| To contact us: Calvary Episcopal Church 667 Mount Road Aston, PA 19014 610-459-2013 OFFICE mail@calvaryepiscopalrockdale.org |
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| SERMON 24 Pentecost - Proper 25 October 26, 2008 The Rev. Kristine Hill |
| 667 Mount Road, Aston, PA 19014 610-459-2013 |
| Small Parish - Big Heart The little church you've been looking for! All are welcome! |
| Our Mission: To worship the Lord To serve the community To grow the church |
| Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 Matthew 22:34-46 |
| The Rev. Kristine Hill, Interim Rector |
at our identity through the years -- who we have been since the beginning of
our history one-hundred and seventy-five years ago. We have written out the
names and the dates of each Rector who has served here, on sheets of poster-
board with a red timeline through the middle. Various groups and individuals from
the congregation are gathering stories, information about what life was like in the
world, in the neighborhood, in the culture - style, fashion, the arts - and especially
at Calvary during the tenure of these rectors. Then, on Saturday, November 22nd,
at 1pm we will gather for a meal and a review of the timeline - hear what each
group discovered, share stories about the old times, try to out-do one another,
laugh, maybe shed a few tears… and finally thank God for those who have
served us, ask for healing if any wounds remain from the past, and pray God will
make us fully ready to receive our next Rector. As we do this, we should
gather a good view of our identity as a people, a congregation -- who we are,
what we do well, what we have to offer the world around us.
In this morning’s first reading there was no timeline, but God instructed Moses to
gather the congregation anyway so they could hear and understand the foundation
of their identity. Yahweh /God said to Moses, “speak to the whole congregation
of God’s house and say to them: You shall be holy, for I Yahweh, your God, am
holy.” God didn’t use charts or poster-board; God just got right to the point --
“you shall be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” That’s a remarkable
thing to ask of us, isn’t it? – that we be holy? We know God is holy… but to
expect us to be “holy…” is that wise? If we are to be “holy” then apparently we
are to be like God, not exactly like God, of course, but a reflection of God, an
image of God (after all, we were created in God’s image). When God says “be
holy for I am holy” we are called to think on God, to remember God, and seek to
pattern ourselves after God. That’s a huge undertaking. Making it more
complicated is that it is hard to define what “holy” is. God is holy. We could
point to certain people or situations where holiness has appeared, but to
articulate what is “holy”… that’s not easy.
We can also identify what is not holy when we see it. There have been troubling
headlines in the news recently. As home foreclosures increase around the country
a frightening trend has begun to emerge -- something called “foreclosure
suicides.” In Ohio a 90-year-old woman shot herself in the chest when authorities
came to evict her from her home of 38 years. In Massachusetts a housewife who
paid all the bills, hid from her husband the fact that they had not made the
mortgage payment in months. The day their house was to be seized she faxed a
note to the sheriff’s office saying: “by the time you foreclose on my house, I’ll be
dead.” Authorities arrived at her house to find her body. A former money-
manager in Los Angeles killed himself, his wife and two children because he
could see no way out of his financial difficulties. In Tennessee a woman fatally
shot herself as sheriff’s deputies arrived to evict her; unbeknownst to her, she
and her husband had just been granted an extra 10 days to appeal the eviction.
Something deeply unholy is present in our world when so many people - working
people - suddenly face the possibility of losing their homes, and when that fact
makes some of them desperate enough to consider taking their own lives.
The nineteenth chapter of Leviticus is all about holiness. In fact, this portion of
Leviticus is part of what is known as “the holiness code,” one portion of the Law
of the Old Testament. The holiness code explains what the people of Israel need
to do to be holy, acceptable, before God. Leviticus gives us a good idea of what
is meant by “holiness.” However, as Christians we do not follow all the laws in
the holiness code. Many of these regulations are still valid for us, but some are
not. What makes the difference? The difference is the message of Jesus Christ,
through which we read the whole Bible. Christians understand everything in
scripture through the lens of the gospel - that Jesus is our salvation, freely given
through God’s generous love and grace.
