Homily
by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
Francis Episcopal Church, Goldsboro, NC, 22 Oct. 2017, Proper 24
Year A RCL: Exodus 33:12-23; Psalm 99; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22
Notice how people in our
scriptures today talk about details. Leaders challenge Jesus for
details. Paul speaks of specifics in the experiences of the
Thessalonians. Moses wants a specific assurance from God.
We humans usually feel more
comfortable making decisions & moving forward when we know
details & understand facts.
Notice how Matthew, the
former tax man, writes about paying taxes – his area of expertise.
Notice Moses wants specifics from God so he can feel confident moving
forward & boldly reminds God the people are God's people; he's
been the intermediary.
The Jewish Study Bible
notes1,
Moses “seeks total familiarity with God” & is ready to have
the people have access to God instead of just through Moses.
Notice specifics we read in
Exodus: God agrees Moses can see his glory, but not God's face. God
tells Moses “I will cover you with my hand”, & then Moses can
see God's back.
We know what hands &
backs look like. We can understand something of what Moses expects.
Unlike when our scriptures challenge our understanding, we understand
physical realities.
If we were to share an Oct
11 news article1
with Moses, Paul & the Thessalonians, & the
disciples with Jesus, how well do you think they would understand the
details? [Put
aside difference between English & the language of their eras.]
The article speaks of a
hand, the arm moving, the hand at the opposite end of the arm. How
well will they understand this “body language”? [Yes,
pretty well.]
What if we share the part in
the article about a walk & working smoothly? [Yes.
People then know about walking & work going smoothly,]
What about a lube job,
grease gun & caulking gun?
[Ah, Difficult.]
What if we read the part
about a new hand being attached to the robot's arm to grab cargo
arriving for astronauts orbiting in the International Space Station?
We
understand space age realities.
How
much do we grasp of
God's
expansive Love?
Like people with Jesus, Paul
& Moses, we can grasp just so much. There are wonders in God's
world & God's Love beyond our grasp. Through God's grace we can
embrace what we cannot understand & live by faith, trusting God's
Love.
We see God's Love active
among us. We see God as we cook up Love in our kitchen, tend our
grounds, minister to all sorts & conditions of people here, at
the Soup Kitchen & beyond.
Just as paying taxes isn't
the real issue in our Gospel, the issue in our lives is how much we
live in God's Love.
The Bible tells us: God
creates us in God's image. The Holy Trinity is a Holy Unity. We are
made in the image of Holy Unity.
Through God's grace we
encounter this Mystery & declare our faith in this Mystery. Week
by week we proclaim our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed. We
walk by faith, not by sight.
We give to God the things
that are God's: we give ourselves.
We may at times feel robotic
reciting what we believe. We may feel “programmed” to act
or respond as we do. Despite how we feel, you/we can't hide our
identity as a child/as children of God, a reflection of perfect Love.
You
are a reflection of God's Love.
Rejoice!
Embrace
this truth!
Live
& grow into it.
YOU
belong to God!
YOU
shine forth God's Love which
is
in you.
Bibliography
Dios
Habla Hoy: La Biblia.
2da
Ed.
Nueva York: Sociedad Bíblica Americana. 1983.
Harper’s
Bible Commentary.
General Ed.: James. L. Mays. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Publishers, 1988.
Harper’s
Bible Dictionary.
Gen. Ed: Paul J. Achtemeier. San Francisco: Harper & Row
Publishers. 1985.
Holy
Bible with the Apocrypha.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press.
1989.
Jewish
Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
The
New American Bible for Catholics.
South Bend: Greenlawn Press. 1986.
The
New Complete Works of Josephus. Revised and Expanded Edition.
Translator: William Whiston. Commentator: Paul L. Maier. Grand
Rapids: Kregel Publications. 1999.
"Spacewalkers grease robot arm's new hand". The Associated Press. Goldsboro News-Argus. 11 Oct. 2015. P. 5
2. "Spacewalkers grease robot arm's new hand". The Associated Press. Goldsboro News-Argus. 11 Oct. 2015. P. 5
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