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.