The following is a reprint of my sermon of April 3rd, based upon Ephesians 5:8-14:
When was the last time you had a nightmare? Did it wake you up, and if so, did it wake you with a pounding heart and some measure of anxiety or trepidation? Are you afraid of the dark? Would you admit it if you were? Mostly adults don’t struggle with night terrors, but often young children do. Night terrors are a kind of extreme nightmare that are often accompanied by screaming or sweats and elevated pulse and heart rates and shortness of breath. To help alleviate the thoughts of things in the night, nightmares, and night terrors parents often utilize night lights. There is something comforting about awaking in the darkness and being able to see.
Perhaps since we were primal beings living in caves, humanity has struggled with trying to light the darkness, so much so, in fact, that darkness has come to symbolize the things that are wrong, while its opposite, light, has come to symbolize all that is right. Light and dark become opposite sides of the coin, and if we know Jesus as the ultimate good and we hear that Jesus is light, then darkness must surely represent evil. But evil is devious; it is deceitful and often hides itself as something innocuous. Evil can never be good and dark can never be light, but sometimes the darkness of evil imitates the light, and sometimes it hides in the twilight – that time at the end of the day between light and dark.
It is darkness that tries to hide or obscure the light, and it can be difficult to see in the half-light of evening. Indeed, there are shadows and dark areas that can hide things - did something move, or is it only the shadows? In the darkness we sleep, but when the light comes we are to awake, get up and enter into the light to live our lives. Paul uses these metaphors for our faith journey, calling on us to awake! We can no longer sleep in the darkness, oblivious to the ways of the dark. It is time to awake and to come into the light, living like the good that is our Lord. Indeed, sin relishes secrecy; it revels in being hidden, in nestling into the dark. Sins that are committed in the dark are often exposed in the light.
Whispers in the dark create hurt in the light. Secrets in the dark are exposed in the light, and so Paul calls on believers to live not in the darkness whispering secrets and nurturing sin, but to come into the light and live fully awake and aware. And awareness is necessary, because too often sin hides itself in the half-light of life – in places where we might not recognize it. This story offers an illustration of how the half-light can work against us. It has floated around the internet for a while, but is a reminder of our call to be awake and aware and to live in the light. (Note: I have modified it for my own use).
Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his minions, he said,
“Jesus has built his church on a rock and the very gates of hell cannot prevail against it. The faith confession allows people to enter into a relationship with the Lord, and the transforming Spirit comes to live in them, a transforming presence that can put them beyond our reach. But we do not have to keep them from Jesus or from church or even from the Spirit to have success in creating chaos and evil.
Here is our plan of action: distract them from their Savior and interfere with their attempts to form community in church with each other.
‘But how is this accomplished?’ his servants asked.
Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes and ways to occupy their minds and their time. Tempt them to spend and borrow so they have to work longer hours to maintain their lifestyle. Convince them that church is just one option among the many that are available for them, like a smorgasborg of good things to choose from. Encourage them to enjoy activities that compete with spiritual development and with community formation so that fellowship with other believers is fragmented.
Convince them that material gain and self-sufficiency are the most important aspects of life – and that independence is vital. As the pressures of work and family accumulate and as they lose connections in their faith community their family life and relationships will also crumble. Fill their minds with images of physical beauty and physical love, so that they become convinced that bodily perfection and physical attraction are the measure of love and relationships.
Overstimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still small voice. Entice them to play the mp3 player or the CD player all the time. Tempt them to keep their phone or TV or CD or PC going constantly, consuming their time and further interfering with meaningful relationships.
Fill their coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with 24 hour a day news and advertising, and invade their driving moments with billboards and rolling advertisements on other vehicles. Flood their email and their mailboxes with junk mail, sweepstakes that promise instant gratification, and promotional offers for products and services that fill them with false hope.
Encourage them to measure their self-worth by their productivity so that they resist sitting in quiet solitude and spending time in communion with God. Make productivity the measure of even their recreation time, so that it too becomes excessive. Then they return to home and work from their vacations exhausted, disquieted and unprepared to return to work and to life.
Convince them either that being amidst God’s nature is unproductive, or, that being in nature replaces being in fellowship with other Christians in church. Help them to justify their absence from church fellowship with the belief that church is only about worship and they can do that anywhere. That way the people who need them and the people they need will not be unavailable for support and encouragement. In the meantime, crowd their lives with so many good causes and worthy goals that they have no time to seek sustaining power from Jesus. Soon they will rely on their own strength and will sacrifice health and family for the good things that they are engaged in.
When they do meet for fellowship and community, for study together and worship, encourage gossip and hurtful small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions. Encourage them to nurse their little hurts so that they fail to forgive and lose support for each other. Support their belief that the splinter in the other person’s eye is so much larger than the log in their own. Discourage mutual understanding and communication so that they will continue to nurture the hurt feelings and sense of loss that they have suffered.
‘But these are such little things,’ the demons complained.
Ah, but if we confuse them with the half-light, they will wander into the darkness on their own.”
Paul calls on the followers of Jesus to move from the darkness to the light, to awaken to the light and live there. And the danger for most of us is not in the obvious places. The danger for most of us is in the half light, where sometimes wrong can look right, where choices can become confused, and where compassion becomes judgment and condemnation. In the half light we can justify our broken community and the works with which we accuse and hurt. And in the half light, the danger is that we will wander into the darkness on our own.
The strategy of the evil one is simple. Is it effective?
Sleeper, awake and move into the light.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Friday, November 12, 2010
Time Management
I confess that I am often impatient - it seems that there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done that I want to get done, much less everything that I need to get done. After all the time management seminars, the workshops about learning to prioritize - after the whole "Seven Habits of Highly Successful People" and so on - I still struggle to find the time for everything. Unfortunately sometimes the small things, which are actually important, get sacrificed for the bigger things, which turn out to be less important in the long run.
And no matter how well I manage my time, sometimes, circumstances (God?) create a situation in which I have no choice about my priorities. The other night, for example, my daughter was participating in a school program. She was disappointed that I could not be there. But I was the chaplain on call for the hospital and I received an emergency call just a brief time before her program. I had to go. I did the right thing, and yes, she understood, but it seems at times that there is just no way to truly manage my time. As much time as I spend creating to do lists, priorities, and scheduling my day, sometimes it just seems as though there is no way to truly manage my time.
Now my next statement is going to make all you "type A" personalities a bit nervous: perhaps there is no way to manage our time. Or, at least, perhaps we need to understand that there must be enough flexibility in our time management to allow room for God-moments - for God's time. This is perhaps one of the lessons of John's narrative in his gospel, in chapter 11:1-44.
