As we come to the next to the last week in the season of "signs" our scripture
lessons are filled with warnings about the real danger in missing them. Psalm 1, which we used for our call to
worship today is the official instruction manual for the Psalter or hymn book of Israel; a sort of "how to"
for the faithful. It is believed that it was written in the time of the Prophet Ezra, toward the end of the Babylonian
captivity, after all the other psalms had been gathered into one scroll, and that its purpose was to serve as a
guideline to help avoid the misuse of sacred text. The "remnant nation" was at that time being regarded
as a religious community known as "the congregation of the righteous" which is being described in verse
five.
We've also been given a portion of Jeremiah's prophecy and there are strong similarities between the warnings of
the Psalm and the portion of that text. It's very possible that the psalmist may have had Jeremiah's condemnation
of King Zedekiah's misplaced trust in mind when he wrote it,---and though few people remember the story today,
it is a sad one indeed!
Zedekiah was the last king of Judah, a younger son of Josiah, who had been placed on the throne as a puppet king
by Nebuchadrezzar, after his uncle Jehoiakim died. He was young and inexperienced and he dared to exert his independence
by negotiating an alliance with the Egyptians which brought on the full fury of his Babylonian overlords and ended
in the siege and fall of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:1-21; Jer. 39:1-10; 52:1-30). As punishment his sons were slain
before his eyes and he himself was then blinded and taken away in chains to Babylon. The issue at stake for Jeremiah
was of course, whether one should place their trust in human alliances, in "princes"---or in Israel's
God. In chapters 32-43 we are told about the background events which engulfed the nation and which eventually resulted
in the exile, the imprisonment of Jeremiah himself, and his abduction to Egypt.
Paul too gives us "warnings"---though for Paul they are about the centrality of the "resurrection"
to our faith. For Paul, hope itself is found in the resurrection of Christ, and he knows for certain that because
Christ has been raised from the dead, those who are grounded in Christ's promises will also be raised to a new
life. Jesus becomes the "first fruits" (15.20) of those who have died, and Paul's most important argument
is based upon this promise:---if Christ were not raised from the dead, Christ's death is nothing but a wasted act.
Christianity without the resurrection means nothing! It becomes then little more than another human philosophy
of life, another "trust in princes."
As we once again come to the start of the Lenten season this is certainly the most important subject for us to
consider. How does our belief in the afterlife affect our actions here and now? How can this hope for the future
provide courage and conviction for today?
For Paul, this is the very heart of the gospel. If the resurrection did not happen, then all else fails: the apostolic
preaching, Jesus' divine messiahship, the forgiveness of sin, the hope for a new life, the promise of God's final
victory over human sin and death.
In short, without the resurrection the dead are dead, Jesus Christ included - "ashes to ashes, dust to dust."
We could hope for something more, perhaps---but without any assurance whatsoever!
Sadly, just as sad as the story of King Zedekiah, there are many people today who consider themselves to be Christian
who are living without any certainty about the resurrection. They are part of that growing group of very knowledgeable
individuals who would have to call themselves "secular Christians."
The secular world is fascinated by a secular Christ. Time magazine for example regularly runs an issue with a cover
along the lines of "Who is Jesus?" or "Is There a God?" They do this at least once a year,
and it is generally one of their better newstand sales.
If you walk into the religious/self-help section of any chain bookstore you can generally find management books
with titles like "Jesus as CEO" or "Jesus on Management."
The world celebrates Christ's teachings on loving one's neighbor and showing concern for others, and many modern
philosophers have praised Jesus as a good and wise teacher. It doesn't take any religious commitment whatsoever
to honor the Christ for his message.
But the Church, in order to be the Church, must go beyond the warm and fuzzy concept of Jesus as a likable wunderkind,
and must experience transformation, death and resurrection---else it is no different than any other inspired group
of individuals working together for a better world.
Our sacred scriptures repeatedly tell us that Jesus not only HAS the message, Jesus IS the message, and that He
not only points out the way, He IS the way!
He is a wise and a great teacher, but we are not saved by wisdom. He wants us to continue to grow in our understanding
and knowledge, but we are not saved by knowledge.
As Christians we are saved by grace, and by grace alone. Our particular brand of faith teaches us that Christ is
the sole mediator of that grace by virtue of his death on the cross, and he dispenses it as the risen Lord.
Without his death and resurrection, our faith is nothing more than a good idea, or a pleasant dream. Only if Christ
overcomes death, only then can our faith conquer our own inevitable deaths experienced throughout our lifetimes.
If Christ lacked the power to raise himself, then there would be no power to give us life either. We are joint
heirs with him, so if he is not raised, we have no kingdom to inherit.
So how does all of this tie into our gospel for this morning. It too is filled with warnings unique to Luke, but
not to be taken lightly. In the section of scripture often called the beatitudes we find blessings that don't seem
all that blessed, and curses that don't seem all that bad. There is a real contrast here between spiritual and
secular insight, and the warnings have to do with those who feel that spiritual power only has to be turned on
in times of extreme need.
