Editorial Cartoons

 

 

Jonah 3:10-4:11

God's concern for Ninevah 

 

3:10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.

 

4:1 But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry.

 

4:2 He prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning, for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment.

 

4:3 And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."

 

4:4 And the LORD said, "Is it right for you to be angry?"

 

4:5 Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.

 

4:6 The LORD God appointed a bush and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort, so Jonah was very happy about the bush.

 

4:7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered.

 

4:8 When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, "It is better for me to die than to live."

 

4:9 But God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?" And he said, "Yes, angry enough to die." 

 

4:10 Then the LORD said, "You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night.

 

4:11 And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left and also many animals?"

 

 

I wrote a major paper in seminary on the topic of “editorial cartoons,” suggesting that much of the prophetic voice of contemporary society had passed on to the best of those who drew and syndicated editorial cartoons that lampooned politicians, public officials, and pretty much all elected bodies, when they either fumbled their public duty, scandalized themselves or their office, or otherwise used it as a pathway to corruption that benefitted them, personally. The first major editorial cartoonist was Thomas Nast, who is credited with creating (or at least cementing in place) the Republican Elephant and the Democratic Donkey as symbols for America’s two major political parties. His submissions to “Harper’s Weekly” helped bring down Tammany Hall’s Boss Tweed. Pat Oliphant was one of my favorite editorial cartoonists, but I confess to being particularly informed and entertained by the two best “Pittsburghers” in the list: Tim Menees, and Rob Rogers. A good editorial cartoonist can in one panel capture what should be the object of public outrage, when a typical politician is being a typical politician, but they may also express in that same single panel the grief or fear of a nation in time of war, or during an horrendous event like the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Some even employ a few extra panels and some superior humor to ridicule bureaucrats and policy wonks alike, such as what Berkeley Breathed has done for decades in “Bloom County.” One of the very earliest editorial cartoons is the one pictured in my image with this sermon posting—the woodcut of a snake cut into eighths, with each segment labeled with the initials of one of the American colonies or regions. This cartoon first appeared in Benjamin Franklin’s “Pennsylvania Gazette” in May of 1754, and became a symbol of the need for organized action against the threat posed by the French and their native allies during the Seven Years’ War. Cartoons, while usually thought of as a form of child’s literature or a short piece of entertainment, can say a lot, when employed by skilled commentators and communicators. They may even be prophetic, especially when they develop a wide audience.

 

So what does this have to do with the story of Jonah in today’s lectionary passage from the scriptures? Lots. The Bible is filled with myths and stories that capture complex, social, spiritual, and even political issues in a small collection of words. The first few chapters of Genesis give us images of the creation that aren’t meant to be history, but intend to communicate that we and our world are not accidents of the cosmos. Stories like the literary masterpiece we call “Job,” and the truly “editorial cartoon” of Jonah and Ninevah, offer us truths too deep for a mere historical telling of them. As I profiled in another recent sermon, a Bible “myth” has nothing to do with whether the account is of a “real event,” or not. A Bible myth imparts a truth that is not contingent on the historicity of the story. Think of the parables of Jesus. The “Good Samaritan” is no less powerful as a lesson in ethics and compassion if we understand it as a fable. Is it any less impactful if there never was a specific “Samaritan” who encountered a robbery victim along a road? The “Prodigal Son” (or more appropriately, the “Loving Father”) and its lesson about wise choices, paternal love and forgiveness, and compassion for another’s tragedy, is no less “true” whether or not there ever was a real father, a rebellious son, and a jealous, bitter “older brother.” I confess to having an obviously stupefied look on my face when I have encountered persons who claim that if these stories had “not actually happened,” then they wouldn’t be in the Bible. What makes them “true,” friends, are the lessons and/or insights they impart, and what makes them BIGGER than life is the fact that they are not meant to be actual historical accounts of persons who experienced these things. The “editorial cartoon” nature of these Bible myths is what makes them universal and timeless.

 

The whole of Jonah is this kind of biblical “cartoon” that quickly captures and exposes one of our most basic human failings, as well as a universal truth of the Divine. Whether there ever was a “real” Jonah who was sent by God to offer a saving and prophetic word to people of a region known as “Ninevah” is, at best, ancillary to the story. Were this an historical account by the author of a “real” event, it’s lesson to the rest of us would be no more amplified, than if it were a kind of parable. If you can get this, you have the beginning of an understanding of the power of the biblical myth. Some anchor their faith in the belief that God must be a God of specific, historical happenings wherein God and humans have built a lesson on a kind of “trial and error” basis. Those of us who understand God more as a “first cause” of great stories and narratives that shine a light on the best and worst of the human heart, are not only comfortable with “myths,” but prefer them, as one doesn’t have to “defend” some “date and time” when they occurred, or seek to prove that they did. The near “constant” search for Noah’s Ark is good example of this. For some, if the Noah’s Ark story can’t be proved as “real,” then maybe God isn’t “real,” either, nor should we trust the rest of the Bible. But what if the “true” truth is that stories like Noah’s Ark are just God’s way of getting us to clean up our act, and to realize how hard it might be to create a just world? Or to understand how destructive selfish, human greed and lecherous behavior can be to a people who will best thrive in a caring, shared community? Even as editorial cartoons strive to imagine a “just” society where the values of equality and freedom prevail for all persons, so the biblical myths such as this Jonah story prophetically challenge us to “think out of the box” when it comes to judgmental behavior vs. mercy and forgiveness, God’s desire for the attributes of the Kingdom of God, which is trying so hard to break into our human existence. 

 

In the Jonah text today, God sees that even with Jonah’s less-than-enthusiastic preaching of the prophetic “warning” to the people of Ninevah, these people DID “turn from their evil ways,” and God decides to honor God’s promise of forgiveness and reconciliation toward them. Jonah, who had hated the people of Ninevah for probably some of the very same reasons we “hate” people today who are of differing nations, faith, ethnic groups, or politics, or because we don’t “approve” of their behavior, was not at all happy that God was actually going to redeem them. Jonah is so torqued that he pretty much admits that he “ran” from the initial assignment of preaching the word of repentance to Ninevah, mostly because he “knew” God WAS a God who was willing to forgive and redeem. This is an important admission, as so many of Yahweh’s adherents today won’t admit that it is this characteristic of God—especially as demonstrated in Jesus Christ—that angers them. How many times have you heard someone say, “If I were God…” before pronouncing a word of judgment upon someone they believe is “evil.” (I confess that I, too—the preacher—has felt this way about some of the shenanigans and goings on in the political realm, today, and I’m still not bending much toward God’s “way” of forgiving and praying for a redeeming balm upon those perpetrating it.) So, how does God reach Jonah…and US?

