Epiphany 4 year A Sermon 08
Beatitudes / Out of Order
Put on out of order sign wait for laughs.
Ok to get it off your chest...talk to the person next to you about what comes to mind.
Interesting isn’t it? Now why might I be wearing such a sign around my neck? Oh it could be because our parish Board of Managers made me wear it...maybe they ruled me out of order for being disrespectful or found me out of order for not following the right rules for meeting. But no it wasn’t the board of managers.
Or maybe my doctor wants me to wear it because I’m sick. Or a psychiatrist wants me to wear it because I’m crazy. Or maybe I just put it on this morning at breakfast to warn Reg I got up on the wrong side of the bed.
Or maybe I could put it on Reg when he’s feeling grumpy.
Normally such a sign signals to us that something is broken... doesn’t it. Like a coke machine... or an ATM...or a toilet...when you really need to go...
I could hang this sign on the door of the manse...
to warn people who might drop by that our house is out of order. And hey…don’t we hear people say ‘put your own house in order...before you start giving me advice’?
Or how it would be if couples had to wear
signs like this... when their relationship was out of order? Or whole families were running around wearing these signs...
if they weren’t getting along?
Or maybe there could be an international law that required countries to warn travelers as they entered customs at airports that their country was out of order because of civil unrest, or war...or a widening gap between rich and poor.
Or maybe when astronauts were viewing the whole earth from space...maybe there was a giant out of order flag that could be seen from the moon...because humanity’s relationship with nature is out of order. [pause]
Biblically people always seem to put their house in order before they die....
Like in the book of Samuel when a character called Ahithophel discovers King David hasn’t followed his advise...he saddles his donkey... sets out to put his house in order... and then hangs himself.
And in first Kings as well as Isaiah we read "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover."
It’s not a good idea to quit this earth with your junk out of order…better get it back into some order before it’s to late… to do anything about it.
Right through this season of Epiphany... we’ve been reminded... how Israel’s covenant relationship with God... was out of order...how they ignored their calling from God to be a light for the world...
and we’ve been learning how Jesus understood his identity as taking Israel’s mantle onto himself...to be a light for the world...and how he saw his followers taking on the mantle of Israel...calling them...calling us... to be salt and light... city and lamp...for the world... as people of a new covenant.
God had chosen Israel for her task because humanity’s relationships were out of order...with God ...with each other and with nature. Read about it in Genesis right through the poetry and wisdom books to the writings of the prophets…since the Garden of Eden our relationships were out of order
The flood was supposed to put things right…the law was supposed to put things right.
But it didn’t work.
People still worshipped idols. People still…
loved power and money… more than God. Marriages still broke down, families continued to disintegrate…senseless killing still occurred.
Nations still went to war… whole forests were destroyed to build battleships and palaces for the wealthy and powerful. Whole waterways were polluted… with the waste of ritual and greed and over populated cities.
The Hebrew people… once freed from slavery in Egypt… were enslaved by their own king …to build his Temple…
Israel had been called to be God’s instrument in putting all this right but Israel had got sucked in to the disorder ignoring God’s call. Sound familiar?
So there on that mountainside outside Jerusalem…after exile and destruction and occupation…at the time of the great Roman Empire, the cult of Caesar and the corruption of the second temple… Jesus calls his followers to take on Israel’s task to be a new Israel...people of a new covenant…
And he teaches them…teaches the way…teaches us how…to restore all these disordered relationships
…how to put things right… with God, with ourselves…with other people… and with nature.
In his sermon on the mount Jesus teaches us step by step how to put things right …how to bring reconciliation and healing to the world…how to be a light. [pause]
Step 1 we realise … we aren’t God after all …and there are some things we can’t control…
Step 2. we admit we messed up…and can’t make it right on our own …
Step 3 we accept we need forgiveness for the disorder we’ve caused in our relationships with God with our self and others and with nature.
Taking these three steps puts our relationship with God back in order…because God’s grace has been available all the time...
We can now put our relationship with ourselves in order by forgiving ourselves…
As forgiven people we can forgive others and ask for their forgiveness… and love them even when they wont, remembering they’re not God either.
We become willing to make restitution…
to put things right… to reverse the disorder we’ve caused in our relationships. Or the disorder our community our nation or our race has caused…in the name of greed
and growth and wealth and power.
Whether the disorder is in our relationship with God, with ourselves, with other people or with nature…the steps are the same…and each one is expressed eloquently in Each Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount...in the blessings we call the beatitudes...
Beatitudes slide
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Realise your not God.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted….trust that God can help you...Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. Face the facts about the disorder you’ve caused
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Confess what you’ve done…
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for right relationships, for they will be filled. Work to put things right in all your relationships
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Forgive and seek forgiveness...
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
As the prophet said…
It’s not a good idea to quit this earth…
with your house out of order…better to get it sorted before it’s to late.
Over this next week why don’t you look at your relationship with God, with yourself, with other people whether close by or far away and your relationship with nature and may you practise what you’ve learned from Jesus in the days ahead.
And may we… follow Jesus… as a people of the new covenant…in the years ahead… because the story isn’t over and the family isn’t complete.
