Stuck in the Middle With You

(Scriptures: Exodus 17:1-7, Philippians 2:1-13, Matthew 21:23-32)

What a glorious anniversary celebration we enjoyed last Sunday! What a joy it was to see our church full, to greet so many people connected to Emanuel Church who are no longer with us on a week-to-week basis, but still feel a connection to Emanuel! What a glorious testimony to all that God has done in this place over the past 150 years. It was a special joy to see the video that Kris had put together of all the old photos from Emanuel – the many confirmation photos and photos of the Women’s Guild and photos of the Memorial Day tributes and all manner of other photos, with Florence Werner’s beautiful organ music in the background setting the mood. “Remember God’s Wonderful Works!”, Geneva preached, and we certainly did that last week!

Of course, there are those other moments from Emanuel’s history, the ones that didn’t make the anniversary booklet or the video collage, those moments that don’t get written down anywhere, but that come up in conversation now and then during our Bible study and at other moments when we’re reminiscing – the occasional pastors over the years that didn’t quite fit, the moments when a big decision had to be made and not everyone was on board, the church fights, the folks who left with hurt feelings over the years, the times when we were, as the saying goes, not quite ready for prime time, not at our best. Those moments don’t find their way into the anniversary booklet or the video collage, but just the same we remember them in conversation decades later – and I think we do so, at least in part, because the fact that God got us through those moments of tension and discord and disagreement and even pain in the past gives us hope that as God got us through painful times in the past, God will do so now and in the future.

Fortunately, in both the Old and New Testament, God’s people were willing to confess and write down for future generations not only their moments of heroism, but their moments of weakness; not only the moments when they were united in singing God’s praises, but those moments when they were divided into opposing factions and shouting at each other. Both our Old Testament reading from Exodus and our reading from Paul’s letter to the Philippians give a snapshot of God’s people, caught in difficult circumstances. In Exodus, we see Moses leading the children of Israel through the wilderness, on the way to Mt. Sinai. Many centuries later, Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, is writing from prison to one of his favorite churches, the congregation at Philippi, to bring them encouragement, even though his own future is uncertain. And God is present, even in these very difficult circumstances.

On Mt. Sinai the children of Israel will encounter God in the form of smoke and thundering, and Moses will receive the law. But for now, they are in the wilderness, escaped from captivity in Egypt, but not yet in the promised land. And they’re tired, and it’s hot, and they’re thirsty. And they take their frustration out on Moses – “Have you led us out here in the middle of nowhere to die of thirst?” And Moses cried unto God – “Help! They’re ready to stone me!” And God provides! – Moses, together with some of the elders, is instructed to go to a certain rock at Horeb and strike it with his rod, and water comes out of the rock for the people to drink. Moses names the place Massah and Meribah. These names have significance – the Hebrew word Massah can mean “despair”, but it can also mean “testing”. Meribah means “quarrel”. And so these names are appropriate for a place where Moses cried to God from a place of despair, where the people quarreled with Moses, asking “Is the Lord with us or not?”

This place, Massah and Meribah, comes back at various places in the Old Testament. In Numbers chapter 20, the story is retold, with a difference – God commanded Moses and Aaron to speak to the rock and command it to pour out water, but instead Moses and Aaron struck the rock and failed to give glory to God for the water, and so they were not allowed to enter the promised land. In Psalms 81 and 95 and 106, the Psalmist invokes the memory of Massah and Meribah – “do not rebel against the Lord, as you did at Massah and Meribah.” Just as, for Americans of a certain age, the name “Watergate” is not just the name of a hotel in Washington DC, but a symbol of government corruption, for Israel, Massah and Meribah become a sort of shorthand for a time of despair and rebellion, a time when the people of Israel fought among themselves and tested God’s patience with their lack of faith, and even their leaders, Moses and Aaron, fell short. For generations to come, God’s people would look back on that moment and say to themselves, “See what happened when we quarreled and put God to the test. We don’t want to go back to that place again!”