 

Interestingly, this text contains a “parable” within the myth! We have this story of a bush that grows up and provides shade and comfort to Jonah, but when God “punishes” the bush by sending the worm, Jonah loses his mind. In this text, Jonah is akin to the “elder son” in the Prodigal Son story, angered by the Father’s forgiveness and reconciliation with the younger, “undeserving” son. When Jonah shows more compassion for a measly bush, while hoping for Ninevah to “get what’s coming to them,” God calls him on it. God writes his own little “editorial cartoon” to spring on the stubborn, selfish Jonah. And we should not forget that the larger corpus of the Jonah story includes that mythical “whale ride” to “nudge” him to comply with God’s call! Who, in his right mind, would be the victim of such an adventure, only to turn and reject such a clever and fantastic example of “divine intervention”? Jonah does. We can, and often do. Is there a whale ride in OUR future? MY future? I guess I had better clean up my act. How about you?

 

When we call these wonderful stories “myths,” we are not at ALL degrading neither their value, nor their truth. Likewise, masters of the editorial cartoon use that one panel as a kind of “myth bearer” to jar us into seeing a truth we have been missing, or taking a glance into a clearer mirror to see ourselves as we truly are. Sometimes the “cartoon” is a well-turned and pregnant phrase. Think of Benjamin Franklin telling the signers of the Declaration of Independence, “We must hang together, or we will most assuredly hang separately!” Or Nathan, after telling his own “editorial cartoon” story to King David about his sin with Bathsheba, and his unjust “murder” of her husband, Uriah, ending with that climactic line, “YOU are the man!” So often in the Bible, and in the history of our faith, “less is more.” 

 

If you are one of those folk who like to read the Bible from Genesis to maps once a year, how about trying this one as a new tact in your reading: rather than assuming that everything you read is “fact,” pretend that it is there to teach you something about yourself, humanity, the creation, and God. Focus on the “gotcha” of the narrative, rather than reading it like it is an historical account. Imagine the whole Bible as a giant parable—an “editorial cartoon” in one panel, meant to make you think, to ponder, and to act upon the insights you receive. You might find it more transformational than professing a belief in the “infallibility” or “authority” of scripture. Just go for its truth, instead. You get the picture. Amen.

Listen to this message HERE

The Grunge of the Grudge

The Grunge of the Grudge

 

Genesis 50:15-21

Joseph reconciles with his brothers 

 

50:15 Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph's brothers said, "What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?"

 

50:16 So they approached Joseph, saying, "Your father gave this instruction before he died,

 

50:17 'Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.' Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

 

50:18 Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, "We are here as your slaves."

 

50:19 But Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God?

 

50:20 Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.

 

50:21 So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones." In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

 

Most people of faith know the Joseph story, if not from the Bible, then from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” In today’s episode from Genesis 50, the story has advanced to where Joseph’s brothers are about to meet with him—now an Egyptian official—for aid during the famine. They are concerned that Joseph may hold a “grudge” against them for selling him into slavery and then telling Dad a lion got him. Ya THINK? Brilliant reasoning, on their part. Most of us would hold that grudge, had we been in Joseph’s situation, and especially now that he was in a position for the ultimate payback. Human nature, being what it is, especially in this day when even a President of the United States is using his power to bring retribution on his “enemies,” one would certainly bank on Joseph holding a really “grungy” grudge.

 

None of us likes to be wronged. It is often hurtful, emotionally, or even hard on the pocketbook. The problem with it is that “being wronged” can be a complicated thing. Think about it. What does it “mean” to be “wronged?” In the case of the Joseph story, his brothers are jealous of the favoritism their brother is being shown by their father, Jacob. The Bible DOES make it sound like it is actual favoritism, however, those of us old enough to remember the Smothers Brothers, know Tommy’s accusatory line he would use on Dick: “Mom always liked you BEST!” Not all “favoritism” is equal, especially when it comes to parental love. My parents raised three boys, and did their best to “equalize” their treatment of each of us. However, our needs were different, as were our interests. It was a natural thing that, when one of our interests intersected with an interest one of our parents held, that son would get a little special treatment. Still, I don’t think any of the three of us ever developed a grudge over one of the others getting “extra” preferential treatment. (I obviously can’t speak for my brothers, but I’ve never heard anything to dispute my assertion.) Dara and I made a point to assure our two children that we loved them both to the Moon and back, but that there may come a time when one of them might have a need that would require extra attention, and that as good parents, we would do our best to meet that need. We also told them that we would do our best to give them each opportunities to explore all that life had for them as they were growing up, but that, too, could mean that for a season, one might “get a bit more” than the other, either emotionally or economically. We were blessed that neither of our two children had any special needs that required medical or psychological attention beyond the “norms” of childhood, but obviously this is not the case in many other families. It is good for parents to explain why this is important and necessary to the other children in families with a special needs child. “Equal love” doesn’t always mean “equal treatment.” When a child feels “wronged” by a sibling getting some necessary special treatment, or having an unusual opportunity due to a unique interest, it is not the same as your brothers throwing you into a pit and selling you into slavery. 

 

Some people have a more natural tendency to feel they are getting the short end of the stick, even when it isn’t true. I suppose this is a form of paranoia, or some other negative pathology born out of a past hurt or slight, but I’m not a psychologist, so I’ll just leave that there. The point is that not everyone who “feels” wronged is a victim, but this fact may NOT stop a grudge from being formed in that person, even one that may isolate them from others or cause what had been closer bonds to someone to falter. It is quite sad when this happens. As a pastor, I have seen WAY too many families and friendships disintegrate over an alleged “wrong” or what is actually just a misunderstanding. Counseling can help in these situations, but it often cannot restore what once was, in a relationship, at least fully. From the Joseph story, I would suggest to parishioners in these situations to do their best to refrain from over-reacting. Pits and slavery should be the very last resort, in all cases.

 

Grudges are like a cancer, honestly. When we develop and carry them, WE are the ones getting almost literally eaten alive. They form a “root of bitterness” in us that is near impossible to eliminate, even if the offense itself may be resolved, and forgiveness applied. I saw this most in marriages when an infidelity had occurred. In these cases, when this was uncovered in pastoral counseling, I would refer couples to professional marriage counselors, as dealing with it was beyond my pay grade. I offered my prayers and pastoral support, but a deep wound had been created, and it needed special treatment. Again, the offended partner would often hold a grudge way beyond the event horizon, even after all the best remedies had been applied. In each of these cases, God had a lot of extra hours to put in. 

