"Ready or Not"
9-7-14 (Proper 18, Ordinary 23 A Semicontinuous)
Exodus 12:1-14; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:15-20
Ready or Not
It was the first recorded instance of “fast food” in the Bible. As families gathered around the table on that first Passover evening, they gathered with girded loins - they had their loose clothes tied up around their legs to help them move more quickly. They had their sandals on their feet and they had staffs in their hands, ready to move at a moment’s notice. Without the time to bake proper bread, to do anything more than roast a lamb over a fire with bitter herbs, they put the blood of the lamb over their doors, ate their meal together, and waited for God to pass over their houses, to do God’s work in Egypt, and to fulfill the promise that they would escape their slavery in Egypt and be led on to the promised land.
They were a people who were ready, who were waiting… a people who were told that this would be a day of celebration and remembrance for years to come, but who at that very moment were more afraid, nervous, and uncertain than anything else.
Both the author of Matthew’s Gospel and Paul, interestingly enough, were writing to communities in similar situations - the Passover was a part of ancient history for them, but the Lamb of the New Covenant, on the other hand, had only recently been sacrificed for all the world - not only that, but he had risen from the dead, offering the promise of eternal life to all those who believe and trust in him. They were communities who gathered around the table together, sharing in the bread and the wine, remembering the promise that Christ made to the gathered disciples in that Passover supper together, knowing that one day Jesus would return and that His kingdom would be eternal. And they were communities that were ready - eager, even, for that day to come. . . a people who knew that one day, they would celebrate in the Kingdom of Heaven, but who at that very moment, as they hid from Roman governments and dealt with conflict, disagreement, and uncertainty on every side, had to wonder when that promise would be fulfilled, when the day would come and when they could feast with the Lord once more.
As Jesus continues pressing on his journey and engaging in his ministry, he also continues to teach the disciples, the men who will become the first leaders and evangelists of the Church. He knows that there will be conflicts, and so he teaches the disciples a working model to help them manage it - he teaches them that the sense of community in the church, that very same shared feeling of anticipation of Christ’s return, should be shaped first and foremost by love, which seeks restoration above all.
It’s this same encouragement toward love and reconciliation that also marks Paul’s letter to the Romans - Paul writes with an extraordinary sense of urgency as he addresses the church. He tells them “you know what time it is,” that it is time for the church to wake up, to be ready for the day in which the Kingdom comes. There’s no more time for the church to settle back into the life it once knew - night is gone, the day has dawned! And now it is time to live as people of the light.
The Israelites waited, ready to move as God passed over them and delivered them from slavery. The early Church waited, ready for Christ to return as he had promised - and we still wait, centuries later for Christ to come. And yet we have to ask - how ready are we today? How eager do we find ourselves, as we still wait, as we still wonder when Christ will return and when the Kingdom will come? Do we still feel that same sense of eagerness and urgency, the willingness to stand with our own loins girded, sandals still on our feet and staffs in our hands, ready to up and leave at a moment’s notice?
As we look at the church as it stands today, it’s easy to be discouraged - the church doesn’t seem very ready these days. In fact, it seems like it’s grown weary and distracted more than eager and awaiting. We embroil ourselves in debate and division - we lament as we look at the statistical reports and reflect on the way that things “used to be.” We speak in mournful tones as we talk about how “the church is dying” and look for any possible answers of how to boost our numbers back up, to find some miracle program or other that will be the salvation of our church.
And in the process, as we keep on going in “survival mode” and trying to figure out how to dig ourselves out of the hole we find ourselves in… we forget the most hopeful and encouraging thing that Christ teaches his disciples in this passage: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” This is the whole reason that Jesus encourages the disciples to seek reconciliation amongst themselves when they experience conflict. It’s even why he tells them that those who still do not repent should be “as a Gentile and tax collector” to them: it wasn’t an instruction to shun such a person, but to continue reaching out to them - just the same as what Jesus was already doing in his own ministry. Because that community, that element of being joined together under Christ in the power of the Spirit… that is the very embodiment of the Kingdom here on earth. As Professor Thomas Long writes in his commentary on Matthew’s Gospel, “When the world looks at the church, it should see not simply another social organization trying to raise money and keep its membership up; it should see a living embodiment of the kingdom of heaven, a community of faith where leaders serve instead of swagger, where the weak are nourished instead of cast aside, where people who lose their way are not forgotten but sought and restored, where people cultivate mercy and forgiveness as if they were the rare flowers of heaven.”
This is what it means for Christ to be present, even among two or three gathered together. And this is what it means for us today to be a people who are truly ready - that as we gather together, even today, around this table - as we come together, with shoes on our feet, ready to participate in this holy meal… we are also ready to show that Kingdom to the world, to live as people of the light, and as people ready for Christ to be present among us, working with and through us that His Kingdom may indeed come. To God be the Glory. Amen.
