[Propertalk] Proper 15 c - part 1

[Robert P Morrison]

I tried to send this in one. 8 - (
Bob

	THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER
PENTECOST

	ISAIAH 5:1-7 PROPER 15 C

	HEBREWS 11:29 – 12:2 14th AUGUST, 2016

	LUKE 12:49-56 PSALM 80:1-2, 8-18

	 This is NOT what I wanted to hear this morning, in this, of all
places. I suspect you feel the same way. There’s so much strife in
the world, even our own little corner of it, that the last thing we
need to hear is anything which seems to intensify our struggles.

	 “Why do I have to do this?”

	 “Because I’m your parent. Your sibling. Your child.” And so
on.

	 One of the behaviours of which we hear and which raises my blood
pressure and end shivers down my spine is so-called “honour
killings”. Someone, usually a woman, does something that it judged
immoral by another member of the family, and that is the cause for
immediate action, often execution. No matter that the definition of
morality may not be agreed upon; no matter that the living situation
may have changed quite radically; no matter that what is happening
within the family seems to be so out of step with many others in the
community; no matter that all of this may be going on, still, some men
within the family take it upon themselves to eradicate what they
consider to be a cause of shame to that family. And seldom is there an
eyebrow raised.

	 I can imagine – I haven’t actually heard it – but I can
imagine hearing someone turning to these verses from the Gospel
according to Luke and using them as justification for abusing others,
even killing them.

	 But there’s something incredibly strange going on in this story.

	 Kenneth Bailey asked, “If then Jesus had women disciples (and this
seems certain), both among the crowds and also among His band of
travelling companions, did this make any discernable difference in the
context and style of his teaching? Indeed it did. Jesus selected
images and created parables with a deliberate concern to communicate
the message to his women listeners on as deep a level as to his male
followers.” 1

	 And in this terrible tale this morning, we find an explicit example
of the way in which Jesus’ eyes were being opened and His thinking
expanded.

	 If Jesus had been a member of the good old boys’ club, what He
would have said about the impact of His preaching and teaching would
have been radically different. But Jesus didn’t belong to ANY clubs,
save the group who were part of he expanding membership of the realm
of God. If Jesus had been “old style”, He wouldn’t have
mentioned ANY female members of the family. Jesus, though, was always
breaking glass ceilings, just as He was all for knocking down walls
too.

	 Jesus, in ways that may be hard for us to understand in our day and
age – or SHOULD be hard for us to understand – Jesus made a not so
subtle remark in the manner of Ginger Rogers. When she was compared to
Fred Astaire, you’ll remember, she said she did exactly what she
did, except backwards and in high heels!

	 Jesus, to a crowd which may not have realised what hit it, Jesus not
only said that this Gospel message was for everyone to understand how
inclusive it was. Jesus also said that women were not mute slaves, but
that they were intelligent; they could figure out things for
themselves; their had a right to their own opinions. Not only that,
they had a right to engage one another in disputes. They had not only
a right, but a responsibility to dispute others, to debate them, to
prove them wrong.

	 Living the life of the Gospel can be intensely difficult, said
Jesus, and it was and is BOUND to create tension, to cause fights and
hurt feelings. In fact, as we know all too well, in our own day and
age, living the Gospel can divide families in ways which can be
tremendously painful.

	 One of the really disturbing things about this, though, is that
nowhere do we read of Jesus saying, “Knock it off! Some of you have
to be subservient to the others, so don’t think about things too
much.”

	 Actually, Jesus said that EVERYONE is to be servant to everyone
else. As the passages from the last few weeks have shown, we’ve to
be agents of God’s love to everyone we meet. We’ve to take
absolutely seriously the charge to reach out across every possible
boundary, knocking them down, if possible, making sure that no one
will be left out of the party.

	 “Of course this will tick people off! I can guarantee it,” said
Jesus. “You’re going to go home all fired up because of something
you heard or saw – at a movie, at a lecture, at a class, gosh –
maybe even at church! – you’re going to go home SO fired up that
the minute you walk in the door you can’t wait to share the news.
That’s when the fan starts distributing stuff all over the place.
“How dare you talk to me like that! I’ve paid for your schooling,
or your clothing, or your shelter; I’ve out myself out for you, and
you come in thinking you can say and do what you like?”

	 It’s such a familiar scene. It always HAS been, and Jesus
experienced it first- hand. “Get out of there! Shut up! You’re
crazy! Do you have any idea how this is making us look?”

	 And Jesus just smiled.

	 “Good,” He may have said. “You heard what I said.”

	 The Gospel IS that radical. If it doesn’t get us worked up in
pleasure or in pain, they we may be missing the point. Families will,
inevitably, disagree, even banish one another or force one or the
other to leave. The Gospel, of course, doesn’t encourage picking
fights, or disrespecting people, putting them down. Exactly the
opposite. It’s supposed to draw us together with God and one
another. Yet nowhere, nowhere, does it EVER say that we have to
abandon what we consider to be the prime directive to love, simply in
order to keep the peace. If we are forced into serious, even strident
debate, then we must speak the truth in love. We must talk of Jesus’
Gospel-telling ministry and not name-call, not lie, not demean, but
speak the truth and seek the opinion of others in the hope that we and
they together can meet Jesus, hear Jesus, see Jesus, even in the midst
of a scorching debate.
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