Humble Yourself: A Sermon for 30 October 2011

Christ Church, St. Joseph, La.                                         

We just can’t seem to get away from those darn Pharisees and their sinful ways, can we?

At this point in our march through the lectionary for Year A, which obviously features the Gospel according to Matthew, it seems that Jesus has nothing better to do than to argue with and criticize the Pharisees.

In fact, this game of one-upmanship that Jesus always wins, gets even nastier. Soon we will hear Jesus say, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

So maybe it’s time to step back a bit and look at the larger picture. Maybe it is time to look at all of the agendas coming together in these stories.

There’s the agenda of the Pharisees, for sure, and it is to discredit Jesus. Then there’s Jesus’ agenda, which is to reform Judaism—often by turning upside down the most cherished tenets of the orthodox faith.

But then there’s the agenda of the Gospel writers, in this case Matthew. That’s the agenda we have the hardest time focusing on—and for good reason. We believe God inspired the Gospel writers. We believe what they wrote contains everything necessary to our own salvation.

And since our eternal lives depend on Holy Scripture, we sometimes have trouble scrutinizing it and considering the social and political contexts in which it was written. We especially have trouble when it seems to mesh so nicely with our own human contexts, our own cultural and political perspectives and, yes, prejudices.

But every so often we need to step back and look at the larger picture, not only of the agendas coming together in Biblical stories, but how those agendas intersect with our own.

Let’s begin with Jesus. He was not a Christian. He was a Jew and a devout adherent to the Jewish faith. When he answered his Father’s call to begin his ministry, he went to a synagogue. Throughout his life he preached and taught in synagogues.

Yes, Jesus was very critical of the religious leadership of his day. He was critical of the Sadduccees, who were the temple priests. He was critical of the scribes and Pharisees, who were learned and devout lay people who studied the Hebrew Scriptures and practiced the Hebrew laws contained therein. The Pharisees especially were known for their strict and diligent observance of Torah, which they understood to be God’s law.

But Jesus’ critique of Judaism and its leadership should first of all be understood as internal criticism, not criticism from without. He never left the Jewish faith. He was crucified as a Jew by the Roman state, with the consent and encouragement of the most powerful religious leaders of his day.

Moreover, Jesus’ criticism was part of a long tradition of internal criticism practiced by Judaism. That’s why so many saw him as the latest in a long string of prophets who had called the Israelites back to the faith over the centuries.

Little wonder then that the Pharisees mistrusted and questioned Jesus! They were the defenders of the traditional faith. He was the radical seeking to reform the faith.

Our Holy Gospels were written some 50 to 70 years later. That is, 50 to 70 years after Jesus spoke out against the hypocrisy and arrogance of some of the leaders of his faith.

And why then, you might ask? Because that is when the followers of Jesus were busy separating themselves from Judaism and forming a new religion, namely Christianity.

Little wonder then that the Gospel writers, carrying out the crucial work of creating a new faith identity and a new religious structure, tend to cast the Pharisees in a negative light and to show Jesus handily defeating them at every turn. And because the Gospel writers disliked the Pharisees, we think we should too. 

But external criticism is very different from internal criticism, and we know that Christian dislike for Jews has produced centuries of anti-Semitic prejudice and even violence. The words of Jesus, criticizing some of the religious leaders of his time, have been put to a use Jesus himself abhorred.

And that brings us full circle. In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus teaches not only that hypocrisy and self-righteousness are wrong, but that we need look no further than within our own ranks for examples (Matthew 23:1-12, NRSV).

I am reminded once again of contemporary politics, and specifically of recent episodes of hate-filled behavior at political rallies and forums. Things like shouts of “Let him die” when discussion turned to the problem of people who need major medical care but have no insurance.

Things like booing a gay soldier serving in Iraq when he asked a question about his own government’s policy toward him. Things like cheering at a prideful claim by a candidate that he has presided over more than 200 executions.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of these incidents is that the candidates, many of whom openly stand on their Christian credentials as a campaign strategy, did not speak out against or even seek to distance themselves from the hate-filled outbursts.

Love God, and your neighbor as yourself, Jesus said, just last Sunday.
   

Jesus Washing the Feet of His Disciples, by Michal Splho

But of course, we needn’t leave our own homes and communities to find examples of the problem Jesus addresses in today’s lesson. Most of us at least some of the time fall for the illusion of self-reliance and indulge in feelings of moral superiority.

We have been at least somewhat successful in making the social and economic system work for us. We go to church on Sunday, put our offering in the plate and thank God for our many blessings, even though we are quite sure we earned that new car or lovely home or promotion or rise in stock prices or… whatever.

And that becomes a burden we tie up and lay on the shoulders of others, sure that if we did it, they can too. We don’t have to leave our own churches to find contempt for the poor, even though Jesus calls us to love and serve them as we would Jesus himself.

Humble yourself, Jesus says. The greatest among you will be your servant. He will soon demonstrate the point by getting down on his own knees and washing the feet of his disciples as they share their last meal together. And finally, he will go to the cross, in humility and for love of us, his neighbor.

