Holy Exhibitionists

Holy Exhibitionists
A sermon by Brent J Eelman
First Presbyterian Church, Clarks Summit
November 8, 2020

Preacher's Note:  This sermon is punctuated and formatted to aid me in delivering the sermon from the pulpit.  Please be gracious, it will not always conform to academic standards. 

 
Amos 5:18-24
Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
    Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
19  as if someone fled from a lion,
    and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
    and was bitten by a snake.
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
    and gloom with no brightness in it?
21 I hate, I despise your festivals,
    and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
    I will not look upon.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
    I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

 
Matthew 25:1-13
 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids[a] took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those bridesmaids[ got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. 11 Later the other bridesmaids[ came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ 13 Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

When a Presbyterian pastor moves to a new church, they are often examined by the new presbytery.  These examinations can be quite rigorous and stressful.  When I was moving to Texas, I was told that the presbytery there liked nothing more than to get their hands on a “Yankee pastor” and grill him like they would a barbecue a steer.  With that warning, I prepared for my exam, going over the finer points of Presbyterian polity and recalling some of the more controversial questions that might be asked of me.  I reviewed the theories of atonement, the sacraments,  and the main points from the Book of Confessions.  I also memorized different things that might be asked of me including the Great Ends of the Church.  The examination proceeded quite well and then I was asked, “Please list the Great Ends of the Church?”  I smiled, because I was ready.  I called upon my memory and spit back the answer:  “The Great Ends of the Church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and… and….and…..”     I forgot the last great end of the church.  

It was one of those classic moments of brain freeze.  Try as I might, I could not remember that last great end.  I must have looked pathetic, because my examiners were appearing quite pleased with themselves.  They were going to let me wiggle like a worm on a hook for while… finally I broke the tension and said…. “I forgot.”  I forgot.   They passed me in spite of that omission.  I forgot the last great end of the church….   I now believe the church at large has also forgotten this great end or purpose.  The final great end of the church is to “Exhibit the Kingdom of Heaven to the World.”   The church needs to embody this ideal more than ever!

This morning I want to look at how this great end charges the church to act in the face of the growing incivility within our society. We are called to  Exhibit the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.  I will deal with this charge in order:  First the kingdom of heaven.  Second, the world, and third, becoming “holy exhibitionists.”  

I.

The Kingdom of Heaven:   When we speak about heaven and the kingdom of heaven, we usually are thinking about a place, a place where we will go when we die.  We picture stars in our  crown, ivory palaces, and streets paved with gold.  Personally, I am hoping that when my earthly life is completed, I will find a resting place there, with good fly fishing and a jazz combo playing bebop.  But when Jesus referred to the “kingdom of heaven,” he was not referring to a place.  Bill Carter’s sermon series on the tough parables of Jesus underscore this.  Consider the parables:  

• “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.” (Matt 18:23).  
• “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner hiring workers.” (Matt 20:1)
• “…tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. (Matt 21:31).
• "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.” (Matt 22:2)  
• And then there is the text for today: “"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.”   

These are some of the most confounding teachings of Jesus, and we reduce these parables to little morality lessons at our own peril.  When Jesus taught about the kingdom of heaven, he was not referring to a place. He was announcing an event.  It was an event that was revealed in his presence and ministry. The kingdom of heaven is an event that is breaking into human history and manifesting itself in specific moments in our lives: moments of grace, kindness, love, hope, and justice.

The parable for today about the wise and foolish bridesmaids is about an event, the coming of the groom.  Jesus was telling his listeners to not only be prepared for that event, but also to shine a light upon it so that all may witness it.  Be prepared to shine a light on those moments when the kingdom of heaven manifests itself in the moments of our lives.  Moments when prophetic justice, the grace of God, love, kindness and hope manifests themselves:
These are moments:

• When the hungry are fed;
• When those who are “different” are included;
• When the poor and the oppressed can live without want or fear;
• When workers in the vineyards of life earn enough to live;
• When hated Samaritans bring comfort and healing to those who despise them;
• When the widow, the orphan and alien are treated, not as a burden but with the dignity demanded of one made in the image of God.  
• When “the least of these” are valued as sisters and brothers and treated as such.
• When “justice rolls down like waters; and righteousness like an overflowing stream.”  

This is the kingdom of heaven that our Lord proclaimed.

II

The World.  There are a bunch of elephants in the room and we should identify them.  The first is the recent election.  It has revealed that we are a bitterly divided nation where incivility reigns.  Our divisions are not merely political.  We are divided in numerous other ways that have hardened into partisan enmity.  Consider:

• We are divided regarding our understanding and trust of science and expertise.  
• We are divided regarding our hopes.
• We are divided about the nature of patriotism and what it means to love our country.  (And I believe that both sides dearly love our country!)
• We are divided racially and by racial attitudes.
• We are divided economically.
• We are divided educationally.  
• We are divided by our hopes.
• We are divided by our fears. (And this election was more about fear than it was about hope!)
• We are divided by conspiracy theories.
• We are divided over the very nature of truth.

We can argue that we have always had our differences, but the only time they have hardened into the grievances and enmity we now experience was 160 years ago in the Civil War.   Our current differences have broken out into episodes of incivility ranging from murdering demonstrators, to storming state capitols armed with military grade weapons, to arguments and fistfights over mask wearing.  Families have disowned members over political differences, and if we do manage to have holiday get togethers there will be tacit agreements to hold a truce and not discuss things of substance…. We can’t even talk about the weather, because of the controversy over climate change!  This is us.

The election has concluded, but I fear it will not end the divisions that stain our common life. Kindness, grace, and civility have fled from the public square. The lights have gone out on the “shining city upon the hill.”  

The other elephant in the room is the pandemic.  On Friday, we experienced 132,797 new cases of Covid-19, a 57% increase over a 2 week period.  We also had 1,223 individuals die from Covid-19, a 12% increase over 2 weeks.  The projections look grim. To date we have had 9.8 million cases and 237,000 deaths. (To give you some perspective on this, we lost 292,000 soldiers over a four year period in WWII.)  The current models are predicting between 160-250 thousand additional deaths by the first of February.   

One would think that a common enemy would unite a country.  Sadly, we are equally divided about responding to these grim statistics.  All of us are tired of it.  We are tired of masks. We are tired of social distancing.  We are tired not singing in church. We are tired of not getting together with friends and family.  We are tired of this… But the virus is not tired.  And it is exposing not only our physical vulnerabilities, but our spiritual brokenness.  We lack the collective will and resolve to respond effectively to this pandemic. We refuse to pull together to beat this plague.  We are paying a severe price in terms of human life, for our division and lack of civility.  This is our world.

III

Into this world we are called to be Holy Exhibitionists:  The church is called to exhibit the kingdom of heaven to this world.  I am convinced that this is why the church exists.  We were created by God for a moment like this.  The brokenness, violence, and lack of civility cry out, pleading for a better way.  This is the moment to which we have been called… to exhibit the kingdom of heaven to our broken world.  We are called to model something better.  Mahatma Ghandi once admonished a missionary, “If you would only come in the spirit of your master, Jesus, you would be irresistible.”  This is the challenge the church has in this uncivil world.  It is not impossible.

My congregations have been good teachers for me.  The church that I served in Watertown, NY was a unique mix of people.  It included the mayor of the city and his main opponent.  It included officers and enlistees from Fort Drum, and those who resented the presence of the fort.  It included the director of the Development Authority who was responsible for creating a landfill, but also people in the adjacent community most affected by that landfill.  It was a fascinating place to be doing ministry because all of these people would show up for worship and sit together in the same sanctuary.

