Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Homily for the Last Sunday after Pentecost - The Coming of the Messiah

The Gospel - Luke 19:29-38

When Jesus had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, "Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' just say this, 'The Lord needs it.'" So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them.

As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" They said, "The Lord needs it." Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,

"Blessed is the king

who comes in the name of the Lord!

Peace in heaven,

and glory in the highest heaven!"

 

Homily by the Reverend John S. Ruef

The Coming of the Messiah

God had finally, after all these years, heard the prayers of His people. They would drive the Romans out of Palestine and reestablish the Kingdom as it had been in the time of David and Solomon. Or so they thought. But the next day their hoped for Messiah would be hauled before the Roman court of Pontius Pilate, condemned to death, and summarily executed.

In what follows, the Christian community fastened upon the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit, not only to prove that Jesus was the Messiah, but that his followers now lived in the age before the end of the world, establishing a community in which all shared their worldly goods equally. 

The evil powers apparently were victorious, but the early Christians rejoiced in the perception that Jesus’ death had in fact achieved the forgiveness of their sins. And so it remained throughout the Middle Ages: The religion of the Western Catholic church centered around the admission of the individual through Baptism and Confirmation.

The enthusiasm which followed upon the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit faded into the gloom which characterized the Early Middle or Dark Ages which followed the breakup of the Roman Empire.

No longer the community waiting for the coming of the kingdom, the church became the institution which, through the Death of Jesus, was able to assure to the faithful the forgiveness of their sins and entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, not in this world, but in the heaven which received one at his or her death.

The enthusiasm of the early church channeled itself into the establishment of hospitals for the sick and universities which attempted to retain the learning of the ancient world and pass it on to the relative few who were apt and willing to learn.

The disappointment of those who longed for the coming of the Messiah lived on in the various Pentecostal movements which sought to recreate the early church and/or seize the reins of government and impose a godly state upon its sinful subjects.

 

Homily for the Twenty Fifth Sunday after Pentecost - The Destruction of the Temple

The Gospel - Luke 21:5-19

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."

They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, `I am he!' and, `The time is near!' Do not go after them.

"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls."

 

Homily by the Reverend John S. Ruef

The Destruction of the Temple

Jesus, in this passage, is pictured as predicting the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. This actually did take place some forty years after the death of Jesus. At that time there were those who said that the end of the world had indeed come. There were also those who said that they, respectively, were the promised Messiah.

The Romans were quick to put down the attempts at rebellion after such announcements. Jesus is also pictured as cautioning his followers against such a rash move. One cannot help but wonder whether the caution comes from Jesus, who probably did believe that the end was at hand or whether it comes from the author of this version of the Gospel, whom we call Luke, who was interested in the survival of the Christian community.

In the time of Jesus, there were many Jews who longed for their independence and conceived of it in terms of a successful Messiah-led rebellion against Rome. The author of the Lucan version of the Gospel could see that such a notion does not square with the Sermon on the Mount. There are some who today point to this kind of inconsistency as indicating a different author or source rather than a vacillating Jesus. To see a different source makes more sense than to say that the whole Gospel is a lot of spiritual "hokum."

There are still those today who tell us to repent because the end is at hand; that could be true. There are also those who, because there are serious inconsistencies, would consider Christianity to be sheer fantasy or perhaps the whole religious enterprise to be wishful thinking.  Perhaps. Luke's message to us would seem to be that Jesus' message is not inconsistent with the events of history.

Luke is careful to have Jesus caution against a premature realization of the end of the world, probably against those who would lead their followers in a hopeless uprising against the Roman army. But this is not to say that the Church lacks a voice in any present time. It still has a message for this age which can and will make sense to some.

The Church can and does make mistakes. But it cannot ignore the realities of the world within which it lives.  It is through the patient observation of the world that we as the Church will survive.

Emmanuel to Call New Priest

The Vestry of Emmanuel has issued a call to a new Priest. The Reverend Cleon Ross, Dean of the Convocation, will visit Emmanuel on Sunday, November 18th, to formally announce the call and provide additional details following the 11 a.m. Holy Eucharist.

