111509_Spirit_words_for_gospel_preachers.rtf

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:47:58 GMT

Chicago Community Mennonite Church
15 November 2009
Proper 28
Sermon: Spirit words for gospel-preachers
Megan M. Ramer

1 Samuel 1:1-28
1 Samuel 2:1-10
Mark 13:1-13

The comment of the disciples as they leave the temple
is one of those places that, at least for me,
Mark's gospel strikes comedic genius.
I mean, listen to this:
As [Jesus] came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him,
``Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!''
In several other translations, the disciple remarks,
``Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!''
And Jesus' response to such an
insightful, shall we say?
comment?
[sternly]
``Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.''
Pure comedy!

It's funny, at least in part, because it's so absurd and therefore confusing.
Something just doesn't follow.
First: Why would this disciple make such an inane comment?
My what large stones and…large buildings…
OR: what wonderful stones and…wonderful buildings…
Second: why on earth, even if the disciple had made such an inane comment,
was it considered worthy of being published
recorded in the gospel of Mark for all posterity?
And finally: Why Jesus' severely stern response?

Our passage begins with Jesus and the disciples coming out of the temple.
As they were coming out of the temple one of the disciples said…
Well, that made me curious about what had happened while in the temple.
We have to flip back through Mark to figure that out.
Might it provide a clue to the absurdly humorous exchange while departing the temple?

Two chapters earlier, Jesus and the disciples entered Jerusalem for the first time.
Immediately following his triumphal entry in Mark's gospel
Jesus heads straight for the temple.
While there, on his first visit to this holiest of holy sites,
he overturns the tables of the money changers,
the benches of the dove-sellers,
and somehowMark doesn't give us specifics
somehow disallows everyone there from carrying merchandise through the courts.
Quite a first impression our Jesus must have made to the temple-going crowd!

On the way out of the temple,
Jesus and the disciples encounter the withered fig tree
that Jesus had cursed on his way in.
The next scene in this Jerusalem narrative takes placeagainin the temple.
Jesus and the disciples are back for more fun.
This time Jesus faces tough questions,
offers challenging teaching,
and engages in a bit of general denouncing.
First, Jesus' authority is questioned
immediately upon returning to the temple
by a rather comprehensive crowd of leaders:
the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders.
He talks back to them, and essentially refuses to answer their question.
He goes on to tell the parable of the wicked tenants
who at last brutally murder their landowner's heir.
He's served a series of questions
on a host of themes;
each question presented by experts on the topic at hand;
and each question meant to trip him up or trick him in some way
from the Pharisees and Herodians: question about paying taxes,
from the Sadducees: questions about the resurrection,
and from the scribes: question about the first or greatest commandment in the Torah.
And at each turn, Jesus confounds.
Then, entirely without provocation,
Jesus challenges a teaching of the scribes about King David and the Messiah.
And then he goes on to denounce and condemn those scribes.
Finally, he plops down next to the treasury
and begins to scrutinize everyone's monetary gifts.

It's a little like ``Meet the Parents''Jerusalem Temple style.
It seems that everything and everyone
that Jesus could possibly criticize, scrutinize, provoke, offendyou name ithe does.

So, after he's praised the poor widow for having put in more than all the others
who've contributed their larger sums to the treasury,
then
Jesus comes out of the temple
and one of his disciples comments,
``Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!''
Do you get it now?
I certainly have much more empathy for this disciple
and his seemingly inane comment
after having explored the back-story.

Jesus had essentially made mortal enemies
of each group he'd encountered in the temple.
He'd been provocative,
offensive,
demanding,
confrontational,
evasive,
self-righteous.
He'd been, in short, a complete trouble-maker.
The disciple's comment about the stones and the buildings
comes immediately after some really difficult and challenging
and here's the kickervery public
teachings of Jesus
which must have terrified his friends and followers.

What is going to happen to him if he keeps talking this way?
And right in the middle of the temple, of all places.
What will happen to us by association?
What will happen to me ?!
What wonderful stones and wonderful buildings they have here in Jerusalem,
don't you say, Andrew?
And Jesus' response
to this attempt at easing some tension by throwing out an innocuous comment
about the surrounding buildings?
``Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.''
Quite a conversation-stopper.