It also included two women.  Lynne, a physician’s wife was the president of the local Planned Parenthood chapter.  Anne, another woman in the congregation was the founder and president of LifeRight, a group that opposed the legalization of abortion.  They were both individuals of conviction. Both of them were not only present every Sunday, but they also team taught in our Sunday school.  My daughter, in 4th grade, was blessed to have them as her Sunday school teachers.  I remember asking Karen what she thought about these two women.  “Who do you think is right?” I asked.  

Karen thought for a moment and then responded, “They both are.”  

Karen’s response reflected a truth that both of these women expressed with their lives. Truth is found in relationships of love, care, and friendship. It is discovered in the give and take of ideas, and a mutual commitment to the truth. It expresses itself in the grace that was modeled by Christ; grace that affirms the other as a child of God, even when we don’t agree.

A year ago, Atlantic Monthly, did a feature article on Watertown, and specifically the role the Presbyterian Church played in fostering an atmosphere of civility.  Anne was quoted as saying: 

“I have opinions, but somebody else might also. I could learn from that person, and that person could learn from me.”   

There is not a more divisive issue in our society than abortion, and they had polar opposite viewpoints… but they affirmed that there was something greater than their own opinions, something greater than ideology, something greater than political and social differences, and that was friendship born of humility and grace.
 

Do you remember Jesus:

• when he sat and broke bread with pharisees,
• when he engaged with scribes and sadducees in discussions about the moral and spiritual life;
• when he forgave those who thrust him on the cross to kill him.  

The kingdom of heaven is like this.  It isn’t easy.  It is often messy.  It challenges us to think about what we believe is true and right. It challenges our priorities, proclaiming to us to seek first this kingdom of heaven, even in our differences.  

The church of Jesus Christ was called for this moment in history.  You, as members of Christ’s church, have been called to exhibit to a broken, divided world, the Kingdom of heaven.  It is not easy.  It is as messy, as confusing, and as challenging as the parables that Jesus taught.  This community of faith is called to the holy task of engaging with each other in a spirit of love, a spirit of community, a spirit of inquiry, a spirit of truth…. To engage with each other over our differences… to listen and learn from each other…. To discover ways to fulfill the prophetic vision:  

…letting justice roll down like waters,
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
We are called as ‘holy exhibitionists” to demonstrate this to the world.  Amen.

 

The Drama of the Chosen Child

The Drama of the Chosen Child
A Sermon by Brent J. Eelman
Covenant Presbyterian Church, Scranton
Sept. 6, 2020

Genesis 45:1-15
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, ‘Send everyone away from me.’ So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come closer to me.’ And they came closer. He said, ‘I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, “Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.” And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.’ Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.


Every family has its legends and stories.  They are often used to explain relationships and realities that exist within the family.  One of our family legends focuses on my relationship with my older brother, Bruce.  The story goes that when I was brought home as a newborn from the hospital I was presented to him. His comment:  “I don’t want him. Take him back!”

This legend of sibling rivalry blossomed ten years later in an incident that occurred at our summer home in western New York.  I was 9 years old at the time and my brother was 14 and had recently acquired a new bright red bathing suit.  It was drying on the clothes line and was too big a temptation for me to pass by.  I grabbed it, went into my bedroom and put it on and proceeded to parade past him.  He immediately responded by chasing me into the lake, and when I was out of reach, he began throwing stones, while I teased him from a safe distance in the water.

My father would often tell this story, amplifying the chase and the anger felt by my brother to legendary status. He told how my legs “went like pistons” as I dashed to safety in the lake.  Soon this story was often told to illustrate the sibling rivalry that existed between the two of us.  The red bathing suit came to define our relationship.

This is a picture of my family, at our summer home on Lake Chautauqua.  My grandmother is with us.  I am on the far right and my brother, Bruce is behind me in the "red bathing suit."

Today’s story from the book of Genesis about Joseph and his brothers is also a legend illustrating sibling rivalry.  It is the final chapter in the story of a dysfunctional biblical family.  It is a lengthy narrative about an ineffective parent who favored one child over an other.  It is the story of plots, intrigue and attempted murder. It is a tale that turns more times than a TV soap opera.  Therapists would have a field day with it.

But it is also a story about the triumph of grace, and we need grace in this world. 
We live in a world of envy, jealousy, dysfunction and revenge.
We live in a world that requires us to adopt certain types of behavior for our own protection and health.
We live daily with what can only be called dysfunctional behavior, whether it is in our own families, on the job, in the media, in the stock market, in the halls of government, and even our own religious institutions.
We live in a world where simple courtesies have disappeared; where civility in dialogue has been abandoned as a sign of weakness; where “trash-talk” is often the favored means of expression.

The result is a pervading cynicism about life and the human prospect.  I fear the angels of our better nature have flown away.

We need grace in our world.

This story of Joseph and his brothers is also one of the most hopeful stories in the entire  Bible because it declares that things don't need to be this way.  It is a story about the triumph of grace.  Let's take a journey through this story of Jacob's children and learn what it has to say to our generation.
                                               I
The scripture lesson today is only the conclusion of a long familiar story.  It was one of the early bible stories that I learned and it was popularized by the musical, "Joseph and the Technicolor Dream-coat."   It begins with Jacob and his 12 sons.

Jacob was not a good parent.  He played his children against each other.  He had a favorite child, Joseph.  Joseph, not the oldest, was the chosen child: the one who received more, be it affection, opportunity, or trust.  It was all symbolized in the beautiful coat that Jacob gave to him.  It was better than what the other brothers had. They could say with some veracity, "Father always liked you best."   The brothers were understandably jealous and consequently conspired against Joseph.  They threw him into a well imprisoning him and ultimately sold him to slave traders.

From there, Joseph was hauled off to Egypt where he was sold to the Pharaoh.  To make a long story short, he rose to a position of power in the Egyptian hierarchy because of his ability to interpret dreams.  Joseph would have been a good broker in the commodities market because he predicted a 7 year boom in wheat production and then a devastating famine.  The Egyptians prepared for this and consequently they were the only ones with food during the lengthy famine.

In the midst of this famine, Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to plea for food.  It was an interesting and involved encounter.  Joseph, the one who was thrown into the well, the one who was despised and sold into slavery, was now in charge of Pharaoh's grain stores.  Joseph recognized his brothers.  They, however, didn't recognize him.  The encounter was building to a climax.      

Let's consider Joseph's options:  The roles were reversed.  He was the one with power.  He had the control over his brothers’ fate.  It was a perfect opportunity to get back.  It was a classic "gotcha" moment.  The evil brothers were there, cap in hand, begging for what only Joseph had: food.  Joseph could have strung them along a little longer.  He could make them dance for him, building up their hopes, only to make his moment of revenge sweeter.  He could have gouged the price and made a pile of cash from them.  “Karma, Baby, Karma!”

What an incredible hand fate dealt to Joseph.  How would he play his cards?

Then comes one of the most dramatic moments in the Hebrew Bible.  Let me read it again:
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, ‘Send everyone away from me.’ So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

All the dysfunction, all the animosity and enmity, all the desire for revenge dissolved into a moment of amazing grace.  It was amazing because the cycle of revenge and retribution was broken in that one moment.

When the psalmist wrote: "Behold, I make all things new."  He was referring to moments like this.  A new foundation was created for that family as they were gathered there.  Reconciliation occurred.  Brothers were reunited.  Joseph, who they believed was dead, was alive.  It was another chance to be together.  Community was restored!  Amazing!
                                                 II
How does this speak to us today?  I believe it operates on many different levels: inter-personal, familial, community, and even national.  On the personal level it declares that broken relationships can be mended and rebuilt.  It tells us that the foundation of friendship, indeed any type of human relationship is graciousness: grace manifest in forgiveness and love.