It can be likened to the difference one feels regarding the intensity of the need for prayer when on an airplane
in the midst of heavy turbulence that seems to go on forever, verses when one swings their feet out of bed reluctantly
ready to face another average day.
Barabara Brown Taylor in her sermon "God's Ferris Wheel" says: "The Beatitudes describe different
types of people---Jesus hopes people will recognize themselves as one or the other---the promise to both is that
the way things are is not the way things will always be. We often equate the blessing and woes with reward and
punishment, however the beatitudes do not tell us what to do,--- but who we are and who Jesus is."
It's pretty hard to believe, from any honest person's point of view that there is any "good news" about
being the victim of poverty, illness, and or hate. Almost as hard as it is to deny the obscenity of the fact that
according to Newsweek, every minute the world spends $700,000 on war while 30 children die from hunger and inadequate
healthcare.
In the "who we are and who Jesus is" category such paradoxes are meant to point out that there is "poverty
of pocket" and there is "poverty of spirit." The beatitudes suggest that people of faith recognize
the power of both and see clearly which allows such crime to continue. The answer seems to be that it is not what
we lack that will get us into serious trouble, but what we have!
20th century American novelist John Cheever once commented that "the main emotion of the adult American who
has had all the advantages of wealth, education, and culture is disappointment." Such insights are not limited
to any one culture. Journalist and military historian Emile Henry Gauvreau once described himself as:
"part of that strange race of people aptly described as spending their lives doing things they detest, to
make money they don't want, to buy things they don't need, to impress people they dislike."
Richard Foster, in his book "Freedom of Simplicity," talks about those who have so much money that they
are imprisoned in their own homes with bars over their windows and alarm systems on their doors and windows. He
asks the very simple question, "Now, who do you think is truly free?"
While economist Robert Heilbroner, who is an emeritus professor at the New School University, writes:
"It's great to have two cars and a swimming pool. But there are disappointments. After you've made some money
and acquired some things, and after the initial excitement has passed, life goes on, just as bewildering as it
always was, and the great problems of life and death once again come to the fore."
We know that consumption isn't the answer, but we are still asking ourselves what is. (Robert Heilbroner, in Psychology
Today [October 1994].
Just a few years ago, Shearson-Lehman Brothers commissioned the Roper Organization to conduct a poll which was
then reported in U.S. News & World Report. They wanted to find out whether the mythical "American Dream"
still held any power in people's ambitions. What they discovered is that it does and that what it is and what it
may cost depends on your economic status. When they asked people to describe their "American Dream" aspirations,
and then calculated the price tag, they discovered that:
"For Americans with household incomes under $25,000, it would take $54,000 a year to fulfill the "American
Dream." Those who make $100,000 plus crave an average of $192,000. In other words, the American Dream usually
lies nearly twice the distance away from where you are." (Amy Bernstein, U.S. News & World Report, July
27, 1992, p. 11.)
The attitude seems to be "If I just had twice as much as I have now, I would be rich, I would be full, I would
be happy.... That's the answer, just twice as much of whatever it is I'm thinking of at the time."
There is nothing new about that attitude. It is almost as old as civilization itself. So it may seem almost a paradoxical
miracle then that according to a Gallup survey, nearly half of all charitable contributions in the United States
come from households with incomes of less than $30,000. (Reported in The Other Side, quoted in Discipleship Journal,
Issue 53, 1989, p. 20.)
People with far less to give---responding to what would seem to be a far more expanded sense of what is truly important.
Reaching out to need.
In a similar way we need to picture this scene in Luke's gospel, of the surging crowd, hands outstretched to touch
Jesus or at the very least to touch "the hem of his garments"-- for power came out from him and healed
all of them.
Most likely they were trying to touch the prayer shawl he would wear as a devout Jewish man--in particular to touch
even one of the strings that adorned the fringe of that shawl--strings tied with 5 knots each one representing
the 5 Books of Moses (the first 5 books of our Old Testament)--and the 4 spaces between those knots representing
the 4 letters of the Hebrew alphabet in the name of God---YWHW.
All those hands reaching out in their great need to touch the name and person of God. Why? Because they recognized
the true source of wholeness.
William Willimon writes: "For Jesus, there was something more dangerous than tears. It was the dangerous deception
that our world is secure, stable, the best of all possible worlds -- don't worry, be happy. Jesus warns of that
deception. "Woe to you that laugh now. Woe if you feel too good, settled too comfortably with the way things
are... To hope too soon, to laugh too easily, is self deception - the reduction of the Christian hope to election
campaign fluff."
God reverses all our expectations - those we have learned from the world. To embrace them we only have to die with
the certainty and conviction that God and God alone will raise us up to a new standard whereby creation itself
will be redeemed. The Beatitudes are not "marching orders" but a small glimpse into the heart and mind
of God. They inspire a passion either for or against present circumstances…whatever they may be---but never an
acquiescence to the status quo! If for this life only we live…for this moment, for these circumstances…how pitiful
we are. But we have been raised with Christ and as such already embrace the glory yet to be revealed.
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