Exodus 3:1-15
3:1 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
3:2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.
3:3 Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up."
3:4 When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."
3:5 Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
3:6 He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
3:7 Then the LORD said, "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings,
3:8 and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
3:9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
3:10 So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt."
3:11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
3:12 He said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain."
3:13 But Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?"
3:14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
3:15 God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you': This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.
Romans 12:9-21
12:9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;
12:10 Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
12:11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.
12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.
12:13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
12:16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.
12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
12:18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
12:20 No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads."
12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
I don’t know how many of you have hooked up with the “Ted Lasso” phenomenon? It’s a TV series offered only by Apple Plus TV (a paid streaming service), so if you’ve not made the technological leap into Internet streaming your TV shows, you won’t be able to access it. “Ted Lasso” just finished its third, and probably final, season, as these “mini-series” then move into some kind of syndication. I got hooked while visiting with my daughter’s family a couple of years ago. In a nutshell, Ted Lasso, played by the creator, writer, and producer of the show—Jason Sudeikis—is a “good ol’ boy” Texan/football coach, who is hired by the female owner of a British professional soccer team. She hires “Ted,” having seen a story about his unique (read “bizarre”?) coaching method, and because she literally wants to trash her soccer team to get revenge on her former husband. Believe me, it’s complicated. Turns out, Ted’s unique methods—and his unabashed “feel good” charm—is just the balm the divorced owner AND her team need.
[For those of you who are already huge “Ted Lasso” fans, and who have previously preached sermons on the myriad “parables” the series showcased as part of ITS charm, indulge me for using one of the most famous Lasso show moments as MY theme for THIS sermon!]
In one of its most beloved scenes, Rebecca (the wealthy divorcee and team owner) has just learned that her hated and former philandering husband, has arranged for his latest underaged “squeeze” to buy into Rebecca’s team. This will entitle the two of them to nuzzle and neck in the “owner’s box” at home soccer matches. She is—as you can imagine—beside herself. Upon hearing how disturbed she is, Ted Lasso challenges her ex—Rupert—to a game of darts in the local pub. If Rupert wins, Ted will let him choose the starting lineup for the AFC Richmond team. If Ted wins, Rupert and his nubile, pregnant girlfriend will not occupy the owner’s box. The idea of a Texan beating a pub-crawling rich Brit is funny enough, but after the deal is sealed, Rupert eschews the pub’s darts for his own leather-cased, pro versions, setting up the schtick even more.
The game is afoot, and Rupert quickly establishes superiority over Ted. Just when it looks like all is lost for Ted and Rebecca, Ted asks the pub matron what he needs to win. She offers that he needs two twenties and a bullseye—all but an impossible thing for even a professional dart player. As Ted hits the first twenty, he gives this speech:
“You know Rupert, guys have underestimated my entire life. And for years I never understood why. It used to really bother me. But then one day I was driving my little boy to school and I saw this quote from Walt Whitman painted on the wall there that said "Be curious. Not Judgmental." I like that.
So I get back in my car and I'm driving to work and all of sudden it hits me. All them fellas who used to belittle me, not a single one of them was curious. You know, they thought they had everything figured out. So they judged everything. And they judged everyone. And I realized that their underestimating me, who I was had nothing to do with it. Because if they were curious, they would have asked questions. You know. Questions like, have you played a lot of darts, Ted? Which I would have answered. Yes sir. Every Sunday afternoon at a sports bar with my father from age 10 to 16 when he passed away.”
During his speech through his heavy Texas drawl, Ted hits the second twenty, and the bar erupts with a nervous whoop, but not half as nervous as the look on Rupert’s face. As Ted gets to the end of the speech, he pauses, and utters one very Texan, but unusual phrase during an English pub dart match: “Barbecue sauce!” And with that, he hits the dartboard bullseye dead center. Game over.
Honestly, it’s one of those incredible moments of the acting art that you want to pause and watch over and over—and I have. It reminds me of another movie scene when Woody Allen, in his Oscar-winning autobiography, “Annie Hall,” parades out from off camera media scholar and author, Marshall McLuhan, to win the debate. After McLuhan puts the stunned arguer in his place, Allen breaks character, looks at the camera, and says, “Don’t you wish REAL life were like this?” Of course, we all do!
Now that I’ve gotten a little movie buff testosterone out of the way, why have I entitled this message “Be curious, not judgmental,” and how does it relate to the two lectionary passages for this week? Good question, and I hope we can do this…
First of all, as many have pointed out, the quote “Be curious, not judgmental,” is not a Walt Whitman. In one of his poems, he sort of says half of it, but the exact phrase was found in an address given to a group of students by an educator. Doesn’t matter. It’s a phrase pregnant with much religious, faith-based, and biblical meaning for us!
Let’s start with the Pauline text from Romans. Romans 12 is a beloved and famous passage for Christian people, often dubbed “The Marks of a Christian.” Every one of us who ever mounted a Christian pulpit has preached on it numerous times; I’ve even produced a couple of sermons where I juxtaposed Paul’s words with a poem made famous by Rod McKuen in the 1960s. (After much scholarship and debate, it has been decided that Max Ehrmann was the poem’s author.) The positive message of the poem certainly does seem to match up nicely with Paul’s “Marks of a Christian” here in Romans 12.
As a “mature” Christian, I must say that just reading Romans 12: 9-21 makes me weary! If this is Paul’s “judgment” as to what a true Christian must look like, we all have a lot of work to do. I’m reminded of how Benjamin Franklin would work on one “vice” each week, leaving the others alone, as it was “too much work” to tackle more than one at a time. He may have been on to something, if you look at Paul’s prodigious list.
