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Sermon for 16th Sunday after Pentecost

First Reading: Isaiah 35:4-7a

 4Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” 5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7athe burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water … .

 

Psalm 146

 1Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. 2Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, for there is no help in them. 3When they breathe their last, they return to earth, and in that day their thoughts perish. 4Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! whose hope is in the Lord their God; 5Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; who keeps his promise forever; 6Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, and food to those who hunger. 7The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; 8The Lord loves the righteous; the Lord cares for the stranger; he sustains the orphan and widow, but frustrates the way of the wicked. 9The Lord shall reign forever, your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.  Hallelujah!

 

Second Reading: James 2:1-10, 14-18

 1My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? 8If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

14What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

 

Gospel: Mark 7:24-37

 24{Jesus} arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. 31Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

 

We are Called to Teach

For the past few weeks, I’ve been focusing on the more practical matters of our life and call to discipleship, of our life-long journey of Sanctification.  Last week we focused on the importance of our work as a Christian.  We reminded ourselves that Justification, God’s gift of grace, cannot be earned, it is given to us freely by our loving God.  Sanctification, or our living a life of thanksgiving that we live in response to this amazing gift, is the work we joyfully accomplish in God’s kingdom.  And while the two are connected, they are not intertwined.  And after making this clear in chapter 2, St. James shifts gears and surprises us with the opening verse of chapter 3, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”  What a strange statement to make in a community of believers that was growing.

As I was pondering this opening verse, I couldn’t help but recall our appeal for teachers for our Corner Stone kids program.  If we were to take James’ words in isolation, we’d never have anyone volunteer to teach.  James is not only blunt, but he’s also correct, those who teach will be held to a higher strictness.  James didn’t make this statement to scare us, or to drive people away from the responsibility of teaching, he said this to stress the responsibility of the call to teach, of the commitment required, and the seriousness of that call.  Ask any of our educators.  Teaching isn’t something you approach half-heartedly.  Teaching requires commitment and hard work.  As a teacher you are seen, as Isaiah so eloquently puts it, “as of those who are taught” (50:4).  Teachers by virtue of their call and position are seen as information authorities.

Everyone naturally trusts that a teacher has spent the time needed to gather the information, has taken the time to verify their sources, and spent the time needed to properly prepare each lesson to ensure its clarity and authenticity.  For the most part, we don’t question our teachers, we simply accept what they offer as solid, dependable, information.  Furthermore, the student, because of this trust, will pass that information along to others without so much as checking to see if the information is correct.  This is why our public educators go through the amount of training and certification they do.  This same principle applies to the theological world as well.

As a called and ordained minister of the NALC, I was required to complete an undergraduate degree, a Master of Divinity Degree, complete an internship, and then be thoroughly examined and approved by the denomination.  Those are the requirements for pastors in the NALC.  But it doesn’t stop here.  Additionally, in our annual budget, you approve each year funds for continuing education.  I use these funds to go to conferences, take classes at the seminary, and generally continue my education and ability in order to serve as your pastor.  And like our educators, I’m expected to continue to learn in order to pass along the information you need to grow as a disciple.  Learning and growing are part of our life-long journey of sanctification.

I was musing on Wednesday, thinking back to when I was in the Air Force.  Near the end of my career, I was talking with one the other Senior NCO’s and I made the remark, I’ve spent my whole career learning new aircraft and new electronic systems, it’ll sure be nice to learn one thing and then do that for the rest of my life.  It was a silly statement for me to make!  I’ve probably shared this with you before, but I entered the Air Force in 1979 and because of the career field I chose, my first year of service was spent in training and schools.  Even before I arrived at my first duty station, I was sent to advanced Pave Spike school for an additional 8 weeks of training.  And the advanced learning didn’t end there.

Once I arrived in Korea, I had a seven-volume set of Career Development Course or CDCs I had to complete, plus a final exam.  My next assignment was here in North Carolina where I had to learn a new aircraft revision and two new systems.  And when you consider that I also was expected to learn the camera systems of the F-4E, I had to learn three additional systems.  Over my career, I attended three advanced management and supervision schools, learned eight different airframes and had to be proficient on 10 different opto-electrical systems and be familiar with numerous other associated aircraft systems.

During those years, I also completed two undergraduate degrees and started a master’s program.  I think you get the point I’m making; life is a life-long process of learning, and the life of a disciple is no different.  Kicking back and doing nothing isn’t an option in life, nor is it an option in the life of a disciple; both secular life and discipleship require active participation.

A family decided to send a playpen to their friend who had just given birth to her fourth child.  She responded by writing this thank-you note to them: “Thank you so much for the pen.  It’s wonderful.  I sit in it every afternoon and read.  The children can’t get near me.”  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could shelter ourselves from the responsibilities of life and of our Christian walk?  Someone has written that, for twentieth-first century Americans, our lawns and our schedules are our moats.  All too often we use our activities to distance ourselves from anything we don’t feel like doing.

That inclination runs counter to what Jesus expects of us as His witnesses.  Being a faithful follower of Jesus takes personal commitment, time, and a willingness to put forth the effort needed to be effective in our calls as witnesses of the gospel.  We cannot be effective witnesses unless we’re willing to put forth the effort.  We cannot shelter ourselves from others, we cannot phone it in, and we cannot use our schedules as an excuse.

I was reading a story the other day titled, The Vinmo Mom.  Now for those who may not be familiar with the term Vinmo, it’s a computer or phone app that allows you to transfer money electronically from your bank account to someone else’s.  The person being interviewed was a middle school teacher who was lamenting about a lack of parental involvement and a lack of volunteers needed to support extra-circular school activities like field trips, music programs, and organizations like the Parent and Teachers association.  Like the teacher does each year, she approached all the parents of her students asking for their assistance and help.

