November 10, 2019
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Proper 22
22nd Pentecost
Luke 20: 27-38
1. I find this a most strange and off-putting Gospel
There is so much trouble here!
To begin with
the lectionary has skipped a bunch of the story
not really skipped but saved for Holy Week
the lectionary has skipped a bunch of the story
not really skipped but saved for Holy Week
the last few times I have preached
we have been moving toward Jerusalem
and the tension has been mounting
and the tension has been mounting
And now…we are there
We are in Jerusalem
But what we haven’t heard is
Jesus making his triumphant entry
With all the crowds shouting
“Blessed is the King who comes…Hosanna Hosanna…Palm Sunday
“Blessed is the King who comes…Hosanna Hosanna…Palm Sunday
And Luke’s Gospel says that there are
Multitudes of disciples around him
Then he goes to the Temple
…not to worship but to drive out those merchants…
turning over the tables…making a BIG ruckus
That will get people’s attention
…not to worship but to drive out those merchants…
turning over the tables…making a BIG ruckus
That will get people’s attention
And then Jesus takes up residence there---teaching in the temple
“every day” that’s what Luke says
“He’s teaching in the Temple EVERY DAY”
“He’s teaching in the Temple EVERY DAY”
The tension is reaching a crescendo
New opponents each day
New opponents each day
Seeking the opportunity
not just to trip him up but to kill him
That’s where we are today.
Today it is the Sadducees' turn.
This is the one and only time the Sadducees show up in Luke’s Gospel
So…Who are they? And why haven’t we met them yet?
They are the Jerusalem elite
They are attached to the Temple
.....the Temple authorities
They are the Jerusalem elite
They are attached to the Temple
.....the Temple authorities
The business of the Temple can’t run without them
And nobody else is allowed to do it!
So that’s why we haven’t met yet
The Sadducees stay in Jerusalem…they don’t venture into the boondocks!
The Sadducees stay in Jerusalem…they don’t venture into the boondocks!
Now when Luke is writing
There are no more Sadducees
they disappeared when the Temple was destroyed in 70AD
in the great Jewish Revolt.
No Temple - no Sadducees
they disappeared when the Temple was destroyed in 70AD
in the great Jewish Revolt.
No Temple - no Sadducees
They were a sect that recognized only the first 5 books of Moses
…the Pentateuch
So…we might say---super-biblically-conservative
And because they found no evidence of the resurrection in the first 5 books
it was not a part of their beliefs
it was not a part of their beliefs
In today’s episode
It is the Sadducees
…who after the whole Temple-Table-Turning business are like:
Look, buddy, how 'bout you go back to your Galilean backwater
They come having practiced their tricky little plan
And they pose their crazy scenario
Even in the 21st century, we can tell they are playing a game
Even in the 21st century, we can tell they are playing a game
So it has to do with the Levirate Marriage
…the Levirate marriage law in Deut 25
It sounds so strange and uncomfortable---plain weird
And the woman! Really! The woman is passed down like a used car!
…the Levirate marriage law in Deut 25
It sounds so strange and uncomfortable---plain weird
And the woman! Really! The woman is passed down like a used car!
I can't let myself get stuck here...
Because…the intent of the Levirate marriage law
was to ensure the preservation of the family name.
Why is that so important?
Well. In a world view without resurrection
the only way to quell your anxiety over death is to have children
...your offspring allow you to live on through your name
Because…the intent of the Levirate marriage law
was to ensure the preservation of the family name.
Why is that so important?
Well. In a world view without resurrection
the only way to quell your anxiety over death is to have children
...your offspring allow you to live on through your name
So it’s very important
The plan…The scenario takes the law to the extreme
The plan…The scenario takes the law to the extreme
in order to show that the whole idea of resurrection is downright foolish.
But Jesus responds by playing their game
He stays in the first 5 books and he counters their argument
Using one of their most beloved texts
taken from the burning bush scene
Using one of their most beloved texts
taken from the burning bush scene
And surprise! He wins the day because of
verb tense
I AM...the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
Not...I WAS
Not...I WAS
The bottom line
The really important bottom line seems to reside in the last line:
“He is God, not of the dead,
but of the living;
for to him, all are alive.”
SO…This isn’t about marriage
Or the patriarchal system once again making women into property
Or the patriarchal system once again making women into property
Jesus is getting closer and closer to the cross.
So this is a text about RESURRECTION.
What does RESURRECTION even mean?
What does RESURRECTION even mean?
And what difference does it make?
The Sadducees speak as if resurrected life is just…more of the same
…the same old rules apply
They simply. don’t. have. the imagination for it!
…the same old rules apply
They simply. don’t. have. the imagination for it!
But the scriptures…especially Paul…remind us
that while we are certainly gazing into a mystery
the one thing we CAN say
is that it is both
qualitatively DIFFERENT
AND
somehow continuous.
qualitatively DIFFERENT
AND
somehow continuous.
Different but continuous.
