LIFE AND DEATH SERMON FOR 9-10-06

Scripture: Proverbs 22: 1-2; James 2:1-10, 14-17; Mark 7:24-30

Today I want to talk to you about life and death. We have just experienced one of the most life giving acts possible in our church, the baptism of Grace Harper. In baptism we are given new life in Jesus. I personally do not believe in original sin and can’t imagine that little Grace had any sins that had to be removed; however, if you are baptized as an adult, there are undoubtedly many, many things you would be happy to have removed. To be cleansed with the water of baptism of all that old stuff would be pretty life affirming. The other emphasis of our worship today is remembering 9/11/2001. It’s probably one of those times, like the assassination of President Kennedy if you are old enough, that you can remember where you were and what you were doing when the planes hit the Twin Towers. That act of destruction led not only to almost 3000 lives lost but the death goes on in many ways, physically and emotionally. One of the latest findings is that probably 70% of the courageous folks that rushed in to help after the attack are sick or dying from lung problems due to the inhaling of the toxic fumes as the fires burned and smoldered. For most of us all this death and destruction is impossible to understand. I want to share with you both a poem by Nikki Giovanni and a quote from a fictional character in The Book of Help, written after 9/11. The poem is entitled Desperate Acts: It’s not easy to understand/Why angry men commit/Desperate acts. It’s not easy to understand/How some dreams become/Nightmares. Those who wish/And those who need/Often feel alone. It’s easy to strike back/ But it’s hard to understand.

And here are the words of Joan Baur, put in the mouth of a fictional character, "I am a New Yorker. I smelled the smoke, saw the ash from the towers, felt the fear settle over my shoulder, had the nightmares, lit the candles, went to the funerals. I wish to God that none of it had ever happened and I thank God that I was here when it did. I've been changed forever-that much I know. And because of that, I want to teach. I want to teach because I want to learn and understand. I believe we have a choice in this world, we, the children of war. We can learn from the hate, we can learn how to stop it, or we can learn to hate even more."

My desire for you this morning is to be able to understand how hate can lead to death instead of new life, and how the teachings of our faith can help us do what is necessary to make sure that such tragedies never happen again. Most of you know that I like to try to connect the recommended scriptures for each Sunday to the message I preach. Today’s reading from both Proverbs and James focus on the poor and the importance of Christians to care for the poor, showing no partiality to the rich, to love your neighbor as yourself, and to not send those in need away with the wish for peace and fullness and neglect to take action to assure that justice is done. (Although I’m focusing on us today who are mostly identified with Christianity, let me assure you that all the major religions, including Islam have very similar teachings on loving and caring for those in need.)

Proverbs, known as a wisdom text, tells us it’s better to have a good name than riches and that both rich and poor have in common that the Lord made them; in other words that we are brothers and sisters in the name of God, the Holy One. This is from the Hebrew or Jewish scriptures and points for me that we are all one, no matter where we live, what language we speak, what faith we practice. God made us all. James talks about the importance of not showing partiality to the rich, inviting the well dressed person with expensive jewelry to sit in the best seats and the person with dirty, shabby clothes in the worst seat—or maybe no seat at all but standing up or sitting on the floor. Probably the letter of James is best known for his emphasis that faith alone does not satisfy God or bring about justice. Action or, as James says, works is necessary. Faith without works is dead. He makes this comparison later in the chapter, v. 26, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.” Let me give a couple of examples here: if a congregation says that they want to help the homeless and even if they pray regularly for the homeless unless they get involved with things such as making phone calls to check on apartments, giving temporary shelter in their homes, or helping financially with the security deposit they really haven’t lived up to what James is talking about. It’s easy to say, “I wish you the best and I’ll be praying for you.”, but James says that is not enough. Another example is our desire to have peace. Praying is certainly one way to help; making donations to groups like Peace Action that works endlessly for peace is another. Signing the Declaration of Peace and marching on September 30th in Concord to demonstrate your sincerity is another way. Working and voting for candidates that will promote non-violent resolutions to conflict is another.

