting close to the door, and stake it out as their own possession. Christianity looks to worldly eyes like the wishful thinking of fools. We worship a dead man, sing stupid songs, spend valuable time looking into space, our eyes closed, our hands folded, entranced by the familiar words of hope that no one can prove this side of the grave. Sundays would be better spent working on your putting, or trimming the lawn, or firing up the barbecue, or just sleeping in. Why anyone wants to dress up and go downtown to church is beyond them, but that's because it looks upside down to them, backwards, inside out, funny and just a waste of time. And let's face it: we've all been there, at least at one juncture of our lives, looking at Christians and wincing at their foolishness.
A friend of mine told me this week that he was in high school before anyone told him that Jesus is alive . They told him that the Bible wouldn't make sense to him until he prayed for Jesus to become his personal Lord and Savior, and to receive the Holy Spirit into himself. When he did, the Bible opened to him and he's been reading it ever since, 39 years. He is a pastor today.
The way to heaven is often not high, it's low . We look down at it and we may scoff at the simpletons who humble themselves to such a path. For as far as we may see, from the outside, that path stays humiliatingly low—confessing sins, renouncing former lifestyles, giving up unworthy relationships, bad habits, selfish desires, prideful aspirations. It looks like death. The party's over. The Christians have to give up all the fun stuff. Who needs that?
But what's the real story? Why do we walk this road? What is truly stirring in our hearts when we kneel and we pray, look up to heaven, lips moving, eyes closed? The beginning of this journey is often a profound experience of the Reality of God. He just IS . No doubt. No other explanation. He comes suddenly and moves into our view and He can't be denied. It may be while reading the words of Jesus, or seeing a sunset, or viewing a miracle. But God comes and you can't ignore that He is alive, powerful, loving, and insistent that you come with Him. That demands a change, a break in your old ways. In truth, it means doing a lot of business with Him to set in order what you've done amiss up to this point, and to depart from all you've known. Junk. Sin. Cruelty. Selfishness. Greed. Lustful abasing habits. Heartless treatment of those close by. Adulteries. Murders. Thefts. Riotous living. Thousands of wasted indulgent hours. Confess them, mourn them, repent of them—purposely turn your back on them and cut them off from your returning to them henceforth. Make reparations for them, if possible. Set God directly in your way and move toward Him. He has promised that whoever seeks Him will find Him, whoever draws near to Him, He will draw near to. You've begun the walk. Walk on.
A scruffy man pulls up next to you in the street and before you can engage him in any conversation, he's off again. But his words remain with you—you can't shake them. You might like to argue the question, challenge his right to say such things in public, see who the heck he is , but he's shy and escapes your interrogation. Only his question hangs in the air, and it bothers you terribly. “If you were to die this night, what would be the fate of your soul?” Fate? Of my soul? Die? Tonight? What's he mean? But you know what he means and the question demands an answer. If popular science is right, you have no soul and your death is the end of you. But that answer has never satisfied you, and you had some vague notion of heaven and figured you'd find out, someday . But tonight ? What would be my fate? Is there any question of it? The pictures of my life come flooding in, my failures, my cold heart, the ones I disappointed, those hard words, my brooding silence, that… thing I did with… it's too hard to look at. But if I died tonight? How would I fare? Fare with Whom? The little man's job done, we're undone and we can't find peace until we find the Prince of Peace. Where is He to be found?
You know the answer. But just ask yourselves again. See if you are satisfied by your answer, that you're convinced of it. If you were to die this night, what would be the fate of your soul? If you really don't know, for absolutely sure, then you had better get your affairs in order. That's not just writing a will, it's learning His will and doing it , putting nothing off for later. God's doing business here, and He means business. What we do in this sanctuary is not just pretty words and wishful thinking. He has brought you here— what is it that you need to tell Him? Tell Him today, this very morning. Get it done. Put things in order. First things first: set them before Him, in order, in order that you may go on setting them before Him forever.
PFH+