Do You Believe in God or Do You Live Out God?

O Lord of my life,

take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.

O Lord and Master, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother,

for blessed art Thou, unto ages of ages. Amen.

This prayer is the Great Prayer of Lent, written by St. Ephrem of Syria. Within Orthodox tradition adherents are encouraged to pray the prayer morning and evening for the 40 days of Lent.  During Lenten Café, the first week of Lent, a group of us studied the prayer in a couple of English translations; many in the group have been praying the prayer through the season.  Next week you will find the prayer in the bulletin so you can pray it during Holy Week.

The praying of the words, work in us the main point expressed in Isaiah’s words this morning.

Isaiah reflects on God’s deeds of the past.  He looks back to the epic story of Moses and the people. Isaiah reflects on a theme of emancipation and liberation, where the people of God are brought safely through the Sea, delivered from Egyptian tyranny and slavery, by God’s own hand.

Then -right in the middle of the text- comes the main point that Isaiah- that God --wants to drive home:

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

The second half of the text speaks of God’s faithfulness in a new way; where there are rivers in the desert, jackals and ostriches honour God, and God’s people declare praise.  The gaze of the people changes, from exile to hope; a shift of imagination and energy.

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

The prayer of St. Ephrem is doing this, changing and re-orienting perceptions:

take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.

…grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge others

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

That would be a “no” for Judas, as described in this morning’s Gospel.  Judas is vocal about the perfume that Mary uses to anoint Jesus’ feet; it is a waste, too extravagant – altruistically it would be better spent for the care of poor. Judas’ perception has not changed; he has not shifted into Jesus’ imagination of where God’s energy is going through Jesus’ ministry. Judas has not moved from a spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk; to a spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.  And time is running short for the disciples to understand.  Jesus is soon, in fact the next day, to ride into Jerusalem and be hailed as King of Israel. Jesus’ end is near.

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

Mary does perceive a new thing, a renewed expression of God’s faithfulness – once again God’s hand working the people out of slavery to emancipation and liberation. From exile to hope; a shift of imagination and energy.

For Mary, “a new thing” comes from living out of the covenant faith of old and her experience of Jesus. Jesus was often a guest in the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.  Jesus would come, others would gather, and Jesus would teach; Mary was allowed, encouraged to sit at his feet, to learn and discuss as any of the other disciples.  It mattered not that society suggested women were to be in the kitchen and offering hospitality, not studying the Law or reflecting on the acts of God.  This was “a new thing,” and to add to this, Jesus recently raised Lazarus, Mary’s brother, from the dead.  These experiences of God -this new thing- changed Mary.

Mary came into the room with a gift for Jesus, - to anoint his feet and wipe them with her hair was an act of LOVE. It was thanksgiving – her brother was alive, she sat and listened and learned as a disciple.  Her imagination and energy was given to making a pure offering.  

I suspect she worried not of the poor, not in this moment, for she had already given her tithe as required by the Law; that is the first 10% of her income to be returned to God, given to the Temple collection to take care of the poor, the widow, and the orphaned. Having given what was required by God to God, she felt no guilt or sympathy, she was free. This act of love, this extravagance of perfume is in addition, meaning resources she was free to use as she wished.   Her heart chose to honour the new thing God was doing and about to do ---

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

The Gospel’s juxtaposition of Judas and Marys’ understanding and experience of God’s Messiah, reminds me of German liberation theologian, Dorothee Soelle, who wrote: “The question that is often put to me, ‘Do you believe in God?’, usually seems a superficial one. If it only means that there is an extra place in your head where God sits, the God is in no way an event which changes your life, an event from which, as Buber says no real revelation, I do not emerge unchanged.  We should really ask, ’Do you live out God?’ That would be in keeping with the reality of the experience.” –from Joyce Rupp’s book Prayer

Judas could answer, ‘I believe in God.’ It was Mary who lived out God.

For you, is God more than an exercise of intellect? Do you believe in God? Or have you experienced God such that you live out God? Living out God is seeing the new thing springing forth.

There are many here this morning who have grown up in the church.  If asked I suspect most of us would say we are believers in God. Now that does not mean that we all have the same understanding of God, describe God in the same way, and never ask questions.  Over the years, opportunities have been offered to us to help us enter into a deeper walk with God, to become more than believers by becoming disciples; people who are willing to learn more, to wrestle with ideas, to hear and study God’s stories, and to worship and pray.  As disciples perhaps we went to Sunday School, adult learning events, Bible Studies, retreats, regularly attended worship.  It is somewhere in the time of being a disciple that a change happens within us, a change that shifts us to a life of hope and sets us free from anything to which we are in bondage. Free, liberated, this is that moment when we grasp God’s word:

I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

Yes, and one no longer just believes in God, rather one lives out God.

