Justice, Reconciliation & Unity

PCUSA has a book of confessions. Not to be confused with a confession of sin - a church’s confession – is a confession of faith. Every one of our confessions – from the Scots to the Westminster, to our Brief Statement of Faith – tells the world what we do and do not believe. The writers of the Belhar Confession of faith tell the world three things they believe. They believe in Justice, reconciliation, and unity. Now Christians and church’s have given a whole lot of lip service to justice, reconciliation and unity for close to 2000 years, so these things aren’t anything new….but they are new when we consider why this confession was written in the first place. And the reason was Apartheid – which means Apart-hood – kind of like the opposite of brotherhood – Apart hood –Apartheid- is the total and complete separateness of two groups of people. Apartheid became the law of the land in South Africa in 1948. The minority white population – who arrived in South Africa in the late 1700’s -made sure that they were totally separate and segregated from those who had always lived there - the black African population. The government – led by the minority whites then forced 3.5 million Africans to leave their ancestral homes and the property their families had owned for generations and relocated them in areas far removed from the whites. And with that the military became very active, making sure that everything the blacks did was either limited, stopped, or monitored. All political representation for the black Africans was removed – leaving them without a voice; their citizenship was revoked, and any kind of services – from housing, to education, to medical care was either inferior - or completely non-existent. Blacks suffered malnutrition, lived with no public sanitation services; which resulted in astronomically high mortality rates. In 1970 the government began to control and limit black Africans’ ability to marry or have children. Anyone who had nerve enough to speak out –was either silenced, eliminated or imprisoned – think Nelson Mandela. And it was out of these circumstances that the Belhar -which confesses justice, reconciliation and unity was written in 1986 by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church. Interestingly enough this was the same church who for 40 years were staunch believers, defenders, and fervent advocates of apartheid. Who can say what changed their mind – what motivated this group of whites to speak out against what they had always believed, speak out against the government, and against their own culture and society – risking their lives and the life of that denomination to publicly profess this statement of faith – is truly – nothing short of the miraculous movement of the Holy Spirit active in the world and changing the hearts and minds of the members of that church. Officially Apartheid finally came to an end in 1994 – a church, a people, a country who believed that the native population of Africans were inferior on all levels and deserved to be treated as less than human – believed -- blacks to be nothing short of the enemy – now came to a place where they spoke of justice for all people, reconciliation and unity. The Assyrians were ruthless in war – they took no prisoners – their kings bragged about every –and there we many - military victories – ancient ancient writings speak of streets running with blood, bodies of the defeated piled high and from one end of a town to another – Assyria was feared, and hated, and for generation after generation Assyria was the enemy of Israel. And too bad for Jonah – Assyria’s capital was Ninevah. If you have ever wondered why Jonah refused to go to Ninevah – to the point of losing his own life by being thrown overboard and into the sea – now you know why. Who in their right mind wants to preach a word of grace; a word of hope; a word of possibility to the people you hate? Who in their right mind want to preach justice, reconciliation and unity to your worst enemy? It would be like God telling you to Go and preach to Isis, go and preach to Boko Haram, the drug cartels, the bully. Go and speak justice reconciliation and unity to the political party you hate the most. Thing is that when the Ninevites heard Jonah and God’s word – they listened! They fasted and prayed and put on sackcloth – and the Lord saved them from destruction – and THAT made Jonah really mad! Why? Because as far as Jonah was concerned – those miserable Ninevites didn’t deserve a second glance or a second chance from God – The pouting Jonah was mad because God didn’t do what Jonah wanted; mad because God’s wasn’t operating the way Jonah thought he should. “This is what I said when I was safe and comfortable in my own house, Lord – I knew you were gonna change your mind which is why I got out of town and signed up for the ship what was headed to Tarshish – I know you relent from punishing and that you are gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love – but those people don’t deserve any of those things. I’m mad because you think it’s OK to extend this kind of grace and forgiveness to people I hate. And because it looks like maybe more than your chosen people are included in your plan Lord – I am going to fuss and complain and sit in the beating-down sun and wish for death because I can’t bear the thought that grace abounds – can’t stand the thought of justice, reconciliation or unity for those people – it is totally out of the question – So – if this is where believing in you is gonna take me – if this is your plan for this thing you call the kingdom of God – well Lord, I just can’t go – so Kill me now Lord because I can’t take it anymore." I asked Andrew to tell me some things he didn’t like. That was a child’s question. The adult question is – who don’t you like – who are you afraid of, mad at, who do you think isn’t good enough or right enough to be covered by God’s persistent and all embracing grace – who are you going to throw off the boat? Name the ones who you call enemy. Who is on your Apartheid list –who do you consider to be them, who for you is the other, the untouchable….and then remember that the hated, the leper, the unclean, and the outcast were the very ones –– for whom Jesus came and who Jesus served. Remember it was Israel’s enemy Assyria who God pursued; it was to Israel’s enemy that God offered hope, and a the possibility of a future. Like Jonah, the Jonahs of the world will probably continue to pout and get aggravated at God for being a god of mercy and grace …sadly, the Jonahs of then and now continue to insist on living in an us and them world. Is this who Jesus calls us to be? Or has Jesus taught us and shown us a more excellent way? If the church is to be a true reflection of heaven on earth; and if we profess that all are invited to sit and feast at the Lord’s table; and if we like to call ourselves family and say things like our congregation is warm and welcoming…then perhaps…going the way of the Belhar is where we want to go – not by offering one more day of lip-service, but by actually being the repairers of the breach, by actually being the ones who not only confess, but live out justice, reconciliation and unity.

