Occupy Jerusalem!

(Scriptures:       Isaiah 50:4-9a ,  Zechariah 9:9-17 ,  Psalm 118,  Philippians 2:5-11,   Matthew 21:1-17)

 

 

Journey’s end.  Jesus, in the company of his disciples, had healed and taught, fed and cast out demons, from Jesus’ home area of Galilee, in the Gentile cities of the Decapolis, moving south into Samaria, moving further south still into Judea.  For some time now, Jesus has been warning his disciples that they would be entering Jerusalem, where he would be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, who would condemn him to death and would hand them over to the Romans to be crucified.  He also told the disciples he would be raised on the third day, but they had no idea what Jesus might mean by that, and surely the thought of Jesus going to Jerusalem to be killed must have terrified them.  And yet they followed Jesus into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, the Jewish festival of commemorating freedom from slavery in Egypt, and into what the disciples had to know would be a dangerous situation.

 

It would appear that Jesus had made advance preparations.  Two disciples are sent into Bethphage, a little village just east of Jerusalem,  to get a donkey and its colt, which Jesus said would be tied up near the village entrance.  Jesus told them that if anyone asks why they’re taking the donkey and colt, they are to say, “The Lord needs them.”  And it all comes to pass as Jesus says.  Jesus has arranged to enact the words of Zechariah which we read earlier today.  (We might wonder if Matthew read Zechariah’s poetic parallelism – “mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey”  a bit too literally, as it would have taken quite a display of acrobatics for Jesus to ride a donkey and its colt at the same time, but whatever.)

 

The crowds accompanying Jesus remembered Zechariah’s words as well – under Roman occupation, Zechariah would have been one of the texts they clung to.  Zechariah’s images of a king who would come in peace – remember that a warrior king would have come on a warhorse, not a donkey - to release the imprisoned and restore the people would have been very attractive to people living under foreign occupation.  And so the crowds shout “Save us!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”

 

The residents of Jerusalem were not so thrilled, as they see the shouting crowds and the man on the donkey.  The English translation says “the whole city was in turmoil” – but really, this is too tame a translation.  The Greek word, eseisthe , has the same root as our English word seismic, referring to earthquakes – and so really, Matthew is telling us that Jesus’ donkey ride had Jerusalem in an upheaval, all shook up, shaken to its core.  After all, the Romans understood perfectly well that the Passover festival was a celebration of freedom among their Jewish subjects, and they didn’t want those Jewish subjects to get any crazy ideas in their heads about celebrating their freedom from Pharoah’s oppression by staging a rebellion against Roman oppression.  Indeed, Bible scholars such as Marcus Borg and Jon Dominic Crossan have suggested that likely, at the same time Jesus was riding into Jerusalem on a donkey from the east, bringing a message of God’s peace, Roman leaders would have been riding into Jerusalem from the west on war horses, in a show of force intended to intimidate the populace.  Two parades – the official parade proclaiming that Caesar is Lord, and Jesus’ unofficial counter-parade proclaiming that God is Lord.

 

While the religious and political establishment was quaking in their boots, the crowd was revved up – now, at long last, they thought, Jesus of Nazareth was going to kick some Roman butt and establish the Jews as an independent nation once again.  This would be a Passover to remember.  Only one problem – Jesus didn’t take on the Roman establishment.  Instead, Jesus took on the Temple religious establishment.   Oops!  Matthew’s Gospel paints quite a striking scene – immediately upon having ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey and a colt, Jesus goes to the Temple and starts kicking out the moneychangers.  Jesus knocks over the tables and as the moneychangers are running for cover, Jesus yells at them, “My house should be a house of prayer, but you’ve turned it into a den of robbers.”  The scene becomes more striking still – as the moneychangers are leaving, the blind and lame are entering seeking healing, and Jesus cures them.  Little children have found their way in as well, and they’re singing “Hosanna to the Son of David”.  The religious leaders are sputtering with rage, but Jesus shuts them down.  He then makes his exit and goes to Bethany, the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus.

