Making the Right Choice

Sermon September 29, 2013

Old Testament – Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

Jeremiah Buys a Field

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedeki′ah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrez′zar. ² At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard which was in the palace of the king of Judah. ³ For Zedeki′ah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;

⁶ Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: ⁷ Behold, Han′amel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, ‘Buy my field which is at An′athoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ ⁸ Then Han′amel my cousin came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field which is at An′athoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. {Confirmation of God’s Word}

⁹ “And I bought the field at An′athoth from Han′amel my cousin, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. ¹⁰ I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. ¹¹ Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; ¹² and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neri′ah son of Mahsei′ah, in the presence of Han′amel my cousin, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. ¹³ I charged Baruch in their presence, saying, ¹⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. ¹⁵ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.’

By purchasing the land in the midst of Jerusalem’s destruction by Babylon and while he was imprisoned, Jeremiah defines what it means to have faith in YHWH’s future.  He attests to his conviction that YHWH is present even in catastrophe.  He declares that meaninglessness of nonbeing will not triumph.

To the multitudes of our parishioners who suffer from hopelessness and despair of unexpected setbacks, Jeremiah underscores that, out of the chaos of change, YHWH’s promises will be fulfilled.  Jeremiah bet his bottom dollar on it – he went ahead and purchased a field right in the middle of the turmoil!

“houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought.”  The “earthen vessel” of the community of faith in Jesus Christ does not exist for itself.  It is a trustee of a promise: a community that includes wandering,  wondering, and waywardness of the human story will one day experience a coming home to itself and to its God.

Psalm 91:1-6

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High,
    who abides in the shadow of the Almighty,
² will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
    my God, in whom I trust.”
³ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
    and from the deadly pestilence;
⁴ he will cover you with his pinions,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of the night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
    nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

This psalm is a beloved statement of the believer’s security and protection by a faithful God.  There are no specific events that give rise to the psalm.  It is an expression of the experience of the faithful Israelite who lives “in the shelter of the Most High “ and abides “in the shadow of the Almighty” (V.1). This lectionary passage can be seen as presenting three theological realities in relation to the work and character of God.

1)      Security of God- “my refuge and my fortress: my God, in whom I trust.”

2)      Faithfulness in God- the psalmist comments on God’s faithfulness as being a “shield and buckler.’

3)      Protection by God.-God delivers those who love God and protects those who “know thy name”. (v.14)

Epistle I Timothy 6:6-19

Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be defamed. ² Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brethren; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their service are believers and beloved.

Teach and urge these duties. ³ If any one teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching which accords with godliness, ⁴ he is puffed up with conceit, he knows nothing; he has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, ⁵ and wrangling among men who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. ⁶ There is great gain in godliness with contentment;

For Paul Tilich, faith is the integrating factor for all human life; faith provides unity for life and enables persons to function.  People can orient their lives around any variety of concerns – wealth, social status, politics, God, or a religious institution.

Some of these concerns are ultimate and lasting,  and some of them are not;  some persons have faith in that which is ultimate, while others orient their lives around that which is temporary or that which disintegrates and destroys.

Tillich, like Saint Paul, claims that wealth and power are unreliable objects of foaith, for they are fleeting and provide little hope in the face of death.

In contrast, generosity and good works affirm real life, because they arise from faith in the ultimate.  Such generosity becomes real life because it is an authentic act based on faith in the eternality of life.

Thus, self-giving life is not a negation of life but an affirmation of the eternality of life: by God Life was given, is being given, and will be given.

With this new orientation, persons can make active and courageous choices to affirm the existence and courageous CHOICES to affirm the existence of their lives and the lives of those around them.

Saint Paul would say: do not get stuck on money, or nation, or CNN, or church growth, or anything else.  “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love endurance, gentleness” (v. 11).

Gospel Luke 16: 19-31

¹⁹ “There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰ And at his gate lay a poor man named Laz′arus, full of sores, ²¹ who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; ²³ and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Laz′arus in his bosom. ²⁴ And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Laz′arus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Laz′arus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ ²⁷ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ ²⁹ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.’”

The parable begins abruptly, though the theme of money has been prominent throughout the chapter.  Jesus story is told in light of  “the Pharisees, who were lovers of money” v.14. and who ridiculed Jesus for what he had said about people not being able to serve God and wealth at the same time. (v.13).

This text presents us with the great moral challenge of seeing, and then making visible, the invisible suffering of the world. Indeed , this may be one of our most important moral challenges today.

Our global network of communication allows us to be more aware of the world’s suffering than ever before, but we have become adept at ignoring this suffering that is right at our doorstep. 

Maybe, in fact, these two things are connected; the more we become voyeurs upon the faraway sufferings of others, the more impotent we feel to do anything about pain and injustice.

Despair and cynicism tempt us to close our eyes to suffering and shut down our overloaded sympathies.

The story of Lazarus and the rich man is full of contrasts and reversals.  The poor man is named while the rich man Is not.  The rich man is dressed in purple, while the poor man is “dressed in” sores.

The rich man feasts sumptuously, while Lazarus , looking up , longs to be satisfied with what falls from the table.

The rich man has a proper burial, while Lazarus is carried away by the angels.

By the end of the story, Lazarus , the poor man is looking down from heaven, and the rich man is the one looking up begging.

The contrasts and disparities between the rich and the poor so vividly described here are meant to evoke an equally  vivid reaction.  Luke clearly tells us that this parable was given to “lovers of money” v.14, so it was a direct message to them.

Apparently Jesus wanted reveal through this story that they loved their money more than people, their possessions more than the poor, their clothes more than compassion and their extravagant feasts more than sharing food with the hungry.

Perhaps Jesus had been a guest at one of his listener’s homes and had witnessed a scene similar to the one with which he begins his parable.  This surely would have heightened the discomfort created by his words.

The themes presented here stand as powerful indictments of our world today, while at the same time offering the ongoing radical and redemptive ministry we are called to,  if we seek to follow the teachings of the teller of this parable.

Perhaps the boundaries and walls we have drawn are not so much between us and others as between us and God.  With a mixture of invitation and warning the angel says to the church in Laodicea, “Listen!

I am standing at the door, knocking , if you hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me (Rev. 3:20).

So consider who is on the other side of that door.  Who is this Christ?   In Matthew25, Jesus tells us he is Lazarus: He is that one lying on our door hungry and thirsty.  He is that one imprisoned and cut off from “decent society.  He is the marginalized one that you can just as easily walk by.

That is God’s Christ who stands at our wall, knocking.  When we answer we may not find someone who looks like us , but we may very well find someone who looks like our God if we are paying attention.   The Choice we make is important.