As is fairly typical, in today\u2019s gospel story Jesus replies to a conundrum with a conundrum. He\u2019s given a sort of riddle about a woman who marries seven times \u2013 and just not seven times, but seven brothers, in succession. Each brother dies, leaving her a widow. After all, marriage vows are only valid while both partners are alive, right? \u201cUntil death us do part,\u201d as we used to say, or \u201cuntil we are parted by death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the Sadducees, who are among Jesus\u2019 critics, want to know: \u201cIn the resurrection, whose wife will the woman be?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They don\u2019t believe in the resurrection, you see, and so they are trying to mock him, to show how silly and unworkable an idea eternal life is. They are trying to demonstrate that the things we hold dear in this life, including the bond and covenant of marriage, will make no sense in the next life. And they are trying to depict Jesus as a kind of oddball faith healer and snake handler, whose fundamental claims just don\u2019t make any sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, of course, they are right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus is very easy to mock. Eternal life is a silly and unworkable idea. And the fundamental claims of Christianity really do not make any sense \u2013 especially when compared with the values of the secular world. This was true in Jesus\u2019 time, and it is still very true in our day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s start with the most striking of the implicit assertions made by the Sadducees: The fundamental claims of Christianity just do not make any sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s see \u2013 love God and love your neighbor. That\u2019s fundamental, right? But most of our world is obsessed with power, prestige, wealth and control. If we but admit to the existence of God, then we have to acknowledge that the things we have are simply lent to us. We are stewards of our possessions, including our earthly bodies. All that we have is a gift from God, and only of value while we are alive on this earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the culture we live in says this is my home, my money, my whatever. And I can do with it whatever I want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when we acknowledge the existence of God, we also acknowledge that we are not in control, not the ultimate judge, not the great power of the universe \u2013 or even the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the world says otherwise. Our society is full of people who insist on their own way, on their own individual authority. It happens at the simplest levels of human interaction, and it happens at the highest levels of government and industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And those two points \u2013 not owning things and not being in ultimate control \u2013 they are just the first two steps toward acknowledging that God exists. It\u2019s still a long, long way before one can love God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what about loving our neighbor? Our society doesn\u2019t always uphold this, does it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself \u2013 these two great commandments to those of us who profess and call ourselves Christians: They are not the values of our country, of our society or of our world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then there\u2019s the idea of eternal life \u2013 a silly and unworkable idea. The Sadducees have shown us that. When we think of eternity like this, we are failing to use our imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The problem is that they \u2013 and we \u2013 have failed to imagine it as something we will actually like. And yet we are promised ineffable joys, never-failing care, the strength of God\u2019s presence, rejoicing in eternal glory, being received into the arms of mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and being reunited with those who have gone before in the paradise of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you talk about those things, on that kind of scale, then wasting a lot of energy on whether we will live forever, or to whom we may be married, or whatever \u2013 well, it seems a whole lot more like another manifestation of that power and control thing, doesn\u2019t it? \u201cI demand to know, and I can afford to pay for the knowledge\u201d or something like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet, the fullness of God\u2019s love and truth is not known to any of us \u2013 not yet. And that\u2019s exactly why Jesus is so easy to mock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We don\u2019t know everything. As St. Paul says it, \u201cNow we see in a mirror, dimly.\u201d Remember, that in the first century, a mirror was not likely to be one of today\u2019s manufactured, perfectly smooth and clear glasses. Looking into a mirror was like looking into a brook or stream, or into a highly polished rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but when the end comes, \u201cwe will see face to face. Now, I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Christian dispensation acknowledges that we do not know, we do not have control, we are not in charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, how is it we have come to believe?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s a story, about two friends. Alice is a priest, and more than a dozen years ago, a seminarian called Bill spent a summer assisting in her parish. It\u2019s a wonderful and special place. The first time he served Communion to Alice, she looked him right in the eye and said, \u201cI believe!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was stunned. First of all, he was taught never to look anyone in the eye at Communion. He still isn\u2019t sure why that was, but it used to be a kind of unspoken rule. And second, the Prayer Book clearly states that the appropriate response to \u201cThe Body of Christ\u201d is a polite and reverent \u201cAmen,\u201d not an ebullient and loud declaration like \u201cI believe!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the course of the summer, Bill adjusted to Alice\u2019s ways, and became accustomed to hearing \u201cI believe\u201d week after week. And his last week there, Alice invited him to dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was one of those late-summer evenings that are just perfect for sitting on the porch, rocking. He remembers they had corn on the cob, steaks on the grill, and tonic with their gin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He mustered up his courage and asked her, \u201cWhy, Mother Alice, do you say \u2018I believe\u2019 when you receive Communion?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI started that a long time ago,\u201d she told him. \u201cIt was a time of questioning and doubt for me. I couldn\u2019t be sure there even was a God. And I wanted to know. I wanted to be certain, to be in control. And I figured the only way to get there was to \u2018fake it till you make it.\u2019 So one day, I just said, \u2018I believe.\u2019 What I really meant was, \u2018I\u2019d like to believe,\u2019 or, even better, \u2018I think I\u2019m considering believing.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was all very tentative. And it was an invitation to God, at least as she intended it. As she explained, it was almost as if she were saying \u201cShow me how to believe,\u201d or \u201cImprove my belief,\u201d or even \u201cHelp my unbelief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was many, many years later,\u201d she continued, \u201cthat I realized, O my God, I believe. I really do. Oh, I have questions, sure. And I have doubts from time to time. And a whole lot of this just doesn\u2019t make any sense. But I believe, and that\u2019s all that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alice\u2019s witness is a powerful one. It shows us how we can stand up to the powers that be in this society of ours, how we can continue to show another way to the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The way of truth, the way of hope, the way of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The journey of faith is not a life lived without doubt or questions, the life of a Christian is not one without trial or travail, and the earthly pilgrimage is not about control and power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s about truth, hope, and above all, love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And all of this begins not with \u201cI insist\u201d or \u201cI own\u201d or \u201cI want\u201d \u2013 but with the simple, elegant and hopeful proclamation, \u201cI believe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sermon was written by the Rev. J. Barrington Bates<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As is fairly typical, in today\u2019s gospel story Jesus replies to a conundrum with a conundrum. He\u2019s given a sort of riddle about a woman who marries seven times \u2013 and just not seven times, but seven brothers, in succession. Each brother dies, leaving her a widow. After all, marriage vows are only valid while…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,52,33,3],"tags":[363],"class_list":["post-512191","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-27c"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":363,"label":"Proper 27C"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/512191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/512191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3477059,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/512191\/revisions\/3477059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}