 

Here’s the sad truth, though: the most hurtful grudges I have witnessed were often over really simple or “stupid” stuff. People, when they feel slighted, can run to that reptile brain very fast. In our minds, we take what may have been a simple mistake or an unintentional oversight on someone’s part and turn it into a premeditated hostile act against us. Then we begin building a serious case against the “offending” party. Our grudge gets grungier and grungier, the longer it goes being unresolved, even to the point that when the offending party is made aware of the alleged slight, and attempts to make amends, that grudge makes like the Great Wall of China, and cuts off the attempt at reconciliation. If there really is a devil, the grudge is one of his most effective tools, believe me. 

 

When I read the Joseph story, I am led to believe that Jacob “favored” Joseph for one of these “intersecting interests” reasons. Given that the “prize” Jacob gave Joseph was the colorful coat, one might believe that Joseph was a creative sort, possibly artistic in some way that the old man truly appreciated. Sometimes a parent has had an interest in life that life simply got in the way of ever pursuing. When a child comes along that shares that interest, the parent is naturally tempted to “feed” it, which might look like favoritism to a sibling. That colorful coat leads me to believe this is what happened in the Joseph incident. As you see, it gave the brothers all a powerful grudge against “the dreamer,” and their solution to assuaging that grudge involved pits and slavery. An over-reaction? I’d say, but then emotions can be very powerful things. Students have shot up their schools over feeling “wronged” in some way by their peers. The moral of THAT story is that parents, teachers, and others should do our best to help our kids through these difficult points of growth and development. Take what kids tell you seriously, don’t just “pooh-pooh” it when a kid feels threatened or otherwise rejected in a social situation. Avoiding the development of grudges and that “root of bitterness” may save more than a child’s sensitive ego.

 

As adults, it is also incumbent upon us to “take inventory” of our own cupboard of grudges we may have on the shelves of our psyche. I am convinced that much of what is being called “political division” in our nation is actually a result of unresolved relationship pathologies playing out, thanks to a national “leader” who is, himself, a bundle of unresolved pathologies with power. The church is no different. Enough people in the United Methodist Church felt “powerless” against what they saw as an unresponsive (or errant, as they would say) hierarchy that when, given the chance, they bolted. Was the disaffiliation that occurred in our denomination an over-reaction to a long-carried grudge? What do you think? As one who believed that inclusiveness was more important in the church of Jesus Christ than “doctrinal purity,” I would have hoped for more understanding and less pits and slavery, but here we are, picking up the pieces. 

 

Yes, Joseph’s brothers had every right to believe they could be facing the grudge-based retribution of a brother they had truly wronged. Joseph’s response was a shocker, not only to them, but to any student of human nature. Joseph expressed more joy in reconciling with his brothers than in any short-lived jollies he might have received from throwing them into the slammer, or sending them away empty-handed, perhaps to succumb to the famine. Joseph even went one step FURTHER, which I believe to be the ultimate lesson in this great biblical tale. He gave us that great “What YOU meant for evil, God meant for GOOD” line, challenging us all to look for something much more life-changing than the proverbial “silver lining.” This “teaching moment” is there, I believe, as a sign that God desires that people of faith start looking more for what GOOD can come out of bad experiences, rather than whom to blame for them, or how to punish the perpetrators. “What can I learn here?” or “How can this make me a better person?” are better, more formative spiritual questions than “Is this pit deep enough?” Think about the “cultured hatred” that is happening in our nation right now over immigrants, most of whom are productive, god-fearing, and law-abiding people just looking for an opportunity and a better life. But a great “national grudge” has been invented and “nurtured” by some as a political scam that has resulted in government forces moving violently against people—families—who could be great national assets, in more “normal” times. Grudges are powerful and destructive things in the individual; in nations, they can bring down the very fabric of a just and fair society. ICE is digging pits and deporting poor souls into slavery.

 

Friends, God wants the best for us. What we have often done to the countless opportunities the Divine has given us to be better, stronger, and more loving people is WAY too often criminal. God wants to transform the “wrongs” into “goods,” not grudges. Grudges are what put the Son of God on the cross, friends. May we learn from Joseph, one who WAS truly wronged, and yet forgave, reconciled, and even edified his offenders, believing THIS is where the Spirit of God was leading. How about you? How about us? May we shed the grunge of the grudge and be washed in the flow of God’s “new” thing instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.

[To listen to a recording of this message, use the link below.]

LISTEN...

...Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah...

 

…Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah…

 

Psalm 149

Sing praise in the congregation 

 

149:1 Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful.

 

149:2 Let Israel be glad in its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.

 

149:3 Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.

 

149:4 For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory.

 

149:5 Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches.

 

149:6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands,

 

149:7 to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples,

 

149:8 to bind their kings with fetters and their nobles with chains of iron,

 

149:9 to execute on them the judgment decreed. This is glory for all his faithful ones. Praise the LORD!

 

I was in fourth grade when the Fab Four of Liverpool made their initial appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday night. The next day in school, this is all anyone could talk about. The girls in my class were totally ga-ga over the mop-haired songsters, with each one already having picked a “favorite.” The boys, while certainly jealous of the attention Ringo, Paul, George, and John were getting, talked about both the music (which we liked) and the eccentricities of each Beatle. Ringo wore all those rings, and kept a nasty beat on the trap set; Paul played his bass guitar “backwards” (he’s left handed); George seemed quiet, distant, but certainly played a mean lead guitar; and John seemed “out of place,” kind of like the proverbial science nerd among football players (probably due to his being almost blind without his glasses, which he did NOT wear on the Beatles’ American TV debut). It was clear from the outset that these guys had captured the attention of the country’s “youth,” including those of us who were still in “grammar school.”

 

“She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah,” they sang, as their “Beatle cut” hair bounced all over. The lyrics certainly weren’t Shakespeare (or even Weird Al Yankovic, for that matter), but there was something “catchy” about the music. And BOY, did we catch it! Their “stock” started out high on Ed Sullivan, and just kept rising. By the time the “simple” band from England with the silly name of the “Beatles” broke up and went their separate ways, they had conquered the music world. They had made a handful of entertaining films, including “A Hard Day’s Night,” which was critically acclaimed, and holds up royally, to this day. It is still one of my favorite films, and I’m a “movie buff.” Their music DID become the “Shakespeare” of the recording room and stage. Everybody tried to copy it, but no one succeeded. Oh, other great bands (the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, et. al.) made it big, for sure, but no one and no-thing could ever eclipse the phenomenon called “Beatlemania.” I’ve often said that two reasons I have lived a great life, are the Beatles, and being around for the Apollo Moon landing. I do believe what the Beatles accomplished at least equals that “one small step” made by Neil Armstrong.

