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| THE 4TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 12 June, 2005 The Rev. Robert C. Granfeldt |
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I don’t actually have a sermon for you, this morning. The past few days have not
really been conducive to sermon preparation, and I apologize. But at the same time,
what I do want to speak to you about, this morning, also isn’t conducive to being
formed into a sermon. So I’m just going to talk to you, asking you to bear with me –
and promising you that sometime – over some months from now – I will do my best to
make it all come clear!
But, pretending this is a real sermon, I will start with a text:
When the People of Israel set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of
Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness….
So begin our lessons, today – with a story. actually, of course, it’s only a part of a
story – just a small part of one incident in the great tale of the deliverance of the
Hebrew people from Egypt, and their sojourn in the wilderness, on way to settling,
eventually, in what would eventually come to be called Israel!
I’m not going to dwell on the story, this morning. I’m more interested in the FACT that
it IS a story – and a special kind of story!
What we’re reading, this morning, is a small part of a HISTORY! And that fact, by itself,
is SO important!
There are three of the world’s great religions that arise from the story that’s told,
here, and the book that story is written in – the Bible! They are Judaism, Christianity
and Islam! They share the same origin, but are, nevertheless, vastly different faiths
in many ways. But they do hold one two other things in common, in addition to – and
related to – the Judaeo-Christian Bible, itself, that makes them truly unique! And the
one that stands out, here is the concept of HISTORY, itself!
We who have been raised with that concept, who have been immersed in history all
our lives have difficulty in even imagining such a thing, but, in fact, most of the
cultures of the world do not have that concept, at all!
The cultures that are not “of the Book” all, in one way or another, have, through the
ages, seen time as cyclical – and, in extreme form, even as circular! In them, the
world simply IS the world! The world going nowhere with no beginning and no end.
On that eternal world, civilization comes and goes – and comes back, again.
One of the most common patterns in the understandings of the world has the
intervention of the gods in the chaos of human life, leading to an age of heroes and.
then, to a golden age of learning, art, wealth and power, followed by a steady but
inevitable decline into chaos – and the eventual intervention of the gods, to begin
the cycle, again! And in its MOST extreme form I have stood here, in this pulpit
countless times, before – and will do so countless times, again – with you listening!
(One of the oddest things about all this is those cultures don’t have a concept of
hell, at all, either! But you could ask Karl: if that ain’t hell, then I don’t know what is!)
It is, to me, certainly, and I suspect to all of us, a futile, pointless kind of outlook! And
LIFE in a world that simply goes ‘round and ‘round in an endless cycle, cannot help
but be, ultimately, pointless as well!
But the Great Book – this great book that provides the foundation of the three great
religions – starts: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”
In the beginning!
Our lesson from the Book of Exodus comes from that unique time in
human…history…when the concept of history, itself, was being born! The concept,
and the thing, itself.
Because in a very real way history begins with Moses!
Oh, we know about things and nations and people and events from long before,
certainly! But we know it from evidences of many kinds, including, even, some
stories! But stories are not, themselves, history - and WE wrote the history! We
pieced it together from little bits and pieces of information that have survived the
millennia. We wrote the history – and all history – because of what started with the
writers of the Book of Exodus.
When we read the Bible, we are there, literally “at the beginning.” We are there
when the concept of history came into being. And we are there at the beginning of
the story – the “history.”
Unfortunately, we can’t be there at the end.
Inherent in the notion that history exists, and had a beginning, is the complimentary
notion that there must be an end, as well.
But the end hasn’t been written. History is incomplete – and we’re living in it!
Which produces an odd, and difficult, and even dangerous situation. We do not know
how history will end. We CANNOT know how history will end.
But in the desire and NEED to know, there are those who will dream of the end; will
fantasize about the end; will imagine the end. And of those who do, there will be
some who will work to bring about their vision of the end – to realize it!
It is said that there is an ancient Chinese curse that consists of the wish that one’s
enemy may live in “interesting times.” The understanding is that while “interesting
times” may be interesting, they’re seldom pleasant.
Well, we’re living in interesting times!
And one of the things that makes these times interesting is those people – heirs to
the Judaeo-Christian invention of history – who DO believe they know what the end
will be like – and WHEN it will come. And increasing numbers of them are working –
even today – to bring about the conditions that they believe will bring about the end
they envision!
Working in most unpleasant ways to bring about what must certainly be a most
unpleasant time – even if it isn’t the end they expect!
And just in case you’re wondering – I am not speaking of Islamic fundamentalists!
As I said at the outset, I don’t have a sermon this morning. A sermon must have a
beginning, a middle and an end – just like history! I do not have an end - YET. Just
like history
I just want to do two things, this morning. One is to promise you that in coming
months I WILL speak about where we are in history, and about those who believe
they can bring about the end of history, and are trying to do so.
And the second is to ask you to be aware! To listen for those who would speak and
would teach about the end of history – whether they call it the “end time,” or the
“end of the world,” or “the Rapture,” or “the Second Coming!” Listen for them; take
note of them. And beware of them. They will present themselves as Christians – but
they are not Christian in any historic or traditional sense – or in the message they
preach and teach.
And again: listen for them! And beware of them!
