"The Sight of Man" A Sermon from Sunday, October 25th 2015

Mark 10:46-52

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” ⁵⁰ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” ⁵² Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Introduction:

          As many of you know, I have something of a weird hobby. Well it’s a little more than a hobby actually, it’s another aspect of my life. I’m a student of philosophy. I don’t know if many of you have been on Temple University’s campus, but I’ll tell you where you can find me half-the-time. In the heart of Temple’s main campus is a new construction project. If you were to go there today, you would see a massive pile of rubble. This lot will eventually become the University’s new library. But for now, we have something else.

         

          Perhaps some of you have seen to AMC show Mad Men. It’s a critically acclaimed drama that follows the lives of 1960’s Ad-men on Madison Avenue. In this period drama younger viewers can see all the glitz and glamor of the 1960’s in a way that your old photo albums just don’t convey. The vibrancy and structure gleams and sparkles. Unfortunately, that’s not what you would experience if you go past the computer terminals in Temple’s existing library. In order to get to the stack you have to hop on a rather unsteady elevator. As the doors close they shimmer and shake; you’re always left wondering if they’ll close all the way. Then slowly and jerkily the elevator rises and you feel as though this avocado colored cage will be your doom. Once you finally arrive, the doors open and you move into the stacks. The desks and chairs littered among the books also take you to another period; and there amidst this 1960’s modernist throwback you find yourself staring at the section where I spend my time.

          Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence. It’s a place for unusual people to ask questions like, “What does it mean to be?” Although it may seem obscure, abstract, and removed the field has touched each one of our lives. The thoughts that you and I contain have been shaped by the questions and ideas we’ve encountered.

          So it was with a bit of satisfaction that I stumbled across some of the issues that pop out from today’s scripture. Like many of you, I have heard and read this scripture before, but for some reason I missed something. Perhaps I had never read the footnotes, perhaps I had never dug into issues, or maybe my eyes are just more attuned to philosophical issues now. I’m not really sure. But I am sure about something. This scripture, this story about a blind man being healed by Jesus, is more that it appears. This scripture almost certainly references a work of Plato’s –

one of the oldest authors you’ll find in those stacks where I spend so much time.

Tuning In to Mark’s Story:

          The scripture we read and heard this morning seems pretty straightforward. There’s a blind man. This blind man tries to get to Jesus, but is seen as a nuisance. Jesus hears him and calls for him. The blind man shows up and asks to see again. Jesus tells him to go because his faith has made him well. Ta-da, the blind man is healed. This is the story as it first appears. It’s a quaint story about how faith heals.

          But there’s more to it than that! You see this story starts off with something we miss. If you have an NRSV Bible, it will have attempted to do some work for you in order to help you understand what’s happening. It actually repeats the blind beggar’s name twice. The translators introduce him as, “Bartimaeus son of Timaeus.” What you may not realize is that the editors of your Bible want you to really get the idea that this person is the son of Timaeus. Bar-timaeus actually means, quite literally, “Son of Timaeus.” The name isn’t actually something that would likely have been given to someone. It’s a title. For all we know, the blind man could have been named “Harry, Larry, or Moe.” This man’s individuality isn’t the point of the story. In fact, this is the only gospel in which we are even given a name for the blind man. In the other accounts he’s devoid both of name and title. So what we’re seeing here in Mark is quite interesting. Like the other gospel writers, Mark isn’t interested in who the blind man is, but what he is. This is why he assigns a title, rather than a name.

          So let’s get into this question together, “What’s in this title?” There are really two things we need to take note of. The title ‘son of Timaeus’ had two meanings to the audience and original reader. The first is a bit of Aramaic wordplay. The title would have sounded like “son of the unclean” or “son of rejection.” This would, of course, contrast with the title used for Christ here – “Jesus, Son of David.” The positions of the blind man and the Christ are being contrasted. Jesus is royalty and the blind man is rejection personified.

          Similarly, there’s a second philosophical reference in the title given to the blind man. This one is quite literal. The name Timaeus just happens to be the name of a Platonic dialog. The story was written around 360 BCE, which means that it would have already been considered a well-known classic. Now at first this may seem coincidental, but I don’t think it is. You see, Timaeus deals extensively with the theme of sight in this dialog. Mark is telling a story about Jesus healing a blind man, but he gives that blind man a title that matches the title of a story Plato tells about true sight. I don’t think this is coincidence. I think that Mark is playing with words and constructing something really beautiful.

          You see, the Platonic dialog Timaeus is pretty fascinating. For one thing, it’s one of the ancient works that mentions the lost city of Atlantis! Now before you all run off to grab your Indiana Jones hats, I don’t think that Mark is saying much of anything about Atlantis. It would be fun. I mean you could stretch it and say, "The Kingdom of God is like Atlantis - mysterious and possibly destroyed by the Athenians." But that definitely doesn’t make any sense. So there’s something else going on – something deeper.

