Grace Episcopal Church, Madison NJ
September 16, 2012
Year B: Proper 19 – The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Proverbs 1:20-33
Psalm 19
(James 3:1-12)
Mark 8:27-38
What the Bible Is All About
Well,
the program year is off and running here at Grace Church! We’re back to the
normal service schedule and lots of good stuff is underway.
People
keep asking me how my summer was. From what I remember, it was fine. Two
highlights for me were the mission trip (which you can hear more about at
today’s adult seminar) and that I had the time to read a little more than usual.
Now
that we’re in full swing making time to read is harder, though.
This
time of year, I start a book and then don’t get back to it for days or even
sometimes weeks. And when I do get back to it, enough time has passed that I
don’t remember what I’ve read and have to flip back to remind myself of who did
what when – and even to remind myself what the book is really about.
I
think for many of us that’s pretty much how we read – or hear – the Bible here
in church. Even if we come to church every Sunday, we still only read and hear
little excerpts from the Bible. From week to week it’s hard to remember who did
what when. It’s easy to forget what
the Bible is all about.
The
Bible was assembled over a very long time by many different people. The Bible
contains many different books and many different types of literature. Yet, we proclaim
that, as a whole, the Bible is God’s Word.
I
see that divine inspiration most clearly when I look beyond the little excerpts
we read and hear in church and focus on what the Bible is all about.
The
Bible tells the story of God’s eternal invitation – the story of God reaching
out to us – the story of God reaching out to us over and over again.
And
the Bible tells the story of how people responded to God’s eternal invitation –
the story of how people responded when God reached out to us over and over
again.
We
heard a little bit of that great invitation / response story in the passage we heard
from Proverbs.
Proverbs
is an interesting book, though not one we often hear from on Sundays.
Proverbs
seems to have been written essentially as a guide for young men preparing to
take on adult responsibilities. It offers insights on how to cope with life – especially
on how to choose life instead of death.
In
Proverbs, God’s Wisdom is personified as a woman – as a woman prophet. And sure
enough, God reaches out to us through this mysterious woman Wisdom.
Listen
again to the opening from today’s reading from Proverbs:
“Wisdom
cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. At the busiest
corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks…”
There
it is – there’s the first part of what the Bible is all about. There it is:
God’s eternal invitation – the story of God reaching out to us – the story of
God reaching out to us over and over again.
But
then we hear about the human response to God’s invitation.
Lady
Wisdom says,
“…
I have called and you refused, have stretched out my hand and no one heeded…”
And then Wisdom goes on to predict that this refusal of God’s invitation – our
refusal of welcoming God when God reaches out to us – will lead to disaster.
But
the story of God’s invitation and our response continued.
God
continued to extend the eternal invitation – continued to reach out to us over
and over again.
And
God’s ultimate invitation – God’s ultimate reaching out to us – is the life,
death and resurrection of Jesus.
This
was such an amazing invitation – such an unexpected reaching out – that back in
the First Century most people – even those closest to Jesus – couldn’t quite
figure it out – couldn’t quite figure out Jesus.
So,
in today’s gospel lesson we heard Jesus ask his closest friends, “Who do people
say that I am?” And then Jesus asks his closest friends, “But, who do you say
that I am?”
And,
maybe surprisingly, it’s Peter who gets it right. “You are the Messiah.”
But,
unfortunately, seeing what happens next in the story, we can only give Peter partial
credit. Peter obviously doesn’t understand or accept the cost of responding
“yes” to God’s invitation. Peter doesn’t understand or accept the cost for
Jesus, for Peter himself, or for us.
For
the first time in the Gospel of Mark, here Jesus explains that responding “yes”
to God’s invitation is going to mean sacrifice – sacrifice for Jesus and also
sacrifice for all of us who choose to follow Jesus.
Jesus
says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up
their cross and follow me.”
The
Bible tells the story of God’s eternal invitation – the story of God reaching
out to us – the story of God reaching out to us over and over again.
And
the Bible tells the story of how human beings responded to God’s eternal
invitation – the story of how they responded when God reached out to them over
and over again.
Back
in the 4th Century the Church finally decided on what should be
included in the Bible. Nothing
more has been added to the Bible since.
But
that doesn’t mean that God is done with us. The great story continues – God
continues to issue the invitation – continues to reach out to us. And we are
given the choice of how to respond to God’s invitation.
As
Jesus tells us – as Jesus shows us - responding “yes” to God involves a high
cost – involves sacrifice – involves giving away our lives in loving service to
God and to one another.
But
when we say “yes” to God, when we accept God’s invitation, we live the kinds of
lives God has always wanted us to live - and we help God build the kind of
world God has always wanted for us.
We
don’t have to look very far to see that God’s love is released when we
sacrifice, when we give away our lives, when we say “yes” to God’s invitation.
Back
in the spring, Bishop Beckwith announced that this year on September 11th
he would be at Newark Penn Station along with a rabbi and an imam, offering
witness and prayer to anyone who was passing through the station on that somber
day. He encouraged the clergy to do something similar.
To
be honest, I was very reluctant. It’s a hard day. And I find it awkward
greeting strangers in my black suit and offering them witness and prayer. I’d
much rather have people come to me – stop by church or the office.
Anyway,
as many of you know, I went through with it. Last Tuesday, three parishioners
and I were at the Madison train station. In 90 minutes we gave out all of our 200
prayer cards. It was a very somber and powerful experience.
But
the most moving experience for me came early – just a few minutes after 6:00
when I was approached by a man in his early 30s on his way into the station.
He
looked at me and said, “Hey! Hey!” And there were tears in his eyes.
Suddenly
I recognized him as a “kid” I had taught in my first year as a teacher, over
twenty years ago. (Any teacher will tell you that they never forget their first
classes.)
He
didn’t share details, but started telling me how this was such a hard day for
him and his family, and how they had a barbeque on Sunday to distract
themselves.
And
then, with tears staining his cheeks, he told me about his kids – and said,
with a laugh – that another is on the way.
Finally,
he took one of the cards, said good-bye and made his way up to the platform.
Responding
“yes” to God’s invitation involves sacrifice. Saying “yes” to God’s invitation releases
God’s love into the world.
Just
look at what’s been happening here at Grace this past week.
I’ve
been associated with this church for five years – on and off – and I’ve never
seen us more excited than we are about raising money by selling homemade dog
biscuits so that our young parishioner Jack Harter can have a service dog. If
you haven’t heard about this – you will!
I’m
sure it was a sacrifice for Doug and Katie Harter to give up some their privacy
– to share their story – their lives - with us and so many other people,
friends and strangers. And, I know they wouldn’t think or say it this way, but
all of those who buy the ingredients and bake, and bag and sell the biscuits
are sacrificing. And all of those who have worked to spread the word are
sacrificing. And all of those who are buying biscuits – even if they don’t have
a dog – maybe even if they’re cat people – are sacrificing.
But,
look what happens when we respond “yes” to God’s invitation.
Because
we’ve said “yes” to God’s invitation, God’s love, God’s love for Jack and for
all of us, has been unleashed – pun intended! - here at Grace Church and in
Madison and beyond.
So,
today’s a good day to remember what the Bible is all about.
The
Bible tells the story of God’s eternal invitation – the story of God reaching
out to us – the story of God reaching out to us over and over again.
And
the Bible tells the story of how human beings responded to God’s eternal
invitation – the story of how people responded when God reached out to them
over and over again.
The
Bible is complete, but today the great story continues, right here and right
now.
God
is still extending the invitation, still reaching out, over and over again.
How
we respond is up to us.
Amen.
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