From Preaching to Meddling

(Scriptures: Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Psalm 119:1-8, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, Matthew 5:21-37)

 

Note:  Worship at Emanuel Church was cancelled on Sunday, February 16, 2014 due to adverse weather and road conditions.  While a guest preacher was planned for this Sunday, instead, here’s a sermon from Pastor Dave.

 

Today’s Gospel reading brings us to an especially challenging section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus began his sermon with the Beatitudes, with a series of blessings: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek…” and so forth.  In last weeks’ Gospel reading, we heard of Jesus calling on his followers to be salt and light in the world, to live in ways that are counter to the culture’s prevailing values and indeed to change the world through their countercultural stance.   

 

In this week’s Gospel reading, however, Jesus moves beyond broad generalities and gets down to specifics.  When the words of a sermon make a congregation uncomfortable, someone will often tell the pastor that he’s “gone from preaching to meddling”.   And we may say the same of Jesus’ words in today’s reading.  In naming specific situations, Jesus undoubtedly offended many of his original listeners, and his words in today’s reading will touch sore spots in our lives as well.  I can only hope that as Jesus’ words touch our lives, the touch that brings pain is also the touch that brings healing.

 

Here are Jesus’ words from Matthew 5:21-37:

 

   [Jesus said:] "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder'; and 'whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, 'You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

 

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.

 

"It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

 

"Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be 'Yes, Yes' or 'No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one."

 

Yikes!  Where to begin?  Most of us – including me – have broken one or more of the Ten Commandments more than once somewhere along the line.  But now Jesus is going beyond the letter of the law to get at the spirit of the law – and in so doing, makes the law harder for us to keep rather than easier.  The Ten Commandments say “Do not kill”, but Jesus says, “Do not be angry and do not insult people.”   The commandments say “Do not commit adultery”, but Jesus says, “Do not lust”.   While the Jewish law allowed for divorce, Jesus rules it out “except for unchastity”.  And while the law had guidelines for making and keeping oaths, Jesus says not to make oaths at all.

 

What are we to make of this?  Many preachers have said – and I agree – that by setting the bar so high, Jesus makes us all aware of our need for God’s grace.    If Jesus had just let the standard be “don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t commit adultery” and so forth – well, most people can get through most days without killing anyone or robbing anyone or committing adultery with anyone.   Many people can uphold those standards most of the time without any great awareness of God’s grace or even God’s presence.  It’s easy to say, “Well, at least I didn’t kill anyone today, so I’m a good person.”  But when we move beyond actions and examine our thoughts and motivations, we find that all of us – me too - at times have thoughts that are unprintable, and nearly all human actions involve a blend of good and not-so-good motives.   By addressing human behavior as he does, Jesus breaks down our self-evasions and self-justifications and holds a mirror up to our sinfulness and brokenness.  And, as alcoholics and addicts often must hit bottom in order to have insight into their addiction and seek treatment, Jesus’ words show us to ourselves as we are, that we may seek God’s grace in becoming the people God would have us be.

 

All of this is true.  We are saved, not by our own righteousness, but by God’s grace.  I believe this.  At the same time, I also believe that if we claim God’s grace for our failures without also asking God’s help in living more faithfully in the future, we miss God’s invitation to live according to the values of God’s reign, and thus miss the blessings of the kingdom.  And so I want to spend a bit more time on the content of Jesus’ teaching, before we ask forgiveness for having broken or ignored it.

 

Many people in Jesus’ day – and many people in our own day – see religion as a rulebook, a tedious list of do’s and don’ts.  The problem with rules is that we can always invent loopholes and exceptions.  We can always find ways to keep the letter of the law while evading the spirit of the law.

 

And as Jesus describes it, the spirit of the law is about human relationships, about love. When we’re dealing with children, we have to establish rules and set up lists of do’s and don’ts – don’t cross the street without looking both ways, don’t hit people, don’t throw tantrums, and so forth. When we’re dealing with those with whom we’re in relationships – at least adult relationships – we’re not so much concerned about citing rules and regulations, but about doing what’s good for the other person and for the relationship.   As adults, it’s when we’re unsure of the quality or strength of a relationship that we try to prop it up with rules – such as, for example, a couple propping up a shaky marriage by signing a post-nuptual agreement.   Disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer nor a marriage counselor, nor do I play one on TV, and for some couples a post-nuptual agreement may be the most prudent course of action for the individuals in the marriage - but it also may say something about the quality of trust within the marriage that such a document would be considered necessary.