          Plato’s Timaeus emphasizes an intellectualized realm of the forms, of a perfection that exists in a spiritual reality. Plato’s story focuses on true sight as something to be gained through reason and enlightened engagement with the intellect. In the story Timaeus tells the reader about the origins of the world and where one can find true enlightenment. Timaeus is a character that Plato uses to convince his reader of his system.

          But the Evangelist Mark is doing something very different. Mark uses the “son of Timaeus” to emphasize a material submission and redemption. Mark casts off this Platonic dream and takes the blind man, the “son of poverty”, and has him cry out for mercy saying, “My teacher, let me see again.” Jesus responds by healing him and saying, “Go; your faith has made you well.” But instead of leaving the blind man stays and follows Jesus. The implicit point seems to be that the blind man had already found the path to true vision, to true sight. The point seems to be that true sight is to be found in one’s relationship to God.

          Bartimaeus had found the vision of faith and he demonstrated it in six ways: (1) by going to Jesus; (2) by his belief that Jesus was the Messiah, something that the disciples were still struggling with; (3) by persevering against opposition; (4) by casting away all that hindered his path to Jesus, which in this story is illustrated by his cloak; (5) by obeying Jesus when he is called; (6) by following Christ after his eyesight was restored.

          The former ‘son of poverty’ – this person who lacked vision – found a new sight through a faith that healed him. When he cast aside the weights the held him back, ignored those who stood in his way, and chased after the one he called “my teacher” he found a healed and restored sight. The lesson here is simple. Life is full of many distractions. We all have conceptions and philosophies about the world and even our religion. But these are secondary things. One thing supersedes all others – the Jesus to whom we cry out. The Jesus who also cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The Jesus who corrects our blindness. The teacher above all other teachers.

          Mark, like Paul, employs references to intellectuals not to argue for some type of anti-intellectualism, but to point out that God stands above everything – including our ideas of truth, justice, and wisdom. We find a story here of humanity. We find a story of us – people who are blind to the grandeur of the universe – yet capable of chasing after the keeper of all truths. When we submit ourselves to Jesus in discipleship we find ourselves being transformed into new creations. Our vision starts to change because God is at work to make all things new. The universe is about to be wrapped up in the unfolding of God’s New Creation. When we cry out from our blindness to God, we can find ourselves filled with hope and new perspectives because we have sought the surest teacher of all – Jesus, God’s greatest gift to humanity.

          To conclude I want to read you a poem I found that reflects upon this story. I hope that you will find it as moving as I did.
         

Where have you been today, Bartimaeus?

“I’ve been in a world of hunger and fear and darkness.

I’ve been by the side of the road I named despair.

I’ve been cast off, like something beyond repair.”

What have you heard today, Bartimaeus?

“I’ve heard the pain of those who cry for justice.

I’ve heard the pain of those who cry for peace.

I’ve heard someone is near who brings release.”

What do you need today, Bartimaeus?

“I need to know that joy can rise from ashes.

I need to know that hope can rise from grief.

I need to see the sun touch the lifted leaf.”

What did you do today, Bartimaeus?

“I called to the Son of David who comes to save us.

I called to the One who in mercy freely gives.

I called to the One whose power opened my grave.”

Where are you going today, Bartimaeus?

“To be with Christ as he brings new days to others.

To follow the One who’s brought me this new sight.

To share with all God’s people this new life.”

"Moving Beyond Christendom" - A Sermon From October 18th, 2015

Isaiah 52:1-43:12

Introduction:

          I want to start off today by telling you a story. Like most preachers I have a limited number of stories I can call on to illustrate points. This story is one of my favorites. If you’ve heard me tell it before, please forgive me because I promise to not notice when you repeat stories too!

          There was a time when I was in youth group. At the time my father’s church only had boys. We were, much to our chagrin, a gang of Clyde’s without any Bonnie’s. So our group often joined with another youth group for special events. It was a way to socialize with girls. I’m sure that we are all familiar with more than a few Youth Pastors and boards have employed the boy-girl strategy.

          In any case, there was one element to all of this has stayed with me for a very long time. When my youth group joined up with the other group we got to know the adults at that church too. It’s surprising how the kids who seem to not be paying attention to anything can sometimes be aware of more than you realize. For the most part our crew was normal, sure we had the normal teenage eccentricities, but we were all fairly well behaved. Like most teenagers, we all wanted to be different and unique while also striving to be included and the same as everyone else. Little did I know that adults do that too!

          But there was one thing that we all agreed upon. The pastor at this other church was a dope. Even the kids at his church thought so. We didn’t really care that he was at a different church. That didn’t matter. No, it was his agenda that turned us off. Surprisingly, it was actually the Goth kids in the youth groups that first articulated what we were uncomfortable with. This pastor tried way too hard to be cool. He’d show up everywhere with his electric guitar and call us all “dude.” It was like this 50 year old man had never learned what others are blessed to learn. “Coolness” doesn’t come from trying really hard. Well, it might, but you can’t let anybody think that you’re trying.

