Unchained Melody

(Scriptures: Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7, Psalm 66
2 Timothy 2:8-15 Luke 17:11-19)

Today’s Epistle reading from Paul gives us a picture of Paul, in prison, writing a letter of encouragement and instruction to his protégé, Timothy, who has the task of being Paul’s arms and legs in carrying the gospel where Paul’s chains of imprisonment will not permit him to go in person. It’s a time in which Paul has cause for discouragement; not only is he imprisoned, but, as he writes, “all who are in Asia have turned away from me.” Yet Paul is undaunted. In the section preceding today’s reading, Paul gives Timothy three images of how Timothy should carry himself as a disciple of Christ: as a soldier enlisted by Jesus Christ, who singlemindedly serves his enlisting officer by avoiding entanglements in routine matters, as an athlete competing for the prize, and as a farmer who, having planted and watered the crops, should get first share in the harvest.

And then we come to today’s reading, where Paul gives Timothy a capsule summary of the Gospel: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendent of David – this is my gospel, Paul says. This is the message that’s causing all the trouble, the message for which Paul has suffered hardship, to the point of being chained like a criminal. And then Paul makes a remarkable affirmation – “But the word of God is not chained.” It sounds like a throwaway line, but this is what keeps Paul going – “I am in chains, but the word of God is not chained.” The word of God, the Gospel, has a power to save that transcends our physical limitations. If Paul can’t carry the message in person, he’ll write to Timothy. If Paul can’t travel, Timothy will. And if Timothy can’t, God will raise up someone else. The word of God is not chained, will not be chained, indeed, cannot be chained.

We encounter this unchained word of God in our reading from Jeremiah. The exile foretold by Jeremiah has come to pass. God’s people are exiles among their enemies, strangers in a strange land. And the people are all over the place in how they view their situation. Some, like the false prophet Hananiah, are promising that, if everybody just sits tight, they’ll be back in Judah in two years, and the memory of all this disruption will fade like the memory of a bad dream fades at daybreak. Others are utterly beside themselves with grief. Their words reverberate in Psalm 137, which was one of the optional readings for last Sunday – the Psalmist writes, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion, and so we hung up our harps, there upon the willows. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land….” A few lines later in the Psalm, grief turns to rage, as the Psalmist writes, “O city of Babylon, you devastator….Happy shall they be who will take your little ones and dash them against a rock!” Hey, Psalmist, no need to hold back….tell us how you really feel! But in all seriousness, this very human psalm tells us that God knows our heart, and that we can take all our feelings to the Lord in prayer, even the ugliest, the most violent, the most sickening of our feelings….we can take them to the Lord in prayer. Instead of acting out, we can talk them out with God.

But Jeremiah sounds a different note. He doesn’t indulge in wishful thinking as the false prophet Hananiah did, or lash out blindly in the manner of Psalm 137. Instead, he urges the exiles to settle into their situation, to build houses and live in them, to plant trees and gardens, to raise families, even to seek the peace and pray for the welfare of Babylon – for Babylon’s welfare is inseparable from their own. Because the word of the Lord is unchained – God is not only the God of the Temple, which had just been destroyed, not only the God of Jerusalem, which had been leveled, not only the God of Judah which had been exiled. God was greater than any of these – indeed, the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, and God was as present in Babylon as God had been present in Judah. The exiles ultimately would come to learn to sing the Lord’s song in a new land. It would be the unchained word of God that sustained the exiles through the decades of their captivity.

God’s love cannot be chained by social boundaries any more than by national or geographic boundaries. Our Gospel gives us a healing story – Jesus is in a border area between Judea – friendly territory – and Samaria – potentially hostile territory. He runs across 10 lepers, united only in their misery and their isolation from their communities. But the word of God is unchained – Jesus has only to speak the word, and they are healed. Jesus tells them to go through the ritual for being reintegrated into their communities. Nine dutifully follow instructions, but one is overcome by his own unchained gratitude – he returns to Jesus and throws himself at Jesus’ feet.

This unchained melody of God’s love plays on today. Because of Jesus, we can sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land. No matter how disheartened we may be by our society, by our surroundings, by our neighbors – we can still sing the Lord’s song, the unchained melody of God’s love, wherever God plants us.

For many of our neighbors need to hear the unchained Word of God, to hear the unchained melody of God’s love. In Jesus’ day it was lepers and Samaritans. Today the names are different, but there are those our society treats as lepers and Samaritans, people to be harassed, people to be shunned. Over the past few weeks, the names of a number of young people have been in the news: Tyler Clementi, Rutgers Univ. age 18, a talented violinist. Asher Brown, Houston, TX, age 13, an A student. Justin Aaberg, 15, Anoka, Minnesota, a cellist. Raymond Chase, 19, Rhode Island, a culinary student. Billy Lucas, Greensberg, Indiana, age 15, loved animals. Seth Walsh, age 13, Fresno, California, an aspiring artist. All young men, harassed, bullied, cyberstalked, most physically attacked for being gay – or for appearing to be gay – and driven to despair, to the extent that each one ended his life, five of them in the month of September alone. Tyler Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge. Asher Brown found his father’s gun and shot himself. Raymond Chase, hanged himself. Seth Walsh hanged himself, was found barely alive by his parents and died in the intensive care unit 9 days later. Justin Aaberg hanged himself. Billy Lucas hanged himself. Somewhere along the line, those who harassed and attacked these young men learned that what they were doing was ok. And somewhere along the line, these young men learned to hate themselves. Where did the young people learn these things? From their parents. From the wider society. From the media. And all too often, at church, as message of damnation from many churches spread their poison to a wider audience. We tell ourselves, sticks and stones may break our bones but names can never hurt us. But many who hear themselves called names, who hear words of hate day in and day out for years on end, give up hope of ever hearing anything else, give up hope of finding love and respect, eventually give up on life itself. For every person who kills himself or herself, many others have thoughts of giving up on life. Of those who don’t shoot themselves or hang themselves, some kill themselves slowly with alcohol and drugs, while others are walking wounded, struggling day in and day out with depression and anxiety. Words have the power to kill – and words have the power to heal. Many see the message of welcome and inclusion and respect offered by the United Church of Christ as pandering to political correctness. But to the extent that our church members – and their children – are taught to extend the love of Christ to all of those around us – male, female, black, white, rich, poor, gay, straight – it could make the difference between life and death for young – and even not-so-young - people struggling to find their way.

The unchained Word of God sustained the Jewish exiles through decades of exile in Babylon. The unchained Word of God healed ten lepers, and one of them was so overwhelmed with gratitude that he fell at Jesus feet to thank him. The unchained Word of God sustained Paul in his imprisonment. May we at Emanuel Church likewise be sustained, as individuals and as a congregation, by the unchained melody of God’s love in all our trials. And may we share that unchained melody of God’s love with our friends, our neighbors, our coworkers, all those living with depression and despair, all those searching for love. For we have this promise from Scripture:
If we have died with Christ, we will also live with Christ;
if we endure, we will also reign with Christ;
if we deny Christ, he will also deny us;
if we are faithless, Christ remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.

Christ remains faithful to us. May we at Emanuel Church remain faithful as well. Amen.
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Please join us at Emanuel United Church of Christ on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. We're on Fillmore Street (off Thompson). www.emanuelphila.org