"Question Authority" Sermon Sept 28, 2014 Pent. 16, Proper 21

Question Authority...

Sermon by The Rev. Laura Adelia 

Sept. 28, 2014  Pent. 16, Proper 21

Lectionary Readings (scriptures linked here)

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“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you,  O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

“By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?”

How many of us would probably have our feathers ruffled if someone confronted us and asked us this?   

For when it comes to questioning someone’s authority, it is rarely just an issue of observation or objectivity.  Rather, much like the story in Matthew for this Sunday, there are usually ulterior motives in the question.  It is about power and control.  Who has power, who has control, and who does not…  

But here in modern times, it has become normal to question things.  But have we become a people that has issues with authority?  Being rebellious and questioning authority is the thing these days! 

When I was in college, one of my favorite sayings was “Question Authority”.    I even put a “question authority” sticker on one of my bass guitar cases…my Fender "P" Bass, and after all these years….it’s still there! 

The popular little saying “question authority” actually goes way back.  Most recently it was popularized by the counter cultural movement of the ‘60s and Timothy Leary. 

But “Question Authority” goes way further back than the 1960s.  The quote actually is attributed to Socrates! 

And who does not relate to this, especially if you are not the one in the “in” crowd?    (The people with power and authority!)

Many of us who have worked in or for any large organization that has a huge bureaucracy, know the proverbial “they”. 

You know, the faceless, nameless “they” of authority.    “They” said this…. “They” decided that, “they” made a change to policy….”they” decided on budget cuts…  and so on.

With the proverbial nameless and faceless “they”, it is easy to question authority!

In so today’s gospel, (Matthew) we have a story about authority.   Jesus is in the Temple teaching, and is approached by the Temple chief priests and elders.  They confront him and ask, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 

But first, a little background info, which will help us to better understand what is going on here... 

The previous day, Jesus had just “cleansed” the Temple.    You know, the story where he tips over all the tables and chased out all the money changers.  It must have been quite a scene! 

And after he does this, Jesus then heals many people, the blind and the lame.  So the religious authorities of the Temple, were scratching their long beards wondering who this guy was!

And so this is where our story begins.  The next day, Jesus is in the Temple again, but this time he is teaching a group of people.   The Temple priests and elders approach him and ask, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

They wanted to know Jesus’ “credentials”.  Who is this guy?  Is he legit?  And thus, they challenge Jesus.

And in usual Jesus fashion, instead of answering their questions directly, Jesus returns their question with a question, and then tells a story.

Now it’s easy to judge and point our fingers at the chief priests and elders here, for we know how this story goes.  However, it is said that when we point one finger at a person, there are three pointing back at us! 

So let’s pause here for a moment.   First, let’s put ourselves into the shoes so to speak, of the chief priests and elders…  and try to see things from their point of view…  from those in power and authority.

When I first was appointed as a Wing Chaplain in the military, (that’s the chaplain in charge of an entire wing), my new Wing Commander who had just appointed me said, “Now “we” are “them”!    And “they” is us!”       (I gasped!  For I was not used to being a “they”, or one of “them!”)

How differently we view things when we are in a position of power or authority!   And this includes both formal and informal.    For as we know, there is always a informal form of authority in every organization.

So let’s ponder the deeper issues here…   I ask you to contemplate these questions:

On a personal level, how do you deal with change?    For as we know, the one constant in life, is change!    

What happens when new ideas are presented to you or in “your” organization?  Do you resist?  Or are you open to trying new things? 

Or are you perhaps afraid of change?   Or how about right here… in church?  How do you feel when something in the Sunday liturgy, the worship service is changed?    Or, when new furnishings or other items are brought in and incorporated into worship?    

Hmmm.  All of us, have been the “Temple priests and elders” in one situation or the other!

And so, Jesus tells a parable, the story of a man who owned a vineyard, (another vineyard story!) and had two sons.  He told his first son to go work in the vineyard, and the son said he would not, yet changed his mind and went to work in the vineyard.  Later, the man asks his 2^nd son to go work in the vineyard, and the son said he would go.  Yet later the 2^nd son changed his mind, and did not go. 

Jesus asks the chief priests and elders, which son did the will of the father?     (Tricky, tricky!)  They answered, the first.  

And Jesus responds, “Truly the tax collectors and prostitutes are going to the kingdom of God ahead of you!”     (Whoa!  Snarky Jesus!)

So what’s the lesson here?   What is Jesus really saying? 

The parable seems to definitely be a ‘questioning of authority’! 