 

Here we are today, a long way from “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.” The world’s great orchestras have all played some arrangement of a Beatles tune. Their music has been translated into every language on earth. And even “elevator music” features songs written by Lennon and McCartney, gone “Mantovani.” As we know, one of the Fab Four—John Lennon—died tragically, having been assassinated by Mark David Chapman outside Lennon’s apartment building, the Dakota. George Harrison died way too young, of causes possibly exacerbated by his alternative life style choices. Ringo is still with us, and still happily married to Barbara Bach, the actress, for over 45 years! Paul McCartney? He’s a living legend. Still performing, still churning hearts at first sight, and still with that unique sparkle in his eyes that have not gone dim at all at 84 years of age. “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah,” indeed. 

 

Of course, most of their music went galaxies beyond that, and “I want to hold your haaaa-nd.” “Give Peace a Chance,” “Let It Be,” “Hey, Jude,” and iconoclastic albums like “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” are masterpieces that have cemented “the boys” into the history of music into the next several millennia, or as someone has said, “As long as humans survive on Earth.” I expect to be around, though, when the last Beatle shuffles off this mortal coil, and it will be a very sad day for something I was around to see its beginning. Why such a giant “introduction” to a sermon about a text from Psalm 149? You’ll see. One more part of the back story, though. Way back in 1975, I was hired by Grace United Methodist Church in Rocky Grove, PA to be a part-time staff person working with their Youth Club program, AND to be involved in their impressive radio ministry. Their Senior Pastor, the Rev. Lloyd Sturtz, was truly a forward-thinking religious visionary, having built a growing church around a vivacious music ministry, a powerful preaching/teaching ministry, and a daily, 15 minute radio show on WFRA, Franklin’s radio station. Rev. Sturtz truly had a “way” with radio, recording a week’s worth of “Faith for Today” daily broadcasts in one weekly recording session. “Preach,” as we called him, was a kind of “Paul Harvey” of the Christian set, spinning yarns of religious history, and exciting, yet simple testimonies of faith. His knack for making “religion” and the Bible practical and timely made these daily programs the most popular 15 minutes on local radio. He also had a vision for a weekly, half-hour radio program that could speak to young people, and that’s where I came in. I had a background and experience in both radio AND journalism, so the church sponsored my show, which we called “Resurrection.” The first two programs I devoted to a “Beatles” special wherein I played important Beatles’ songs that addressed some of humanity’s ills, and I juxtaposed these “secular” songs with tunes from the brand new world of Christian rock and roll that seemed to be attempting to answer the questions the Beatles were “asking” in some of their music. It was a successful “launch” of a program that aired on Friday nights in Franklin for several years, at least until I went off to seminary.

 

So, for these two “related” reasons, Psalm 149, that opens with “Sing to the Lord a new song,” seemed a natural to be set alongside the band that made “new” a watchword in the music realm! I like that the ancient author of this psalm is thinking “new” in a faith that too often gets bogged down in trying to “stay the same.” “New” is a good thing, and this psalmist knew it, even when he was talking about worshipping God, which is both one of the oldest things humanity attempts to do, AND the one thing the church has generally fought against making “new,” in any way.

 

Historically, worship could best be summed up in the “Spoonerism” of the old hymn “My Faith Still Holds,” which is convoluted by some into “My Faith Holds Still.” Worship traditions generally like to “hold still.” Most of you know that J.S. Bach was rejected by the church for daring to write religious music for the pipe organ, which had been dubbed an “instrument of the devil,” due to its popular debut in secular society. Sound familiar? When I was a teen, any kind of guitar or drum was anathema in the church. I remember when a “long-haired band” made up of students from our one our Methodist theological seminaries came to my home church to play a concert on a Sunday evening. There were four of them, and they played and sang religious rock to guitar, bass, and drum accompaniment. You see where they got the idea! They were fantastic; us youth LOVED them; and the “old people” in our church ignited a proverbial “fire storm” over it, proclaiming that they would “never let something like that” happen in their church again. Where was the Psalm 149 guy with his “new song to the Lord” then? Do you know which Christian sect first embraced “contemporary” music in the sanctuary? It was the Roman Catholics, who, after the Second Vatican Council in the mid-1960s, were allowed to offer services in “the language of the people,” rather than just in Latin. Young, progressive priests like Father John Santor in Oil City, PA took this occasion to launch “Folk Masses” that featured “new” music and drums and guitars! It would be YEARS before this happened in most Protestant churches! (Father John Santor, the “Beatles” of priests, in my book, died in Erie, PA in December of 2025.) 

 

Bringing up the subject of Christian worship and how it tends to be resistant to change, begs another question: what IS worship, and why do we think God “needs” it? We currently are experiencing political figures who seem to want allegiance and “bowing down” to them in a kind of worship, so I have a hard time equating the God whom I believe loves ME enough to have sent his Son into the world to redeem me with these characters! Does God really “groove” on having us “worship” the Divine? I know I’ve gone over this ground before in countless other sermons, but it bears repeating. Why does God desire God’s people to worship? My life and study have led me to believe worship serves two primary needs:

 

First, it is a common focus that breeds “community.” The Bible makes clear that God desires God’s people to live together “in community,” not as scattered (diaspora) individuals. In community, we offer mutual support, care for those who are hurting and marginalized, and provide a gathered forum for various kinds of “mission work” the Holy Spirit may call us into. “Mission” might include heralding the Good News of Jesus Christ, or as John Wesley would say, “Offer them Christ.” Mission might include benevolent acts such as feeding the hungry, building homes for shelter (or fixing up existing ones), or building schools and clinics in developing societies. And for some of us, “mission” may mean working for social justice, ranging from protesting INJUSTICES, to seeking to install just leaders, governments, and pass laws that offer justice to all of God’s people, not just the well-heeled, or “abled.” There are quite a variety of creative, community-enabled tasks that could qualify as “mission.” In one church, a group of folk collected used prom dresses and opened a free “shop” where economically-challenged young women could choose a nice dress for their high school prom. In another church, a group of seamstresses made “prayer quilts” for persons who were ill.