Paul’s letter to the Philippians, written many centuries later, comes at a time when both Paul and this church he had founded were going down a difficult road. Paul is in prison, either in Rome or in some Roman prison elsewhere in the empire, uncertain of his fate. The church at Philippi, meanwhile, is going through difficult times, facing opposition from without and division from within, with two church leaders, Euodia and Syntyche, at odds, and the church split into factions, supporting one and opposing the other. It is notable that these were female leaders, and there’s nothing in Paul’s letter to suggest that this is anything unusual, and unlike some of the conservative churches of our day, it speaks of the greater status women had in at least some congregations of the early church. But, for now, the church at Philippi was in the midst of a squabble. Later in the letter, Paul notes that Euodia and Syntyche had struggled right along Paul and others for the cause of the Gospel. For now, though, they’ve fallen to struggling against one another.

Paul began his letter by sharing that some good had come even from his imprisonment; characteristically, Paul responded to imprisonment by taking the opportunity to preach the gospel to his captors, leading at least some of them to faith in Christ. And then Paul reframes the suffering undergone by the Philippian church by saying that what they’re going through is a privilege – the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well, in sharing in the same suffering that Paul is undergoing. It’s much easier to go through times of suffering if we can see some purpose, if we can find meaning in our situation. It’s not necessarily suffering, but meaningless suffering, that can break our spirit.

Paul urges his followers at Philippi to be in accord, of one mind, for his followers to look, not after their own interests, but to the interests of their brothers and sisters. And then Paul gives them the ultimate example of grace under fire, the example of Jesus. Paul’s words about Jesus are known among Scripture scholars as “the Christ hymn.” They are thought to be a fragment of a hymn or a part of the early church liturgy, perhaps part of a creed or affirmation of faith used in a service of baptism. Hear once again these words, used in the worship of the early church:

though he – that is Christ - was in the form of God,
he did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

What is striking is that Christ, in the form of God, did not exploit or even grasp onto his divine status, but emptied himself. The greek word for self-emptying is “kenosis”, and Paul sketches out several stages of self emptying – from existing in the form of God to taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And not content to take human form, Christ empties himself still further, humbling himself to be obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Having emptied himself, having given up all divine privilege and even life itself, Christ does not exalt himself, but is exalted by God, and given the name above all other names, not to his own glory, but to the glory of God the Father.

Years ago I heard this explanation of the word “grace” – “God’s riches at Christ’s expense”. And the Christ hymn speaks of Christ’s self-emptying, and of the riches of God’s grace for us. But that grace is not for us to hold for ourselves, but to pass on to others. Paul seems to be saying: since we follow Christ who emptied himself for our salvation, how can we his followers insist on our having our own way and insisting on our own priorities. Rather, we are to live in the same spirit Christ did, being willing to care not about ourselves, but about our sister and brothers in Christ, and about our neighbors. This isn’t about being a bunch of phonies or pretending to be something we’re not, but allowing ourselves to be guided by the spirit of Christ.

It is said that suffering can make us bitter, or better. Remember that the name Massah means both “despair” and “testing”. We all have those times in our lives when we feel like we’ve hit bottom, our spirits are dry, crying out for refreshment. Like the children of Israel in the wilderness, we may well ask, “Why is all this happening to me, to my family? Is the Lord with us or not?” I would never discourage people from going to God in prayer with our questions, our doubts, our fears. Far better to lift up our doubts and questions to God, to bring them to the Lord in prayer, than to give into despair, better to bring our pain to the Lord rather than to follow the advice of Job’s wife to curse God and die. While we may not always get answers – or we may not like the answers we do get - God is big enough to handle our questions. As God did not abandon the children of Israel in the wilderness, God will not abandon us, even at our worst.