Christians should:
--Love “genuinely,” hate evil, and “hold fast” to what is good.
--Love one another with “mutual affection” and “OUTDO one another in showing honor”
--Be zealous, “ardent in spirit,” and serve the Lord
--Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer
--Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers
--Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them
--Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep
--Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are
--Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all
--Live peaceably with all
--If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink
--Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good
What is the popular expression today? “Good luck with that!” Sure sounds like a daunting agenda to me!
Are there any of us who would dispute that these “marks” WOULD make a good Christian? I doubt it. Are there many of us who would proudly proclaim the assessment, “I’m THERE!” I double doubt it. Now, there are those who would quickly pivot to the idea that JESUS could bring all of this about in our lives, if we “let” him and yielded to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. On paper, I would certainly agree. In reality, though, I’m just not sure the Holy Spirit has the TIME to get this done in MY lifetime. Charles Dickens may be able to make the “spirits” do all of their work on a single Christmas Eve, but this is reality, friends.
As an early idealist preacher (weren’t we all?), I passed these “marks” out to my congregation like they were God candy, and suggested that they should get to work, ASAP. The inference was certainly that if you DON’T embody these things, then you maybe shouldn’t call yourself a Christian? Never meaning to be judgmental or hurtful, I’m sure the non-idealists in my congregations felt I was. And they probably picked one or two of the “marks” to work on, like ol’ Ben.
Was Paul being judgmental in condensing an entire life of Christian journeying and discipleship into a few verses of his letter to the believers in Rome? Sure he was. One must wonder if Paul’s struggle to be taken seriously by the early Christians, given his past history persecuting and killing them, might have caused him to “over-react” a bit in addressing the church in Rome? It’s almost like he pursed his lips and said, “Barbecue sauce!” before writing these words as his bullseye. This concentrated summary of what a “good Christ follower” might look like is as beautiful as a hymn, as profound as a master poet, but may be as instructive as a copy of Grey’s Anatomy would be to someone looking to simply put a Band Aid on a boo-boo.
Should we ignore Paul’s hyperactive counsel in Romans 12? Of course not! But the key to interpreting it may be found in the OTHER lectionary passage for the week—the “call” of Moses, in Exodus 3.
Moses is doing his sheepherding bit, and comes across a bush that is on fire. I’m told this is not necessarily an unusual sight in a hot, hot desert with dry, dry bushes all about. Spontaneous combustion is one cause; lightening is often another. But something unusual caught Moses’ attention: the bush was ON FIRE, but it was not being consumed. He was just flat-out curious about this observation. He “turns aside” from his task to investigate.
Had he simply moved on, think of the rich history—right up until our present appropriation of the Christian story—that may have never happened. His curiosity led to his dialogue with Yahweh, to his call to lead God’s people out of captivity in Egypt, and to become the greatest “prophet” in the history of the world. (If you don’t believe this, remember who shows up at Jesus’ transfiguration! Elijah was second string in this encounter.)
Oh, you could argue that God would have found ANOTHER way to call someone, if Moses hadn’t heeded to the pyrotechnic mystery, but I would counter that God WANTED a curious soul to be the one who would lead God’s people. Of course, Moses had other “connections” in his personal history that would get him in the door, but his curiously fed his faith, and it was his curiosity that kept him relying on God and not growing a big head about his own abilities. (Much later, it would be his undoing, when he strikes the rock, ignoring God’s counsel, by the way. I’m sure he just wanted to see what would happen if he smacked that baby, again!)
We don’t have to go into the rest of the dramatic Exodus story here—we all know what happened. Let’s go back to the “Walt Whitman” quote:
“Be curious, not judgmental.” We are in very judgmental times, aren’t we? So many look first “who to blame,” rather than for clever or even ingenious ways out of “the mess we’s in.” It is SO much easier to be judgmental. It finds fault with something or someone, places blame, and is finished. Of course, the problem is not solved. Being curious leads to more and more discoveries, and requires critical thinking to form hypotheses and conduct research. It is the way of science, while judgmentalism is the way of politics, and WAY too often, religion.
Remember the time when Jesus encounters a blind man while in the company of some religious leaders? They want to know WHO or WHAT is responsible for this man being born blind. They were being judgmental, to the “Nth” degree. Jesus tells them, “You’re asking the wrong question.” Instead, he suggests, they should be CURIOUS: “What am I going to DO about it?” And then he heals the man. Curiosity may have “killed the cat,” but it got Israel out of captivity in Egypt, and it powered the ministry of Jesus Christ!
If we choose to live our faith as “curious” rather than “judgmental” people, we will be explorers on the great Christian journey, and not police. Curiosity leads us to examine our OWN motives, and not as much those of others. Curiosity unlocks many secrets; judgmentalism keeps secrets, as this is a source of their power.
Should we be surprised that Jesus never said, “Be curious, not judgmental”? Actually, if you read the gospels, I think he did! I know he had a REAL hard time with those who were judgmental. They even killed him, and tried to kill his message. Curiosity may lead us, step by step, to pursue and conquer even Paul’s “judgmental” marks of a Christian—in due time, and related to real-life experience. We “learn by trying” or being curious, not by edict. Personally, I never learned well while under anyone’s artificially-imposed deadlines or rules. I learn best and with most deeply rooted results when motivated by curiosity!
Barbecue sauce! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment