My first summer in the northwest, back in 1973, the friends I was staying with heard that a strawberry farmer in the area was looking for field bosses for the harvest. Since teachers were highly prized candidates for this role, they suggested I go see Mr. Tsigawa about a job, which I did. After exchanging pleasantries Mr. Tsigawa asked if I’d ever been a field boss. Oh, heavens no I replied.
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WHAT? Let me just double check. Is this really Jesus talking here? Because it sure doesn’t sound like the Prince of Peace to me. Is this the time when I start looking around for the rector to come back, or someone, ANYONE else to preach? Anyone? No? Alright, well, here we go together to try and make some sense of this lectionary selection from Matthew for this Sunday.
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Today’s Gospel is a big, rich, deep, multi-faceted, multi-layered story. If this story were a meal, it would be a multi-course feast with appetizers, a salad, entrée, dessert, a cheese plate, and beverages with each course. There is a lot going on in this Gospel.
I think if we take one step back from this story it gets a little easier. We realize there are four stories, not just one. Each of the stories is rich enough that each could have its own Sunday, each with its own sermon.
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We rarely talk about the resurrection or eternal life. But it seems quite appropriate this month when we celebrate All Saints and All Souls. As we look around the sanctuary and see the physical reminders, names and photos of loved ones who’ve died. This Great Cloud of Witnesses surrounds us, encourages us and shows us they way to life. And someday, we will be with them in everlasting joy, surrounded by the light and love of God’s presence within, all around and in between us. What an amazing vision!
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Today, Jesus is talking to us about all those things that we work so hard to get. Although society tells us otherwise, Jesus reminds us that our lives and our identities are NOT based on the things we’ve accumulated. Sure, we need SOME things, and I know I certainly ENJOY certain possessions. But, like Martha, Jesus reminds us once again that our focus should NOT be on producing, consuming, or accumulating. Instead, it should be on relationship, on growing rich toward God. Today, Jesus challenges us, invites us, and reminds us, about our relationship with our things and our relationship with God.
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In the Epistle for today, Paul implores us to remain established in the faith, which brings up the question, what is the faith? What is faith itself? There is a popular idea of what faith is out in society, and many churches do teach it. It is the idea that faith is about having the right answer. You need to have the right answer about knowledge, you need to have the right answer about the nature of God, or the correct Biblical interpretation, or the morally correct position on some social matter, or knowing the right words to say. That is what faith is: being right. And since faith and salvation are so intertwined, it creates an anxiety about what happens if you fail the test, and the depth of the consequences if you do. In some traditions it is not failing the test, it is about getting any one answer wrong. If you don’t get an A+ it isn’t good enough. What are the implications of that? It can create a huge sense of anxiety in people, even trauma for understanding the faith in this way.
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