June 26th 2015—America Between Two Songs: A Poem

A joyous host assembled there

Before the solemn, solemnities of Roman Columns

Our national life on display

Lives, marriages, to be judged by the 9

            Judged, worthy

            Judged normal

            Part of the fabric of America

One of the stars on that flag.

They sang

            Oh say can you see by the dawns early light,

            What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,

            Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,

            O’re the ramparts were watched, were so gallantly streaming?

They sang themselves

            Into our national life

Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave?

            O’re the land of the free, the home of the brave.

            They sang us step-by-step forward through

Jiggery-Pokery and Real Apple Sauce and other word salad by Scalia

And decades of

            Mean spirited ballot measures

Through

            Matthew Shepherd and Stonewall

Through

            Harvey Milk and closet doors

They patiently sang us through step by step to their humanity and citizenship rights

They gave proof to the night that our flag was still there.

            Yet the joy was mixed with gentle sadness

Aware of other flags

            Stars and bars

Aware of the real and experienced limits of Equality

Aware of the persistence of hate.

            Be ready for the backlash!

                        Love wins,

                                    But hate does a meeeeaaaan second place.

Aware of those 9

9 bible study attendees, 6 women, 3 men—some sort of mirror to the Supreme Court.

            Still mourning those 9

            Remembering the police lights blue and red glare

            Shots fired in there

In their sanctuary

            Does the star-spangled banner yet wave?

            O’re the land of the free and the home of the brave?

O’re a land chained to our past

A land laden by

            White supremacy,

            Selective blindness,

            Cherry picked memories.

            To this, Reverend President,

Had Church today.

Went all in today.

            The President of the United States of America talked about Grace.

            The President of the United States of America Sang about Grace.

Sang us through

Through the death dealing whitecaps

Of our national life.

            Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me

He sang

            I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see

May it be so Dear LORD

May it be

Be that blindness and amnesia

The roughshod-four-wheel-drive-snow-tire-triple-diamond-trip,

Through dangers, toils, and snares

We have already come,

            Finds us on higher ground

            May we be led home.

Home to one nation, indivisible.

Home to all humans created equal.

Home to unalienable rights.

Home to life.

Home to liberty.

Home to the pursuit of happiness.

            That a home and a country should leave us no more.

Where we all shall stand

Where the Star spangled banner yet waves

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

A History of the Samaritans: A Reflection on the attack on Emanuel AME Church

A History of the Samaritans: A Reflection on the attack on Emanuel AME Church

(Please understand this is written in the same vein as “Paul’s Letter to American Christians”)

This morning I woke up, and found a first century non-sectarian scroll entitled, “A History of the Samaritans” on my kitchen table. This is the translation. If it sounds more Halversonian than Hebraic, I am to blame. The brackets are portions of the text that are missing and I have restored.

A History of the Samaritans

            After today’s [at]tack on the Samaritan Temple, it’s worth considering their history and our own.

            [Th]ey did not come here escaping Phar[aoh]—seeking a promised land. In fact, their journey here is quite the reverse. They came from the nations of the East, drug here in chains by the Assyrians after their own cities were conquered, just as the 10 northern tribes were conquered and dispersed. On that journey from there to here, that MiddlePassage, many of them died, all of them were devastated. They were placed on foreign soil so they would be away from their gods and their land, familiesspit up, nothing familiar, rendered helpless so that they might be used in the fields.

            [They soon] converted to a form of Judaism. They did this for their safety; lions were eating them and they believed these attacks were the work of the god of this land. So they called upon him in their distress and were saved. For this conversion under pressure, we called them “Lion Jews,” those Samaritans. We claim their priests are deficient, their traditions insufficient, their religion suspect. But, I wonder, if we do so out of jealousy. Essene, Sadducee, and Pharisee all agree that they are more pious than us. They lack the history and tradition going way back (though some say they too were monotheists, some even go so far as to say they too were Jewish, like us. They claim we simply didn’t listen to them when they arrived, that their otherness began with our rejection of them—rejection of our siblings of the faith), but the Spirit is with them in ways that it seems we can only pick up second hand. Perhaps many of us lack the existential level of trust in the LORD that comes from being saved from Lions and finding temple as the last safe space in a world that is rarely safe.

