Sermons In Time

How is it With Your Soul?

Third Sunday In Pentecost

Gospel: Matthew l0:24--33 esp: Do not fear those who kill body, but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear God, who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Epistle: Romans 5:12-19 Old Testament: Genesis 28:10-17

A few weeks ago, I was visiting with a friend of mine who is a physician. We were discussing together the different ways in which we approach people in our care: he as Physician, I as pastor. We found ourselves speaking the same language often as we listened and worked with people.

But in our work, it was clear that we were listening for different things. His emphasis was upon the Physical symptoms the patient was experiencing, and how he, might intervene to bring health back to the body, as well as to the whole person. Often when I enter a hospital room to visit one of our people, the first part of the conversation is a sharing of what is happening physically but as I listen, I am not there to do more than be interested and concerned about their illness. That is the physicians task.

I always 1isten attentively and hopefully with real care. But I am also listening, for something different. I am aware, as as you are that one can be "well physically, yet have very real needs spiritually. In the hospital room is one of those places where the spirit becomes very important.

So, what I have done is to not only ask, "How are you?," but also to ask another question: "How is it with your soul?"

I understand very well that this question is one that was asked of old about the person's readiness to face death, and the judgement of God. That is still a part of what the question implies,. And it is important for a person to respond to that part of the question. Often, the response is quite emotional. People who are ill think about life and death in a new way, and the readiness to die is very present. Just recently, tears came to a friend's eyes as they said, "I am not afraid to die." It was a holy moment.

It is such an important question, I want to share with you why I ask it.

I . First it is not asked to threaten or to get a "deathbed" confession of faith from those with whom I work.may be wrong, but when someone is suffering, either physically or emotionally, it just does not seem appropriate tobe confrontive. Rather, it is always my goal to be as supportive as possible in such a moment, and to claim for both of us the promises of God which assure us of God's love and salvation. I truly believe that the Christian Gospel is one of Good news about life and death, and we need to give that affirmation at every opportunity.

2. So, Why the question? Because it moves our focus of attention front that which is happening to us to our inner life, and the resources we have within. In the Old Testament story today, Jacob has just received the blessing of his father, and is fleeing from his brother Esau as well as going to the house of Laben to look for a wife from among his relatives. His spirit is troubled as he lays down to sleep. The dream of the stairway to heaven becomes an important time in his spiritual journey. He is intent from that day forward to follow the will of God in his life and seek to Be the one who fulfills the covenantof God with his people. Upon arising in the morning, he built an altar and declared, surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it! " 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!"

It is the moment when one gets in touch with the inner life in a special way. There was nothing except what was going on in Jacob to make the moment special. Yet, how many times has any one of us faced such a moment and felt that same way, "This is an awesome place or time!"

It becomes very important to be in touch with that sense of awe. Whether the moment is one of awe, or fear, or courage, or uncertainty, to know that one has the inner resources to face the moment becomes very significant. I believe that one of the reasons we have such a great need for prayer is to get in touch with that focus .

In sickness, there is a greater awareness of this inner life. But that is not the only time we can ask the question, "How is it with your soul?" appropriately. At any time we are facing a new situation, a change in our lives, a difficult moment or an exciting possibility for the future, such a moment causes us to reflect on the resources of the soul.

For example, when a couple is getting married, I often reflect with them about the "Gifts" which they have received from their heritage, and how they wil1offer these to each other as man and woman in the days ahead. It is a soul searching time.

Later, Jacob had to face his brother, Esau, again, and in the preparation for that meeting, the confrontation with God was very real. Forgiveness, penitence, gift giving, all became a part of the soul struggle.

We ought never to assume that we are adequate to face any situation in life with arrogance. The assurance, which comes from within, is one of humility. It understands the strengths and the weaknesses of the soul and faces them honestly. Just as Jacob knew that he owed his brother a great deal, so we understand that we are debtors to many who have made it possible for us to become who we are today. So the soul expresses gratitude as a way of going, into any new or different situation.

3. One other aspect of the question, "How is it with your soul?" It is related to the concern of the Gospel lesson today. When we do anything in life we are "risking". To put it another way, when we work, play, serve, rest whatever, we are spending" our time. One of the great concerns we have is that this time be spent well.

The Gospel puts it well: "Do not fear those who can destroy the body, but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear God who can destroy both body and soul in hell." This surely is one of the passages, which seems to tell us to "get right with God" or we will be destroyed in hell.

Perhaps we miss the point when this becomes the focus. Instead of a morbid fear the passage is instead saying that it is important to keep our priorities straight: To worship God rather than to worship ourselves. Recently we have all been astonished at the ways in which men like the gentleman in Wichita became so intent on his own power that he defrauded those who had put their trust in him. Or the ways in which S&L's used interpretation of capital for loans to defraud the public to make loans, finally bankrupting the agencies. Or the "junk bond" fiasco of the stock market, and the greed of the takeovers has now left indebtedness that those who were the perpetrators have no intention of paying.

These and others point to a greed in which both soul and body are destroyed. When any one of us becomes so absorbed in getting more out of life for ourselves than we have earned or is even there, we are literally draining not only economic capital, but also defrauding their own souls.

We are a people who ha v e been deluded into thinking that we can "win" at lottery, getting something for nothing, winning in scams which are less than legal. All because we have an appetite for the satisfaction of our Desires. It has been well understood from the earliest civilizations that this is a deadly way to live. We destroy both soul and body by worshipping the idol rather than the One Living God.

So, we ask, "How is it with your soul?" And to seriously pursue the answer is to keep both soul and body healthy. It is to discover that there is nothing we can really exchange for our soul, and to sell it short is to destroy the vitality of our being.

We are first and foremost spiritual. That which makes us most human is not our physical desires or our selfish interests. These we share with most of the created order. But our Spirits belong to God. We may even be strong physically, but deeply impoverished within. It is only as we feed our spirits with that which is truly life giving that we can continue as wholesome persons. Let us not neglect the nurture of our soul. Amen.

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