Mark continues unfolding this story (I'll pick up with verse 3):
When [Jesus] was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple,
Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately ,
``Tell us, when will this be,
and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?''
Then Jesus began to say to them…
At long last, away from the crowds,
and the incredibly public stage Jesus occupied while in the temple,
the disciples get a chance to ask him
one of their growing questions
privately.
Jesus' answer to that question isn't any more sugarcoated than anything else he's said,
but at least the disciples are granted this space away
on the Mount of Olivesjust outside the city wall
to begin to really hear
and process
and try to make sense of what is to come.
Jesus frankly reveals to them, in the course of his answer, that to follow him
is to land in the public places of this world
in direct confrontation with its powers.
And they've just come from witnessing Jesus doing that very thing.
So they know it's not just empty words;
it's not a bluff;
it may not even be an overstatement.
The disciples must berightfullyscared.
And Jesus is honest enough to tell them the brutal truth of what it means to follow him,
but Jesus is also compassionate enough to promise them the Holy Spirit.
I'll pick up again with verse 5Jesus said to them:
``Beware that no one leads you astray.
Many will come in my name and say, ``I am he!'' and they will lead many astray.
When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed;
this must take place, but the end is still to come.
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
there will be earthquakes in various places;
there will be famines.
This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

``As for yourselves, beware;
for they will hand you over to councils;
and you will be beaten in synagogues;
and you will stand before governors and kings because of me,
as a testimony to them.
And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations.
When they bring you to trial and hand you over,
do not worry beforehand about what you are to say;
but say whatever is given you at that time,
for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child,
and children will rise against parents and have them put to death
and you will be hated by all because of my name.
But the one who endures to the end will be saved.''

Jesus attempts to encourage his disciples,
saying they needn't worry about what they will say
when dragged before councils, governors and kings,
because it is the Holy Spirit who will speak through them.
What does this mean?
Some preachers don't write sermons for this reason…
because they want to leave room for the Holy Spirit to speak through them.
It works well for some,
and for others not so well.
What's the difference?
I think it might have to do with prayer and preparation.
I believe that the Spirit works and speaks
through the process of preparation and, for me, writing.
I not only believe that, I know that.
I have experienced it and born witness to it in many others,
including many of you
those of you who have preached for us here,
those of you who have spoken as a representatives of CPT to various media,
those of you who have written letters and articles,
and on and on.
So when Jesus says they need not worry for the Holy Spirit will speak through them,
I don't think he means that they need not prepare.
In other words, I don't think that preparation impedes the Spirit from speaking through us.
Just worrying.

So yes, show up to the task of discernment in community.
For the Holy Spirit speaks through that work.
And I'll keep showing up to the task of preparing and writing sermons,
and keep praying that the Holy Spirit speak through that work.
However, let us take care that we not fall into the trap of mistakenly believing
that all depends on us.
That all depends on our work .
That speaking of the ``Holy Spirit'' is really just a dressed-up way of describing
good human work.
We sometimes, for example, mistakenly think that we are building the kingdom of God.
Praise the Lord, we are not!
We may beand in fact, we are part of its unfolding,
but this is the work of the Spirit.
Kingdom-building is the work of the Spirit.

Reminds me of these oft-quoted words
attributed to soon-to-be-assassinated Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador;
words that I will repeat in their entirety because I couldn't bear to edit anything out:
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime
only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one-day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders;
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.

We sometimes think that we are building the kingdom of God.
Praise the Lord, we are not!
We are part of its unfolding,
but this is the work of the Spiritthe master builder.
It is the Spirit who speaks through us,
the Spirit who works through us.
Amen?

I wish I could preach a whole second sermon on Hannah.
I will resist the temptation.
But I can't resist drawing our attention to her prayer in the synagogue.
I have been so struck this week by the fervency of her prayer
so intense and passionate
that it leads Eli, the priest, to assume she is drunk…
to outright accuse her of being drunk.
This calls to mind for me the story of Pentecost in Acts 2
in which Spirit-filled crowds are also presumed drunk
by skeptical passersby in the early morning hour.