Jesus lingers too long "in the place where he was" before responding to Martha's and Mary's call to come see to their sick brother, Lazarus. Now, of course, you are familiar with this narrative - by the time Jesus arrives, Lazarus is dead. One of the lessons that is difficult to hear, but that we probably need to hear is that God moves in God's time to accomplish His purposes. It doesn't mean that God is uncaring - Jesus wept over Lazarus after all; and even though he was about to raise him from the dead he still felt sadness and sympathy for those who mourned. Still it is the mystery of our God that His timing is sometimes beyond our comprehension - His purposes sometimes beyond our understanding. No matter how much we may attempt to master time, it remains unmasterable except by the master. I believe that the best we can do is to cultivate that deep and intimate connection with God in Jesus Christ, that can offer us guidance and direction in the midst of turbulence and triumph. While we may not grasp the timing and the plan that God has, we can strive for the intimacy with God that will lead us through. Martha's response to Jesus' question about faith is perhaps our best response to changing times and changing seasons of life - you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God and you are our savior, and most importantly Lord of our lives. May Christ reign in your heart and life today - His time management is the best there is!!
And no matter how well I manage my time, sometimes, circumstances (God?) create a situation in which I have no choice about my priorities. The other night, for example, my daughter was participating in a school program. She was disappointed that I could not be there. But I was the chaplain on call for the hospital and I received an emergency call just a brief time before her program. I had to go. I did the right thing, and yes, she understood, but it seems at times that there is just no way to truly manage my time. As much time as I spend creating to do lists, priorities, and scheduling my day, sometimes it just seems as though there is no way to truly manage my time.
Now my next statement is going to make all you "type A" personalities a bit nervous: perhaps there is no way to manage our time. Or, at least, perhaps we need to understand that there must be enough flexibility in our time management to allow room for God-moments - for God's time. This is perhaps one of the lessons of John's narrative in his gospel, in chapter 11:1-44.
Jesus lingers too long "in the place where he was" before responding to Martha's and Mary's call to come see to their sick brother, Lazarus. Now, of course, you are familiar with this narrative - by the time Jesus arrives, Lazarus is dead. One of the lessons that is difficult to hear, but that we probably need to hear is that God moves in God's time to accomplish His purposes. It doesn't mean that God is uncaring - Jesus wept over Lazarus after all; and even though he was about to raise him from the dead he still felt sadness and sympathy for those who mourned. Still it is the mystery of our God that His timing is sometimes beyond our comprehension - His purposes sometimes beyond our understanding. No matter how much we may attempt to master time, it remains unmasterable except by the master. I believe that the best we can do is to cultivate that deep and intimate connection with God in Jesus Christ, that can offer us guidance and direction in the midst of turbulence and triumph. While we may not grasp the timing and the plan that God has, we can strive for the intimacy with God that will lead us through. Martha's response to Jesus' question about faith is perhaps our best response to changing times and changing seasons of life - you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God and you are our savior, and most importantly Lord of our lives. May Christ reign in your heart and life today - His time management is the best there is!!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Living Large or Living God
Myrna, a lady in the congregation I serve, was in the office the other day and we were talking about gardening as we are prone to do when she comes in. She was telling me about some 'moonflowers' that she grew from seeds that a friend gave her. The flowers grow quite tall, almost as tall as she. But she noticed the other days that the leaves were eaten so badly that only the veins were left. She discovered that there were hornworms on her beautiful flowers. They had apparently been there a while, but had gone unnoticed until they ate enough of the leaves to catch her attention and by then, they had grown quite large, living in ease off of the greenery that Myrna had worked so hard to grow. The hornworms were living large, they were prospering and enjoying their prosperity, that is until their comfortable and prosperous lifestyle brought them to Myrna’s notice. In the same way, sometimes people become so prosperous that they begin living large, sometimes without noticing it.
The man was a C.E.O. for a large corporation. His employees loved him because he was generous with bonuses and celebrations for achieving their goals. We are a team, he said, we share the work and the rewards, they liked him and looked up to him. He was driven back and forth to work in a chauffeured limousine, and he lived in a beautifully landscaped, new and modern gated community. He was content and had as much security as one could hope for in life. Outside the gate of his beautiful community lived a homeless man – we’ll call him Lazarus – who was crippled and could not work. There was perhaps a government grant he could receive, but he did not know how to apply for it. He was hungry. Not just today and not just occasionally – it was a constant hunger. He often searched through the garbage for the scraps of food that were thrown away. The rich man had noticed Lazarus, but had looked through and beyond him, after all he paid taxes so people like that could be taken care of – he gave money to the church so that people who were gifted for that sort of thing could minister to the homeless and poor. So his limo passed through the gate and it closed behind him and he was secure on the inside from the Lazaruses of the world.
Then one morning Lazarus, who had been slowly wasting away for months, lay down in a puddle in the alley near the garbage cans and died. Unknown to him the rich man was finishing his preparations for work and at that moment had a massive heart attack and died. Death is the great equalizer you see. It doesn’t care who you are or what you have; it simply claims you when it is your time. Now for most of us what we could know of the story would end there, but it doesn’t. Lazarus went to be in paradise where he found comfort and contentment, and the rich man went to the lower darkness where he yearned for some touch of human contact, some touch of comfort.
Our first thought as we share this parable is that the rich man was not a good person. That is not the case however, for his employees loved him, and I am guessing his funeral was well attended with many flowers and the wake was lavish with many to offer comfort to his family. He was generous with his employees, he paid his taxes and he even gave to the church. So, why does Jesus suggest, and this is a modernized version of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, that the rich man didn’t make it to paradise?
I think that Paul’s admonitions to his son in the faith, Timothy (1 Timothy 6:6-19), can help us to understand the parable, and our own perspectives on material goods. This pericope includes one of those scriptural references that is often misquoted and I first of all want us to truly hear this – it is not money itself that is the problem; it is love of money that is the root of evil. So if the problem is not money, then what is it that sends the rich man to the lower darkness?