2. There is a maxim…a rule in theology that says
Lex Orandi…Lex Credendi
it means that how we pray witnesses to how we believe
…we pray AND SO we believe
it means that how we pray witnesses to how we believe
…we pray AND SO we believe
The tradition of prayer…Our tradition of prayer
In the first instance
arose naturally…organically
…nobody sat down at a writing desk and composed our liturgies
or our prayers and then decided what they meant
arose naturally…organically
…nobody sat down at a writing desk and composed our liturgies
or our prayers and then decided what they meant
The tradition of prayer grew as an expression of belief
When we proclaim after hearing the Gospel on Eucharist Sundays
(And these are ancient prayers and proclamations found in the Didache
a text from the 1st Century)
a text from the 1st Century)
After hearing the Gospel read we proclaim:
“Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ”
we are confessing our belief in God’s presence
in the reading of the scriptures…in our shared story
we are confessing our belief in God’s presence
in the reading of the scriptures…in our shared story
And in Holy Communion
Our holy communing…
we hear and respond
“The Body of Christ! Amen!”
We confess our belief in the Living God present and active in our midst
and indeed in our very bodies.
we hear and respond
“The Body of Christ! Amen!”
We confess our belief in the Living God present and active in our midst
and indeed in our very bodies.
And in the funeral liturgy
We hear these words…spoken by the Presider in the name of all gathered:
“For your faithful people, O Lord, life is changed, not ended”
“For your faithful people, O Lord, life is changed, not ended”
And here is where we confess our conviction...
Our faith...in the deep deep mystery of the resurrection.
Our faith...in the deep deep mystery of the resurrection.
As we pray this way we are professing:
God has nothing to do with death
There is no death in God
3. Well…Easy for God to say!
For us…it seems rather obvious
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…they died
For us…it seems rather obvious
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…they died
They are very long dead
My Mom is dead
All the people on our ALL SAINTS list are dead
Because for us…most of the time…
My Mom is dead
All the people on our ALL SAINTS list are dead
Because for us…most of the time…
we can only define being alive as being “NOT DEAD”
Not so for God!
For God, being alive is just being alive
it has nothing to do with death!!!
it has nothing to do with death!!!
What if WE lived all of life
believing that being alive has nothing to do with death?
How would it be different?
Would we be free from fear?
Would we be free from living ‘scared to death’?
Would we be free from choosing to spend
Would we be free from living ‘scared to death’?
Would we be free from choosing to spend
so. much. time. money. energy. avoiding or postponing death
Rather than LIVING?
We are a Pilgrim People
that means we are always…at least somewhat UNFINISHED
that means we are always…at least somewhat UNFINISHED
that means we don’t always remember what we say we believe
About death…or about God
But sometimes…we do!
Don’t we live ‘resurrected life’ whenever we experience ‘new life’
Literal new life---like in the joy of a child’s birth?
or those first crocuses peeking out as winter fades?
And don’t we taste ‘new life’
When…through the tough work of contrition and repentance
or those first crocuses peeking out as winter fades?
And don’t we taste ‘new life’
When…through the tough work of contrition and repentance
our own un-forgiven-ness------bursts into NEW LIFE as we reconcile and reunite?
Isn’t that experience of being forgiven by others and by God
a very real taste of living resurrected life?
Isn’t that experience of being forgiven by others and by God
a very real taste of living resurrected life?
I believe so.
4. Today’s Gospel tells us how JESUS thought about God
The law about levirate marriage
Was for people who didn’t believe in an afterlife
It was a way of overcoming death
The way to overcome death was to have children to keep the name going
A world without resurrection is a world full of anxiety about overcoming death!
And it seems to me that we…pretty much…live in the midst of such a world
And it seems to me that we…pretty much…live in the midst of such a world
If only we really believed ONLY in life
And not life as just… “not dead”
Jesus came to bring Good News
And that good News is that God is in a category of one
Entirely different from anything we can imagine
Death, for God
Just…ISN’T
“To God all are alive”
The real toughness of this text
is that Jesus wants us to turn away from anxiety over death
and turn away from the poor decisions and sufferings
that always. follow. such a fascination (we could talk about what those are for hours!)
Instead Jesus wants us to meet the God of the Living
Jesus wants us to share this Good News about God's ALIVENESS…
Jesus wants us to share this Good News about God's ALIVENESS…
today and every day and forever
It is a mystery…a deep deep mystery…
but WE, my friends, we have the imagination for it!
but WE, my friends, we have the imagination for it!
5.
My very first thought when I read today’s Gospel was for my Dad.
How will my newly widowed 87-year old Dad hear this?
Will he hear that he WON’T be re-united with Mom on the other side of the grass (as he likes to say)?
Will he hear that he WON’T be re-united with Mom on the other side of the grass (as he likes to say)?
But then I thought --- NO
He’s had 87 years of faithful practice choosing to live in God’s ALIVENESS.
When he talks about Mom…which is darn-near always…
He’s had 87 years of faithful practice choosing to live in God’s ALIVENESS.
When he talks about Mom…which is darn-near always…
He talks about how she’s probably bossing everyone around up there
Reorganizing for maximum efficiency
Getting all in ship-shape---making it ready for him
Because that is what she did
she always thought about him
she always thought about him
And then…he will SIGH and say
“I don’t know why I’m here…I just want to be with her”
…then there will be another pause.
And another deep sigh.
“I know…we can’t even begin to understand!
And another deep sigh.
“I know…we can’t even begin to understand!
I mean there is NO TIME in God…How does that compute…Beyond TIME…
how in heaven’s name are we supposed to even begin to grasp that!”
And with that, he rests…he rests in comfortable faith and easier trust.
And with that, he rests…he rests in comfortable faith and easier trust.
“I AM THE GOD OF THE LIVING
TO ME ALL ARE ALIVE”
Lex Orandi
Lex Credendi
SO WE PRAY
SO WE BELIEVE
