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Sermon for Sunday 22 March 2015

FIRST READING Jeremiah 31:31–34

31 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

 

PSALM Psalm 119:9–16

9 How shall the young keep their way clean? By keeping to your word.  10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not stray from your commandments.  11 I treasure your promise in my heart, that I may not sin against you.  12 Blessed are you, O LORD; instruct me in your statutes.  13 With my lips I recite all the judgments of your mouth.  14 I take greater delight in the way of your decrees than in all manner of riches.  15 I will meditate on your commandments and give attention to your ways.  16 My delight is in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

 

SECOND READING Hebrews 5:1–10

1 Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; 3 and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. 4 And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,
“You are my Son, today I have begotten you”;
6 as he says also in another place,
“You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10 having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

 

GOSPEL Mark 10:32–45

32 They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; 34 they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.” 35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. 42 So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

 

JESUS IS QUALIFIED

Over the years I’ve found myself on both sides of these two very important questions. Is the person being considered qualified and are they the right person for the job? Anytime there’s a position to be filled, or a task that needs to be accomplished, a good leader will look for the best person to put into that position. As a military supervisor, I found that if I wanted my flight to be successful, it was imperative that I match the correct person to the right job. Oftentimes I would go to lower line supervisors and ask these questions in order fill what is commonly referred to in the Air Force as additional duty positions. While this is important in most cases, critical staff positions, especially those that require the person to act as an intermediary between the member and the commander, are positions that need the most qualified person. And to be considered qualified to act in this capacity, the person must know what it’s like to serve as a younger airman and have the compassion to empathize with those they represent. This is important because, not only does this person represent the individual, but also the commander or the boss in this case. An example of this critical position is the first sergeant, or oftentimes called the shirt.
For those who may not be familiar with the military or with the language associated with the armed forces, the first sergeant is a senior NCO or senior non-commissioned officer who not only represents the workers, the Airman in the case of the Air Force, but is also the voice of the commander. Their job is to work with the commander to form directives and then to see that those policies are carried out. Their job is to give the commander the perspective of the workers. Another hat the first sergeant wears, is as a pseudo-legal representative of the younger enlisted personnel.
In matters of punishment, the first sergeant is the one who intercedes on behalf of the defendant. Normally the offending person will meet with the first sergeant and they will take a look, not only at the offense, but also at the record of the individual. Next, the shirt will research the elements of the directives and form a recommendation for the commander. Once the interviews and research has been accomplished, the first sergeant will then meet with the commander, present the findings and argue the case on behalf of the individual. In the many years I spent as a military supervisor, I’m unable to ever recall a time when a commander has ever went against the recommendation of the first sergeant. This is why it was so important to choose the right person for this position. This I experienced first-hand while deployed to the Middle East my third time in 2004.
In May of that year I was serving as the Flight Chief for the Avionics section and one of my workers made a mistake with some paperwork. Instead of simply coming to me and explaining what happened, the individual tried to cover up his mistake by making copies of the paperwork and passing them off as the original. In essence he falsified a government document. It wasn’t that the paperwork was, per say wrong, it’s that he failed to file the paperwork properly and then tried to cover it up. The paperwork snafu itself was a minor infraction; it was his actions to cover his tracks that created the stir. As with any offence like this, the first shirt got involved.
This was a case when the first shirt wasn’t the right person for the job. Instead of looking at the whole situation and learning all the facts, the shirt ceased on the falsification aspect of the case and recommended the most severe punishment possible to the commander. As I mentioned before, I’ve never known a commander to go against the recommendation of the shirt and before I was able to intervene, the individual had received a formal Letter of Reprimand which was then sent to his home station. This may not sound very severe, but that letter could have prevented that individual from being promoted for several years. I tried to intervene once I found out, but the damage had already been done.
What should have been a simple reprimand and maybe a little extra duty, ended up costing that young NCO his town pass privileges, his reputation and a good many months of heartache. As both he and I found out from personal experience, choosing the wrong person can have damaging effects not only for the commander, but for the members as well. Tragically, once everything came to light, that first shirt was replaced shortly after that incident and was sent home early only to have his career permanently shortened.
A replacement was quickly found for the position and that came with a surprise to many of us, because the person the commander tapped for the position at first didn’t make sense. However, as we came to realize, we were wrong. As a second lesson we learned from that deployment, sometimes the right person for the position, isn’t the one you would expect. Sometimes the best person for the job isn’t the obvious choice. It certainly was the case in that instance.
In our epistle lesson for today, the author of Hebrews asks a similar question: is Jesus qualified for the office of high priest? Now for you and me, the obvious answer is “yes,” because we sit on this end of history. We have the prophesies that point us to Christ as the Messiah. We have the gospels that answer the who questions, of who this person is, that came to us by way of a manger in Bethlehem. And we have the epistle letters that clarify for us the why, of His life, death and resurrection. But this wasn’t the case for the Hebrew people in the first century. Because of His initial or intended audience, our writer of Hebrews felt it important to tie all these events together, to argue or demonstrate the reasons for His position. For the children of Israel, this was difficult, because Jesus wasn’t from the tribe of Levi; He was from the line of David. For the Jewish listener, while this qualified Him for the Messiah position, it also disqualified Him from the priest position. So our scribe begins the task of responding to this problem, and shows us that Jesus is in fact qualified to function as our high priest.
