October 27, 2019PROPER 25 (30) Twentieth Sunday
after PentecostYear C
I was
recently at a music teachers’ professional development and they sang a four
line song that began; “Where there is no vision the people perish”. No one spoke about this being a biblical
quote as it wasn’t the point of the exercise, but I notice in the readings
today – not that verse, but a related one from Joel…. Your old men shall dream dreams, and your
young men shall see visions. Even on the
male and female slaves, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.
In our
society we praise the strong and independent.
The elderly are pushed aside. We
have grants to encourage the young in their career, but our society seems to
assume the elderly have had their day.
Perhaps we, on the older side, feel that our energy is waning also.
God,
however, does not forget anyone… he promises that he will pour out his Spirit
on all…. Male and female, slave and free, young and old. I’m picking up on the fact that he pours out
his Spirit on the old because we can easily miss the implication and I want to
draw your attention to it.
What do we
look like when we have the Holy Spirit out pouring upon us? What do you imagine?
Do you see
visions of young people declaring the word of the LORD? Do you imagine energy and vitality of people
working together? What do these people
look like?
We expect
the young people to have dreams and visions.
They are usually expected to be the ones to come up with innovative designs
and new ways of doing things. They are
the ones who still have a whole lot of future.
They are the ones we envision with the energy to make things happen.
Take
special note however, because when God declares that he will pour out His Holy
Spirit on all, and then He specifically mentions the old, He is making a very
powerful statement, that there is an immense future and purpose for the
elderly. He is also declaring a
relationship and vision that is way beyond what we would imagine.
The passage
goes on to speak about the rather dramatic signs in the heavens and on the
earth. It describes a time of turmoil
but ends by comforting that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. Then it says something else, “and among the
survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.”
I get to
chat with Christians from many back-grounds and persuasions and it often amuses
me to hear some who declare that they just can’t wait for Jesus to come
back. I generally smile and say nothing,
but I think a whole lot and generally I’m thinking, “ Oh sure you do… but I bet
you have no idea about the naivety of your statement….”
From my
readings of scripture there will times of great trial before the coming of
Jesus. After all, what exactly do we
mean in the Lord’s Prayer when we say, “save of from the time of trial”? We have those words to pray because those
times are going to be horrible. We can
interpret them as personal trials or the trials that are to come before the
return of Jesus… both are correct, but both are not nice times to be going
through.
Although I
may be behaving like a bit of a Pharisee myself in making this judgment, I
strongly believe that these people who are so sure of themselves that they just
“can’t wait ‘til Jesus returns”, are a whole lot like that Pharisee in our
Gospel reading.
In our
Gospel reading we have a Pharisee who was a good man. He fasted in prayer twice a week and he gave
a tenth of his income to God. He really
was a great bloke. I bet he was admired
by his friends and we know that as a Pharisee he had a position of authority in
the community. He was the special guest
at community functions. As I said, he
was a great bloke and there is nothing to say that he wasn’t, except that he
held himself as better than others…..
We live in
a society that over-looks people unless they somehow declare their own worth –
i.e. “toot their own horn”. In our
Gospel, Jesus is clearly showing that this over-looking of other people or
treating others with contempt is not the way of the Kingdom of God.
So, me treating
Christians, who long for Jesus return, with contempt is rather like the
Pharisee, but let me explain why I accuse them of being like the Pharisee also;
Those who
long for the time of Jesus coming, seem to present themselves as if they are
Christians who are superior and chosen, who have no fear of the time of trial
and the hardships to come. They seem less concerned with the plight of
those who don’t yet know Jesus and more concerned that the coming of Jesus will
see them crowned victoriously in the sight of those who have scoffed at their
belief and therefore they will be vindicated.
While, our scriptures tell us that God will vindicate us and I can
understand the attraction, I feel that there is often something lacking…. God does care for how we feel, but wants us
to have that same compassion for others.
Saint Paul
understood the longing for Jesus to return.
We read his words, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the
race, I have kept the faith. From now on
there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all
who have longed for his appearing.”
The
difference between us and Saint Paul is that Saint Paul was well and truly not
saved from the time of trial, but he was saved through them.
We all have
trials of many shapes and forms, but Saint Paul was whipped and imprisoned and
eventually martyred. At this point we
need to realize that there is no place for anything bar honesty….. and this is
what was possibly lacking in the prayer of the Pharisee. His prayer focused on the good he did… i.e.
the good works, but nothing in his prayer indicates a heart submitted to the
concerns of God. – He hasn’t tapped into God’s heart.
Saint Paul had
times when he felt abandoned. “At my
first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be
counted against them! But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that
through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might
hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.”
How was it,
that Saint Paul could endure such trials?
Although we
all have trials, we have lives that are abundantly blessed, physically and
materially. But as the time draws on, we
need to understand the power that kept Saint Paul through all his time of trial
was the out pouring of the Holy Spirit.
We also
need to grab hold of the fact that God pours out his Spirit on all. Not just men, but to women too and not just
to the young but to the old as well. The
implication is that God will give us the dreams and the vision, the strength
and the energy, so that through us the message of the Gospel will be fully
proclaimed.
No matter
our age or our gender, there is a job to be done in the Kingdom of God. We can’t simply pray that God’s Kingdom come
on earth as it is in Heaven and not do anything about bringing it into
being. What is the dream that he has
given you to make this happen?
As I write
this I’m aware, once again, of God saying to me, “ARE YOU GETTING IT?”
I’m not as
young as I once was. I feel tired. But I am hearing that it is time to say, “Yes
LORD, send your Spirit…..”.
God does
not impose. He will pour out His Spirit….
But not if you don’t want it. He waits
patiently, he stirs us to hear him nudge and ask, but he gave us free
will. With our free will, we need to
deliberately say yes to God and ask him for his Spirit and ask him to send us
those dreams…. Expect them…. He longs to surprise us with the things that he
has in store.