From that vantage point, and because we no longer live as pre-industrial farmers
in the Mid-East, Christians accept some of the laws of Leviticus and ignore others
– like chpt. 19 verses 5 through 8 which explain when you can and when you
cannot consume a sacrifice; or chapter 19 verse 19 which prohibits sowing two
kinds of seeds in the same field (hybrid seeds would be out), and forbids
wearing clothes made from two kinds of material (there goes polyester or any
blended material). We gave up those laws a long time ago. Other parts of the
holiness code are trickier and Christians still disagree about whether or not we
should follow them, but we’re not dealing with those today. The regulations in our
reading are clear and they apply to all of us.
This is the message God gives to Moses… ‘say to the people “You shall be holy,
as I Yahweh your God, am holy.”’ Every law or rule that God gives hereafter is
underscored with God’s signature, with the stamp of God’s name, with the official
seal of God’s reign. After stating each set of statutes for the people to follow,
God gives this weighty reminder: “I am Yahweh, your God,” lest anyone forget
who they are dealing with, who demands this level of allegiance. So, we hear
the LORD God say “You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be
partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your
neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer… (nor) profit by the blood of
your neighbor. I am the LORD.”
We see two things in these verses. The first is that holiness is not an individual
quality you or I can achieve alone. This standard of holiness is directed at our
community. It is something we as a people, together, are expected to uphold. We
cannot shift the blame and say “well, you didn’t do it” or point the finger and say
“it’s their fault.” The Newspapers last week were wanting to blame Alan
Greenspan for the economic woes and the bank failings; well, maybe… but - this
word in Leviticus is given to us and it is for us, as neighbors, as a community, to
live in holiness. The second thing is that, if we are to be holy we must be
just. All legal decisions must be impartial. There can be no favoritism in our
courts, or in our politics, or in our governing, or in our laws -- no favoritism that
leans toward the rich, that prefers one race to another, that elevates one
ethnicity or one religious group over another. Not when it comes to being just.
Justice must be given fairly, equally to all because that is the only way to reflect
Yahweh, our God. Any other response is idolatry -- the image of some other god.
Yahweh isn’t done yet, but tells Moses to say to the people: “You shall not hate
your brother or sister in your heart; but you shall reprove your neighbor so that
you do not incur guilt yourself. Do not take vengeance or bear a grudge against
your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh, your God.” This is
holiness. It has to do with how we live amongst each other. It has to do with
how we build and tend our relationships with one another. I cannot be holy
without reference to how you are doing, to how this community is doing, to how
our neighbors are doing. None of this is easy. Striving for holiness is not easy.
I don’t think we are so much expected to-succeed-without-a-hitch as to keep
going, to set our sights on the goal of holiness and then pursue it, be committed
to living this way.
First we heard about justice, now we hear about neighborliness. If we are to be
holy we must be good neighbors to each other, and that entails more than just
saying hello and picking up the mail when somebody is out of town. We must
keep our hearts clear of hatred regardless how aggravating that guy across the
street is. And if he is really out of line, then it is your duty, my duty, to reprove
him so that we will not sin. That’s tough, finding a constructive way to approach
a neighbor with a problem. But if the alternative is harboring a grudge, or road
rage, or plotting vengeance, well… clearly the only “holy” option is to speak
directly to one’s neighbor. The standard for those who would be holy is to love
their neighbors as they love themselves. What is good for me is what my
neighbor needs also.
This sounds like an impossible assignment – to be holy – and it would be if we
were expected to do it on our own. If we were supposed to make ourselves holy
before God so that God might then approve of us, that would be impossible. But
the key is in the first verse of the lesson “you are to be holy for I, the LORD
your God am holy.” This is not some distant, unknown God making demands, this
is God who has come to live as our brother, Jesus, who has taken the time to
know us, to embody our sorrows and troubles, to experience our joys, our
dreams, our frustrations and our hopes. This God, who is, indeed our God - a
God for us and with us, calls us to be holy alongside God’s self. And because
God has claimed us first as God’s own, we have been blessed by holiness, we
have been welcomed into the household of the holy. This is our home, here with
God, the Holy One. That is how we can be holy – by remaining with God.
Holiness is a matter of being just and being neighborly. We live in a nation that is built
on the idea of justice, a nation that allows us freedom to create communities with true
neighborliness. There is already a basis for the building blocks of holiness in our
society. As people of God, it is our privilege and our joy to pursue holiness, to tend our
communities so that justice is uninhibited and neighbors have the means to get through
difficult times together. When some in our society suffer greatly, we all suffer. You and I
may not have a solution to the rash of home foreclosures or the suicides it has prompted,
but we are reminded that God has called us to holiness, to living as a people of justice, a
people who help and care for one another.
