Sermon on the Sacred 22nd Sunday after Pentecost October 20, 2024 San Carlos Community Church

Today in the Book of Exodus, we hear God tell the Israelites where to worship him and why to worship him.?This is part of some extensive material in the Old Testament about the Ark of the Covenant, which was essentially a moveable altar to God,

and the new altar to God that replaced the Ark, namely the temple,

and the proper means to maintain that temple, what to offer in it and how to offer it, who should offer it, what they should say, what they should wear, how they should comport themselves and so on and so on – all the business of running an altar.

God says: “That's where I'll meet you; that's where I'll speak with you.”

And God says “the purpose of this altar is to help you realize that I am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that I could dwell with you. I am God, your God.”

Then God adds this phrase, which is most important:

“I am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”?This phrase occurs dozens of times in the Old Testament, almost every time after God gives a command.

“I am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”

That is why you should do what I tell you, says God.?I have done you a big favor.?I created you and I saved you.? Hold me and this holy place, my altar, and my commandments sacred, respect the sacred, respect the maker of life, maintain a holy place to remind you of the maker of life, maintain a lifestyle that reminds you every day of the maker of life; that’s what God said to the ancient Hebrews and that’s what God says to us today.

So we come to church, we keep the commandments, for us the ten commandments, but not all the dietary laws – we do not think that is essential.?We try to fulfill the ten commandments, especially the two really big commandments – to love God and to love our neighbors - and we hope that God will look with favor upon us for considering both God and neighbor sacred.

Next in the bible today we hear the further adventures of Paul and discover that his countrymen accused him of violating their sacred place, the temple precinct, which God had instructed them to build.? And he had violated other sacred doctrines and practices, or so they thought.? His countrymen were already mad at him for preaching to the gentiles in the first place, so he was on a short leash, under great suspicion, having already done something bad, and suspected of sooner or later doing something worse.

At any rate, Saint Luke the author of the Book of Acts, tells us:

"When the seven days of their purification were nearly up, some Jews from around Ephesus spotted him in the Temple. At once they turned the place upside-down. They grabbed Paul?and started yelling at the top of their lungs, 'Help! You Israelites, help! This is the man who is going all over the world telling lies against us and our religion and this place. He's even brought Greeks in here and defiled this holy place.'

Soon the whole city was in an uproar, people running from everywhere to the Temple to get in on the action.?word came to the captain of the guard, 'A riot! The whole city's boiling over!'"?

The Bible often sounds uncannily contemporary.?This account of a riot sounds like it could have happened yesterday, even in the language of the older translations, but especially in this newer one, the work of the redoubtable Eugene Peterson, now a retired Presbyterian minister:

“Soon the whole city was in an uproar, people running from everywhere to the Temple to get in on the action. They grabbed Paul, dragged him outside, and locked the Temple gates so he couldn't get back in and gain sanctuary.? As they were trying to kill him, word came to the captain of the guard, "A riot! The whole city's boiling over!"? He acted swiftly. His soldiers and centurions ran to the scene at once. As soon as the mob saw the captain and his soldiers, they quit beating Paul.? The captain came up and put Paul under arrest. He first ordered him handcuffed, and then asked who he was and what he had done.? All he got from the crowd were shouts, one yelling this, another that. It was impossible to tell one word from another in the mob hysteria, so the captain ordered Paul taken to the military barracks.”

We have read a story like this a thousand times by now.?Somebody does something.?It is misunderstood or perhaps deliberately misinterpreted.?Or perhaps the person did something deliberately provocative.

Some group parades through town.?Counter demonstrators appear.?Somebody says something or does something, - they did this, they did that, they can’t do that - we must stop them – we can’t let them get away with that - and so on.??People get upset; a fight starts and all sorts of people join in; so we have riot, a melee, a brannigan, a brawl, a fuss, a demo, a fracas - notice the wealth of terminology for disorder. ?People have gone mad, lost their minds, taken leave of their senses, run amok.?

So the police, the cops, the gendarmes, les fliques, the authorities, in this case, Roman soldiers, arrive and somehow they’re supposed to figure out what’s going on, who started this and how to finish it.?

In this case the Bible tells us that the Roman soldiers arrived and they grabbed Paul, pulled him away from the crowd and their captain asked who he was and what he had done.?All he got from the crowd were shouts as the Bible tells us, “one yelling this, another that.”??