Paul urges Timothy to godliness with contentment. This is a difficult passage to translate and without going into a long discussion of Greek grammar, let me simply tell you that contentment in this context is a description of godliness – it is an aspect, an attribute, of godliness. In the prior verses Paul suggests that some pursue godliness for their own gain, and this he says is wrong, true godliness requires contentment: we are imitators of Christ when we live by an inward sufficiency through the Holy Spirit. That is in opposition to the world which teaches us that bigger is better. Modern consumerism opposes the old saying that less is more. A recent issue of “Good Housekeeping” had an article entitled ‘Clutter Cure’ in which they suggested ways to overcome the clutter in our homes. The article outlined organizational strategies and storage solutions, but nowhere in the article did they suggest getting rid of stuff and not buying more – that would be countercultural. We are overburdened by the pursuit of the material and living large, perhaps without realizing it. And while we should be aware of the dangers inherent in the accumulation of material goods, this is not a call to poverty. It is not money or material goods that create problems; it is the improper perspective on them – the love of them.
The danger is that in loving money and material things we wander away from the faith. Money and material gain should not be the focus of either our life's journey or our faith journey, nor should they be a distraction from it – we are to pursue a godliness that is defined by contentment that is rooted in Christ
Paul suggests that the things of the world can cause us to lose sight of the Lord and to drift away. When we decide to live large, instead of living God, we are admired by the world, but perhaps we lose sight of God. Paul contrasts this with the active pursuit of righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness; and to take hold of the that to which we have been called – life, life abundant, and life eternal. Paul is not suggesting here that we earn salvation, what he is directing us to is the mystery of living in the already, but not yet of salvation. We are saved by grace, but we are also saved for discipleship, for service, for participation in the radical Kingdom of God that comes into being through Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of Life. It is Christ who holds the key to real life, eternal life, a life that counts. His is the only path to this life. Paul uses a formula that was familiar to the early church when he suggests that Jesus is king of kings and Lord of lords, he is making a political statement. In this text Paul is suggesting that life cannot be found in economics or politics, but in Jesus Christ, who is Lord of life. The economics and political structures of his day, and of ours, are not God’s kingdom or God’s economy. We are to be, he says, tekna fotos, people of the light, the indescribable and unapproachable light of Christ.
And so, he suggests, with money then, comes great responsibility. Money does not buy contentment or security, but is given to us that we might enact God’s economy. And when we do, we declare in our words and our actions that Jesus is Lord, Lord of the world, Lord of life.
When we see our money and material goods with the proper perspective, not as permanent, but as temporary, we engage in discipleship that proclaims Jesus as Lord of our lives. We also engage in a faith statement that says we understand the difference between temporary and permanent. You’ve heard the old saying; you can’t take it with you. We are blessed to be a blessing, and when we focus on our money and material things they become a gate that stands as a barrier to community.
The name Lazarus means “God heals.” One of the ways we share that healing that we have received is by rejecting our culture’s call to living large and intentionally living out God’s love and compassion for others. Our cultural mindset is about living large, but living God is about contentment and sharing - it is about understanding God's economy as revealed in Jesus Christ. As people of faith, we are not called to live by cultural norms, but to live in a radically new way that calls attention to the Kingdom of God on earth. It is about contentment - an attribute of Godliness.
The man was a C.E.O. for a large corporation. His employees loved him because he was generous with bonuses and celebrations for achieving their goals. We are a team, he said, we share the work and the rewards, they liked him and looked up to him. He was driven back and forth to work in a chauffeured limousine, and he lived in a beautifully landscaped, new and modern gated community. He was content and had as much security as one could hope for in life. Outside the gate of his beautiful community lived a homeless man – we’ll call him Lazarus – who was crippled and could not work. There was perhaps a government grant he could receive, but he did not know how to apply for it. He was hungry. Not just today and not just occasionally – it was a constant hunger. He often searched through the garbage for the scraps of food that were thrown away. The rich man had noticed Lazarus, but had looked through and beyond him, after all he paid taxes so people like that could be taken care of – he gave money to the church so that people who were gifted for that sort of thing could minister to the homeless and poor. So his limo passed through the gate and it closed behind him and he was secure on the inside from the Lazaruses of the world.
Then one morning Lazarus, who had been slowly wasting away for months, lay down in a puddle in the alley near the garbage cans and died. Unknown to him the rich man was finishing his preparations for work and at that moment had a massive heart attack and died. Death is the great equalizer you see. It doesn’t care who you are or what you have; it simply claims you when it is your time. Now for most of us what we could know of the story would end there, but it doesn’t. Lazarus went to be in paradise where he found comfort and contentment, and the rich man went to the lower darkness where he yearned for some touch of human contact, some touch of comfort.
Our first thought as we share this parable is that the rich man was not a good person. That is not the case however, for his employees loved him, and I am guessing his funeral was well attended with many flowers and the wake was lavish with many to offer comfort to his family. He was generous with his employees, he paid his taxes and he even gave to the church. So, why does Jesus suggest, and this is a modernized version of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, that the rich man didn’t make it to paradise?
I think that Paul’s admonitions to his son in the faith, Timothy (1 Timothy 6:6-19), can help us to understand the parable, and our own perspectives on material goods. This pericope includes one of those scriptural references that is often misquoted and I first of all want us to truly hear this – it is not money itself that is the problem; it is love of money that is the root of evil. So if the problem is not money, then what is it that sends the rich man to the lower darkness?
Paul urges Timothy to godliness with contentment. This is a difficult passage to translate and without going into a long discussion of Greek grammar, let me simply tell you that contentment in this context is a description of godliness – it is an aspect, an attribute, of godliness. In the prior verses Paul suggests that some pursue godliness for their own gain, and this he says is wrong, true godliness requires contentment: we are imitators of Christ when we live by an inward sufficiency through the Holy Spirit. That is in opposition to the world which teaches us that bigger is better. Modern consumerism opposes the old saying that less is more. A recent issue of “Good Housekeeping” had an article entitled ‘Clutter Cure’ in which they suggested ways to overcome the clutter in our homes. The article outlined organizational strategies and storage solutions, but nowhere in the article did they suggest getting rid of stuff and not buying more – that would be countercultural. We are overburdened by the pursuit of the material and living large, perhaps without realizing it. And while we should be aware of the dangers inherent in the accumulation of material goods, this is not a call to poverty. It is not money or material goods that create problems; it is the improper perspective on them – the love of them.
