Heritage and inheritance are strange things. They have such a hold and yet they never completely define those who follow after. Sometimes the inheritance is well-used; sometimes it is wasted; sometimes it is misunderstood; and sometimes it is simply guarded and not used at all. The difficulty is, of course, in recognising what the real inheritance is and just how it might best be used. Remember from last week, that Jesus is precisely on that journey of discernment of the vocation that is his; and clearly others are looking on and wondering the same thing—Is he Elijah? Or John? He seems to be some kind of prophet, some kind of person of God!
There are people who look at the Christian church today and ask the very same questions, only often the assessment is not so positive—Are they some kind of crackpots? Or well-meaning do-gooders? They seem to think they’ve got something that’s unique to them—it sounds rather arrogant really! So what is our real inheritance and what is it that we wish to do with it—how do we want to pass it on?
In the Epistle reading for today, the Christian community is reminded of their inheritance as the followers of Christ. This inheritance is couched in quite convoluted sentence structure, but there’s definitely something there about salvation and redemption; and clearly the outcome of this inheritance is meant to be the praise of God.
The praise of God is at the heart of Christian vocation. We are called to honour the God who loves us, who comes to us in Christ, and who works in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Reformed tradition, whose influence we remember today as we celebrate John Calvin’s 500th birthday, has always been strong on this focus on the praise of God. In that tradition, “the chief end of [humanity]” is described as glorifying and enjoying God forever in one of its catechisms or teaching outlines of the Christian faith. The whole calling of God’s people is summed up in this simple clause—to glorify and enjoy God. But of course, it’s never that simple or is it?
There’s a Jewish folk story about the prophet Elijah and his friend, Rabbi Joshua ben Levi:
The rabbi was asked what favor he might wish. [He] answered only that he be able to join Elijah in his wanderings. Elijah granted his wish only if he refrained from asking any questions about any of the prophet’s actions. [The rabbi] agreed and they began their journey. The first place they came to was the house of an elderly couple who were so poor they had only one old cow. The old couple gave of their hospitality as best they could. The next morning, as the travelers left, Elijah prayed that the old cow would die and it did. The second place they came to was the home of a wealthy man. He had no patience for his visitors and chased them away with the admonition that they should get jobs and not beg from honest people. As they were leaving, they passed the man’s wall and saw that it was crumbling. Elijah prayed that the wall be repaired and it was so. Next, they came to a wealthy synagogue. They were allowed to spend the night with only the smallest of provisions. When they left, Elijah prayed that every member of the synagogue might become a leader.
Finally, they came to a very poor synagogue. Here they were treated with great courtesy and hospitality. When they left, Elijah prayed that God might give them a single wise leader. At this Rabbi Joshua could no longer hold back. He demanded of Elijah an explanation of his actions. At the house of the old couple, Elijah knew that the Angel of Death was coming for the old woman. So he prayed that God might have the angel take the cow instead. At the house of the wealthy man, there was a great treasure hidden in the crumbling wall. Elijah prayed that the wall be restored thus keeping the treasure away from the miser. The story ends with a moral: A synagogue with many leaders will be ruined by many arguments. A town with a single wise leader will be guided to success and prosperity. “Know then, that if [you see] an evil-doer prosper, it is not always [to] his advantage, and if a righteous [person] suffers need and distress, think not God is unjust.” (Ginzberg, Lewis. Legends of the Bible. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1956. p 599. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah)
Earlier in the service, I reminded you of the 4 great mantras of the Protestant Reformation: sola gratia (grace alone), sola fide (faith alone), sola Christi (Christ alone) and sola scriptura (scripture alone). It sounds all very simple doesn’t it? And yet it’s not. Those 4 simple mantras have justified extraordinary judgements upon ourselves and others made by individual would-be Christians as well as whole congregations of us. “Grace alone” has been used to let ourselves off the hook in taking part in God’s work for justice, peace and the integrity of creation. “Faith alone” has been used to demand acts of faith like acts of work from would-be converts and faithful Christians of longstanding. “Christ alone” has been used to disparage people of other faiths, and, at times in Christian history, to justify their destruction. And “Scripture alone” has been used to justify the taking of small pieces of the Bible to chastise and discriminate against others on the basis of so-called “biblical morality”.
Heritage and inheritance are strange things. They have such a hold and yet they never completely define those who follow after. Sometimes the inheritance is well-used; sometimes it is wasted; and sometimes it is simply guarded and not used at all. The difficulty is, of course, in recognising what the real inheritance is and just how it might best be used. Now in discerning that inheritance, remembering that for the Reformed tradition, the ultimate outcome of our heritage is the praise and glory of God just might give us a head start.
Affirming that our salvation comes to us because of God’s grace alone reminds us that we can do nothing to save ourselves. It reminds us that nothing we do can save us. And it reminds us that nothing that others do can separate them from God’s love and God’s mercy either. This affirmation reminds us that we are not the judges of our own salvation or anyone else’s. Judgement is God’s and God is a merciful and gracious judge. Surely in the face of such graciousness, our only response can be praise.
Affirming that we are connected with the good news of our salvation through faith alone reminds us that recognising and accepting God’s graciousness doesn’t require super-human effort from us. It doesn’t require us to do anything to receive God’s mercy, nor does it require of us any particular ability to spout correct doctrine or teaching word perfectly or to get every action right every time. Although good doctrine or teaching and good practice is important in trying to understand and follow God’s will, it isn’t the thing that connects us with God’s love. Rather, this affirmation reminds us that we simply have to put our trust in the promise of God’s grace, God’s love and God’s mercy. Surely in the face of such graciousness, our only response can be praise.
Affirming that we find salvation in and through Christ alone is not an excuse to disparage or vilify others. It is not a reason to coerce Christian practice; or even to despair over the numbers in the church. Rather, this affirmation reminds us that God’s graciousness has been profoundly and uniquely proclaimed in and through Christ, and that it is not our proclamation that saves the world. Christ alone embodies the fullness of God. Surely in the face of such graciousness, our only response can be praise.
Affirming that we find our faith and discover Christ in and through scripture alone does not mean that our faith and our experience of who God is, is confined to scripture, although it is the most important source for us in gaining access to the story of the Christ event. Sola scriptura does not mean that every word of scripture is inerrant. It is after all, the work of human hands, even if inspired by the human encounter with God. It doesn’t mean that we can use proof-texts from material out of cultures vastly different from our own to demand a particular way of operating in the world. And it doesn’t let us off the hook for doing the hard work of reading the scriptures in our contemporary context and being open to the work of the Spirit is discerning God’s message to us through the scripture for our time. This affirmation does remind us that we have a unique story about a unique event and that unique story-event is about God’s love, God’s grace and God’s mercy. Surely in the face of such graciousness, our only response can be praise.
Some of you know that my week has been filled with interactions with someone who has been treated very poorly by our society’s mental health system. This system can only see that person as someone who has a variety of issues—medical and otherwise; and it expects him to behave in particular ways in order to be able to negotiate a complex bureaucracy. Our inheritance in Christ is not like that and our interactions with other people cannot be like that for we understand that salvation, redemption, reconciliation, liberation comes to us sola gratia, sola fide, sola Christi and sola scriptura. Surely in the face of such graciousness, our only response can be praise.
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