It speaks to families.  I personally hate the word dysfunctional.  I am pretty sure that I can make a case that most families are characterized by some dysfunction.  Some children are favored over others.  Think about it: parents take on the huge responsibility of raising children without any training or guidance.  We learn on the job.  Mistakes in judgement are constantly made.  A number of years ago, when our child was an adolescent, I remarked jokingly to a colleague who also had an adolescent child, "I don’t think that we are doing anything to our children that 10 years of psychotherapy cannot undo. "

I look back on my own family situation and my parents.  They had their flaws, some big, but by the grace of God, they were good enough: not perfect by any means, but good enough.  Grace.... It needs to be part of our family life.  There we learn to forgive.  There we learn to love others when they are most unloveable.  There we discover that reconciliation can indeed happen and that enmity and all the other things that divide people can be overcome.

It speaks to communities.  Neighborhoods,  clubs, organizations, and yes even churches need to be characterized less by righteous judgment and more by loving, forgiving grace.... the grace of God that was embodied in Christ.  The grace of God that Joseph showed toward his brothers who betrayed him.

It speaks to churches.  How often do church people conflict and fight in righteous indignation.... dividing the Church that Christ called together as one.  The motto of the church of Jesus Christ is not “We’re right and you’re wrong.”  It is “Come to me all who are overburdened and I will give you rest.”

It speaks to nations.  A "Christian nation" will be characterized by grace in its discourse, in its policies, and in its common life.  When I hear the rhetoric of hate and division that is fomented at every level on our society; when I observe the intolerance, the racism and the vitriol that have become commonplace; When I read the morning newspapers, I fear we are a long way from embodying the grace of God.  But we need to!

In this story of Joseph and his brothers, we discover that the grace of God is not always easy to embody.  The theologian Paul Tillich wrote:

Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness.
It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life.
It strikes us when we feel that our separation is deeper than usual, because we have violated another life, a life which we loved, or from which we were estranged.
It strikes us when our disgust for our own being, our indifference, our weakness, our hostility, and our lack of direction and composure have become intolerable to us.
It strikes us when, year after year the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage....

We cannot force ourselves to accept ourselves.  We cannot compel anyone to accept himself.  But sometimes it happens that we receive the power to say "yes" to ourselves, that peace enters into us and makes us whole, that self-hate and self-contempt disappear and that our self is reunited with itself.  Then we can say grace has come upon us.  (Paul Tillich, The Shaking of the Foundations,    pp. 161-62.)

Grace came upon Joseph and “he could no longer control himself.

                                                         III
I will conclude with a personal comment.  This is why I do what I do.  Stories and moments like this.  I am retired and spend a good deal of my time reflecting upon 44 years of ordained ministry.  It was not about running a church.  It was not about meetings, building projects, fund drives, and all the other things that consumed my hours and days.  All those things are part of any social organization….No. 

It is all about and only about grace.  The grace of God that welcomes us with open arms, as Joseph welcomed his brothers.  It is about the grace of God that breaks into our common life and restore wholeness, meaning, acceptance, and hope.  That is the core of ministry and the lifeblood of the church.  If grace is not present, the whole enterprise is a sham and a sell.

The story of Joseph and his brothers is an amazing story that gives me hope.... and at its core is the grace of God that came upon Joseph and restored that family.  Our challenge is to embody this same grace in our lives.

I didn’t finish the story about the red bathing suit. Truthfully, my brother Bruce and I weren’t particularly close after that event.  We developed a tacit truce that enabled us to coexist, but seldom spent a great deal of time together or had much in common.  On the occasion of my 40th birthday, my wife hosted a family party.  Members of the family, my brothers and sister and their families brought the usual gag gifts… a walking cane, arthritis ointment, memory pills and the like.  The gift from my brother Bruce was (you guessed it) a red bathing suit.  It was a symbolic gift that embodied the grace of God.  Since that day, we have never been closer.  Our challenge is to embody this same grace in our lives.  We can.  This is Good News.  Amen.

On my 40th birthday, I am opening the gift from my brother, Bruce.  A red bathing suit!

Do You Hear the Laughter?

Do You Hear the Laughter?
A Sermon by Brent J Eelman
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Clarks Summit
August 23, 2020

Psalm 2
Why do the nations conspire,
    and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers take counsel together,
    against the Lord and his anointed, saying, 
 “Let us burst their bonds asunder,
    and cast their cords from us.”

 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
    the Lord has them in derision. 

 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
    and terrify them in his fury, saying, 

 “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”

 I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, “You are my son;
    today I have begotten you. 

 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
    and the ends of the earth your possession. 

 You shall break them with a rod of iron,
    and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
    be warned, O rulers of the earth. 

 Serve the Lord with fear,
    with trembling kiss his feet,
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way;
    for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Happy are all who take refuge in him.

When I was ten years old, my parents took a month long tour of Europe, leaving four of us children behind.  My father was a professor and they arranged for one of his married graduate students and spouse to watch us.  They were not yet parents themselves, and so this would be an opportunity for them to “practice” with four of us.  The husband fancied himself as a strict disciplinarian who could handle children. Truthfully, they were no match.  The four of us regularly pushed the edges of acceptable behavior (as only children can) and I am sure they wondered what they got into.

My younger brother, Dean, was 6 at the time.  He was a strong little kid, who had the mischievous streak that the youngest often have.  I can’t remember what he did, but he pushed the poor student, this surrogate parent, over the edge, and to our horror, my sister and I watched as he took Dean and put him over his knee and started to spank him. 

Then it happened.  Dean laughed.  He hit him harder, and Dean continued to laugh.  He continued to hit him and Dean just laughed harder.  Finally, in disgust he gave up, and sent him to his room.  We realized then that he lost all moral authority in his relationship with us.   To paraphrase Psalm 2,
    “He who was bent over the knee laughed…. He held him in derision.” 

This is how we should understand Psalm 2.  The cast of characters includes the politically powerful: kings and rulers wielding their empty words, their vacant threats, and their armies.  They believe they are the be all and the end all.  They are smug. They threaten and bully the weaker nations, Israel among them.  And then there is God…. God looks down from the heavens and sees these bloviating windbags, these pretenders to power, and laughs.  God’s laughter renders them powerless. 

Today, I want to listen to the psalmist speak to our generation. We find ourselves, not only in the midst of a pandemic, but also a divisive season of electoral politics. It is a season when anxiety governs the day.  Psalm 2 addresses our world containing 1).  a message of judgement, 2). A message of comfort, and 3). A message of hope. 
                                                I
Judgment. Let us make no mistake about it, this is a judgment on those who wield political power for their own ends.  The King James Version raised the question, “Why do the nations rage?”  The modern translation softens the verb, “Why do the nations conspire?”  This is about international politics.  It goes on, “the kings and rulers of the earth take counsel together….. against the Lord, YHWH, and his anointed; the Hebrew word for anointed is “messiah”.

The psalmist described a world that was in uproar.  Order was crumbling.  The earthly rulers (the political powers of the day), were conspiring with and against each other.  It was.a frightening environment and the people were afraid, hence the question, “Why do the nations rage?”  The psalmist also personalizes the conspiracies of the nations and their kings.  They were rebelling against God, and God’s anointed, presumably King David.  

The Divine judgment upon them was brutal: 
    “He shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces.” 

