Sermon After Pentecost, Proper 10, July 10, 2011

Rev. Peter K. Ackerman
St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church
Proper 10, Year A
July 10, 2011

The Moveable Seed

Back when I was starting out as a Production Assistant, I was working freelance in making television commercials. I was hired by one company and on the day before filming began they asked me to go up, early in the morning to the rooftop of the Million Dollar Hotel where we would begin shooting the spot the next morning. My purpose was to stand in the same place every half an hour and take a picture of the roof so that the director could understand which direction the shadows from the hotel’s giant sign, which rose above the rooftop, would travel. I was to arrive at 7am and take four pictures, one every half an hour for two hours. Easy enough.
Thus, as instructed I checked in with the desk clerk and found my way, via elevator to the roof level, and as instructed I went through the doorway and onto the roof. So far so good, until I realized that once the door closed behind me, that it was locked, and I could not open it up from the outside. I was basically trapped. I took my pictures, but used the time in between to try to figure a way out; a safe way out. Except for a rickety looking emergency ladder, which to get to meant taking a small leap downwards, there was no good option for me but to wait.
So I took my four pictures, and some additional ones until suddenly the door to the roof opened as a hotel maintenance person came out to do something. Imagine my elation. I was free! With my new found release I was able to get back to the rest of my day. That feeling of movement from a place where one is trapped to an area where goodness abounds is shared within our Gospel reading this morning.
Jesus tells us about a sower who scatters seeds extravagantly on the ground, and those seeds find themselves in varying conditions which relate to their ability to take root and grow. Some are carelessly strewn about upon ground where there is not soil. Others are in conditions of partial soil where they can begin to sprout, but never quite have enough room to go any further, while we are reminded of the good and abundant soil where roots can anchor, nutrients can feed the organism, and the plant can grow and flourish.
Jesus explains that this parable is an example of our own spiritual journey. Like the seeds we may find ourselves in various types of soil throughout our lives. From this we may get the understanding: “if I spend time in worship, reading and prayer; if I concentrate on living out what Jesus teaches me; and if I positively respond to the movement of the Holy Spirit and more then I am putting myself into that fruitful ground and because of that all that I am, and all that I do will have the opportunity to flourish.
Likewise, we can say that if someone pays no mind to their spiritual welfare, if they ignore any sense of a moral compass because it does not feed their individual desires, and simply ignore the needs of anyone else in the world, that person can be considered to be not on the best ground.
One trap we can fall into is the if we take this parable so literal that we come to the conclusion as seeds that we are stuck where we are, and there is no way out of the ground we happened tossed upon. Like being locked onto a rooftop, feeling helpless and trapped in our life is not a good thing, and our lectionary this morning helps us to see the grace that abounds.
In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul reminds us that we are more than an immovable seed; in fact we are more than just merely trapped in our humanity. Paul writes: “…you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.” This is the grace that we can celebrate today. We are more than flesh, bone, and blood; we are adopted by God, loved by God, and given the opportunity to bask in the Good soil that contains God’s Word and Sacraments.
Returning to our Gospel, it will be helpful to understand that a parable is meant to hearken in them a sense of understanding for the hearers of the story. As author and Episcopal Christian Educator Jennifer Gamber put it is “(parables call) to mind our own experiences” (Your Faith Your Life, Jennifer Gamber, Morehouse Publishing, 2009, p.42).
So the use of the seed and ground imagery in this story is to assist us in understanding what it is like to be in areas of our life that feed spiritual growth and action as well as those locations that do not. Can you imagine areas in your life where the location does not allow your faith to take root and grow? Are there areas that have potential, but due to you, the circumstances, or the location that God’s fruitfulness gets choked off? Are there areas in your life, in addition to your parish, where the ground is good for the kind of grown God calls in and around you?
The good news is that the parable does not ask us to be immovable; the story does not suggest that we are stuck where we are. Instead as humanity we have the choice and the ability to move us to the best area we can for God to work in us and through us in this world. As always, the model of how to do this can be found in Jesus’ action in the reading this morning.
In the opening of our reading we are told that Jesus is sitting beside the lake, but the crowd was so great we can imagine that, with him on the ground, surrounded by so many people only a few could see and or hear him. Thus his message would, like the seed on so-so soil, would not spread to too many members of that group. Jesus does not allow what he has to say to be choked off, so what does he do? He moves his location; he puts himself on a boat in a lake. He goes to a place where all of the multitude can see him he goes onto the water where the natural acoustics of the water allow the gathered to hear him, he adjusts his location ever so slightly to that the seed of information he scatters falls upon the abundant and has the potential to bear good fruit.
The Good News this morning is that we do not have to feel trapped in our lives as we can follow Jesus’ example and make whatever necessary course corrections to guide us to the good soil. With God we are not trapped on a figurative rooftop unable to get out and to be of any use. With Jesus a door is always open for us to go through, the doorway is always available to take us to those locations Christ can take root, bear fruit, and bring forth God’s holiness into the world around us that needs it so badly.

