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Pentecost 7, 2017

Posted by Howard Stringfellow III on 23 Jul 17
Posted in: Homily, Proper 11, St Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43, The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (Tares), Year A. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

RCL A Proper 11
Isaiah 44:6-8, Psalm 86:11-17, Romans 8:12-25, Saint Matthew 13:24-30 and 36-43

“The field is the world,”[1] Jesus says in his interpretation of the parable that is today’s Gospel. Could he have possibly foreseen the world in which we live in the twenty-first century?

We have perceived the world in such a way that we see it sharply divided, like the field in the parable, between the wheat and the weeds. We have legal and illegal people, we have Democrats and Republicans, we have haves and have-nots, we have rich and poor, we have capitalists and communists, we have the insured and the uninsured, and we have Christians and Jews on one hand, and Islamists on the other. On Thursday in Kingston, I saw a familiar profile, complete with hair, between the words Stop Bigotry. So, we can add bigots and non-bigots to the polarized and polarizing list. And, what is more, we know, each one of us knows, which is which. We know, we are proud to know, the difference between the wheat and the weeds. How do we react to this reality of our field, our world?

The slaves in the parable know this difference, too. And they go to the householder and offer to uproot the weeds, because they know which is which. But the householder says, “No, for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together.”[2]

The designations of wheat and weeds we have given to the field in which we live and the remedies each of us has for the field in which we live, all have been put on hold by this parable. They have been put on hold by God’s preference for patience and tolerance.

The wheat can grow, and the weeds can grow, because uprooting one could damage the other. Our role in the world is to grow as best we know how, recognizing that there is a householder who, at the last, will preserve the wheat.

In the past, I have named this patience and this tolerance to be letting God be God. And letting God be God is hard, I know. I would rather step in and make sure things were put right. But stepping in that way would compromise God, and that would be to my way of thinking but maybe not to your way of thinking. And beyond that, stepping in may not be to God’s way of thinking.

And so, the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds is a cautionary tale reminding us that though we have been made in God’s image, we simply have no business in remaking the world in our image. What if we mistake wheat for a weed?

[1] Saint Matthew 13:38.

[2] Saint Matthew 13:29-30a.

 

Pentecost 6, 2017

Posted by Howard Stringfellow III on 16 Jul 17
Posted in: Homily, Proper 10, St Matthew 13:1-9 and 18-23, The Parable of the Sower, Year A. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

RCL A Proper 10
Isaiah 55:10-13, Psalm 65:9-14, Romans 8:1-11, Saint Matthew 13:1-9 and 18-23

Words from the Psalm: “May the meadows cover themselves with flocks, and the valleys cloak themselves with grain; * let them shout for joy and sing.”[1]

This week, I have found the Lessons appointed for this Eucharist to be overwhelmingly large. I mean that they are a reminder; they are renewing; they are revealing; and they touch upon the largest subject there is to touch upon. That subject is so large that I find it hard to put my arms around it. But here goes.

The Lessons are reminders that God made heaven and earth. Every living plant, every living animal, every human being are illustrations for God. They themselves remind us that God created them, put life in them, and they reflect God’s glory. Their very existence sings a song of praise to God. The system, the economy, and the organization of all living things refer to their Maker. By living and by growing they tell the story of God clearly and directly through countless millennia.

And way down the line, after epochs and ages, Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower. He draws a comparison between two huge things. In fact, he says that those two huge things are really the same thing. He says that the life in plants, in animals, and every living creature throughout the ages, is identical to his teaching—his teaching is that life handed down and extended from generation to generation through all the ages. “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit.”[2]

I have tried to capture in so brief a time this renewing and immense comparison, because it corrects the major temptation of our age and our time. As Christians in the post-modern world, we are tempted to think that our story, the word sown on good soil that bears much fruit, is at best charming and at worst quaint and antique. To compensate for this, we seek to be relevant to the same world that is pushing us out of its mainstream.

And my preachment is this. Our story is so close to the life created by God shown in generation after generation that it is foolish to try to be relevant. When Jesus took to the boat and taught the throng on the beach, he was not saying something new. He was plumbing the depths, the very essence, of the world God had made. He was and is telling us where true authenticity is to be found. He was telling us our origin. And he was offering himself to keep us connected to the life we have been given. We can easily listen, and we can easily bear much fruit.

[1] Psalm 65:14.

[2] Saint Matthew 13:23.

Easter 2, 2017

Posted by Howard Stringfellow III on 23 Apr 17
Posted in: Easter 2, Homily, St John 20:19-31. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

RCL Easter 2
Acts 2:14a 22-32, Psalm 16, 1 Peter 1:3-9, Saint John 20:19-31

On this the Eighth Day of Easter, we have a Gospel that occurs on the Eighth Day after the Resurrection. There is no wonder at the Church’s decision to proclaim this Gospel on this Day every year.

The disciples are gathered together in their usual place, where they were gathered a week earlier when Thomas was not with them, and today Thomas is with them. Jesus appears to them for the second time and shows Thomas his hands and his side, where the nails and the spear had been hammered and thrust, and Thomas believes. Having been absent from them at Jesus’ first appearance, Thomas disbelieves the disciples’ report of Jesus’ appearance. And so, Jesus appears again and gives Thomas what he needs to believe.

Saint John’s Twentieth Chapter specifies the process whereby four followers of Jesus come to believe that Jesus has been raised. And the process of each of them instructs us how we may come to believe.

You remember how John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, and Peter have a footrace to the empty tomb. John arrives first but does not enter. Peter arrives and enters. John follows Peter in and believes. They return to their homes.

The process is a little more complicated for Mary Magdalene and Thomas. Mary stands weeping outside the tomb as Peter and then John enter. They leave, and Mary remains outside when Jesus approaches her. She thinks he is the gardener, and Jesus speaks her name. She recognizes him.

Thomas, who was not with the disciples for Jesus’ first appearance to them, tells them he will need to see the mark of the nails and to put his finger there and his hand in Jesus’ side in order to believe.

In every point Jesus accommodates Thomas. There is nothing that John, Peter, Mary, and Thomas need to believe that is withheld from them. I believe that Jesus gives to each of us what we need to believe. I think that is the theme of Saint John’s Twentieth Chapter. God gives us what we need to believe.

I would say to you also that the disciples are not out looking for Jesus. They are not singing, “My sweet Lord…I really want to see you.” They are shut up, fearful of being out of doors—what happened to Jesus could happen to them for following him. They could be next. Peter and John catch on right away. The burial cloths are all they need to see to believe. But Jesus approaches those, Mary and Thomas, whose reason clouds their faith. And he gives them what they need to believe.

The Lord is in a conversation with them, and he provides everything they need to believe that “Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.”[1]

It is enough to believe that Jesus reveals himself to us, for he responds to us that way. That is the witness of the Gospel to us. The words of the Epistle may well apply to us. “Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”[2]

[1] Saint John 20:31.

[2] 1 Peter 1:8=9.