            [The thi]ngs we did to them in the Maccabean period, LORD, have mercy. The slightest interaction between Jew andSamaritan brought torture and death. Accusations of rape led to so many of them hanging on trees, accu[rsed.] Their temples attacked, worshippers attacked.

            [These days w]e say those strugglesare done. These days we say with Rome’s boot upon our necks, those differences are secondary. We say these things until radicals push us. Radicals like that the Pharisee, Jesus, who told stories about Samaritans, saying they and we are neighbors, and spent time with them. Then again there are rumors he and hisfollowers were Samaritans, he was from Galilee after all. They all have at least one drop of Samaritan in them, and for most that’s still enough.

            [For that] matter, we say it’s “all good” between Jew and Samaritan, but the things they say about Herod the Half Jew, our leader. The ways the Zealots talk about “taking our country back.” It’s not “all good.”

            Again, I think about the attack of yesterday. This man, flesh of my flesh, of the same faith as I, did this thing—killing those 9 Samaritans. It’s not an event that materialized out of thin air.

            Think of it. That particular templehad been attacked in the Macc[abean] period too. There is a long history of violence on our part against the Samaritans. He accused them of rape—pointing back to the Judas Maccabeus and his band. He talked of taking his country back. If you stand on any street corner in Jerusalem you can hear someone saying it “take our country back.” It’s a watchword, so common we don’t even hear it, even when it comes out of our own mouths.

            Even if the man who did this deed was possessed by a demon, that demon fed on our past and present, which we refuse to acknowledge or address.

            Over these things I weep,

            My eyes gush with tears upon tears.

            My soul and my belly and my bones,

            All cry out with sorrow.

            Oh Comforter, be not far from the mourners

            Oh Merciful LORD, draw near those in deepest need.

            Look not on our iniquities

            Make us look upon them

            Turn us in our tears

            Turn us from our sins

            They are many and great

            As the stars are many

            As the deep is great

            So is the depths of all of this

            Cleanse us with the most hyssop

            Allow us to rebuild the walls

            That all may be inside

            Comfort O Comfort my people

            He is Defender of the lowly

            Our LORD, Caretaker of the widow and orphan

            My soul fails

            My heart is distressed

            All people groan

            All cry for mercy

            All cry “Lord, how long?”

Sermon: Salt, Light, and Hands

            Today’s questioner tackles a tension they see in scripture—a tension between two commands of Christ.

            The question is this: “Explain how one should not “hide your light under a basket” and yet not “let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

            As with many passages in scripture, there are contradictions—some real, some imagined.

And this shouldn’t surprise us—the record of God’s actions among God’s people strewn over a dozen centuries and 3 continents is going to contain some tensions.

            But, the questioner might be a little worried, because this seeming contradiction—between revealing light and hiding actions—comes from Jesus’ own lips…

more than that, in one instance it comes from the same speech, the Sermon on the Mount, in the same Gospel, Matthew’s!

            So, in order to answer how we can reveal light and hide hands, we will have to answer a few prior questions.

“What light is supposed to be revealed?”

“What is Jesus getting at with these two commands?”

and finally,

“How do we do both?”

            Prayer

1.         The first thing to note is that Jesus’ command to not “hide your light under a basket” is found in two gospels

—the light not to be hid signifies different things depending on what gospel we are reading.

            In the earliest of the two gospels, Mark

—Jesus is describing what a parable does to a person. It wraps up a truth, but the more we ponder the parable, the story, the more the truths encapsulated in the story come out.

A parable is like fuel to the fire of truth.

Soon enough the whole house is alight with it.

            It’s like I always say about Parables:

 You are meant to chew on them, until they start to chew on you.