 

Secondly, worship provides the individual believer a way to make deep, inner connections “happen” between themselves and God. Diverse ways of doing this may still happen in the gathered, worshipping community. Some enjoy the silent moments of communal worship, while others revel in the music and praise. Others still, may appreciate the times of guided prayer and meditation, or be particularly “connected” through the celebration of the sacraments. That which makes this spiritual connection between God and persons may be highly individualistic, yet be juxtaposed with group worship. The old chestnut, “I don’t have to go to church to worship God” does not pass muster in the Judeo-Christian tradition. One may certainly praise God in private, or enjoy meditation in solitude, but the kind of worship God desires happens in a gathered community, even a small one. Remember this: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I will be in the midst of them?” And do you remember who said it?

 

Regarding our individual preferences in worship, I do believe the Holy Spirit has led our religious communities to a wide variety of worship experiences, liturgy, and musical “styles.” I, for one, like the verbiage of the hymns, even though many of them need “reinterpreted on the fly” like the latter words of Psalm 149, while some of the newer ones exhibit profound theological viewpoints. One of my favorite services we held at St. Paul’s was a choreographed “Jazz Worship Service,” wherein we had a professional jazz combo lead us musically, mixed with readings and liturgy that mirrored some of the improvisational element of jazz music. My point here is that gathered worship may be of all varieties, touching the hearts of diverse persons, who may purpose to gather as one people. This will be what the “endpoint” of the Kingdom of God will look like, in my opinion—a kind of religious e pluribus unum—out of many, one.

 

God “desires” God’s people to worship together because God wants us to find common ground and “partners” to act in Christian mission. God desires worship to be a place where God’s people come together to “enjoy” a worship experience and be edified by it. Overall, I believe, God LOVES it when God’s people get together in a kind of regular, “family reunion.” In this, as I’ve said before, God sits like one of those beaming, proud grandmothers at earthly family reunions, so happy to see her family putting aside their differences and being blessed by each other’s presence and “catching up.” Is this not precisely what the language of Psalm 149 is about?

 

Oh, I know that some of this Psalm sounds like “Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war,” but again we have to put it in historical context. The “warring” language can be seen as justice seeking, which can get very messy, indeed. The goal is to build a just, gathered, and God-fearing community. (I realize that one must stretch the “battle” language of this Psalm to see this, but held up against the rest of scripture, I do believe it is appropriate to do so.)

 

And this all brings us back to the Beatles, with a Divine twist: “GOD loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, and you know you should be glad!” And being “glad” is both a highly individualized AND inherently “corporate” thing, in the unfolding Kingdom of God! Yeah, yeah, yeah! (How the Beatles might say, “Amen!”)

 Listen to this message...

 

The Grace of Asking Why

 

The Grace of Asking Why

 

Exodus 3:1-15

God calls Moses 

 

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 mount 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 spacious land, to 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 Now go, I am sending 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 serve 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.

 

I was always a “science-minded” kid. When I asked “Why?”, it was a legitimate question, not just a childish stall or a kid’s parent-provoking jab. I have always been one to want to know why stuff happened, didn’t happen, or what happened when it did. My habitual question “Why?” led to a life-long series of questions about life, the universe, and everything. I still like to question the “unquestionable” things about the Bible, faith, and the Divine; I still like to spend clear evenings out with my telescopes wondering the great “whys” of the universe; and I will always question the things that many others believe are either immutable or one-and-done, never to be duplicated. On one of my brother’s daily “Super Sunday School Spectacular, Plus One“ posts, I wrote this of God’s unpredictable "miracles” into the human world: “A Quantum God intervening in a world that refuses to see itself as anything but binary.” I thought that about as close to brilliant as li’l ol’ me gets, but I do believe it to be the truth. We can never quit asking “Why?” in a universe created by the same deity who gave us quantum physics. 

 

The second thing the life-long “Why” question gave me was a curiosity that is never satisfied. As a youth, I tried to apply the basic principles of science to my quest, but as my grade level advanced, and my command of higher mathematics didn’t go along for the ride, I soon realized that my “Why?” quest would have to be limited to the world of cerebral pondering, voracious reading about my questions, and then my advancing ability to write about what answers I had uncovered, either in the work of others, or reasoned through a decent degree of critical thinking, on my part. I am happy to say that, after just completing my 72^nd trip around the Sun, I am no less curious than I was as a kid with an “inquiring mind.” Honestly, I’m not all that bright, when I compare myself with the true and scholarly geniuses whose work I like to explore, but the breadth of my interest sure eclipses most of them. I am as curious about welding (hence I learned to do it) as I am music (I play a couple of instruments, badly, but I play), painting (I love to try out new ways of applying pigment to stuff), amateur astronomy, and, of course, there is my writing. Never being satisfied is the engine of curiosity, as are new observations of phenomenon that don’t “fit the rules.” Note, however, that a healthy curiosity, which keeps one searching for facts and real data, DOESN’T foster those bizarre conspiracy theories, chasing “UFOs,” or believing that all aliens, should they exist, are out to get us. Succumbing to these wacky temptations happens when an immature curiosity is coupled with non-critical thinking. We see examples of this happening all around us, currently well demonstrated in the federal government. Truly curious people who have been blessed to learn how to think critically, learn how to ask GOOD questions, and then more questions, and ones that don’t have to result in either easy or even “concrete” answers. In fact, some of the most productive questions work their magic far short of ever having an answer. (I like to call this “doing theology,” by the way.)

 

So, how do I get to all of this from an Exodus scripture passage? Your answer is found in verse 3, in the statement by Moses: "I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up." Whether the bush actually talked doesn’t matter. It was Moses’ curiosity that caused him to “turn aside,” and that act wound up making all the difference for the Jewish people, world history, and eventually even the Christian faith. Moses got caught in a life-changing dose of curiosity, for which he refused to accept a simple explanation, and as we know, Yahweh didn’t give him one. The bush was a come-on; Moses signed on; and soon, the people of God moved on. It was truly a “Why?” made in heaven!

 

As Moses found out, and so have I, life is too short to not ask the “Why?” questions. There are those who cling to holy writ like it is a contract, of some sort, or a divine rule book penned to give them absolute answers to impossible questions. Maybe there is a reason the two sections of the Judeo-Christian scriptures are called “Testaments”? What we are reading are the experiences of folk who kept asking “Why?” and who weren’t hung up on black-and-white, “take it to the bank” kinds of answers. We believe in a God who doesn’t just TOLERATE our “Why?” questions, but who both embodies them AND encourages them (we call it “grace”), knowing full-well that in our endless curiosity, we are truly acting in the “image of God.” Remember: God is a QUANTUM God, not a linear God, or a “legal” God, and most certainly not a God who is imprisoned by a timeline, or even a “judgment day.” 