          You see, this pastor had fallen into the same thing that many of you ladies have likely experienced. If you’ve dated much you’ve probably gone on a date with that guy who is just way too desperate. You know the one I’m talking about! You see this church that we went to a lot also had a retired pastor who we all loved. Pastor Vern was in his eighties and about my height. He was goofy and strange in all the ways that adolescents perceive people of that age, but we all loved him. He wasn’t worried about being cool or accepted. He was just himself. He was comfortable in his own skin and happy to share his life with others because he was genuinely excited about life.

         

          Sometimes I think groups of people can act like this. They can either be so wrapped up in fear that they bring about a self-fulfilling prophecy. Or they can be comfortable in their own skin – aware of who they are, what they’re out to do, and comfortable with their place in the world.

Connecting the Chapters:

          Many of you might be wondering why I chose such a long passage of scripture to base my sermon off of. When choosing a passage for this week I had referred to the lectionary and recorded the passage. At the time it seemed long and it wasn’t until I got to the end of my sermon preparations that I realized that the lectionary text was actually shorter than I had thought. By this point, I had already felt moved to speak about the connection between these two chapters. So here I am, running with a lead that I felt called to follow. Sometimes it’s just good to get into the Old Testament, but fortunately for you there are only going to be six verses next week.

         

          One of the first things that I noticed about this passage of scripture is the almost arbitrary placement of the beginning of chapter 53. One could, quite logically place it after verse 12 when the Suffering Servant theme starts, but the editors have instead chosen to place it in the middle of a train of thought almost as though they thought, “Hey, this is getting kind of long let’s throw in a number just to keep track of things.”

          One thing jumped out to me almost immediately when I read this. These chapters are really connected! Some of you might be familiar with chapter 53, or more specifically the Suffering Servant passage. Christians have interpreted it a prophecy for the coming of Christ for millennia now. As a result, it can be familiar even if the book of Isaiah isn’t. On the other hand, we don’t really hear the preceding comments all too often.

          At the time this was written the people were facing the Babylonian exile. They were facing a massive trial. When we hear these passages we hear the song of a people crying out for the day of their deliverance. We hear the moans of a people groaning under the loss of their nation, the loss of their Holy City, the loss of everything they had held dear. And yet, there is reason to rejoice!

          This passage assures the its audience that the Lord is at work, that the world will come to know God through his great works, and that comfort and salvation will flow to the ends of the earth. This is a great message of hope. It’s a message of hope rooted in the assurance that Christ will bring about salvation through the “suffering servant.” In its original context the exiled Israel bore rejection, suffering, infirmity, and affliction. But this passage also foretells the role of Christ, who rose up out of Israel to bear the sins of the world and bear the weight of our humanity. A Messiah that came not as a conquering hero, but as a slain martyr. A Savior who came not as an emperor, but as an executed threat to the established order. This Christ came to free us from our contexts and failures in a way that defies expectations. This Jesus came not to establish a new set of laws or cultural norms, but to bring people into the Kingdom of God.

Diagnosing the Christian West:

          Many of you have noticed that I put a peculiar word in my sermon title for this week. The word is “Christendom” and it refers to a form or model of Christianity that began in the 4^th Century and began to crumble several hundred years ago. Some things take a long time to pass away particularly when they’ve lasted for over 1700 years. You see “Christendom” began when Christianity became united with the Roman Empire. Although our religion had been a place for outsiders, the lower classes, and a few intellectuals; it soon became the official religion of the elite.

          Long after Rome’s fall Christianity was still tied to government, politics, power, and the definition of Western culture. Although the New World has for the most part been created from the disestablishment of this union, we have still been the inheritors of a cultural legacy – of a sense that, “To be American is to be Christian.” Awkwardly, times are changing. Many of you have been to Europe or even Canada. If you’ve been in England, France, or Quebec you will have probably seen the mausoleums that were once churches.

          You see, Christendom is dying. But I am up here this morning to tell you that God does not need our all too human conventions. God does not need our legacies and pride. If there is blame to be had, it lies with us. We have, for all too long, grown comfortable in the control we have felt. We have grown comfortable in the alliances we have made.

Charting a New Way Forward:

          But I am up here this morning to tell you that God is at work; that God is cleaning out our rubbish and making us ready for a new work! As I’ve grown up I’ve seen a lot of different reactions to this issue. There are two problematic approaches that I’ve seen repeatedly. The first is the ostrich approach. Some people see the changes in society and in church and bury their heads in the sand. Others see the changes and act like manic chickens. They run around in fear trying to find anything they can to fix it.

         

          The ostriches continue on as they always have praying that things will never change. The manic chickens, on the other hand, live in a culture of fear. They search for any and every ‘fix’ that can save things. More often than not, they decide to play the cool game. They do anything they can in desperation. They change the music, add a coffee shop, or maybe even a rock-wall! Religion becomes a competition for the dwindling number of people who managed to keep their cultural buy-in past their 18^th birthday.

