[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 8A

[joeparrish]

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From: joeparrish <joeparrish at compuserve.com> 
Date: 06/28/2014  6:26 PM  (GMT-05:00) 
To: propertalk at stsams.org 
Cc: joeparrish at compuserve.com 
Subject: Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 8A 
 

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “An Old-Fashioned Tough-Man Contest” or “In the Name of God, STOP!” and deals with the Old Testament lesson (Genesis 22:1- 14).  Here it is:

 

I’m going to start this sermon with two stories.  The first is of a fourth century monk named Telemachus. Although Telemachus was in a cloistered monastery, he felt God saying to him, “Go to Rome”; so he put his possessions in a sack and set out for Rome.  When he arrived in the city, people were thronging in the streets.  He asked why all the excitement and was told that this was the day that the gladiators would be fighting and killing each other in the coliseum- the great Roman stadium.  This was the day of the games- what they called “the circus.” He thought to himself, “Four centuries after Christ- and they are still killing each other for enjoyment?!”  Telemachus ran to the coliseum and heard the gladiators shouting, “Hail to Caesar! we die for Caesar!” and he thought, “This just isn't right.”  He jumped over the railing and went out into the middle of the field, got between two gladiators, held up his hands and said “In the name of Christ, STOP!”  The crowd protested and began to shout, “Run him through with the sword!  Run him through with the sword!”  A gladiator came over and hit him in the stomach with the back of his sword.  It sent Telemachus sprawling in the sand. He got up and ran back and again said, “In the name of Christ, STOP!”  The crowd continued to chant, “Run him through with the sword!  Run him through with the sword!”  One gladiator came over and plunged his sword through the little monk's stomach and Telemachus fell into the sand, which began to turn crimson with his blood.  The crowd got what it wanted- his body was run through with the sword.  One last time Telemachus gasped out, “In the name of Christ, STOP!”  Then he died.  A hush came over the 80,000 people in the coliseum.  Soon a man stood and left, then another and more, and within minutes all 80,000 had emptied out of the arena. What’s the significance of this little-known event?  This was the last-known gladiatorial contest in the history of Rome.  You see, God almighty had looked down from heaven to see the disgraceful, disgusting situation in which two men would fight to the death, cheered on by a stadium-full of 80,000 people.  God was sick and tired of two men fighting like two pit-bulls or two roosters.  God looked and found one ordinary person to answer the call to speak for Him, to be his prophet.  Telemachus passed his test.  He saved many lives and did much to civilize our culture.  We’ll come back to this story later.
 
Here’s the second story- you’ve heard it before: There was a little boy who was overheard saying the following bedtime prayers: “Now I lay me down to rest and hope to pass tomorrow's test.  If I should die before I wake- that’s one less test I’ll have to take.”  I’m sure Abraham felt the same way, because the episode in Genesis (22: 1-14) was one of the worst tests any parent could possibly be called to take.  This is one of my least favorite stories in the entire Bible- the story of Abraham almost sacrificing his beloved son, Isaac, in obedience to God’s command.  The reason I avoid this story is because it is so easily misunderstood.  It’s almost impossible to enter into the culture of the event, so huge confusions result.  This morning, since we can’t avoid it (the story is in the lessons to be read for today) let’s look at it to see what in the world it probably meant then and what wisdom it has for us today.
 
We’ll start with what happened.  As you recall, we’ve been following the story of Abraham for some time now.  Abraham and Sarah (his wife) were called by God to go to an unknown land.  If they obeyed, they were promised much land and as many descendants as the stars in heaven.  You remember the problem- when all this started, Abraham and Sarah were both probably in their seventies and childless.  They did as God asked; and finally Isaac, the child of promise, was born.  Today’s episode takes place when Isaac was about twelve years old.  God tests Abraham by ordering him to sacrifice Isaac on an altar.  We heard how God provided a ram to be sacrificed instead of Isaac.
 
To comprehend the significance of this story, it’s important to understand what life was like at that time, especially in terms of two entities: God and children.  Let’s look at their understandings of God first.  Jesus taught us that God is our heavenly Father, and that God is love.  The ancients had no such understanding.  They almost all believed that their gods played with humans like cats play with mice.  They believed that the gods had to be bought off by sacrifices; and in crisis situations, the gods had to be persuaded to help people with ghastly sacrifices- their oldest children.  This sounds so impossible for us, but it’s how out ancestors saw the universe.  Their understandings of children were just as primitive.  As late as the time of Jesus, boy babies were much preferred to girl babies, so if a female infant was born- often the child would be left in the wilderness to die (just as Abraham intended for Hagar and Ishmael).  Owners of houses of prostitution would scour the wilderness for these girl babies.  The owners would take them to their business establishments and raise them as prostitutes.  This means that if a man went to a prostitute (common and accepted in the pagan culture), he might be having sex with his own daughter.  That’s how the ancients viewed children.  It must have blown their minds when Jesus said, “Let the children come to me! Don't try to stop them. People who are like these children belong to God's kingdom.” (Luke 18:16)
 
I can hear you now- “Rev. Judy, all these are interesting facts and stories, but what’s the point?  In all this- what can you tell me from the Bible to help me improve my spiritual walk and live my life better as a Christian this coming week?  Friends, what Telemachus did in the fourth century AD, Abraham did at the dawn of civilization.  You see, God almighty had looked down from heaven to see beautiful children- given as gifts from Him to their parents, but then killed- sacrificed on the altar.  God saw people afraid of Him, desperately trying to appease Him, and misusing their children.  God looked and found one ordinary person to answer the call to speak for Him.  Abraham passed his test.  As Telemachus was God’s instrument for stopping the disgraceful gladiator contests, Abraham was God’s instrument for stopping child sacrifice by God’s people.  Except for times of extreme apostasy, the Israelites never again offered their children on the altar of sacrifice.
 
It wasn’t just Telemachus and Abraham who said, “In the name of God, STOP!”
Moses shouted, “In the name of God, STOP!”
The prophet Amos proclaimed, “In the name of God, STOP!”
Jesus of Nazareth taught, “In the name of God, STOP!”
Harriet Tubman stated, “In the name of God, STOP!”
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. prophesied, “In the name of God, STOP!”
Throughout the ages, many of God’s faithful people (the unknown as well as the famous) proclaimed, “In the name of God, STOP!”
 
So where does this leave you?  What is God calling you to do?  What difference in this world is God calling you to make?  Who is God calling you to feed, clothe, help, love?  What injustices in your family, neighborhood, city, country, world is God calling you to heal?  
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For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s NEW WEB SITE under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .

 

Blessed preaching,

Judy Boli

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Saginaw, Michigan
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