 

I have always said in my sermons that the best metaphor I can come up with to understand God’s relationship to humanity is the loving parent. Those of us blessed to be parents know full well that we NEVER, EVER stop loving our children, even if they fall prey to negative choices in life that may lead us to jerk them with “tough love,” or “cutting them off” for a season, fully immersed in a prayer that they will, like the Prodigal Son, “come to themselves” and find their own life-changing answers. And for those of us who have—thankfully—not had to engage in “tough love,” we just never stop loving our “kids,” praying and hoping for the best for them, and for their safety. I have two successful (what this means is another whole series of sermons and psychological unpacking, by the way) and “curious” adult children. When I look at both of them, in a single instance, I experience them as that tiny bundle I held in my arms moments after their birth, that wandering toddler who loved to touch stuff, that little child who was so interested in the world around her/him, the high school students who excelled in the fishbowl of public education, or in remembering both the ecstasy and the pain of packing them off to college. It only takes a few moments of this “time compression” of their history to eventually arrive at the reality of them in their forties, as responsible adults, parents, and curious explorers of life. Is this not EXACTLY what God is like? God sees us in the moment, but our whole history is visible to God in the same moment. Again, a Quantum God! (Maybe we are quantum parents, too!)

 

I’ve often wondered if, in eternity, the great prophet Moses has a photo of that bush on his study wall? His curiosity about why that bush was burning and yet not being consumed led him to confront pharaohs, part seas, and have a few mountain-side chats with God Almighty. I have a whole wall of such memorabilia in our home, each with a connection to some either life-changing experience or moment of elucidation that deepened my understanding of life, the universe, and everything beyond where I ever thought possible. These “talismans” keep my eyes connected to the experience. And they reignite my curiosity as to “Why?” each of these things actually happened to me. Was I worthy to have these experiences? No, but grace prevailed, and the Great Parent knew how formative each would be for the one whom the Great Parent loved. Friends, you need to see it like this. PLEASE don’t get trapped in the “God of the Rules” thing, or in the Great Lie that God will judge you for your mistakes. Fixing these errors in the human experience is PRECISELY why Jesus came to us! We had turned God’s love and grace into a religion, and were in danger of making God to be a smiting, punishing judge, instead of an ever-loving Great Parent who always…ALWAYS wants the best for God’s children. Moses’ life was redirected by his “asking why” and his curiosity about the bush, and God’s only begotten Son came to earth to rescue us from the human proclivity for drawing lines in the sand and excluding others by our rules. The Great Parent is a God of love and grace, not judgment and retribution. When you see judgment and retribution in the path on your “Mount Horebs” of life, DON’T ask why, just go in the opposite direction. When you do, you will walk right back into the loving arms of the Great Parent.

 

I’m sure Moses had his moments when he regretted checking on the bush. Israel didn’t make his leadership easy. Not all humans are blessed with a healthy “gift” of curiosity, or even the ability to have a critical thought without wanting to “smite” somebody. As we know from this story in the scriptures, even GOD had God’s moments of regret, when it came to preserving Israel. Moses, on more than one occasion, had to talk God out of wiping them out and “starting over.” This is something I like about the Bible’s views of deity: God gets frustrated, too, and even caves to the occasional irrational moment. If God gets so ticked, and yet returns to heroic acts of salvation, so we should have hope that we are not lost!

 

The moral of this story is: keep asking your questions, without worrying about getting “pat” answers. BE CURIOUS, as this is the stuff of life! Question God! God likes that, and will reward you with the embrace of grace, and a salvific sense of belonging. And in your own curiosity and “Why?” questioning, stop judging others as “sinners,” or in some way inferior to you own understanding of faith. After all, they are on their own journey, too. They may just not have stumbled upon the bush. Give them grace…and time. Amen!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WqGk78TWgOrKdd5MO_IibBWYzPrFgs70/view?usp=share_link

These Women

 

These Women…

 

Exodus 1:8-2:10

Pharaoh's daughter takes Moses in 

 

1:8 Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.

 

1:9 He said to his people, "Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we.

 

1:10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land."

 

1:11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh.

 

1:12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

 

1:13 The Egyptians subjected the Israelites to hard servitude,

 

1:14 and made their lives bitter with hard servitude in mortar and bricks and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.

 

1:15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,

 

1:16 "When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live."

 

1:17 But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live.

 

1:18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this and allowed the boys to live?"

 

1:19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them."

 

1:20 So God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong.

 

1:21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.

 

1:22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live."

 

2:1 Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman.

 

2:2 The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months.

 

2:3 When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river.

 

2:4 His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

 

2:5 The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it.

 

2:6 When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. "This must be one of the Hebrews' children," she said.

 

2:7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?"

 

2:8Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Yes." So the girl went and called the child's mother.

 

2:9 Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed it.

 

2:10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, "because," she said, "I drew him out of the water."

 

One of my favorite episodes of the popular TV series about a fictional U.S. President and his administration—“The West Wing”—featured an episode that highlighted the incredibly astute work by an impressive cast of women in that administration. Ranging from the Press Secretary to some of the “cubicled” administrative assistants to key staffers, these brilliant women “saved the day” several times during the episode. As a celebration was taking place toward the end of the show, President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), offered a toast to “these women,” as he huddled with his male staff, most of whom owed the “winning” day to “these women.” He capped his toast by alluding to how poorly men had treated such outstanding female contributors, down through the ages. And he was right, wasn’t he?

 

I have spent much of my ministry, as a male pastor and leader, lifting up the cause of women in the pulpit, and other key places of church leadership. Our United Methodist Conference is currently being served by our second female episcopal leader, and I have served under three highly effective female district superintendents, during my 37 years in ministry. And yet, in Western Pennsylvania, women pastors STILL are shunned by a shocking number of our congregations, some of whom have been so bold as to tell their district superintendents things like, “We won’t take a woman pastor,” or “We’ve had our ‘mandatory’ woman pastor, now give us a ‘real’ pastor.” Yes, I’m not exaggerating, friends. Churches have said these things in 2026! And if you think this “odd” or “unconscionable,” please be reminded that we have not yet had a female POTUS or a female governor of the State of Pennsylvania! Fictional President Josiah Bartlet was right—we don’t treat women well at all, and it would almost seem that the more competent they are, the WORSE we treat them. Testosterone must be a horribly nasty hormone, that it causes competent males to behave like rivaled children. Unbelievable. Shouldn’t things be different in the church?

