Jesus and division: August 18, 2019

Year C, Pentecost 10                                              

Luke 12:49-56                                                             

Last week we sang “Let there be peace on earth.”  It’s a beautiful song and always makes me tear up a little.  Given the recent back to back mass shootings, it seemed particularly appropriate.  Peace-- that is what we are about in the Christian faith--- right---promoting peace and love? Then we have the reading today.  Jesus asked, “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth?”  We all think we know the right answer.  It’s so obvious.  We call him the Prince of Peace, at least we call him that near Christmas. Of course he has come to bring peace.  Then he answered his own question, “No, I tell you, but rather division.”  We probably  should have seen it coming given the beginning of our reading for today when he said, “I came to bring fire to the earth and how I wish it were already kindled.” It sounded rather ominous.  But other than that weird comment, this whole idea of Jesus bringing division and conflict is coming out of left field. 

            Well not quite.  Let’s go a little further back in the Gospel of Luke to the moment when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple when he was 8 days old.  They encountered two people, two prophets.  The 1^st prophet was named Simeon.  We refer to his prophesy as the Song of Simeon.  We often hear it sung around Christmas.  “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”  You probably recognize it. It’s beautiful.  But unfortunately Simeon didn’t stop there.  He looked at Mary and said, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed…and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”  

Now, the words still sound pretty, because they are in the Bible and those writers had a way with words.  But if you think about it, anyone who is destined to cause the falling and rising of many is going to have a difficult life.  He will be surrounded by conflict.  Simeon specifically said that he would be opposed.   Typically where we find opposition, we find division.

             Therefore, this information that Jesus is providing should not come as a shock.  We had known this might happen since he was 8 days old. But there have also been a lot of references to peace.  When the angels announced the birth of Jesus they sang, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”  It seems like there are a lot of conflicting messages. The angels say that he will bring peace.  The prophets say opposition. 

            Which is it? In some ways, it depends on whether we are talking long term or short term. When the world ends and Jesus comes to raise the living and the dead, there will be peace.  That is what we hope and pray for.  But right now, peace is elusive at best.  If we really thought that Jesus’ goal was to bring peace when he came the first time, we would have to conclude that he failed miserably.  Does the world seem peaceful to anyone?  And if you look at the particular region that Jesus went to, that region has always been plagued by violence. 

I don’t believe that Jesus failed.  I believe that we have failed Jesus.  Jesus told people they could have peace, but everything would have to change.  We would have to raise up the lowly and bring down the proud.  We would have to stop pursuing money and status and instead share with all.  We would have to heal the sick and bind the broken hearted. It should not surprise us that his message was not well received by those in power.  He was opposed, just as the prophet foretold. 

Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “I came to bring violence.”  Jesus and his disciples never used violence. He condemned violence at every opportunity.  But he definitely brought division.  He divided the faith of his family.   He divided the faith that everyone thought he came to redeem.  In doing so, he divided families.  Just look at the disciples; they all left their families. He asked people to make a choice between following him and following the status quo. Whenever we shift from the status quo, there will be more division.

            There is nothing I can say to make these words of Jesus seem ok. We hear these words and recoil.  But consider the people that Luke was writing to.  They were new Christians, many of whom had been ostracized from their families and communities.  They were living in fear.  No one had to tell them that their world was divided.  Yet what they had, was a faith that gave them the strength to withstand the division and conflict  as it was necessary for lasting peace. 

            When we hear Jesus talk about fire, we all think of judgment and the fires of hell.  We don’t like that, especially in the Episcopal Church where we are about love.  However, fire has more meanings than damnation.  It also represents purification, refinement, and God’s presence.  Now frankly, purification and refinement don’t sound very tempting, but fire representing God’s presence is a bit more palatable.  In the story of the exodus, God led the people through the sea with a cloud.  When the Egyptians entered the sea in pursuit, the cloud turned into a flame and the entire Egyptian army was wiped out.  One commentator wrote that in the Exodus story, fire represents the power of God to effect change in the face of formidable resistance.[1]  The change was the people leaving their home and launching into the unknown wilderness. The resistance was the Egyptian army.

            Jesus came to bring peace, but the peace that he brought was so revolutionary, so otherworldly, it felt like judgment and conflict.  And you know, change can feel like judgment at times.  Often when we change things from the way that we have always been doing it, we wonder, well what was wrong with the way we did it before?  And you know what, Jesus was asking people to change.  Jesus is still asking us to change.  One of my favorite quotes, that I probably break out about once a year is, “Jesus loves us just the way we are, but Jesus loves us too much to let us stay that way.”  I wonder if change and even judgment would be less offensive if we understood that it was in the context of God’s love for us as his children and God’s desire for peace for all the children of the world.  God’s not just asking us to change to improve ourselves, but to change for the good of the world.

