4 Pentecost, A p 8, July 2, 2017
Jeremiah 28:5-9 Psalm 89:1-4,15-18
We can say that the American Revolution was birthed out of England and we have always retained Englishness without being English. This week we celebrate the lives of American prophets and heroes, Patrick Henry, Thomas Payne, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams and many others. We find them still present in our lives as part of our American identity.
The New Testament is about a religious revolution. It is about the separation of an offspring religion from a parent religion. It was about both subtle and significant changes in religious behaviors, practices and understanding. It was about the separation of the church from the synagogue.
The process of separation in a revolution is not always peaceful. The separation of the church from the synagogue was not always peaceful. Former friends and family members became separated. Some of the hardest words attributed to Jesus in the Gospel come as explanation for why the separation was occurring between the synagogue and church. The New Testament is a book of a faith community being born in revolution.
Probably one of the most significant books of the last half of the 20th century was a book that gave us the phrase "paradigm shift." T. S. Kuhn called the revolution within the scientific community a "paradigm shift." Einsteinian physics was a revolt against Newtonian physics. Einstein discovered problems with energy, mass and matter that could not be answered with Newtonian mathematics so he proposed his theory of relativity to provide answers to new unsolved problems.
The Christian Church was a paradigm shift from the synagogue. The New Testament are the writings about this paradigm shift. What was the main issue or the main problem which brought about this paradigm shift?
One becomes a part of a family by birth. One cannot choose birth or the family into which one is born. How can one become a part of a family without being born into it? One can be adopted. Can one understand that the naturally born might have a sense of superior family identity over the adopted children?
Probably the paradigm shift occurred between the synagogue and the church mainly because of the nature of the adoption program of the synagogue. Most Jews were those who were born into Jewish families, but Judaism did have an adoption program, they had proselyte baptism for the non-Jew to be received into the synagogue community. But if you were received into the synagogue, you were expected to follow the ritual purity requirements of the synagogue.
The adoption pattern of Christian baptism was too inclusive for the synagogue. Peter and Paul began to let people into the community of faith without fulfilling all of the ritual purity customs of Judaism. Peter and Paul had too lenient requirements for being a part of the church. Why? The Gentiles people who were enamored with message of Christ, were not enamored with all of the ritual purity requirements of Judaism.
Christian evangelism was much more inclusive than Jewish evangelism. This drive to share the message of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible is what caused the great revolution and paradigm shift which gave birth to Gentile Christianity.
How does one change paradigms? Science is supposed to take a non-emotional approach to subject matter, but T.S. Kuhn said that to change paradigms one had to make a conversion. It was quite a novelty to use religious and political language to speak about changes in scientific thinking.
Between the paradigms of the synagogue and church there were irreconcilable differences which led to practices of separation and divorce.
The widespread incorporation of Gentiles as adopted members of the church brought about the painful divorce between synagogue and church. Peter and Paul wanted the people of the synagogue to accept evangelism to the Gentile people. Peter and Paul wanted members of synagogue to accept the churches' tolerant evangelism of the Gentiles. St. Paul wrote that all people Jews and Gentile were born under the conditions of sin. One did not avoid sin, simply by being an observant Jew; one dealt with sin by receiving the grace and power of God's Spirit. The Gospel of Matthew is about the effort to convince people of the synagogue that they still had a place in the Jesus Movement. But many members of the synagogue believed that such evangelism to the Gentiles would result in the loss of Jewish identity.
Why do people convert? They convert when they find winsome ideas. With new ideas, new social practices follow. Conversion happens for pragmatic reason even if it is a spouse converted to the faith community of his or her spouse. How does conversion happen? Conversion happens when we welcome new ideas and new friends to influence our lives.
The Gospel evangelists registered their success when they were welcomed into the lives of people and when people welcomed the Gospel message into their lives to become the faith practice of their lives.
As people welcomed the Gospel and evangelists the presence of Christ has been transmitted through history. You and I received and welcomed the Gospel into our lives from people who gave it to us. And in so doing, we believe that the presence of Christ has been known.
Today we believe in a God who welcomes all to good news. In the converting event of welcome, the presence of Christ is known and renewed into a new time and place.
You and I have probably been through many different conversion experiences in our lives; some of those conversions have been quite radical, even to the point of leaving participation with former acquaintances and taking up new friends.
Today, you and I are challenged by the promise of conversion and welcome. Have we made our Episcopal Church so exclusive and inflexible that we are no longer winsome to people in our world? There have been so many paradigm changes in our post-modern culture today, people of the church often feel that we will lose our Christianity if we compromise too much with the culture-at-large.
The early Christians adopted the paradigm of evangelism to include the Gentiles in a new faith community. How will we let evangelism change us? What must we do as a parish to have more people welcome the Gospel of Christ into their lives.
Let us live and speak our commitment to Christ in such a way that we will be able to be welcomed into the lives of people who need the good news of Christ. Amen.