I find the violence of that judgment off-putting, but consider what breaks them: It was God’s laughter! The divine looks down upon these banty roosters, hiding behind their armies and propped up by their sycophantic lick-spittles, and laughs.  God laughs at their pretensions to power.  They have no moral authority. 

Can you hear laughter today?  I am struck by the irony of our current predicament.  We have invested in building the largest economy in history.  We have the power of atomic weapons.  We can send humans to moon. They can live in space for years. We can put thousands of years of knowledge inside a disc drive the size of my thumbnail.  We have this amazing communications of television, the internet, and satellites.  We have armies, navies air power and even a space-force…. 

And yet, we have been crippled by one of the smallest biological realties in God’s creation: a microscopic virus!  Despite our protestations, it has exposed our pretensions to power as just that: pretense!

We need to be very careful that we do not identify this pandemic as God’s judgment upon humanity, or even upon those who wield power.  No!  This pandemic is a reminder that we are all in this together: rich and poor, white, black and brown, employed and unemployed, young and old, Republican, Democrat and Independent.   It is a reminder that we need to cooperate and work together to survive it. 

No… the divine laughter is directed toward those in power who deny the reality of a common humanity in the face of a deadly illness.  It is directed toward those who seek to divide in order to conquer. 
    “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision.
                                                       II
But Psalm 2 is more that a message of judgement, it is a word of comfort. Patrick Miller, in his commentary on the Psalms, describes God’s laughter “as one of the most assuring sounds of the whole Psalter.” (Interpreting the Psalms p. 90).  Why? Because God is unmoved by any pretensions of human power.  In Miller’s words, it
“relativizes even the largest of human claims for control over the affairs of peoples and nations.”
 He continues,
“even the fiercest terror is made the object of laughter and derision and thus is rendered impotent to frighten those who hear the laughter of God in the background.” 

Hearing the laughter of God, even in the midst of all that chaos that surrounds us, is a pleasant and comforting sound.  It reassures us that ultimately God is God: a mighty fortress in the midst of strifes of life. 

I still vividly remember the the spanking incident that occurred nearly 60 years ago.  Our parents were gone and we were bereft of their protection.  We had these pseudo parents to watch over us, and they were attempting to enforce control by violently hurting us, spanking the youngest and smallest child, as if to make an example of him in front of us.  It was a horrifying prospect to behold.  And then he laughed. It was a most reassuring sound.  It was comforting because in that moment we knew, we would survive and be fine. 

There is a comforting message within the violent bookends of Psalm 2.  Amidst the rage of the nations and bullying of the powerful (often choosing to visit harm upon the smallest and the weakest) God’s goodness will prevail. 

We can recall the words of Mary, in the Magnificat:
His mercy is for those who fear him
 from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
    and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and sent the rich away empty.
 He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy…

I would add the concluding words of Psalm 2, “Happy are all who take refuge in him.” 

                                                   III
Psalm 2 is ultimately a message of hope.  One of the most popular pieces of choral music is the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah.  It is a glorious piece that proclaims “Hallelujah” or “God be praised!” forty eight times.  Sadly, it is often divorced, in our hearing, from its original context.  The context for this glorious chorus is Psalm 2.  It begins with Bass solo, raising the question,
“Why do the nations rage? Why do the people imagine such a vain thing?” 
The tenor then responds with a brief recitative:
“He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn; the Lord shall have them in derision.” 
He continues with a solo proclaiming the judgment of God… “He shall break them….” 

And then the music pauses. It is a long, pregnant pause. Suddenly, it shifts from judgment to glorious hope.  The choir responds to the tenor’s solo:  “Hallelujah…” not once, but nearly 50 times!  Why does the choir sing “Hallelujah?”  In midst of this emphatic response one hears these words: “The kingdom of this world has become, the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.  And he shall reign forever and ever.” 

This is the message of Christian hope that speaks to the human condition, to the despair that we experience in our daily struggles. It speaks with authority to a world weary of this pandemic, but also weary of the feeble attempts to respond to it.  It is a message of comfort and hope to those who have suffered, those who continue to suffer, and those who fear the suffering that might occur, proclaiming the victory of resurrection and life in realm of eternity.  

Hallelujah is the response of those who have heard the laughter of God and live in hope.  Even in the midst of a pandemic!

I remember the first time I heard those words, though I heard them many times before.  I was 2 years into ministry and it was all falling apart.  In a few short months I experienced a devastating broken relationship.  I was an associate pastor and the pastor who I worked with, and looked to him for direction was involved in a scandalous extramarital affair.  I was carrying some burdensome debts from education and poor decisions. I was in a PhD program but was not convinced I was called to be an academic.   I thought things were crumbling down around me.  The choir, that Sunday was putting on its Easter concert, and would feature the appropriate portions of Handel’s Messiah.  I sat dutifully through it, and then stood with everyone when the Hallelujah Chorus began, taking the opportunity to stretch my legs so that I could make it until the end.  I had heard this music a number of times… and then I heard it. 
“The kingdom of this world, has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.” 

For some reason those words just jumped out at me and grabbed me.  I remember feeling during that moment that my worries, my despair, my anxieties were ultimately so small in the great scheme of things…. 

This world was God’s world… His Kingdom and of his Christ.”   That is hope… Hope that enables endurance.  Hope that fortifies resilience.

Over 40 years have passed since that moment, and yet it exists in my soul as yesterday.  Lately, I find myself feeling the same way again… not for me, however, I’m on my last lap. 
I feel it for the world, for the people I know and love.  For my own child.  For the hundreds of children I have baptized and confirmed.  For the future generations.
 I experience it when I watch, read, or listen to the news, to the rhetoric of the “powerful”.
 I experience it, and in conversations with others, I am aware that many of you also experience this ominous feeling.

 It is time that we stop and listen…. Listen… not to the pundits, not to the powerful; not to the prognosticators of the future.  No.  Listen for the laughter… the divine laughter that emanates from the heavens.  The laughter that proclaims, “this is my world… you are my people… I know you by name, and love you dearly.” 

I have given away most of my books and volumes to aspiring pastors, hoping to encourage them in their respective ministries.  Among the volumes that I have kept are about 40 by one author Karl Barth, a 20th Century Swiss theologian.  There is not enough time to share his importance and impact he made. He died on December 10, 1968 in his house in Basel, Switzerland. On the prior evening, he had a phone conversation with his lifelong friend Eduard Thurneysen.  This was 1968. They fretted over the events in the world. The riots, the assassinations, the Cold War, the nuclear build up.   Barth concluded the conversation with these words,
“Just don’t be so down in the mouth, now! Not ever! For things are ruled, not just in Moscow or in Washington or in Peking, but things are ruled – even here on earth—entirely from above, from heaven above.”

My Christian friends… listen.  Listen Do you hear the laughter?  It comes from the heavens… and speaks to us today a message of comfort and hope.  This is the good news.  “Happy are all who take refuge in him.” Amen.

Two Similes and a Judgment

Two Similes and a Judgment
A sermon by Brent J Eelman
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Clarks Summit
July 26, 2020 


Preacher's note:  This sermon is written and punctuated in a manner that enables me to preach it and might not reflect proper grammar and punctuation.  Please be gracious and forgive.  :) 
 
Psalm 1
Happy are those
 who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
  or sit in the seat of scoffers;
 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
 and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
 planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
 and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
The wicked are not so,
  but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
 nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
 but the way of the wicked will perish.


“I feel blessed!” That expression has come into vogue lately.  When things go well; when we have enough; when our relationships are positive, we often say, “I feel blessed.”  The implication is that someone, something, often the divine is looking on us with special favor and making things better.  And so we exclaim, “I feel blessed!”  We are implying, “God thinks I am ok… because look at my life and how good it is.”