Our gospel reading today is one that is surprising to many listeners as Jesus doesn’t seem very loving, nor does he appear to be treating all people equally. I want to remind you again that our Holy Scripture is culture bound and sometimes even Jesus gets caught in the culture trap. Most of us don’t know our geography well enough to realize that Tyre that is referred to in Mark was in pagan territory in the New Testament times. This place is the same place that last month was being bombed in Lebanon by the Israeli army in an effort to root out the terrorist group, Hezbollah. Jesus and his disciples were going into this territory themselves to seek respite from the religious persecution they were receiving from the Pharisees in Israel. Yet this seems to have no impact as they confront this Syrophoenician woman who was pleading for help for her sick daughter. However, this mother persisted; she spoke up to Jesus when he insulted her people by calling them dogs. Jesus listened to her and was impressed. Some people refer to this as the example where a woman got Jesus to change his mind. In the end Jesus healed the daughter, thus signifying that the Gentiles, the Syrophoenician people from this pagan land were also worthy to be healed. In the earlier part of this chapter Jesus had declared all food clean, saying, “Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from the outside cannot defile…it is what comes out of a person that defiles.” It is from within the human heart that evil intentions come and that is what defiles a person. I agree with scholars that this incident of healing the woman’s daughter meant that Jesus recognized that no one should be excluded. The heart of Jesus had been touched by the persistent mother whose mother-love is at the very heart of God’s own love. Something deep inside Jesus remembered and realized this, causing him to declare all people acceptable, invited and included at the table.

I find it most ironic that in our world today where there are so many of God’s children that are not receiving even the crumbs from the table that the churches are arguing about who’s included in God’s loving embrace? Let’s get back to James and so many other places in our Bible that emphasize God’s preferential option for the poor and the importance of us caring for the poor. How can we continue to let people starve, both here and in the developing countries? Thirty years or so ago when I was a beginning social worker, our government did much more to make sure that our poor had food, shelter, and medical care. With the cutbacks over the last few decades it is more important than ever that we as individuals and churches follow our Judaic/Christian teachings to care for “the widow and the orphan”, the catch phrase in Biblical times for the poor.

How does all this relate to hatred, to terrorism? The institutions of faith and government seem to fail to see that the challenge of world hunger and the whole complex picture of failing to provide basic health care, safety, education and the like to our brothers and sisters throughout the world is what often lies behind terrorism. Hatred develops when it’s obvious that justice is not being done, that the haves keep getting richer while the have-nots keep getting poorer and more desperate. When hope is gone, why are we surprised at suicide bombings? When 18000 people a year die in the United States because of the lack of medical care[1] compared to under 3000 that died in the 9/11 disaster, why is it so hard to understand the anger that leads to terrorism? Obviously, I am no expert on terrorism. Yet my years of experience as a social worker, a therapist, and a minister have revealed to me many insights into what leads to life and what leads to death. If we were serious about really changing things we would have to look at the band-aid approach to charity that we so often use versus changing the system so that there could be more justice for all. We need to reexamine the root causes and the reorder our values and priorities. We would need to place greater importance on our role as bringers of life or death in the human order by the decisions we make[2] and the actions that follow them. Our role in patterns that have created the suffering of world poverty and hunger needs to be looked at; and our nation and our churches need to ask forgiveness for the harm we have done. As a church we need to recognize the destiny that we share with all humanity as well as the earth itself. As a community of faith we are part of the interrelationship with all of creation. It’s hard not to judge others that do us harm; however, as Mother Theresa has said, “If you judge people, you have less time to love them.” It’s impossible to both judge and understand at the same time. I believe that listening, observing behavior, trying to understand, and making every effort to love those people who seem different from us are the beginning ingredients in defeating terrorism. Then as James points out, action must follow. I believe that as long as anyone is suffering, the whole world suffers. I believe that terrorism is part of this complex web that includes all. I also believe that each of us can make choices that will lead us and the world closer to death as well as choices that will lead us to more abundance and fulfillment. To illustrate this point, I would like to give you a closing story. A little boy had been unfairly treated by his schoolmate. He came home very angry and told his grandfather about what had happened and how he felt. The grandfather said, "Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times." He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way." "But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing. Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather?"

The Grandfather smiled and said, "The one I feed."