As If...

I think reading this particular new testament passage should give us all pause. Reading these three verses only – we just may want to rethink what it means to be a Christian. Moreover, it might make us wonder what in the world is Paul saying to us. In order to understand these verses, we must not read them apart from the context in which they were written. If we do, we will only get a perverted understanding of how we are to live. If you are joyful – don’t act as though you are joyful. If you are in mourning– act as though you are not mourning. When you buy and surround yourselves with all your possessions – live as if you didn’t have any – and if you have dealings with the world = act as if your really don’t. And finally – if you have a wife – act as though you didn’t have one. Some wives may want to take Paul to task on this one. If we read these verses out of context here is what we learn – That: we are to fake our way through this life – that nothing we do is real or genuine – that the covenant of marriage is to be disregarded. Paul must be trying to tell us something important – but what? To figure that out, we have to read this whole chapter, and we have to understand the nature of the church in Corinth, and what was going on in that church 2000 years ago, and it might be a good idea to know where Paul is coming from. Paul has devoted his entire life to Christ - breathing, eating, sleeping, waking working – all is for Christ. He is a man who regards everything he has achieved in his life – every worldly thing - as garbage/as rubbish/as nothing in comparison to a life lived solely for Christ. He is a man who lives already as one crucified, who presses on toward the one and only thing in life that he believes is important – never being distracted, never looking right or left, but living in total and complete devotion to Jesus Christ. And always -what Paul wants the church to do is to be like him, to imitate him. In this chapter Paul writes: I wish that all of you were like me….totally devoted to only one thing – Christ and spreading his message. Well, we are not like Paul – but what he wants – I think – is for us to strive as best we can – to live AS IF the world has no hold on us – to remember that we belong to Christ and Christ along, to remember that our citizenship is not earthbound, but our citizenship is in heaven. One commentary explained it rather well: Don’t let your emotional state govern, or become the entire focus of your life. Devote yourself or the better part of yourself to the Lord. Don’t completely disengage from the economic sphere of life. Just don’t let it become the center of your allegiance. Devote yourself or the better part of yourself to the Lord. Don’t be overwhelmed by the stuff in your life. Don’t let your use of stuff become the focus on your life. Don’t be a mall worshiper, a worshiper of consumerism. Instead devote yourself to the Lord. Married couples have a holy duty to one another. But as you fulfill your covenant promises, be sure that you love God above all. Don’t let your marriage become your ultimate allegiance. Devote yourself to the Lord. The commentator continues: Paul admonishes us not to be engrossed in the things of the world: We can get all tied up with the surface affairs of life, with politics and finances; with sensationalism and gossip; with sports and relationships. But know that we are here only for a little while; and know that all of it will pass away – better not to get all bogged down in the junk of the world, better to devote yourself to the Lord. Somewhere between 51 and 53 AD, Paul wrote this letter and there was a lot of stuff going on…stuff that we truly cannot ever know or imagine. But what we do know is this: The church in Corinth was divided – rich poor; rules about food, abuses of the Lord’s Supper, quarrels about who belonged to who: Paul or Apollos or Cephas. There was undercutting and allegiances all around. And on the world scene - there was strife among the leaders of the Empire, the Temple, and the fledgling church, military skirmishes were cropping up, enemies threatened Jerusalem and a way of life. A doomsday feeling prevailed – like the world was facing a great upheaval. And within half a generation the whole Roman world would be turned upside down by civil wars; the murder of three emperors – one right after another; and the destruction of Jerusalem. Paul wrote that the time was short – but the use of the Greek word time – might be better understood to mean that the members of the church in Corinth – were living in a critical, crucial, time. A time so significant that they should live AS IF Christ’s return was moments away – prompting them - to devote their living and their lives to Christ. I am thinking that – despite the difficulties in the church, despite the fear of enemies, despite the craziness of the world, and the human tendency to hang on to worldly things – the Corinthian church and the present day church have a few things in common – each one situated in a time of great opportunities and possibilities. Living as Christ lived – living as Paul lived – is more than we are capable of. Living in the midst of changing times – limping along in an attempt to keep up – hoping things don’t change so quickly that we get lost – takes a toll on us. Letting go of what we knew, looking anew at doctrine in light of science and technology. Honoring tradition without turning it into a sacred cow – is not easy. But as we have the privilege of living in a time that does offer a possible renewal of the church – a time of yes – great challenge, and also – a time of great opportunity and possibility – the question mark that stands so starkly before us is this: What would it look like if the church and her members lived AS IF. As if the church was important; as if membership meant more than one hour on Sunday morning; as if knowing and learning and living the faith was important; as if Christianity offered much to a broken world; as if being devoted to Jesus made a difference. I wonder what would it look like if the church and her members lived AS IF.