            Matthew’s Gospel, in contrast, places Jesus’ admonition about not hiding your light under a basket within his Sermon on the Mount. He starts preaching immediately after healing those who come to him. After that healing, he blesses “poor, mourning, meek, hungry, peaceful, persecuted, people.” Then he states, “You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world

—you can’t be hid,

the lamp goes on the lamp stand and gives light to the whole house.”

            Think about that setting…

            “You’re healed now. You were poor, mournful, hungry, etc,” now you’re rich, joyful, and filled… don’t misuse that gift, don’t hide that fact. “Let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.”

            So, Mark’s account is describing the fiery strangeness of Parables.

        Matthew’s Gospel  describes the proper response to being healed

—the way in which grace

—the gift of God

—is a calling upon our life, it makes us to be people who point to our healing

 and work for the healing of others,

all to honor God.

2.     Let’s go with this second use of do not “Hide your light under a basket,” since it’s the one found in the same speech as do not “Let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

       

        Sat next to one another, we quite quickly we see the difference between the two—the point at which the seeming contradiction breaks down.

        Shine forth your light so they can give honor to God.

        Don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing—give alms in secret—because otherwise you are “practicing your piety before others in order to be seen.”

        See the difference? Pointing to God, or pointing to yourself.

-The first, is like the Olympic torch, it’s lit by a previous torch and points backward toward an original one—that first Olympic game shrouded in mystery and myth.

-The second, is personal pyrotechnics—blowing something up so everyone turns their attention toward you for a moment.

It’s Humility versus Hubris.

It’s a question of intention

Jesus’ point is that the inner purpose behind our actions shapes shape their meaning

—with our actions, do we intend to point to God our to ourselves?

3.     And that sounds good—but how can you tell the difference? Sure, it’s easy to interpret it in other people—humans are social animals and can usually sniff our hubris pretty well… but how about within ourselves?

How can we tell when we’re lighting a torch instead of blowing something up?

How can we protect ourselves from hubris?

How can we make sure our intention is to point to God?

        Through practice.

        Think of the two examples of this light we have in Matthew and Mark’s Gospels

—as a parable that burns you up inside and eventually appears on the outside pointing to a formerly hidden truth,

—and as thanksgiving to God for the blessed healing they’ve received through Christ Jesus.

        That’s part of the reason we all come to Church

—at least I hope it is…

we’re practicing stories so true that they burn us up inside

and practicing giving thanks for all that is from God.

We do this for many reasons, but one of them is to work on our intentions. To transform our hypocrisies and hubris into humility.

        How can we not practice our piety before others, yet shine forth our light in such a way that it honors God?

        We change our intentions by :

Letting the strange and powerful stories of God shape us

And by seeing what God has given us and giving thanks.

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Sermon: Sacrifice and Self Care

Sacrifice and Self Care

         

          The question asked in this our 2nd of 8 question posed from the pews, is one that everyone struggles with to one degree or another—especially those who have a have a role as a caregiver—either officially or unofficial, in a paid capacity or an unpaid one.

          Today’s question is this: “How do we balance our own happiness with the happiness of others?”

          Now I did talk with the person who put this question in the box—to get a clearer idea of what was meant.

           And this question’s author pointed out something really insightful

—when pastors preach, we frequently preach about self-sacrifice, about serving our neighbor in need, even if, maybe even especially when, that service is costly, when it’s hard and risky.

          At the same time, when the preacher acts pastorally, when we counsel or listen to a parishioner’s problems, so frequently, we recommend self-care, we switch from self-sacrifice to self-preservation.

          And this wasn’t just me as Pastor, but every pastor the questioner had interacted with.

          So, what’s the balance? What’s the faithful way to weight self and other?/ sacrifice and self-care?

          The danger in this question

—is a common danger

—it starts with an assumption of scarcity.

          It’s as if there is only so much…

So much goodness, happiness, joy

Only so much to go around.

That either my cup is full and other people’s cup is empty, or their cup is full and my cup is empty.

It’s as if happiness is a commodity, to be bought and sold with our time and effort and even money.

Down that line of reasoning lies a place where happiness is horded—saved in little boxes to be savored alone…

          But that’s not the nature of happiness.