 

So Jesus calls us from living by a rulebook to living in relationship.  Perhaps the easiest way to see Jesus’ intent is to turn around his statements from negatives into positives, from “don’ts” to “do’s”.  For example, what if we turn around Jesus’ words “do not be angry” around into “do be reconciled”.  Or, turn around “don’t lust” to say “do be faithful”.  Or, turn around “do not swear” into “do be reliable; do follow through on what you say you’re going to do.” 

 

I do want to spend a moment on Jesus’ prohibition of divorce.  It sounds very harsh, and indeed it does set a high bar.  It may be helpful to remember that, in the patriarchal culture of Jesus’ time, a woman’s source of security was her husband.  For a husband to divorce his wife was essentially to set her adrift without any means of support – there were no alimony laws in those days – and under the law of Jesus’ day, a divorce could be authorized for the most trivial of reasons.   In such a culture, the ex-husband could move on with his life and remarry, but the ex-wife was left destitute and penniless, with few prospects for remarriage or for a secure life.  In that culture, a divorced woman could be reduced to begging or even to prostitution.   And so I believe that in prohibiting or strongly discouraging divorce, Jesus was trying to put women in a more secure position within their own marriages.  Of course, the culture of Jesus’ time is not the culture of our time.  Women leaving a failed marriage have many more options – thank God! – and Jesus would not want anyone – male or female - to remain within a violent or abusive relationship.  But I do think that Jesus’ words call us at least to make efforts to strengthen existing relationships and repair broken relationships, rather than being too quick to walk away.  We live in a culture of disposable diapers and disposable napkins, but I believe Jesus is saying that we should not treat people and relationships as disposable.   Instead we are to treat people as persons created in God’s image, persons with something of the divine within them – even though at times it’s really hard to find.  Of course, when we fail – and we all do from time to time – God’s grace is sufficient.

 

Jesus calls us to live in right relationship, in relationship based on love.  May God grant us grace when we stumble, and may God grant us the strength and forbearance to begin anew.  May we at Emanuel Church live in love with God and neighbor.  Amen.

Pass the Salt! Turn on the Light!

(Scriptures:         Isaiah 58:1-9a; I Corinthians 2:1-16;    Matthew 5:13-20)

Did everyone get through last week ok?  The weather was something else – snow Monday, ice Wednesday – and lots of folks in Bucks and Montgomery Counties still don’t have power – and apparently no end in sight.  Before I go any further, I’d ask us all to keep our neighbors, especially those in the suburbs suffering from power outages, in our prayers.

 

One thing that stressed me out a bit was that, with all the ice and snow, places like Lowes and Home Depot ran out of salt – and as of Friday, they were still out of salt.  On Friday, I got a hot tip that the Shop Rite on Aramingo Avenue had salt, and bought two bags of salt for the church, some of which I used to try to make our sidewalk on Fillmore Street walkable for this morning. Mission mostly accomplished.  But for a week or two before Friday, all that the big box stores carried in place of rock salt were big bags of water softener pellets that are normally used in dishwasher– supposedly they can melt ice, but they look like big marbles, and I was afraid that if I threw them on our sidewalk, if people didn’t slip on the ice, they’d surely trip over the water softener pellets.  And so I was crossing my fingers and toes that nobody went down on our sidewalk.

 

And, of course, as mentioned, many people in the Philadelphia suburbs are without electricity, and therefore have no lights on in their homes.  We’ve become so accustomed to the convenience of just flicking a switch and having our lights come on – but it is a weird experience indeed to have to go for several days without being able to turn on the lights.  You can compensate by going out to restaurants and malls and libraries, assuming that you have money and they have power, but eventually you end up going home to a cold, dark house or apartment.  Or you go to someone else’s home, if they’ve invited you, but even though there’s warmth and light and food, it’s still not home.  All of which is to say that, even in today’s culture when we tend to take it for granted that salt and light will always be available, when because of weather-related reasons or other causes we don’t have salt or light, it really throws us off, and we realize how dependent our lives are on these very basic things, salt and light.