          My friends, none of those methods are wring or bad, but they’re not the solution. But my concern this morning is the growing crowd who weren’t raised in church and have no desire to buy into the things we might have grown comfortable with. We are called to minister to all people, even if that means embracing change. Luckily there is a way forward and I believe that today’s scripture gives us a hint of this. You see, the Christian West is entering its own type of captivity – a captivity to the past and a captivity to change. But above all of this is hope. Above all of this is the message that Christ came to liberate us from all our worries. He came not as a conquering hero, as the empires of our past have so often portrayed him, but as a humble servant of love. I believe that there are three things we can start doing today in ourselves to address this issue:

(1) Acknowledge that we can’t always count on the models of the past.

(2) Realize that a change in form or method does not mean defeat.

(3) Take the changes that surround us as meaningful and purpose laden. Find meaning and excitement in new opportunities.

Finding Hope for Troubled Times:

          If there’s one thing I want to emphasize this morning it’s that there is hope. God always provides hope in troubled times. It does not always take the shape that we expect it to. It doesn’t always feel familiar. But there’s one thing that we all know, a person who strives with all their being to be the best version of whoever it is they are, will get results. I have a friend who works as a CrossFit Coach and he recently shared his own story.

          There was a time when he was like most other lunks at the gym. He worked out because he was concerned with how he looked. He wanted to attract attention from the ladies and the respect of men. But then a day came when he tried something new. He tried CrossFit. He got hooked on something deeper. Rather than concerning himself with how other people judged him, he actually bought in to who he wanted to become. It wasn’t about the need for other people’s approval anymore. It became a total buy-in. A commitment to who he wanted to be as a person, not who someone else wanted him to be. It became an activity of authenticity. Like the pastor who tried too hard to be cool but failed, he hadn’t been doing it for the right reasons. But one day, he woke up and found a new sense of self. He discovered what he had been looking for all along – a new self. A sense of himself that was comfortable with who he was.

          My friends, this morning I want to tell you that there is hope. God is at work bringing about a new creation, and a new liberation. We as the people of God are invited to participate in this. But the best way to do this is to start in the most important place – our souls. We need to become comfortable in who we are as Christians. Christianity does not depend on us, it depends on the grace of a God who liberates all of humanity through self-giving love. It is not confined to our preferences or our traditions. It is the outpouring of God’s love into the world and the joyous response of God’s children to this.

          The future hold many unknowns, but we can have hope in the God who calls us personally. New eras are opportunities for those who seek adventure. Change is the thing that comes regardless of whether it is sought. But for those who know themselves, it provides an opportunity. We are on the threshold of an age when we can preach the Gospel to a whole new audience. We are approaching an era when we can find new projects, new opportunities, and new audiences. But we must embrace this in prayer, openness, and earnest spiritual growth. Christ redeems all who are willing, particularly those who seek the presence of God in their spirit.

Benediction:

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

In the name of the Father, the Son,

and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“The Rich Man”

Mark 10:17-31

Introduction:

          Do you remember the first time you heard this scripture? How old were you? I remember hearing this scripture for the first time. I was probably eight or nine years old. I remember thinking that the whole thing was weird. You see, I didn’t grow up economically privileged. We were perhaps privileged in other ways, but money wasn’t one of those privileges. Taco Bell was the outing that my mother and I would take sometimes.  It was always a treat and I’d always order the same thing – a bean burrito. Anyway, my mother would take me clothes shopping once a year. There used to be a clothing store on the West Coast called Mervyns. It’s gone now, replaced by Kohls, but that was the store of my childhood. My mother had a budget and I’d get to pick out a new pair of shoes along with several sets of new clothes. This was my yearly ritual and like most kids I noticed that we didn’t shop at Macy’s, or Zoomies, or any of the stores that the wealthier kids shopped at.

          When you’re a child you don’t necessarily realize how privileged you may actually be to shop at a place like Kohls every year. Most of the time when you go to school there’s always someone, or maybe many people, who have better things. They might be wearing the right brands, the right pump up kicks (the shoes with the pump in them), or in High School that new car their parents bought them. It’s easy to get wrapped up in what you don’t have and what other people might have.

          So when I heard this scripture for the first time as a child it was strange. It seemed so counter-intuitive. That’s probably not a word I would have used at that age, but that’s what I felt. In my mind, I wondered how Jesus could both love this rich man and ask him to sell what he had and give it to the poor? Wouldn’t those things make him happy? Wasn’t he sad when he left? To my young mind, Jesus seemed like such a Debby Downer!