          Happiness isn’t water to fill a glass with, but an ocean to swim in, as our cup overflows.

          Happiness isn’t an item to be bought or sold, but a gift that is shared.

          Happiness is like a Popsicle, if you try to horde it or hide it, it melts in your pocket and is gone.

          Yes, Happiness is an overflowing thing—it grows when it is shared and shrinks when concealed and hidden away.

          Yet the question remains, “how do we find balance in life, so that we can be in relationship with other people in such a way that the joyful goodness of life may be shared?”

          I would suggest –the place to look is at the Lawyer’s question in today’s Gospel: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

          The question that Jesus downgrades to simply, “Do this and you will live.”

          The equilibrium between our happiness and that of others, is balanced upon not missing chances to be merciful.

          Self-sacrifice and self-care are balanced upon opportunities to be merciful.

          Let us pray.

          There was a woman going from Jerusalem to Jericho, and she was robbed, stripped of all she had, beaten, and left half dead.

          Then along came a Priest, just by the thick trudge of her footfalls you could tell she was heavy laden

—she was embittered,

she was burnt out.

          --you might say in modern parlance, she had caretakers fatigue.

          --or going the other direction, looking backward, you might say she was a Moses figure.

          Now, on at least two separate occasions in Hebrew Scripture this story of Moses giving up, and then learning to delegate, is told… Perhaps it’s important…

          Well, this Priest, she didn’t take that story to heart. There she was, the walking dead—like Moses saying, “Kill me now.”

          So bedeviled by duty that when she looked at that dying woman, she thought, “Another obligation,” and kept right on moving.

          Perhaps she’d bought her own hype—that she alone could bring home the bacon… well she’s a Jewish woman… so maybe she brought home the goods… maybe she believed that she alone could serve fully and serve well.

          Perhaps she simply couldn’t say no and this moment was the one chance she had, with no one looking over her shoulder, so he passed by.

          So she grit her teeth and kept on keeping on, doing the things she was obliged to do, but not stooping down to do what she ought to do.

          She missed a chance to be merciful because she tried to do it all by herself.

          Then along came a Levite. Her steps were disordered, her movement erratic. She was watching a Youtube Video on her Smartphone in one hand, while also combing her hair with the other, as she slashed from one side of the street to the other.

In fact, she was so distracted that she tripped over the dying woman.

          It didn’t even phase her, she was overscheduled as it was—like Martha she was busy with many things—every moment scheduled… even her unscheduled moments were scheduled—no moment of serendipity allowed.

          Like so many of her day she wore her busyness as a badge of honor.

          But also, she kept busy, because when she didn’t, when the multi-media extravaganza of modern life, the hypnosis of hypersecheduling broken, when it all stopped blaring, when there were quiet moments, she just didn’t know what to do, how to be a person unscheduled and alone—free!

          She missed her chance to be merciful because she was distracted.

          There was a Samaritan too, who traveled on that long winding road from Jericho to Jerusalem.

          She walked with a little skip in her step—she had a secret inside her she was willing to share.

          She was loved—and she knew it.

          She considered that famous phrase of Torah that Samaritans share with the Jews, “Love your neighbor… as yourself.”

          She recognized that life is a little like an airplane ride—in case of emergency an oxygen mask may appear, in which case you need to secure your own mask before helping others.

          So, she didn’t overschedule herself—she didn’t buy the prevailing culture’s assumption that busyness was next to godliness.

She gave herself time to be—little Sabbaths—so that she could be fully with other people in their times of need.

          She also recognized she wasn’t the sole force of good in the world

—that many hands make light work

—that the alternative to delegating responsibility tends to be resentment.

She even said “no” sometimes—and didn’t feel bad about it either!

          She knelt down and administered aid to the woman. She did what she could for her, but knew there were people better equipped than her to heal the woman’s every ill. She took her to an innkeeper who knew about ointments and healing, and together they showed her mercy.

          She did not miss her opportunity to be merciful.

          Upon that moment, self-sacrifice and self-care, sit together.

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