God's generous gestures are genuine
Proper 25C
Joel 2.23-32; Luke 18. 9-14
This was written for a baptism service and aims to be in a more casual style than a formal sermon.
Today I’ve just three words I want you to focus on as we think through these passages of Scripture together. The three words are:
Generous,
Gestures, and
Genuine.
I’ve been to the Garden Centre and bought this bag of pebbles. I need someone to come forward and hold a few for me. Nobody wants to? Too many people here have seen my demonstrative homilies before perhaps. Well here’s a little incentive – you see this little pile of pound coins; the person who successfully helps me with this gets to keep them. [When a volunteer comes forward, place a pile of pebbles on the open upward palm of each of her/his hands]. Now if you can pick up those coins without dropping any of the pebbles,
you can have them! ... ... It’s impossible, I’m afraid. With your hands full of rocks you are never going to be able to pickup this money – it simply can’t be done.
Why is it then that so often we think that we can pick up the good things of God with our hands full of rocks – the rocks of self concern, half-heartedness, and meanness. We
hold things to ourselves and wonder why we feel oppressed by worry, doubt and fear. Don’t’ come to God with your hands full of rocks. Come instead open-handed. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so good to be here to witness Alice’s baptism because she is going to
teach us something we need to know. Her little hands are too small to hold any
rocks; she comes as a little one simply to receive God’s generosity. Let that teach us to have confidence in the same generous God.
There is something of that in our reading from the prophet Joel. There had been a
plague of locusts – so many of them that the sky was black with them and every green
thing was eaten. Terrifying – hunger and desolation in their wake. And the people were terrified with fear – what will become of us?
Hang on there, says Joel, locusts may wipe out every living plant and as a consequence the
animals that depend on them – but they can never wipe out God’s love. Indeed God’s love pours upon like the pouring rain. Take heart –don’t be full of fear. Cast the rocks of fear aside, don’t be burdened with that. It is God who is the rescuer – come with open hands
– like the baby who must receive everything, giving back comes later. God is ever generous: don’t treat him as a if he were mean. God is generous.
The second word is ‘Gestures.’ Didn’t your mum tell you when you were a youngster that it’s rude to point? I guess most of us were told that at some point (!) or another, yet
pointing is something we all find hard to stop. We may be too polite to raise our fingers, but we point in other ways. According to Jesus that gesture is out – the parable tells us all to stop pointing – both literally and in the hidden ways we mark people off as weird or not deserving our respect. Stop pointing!
Do you know the old joke about the man who goes to see Vicar? He is ushered into the Vicarage study but fails to take his hat off. It’s a large black hat that’s covered in feathers and has a piece of raw bacon dangling over each ear. The man says, ‘Vicar I need to talk to you about my brother Ted. He’s just not right in the head!’ That’s most of us I’m afraid – all the time we’re criticizing other people while we’ve got bacon dangling over our own ears. Stop pointing.
But the Pharisee, a person of faith in so many ways, just couldn’t resist it. He just had to point – even in his prayers: ‘Thank God I’m not like these other people…’ The gesture is
there even as he speaks to God.
Imagine if the tax collector had pointed as well. What would he have said? Perhaps it would have gone like this:
‘Look at ‘im over there. He thinks he’s better than everyone else. He despises the rest of
us. Even his clothes say that he thinks he’s better than us. He loves it when people give him the special place. He makes sure everyone knows he keeps the rules. He’s always laying down the law for others. But it’s all show – he’s a stinker really. A great big hypocrite; look at ‘im.' And you can see the finger pointing.
You can imagine it, but it didn’t happen. He didn’t point; anymore than Jesus did either. It's not that the tax collector is the hero of this story - how could he be, he worked for an oppressive occupying regime that was hated by everyone? His position may well have tempted him towards pointing - a chance to get back at those stuck up Pharisees who thought themselves so pure in comparison to him. Pointing would have come easily - but he didn't do it.
The tax collector simply said, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ He didn’t point at
anyone else – he couldn’t even raise his eyes such was his contrition. The only sins he drew
attention to were his own. This is the one who was justified says Jesus.
