In the midst of wolves

Sunday 22^nd September – Trinity 14 – Proper 20

Amos 8: 4-7. My favourite prophet. He is direct and brutally frank about how God views people who treat others to whom they feel superior with contempt. He assures them that God sees all and in Christian terms we want them to see the error of their ways and repent. Swearing by the “pride of Jacob” is an unusual phrase but it is probably used to describe the land of Israel.  

1 Timothy 2: 1-7. We should pray for everyone because God desires everyone to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Here we also have a rationale for all civic services, prayers for the Queen etc. that can rankle with both catholic and protestant alike. But as social enfleshed beings we have to live in the societies in which we find ourselves and whatever we feel about the social order of the day or what we might want to defend or change, God requires that we pray for all people, and to live in peace as far as it is anything to do with us.

Luke 16: 1-13. A difficult parable to unpack but one firstly must assume that dishonesty is not being praised, but rather shrewdness or prudence. Jesus noting that in a crisis, worldly people are much shrewder that the children of light. In the “crisis” situation of the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God Christians need to be much shrewder and decisive in making positive decisions and using worldly wealth to further the aims of the Kingdom.

“Behold I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, therefore be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16)

A wonderfully shrewd statement made by Jesus there in Matthew.

And it is Prudence or shrewdness that is being encouraged by Jesus in our gospel reading today and Jesus notes, I think accurately, that the worldly wise are much shrewder than the people who generally follow God. Our judgement can be clouded by being too starry eyed and idealistic.

A common statement about some people is that they are so heavenly focussed that they are no earthly good. They also can have their goodness presumed upon as well and get walked all over. Part of the Christian response is not to become either gullible or a doormat. At the same time, we must guard against becoming overly cynical and suspicious. Somewhere in the middle lies wisdom.

It is always hard to pin down where that wise response lies because every decision we make is dependent on specific circumstances.

Honesty and straight dealing and dealing with others charitably are the bedrock of the Christian way.

This has always been a main part of the Judeo-Christian tradition of course and Amos, writing 750 years before Christ, the very first of the Old Testament prophets, warns all people that treat their fellow men with contempt and cheat them and rob them are being judged by God and their deeds won’t be forgotten.

Christian wisdom must be based in revealed truth of course, and one of the most basic truths that it can sometimes be hard to accept is that God desires the salvation of all people. God came to save the whole world, not little bits of it, or those bits that respond in a certain way.

We heard in a magnificent presentation yesterday at the literary festival that this is one of the main reasons that Christianity spread so quickly. It was universal. Everyone was included. Christianity successfully overturned the general societal assumptions that “might is right” and that some people are intrinsically worth more that other people, laying down the principle that would eventually lead to the notion of universal human rights. King and slave, Jew and gentile, man and woman were all on the same level in God’s eyes.

Repentance, (Greek – Metanoia), is the central demand of the gospel for those that accept the gospel in this life. Consciously turning your life around to face God. Part of that repentance is having the difficult job of praying for those people we don’t like, or don’t like us, and those who do contemptable things in the hope that they see the light and change their ways.

Why? Because Jesus died for them as much as He died for you, that’s why.

In the same way, we pray for the existing social order, no matter what we think about the system or what we’d like to either defend or change.

In practical terms that would mean that even if you were an ardent republican and anti-monarchist, as a Christian you would still be required to pray for the Queen, because she is an individual, for whom Jesus also died, and she holds an important position in the social hierarchy. As I wrote this week, this is also the rationale for civic services where we pray for all local councillors etc.

We have to be wise in how we use our money, gifts and talents in a crisis and the underlying reason behind all this is that the ultimate crisis Jesus is referring to  is the upcoming crucifixion of himself, and the birth of the church, and the Kingdom of God.

“God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself” Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:19. Notice it is the whole world again God was reconciling himself to, not just good people or believers, and by extension we are ministers of that reconciliation.

As ministers of that reconciliation, we pray for the good of all people and situations, that God’s will is done – not our will – because;

“think no man unworthy for whom Christ was content to die”.