Reformation - "This is the voice of a god, not of a man."

It is recorded in the 12^th chapter of the Book of Acts:

On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

Shockingly, this is one of only two times that worms are mentioned in the New Testament.

The other is in the 9^th chapter of Mark.  It is an apocalyptic text, that quotes from the last chapter of Isaiah, and refers to the place of shadows; where the worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

Now before, I continue, and since those who have already been offered worms to eat have gone on to other things, I am instituting a sermon snack for this morning. We will take a moment to pass out the snack – please help yourself to one paper cup, and you can exchange with your neighbours if you want to.

The people listening to Herod say, “This is the voice of god, not of a man.”

Herod does not give praise to God. He fails to correct the people. He is stuck down, eaten by worms, and dies.

How appropriate is this on Reformation Sunday?  A day when Lutherans reflect on what it means to be a people of Word and Sacrament; a tradition that began because a monk had a conviction that the Church – was acting like God, or in the place of God, or at least stepping on God’s toes. The message of the Gospel was being overshadowed by the will of the Church.

People listening to Luther and the Reformers said all kinds of things about them; at the time, none of them were compared to God --- although people in later years, this past century for certain, have put Luther on a pedestal; others have taken some of what Luther said and used it as the “word of God” for their own evil purposes.

Today, in a humorous way, we have given nod to the Diet of Worms.

Bulletin insert, meal worms the object of the kid’s corner, gummi worms as the sermon snack

The place where Luther stood by his writings and refused to recant his words unless someone could show him from God’s Word, from scripture, that he was wrong. The Imperial Diet decreed, this is the voice of a heretic, not a man of God.

The tradition to which we belong followed the voice of a heretic.

It must have been quite complicated, downright confusing to the people of the time -the Church was considered the authority of all things spiritual and all things God – and yet there were those, growing numbers in fact, that were willing to risk their lives to voice another opinion. A voice that had God saying something different from the voice of the Church.

It must have been complicated, downright confusing to the people of Rome that the Apostle Paul wrote to.  As Jesus had spoken to the religious leaders and the politicians of his day, Paul spoke against the Emperor and religious of his day. Followers of Paul’s heretical speech ---that is the word of the Gospel --- ended up in the prisons of the Roman Empire; dying as martyrs because they would not recant their belief in Jesus, or their faith in God.  They died at the hands of gladiators or in the teeth of lions and tigers.

Despite the possibility of excommunication or death, the voice calling in the wilderness was calling the people to a new found freedom. Freedom from Roman control, freedom from good works and merits and paying for eternal life.  Freedom from sin. Freedom to hear that God loved them for who they were, that they couldn’t buy that love, it was gift. Freedom to hear that God’s grace was outpoured through Jesus’s death and resurrection. 

Freedom ---freedom is a difficult topic in the Western world, particularly North America.  Freedom is understood as an individual’s right to live personal choices.  That is not what the voice of the winds of reformation that spread through Europe in the 1500s. The voice repeated that which the Gospel of John expresses, freedom is freedom in Christ; Christ who remains in God’s house and abides by the rules of the house.

The proclamation of Freedom was used by the reformers to leave the church; well the earthly authority that had been acquired by the Church and the human rules that abounded in the institution. This did not mean that the Reformers took on a North American idea of freedom.  Quite the contrary. Because they were in Christ, and Christ remained in God’s house and abides by the rules of the house, the Reformers were free to be obedient to God. The catechism continued to teach the Ten Commandments with longer explanations of “What does this mean for us?”

The voice of the heretics, echoed the voice of Jesus, echoed the voice of Paul, who addressed the religious and political authorities of their day – authorities like Herod who considered themselves gods--- and proclaimed another way.

After 500 years, what is our voice? Whose is our voice? Do we even have a voice?

Surely, we do not think we have what the public sphere would proclaim as “the voice of god, and not a human?” Do we have the voice of a heretic? ---one who has beliefs or theories that strongly vary with established beliefs, claims, or customs of the world around us. 

I wonder what happened to the Christianity of the early church where people risked their lives for the Gospel, encompassing the poor, the widow, the prisoner, the sick, women; speaking truth to power --- how did it change so much that Church of the Middle Ages became concerned about itself and not the people who made up the church?

Where were the bookworms who studied the scripture and philosophy – and entered a world of wonder about God and God’s creative and redemptive work in the world? What had happened to the curious who wormed their way through matters of faith, teaching, preaching, healing?  Were where the ones transformed by the Jesus story or those who experienced walking the way of Jesus – of sharing the Gospel through their every day lives?