          One of the most popular songs of 2011 was called, “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People. The indie-pop song is admittedly a little hipster, but it spent eight consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US. It even received a Grammy Award Nomination. So why am I mentioning this? Because this song spoke to a generation and surprisingly it reflects this scripture in a weird way. The song’s lyrics describe the homicidal thoughts of a troubled youth, but ironically pairs this with an incredibly upbeat tune. So upbeat that it’s almost like a jingle. So as you hear the lyrics:

Robert’s got a quick hand

He’ll look around the room

He won’t tell you his plan

He’s got a rolled cigarette

Hanging out his mouth

He’s a cowboy kid

Yeah he found a six-shooter gun

In his dad’s closet, in the box of fun things

I don’t even know what

But he’s coming for you, yeah he’s coming for you

[And Then Chorus Kicks In]

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks

You better run, better run, outrun my gun

All the other kids with the pumped up kicks

You better run, better run, faster than my bullet

And the song goes on. But as you listen to the song on the first few takes the genius escapes you. The jingle-like tune overwhelms your senses. The peppy rhythm gets you nodding your head and missing the obvious. Unsurprisingly, Mark Foster, the front man for the band, wrote the song while he was working as a commercial jingle writer!

          What a bit of irony that is! The man who used music to manipulate people into buying products wrote a song that tricks its listeners into ignoring the obvious. It soothes the ears and convinces you to ignore what’s really being said. Sometimes art is the act of exposing that which does not wish to be revealed and concealing that which is all too open. In this act of transition a message can be spoke. Mark Foster, the man who convinced people to buy things through music, made a generation sing along to the tune of greed, the tune of consumerism, the tune of the jaded reject. Perhaps a bit like today’s scripture, Mark Foster looked his audience in the eye and held up the mirror so that all of the Dorian Grays of the world could see their own reflections. Like some rip off of Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, you can imagine ghoulish figures dancing to their own dirge.

The Basic Message:

          We can learn a number of things from today’s passage of scripture. But the most basic of these is probably the lesson that we can’t buy our salvation. Neither our possessions or our works will save us. Only God can save us. If there’s one message, you get from today’s sermon I hope it’s that. I hope you get more too! But this is lesson is important.

Interpretations:

          When I was growing up I heard a number of different approaches to this passage. You see, difficult scriptures usually get a lot of different kinds of approaches. Some scriptures are just plain uncomfortable and this is one of them. So if you look at history Christians have tried to do all sorts of things with this passage.

          One approach that I actually heard quite a bit growing up is the idea that the “eye of the needle” was actually a gate in the city of Jerusalem. You see when night would come the main gates would be closed, but the eye of the needle would be open, but it was very small for defensive purposes. So a camel would come through they would have to unload it in order to pass the camel through. Likewise, many have said that the text is like that. In order to pass into heaven, we must unload the things that hold back our souls. Unfortunately, this story is pseudo-history. There’s no evidence that such a gate existed in the time of Jesus. The Eye of the Needle was actually built in the Medieval period.

          Another common approach, that I once heard preached on a college campus, is to take the passage allegorically. Or in other words, to take it as a call to leave aside whatever it is that’s holding us back from following God. I think this is a nice and very helpful message, but there’s a part of me that feels like something is still being missed.

          Another approach, more specifically, Luther’s approach to this story was to remind the listener that grace cannot be gained by works. The rich man, in this version, cannot get over the mountain that is the law and find the grace that God so freely offers. This is a helpful message for sure and there is definitely truth to it. Yet, I still feel like this approach fails to do justice to the story.

          I think there’s something to that reaction I had as a child. I think that there is actually something quite basic mixed in with all the literary drama that’s going on in this story. I think we are supposed to react like the disciples, we’re supposed to react like I did as a child. That reactions actually gets the story! It doesn’t explain it away, it hears it and goes, “Oh wow. That’s crazy man!”

         

          I think that the best approach to this scripture is a mixture between taking it as it is and explaining some things like the aphorism. Earlier I said that the “eye of the needle” wasn’t a gate. Instead, it’s an observation that contains a general truth -a phrase that expresses some truth. In fact, there are a number of instances in Jewish literature where the phrase is used. In other words, it’s a way to say that something is impossible! Unless of course God is at work, in which case all things are possible. This is exactly the way we find it in this passage and this is the way it appears in other Jewish literature. This text is supposed to be hard! But there’s good news hidden in here so hang on with me for a little while longer and we’ll dig a little deeper.

Abundant Life:

          We’ve talked quite a bit this morning about some of the feelings we’ve all faced at some point or another. Feelings is jealousy, want, deprivation, etc. These are all things that this passage addresses because his scripture delves into something that all of those things relate to – the abundant life.

          I imagine that most of you might remember a song recorded in 1964. It’s a little number that goes by the name, “Can’t Buy Me Love.” How many of you remember that song? _______ The topic of the abundant life is kind of like that. Some things in life are more important than money. For a couple of the Beatles at least that was love.

          Did you know that a Princeton University study determined in 2010 that there was an annual household income point at which the amount of money you make no longer bears significance on how happy you will be? Believe it or not it’s $75,000 nationally.[1] Once a family gets to a certain level of comfort, more money just comes with its own headaches. It no longer bears any positive impact on a person’s emotional wellbeing. It will frame your life differently and help you evaluate it differently, but it’s statistically not likely to make you more emotionally healthy.

