The First Sunday of Advent

Matthew 24:36-44

Jesus said to the disciples, “But about that day and hour no one knows,
neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as
the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as
in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they
knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will
be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one
will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal
together; one will be taken, and one will be left. Keep awake therefore,
for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand
this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the
thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let
his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son
of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

The Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 21:5-19

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, Jesus said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, `I am he!’ and, `The time is near!’ Do not go after them. “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.”

The Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 20:27-38

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus

and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s

brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the

widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven

brothers; the first married and died childless; then the second and the

third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless.

Finally, the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife

will the woman be? For the seven had married her.” Jesus said to them,

“Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but

those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the r

esurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.

Indeed, they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are

children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that

the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush,

where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,

and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living;

for to him all of them are alive.”

The Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 6:20-31

Jesus looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are

poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are

hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now,

for you will laugh. “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when

they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son

of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is

great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.”

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you

who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. “Woe to you

when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the

false prophets. “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good

to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who

abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and

from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your

shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away

your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have

them do to you.

The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 18:9-14

Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were

righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the

temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee,

standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am

not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax

collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the

tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but

was beating his breast and saying, `God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I

tell you; this man went down to his home justified rather than the other;

for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble

themselves will be exalted.”

17th Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 17:5-10

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied,

“If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this

mulberry tree, `Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey

you. “Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in

from plowing or tending sheep in the field, `Come here at once and

take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, `Prepare

supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink;

later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what

was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were

ordered to do, say, `We are worthless slaves; we have done only what

we ought to have done!’”

The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Text: Luke 16:19-31

Jesus said, “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ But Abraham said, `Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ He said, `Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house-- for I have five brothers-- that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ He said, `No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Did you know... that if you were to type the word hell into the Google search engine, the results would show you over 1,000,000,000 web results. Now, I don’t know why you would ever be inclined to do such a thing... but I did it the other day.  And those results showed me something… namely that quite a few people still talk about hell.  And not everyone does.  In recent years, the doctrine of hell has softened somewhat in our churches, hasn’t it?  Mainline denominations, like the Episcopal Church, rarely, if ever, broach the subject of hell... even when it comes up in the Gospel, as it does today.  We are much more comfortable preaching God’s love and grace than we are hellfire and brimstone.  But there are still some churches for whom hell remains a very vital part of their theology and their teaching... particularly those in more conservative Christian traditions.  And these churches would claim that without a strong doctrine of hell, Christianity means nothing.  After all, they say, without the threat of hell, why would anyone feel the need for Jesus Christ... for the cross... and for the church?  Now, I happen to be a person who was raised in one of those churches.  And to this day, I can still hear some of those hellfire and brimstone sermons in my head.  To be perfectly honest, growing up in a fear-based religion can leave some lasting marks on one’s psyche.  And while I think have grown up and evolved in my theology, I would be lying if I told you that I don’t still have some fear of hell that pops up from time.  Truth be told, there have been more than a few nights over the years when I have lain awake wondering if I might have offended God in some way... and if, in the end, I will be among those who are cast into the darkness. 

Now, I’m well aware that whenever I talk about the hell in the Episcopal Church, I’m talking to a very diverse group of people.  Even as I speak today, there are probably some here who hold onto a very traditional doctrine of hell.   And there are probably some people here who don’t believe in hell at all because they don’t think that eternal damnation is consistent with the doctrine of an all-loving God.  And then I suspect that there are some people here, who quite frankly haven’t given the matter a whole lot of thought because it doesn’t really come up in polite conversation anymore, does it?  Want to really enliven a dinner party sometime?  Try asking this question, “Hey… how many of you here think you’re are going straight to hell?”  Whatever the case, we do need to consider the doctrine of hell because it does come up in scripture from time to time... although far less than you might think.  But this is one of those times.   And in our Gospel account for today from Luke, we see Jesus sharing a parable… a teaching story… about a rich man who lives a life of ease while a poverty ridden man named Lazarus lies just outside of his opulent home starving to death.  The scraps that fall from the rich man’s table could easily have fed Lazarus… but the rich man is far too busy living a life of extravagance to bother with things like poor people covered in sores.  But soon enough they both die.  Lazarus goes to his eternal comfort in the arms of Abraham while the rich man finds himself tormented in Hades.   