 

How much more crucial were salt and light in Jesus’ culture!  Without salt, in a hot middle-eastern climate, meat would rot, and quickly.  In that culture, where there weren’t refrigerators or even old-fashioned iceboxes, the only way to preserve meat for any length of time was to salt it.  And, of course, salt as a seasoning brings out the flavor of whatever food it’s sprinkled on.  In some ancient cultures, people were paid in salt; indeed, the word “salary” comes from salarium, which is the Latin word for salt, and while the saying has gone out of use to some extent, those of a certain age may remember when it was said of a diligent worker that he or she was worth his salt.  Similarly, in Jesus’ day, the availability of light in the darkness was a big deal.  With no street lights or neon-lit store displays, after the sun sets, it gets mighty dark.  My experiences of this were in Cuba, where, outside the tourist areas, there is little or nothing in the way of street lighting.  Public buildings such as churches may have electric lighting , permitting evening worship services – but private homes may or may not have electricity.  After dark, in Cuba’s more rural areas, you can see the moon and stars like you will never see them in the United States – but without a flashlight or torch, you won’t see much else.

 

Salt and light – this is what Jesus compared his followers to.  In both cases, this is a high compliment, as salt and light were highly prized in Jesus’ culture.  But with the high compliment comes high expectations.   In Jesus’ culture, beyond its use as a preservative, salt contrasted with the flavor of whatever was being salted, in order to bring out the flavor.  That is to say, the importance of salt was its contrast with the food being salted.  And, of course, the importance of light is that it contrasts with and dispels the darkness.  Jesus remarked that, if salt has lost its savor, what good is it?  Similarly, if a light is hidden under a bushel basket so that it’s not visible, it does no good.  All of which is to say, part of our calling as Christians is to stand out from our surroundings – to provide contrast, to be visible, and, like salt preserving meat from rot and decay, we amid our corrupt culture are called to preserve all that is good and holy.  If our trust in Jesus makes no difference in how we treat others and how we live in the world, then the salt has lost its savor.  Similarly, we are to bring the light of Christ into the world – as the old saying goes, to light a candle rather than curse the darkness.

 

I think the biggest challenge in all of this is to hold to our baptismal identity as Christians – child of God, disciple of Christ, member of Christ’s church - while living and working and shopping and playing in a world that doesn’t share our values.   It’s easy to identify as a Christian here in the church, among other professing Christians.  But just as table salt in a salt shaker or rock salt in a sealed bag doesn’t accomplish a whole lot until it’s sprinkled on food or tossed on an icy sidewalk,  we as the church will be most effective as followers of Christ when we leave the church to return to our daily lives.  Not that going to church is unimportant – indeed, it’s crucially important that we gather to worship God and to support one another.   This is where we are fed, where we are formed and strengthened to act as salt and light.  And church is the first place nonbelievers will look if they want to learn about Christ – just as a home supply store is the first place I’ll look if I need a bag of salt for the sidewalks.  But if I’m buying a bag of salt to bring to the church, you can bet that the salt isn’t staying in the bag very long.  Similarly, for us as Christians, it is out there, beyond the church doors, among nonbelievers where our way of life will contrast most with our surroundings, where the light we carry will most effectively dispel the darkness.

 

Being salt and light doesn’t mean we have to make spectacles of ourselves.  Our actions will speak louder than our words – and if our actions contradict our words, we may as well save our breath.  Religious hypocrites who profess Christ with their lips but deny Christ with their actions are a scandal, a stumbling block to nonbelievers and an embarrassment to sincere believers.   Indeed, this is the lesson of our Old Testament reading, in which God condemns believers for coming into worship to bow before God, only to leave worship to mistreat their neighbors.  As Isaiah wrote,

 

“Is not this the fast that I choose:
   to loose the bonds of injustice,
   to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
   and to break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
   and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them,
   and not to hide yourself from your own kin?   

Truly, this is Isaiah’s picture of what it is to be salt and light in the world.  Nonetheless, as St. Francis of Assisi is quoted to have said, “Preach the Gospel at all times; when necessary, use words” – and we will sometimes need words to explain our actions. 

 

Especially in a small church like ours, we may despair of being able to make any real difference.  Our society’s problems are so profound, and we feel so unable to make a difference.  When we feel like that, we should remember this winter’s awful weather and reflect on how much a bunch of tiny snowflakes can derail our plans – and remember that we, too, can derail oppressive power and spiritual wickedness in high places.  Likewise, we can remember that small grains of salt can melt ice, as we can melt the cold ice of indifference and hate.