But Jesus is not about winning arguments or trying to make people look stupid, or poke fun at others…  although it may seem so from this gospel story. 

What Jesus does want for us, his followers and hearers…is to be awakened.  Spiritually awakened.   He wants us to grow spiritually, that is, to be transformed.     And that usually involves change.

But, the question or issue of Jesus’ authority is important.  By what authority does he do these things?  Is it from humans, or God?

If his authority is from humans, then we, “the church” is just another human institution among other human institutions. 

The brother who changed his mind was the hero of the story.  He went and worked in the vineyard, even though he initially said that he would not.  

Jesus is the master of changing minds and hearts…

Why do we do the things we do?  And why do we not do the things we do not do?

Let us think and pray on these things…

Amen.

Why Is Life Not Fair? (Sermon Sept 21, 2014)

Workers in the Vineyard

Why Is Life Not Fair?

by the Rev. Laura Adelia

Scripture Readings:   Pent. 15 Proper 20

• Why do bad things happen to good people?

• Why is life not fair?

• Why do the righteous suffer?

Rabbi Harold Kushner, the writer of the book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" says virtually every meaningful conversation he has ever had with people on the subject of G-d or religion has started with these questions.   

We want to believe in a just and fair world...and that God is fair…and just.  

But the fact remains, as we all know, life is not fair.  

The scriptures for today seem to illustrate this.  In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells a story of a vineyard owner who hires people at various times thru out the day, and yet at the end of the day, pays them all the same amount.  The workers who labored in the hot sun for a longer length of time, yet were paid the same as another who worked only an hour, grumbled.

And I would might grumble too.  Wouldn’t you?   All of us want to be paid fairly.  Equal pay for equal work.  All of us want to be treated fairly. 

Hmm…

Our sense of wanting things to be fair and equal is the basis for social justice, equity law, distributive justice, ethics and basically, our sense of justice!

Everyone should get what they deserve, right?  We all want to be treated equally before the law. 

It is an interesting thing.  For many of our concepts & laws about fairness and equity has its roots in Judaism.   According to Judaism, which in turn majorly influenced Christian thought, justice is present, real, right, and is a governing concept along with mercy.    And justice and mercy are ultimately derived from God. 

The need for fairness is among the deepest needs of the human soul. The yearning for fairness is something that seems to be implanted in us at birth. 

There have even been psychological studies about our sense of fairness and wanting to be treated fairly.  One study at UCLA in 2008 found that reactions to fairness are “hard wired” in our brains!  Being treated fairly satisfies a basic need in all of us!

From the time we are small children, we are very aware when others have not been fair to us, when preferential treatment is given to others, or when we receive less than our rightful share.  And this powerful desire that the world and those in it be fair remains with us for the rest of our lives.

Who has not heard a child say, “No fair!”  How many of us have said this? 

But, as we know, life is not fair.   

As the writer of The Ethical Culture Society reflects, “By shear accident, some of us are born at a specific time and place.  We who are born in the rich and relatively safe countries partake of the opportunities to develop our human potentials, which people in past ages could scarcely imagine, and in ways which are foreclosed to billions of fellow human beings.”

The writer went on a trip to India, “Two weeks in Bombay, a bustling cosmopolitan city of 15 million, seven million of whom live out their lives on the street, in utter destitution, hordes condemned to a life of begging in order to survive. These experiences, especially as I am ready to board the plane and leave, bring into stark relief the realization that “there but for fortune go I.” It is simply an accident of birth, thoroughly undeserved, that I am here enjoying three meals a day, looking forward to a relatively long life, while billions of my fellows are there, toiling every day to overcome the pangs of hunger and the indignities of destitution.”

But it is the unfairness closer to home that really grabs our attention...
 
How many good people do their best to live morally upright lives and play by the rules, only to find that those with weaker moral scruples, become lavishly wealthy, while they, the decent and honest ones, struggle oh so hard just to make ends meet? 

Rabbi Harold Kushner struggles with these dilemmas, as his congregants at his synagogue ask, “why is life not fair?”  God gives us what we deserve, right?   Or in tragedy, “How could God have let this happen?”

Are there any answers? 

Just about every religion has various explanations as to why “life is not fair”:

For example, in Hinduism and Buddhism, there is the law of “karma”. 

And what is karma?

According to the law of karma, the law of cause and effect, no bad deed goes unpunished; no good deed goes unrewarded.  In other words, ‘what comes around goes around’.  And karma may or may not work itself out in a single lifetime.  Hinduism and Buddhism as you know, believe in reincarnation, that we live many lives.  One may not receive one’s just reward in this life, and may receive it in a future life. 