How contemporary.? This is our world.?The 24-hour news cycle is a 24 hour a day riot, dozens of sources yelling this; dozens more yelling that.?

It being impossible to understand one word from another in the hysteria, the captain of the guard gives orders and Paul is taken to the military barracks.?

So ends today’s reading.?There is more to come. We’ll hear more in the weeks ahead about the aftermath of this riot, this fracas, the sort of disturbance that seemed to follow Paul wherever he went and followed Jesus too.??

How is it that the Prince of Prince somehow stirred up so much strife??

Remember we have been hearing for weeks that Paul wanted to come to Jerusalem, like Jesus; and like Jesus had been warned or had premonitions that it might be better to stay away.? It seems that they both were drawn?by the hand of God, moved by the Holy Spirit, to the sacred, to the center, to the most important city in the world for them, to the temple, to the presence of God as God had been understood by them and their ancestors for ages.??

What had Paul and Jesus done to provoke this sort of reaction??Well, the short answer is that they violated some people’s sense of the sacred.?Now before you get too self-righteously angry at these people long ago for getting angry at the founders of our religion, just think for a minute about how angry you get when someone violates your notion of what is sacred.?

Thank you for joining me this morning for a meditation on the sacred.??

What is sacred to you??If you can’t answer that question immediately, if someone came along and tried to take it away from you, you would know immediately.?If someone threatens what is really, really important to you - and that is a good simple, working definition of the sacred –?whether your children, your home, your friends, a special object, a special place or an important belief; if someone threatens it, you will know.? You will be furious.?

Now why wait until you get furious, or scared?? Your assignment for the coming weeks, every now and then, to come up with a list of what is really valuable to you, a list of valuable concepts like love, honesty, kindness and a list of practical valuables, like your cell phone, family archives, photographs, mementos, car keys.? Do you know what they are and where they are?

What gives rise to this assignment is what happened to a member of my church in Kenwood seven years ago during those horrendous fires.? Remember?? He got a phone call at 1:30 in the morning.? It was a friend calling, a friend who was awake that night and somehow got early warning of the massive wildfire bearing down on Kenwood and Santa Rosa.? Fortunately, he heard the phone ring, heard his friend telling him to get out immediately, grabbed his keys, wallet – already had the cell phone – and briefcase containing essential documents; then ran to the car where the dogs we ready and waiting.? Out they drove through a tunnel of flames.??

Let this be a lesson to all of us.?Know what is sacred. Know where to find it.?

Exodus 29:42-46

42?"This is to be your regular, daily Whole-Burnt-Offering before God, generation after generation, sacrificed at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. That's where I'll meet you; that's where I'll speak with you;?

43?that's where I'll meet the Israelites, at the place made holy by my Glory.?

44?I'll make the Tent of Meeting and the Altar holy. I'll make Aaron and his sons holy in order to serve me as priests.?

45?I'll move in and live with the Israelites. I'll be their God.?

46?They'll realize that I am their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I could live with them. I am God, your God.

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Acts 21:27-36?

27?When the seven days of their purification were nearly up, some Jews from around Ephesus spotted him in the Temple. At once they turned the place upside-down. They grabbed Paul?

28and started yelling at the top of their lungs, "Help! You Israelites, help! This is the man who is going all over the world telling lies against us and our religion and this place. He's even brought Greeks in here and defiled this holy place."?

29?(What had happened was that they had seen Paul and Trophimus, the Ephesian Greek, walking together in the city and had just assumed that he had also taken him to the Temple and shown him around.)

30?Soon the whole city was in an uproar, people running from everywhere to the Temple to get in on the action. They grabbed Paul, dragged him outside, and locked the Temple gates so he couldn't get back in and gain sanctuary.?

31?As they were trying to kill him, word came to the captain of the guard, "A riot! The whole city's boiling over!"?

32?He acted swiftly. His soldiers and centurions ran to the scene at once. As soon as the mob saw the captain and his soldiers, they quit beating Paul.?

33?The captain came up and put Paul under arrest. He first ordered him handcuffed, and then asked who he was and what he had done.

34?All he got from the crowd were shouts, one yelling this, another that. It was impossible to tell one word from another in the mob hysteria, so the captain ordered Paul taken to the military barracks.?

35?But when they got to the Temple steps, the mob became so violent that the soldiers had to carry Paul.?

36?As they carried him away, the crowd followed, shouting, "Kill him! Kill him!"

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