I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ
Texts: Philemon 1-21; Luke 14:25-33
I can picture the specific time my Aunt Helen sat with my sisters and me to talk about Jesus and what he wants to be for me, personally. Some of you may have heard me talk about Aunt Helen. She was the one in my father’s family designated to stay home and take care of the aging grandmother. After my grandmother died, Aunt Helen continued in her task of spiritual support for the family. If any of you have benefited from the ministry of Saint Andrew’s, you are part of the answer to my Aunt Helen’s prayers.
Aunt Helen wanted us, even as young children, to realize that Jesus was not just about something our parents did. She emphasized to us, in her unique way, that Jesus wants to know each of us personally. Jesus wants each one of us to trust his care for each of us. This is not so much what we would call a decision. Rather, this is a commitment – a commitment that includes the choices we make each and every day. The challenge is that we don’t always live in that relationship with Jesus. The Good News is that, regardless of what happened the day before, Jesus wants us to trust him each new day.
I wish our Gospel reading were something else today. Much of the time we follow what we call the lectionary – that is a churchy term for a listing of specific scripture passages to be read during worship on specific days. I am excited that our Sunday School curriculum is based on the lectionary this year. The good reason for doing so in worship and Christian education is that we are challenged to go beyond a few of our favorite verses. The difficult side of this is that we are challenged to see how all of scripture fits together.
Today we hear Jesus telling us that, in order to be his disciples, we must hate parents and siblings. Maybe after the ride to church this morning that sounds good. Maybe this sounds like good advice to adolescents frustrated with their parents. Yet even if we are still trying to figure out how to live beyond dysfunctional relations with family, we wonder. Our spiritual ears start to hurt from the dissonant sounds. The commandments say, honor your father and your mother. Now what is Jesus saying?
Two things to remind ourselves: We have to take each part of the Bible in the context of the whole Bible. This is the Lutheran principle of Biblical study: The Bible interprets the Bible. Outside knowledge is essential. We start, however, by asking what the whole Bible might be say.
The second point is that knowledge of the Bible itself, of the times in which it was lived, the language in which it was written, helps us understand that word hate. It did not necessarily imply the extreme feeling against something, as we would think. It is a way of emphasizing how priorities are arranged. Jesus often use words that irritate the ears in order to reach into the heart and guide the spirit. He is challenging us: With Jesus, it is highest priority or it does not really work.
I am grateful that many of you had a chance to meet Felix Eiffler, the student from Germany who visited here last month. In conversation with him I was reminded of something I learned while on Sabbatical in Germany. I have told of this several times. The former Eastern Zone of Germany is considered, based on opinion surveys, to be the least religious region of the world. How could this be so in the Land of Martin Luther? Studies of the era since the end of World War II point to a very significant factor. In the early 1950’s the state under communist control realized the Church would continue to have at least some influence if the practice of Confirmation continued. So, in its place was begun a similar period of training for youth leading to a dedication rite. It was a way of leading adolescents into adulthood. At first, this youth dedication was offered as an option. Then, going through dedication was made a requirement for higher education. Statistics show a sudden and dramatic decline. The church was already missing out on the daily vibrancy of faith in Jesus. Now, the symbols of becoming an adult were changed. Our situation is not the same exactly. But I do have to ask: What actions or rituals do we equate with becoming adult? Where in our priorities do we place those activities? How do specific actions connected to Jesus fit in to the other priorities we have for our children?
I am grateful that my commitment to follow Jesus was part of belonging in my family of blood relatives. I know that is not always the case. We trust Saint Andrew’s is a place where everyone feels the welcoming embrace, the encouraging push so that we can walk along as disciples of Jesus.
I am totally fascinated by the short book of Philemon – also assigned for this day. We do not really know the results of this letter, for the slave Onesimus, for the slave holder, Philemon, even eventually for the institution of slavery – which devout Christians like British politician, William Wilberforce, or the Lutheran Pastor, Samuel Schmucker of Gettysburg Seminary worked to abolish.
Those words Saint Paul wrote to Philemon grab me: I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective when you perceive all the good that we may do for Christ.
As we share our faith in Jesus, who died for us, we think and act and speak remembering the words of an old hymn, nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling.
Sharing that truth, that Good News lifts burdens from guilty hearts; gives new vitality to hopeless hearts; comforts sad hearts.
Sharing that Good News guides us into a life that shares God’s grace to save the world.
P-squared 