How many worms had been put underfoot, squished, trodden down, to keep them silent so that the Church could play God?  How could the Church become so rotten, that in the Middle Ages even the worm turned; reformers with God’s word changing their hearts, came out of the woodwork. The way the story is told it sounds like it was all at once. … It wasn’t.  There had always been reformers, those seeking to speak truth to power, to redirect people to their purpose, to remind the population of their relationship with God. Like the earthworm, where there are a million in an acre – mostly going unseen; so too was the Gospel to be found in good earth: in remnants, in colonies – in questions rarely asked, in experiences not share aloud, in scripture hidden in Latin text. Until there were enough, enough people who had had enough and were ready to take a stand. Enough to stand together and risk being labelled “heretic.”

Getting ready for today, I did a fair bit of reading about worms.  I came to the realization that they are a good example of the voice of the Church.

Earthworms are good. They are part of creation’s composting system, devouring fallen leaves and soil, and depositing potassium and nitrogen in their wake. Their burrowing through the earth aerates and loosens the soil, allowing a speedy passage for water through the soil. All of this is of great benefit to farmers and gardeners.

The voice of the Church has been the voice of God. The Good News has been proclaimed, planted, grown. The Word of God has changed peoples’ lives. The voice of God has warmed hearts, directed living, comforted the forgotten, unconditionally loved the unlovable, spoken truth to power, fought for justice, cured the lame, and corrected vision to hope for and live into a transformed world.

Earthworms, are also detrimental, especially to the Northern Forest eco-system and its plants. The actions of worms, damage sugar maples, trilliums, goblin ferns; which allows invasive species to choke out oaks. Earth worms do this by eating “duff,” a slowly decomposing layer of leaves and organic matter on top of the soil that leaches down through the soil over time. The appetite of worms has caused the duff to disappear. Plants can no longer thrive and small duff dwelling creatures like salamanders are in decline.

The voice of the Church has been detrimental, it has not always been the voice of God.  There have been times through history that the Good News has been only half preached, or manipulated to suit the pleasures and needs of those in the pews. There have been times when the Word of God, as it has been expressed, has not changed peoples’ lives.  The voice of God has not been in the voice of the church and hearts have not been warmed, wars have been fought, people excised, others forgotten, not welcomed, or pushed out; the church has failed to risk their life to speak truth to power, to stand up for the vulnerable, to care for creation, to believe God’s vision of a kingdom that the Church can help accomplish – a place where all are welcome, all are free.

Since the beginning of the Lutheran Reformation, since the voice of a heretic was caught by the wind of the spirit and blew across the Holy Roman Empire--- there have been 26,000 Sundays. That is 26,000 Sundays where the voice of the Church has been forward moving with an emphasis on the grace of God.  A focus to proclaim the Gospel through Word and Sacrament; where God comes to us, free, with the free gift of grace.

“This is the voice of god, not of a man.” Commemorating the Reformation is not about a man named Luther, or any other reformer; today is being reminded of the Word, the voice of God through the ages. Sometimes this voice is heard as the voice of the Church, sometimes it is heard as the voice of a heretic.  It is the voice of God, when it is a voice that worms its way into our hearts and changes us such that we will never be the same again… a voice that speaks of justification by grace through faith. A free gift, for you, for me, for all.  Thanks be to God. Amen.

This

Responsibility -PEnt 14A

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody were members of a group.

 There was an important job to do and Everybody was asked to do it.

 Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody would have done it, but Nobody did it.

 Somebody got angry because it was Everybody’s job.

 Everybody thought Anybody would do it, but Nobody realized that Anybody wouldn’t do it.

The past few weeks we have witnessed Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody risking their lives to save others. We have seen people using their own boats to rescue the stranded, people dropping whatever they were doing to volunteer at shelters, others offering their homes and resources. The best.

The past few weeks we have also witnessed Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody price gauging oil and water, looting property, and in the midst of stress and crisis pushing, shoving, even pulling guns. The worst.

In times like these -well at anytime- is there not a code of moral responsibility, social responsibility, legal responsibility, collective responsibility?

As human beings are we not bound by duty and obligation particularly at a time of chaos?

We are not Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, or Nobody.  We are Christians, believers.  We are children of God. People who have experienced God’s grace.  People who belong to a community.  We live in the light, wrapped in Jesus Christ. We have chosen to live intentionally loving God and loving neighbour.

As part of this community, God’s family, we have a response – a duty and an obligation- to address current crisis in the world. Yet, it is not just in crisis, but, in our everyday lives that because of our chosen commitments, beliefs, and belonging to Christian community we held to certain responsibilities.

Thankfully we are not left completely out on a limb to figure out what our responsibilities are. Our readings this morning are super focused on this very thing. Three ways of:  How to be responsible.

First - What we say.

Specifically, Ezekiel is “the mortal” God is giving instruction to in the Hebrew scripture reading. Ezekiel’s book, however, veers to the responsibility of individuals. This is different from past prophets who spoke to the people as a collective; as a whole, the people were asked to turn to God, or follow the law, or seek a Messiah.  Here the mortal (Ezekiel, or you, or me), is asked that upon hearing the Word of the Lord, we are to go give warning to others.  We are to verbally confront wicked ways.  We are to ask people to turn from actions that are not about loving God, loving neighbour.  We are not to sit back and be Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, or Nobody, assuming someone else will speak truth, requesting corrective behaviour of those acting inappropriately. 