And we WILL talk more, later.
In Jesus Christ’s name
really been conducive to sermon preparation, and I apologize. But at the same time,
what I do want to speak to you about, this morning, also isn’t conducive to being
formed into a sermon. So I’m just going to talk to you, asking you to bear with me –
and promising you that sometime – over some months from now – I will do my best to
make it all come clear!
But, pretending this is a real sermon, I will start with a text:
When the People of Israel set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of
Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness….
So begin our lessons, today – with a story. actually, of course, it’s only a part of a
story – just a small part of one incident in the great tale of the deliverance of the
Hebrew people from Egypt, and their sojourn in the wilderness, on way to settling,
eventually, in what would eventually come to be called Israel!
I’m not going to dwell on the story, this morning. I’m more interested in the FACT that
it IS a story – and a special kind of story!
What we’re reading, this morning, is a small part of a HISTORY! And that fact, by itself,
is SO important!
There are three of the world’s great religions that arise from the story that’s told,
here, and the book that story is written in – the Bible! They are Judaism, Christianity
and Islam! They share the same origin, but are, nevertheless, vastly different faiths
in many ways. But they do hold one two other things in common, in addition to – and
related to – the Judaeo-Christian Bible, itself, that makes them truly unique! And the
one that stands out, here is the concept of HISTORY, itself!
We who have been raised with that concept, who have been immersed in history all
our lives have difficulty in even imagining such a thing, but, in fact, most of the
cultures of the world do not have that concept, at all!
The cultures that are not “of the Book” all, in one way or another, have, through the
ages, seen time as cyclical – and, in extreme form, even as circular! In them, the
world simply IS the world! The world going nowhere with no beginning and no end.
On that eternal world, civilization comes and goes – and comes back, again.
One of the most common patterns in the understandings of the world has the
intervention of the gods in the chaos of human life, leading to an age of heroes and.
then, to a golden age of learning, art, wealth and power, followed by a steady but
inevitable decline into chaos – and the eventual intervention of the gods, to begin
the cycle, again! And in its MOST extreme form I have stood here, in this pulpit
countless times, before – and will do so countless times, again – with you listening!
(One of the oddest things about all this is those cultures don’t have a concept of
hell, at all, either! But you could ask Karl: if that ain’t hell, then I don’t know what is!)
It is, to me, certainly, and I suspect to all of us, a futile, pointless kind of outlook! And
LIFE in a world that simply goes ‘round and ‘round in an endless cycle, cannot help
but be, ultimately, pointless as well!
But the Great Book – this great book that provides the foundation of the three great
religions – starts: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”
In the beginning!
Our lesson from the Book of Exodus comes from that unique time in
human…history…when the concept of history, itself, was being born! The concept,
and the thing, itself.
Because in a very real way history begins with Moses!
Oh, we know about things and nations and people and events from long before,
certainly! But we know it from evidences of many kinds, including, even, some
stories! But stories are not, themselves, history - and WE wrote the history! We
pieced it together from little bits and pieces of information that have survived the
millennia. We wrote the history – and all history – because of what started with the
writers of the Book of Exodus.
When we read the Bible, we are there, literally “at the beginning.” We are there
when the concept of history came into being. And we are there at the beginning of
the story – the “history.”
Unfortunately, we can’t be there at the end.
Inherent in the notion that history exists, and had a beginning, is the complimentary
notion that there must be an end, as well.
But the end hasn’t been written. History is incomplete – and we’re living in it!
Which produces an odd, and difficult, and even dangerous situation. We do not know
how history will end. We CANNOT know how history will end.
But in the desire and NEED to know, there are those who will dream of the end; will
fantasize about the end; will imagine the end. And of those who do, there will be
some who will work to bring about their vision of the end – to realize it!
It is said that there is an ancient Chinese curse that consists of the wish that one’s
enemy may live in “interesting times.” The understanding is that while “interesting
times” may be interesting, they’re seldom pleasant.
Well, we’re living in interesting times!
And one of the things that makes these times interesting is those people – heirs to
the Judaeo-Christian invention of history – who DO believe they know what the end
will be like – and WHEN it will come. And increasing numbers of them are working –
even today – to bring about the conditions that they believe will bring about the end
they envision!
Working in most unpleasant ways to bring about what must certainly be a most
unpleasant time – even if it isn’t the end they expect!
And just in case you’re wondering – I am not speaking of Islamic fundamentalists!
As I said at the outset, I don’t have a sermon this morning. A sermon must have a
beginning, a middle and an end – just like history! I do not have an end - YET. Just
like history
I just want to do two things, this morning. One is to promise you that in coming
months I WILL speak about where we are in history, and about those who believe
they can bring about the end of history, and are trying to do so.
And the second is to ask you to be aware! To listen for those who would speak and
would teach about the end of history – whether they call it the “end time,” or the
“end of the world,” or “the Rapture,” or “the Second Coming!” Listen for them; take
note of them. And beware of them. They will present themselves as Christians – but
they are not Christian in any historic or traditional sense – or in the message they
preach and teach.
And again: listen for them! And beware of them!
And we WILL talk more, later.
In Jesus Christ’s name
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| Calvary Episcopal Church, Rockdale |
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