And there many people who point to this particular story as Biblical proof that a literal fiery hell exists and that we better straighten up and fly right... especially if we expect to be spending an eternity with Lazarus and not the rich man.  Folks, this Gospel used to scare the living daylights out of me because of its vivid description of the rich man’s everlasting punishment.  But as I look at this text, I don’t really think this story was shared by Jesus to threaten us with an eternal and fiery hell as much as it was shared to remind us of another kind of hell that certainly exists... a hell that exists just outside of our own doors.  It is an existential hell.  Lazarus spent his whole life in hell.  Hungry, filthy, dehumanized, forgotten, loathed, isolated… Lazarus lived in hell.  We’re told that the dogs came and licked his sores… and in Jesus’ story, this is likely the only contact he had with any living thing.  And then the parable makes it clear that the reason for the rich man’s eternal torment is exactly because of his neglect of Lazarus.  The rich man’s sin wasn’t that he took advantage of Lazarus or stole from Lazarus or even taunted Lazarus.  Apparently, his was not a sin of commission.  His was a sin of omission.  He neglected to help the starving man right outside of his door while he, himself, lived a life of ease and excess.  Now, he could’ve done something to alleviate Lazarus’ personal hell.  Lazarus was an opportunity for the rich man.  But instead, he did nothing.  And folks, in the Kingdom of God, doing nothing is, quite simply, unacceptable.  Now I know that here in our own little corner of the Garden of Eden, we don’t usually see a whole lot of beggars sleeping outside of our homes.  But I think we all know that all we have to do is drive about five miles to see some stark poverty.  And quite frankly, the poor are not the only ones in need in our communities.  They are not our only opportunities to do something.  We also have our own lonely people here.  We also have our own mentally ill people here.  We also have our own victims of substance abuse.  And we also have our own social outcasts here.  And while I will never threaten anyone with an eternal hell to get us to recognize the suffering in our own midst, I do offer this gentle admonition.  We, as the body of Christ, might be the only piece of the Kingdom of God that someone living in their own hell might see today.  And quite frankly, if we don’t lift a finger to relieve their suffering… who will?  If we ever expect that God’s love is available to us, why wouldn’t we do something to make sure that God’s love is available for someone else in pain? Because guess what?  Human suffering is universal.  It will happen to all of us eventually.  And whenever we see someone else suffering, I think we need to remember that it’s just not our turn… yet.  But it is our turn to do something for them.  And doing something isn’t just encouraged in the Kingdom of God... it’s necessary. 

And oddly enough, I read something useful on Facebook this week… and isn’t that a minor miracle?  I read a quote from Christian philosopher Dallas Willard who said, “The Gospel is less about how to get into the Kingdom of Heaven after we die… and more about how to live into the Kingdom of Heaven while we still live.”  Folks, we have the opportunity... the opportunity to live into the Kingdom every time we relieve another person of their own personal hell.  Ask the people who serve at the Market Street food pantry why they help to feed the poor... and to a person, I bet they’ll tell you… they get more out of the experience than they give.  Ask any volunteer who works with disadvantaged children and they’ll tell you that they do it because it feeds their soul.  Ask anyone who visits a lonely shut-in and I promise they’ll tell you... that lifting a finger to do something gives them a foretaste of glory divine.  Folks, if there is a fiery and eternal hell… and maybe there is… there’s not a whole lot we can do to relieve the people suffering there.  C.S. Lewis once said that the gates of hell are locked from the inside… not the outside.  But there is a whole lot of hell just outside our own door that we can do something about.  Whenever we lift a finger to help, we bring the Kingdom of Heaven a little closer and saints of God stand and cheer us on.  We don’t have to wait to experience a little piece of heaven.  Heaven and hell are a lot closer than we think.  So let’s take a little time to notice… and then for God’s sake, let’s lift a finger and do something.  Amen.