Another expression, “I want to be happy.” Happy is a word we use as the core of life’s meaning.  We have enshrined its pursuit in our nation’s Declaration of Independence.  We seek happiness in our relationships, our employment, our hobbies, our homes, our schools, and our church.  If we are unhappy with one of these areas of our lives, we move on.  If pressed to define what happiness is, we usually describe it in terms of an ephemeral feeling.  “I feel happy.” 

I fear our common understanding of happiness and blessed obscure their true nature.  Both words have been used in translations of Psalm 1.  Depending upon which translation you read, you will encounter one of those terms.  Psalm 1 invites us to probe the meaning of being blessed and experiencing happiness.  It does this by contrasting it with its opposite: wickedness or evil.  It presents us with 2 similes, 1. Happiness and blessedness are like trees.  2.  Evil and Wickedness is like chaff.  3. It concludes with a judgment on each of these lifestyles. 

                                                    I
Like trees.  “Like trees planted by streams of water.”  It is a fascinating analogy for the happy life, the life that is blessed.  “They are like trees…”.  Karen and I have spent a lot of time, (and money!) dealing with trees this year.  We live on a wooded property and have enjoyed the shade and beauty of trees for nearly 15 years.  This spring, we discovered that 5 of our ash trees were inflicted with the ash borer and needed to be cut down.  Three of these trees were huge.  One had a trunk nearly 4 feet in diameter.  After it was cut down, I started to count the rings trying to figure out the age of the tree.  I stopped at around 140, and was only about 2/3 of the way done.  My guess is that one of the trees was nearly 200 years old.  It is sad to see something so magnificent come down, but also a reminder of the mutability of all things.  I began to ponder the what that tree lived through, 2 world wars, a civil war, a great depression, and so much more.  What an amazing existence!  It represented strength, resilience, and in its grain it carried the memories and stories of the ages.  Ironically this powerful and magnificent tree succumbed to the presence of a tiny beetle. Mortality is a reality of all living things. 

When I contemplate the trees on our property, the analogy of the psalmist comes to life.  Trees, planted by streams of water are rooted in the earth, the soil of God’s creation.  In short, they are connected to that which gives life.  This is the first truth of this simile.  Happiness, the state of blessedness, is not found in what you have, nor in where you are going, nor what you are doing, nor the emotions that you may be feeling at the time… no.  Happiness, the state of blessedness, is about being connected to (and rooted in) that which gives life. 

The second lesson from this simile is that happiness, the state of blessedness, yields fruit. Trees have a purpose and they fulfill that purpose with beauty and grace.  Some trees bring forth fruit and nuts that feed other living creatures.  All trees absorb the carbon-dioxide gases in the atmosphere and convert them to oxygen.  The branches of trees offer not only shelter for humanity, but also for birds and other fauna.  They do this quietly, throughout the spring and summer, and then, their leaves die, in an act of colorful beauty that we photograph, paint and travel to see.  “They are like trees…..” 

The psalmist offers us another example of the happy, blessed life. “They delight in the law of the Lord.”  Delight, when used as a verb is the playful joy that comes from doing justice, loving others and seeking beauty and truth.  Truth… Truth…

We live in an age where truth is under assault.  We have been so gas-lit, that we are losing our moral and intellectual compasses,  not knowing what is up or down.  One of the examples of this is the anti-science movement that has taken hold of many.  It has different forms, but it basically calls into question the wisdom of science, math, and the quantitative tools of analysis.

We need to recognize that the foundation of modern science grew from the soil of inquiry into the nature of God’s creation.  Pennsylvania has hundreds of small colleges founded by churches.  Science was a central part of their curriculum, because understanding the laws and mechanisms of creation was ultimately delighting in the law of the Lord.  If we believe that Jesus is the Logos, or truth, there exists no truth apart from him.  Science does not deny the divine, it reveals the mystery, the complexity, and ultimately the transcendent reality of God.  To study science is to delight in the law of the Lord!

Happiness, the state of blessedness, is not about accumulation, nor the easy life…no.  It is about being rooted in soil of creation and sprouting forth in goodness, fruitfulness, beauty, justice and truth.  They are like trees. 

                                                  II
Like chaff.   We need to acknowledge the realism of the psalmist.  Our minds are drawn to the analogy of the tree planted by the stream, and the goodness that derives from it.  But the psalmist also addresses the reality and omnipresence of evil and wickedness.  It is an affliction that exists in humanity.  Evil is not always ugly, brutal, and initially destructive. 

Wickedness is often seductive, often offering us “something better.”  The psalm declares that its practitioners even function as counselors, spewing advice and giving direction in ways that distort truth and goodness. “Happy are those how do not follow the advice of the wicked”.

The psalmist then speaks of evil existing in those who “sit in the seat of scoffers.”  Sitting in a seat is an ordinary event in our lives, but the psalmist is not referring to our chairs and sofas.  This is a reference to the seats of power and authority and those who occupy them.  The psalmist is engaging in political realism by reminding us that those who occupy seats of authority and power can be motivated, not by the pursuit of justice and goodness, but by their own pathology and evil.  The psalmist shines a light on the rhetoric of the powerful and condemns the scoffers: those who sneer at truth, who lie and obfuscate, who barter in disrespect, insolence, and mockery. 

The reality of evil is that it begins with seeds of banality and flowers into violence and destruction.  It is not life-giving.  Its ultimate resource is the power of death.  The preacher poet, John Donne, captured this in one of his Holy Sonnets:

Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell…

But here is the irony…. The power of evil and death is like chaff.  Chaff is the thin scaly husk that surrounds grain.  In ancient times it was removed by thrashing the grain, and the wind would blow it away.  This is the core message of our faith. It is the message of the cross and resurrection.  Evil and death are a reality, but like chaff, they ultimately are worthless: dust in the wind.  The empty tomb echoes the empty husk… They are like chaff.”

                                                          III
Judgment.  Psalm 1 ends with a message of judgment.  The wicked, (who sit in seats of power) will not be able to stand in the face of judgment.  They will perish.  Percy Byshe Shelley, extolled the reality of judgment in his sonnet Ozymandias.   Ironically it is a poetic narrative about a fallen statue.  The legs stand by themselves, the rest of the body, lying in the sand.  The visitor notes the face of the statue:  His “wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read..”  He sat in the seat of the scoffers.  

It concludes with these words:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

The wicked are not so, but are like chaff which the wind blows away. 
Psalm 1 reminds us that the life of faith is a journey.  We are on a path.  Each of us needs to acknowledge that there are times when we are diverted from the path of truth.  There are times when we are seduced by the counsel and advice of evil.  Each of us has that within us, and that is the struggle of daily existence.  It is why we regularly pray for forgiveness.  It is why we struggle and even die for truth, beauty and justice.

Two similes:  Happiness is like a tree.  Wickedness is like chaff.  
A Judgment:  the way of the wicked will perish. 

Psalm 1 reminds us of the propensity of evil within each of us, but that there is a better way.  This psalm call us to be rooted in the soil of truth, nurtured by the flowing streams of justice, connected to others in love, grace and forgiveness.  This is the good news.  Amen.

How Shall We Sing?

How Shall We Sing the Lord’s Song?
A sermon by Brent J Eelman
June 28, 2020
Eagles Mere Presbyterian Church

Psalm 137:1-6
By the rivers of Babylon—
    there we sat down and there we wept
    when we remembered Zion.
² On the willows^[a] there
    we hung up our harps.
³ For there our captors
    asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How could we sing the Lord’s song
    in a foreign land?
⁵ If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    let my right hand wither!
⁶ Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
    above my highest joy.