 

I was thinking about the scene Matthew paints – and really, since the lectionary omits the verses about the moneychangers and the healings and the children singing, as I was preparing this sermon, this is the first time in some time I’ve mentally connected these verses together in this way.  And as I read these verses and made mental connections, my mind wandered to the Occupy gatherings that took place across the country in the fall of 2011, including in Philadelphia.  There were assemblies in public places, including in front of City Hall downtown, as those involved – many of whom were economically distressed and politically on the margins - discussed alternatives to the current political and economic status quo.  Periodically there would be marches and protests in front of banks and other centers of economic and political power.  Frequently during these protests, there would be a sort of call and response:  “Show me what democracy looks like….This is what democracy looks like.”  And I think part of what Jesus was doing at the Temple that Palm Sunday was staging a sort of occupation of his own at the Temple.   He upset the status quo by throwing out the moneychangers and overturning their tables.  And then he demonstrated what the Temple could be like – a place of healing, a place for children to sing and chant.  “Show me what the love of God looks like….This is what the love of God looks like.  Show me what the reign of God looks like….this is what the reign of God looks like” – people being healed, children singing, and the moneychangers kicked to the curb.

 

Occupy’s tactics sometimes involved civil disobedience – blocking entrances of buildings and such, which sometimes resulted in arrests.  The idea was to get in the way of what is seen as injustice, to gum things up so that business as usual got stopped in its tracks.  And Jesus’ actions; indeed, Jesus’ whole life, were like a time bomb to the status quo.  The religious leadership tried to contain the disruption by having Jesus arrested.  The Roman political establishment tried to contain the disruption by having Jesus executed – for them, the crucifixion of Jesus was just the execution of one more troublemaker – many had been crucified before Jesus and many would be crucified after Jesus.  But because Jesus occupied the cross, he took on himself and occupied the sins of all humankind, breaking the power of sin and death.  He occupied the grave, and broke its power, so that Mary on Easter Sunday encountered an empty tomb and an angel proclaiming the risen Christ.

 

“Show me what the love of God looks like…” – Well, show me!  What does the love of God look like here in Bridesburg? What does the love of God look like here at Emanuel?  We probably have as many mental images of the love of God as we have people here in worship.  Healing of bodies, healing of minds, healing of spirits, healing of relationships are a huge part of what the love of God looks like.   So is creating a place where all are welcome.   So is creating a place where we share with one another and with our neighbors who aren’t here.  “Show me what the love of God looks like….This is what the love of God looks like.”  Indeed, you - we, all of us here - are what the love of God looks like.

 

“Show me what the love of God looks like.”  May Jesus Christ, who occupied a donkey on Palm Sunday, who occupied the Temple, who occupied a cross and a tomb, likewise occupy our hearts, our minds, our bodies, our spirits….and this congregation, Emanuel Church, gathered in Christ’s name.  As Jesus transformed the cross and the empty tomb into signs of hope, may Jesus transform us into his messengers of hope and peace.  Amen.

 

 

 

The Unusual Suspects (A Sermon for Installation of Deacons)

Scriptures:         I Samuel 16:1-13, Psalm 23 ,  Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41

 

 

 

 

 

You don’t need me to tell you that getting a job these days is difficult at best.  The economy tanked in 2008 with the bank crisis, and all these years later has never come all the way back.  According to the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics[1], Philadelphia County’s unemployment rate in December, 2013 was 8.4% - significantly better than the unemployment rate of 10.5% in December 2012 and 10.4% in December 2011, but still quite high.  These statistics don’t count so-called “discouraged workers” who gave up looking for work because the economy is so bad, so the “real” unemployment rate in the Philadelphia area, including those who stopped looking for work, is quite a bit higher than 8.4%, probably well above 10%, maybe even as high as 15%.  Suffice to say, there are a lot of our neighbors looking for work.

 

At the same time, there are employers who have jobs to fill, but have trouble finding people with suitable qualifications.  I emailed a link to an article  https://mninews.marketnews.com/index.php/philadelphia-manufacturers-struggle-fill-entry-level-jobs?q=content%2Fphiladelphia-manufacturers-struggle-fill-entry-level-jobs – and brought some paper copies today – about Northeast Building Products, a door and window manufacturer on Aramingo Ave.  They offer a starting hourly rate of $8 per hour – not wonderful, barely above minimum wage, but it’s a foot in the door.  According to the article – and of course, this is what the company is saying – they have trouble hiring and retaining workers because many applicants don’t pass the drug test, and of those who do, many have such poor skills in basic math and reading that they have trouble following instructions.  Others are rejected because of poor work habits.  

