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26th Sunday after Pentecost
November 9, 2008 Sermon by The Rev. Bill Van Oss, Rector
                                                                                       Readings                                                                                    
 

The Heavenly City: This story, adapted from a Jewish folktale, reminds us of the words of Jesus, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Lo, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you” (Luke 17:20-21). In the same way, the vision of peace begins close to us.

There was once a poor man who grew weary of the corruption and hatred that he experienced every day. He was tired of the constant injustice that his people experienced. His family and friends listened as he spoke passionately of his desire for a city where justice was honored and peace experienced. Night after night he dreamed of a land free from discord, a city where heaven touched earth.

One day he announced that he could wait no longer. He packed a meager meal, kissed his family, and set out in search of the magical city of his dreams. He walked all day, and just before the sun set, he found a place to sleep just off the road, in a forest. He ate his sandwich, said his prayers, and smoothed the earth where he would lie. Just before he went to sleep he placed his shoes in the center of the path, pointing them in the direction he would continue the next day.

That night, as a slept, a sly fellow walked that very path and discovered the traveler’s shoes. Unable to resist a practice joke, he turned the shoes around, pointing them in the direction from which the man had come.

Early the next morning the traveler rose, said his prayers, ate what remained of the food he had brought, and started his journey by walking in the direction his shoes pointed. He walked all day long, and just before the sun set, saw the heavenly city off in the distance. It wasn’t as large has he expected, and it looked strangely familiar. He entered a street that looked much like his own, knocked on a familiar door, greeted the family he found there, and lived happily ever after in the heavenly city of his dreams.

“Keep awake” the Gospel tells us. “Wake up.” “Be watchful.” Because the Bridegroom – that’s Jesus Christ – might arrive at a time you do not expect. Christ may arrive in the middle of the night, and you might find yourself without oil in your lamp to greet Him. So be awake, prepared, and vigilant.

Now, many people have read this strange Gospel story as referring to Christ’s Second coming, at the end of time, this is an event referred to as the Parousia.

This is the belief that Christ will return again, in Glory, and “judge” the living and the dead,” and establish a kingdom that will never end. We affirm this belief in the creed we say each Sunday. It’s the belief expressed in 1st Thessalonians today when Paul writes about “being caught up in the clouds and meeting the Lord in the air.”

Just a little later on in Matthew’s Gospel, this judgment is dramatically depicted as a separating of sheet from the goats. It’s referring to the climactic act of God “breaking in” to human history, when this world will pass away, and God’s perfect kingdom will be established.

Some believers mine the scriptures and attempt to read the signs of the times in order to determine exactly when this second coming will happen. They’re afraid they will be “left behind” to quote the unfortunately popular fiction literature by the same name.

These “Watchtower” folks stand and stare up at the sky, waiting for Christ to return to save them, they want to be part of the few, the chosen.

So they keep looking out there, like the poor man in the story they believe that what they seek lies somewhere in the distance, at a time in the future. They are restless, afraid, and distracted, longing for something, somewhere else.

But the lesson of the Gospel story of the Bridesmaids, and the parable of the poor man, is that God can be found, can be known, can be experienced, right here, right now, under this very roof, in our church, in our home, in our school, in our place of work and play – in our lives here and now.

The climactic act of God’s “breaking in” to the world and into our lives is not just going to happen at some undetermined point in the future. It happens every day – if you’re awake and alert enough to experience it.

The poor man had for the heavenly city of his dreams, the place where heaven touched earth. It was right under his roof. It was his family and community, and hopefully, he discovered that God’s dramatic in-breaking into the world could occur in and through him – through the poor man himself, so that he would see himself as God’s instrument and work for an end to the corruption, hatred and injustice in the city in which he lived.

God’s “breaking in” to the world does not just happen from somewhere out there, up there, at a point in the future. God’s “breaking in” to the world happens through us. We are the word God speaks to the world. It comes from within us, and happens when we love, forgive, reconcile, reach out, stand up for the downtrodden, give generously of our gifts and resources, work for justice and peace, and respect the dignity of every human being. We are instruments of the Divine in-breaking, into our world.

But sometimes we run off, looking for God in another city, in some spectacular cataclysmic event up in the air, in the next life, or in the marketplace of ideas or some false security, like material things. We keep hoping that someone can sell us a packaged flask of inspiration, enlightenment or insight, when the reality is that the bridegroom, Jesus Christ, can be found right under our very roof and the divine in-breaking occurs in and through us.



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