The danger is that in loving money and material things we wander away from the faith. Money and material gain should not be the focus of either our life's journey or our faith journey, nor should they be a distraction from it – we are to pursue a godliness that is defined by contentment that is rooted in Christ
Paul suggests that the things of the world can cause us to lose sight of the Lord and to drift away. When we decide to live large, instead of living God, we are admired by the world, but perhaps we lose sight of God. Paul contrasts this with the active pursuit of righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness; and to take hold of the that to which we have been called – life, life abundant, and life eternal. Paul is not suggesting here that we earn salvation, what he is directing us to is the mystery of living in the already, but not yet of salvation. We are saved by grace, but we are also saved for discipleship, for service, for participation in the radical Kingdom of God that comes into being through Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of Life. It is Christ who holds the key to real life, eternal life, a life that counts. His is the only path to this life. Paul uses a formula that was familiar to the early church when he suggests that Jesus is king of kings and Lord of lords, he is making a political statement. In this text Paul is suggesting that life cannot be found in economics or politics, but in Jesus Christ, who is Lord of life. The economics and political structures of his day, and of ours, are not God’s kingdom or God’s economy. We are to be, he says, tekna fotos, people of the light, the indescribable and unapproachable light of Christ.
And so, he suggests, with money then, comes great responsibility. Money does not buy contentment or security, but is given to us that we might enact God’s economy. And when we do, we declare in our words and our actions that Jesus is Lord, Lord of the world, Lord of life.
When we see our money and material goods with the proper perspective, not as permanent, but as temporary, we engage in discipleship that proclaims Jesus as Lord of our lives. We also engage in a faith statement that says we understand the difference between temporary and permanent. You’ve heard the old saying; you can’t take it with you. We are blessed to be a blessing, and when we focus on our money and material things they become a gate that stands as a barrier to community.
The name Lazarus means “God heals.” One of the ways we share that healing that we have received is by rejecting our culture’s call to living large and intentionally living out God’s love and compassion for others. Our cultural mindset is about living large, but living God is about contentment and sharing - it is about understanding God's economy as revealed in Jesus Christ. As people of faith, we are not called to live by cultural norms, but to live in a radically new way that calls attention to the Kingdom of God on earth. It is about contentment - an attribute of Godliness.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Capture the Flag
One of my favorite activities as a young Boy Scout was a game called "Capture the Flag." Part of its attraction for me was its competitive nature, its activity level and the requirement of stealth. It was also played in the dark. The idea of the game was to divide into two teams, each having a flag. The playing area needed to be large and was divided into two sections, one for each team. Your team would place its flag somewhere in its area and put some defenders to guard it. The rest of the team, by stealth and speed, would try to sneak into the opponents territory and capture their flag and return it to your own territory, thereby declaring victory. If you got caught in the opponent's territory you were captured (by being tagged) and then you could only be freed if a teammate tagged you without getting caught. The distinguishing feature of the game was the center line that divided the two teams. There was no gray area, there was no neutral area, no rest area, you were either in your territory or you weren't.
As the health care bill has passed Congress and been signed into law by the President, I listen to the rhetoric coming from several different groups, including the two political parties and an abundance of commentators and I am reminded of my boyhood game of capture the flag. A colleague suggested to me the other day that we had lots of politicians in Washington, but very few statesmen. What he meant by that was that he felt like we had lots of people who would take up their party's ideological positions but no one who could construct a viable compromise in the heat of ideological battles. I am inclined to agree with him. There is no gray area, no neutral area, there is only one or the other with a line drawn down the middle. And those of us who are in the middle are left out. We come to elections looking for statesmen who will negotiate legislation that is good for America and what we get are party loyalists whose decisions are shaped by how well their party will fare in the next election.
As I listened to the White House summit on health care I heard repeatedly, from both parties, the statement, "We're not that far apart." Yet neither party and none of the individuals present would consider moving off of their respective side. Somehow they are worried that they might cross the center line into the opposition territory and be "captured." What I did hear was statements about "ramming a bill through" and "let's scrap this bill and start over." Neither idea was palatable to me. The line was drawn and no one is willing to cross over.
A person recently posted a comment on Facebook saying that they supported health care reform, but didn't like some of the things in the law. I agree. For seven years I have worked with various groups, state and federal government officials and representatives, and interfaith groups for health car reform, and there are some things in this law I don't like either. But we will never have a perfect bill in this country. The two extremes are not ever going to come together with anything that everyone can agree on. We continue to draw lines that divide us on global warming, the economy, jobs, and yes, even now that it is law, health care reform. We cannot continue to debate while people go without health care. We cannot continue to scrap everything and start over. This is too important
"We are a Christian nation" is a statement that I hear frequently. And if so, then I ask us to consider, what would our Lord do, what does God require of us. Micah's answer is "to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly" with our God. And even though Jesus did not agree with the Pharisees, when Nicodemus came to him, Jesus was willing to talk. I see no places in the life and ministry of Jesus where he drew lines that excluded people. I see no places in the ministry of Jesus where ideology or culture overrides the precept of love and grace. The provision of health care in our country has become a business, a for profit, in most cases, business. And while that may be either good or bad depending on your ideology, I ask us to consider how we sacrifice someone's health and health care for money. Now you may say that if someone in our country needs care they can get it. And I agree - emergency care. But why do we insist on spending untold millions of dollars to pay for emergency care much of which could have possibly been prevented if that person had access to regular and routine medical care? And I wonder how Jesus reacts when we tell someone that they must surrender their home to pay for medical bills, or that they will not longer have insurance coverage because their condition is too costly to the insurance company.
I hear Jesus proclaiming his mission in Luke (4:16-21) to be,at least in part, about healing. I hear his testimony in the 25th chapter of Matthew suggest that we are doing the work he has called us to when we provide healing for those who are sick. I hear his command to Peter and the disciples in John 20 to feed and tend his sheep and I wonder what will become of us as we continue to draw lines that separate us. It is difficult to read the New Testament, especially though the Old as well, and not hear the call to be a community in God through Jesus Christ. And I wonder what will become of our faith and our nation as we continue to draw lines that separate and divide. Government should not be a giant game of capture the flag. Government that is of by and for the people should be about finding ways to make laws that all of us can live with together - as a community.
As the health care bill has passed Congress and been signed into law by the President, I listen to the rhetoric coming from several different groups, including the two political parties and an abundance of commentators and I am reminded of my boyhood game of capture the flag. A colleague suggested to me the other day that we had lots of politicians in Washington, but very few statesmen. What he meant by that was that he felt like we had lots of people who would take up their party's ideological positions but no one who could construct a viable compromise in the heat of ideological battles. I am inclined to agree with him. There is no gray area, no neutral area, there is only one or the other with a line drawn down the middle. And those of us who are in the middle are left out. We come to elections looking for statesmen who will negotiate legislation that is good for America and what we get are party loyalists whose decisions are shaped by how well their party will fare in the next election.