Nathanael

Nathanael is an interesting character. Not as well known as a few of the other disciples, he shows up only twice = and then only in John’s gospel. Nathanael is named once at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and once again as a witness to the resurrected Christ. It is –however - believed that Nathanael and Bartholomew are the same person. Bartholomew is named among the list of disciples in each of the synoptic gospels, and once again in the beginning of the book of Acts. Nathanael/Bartholomew is better known in the Eastern orthodox churches and not so much in our Western church. Even though we know very little about him, Nathanael is an interesting character. When his friend, Philip found him and told him the exciting news that they had found the one about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, - his name is Jesus and he is from Nazareth – Nathanael was not the least bit impressed and his response was less than enthusiastic. Can anything good come from Nazareth?... Nathanael asked the sarcastic and rhetorical question because you see –according to one writer -. Nazareth was a dump. It didn’t feature in any Old Testament prophecies. No one famous had ever come from Nazareth - no great families hailed from there. It wasn’t the seat of any power – had no great schools, colleges, universities. It was a backwater town – where there was nothing. Nazareth was nowhere. And nowhere and no one ever said that the Messiah would come from a place like that. So how could anything good come from a place like Nazareth?... Philip and the others must be mistaken…. Or so Nathanael thought. Meet Nathanael the skeptic; the naysayer; Nathanael who was unable to think out of the box or consider that God just might have a different plan in mind. And where was Nathanael when Jesus first saw him?.. – but under a fig tree. In Hebrew thought and in Scripture = the fig tree is always a place of safety, comfort, ease - a place out of the hot sun, protected by the shade that the fig tree provides. It’s kind of like retirement – or a sabbatical – or a long weekend. You just sit under that fig tree safe and secure from all alarms – and do absolutely nothing, but relax and let your mind wander. Meet the Nathanael who Philip had to find, the Nathanael who sits far enough away so that no one bothers him, who keeps his distance so that he doesn’t have to be involved. But no matter how comfortable it is to sit under that fig tree. And no matter how distant we try to keep ourselves. And no matter the skeptic and the naysayer, or the limited vision that lives within each of us --- there is a restlessness in the human spirit that is never completely fulfilled or satisfied – no matter how hard we try. There is within every human spirit a longing and a yearning for more. There is within every human spirit a need to belong, a need to accomplish, a need to matter to someone or something, a need perhaps have your life make a statement, to feel like we’ve made a difference, left a legacy…in each of us there is a need to be relevant in our own time. Perhaps St. Augustine said it best: Our hearts are restless until they rest in God. That is what Jesus sensed in Nathanael. Looking all comfortable and aloof and doing his best to remain detached and skeptical, Jesus saw Nathanael’s restless and searching spirit…a man who wanted to know more, wanted to grow more, wanted to be and belong to more than what he was as he sat under the fig tree. It doesn’t matter how long and hard we try to pack our lives full with stuff – the reality is we are alone inside – no one – no one ever knows our true hearts, our thinking, what makes us tick, our core. No one can truly know us except God. God knows our sitting down and rising up; he knows our thoughts and our words before we speak them. God discerns our thoughts from far away and it is God alone who is acquainted with all our ways. There is no where we can go, to escape God – not to the farthest parts of the earth, not in heaven or Sheol – God will be there. God hems us in on all sides, and lays his hand upon each of us. God hems us in, behind and before, he is our past and our present and our future - and lays his hand upon every person. Only God knows us completely – from the moment of conception, to our growing up and our growing old – God knows every day – even before those days existed. God’s knowledge, God’s thoughts, his ways and his works are beyond our imagining. When we try to count up all these things about God, they are more than the sands – and when we come to our end – God and you and God and me – we will still be together. But Nathanael– would have never known the joy of being completely known by our Lord – Would have never been able to shed the old self to boldly proclaim that Jesus was the Son of God, never become who God wanted him to become - if it hadn’t been for Philip’s simple invitation --- Come and See.

