Sunday Sermon 12/11/11

The readings today are of groups and individuals.

First is Isiah. Isiah is captured by the spiritual world and has found fulfillment there. There is no need for him to look elsewhere; in his relationship with God he has found freedom and justice, attributes usually thought of in terms of the relationship with an individual and his society. He does not go into the areas described by Paul or Mark later in the readings. He is just fine without inquiry, without defining action. He is Mary to the world's Martha.

Then comes Paul with surprisingly modern advice with an equally surprising conclusion: "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.""Prove all things?" Paul, a man of science? A man of rational inquiry? And after your testing, throw out that which is not good? After what is not good is proved true, reject it. So evil is both true and excluded. Is Paul some time-traveler from modern day with scientific questions and a giant moral conclusion? Reject what is true if it is not good? Uncertainty might be true but you cannot live by it. You must build your world with that which is both true and good, a remarkable demand of personal responsibility, power and judgment.

Finally, John the Baptist. Questioned by the emissaries of the Pharisees as to who he is, John answers only in the negative, only who he is not. It must have been a maddening discussion. But John has a point to make. In a world of names, linage, family identification and tribes John wants to be seen as a doer of deeds, a man judged by his actions.

The spiritual, the rational and moral decider, the doer of deeds--all have fulfillment in God, and God accepts each and all of their paths to him.