The teacher explained that she always struggles with the same excuses from parents: no time, children in different schools and they aren’t able to commit to both, some children are in foster care, some are new to the community, parents whose primary language is something other than English, and the list goes on.  But she said that on one occasion she talked with one mom who said, I don’t want to be involved, it’s not my job.  Instead of being personally involved, just tell her what it costs for the activities and she’d Vinmo the money to the teacher.  Thus, you now have a new phrase in the world of primary school education, the Vinmo mom.  As the old Southern saying goes, “that dog won’t hunt.”

The point is, that doesn’t work in the secular world, and it doesn’t work in the church.  You cannot simply “phone it in” as it were.  Yes, the church needs money to operate, but it also needs your involvement.  Take me for example; I’m only one person.  I cannot be in two places at once and like you, I only have 24 hours in a day.  Please don’t take what I’m saying the wrong way, I’m not complaining, I’m trying to drive home the point that the work of God’s kingdom requires all of us.  There’s way more work that needs to be done than any one person can do, or even two, or three people can do.  This is the point Jesus was making when He told His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).

Now at this point you may be asking, I hear what you’re saying, it all makes good sense, and for the most part I agree, but what does all this have to do with me, and what does this have to do with our First and Epistle lessons?  You say, I’m not an educator, so the words of Isaiah and of James don’t apply to me or my situation.  Well, I hate to be the antagonist here, but yes, it does.  To be a faithful disciple means you are called to share the good news of Jesus Christ with your children, family, and with the world.

Remember Jesus’ final command before He returned to the Father?  “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).  Each of us are called to teach others God’s word.  This isn’t something we can simply phone in.  It takes our personal involvement and commitment.  It can, at times, be exhausting both mentally and physically.  So God doesn’t ask us to do this on our own.

Once again, we’ve come to God’s house of worship at the invitation of our Lord, to enjoy the blessings of His Word.  Today as Isaiah points out, it’s God’s holy Word that sustains the weary.  Sure, we all have difficult days from time to time, when at the end of the day we’re just all worn out.  We are, in essence, bone-weary and tired.  We sit back, thinking of all the things we’ve done that day, and realizing we have yet another day ahead filled with the labor that the Lord gives us to do.  At times we simply want to kick back and phone it in.  But we can’t.

It’s at these times that God would have us reflect on His blessings, the blessings that He provides for us day after day, the strength and ability to, ‘Go out and work.’  The strength and ability to accomplish the work of the kingdom comes from the Lord.  And as we reflect on those blessings, we’re reminded of the greatest of all blessings, God’s holy Son Jesus who calls to us, “Come to Me all you who are heavily laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  It’s in His rest that our soul is revived.  That’s what Isaiah says in the beginning of our text when he says, ‘to know the word that sustains the weary.’  Additionally, we can recall what the psalmist wrote.

Psalm 19 tells us: “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.  The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple” (vs. 7).  We have the privilege of turning to God’s Word again and again to revive our soul, and it will refresh us and renew us.  The prophet Isaiah reminds us, it’s God’s word that sustains the weary.  It was good enough for His only Son, and it was good enough for God’s followers.

In this fifteenth chapter of Isaiah, the first few verses, under inspiration, Isaiah writes the words that God has given him to write.  God is speaking through Isaiah the words that our sovereign Lord Jesus would speak to His Father.  “The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.  He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.”  As we hear these words, we connect them with the life of our Savior.

Our saving Lord who certainly had God-fearing parents, morning by morning, day by day, was taught in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  He says that word would sustain Him.  Jesus, as the son of Mary was human flesh and bone, so we know that that He too became tired, at times He became hungry and thirsty, and at times He too needed that word of God which sustains the weary.  That’s why Jesus would go and find a quiet place to pray.  Our Savior needed the opportunity to hear God the Father speak even though He is the Word of God in the flesh.

The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.  We think of the scribes and the Pharisees who drew back from the Word of God.  We think of the children of Israel, who from time to time ignored God’s word.  Too often, they didn’t want to hear it.  Jesus said of Himself, His ears were open.  He was anxious to hear and ready to listen, because He knew, God’s word would sustain the weary.  We know that Jesus in His earthly life, faced opposition which included death itself.

Jesus quoted the prophet in verse 6: “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.”  Think of the accusers that came.  Think of Judas who betrayed Him, the army that came to the Garden of Gethsemane to take Him off as prisoner.  All that night they made fun of Him, beat Him, spit upon Him.  Jesus knew that the word of God will sustain the weary.  He also knew the fact that He wasn’t alone.  Listen again to verse 7: “Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced.”  Even though Pontius Pilate, even though the crowd, even though the soldiers thought they were disgracing our Savior, Jesus knew the Father helped Him.  He would not, and was not, disgraced.  The Father would be with Him; He would not be alone.  Today, the good news is we don’t do any of this on our own.

Yes, it takes commitment, it takes considerable effort as we work together to accomplish the work of God’s kingdom.  But we can be assured that, even when we’re tired and want to phone things in, we can look to God for the strength we need to accomplish His will.  Isaiah used this opportunity to affirm that God is the one who sustains His people, and Jesus quoted Isaiah as He faced difficult times.  God is the source of our strength and our staying power.  God spoke His promise to us: “For the Lord God helps me; therefore, I have not been confounded; therefore, I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicates me is near” (Isaiah 50:7-8).

Amen

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