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Sermon
November 20, 2005
The Reverend Pamela Snare
"Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25:34b)
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary has, as one definition of "inherit", "to
have certain characteristics by heredity." Among the definitions of
"inheritance" it has: "legacy, bequest, any blessing or possession coming
as a gift.
What do you think of as your inheritance? What have you inherited, or do
you look forward to inheriting? Is it money or possessions or land from
your parents, or an aunt or uncle, or godparents? Or is it the teaching,
the behavior, the attitudes instilled in you by your parents or mentors?
Or is it your physical characteristics - the color of your eyes or hair,
the shape of your body or your height - or breadth? What do you think of
as your inheritance?
A week from today, next Sunday afternoon, I will be leaving for my annual
retreat which I will spend at the monastery in Normandy where I was on
sabbatical. Week before last, I went to two banks in preparation for my
retreat. At the first one I needed to order euro dollars for the trip. At
the second bank, I needed to order a check in euro dollars for the
monastery. At the first bank, I did not go to the teller, I went to one of
the "personal bankers" at a desk to order the euros, which was where I had
to go last year. She quickly informed me, brusquely, that this was a
teller's job, not hers, and took me to a teller. The young teller was
obviously annoyed with the personal banker and said to her, "I have been
trying to call the international department all day and I cannot get
through." After a tense exchange with the "personal banker" who had
brought me to her, and then left, the young teller said to me, "This is
her job, and this is the third time today she has brought her work to me."
So the teller solicited the help of a second "personal banker" who showed
her how to order the euros. I left and went to the second bank to request
a check in euros. Based on the unpleasant experience I had just endured, I
went not to a "personal banker" at a desk, but to a teller. I was
politely, but quickly, informed that this was the job of a "personal
banker" and directed to a woman at a desk. She pleasantly made the
required telephone calls and told me she would let me know when the check
arrived.
This week I went to pick up the check and the euros. When I picked up the
euros, I happened to get the same young teller who had waited on me last
week. She asked me to count the euros myself, which I did. Then I said, "I
just want you to know that when I went to the other bank to get the euro
check, they sent me to a "personal banker". It was not the job of tellers.
I know that this is not part of your job, but I appreciate your help." The
young woman bowed her head slightly as if embarrassed and replied. "I am
sorry if I was rude." I said, "Not to worry. No offense was taken."
Since Katrina, I have been paying more attention than I used to, to my own
comportment and the comportment of others. I’ve been keeping a closer
watch over myself and my responses to others, and been more attentive to
the attitudes displayed in others' behavior. Part of this is because I saw
early on that the disruption and displacement of human lives that resulted
from this disaster is a real test of our faith in God and our patience. I
knew it would take some nitty gritty attentiveness and intention, some
bona fide watchfulness over my own heart and will not allow the disruption
and displacement to lead me down that slippery slope and destructive path
of anger, impatience, self-centeredness, and anxiety. My own words in the
sermon I preached the Sunday after Katrina have stuck with me: that God's
will for us in this situation is to use us as his agents of hope, and
life, and love. If ever there has been a time calling for the exercise of
my muscles in the spiritual life, it is now. The other reason for my
watchfulness, especially over the attitude in the comportment of others is
a pastoral concern. How are we all doing? How is this affecting us? Don't
I have a responsibility as my brother's and my sister's keeper to be
attentive for signs of depression and despair, anxiety and hopelessness,
anger and stress which threaten the health and well-being of those around
me? And if I see those signs, to do what I can, if not to alleviate, then
at least to name and address them, if it is nothing more - or less - than
to lend an attentive ear and to be for the other a compassionate presence?
What struck me about my experience at the first bank was how the "personal
banker" oppressed this young teller, compounding her stress, adding to her
burden of the day. Her anger, self-centeredness and lack of patience was
like a disease, infecting all those around her. I had to struggle mightily
myself not to be infected by her attitude and demeanor.
Since Katrina, we are now all carrying, the weight of more daily tasks.
There is a whole additional level of responsibilities - contractors, tree
removal, insurance adjustors, roofers, etc, - which have to be seen after
and coordinated. When we add to others' lives our own anger, anxiety, lack
of compassion, and self-centeredness, we compound the stress and the
difficulties. We add to the problem. We dig ourselves more deeply into a
hole. We start ourselves down the path to the kingdom of darkness. We
cooperate with the powers of evil. We begin to be friends with the power
of death.