So in other words, if you have a good life now, you are living and reaping good karma from past lives.  If you have a difficult life now, it is because you are reaping the negative karma you have accumulated from past lives. 

In Buddhist thought, there is the reality of suffering.  One of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism is “All life is suffering”.   And this suffering is the result of our wants and desires. 

It goes kind of like this; we want "stuff", things".  We think these things will make us happy.  And when we don’t get these things, we are set up for all kinds of negative emotions; frustration, jealousy, envy.   Even when we do get what we want and desire, many times we just want even more.  Which leads to more suffering and desire…

As for Western religions, Judaism and Christianity & Islam, how do the monotheistic religions square with the existence of God who is supposed to be all knowing, loving, just, powerful and good, and yet allows for the most gripping forms of injustice?   

As one writer asks and reflects, “How could God, all powerful and all good, permit little children to die agonizing deaths, or allow good, kind, loving people to contract cancer and die young, while morally obtuse, selfish SOB’s die in old age?”

It does make one wonder.  

In theology, this phenomenon, or problem is known as the “problem of evil”.   Why do the righteous suffer?  Why do bad things happen to good people?  Why is life not fair?  How could God, who is supposed to be good and all powerful let all these unfair and bad things happen in the world?

And there are no good answers.  That is unless one wants to hear platitudes and shallow attempts at answers.   But the plain fact is, there are no answers. 

Even Rabbi Kushner in his book “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” wrestles with this, and how to answer these questions when asked by his congregants. 

In fact, all clergy do.  People don’t come in to talk about theology and eschatology and all the other “ologies” and “isms” we learned in seminary and graduate school.  People want to know why this bad thing happened to them, or their family…

And some people wind up leaving religion altogether because religion does not answer these “problems” in any satisfying way.  The writer of The Ethical Culture Society confesses to this.  He became a humanist.

So what are we to do?  What are we to think?  Even the story in our Gospel for today seems to teach that, well, some people just get more than others!  And that is that! 

Is that, just that?

The parable of the vineyard owner is not saying it’s OK to pay people unfairly, or treat people unjustly.  The parable is essentially about the generosity of God.  It is not about equity or proper disbursement of wages, but about a gracious and undeserved gift. 

God bestows grace and mercy to all, no matter what time they have put in, or how deserving or undeserving we may think them to be.

Jesus leaves us with the question,  “Can we learn to see thru the eyes of God?”    Our ideas of right and wrong, what is just and unjust are not necessarily God’s ideas. 

And I ask you, ‘Where do you see yourselves in this parable?’ 

The parable calls for us to look at ourselves honestly & lovingly, as God looks at us.  It invites us to turn from holding grudges because things did not go our way or as we “expected”. 

It invites us to let go of the stuff in our lives that keep us from being a joy filled and grateful people.

We can dwell on the things that are “not fair” in our lives, or we can dwell on the many gifts God has blessed us with.    It is up to us.

Let us think and pray on these things….  

Amen.

[Sermon given at St. Peter's Episcopal Church Sept 21, 2014 by The Rev. Laura Adelia]

Sermon: Holy Cross Day "Live! Live Your Life!"

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Good morning everyone!  It is so very good to be back home!   

As you know, last week, I was on military duty at my unit, where I serve as the Wing Chaplain. 

And like so many times when I go on duty, there is usually “the crisis of the day”. Ministry in the military seems to have a much higher number of crises and life and death situations, than ministry here in civilian life at a parish.  Although, yes here at the parish, we do have our “situations”……don’t we?

We live our lives, day to day, week to week, year to year… and especially when all is good and life is going well, many times not fully aware of how life can be changed in an instant. 

And so today, I want to talk with you about life and death. 

I would like to share with you all what happened the week before I went on military duty, while I was still on vacation….

On the Thursday before Labor Day weekend, I was called by the CA State Chaplain.  I am sure you all heard about the tragedy up near Kingman where the 9 year old girl accidently shot her instructor at the range as she was getting a lesson with an automatic weapon.  Well, the young man who was killed was a CA Guardsman.  The CA State Chaplain wanted to know if I would go up there to minister to the family.  

(Big sigh)  I explained to him I was on vacation.  But my heart went out to the family and all involved in this terrible tragedy.  So, I sighed & said, yes, I will go. 

And after a flurry of emails, phone calls, & texts that took up most of that afternoon, the family said they appreciated that the chaplain was available for them, but with all the media attention, they just wanted to have a private weekend with their family.

