Today is Memorial Day Sunday, the prelude to the official observance of the holiday that
bears its name. Observed the last Monday in May, this day was first celebrated in 1866 in Waterloo, New York to
honor the war dead of the United States, which was then still reeling from the just ended Civil War.
Sadly there have been all too many conflicts since and the holiday has been expanded to honor all of our veterans
who gave their lives in all wars. For some it has been expanded even further to honor all family members who have
gone onto heaven before us. And for still others this weekend has come to be remembered more as the official start
of the summer season, and the occasion for the opening of pools, beach clubs, and back yard grills.
But it is not only Memorial Day Sunday, it is also Ascension Day Sunday. Thursday marked forty days since Easter.
Next Sunday we will celebrate Pentecost - fifty days after. It is the great "lifting up, or rising above"
celebration. Luke, the writer of Acts, tells us that after Jesus was raised, he appeared to his disciples, showing
them signs and speaking to them about the kingdom of God. So Ascension Day is also a "memorial" day,
a time to look back at the work Jesus did among his disciples on earth.
Mark tells us that as Jesus ascended into heaven he said to his disciples, "Go into all the world and preach
the good news to all creation." And after he was gone the disciples did just that, they went out and preached
everywhere, "...and the Lord worked with them...." (from Mark 16:1-20)
Of course that challenge alone presented inherent problems. It is impossible to enter another culture and not
come into conflict with the local customs which will undoubtedly differ from your own. Even the desire to take
a gospel of liberation to another place implies an understanding that those who live there are living in captivity
to ignorance.
It's that age old controversy of what to do when your freedom constrains my liberty; or my liberty offends and
limits you? To look at that more closely I want to concentrate on the epistle lesson for today involving Paul
and Silas and their desire to "preach Christ." In so doing they "liberated" a woman possessed
with a spirit of divination, apparently not so much out of concern for her well-being, as that she was just annoying
them with her verbose presence.
Right there however is a basic difference between eastern and western thinking at least in Biblical times, between
the cultures of Philippi and of Israel. In Israel people viewed possession as a spiritual and physical threat,
as demonic and debilitating. The Greeks however saw it as a "gift" and an "opportunity" to
make money. They were not concerned with issues of exploitation but of employment. How very Western of them! One
of the most honest things about scripture is that it doesn't try to justify either parties motives.
It is interesting however that in the epistle this is her only recognized "worth" and it is taken away
from her. What happened to her in the aftermath is also of no concern to the tale.
The end result for Paul and Silas however is that to offend the business community of Phillipi results in a beating,
public humiliation and imprisonment. They are preaching customs that are contrary to the laws of the land.
You may not think this is a current issue for those of us here in the United Methodist Church of Red Bank. Think
again. When my sense of what is appropriate and important for worship comes up against yours who wins? When Your
sense of where the flowers or candles should be in relation to the altar, or where the tablespoons belong in the
kitchen, or who controls the stage in fellowship hall, or what it means to be a good steward then our differing
customs can soon become constraints.
The underlying lesson of the epistle seems to be that we find the victims "singing in their prison."
It is a question God's people have often asked. How can we sing, the songs of the Lord in a foreign land? It is
a good question.
How can we "sing" to the Lord when the center of our worship, the center of our lives has been torn
down? How can we sing when we are far away from the place we used to meet God in whatever magnificent ritual was
involved in that for us?
The Jews, you recall, had been hauled away from their beloved Jerusalem, dragged off to Babylon, their ears ringing
with the shouts of their ancient enemies, "Tear it down! Tear it down to its foundations!" And the Edomites
had done just that. Jerusalem lay in ruins and the Jews languished in exile, weeping over the loss of their Zion,
their harps hanging unused on the trees of this foreign land. So they asked, How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?
Psalm 137 reveals how the Jews survived. They fiercely held onto the memory of that other, God- blessed place.
"If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill; may my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you...." And fiercely they wished harm on their tormentors, asking God to repay their
enemies for what they had done to their holy place, and hoped that the children of their captors would be horribly
murdered.
That's how they survived, with fierce memories and fierce dreams.
But they lost their song and they lost their heart. That's what happens when your singing is tied to a place
and a ritual, rather than to a relationship, when tied to a country rather than to a covenant. With a fierce and
bitter faith you may survive, but you will lose your song, and your heart.
In the days of the Reformation, the common people were not singing, not in church anyway. That sacred duty had
been preempted by the official clergy and the cathedral choirs. But with the re-discovery of the priesthood of
all believers, that wonderful Biblical teaching that all believers could have a direct relationship with God unmediated
by an ordained priest, the surprising good news included the fact that even the poorest and youngest and least
educated, and, yes, even the most sinful could have a personal walk with a covenantal God. And the people began
to sing again.
When you know that God is with you no matter where you are, that God loves you no matter what the shape of your
life, then you can sing the songs of the Lord even in a foreign land. The songs of God's people rise not from a
certain ritual in a holy geography, but from a covenant relationship with a Holy God.
In The Narnia Chronicles - C. S. Lewis asks "What is a star?" The answer is given " In our world
a star is a nebulae of swirling gasses fixed in space." To which the reply comes: "But you have told
me what a star is made of with no mention of what it is for. One could just as easily describe a violin as being
wood and glue and string with no mention of music or inspiration."
So too with individuals, with countries, with ideals…one can say "she is a divorced adulteress, he is a
depraved homosexual, she is hyper active, he is cancer ridden, they are two unhappy people," etc, etc, etc.
It is so easy to talk about people for what they are, here and now…and not as what they are for. It makes all the
difference!
An earthquake shook the foundation of their prison, and Paul and Silas though suddenly freed felt no compulsion
to run for their lives. They understood that they had been "chosen for" something important which superseded
any ideas that they had been "chosen from" the multitudes as special people.
"Unity" does not mean "uniformity." We can celebrate that which we share in common (the gospel,
our baptism) and still maintain our unique identities as individual members and denominations of the Body of Christ.
When Jesus prays that we may become completely one he uses a Greek word "symphonos" from which our word
symphony is derived. "…a collection of very different instruments, with very different sounds, trained to
work together to produce one beautiful melody."
There will always be controversies - Pearl Harbor hit the screens this weekend loaded with discussions about
how it will affect relationships with Japan, while China struggles with the release of Japanese history text books
and their spin on the invasion of China. Israel and the Middle East, Macedonia and it's ancient desires for freedom,
racial profiling, public executions, and political party shifts….what's a person to do?
It's all about where we put the focus. "that they may all be one. As you, Holy God, are in me and I am in
you, may they also be in us."
|