To apply this concept to our lives, we learn from Mary’s story what ‘living out God’ means:

·         We are to practice hospitality --   Mary and her siblings opened their home to Jesus and the disciples, welcoming them to their home.

·          We are to practice generosity – Mary and her siblings gave a dinner in Jesus honour.   The disciples were included and Lazarus the head of the household was present.

·         We are to practice courage – Mary’s action of devotion was public. She did not listen to the nay-sayers or enter an argument. She went about offering her gift.

·         We are to practice extravagance and abundance – Mary’s gift filled the room with fragrance. She was thankful beyond words, no action would come close to all that she had received from Jesus. The costly perfume and using her hair to dry Jesus’ feet was a token of heart-felt thanks.

·         We are to practice love and intimacy – Mary’s action was pure love.  Her heart and soul reaching out to the One who changed everything, to the One who was about to do a new thing; now it springs forth.

·         We are to practice opening ourselves to the spirit and gift of intuition – Mary knew that Jesus would die.  Mary knew that change from a spirit of slavery to living hope and imagination would lead to death because there would be some that would be afraid and simply not understand.

·         We are to practice all this – hospitality, generosity, courage, extravagance, abundance, love, intuition – all this in community. With believers, disciples, so that experiencing Jesus (now Christ) among us, we might be apostles; living out God in the world. This we see in a later story, where Mary is one of the women at the empty tomb who spreads the word that Jesus is risen.

My prayer is that of St. Ephrem of Syria, for myself, and for you…that we might not just believe in God, but, rather, live out God…because we have experienced in community God’s new thing, springing forth.

O Lord of my life,

take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.

O Lord and Master, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother,

for blessed art Thou, unto ages of ages. Amen.

The Kingdom in Two Parts

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.

Isaiah describes for us a beautiful image of the kingdom. Everyone who thirsts is invited to the waters. All are invited to come and eat, even those who can not pay.  There is free flowing wine and milk; an abundance of bread. Readers are encouraged to eat what is good, delight in rich food. Here one is satisfied.

It is God’s everlasting covenant, full of God’s steadfast love; there is mercy and abundant pardon.

I have read this passage with various groups this week.  People expressed a feeling of comfort, assurance, and peace through the words of Isaiah. How could the kingdom of God not be all this and more?

Likewise, with the text from Luke. Luke describes a beautiful image of the kingdom. He starts by asking listeners to ponder why bad things happen, countering popular belief that bad things happen to those who for some reason have brought it on themselves.  Luke’s Jesus tells a parable where the gardener convinces the landowner to give a fig tree one more year to bear fruit.  The gardener has hope that with time, manure, care, the fig tree will bear fruit.  God -the gardener- extends patience and mercy, steadfast love to the fig tree. Listeners interpret themselves to be the fig tree in the story; feeling a sense of comfort, assurance, and peace.  How could the kingdom of God not be all this and more?

Ho. Listen. See.  The kingdom IS more. But you are not going to like the image of the kingdom about to be presented.  You will not experience the warm fuzzy feelings of comfort, assurance, and peace.

In Isaiah 55, the prophet Isaiah is speaking to the people of Israel as they return to the land of Israel from a time of exile.  Isaiah speaks of the restoration of the covenant with God and the daily implementation of that covenant, the Law, within human interactions. There is a sense of comfort, assurance, and peace.  The people come home and turning to God are satisfied.  This is only part one of the kingdom.

God’s people return to the land; they are the landowner. This is important to note. 

Everyone who is thirsty comes…to the land, more specifically the landowner.

The hungry who have no money come…to the land, more specifically the landowner.

It is in the purview of the landowner to share the wealth of the land with those who come seeking. The people who come are from a vast array of places – some sought out by the people of the land, others (unknown, foreign, enemies) who have come of their own accord.

There is only water, wine, and milk for the refugees, IF the people in the land will be generous and hospitable with their resources. The hungry will find food IF the people will be generous and hospitable with the food they have.  The hungry will only find satisfying food – the bread of life- God- IF the people invite the newcomers to listen as faith stories are shared, as people are invited to participate in worship, prayer, study.

The landowner has been coached to eat what is good and delight in rich food; it is not so much about eating as it is about sharing the abundance of the land. It is about generosity and hospitality. This is part two of the kingdom.

In the fig tree parable consider the gardener to be the prophet.  The prophet speaks to the landowner, as Isaiah spoke to Israel, God’s people.  The prophet pleads with the landowner to return to the essence of the covenant, to be patient, offering mercy, hospitality, generosity.