 

A memorable example of a church acting as salt and light that took place within the lifetimes of many of our members was the fall of the Berlin wall, that at one time separated West Germany from Soviet controlled, and officially communist and atheist East Germany.  The Berlin Wall not only separated the country, but separated families and communities.  In East Germany, citizens were monitored by the Stasi, the East German secret police.  Public religious expression was discouraged, and while the churches remained open, government spies attended worship services – and so pastors and worshippers knew that there would be consequences if they didn’t toe the party line.

 

A news article in USA Today from November 2009[1] tells of the role of the East German congregation St. Nicolai Evangelical Lutheran Church and its pastor, the Rev. Christian Fuhrer, in bringing down the Berlin Wall.  In the early 1980’s, St. Nicolai Church started holding weekly prayer services for peace.  Every Monday, worshippers would gather – at first just a few, and then more over time- to recite the Beatitudes and to pray.  Eventually from these prayer services grew candle-light marches and vigils in the streets.  In October, 1989, the government finally cracked down, beating and arresting marchers.  The next week, some 70,000 people gathered at St. Nicholai to worship and then march in the streets by candlelight.  A month after this massive demonstration, in November, 1989, the Berlin Wall came down.   East German officials were famously quoted as saying, “We were prepared for anything, anything – except for candles and prayer.”

Jesus said:  ‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

14 ‘You are the light of the world. ¹⁵No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

May we at Emanuel Church be salt and light here in Bridesburg, where God has planted us.  May our words and our actions give glory to God and bring health and life to our neighbors.  May it be so among us.  Amen. 

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[1] http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-11-05-church-berlin-wall_N.htm

February 2014 newsletter - pastor's message

Dear Emanuel Members and Friends –

“When Jesus^* saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7 ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

8 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10 ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely^* on my account. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  (Matthew 5:1-12)

 

Our Gospel readings from February all come from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which is contained in the 5^th through 7^th chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel.  The opening section of this sermon contains what are called the Beatitudes.  Each is a statement of blessing – for the poor in spirit, for those who mourn, the meek, and so forth.

 

Some of us have heard these Beatitudes from time to time since childhood, and because of their familiarity, it’s easy to miss how radical these statements are, how life-changing it is – or could be – to live in accordance to the Beatitudes.  Every single one of these statement runs counter to what our national culture proclaims.  In fact, it takes little imagination to construct the opposing but unspoken set of beatitudes which define our American culture and national life, and I’d invite you to contrast the cultural beatitudes below to the radically counter-cultural beatitudes spoken by Jesus above:

 

 “Blessed are the self-satisfied, for theirs is the joy of never having to say they’re sorry.

   Blessed are those who rejoice at their own good fortune while ignoring the suffering of others, for they shall be comfortable and complacent.

   Blessed are the arrogant, for they will intimidate and impose their will on their neighbors, and thus shall always have their way.

   Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for money and possessions, for he who dies with the most toys wins.

   Blessed are the merciless, for people will learn to stay out of their way.

   Blessed are the polluted of heart, for they shall throw some truly awesome parties.

   Blessed are the warmongers, for they keep the military-industrial complex and our national economy going.

   Blessed are those who persecute others for righteousness’ sake, for they keep everyone else in line.

   Blessed are you when you revile and persecute and utter all kinds of evil against others falsely, especially when these others are mocked and despised by society for living out their faith, because you will keep more timid believers from speaking out, marching, protesting,  and otherwise stirring up trouble for Jesus’sake.”

 

While Jesus’ Beatitudes invite us to make radical changes in our way of living, it would be a mistake to look on the Beatitudes as a list of rules to be obeyed grudgingly, a killjoy catalog of “do and don’t” drudgery. The Beatitudes are not just a bunch of laws, like the Ten Commandments handed down by Moses.  Rather, they are Gospel, good news. (As the Apostle Paul put it, “the letter [of the law] kills, but the spirit gives life.” – 2 Corinthians 3:6)   By beginning each statement with the word “blessed”, Jesus is saying that living according to the Beatitudes will be its own reward, not only after we die, but in this life.  We won’t feel the tension of having to fight to get our own way, of having to compete, of having to prove to others that we’re right and they’re wrong, of having to “buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have in order to impress people we don’t like”.  Rather, we can “let go and let God”, and live the kind of life we were created to live, experiencing the freedom of living within the reign of God, which Jesus proclaimed and which is already here in part, but will only be fully realized when Christ returns at the end of time.  Until then, may we be among the “blessed”, and may our lives, and our congregation, be a blessing to others.

 

See you in church –

Pastor Dave