All parishioners and friends of Emmanuel are invited to hear the details of this important announcement.

Homily for the Twenty Fourth Sunday after Pentecost - Here Come the Sadducees

The Gospel - Luke 20:27(28-33)34-38

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus [and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.

Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her."]

Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.

And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.

Homily by the Reverend John S. Ruef

Here Come the Sadducees

Here come the  Sadducees in what appears to be a non-stop effort to discredit Jesus as an interpreter of the Jewish tradition. This ultra conservative group of Jews was of the opinion that if it wasn't in Scripture it just wasn't part of God's plan.

The situation which they present to Jesus is unlikely but conceivable. Jesus, however, raises the argument to a different level by saying that they do not understand the world to come in which those who are raised from the dead will participate.

After the Russians began their space program, their premier was quoted as saying “we have been there (outer space) and there is no one there.” One could say to him that the notions of Heaven or God, which he seeks to discredit, are not to be conceived in material, but spiritual terms.

The Sadducees were fundamentalists who held that the Jewish tradition was given by God which then had to be taken literally without any accommodation for changes in the way society coped with a changing world. This group controlled the Temple and its performance of the sacrifices. They were also the wealthy and the land-owning class.

The Pharisees, on the other hand, were the scholarly group who believed that "God's Word" had to be interpreted to be meaningful in changing times.

It is hard to see how anyone can be the beneficiary of the wonders of technology, which reflect the discoveries of science, and still believe that the sun revolves around the earth. The folks who first put forth the opposite notion were condemned by the church.

 But, then, times change…

Emmanuel Launches the Pruden Parish Press

The first issue of The Pruden Parish Press, a periodic newsletter containing news and information for parishioners and friends of Emmanuel, was published this week. The current issue includes a calendar of Parish events for November and December 2007 and a copy of the recently revised Parish Directory.

If you would like to receive future issues of The Pruden Parish Press, please call or email the Parish Office.

Homily for the Twenty Third Sunday after Pentecost - Translating Biblical Texts

The Gospel - Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way.

When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, "He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner." Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much."

Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

 

Homily by the Reverend John S. Ruef

Translating Biblical Texts

Last week we were edified by the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector. It might also have been called the Jewish Conservative and the Outcast. This week we are presented with a chief tax collector who is also rich.

But there is also another matter, which we must consider, which is as important as the two principal characters. It is the tense of the word “give.” You have to take my word for this, but the word “give” is in the present tense as it stands in the Greek text. It is usually translated, however, in the future tense as “I will give.”  The question is why the future tense?

The answer I think is that the translators wish to interpret this episode as a conversion story. Zachaeus, the tax collector, is so moved by Jesus that he determines then and there to become a nice guy instead of the rascal who he is assumed to be by the conservative group of Jews. It is also complemented by Luke’s comment at the end of the story about the mission of the Son of Man being “to save the lost.”

The original parable of Jesus probably shows, as do other parables in the Lucan version of the Gospel, how outcasts (from the Jewish point of view) turn up doing good deeds, such as in the case of the “Good Samaritan.” 

Throughout the history of the Church, interpreters (both scholars and preachers) have imposed their agendas on the Gospel text. While this is not in itself a bad thing, it is wise to be aware that they do this and avoid attributing to Jesus what may be an opinion of the Evangelist.

Emmanuel's 2008 Every Member Canvas/Pledge Drive Commences

The 2008 Every Member Canvas/Pledge Drive commenced this week with the mailing of letters to all Emmanuel parishioners from the Vestry. The letters included pledge cards and the preliminary operating budget for 2008.

The Vestry asks that each parishioner give prayerful consideration to increasing your giving for 2008 as we seek to sustain and enhance God's work in this place.

Pledge cards should be returned to John Geyer, Treasurer, by November 25th so that the Vestry may finalize the 2008 Operating Budget before our December 9th Congregational Meeting.