[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 8A: "In the Name of God, STOP!"

[Joe Parrish]

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-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Jul 1, 2017 6:27 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 8A: "In the Name of God, STOP!"



DearFriends,
 
ThisSunday’s sermon is entitled “An Old-Fashioned Tough-Man Contest” or “In theName 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, “Goto Rome”; so heput his possessions in a sack and set out for Rome.  Whenhe arrived in the city, people were thronging in the streets.  He asked why all the excitement and was toldthat this was the day that the gladiators would be fighting and killing each otherin the coliseum- the great Roman stadium. This was the day of the games- what they called “the circus.” He thoughtto himself, “Four centuries after Christ- and they are still killing each otherfor enjoyment?!”  Telemachus ran to thecoliseum 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 intothe middle of the field, got between two gladiators, held up his hands and said“In the name of Christ, STOP!”  The crowdprotested and began to shout, “Run him through with the sword!  Run him through with the sword!”  A gladiator came over and hit him in thestomach with the back of his sword.  Itsent Telemachus sprawling in the sand. He got up and ran back and again said, “Inthe name of Christ, STOP!”  The crowd continuedto chant, “Run him through with the sword! Run him through with the sword!”  Onegladiator came over and plunged his sword through the little monk's stomach andTelemachus fell into the sand, which began to turn crimson with his blood.  The crowd got what it wanted- his body was runthrough with the sword.  One last time Telemachusgasped out, “In the name of Christ, STOP!” Then he died.  A hush came overthe 80,000 people in the coliseum.  Soona man stood and left, then another and more, and within minutes all 80,000 hademptied out of the arena. What’s the significance of this little-knownevent?  This was the last-knowngladiatorial contest in the history of Rome.  You see, God almighty had looked down fromheaven to see the disgraceful, disgusting situation in which two men wouldfight to the death, cheered on by a stadium-full of 80,000 people.  God was sick and tired of two men fightinglike two pit-bulls or two roosters.  Godlooked and found one ordinary person to answer the call to speak for Him, to behis prophet.  Telemachus passed histest.  He saved many lives and did muchto civilize our culture.  We’ll come backto this story later.
 
Here’s the second story- you’ve heard it before: There was a little boywho was overheard saying the following bedtime prayers: “Now I lay me down to restand hope to pass tomorrow's test.  If Ishould die before I wake- that’s one less test I’ll have to take.”  I’m sure Abraham felt the same way, becausethe episode in Genesis (22: 1-14) was one of the worst tests any parent couldpossibly be called to take.  This is one ofmy least favorite stories in the entire Bible- the story of Abraham almostsacrificing his beloved son, Isaac, in obedience to God’s command.  The reason I avoid this story is because itis so easily misunderstood.  It’s almostimpossible to enter into the culture of the event, so huge confusionsresult.  This morning, since we can’tavoid it (the story is in the lessons to be read for today) let’s look at it tosee what in the world it probably meant then and what wisdom it has for ustoday.
 
We’ll start with what happened.  Asyou recall, we’ve been following the story of Abraham for some time now.  Abraham and Sarah (his wife) were called byGod to go to an unknown land.  If theyobeyed, they were promised much land and as many descendants as the stars inheaven.  You remember the problem- whenall this started, Abraham and Sarah were both probably in their seventies andchildless.  They did as God asked; andfinally 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 tosacrifice Isaac on an altar.  We heardhow God provided a ram to be sacrificed instead of Isaac.
 
To comprehend the significance of this story, it’s important tounderstand what life was like at that time, especially in terms of twoentities: God and children.  Let’s lookat their understandings of God first.  Jesustaught us that God is our heavenly Father, and that God is love.  The ancients had no such understanding.  They almost all believed that their godsplayed with humans like cats play with mice. They believed that the gods had to be bought off by sacrifices; and incrisis situations, the gods had to be persuaded to help people with ghastlysacrifices- their oldest children.  Thissounds so impossible for us, but it’s how out ancestors saw the universe.  Their understandings of children were just asprimitive.  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 Abrahamintended for Hagar and Ishmael).  Ownersof houses of prostitution would scour the wilderness for these girlbabies.  The owners would take them totheir 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 owndaughter.  That’s how the ancients viewedchildren.  It must have blown their mindswhen Jesus said, “Let the children come to me! Don't try to stop them. Peoplewho are like these children belong to God's kingdom.” (Luke 18:16)
 
I can hear you now- “Rev. Judy, all these are interesting facts andstories, but what’s the point?  In allthis- what can you tell me from the Bible to help me improve my spiritual walkand live my life better as a Christian this coming week?  Friends, what Telemachus did in the fourthcentury AD, Abraham did at the dawn of civilization.  You see, God almighty had looked down fromheaven to see beautiful children- given as gifts from Him to their parents, butthen killed- sacrificed on the altar. God saw people afraid of Him, desperately trying to appease Him, andmisusing their children.  God looked andfound one ordinary person to answer the call to speak for Him.  Abraham passed his test.  As Telemachus was God’s instrument forstopping the disgraceful gladiator contests, Abraham was God’s instrument forstopping child sacrifice by God’s people. Except for times of extreme apostasy, the Israelites never again offeredtheir children on the altar of sacrifice.
 
It wasn’tjust Telemachus and Abraham who said, “In the name of God, STOP!”
Mosesshouted, “In the name of God, STOP!”
Theprophet Amos proclaimed, “In the name of God, STOP!”
Jesus ofNazareth taught, “In the name of God, STOP!”
HarrietTubman stated, “In the name of God, STOP!”
The Rev.Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. prophesied, “In the name of God, STOP!”
Throughoutthe 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?  We’re going to close with the well-knownprayer of St. Francis (found on page 833 of the Book of Common Prayer):
“Lord, make us instrumentsof your peace.
Where there is hatred, letus sow love.
Where there is injury,pardon.
Where there is discord,union.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair,hope.
Where there is darkness,light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not somuch seek to be consoled as to console.
To be understood as tounderstand.
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that wereceive;
It is in pardoning that weare pardoned;
And it is in dying that weare born to eternal life.  Amen.”
 
My prayer you, for me, for us is that we will pass God’s test when itcomes, and in the words of the Prophet Amos: “Let justice roll down like watersand righteousness like an ever flowing stream.” Amen.
 
For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updatedAfrican-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s web site under“Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org.
 
Blessedpreaching,
JudyBoli
St.Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw,Michigan

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