AMEN

Love in a Time of Partisanship: A Sermon for 23 October 2011

St. Luke's Chapel, Grambling, La.

In last Sunday’s Gospel lesson, the Pharisees had sent their disciples to try to trap Jesus in what he said. They asked him a question about taxes, a contentious issue then as it is now. Surely a question about taxes would get Jesus into trouble with somebody, no matter how he answered it!

Today seems to be “pop quiz day.” The Pharisees seek to “test” Jesus, and, again, they pick an ideal topic: The Law (Matthew 22:34-44 NRSV). We can almost hear the wheels turning in their minds. A question about the law will surely trip up this peasant from Galilee!

Now when I announce a pop quiz in one of my classes, I am typically met with widespread moaning and groaning. But Jesus—ever on top of the situation—has a ready answer. It is succinct and clear, and reduces the complexity of the law to two truly memorable mandates. We’ll come back to those mandates shortly, but for a moment I want to consider further the Pharisees and what they are up to.

Barbara Crafton is an Episcopal priest who writes an online meditation (The Almost Daily eMo). Writing on today’s lesson, she suggests that we modern Christians tend to forget that the Gospels were written at a time of partisanship within Judaism.

That is, followers of Jesus were a “party” within Judaism and what they believed was deemed heresy by mainstream Jews. The Pharisees were leaders of the orthodox party. They studied Torah, God’s Law and covenant with the Jewish people. (The Sadducees were temple priests and a third party within Judaism, but I’m not going to say more about them this morning, lest we need a score card to keep track of things.)
                               

Simchat Torah

These parties within Judaism thoroughly mistrusted each other. Little wonder then that the Pharisees questioned Jesus! Likewise, little wonder that the Gospel writers, left to carry on the work of the followers-of-Jesus party after his death and resurrection, tend to cast the Pharisees in a negative light, and to show Jesus handily defeating them at every turn.

And because the Gospel writers disliked the Pharisees, we think we should too. 
 
But we are misguided in our dislike of the Pharisees. They are the forerunners, not only of rabbinic Judaism as we know it today, but of those men and women we call Biblical scholars who contribute so much to our understanding of Holy Scripture.

Moreover, Jesus was not the first to reduce the complexity of the law to a clear, concise statement of concern for one’s neighbor. A few decades before Jesus’ time of teaching and preaching, a rabbi by the name of Hillel was challenged by a would-be convert to Judaism to explain the law while standing on one foot.

It’s hard to say what the challenger’s motive might have been. Perhaps he hoped Rabbi Hillel would not be able to meet the challenge and he would then be justified in giving up on the project of becoming a believer. Or, perhaps he was genuinely tired of long, complicated explications and really needed a simple understanding of the faith he was interested in—one that could be given while standing on one foot!

Either way, Rabbi Hillel met the challenge. He immediately raised one foot off the ground and said, That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and study it.

So when the Pharisees test Jesus, he too is prepared with a standing-on-one-foot summary of the law. First he says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. 

And we recognize that as a theme of Hebrew Scripture. Many places in what we call the Old Testament, the people of Israel are commanded to love and commit themselves fully and only to the one and only God, the God of their ancestors, the God who brought them out of bondage in Egypt.

But then Jesus ups the ante over Rabbi Hillel. He says, And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

In other words, where Rabbi Hillel says don’t be hateful toward your neighbor, Jesus says LOVE your neighbor, and not a little bit but just as much as you love yourself. Care as much about the wellbeing of your neighbor as you care about your own.

Now Jesus is, in fact, quoting a passage from Leviticus when he says love your neighbor as yourself, but the bulk of Torah is devoted to other things: Property laws to ensure fairness in society, holiness laws for keeping oneself pure, laws about how and where to worship God, and so forth.

So when Jesus makes “love your neighbor as yourself” the second most important commandment, he is taking a radical stand. And he is upping the ante over the standard teaching and practice of mainstream religion in his day.

Many people—not just the Jews of old but many people today—want to turn Holy Scripture into a rulebook that covers all sorts of things: Taxes, who can marry whom, what kind of government a country should have, what kind of economic system a society should have, which countries are justified in forcing their political and economic systems on others, and on and on, ad nauseum.

But Jesus gave us just two mandates in his 1-minute, standing-on-one-foot interpretation of all of Holy Scripture: Love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Pretty simple, huh? Straightforward, direct, no conditions to remember, no complicated formulas to memorize. Just… love God and your neighbor as yourself.

So… how is that working for us? How are we doing with this command to love unconditionally in our own time of partisanship, both within the church and in the larger society?
                 

My Team vs. Your Team

With a presidential election just around the corner, we hear daily from politicians who are quite certain, on the one hand, that God is behind their candidacy, their platform, their agenda. Yet in the next breath they are equally certain we can’t afford to provide health care to all, that educating all of our children equally well is too costly, that the Mexicans who pick our fruit and pluck our chickens ought to be summarily kicked out, if not shot dead on the spot. And they have a following—a wildly enthusiastic following—people who applaud when they say these things and boo when a gay soldier ready to die for their freedom says he’s tired of living in a closet.

Turns out this mandate to love—completely, unconditionally, in our own time of partisanship—is much easier to say and to preach than to live.

