Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity (7 Oct. 2018)

Rise and shine

Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran.  And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.  And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!  And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.  Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.  Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."  Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it."  And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."  Genesis 28:10-17

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!  My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.  Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.  Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah  Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.  As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.  They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.  O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah  Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed!  For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.  For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.  O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!  Psalm 84

To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.  Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.  Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.  Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.  Ephesians 4:22-28

And getting into a boat He crossed over and came to His own city.  And behold, some people brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven."  And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming."  But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?  For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"--He then said to the paralytic--"Rise, pick up your bed and go home."  And he rose and went home.  When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.  Matthew 9:1-8

Many epic stories have the point when the hero is encountered by his teacher and given the choice to "be greater than you currently are."  This is usually the turning point of the story, where the hero goes from being unsure of himself to being completely confident to finish the task before him.  It appeals to our human nature of thinking we can "rise up" and be something more.  But on our own, we cannot.

It sounds like this is what Paul is calling us to attempt in his letter to Ephesus, and it does sound like what happened to Jacob on his way to Haran.  But it isn't.  The "deceiver" doesn't change much.  And Paul knows, clearly, that we cannot on our own "put off our old self."

What, though, has the power to change us?

Read the Gospel account.  Both life changing statements are made by Christ.  "Your sins are forgiven," and "rise, pick up your bed and go home."  Without Christ, we cannot do anything.  We cannot "pull ourselves up by our bootstraps" (sorry Americans).  It is Christ, alone, who has the authority to speak life changing words to us.  We receive this at baptism and communion.  It is there, first, that we are changed, temporally though it is.  And from there that we go out and strive to "sin no more."  Without the change, we cannot hope to do anything.

(sorry for this one being late)