Prokeimenon. Mode 1.
Psalm 32.22,1
Let your mercy, O Lord, be upon us.
Verse: Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous.
The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 2:10-16
Brothers and sisters,
glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also
the Greek. For God shows no partiality. All who have sinned without the law
will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be
judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous
before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles who
have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to
themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law
requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness
and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day when,
according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
The Gospel Reading is from Matthew
4:18-23
At that time, as Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left their boat and their father, and followed him. And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Who are the important people here in Kabiria? What gives a person influence here? What makes a person powerful? What makes someone a somebody? If they have an important office, that gives a person power, which means they can be either a help or a hindrance to you and what you need or want to do. The same with someone who is rich. Depending on how they got their money, they probably have lots of connections and can look up someone on their phone and call them and make things happen. In a classroom, the mwalimu is a somebody to all the wanafunzi. In an office the bwana mkubwa is a somebody to the people who work there and do business there. At a checkpoint, the police person is a somebody when he waves you to pull over and then looks for a reason to separate you from your money. And in the churches, the pastor or the priest is a somebody to everyone in that community, just as the bishop is a somebody to all the churches in the diocese.
But have you noticed, things in the places where we live seem hopeless because everything is controlled by the important people, and the important people are using their position to lord it over the little people like us and to get even more power and money while the rest of us struggle to survive? It’s called in the Bible, ’the way of the world’. And it seems the best strategy is to keep your head down, as we say; to not make waves, as we say; to live in such a way so as not to come to anybody’s attention, because we do not want to get caught up in their nets of corruption and abuse. It is understandable that we live that way. I try to live that way, too. I’ve spent too much time in police stations because some police person was convinced if he ‘arrested’ me that I would bribe him to forget the offense he made up that I did. I don’t pay bribes, so they have to figure out what to do with me when I won’t go along with their game.
But I have observed that many of us Christians take our strategy of dealing with the so-called important people out there into the church with us on Sunday. We come to watch. We come to listen to the Liturgy. We come to listen to the sermon. We come to take part in the Eucharist. But otherwise, we keep our heads down. We don’t get involved. The things that need to be done here are supposed to be done by the priest, or maybe the chanters, aren’t they?. And if it’s a big issue, then leave it for the Bishop to pay for it. And it’s not just us. I’ve seen this same thing happen in churches all across Nairobi, both Orthodox Churches and everybody else. And given the reality that you and I live in every day, really who can blame us?
But we are making an enormous mistake if we are thinking this way. The world may be impressed with the big people out there, the important people who control things for their own advantage. But God ignores these people and their strategies. Today you and I are part of movement, started by Jesus Christ, facilitated by the Holy Spirit, that is advancing God’s rule, God’s reign, God’s Kingdom to the ends of the earth. And who is God using to make this happen? Who is God using to become His blessing, His love in this world? He’s using people who are nobodies in the eyes of the so-called important people around us. Me and you. Jesus said, ‘So the last shall be first and the first shall be last’. (Matthew 20:16)
When Jesus called people to follow him, he didn’t go after the influential people, the rich people, the powerful politicians. Instead, he persuaded four fishermen to follow him. Fishermen! Just let that sink in. In fact, if you look at the list of people who were among Jesus’ followers, very few of them would make it on your list of people to invite to your harambee.
We
are always strongly tempted to defer to the rich or powerful people. What happens in churches when a so-called
‘important’ person shows up? We usher
him or her to the front and give them a special seat. We may even allow them to ‘bring a word’ when
the service is over. And we make sure
they have the first cup of tea or whatever else is on offer. James the brother of our Lord who was the
first Bishop of Jerusalem saw this happen, and do you know what he says?
My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit at my feet,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thought? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you? (James 2:1-7)
Jesus himself says that finding a rich person who is on God’s side when it comes to the advance of God’s kingdom is like finding a camel that somehow made it to the other side from being pushed through the eye of a needle. Let’s just call it rare. God does not make a practice of calling the rich and powerful of this world to be partners with Him in His Kingdom work. And the reason simply is, one cannot serve two masters. A person simply cannot serve both God and his or her wealth. At least according to Jesus. (Matthew 6:24)
So
who does God call to be His partners?