Waters of Change

From the very beginning God has done new, amazing, and unheard of things. And a good many of these new, amazing, and unheard of things use the image of water. Deep disordered chaotic waters were tamed by God – who then created things most amazing and new and unheard of == light, sun, moon, stars, sky, land, vegetation, every living thing --and us. And from out of the destruction of the flood waters, ..came renewal…and something new - an everlasting covenant between God and every living thing. God empowered Moses to part the waters of the Red Sea -making a way for the people to be delivered out of slavery – so that they could become a new people. And again waters stood still, rising up in a single heap so that Joshua and God’s people could cross over on the dry river bed of the Jordan…. To lay claim to the land that God promised them – and begin a new chapter in Israel’s history. Waters being parted to one side and to the other marked an end to Elijah’s mission – and at the same time- the beginning of Elisha’s. The parting of that water signaled the completion of one man’s service to God – and the beginning of a new man’s prophetic work. This Sunday we remember an event that marked the beginning of something new – something that changed not just one life – but millions and millions of lives. I recently read that a better rendering of the Greek word baptize – would be the word WASH. Jesus came to the river to be washed. For Jesus who was a Jew – there was no such thing as a baptism and so this washing would probably have been more of a ritual cleansing – a rite of purification perhaps. We who use the term baptism use it in the way it has come to mean for us – not Jesus. And because we believe that a part of baptism is the washing away of sin – we still insist on asking the question – if Jesus was perfect and sinless – why bother with John and the Jordan in the first place? And I have an idea One of our calls to confession comes from the letter to the Hebrews, it is: Jesus, tempted as we have been tempted, yet without sin. Is it possible that as Jesus considered his life and his future – and as this call from God relentlessly tugged as his heart – is it possible that Jesus was struggling with this decision – and tempted to live just a plain ol’ normal life? Married, with children, making a living as a carpenter, spending time with friends and family, enjoying grandchildren, old age, and quiet sunny afternoons on the porch? Are we forgetting that Jesus was as much human as he was divine – and that the human in him could have been tempted to live out a life like everyone else he knew? Except,,,,in his heart of hearts, he knew that would never happen. Is it possible that Jesus believed he needed that washing – that Jewish rite of purification – repenting of his temptation to stay at home and be ordinary…maybe that dunk in the Jordan- supported by his cousin John -was the thing that steeled his nerves for the deadly task he was about to take on. Could it be that this washing was for Jesus an outward sign – and being witnessed by others – was exactly what he needed to be held accountable and commit to the difficult mission ahead? From the very beginning God has done new, and amazing, and unheard of things. And a good many of them use the image of water. From then to now, Jesus’ washing in the Jordan River evolved into our baptism. A watery baptism in which we die to sin and raise up to new life and become a new creation in Jesus Christ. Christ set the example and it is Christ who we are then called to imitate. But let us remember that imitating baptism is only the beginning. Once dunked or sprinkled – we look to the pattern of Jesus’ life and imitate that: Follow me – he said - and be a servant to others; follow me and have compassion and understanding; follow me and boldly proclaim what may not be the most popular or the most politically correct things to proclaim; follow me and welcome those who society has ignored, condemned, hated, and ostracized; follow me and spend time in study and prayer so you know who you are as a Christian and how that is to change your life; follow me and love your neighbor and pray for your enemy; follow me and do these things in remembrance of me; follow me and may your discipleship make a real and profound difference in a world that has been broken to bits. Perhaps not in every place in Scripture –but in many places - the image of water marks change, and transition. In God’s world – water ushers in the most amazing, unheard of things – and with water comes all things new.