“Be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” It is wonderful to be claimed by God, to be
loved and known by God so much so that God will challenge us to be holy, too. We can
respond to the challenge because God is with us, making us holy by his presence and
encouraging us ever to walk with him in holiness.
our history one-hundred and seventy-five years ago. We have written out the
names and the dates of each Rector who has served here, on sheets of poster-
board with a red timeline through the middle. Various groups and individuals from
the congregation are gathering stories, information about what life was like in the
world, in the neighborhood, in the culture - style, fashion, the arts - and especially
at Calvary during the tenure of these rectors. Then, on Saturday, November 22nd,
at 1pm we will gather for a meal and a review of the timeline - hear what each
group discovered, share stories about the old times, try to out-do one another,
laugh, maybe shed a few tears… and finally thank God for those who have
served us, ask for healing if any wounds remain from the past, and pray God will
make us fully ready to receive our next Rector. As we do this, we should
gather a good view of our identity as a people, a congregation -- who we are,
what we do well, what we have to offer the world around us.
In this morning’s first reading there was no timeline, but God instructed Moses to
gather the congregation anyway so they could hear and understand the foundation
of their identity. Yahweh /God said to Moses, “speak to the whole congregation
of God’s house and say to them: You shall be holy, for I Yahweh, your God, am
holy.” God didn’t use charts or poster-board; God just got right to the point --
“you shall be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” That’s a remarkable
thing to ask of us, isn’t it? – that we be holy? We know God is holy… but to
expect us to be “holy…” is that wise? If we are to be “holy” then apparently we
are to be like God, not exactly like God, of course, but a reflection of God, an
image of God (after all, we were created in God’s image). When God says “be
holy for I am holy” we are called to think on God, to remember God, and seek to
pattern ourselves after God. That’s a huge undertaking. Making it more
complicated is that it is hard to define what “holy” is. God is holy. We could
point to certain people or situations where holiness has appeared, but to
articulate what is “holy”… that’s not easy.
We can also identify what is not holy when we see it. There have been troubling
headlines in the news recently. As home foreclosures increase around the country
a frightening trend has begun to emerge -- something called “foreclosure
suicides.” In Ohio a 90-year-old woman shot herself in the chest when authorities
came to evict her from her home of 38 years. In Massachusetts a housewife who
paid all the bills, hid from her husband the fact that they had not made the
mortgage payment in months. The day their house was to be seized she faxed a
note to the sheriff’s office saying: “by the time you foreclose on my house, I’ll be
dead.” Authorities arrived at her house to find her body. A former money-
manager in Los Angeles killed himself, his wife and two children because he
could see no way out of his financial difficulties. In Tennessee a woman fatally
shot herself as sheriff’s deputies arrived to evict her; unbeknownst to her, she
and her husband had just been granted an extra 10 days to appeal the eviction.
Something deeply unholy is present in our world when so many people - working
people - suddenly face the possibility of losing their homes, and when that fact
makes some of them desperate enough to consider taking their own lives.
The nineteenth chapter of Leviticus is all about holiness. In fact, this portion of
Leviticus is part of what is known as “the holiness code,” one portion of the Law
of the Old Testament. The holiness code explains what the people of Israel need
to do to be holy, acceptable, before God. Leviticus gives us a good idea of what
is meant by “holiness.” However, as Christians we do not follow all the laws in
the holiness code. Many of these regulations are still valid for us, but some are
not. What makes the difference? The difference is the message of Jesus Christ,
through which we read the whole Bible. Christians understand everything in
scripture through the lens of the gospel - that Jesus is our salvation, freely given
through God’s generous love and grace.
From that vantage point, and because we no longer live as pre-industrial farmers
in the Mid-East, Christians accept some of the laws of Leviticus and ignore others
– like chpt. 19 verses 5 through 8 which explain when you can and when you
cannot consume a sacrifice; or chapter 19 verse 19 which prohibits sowing two
kinds of seeds in the same field (hybrid seeds would be out), and forbids
wearing clothes made from two kinds of material (there goes polyester or any
blended material). We gave up those laws a long time ago. Other parts of the
holiness code are trickier and Christians still disagree about whether or not we
should follow them, but we’re not dealing with those today. The regulations in our
reading are clear and they apply to all of us.
