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I believe it was near the last year or so at my first Seminary where the class I was in saw a really interesting film called Babette's Feast. It was a lovely story about a woman who comes to work for two sisters and their family’s congregation as a cook. Basically after winning a lottery, she decides to spend all of her winnings on a gigantic meal for the whole community. Her simple but beautiful sacrifice in serving others was the heart of this film’s message. The film spoke volumes on not only hospitality and welcome but also to the profound sense of humility that this woman developed.
It wasn't so much remembering this film and its wonderful
message, but just remembering those early days of forming my faith journey into
Ministry with Christ slowly but surely moving towards the center of my life,
where He truly needed to be. I also found myself thinking about the notion of
invitation as well as the notion of humble service. The word invitation holds a strong dual
meaning. This meaning could literally be
a beautiful inclusive welcome through brotherly love or it could be how the
Pharisees saw it as a right and privilege—something of exclusion based around
the self and its elevation.
The Pharisees kept going out of their way to try to not
only chastise Jesus for His sense of inclusiveness and compassion but they
continued to try to “bend the perception” of what is right to their agenda.
Which for them was one built on their many years of arrogance and pride. How could they truly serve God if they were
on their own pedestal of self-righteousness and works righteousness? But then
let us not forget that the Gospel message of Jesus was radical,
counter-cultural and went against the seemingly logical grain of human nature!
I wonder honestly how often we think about the radical aspect of who Jesus was
and His message for us to incorporate?
In many ways, we must see His example to our lives as a grand invitation
to that New reality—the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God as a New beginning reaping that New Nature within us
to love and live into Grace—a spiritual feast and journey for us all to grow
into!
Coming to the table of God is our journey of growing and
stretching those boundaries of the self beyond the self. I wonder how many people contemplate or
reflect upon the notion of humility as a Godly gift? Faith we know is a gift from God to enable us
to naturally grow and respond into the lifestyle of Grace… But what about
humility? I believe when you discipline the self to realize its spiritual side
is when you DO have the capacity to develop and operate through a Godly sense
of humility. Babette’s character in the
film never let not receiving an acknowledgment or praise from others detour her
from her spiritual task to SHARE.
Watching this film, you feel sadness and perhaps a natural sense of
injustice being done to her… but that’s our human nature’s logic… We can’t
successfully avoid harboring pride, yet alone the ego. The ego is the Old Nature—our earthly nature
but not Kingdom of God shaped Nature.
This is our stumbling block however to truly accepting
and growing into this New invitation is the sin of pride and the ego. They are still
a great force in the world today, though in some instances have taken on a more
sinister quality. This past week, let’s just say I’ve been doing too much
reading and watching the news… I say this for I read something very interesting
the other day about the CEO of Nestle Foods—the “candy-bar” people. Basically
to summarize what the CEO was saying, is that he feels people do not have the “right”
to water. Which you have to kind of think about that one for a moment... Yikes!
I’m sorry but who has the right to say that God's green earth is something to
be completely rationed out, controlled? This is purely the voice of
uncontrolled Greed! I felt as well, the sinister aspect of that, beyond the
greed… Water is the source or significant factor of all life. This fact is not only apparent through
science but we know this spiritually as well through faith—Baptism, and so
forth. No one has the right or claim to covet and control the sources of life
that is God’s choice alone!
But then, if you recall as well, another recent blip in
the news about the production and sales of Epipens... The CEO to that company
decided to give herself something like a 574% raise by raising the price of the
pens from $90 to $600. Out of curiosity I had to research the cost of the
materials and substance of the pens and they cost in reality somewhere underneath
$5 to make… I normally don't choose to do too much activism via “online
petitions” but I did sign a petition in thinking of the well-being of others…
Those who are truly dependent upon this product, should seek to have it regulated
back to its original cost and perhaps maybe this person needs to be prosecuted
for her blatant greed and indifference!
I am grateful I don’t necessarily need to have one of those pens on me
for my lentil bean allergy but wonder about those who have to carry one on them
for peanuts, etc. Shouldn't there be a boundary of when something becomes
criminally indifferent and unconscionably unethical? I think so.