The gesture that counts isn’t pointing out the sin in others but humbly acknowledging our own sinfulness, our own mixed motives, our own poverty of love, our own frailty of intention. That’s what finds the echoing and comforting ‘Amen’ of Jesus to the words we offer in contrition. Christ offers us the open hands of forgiveness and love – that’s the gesture that marks his relationship with us.
The third word is ‘Genuine.’ What marks the tax collector’s prayer is a sense of authenticity. He is genuine about his own circumstance and his own character. The Pharisee is so concerned to make himself out as better than others that we treat his claims with suspicion. So ready to condemn others we doubt what he says about himself. We know this character from the inside, as it were, because we're just like him in many ways - often we excuse ourselves; often were hard on others and all too soft on ourselves. This is about not
fooling ourselves; about being confident enough to be real, to be realistic. The Pharisee doesn’t seem to know what’s genuine; whereas the tax collector is all too aware of his own nature.
There’s a lovely story told of Muhammed Ali, the great boxer, when he was in his prime – and I hope it’s true. Ali was on a plane getting ready to go somewhere, and the air stewardess had to remind him to fasten his seat belt. He replied, ‘Superman don’t need no seatbelt.’ The stewardess replied, ‘And Superman don’t need no airplane either.’ Ali did his
seatbelt up!
He was man enough to admit that the hyperbole had got to him and that actually even he
needed to follow the safety rules. The air stewardess’ wit was enough for him to reconnect with his humanity.
A key to humility is seeing the truth about ourselves – and we always need other
people to help us in that. Baptism is incorporation into a community of people who care for one another – we can reach out to each other because we all know we are absolutely dependent on God. We know the reality of our humanity – we can be genuine because we hear Jesus speaking into our ear ‘go to your home justified’ – treat no one with contempt; know that being genuine – being humble about who you really are – results in your exaltation. We’re in this together – the church isn’t a club for saints; it’s a school for sinners. There’s no need to hide (even from yourself); there’s no need to point; be generous to others in all things because God is generous to you.
God’s Generous Gestures are Genuine, always – let ours be also.
Today I’ve just three words I want you to focus on as we think through these passages of Scripture together. The three words are:
Generous,
Gestures, and
Genuine.
I’ve been to the Garden Centre and bought this bag of pebbles. I need someone to come forward and hold a few for me. Nobody wants to? Too many people here have seen my demonstrative homilies before perhaps. Well here’s a little incentive – you see this little pile of pound coins; the person who successfully helps me with this gets to keep them. [When a volunteer comes forward, place a pile of pebbles on the open upward palm of each of her/his hands]. Now if you can pick up those coins without dropping any of the pebbles,
you can have them! ... ... It’s impossible, I’m afraid. With your hands full of rocks you are never going to be able to pickup this money – it simply can’t be done.
Why is it then that so often we think that we can pick up the good things of God with our hands full of rocks – the rocks of self concern, half-heartedness, and meanness. We
hold things to ourselves and wonder why we feel oppressed by worry, doubt and fear. Don’t’ come to God with your hands full of rocks. Come instead open-handed. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so good to be here to witness Alice’s baptism because she is going to
teach us something we need to know. Her little hands are too small to hold any
rocks; she comes as a little one simply to receive God’s generosity. Let that teach us to have confidence in the same generous God.
There is something of that in our reading from the prophet Joel. There had been a
plague of locusts – so many of them that the sky was black with them and every green
thing was eaten. Terrifying – hunger and desolation in their wake. And the people were terrified with fear – what will become of us?
Hang on there, says Joel, locusts may wipe out every living plant and as a consequence the
animals that depend on them – but they can never wipe out God’s love. Indeed God’s love pours upon like the pouring rain. Take heart –don’t be full of fear. Cast the rocks of fear aside, don’t be burdened with that. It is God who is the rescuer – come with open hands
– like the baby who must receive everything, giving back comes later. God is ever generous: don’t treat him as a if he were mean. God is generous.