As I listened to the White House summit on health care I heard repeatedly, from both parties, the statement, "We're not that far apart." Yet neither party and none of the individuals present would consider moving off of their respective side. Somehow they are worried that they might cross the center line into the opposition territory and be "captured." What I did hear was statements about "ramming a bill through" and "let's scrap this bill and start over." Neither idea was palatable to me. The line was drawn and no one is willing to cross over.
A person recently posted a comment on Facebook saying that they supported health care reform, but didn't like some of the things in the law. I agree. For seven years I have worked with various groups, state and federal government officials and representatives, and interfaith groups for health car reform, and there are some things in this law I don't like either. But we will never have a perfect bill in this country. The two extremes are not ever going to come together with anything that everyone can agree on. We continue to draw lines that divide us on global warming, the economy, jobs, and yes, even now that it is law, health care reform. We cannot continue to debate while people go without health care. We cannot continue to scrap everything and start over. This is too important
"We are a Christian nation" is a statement that I hear frequently. And if so, then I ask us to consider, what would our Lord do, what does God require of us. Micah's answer is "to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly" with our God. And even though Jesus did not agree with the Pharisees, when Nicodemus came to him, Jesus was willing to talk. I see no places in the life and ministry of Jesus where he drew lines that excluded people. I see no places in the ministry of Jesus where ideology or culture overrides the precept of love and grace. The provision of health care in our country has become a business, a for profit, in most cases, business. And while that may be either good or bad depending on your ideology, I ask us to consider how we sacrifice someone's health and health care for money. Now you may say that if someone in our country needs care they can get it. And I agree - emergency care. But why do we insist on spending untold millions of dollars to pay for emergency care much of which could have possibly been prevented if that person had access to regular and routine medical care? And I wonder how Jesus reacts when we tell someone that they must surrender their home to pay for medical bills, or that they will not longer have insurance coverage because their condition is too costly to the insurance company.
I hear Jesus proclaiming his mission in Luke (4:16-21) to be,at least in part, about healing. I hear his testimony in the 25th chapter of Matthew suggest that we are doing the work he has called us to when we provide healing for those who are sick. I hear his command to Peter and the disciples in John 20 to feed and tend his sheep and I wonder what will become of us as we continue to draw lines that separate us. It is difficult to read the New Testament, especially though the Old as well, and not hear the call to be a community in God through Jesus Christ. And I wonder what will become of our faith and our nation as we continue to draw lines that separate and divide. Government should not be a giant game of capture the flag. Government that is of by and for the people should be about finding ways to make laws that all of us can live with together - as a community.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Haiti: The Other Side of the Road
Since I was in high school I have been one of millions of people captivated by Tolkien's masterwork, "The Lord of the Rings" and its companion books. I am one of millions more who have been captivated by the stunning visuals of Peter Jackson's movies. And whether you believe this to be an analogy of Christianity or not, certainly it is a wonderful exploration of good vs. evil, weak vs. strong, and so many other worthwhile themes. So I have used it often as sermon illustrations, Bible study materials and in other places.
One of my favorite quotes from the entire work occurs while the Fellowship of the Ring is traveling through Moria. Frodo, unhappy with his task of carrying the ring, curses his fate, his luck, and above all, Gollum: "It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance." But Gandalf responds: "Pity? It was pity that stayed his hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many."
As I continue to watch events unfold in Haiti, I am encouraged by the compassionate response of so many, including my own church, and dumbstruck by the massive destruction. My heart and prayers go out to the Haitian people and to all of those who are working to respond with aid. And as I continue to monitor the activity, I wanted to take a moment to share some thoughts that have been prompted by a comment in the media.
Any time there is a crisis of this magnitude someone invariably points to God exclaiming that this is God’s judgment. I will let the reader wrestle with their own theology regarding judgment, but will suggest that Paul says in Romans that all of us have been judged and found wanting, hence the incarnation and salvation work of Christ (Romans 8:23-31). So, for us, then, to claim that a natural disaster is some form of judgment suggests that somehow we are better than other people are, and Paul seems to suggest otherwise. As Gandalf relates to Frodo, who are we to be so eager to deal out judgement?
But I also look back to Jesus and his teaching, and it is especially the parable of the Good Samaritan that comes to mind (Luke 10:25-37). The teacher of the law wants to justify himself and asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” And Jesus tells him the parable—do you remember it? The people of God in Jesus’ day pass the injured man on the other side of the road ignoring his pain. It is only the Samaritan, considered to be ritually unclean, who stops to help him. And do you remember that at the end of the parable Jesus asks the teacher of the law who was a neighbor to the injured man? Of course he says the Samaritan acted as the man’s neighbor. But here is at least one really important point to the parable. Jesus concludes the conversation with the statement, “Go and do likewise.”
The church of Jesus’ day (represented by the priest and the Levite) deemed the injured man unworthy to help. In other words, they made a judgment about him. He had to rely on someone outside his faith to give him aid. When the teacher of the law admits this, Jesus charges him to do as the Samaritan did—to render aid without regard to nationality, creed, or religious beliefs, to render aid without judgment, from a heart of compassion and love.
I believe that God loves all of creation unequivocally. That means when a disaster happens, I am less inclined to believe that it is God’s judgment and more inclined to believe that God cries over those who are hurt and killed. But it may be that God cries even more when his people who are called to share love and grace, when the people who claim the name of Jesus Christ, pass by on the other side of the road. I hope that each of us will understand our common bond with people everywhere, and without judgment, continue to render whatever aid we can give in the name of love and in the name of Christ.
One of my favorite quotes from the entire work occurs while the Fellowship of the Ring is traveling through Moria. Frodo, unhappy with his task of carrying the ring, curses his fate, his luck, and above all, Gollum: "It's a pity Bilbo didn't kill him when he had the chance." But Gandalf responds: "Pity? It was pity that stayed his hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many."
As I continue to watch events unfold in Haiti, I am encouraged by the compassionate response of so many, including my own church, and dumbstruck by the massive destruction. My heart and prayers go out to the Haitian people and to all of those who are working to respond with aid. And as I continue to monitor the activity, I wanted to take a moment to share some thoughts that have been prompted by a comment in the media.
Any time there is a crisis of this magnitude someone invariably points to God exclaiming that this is God’s judgment. I will let the reader wrestle with their own theology regarding judgment, but will suggest that Paul says in Romans that all of us have been judged and found wanting, hence the incarnation and salvation work of Christ (Romans 8:23-31). So, for us, then, to claim that a natural disaster is some form of judgment suggests that somehow we are better than other people are, and Paul seems to suggest otherwise. As Gandalf relates to Frodo, who are we to be so eager to deal out judgement?