The Pharisees could care less about the poor suffering
individual in today's Gospel, to them the law was more important. In fact in
some commentaries I read, they feel that maybe perhaps the Pharisees even
planted this ailing man in the crowds in efforts to try entrap Jesus and test
him! What's disturbing spiritually about this is how often do people take the
time to truly listen to God, love God and love neighbor without becoming
divisive about how it's presented and are their expectations being met? What we
must realize is that it is not about us, in fact, it goes so much further beyond
us— is the radical calling of the Gospel to serve!
2000 years later the same thing is going on in the broken
function that is the postmodern Church! Are we as pastoral leaders to the Body
of Christ merely developing and catering to a chaplaincy to the world's culture
or are we striving to serve the gospel?! Yes, the Body is comprised of people but
it was not to ever become a political pawn for self-righteousness and personal
agendas. Be it ever so humble fades away to the cost of keeping something that
needs to change.... Let’s face the facts people, we must be a Body that grows
away from the steeple… Striving not to rebuild a Pharisaic structure or a
structure that caters to the Old Nature, the ego. If things aren't allowed to change or truly
progress in efforts to answer God's call.
How can we begin to reap that New Nature seed planted? How can we begin
to transform and be accountable to one another?
If we don’t even make the effort to truly begin, the consequences are an
ugly stagnation and eventual death....
I confess that I haven't read too much into the new
category of “irreligious people” in this current culture penned by sociologists
as the "nones.." but from a recent book our Sunday Bible study is
looking at about Spiritual Warfare— I read about the reality of evil coming
from nothingness... there is a disturbing connection to note when people are
not seeing or being taught the Truth of the Gospel but are fed merely
comforting words and are not led to truly serving together side by side beyond
the church walls... this is the withered fruit produced! This withered fruit
are a people who see no need to be a part of anything beyond themselves. Their lives alone are their new religion. They put their faith purely into what they
need to survive. Please forgive me, but
how nihilistic and empty that must be, I can’t imagine!
Nearly daily, I have been steadily praying for where the
world is going. It’s almost like a
sensory overload of bad news… Where are
we going, Lord? Every other news headline begins to underline a disturbing
theme it seems: desperation breeds the diabolical. Desperate desires
unfulfilled, bubbling forth in an instinctual violence or chaos. This is going beyond the trigger-happy blotter
filled with tragic stories of mothers being shot in the head with strollers in
hand— an unknowing victim of gang crossfire. This goes beyond the heinous
execution-style murder/ robbery of two selfless nuns who were dedicated nurse
practitioners to the poor… Again my heart returns to ask where are we
spiritually going?! All of this troubling news makes those beautiful Words from
Hebrews perhaps draw tears... For how
can we even hear, yet alone truly live into that very first verse? “Let mutual
love continue…”
For it should be through our hope in the Lord that we
seek to grow with God's Living Word, Christ Jesus, Our model. Barnabas, the suspected author of Hebrews
does seem to be giving us many tenants of what are the markers of the Christian
Life—it is a journey and I have to agree it is well for the heart to be
strengthened by grace not by regulations and divisive agendas, but truly by
grace alone, faith alone, Christ Alone and His Living Word alone as a guiding,
parental force in our lives, as long as we live. So let us come to say with
confidence that we are all God’s ministers in this world with a definite
purpose and we must learn how to sacrifice and rejoice together for that great
invitation waiting for us, wondering for us…
We are the everyday people travelling through this world
but the lasting city is one still to be found—the City of God.
Let Us Pray,
Gracious Lord of all hopefulness,
Re-shape our hearts to harbor, kindle that divine
humility
To truly serve with a mutual love and grace for all that
we have
Because of You, for You have calmed and quieted our souls
with Your Love
Further wean us from the stumbling blocks of the Evil One
That our lives may become an invitation to Your Kingdom
AMEN
August 28th,
2016; Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 17; SOLA Lectionary
Sermon by:
Reverend Nicole A.M. Collins, FODM
Psalm 131;
Proverbs 25:2-10; Hebrews 13:1-17; Luke
14:1-14
The link below is to this sermon's delivery at the Grace Hub's House church service at 8am:
https://youtu.be/oUAZoClm8xU
https://youtu.be/oUAZoClm8xU
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