Pentecost 19 (Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12)  10/07/2012

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A few days ago the morning paper provided a map of the coming fall colors, with the peak times for each section of southern New England. The map reminded me that we are in the midst of change; the change from summer to fall. But change in our lives is certainly not limited to the seasons or to the colors of the leaves on the trees. This weekend we observe Columbus Day, a curious holiday celebrating the “discovery” of a land that had been inhabited for thousands of years. But regardless of how one might define discovery, Columbus’ voyage certainly marked the beginning of significant change for both Native Americans and Europeans alike. And this morning we remember St. Francis and his abundant love for every part of God’s creation. This year we remember that all creatures are blessed by God’s love and grace by bringing our beloved pets to church for a blessing during the morning service. We are truly surrounded by change! Some of these changes are expected and beautiful (like the fall colors of the leaves); some of these changes are fun and exciting or perhaps a little peculiar (like pets in the church nave); and some of these changes create lifelong and historic alterations to the way we live our lives (like Europeans arriving on the shores of the Americas). Change can be exciting; change can be unsettling; change can leave us bothered and bewildered. Change comes in many varieties and in many colors; every change is not always beneficial but change often marks the path of progress; change points toward the road that leads us to discover new things, new realities, and new ways of being.

Change has a strong presence in our Scripture lessons this morning as well. We first encounter the changing circumstances of Job, a man blameless and upright before God. Job has experienced several drastic changes in his life and in our lesson he remains unaware of the cosmic bet between God and Satan responsible for his misfortune. And we find change in the Gospel reading: a lesson providing us insight to Jesus’ teaching of changes in understanding of relationships between God’s people. And finally, there are more changes in our Epistle reading: the Letter to the Hebrews describes the profound changes in Christ’s relationship to us and his role in our salvation and our life as God’s children. All three of these lessons challenge us to consider our changing understanding of God’s action in the world and the changing nature of our relationship with God and with each other. And although we are presented with both the challenges and opportunities of change, the powerful temptation to resist change can easily hold us back; our encounter with the unknown may cause us to wait until all our questions have been answered. There exists a powerful temptation to accept life in this known world which can prevent us from moving forward to the unknown world of tomorrow.

The story of Job and the unfortunate changes inflicted upon him is a story from an ancient scripture text that seeks to address the cosmic mystery of unknown change. Job’s story (as he sits with his loathsome sores) is an attempt to explain the unexplainable; an attempt to explain horrible changes in the life of a good person, a person we are told was blameless and upright before God. The lesson of Job is a sacred story from a time long ago. And as surely as that story spoke truth to those who gathered to hear Job’s changing life and circumstances, so now we gather to hear the story of Christ. As we hear in our lesson from Hebrews: “long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things.” (Heb 1:1-2) The story of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is more profound than the story of Job. The story of Job is the story of a man that experienced drastic change, both bad and then good (at the very end of the story), and perhaps we can obtain some confidence from Job’s story that if we hang in long enough all will be put right for us. But the story with a happy ending does not always hold up; that story does not always agree with our experience because every story does not necessarily end on a bright note. The story of Jesus is a different and powerful story; a story of the changing and challenging times of God’s only Son. The story of Jesus is about the One who is and always has been the reflection of God’s glory; but the One “who for a little while was made lower than the angels.” (Heb 2:7) The story of Jesus does not hope to tell us that if we wait long enough the changes in our life will turn out exactly as we had planned; the story of Jesus does not hope to teach us that everything we have lost in this world will be restored to us, times two (as is the story of Job, Job 42:10). The story of Jesus, the Good News of Jesus Christ, is our assurance that no matter the change in our lives, all we have lost and all that we might ever lose has already been restored to us through Christ. We have been restored because Jesus accepted the greatest changes and challenges of this world and conquered each and every one them, including death itself. The restoring and reconciling grace of Jesus Christ gives us confidence that in the midst of the changes and challenges of this world, we remain centered in God’s abundant love for us.

Changes are in the air. The seasons are changing, the leaves are changing, and much of life is changing. As Christians we face the changes of life with the confidence of those who are followers of Christ. As Christians we are committed to seeking the changes of life that give life and hope to others. As Christians we are empowered by the actions of Jesus, knowing that we are embraced in God’s love and care. In all change may we see the strength and power of God’s work before us, as we pray, “let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him though whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our LORD.” (BCP, Collect for Ordination) AMEN.