Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
August 19, 2007
Jeremiah 23:23–29
Psalm 82
Hebrews 11:29—12:2
Luke 12:24-53
Lectionary 20
Proper 15
Year C
I.N.I. (In the name of Jesus)
It was a little thing, really. Just chicken scratch in a green book. Imagine how the act of signing a book shored up faith.
In the little seminary chapel, straight-backed wooden chairs were arranged in a semi-circular fashion around a wooden altar. Coming to study for ministry in Chicago, I knew that some of the pieces that assisted our worship came from Christ Seminary-Seminex, the Seminary in Exile, created when teachers walked out from the hallowed halls in St. Louis because they believed the Gospel was at stake. The institution of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod was challenged, as a majority of its seminary professors spoke for the truth and fought for the truth.
These were difficult times for me as a young seminarian who had grown up in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, knowing that I loved my congregation and supported its pastor who was my father, and that for many other congregations, agreeing on the Gospel was one thing, leaving the institution was another. But, in the end, I did leave. By studying in Chicago, I was leaving behind the church of my youth. In 1983, the faculty from Christ Seminary-Seminex merged with the faculty of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. And along with the resources of teachers, staff, and students, Seminex brought with them an organ, a processional cross and torches, communionware, and green books called Lutheran Book of Worship. Entering the chapel and finding my seat, taking out a green book and opening it up, I read these words penned by an unknown scribbler: Cloud of Witnesses. And underneath that cloud of witnesses were all sorts of signatures, from Seminex President John Tietjen to student Judith Wilt, from NT Scholar Frederick Danker to student Andreas Teisch. Teachers and students from Seminex signed Lutheran Books of Worship, and every time I worshiped in that chapel I knew that I was in good company. I knew that I was there in part to receive the baton in the race of faith and to continue, and persevere, no matter how much my world would be rocked in the years ahead.
The Letter to the Hebrews, today’s second reading, which coined the phrase Cloud of Witnesses, demonstrates that Christianity is not for the faint of heart. If you are running in this world with the baton of faith, then you are being chased by those who would challenge the existence and efficacy of God. While you are running with that baton of faith, even those most closest to you may wonder exactly why you consider a place like Christ the King to be so important when you could be doing so many other things with you time. As you cling to that baton, you may just see injustices and calamities running amok, from earthquakes in Peru to bombs in Iraq, from a stagnant housing market to illness in your own family. You may feel a little like the image of the movie hero Indiana Jones as he tears off for his very life while the place where he grabbed the treasure is crumbling behind him and licking at his heels!
Hebrews’ impassioned listing of Old Testament heroes, from Gideon and Barak, David, Samuel, and the prophets, and even the prostitute Rahab, says we are in good company. The calamities they faced were every bit as grim as ours. The list of those heroes who endured by faith include people who like us who sometimes too feel young to be important, or who anyone who feels liked they’ve screwed up once too many, or like Rahab who may even be living in a questionable relationship or working in a questionable job. Let’s have a quick look at a few of those heroes.
First, Rahab. As told the book of Joshua, Rahab offered her body to men for economic gain. She was not what you call pillar of society, or worth mentioning in a Who’s Who of pioneers and peacemakers. Yet here she appears on the list in Hebrews, because she harbored two lookouts sent by Joshua and kept them safe as they pursued the promised land of Canaan. She stood up to the king of Jericho and lied about where the two lookouts where. And when all of Jericho was destroyed, Rahab and her household were spared. Rahab can sign my green book anytime!
Next, Jephthah. As recounted in the book of Judges, Jephthah was born to an Israelite named Gilead and an unnamed prostitute. His half brothers, born to Gilead’s wife, drove Jephthah out of town because he was not a pure blood. But when Israel was in trouble with the Ammonites, the elders came to beg Jephthah to help. Although puzzled as to why they would want help from him whom they drove out of town, Jephthah agreed, asked God to be with him, tried diplomacy and then ended up routing the Ammonites. He was then reunited with his family and judged Israel for six years. Jephthah can sign my book anytime!
You know Samuel, don’t you? As recounted in the books of First and Second Samuel, Samuel, he was the son given to Hannah who for years prayed and prayed that she might bear a child, and promised to give that child to service to God. The boy Samuel hung out with Eli in the temple and heard God calling him but thought it was Eli, and woke Eli up twice wondering why Eli called him. Finally Eli considered that it might be God, so when God called to Samuel the third time, Samuel responded, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Samuel was appointed as the first prophet, who was destined to pave the way for the first kings of Israel, including Saul and David. Now, Samuel had a lot of problems with his own sons. He had a lot of problems with Saul. He had a lot of problems with David. But he persevered into his old age. Samuel can sign my green book anytime!
These Cloud of Witnesses are in effect, part of our family tree. Now in the Gospel, as Jesus makes his presence known to those who are following him on his journey to Jerusalem, gathering followers and listeners, encountering naysayers and challengers, he tells the truth about the world and the family: they will have their crumbling and divided moments. For those who are self-satisfied, whose ultimate value is certainty and stability, that world will be rocked. Your cloud of witnesses may include your immediate family. Your cloud of witnesses may exclude your immediate family.
Jesus demonstrates that following him is not for the faint of heart. It is rather for those who cling to the kingdom of God as their ultimate value, while the world’s consumer and economic culture vie for our allegiance, while those closest to us may question our faith commitments, while we understand all too well the imperfections and questions within our own deepest selves.
With the world rocking and reeling around us, continued division among those who seek the truth, let me just throw you the baton that blares out the kingdom of God is within you! And while you reach out to catch it, and run with it, imagine that you are grabbing onto the coat tails of Rahab and Jepthah and Samuel, and others who have stood for the truth and for the Gospel. All the while that you are running and holding on, know that you are in good company. There at the head of the pack is Jesus himself, blazing the trail, he himself who has encountered ridicule all the way from his baptism by water and fire, through to his death on the cross. There at the head of the pack under the cloud is Jesus pulling us along with all the other crazy people on the kingdom’s family tree, who live and die by the promises of a just and loving God.
Here, Jesus! Sign my green book. Write me in your book of life!
I.N.I.
The Rev. Timothy J. Keyl, Pastor
Christ the King Lutheran Church
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