But remember that Jesus ultimately and finally upped the ante on his own words. Ultimately and finally, with his own death on the cross, he says loving God and your neighbor is not enough. Be willing to die for them as well.              

  AMEN

Seek the Welfare of the City: A Meditation for 10 April 2011

Note: The occasion of this meditation was an interfaith worship service hosted by Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith.

In the Hebrew Scripture just read (Jeremiah 29:4-7 NRSV), the prophet Jeremiah speaks words of comfort to the elders, priests, and people of Israel who had been exiled to Babylon. He also instructs them, in the name of the Lord God, to pray for Babylon.

Throughout history, the Jewish people have lived in many lands and cities under many different rulers and governments, and since the time of Jeremiah, have prayed for them.

One of the many ways Christianity is rooted in Judaism is that Christians of many denominations also pray for rulers and governments in the countries and communities where they live. It’s always nice to find connections among our faith traditions.

But notice that in instructing the Jews to pray for the city, God had a grander agenda than starting a tradition. Indeed, the situation for the Israelites was actually quite ironic. Jeremiah tells the Israelites to pray for the very enemies who had destroyed their home city, Jerusalem, captured them and carried them off against their will to Babylonia.

Why? Was God teaching how to “be nice” to captors or that we should accept abuses of power that oppress us? No. The motive and lesson clearly conveyed by Jeremiah is self-interest. Listen to it again: "But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7 NRSV).

Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith seeks the welfare of Monroe, West Monroe, Ouachita Parish and all of our neighborhoods and communities because we understand self interest. We understand that our welfare as individuals and families is tied up, not only with that of our close relatives and church families, but also with the welfare of our cities and parish, state and region.

One of our founding leaders, Rabbi David Kline, understood and communicated Jeremiah’s point particularly well. A few years ago, we were asking the Monroe City Council to do something about a drainage canal that ran right through the playground of Madison James Foster School. “You must fix this,” Rabbi Kline said, “because the safety of our children depends on it.” And everybody in the room knew that not one of Rabbi Kline’s children or grandchildren had ever set foot in that school. And the ditch got closed!

The lesson God is teaching us through Jeremiah is twofold. First is self interest, the notion that what is good for the whole will be good for the individuals and families that make up the whole. So seek the good of the whole and everyone will prosper.

The second lesson that comes to us in this passage is that seeking the welfare of the city involves more than just sitting around complaining about how bad things are and complaining about the Babylonians who oppress us. Rather, God says through Jeremiah, you must do things that matter. You must take action. You must get involved and contribute to the welfare of the city.

Build homes, Jeremiah says. Plant gardens, grow your families by encouraging your children to marry and have children. Invest in the city in which you find yourself and create a prosperous community for yourself and your grandchildren.

Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith came into being approximately 15 years ago with a similar vision. With the agitation of our first organizer, Perry Perkins, a handful of local clergy began to meet and to talk about the state of this city and region, and about what needed to change for the city to prosper and along with it their congregations.

These pastors gathered together more pastors and many people from their congregations, and those people brought friends and neighbors. Turns out a lot of people understood that their own welfare and the welfare of their families is all tied up with the welfare of the city.

They understood that the prosperity of diverse neighborhoods is linked, and that one neighborhood cannot fully prosper if another across the river or across the railroad tracks is better habitat for snakes and rats than it is for children.

They understood that educating themselves and their own children meant less and had less value when public schools in the community perform poorly. They understood that all of our children need to finish high school, and to come out of high school prepared for either college or the workplace.

On the other side of that equation, they understood that businesses and employers of all kinds need qualified workers from among the local population in order to grow and contribute to the prosperity of the city.

And so Interfaith was born, and the notion that ordinary people can pool their smarts and their energy and their money and build power and get things done in their communities… spread from Monroe to Shreveport… and to Alexandria… and to the Delta.

Not only that, but we have sister organizations in other parts of the state: Together Baton Rouge in our capital city, and one in New Orleans that indeed calls itself "Jeremiah."

The message of Jeremiah is that God works through the voices and actions of people of faith everywhere. Ordinary people of faith everywhere who understand that to prosper themselves, they must seek the prosperity of the city.

Thus Interfaith created the political will and the funding to start NOVA, an employer-driven workforce intermediary that recruits under-employed people and helps them get the skills they need to move into jobs that actually exist, and that pay a living wage and have benefits and a career path.

At the end of just two years, NOVA graduates have not only transformed their own families, but they are also contributing $2 million dollars annually to the economy of Ouachita Parish.

Interfaith continues to work also in the areas of education and of neighborhood renewal. We meet on a regular basis with Superintendent Harris, seeking ways to support her efforts and those of the Monroe City School Board to put children first in all decision making. We have supported Mount Nebo in its quest to revitalize this neighborhood, and we continue to work in the neighborhood around New Light Baptist Church.

We are contemporary Israelites seeking the welfare of our city, for therein lies the welfare of all of us. We are ordinary people gathered here this evening to celebrate a vision—our shared vision—and not only to celebrate, but to build the power we need to get the job done in our communities and our state.

 AMEN.