Acts 16:22-28

²² The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. ²³ After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. ²⁴ Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”


When Paul and Silas were thrown into prison on trumped up charges, how did they respond? 
They sang!  I find it to be one of the most inspiring stories in the New Testament.  They could have responded in any number of ways.  They could have allowed their anger to fester and screamed and yelled about how “unfair” things were.  They could have whined and cried about their situation.  They could have planned an escape. 

Think about it.  They were chained in their cells.  There movement was limited.  The odor of human waste, illness, and rot permeated the air.  This was not a picnic.  How did they respond?  They sang!  And we complain about social distancing and masks these days in the name of freedom?  Paul and Silas were chained in a smelly cell, but I maintain their souls were freer than the whiners and complainers we hear protesting the impingement of their “rights and freedoms” by a mask or standing 6ft from each other.  Paul and Silas sang the Lord’s song weighed down by chains!

The psalm this morning is a lament that comes from the time when the Hebrew people were taken into captivity by the Babylonians.  In 587 BCE, the Babylonians over ran the small kingdom of Judah.  To ensure that there would be no uprising, they removed anyone who might lead a rebellion and carried them off as captives to Babylon.  This included those who were educated, the Temple priests, the scribes, the political leaders and the like.  The captives were literally aliens in a strange land, deprived of their culture, their temple, and their government.  Life as they knew it was upset and destroyed. 

There, in Babylon, deprived of everything that gave them meaning and purpose, they were taunted by their captors, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”  That was an existential struggle for them.  How could they sing the Lord’s Song apart from the Promised Land, the the temple, the law, and their language and culture.  This was their struggle and yet they were able to sing.  They dug deep into their collective soul and discovered again, the ancient song of hope and promise.  It was song of hope that gave meaning to their captivity (which would last for two generations!).  I maintain that the time of the Babylonian Captivity was one of the most creative moments in Hebrew history and we can learn from it.  They rediscovered their voice and sang the Lord’s song.  

This morning I want to  1. examine our context in terms of the Babylonian captivity.  2. Then ask, “what is the essential message or song that we are called to sing and embody?  And 3.  Suggest how might we begin to respond to this new world that the Covid 19 pandemic has wrought.

                                                      I
Our context:  One of the expressions that I regularly hear goes like this:  “When we return to normal….”  Most of us don’t like change and we especially don’t like change that is foisted upon us.  The expression “return to normal” betrays a belief that this pandemic is a blip, a road bump in history and that soon things will return to what they were.  We hoped that “things were under control”.  We hoped that it would “suddenly disappear with warmer weather.”   I believe that it is dawning on us that things will never return to the way they were. 

We are not captives in chains like Paul and Silas.  We are not captives, carried off to a strange land and deprived of the culture and symbols that provided meaning and purpose.  But we are in many ways captive to an invisible entity, a virus, that is wreaking death and destruction throughout the inhabited world.

For people like you and me, who hold our faith and religious practices near and dear, we find ourselves wrestling with the same question that the captives in Babylon struggled:  How shall we sing the Lord’s song?  How shall live out discipleship to Jesus Christ in this new and radically different context?  I read recently that the most dangerous places to be are indoor gatherings with lots of people. The three examples they offered were a religious service, choir practice, or birthday party.  Friends, two out of three of those were important to our common life as people of faith! 

Coming together to sing hymns, pray and worship together was vital to my life.  Most of us have been “zoomed” to tears and would welcome an actual committee meeting!  One of the things that churches are doing is working at how to approximate what we once did.  YouTube worship services.  Facebook Sunday school classes.  Zoom committee meetings and the like.  We need to do these things because they bring some measure of comfort to our shaken spirits. 

But I also believe that this is a moment when God is calling us to also be a bit more creative in our response.  Psalm 96 implores us to “sing a new song to the Lord.”  It is time for the church and the disciples of Jesus Christ to look into our collective souls and discover the “new song” that we are to sing…. 

One of the things that the Hebrew people had to come to grips with in the captivity was their own failure to keep the covenant.  They had to acknowledge that they did not live up to the justice demands of God.  They had to struggle with the biting words of the prophets who challenged their complacency in regards to the poor, the outcast and the downtrodden.  This pandemic should lead us to do the same. In short, do we want to return to what we were, or is God calling us to embody a more faithful life and ethic?  Is God calling us to renewal in the midst of this pandemic?

Remember our churches were shrinking.  Our children (mine own included!) Saw the breach between what we proclaim and how we live.  We chose silence, safety, and survival over a bold faith that speaks the truth to the world.  Is this what we wish to return to?   No!

                                            II
Our message:  We are good news people.  We are Easter people.  We are the inheritors of the ministry of Paul and Silas who sang with joy, while in the chains of confinement.  Steve Charleston, a retired Episcopal Bishop and Native American has captured this moment. 

“Now is the time for which our faith has prepared us. Now is the moment when all that we believe can be put to work. Now we can turn to the inner resources we have been developing over these many years to face the challenge of a world in desperate need. We are not afraid of this crisis for we have been made ready for it. We have devoted our lives to the belief that something greater than fear or disease guides human history. We have studied, prayed and grown in the Spirit. Now we come to the call to use what we believe. Our people need hope, confidence, courage and compassion: the very things for which we have been trained. We are the calm in the midst of a storm. Stand your ground and let your light so shine that others may see it and find their faith as well. “

“Let your light so shine that others may see it.”  With Paul and Silas, with the Hebrews held captive in Babylon, we are called to sing a new song… indeed to sing “the Lord’s song” in this world changed by this pandemic.   We are called to be bold.  Not stupid and foolhardy, but intelligent, creative, imaginative, loving, and bold. 

                                                 III
Our response:  God is calling us to contemplation and then to action.  Let me suggest some areas where the church and Christ’s disciples may begin to hear and sing the Lord’s song. 

a. Issues of Justice.  We are seeing marching and protesting that is related to the administration of justice be our police forces.  I find myself in sympathy with many of the concerns that are being raised, but I also fear that we might lose sight of the soil that breeds the violence and inhumane treatment we have witnessed. 

Justice ends in our judicial system, but it begins in our treatment of each other.  Can the church of Jesus Christ begin to lead a conversation about the systemic injustice of poverty and lack of opportunity that run rampant throughout the world and yes, even our land?  Can we address the structures that sideline and alienate groups of people?  When we read the prophets, Amos, Micah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and others, this is what they addressed.  (I went to church and Sunday school, every week of my life.  I never heard about the prophetic call for justice, until I went to seminary.  It wasn’t preached or taught in church.) When we read the words of Jesus, we realize that he identified his ministry in terms of this prophetic message.  Remember the words to his first sermon:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
        to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
        to let the oppressed go free…”

b. Care of the Earth.   The Psalmist proclaims, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”  Recall the words of the first hymn we sang, “Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of al nature.”  How we treat nature and creation is not merely a political and economic issue. It is an issue of faith and how we regard God’s creation. One of the interesting consequences of this time of lockdown is how the rest of creation is responding to it.  The skies are clearing.  China, for example has 25% less CO2 emissions.  Animals are roaming a bit more freely, without the fear of being run down by some type of vehicle.  Can this time of pandemic be a moment when the church and disciples of Jesus Christ begin to examine our treatment of creation.  Is it time for us to sing, not only with our voices but with our lives and actions:
“For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies. 
Can we sing those words with the conviction of the action they demand? 

c. Racism.  The last time I was with you was the week following the events in Charlottesville, VA.  I attempted to address the truth of the continuing sin of racism in our world.  We need to recognize that we are not in a post-racial era.  The sins of the past continue to haunt us. 

