Letting the WORD Speak Sermon

Let Those who have eyes to SEE, WITNESS, and those with ears to HEAR, UNDERSTAND.

There are passages of Scripture, which are so foreign to our lives, we need explanation and interpretation. AMOS vision of RIPE SUMMER FRUIT, of a PLUMBLINE. HOSEA's Call to Marry a Prostitute, the Book of REVELATION. These are not readily applicable to our circumstance, in our world today. Yet, there are others, SO APPLICABLE, all we need do is be Open and let THE WORD SPEAK. This morning's readings are like a collection of the favorite words of Jesus, the had sayings we need to hear.

BUT that is the rub.
This word is THOUSANDS of years old, made authoritative by being in the Orthodox CANON, and coming down to us as HOLY,SACRED SCRIPTURE, layered in tradition, and Organized Religion, the Institution of The Church, Men who light Candles and wear robes, ARE SUSPECT.
Having heard President Johnson, one of his most often repeated phrases with Texas Drawl, whether of the Viet Nam War or the War on Poverty, was taking this phrase out of context to say “Come, Let us reason together...”

To hear the Word speak afresh to us, we have to set each of those ripples of history aside, to know that the Prophet Isaiah, whom we recall with that vision of muttering “Woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips, who dwells among a people of unclean lips. And a mystic Seraphim swooped from the rafters with a burning coal to touch his lips and cauterize away his sin.” Who then responded to God “Here Am I Send Me!” was Called to the most Frustrating Task in the history of Israel & Judah. Abraham was called to conceive a new nation. Moses to set free the captives and find a Promised land. David was called to be a great king, Solomon to be wise. Isaiah was told right up front, you are to preach to a people who will not listen, to demonstrate what is plain and obvious to a people who are blind and refuse to see.
We remember Isaiah as this eloquent Priest and Prophet, who preached reform throughout four generations of Kings, words of “Comfort, Comfort My people says your God”.

“COME, LET US REASON TOGETHER” is not simply an invitation “Let's go for a walk”, but an upfront declaration, “We are at Odds and a Legal Settlement, a Compromise, Reconciliation with God needs to be reached in order for us to go forward.” The point is not so much reasoning and arguing levels of guilt, or loopholes, as recognizing we live in Sodom and Gomorrah, and we cannot buy God Off. The Cancers of our bodies are a SYMPTOM of the cancers in our lives and relationships.

I recall a DECADE AGO, when the Church at the time tried to say, we are going to address these problems in this part of the Church, in this part of our lives, and we are not going to go beyond this RED LINE. As we finished with the building program, before we had made the first payment on the mortgage, we learned the floor joists and timbers in the Sanctuary were cracked and rotting. And we needed to look at our foundations, the ones of stone and mortar, as well as the ones of faith in God, without any boundaries or facades, or redlines. We had to examine and rebuild the INFRASTRUCTURE of who we are and what we believe, otherwise like Isaiah it was preaching to a people who could not listen.

Rather than believing This Village is A STRESS FREE ZONE, we came to recognize we are a community, of people, mortal human people, with divorce and lay-offs and alcoholism and abuse, just like anywhere else. The only way to change from being a people whose sins are as red as blood to become as clean as washed wool, is TO BE WILLING and OPEN and OBEDIENT to sharing the good of the land; anything else will fester.

Let Those who have eyes to SEE, WITNESS, and those with ears to HEAR, UNDERSTAND.
In a week when BRIDGES that have been cited as CRACKED AND NEEDING REPAIR collapse, when COAL MINES that have been cited 342 times for violations, CAVE IN, why are we surprised? Our Infrastructure as a nation, our roads and bridges need repair. Our MORTAL Creations do not last forever, we must revisit and repair and wash clean, for we are mortal.

What Peter Jennings described as THE GREATEST GENERATION, were so, because they saw a problem and stepped up to it. The Great Depression, the need for Jobs and roads and schools. The War to End All Wars, Fighting Naziism, and Facsism and Attack upon our way of life, all simultaneously and never giving up. Those of the generation now in their eighties and nineties saw a problem, and had eyes to see.

Let Those who have eyes to SEE, WITNESS, and those with ears to HEAR, UNDERSTAND.

Reading the words of Luke, IF THE HOUSEHOLDER HAD KNOWN AT WHAT HOUR THE THIEF WAS COMING, it is hard for us to not imagine circumstances in Connecticut 3 weeks ago. While a family slept in their beds, thieves broke in, beating the man with a bat, forcing the woman to go their bank to withdraw their savings, raping the wife and their daughters, setting
their house on fire. With his wife and daughters murdered, how does this Householder go on? But that is the point, is for us to be open to hearing THE WORD in the midst of this circumstance, but not only this one.

When we first came to Skaneateles, people described that they did not lock up their houses. When the parking lot becomes full, simply leave the keys in the ignition of your car, so that if it is in the way someone can move it. So it is, that in July we were having the roof replaced, when I came down to breakfast and found a young man asleep on our couch. Our sons were watching tv, my wife was making coffee, and I thought this is rather presumptuous of a roofer to come in and sleep on the couch. SO I got him a cup of coffee and gently woke the man. He recalled being at a Wedding Rehearsal the night before where he had had too much to drink. He had come in, found the couch and lay down. After he finished the coffee, we asked if he needed us to call someone, he said no, and went on his way. You do not tell a minister you were at a wedding rehearsal the night before, without the clergy picking up the phone to ascertain, who had a rehearsal that night. Within ten minutes we knew where he belonged, and the minister of the wedding was looking for him. We said nothing more about the matter to anyone, until Christmas time, when one of the college students described having been at a party, where it was shared as common knowledge, if you get into trouble go to the Lindsey's, they have a comfortable couch, they will not call the police, and they will give you a cup of coffee and make certain you are okay. And we decided that was a prety good reputation to have.

Let Those who have eyes to SEE, WITNESS, and those with ears to HEAR, UNDERSTAND.

Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also...
Every year, throughout the Season of Lent, the youth of a Church would take enormous timbers out of the basement, and carry these out near the road to erect a Cross. For the forty days and forty nights between Ash Wednesday and Easter the Cross stood for the whole community outside the Church. Each year in April the Women's Circles would have a Rummage Sale called the Trash and Treasure. One year it happened that the ladies carried out a large sign saying TRASH & TREASURE and placed it against the foot of the cross. Within 10 minutes I had a phone call from a neighbor in protest. I tried to respond with “One man's treash is another's treasure,” and “Where your treausre is, there will your heart be also”, but ultimately I went outside and moved the sign to a different location.

And Simon Peter asked, “LORD, are you telling this parable for us, or for everyone?” and the response is: “Everyone to whom MUCH IS GIVEN, of him Much will be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand all the more.” Which is NOT a statement about AFFLUENCE and TYTHING, but rather hearing the Word and doing it.

You have been given a gift of Music, share that music with the world.
We have a Sanctuary, with accoustics for music,...
We have been given teachers, healthcare workers and engineers, and A RELATIONSHIP with persons from a Village in Sudan, so we are asked to respond.

Where is your treasure? Where is your heart?
Are you prepared in case the HOUSEHOLDER/The BRIDEGROOM COMES,
What about if A THIEF COMES instead?
Are we ready to reason together?