Sermon for the Episcopal Church of St John the Baptist, Capitola,

given by Rev. Steve Ellis/July 29,, 2007

  The Episcopal Church of Saint John the Baptist welcomes all to worship God and to share

Christ's love in the world.  We are a parish family committed to provide liturgy, Bible study, music, counseling, and Christian education for children, youth, and adults, and to equip all our members for life and for service to other

Hosea 1:2 10 - When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD." So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

And the LORD said to him, "Name him Jezreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."

She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then the LORD said to him, "Name her Lo ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them. But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen."

When she had weaned Lo ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. Then the LORD said, "Name him Lo ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God."

Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, "You are not my people," it shall be said to them, "Children of the living God."

Colossians 2:6 15, (16 19) - As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

Luke 11:1 13 - Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say:

   Father, hallowed be your name.

   Your kingdom come.

   Give us each day our daily bread.

   And forgive us our sins,

   for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.

   And do not bring us to the time of trial."

And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, `Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.' And he answers from within, `Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

"So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

Sermon:  Scorpion is Not the Best Lens on Life

Sociologist of religion and migration Manuel Vasquez call religions “interpretive lenses” – not a new idea, but helpful.  Vasquez describes the way religion functions in migrant populations - helping people navigate change and know who they are.  I think this interpretive lens is part of what Jesus has given his disciples since the first generation.  The Kingdom is a new way of looking at life.  For example, Vasquez describes men who’ve crossed the border for better jobs, sending money home, living in difficult circumstances with lots of other men, lots of temptations of the “what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas” kind.  And Vasquez, a professor in Florida, says it is faith communities that sustain them in their cherished values.  He says the first thing they do is find or organize faith communities that keep before them the things they cherish, family, marriage, children, and godly living.

Have you ever felt like the universe was toying with you?  Or out to get you?  It’s funny to kid about.  Russell Condry is fond of saying, “Do you want to make God laugh?  Make some plans.” And there is the old saying to reassure us that God is at work even if we can’t see it, “God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.” 

There’s a lot of superstition about that.  If you rejoice, there’s the impulse in a lot of folks to “knock on wood.”  As if the gods resent your good fortune.  This is the fear the ancient Greeks called ‘hubris’.  As if the universe were ruled by scarcity.  As if there’s only so much good fortune and only those who keep their heads down can keep what good comes their way.  As if the gods were jealous.  One theory about “knock on wood” is that the wood is the Cross of Christ because it has chased so much superstition away.  Because in Christ we came to a way of prayer and living that just the opposite.

If you believe the universe is hostile, you end up in defiance or despair.  Serious conditions.  If you believe the universe is indifferent, mechanical, unaware of us, you may end up feeling that it is hostile.  Just as bad, because that robs us of hope and purpose.  I believe that we all know, deep down, we were made for hope, purpose and love.  We may be afraid – but we feel it.

Is there a way of prayer, an attitude of life, that brings out the best in us?  That fights despair and gives us hope and creativity?  A way that makes us constructive with others?  A way that gives us confidence?  A way that is vibrantly alive?  healthy way to be in the world?  A way that invites us to work alongside God in our living?  It would be such a gift to us, and to others through us.

Jesus’ disciples saw him praying.  They asked him to teach them.  And what they got was very different than they’d learned growing up.

His prayer went straight to those old enemies of our soul – discouragement, defiance and despair.  To God it said, “Protect us through difficulties, preserve our hope.”  It wasn’t a mealy-mouthed entreaty, “Please, O please, don’t make me struggle, don’t make me grow up, don’t tempt me, don’t let me doubt, don’t let me do wrong.”  No.  It was “Save us from the time of trial.”  Keep us safe from the Evil One.  And from ourselves.  We want courage, we want hope, so we can live godly lives, be whole, know You.

His prayer instructed God to keep forgiveness cleansing us, cleansing us and others through us.  We keep it flowing to them, as it passes through us it scrubs us of all the grudges, the bitterness, the angers we’ve hoarded and cherished. And we become free to be constructive, to be fresh air for others.

His prayer addressed the universe not as hostile, or indifferent, but as concerned with us, giving us life, inviting us to be partners in creating a healed world.  It said, “Give us the meals we need each day.”  It said, “Restore the world.”  It said, “Reveal yourself.”  It said, “Be loved, be recognized, be obeyed.”  It said, “Father.”

Father.  The universe is not mechanical, indifferent?  It cares?  About us?  Wants the best for us, as a parent would?  Wants us to grow up and do things that are worth doing?  Wants us to be admirable?  Wants us to be whole?  Wants us to have all the parent’s best qualities?  Father.  I think Mother works as well.  Neither does justice to God, of course, but both take us way beyond thinking of God as some impersonal force.  God in us, between us, the universe alive with love, the universe creating us and holding us in being, having time and the inclination to listen to each of us, to have dreams for each of us, to breath hopes into each of us and let us decide what to make of them.  The universe having respect for each of us, and hope for all of us, and what we can become.

Jesus tells a weird story then.  This guy has guests show up late at night.  He hasn’t a thing to offer them and he goes to his neighbor who doesn’t want to be bothered late at night.  This is God?  Doesn’t want to be bothered late at night?  O, please!  But Jesus says the key to prayer is to keep asking until you get what you need.  I suspect this has more to do with what happens to us when we keep asking – that eventually we get through all our chatter and hear and receive what God was saying or doing all along, but, whether I’m right or not, the Master says we must be persistent in prayer.  Hang on ‘till you get the blessing.

For everyone who asks or searches or knocks there is an answer, a treasure, an opening.  This is God’s way.  If you don’t ask, or search or knock the answers and treasures and openings may not come to you.  Life is a relationship of trust.  The universe is not indifferent.  That is unreality.  Living in illusion is bad for everyone.  Every day we need to acknowledge our dependence on God, and God’s believing in us.

Look, Jesus says, how hard can this be???  if your son asks you for some fish you don’t serve a poisonous snake?  If your daughter asks for an egg you don’t drop a scorpion in her lap?  You know better than to play cruel tricks on your children. Why would you think God doesn’t want to give you what you really need?  God wants to give you even the Holy Spirit!  More than you can ask or imagine!  Joy within, strength and wisdom, the experience of God at work in you.

So think of “a lens on life” when you think of Jesus trying to teach his first disciples to live God-ward.  The scorpion is not the best lens on life, but we can only hear and receive if we trust, or as Jesus puts it, if we ask, seek, knock.

The reign of God is knowing God is watching, blessing, hoping, loving, with you in grief, sorrow, joy, or any awful thing you do.  Knowing God is with you and with the others, always, everywhere, divided from you by nothing, with the passion that expressed itself in the Cross and resurrection of Jesus.  That is a lens on life.  Use it.  Trust it.  Walk with God.  Or ask for the faith you need.  New lens, new life, so for the sake of everybody, for the sake of a better world, for your sake and my sake, for Jesus’ sake, ask for this wonderful outlook.  A loving universe wants you to have it.

Ask!