SERMON 14 November 2004 (Pentecost 24))

Readings:    Isaiah 65: 17-25        Psalm: Song of Isaiah        2 Thessalonians 3: 6-13     Luke 21: 5-19

In the name of God, from whom all goodness flows. Amen. 

One of Friday’s Morning Prayer readings was from the Book of Susanna – one of the books of the Apocrypha. It’s a rattling tale of intrigue, corruption and the ultimate triumph of virtue. Susanna, a young, beautiful and virtuous woman was married to a rich man who moved in the most exalted circles in Babylon. Her beauty inflamed the passions of two elders of the people who had been appointed as judges. After realising that both of them were in love (or at least, in lust) with Susanna, they hatched out a plot to trap her alone in her garden. Their plan was then to force themselves on her. 

Having succeeded in getting her alone, they offered her a choice: either give in to us gracefully or we will accuse you of having an affair with a young man. No one will believe you rather than two such eminent citizens and you will be put to death. Faced with a choice between submission to them or with certain death, Susanna chose death, preferring to die rather than to sin against God.  

The drama then started to play itself out. They accused her, she was arrested, the false account of the evil elders was believed, and Susanna was led off to be executed.  

And then along came young Daniel, long before the episode of the lion’s den. Daniel accused the elders of giving false evidence and told the court to examine the men separately. In the cross examinations they gave different accounts and so were shown to be bearing false witness.  Susanna was completely vindicated and the two elders were put to death. And from that day forward, Daniel’s reputation for wisdom and godliness was assured. 

The story of Susanna is a story, in part, about the triumph of virtue. Given the dilemma she faced, Susanna may well have decided that she would give in to the elders and save her life, despite the cost to her virtue and to her sensibilities. As it was, she decided that she would not be able to live with herself if she sinned against God in that way. It was, therefore, better to remain pure and face death by execution.  

The text makes it very clear that as she considered the choice facing her, Susanna regarded the proposed adultery as a sin against God, rather than against her husband. The issue for her was her relationship with God. Even though duress was involved, and many a priest such as myself would have argued that God would surely understand, Susanna felt that her relationship with God would have been destroyed or corrupted had she submitted.  

In Susanna’s case, her vindication was complete and rapid. Her decision to follow the course which maintained her relationship to God may have seemed foolhardy in the extreme, but it turned out to be the decision which, thanks to God’s intervention in the form of Daniel, saved her life. 

Susanna’s story is much more than a ‘ripping yarn’. In one short tale it encapsulates the story of faith and salvation, both for individuals and for communities. Her focus is on relationship with God. This commitment, however, did not insulate her from temptation, nor from evil, indeed it may even have made their assaults more violent. Nor did it free her from the agony of being wrongly condemned and having to endure the threat of execution. Righteousness does not guarantee against suffering. ‘What price virtue?’ she may well have asked herself as she was led off to death.  Ultimately, however, she is vindicated, her relationship to God intact. 

Today’s readings address this same eternal story of faith and salvation from three very different angles. The Isaiah reading, which came first, actually gives us a vision of the end point – a vision of the kingdom God is creating for us. It is written in very human terms, solidly locked in to the culture of its time, with images of peacefulness, vineyards and long, untroubled lives. Today’s Australian equivalent might include beaches and summer holidays. My vision certainly includes mangoes and raspberries rather than vineyards. But this Isaiah reading lays before us an eschatological vision of the world as it should be, when the faithful are vindicated.  

The Thessalonians reading exhorts us to do what is right, pointing to the importance of right action, not just right belief. Idleness and exploitation are not part of the Christian life. Moral action is necessary. 

The Gospel reading encourages us to remain steadfast in faith no matter what is happening around us. However dire the circumstances, as indeed the circumstances to be faced by Jerusalem were dire, God has not deserted us, either as individuals or as communities of faith. The saying ‘hold your nerve’ might have been made for just such situations.  

This story of the faithful, virtuous life is repeated time and time again throughout the scriptures. Contrary to the old saying, virtue is not its own reward – its reward is to be in right relationship with God, to be in tune with the deepest harmonies of the universe, with the very fabric of life itself. Sometimes this reward is in this life, more often it is not.  

This too is the story of Jesus – the only thing that matters is relationship to God. All the rest is transient insubstantiality. In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth we have the archetypal narrative of the religious life – in his case, of course, it is both performative and an exemplar. His life, death and resurrection reveal to us the true nature of God and lead us into new relationship with God. They also act as a model on which we can build our own lives of faith. 

The fundamental message is that ultimate reality, eternal life, is not in the temporal circumstances that surround us. It is to be found in the life of faith, in relationship to God. But such a life is not easy – it has enormous challenge within it. There are times when the seeking the kingdom of God seems like outright lunacy, such as when Susanna chose to be falsely accused and face execution rather than to submit and live. But that is only when we measure ourselves against this world, against the here and now.  

As soon as we shift our focus to a different level and acknowledge a greater reality which we cannot see clearly, then the choices we make in our lives take on a cosmic significance. Harmony with God, with the ultimate fabric of the universe, becomes the criterion for ethical decision-making and for spiritual health.  

And here we struggle. Well, I think most of us struggle. There are t-shirts around with the letters WWJD on them. It stands for ‘What would Jesus do?’ Always a good question but not always an easy one to answer. There are times when it is not obvious to us how we should be tackling a particular situation. There are many things to help us in such situations: the scriptures, read with care and thoughtfulness, conversation with wise people, prayer. But there are also times when, even though we have tried our hardest to get it right, we later realise that we have failed, fallen short of godly action, goofed up.  

That is when we need to turn to God in confession, to open our hearts and allow God’s forgiveness to wash us clean, to help us learn from our failures and bring us into closer relationship. We are now in the last fortnight of the church year. Advent will soon be with us and the countdown to Christmas will start in earnest. Advent is traditionally a time for repentance – a time of cleansing of the spirit to enable us to enter wholeheartedly into the celebration of the birth of Jesus.  

This season of repentance tends now to be lost in all the hoopla and chaos of the end of the year and summer holidays. This is a great shame. Such a season of thoughtfulness is of inestimable spiritual value. I encourage you to try to observe it, and perhaps even to start a little early – given that it might be hard to maintain a discipline of prayer in December. A few minutes each day of conscious reflection on your life and enquiring prayer may lead you to unexpected richness of relationship with God. 

And, although each one of us faces a myriad of choices and must find a way through them, as you seek the kingdom of God, here is a good basic guide:

Go forth into the world in peace;
be of good courage;
hold fast that which is good;
render to no one evil for evil;
strengthen the fainthearted;
support the weak; help the afflicted;
give honour to all; love and serve the Lord,
rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Sarah Macneil