In recent studies conducted by psychologists and social scientists, evidence has shown that great wealth often reduces generous actions and feelings of compassion toward others. In fact, those with fewer resources are less likely to act selfishly, more willing to share and more likely to help others in need. As riches grow, empathy for others seems to decline.[2] Researchers have suggested that the reason why this may be the case is that wealth and abundance give us a sense of freedom and independence from others. If we are seemingly self-sufficient and do not have to rely on other people for support, then we may care less about their well-being and have less empathy for their needs and concerns.

         

Self and Community:

          This is where I think there is a message that we’ve been missing in this scripture! If you remember, a number of commandments were referred to. In fact, Jesus only mentioned commandments of a certain variety. You see, when God gave the people of Israel the 10 Commandments and the Law this served two purposes – to connect the people to God and each other. You see there were two tablets of commandments. The first contained the commandments regarding divine-human relations. The second contained human to human relations. Jesus only mentions the later here! Why, when the rich man is so clearly asking about his place regarding the first set – his eternal security?

          You see, Jesus asked him if he had done right by his community, by his fellow humans. And he did so trickily. He asked if the rich man had kept the law. The rich man responded that he had, but then Jesus says, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” Oh, man! Jesus set the bait and hooked him. He walked right into it. The point is that although the rich man had kept the letter of the law, his relationship with God was lacking because he had failed in some way to keep the spirit of the law. More specifically, he had failed to keep the spirit of the Second Tablet – what we would refer to as the thing we summarize by saying, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

          Jesus called the rich man into discipleship, into the path of a follower. The rich man had to realize that the kingdom of God is intricately bound up with others, especially the last and least. Sharing one’s lot with the last of all if a mark of eternal, abundant life. Most of us will assume that the rich man is lost. He walks away dejected. Yet, Christ says that all things are possible with God and in fact I have one bit of hope for you. First, the passage says that Jesus loved him. This is important on so many levels, but it’s also important for my next point. This story follows a particular pattern.

You see the gospels like many books have certain ways in which they are written. Each author has their own quirky little style. For Mark, this story follows the pattern of a healing story! Isn’t that strange? There’s no immediately apparent healing. And yet, maybe there is. When someone comes to Christ for healing, in this case a healing of the heart, he tells them to repent and go. Most of the time they just walk away. That’s exactly what happened in this story. So while we don’t necessarily hear the final word on whether the rich man had his heart healed, Christ says “for God all things are possible” a message meant for the apostles certainly, but also for us! The power of this story is the fact that Christ is offering to heal our hearts of selfishness. He offers us a place in the Kingdom of God – the body of Christ.

Closing Poem: The Gift to Sing by James Waldon Johnson

Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,

And beckoning clouds about me cling;

But, oh, I have a magic way

To turn the gloom to cheerful day –

I softly sing.

And if the way grows darker still,

Shadowed by Sorrow’s somber wing,

With glad defiance in my throat,

I pierce the darkness with a note,

And sing, and sing.

I brood not over the broken past,

Nor the dread whatever time may bring;

No nights are dark, no days are long,

While in my heart there swells a song,

And I can sing.

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[1] http://www.pnas.org/content/107/38/16489.abstract

[2] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129068241

"World Communion Sunday" - A Sermon From October 4th, 2015

A Meditation on Psalm 25

Introduction: Ecumenicalism

As some of you probably know, today is a very special Sunday. In fact, this day only comes once a year; and yet, many of us may be all too unfamiliar with the practice. Like Reformation Day or Epiphany, it can slide by without much note on our memories. And yet, it is an incredibly important symbol in a time when everything is so commercialized, so commodified, so mixed up in branding that any other sort of existence seems foreign. Even churches have become wrapped up in this. Rather than focusing on being the people whom God has called them to be, we have allowed the world to make us commodities. We have brands and images; we define ourselves by what makes us different from other churches. We focus on what makes what other people do wrong and what makes what we do right.

Temple Illustration:

Earlier this week I encountered one of the most upsetting moments of my life as a Christian. As I was coming out of the library at Temple University, I was greeted by the sight and sound of a fundamentalist Christian group in the very heart of campus. They were gathered around the bell tower that defines the center of the campus. One by one, they would hand off the megaphone to one another. Their message was, to some extent, what you might expect. They held signs saying: “Sin Awareness Day,” “Evolution is a Lie,” and “You’re Going to Hell.” Predictably, most students walked by intentionally ignoring them. But some engaged in some way. A few got visibly upset and tried to outshout the speakers who were armed with a megaphone, others gathered in groups to laugh at the remarks being made, many looked annoyed, and one girl who was probably only nineteen turned to me and said, “I feel sorry for their children. People like that shouldn’t be allowed to have children!”

