19 Pentecost, Cycle A Proper 23, October 15, 2017
Exodus 32:1-14 Psalm 23
Philippians 4:1-9 Matthew 22:1-14
In religious polls and surveys,
people are asked about their religious faith and group participation. We
are told today that the largest religious group in America now is not the
Protestants, not the Catholics, or Muslims, or Evangelicals or Charismatics or
Pentecostals. The largest group is actually a negative. It is the
group of "nones," the non-affiliated and those who have no interest
in the traditional faith communities.
Is this a bad thing that we are
becoming people who don't identify with religion, faith communities or even the
reality of God? Or are people just able to be more honest today?
Faith and religion used to be so apple pie in America that one could not be
honest about being disinterested in God and religion.
The punchline of the parable of
Jesus is this: many are called but few are chosen.
This very harsh and even cruel
parable is about the harsh reality of being chosen. The reality of
spirituality is that few are chosen. The people who seem to be the chosen
of society in their status and wealth and social prestige turn out to be those
who are not chosen in their actual inner lives of faith. There are many
religious people who believe that being chosen means that they have public and
political power. They seek alliances with government as their affirming
sign.
Saul of Tarsus seemed to be an
obvious chosen one. He was a devout Pharisee. He could not see or
understand the invitation of God that was coming through Jesus. He was
angered by the invitation, so much so that he persecuted the Christian
evangelists and even seem to preside over the stoning of St. Stephen.
Saul was being called but he was not yet chosen.
The parable of Jesus gives us
insights about the cruel reality of being chosen. It indicates that most
people are "nones." Practicing a belief in God and the Gospel
are completely irrelevant to their lives. The parable also indicates that
people can be called and seem to be religious but not experience being chosen.
How do you know that you've been
chosen? One is not chosen if one can easily avoid God. One is not
chosen if business, money, leisure and many other things have more appeal than
God. If one does not connect with God, one replaces the divine with many
surrogates, many replacement idols.
Being called and chosen is a not an
automatic thing. Everyone is call but not everyone is chosen and that is
the harsh reality of life. It is the harsh reality that makes it often
seem as though God, goodness and faith are actually losing in public life.
Not everyone all at the same time
can be in the right conditions of being chosen. That is just the sad fact
of the Gospel. It obviously was a concern of the early church
leaders. Why wasn't God universally winsome to everyone. Why can't
everyone just be automatic God-lovers?
I don't think the question is why
people are not chosen, but when will they be chosen?
Saul was called but not
chosen. He persecuted the followers of Jesus until he had his dramatic
conversion and discovered himself to be chosen. And as the Apostle Paul
he testified that he came to be chosen by God and that the experience of being
chosen was opened for anyone to have, but it was not automatic.
This world is full of lots of
called people. All churches and communities of faith are full of lots of
called people. But not everyone knows the experience of being chosen.
What is it to be chosen? It's
when gentleness and kindness just seems right. It is when freedom from
worry happens. It is when peace guards one's heart. It is when
thanksgiving arises as natural as the morning dew. It's when one can
rejoice even when there seems to be no reason to rejoice. It is when
generosity seems obvious and joyful and not a heroic gesture or a
sacrifice. Chosen people love to give as though it was natural as
breathing. Chosen people come to church not to get but to minister.
They are not religious consumers or people looking for entertainment at
church. Chosen people know the esteem of being loved by God as being
sufficient to everything in their lives. I feel sorry for people who
cannot know the experience of being chosen in the way of knowing God's love,
even as I know that I can't make it happen for them.
Many are called but few are
chosen. This is the harsh reality of life. And we do well to ask
ourselves if we are chosen? Am I chosen? Do I live my life as
though I am chosen? Am I playing a religious game for appearances to seem
chosen? Am I keeping involved in religion as I wait to be surprised to be
chosen by God. Lots of people who don't experience being chosen, graduate
from religious practice because it was just something to have on the resume of
appearances. It is something to have as
part of the village to raise one’s children and to move on from.
So welcome to the harsh
reality of the parable of Jesus. If one can avoid God, then go ahead and
do so. If lots of things are more desirable than God then go ahead and follow
them; if they can be idols, golden calves, in the place of God, then let them
be so. If generosity is not joyful, cheerful or fun, don't do it.
Don't play at religion. Don't throw a pittance at God or religion as
false guilt of not really being engaged by the reality of God. The only
thing that I would say about being chosen is to keep the future open. The
future can bring the failure of idols when addictions set in. When
selfishness reaches the point of destructive excess, people may be open to
being chosen.
People can have the experience of
being chosen and lose it if it is not practiced. Being chosen is not a onetime
event. Being chosen can still be a future experience for each of us.
The parable of Jesus today invites
us to consider the harsh reality of coming to the place of being chosen.
And the Gospel for each of us today, is that we might come more fully into the
reality of being chosen. Amen.
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