The congregation where my wife and I worship has encouraged us to spend 21 days examining the racial issues in our society, our contribution to them, and how we might begin to address them from a perspective of faith.  It has been a hard struggle for us.  We come from different backgrounds yet we both realized that we were shielded from the reality of the omnipresence of racial injustice.  We are both educated well beyond college, but there is a history of oppression that we did not know.  The challenge for the church is to move from study, and self examination, to confession, and then to genuine action.   It will require creativity and moral courage. 

There are other challenges that we have and the temptation is to become so overwhelmed that we do nothing…. Perhaps that is the normal we wish to return to.. (Deer in the headlights?) but it is not what God is calling us to.

I believe that we were created for this moment. This is the time for which we have been prepared.  How shall we sing the Lord’s song?  How will you?  How will I. 
May God grant us wisdom and courage for the facing of this hour… for the facing of this hour.  Amen. 

Creativity in Captivity: Reflections on the Covid-19 Crisis

Creativity in Captivity: Reflections on the Covid-19 Crisis
Brent J Eelman
May 11, 2019

Six weeks ago, we began the “mandatory lockdown.”  The Covid-19 virus is spreading virulently and the governor of our state, along with other governors across the country have mandated the closure of all businesses apart from those that are regarded as “essential.”  We are advised to stay in our homes and observe “social distancing.”  Consequently we have begun a period of captivity, isolated within the confines of our homes.  Apart from the occasional foray to the grocery store, we continue to remain in our homes, on our property and are physically isolating ourselves from each other. 

We are able to be in touch with each other through social media made possible by the internet.  Google Meetings, Zoom, and other programs are enabling us to communicate with each other face to face.  Social media is enabling us to continue activities in a “virtual” manner, including birthday celebrations, worship services, and family reunions. 

There is a phrase, often tacit, that hovers over this period of physical and social distancing: “when we return to normal….”  From families to national politicians, one of the assumptions is that we will return to normal.  Friends talk about and plan to return to their favorite restaurants.  Hopeful economists speak of a V shaped graph.  Furloughed workers are eager to return to their former jobs.  Students and teachers eagerly anticipate the opening of schools and colleges.  We are looking forward to enjoying our forms of recreation, be it on the beach with others or sitting in a crowded stadium enjoying a game. 

The tacit belief is that the virus is a pause in our ongoing activity and that soon we will return to the way things were.  Stores and restaurants will be open.  Beaches will be crowded.  The economy will be rolling and we can resume the activities of just four months ago.  I fear that this is wishful thinking.  The scientific consensus is that this virus will be around in some form for years to come.  Hopefully we will develop an effective vaccine, but even then we will face the issues of developing the billions of doses necessary and the delivery system to ensure that it reaches enough people to make a positive impact.  Further, we need to recognize that viruses have the ability to mutate, (There is some evidence that Covid-19 already has. See NBC News: Yes, COVID-19 is mutating, here's what you need to know. by Dr. Angel N. Baldwin and Sony Salzman, May 7, 2020).   The Covid-19 pandemic is not a pause, it is a reboot of history itself. 

1:  The need for a narrative of understanding. 
Human beings are meaning creating organisms.  We understand events and things in terms of a narrative or story.  Sometimes the story is grounded in reality; at other times it manifests itself as a conspiracy.  The plethora of conspiracy theories that inundate our discourse reflect our struggle to understand and come to terms with the events occurring around us and to us.  Our narratives reflect our hopes and our fears.  They present the best of what it means to be a human being and also the worst. 

Narratives, in their simplest and most digestible form provide explanations and causes for events.  The most insidious narrative in modern times was the Nazi propaganda which placed the cause for the suffering of the German people on the shoulders of the Jews. 

The political enterprise (and its bedfellow propaganda) works at creating a narrative to explain what is occurring and then presents that narrative in a simple believable form with the express purpose of engendering supportive action from the people.  As a nation we have experienced a changing narrative.  Early in the outbreak the message was one of reassurance:  “It is under control.”  “It is like a cold or the flu.”  “It will disappear when the weather gets warmer.”  An important part of this narrative was the emphasis on minimizing, even denying the deadly realities of the virus.  “It is a hoax.” 

As the pandemic became more widespread the narrative shifted from reassurance to containment.  “If we make temporary changes in our behavior we can flatten the curve.”  “Testing is available.”  “Anyone who wants a test can get a test.”   The narrative was that we can beat this thing is we hunker down and self isolate.  This narrative praised the scientific community and the national preparedness to meet the challenge of the pandemic. 

This narrative ran into two obstacles:  1. The impatience of the culture and  2. The lack of preparation and infrastructure to achieve the desired result.   It soon shipwrecked on the rocks of reality. 

Currently, there is no unifying narrative and consequently we are a bitterly divided society.   We are divided in our understanding of what is happening and our interpretation of the events.  We are struggling with the question of why this happened.  We are struggling to understand our weak response to the threat of this virus.  We are struggling to understand what it means to live as human beings in an age of pandemic.  Our struggle has not united us, but rather bitterly divided us.  Articles of personal safety, (masks) have become political symbols.  Stay at home orders have been challenged by openly armed protestors.  The medical/scientific community is coming under attack and even blame for the economic consequences of the pandemic.

The divisions,(political, social, economic, and racial) that have divided our country have become even more pronounced during this time of pandemic. 

2.  The Captivity as a Narrative.
It is my thesis that the Babylonian Captivity of the Hebrew people can provide us with a narrative to understand what is happening during this time of pandemic.  The captivity or exile began in 597 bc when the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, began the removal of the Jewish leadership from the recently conquered Judah.  Over a period of 10 years, the educated, those who could govern, and the Temple leadership were taken to Babylon. There they would be removed from the people and thus not in a position to foment any type of rebellion.  Thus ensued a crisis for the Hebrew people.  They needed a narrative to understand why what they had previously known was being destroyed. 
The Psalmist captured their grief and pain, writing,
    By the rivers of Babylon—
    there we sat down and there we wept
    when we remembered Zion.
Their grief was amplified by the lack of a unifying narrative.
How could we sing the Lord’s song
    in a foreign land?

They had to come to grips with why they were there.  They believed that there was meaning to their situation and struggled to find the words to give meaning to their captivity.  Their struggle led to one of the most creative periods in biblical history.  In the prophets, Jeremiah and 2nd Isaiah they discovered a narrative that gave an understanding to their predicament, but more, it gave them renewed national purpose. 

The 45th chapter of Jeremiah is often referred to as the Oracle to Baruch. Baruch was Jeremiah’s secretary.  He recorded the words of Jeremiah.  The context for the oracle was the destruction and chaos that the nation was experiencing, and in particular Baruch’s own anxiety as his world collapsed around him. 
“Woe is me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.” (verse 3).

The message to him was clear, albeit disconcerting:
 
“Thus says the Lord: I am going to break down what I have built, and pluck up what I have planted—that is, the whole land.”  (verse 4)

Baruch is reminded of the divine intention.  The Hebrew history was being rebooted.  This was not a pause.  Things would not go back to normal.  No.  God was going about a process of recreating.  This was a sobering message, but strangely hopeful, for it would have reminded Baruch of the other times that he had recorded similar words at the direction of Jeremiah.  He would remember Jeremiah’s call as a prophet:

See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”  (Ch. 1:10)

“….To build and to plant…” This reboot of history was also a creative moment.  The divine narrative was “Do not despair over what was lost, what was broken down or destroyed.  Now is the time for building and planting.” 