By the time I made it up to the Philosophy Department several of my classmates were already gathered. Unsurprisingly, they noted my expression of what must have been a mix of anguish and shame. Fortunately, I haven’t met a single colleague who characterizes all Christians in that fashion. Yet, I was told that because Temple is a state institution groups like that come in and demonstrate frequently. For me this was a new experience. As an undergraduate, I attended a small Christian College where speakers were chosen by the administration. As a seminarian, chapel speakers were chosen by the Chaplain of the Chapel and the Administration. People couldn’t just walk onto campus and do their thing. So this act came as a shockingly new experience to me.

Worst of all, I could easily see that many of the young minds around me were being shaped by that exposure. Most of the people in my generation have limited amounts of exposure to Christianity. Nearly 67% of Millennials were raised without a religious affiliation.[1] This is the audience that these protestors spoke to. These kids, most of whom are just entering adulthood, are being told that Christianity looks like that group of people standing in the middle of campus. And while I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by graduate students who are informed enough to realize that ‘not every’ Christian looks like that, many of these young minds will never go on to expose themselves to the kinds of materials philosophers encounter.[2]

When I left that scene I felt physically ill! My God, my Christ, my faith was being portrayed as something that I wanted no part of. It’s easy for many to forget that these kids who identify as ‘nones’ are actually quite spiritual. Like the Athenians in the book of Acts they are yearning for anything that feeds their souls. One of the most popular phrases for anyone between the ages of 15 and 35 is, “I’m spiritual, but not religious.” Why? Because these young people haven’t forfeited their natural yearning for a connection to their Creator. They have instead, in many cases followed the examples of prior generations who didn’t take their faith seriously, or rejected formal religion altogether because it was perceived as hateful, judgmental, or lacking in meaning!

The Message:

          My friends, this morning I want to tell you that there is nothing more meaningful than a personal relationship with the God who created us all, the God who sustains us all, and the Christ who died so that we might be wrapped up in God’s recreation of the whole cosmos! Is there any message more relevant than the idea that God is at work to make all things new? Is there any message more relevant than the message that states that God loves us enough to die for us, and makes a place for us to follow his Son into the resurrection? Is there any message more relevant than the one that gives us a sense of meaning and purpose beyond the idol of money and consumerism, that centers us in the path of discipleship, which takes us beyond ourselves and helps us grow into more loving, more patient, and more just human beings? No! Our God has given us everything we need in Christ all we need to do is be faithful to the Christ who died for the least of all, for those who were judged, for those who cried out to their creator.

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled, “How to Defeat Religious Violence.”[3] In the first three paragraph’s the author makes a very accurate assessment of humanity. “When secular revolutions fail, we should know that we can expect religious counterrevolutions.” The point of all this was very perceptive. “Humans cannot live without meaning. No society has survived long without either a religion or a substitute for religion. The 20^th century showed, brutally and definitively, that the great modern substitutes for religion – nation, race, political ideology – are no less likely to offer human sacrifices to their surrogate [gods].”

People will inevitably worship something, even if it is themselves, and they will strive to objectify anything that is different. Many of you are probably wondering where I’m going by this point. How do these different streams of thought flow together? It’s really quite simple. Christianity is really quite simple – follow Christ! As people in the Western World we’ve grown comfortable in the legacy of Christendom, of two-thousand years of familiarity. We’ve lost touch with the relevance and significance of our faith. Rather than focusing on how we should strive to be more like Christ, on how to be more loving, we’ve grown comfortable in the divisions we’ve drawn with those around us – even with other Christians.

Brothers and sisters I am telling you this morning that the true Church of Jesus Christ is not about skin color, it’s not about economic background, it’s not about worship style, it’s not about doctrine, it’s not about governance style, it’s not about how we dress, and it’s not about our cultural preferences. The Church of Jesus Christ is about God’s relationship with those who are unworthy! It’s about the love of a God who gave his only begotten Son to save a species intent on strife and division. It’s about a God who abhors injustice and calls all people and all nations to the throne of judgment for their oppressions. It’s about a God who loves those who feel lost and alone, those who feel rejected and stigmatized. It’s about a God who created us to live in healthy relationships, just as He exists in relationship both within Godself and in His relationship with all of creation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to transform and change us in the most profound ways. It is the power to take us from death to life!

The God that I have come to know and love is out to take your life and shake it up. Christ didn’t call us to be an audience of ne’er-do-fans. When I lived in Princeton I had the opportunity to attend a college football game once. Now, this game was not like most football games. You see, people go out to Ivy Football games as a form of social affair. There’s a level of insulation from the normal football culture pervasive everywhere else because Princeton and Rutgers invented the game as a spin-off of rugby. So if you ever go, you’ll see men in ties and straw hats and women in outfits that play on this theme as well. And, perhaps just as notably you’ll notice that no-one actually watches the game! Everyone sits and chats, they may even dine, or drink a bit. It’s a bit of a picnic really. And the only thing that breaks up this monotony is a touchdown. For a minute, just a minute, everyone’s attention turns to the field. The crowd will notice the change on the scoreboard and everyone will applaud the display of athleticism and teamwork, then promptly return their attention to the conversations they were having.

