22 August 2004

August 22, 2004

Proper 16 Year

In nomine…

The Hebrew leaders scoffed at the Lord. They outright rejected him and his prophet Isaiah. The Hebrew leaders turned instead to

Death (with a capitol D), and to Sheol, the underworld, making a pact with them. The Hebrew leaders claimed this pact would make them safe- that they would be protected from the soon coming “overwhelming scourge.”

There is no basis for this trust in Death however. The Lord offers a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone. He offers justice and righteousness, and promises that those who believe will not panic.

God is clearly stronger than Death as well- God speaks of hail sweeping away the refuge of lies the followers of Death have sought, and says waters will overwhelm their shelter. Their agreement with Death will be annulled and their pact with Sheol will not stand. And, as the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews puts it: God is a consuming fire… and I want the consuming fire on my side.

However, Death and Sheol do make protection seem easier… cheap ideas and promises still seem like a better deal to them than aligning themselves with God by following God’s laws. You see, for Jews, like those who rejected God in the first reading, or well, actually, not like those Jews, the way to become closer to God is by doing mitzvot- completing commands, or laws put forth by God in various texts, including Torah, Talmud and Mishnah. Indeed, though not all laws apply to everyone, these laws, which number somewhere around 613, discuss everything from the behavior between boys and girls, to the studying of religious texts, to even going to the bathroom in the morning. Orthodox Jews of today still live by these rules.

But Christians believe that the Messiah has come in the form of Christ Jesus- now we have a new covenant- NOW all-we-need-to-do-is believe! Yet, in today’s gospel, when this question is posed to Jesus: Will only a few be saved? the answer is NOT a resounding no! The rules have been ridiculously simplified – Jesus says that all we have to do is love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength --yet we hear of people who are like us, sitting and listening to Jesus’ teachings, and who are still stuck at the doorway.

Because the Hebrew leaders were not aligning themselves with God, they were aligning themselves with “NotGod” or Death. Specifically, in this case they were aligning themselves with the Egyptians in a war against the Assyrians. You see, Isaiah had prophesied earlier that their only safety was in the Lord. BUT, the Hebrew leaders knew better in aligning with Egypt – this seemed like a safer idea – they could rest more easily, rest much more easily than they could only hoping that this faraway god was paying attention.

They were hiding behind their fear, and fear gives bad judgments, as it did in those times, in Jesus’ time, and it does now.

We are taught that all we need to do to be saved is believe, yet, quite often when we are afraid, or insecure, that doesn’t help us. The Jews have their laws to hold onto, physical actions they can know they are doing properly to be close to God – we too want something tangible – so we turn our trust away from God and barricade ourselves in huge houses, expensive gimmicks and attractive cars. We ally ourselves with those whom we feel will help us get where we want to be the most, as we hide in our neatly sided, bricked, stoned homes.

Deep inside, we know that when the scourge, whatever it is, comes, these barricades, whether physical or interpersonal, will seem feeble at best, but somehow, they let us sleep better –, they let us sleep much better then we would if we really trusted in the ultimate protector!

All we have to do is believe, we have to focus on what’s beyond the narrow door.

If we are carrying all these barricades, how can we even dream of fitting through the narrow door?

We also have to wonder, if it’s not God we are following with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul, what are we following with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul? It MUST be something… are we following insecurity, or our desire to “look big,” or does it all really melt down to following our own fear- with all our heart, all our mind, and all our soul?

God is our protector, our shepherd, and our leader. He is guiding us to the narrow door- but we have to be willing, ready - trusting enough to feel open, exposed, willing to bes totally naked to the world- dropping our barricade to just squeeze through the narrow door- remembering always to keep God in focus.

I mean, we live in a hard world. These barricades, are, in various forms being thrown at us all the time, and quite often, we don’t even realize we are turning away from God when we embrace these, things.

But, God is there for us. Like I said, we have to keep him in focus- never let ourselves fall too far back—when we think something we want is making us turn away from God, we really have ask ourselves if we are still loving God with all our heart, and all our mind, and all our soul— or if our heart, or mind, or soul is on something else- on “NotGod.”

It’s not easy, well-meaning friends, neighbors, and all sorts of media advertisements try to overload with these unintentional barricades, but if we are so weighed down with burdens, how can we see over our load to see God- to follow God?

So, we have to keep questioning ourselves, remembering that God is always the protector we should turn to, that if we stumble, he will not forsake us, and lift us up, and that it is he who is leading us through the narrow door, and we mustn’t lose sight of that.

We’ll soon be singing hymn 488 “Be Thou my Vision,” which is truly a prayer to God, expressing our need and desire to have God remain our guide, and asking him to help us to keep him as our vision.

High King of heaven, when victory is won – victory over the Assyrians, over our own fear, the victory of salvation, may I reach heaven’s joys bright heaven’s Sun! Heart of my heart, whatever befall- May we know God is our trust, that God is the ONLY WAY, however exposed we may feel, Lord, Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

Amen