15 Pentecost/Year A/Sept 13, 2020

The Season of Creation

Genesis 50:15-21; Psalm 103:(1-7) 8-13; Matthew 18:21-35

This past week, I listened to part 1 (of a 2-part series) in a PODCAST featuring Bishop Rob Wright of Atlanta, and The Rev Barbara Brown Taylor, an author, and Episcopal Priest. This week’s topic was about the changing ways we encounter and see God in the world.

In the interview, The Rev Barbara Brown Taylor offered this perspective about Jesus…“In my view, Jesus changed lives because he was able to change the way people imagined their lives. He dared them to imagine the stranger as neighbor, the child as teacher, the enemy as mirror, the deity as loving father. He helped them imagine lepers, women, and Roman centurions as exemplars of faith. He asked them to imagine that the most important person at the table was the waiter, and that the end of the line was the place to be. At the moment, I cannot think of a single story he told that was not intended to change the way his listeners imagined the world.”–The Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor

Think about that, every time you prepare to read or listen to the Gospels… At the moment, I cannot think of a single story he told that was not intended to change the way his listeners imagined the world.”

I like to think of her words as a “sneak peak” or a “spoiler alert” for us, every time we get ready to read the scriptures - telling us that Jesus is about to change the way we imagine our lives and the world around us….We are given a head start, to prepare ourselves to hear the Good News about God’s love, that Jesus is about to proclaim…

I think she’s telling us, to get ready, pay attention, open your eyes, open your ears….look and listen…Jesus is about to show us all something, we’ve never imagined before…and as crazy as some of it may sound…and as counter-cultural as it most of it may sound….when we dare to see the world, and act in the world, in the way Jesus is asking us to imagine…there will be no place we go, that we will not encounter the love and mercy of God, at work in us, in the people among us, and in all of the created world that surrounds us.

And when we see the people and the created world, through the eyes of God…we can imagine a world, in which conflicts, addressed with love, and forgiveness and mercy can lead to healing and reconciliation, among all God’s people and all of God’s creation…

And as the Presiding Bishop Michael Curry likes to remind us often…..paying attention to Jesus, changes lives…following in the Way of Love that Jesus has taught us, and shown us, taking his teachings seriously, letting his Spirit take the lead in our lives, will help us to transform our world, “from the nightmare it often is, into the dream that God intends.”

The world we are living in right now, often feels like a nightmare, at times…there’s a heavy, unforgiving weight, resting upon the backs and shoulders of so many people right now, who lie awake every night, worrying that this nightmare will never end…the nightmare of people suffering from illness, the nightmare of lives and properties destroyed by fires, and hurricanes…and the nightmare of never-ending conflict… Conflicts about the way to address the pandemic, conflicts about addressing racism and discrimination in our society, conflicts about religion, conflicts about politics, conflicts about climate change…the list could go on…

Last week Jesus was asking us to change the way we imagined dealing with conflicts… Jesus spoke about how to lovingly, and respectfully deal with conflict in our lives, by putting God’s love, himself, in the center of all our prayers, conversations, and conflicts…not just once, but as many times, and in a variety of ways that we can….and to never give up, in working towards healing and reconciliation with our neighbors, with our enemies, those who have sinned against us, or those we have wronged…

This week, he offers a little more about what it means to lovingly and respectfully deal with conflict in our lives when he addresses Peter’s question about how many times to forgive someone…

Jesus shares a parable comparing the kingdom of heaven to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves…..

In the parable, Jesus calls attention to the need for patience, compassion and mercy when struggling with forgiving others… the same patience, compassion, and mercy that we often forget, that we, ourselves, have received more than once…

And we are reminded again this week, when addressing forgiveness, in the midst of conflict, it’s not a one-time thing; it’s a continuing process of learning what it means to forgive and be forgiven; it’s a continuing process of being changed in a way that helps us to forgive others as Jesus has taught us to forgive, and it’s a continuing process of learning to see the world and its people through the eyes of God, so that we can do the work we are being called to do, in bringing about healing and reconciliation among all God’s people, and all of creation.

Jesus challenges us, especially in times of conflict…to see the world and its people through God’s eyes…to imagine what the dream of God looks like…here on earth….and to walk and speak and live in a way that works towards bringing that dream to realization…

When we learn to see the people and the created world, through the eyes of God…we can imagine a world, in which conflicts, addressed with love, and forgiveness and mercy can indeed lead to healing and reconciliation, among all God’s people…and all of God’s creation…

IN the gospels, Jesus’ intention is always to change how we imagine the world…from the nightmare it often is, into the dream God intends...(Presiding Bishop Michael Curry)

Think about that, every time you prepare to read or listen to the Gospels… As the Rev Barbara Brown Taylor reminds us, I cannot think of a single story Jesus told that was not intended to change the way his listeners imagined the world.”

May I offer up something for you to try out this week?

Set aside some time this week to be still and re-read the gospel passages from the past 2 weeks… Matthew 18:15-35…

Listen for the ways Jesus is changing how you view your own life, and the lives of those around you, in these difficult times, we find ourselves in…

What are some ways Jesus is challenging you to change the way you deal with conflicts and forgiveness for yourself, those in your small social circle…as well as those in the wider community?

And set aside some time this week, too, to just walk and wander….outside, or in the places that reside in your heart and mind….imagine yourself looking at the world, through God’s eyes…encountering God, and the world God sees, by paying loving attention to everything God has created and called good…everything…the people, the waters, the trees, the grass, the flowers, the mountains, the animals, the birds, the bees, the butterflies, the bears, the eagles, the ravens, the fish… the sky, the stars….

All of this…is part of the dream of God…that we would see the world through God’s eyes, and love one another, and care for one another, and all of creation…

Today and every day, we are invited to see the world through God’s eyes…and to be grateful…

Look and Be Grateful story by Tomie dePaola (2015)

Open your eyes…and look.

Open your eyes…and see,

And say THANK YOU…for TODAY is TODAY.

Be GRATEFUL,

For everything you see.

Have GRATITUDE.

TODAY is TODAY,

And it is a GIFT.

So, Be GRATEFUL.

After sermon music reflection time: How Great thou art (2 verses) - sung by Ali Hosford

Rev Julie Platson

St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church

Sitka, Alaska