This is the message God gives to Moses… ‘say to the people “You shall be holy,
as I Yahweh your God, am holy.”’ Every law or rule that God gives hereafter is
underscored with God’s signature, with the stamp of God’s name, with the official
seal of God’s reign. After stating each set of statutes for the people to follow,
God gives this weighty reminder: “I am Yahweh, your God,” lest anyone forget
who they are dealing with, who demands this level of allegiance. So, we hear
the LORD God say “You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be
partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your
neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer… (nor) profit by the blood of
your neighbor. I am the LORD.”
We see two things in these verses. The first is that holiness is not an individual
quality you or I can achieve alone. This standard of holiness is directed at our
community. It is something we as a people, together, are expected to uphold. We
cannot shift the blame and say “well, you didn’t do it” or point the finger and say
“it’s their fault.” The Newspapers last week were wanting to blame Alan
Greenspan for the economic woes and the bank failings; well, maybe… but - this
word in Leviticus is given to us and it is for us, as neighbors, as a community, to
live in holiness. The second thing is that, if we are to be holy we must be
just. All legal decisions must be impartial. There can be no favoritism in our
courts, or in our politics, or in our governing, or in our laws -- no favoritism that
leans toward the rich, that prefers one race to another, that elevates one
ethnicity or one religious group over another. Not when it comes to being just.
Justice must be given fairly, equally to all because that is the only way to reflect
Yahweh, our God. Any other response is idolatry -- the image of some other god.
Yahweh isn’t done yet, but tells Moses to say to the people: “You shall not hate
your brother or sister in your heart; but you shall reprove your neighbor so that
you do not incur guilt yourself. Do not take vengeance or bear a grudge against
your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh, your God.” This is
holiness. It has to do with how we live amongst each other. It has to do with
how we build and tend our relationships with one another. I cannot be holy
without reference to how you are doing, to how this community is doing, to how
our neighbors are doing. None of this is easy. Striving for holiness is not easy.
I don’t think we are so much expected to-succeed-without-a-hitch as to keep
going, to set our sights on the goal of holiness and then pursue it, be committed
to living this way.
First we heard about justice, now we hear about neighborliness. If we are to be
holy we must be good neighbors to each other, and that entails more than just
saying hello and picking up the mail when somebody is out of town. We must
keep our hearts clear of hatred regardless how aggravating that guy across the
street is. And if he is really out of line, then it is your duty, my duty, to reprove
him so that we will not sin. That’s tough, finding a constructive way to approach
a neighbor with a problem. But if the alternative is harboring a grudge, or road
rage, or plotting vengeance, well… clearly the only “holy” option is to speak
directly to one’s neighbor. The standard for those who would be holy is to love
their neighbors as they love themselves. What is good for me is what my
neighbor needs also.
This sounds like an impossible assignment – to be holy – and it would be if we
were expected to do it on our own. If we were supposed to make ourselves holy
before God so that God might then approve of us, that would be impossible. But
the key is in the first verse of the lesson “you are to be holy for I, the LORD
your God am holy.” This is not some distant, unknown God making demands, this
is God who has come to live as our brother, Jesus, who has taken the time to
know us, to embody our sorrows and troubles, to experience our joys, our
dreams, our frustrations and our hopes. This God, who is, indeed our God - a
God for us and with us, calls us to be holy alongside God’s self. And because
God has claimed us first as God’s own, we have been blessed by holiness, we
have been welcomed into the household of the holy. This is our home, here with
God, the Holy One. That is how we can be holy – by remaining with God.
Holiness is a matter of being just and being neighborly. We live in a nation that is built
on the idea of justice, a nation that allows us freedom to create communities with true
neighborliness. There is already a basis for the building blocks of holiness in our
society. As people of God, it is our privilege and our joy to pursue holiness, to tend our
communities so that justice is uninhibited and neighbors have the means to get through
difficult times together. When some in our society suffer greatly, we all suffer. You and I
may not have a solution to the rash of home foreclosures or the suicides it has prompted,
but we are reminded that God has called us to holiness, to living as a people of justice, a
people who help and care for one another.
“Be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.” It is wonderful to be claimed by God, to be
loved and known by God so much so that God will challenge us to be holy, too. We can
respond to the challenge because God is with us, making us holy by his presence and
encouraging us ever to walk with him in holiness.