Very understandable.  And so, I keep them all in prayer. 

Life… and death.

And you may be wondering what this has to do with today’s scripture readings, or the fact that today is Holy Cross Day.  But it actually has everything to do with it, for the cross is a symbol with many meanings, and because it's a symbol, it can mean different things to each of us. 

And so I ask you, what does “the Cross” mean to you?

One of the great things about the Anglican / Episcopal tradition is that we have feast days and saint days in our liturgical calendar.  It’s not difficult to understand why we commemorate certain people, such as the saints for their extraordinary lives & ministries, but a day for commemorating the Cross?  What’s this about?

Now, we are used to seeing crosses everywhere….and all different types of crosses.  Just look at how many there are right here in our sanctuary!

But to people of the first century, the cross was a symbol of horror,  death and execution.   If you were among the peoples conquered by Rome, and you offended against Rome’s power and authority, you could be stripped, flogged, and nailed to a tree or a cross until you were dead. That’s what the cross meant.

It is no wonder that the first symbol for early Christians was the fish!

So, how did the Cross, a symbol that meant death, become THE symbol of Christianity?

The cross began to come into use as a symbol, or seal in the second century, where marking of the cross on the forehead and on the chest was regarded as a talisman against the powers of evil. 

So the making sign of the cross gesture was the beginning…

And then in the 4^th century, Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  According to legend, she found the place where Christ was crucified.  And on this site, Helena and Constantine built the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  A portion of the original cross was placed in this church, and many have made pilgrimages there over the years.

Have any of you ever been there?    The church is huge, with many sections, rooms, levels, and so forth.  It burned down a few times over the centuries, and then was rebuilt.  You can see many of the stone walls blackened with smoke…   When I was there, I saw the spot where Jesus was crucified, and many people were going up to the cross, on their knees, praying… some kissing it.

And thus began the symbol of the cross for Christianity.

It is an interesting thought, for the Cross was an instrument of death.  Yes suffering & death is a part, a big part of the story and symbolism of the cross.  But there is more to the story…and the story doesn’t end there.  For the Cross is really about life!

The central purpose of the church is to lift up the cross. To let the light of Christ's life, death and resurrection shine forth in the world. 

This light shines as we live lives of love and humble service.

[Pause]

 

Last week, on military duty, a unit member came to “talk with the chaplain”.  He was having an ethical dilemma about life and death.  A loved one in his family had his living will & advanced directives written up.  His wishes were that if he had become incapacitated were "DNR", do not resuscitate.  In other words, if he had to be kept alive on a machine, he wanted the machine turned off, and to be allowed to die peacefully.  For he felt that being kept alive on a machine, is really not living.

We explored the ethical dilemmas we all now face with modern medical technology, life support, being kept alive on a machine, what is a good death, and so forth.

How many of you have your advanced directives and or a living will set up?  Have you talked about these matters with your family?

I ask you to contemplate, what is a good death?  I know, it is not an easy thing to think about…the death of our loved ones, or…our own death.  That someday, yes, our time will come. 

It is said that we are a “death denying” society.  Do you agree with this?  Yes, death, especially our future deaths is difficult to face and talk about.  But it is oh so very important to do this!

Later in the week, another unit member, a senior officer came to “talk with the chaplain”.  He was facing two difficult major life transitions.

He wondered and worried what he would do for the next 30 or so years of his life.  I listened to him. ‘What about this?  What about that?’ he worried. Which in turn caused him more distress!

I shared with him a bit of my story of going thru life threatening illness a couple of years ago.    I know the terror, and the fear, and the suffering.  And that altho I would never have chosen to go thru that, there were gifts.  For now, I try to really live my life.  And I do mean, really LIVE!    For now I know just how precious life really is, and the time we have here, is limited and very precious.  

Yes, of course it is easy for me to go down the road of letting worry & fear take over. ‘What if “it” comes back?  What if I get sick again?’  

But, as I told him, I try not to focus on that.  For now is all I, (we) have!  And if I focus on all the what if’s, it will ruin my day.  And I want to enjoy my day, and LIVE my life.  And enjoy my life....while I still have it. 

And so I say to you all, “Live your life!      LIVE!   

TRULY LIVE and do the things you enjoy & really want to do.   Because someday, there will come a time when we won’t be able to …anymore.    

On this day dedicated to the Holy Cross, let us lift up the cross before others by loving one another, as Christ loved us…

“In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” 

Amen.

[sermon given by The Rev. Laura Adelia on Sept 14, 2014]