Exodus 12:1-14; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:15-20
Ready or Not
It was the first recorded instance of “fast food” in the Bible. As families gathered around the table on that first Passover evening, they gathered with girded loins - they had their loose clothes tied up around their legs to help them move more quickly. They had their sandals on their feet and they had staffs in their hands, ready to move at a moment’s notice. Without the time to bake proper bread, to do anything more than roast a lamb over a fire with bitter herbs, they put the blood of the lamb over their doors, ate their meal together, and waited for God to pass over their houses, to do God’s work in Egypt, and to fulfill the promise that they would escape their slavery in Egypt and be led on to the promised land.
They were a people who were ready, who were waiting… a people who were told that this would be a day of celebration and remembrance for years to come, but who at that very moment were more afraid, nervous, and uncertain than anything else.
Both the author of Matthew’s Gospel and Paul, interestingly enough, were writing to communities in similar situations - the Passover was a part of ancient history for them, but the Lamb of the New Covenant, on the other hand, had only recently been sacrificed for all the world - not only that, but he had risen from the dead, offering the promise of eternal life to all those who believe and trust in him. They were communities who gathered around the table together, sharing in the bread and the wine, remembering the promise that Christ made to the gathered disciples in that Passover supper together, knowing that one day Jesus would return and that His kingdom would be eternal. And they were communities that were ready - eager, even, for that day to come. . . a people who knew that one day, they would celebrate in the Kingdom of Heaven, but who at that very moment, as they hid from Roman governments and dealt with conflict, disagreement, and uncertainty on every side, had to wonder when that promise would be fulfilled, when the day would come and when they could feast with the Lord once more.
As Jesus continues pressing on his journey and engaging in his ministry, he also continues to teach the disciples, the men who will become the first leaders and evangelists of the Church. He knows that there will be conflicts, and so he teaches the disciples a working model to help them manage it - he teaches them that the sense of community in the church, that very same shared feeling of anticipation of Christ’s return, should be shaped first and foremost by love, which seeks restoration above all.
It’s this same encouragement toward love and reconciliation that also marks Paul’s letter to the Romans - Paul writes with an extraordinary sense of urgency as he addresses the church. He tells them “you know what time it is,” that it is time for the church to wake up, to be ready for the day in which the Kingdom comes. There’s no more time for the church to settle back into the life it once knew - night is gone, the day has dawned! And now it is time to live as people of the light.
The Israelites waited, ready to move as God passed over them and delivered them from slavery. The early Church waited, ready for Christ to return as he had promised - and we still wait, centuries later for Christ to come. And yet we have to ask - how ready are we today? How eager do we find ourselves, as we still wait, as we still wonder when Christ will return and when the Kingdom will come? Do we still feel that same sense of eagerness and urgency, the willingness to stand with our own loins girded, sandals still on our feet and staffs in our hands, ready to up and leave at a moment’s notice?
As we look at the church as it stands today, it’s easy to be discouraged - the church doesn’t seem very ready these days. In fact, it seems like it’s grown weary and distracted more than eager and awaiting. We embroil ourselves in debate and division - we lament as we look at the statistical reports and reflect on the way that things “used to be.” We speak in mournful tones as we talk about how “the church is dying” and look for any possible answers of how to boost our numbers back up, to find some miracle program or other that will be the salvation of our church.
And in the process, as we keep on going in “survival mode” and trying to figure out how to dig ourselves out of the hole we find ourselves in… we forget the most hopeful and encouraging thing that Christ teaches his disciples in this passage: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” This is the whole reason that Jesus encourages the disciples to seek reconciliation amongst themselves when they experience conflict. It’s even why he tells them that those who still do not repent should be “as a Gentile and tax collector” to them: it wasn’t an instruction to shun such a person, but to continue reaching out to them - just the same as what Jesus was already doing in his own ministry. Because that community, that element of being joined together under Christ in the power of the Spirit… that is the very embodiment of the Kingdom here on earth. As Professor Thomas Long writes in his commentary on Matthew’s Gospel, “When the world looks at the church, it should see not simply another social organization trying to raise money and keep its membership up; it should see a living embodiment of the kingdom of heaven, a community of faith where leaders serve instead of swagger, where the weak are nourished instead of cast aside, where people who lose their way are not forgotten but sought and restored, where people cultivate mercy and forgiveness as if they were the rare flowers of heaven.”
This is what it means for Christ to be present, even among two or three gathered together. And this is what it means for us today to be a people who are truly ready - that as we gather together, even today, around this table - as we come together, with shoes on our feet, ready to participate in this holy meal… we are also ready to show that Kingdom to the world, to live as people of the light, and as people ready for Christ to be present among us, working with and through us that His Kingdom may indeed come. To God be the Glory. Amen.
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