╨╧рб▒с > ■ 3 5 ■ 2 ье┴ @ Ё┐ k bjbj├.├. "( бD бD k И N N N N N N N b j j j j ~ b > ╢ Ц Ц Ц Ц Ц Ц Ц Ц ╜ ┐ ┐ ┐ ┐ ┐ ┐ $ Ї R F Ъ у N M Ц Ц M M у N N Ц Ц ° M : N Ц N Ц ╜ M ╜ N N Ц К @ №╠А╞ j З ^ ╜ 0 > р х р b b N N N N l р N q L Ц к ╕ ─ Й Ц Ц Ц у у b b Д ц Д √ b b ц Sermon Archive of The Most Rev. John T. Cahoon, Jr.Metropolitan, Anglican Catholic Church October 3, 1999, Trinity XVIII Today's gospel is one of my very favorites. The fact that it is one of my favorites helps me understand why the sin of idolatry is so dangerous. We all have a tendency to remake God in our own image Ч that is, we like to think of God as being pretty much the same kind of person we are. That makes us confident that he will always overlook our shortcomings Ч if God is as sensitive as I am, then of course he'll understand a few slip-ups here and there. That attitude is as foolish as our tendency to like God most when he does what we want done Ч and why we question him most when he acts without paying attention to our best advice. I like today's gospel because it shows Jesus as a clever and witty Bible teacher. Draw your own conclusions, the story is set during the last week of Jesus' earthly life Ч the run-up to the crucifixion. Each of the three major groups within the Judaism of Jesus' time takes one last crack at him to try to humiliate him in front of the crowds. Last week we saw the Pharisees put Jesus in a damned-if-he-did, damned-if-he-didn't situation in regard to healing on the Sabbath. St. Matthew tells us that the supporters of King Herod tried a similar tack regarding paying taxes, and the Sadducees Ч the religious liberals Ч tried the same thing regarding the afterlife. In today's gospel a Pharisee lawyer (a double whammy there) asks Jesus the seemingly innocent question, "Of all the wonderful commandments in our wonderful Law, which one do you think is the most wonderful?" The trick there was that Jews were supposed to think that the Old Testament Law was all of a piece. To take one aspect of the Law and set it above all the others was like pulling a thread at the bottom of a sweater, the whole structure might unravel. The Pharisees had probably spent a good bit of time thinking up this question which they were sure would make Jesus look bad, but he does not even hesitate as he smashes it right back into their faces. He tells them, "There is not one greatest commandment, there are two Ч love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself. The demands of the entire Hebrew Bible can be summed up in those two commandments." Now Jesus gets a measure of revenge as he probably puts on his best innocent choir boy face and says, "Now let me ask you a question. When the Saviour of Israel comes Ч the Messiah Ч the Christ from whom is he going to be descended?" The Pharisees answer correctly, "The Messiah will be a descendant of King David," but their correct answer entangles them further in the spider's web Jesus is spinning. Jesus goes on, "Well, if King David is the Messiah's ancestor, why does David call him 'Lord?' Чsince we know nobody calls anyone younger than he his lord." Jesus cites the first verse of Psalm 110 as evidence. Everybody agreed that King David wrote Psalm 110 about the coming Messiah. Psalm 110 begins with David's saying, "The Lord (that is, God) said unto my Lord (that is, the Messiah), 'Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool." Jesus asks, "How can the Messiah be a descendant of David and David's lord at the same time? If you lawyers and Pharisees know the Bible so well, tell me how the Messiah can possibly be both older than David and younger than David." The Holy Ghost has helped us all be bright little Bible students too, so we know the answer to Jesus' question. The Messiah is both older than David and younger than David because he is God Ч the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. He is David's Lord because he existed from before the beginning of time. He is David's son, his descendant, because he became a full human being a millennium after David lived and died. It is possible that the Pharisees saw what Jesus' question implied, and didn't want to put tongue to it since they believed that the idea that God could be a man was blasphemy. It is also possible that he had them absolutely stumped. In any event, St. Matthew tells us, in this delicious understatement, "And no man was able to answer him a word; neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions." Jesus' opponents realized finally that they were never going to make him go away by beating him in a debate. The only way to make him go away was to kill him. Now lest I indulge myself in further idolatry by congratulating Jesus on his brilliant teaching style, let us not forget that the content of the debate is as important as the debate itself. The demands of God are two: love him (that is to say, obey him and trust him to work things out); and love your neighbor (that is to say, help other people Ч do what is best for them). Every bit of the Old Testament can be summed up in those two commands. Finally, Jesus was trying to get the Pharisees to see that the Old Testament was not just about ethics and morality important as ethics and morality are. Jesus was trying to get them to see that the logical conclusion of the Old Testament was that God would come to earth as a man to save everyone and forgive everyone for all the ways they did not and do not keep the law. The enemies of mankind are sin Ч disobedience -- which leads to death, and Jesus put his feet down on them for us. So King David writes, "The Lord said unto my Lord, 'Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool'." The Collect: Lord, we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil; and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen The Epistle: I Corinthians 1:4 - 8 The Gospel: St. Matthew 22 : 34 - 46 [ l y z Ш Щ Ї ї L M О П Y Z Ї ї З И е ж < = ▌ ▐ ╟ ╚ ▄ ▌ ┼ ╞ ? @ K ! , D E O j ё▌╔┬▒┬▒┬▒┬▒┬▒┬▒┬▒┬▒┬▒┬▒┬▒┬▒┬▒┬▒┬▒┬Ы▒И┬u▒┬u▒ %hwu hwu 0J B* OJ QJ ^J ph А %hwu hwu 0J B* OJ QJ ^J ph А +hwu hwu 0J 6БB* OJ QJ ]Б^J ph А !hwu hwu B* OJ QJ ^J ph А hwu hwu 'hwu hwu 5БB*OJ QJ \Б^J ph А 'hwu hwu 5БB* OJ QJ \Б^J ph А hq| h.AП 0J OJ QJ ^J + [ z Щ ї M П Z ї И ж = ▐ ╚ ▌ ╞ @ ! 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