Linger in God's Word: May 16, 2021

 Year B, Pentecost 7                                              Psalm 1 and Acts 1:15-17, 21-26                                         
          Acts chapter one tells us about one of the first big decisions that the apostles had to make after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.  That was, who would replace Judas as one of the 12 apostles? They made that decision by casting lots.  Casting lots was fairly common in the Bible.   It was a way to prove the impartiality of a decision.  It is much like flipping a coin at the beginning of a football game to see who gets to receive the kick off.  The apostles, and those who came before them believed that God was guiding this coin or dice. In a sense, it was a way for the person making the decision to take themselves out of the equation, so there would be no bias.

            Even knowing that, it seems like a strange way to make a major decision.  This choice was a huge choice that Peter and the disciples were making. You would think they would want to be pretty careful after what happened with Judas.  However, let’s keep in mind, that this was not the only method they were using. They had already narrowed it down to two people.  How had they narrowed it down? Were there resumes and speeches?  Were there interviews and background checks? No.  The only qualification was this: they had to be with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry (the baptism of John) through the time Jesus ascended. 

            Both Matthias and Justus fulfilled these qualifications.  While the list of qualifications was short, that does not make them unimportant.  Being a witness to the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus was no small thing.  That witness required sacrifice and commitment.  Therefore, no matter which side the coin was facing, the person was already deemed qualified by the apostles. What the coin was determining was who God was actually calling. 

            The more I thought about this, the more appealing casting lots became.  I have talked to a number of people who have shared with me that they have felt more indecisive this year because of the pandemic.  It seemed that once COVID hit, we had to consider things that we had not previously had to consider.  Is it safe to go to the park? Do I need to sanitize everything when I come home from the grocery store? Can I visit family for vacation? We got a lot of rules from the CDC and the government, but then there were gray areas and always, new decisions to be made. One of the especially frustrating parts was that the variables kept changing. 

I remember sitting at my kitchen table, trying to plan our meals for the week and thinking, “I can’t possibly decide what we will eat this week.  I can’t make one more decision.”  Mental health professionals have said this decision paralysis is typical in highly anxious times.  When you are anxious, it’s really hard to make a decision.  So rolling die, seems like an ok idea to me. 

            Unfortunately, not all decisions work like that.  The psalm appointed for today has a more nuanced approach to decisions.  When you first read it (or in my case the first 10 times), it seems judgy and less than helpful.  It puts humans in two categories, the wicked and the righteous.  The righteous delight in the law of the Lord.  Everything they do shall prosper.  The wicked are doomed.  They are like chaff that the wind blows away. It’s very black and white and we Episcopalians usually prefer to dwell in the gray areas (unless it’s COVID rules).

Part of the challenge of this psalm is that the translation is not ideal.  It begins by talking about those who are happy because they have not walked in the counsel of the wicked.  Instead their delight is in the law of the Lord and they meditate on the law day and night.  When we read the word law, especially in the Old Testament, we think of rules.  Who would delight in rules or want to meditate on them day and night?  I know a fair amount of good people, perhaps even righteous people.  Not one of them delights in rules. 

The Hebrew word that is translated to law is torah and can have many translations.  The better translation in this context would be God’s teaching or God’s word.  Remember, this is the first psalm out of 150.  It’s essentially an introduction to a treasure trove of wisdom.  The author might have even been suggesting that we would do well to meditate on the following psalms as they are a way to know God better.           

You might think, well that is all fine and good if your job is being a pastor.  It’s a lot easier to spend time meditating on God’s word when you have to preach on it.  That’s absolutely true.  Most of us don’t have the time to meditate on God’s word day and night.  Yet I am not sure that is what the text actually means.  While there are people who meditate on God’s word day and night, not even the apostles did that every day and every night.  What if instead…we find a way to linger or dwell in God’s word?

When the apostles were trying to choose a new apostle, the first thing that Peter said was, “Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled….”  The whole reason they were set on choosing a 12^th apostle was to fulfill scripture and to do that, they had to know scripture.  Obviously I am biased and I think that everyone should read the Bible.  But I also know it’s overwhelming and a fair amount of the Bible is kind of dull.  But the great thing about lingering in God’s word is you don’t need very many. Pick one line of scripture that feeds your soul and commit it to memory.  It’s kind of like a mantra.

But how do we choose when there are so many? A good one is what many of us know as “The Great Commandment.”  At one point, Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was.  His response was, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment.  And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Write that down on a piece of paper or put it on the home screen of your phone.  Read it. Digest it.  Linger in it. 

The Hebrew word in this psalm that is translated to meditate is bit more physical than mental.  It means to utter or moan or even growl.  You don’t just read God’s word and consider it as a scholar.  You marinate in it until it is in the very marrow of your bones.  That’s why churches like St. John’s have the 10 Commandments on the wall. It’s not decoration.  It’s literally carved into the marble. Because God’s word is meant to be carved into our souls.            

There will be anxious times or times when we are grieving-- when we will need to make a decision or just need comforting words to hold on to.  The Great Commandment is in our Rite 1 liturgy  (page 324).  If you grew up with that liturgy, you might already have it memorized.  Now you can memorize any line.  There are lots of good ones.  The reason I recommend The Great Commandment is that it is helpful for decisions and just life in general. If you are making a decision, you can roll the dice.  Or you can ask yourself.  Will this decision help me love God and love my neighbor?  If it does, then it’s the right decision.  Whatever line of scripture you choose—read it.  Digest it. Let it become a part of you.  Let it become the best part of you.  Because I can guarantee you, that there will be a time, you will need God’s word, when you will need it desperately.  So find it now.