I don’t have too much trouble standing here and making suggestions on how we should live our lives.  I don’t have too much trouble preaching how we should face the world. Speaking corrective truth, inside is very different from speaking it outside these walls.  For goodness sake, I have trouble telling the scary looking person whose dog poops on the church lawn, to clean it up --- easier to walk by, and ignore; clean it up later. Well what if the actions to correct were bigger than picking up dog poop?

Being responsible is hearing the Word of God and then giving it as a warning to others.

Asking, teaching, preaching, casually speaking, telling a person to turn from their ways.  Perhaps that means speaking to a person who spouts racism on Facebook, or tells demeaning jokes of women or those deemed the other; maybe it is inviting someone to church and community to help them turn from self-destructive tendencies; maybe it is addressing purposeless living and warning to re-direct and focus one’s life. Maybe it is as bold as to say, “you need God in your life.”

Second – Responsibility is: What we do.

Specific instruction comes to us in Paul’s letter to the Romans. Some of the passage is moral responsibility as written in the Law of Moses, and reminds the recipients of the letter of the legal responsibilities around the collective responsibility they made in their covenant with God.

There are legal consequences for adultery, murder, and stealing. Paul commends the people to remember their collective responsibility -duty and obligation- to be a people who is recognized for the love they have one for another and for God. Paul also explains responsibility in a moral sense where each person is to intentionally live honorably, and to avoid squandering time in frivolity, bickering, jealousy, or sleeping around. And as if this were all easy, responsibility for Paul includes making no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

If one looks up the word responsibility in the dictionary, one will find the self-explanatory synonyms: duty, obligation, liability.  One also finds the words, burden and restraint.  Paul is telling Christ followers that living as Christ’s light in the world means bearing burdens (of others and the world) and having restraint in action.  Being responsible, is choosing to consume less, waste less; be present more, sacrifice more.

Third – Responsibility is Community living.

Specifically, Jesus addresses the community of disciples, the church community, by highlighting through an example, what it means to be a responsible community of faith. Jesus draws out further synonyms, also found in the dictionary, for responsibility: authority, power, and trust.  Not necessarily words we would immediately think to interchange with responsibility. Authority, power, and trust. I read this week that:  “Responsibility for correction, discipline, and forgiveness belongs to the community.”(Augsburg -Sundays and Season 2017) And to practice these Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody would have to employ authority and trust.

This is Jesus’s comment on responsibility. I think we can understand the thought and authority in the system presented in the Gospel of Matthew.  If a sister or brother commits a wrong against you, go to that person, point out the fault.  This takes trust--- have a conversation, try to work it.  If you can not work it out, have another come with you, as extra ears, as a mediator, as support.  If the issue still can’t be resolved go before the church community – seeking resolve, resolution. And then, well, if they ignore the church treat them as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. 

Perfect.  This sounds reasonable and responsible. Done.  After doing my do diligence, I can say good riddance to the one deemed troublesome.

 But, Jesus isn’t done, apparently there is more to responsibility…

As the phrase, “treat them as you would a Gentile or a tax collector,” sinks in; Jesus is not talking about treating them with the gut reaction that comes to mind, or as the society around us would…

As the phrase wiggles into our hearts there is ……an audible sigh….  a whispered, “damn.” At the realization that Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. Responsibility for our neighbour is not finished, it is only beginning.

Because there is a little bit of Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody in all of us, sections of the Bible have been dedicated specifically for those of us who find responsibility difficult. As children of the light, those who have put on Jesus Christ, we are encouraged to join our voices on earth; when we do God is in our midst.

And to address responsibility we have been given the words to say together; to pray collectively and words that we can pray in our own moral struggle to be responsible.

The section of Psalm 119 that we read this morning is really a Prayer for Responsibility.  The first line

Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, is so important the Psalmist repeats it 8x, throughout the psalm. The word rendered “teach” has an idea behind it of throwing, casting, hurling; and once being taught with this onslaught of teaching, one turns and teaches – as if truth was being thrown, scattered, and planted.

Responsibility as a theme stretched through the Biblical narrative, and continues to be of vital importance for life today.  What does being a responsible human being mean?  In addition, what added responsibilities are there as those who profess to walk in Christ’s light? 

Responsibility is what we say – telling the wicked to turn from their ways; what we do- living the Law and embodying restraint; community living – where grace has us eat with tax collectors and sinners. Responsibility is never done, it is only beginning.

For courage to be responsible – for the direction we should go- we pray the words of the Psalmist:
Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes

    and I will observe it to the end.

 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
    and observe it with my whole heart.

 Lead me in the path of your commandments,
    for I delight in it.
Turn my heart to your decrees,
    and not to selfish gain.
Turn my eyes from looking at vanities;
    give me life in your ways.