Beatitudes / Out of Order
Put on out of order sign wait for laughs.
Ok to get it off your chest...talk to the person next to you about what comes to mind.
Interesting isn’t it? Now why might I be wearing such a sign around my neck? Oh it could be because our parish Board of Managers made me wear it...maybe they ruled me out of order for being disrespectful or found me out of order for not following the right rules for meeting. But no it wasn’t the board of managers.
Or maybe my doctor wants me to wear it because I’m sick. Or a psychiatrist wants me to wear it because I’m crazy. Or maybe I just put it on this morning at breakfast to warn Reg I got up on the wrong side of the bed.
Or maybe I could put it on Reg when he’s feeling grumpy.
Normally such a sign signals to us that something is broken... doesn’t it. Like a coke machine... or an ATM...or a toilet...when you really need to go...
I could hang this sign on the door of the manse...
to warn people who might drop by that our house is out of order. And hey…don’t we hear people say ‘put your own house in order...before you start giving me advice’?
Or how it would be if couples had to wear
signs like this... when their relationship was out of order? Or whole families were running around wearing these signs...
if they weren’t getting along?
Or maybe there could be an international law that required countries to warn travelers as they entered customs at airports that their country was out of order because of civil unrest, or war...or a widening gap between rich and poor.
Or maybe when astronauts were viewing the whole earth from space...maybe there was a giant out of order flag that could be seen from the moon...because humanity’s relationship with nature is out of order. [pause]
Biblically people always seem to put their house in order before they die....
Like in the book of Samuel when a character called Ahithophel discovers King David hasn’t followed his advise...he saddles his donkey... sets out to put his house in order... and then hangs himself.
And in first Kings as well as Isaiah we read "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover."
It’s not a good idea to quit this earth with your junk out of order…better get it back into some order before it’s to late… to do anything about it.
Right through this season of Epiphany... we’ve been reminded... how Israel’s covenant relationship with God... was out of order...how they ignored their calling from God to be a light for the world...
and we’ve been learning how Jesus understood his identity as taking Israel’s mantle onto himself...to be a light for the world...and how he saw his followers taking on the mantle of Israel...calling them...calling us... to be salt and light... city and lamp...for the world... as people of a new covenant.
God had chosen Israel for her task because humanity’s relationships were out of order...with God ...with each other and with nature. Read about it in Genesis right through the poetry and wisdom books to the writings of the prophets…since the Garden of Eden our relationships were out of order
The flood was supposed to put things right…the law was supposed to put things right.
But it didn’t work.
People still worshipped idols. People still…
loved power and money… more than God. Marriages still broke down, families continued to disintegrate…senseless killing still occurred.
Nations still went to war… whole forests were destroyed to build battleships and palaces for the wealthy and powerful. Whole waterways were polluted… with the waste of ritual and greed and over populated cities.
The Hebrew people… once freed from slavery in Egypt… were enslaved by their own king …to build his Temple…
Israel had been called to be God’s instrument in putting all this right but Israel had got sucked in to the disorder ignoring God’s call. Sound familiar?
So there on that mountainside outside Jerusalem…after exile and destruction and occupation…at the time of the great Roman Empire, the cult of Caesar and the corruption of the second temple… Jesus calls his followers to take on Israel’s task to be a new Israel...people of a new covenant…
And he teaches them…teaches the way…teaches us how…to restore all these disordered relationships
…how to put things right… with God, with ourselves…with other people… and with nature.
In his sermon on the mount Jesus teaches us step by step how to put things right …how to bring reconciliation and healing to the world…how to be a light. [pause]
Step 1 we realise … we aren’t God after all …and there are some things we can’t control…
Step 2. we admit we messed up…and can’t make it right on our own …
Step 3 we accept we need forgiveness for the disorder we’ve caused in our relationships with God with our self and others and with nature.
Taking these three steps puts our relationship with God back in order…because God’s grace has been available all the time...
We can now put our relationship with ourselves in order by forgiving ourselves…
As forgiven people we can forgive others and ask for their forgiveness… and love them even when they wont, remembering they’re not God either.
We become willing to make restitution…
to put things right… to reverse the disorder we’ve caused in our relationships. Or the disorder our community our nation or our race has caused…in the name of greed
and growth and wealth and power.
Whether the disorder is in our relationship with God, with ourselves, with other people or with nature…the steps are the same…and each one is expressed eloquently in Each Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount...in the blessings we call the beatitudes...
Beatitudes slide
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Realise your not God.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted….trust that God can help you...Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. Face the facts about the disorder you’ve caused
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Confess what you’ve done…
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for right relationships, for they will be filled. Work to put things right in all your relationships
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Forgive and seek forgiveness...
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
As the prophet said…
It’s not a good idea to quit this earth…
with your house out of order…better to get it sorted before it’s to late.
Over this next week why don’t you look at your relationship with God, with yourself, with other people whether close by or far away and your relationship with nature and may you practise what you’ve learned from Jesus in the days ahead.
And may we… follow Jesus… as a people of the new covenant…in the years ahead… because the story isn’t over and the family isn’t complete.