How often, does this reflect our own faith journeys? We pay attention to the arbitrary symbol on the scoreboard, the weekly church service, but we remain all too removed from where our attention should be. We should approach our faith like Raiders Fans! Now I don’t know if you know any Raiders fans, but they are absolutely nuts! They’re crazy lunatics, fully invested into their team. And the one positive thing I will say about the protestors I saw at Temple is that at least they take their faith seriously. They’re invested.

Except there’s one thing missing. To quote a scholarly leader of the African American community, the Rev. Dr. Cornel West, “The fundamentalist Christians want to be fundamental about everything, except ‘Love Thy Neighbor.’” If we are truly going to follow Christ, we need to be more concerned with our own spiritual states of growth and transformation; and we need to be less concerned with judging our neighbors and objectifying the things and people we don’t understand. We need to seek out those who are hurting and lost not in an attempt to criticize their state of poverty, even if it’s a spiritual state of poverty, but to come alongside them in love. To demonstrate the love of God as it flows through our very beings. One of the most profound things you can do in life is love people!

Psalm 25:

          This brings me to the scripture we heard this morning. The Psalms are unique because they express our humanity. They express our crying out to God for something different. And it is for this reason that many people regard it as their favorite book in the Bible. Even Jesus quotes the psalms and expresses His own humanity through them!

          This morning’s psalm reminds us of several things. It reminds us that the presence of God is close at hand. To go even further, God isn’t just nearby, he lives within us as the Spirit of Christ. As Christians, we are given the gift of Spirit as something that spurns us on into an ever more deeply enriching experience of what it means to be fully human – through the faith that we’re designed to enjoy. Likewise, this psalm expresses the author’s longing for God. My generation longs for God as much as any other ever has. Each of us has a need for a connection to the divine. We may express it differently through our differing personalities, but we long for the Creator who wants nothing more than to wrap up our whole lives into the unfolding of creation and renewal.

          And finally, this psalm calls us into communion with God. It calls us away from the passive consumeristic religion of a fragmented, commodified, religious pick and choose. Instead, it entices us to find ourselves in the most intimate and fulfilling thing imaginable. It calls us to walk the path of the one who follows after Christ. It calls us to seek out the God who first sought us. It calls us to run the race of those who have taken up their own crosses – crosses of humility, crosses of patience, crosses of service, crosses of love; and perhaps most importantly, the cross of surrender! The place where we drop all that we are at the footsteps of our Creator and yell out, “I’m tired of doing this on my own! Lift me up and remake me into the person you would have me to be. Take me to the place you have. Capture all that I am and fashion me into an instrument of your love.”

          Today is World Communion Sunday, when Christians all over the globe will symbolically take the Bread and the Cup in unity. We come together to recognize the authority that Christ has over us all and the unity we share in spite of our differences. It is a day to recognize that God is at work. The remnants of Christendom may be fading away, but God is always in the process of reaching new generations. Some things, like our inabilities to love, must die in order for a new work to begin. If we hope to see revival, we must first see it in ourselves! We must find joy in the life we have in God right now. We must intentionally force ourselves to seek out the next thing God has in store for us.   

So I have a task for you. I’m going to give you homework! I want each of you to go home this week and look up Psalm 25. Then, I want you to ask yourself what an “anti-psalm 25” would look like! I want you to figure out what things would reverse what the author is doing. Then, I want you to write down how you might be doing that thing in your own life. How might you be falling short of the life-giving things that God intends for us? Then, I want you to take that thing to God in prayer throughout the week. I want you to focus in on at least one area where you can grow. Then, if you feel comfortable, I want you to bring a small slip of paper with your prayer request on it to church next week. I will have a basket that you can place your prayer in before the service. I’m not going to read the prayers and no one else will either, but I’m going to take that basket up to the front of the church next week and pray over them collectively. We are going to pray for them collectively! No one will read them, but they will symbolize where we’re at and where we need to go. Together we will take them to God in prayer.

In his book Man’s Search for Meaning, holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl states, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” This is what I am asking you to do with me. I am asking you to choose to follow the path that Christ has laid and to do so in the context of this community. To join with those around you, both this morning as we partake of the elements and in the course of this next week as we ponder our own spiritual states and then bring them together quietly in prayer next week.

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[1] Michael Lipka, “Millenials increasingly are driving growth of ‘nones’”, Pew Research Center, May 12 2015, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/12/millenials-increasingly-are-driving-growth-of-nones/

[2] Graduate students in philosophy almost inherently study theology because the history of both disciplines is so intertwined. Over the course of this semester, my seminary has already read through the works of two theologian-philosophers, two Muslim philosopher-theologians, and addressed contextual issues related to other theological streams of influence.

[3] Jonathan Sacks, “How to Defeat Religious Violence,” The Wall Street Journal, October 2^nd 2015: www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-defeat-religious-violence-1443798275?mod=e2fb