But I also look back to Jesus and his teaching, and it is especially the parable of the Good Samaritan that comes to mind (Luke 10:25-37). The teacher of the law wants to justify himself and asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” And Jesus tells him the parable—do you remember it? The people of God in Jesus’ day pass the injured man on the other side of the road ignoring his pain. It is only the Samaritan, considered to be ritually unclean, who stops to help him. And do you remember that at the end of the parable Jesus asks the teacher of the law who was a neighbor to the injured man? Of course he says the Samaritan acted as the man’s neighbor. But here is at least one really important point to the parable. Jesus concludes the conversation with the statement, “Go and do likewise.”
The church of Jesus’ day (represented by the priest and the Levite) deemed the injured man unworthy to help. In other words, they made a judgment about him. He had to rely on someone outside his faith to give him aid. When the teacher of the law admits this, Jesus charges him to do as the Samaritan did—to render aid without regard to nationality, creed, or religious beliefs, to render aid without judgment, from a heart of compassion and love.
I believe that God loves all of creation unequivocally. That means when a disaster happens, I am less inclined to believe that it is God’s judgment and more inclined to believe that God cries over those who are hurt and killed. But it may be that God cries even more when his people who are called to share love and grace, when the people who claim the name of Jesus Christ, pass by on the other side of the road. I hope that each of us will understand our common bond with people everywhere, and without judgment, continue to render whatever aid we can give in the name of love and in the name of Christ.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Warming up to the idea.
When I was 16 I started smoking. It looked cool, I thought. Not to date myself, but that was about the time they began to put the warning labels on the side of the cigarette packs. I read the warning and listened to all the dialogue. Some smokers argued that it was all much ado about nothing. I listened, I heard, but I chose to ignore the warnings and the science, which some legitimately called into question. I was young, I was healthy, and it was so cool. Twenty odd years later at approximately two packs per day (yes I can be rather compulsive), following a stay in ICU for heart problems I finally quit. But it took heart problems to prompt me to stop. It wasn't the warnings or the science. I was so addicted to smoke and nicotine that I found every excuse to keep on smoking.
A friend of mine recently suggested that global warning was the biggest scam since Bernie Madoff.
Maybe.
But, so what? What if it is? Or what if all the scientists who support it are completely wrong, naive, or misled? What is it exactly that we find so repulsive about it that we take a stand against it? Allow me to clarify two points before I continue. The first is, as any freshman geology survey course will tell you, that the earth has alternately warmed and cooled many times over the course of history - the question is how much worse is humanity and our technology making it. Second, global warming doesn't simply mean that the weather is always warmer, it means there are violent shifts in the weather caused by a changing climate.
Most scientists do not dispute the understanding that the earth is in a warming period. The question becomes whether or not human technology is exacerbating the situation. So, what if we're not? Contrary to the majority of scientists who claim we are, what if the recent emails are right and we've been fooled? What is it exactly that we are being asked to do that is so unpalatable?
Reduce emissions from fossil fuels. Forgive me, but I don't understand, what's the issue? Does anyone honestly think that all the carbon monoxide we're pumping into the atmosphere is good for us? What about oil consumption - are we truly that pleased with the cost of gas, oil, and heating oil? Again I date myself, but when I started driving gas was .28 per gallon - I paid $2.39 a gallon yesterday. And besides the simple cost, I hear politicians repeatedly claiming we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. But beyond these issues, I believe that the way we pollute our air and water is contrary to our call to be good stewards of God's Creation.
So even if global warming is a hoax, what is the issue? Shouldn't we, as people of faith, respect God's creation? Shouldn't we seek to live in as close a harmony with creation as possible? I'm not suggesting that we abandon all technology and live like primitives, but I am suggesting that we are God's caretakers of creation, and as such we have an obligation to the Lord, as well as to our fellow humans to safeguard it. Yes, I realize, that there are costs involved with capping emissions and finding alternatives to fossil fuels. There are costs to converting to 'greener' technologies. There are changes that have to be made that will be uncomfortable. But following God has never been easy and often God, and Jesus as well, has called us to sacrificial love, sacrificial giving. What does our faith call us to as we think about our planet?
"The earth is the Lords' and everything in it" (Psalm 24:1) suggests that we are not empowered as stewards to use and abuse it in any old way we choose. Rather the psalmist encourages us to remember that we are the creation, not the creator. Are we so addicted to the carbon monoxide that is produced by our cars and factories that we cannot find other ways to empower our technology? Do we wait until it is too late to avoid the consequences of our activities to change? Will we be like the one steward who buried his talent, too afraid to risk himself for his Lord?
Perhaps global warming is a hoax. Certainly the hacked emails make one ask questions. Perhaps all of the science is simply wrong. Still, I cannot help but believe that all the smog, pollution, and carbon emissions are not good for us. The gunk we dump in our water is not healthy for us. So I am warming up to the idea that global warming or not, we need to make some changes. And as I reflect on the simple question of my health and the health of my family and my children, and my children's children, I also pause to ask what God would have us do with the creation that the Lord has so lovingly given into our care.
A friend of mine recently suggested that global warning was the biggest scam since Bernie Madoff.
Maybe.
But, so what? What if it is? Or what if all the scientists who support it are completely wrong, naive, or misled? What is it exactly that we find so repulsive about it that we take a stand against it? Allow me to clarify two points before I continue. The first is, as any freshman geology survey course will tell you, that the earth has alternately warmed and cooled many times over the course of history - the question is how much worse is humanity and our technology making it. Second, global warming doesn't simply mean that the weather is always warmer, it means there are violent shifts in the weather caused by a changing climate.
Most scientists do not dispute the understanding that the earth is in a warming period. The question becomes whether or not human technology is exacerbating the situation. So, what if we're not? Contrary to the majority of scientists who claim we are, what if the recent emails are right and we've been fooled? What is it exactly that we are being asked to do that is so unpalatable?
Reduce emissions from fossil fuels. Forgive me, but I don't understand, what's the issue? Does anyone honestly think that all the carbon monoxide we're pumping into the atmosphere is good for us? What about oil consumption - are we truly that pleased with the cost of gas, oil, and heating oil? Again I date myself, but when I started driving gas was .28 per gallon - I paid $2.39 a gallon yesterday. And besides the simple cost, I hear politicians repeatedly claiming we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. But beyond these issues, I believe that the way we pollute our air and water is contrary to our call to be good stewards of God's Creation.