The landowner -for a year- allows for the hope of the gardener to be fulfilled. The idea is that this small amount of mercy from the landowner is the beginning of softening the landowner’s heart. It is hoped that over the year the landowner ‘s heart will change to a place where mercy is its default setting.

The fig tree is God. God drawing the landowner into the responsibility of the covenant, the essence of the covenant which is to be patient, offer mercy, hospitality, and generosity.  Unbeknownst to the landowner, God circuitously confronts them, to participate in part two of the kingdom of God. Part two is the responsibility of   God’s people, where the landowner is welcoming, inviting, sharing the abundance of God with all.  The kingdom comes – only comes in fulness- when the people extend generosity, hospitality, and abundant pardon.

The landowner is treated with a balm of patience. Just as the people have been shown over the centuries. Prophets came and went, calling the people to return to God and the covenant. Jesus has come calling the people to return to God and the covenant; to live as kingdom people. God has shown great patience.

Part one of the kingdom plan is in the hands of the Creator. It has been executed through the centuries. Not only has the earth produced resources to sustain physical life, God has made God’s self known to satisfy the spirit, the seeker, with bread that is true bread. In a variety of ways God has been present and people have experienced God’s abundance and mercy.  The trouble is that like Isaiah’s image of the kingdom where we are the ones coming to satisfy our thirst, or see ourselves as the fig tree receiving mercy, we get stuck in receiving ---we are hoarders of  God’s abundance- and forget that the fulness of God only comes when we release what we receive back into the world.

God has extended copious amounts of patience, waiting for us to wake up, to divest, to clear the storage barns, to open our land; to get that the kingdom can not, will not, be fully present until we practice generosity and hospitality to all.

A number of years ago Yiru Sun was to be married. Two months before the wedding day, Sun, called it off because she refused to sign a prenuptial agreement. She had put down a nonrefundable deposit on a luxury hall. She could have decided to let the deposit go, to wallow in the unfairness, to be embittered by the situation.  She could have decided to throw a party for her friends.  Instead she participated in part two of the kingdom. Working with nonprofits, she threw a luncheon for 60 underprivileged kids and their families, none of whom she’d ever met. As host, Sun wore her wedding dress, welcomed her guests, mingled and watched the kids eat ice pops and have their faces painted. She reflects, “I cannot be the princess of my wedding day, but I can give the kids a fairy tale.”

There was a jailbreak in Parker County, Texas.  A correctional officer is alive because of it. Inmates participated in part two of the kingdom. They were awaiting court appearances in a holding cell when the officer watching over them collapsed. The inmates called out for help. When none appeared, they used their collective weight to break down the cell door. Rather than making a run for it, they went to the officer’s aid, still yelling for help. One tried the officer’s radio. Eventually, guards heard the commotion and came. After placing the inmates back in their cell, CPR was performed on the stricken officer, saving his life. “It never crossed my mind not to help, whether he’s got a gun or a badge,” inmate Nick Kelton said, “If he falls down, I’m gonna help.”                                                          -----stories found on the internet----

How could the kingdom of God not be all this and more?

These true stories are comforting, reassuring, and peaceful; they are filled with hope for humanity.  I chose these two stories from the millions found on the internet when googling “stories of generosity and hospitality,” because in each case the actors had the option to not demonstrate generosity and hospitality – and based on their circumstances we would understand why they would choose not to do so.  But they did and furthered the kingdom of God by living the covenant whose essence is mercy, compassion, patience, generosity, hospitality without question. 

Christopher Hays, professor of Ancient Near Eastern studies describes the circumstances of the people to whom Isaiah was speaking in chapter 55.  He says, Despite the allowance of Cyrus and the Persian Empire for them to return, it was not a prosperous time. The city had not been rebuilt since its destruction by the Babylonians fifty years earlier, social and economic structures were weak, and there were struggles for the most desirable land between the returnees and those who had been in the land in the meantime. Later, in the fifth century, Nehemiah would report that common farming families were having to borrow money and grain to pay their taxes, and even selling their children into debt slavery.  And it is in the midst of these circumstances that the prophet calls the people – the landowners (whether they own the land or not)- to be abundantly generous and hospitable to all.

This is where we are this morning. No matter our circumstance, or the situation of the world, whether rich or poor, landowners or not, the prophet calls – God asks of us- that we participate in bringing the kingdom of God. Return to the Lord, live the covenant.  Because you feel comfort, assurance, and peace in the words of Isaiah, turn the texts upside down, and become the landowner to redistribute the same comfort, assurance, and peace.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts [says the Lord].