In order to argue his case, the writer examines two qualifications in particular—humility and compassion. The structure of this argument forms a concentric ring, two facets of the argument that share the same middle point. To accomplish his task, the writer of this passage, first treats compassion and humility in general, in the first four verses, and then, he reverses the order. He does this to argue for Christ’s humility in verse 5 and 6 then His compassion in verses 7-10.
With respect to humility, the author first notes that a high priest doesn’t lobby for this position of honor. Those who arrogantly seize this position of responsibility will disqualify themselves. Aaron and his descendants who followed him, didn’t campaign for the position of priest, God himself called and appointed them. Additionally, the tribe of Levi was set aside, by God from the beginning, to serve as pastors and spiritual leaders of the people. And the same can be said about Jesus.
Jesus fulfills this qualification as well. He didn’t presumed to take the office; God selected Him. It was in obedience to the will of the Father that Jesus came, clothed in humanity, to accomplish what you and I could not. In order to substantiate his claim, the author quotes two passages of scripture. First is a verse the writer cited earlier, Psalm 2:7. In verse 5 we read, “So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the One who said to Him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten You”. The second quotation found in verse 6 comes from Psalm 110:4: “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek”. It’s this second quotation that proves central to the argument.
The author of Hebrews knows that Jesus doesn’t fulfill the Old Testament requirement of priests; He wasn’t a physical a descent from Levi. Therefore, in the Jewish mind, how can the author then continue to argue that God has appointed Him to be the high priest? So with any straightforward logic blocked, the writer chooses to use a chess move where a knight is repositioned in a way that in essence jumps over the objection. Christ, he points out, is not a priest like Levi at all. He is a priest like Melchizedek, who belongs to an older and therefore better order of priests.
Later in chapter 7, the author will examine the relationship of Jesus and Melchizedek in more detail. But for now he quickly turns to explore a second criterion, the qualification of compassion or mercy. Like the first sergeant who must deal at times with very young and inexperienced troops, the high priest must also be able to deal mercifully with the ignorant and the errant, since he too is beset by human frailty. Most high priests must also offer a sacrifice for their own sins as well as those of others.
Despite His exalted status as the Son of God, Jesus too is able to sympathize with human frailty and limitation because of what He experienced in “the days of his flesh”. We of course understand that the analogy between Jesus and the other high priests doesn’t hold in every respect, because Jesus is without sin. Nonetheless, we learn from verse 15 of the previous chapter which says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin”. Jesus experienced the full range of trials and temptations while in the flesh. And because of these experiences, He is able to fully sympathize with us. He can identify with and understands what we’re going through when we struggle.
Recall if you will Jesus’ prayers, especially those in the garden of Gethsemane, they illustrate the depth of His identification with us. Just as the high priest offered “gifts and sacrifices for sins”, so Jesus sacrificially offers “prayers and supplications” on our behalf. And from these passion readings, we understand that Jesus didn’t offer these prayers in a serene sanctuary, isolated from human need and pain. Instead, Jesus prayed to God in the midst of crisis, fervently and passionately, “with loud cries and tears”.
These prayers point to Jesus’ experience of prayer in the garden, to His prayer from the cross in Matthew and Mark, or to the role of prayer throughout the entirety of His earthly life. What matters most is that Jesus stands in solidarity with us in our vulnerability and finitude and, like us, cried out to God for help.
Jesus’ identification with us and with all humanity extends beyond prayer to obedience. His experiences in “the days of His flesh” were not a mere gloss on His heavenly status. Rather it was His obedience even in the midst of suffering. These became events and experiences that were formative and important for His vocation as our priest. Through His own experience, Jesus learned how to respond to and obey God’s call. He didn’t cling to His divine prerogative, He could have called for help at any time, but He didn’t. He willingly accepted and remained obedient even to the end.
And it was that obedience which qualifies Him for service as our high priest. It demonstrates His ability and capacity to sympathize with us in all our struggles. In being obedient, Jesus became “the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him”. But why should the obedience of Jesus as a human being matter? Why does salvation depend on a high priest who is subject to weakness, who prays in crisis, who learns what the human lot is like? Why does Jesus’ service as high priest require His identification with us?
In a column entitled “The Man and the Birds,” religion editor Louis Cassels recounted the story of a man who refused to attend a Christmas Eve service with his family, because he didn’t believe in the incarnation. So he remained at home, where it began to snow. Minutes later, he heard what he thought was someone throwing snowballs against his window. Going outside to investigate, he found a flock of birds trying to fly through his window as they sought refuge from the storm. Having compassion for the birds, he thought they might find shelter in his barn, and he made his way there. He opened the doors and turned on the light, but the birds stayed outside. He then created a trail of bread crumbs for them to follow into the barn, but that didn’t work either. So he tried to shoo them into the barn, but that effort also proved unsuccessful.
Eventually he became frustrated at his failed attempts to help the birds; then he thought, “If only I could be a bird myself for a few minutes, perhaps I could lead them to safety.” At that very moment, he heard the church bells began to ring, and with that the man sank to his knees in the snow. “Now I understand,” he whispered. “Now I see why You had to do it.”
Jesus came to us because God cares for us so much, that He was willing to become like us, to live as we live and to experience what we experience in order to lead us to a relationship with Him. Jesus is our high priest who lives, reigns and intercedes for us with the Father, not as some disconnected entity, but as One who has walked the walk. And it’s because of His humility, His compassion and His willingness to become one of us, that He is the best person for the position as our high priest. And for this we give thanks and praise to God.
Amen

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