 

The Hebrew Bible is full of stories about brave women who “bucked the system” because their faith drew them to break stereotypes and bust the chops of male “leaders” driven more by braggadocio than brains. If you read our Old Testament, you will be exposed to people like Ruth, Naomi, Deborah, Esther, and Sarah, who saved the backsides of overreaching males. And while scholars generally believe this history was largely penned by men, it is important to note how these heroic stories of courageous women survived the redacting process, over the eons. Why? Well, certainly the Spirit of God had a part in making sure their efforts didn’t wind up on the proverbial “cutting room” floor, but I sincerely hope that even the male authors and editors of so much of our scriptures had to admit the essential contributions of such women that they were compelled to share their stories. “These women,” indeed. 

 

This weekend’s text I selected highlights the just disobedience of two Hebrew midwives, Shiprhah and Puah. They were told by the King of Egypt that, as they assisted in the birthing process for a Hebrew woman, if the baby was male, they were to see that it didn’t survive. It could be allowed to live, if it were a female child. You see, the King feared the growing Hebrew population, and the assumption (the same one we have today?) was that males were much more a threat to the prevailing authority than were women. Now, this demonstrates both that male leaders like the King of Egypt were as stupid as they were threatened. As we related earlier, biblical history kept the stories of how “effective” woman had been in thwarting the “bad” leadership of egotistical male leaders, so why all of the fear surrounding the MALE children? Interestingly, the king thinks he is dealing “shrewdly” with the situation when he gives the order to kill the male babies born to Hebrew women. Not only was his edict ill-advised and stupid, but it ignored the fact that women had already proved to be more strategic in their planning and bold in their actions than most of the “decorated” males ever had. Saving the female babies was no bargain for them, either historically or in the present circumstance. “These women” would eventually be their downfall, especially when God’s people Israel were concerned, or when injustices were used to bolster kingly authority. Shiphrah and Puah courageously ignored the king’s command and saved the male Hebrew babies, all the while most likely praying for the permitted female children, that they would grow to be as TRULY “shrewd” as were Shiphrah and Puah, themselves! If Israel’s survival has a “bloodline,” you can be assured that “these women” were at the top of if!

 

This text goes on next to share the story of how the young male Moses would have his life spared, again by the women involved. His mother hid him to keep him safe; the Pharoah’s daughter was used by the Spirit of God to spare his life and raise him in the ruling courts of Egypt; and his sister kept herself in the picture to watch over her brother and nurture him in the ways of Yahweh. Again, women save the day. In the case of the Pharoah’s daughter, her compassion shown through in an act of mercy and grace. Isn’t it so that God’s “irresistible” grace so often pieces together circumstances so that even “wrong” motivation leads to a benevolent and visionary end? It does in this story. Where would Israel have ever been without Moses?

 

Friends, when it comes to shrewdness, I have found women FAR more gifted than men, and partly because they HAVE to be, to get to use their gifts in what is still a largely male-driven world. Men mostly think they are in charge, or should be. Women recognize that, if they want any “say” in the future direction of any organization—from the family to the church, to the government—they will have to behave shrewdly to interject their ideas as vision. When men are in charge, they “naturally” believe their ideas are best, and will fully defer to them. Women must be far more “creative” in how they infuse their input and ideas for virtually every project, lest the men “in charge” override them. Having been blessed to work with countless gifted women in my time in ministry, I can say emphatically that their “take” on so many things is not as blatantly “warped” by testosterone or privilege as is that of us males. When I say that I have used my time to advocate for women leaders, let’s be clear: this often meant being shrewd and a bit conniving myself, using my “freely granted” male authority to open doors for women leaders, and then to “promote” them in the eyes of groups and congregations. Let me try to explain this in another way. As a generally effective male leader myself, I was given MUCH credibility and latitude by the “church population” that has come to overly respect and accept male leadership. I did my best to “trade” this somewhat automatic power granted me as a male for more opportunities for my female peers. To be honest, it was often disheartening to see how I could do something less competently than a female colleague, and yet have praise heaped on me as a male, while my female counterpart suffered undue criticism for superior performance. And those women who HAVE ascended the prejudicial steps to power (as senior pastors, superintendents, or even bishops) have continued to “take it on the chops” simply because they are women. 

 

“Shrewdness” or cunning should not have to be a prevailing “gift of the Spirit” for women leaders, just so they can lead effectively. But this is where we are right now in the church, and most certainly in our governments. Nationally, we “celebrate” women who lead well, as it defies our “group think” aspirations for them. How sad. We often “code” our praise for women leaders like our racist ways have caused us to do with Black leaders: “Oh, they are so ‘articulate,’” or “They SO exceeded our expectations!” Why? Will we see in our lifetime the END to such “qualifiers” for leaders of marginalized groups such as women and minorities? If it happens, we should thank Shiphrah and Puah of ancient Jewish history for getting the ball rolling! “These women,” indeed! Amen.

Outcasts

 

Outcasts

 

Isaiah 56:1, 6-8

A house of prayer for all people 

 

56:1 Thus says the LORD: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come and my deliverance be revealed.

 

56:6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant—

 

56:7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

 

56:8 Thus says the Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel: I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.

 

 

We are all outcasts. Some would point to the theological concept that “we are all sinners,” and it is this “sin” that makes us so. But I believe it is far more complicated than that. For God, and God’s Son Jesus Christ, forgiveness of the sins committed by the people they created, is God’s grace at work. In this message, I’ll not try to address the complicated issue of “sin” and how it may or may not “anger” God, such that God had to require a “sacrifice” for it to be “healed” or erased. We United and Global Methodists just became the latest parties to “split” over this very issue, so no single sermon, nor a lengthy theological “treatise” is adequate to address it. Suffice it to say that my own interpretation of the “sin” and “redemption” story—in good Wesleyan tradition—goes like this: whatever “sins” humanity (personal and/or corporate) commits, God in Christ is faithful and just to forgive us, and to “cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” taking us to John Wesley’s understanding of sanctification. And what is that? GET OVER IT! Go and “sin” no more! God has washed the slate clean, and through the Holy Spirit, has given us not only the ability to “get better” (right living), but to no longer have to either fret over our sins, or judge others for committing what WE may label “sin.” Don’t you wonder what ever happened to the idea of “conviction”? You know, the idea that, as the Holy Spirit works at leading us on to “perfection,” the Spirit may “convict” us of things we are doing, thinking, or allowing that are taking us away from the better way God has for us, or that are doing some harm to another. This “conviction” may be quite personal, and “custom fit” to our own lives and circumstances. Evangelist Billy Graham once said, when he was asked if smoking or drinking alcohol were “sins,” “NO, but they are sins for me.” What he was talking about was “conviction.” There may be people who could drink alcohol or smoke tobacco (or “funny” tobacco) who may not be convicted that it was a sin for them. Graham’s allusion was that for him, they were sins, but to judge others by the standard the Holy Spirit had brought into his spiritual life would be inappropriate. 

