St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen, Jersey City NJ
August 23, 2015
Year B, Proper 16:
The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
1 Kings 8:1, 6,
10-11, 22-30, 41-43
Psalm 84
Ephesians 6:10-20
John 6:56-69
Walking in the Way of the Lord
Last
Sunday in our Old Testament lesson we heard about the death of King David, who
was then succeeded by his son Solomon.
Solomon,
you’ll remember, felt inadequate to the job and so asked God for the gift of
wisdom. God happily obliged and to this day Solomon is remembered for his great
wisdom.
Solomon
is also remembered for the construction of the first temple in Jerusalem.
You
might remember that a little while back we heard the story of how David had
wanted to build a house for God – a house made of cedar – but God made it clear
that God would be doing the house-building, thank you very much!
But,
Solomon actually does build a house for God, builds the Temple, one of the
great architectural marvels of the ancient world, the place where, in a sense,
God was believed to dwell, the building that became the center of life for the
people of Israel.
In
today’s lesson we hear King Solomon offer a long prayer during the dedication
of the great temple.
As
we still sometimes do in our prayers to this day, in his prayer Solomon reminds
God (as if God needed reminding!) of what God had done – reminds God of what
God had promised to God’s people.
At
one point in his prayer, Solomon reminds God of God’s promise to David, the
promise that his line would last forever “if only your children look to their
way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.”
God
promised to continue David’s line if the people continued to walk in the way of
the Lord.
Walking
in the way of the Lord.
If
you know your Bible, you know that sometimes the people of Israel did a good
job of walking in the way of the Lord. Other times, not so much.
For
us Christians walking in the way of the Lord means putting – and keeping – God
– the God we know in and through Jesus - at the center of our lives.
Walking
in the way of the Lord means loving our neighbors as ourselves. It means loving
our enemies, turning the other cheek, praying for those who persecute us.
Walking
in the way of the Lord means at least trying
to love those who the world rejects, trying
to love those who often are so hard to love.
Walking
in the way of the Lord means withholding judgment on others – unless we
ourselves want to be judged.
Walking
in the way of the Lord means giving of ourselves generously – giving not just
what’s extra, what’s left over, but giving in a sacrificial way, giving so that
it hurts us at least a little, giving that requires us to deny ourselves
something we want, giving that requires us to do something we’d really rather
not have to do.
All
very difficult.
It
is a great challenge to walk in the way of the Lord, isn’t it? In fact, it
might very well be the greatest challenge of our lives.
In
fact, walking in the way of the Lord is so difficult, so challenging, and
sometimes even so dangerous, that, as we heard in today’s second lesson, the
author of the Letter to the Ephesians uses some kind of frightening military
imagery.
He
writes: “Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of
blood and flesh, but against the rulers, the authorities, against the cosmic
powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly places.”
Walking
in the way of the Lord is so difficult we heard in today’s gospel lesson that
some – maybe even many – of Jesus’ followers found it too hard to follow him
and so they fell away.
Walking
in the way of the Lord is so challenging because the forces of the world are
constantly calling us to walk a very different way.
The
world calls us to put our own wants and needs first, to ignore our neighbors,
to not waste our time even trying to love those who are hard to love, to judge
people – to judge them on the worst thing they’ve ever done, to hold on for
dear life to everything we have, because, well, you never know, right?
In
fact, walking in the way of the Lord is so challenging that we might be
tempted to throw up our arms in frustration and give up – to live just like
everybody else.
Except.
Except
that every once in a while God sends us a reminder that it really is possible
to walk in the way of the Lord.
Every
once in a while God sends us a reminder that God is ready and willing to give
us the strength, the courage, the guidance, to walk in the way of the Lord.
Jimmy
Carter is one of those reminders.
As
I’m sure many of you know, this past week President Carter announced that his
cancer had spread to his brain and that, at age 90, he is beginning radiation
treatments.
So,
I’ve been thinking a lot about Jimmy Carter and keeping him in my prayers.
Now,
he’d admit that he’s not perfect. And, you don’t get to be governor of a state
or president of the United States without being tough and ambitious and
self-confident.
And,
he has been mostly judged to be not such a successful president, though I think
history will be kinder to Carter who was ahead of his time about energy
efficiency, even placing solar panels on the White House roof, kinder to Carter
who forged a lasting peace between the mortal enemies of Israel and Egypt,
history will be kinder to Carter than many of his successors.
But,
it’s what he’s done after leaving office that’s most impressive.
While
other former presidents usually spend their time getting well-compensated for
making speeches or sitting on corporate boards or writing their memoirs or
playing golf, Carter has devoted his long post-presidency to walking in the way
of the Lord, to serving others.
As
you may know, after leaving office he and his wife Rosalynn (married since
1946, by the way) started the Carter Center, which is devoted to democracy and
public health.
He
and his organization have monitored elections all around the world. In fact, he
was monitoring an election in Guyana when he first began feeling ill. The
Carter Center has spearheaded the effort to eradicate the terrible disease
called Guinea worm.
When
the effort began, in 1986, there were 3.5 million cases mostly in Africa and
Asia. Last year there were 126 cases and President Carter said, “I’d like the
last Guinea worm to die before I do.”
On
top of all of that he’s been faithful volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and
still teaches Sunday School at his church in Georgia.
Whatever
you might think of his politics, over his long life Jimmy Carter has walked in
the way of the Lord.
I’m
sure it wasn’t easy – there were temptations and disappointments along the way.
But,
now he gets to enjoy - and we get to
see – what it means to abide with Jesus.
And,
look, after a lifetime of walking in the way of the Lord, Jimmy Carter faces
the future without fear and with hope and confidence.
At
his press conference the other day he said that at first he thought he’d be
dead in a just a few weeks. He said, “But I was surprisingly at ease. I’ve had
a wonderful life, I’ve had thousands of friends, and I’ve had an exciting and
adventurous and gratifying existence.”
Finally,
he said, “Now I feel it’s in the hands of God.”
Walking
in the way of the Lord.
It
is a great challenge to walk in the way of the Lord. In fact, it might very well
be the greatest challenge of our lives.
In
fact, walking in the way of the Lord is so challenging that we might be tempted
to throw up our arms in frustration and give up – to live just like everybody
else.
Except
that every once in a while God sends us a reminder that it really is possible
to walk in the way of the Lord.
Every
once in a while God sends us a reminder that God is ready and willing to give
us the strength, the courage, the guidance, to walk in the way of the Lord.
With
God’s help, we can walk in the way of the Lord. Just look at the man
from Plains, Georgia.
Amen.
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