1: Homily for 9-18-16 A The Collect Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Recently I finished reading a biography Curtis Robinson-Tuskegee Airman The book followed his family history from the Civil War to his death in 2009. Several things stood out in this book. The injustices of life that a black person had to endure, their faithfulness to our country despite those injustices, and their family culture. (adlib) I could talk about this book for hours but that is not the purpose of today s homily. In their family culture there was a common thread throughout the years. Education, teaching and preaching. Education was valued and sought after. Many in the family were teachers and preachers, often in addition to other professions such as doctor, lawyer and pharmacist to mention a few. Curtis Robinson was a painter(of houses), a pilot (Officer in the Army Air Corps), a teacher, a preacher and a pharmacist. In fact he owned and operated up to six independent pharmacies in Washington D.C. before being forced out by the large groups such as CVS in the 1990 s. But teaching and preaching was always in the forefront. That made me feel good. I have been a teacher of chemistry on the high school and college level for 46 years. (Curtis Robinson has a degree in chemistry). I have also had an opportunity to preach for a number of years now.
2: So here I stand before you today teaching and preaching. Teaching is the presentation of the facts of the subject matter. Or as Jack Web (Dragnet for those of us old enough to remember) said Just the facts ma am, just the facts) To teach one must study the subject matter and understand the material well. To teach requires training. You have to learn to teach to your audience. You cannot be on a level up there when your audience is down there or vise-versa. Trust me you will not teach them very much. And a mixed audience can be a real challenge. To preach (and the most common definition relates preaching to religious teaching) is to present the knowledge for personal interpretation and personal use. A good teacher can be a lousy preacher and a lousy teacher can be a good preacher. It is a real gift to be both a good teacher and a good preacher. We are all teachers and preachers, not just in our religious lives but our secular lives as well. How good are we? Do we know our material and do we present it a way that others can use to shape their lives? Are you a Do as I say, but not as I do preacher? I find it hard to warm up to that type of preacher. I admit that sometimes I am that kind of preacher but hopefully most of the time I am not. Jesus was the ultimate teacher and preacher. He knew the material cold and was a Do as I say, Do as I Do preacher. What would Jesus do? He would do what he teaches you to do! Why are we not always like that? Let s call it the Curse of being Human So what can I teach and preach to you from today s readings? First let me quote from 1-Timothy. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith
and truth. Yes a teacher/preacher has to tell the truth and not lie. We have to believe the Bible was written by those who are telling the truth and preaching as Jesus would. A reading from Amos; Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, "When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah (f-ah) small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat." The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds. A harsh teaching! Are we like that? Of course not. We give to the needy not expecting to make money off of them. We help the needy by volunteering for Mobile Foodshare, donating a turkey at Thanksgiving, buying backpacks and all of the other wonderful outreach we do at St. George s. And I am sure we do much in our personal lives away from the church. And we don t do it to make money off the needy. But a thought crossed my mind when I thought of how I give to the needy. I keep a record of charitable donations so that at tax time I can claim a charitable donation deduction and get some of my money back. When I donate to the 3:
church (and yes the church is needy) I don t even have to keep a record. They do it for me and provide me with a copy for my taxes. Here I am preaching Don t take advantage of the needy and yet am I actually doing that for personal gain? What would Jesus do? Would he take a charitable deduction on his income tax if he lived in the United States today? I guess I am not always a Do as I say, Do as I Do preacher. 4: The Gospel of Luke: Luke 16:1-13 Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' Then the manager said to himself, `What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.' So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, `How much do you owe my master?' He answered, `A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' Then he asked another, `And how much do you owe?' He replied, `A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, `Take your bill and make it eighty.' And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
5: I said earlier that a good teacher needs to know and understand his/her subject matter. Luke 16 1-13 has me baffled. The rich man praised the shrewd dishonest manager! With Fr. Chris unavailable, and not wanting to bother Phil up in Maine, I asked my daughter Betsy for help. (after all she is an Episcopal priest). So I texted her and she texted me back. Pop you need to look at what is on both sides of the periscope She gave me a reference to read. I decided to google Luke 16 1-13. The replies I got were to read all of Luke 16, the all of the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts also. You will find a common thread concerning the management of wealth. Then you can understand Luke 16 1-13. So I stand before you admitting I do not have the depth of knowledge to teach and preach on today s gospel. There is only one verse I understand. You cannot serve God and wealth 17 times this theme appears in the New Testament. 1-Thimothy The Love of Money is the Root of All Evil Amos in the old testament said it also as we heard earlier in this homily in rather harsh terms. Money is not evil. There is no sin in being wealthy. But if you covet wealth that is the issue. Look at your lives, your family and friends. Did you choose to serve God and not wealth? I have been blessed with a beautiful family, wonderful friends, and a rewarding life. I know that I made the right choice. I pray that you have too. As Jesus would preach Do as I Say Do as I DO Choose to serve God and not wealth and your life will be blessed. Amen.
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