I've been left with this question:
When was the last time I pleaded with the Spirit that intensely?
As though I really believed that God's promised Spirit is within
around
listening
giving a darn
powerful enough to do something
and at workmysteriouslyin this world?
When was the last time I was confused for drunk when meeting the Spirit?

Back to Jesus and the disciples on the Mount of Olive for a final word.
Just before he assures them of the Spirit's presence with them,
Jesus delivers this challenging message:
When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed…
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
there will be earthquakes…
there will be famines.
This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.
As for yourselves, beware;
for they will hand you over to councils;
and you will be beaten in synagogues;
and you will stand before governors and kings because of me,
as a testimony to them.
They will hand you over and beat you and force you to testify
all immediately follows the part about wars and rumors of wars.
Why? What's the connection?
It doesn't follow unless there is something the disciples are to be doing and saying
in light of these tragic surges of violence
to get themselves in trouble with the governing authorities
who will be doling out the promised punishments.
Jesus clearly expects his follower to be making enough of a ruckus in times of war
to draw the attention of those in power.
The only clue we have about what that ruckus might entail
comes just after the promise of punishment.
Jesus says, ``And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations.''
The good news.
The gospel.
Now: what gospel could possibly be threatening enough
to make councils, governors and kings take notice
during times of war and rumors of warwhen they are otherwise occupied?
What gospel is that?

Clearly, it is the gospel of Jesus the Christ:
the one that proclaims release to the captives at Guantanamo;
the one that proclaims recovery of sight to the blind who presume to rule our nations;
the one that lets free those oppressed by labor atrocities, militaries and occupying forces;
the one that proclaims the year of Jubilee
in which land and wealth and access to healthcare are redistributed…
this is a gospel,
if preached,
that could land a few faithful disciples in some hot water
even in times of war and rumors of war…
perhaps especially in times of war and rumors of war.

What kind of gospel-preaching could possibly be interesting enough to governing authorities
to draw their attention away from their fascination with playing the game of Risk
with real militaries, real nations and real humans?
The gospel of our Lord: Jesus the Christ,
the anointed one,
the gospel-preacher,
the ruckus-maker.

May the Spirit of Christ so fill and surround us that we do the unthinkable:
that we preach this gospel,
that we proclaim this good news,
that we follow in the troublemaking Way of Christ.
May we actually believe that the Spirit fills us, surrounds us, strengthens us,
and yes: even gives us words to speak when dragged before rulers
attempting to quiet down our good news preaching.
May it be so.
For the sake of the gospel, the church and the world:
May it be so.

1 Samuel 1:1-2:10

There was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

Now this man used to go up year by year from his town to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters; but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year after year; as often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Her husband Elkanah said to her, `Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?'

After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the Lord. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord, and wept bitterly. She made this vow: `O Lord of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head.'

As she continued praying before the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought she was drunk. So Eli said to her, `How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine.' But Hannah answered, `No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time.' Then Eli answered, `Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him.' And she said, `Let your servant find favour in your sight.' Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer.

They rose early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord; then they went back to their house at Ramah. Elkanah knew his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, `I have asked him of the Lord.'

The man Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, `As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the Lord, and remain there for ever; I will offer him as a nazirite for all time.' Her husband Elkanah said to her, `Do what seems best to you, wait until you have weaned him; onlymay the Lord establish his word.' So the woman remained and nursed her son, until she weaned him. When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, `Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.'

She left him there for the Lord.

Hannah prayed and said,
`My heart exults in the Lord;
my strength is exalted in my God.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because I rejoice in my victory.

`There is no Holy One like the Lord,
no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
Talk no more so very proudly,
let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble gird on strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.
The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low, he also exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honour.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's,
and on them he has set the world.

`He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;
for not by might does one prevail.
The Lord! His adversaries shall be shattered;
the Most High will thunder in heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king,
and exalt the power of his anointed.'

Mark 13:1-13

As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, `Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!' Then Jesus asked him, `Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.'

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, `Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?' Then Jesus began to say to them, `Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ``I am he!'' and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

`As for yourselves, beware; for they will hand you over to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them. And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations. When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

/Sermons

111509_Spirit_words_for_gospel_preachers.rtf