The song that we all love so much, “Let there be peace on earth.”  Let’s not forget that 2^nd line. “And let it begin with me.”   It doesn’t mean that we stop arguing.  It doesn’t mean that we smile more often.  It means that we do the work that needs to be done to achieve peace. That might be protest. That might be letter writing.  It might be working with the underprivileged in our community.  It might also mean being intentional about interacting with the people who you disagree with. Because while Jesus brought division, he never kept himself divided from people, even the people he knew would kill him. The more we interact with people who are different from us, the closer we can come to bringing more peace into this world.  It is very doubtful that we will see peace in our lifetimes, but we can each bring change.  We can start by changing ourselves.

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[1] http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4143  Matt Skinner

Charles Amory homily: August 9

Psalm 121                                        

            The psalm we heard today(Psalm 121) falls in the category of the psalms of ascent.  This category of psalms is made up of 15 psalms that speak to some element of pilgrimage or journey.  This particular psalm talks about trust that can sustain us through the journey o f life. This idea of life being a journey isn’t really a new idea for us.  We are accustomed to that imagery. Some of our journeys take us to many different places, and some of our journeys are more figurative. While Charlie lived in Hampton for most of his life, that did not make his life any less of a journey.  It was full of twists and turns.  It was full of excitement, but also constancy and stability.

            I spoke with a number of people about Charlie, and read the beautiful obituary and the many loving comments that followed. A common theme was that he was a man of integrity.  What I loved about the obituary was that it did not focus on his successful business or his importance in the community, but instead on how he operated his business, which really was more of a family than a business.  (Which is why the people from Amory seafood are seated with the family.) One person said that “Charlie proved that ruthlessness and rudeness are not necessary to be a large success in business.”  He was a businessman with a heart.

I was told that you would not hear an unkind word said about him because he did so much for people.  He took care of people.  People knew that they could put their trust in him and that he would not let them down.  That’s a good legacy to have.

            Psalm 121 talks about the trust that we have in the Lord.  The trust that this psalmist has in the Lord allows the psalmist to face the challenges of life and feel safe, even when life feels anything put safe. One of the themes is that God is the keeper of our soul.  When in trouble, the psalmist looks to the hills and asks where help will come from and immediately answers that his help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.  It’s a popular psalm because I think many people crave that kind of faith, that belief that there is a caring an omnipotent presence in our world that loves us and wants to be loved…a being that we can trust our lives and our hearts with.

            I try hard never to compare people to Jesus or God, because as we know, we all fall short of that.  But I also believe that we see glimpses of God in people. We see attributes of God in people.  Charlie was described universally as a man with integrity, and what is integrity, but another word for trust?  So often in this world we are told that only the tough survive and thrive.  The tender hearted get trampled on.  There are so many people who live in fear of being trampled and taken advantage of-- they refuse to show vulnerability, or even kindness.  Yet from what I have gleaned about Charlie…he was tender hearted.

He was successful, partly because he loved so fully and completely.  His wife told me that he was the soft touch in the family.  If she ever said, “Wait until your father comes home” when disciplining their children, they would know that she was kidding.  He was kind.  And you know what, kindness is severely underrated in this day and age.

            Right now in our world, we look to all types of places for help and direction.  We look to the internet and social media.  We look to things that we can buy and sell.  We look to false prophets of all sorts.  And those things and people fall short.  I know that losing someone like Charles, even someone who had a wonderful and full life is devastating.  We rejoice in the way he lived, but we also mourn the loss. 

The author of Psalm 121 tells us to lift our eyes to the hills.  We don’t have hills here in Hampton Roads, but we have the sea.  We have the horizon that seems endless.  Charlie and his family built their lives on the vast waters of our region.  These waters are unpredictable at times, yet the yield of those waters have provided for generations.  They have nourished our bodies and to some degree, our souls.  Charlie has finished his earthly pilgrimage, but he continues his journey beyond the horizon, to a place we cannot see, but a place that we see glimpses of in the sunsets and the storms.  I hope that his words and actions will continue to inspire you to love fiercely and loyally, to earn and deserve trust.  May we never forget that in the end, our help, our faith rests in the Lord, the keeper and protector of our souls.  May we find comfort in the relentless love of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Too Much Stuff: August 4, 2019

Pentecost 8, Year C                                                                          

Luke 12:13-21                                                                                                                                           

I recently read that one of the safest bets in real estate over the last several decades was not family homes, apartments or luxury condos.  It was self-storage lockers.  You know the places I am talking about---big storage locker where you can put all those things that don’t fit into wherever you are presently living.  It has grown to be a 38 billion dollar industry.  Almost 10% of Americans rent a storage locker. Storage lockers even come with some bells and whistles.  Now there are companies that will pack and deliver your things to your storage locker.  They will even provide an online photo inventory of what you have in your storage locker.  Part of the reason why this industry is growing is that people are moving into cities, where space is more limited. You have to downsize and there are some things you can’t part with, so you store them.  But part of this growth comes from our constant acquisition of stuff and our inability to part with that stuff.