Amen.

Sermon: Sunday, July 3, 2011: Proper 9, Year A. "The Yoke is the Easy Solution"

Reverend Peter K. Ackerman
St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church
Proper 9, Year A
July 3, 2011

Bill Figtzhugh is an author of fiction who usually includes mystery, adventure and large doses of humor in his books to good effect. One I particularly enjoy has as the protagonist; a Hollywood hot shot ad executive named Dan Steele who vast amounts of money on himself faster than it comes in and has become a success by skirting the edge of legality and morality. Dan is not all bad, however, especially when it comes to family. When his twin brother, a Roman Catholic priest comes back to town after contacting a serious illness while serving oversees, and with no insurance to speak of, Dan, creative thinker that he is, comes up with an idea. Dan decides to temporarily exchange identities with this priest-brother so that his sibling can receive the health care he requires under Dan’s excellent medical insurance policy

Of course this means that for a brief period, Dan must dress up in his brother’s clerical outfit so that this illegal act is not discovered by the insurance company (hence the book’s title…”Cross Dressing”). Of course problems do ensue. First there appears a former employee whose million dollar idea had been stolen by Dan and who is now out for murderous revenge on his once boss. Second, in the midst of this development Dan’s brother, the priest, dies in the hospital. To avoid being killed, and so he is not charged with fraud from the Insurance company, Dan fully immerses himself into his brother’s clergy identity in order to escape from his past errors. Thus the protagonist definitely has the burden of problems that he caused by his past decisions, but at the same time there is a solution to his difficulties right in front of him.

Our New Testament readings this morning remind us that there are problems that come forth from our humanity, but there is also a solution. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, this morning comes right out and owns what any of us can. He is human. Because of this, he is sinner. I am human. Because of this I am a sinner. You are human and thus you are sinners.

Paul, wonderful pastor that he is, does not just state the obvious problem about humanity falling into sin, but directs us to the solution, which is our relationship with Jesus Christ. Paul remarks in this letter that sin is anything that directs us from being centered in God and becoming self-serving instead of God serving. Think of it, according to Paul, sin is not just stealing, or committing a crime, but it is also in not caring for creation and for not loving your neighbor.

Thinking of sin in those terms really opens up the examples of how we serve ourselves instead of God. For instance, as we enter onto the ramp of one of the freeways around here, there are the times when the driver of a car realizes that he has to move over to get into the correct lane. The driver is one lane over from you and he does the correct thing; he signals and tries to move over into the correct lane, in front of you. What might you do? Might you not let them in, speed up a bit, and pass them up letting the driver continue to fend with their problem? Through this example we can recognize one of those ordinary events where we make a choice to serve ourselves and our needs or put God first, by loving our neighbor.

As Paul says, it is hopeless if we are going to be a people who only rely on serving our needs. Again, he gives us the antidote for the problem by reminding us that we can correct our course towards the road of the heavenly kingdom through Jesus Christ. The same Jesus who welcomes us in the Gospel this morning with the reminder “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Think about that. Jesus invites us always to live out our baptismal relationship with him. Jesus did not just die on a cross, he did not just rise from the dead, he did not just ascend into heaven, but he also opened up the path, the choice and the ability to lead us away from sin and to eternal life.

The added imagery this morning is that we are not left to our own devices. Jesus is willing and available to link up with us today. Like oxen sharing a yoke around our neck with his, Jesus is there to partner with us if we are merely willing to submit ourselves to that kind of Godly servanthood.

With Jesus, his burden is light. This means that in following Christ we can do so as who we are right now, today, in this moment. Being yoked with Christ does not mean that you have to carry a huge black leather bible around with you everywhere you go…you can if you want to, though! Following Christ does not mean that you have to sidle up to one political ideology, and following Christ does not mean you have to take a particular stand on a social issue. Following Christ means that we will be guided through OUR experiences, and through OUR lives, and through OUR worldviews and be shown how, with those, with us, we can serve God and not ourselves. Change may come upon us, certainly, but that will happen in God’s time in God’s way.

In the plot of the novel I shared with you there are the typical twists and turns and yet in all of this Dan Steele the sharp ad executive never quite loses some of the larceny aspects of his personality, but he does discover that a change comes over him as he continues to wear a clergy collar, and he begins to find some redemption in his life and he begins to no longer live to serve himself and his desires.

Today, Jesus Christ invites us to grasp our baptism life in a palpable way. We do not have to wear clergy collars around our necks (well…okay, two of us here do), we do not have to wear big crosses, we do not have to thump big heavy bibles in public. What we are invited to do is easy. Jesus invites us (to paraphrase The Message: modern day bible translation) "to walk with him, and to work with him. You do not have to actually physically wear anything special, and he won’t lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you." Perhaps today is the day, my brothers and sisters for you to take take the next step, and if need be, to allow Him to relieve you of your burdens. Sin may be the problem, but Jesus offers the solution. His yoke is easy, my friends, and his burden is light.

Amen.

Sunday July 3, 2011 - Proper 9, Year A