The so called parable of the Last Judgment, which is not really a parable,
but an apocalyptic revelation, has always moved me profoundly. It is so
simple, clear, and direct about what ultimately and finally counts, with
God and in his Kingdom: feeding the hungry, slaking another's thirst,
welcoming a stranger, clothing the naked, looking after the sick, visiting
those in prison. Need I point out how very practical and concrete these
actions are? They are not too hard for anyone of us. Need I also point out
that they require no particular level of education or intelligence? They
only require a generous, and compassionate heart and will, attentiveness
to the other and his or her need, and a readiness to respond to that need.
But that is precisely their difficulty, isn't it? They only require a
generous and compassionate heart and will, attentiveness to the other and
to his or her need, and a readiness to respond to that need.
Gerhard Lohfink, a German theologian, has a section in his book, Does God
Need the Church?, entitled, "The 'Todayness' of the Reign of God." He
bases this section on the proclamation of Jesus at the beginning of his
public ministry: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come
near; repent, and believe in the Good News." When Jesus announces this at
his hometown synagogue in Nazareth he is summarily rejected and run out of
town. Lohfink writes: "God has taken the initiative. God alone gives the
basileia [the kingdom]. It is for the people of God to respond. God's
action makes human action possible....
"[But] apparently it makes people uncomfortable to have God appear
concretely in their lives. It puts all their desires and favorite ideas in
danger, and their ideas about time as well. It cannot be today, because in
that case we would have to change our lives today. So we prefer to delay
God's salvation to some future time. There it can rest, securely packed,
hygienic and harmless."
Lohfink's observation puts, I think, these questions to all of us: Have
we, are we delaying, putting off, God's salvation to some future time in
our attitudes and in our actions? Do we live our lives conscious of and
directed by the truth that in Christ the powers of sin, darkness, evil and
death are doomed and have been overcome - vanquished - conquered? Do we
believe the good news that since the advent of Jesus Christ the Kingdom of
God has come near to us, and that today we are his agents, sent and
charged with manifesting his kingdom?
"Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world." God has been preparing a place, a
home of refreshment and rest, of peace and joy for you, for me, and for
the people of all nations that ever have been and all nations that ever
will be since the creation of the world. A place where there is no more
mourning, or crying, or tears; a place where no one is in need because all
are equally solicitous of the good, the well-being of the other; a place
of no more death; a place of light and peace and joy. This is our
inheritance. This is what God has prepared for us and longs to give us. It
exists now perfectly in heaven: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven."
I may be overdoing this. I have a tendency to overdo because I am a
recovering perfectionist. But, I believe that that first "personal banker"
I encountered was hindering, blocking, the reign of the Kingdom of God. I
believe that at that moment, she was cooperating with the powers of
darkness. And I know that I had to struggle not to let those powers take
control of me. And I believe that such daily attitudes and actions have
eternal repercussions and consequences. How else can one understand the so
called parable of the Last Judgment?
My friends, if we are going to pray "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven," then we must realize that God's kingdom and
God's will begins with us and in us. If we are going to pray that phrase
with any integrity, then we must be conscious that the Kingdom of God
requires us every day to have the desire and the intention to change our
lives today. It requires us everyday to choose God's salvation, to choose
light, to choose life, to choose hope, to choose mercy, to choose
compassion, to choose love. It requires us everyday to desire and labor
within ourselves for him and his kingdom to rule in us - in our thoughts,
in our desires, in our words, in our actions.
Perhaps your memory is better than mine. But I so quickly and easily
forget. I forget the inheritance God has prepared for me since the
creation of the world. I forget that I am an agent of his salvation and
his kingdom. I forget that he has destined me and others for mercy and
compassion, joy and peace, attentiveness to the other and to his or her
needs and a willingness to respond. So I must remind myself every morning,
and at critical moments throughout the day, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done" in me, through me, by me, on earth, today, here and now.'
How do you remember your inheritance? The one that God has prepared for
you since the beginning of the world? The one that finally and ultimately
is of most importance? The one that will not pass away? How do you
remember to show mercy, to have compassion, to be attentive to the needs
of the other and respond according to the desire and will of God? How do
you remember that the Kingdom of God and his salvation begins with you -
in your thoughts, in your desires, in your words, in your actions, today?
AMEN.
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