The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY (Retired)
It will come as no surprise when I tell you that we people are pretty dumb
about some things. What's more, we are stubborn about being dumb. Some things,
we just plain cannot seem to learn, no matter how often experience, or teachers,
tell us those things.
Take today's readings. It is a very basic truth that God loves us and that,
if we trust him, he will take good care of us, and provide us with what we need.
Not always with what we want, of course, but for sure, he does
give us what we need. I am not talking about the kind of "needs"
we think we have after we listen to advertisers....you know what I mean, the TV
commercials that tell us that we absolutely have to have this or that. I'm
talking about real needs: the things we need to stay alive and to
be reasonably safe and healthy and happy. Family, good health, a place to live,
something to wear (it doesn't need to be the latest fashion, just something to
keep us warm), food to eat, and God's special helps when we are in really bad
fixes. Those things, God provides, either straight from him, or through the help
of other folks, like our parents or spouse or friends.
But how many of us really believe that we can trust God to provide for us,
and to come to our help when we are in trouble? Not many people. What's more,
when we come across someone who does believe this, we tend to think they are
"simple" or stupid, or un-businesslike, or don't have common sense. Maybe it's
because we want to be in command of our own lives, and not depend on anyone
else, not even God, to provide for us. But, you know, there really are people,
even today, who believe 100% in God's promises. Unfortunately, many of us are
too dumb to learn from experience that this is true, or too stubborn to want to
give up control of our lives and depend on God. "Experience is the best
teacher," the saying goes. But a lot of us don't really believe that!
The psalm for today is in two parts. The first part tells us that the person
who wrote the psalm knows from experience that God does provide
for that person's needs, and the second part tells us that right now, that
person is in a tough spot and is calling on God for help, simply because
experience has taught the person about God's love and willingness to help and
provide for us.
The first reading, from Genesis, is part of the story of God's great promise
to Abram. You remember that God had told Abram, who was in his 70's, to pack up
his tent and collect his family, basically his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot,
and leave home and start travelling. No map, no compass. Just God's promise that
he was going to show Abram a land that would someday belong to Abram and his
descendents. And Abram pointed out that, for heaven's sake, he was old, and his
wife was long past the age of having children, so what on earth was God talking
about? God must have laughed up his sleeve, but he just said, "Come on, pack up
and let's get going, I'll show you where to go and take care of you on the way."
So, Abram did. So far, so good. He believed God's promises and felt he could
depend on God to provide directions, food, water and so on. They packed up and
started walking, driving the sheep and goats along with them.
God led them eventually to the land of Canaan, what we nowadays call Israel,
and showed them all the land. God escorted them all over that area, showing them
the rivers and mountains and caves and fertile farmland and the forests and
everything else. "This," God said, "will be the land that I am giving to you and
your descendents, to be your homeland forever."
But Abram was tired of walking, and maybe he felt extra old after the long
trip; or maybe he, like many of us, was not entirely sure he could depend
completely on all of God's promises. So he said, "That's all very well, Lord,
but let's get real. At my age, and Sarai's age, how can you say that I will have
descendents to inherit this wonderful land? The only heir I have is my servant,
Elizar, whom I have adopted to be my heir and look after my flocks and property
after I pass on."
And God answered, "Don't worry. You will have a son, born of your own body.
But to relieve your mind, let's make a solemn covenant. We'll make it all legal.
Go get the usual animals that are sacrificed for the cutting of a covenant. Cut
them in half, and lay the two halves out opposite each other, with a space in
between...you know how we do it."
Well, Abram did as God told him, and laid out the halves of the animals all
proper, as was always done by his people when they made a solemn covenant. The
vultures and buzzards smelled the fresh blood and came to try to get a free
meal, but Abram drove them away. The sun set, and it became dark...very dark
indeed. And then a torch, and a smoking fire pot appeared, symbolizing the Lord
God, who often used fire and cloud as his symbols when he appeared to people.
The torch and the fire pot passed down the path between the halves of the
sacrificial animals, just as the people who made a solemn covenant would walk
together between the halves of animals. This, according to the custom of the
place and time, made a super-binding contract. God was, you see, binding himself
to keep his promise, in the most solemn and serious way possible.
Abram was content, and believed God.
Paul's letter to the church people in Philippi reminds them that when they
became Christians, they also made a covenant to believe God's promises. Now, he
says, they have to live up to that covenant, and live according to God's
commands, so that they will be ready to receive the things God has promised them
at Baptism: salvation for their souls, and God's providence for them in this
life. Of course, Paul's advice applies to us, too, since we are also baptized
into God's covenant.
The Gospel reading is interesting. Such a short reading, but packed full of
meanings that we mostly don't even think about. The Pharisees warned Jesus about
Herod Antipas. He was the ruler of Galilee, the area where Jesus lived. He was
also the son of Herod the Great, whom you remember was a really nasty piece of
work. Herod the Great was the king who had tried to kill Jesus when he was a
baby. Killing people was the way Herod the Great acted when he was worried that
someone was trying to become king in his place. He had killed his brothers, most
of his sons, and a lot of his officers, because he thought maybe they were
trying to take over his job. When he died, his kingship was divided among the
three sons he had left alive. Herod Antipas was the one who got Galilee. The
other two sons got other parts of Israel.
Herod Antipas had already had John the Baptist killed, and this is probably
why the Pharisees warned Jesus to look out for him.
Jesus understood what a nasty and dangerous man Herod Antipas was. That's why
he called him "that old fox". He knew that Herod Antipas was sly and tried to do
away with everyone who opposed him, often in tricky ways, just as a fox behaves.
But Jesus also had complete confidence that God would take care of him and
protect him, until Jesus had finished the work he came to earth to do. That's
why he said that he was not worried about Herod Antipas and his schemes and
plots.
Jesus also wanted to help people understand about God's love and care for
everyone. Because Jesus, himself, was God's representative on earth, he reminded
the people that he loved the people of Jerusalem, even if those people had often
killed God's prophets in the past. He reminded them that God's love, and his own
love for the people, is like the love of a mother hen that protects her babies
by holding them safely under her wings, keeping them warm and safe from all
harm. Obviously, he trusted that God would care for him, until it was time for
him to be killed in Jerusalem. And he wants us to remember that God loves us and
cares for us, too, until out work on earth is done.
Do you believe this, as strongly as Jesus and Paul did? Or are you, like
Abram, willing to believe, but sometimes, doubt God's care and God's promises?
Amen.
