A sermon for Proper 15: Year C (1979)
I look to the publication, “Forward Day By Day” almost everyday for daily scripture reading and inspiration, and some historical information as well. It’s full of different prayers _ for the World, for the Church, for your family, for the sick, for giving thanks and from the Prayer Book of St. Augustine. All are great in their own rite. But the two prayers that I gravitate toward every day and feel that hold the most prominence are the prayers for “Today” and “A Morning Resolve”.
The prayer for “Today” is asking God to stand with me, and help me to not be recreant, help me not to lose faith, help me to stay kind even when others are not.
“A Morning Resolve” is me telling God what I will do. It’s similar in nature to the phrase in our Post-Communion prayer “… and do all such good works as thou has prepared for us to walk in;” in that _ go out into the world and be a good person to yourself and others. And how this ties in with today’s readings is the part of that prayer that goes on to say, “In particular I will try to be faithful in those habits of prayer, work, study, physical exercise, eating and sleep which I believe the Holy Spirit has shown me to be right.”
When I combine these two prayers, it’s as if I’m forming my own personal daily covenant with God. And as part of that, I need to fulfill my part of the agreement. And this is the discipline that I hear that is expected of us. I know that if I stay up late binge watching some TV show, or eat too much sugar at night, I’m going to get bad sleep. Bad sleep for me has a snowball effect _ the next day, I won’t want to even think about exercising, or give 100% at work, or worse spend time praying.
In those times, Jesus is saying to me, “why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” In other words, Jesus is sayin, “You’re old and experienced enough to know better. What are you doing with your life?!!!” (And by the way, during these time Jesus’ voice sounds a lot like Olympia Dukakis’ as Cher’s mother in the movie, Moonstruck.)
Chances are during those moments I was avoiding. I didn’t want to be responsible. I did not want to be an adult. I wanted to pretend that work and school don’t exist. That my actions don’t have consequences. I wanted to be a child. I wanted to act with no sense of discipline.
But today’s readings are not for children even though we are addressed as children. It’s for us to hear as adults and recognize that we have a responsibility to hold up as our part of the bargain, to act responsibly, to be disciplined in this world. And that discipline is to do all the things, that as the prayer says _ “which I believe the Holy Spirit has shown me to be right”.
I’m glad that Jesus says he’s stressed in today’s gospel. I have to admit, I have a little bit of schadenfreude when I read this because I’m stressed too, and why should he get to go through life without stress. But kidding aside, Jesus is stressed. He’s got A LOT ON HIS PLATE. At this point in his life, he knows he’s the Messiah and he doesn’t have a lot of time left on Earth. And the schadenfreude goes quickly away when I realize my To-Do List will never ever be like his.
So that’s really the message here. No matter how busy we think we are, as Christians we made a deal with God. If you know the Kate Bush song, it may be to “swallow places”. It may be to metaphorically do an infinite number of things that you call God to do.
But like any deal or agreement, you have a role to play too. And Jesus notes he’s dividing the world from those who are living up to their part of the agreement and those who are not. And to live up to that deal or agreement requires discipline.
As the scripture says, “Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
And with that in mind, we can fulfill the Mission of our Church to unify mankind. So go forth with your deal with God and “try to be faithful in those habits of prayer, work, study, physical exercise, eating and sleep which you know the Holy Spirit has shown you to be right”.
Or at the very least, like me, don’t eat too much sugar before going to bed.
Referenced scriptures:
Wired For Faith 
Leave a comment