Today we can all choose which wolf to feed. For myself I wish to strengthen my practice of nonviolence, of peace, and love. As part of my daily devotions I want to always remember to be grateful that I always have a choice. Which wolf will you choose to feed? Amen
[1] Newsweek, 9-1-06 issue
[2] Bruce Birch, online sermon

Do You Also Wish to Go Away? Sermon for 8-27-06

Scripture: John 6:56-69 and Ephesians 6:10-20

The Gospel of John, especially the 6th chapter, reports at length about Jesus being the bread of life, the bread that will take away all of our hunger. Even more shocking to the crowds is his saying that he and his Father are one and that he came from heaven. And then the ultimate offense comes as Jesus starts talking about how his disciples must eat his flesh and drink his blood. “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life,…for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink” (6:54-5). For many of his followers, Jesus had just gone too far, speaking in cannibalistic terms and claiming equal authority with God. This was really an early turning point in Jesus’ ministry. Many of you will remember how popular Jesus had become with his acts of mercy, his driving out demons and his miracles, especially the feeding miracles where many thousands of people were fed from a few fish and loaves of bread. The crowds started to diminish. Many left because they did not understand what he meant when he talked about his body as food and his blood as drink. Others left because they had come to get free food, see a good show. They wanted something to fill their stomachs, not their souls. Others just couldn’t believe that God would choose such a common, ordinary person, a carpenter, someone whose family they had known, someone they had grown up with to be spiritual food.

After all, who was this Jesus? I’ve heard some interesting debates. Please be assured these are not my beliefs; however, they are interesting. Some folks say that Jesus was Black: After all he called everyone brother and sister; he liked Gospel, and he couldn’t get a fair trial. But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish: He went into His Fathers business; he lived at home until he was 33; he was sure his Mother was a virgin and his mother was sure he was God. Still others have argued that Jesus was Italian: He talked with his hands; he had wine with every meal; and he used olive oil. There are many other good reasons about who Jesus was; however the most compelling evidence for many are these proofs that indicate that Jesus was a woman: First, he had to feed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was no food. Second, he kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn't get it; and third, even when he was dead, He had to get up because there was more work for Him to do.
Enough humor for this sermon. Getting back to other possibilities why many disciples decided to leave Jesus, it’s possible that some did understand what Jesus was saying and they did not want God to get that close to them—they preferred to be in control of their own lives. No way were they going to choose to let God work through them, direct them to go places they would not go on their own. These things that Jesus was teaching were just too hard for his disciples. They asked, “Who can accept such far-out teachings?” And they left. After many had turned back Jesus called the twelve apostles together and asked them, “Do you also wish to go away?” Peter, always right there, responded rhetorically, “Lord, to whom could we go? You have the words of eternal life.” At least eleven of the twelve apostles were completely committed to Jesus.

Do all of you understand what commitment is? Ask yourself, what or to whom am I committed? When I married Neill, I had been very hurt by the lack of commitment and fidelity from my first husband. I had been hurt so much that my attitude in the beginning of marriage was more one of: “I’ll give this a try; No way am I going to go through anymore hurt. If things get rough, I’ll just go back to California.” Neill and I joke about that phrase today to remind us of how far we’ve come. Neill really taught me a lot about commitment—how your attitude of perseverance vs. “I can check out at any time” makes such a difference in resolving the rough spots. Peter and the other disciples closest to Jesus had that kind of commitment although they may have wanted to go, were scared enough to hide themselves, to deny Jesus. Except for Judas, they all remained committed to him. What about you? Do you want to leave Jesus? Or have you already left him spiritually? Does your desire for worldly success or your enjoyment of rest and leisure prevent you from taking time to come regularly to worship, to participate in the work of the church or to serve those that are in need? Does your spending on luxuries keep you from giving your fair share to the church and other charities? Are you okay with your children playing sports on Sunday morning rather than going to Sunday school? Do you spend more money on entertainment than you do on your pledge to the church? I know I’ve been asking a lot of these hard questions lately and some of you may be feeling uncomfortable or maybe even irritated with me. It’s not easy to follow Jesus. Jesus asks us for a commitment, not a compromise. He doesn’t change the message so that it will be easier for his followers, so his disciples won’t leave him. We are not called to follow Jesus only when it suits us, but to be with him and follow his teachings in good times and bad.