So even if global warming is a hoax, what is the issue? Shouldn't we, as people of faith, respect God's creation? Shouldn't we seek to live in as close a harmony with creation as possible? I'm not suggesting that we abandon all technology and live like primitives, but I am suggesting that we are God's caretakers of creation, and as such we have an obligation to the Lord, as well as to our fellow humans to safeguard it. Yes, I realize, that there are costs involved with capping emissions and finding alternatives to fossil fuels. There are costs to converting to 'greener' technologies. There are changes that have to be made that will be uncomfortable. But following God has never been easy and often God, and Jesus as well, has called us to sacrificial love, sacrificial giving. What does our faith call us to as we think about our planet?
"The earth is the Lords' and everything in it" (Psalm 24:1) suggests that we are not empowered as stewards to use and abuse it in any old way we choose. Rather the psalmist encourages us to remember that we are the creation, not the creator. Are we so addicted to the carbon monoxide that is produced by our cars and factories that we cannot find other ways to empower our technology? Do we wait until it is too late to avoid the consequences of our activities to change? Will we be like the one steward who buried his talent, too afraid to risk himself for his Lord?
Perhaps global warming is a hoax. Certainly the hacked emails make one ask questions. Perhaps all of the science is simply wrong. Still, I cannot help but believe that all the smog, pollution, and carbon emissions are not good for us. The gunk we dump in our water is not healthy for us. So I am warming up to the idea that global warming or not, we need to make some changes. And as I reflect on the simple question of my health and the health of my family and my children, and my children's children, I also pause to ask what God would have us do with the creation that the Lord has so lovingly given into our care.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
It's Always Something
Based on reflections on Luke 14:15-24
It was a clear evening, with the sun just setting, creating a kaleidoscope in the sky. It was still warm, but promised to be a clear, star-lit night. They had gathered at the table, the table of a Pharisee, a table where she would not have been welcome under the best of circumstances, and she was certainly not welcome at this table on this evening in this home. The things she had done, the person she was, precluded her from this home and this table. But his presence changed all that. As she anointed his feet with oil, he declared that she was indeed welcome at the table of the Lord. But this created a problem for Simon the Pharisee – because he certainly couldn’t eat with her. He wanted to learn what the teacher would share, but he couldn’t sit with her – it was always something.
One of my favorite shows when I was younger was Saturday Night Live. I have watched it for years, though I am not certain it has ever been as good as it was in the days of the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players.” And while I loved Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, Jim Belushi, Steve Martin, Jane Curtain, and Bill Murray, I have to say that probably my favorite bit was when Gilda Radner appeared in the Weekend Update segments as Roseanne Roseanna-Danna. RRD offered opinion pieces on various topics, but she always managed to sidetrack into an area of discourse that was completely different from wherever she started. Usually her wanderings began with a comment, “My daddy always told me, Roseanne Roseanna-Danna, it just goes to show ya. If it’s not one thing, it’s another, it’s always something.” Good comedy offers us a mirror through which to view life, and I believe Gilda was right – it is always something and that something can sidetrack us until we are no longer focused on the things we should be focused on.
So we shouldn’t be too hard on good Simon. He was a man of faith; he was part of the people of God in his time, and his faith, his church, his religion focused on personal holiness. By his very faith beliefs he could not sit at table with the prostitute, or even welcome her into his home. No, we shouldn’t be too hard on Simon, for I have heard far too many Christians in recent years who focused on the idea of personal holiness as well. Now don’t get me wrong, moral values and ethical standards are established by which we as Christians should live. But as Jesus told Simon, as Jesus told the young lawyer who asked about eternal life, there is more.
In this parable from Luke's gospel, the host has prepared a banquet and invited those to participate ahead of time. But when the table was set and the feast was ready, those who were invited couldn’t come. It’s always something.
Now this parable was given to the people of God, to Simon, and to us. What is it that keeps Simon from the banquet table? It’s not personal holiness, for “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Simon is one of those invited to the table, but something is keeping him from it. The modern church of Jesus Christ stands at a critical point, at a crossroad. We are invited, is something keeping us from the table as well?
There is a story told about a famous Christian speaker, who is well known for his powerful sermons and messages – he is very much in demand as a speaker. But he endangered his
speaking career at one point. He was called to speak to a conference of Christian men and after his introduction he stepped to the podium and addressed those 1500 men, and said, “You know what bugs the stuff out of me?” Only he didn’t say stuff. He used an expletive; he used it intentionally and it became even more powerful because of the setting. “You know what bugs the stuff out of me, is that 16,000 children will go to bed hungry tonight.” And after a minute as the furor died down, he continued, “You know what bugs me even more? It’s that more of you will be concerned that I used that word then will be about the fact that 16,000 children in America will go to bed hungry tonight.”
It bugs me as well. It bugs me that in the richest nation on earth, in the history of the planet for that matter, that 31 million Americans live in poverty. It bugs me that over the past 20 years 2.2 million low rent housing units have disappeared and that 3 million people today are homeless. It bugs me that 41 million WORKING Americans have no health insurance. It breaks my heart that there are people now, today, in our nation, in our state, in our community who may not be able to get the prescription drugs and the health care they need to survive. It bugs me that a few blocks from here there are children who wake up this morning hungry and will go to bed hungry tonight.
And this is just in America. What about the rest of the world?
This is not about politics. This is about compassion. It is not about Democrat or Republican, left or right, it is about love. It is not about business as usual but about the business of God. And I certainly hope that we who gather as the church of Jesus Christ on Sunday mornings will not hear this as a condemnation, for it is not meant to be that. It is meant, rather, to challenge us. It is meant to remind us that there is still more to do. It is meant to urge us to action. Let us hold our leaders and the leaders of the world accountable for ever increasing poverty and homelessness. Let us, as church, seek ways to aid those who live in hunger and poverty, who live without homes and without hope.
Let us, as the people of God, quit arguing about Democratic agendas & Republican agendas, about liberalism, socialism, conservatism, and find a way to provide health care for all in our country. How can we read the 25th chapter of Matthew and be content with the current state of our nation?
There is still more to do. And, if you remember John’s version of the story of Simon, Judas complains about the cost of the oil and Jesus replies that the poor will always be with us. It is always something.
But we are called; we are invited into the kingdom of God. Come to the banquet, sit at the table. What will keep us from coming to the table? We must remember that there are two parts to the commandments of Jesus, two challenges to the laws of God. Part one is personal holiness. Part two is relational. Love God, love one another. Neither is optional – we are called to both. Or in the words of the prophet, “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” Or as the beloved disciple said, “How does God’s love abide anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses help?”
