Pentecost 13, Proper 15C
Almighty God who gave us life, Gracious Christ who showed us
the way, Present Spirit who inspires us, still, help us to see. Amen.
I am a news junkie.
Every day I’m amazed at all that I can see: right now there are flood
waters raging in my native home of Louisiana, there are political fires burning
across the country as we discern together just how we’ll understand our nation’s
soul in the coming months and years, there are African American women breaking
records and breaking new ground through their physical achievements in the
Olympic games in Brazil.
And you know that I am a travel junkie. Throughout my life I’ve seen more than I
might have imagined possible. I’ve
watched Big Ben strike the hours at noon on the banks of the Thames. I’ve sat on an airplane hurtling across the
equator in the middle of the night, discussing theology with a stranger. I’ve watched cheetahs stalk their prey on the
African savannah. I’ve touched the wall
that separate Israelis from Palestinians.
There is so much to see in the world. There are so many ways to understand the
world and to take it all in. And the
things that we see, teach us. They
broaden our expansive understandings of the world and help us to know and understand.
But even so, there is so much that we miss. There is so much that we’re blind to.
No matter how much we expand our vision of the world, no
matter how hard we try to take it all in, or how much we broaden our
experience, there is still so much more.
We still fall short.
And too often, we even miss what is right in front of our
faces.
We walk down streets and miss the suffering that is all
around us. We go about our daily lives,
blind to the pain of our neighbors. In
our busyness, we miss loneliness. In our
hunger to meet our own best desires, we ignore the hunger of those we
meet. In our lust for security, we make
others less secure.
These, and other ways, are all ways that we fail to meet our
calling to be Christ in the world, but where we really fall short is when we
can’t even see Christ in the world. We
miss the ordinary miracles that make the world and our gift of life within it
the extraordinary experience that it is.
There is so much that we see, but so much that we miss. And that’s the heartbreak that we hear
expressed in the words of Jesus this morning: “You know how to interpret the
appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the
present time?”
The “present time” isn’t just about the things that we can see. The “present time” is more than what is on the news, or in our travel diaries and photo albums. The “present time” is about not just hearing the words of Jesus, or of anyone, for that matter; instead, it’s about recognizing Christ in the world. It’s about recognizing that God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are in the world, and in our lives, and moving within us and through us. The “present time” is about the faith we’ve inherited from the past, inspiring us for all that is to come.
The Apostle Paul talks about the “present time” in his
letter to the Hebrews: “By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it
were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By
faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days.
By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient,
because she had received the spies in peace.
And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon,
Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-- who through
faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the
mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won
strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight… Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great
a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that
clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before
us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith…”
This is our “present time”.
We live in a time when we can see so much, but we can’t seem to see what
was put right in front of us. We are
surrounded by a “great cloud of witnesses” that testify to the presence of God
in our past, our present, and that portend that continued presence into the
future.
God is with us. We
are not alone. That’s our “present time”.
Despite whatever grief or sadness, despite whatever worries
or fears weigh us down, despite whatever uncertainties we face, we can be
certain of the continued presence of all that is Holy to guide us and to
comfort us. We can be certain that God
will keep creating newly within us, because that is what God does. That is God’s nature. We can be certain that Christ will keep
teaching us and showing us clearer pathways to God, but that is who Christ
is. We can be certain that the Holy
Spirit between them and among us will continue to guide and strengthen us
through this life, because that is, by definition and experience, the way of
the Holy Spirit.
That is our “present time”.
We live in an age when can see anything. We can see anything that exists on this earth
at just about any moment’s notice, and quite a bit more that doesn’t really
exist. But will we see the truth that we’ve
inherited in our faith in this “present time”?
Will we be open in the week ahead and the lifetime that follows it to
living in the “present time” of Christ?
We can. We can see so
much already, and through discipline and faith, we can see more.
I know we can. Amen.
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