Jeremiah 28:5-9 Psalm 89:1-4,15-18
Romans
6:12-23 Matthew 10:40-42
Lectionary LinkWe can say that the American Revolution was birthed out of England and we have always retained Englishness without being English. This week we celebrate the lives of American prophets and heroes, Patrick Henry, Thomas Payne, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams and many others. We find them still present in our lives as part of our American identity.
The New Testament is about a religious revolution. It is about the separation of an offspring religion from a parent religion. It was about both subtle and significant changes in religious behaviors, practices and understanding. It was about the separation of the church from the synagogue.
The process of separation in a revolution is not always peaceful. The separation of the church from the synagogue was not always peaceful. Former friends and family members became separated. Some of the hardest words attributed to Jesus in the Gospel come as explanation for why the separation was occurring between the synagogue and church. The New Testament is a book of a faith community being born in revolution.
Probably one of the most significant books of the last half of the 20th century was a book that gave us the phrase "paradigm shift." T. S. Kuhn called the revolution within the scientific community a "paradigm shift." Einsteinian physics was a revolt against Newtonian physics. Einstein discovered problems with energy, mass and matter that could not be answered with Newtonian mathematics so he proposed his theory of relativity to provide answers to new unsolved problems.
The Christian Church was a paradigm shift from the synagogue. The New Testament are the writings about this paradigm shift. What was the main issue or the main problem which brought about this paradigm shift?
One becomes a part of a family by birth. One cannot choose birth or the family into which one is born. How can one become a part of a family without being born into it? One can be adopted. Can one understand that the naturally born might have a sense of superior family identity over the adopted children?
Probably the paradigm shift occurred between the synagogue and the church mainly because of the nature of the adoption program of the synagogue. Most Jews were those who were born into Jewish families, but Judaism did have an adoption program, they had proselyte baptism for the non-Jew to be received into the synagogue community. But if you were received into the synagogue, you were expected to follow the ritual purity requirements of the synagogue.
The adoption pattern of Christian baptism was too inclusive for the synagogue. Peter and Paul began to let people into the community of faith without fulfilling all of the ritual purity customs of Judaism. Peter and Paul had too lenient requirements for being a part of the church. Why? The Gentiles people who were enamored with message of Christ, were not enamored with all of the ritual purity requirements of Judaism.
Christian evangelism was much more inclusive than Jewish evangelism. This drive to share the message of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible is what caused the great revolution and paradigm shift which gave birth to Gentile Christianity.
How does one change paradigms? Science is supposed to take a non-emotional approach to subject matter, but T.S. Kuhn said that to change paradigms one had to make a conversion. It was quite a novelty to use religious and political language to speak about changes in scientific thinking.
Between the paradigms of the synagogue and church there were irreconcilable differences which led to practices of separation and divorce.
The widespread incorporation of Gentiles as adopted members of the church brought about the painful divorce between synagogue and church. Peter and Paul wanted the people of the synagogue to accept evangelism to the Gentile people. Peter and Paul wanted members of synagogue to accept the churches' tolerant evangelism of the Gentiles. St. Paul wrote that all people Jews and Gentile were born under the conditions of sin. One did not avoid sin, simply by being an observant Jew; one dealt with sin by receiving the grace and power of God's Spirit. The Gospel of Matthew is about the effort to convince people of the synagogue that they still had a place in the Jesus Movement. But many members of the synagogue believed that such evangelism to the Gentiles would result in the loss of Jewish identity.
Why do people convert? They convert when they find winsome ideas. With new ideas, new social practices follow. Conversion happens for pragmatic reason even if it is a spouse converted to the faith community of his or her spouse. How does conversion happen? Conversion happens when we welcome new ideas and new friends to influence our lives.
The Gospel evangelists registered their success when they were welcomed into the lives of people and when people welcomed the Gospel message into their lives to become the faith practice of their lives.
As people welcomed the Gospel and evangelists the presence of Christ has been transmitted through history. You and I received and welcomed the Gospel into our lives from people who gave it to us. And in so doing, we believe that the presence of Christ has been known.
Today we believe in a God who welcomes all to good news. In the converting event of welcome, the presence of Christ is known and renewed into a new time and place.
You and I have probably been through many different conversion experiences in our lives; some of those conversions have been quite radical, even to the point of leaving participation with former acquaintances and taking up new friends.
Today, you and I are challenged by the promise of conversion and welcome. Have we made our Episcopal Church so exclusive and inflexible that we are no longer winsome to people in our world? There have been so many paradigm changes in our post-modern culture today, people of the church often feel that we will lose our Christianity if we compromise too much with the culture-at-large.
The early Christians adopted the paradigm of evangelism to include the Gentiles in a new faith community. How will we let evangelism change us? What must we do as a parish to have more people welcome the Gospel of Christ into their lives.
Let us live and speak our commitment to Christ in such a way that we will be able to be welcomed into the lives of people who need the good news of Christ. Amen.
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