 

The problems Northeast Building Products has in filling entry level positions points to the reality that some job applicants, despite the best of intentions, trip themselves up when applying for work.  Certainly, showing up at a job interview with alcohol on one’s breath or slurring noticeably or otherwise unable to pass a drug test is generally a bad idea, a waste of time for the applicant and the company, but there are other jobhunting pitfalls.  In general, job applicants should put their best foot forward, dressing appropriately for the interview, having one’s past employment history handy so one can fill out an application accurately, having reference information handy.  It’s helpful to do some research about the company in advance so that when the interviewer asks what you can do for the company, you can respond convincingly.  You probably want to have a sense of the going hourly rate for your job so you don’t price yourself out of a job or sell yourself short.  Resumes and applications with blatant spelling errors generally end up in the trash – do not pass go, do not collect $200.  Applicants who speak inappropriately or disrespectfully during the interview shouldn’t sit by the phone expecting a callback from the company.

 

And then, of course, there are factors from the past that are hard to change, but that follow into the present, make job hunting difficult.  Gaps in one’s employment history can be offputting to potential employers, though if one can point to volunteer work or temp work during those gap times, it helps.  A criminal record, even for a long-ago minor nonviolent drug offense, can make it very difficult to find employment.  A couple years ago, Philadelphia instituted a law banning employers from asking questions about criminal records on employment applications and during first interviews, at least allowing people a foot in the door, but searching for employment with a criminal record is still an uphill climb.

 

Now, at this point you’re probably wondering what on earth I’m blathering on about, because you didn’t come to church this morning for a news flash from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics or my Captain Obvious crash course in job hunting – though if any of that is helpful, of course, you’re welcome.   Mostly, I wanted to begin my sermon by providing a sense of generally accepted wisdom about how people find jobs, and how employers fill vacancies.

 

In our Old Testament reading from 1 Samuel, God had given the prophet Samuel the overwhelming task of helping God to fill a very important job vacancy in Israel’s leadership, namely that of king.  It was a task that had been troublesome from the start:  God originally didn’t want Israel to have a king at all, and the prophet Samuel himself had led the people for 40 years.  But faithful Samuel had grown old, and Samuel’s sons did not take after their father, but instead were corrupt and oppressive.  The people looked at the surrounding nations and saw that they all had kings, and so asked the Lord to find them a king, so they could be just like all the other nations.  Samuel, of course, felt rejected – “what am I, chopped liver?” he might have asked.  God was even more displeased – after all, God’s repeated message to Israel was precisely that they were God’s chosen people, precisely that they were not like all the other nations – but though God was displeased with the request, he told Samuel to give the people what they asked for, after first warning them what it would be like to live under a king.  Samuel, in the unenviable position of having been fired abruptly by the people and told “don’t let the door hit you and your sons on the way out” and then having to recruit and train his successor, had anointed Saul king, and though in today’s reading Saul still held the title of king, Saul had disobeyed God, Saul’s leadership had crashed and burned, and the Lord had rejected Saul.  And so God had commissioned Samuel once more to recruit a successor to Saul, a king who would obey God, who would succeed where Saul had failed. 

 

Now, if you or I had been asked by God to find a king, we would probably look among the Israel’s prominent families, and would ask about prior leadership experience and past accomplishments.  But that’s not how God instructed Samuel.  Instead, Samuel was sent to Bethlehem, to the family of Jesse, a shepherd….he’d have been prominent among the residents of the village of Bethlehem, but hardly a mover and shaker.  God had told Samuel that one of Jesse’s sons would be Israel’s next king.  So Jesse presented his sons in order of age, the oldest first – and surely each son in turn tried to make a good impression, putting on their best robe and acting as persons of leadership potential.  Eliab, the oldest son, apparently was tall and impressive looking, and initially Samuel thought Eliab would make a dandy king, but God cautioned that Eliab was not his choice – nor were the other sons – until they came to David, the youngest, who had been out in the fields.  Far from being dressed for success in any way, David, probably in his early teens, came before Samuel, dirty, sweaty, likely smelling from the sheep he’d been tending.  And God told Samuel, “That’s the one! Anoint him!”.  And Samuel anointed David on the spot, while David was probably wondering “Who is this strange old man and why is he pouring oil on my head?  What have I gotten myself into?” And the rest is history.

 

Today’s Old Testament reading reminds us that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and God’s ways are not our ways.   In the business world or in other fields of employment, recruiters know what they are looking for in a candidate.  They advertising the position through the expected channels – industry publications and such – and they round up a pool of the usual suspects to call for job interviews.  Throughout the Biblical narratives, God repeatedly chooses those nobody would expect, the most unusual suspects imagineable, to carry on God’s work.  If you or I were going to select a family line to be called as God’s chosen people, we likely wouldn’t choose a couple in their 70’s who’d been unable to conceive children – and then wait another 30 years until they conceived – but that’s the story of Abraham and Sarah.  If you or I wanted to choose somebody to lead the chosen people out of slavery, we probably wouldn’t pick someone who had murdered one of Pharoah’s overseers and who was now a fugitive from justice – and, oh by the way, who stuttered – but that’s the story of Moses.   Earlier we spoke of Samuel, and he himself had come out of unlikely circumstances, having been born to Hannah, who had long been barren.  So God’s ways are not our ways.  In the world, when trying to fill a position, we call those who are qualified.  But when God needs a job done, he qualifies those whom he calls.   Serving God is not about credentials; it’s about being faithful, and trusting God to provide what is needed at the right time along the way.