And we are led to an oasis of refreshment now and again. I see last week’s anniversary celebration as such an oasis. A packed church – wow, what a joy to see a packed church - beautiful music, a chance to talk with friends from far away, friends we haven’t seen in years or decades, recognition from the Conference and a great sermon by our Associate Conference minister, a chance to remember God’s past blessings….what a great way for God to refresh our spirits here at Emanuel. Many of our members and friends shared testimonies of what Emanuel has meant to them. I especially remember one of the Bethany Children's Home alumni, getting choked up as he shared his experience as an orphan, raised at the Bethany Home. This man who grew up without a mom and dad found (I think he said) over 800 family members. That’s a man on a mission. And because of Bethany’s roots at Emanuel, Bob feels a powerful sense of connection to this church. We're part of his extended family. He shared over and over: “This church matters. Emanuel Church matters. What you do here matters.” He sent me an email after he got home to Virginia, and I wrote him back, telling him how much his words meant to me, when week after week we struggle with attendance and resources – that it’s important that we keep on keeping on.

So now we’re setting out on another year of our church’s history. As our history booklet put it, our 150th anniversary celebration was not a goal in itself, but a waystation on the journey. Once again, God is leading God’s people forth. God has led us forth from despair, but we’re not yet in the promised land. We’re stuck in the middle – with you, with me, with each other – most importantly, with God, with the Spirit leading us on. So long as God is with us, it's a good place to be. And God – Emanuel, God with us – continues to stand by us through thick and thin. While we journey, with God as our guide, may the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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Please join us for worship at Emanuel United Church of Christ on Sundays at 10 a.m. We're located on Fillmore Street (off Thompson) in Philadelphia's Bridesburg neighborhood. www.emanuelphila.org

No Rest for the Weary? - A Snowy Sunday Sermon

(Scriptures: Isaiah 63:7-9, Hebrews 2:10-18 Matthew 2:1-23)

Note: Due to the forecasted snow, Emanuel has cancelled services for Dec 26. Here is the sermon planned for this morning

I’d like to begin by thanking everyone once again for all that everyone did to make our Christmas Eve service a night of beauty and wonder. From the beautiful decorations to the Scripture readings which everyone did so well, to Ralph’s beautiful organ music, to preparations for Holy Communion, I thought this year’s Christmas Eve service was especially meaningful.

And here we are again, not even two full days later, in worship to God. The presents have been opened, the turkey mostly eaten – or not – and we may feel like we need a vacation to recover from our Christmas holiday. We’re grateful for the privilege of making our annual pilgrimage to the manger, to pay tribute to the Christ child, but the time we spend there goes by all too quickly. We hope today will be a day of blessed rest, but tomorrow, we’ll be going “once more into the breach,” once more back to our daily lives. We may feel that while the lights and carols are beautiful, there’s no rest for the weary.

All this may give us at least a small taste of Mary and Joseph’s experience in today’s Scripture reading. This week’s and next week’s readings are out of sequence: next Sunday is Epiphany, when we read of the visit of the Wise Men. Today’s reading tells what happens in the aftermath of their visit, when Herod tries to have Jesus killed. Both readings tell of events approximately two years after the birth of Jesus. Mary and Joseph are no longer in the manger – we’re told that the wise men found the child, not in the manger, but in a house.

But we’ll hear from about the wise men next week. This week we’re stuck with brutal, paranoid Herod. Herod kept order and control over his subjects, but it could hardly be called peace – it was more like a reign of terror. We may remember news accounts in recent decades over the brutality of present and past rulers in the Middle East, who out of their paranoia arranged assassination attempts on members of their own family and their advisors. Herod would fit right in….in some ways, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Does anyone here today like to watch old westerns, maybe on Turner Classics? One familiar plotline is a new sheriff or US marshal riding in to clean up the town. At some point, the sheriff and the bad guy will run foul of each other, and the bad guy will tell the sheriff: “this town ain’t big enough for the both of us and I’m giving you 24 hours to clear out.” Of course, we know that the sheriff will chase out the bad guys, win the girl, and ride off into the sunset, and that’ll be the end of the story.

While the scenery is much different, today’s Gospel follows a similar plotline. The wise men had traipsed into Herod’s court and asked, “where is the king......., for we have seen his star?” Of course, as far as Herod was concerned, he was the king in them thar’ parts. Herod consulted his scribes and was told that a new king would be born in Bethlehem of Judea. And while Herod forced a smile when he talked to the wise men – “when you find him, let me know where he is; I’d like to come and…uh….worship as well. Yeah….worship…that’s the ticket” – our Gospel makes it very clear that, for Herod, his province wasn’t big enough for the both of them, Herod and the baby who is to become king; that Herod had, not worship, but murder on his mind.