The second word is ‘Gestures.’ Didn’t your mum tell you when you were a youngster that it’s rude to point? I guess most of us were told that at some point (!) or another, yet
pointing is something we all find hard to stop. We may be too polite to raise our fingers, but we point in other ways. According to Jesus that gesture is out – the parable tells us all to stop pointing – both literally and in the hidden ways we mark people off as weird or not deserving our respect. Stop pointing!
Do you know the old joke about the man who goes to see Vicar? He is ushered into the Vicarage study but fails to take his hat off. It’s a large black hat that’s covered in feathers and has a piece of raw bacon dangling over each ear. The man says, ‘Vicar I need to talk to you about my brother Ted. He’s just not right in the head!’ That’s most of us I’m afraid – all the time we’re criticizing other people while we’ve got bacon dangling over our own ears. Stop pointing.
But the Pharisee, a person of faith in so many ways, just couldn’t resist it. He just had to point – even in his prayers: ‘Thank God I’m not like these other people…’ The gesture is
there even as he speaks to God.
Imagine if the tax collector had pointed as well. What would he have said? Perhaps it would have gone like this:
‘Look at ‘im over there. He thinks he’s better than everyone else. He despises the rest of
us. Even his clothes say that he thinks he’s better than us. He loves it when people give him the special place. He makes sure everyone knows he keeps the rules. He’s always laying down the law for others. But it’s all show – he’s a stinker really. A great big hypocrite; look at ‘im.' And you can see the finger pointing.
You can imagine it, but it didn’t happen. He didn’t point; anymore than Jesus did either. It's not that the tax collector is the hero of this story - how could he be, he worked for an oppressive occupying regime that was hated by everyone? His position may well have tempted him towards pointing - a chance to get back at those stuck up Pharisees who thought themselves so pure in comparison to him. Pointing would have come easily - but he didn't do it.
The tax collector simply said, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’ He didn’t point at
anyone else – he couldn’t even raise his eyes such was his contrition. The only sins he drew
attention to were his own. This is the one who was justified says Jesus.
The gesture that counts isn’t pointing out the sin in others but humbly acknowledging our own sinfulness, our own mixed motives, our own poverty of love, our own frailty of intention. That’s what finds the echoing and comforting ‘Amen’ of Jesus to the words we offer in contrition. Christ offers us the open hands of forgiveness and love – that’s the gesture that marks his relationship with us.
The third word is ‘Genuine.’ What marks the tax collector’s prayer is a sense of authenticity. He is genuine about his own circumstance and his own character. The Pharisee is so concerned to make himself out as better than others that we treat his claims with suspicion. So ready to condemn others we doubt what he says about himself. We know this character from the inside, as it were, because we're just like him in many ways - often we excuse ourselves; often were hard on others and all too soft on ourselves. This is about not
fooling ourselves; about being confident enough to be real, to be realistic. The Pharisee doesn’t seem to know what’s genuine; whereas the tax collector is all too aware of his own nature.
There’s a lovely story told of Muhammed Ali, the great boxer, when he was in his prime – and I hope it’s true. Ali was on a plane getting ready to go somewhere, and the air stewardess had to remind him to fasten his seat belt. He replied, ‘Superman don’t need no seatbelt.’ The stewardess replied, ‘And Superman don’t need no airplane either.’ Ali did his
seatbelt up!
He was man enough to admit that the hyperbole had got to him and that actually even he
needed to follow the safety rules. The air stewardess’ wit was enough for him to reconnect with his humanity.
A key to humility is seeing the truth about ourselves – and we always need other
people to help us in that. Baptism is incorporation into a community of people who care for one another – we can reach out to each other because we all know we are absolutely dependent on God. We know the reality of our humanity – we can be genuine because we hear Jesus speaking into our ear ‘go to your home justified’ – treat no one with contempt; know that being genuine – being humble about who you really are – results in your exaltation. We’re in this together – the church isn’t a club for saints; it’s a school for sinners. There’s no need to hide (even from yourself); there’s no need to point; be generous to others in all things because God is generous to you.
God’s Generous Gestures are Genuine, always – let ours be also.