[Propertalk] 4 Epiphany a 2017 - part 2

[Robert P Morrison]

Part two of the draft for Sunday.
Bob

	 “Anyhow, whatever about this, I realize how dangerous those
gatherings are. Sooner or later the whole movement may get to the ears
of the officials.” 2

	 Surely this is the point of the Gospel Jesus taught, especially the
verses we heard this morning. We have to remember, all the time, the
apparent contradiction that’s present. On the one hand, there’s
the incredible reassurance of God’s love. No one lies outside the
reach of God to embrace and reassure. No one, regardless of who she or
he is, no one is beyond the desire of God to include in the wonderful
blessing ceremony which is life.

	 As difficult and strange as it may seem, somehow even today we’re
tempted to think, and sometimes act, as if certain outward signs
indicate an absence of the inward spiritual grace which is God’s
loving gift. We think of, or look at, those we term, less-well-off. We
may not care for the way they dress; or their access to anything we
take for granted, like a well-coiffed head of hair, for instance, or
some such physical sign.

	 One way or another, we can so easily classify others as
impoverished. We may even feel a certain degree of [pity for them, but
it seems to take more effort than I or you feel we can muster to make
plain that EVERYONE is blessed.

	The historical scene depicted in sixteenth and seventeenth century
Japan may seem to come from another planet, as far as our experience
goes. Yet not only were privileged people intensely rigid and
controlling then, the same thing exists today, in our own culture.

	The call to the church, if it will listen, the call echoing off the
hillside where Jesus sat two thousand years ago, is that God’s will
is to provide for everyone. God’s love is so intensely practical
that whether one is side-lined because of physical or emotional
circumstances or, indeed, by any other factor. God’s endless love is
to be proclaimed by word and action by everyone in the Body of Christ
– everyday! WE, you and I, are to be the means of assuring people
that they are the recipients of God’s grace.

	 But the contradictory note comes in the form of a warning. Jesus
didn’t offer condemnation in these verses, at least, in Matthew’s
version of them.  Yet there is definitely a strong word which implies
that we can, and do, think of ourselves as being above and beyond
those who live on the edge of life, or the fringes of our social
group, and so on.

	There is, undoubtedly, a wonderful note of compassion in Jesus’
sermon. But there is always what Endo described in the words of Fr.
Sebastian, a note about “How dangerous those gatherings are. Sooner
or later the whole movement may get to the ears of the officials.”

	Jesus knew that what He said, what He did, what He told the people
was incredibly revolutionary. Yet He kept preaching. He kept teaching.
He kept trying to reassure them people that the Gospel He brought
wasn’t merely a nice collection of stories to help people sleep
better at night. 

	These are stories, yes. But they are stories, as we’ll pray in the
parish hall at the annual meeting; these are stories designed to
“arouse the careless” as well as reassure each of us.

	You and I should be under surveillance by all sorts of authorities
because of what we say and do to ensure that everyone in this area of
Albany is blessed. You and I SHOULD be on a watch list until such time
as those who compile such lists realise that they too MUST be part of
the programme of blessing, and not of cursing.

	Consider what is recited on many civic occasions – “Liberty and
justice for all.” Is that there? Is that in place? Is it practiced,
by us, by everyone?

	What if we recited, every time we gathered as members of this
congregation; what if we said we “act justly, love loyalty and walk
humbly with God”? And what if those were more than words?

	I KNOW it’s not always easy to answer that, but what if, every day,
we were to examine ourselves and to say, “I will be a blessing today
by consciously thinking about justice, loyalty and humility for
everyone in God’s Name.”?

	Maybe what we ought to do – and don’t groan – may what we could
do is to have another congregational meeting, not restricted by time
or talk of finances, a meeting in which we can think out loud about
how we can live the Gospel in a visible, blessing way, regardless of
how dangerous or troublesome this may be.

	What if … ?

	What if we had the courage and faith of those Japanese peasants four
hundred years ago?

	What if … ?

	We need to ask this – often!

	NOTES:

	[1] _“__Amos and Micah”_ by John Marsh. S.C.M. Press Ltd.,
London, ©1959. Pages 81-2.

	2 _“Letter of Sebastian Rodrigues”_ in _“Silence”_ by Shusaku
Endo, translated by William Johnston. Taplinger Publishing Company,
New York. © 1969. Pages 43-44
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://stsams.org/pipermail/propertalk_stsams.org/attachments/20170125/7d4572ef/attachment.htm>