Who are the ones who are touched and transformed by the advance of God’s
Kingdom? Who are the ones who say ‘Yes’
when Jesus calls us to Come, follow Me?
Who are the ones who find Jesus to be faithful and true to His promises? The apostle Paul tells us who. In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul
writes:
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)
God uses men and women and young people just like you and me. And this is what God is doing in us. He is making us as individuals and as a church into the wisdom of God. God is showing the world around us what His righteousness looks like as we reflect His righteousness in all of our relationships and our behavior. God is showing the world what holiness looks like through us – as we become more and more like Christ, we will become less and less like the world around us. We will look more and more like Jesus in what we say and what we do, in what our priorities are. And God is showing the world around us what redemption actually means. So many of our neighbors make a lot of noise about being ‘saved’. But their ‘salvation’ makes no difference in their lives, in how they live, in how they treat people. That is not salvation. Instead, God broadcasts to the whole world through us just what His salvation is, just what redemption means. We aren’t ‘saved’ in order to remain in our slavery to sin, in our bondage to the idols of this world, idols like money, like pleasure, like drunkenness, like gossip, like factions, like power. No, we are saved to be free, free to choose the right, free to be just, free to say no to corruption, free to be kind, free to love.
So when it comes to what God is doing in His Church, to what God is doing in this Church, the people that Christ is calling, the people who are experiencing salvation, the people who are poor in the things of this world like money and power and influence but who are now rich in God and rich in faith – these people God is using to make this Church a colony of heaven, a place where Jesus reigns, a place that when people look at us, they will see what the New Jerusalem is all about.
So what does that mean? It means we must do church differently than all the other churches around us who have missed the mark completely when it comes to what God wants to do in us and through us. First we must realize that it is not the Bishop’s responsibility to make this church happen. It’s your responsibility. It’s not the priest’s responsibility to make this church happen. It’s your responsibility. We are the ones God has called, and we are the ones God will use to bring glory to His name in this place. The bishop plays a necessary role of oversight, and the priest provides access to the sacraments. But all of this is meant to facilitate you and me to be what God is calling us to be in this Church.
The second thing this means for us is that the way we respond to God’s call is to place everything we have and everything we are on His altar as a sacrifice for Him to use for His glory. I have been to many Orthodox Churches over the past 10 years, and almost everywhere people put in a few coins, maybe 50 shillings into the offering. The church can’t even buy chai for after the service with such a tiny amount. I have asked around and almost everywhere people say, it’s the Bishop’s responsibility to give, or it’s the priest’s responsibility to give, or it’s the missionary’s responsibility to give. Wherever this idea came from, it is not what Jesus teaches. It is not what the Apostles teach. It is not what the Early Christians did. It is not the bishop’s responsibility to pay for things here, nor is it the priests’ responsibility, nor is it my responsibility. If you have left the world’s side and are now on God’s side, then you will be thrilled to do everything you can for your Lord. You will give everything you can into the offering. You will give your time to assist with our ministries. And that is because this is your church. This is your ministry. This is your calling.
So I have a couple of challenges. First for our leaders, come up with a budget that reflects our church’s needs and priorities. And make sure that budget includes paying for our priest’s salary, because that is our responsibility before God. And then call a meeting so that we can have input into the budget and ministry priorities of this church. Secondly think and pray about what God might be calling us to do as a parish in terms of outreach. For example, I’m willing to lead a midweek bible study for anyone who wants to participate. There may be ministry needs that you are aware of where you live. Or even with teaching our children here. And then lastly, I challenge you to see yourself as a man or a woman who has been loved by Jesus and called by Jesus to be part of the advance of His Kingdom in this place. Learn what that means, and then do it. Your life will change in very good ways. And this church will change in very good ways.
But it starts when you respond to Jesus’ call on your life by putting everything you have and everything you have on His altar, for Jesus to use for His glory. You have been called. What will you do?
Glory to
the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
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