C Lectionary 33 – 13 November 2016
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas
+ INJ +
“By your endurance you will gain
your souls,” says Jesus. And with those words to his listeners, carried through
the centuries to us in the Gospel of Luke, we all realize again that following
Jesus is not as simple or as easy as some would have us believe. How do we gain
our souls? By walking along pathways that are trailed with beautiful roses and
lit by moonlight all the time?
No. We gain our souls through
endurance – which can only mean one thing, really: that we’re going to have to
endure some things.
Jesus lists a whole bunch of things
here: the destruction of the Temple, false messiahs, wars, insurrections,
nation rising against nation, earthquakes, famines, plagues, dreadful portents
and great signs from heaven. All of this sounds bad enough. But then he goes on
to say that some of his followers will be arrested, some will be persecuted, some
will be made to give testimony before kings and governors, some will be betrayed
by ones they call family and ones they call friends. And all of this will
happen not because they voted Democrat or Republican or Independent, or didn’t
vote at all – it will happen because they’ve chosen to follow Jesus.
Following Jesus in the First
Century was a criminal act; his disciples followed him anyway. Following Jesus
in the First Century led to arrest and persecution and unjust trials and
betrayal by family and friends – all of this is well-documented in Scripture
and in non-biblical historical writings; his disciples followed him anyway.
Following Jesus in the First Century was certainly no walk on a rosy path lit
by moonlight; it certainly wasn’t as safe as it is for us now; his disciples
followed him anyway.
What was so compelling about this
man that they chose to follow him?
Was it his military prowess or
might? No…
Was it his extraordinary
intelligence? No…
A clue can be found earlier in
Luke, as Jesus’ reputation is growing. More and more people from the
countryside are hearing about this man named Jesus – this teacher, this healer,
this one who feeds people – and they begin to follow him. “A great prophet has
risen among us!” they say, and “God has looked favorably on his people!”[1]
For centuries, the people of God had been waiting – they had been enduring –
and they could tell that this was the One through whom they would gain their
very souls.
Of course they choose to follow
him, some of them choosing to give up everything to follow him.
Fast forward from the time of Jesus
to the time of the Apostle Paul – not too much forward. One of the churches
that Paul has started is in a city named Thessalonica. Paul wrote two letters
to the Christians in Thessalonica, and both contain encouragement for the
people there – people who are wondering the same thing that the Jews wondered
for centuries – how long do we have to endure? They are waiting - they are
eager - for Jesus’ Second Coming.
They’re so eager, in fact, that
some of them have stopped working. “If Jesus is coming back any day now, then
why should we work?” was the reasoning. The problem was what they chose to do
with their idleness. Tucked away in the Greek meaning of the word translated as
“idleness” is the word “disruptive.” So, in their idleness, some of the
Thessalonians are causing problems for their communities and causing trouble
within the Church. Paul wraps up his exhortation to the Thessalonians by saying
to them, “Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.”
We live in another time of waiting
– another time of enduring. For still, the people of God wait for Christ’s
Second Coming. And as much as we want to believe that our waiting will be all
moonlight and roses all the time, both Scripture and our own experience help us
realize that no, we’re going to have to endure some things. And the day-to-day
enduring makes us tired – bone tired – soul tired – maybe even more deeply
tired than we’ve ever been before.
And when we are tired –more deeply
tired than we’ve ever been before, we grow weary of doing what is right. I’ve
seen it, I’ve heard the stories, and I’ve experienced it first-hand.
I don’t know about you, but I feel
as though we are going through a hell of our own making: a hellish time of
people so tired that they’ve grown weary of doing what is right again, and
again, and again. It makes the words of our Confession so meaningful: “We have
sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what
we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not
loved our neighbors as ourselves.”
This hell of our own making may be
followed by yet another hell if we don’t grasp a hold of who we are as the
people of God, and grasp a hold of it quickly. As the people of God, we are
called to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
In Paul’s second letter to the
Corinthians, he makes it clear to them that – as Christians - we are called to
be ministers of reconciliation. We are called to that work – it doesn’t fall to
that person over there, or that person over there – we are called to be
ministers of reconciliation in Christ’s name. And that doesn’t mean that we
just glaze over everything – as ministers of reconciliation, we should be quick
to listen
and slow to speak.
There are many who are very quick
to speak – they are very quick to give pithy answers to our nation’s sins of
racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination. They have forgotten that we
are to be quick to listen – quick to listen to people like me and others
who are hurt by these sins time and again. There are no quick fixes – we are
going to have to endure some things – together.
My sisters and brothers, God has
given to us the great gifts of grace and mercy and love, and these are
beautiful gifts indeed. As ministers of reconciliation, let’s use these gifts
for the benefit of others, remembering that – even when we are weary - it is
the love of Christ that urges us on.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
+ SDG +
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