Telling a Truer Story

Telling a Truer Story

         In today’s Gospel we read about two competing stories, the devil’s “If/Then” story and Jesus’, “Because/therefore” story.

         The devil’s story he is telling Jesus is that Jesus has to earn his Sonship—that Jesus’ Heavenly Father will only acknowledge that relationship if…

         If you transform stones to bread, then you are God’s son…

         if you temp angels by throwing yourself off a high point, then I will be your Father,

         and if you conquer the world, by whatever means necessary—even worshipping the devil—then my inheritance is yours!
If/then.

         But Jesus tells another story—Jesus tells a better story in Matthew’s Gospel—because/therefore…

because his is the Son of God, therefore he will feed the 5,000, the 4,000, and the 12 at table—feed them with the bread of life.

         Because he is God’s beloved son, therefore he will reach the heights by preaching the sermon on the mount, be transformed on the mount of transfiguration, and die on mount Calvary.

         Because he is God’s heir, therefore he will teach and tell parables about his Kingdom, and it shall have no end!

         

         And here’s the thing—Jesus isn’t the first to tell a better story
—in fact God’s people have been telling a better story from the beginning.

         In these five Sundays of Lent, we’re going to, at least in a broad-brush stroke kind of way, tell the overarching story of the first Testament—Hebrew Scripture. Tell of:
-the History Before History,
-God’s calling to the Patriarchs and Matriarchs,
-God’s ongoing provision to his people during their wilderness wanderings,
-the drama of the Kingly era,
-and finally the prophetic hope the people held onto even in Exile in Babylon.

         Not the whole story, for sure, but a thread that is intimately woven into the story of Jesus, whose death and resurrection we prepare for.

Prayer

         The first 11 chapters of Genesis are the history before history, the prologue, the set up
—the weight of the book is on Abraham and those who come after him, that’s the focus… but the poets and priests putting together the story of God
—these faithful folk telling a better story,
telling a truer story
—were captive together in Babylon, far from home,
with nothing but a pen and their God to get them through in the hostile and bitter land…
a land where they were constantly bombarded, saturated, constantly told tales that were, “if/then” tales.

1.      “In the beginning there was grave violence among the gods, the world was created and is sustained by subjugation and terror, tearing a monster to piece is the only way this world exists at all…
if we continue conquering, subjugating all before us,
then some stability and peace may be bought with blood and sustained upon the back of those not like us.”

         To this the Hebrews responded, “No! There is a better story! God created with a word, no struggle, only goodness!
Because God created the world and declared it good,
Therefore, there is enough, we are enough, we are blessed.”

2.      “The gods created humans as slaves, humans to work themselves to death producing sacrifice for the gods.
if we follow the practices of the gods and force those weaker than us to labor without rest
then we too are like gods, knowing good and evil.”

         To this the Hebrews replied (as we see in today’s reading), “No! There is a better story! God created a gentle world with limits to labor, and the joys of family and relationships. The world as it is, is off kilter on account of human hubris and disobedience—this isn’t as it should be.
Because God gave us a good garden and relationships,
Therefore, our oppressor’s evil practices are not good—they are fallen.

3.      “We Babylonians, because we live in cities, fed by unending agricultural achievement, are the height of humanity, all other peoples who do not submit to our urban empire are lost and hardly human. If you don’t believe it, look to our mighty towers, the Ziggurat, proof of our greatness!
If we impose our ways upon these backwards shepherds,
Then, the whole world will embrace our technological wonder, and be uplifted, or at least look up at our grand buildings, our architectural achievements.

         Again, the Hebrews respond, “No! Haven’t you heard, the first murder was predicated on this kind of thinking—Abel the shepherd was killed by his settled farmer brother Cain, who went on to founded the first city, and all of this eventually led to the towers of Babylon… oops, I mean the tower of babel…
Because, God’s blessing and ongoing faithful is what determines greatness and goodness,
Therefore, we can take or leave any particular human arrangement and assumptions about greatness and hold onto God’s blessing alone.

4.      “When humans rebelled against the gods they were all drowned, except for one particularly strong and crafty guy, Gilgamesh, who seduced a goddess to find the date at which the deluge would begin, and kept himself alive. When the flood was finished, the gods realized they would starve without we human slaves, so when Gilgamesh made a sacrifice, the gods swarmed the meal like flies, in fact their shimmering fly wings were the first rainbow!
If we impose our will upon others and are a particularly strong and crafty people,
Then, we are descendants of Gilgamesh and godlike, a unique people.”

         And one final time the Hebrews tell a truer tale, “No! God is not a god of violence, in fact, the rainbow signifies that, he has put away all violence! For that matter, Noah’s sons fill all the earth; ultimately we are all siblings, all one humanity.
Because, God always strives to stay with us, even in our unfaithfulness
Therefore, violence isn’t the way of the world and all the earth shall be blessed!”

         Faced with strange stories of all sorts, If/Then stories, oppressing, violent, enslaving, arrogant, exclusive, stories…
         God’s people told better stories,
stories truer to the God who continued to be faithful to them, stories that allowed them to survive and to continue to trust in God.
Because/therefore stories, stories of liberation, kindness and courage, peace, humility, and inclusion.

           I pray that we people of God too, faced with plenty of bad stories, if/then stories
tell better stories,
stories that describe the God who is always faithful, because/therefore stories.

Amen.