This narrative of hope in the midst of despair is supported by practical advice from Jeremiah to the exiles.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:  Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.  But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.  (Ch. 29:4-7)

There is realism in these words.  Good days were not right around the corner.  The people needed to begin to adjust to life in captivity.  It would last for generations.  In short, the prophetic message to the people in exile was, “You will there for a long time.  Make it work.” 

The time of captivity was also a time of creativity and hope.

"Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” (Ch. 29:10-11).

The creativity of this period of captivity was a time to look back on their history and the work of the Divine.  During this time the priestly writer, struggled with what it meant for a nation to suffer, and then realized that creation itself was the work of God who suffered.  Creation was the divine response to anomie, darkness, loneliness and pain.  And so he recorded the words that begin the scriptures:
“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,  the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”  (Gen. 1:1-5)

The narrative of hope in the midst of captivity emerged in the prophesy of Second Isaiah (chapters 40-66).  The prophet begins with a word of comfort to the despairing captives.

Comfort, O comfort my people,
    says your God.
 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that she has served her term,
    that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double for all her sins.  (Isaiah 40:1-2)

But the words of comfort quickly pivot to ones of preparation anticipating a new future:

A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all people shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”  Isaiah 40 3-5)

The prophet in subsequent oracles interprets Israel’s suffering as redemptive (the “Servant Songs”) and anticipates the future as one that is filled with promise, finally culminating in this glorious statement: 
For as the new heavens and the new earth,
    which I will make,
shall remain before me, says the Lord;
    so shall your descendants and your name remain. (Isaiah 66:22)

The period of the Babylonian Captivity or exile was one of the most creative periods in biblical history.  The Hebrew people discovered a narrative that gave meaning to their current context, their history, and their future.  The warrior/conquering image of the divine gave way to a God who suffered with his people, a God who experienced the pain of despair when his people forsook his covenant.  They came to grips with their own unfaithfulness, their callous disregard for justice, and their neglect of the poor.  They began to understand their national mission, not in terms of exclusivity, but rather as one of inclusion.  They were to be a “light to the nations” and through them humanity itself would be redeemed. 

Within the Christian tradition we understand this narrative of redemptive suffering, the call to repentance, and the hope of a new creation as occurring in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  It is no small coincidence that during the Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter seasons, we lean heavily upon the Hebrew literature of the Captivity to express our own narrative of redemption. 

3. Forging a Narrative of Suffering, Repentance and Redemption.
I fear that those who proclaim the message of a return to normalcy are our modern Hananiah’s (see chapter 29 of Jeremiah) spewing false hope that is ultimately dangerous and deadly.   The danger is that what we regard as normal is deadly and the pandemic has exposed it for those who have eyes to see and minds to understand. 

Consider:

• Those whom we regard as “essential workers” are some of the most exploited in our economy.  The people who drive the delivery trucks, who stock the shelves, who work the cash registers, who prepare the food are often paid an unlivable minimum wage.  They work without the benefit of health insurance and retirement savings.  We have also seen intense outbreaks in nursing homes housing the elderly and most vulnerable, in overcrowded prisons, and in the meatpacking industry.  Once again those who work in these occupations are often poorly paid and economically vulnerable. 
• We have linked healthcare with employment.  With the furloughing of employees, millions will lose their healthcare insurance.  For some this will be devastating especially if they contract Covid-19. 
• We have armed ourselves to the teeth with military grade weapons and are now witnessing the presence of militia styled protests at capitols.
• We are witnessing the continuing plague of racism in our society as manifest in the recent shooting of a black man jogging.  African Americans and other minorities are bearing a disproportionate burden of illness and death during this pandemic. 
• As a nation we have not come together, rather our divisions are being played upon to further the political ends of some.
• The attempts to distribute aid and resources to those in need was hijacked by large corporations who had the wherewithal to navigate and respond to the processes for getting aid. 
• The federal response has been, at best, anemic.  It has devolved into a blame game and the denial of responsibility for any type of response.
• Our healthcare system, which is able to do miraculous things in the face of illness and accident, has been unable to respond effectively to this pandemic.  We lack the testing wherewithal and tracking ability to effectively open our economy.
• The anti-government narrative that has been the dominant ideology since 1980 has reduced the ability to effectively respond to a national emergency like this pandemic.  It is sad that the scientific and medical community has been projecting an event like this for years. Immunologists have developed models anticipating a pandemic. These models have included proposed preparations and responses.  Sadly, the warnings, models and proposed preparations have been ignored.  The dismantling of our public welfare systems has had a grinding effect upon the poor for a generation. 
• Our healthcare system, which we have often praised as being the best in the world, has failed in its response to this virus.  To date we have had 1,400,000 cases diagnosed through limited testing.  This is  33% of all diagnoses in the world. We have also suffered 81,000 deaths (to date May 11, 2020) or 28% of all deaths. We represent only 4.25% of the world population.   Sadly, we have only tested 1.3% of our population.  Today (May 11, 2020) we have learned that White House itself has experienced 2 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and that a number of White House appointees and employees, including the head of the Center for Disease Control and the Director for the National Center for Allergy and Infectious Diseases have voluntarily quarantined because of exposure. 
• The pandemic has also affected people of different economic situations differently.  Prior to this pandemic, it was a recognized rule of thumb that 40% of all Americans could not afford a $400 emergency, (Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2018: May 2019, The Federal Reserve.)  Those people are being especially hit hard in the midst of this; witness the long lines at food banks and emergency food giveaways.  Ironically, many of those who are in the top percentage are doing quite well and even profiting from this emergency. 
• The pandemic has also exposed our mistreatment of creation.  Because we are homebound, pollution has temporarily abated, revealing for us the possibilities of a cleaner world.  This pandemic is a reminder that our behavior does affect the eco-system and that should be a hopeful sign.

This pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities and injustice in the world that we called “normal.”  It has revealed who we are as a society, exposing our racism, our exploitive behavior, and the manner in which we have been manipulated and divided by the political forces that govern the country.  I do not believe that this is the normal to which we wish to return.  The suffering that we are experiencing in isolation and lockdown is the result of our national callousness to the needs of the poor, the importance of universal health care, and the welfare of all of our citizens.  The citizen armament movement (which had its biggest month of sales in March of 2020) is serving to intensify this injustice and is creating a potentially violent situation. 

It is my belief that this time of pandemic, when we are stuck in our homes, could and should be a time for reflecting upon our national narrative.  Times of disaster have often resulted in positive change for societies. Social Security grew out of the economic vulnerabilities experienced during the great depression.  National service programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps not only put many individuals back to work but also added value to our national park system.  The Marshall Plan in Europe, following WWII, was a response to communist aggression, but it also rebuilt a war-devastated continent and provided a foundation for many of the social welfare programs that have protected generations of the vulnerable.  I believe that this is a time for thinking about the future and how we can address the vulnerabilities and injustice that have made this pandemic a national disaster. 

We should not want a return to the way things were.  It is time to think, plan, and implement a vision of what we as a country can and should be.  We need to look back in our history to those who gave vision and leadership, calling on the better angels of our nature to create a nation where justice exists for all.  None of our leaders were perfect.  They all had faults, some grievous, but the best could articulate a narrative that bound us together and oriented us to a more equitable and just future. 

This is a time for national repentance.  My hope is that we will use our time in isolation to reflect upon what got us here.  That we will envision a future that is just and treats the earth with careful stewardship.. and that we will return… not to the way things were, but to a renewed vision, indeed a new narrative of purpose and hope.