All things New (proper 6 B)

 

             Mustard Bushes above the Sea of Galilee, photo by Fr. James Martin, SJ

All Things New
Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6 B)
13th June 2021
Homily Preached at Trinity Episcopal Church

Ashland, Oregon
8:00 a.m. Spoken Mass; 10:00 a.m. Sung Mass
Ezekiel 17:22-end; Psalm 92:1-4, 11-14; 2 Cor 5:6-10, 14-17; Mark 4:26-34

The Rev. Fr. Tony Hutchinson, SCP, Ph.D.

God, take away our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. Amen.

 

 

I have learned over the course of my life, in many different settings, the truth of this somewhat counter-intuitive truism: a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved; a joy shared is a joy doubled. 

 

If we run into bad things, problems, or even horrors, it is a good thing to talk to others about them, and this sharing helps us process them, come to grips with them, and even find solutions to them.  Simply naming our sorrows to a discreet, listening friend seems to help lighten them. 

 

And if we experience joy, sharing this does not dissipate our joy, weaken it, or divide it, as if joy were some kind of fixed income, a sum that if spent can only be reduced.  It is not, to use an image of mathematician John Nash, a zero-sum game.  Joy shared increases.  That’s one of the points, I think, in the story of Jesus multiplying the loaves:  sharing good increases good, it does not diminish or reduce it.  

 

It most definitely is the logic behind Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan:  when told that we should love our neighbor, we should not timidly ask “and just who exactly does that include?” so we don’t feel obligated to squander our fixed sum of love on those outside our neighborly ambit.  Rather, we treat others with compassion and love, and the scope of our neighbors multiplies. 

It is also the logic behind the Parable of the Talents or the Pounds, whish we read earlier this week in Morning Prayer:  the one who fearfully hides and buries the little he has been entrusted with in order to try to save t, has it all taken away from him; the one who goes out fearlessly and risks it all to build the investment, not only makes a huge profit, but is entrusted with more and more.

Today’s epistle says that our faith in the crucified and resurrected One means bad is not contagious and good is not a zero sum game:  “We are always confident…  for we walk by faith, not by sight… For the love of Christ urges us on… [T]herefore, we regard no one from a human point of view… [I]f anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”   

And our Gospel today has two parables of the Reign of God:  it is like a seed that grows all on its own, without the gardener knowing, and like a tiny mustard seed that ends up a huge shrub so big that birds find refuge in it.  When you are living in the Reign of God, growth happens on its own, and it produces, as the Prayer Book puts it, “more than we can ask or imagine.” 

Today’s Psalm expresses it more concretely.  Here is my translation: 

 

“It is a good thing to give thanks to Yahweh,
and to sing praises to your Name, O Most High;

To tell of your loving-kindness early in the morning
and of your faithfulness in the night season…

For you have given me joy through your acts, O Yahweh;

I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.

The one who is quick to give alms shall flourish like a palm tree,
and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.

Those who are planted in the house of Yahweh
shall flourish in our God’s courtyards;

Even when old, they shall still bear fruit;
and be green and succulent." 

 

The point is not that if you follow God, only good things will happen to you, but rather that if we have faith and thankfulness for God’s gracious acts, we are generous and compassionate (that’s what “righteous” zadik in verse 11 means), we will find God’s blessings multiplied and not diminished.  And this unnaturally so—even old plants, that should be dried, withered, and sterile, when planted in God stay green and fresh and produce much fruit.

 

It’s all about trusting God, whose basic character is to be provident and prodigal. 

 

That’s why when faced with challenges to parish vitality, we should not hunker down and retract, but to go whole hog all the more into broader ministry.

 

That’s why when faced with cash flow problems, we should be more generous in our outreach and stewardship rather than more stingy. 

 

That’s why when others hurt us, we should turn the other cheek, and show more love, rather than returning evil for evil. 

 

Paul touches on this great principle when he appeals for alms from the Corinthians in these words:  “[T]the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver”  (2 Cor 9:6-7).

 

The Psalter says elsewhere, “Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves” (Psalm 126:6).  Even if you are suffering sowing as bountifully as you can means you will reap bountifully. 

 

This is not to say that we should be foolish or careless.  Remember Jesus told us to be smart as snakes but harmless as doves.  Jesus demands street smarts.    But it does mean that in the economy of God, there are no zero sums, and an increase in love and service means we will have more to give, not less.   On occasion we may need to cut back or withdraw a bit, but this should be so we can better serve, perhaps better focus our service to make it more effective, and be genuinely more generous in our real situation. We should never cut back or withdraw because we are abandoning hope out of fear.   That would spell increasingly reduced resources, and quickened decline and death, if only of our own hearts.   

 

In all this, we do need to take care of ourselves—not for our own sake, but so we are in a position better to help others.  The selfishness of people who seek good for themselves simply for themselves seems to impose a limit to what they can realistically achieve.  Stinginess, either with time, money, or attention, results in a reduction of what you think you are preserving.  But if you work hard and are attentive to gaining strength and resources so you can share and help others, you will find almost on a daily basis a miraculous multiplication of loaves.

 

It’s all about trust and thanks.  They drive out selfishness, anger, and fearful stinginess. 

 

A sorrow shared is a sorrow halved; joy shared is joy doubled.  Sow sparingly, and reap less and less; sow generously, and a bumper crop will come  Trust in God, and let thankfulness drive out fear.  Those who despite weeping sow the seeds, will surely harvest in joy. 

 

In the name of Christ.    Amen