St. Christopher's Episcopal Church: Sermons

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A Sermon Preached at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, Oak Park, IL
on the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Year A, RCL), June 8, 2008
By the Rev. J. Paris Coffey

Readings: Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28 and Matthew 7: 21-29

But when (Jesus) heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners." - Matthew 9:12-13

I was confirmed in the Episcopal Church not long after the 1928 Prayer Book was replaced by The "New" Book of Common Prayer, which is still in use. For many, the prayer book change was difficult, prompting some churches to use only Rite One liturgies that paralleled the old book. I, on the other hand, being relatively new to the whole business gave it little thought until one Sunday morning the rector used Rite One's Alternative Eucharistic Prayer (BCP, p.340.)

Gone from this prayer (which by the way, we'll be using this summer at the eight o'clock service) was the full text of the Prayer of Oblation, the offering of self to God that I had come to love. I, didn't know I loved it until that moment, but in its omission my feelings became clear. Its language held power for me, and even though 1 have since come to prefer Rite Two, where the Prayer of Oblation is worded quite differently, I confess I'm grateful that we still use the old form - at least nine months out of the year - at our early service.

Certainly Rite Two contains the Prayer of Oblation, offered in today's 9:30 liturgy quite powerfully with the words, "Grant that we, burning with your Spirit's power, may be a people of hope, justice, and love." Rite One's version, though, seems so personal to me, stating, "And here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, our selves, OUR souls and bodies to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee" (BCP, p.336). It is the point in the liturgy where the celebrant, placing her hands on the Altar with Palms upward in a gesture of surrender, offers herself to God. It's likewise the point where we are ALL called to attention, asking ourselves, "Am Iliving my life for God?"

The answer, of course, is "No"- at least not perfectly, not continually, not completely - although sometimes I kid myself that I'm well on the way to sainthood - sacrificing time, energy, my very life for the church. You all, of course, know better. You know my humanness and your own, understanding that unless our sacrifices are made in response to God's love and for God's glory, they are hollow. In fact, I imagine you know that it's possible to make all kinds of sacrifices in God's name that in reality are for our own benefit. If you don't know it, don't worry, for today's readings make this point perfectly clear when Jesus says to Pharisees and God to Israelites, "I do not desire sacrifice but steadfast love and mercy. I desire knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings"

The only sacrifice God wants is the living sacrifice of ourselves that reveals God's love to those outside a small circle of friends. Such sacrifice, though, hardly interests the Pharisees who ask Jesus' disciples why their teacher eats with tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees expect religion to set them apart from others, not the reverse, and so Jesus says to them, "Go and learn what this means, `I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."

Apparently the Pharisees don't know the meaning of mercy, since they're told to go and learn it. Certainly, though, they know righteousness - or think they do, since they consider themselves to be righteous. Indeed, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they're relieved when Jesus says that he has NOT come for the righteous. "Whew!" you can hear almost hear them say, "what a relief. For a minute I thought he was scolding us, but this guy's talking to sinners. We're in the clear."

The idea sounds ludicrous to those who understand that no one's in the clear when it comes to sin. Nevertheless, it seems less ludicrous when we acknowledge how difficult it is to live the words of Jesus ... who quotes Hosea ... who quotes God. "I desire steadfast love, not sacrifice," says God, "the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." These words were addressed by Hosea to a nation facing external threat of attack and internal stress of changing leadership - a nation not unlike ours. In fact, although Hosea wrote in the eighth century BCE, it was a time similar to our own - a time when instability tempted Israel to deny responsibility for her problems, claim her own righteousness and reshape God's Word for her purpose. It was a human response to uncertainty - blaming the infamous "them" while claiming a righteous "we." On the other hand, it was misguided, for the truly righteous move beyond themselves to become people of steadfast love and mercy who model God's radical inclusivity.

One would think this was true of the Church, including the Pharisees, although sadly this is not the case. Indeed, the Church is capable of radical self-satisfaction as I discovered over 20 years ago while standing with my friend Linda at a church picnic watching our happy little parish family. We were a small church, a new mission in fact, but what we lacked in size we made up for in spirit. Garrison Keillor might have described us as a church "where all the women were strong, the men were good looking and the children were above average." My friend Linda, though, described us differently, saying contentedly as we surveyed our saintly assembly, "We're such a nice group of people."

Her words were innocent enough, and yet such sentiment leads all too easily to the unconscious exclusion of people who aren't like US - a criterion that can separate us from God. It can separate leaders of the synagogue with dying daughters, for example, from women excluded from community because they're ritually unclean. It cannot, though, separate them from God, for ALL matter in the eyes of One who asserts that it's not our "nice-ness" or righteousness that brought Christ into the world, but the fact that we are all sinners in need of God. All of us miss the mark, and with it the prize - which in Greek is the real meaning of sin. Consequently, we ALL need a readjustment from time to time - perhaps from hour to hour.

To receive an adjustment, though, demands that we acknowledge our need - not for the sake of lamenting our wretchedness, which is the flip side of self-righteousness - but for the sake of knowing our need for steadfast love and mercy. To know our need empowers us to give thanks for the mercy shown to us. Moreover, it is to show mercy to others in return. For this reason Hosea says to a people who have forgotten who they are and whose they are, "Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;" or as Jesus says to religious leaders who've lost any sense of real relationship with God, "Go and learn what it means to practice mercy." To "know" is to live a life of love and mercy. It is to align our life with God's, or as we heard in today's Psalm (50:14), "to make good your vows to the Most High." This means that we must know "to whom are we committed," which may be the most pressing question facing the Church today.

When I look around this morning I see what appears to be significant degree of commitment. I see members of the Choir and Altar Guild - whom we honor today - using their gifts, and sacrificing long hours so that our worship might better glorify God. I see Church School teachers - whom we honored last week - giving time and care to bring our children up in the faith. I see graduates - whom we'll honor next Sunday - facing challenge and sacrifice in whole new areas of their lives. And I see many more -though sadly too few in these summer months - whom God continues to ask for commitment in the Church and in the world, in our daily life and work.

To who are we committed? Are our sacrifices of time and work to God's glory? Are we people through whom God's mercy is revealed to others? Are we aware of our brokenness and need for God, giving allegiance to the One who loves us and called us into being?

To be a living sacrifice to God is not an easy way of life, but it's a rich one. It's transforming, for us and for the world. It's full of meaning, mercy, love and joy, and so I pray this morning that along with Pharisees and tax collectors, raised daughters and healed outcasts, "we may offer and present unto thee, O Lord, our selves, OUR souls and bodies to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee."

Amen.