            The parable we heard today is about more than just stuff.  It’s about greed.  That is how Jesus introduces the parable: “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”  The story is about a rich man whose land produced ample goods one year.    He had so much extra food, he ran out of space to put it.  He decided that he should pull down his current barns and build bigger barns.   Storing food is a wise thing to do.  We all have extra food in our pantry.  Most of us have never seen our pantry completely bare.  Even if it’s not food you want to eat, there’s always something there.  Also, we have to remember that farming is not always consistent. There could be a horrible crop next year and then he would need all that stored food.  He couldn’t just go to the store to buy food if there was a bad year.  Saving food is not what makes the man greedy.

            What makes him greedy is how he makes the decision.  It’s all about him.   Most of the parable is the man talking to himself. He asks, “What should I do?”  He then makes his decision solely on his own wants and needs.  He even says, “And I will say to my self, ‘Self, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink and be merry.”  It’s all about him.  He never considers the workers who toiled for this abundance.  He never asks his neighbors if they might have a need.  For all we know, he could be surrounded by starving masses.  But that is not his concern. His entire concern is his own needs and his own comfort. 

            This rather uncomfortable parable comes right before one of my favorite texts.  In this text, Jesus told his disciples, “Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat, or your body, what you will wear.  Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.”  It’s a comforting passage, but not quite as comforting when we remember it comes right after this challenging parable.  What Jesus was saying is that if you really don’t want to worry, you have to give things up.  Most people, at least people I know, don’t say that their life goal is to collect lots and lots of stuff.  Most people won’t even admit that their goal is to have more than they need.  What people say (and I am one of these people) is that they don’t want to have to worry about money.  We just want to be comfortable.  We want to have enough. The problem is, “enough” is a moving target.  Just when you think you have enough, you find that you are missing something, or someone else has something that you desperately need.

Just the other day, I was telling my friend that I really needed a pair of black sensible shoes, because I wear a lot of black.  I felt like I was being very reasonable as I was talking about black shoes, not the red ones I really wanted.  I just counted and I own 7 pairs of black dress shoes.  Now in my defense, only three of them are very comfortable and only two of them work for Sunday mornings. But still, to say that “I need black shoes” is positively ridiculous. I am fairly sure that if I bought another pair, I would discover that I was missing something else.

            When Jesus was telling his disciples not to worry about what they ate or wore, he was telling them that stuff and money won’t ever ease our anxiety, which is why that text comes right after our parable.  The rich man determined that once he had all that stored food he could, “relax, eat, drink and be merry.” He thought he could free himself from his anxiety if he had enough food to last him for years.  Yet what he had forgotten, perhaps what he never realized in the first place, was that not only was the food he had a gift from God, but his life was a gift from God.  He thought he could protect himself with his bigger and better barns.  But in the end, he could have surrounded his home with walls and a moat, but his life was still in God’s hands. 

            As long as we fool ourselves into thinking that an abundance of possessions will free us from anxiety and fear, we will never have enough.  We will always need more.  Even if that rich man had lived, he would never have had enough.  He would have still been a fool.

            I don’t have a storage locker.  I have shelves. About 5 years ago, my husband took up wood working, partially because I kept asking him to build more shelves (bathroom shelves, shoe shelves, closet shelves, garage shelves, benches with hidden shelves.)  I am currently waiting on some book shelves.  I thought I needed these shelves to be organized. Yet what I really need to be organized, is to have fewer stuff. 

I looked up the numbers and it appears that the demand for storage lockers has leveled off.  It might me because people are obsessed with the books and Netflix special called, “Tidying up” where a nice woman encourages people to get rid of things that don’t bring them joy.  That might be a good solution, but I am not sure it addresses the disease itself, which is greed.  We care far too much about what we have in relation to others.  We seek safety and security in what the world can provide for us.  That’s not a healthy way to be.  Now I am not going to tell you to give up your stuff, but if you find yourself spending a lot of time protecting your stuff, organizing it, or trying to get more stuff---if you spend time judging yourself for what you don’t have  or judging others for what they have—if you forget that everything you own is a gift from God, then I encourage you to consider what that is doing to your life.  Because I have never heard of anyone saying on their deathbed, “I wish I had spent more time worrying about my stuff.” 

            One of the saints of our church, Augustine once said, “God gave us people to love and things to use, and sin is the confusion of those two things.”   Far too often we love our things and use people to get more things.  We protect our things so fiercely, we forget the people who go without.  After this service, we will pack 10,000 meals.  This is part of Rise Against Hunger which is an organization working to end world hunger by 2030.   While that seems daunting, it’s not impossible.  In 1990, 24% of the world was hungry.  Now it is down to 10%.  That is still too much, but it is evidence that when people come together and look outside themselves, they can change the world. It’s ok to have stuff.  Just remember that stuff will not save you. It will not bring you the joy that you crave.  That only comes when we can be grateful for what God has given us and share with those who have little.