 

Which brings us to this morning:  in a few minutes we’ll be ordaining and installing two of our members as Deacons.  While they each bring different gifts, they both come with great love for God and neighbor, and hearts to serve and strengthen Emanuel Church.  And make no mistake:  in the church, leadership is not lording over others, but serving others.

 

Our Old Testament and Gospel readings set side-by-side good and bad examples of leadership that I hope we can all remember as deacons.  First, remember that before there was King David, there was King Saul.  King Saul had also been chosen by God and anointed by Samuel.  But Saul let his authority go to his head, and stopped listening for God’s guidance.  Ultimately he became mentally unstable, lashing out at those he saw as his enemies, even throwing a spear at his own son Jonathan on one occasion.  David, by contrast, remembered where he’d come from.  He listened to God.  He saw himself, not as a great man, but as an ordinary man serving a great God.  When he messed up – and when David messed up, he messed up big-time, making king-sized mistakes - he asked God for forgiveness, and God offered king-sized forgiveness for David’s king-sized sins.  We worship a God of second chances, and so long as we’re willing to return to God with open hearts, we can make a fresh start.

 

And before King Saul was the prophet Samuel.  Samuel himself had served long and faithfully, had gotten old and grey in the service of Israel.  He certainly had cause to be bitter when the people demanded a king, and when Saul was rejected, Samuel grieved. He could have quit, could have taken his ball and gone home, as the saying goes.  And yet Samuel continued to listen to God’s voice, continued to do what God called him to do, despite his own hurt feelings and grief.  Samuel knew that the needs of the people were more important than his own feelings. Leadership often isn’t a lot of fun.  In any kind of church leadership, misunderstandings and hurt feelings are part of the journey.  But it’s important to reconcile and move forward, so that God and people are served.

 

Our Gospel reading – that long, long reading from John’s Gospel – really deserves a sermon in its own right.  It’s first and foremost about Jesus healing a man born blind, and about God’s amazing grace – in this case, given to a man who did not even ask for healing.  Jesus just walked up to the man, put mud on the man’s eyes, told the man to wash his eyes, and healed him.  But it also provides two sharply contrasting views of leadership.   The Pharisees are presented as arrogant and rigid, as being upset that the man was healed on the wrong day of the week – on the Sabbath - rather than grateful to God for the healing.  Jesus, by contrast, was perfectly willing to stoop to the ground and make mud to rub on the man’s eyes.  And, as I explained before the Gospel reading, John’s Gospel was written at a time when the followers of Jesus were parting company from mainstream Judaism.  As the old song goes, “breaking up is hard to do”, and the breakup between Judaism and Christianity was ugly, with mutual condemnations on all sides – not unlike the ugliness between Catholics and Protestants that accompanied the Protestant reformation.  So we shouldn’t take John’s portrait of the Pharisees of Jesus’ day as an unbiased portrait of the Judaism of Jesus’ day – it’s more like a caricature, an editorial page cartoon - or as saying anything at all about the Judaism of our day.  But as leaders, we can still take the lesson that we should avoid being rigid and legalistic.  Humans look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.  At all times, being faithful to God also means being willing to meet peoples’ needs – even if it means stooping down on the ground to make mudpies, as Jesus did, if that’s what God is calling us to do and what our fellow church members and neighbors need us to do.  Again, in the church, we lead by serving.  In the Roman Catholic church, one of the titles of the Pope is “Servant of the Servants of God” – certainly some Popes have lived that title out more convincingly than others - but in our own small congregation, anyone who takes leadership here at Emanuel is likewise a servant of the servants of God.

 

Deacons, when Samuel came to anoint a king for Israel, David, the one to be anointed king, was found tending the sheep.  May our new Deacons also be faithful in helping to tend our little flock here at Emanuel Church.  And may we all be faithful in hearing and living God’s word, that we may bring good news and be good news to our neighbors here in Bridesburg.  Amen.

---

[1] http://www.bls.gov/ro3/urphl.htm