Paul knew it was not an easy thing to follow Jesus in a world that has so much darkness and evil. Most progressive Christians don’t say much about evil today; however, I do believe there are all kinds of evil forces, evil actions all around us. What do I mean by evil? Pick up a newspaper and just start reading: innocent citizens killed in Iraq ; trial of Saddam for chemical genocide of Kurds; pedophilia extends its reach through the Internet; Gang related bomb kills at least 10 in Moscow Square (all from Monday morning’s NY Times online.) Evil is action that leads to death and destruction, great harm and pain, inhumane, wicked, morally reprehensible actions. I am not one to classify groups of people or nations as evil. I believe more about evil as a verb than as a noun. Most everyone some time has done some evil act; that does not make them an evil person. But getting back to the letter to the Ephesians, the author is warning the people of darkness and evil. What do we usually do to deal with these horrible situations? We try to avoid face-to-face contact such as with the homeless on the streets of our cities. We go to the country or to the nearby suburbs, or build gated communities to try to keep them out and keep us isolated and safe. Some of us get apathetic, or even deny that folks are starving, that the earth is being ruined, that there are many lonely, old and sick folks in nursing homes, that genocide is really happening in Sudan. If we can’t see these things in the flesh maybe they aren’t really there. It’s much more comfortable just to see these problems on TV where we can shut it off when we want to.

Ephesians talks about Christians living in a real world filled with injustice. You heard in the reading from the NRSV of the Bible words such as “Belt of truth and “breastplate of righteousness”. Let me share with you a more modern translation from Eugene Peterson in The Message, “Be prepared. You are up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so when its all over but the shouting you will still be on your feet. Truth righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s word is an indispensable weapon. Prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each others’ spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.” These words are much easier for us to understand and relate to. There are just two of these “weapons” that I would like to explore further with you. One is faith. It’s so hard to keep the faith when things are not going well. As Christians we are not exempt in anyway from the sufferings in life: we get sick, we lose jobs, we get divorced and so forth. What’s different is how we deal with this suffering. With faith, a close relationship of trust and love with our divine Spirit, the process will be different We can’t prove God, we can’t prove eternal life, but you can see and feel the difference when you are filled with the Spirit. In our church, our religion, our faith there is both lightness and darkness. Every once in awhile in church we hear a word, a sermon, an anthem, that for a moment stirs up in us that holiness that we long for, that truth that suddenly bursts forth in great light. It feels like God has really heard the longing of our souls and furthermore has answered, has been speaking just to us. Then there is the darkness of our faith when so often there are no such moments—when the service does not speak to us of the presence of God but instead just increases the absence of God, not only in this place but in the depths of our being. It’s hard to hear the still-speaking God. How do you find the holiness? How do you pray in the Spirit as Ephesians says. Maybe praying is hard for you, especially the meditative type. Maybe your mind is wandering all over the place, mine certainly does much of the time. But keep trying. Be sure to spend part of your day, for me the morning works best, in quiet devotion, prayer, and spiritual reading. I have included a prayer in your bulletin that you might use every morning to start your day. From this prayer, hopefully you will go on to both talk and listen to God. To tell God what’s on your mind, to lift us those people and concerns that are nagging at you, maybe just visualize them surrounded by light. There’s so many ways to pray. Some of the best prayer for me is just to sit quietly and ask God to let only things God wants me to think about come into my mind. I get many thoughts during such prayer, and they certainly are not all from God, but I believe that many are and that’s one of the ways God speaks to me. Closed doors are another dramatic way of God speaking. If you are paying close attention, you may notice how a new and better door opens after the disappointment of the one that closed.

So I will ask you again that question of Jesus, “Do you also want to go away?” How strong is your commitment to your faith? The way, the path of Jesus, is not an easy way. It’s not easy to get up every Sunday morning to come to church. And for some of you every Thursday evening to come to choir practice. It’s not easy to go to committee meetings and visioning retreats. It’s not easy to get up early once a month to do a work day at the church. Some of the people that do this are getting tired. Others keep going about the busyness of church without any real conviction or passion or joy.. There are different seasons in our lives. What we did in our 50’s and 60’s may not be what we want to be doing in our 70’s and 80’s. There’s always something that is important for each person to do, and no one has to do everything. The metaphor that Jesus uses tells us that we, the church, are the only body Christ has. We as individuals are the only bodies that he has. Jesus “has no hands to reach out to people with except our hands, no feet to go to them with except our feet, no other eyes to see them with, no other faces to show them his love.” [1] When we take seriously our commitment to God and each other, I believe we do reap a harvest of abundance, of joy and peace that no one can ever take away. Peter’s reasoning for not going away was that Jesus had shown him eternal life and further, “We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” My sisters and brothers, I do not want to go away, because I feel blessed beyond all description to be loved so unconditionally from the great Spirit and to be able to love and serve all of you. It’s not always easy, but my rewards far outweigh the difficulties. My hope and prayer are that you will also feel that great blessing. Amen.
[1] Frederick Buechner, Secrets in the Dark, p. 284.