Who Do You Trust?

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
This is the sermon that I offered up during Morning Prayer on July 26, 2020. This service was held via the zoom platform for St John's Episcopal Church in Dubuque, Iowa. The reason that services weren't held in person was due to the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented the congregation from gathering together. The scripture readings were 1 Kings 3:5-12, Psalm 119:129-136, Romans 8:26-39, and Matthew 13:31-33,44-52.
O God, may you be with us as we try to be builders of your kingdom and may we learn together what your love means in our lives and how we can better follow your will. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Fake news! Fake news!
Lin Manuel Miranda will never sing again.
Regis: his rollicking final months.
Joan of Arc buried in the Seine.**
Deacon Kevin becomes a traveling duck juggler.
Now, at least one of those is actually true.
How would you determine the truth?
You might check several sources. You might discount anything from the National Inquirer.  Or from my favorite supermarket tabloid, the Weekly World News. Where on a weekly basis you might find out that Elvis is alive, abducted by aliens on a UFO, and has a son whose name is Bat Boy.  I’m so sad that the Weekly World News doesn’t have a print edition anymore.
Ultimately, though, you have to trust some source, some point-of-view, because the truth is out there.
Who do you trust?
What does that have to do with today's readings?  Check the last verse in the Gospel:
And he (Jesus) said to them (his disciples), “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
I’ve heard and read this set of readings from the Gospel of Matthew many times in my life but I hadn’t ever really noticed the last line of this passage. What is new and what is old? In this context, what makes sense to me is that the old is the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) and the new is the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. Jesus was acting in his role as a rabbi or teacher.  He was using the rabbinical technique of midrash to show new insights into old thought patterns.  Midrash, by the way, is done in community.  It bounces ideas off of another and looks for feedback.  Through this dialogue, people become more focused on their own understanding of what faith is to them personally.
That's important, because the world we live in today is both dramatically different from the world Jesus lived in, and sadly, it’s also the same, with inequality and suffering that needs to be healed. The Torah is not something Jesus Christ threw away, it's something Christ fulfilled. 
But maybe you’re thinking, what about this scribe that Jesus mentions? For the illiterate of the day (which was most people), finding a trusted scribe was really important.  
Scribes had power. They had the power of the word, the written word.
If they were corrupt, they could write a letter that was not what the sender meant, or they could lie about what was said in a received letter. A scribe would be known by his reputation, so old and new were connected.  A scribe who brings out the old and the new treasure would have an understanding of the subject and be able to combine ideas, old and new, to support the point of the message.
Who do you trust?  The Scribes of the Bible were human but what they wrote reflects historical practice and Good News.  I trust  that there’s a message for us to tease out as we reflect upon the Word. It takes Wisdom, as we hear in the dialogue between God and Solomon, and as the epistle says today, it takes the Spirit of God, who moves in our lives.  By looking for meaning, we must take the experience we have in life (the new) and combine it with the old story of Jesus.
Jesus came to a captive people who were both Jew and Gentile. He came to people who were on the margins of society and showed them how to change their perspective. He taught them that they should love God with all of their heart and soul and mind, and love their neighbor as themselves. 
He gave them hope.
He gave them joy and healing.
He showed us that the kingdom of heaven is here, right now, as we walk among our neighbors. We look for the treasure of heaven in our relationships with others, within our prayer life, and with those whom we trust in our lives. 
Who do you trust?
I trust this community and the people in it.
I trust the Word of God.
I trust Jesus.
And even in times that have a constant echo of “Fake News,” I know that what we are doing right here, right now, is holy and important work to build the Kingdom of God.
Who do you trust?
Trust this community and the people in it.
Trust the Word of God.
Trust Jesus.
Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crop Dusting

Image
On Friday of last week we had an unusual occurrence over our farm. A neighbor apparently was having some of their corn sprayed with a crop duster. I can only remember one other time when there was a crop duster in our neighborhood. That is when there was an outbreak of army worms about 25 years ago. I haven't heard what the reason was for the spraying but it must be some sort of serious infestation because the cost of employing a crop duster is very high. I know that the pilots that fly these aircraft must be crazy because they go very low over the fields and seem like they barely miss the electric lines and/or trees at the ends of the fields.
Read more

Twenty Years of Wedded Bliss (ok, sometimes it wasn't blissful...)

Image
On August 13, 1988 in West Bend, Iowa, two young idealistic people got married. Now, twenty years later, they have been through ups and downs, the births of five beautiful children, the grief of losing parents, dreams realized, and dreams not realized. Through it all they stayed together which sometimes was very hard but it all was worth it. Marriage isn't just about love; it is about commitment. When I see friends and family that have gotten divorced I feel very sad because they don't have the special bond that my wife and I have. Maybe they never had a bond like we have and that is the reason for the couple going separate ways. I pray for all couples, that they have the bond that true love and commitment gives them and that it will endure always.
Read more

Uncle Bob: Rest In Peace, Rise In Glory

Image
Bob Martin, July 15, 1939 - May 10, 2010 Uncle Bob died yesterday, he was a great guy who loved his family and the things he valued in life, namely fishing and nearly all organized sports. The first time I met him was when I was dating my lovely wife, we were at their house and he came in from a softball game, he looked at me and said, "Who are you?" I introduced myself and he then asked me if I wanted a Pepsi. I became friends with him and over the years went to various sports events with him as well as watching auto races, football and basketball games with him on the television. After he retired (he worked for Pepsi as a vending machine repairman) he started fishing. It was great to go out with him on his boat and catch a fish or two. More importantly, Uncle Bob became like a second dad to my wife after her father died. She was able to get to the hospital just before Bob passed away. My lovely wife is mourning but does know that he is in a better place and not in pa
Read more