So, I think it is significant to note whom the host calls to the banquet when the people of God who were invited do not come. Did you notice? The poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame, all of those who had been marginalized by society – all of those who had been excluded are invited to the table by the Lord. Blessed are the poor, the hungry, those who mourn, says Jesus, I have come to bring good news to them, to release the captives and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God! What will keep us from it? It’s not personal holiness, though we are encouraged to pursue that. But there are things that distract us from fulfilling the commitments we’ve made to God, if we let them. As church, let us encourage one another, even more so as we see the day approaching, and together let us seek ways to do justice and love mercy, to extend the invitation, on behalf of our Lord, so that all may be invited to the table of his grace. Let the broken be healed, the hungry, fed, the widow cared for, and the homeless given shelter. Let us bind up the captives and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.
© 2005
Albert J. Gritten
It was a clear evening, with the sun just setting, creating a kaleidoscope in the sky. It was still warm, but promised to be a clear, star-lit night. They had gathered at the table, the table of a Pharisee, a table where she would not have been welcome under the best of circumstances, and she was certainly not welcome at this table on this evening in this home. The things she had done, the person she was, precluded her from this home and this table. But his presence changed all that. As she anointed his feet with oil, he declared that she was indeed welcome at the table of the Lord. But this created a problem for Simon the Pharisee – because he certainly couldn’t eat with her. He wanted to learn what the teacher would share, but he couldn’t sit with her – it was always something.
One of my favorite shows when I was younger was Saturday Night Live. I have watched it for years, though I am not certain it has ever been as good as it was in the days of the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players.” And while I loved Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, Jim Belushi, Steve Martin, Jane Curtain, and Bill Murray, I have to say that probably my favorite bit was when Gilda Radner appeared in the Weekend Update segments as Roseanne Roseanna-Danna. RRD offered opinion pieces on various topics, but she always managed to sidetrack into an area of discourse that was completely different from wherever she started. Usually her wanderings began with a comment, “My daddy always told me, Roseanne Roseanna-Danna, it just goes to show ya. If it’s not one thing, it’s another, it’s always something.” Good comedy offers us a mirror through which to view life, and I believe Gilda was right – it is always something and that something can sidetrack us until we are no longer focused on the things we should be focused on.
So we shouldn’t be too hard on good Simon. He was a man of faith; he was part of the people of God in his time, and his faith, his church, his religion focused on personal holiness. By his very faith beliefs he could not sit at table with the prostitute, or even welcome her into his home. No, we shouldn’t be too hard on Simon, for I have heard far too many Christians in recent years who focused on the idea of personal holiness as well. Now don’t get me wrong, moral values and ethical standards are established by which we as Christians should live. But as Jesus told Simon, as Jesus told the young lawyer who asked about eternal life, there is more.
In this parable from Luke's gospel, the host has prepared a banquet and invited those to participate ahead of time. But when the table was set and the feast was ready, those who were invited couldn’t come. It’s always something.
Now this parable was given to the people of God, to Simon, and to us. What is it that keeps Simon from the banquet table? It’s not personal holiness, for “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Simon is one of those invited to the table, but something is keeping him from it. The modern church of Jesus Christ stands at a critical point, at a crossroad. We are invited, is something keeping us from the table as well?
There is a story told about a famous Christian speaker, who is well known for his powerful sermons and messages – he is very much in demand as a speaker. But he endangered his
speaking career at one point. He was called to speak to a conference of Christian men and after his introduction he stepped to the podium and addressed those 1500 men, and said, “You know what bugs the stuff out of me?” Only he didn’t say stuff. He used an expletive; he used it intentionally and it became even more powerful because of the setting. “You know what bugs the stuff out of me, is that 16,000 children will go to bed hungry tonight.” And after a minute as the furor died down, he continued, “You know what bugs me even more? It’s that more of you will be concerned that I used that word then will be about the fact that 16,000 children in America will go to bed hungry tonight.”
It bugs me as well. It bugs me that in the richest nation on earth, in the history of the planet for that matter, that 31 million Americans live in poverty. It bugs me that over the past 20 years 2.2 million low rent housing units have disappeared and that 3 million people today are homeless. It bugs me that 41 million WORKING Americans have no health insurance. It breaks my heart that there are people now, today, in our nation, in our state, in our community who may not be able to get the prescription drugs and the health care they need to survive. It bugs me that a few blocks from here there are children who wake up this morning hungry and will go to bed hungry tonight.
And this is just in America. What about the rest of the world?
This is not about politics. This is about compassion. It is not about Democrat or Republican, left or right, it is about love. It is not about business as usual but about the business of God. And I certainly hope that we who gather as the church of Jesus Christ on Sunday mornings will not hear this as a condemnation, for it is not meant to be that. It is meant, rather, to challenge us. It is meant to remind us that there is still more to do. It is meant to urge us to action. Let us hold our leaders and the leaders of the world accountable for ever increasing poverty and homelessness. Let us, as church, seek ways to aid those who live in hunger and poverty, who live without homes and without hope.
Let us, as the people of God, quit arguing about Democratic agendas & Republican agendas, about liberalism, socialism, conservatism, and find a way to provide health care for all in our country. How can we read the 25th chapter of Matthew and be content with the current state of our nation?
There is still more to do. And, if you remember John’s version of the story of Simon, Judas complains about the cost of the oil and Jesus replies that the poor will always be with us. It is always something.
But we are called; we are invited into the kingdom of God. Come to the banquet, sit at the table. What will keep us from coming to the table? We must remember that there are two parts to the commandments of Jesus, two challenges to the laws of God. Part one is personal holiness. Part two is relational. Love God, love one another. Neither is optional – we are called to both. Or in the words of the prophet, “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” Or as the beloved disciple said, “How does God’s love abide anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses help?”
So, I think it is significant to note whom the host calls to the banquet when the people of God who were invited do not come. Did you notice? The poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame, all of those who had been marginalized by society – all of those who had been excluded are invited to the table by the Lord. Blessed are the poor, the hungry, those who mourn, says Jesus, I have come to bring good news to them, to release the captives and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God! What will keep us from it? It’s not personal holiness, though we are encouraged to pursue that. But there are things that distract us from fulfilling the commitments we’ve made to God, if we let them. As church, let us encourage one another, even more so as we see the day approaching, and together let us seek ways to do justice and love mercy, to extend the invitation, on behalf of our Lord, so that all may be invited to the table of his grace. Let the broken be healed, the hungry, fed, the widow cared for, and the homeless given shelter. Let us bind up the captives and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.
© 2005
Albert J. Gritten
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)