For Mary and Joseph, who had endured one exhausting trip to Bethlehem to give birth to Jesus, there was no rest for the weary. But God does not leave the babe defenseless. Like the Joseph of whom we read in Genesis, whose dreams warned Egypt of impending famine and enabled Joseph, with Pharoah’s support, to store up grain against the upcoming years of hunger, the dreams of Mary’s husband Joseph warn of Herod’s murderous plans. Warned in a dream, Mary and Joseph and the babe become political refugees, fleeing to safety in Egypt until Herod’s deathMatthew is very explicit in drawing parallels between Joseph in Genesis and the Joseph who would become Jesus’ earthly father. In the same way, Matthew draws explicit parallels between Jesus and the Moses of the Exodus: Jesus for a time lives in exile in Egypt, until he, like Moses before him, can emerge to return to Galilee, to bide his time with his family until, as an adult, Jesus emerges to lead all humanity to salvation. Herod reacts in character to God’s intervention – unaware that Mary and Joseph and the babe had evaded his grasp, Herod has all the babies in and around Bethlehem 2 years and younger killed. And again, there are parallels to Exodus: here Herod is re-enacting the role of Pharoah, who instructed his midwives to have all the male Hebrew babies killed. For Matthew’s community of Jewish converts to the way of Jesus, these parallels between the Genesis and Exodus accounts and the birth narrative of Jesus would have been rich with meaning.

As extreme, as literally crazed as Herod’s reaction is, at one level it’s an entirely rational response. You see, Judea really wasn’t big enough for both Herod and Jesus. In fact, the whole world isn’t big enough for the ways of Herod and the way of Jesus. The ways of the world, the ways of Herod and the way of Jesus are incompatible. As believers, we can’t treat the way of Herod and Jesus as items on a buffet table, where we can take a little of one and a little of the other. The ways of the world, the ways of Herod, are ways of death, whereas the way of Jesus is the way of life, abundant life in this world and eternal life in the world to come.

In Jesus, God’s reign was breaking into our world in a new way, to break the grip of the powers of sin and death. As Ralph (in one of his moments away from the organ) read from John’s Gospel with such passion and eloquence at Christmas Eve, the Word, the creative power of God through whom all the universe was brought into being, became flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. All who receive Jesus, who believe in Jesus’ name, are given power to become children of God. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made God known to us.

But, as Ralph also read, while the world came into being through the Word, the world did not know him. Jesus came into the world to save, and in response the world, through Herod, sought to destroy. Mary and Joseph were entrusted with the care of Jesus, the Word made flesh, and while their lives were eventful – the stories they could tell! - they could hardly have been called easy.

And so it often is with us. When we become disciples of Jesus, we turn away the ways of the world, the flesh, and the devil. And the world, the flesh, and the devil will push back. We may find our lives becoming, not easier, but more complicated, just as Mary and Joseph’s faith led them into life as political refugees. There are costs to being a disciple of Jesus. We find ourselves, not in a sheltered retreat, but on a battlefield, in the thick of the action. And we can’t even pick up Herod’s weapons and use them against Herod. The ways of Herod only lead to death. We can only combat Herod with the weapons of the spirit, following in the way of Jesus. God does not promise us an easy life, but God does promise his presence in the struggle, his presence on our journey of life.

Jesus said, “Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” It’s a strange kind of rest, not a rest of idle inactivity, but a rest that comes with knowing that, while the battle may be fierce, the outcome is assured, and we will welcome it. Perhaps it could be compared to the calm at the center of a hurricane; while life swirls around us, we can find a calm center within ourselves that comes with faith in God. And while our lives may not be easy, we are promised that we will have the peace of Christ, that peace that passes all understanding, that peace that the world can neither give nor take away. May that peace be with us now, and go with us always. Amen.

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Please start off 2011 right, by joining us next Sunday at 10 am (Epiphany or "Three Kings" Sunday) at Emanuel United Church of Christ. We're on Fillmore Street (off Thompson).