May 2, 2021: Being right isn't enough

 Year B, Easter 5                                                                 1 John 4:7-21                                                             

            In the church, we like to discuss the humility of Jesus Christ.  Typically when we are referring to his humility, we are talking about his humble origins—being born in a barn to a poor couple with no connections.  Or…we focus on his death on a cross, the experience of being stripped, whipped and then hung on a cross between two criminals.  It was a method of killing that was meant to humiliate.

However, while his birth and death are powerful images, they are not very relatable displays of humility.  Where I see Christ’s humility most abundantly is in his ability to love people, even when they were wrong.  Jesus was the very embodiment of the truth, yet ironically, he was often considered wrong.   He was judged or scolded by not only the religious leaders of the time—but sometimes--- his own disciples.

 He knew he was right.  If he had wanted to, he could have forced people to see the error of their ways, but he chose not to.  Why?  We know he wasn’t a pushover.  He still corrected people and taught people.  He spoke the truth.  He engaged in debate, but it was always out of a place of love.  He was right.  He was always right and even he allowed himself the humanity of not being able to convince people of how right he was.  That….from an all-powerful, all knowing God…that is humility.

            We often act like church conflict is a modern phenomenon, or at least a phenomenon of the last 500 years.  But conflict in the church has existed as long as the church has existed.  1^st John was written in about 100 AD.  By this time, the Christian community was somewhat established.  There was some structure and even doctrine to an extent.  Once there was a core set of beliefs, people started arguing about that core set of beliefs.  That was what was probably happening in this community that the author was writing about.  People were arguing and they were so mad at one another, some left the community all together. 

            The author of 1^st John was working hard to remind people in the community to love another—not because they were all of one mind, not because they were Christians, not even because they deserved to be loved, but because God loved them.  That was it. That was the only reason that mattered—the only reason that still matters.  We love one another because God loved us first. 

And it wasn’t a gentle admonition the author was giving.  He said, “Those who say, ‘ love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars…”  If you cannot show love to your fellow believers, then you cannot love God.   That was the interesting part of this.  He wasn’t even talking about their enemies; the author was talking about the people in their own community.  And that makes sense when you think about it. It’s harder to sincerely love the people we know than those who we don’t really know at all.

            This idea of loving one another is not new to 1^st John.  We hear about it in the Gospels, most potently in the Gospel of John.   At the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 

Jesus said this to his disciples, right after Judas left to betray him and immediately before he told Peter that he would deny him (which by the way, Peter told him he was wrong about that.)  In the midst of all that pain, he washed their feet and shared a meal. He was showing his disciples what it was to love people, even when they have betrayed and denied you, even when they have deserted the community.  Jesus knew what they would face after his death, resurrection and ascension.  He knew how hard it would be establishing the Christian community.  He wanted them to see what it looked like, to love people who hurt you. 

            On the one hand, this all seems so obvious.  Of course we are supposed to love one another. We hear that over and over! But the rationale is less obvious.  Imagine a parent saying to his/her bickering children, “I love you and therefore, you must love one another.” I am not sure that would be very effective. 

But there is more at stake than simply how we treat one another.  The author wrote, “if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” The word that is translated to perfect in Greek doesn’t define perfect in the way we perceive perfection. It doesn’t mean without flaw or sin. It means completed or fulfilled its purpose.  We must love one another because that is how God’s love for us is complete.  It’s a full circle.  God loves us. We love one another.  God’s love is made complete when we love one another.  God’s love lives in us and thus we love God.  This is not simply what we are asked to do as Christians, it is our primary purpose.  It is our very reason for being.

There has been a constant tension in the Christian faith between maintaining the doctrine of our faith and loving those who we may perceive are compromising that doctrine. We have seen it in a microcosm in the Episcopal Church over the last 20 years.  We could not agree about gay marriage and ordination, so a large amount of people left.  I am not saying they were wrong to leave.  That would kind of defeat the purpose of this whole sermon.  But it split the community.  It didn’t help us get along.  It didn’t solve any problems.  It just ensured that we wouldn’t even try to talk anymore.  They can’t learn from us. We can’t learn from them.  That makes it a lot harder to love another.

So what is the answer?  For once, it’s fairly obvious—but not easy.  We do as Jesus did.  We continue to engage in dialogue with those whom we disagree. We recognize that no matter how well we make our case, we may never convince our brothers and sisters in Christ of that case.  Yet despite that, we continue to come to the table as Jesus did at the last supper. We share the bread and the wine.  We even serve one another as Jesus did when he washed the disciples’ feet. We follow Jesus’ example. 

That doesn’t mean we can no longer stand up for what we believe in.  The author of John says that when we love one another and make God’s love complete, then “we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.” That is the great irony in this.  We think that not being victorious in an argument makes us look weaker. But in terms of our relationship with God, we have become bolder, more fearless.  I think the key is that we never stop trying to make our point. We do it as gracefully as possible, but we keep doing it, while also making sure that we listen even more than new speak.  I know this is hard, especially for a preacher.  But it is what God asks us.  Be bold. Be fearless. But above all, be loving.

Photo by Harli Marten