 

See how easy it is to become so “theological” about what sin IS and ISN’T? My point is that sin may be less of what makes us an “outcast” than other things in our life or our psyche. I can say from personal experience that there are very inward things that make me feel more like an “outcast,” and most of them would less be labeled “evil” than haunting or fodder for self-deprecation. It’s the inner things that may have more power over us, may be more harmful to our joy and our claim to “abundant life,” and may turn on our “blame engines,” lashing out at some nameless, faceless “evil” when it is the hurtful stirrings within our own heart doing the damage. Our “outcast-ness” comes from within, so much of the time. 

 

In my own quiet times, I think about the selfishness that has caused me to think evil of others or ignore the pain of them without lifting a finger to help. I think about the relationships that I have botched or limited in scope either because I was afraid of where they might lead, or even worse, because I didn’t see enough “value” in them for me, without thinking of the other and their needs. (As a pastor, I would often hear folk say that they didn’t come to church because it didn’t “do” anything for them, or didn’t feel it was necessary for their spiritual wellbeing. When I asked them if they ever thought about how THEIR presence might be something that could uplift or edify another person, I usually got a blank stare, indicating they really HADN’T thought about this.) In these introspective times, I may also ponder my reservations about following God’s lead to “places” to which I would not prefer to go. And then I wonder how these “checks” may have limited my own effectiveness as a Christian disciple or even as a “minister.”

 

These “skeletons” in our own “closets” are so often more of what makes us live and act like outcasts than any list of “sins” we might find in a Bible verse, or two. As the old question goes, “What keeps you up at night?” This may be something helpful to explore, and then to commit these flaws, hauntings, or fears to the true redeeming power of God. I may be condemned by my heavily “doctrinalized” friends or the ones who have more narrow ideas of “biblical authority” when I say this, but here goes: “Sin” condemns us less than WE condemn ourselves, and the true miracle of God’s redemption in Jesus Christ is that God can heal even the innermost human heart and flush out the self-condemning, self-loathing “ghosts” of our lives. It’s easy to confess lust or anger, or even indifference to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and it’s even easier for God to forgive them. It’s harder to hear Christ say, “OK, all ready, GO and SIN NO MORE.” This was not a command, but a psychological insight meant to tell the Woman at the Well that her self-condemnation was doing her more harm than her behavior. Remember, Jesus spent his whole ministry lifting up those who were downtrodden—for ANY reason—and not judging them. He reserved his “judging” statements for the religious leaders who keep score on the rules and regulations.

 

[Please note that I am not attempting to make light of behaviors or practices that we may engage in that literally harm ourselves or others. Instead, I am attempting to shine a light of insight on those things that plague far more people, and that rob us of the very kind of life that Christ came to restore. Remember what Paul wrote: “The kingdom of God is not meat or drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy.”]

 

Israel was the prototype of what God was trying to restore and rebuild on earth. An important part of this restoration project was claiming and embracing the outcasts. Be they strangers, sojourners, or the “disfellowshipped” among them, God would have no “second class citizens.” This is what this text from Isaiah says. It is such an important text that Jesus himself quoted it—especially the part about God’s house being a “house of prayer for all people.” Note the “ALL people” part. Lest you are tempted to declare me a heretic for being a “universalist,” note that great theologians down through the ages have pondered this “all people” offer of God’s. Karl Barth said that he could walk right up to the precipice of universal salvation, but could not take the leap, believing that individuals did not give up the freedom to choose, even in the face of Christ’s great “YES” to the world. Wesley believed that the all but irresistible grace of God still required a response, on our part. God IS love, but love doesn’t ram itself down humanity’s throat. Still, it is clear from the biblical witness that God wishes that “none should perish.”

 

It may actually be easier if all we had to worry about was some form of “eternal perishing,” as God could wave God’s hand and make that go away, just like God did in the Christ Event. It is SO much harder to heal the “outcasting” that is going on inside of us. We are slowly, methodically, eating away at the lifelines and bridges God is offering to us. Our devilish “unworthiness” is at the root of this destructive behavior. Religion that is built on a foundation of codifiable “do’s” and “don’ts” and claiming it as “biblical authority” is far more condemning of the rising human spirit than God is. This is why Jesus had such a hard time with the religious “leaders” of his day. Some of the are still around, it seems. Hear the words of Jesus to the Woman caught in Adultery: “Woman, who condemns you?...Neither do I condemn you.” Let’s move on. Let’s allow the Spirit to help us live better, BE better, and get better from what ails us.

 

Let us no lose sight of that “ALL people.” We are living in a time when countless Americans who consider themselves “Christian” are fully behind the heinous treatment being meted out against the “aliens” among us. They justify this validation as “keeping the law” or blaming refugees and immigrants on some unnamed evil that they actually have little to do with. No, they are not “stealing” jobs from American citizens, and no, they are not murdering people or committing crimes at some advanced rate over the “normal” population. They come seeking a safer, better life, and the opportunities our nation has traditionally offered to such sojourners. Unless you are Cherokee, Navajo, or an ancestor of one of the other numerous Native American tribes, you are here because some ancestor—distant or recent—came here also seeking a better life. They were not seen as outcasts. They were welcomed to these shores, and their opportunity to build this “better life” was not restricted by either laws or neighbors. Where have we gone wrong—especially in the household of faith? We call our worship space “sanctuary” for a reason, friends, for this is what the church has always provided for the “outcasts.” If Israel wanted to experience God’s judgment and condemnation, they treated the strangers and sojourners (immigrants and refugees) among them badly, enslaved them, or drove them out. God’s “hospitality” command was considered paramount for any people who claimed to be God’s people, and when they violated it, they themselves were driven from the promised land. What might befall us for the same sin?

 

Maybe the way we bring these two concerns together is to seek the “refugee” living inside each of us. What are the things that condemn us? That “keep us up at night”? Believe not only that God can reach there, in the silent meanderings of the heart, but also at the macro level, where our own self-condemnation gets projected on to others, alienating them, demonizing them as the “cause” for our own doubts and fears—makes them the outcasts. May the Spirit of God take us to a better place where we understand that the community of faith is to be a “house of prayer for all people,” just like Isaiah and Jesus envisioned. Amen.