Moving Forward

“Moving Forward”

Sermon for MCC New Haven

August 18, 2013

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

Hebrew 11:29-12:2

Luke 12:49-56

         Jesus says in the Gospel of John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” Then in chapter 16:33, “I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!"

         Juxtapose these verses with the words we heard read from the Gospel of Luke today and you may think they came from two different people. Jesus says in Luke 12:51, “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!”

         Now before you think Jesus had a screw loose, let’s break down the Luke text. First, keep in mind that this is what scholars call an “apocalyptic” text or an “end-times” text. The most well known examples of end-times literature are John’s Book of Revelation in the Christian Testament and the Book of Daniel in the Tanakh. They are full of frightening images of fire, mythological beasts, natural disasters, and supernatural happenings.

         Those who read these things in Jesus’ time would know that they were symbolic. The figure called Satan was a symbol for the oppressive powers of the Roman Empire. And the terrible events were predicted in the midst of great tension in the ancient Near East. Oppression sickness had permeated the Jewish population of Jesus’ time. Oppression sickness is when a minority group is oppressed by the dominant group and feels powerless, so they in turn oppress those even more marginalized.

         Though we pride ourselves in the LGBT community in caring for each other because of the widespread phenomenon of rejection from our families of origin, we still suffer from oppression sickness. We form our own cliques and say who can come in and who cannot. Wealthy gay and lesbian people disassociate with lower-class gays and lesbians. Homelessness is a pandemic among our youth, but we seem to have greater priorities. HIV-negative gay men disown HIV-positive friends. Gays and lesbians stay ignorant on transgender issues and too often exclude transgender and gender variant people.

         Oppression sickness is the evil that Jesus came to save us from. When Luke tells us in the Book of Acts about those who were “being saved,” it is telling us that those folks made a decision to be anti-oppression. To be baptized was to go under the water in death and to rise out of the water into new life. The ego is left behind and the God-Self is what remains. And the God-Self always works against oppression.

         Jesus did come to bring peace, but not without a cost. Genuine peace requires facing conflict. It doesn’t require war, but it does require facing the unspoken things that have become the norm. Genuine “shalom” peace is about complete wholeness within oneself and within the community. That kind of peace requires a very uncomfortable exercise: looking the “elephant in the room” straight in the eyes.

         In this passage from Luke, Jesus is pointing to the issue of conflict avoidance. He sees how his people have allowed themselves to be degraded just to “keep the peace,” so to speak. They were alive and could sometimes make a basic living, but they had lost their dignity. Their self-worth was nowhere to be found.

         So to stir up the people, Jesus had to say something more provocative than, “Hey you guys, let’s talk about peace.” Jesus was keepin’ it real! The fire he says he is bringing to the earth is the Refiner’s Fire. It is not a means of punishment, but rather a means of purification. When precious metals are purified, they must go through the fire to burn away the impurities. In the same way, those who choose to follow Christ must allow selfishness, greed, arrogance, malice, fear, and the like to be burned away. In the extracanonical Gospel of Thomas (82)(not in our Bible), Jesus says, “Whoever is near me is near fire; whoever is distant from me is distant from the kin-dom.” The choice is made clear: be near Jesus and be refined by his holy fire and be rewarded with Heaven on Earth or stay away from the fire and continue to live Hell on Earth.

         Our reading from the Book of Hebrews puts it a bit differently. It reads, “Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus as the pioneer and perfecter of our faith…” Jesus instructs his followers that the oppression sickness will be burned away. The book of Hebrews instructs us to simply lay it down, allow it to just fall away. But within the same text, notice that it implicitly tells us that setting it down is not an easy task. When we have privilege, we cling to it like a frightened child clings to a teddy bear.

         But God calls us to a higher spiritual existence. We cannot claim spiritual maturity if we hold onto the spiritual toys of conflict avoidance, playing the judge or playing the victim, being the squeaky wheel, and the like. These behaviors are reflections of ego, not reflections of the God-Self.

         Yes, we have all gone through some hell in our lives. We have all had our struggles. It’s part of being human. But our struggles are no excuse for playing the victim. Through faith, we are bigger than our struggles. God is bigger than any struggle. The Hebrews reading gave us all the gory details of the different tortures people of faith went through. Many of those people never saw what they felt was promised to them. But they lived their lives anyhow, always striving to “higher ground.”

"The Paradoxical Commandments

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway."

~Kent M. Keith, The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council

         Being a person of faith isn’t about believing that the journey will be easy. But it is about knowing that the journey will be gratifying. Just as there will be moments of great sorrow, there will be moments of great joy. The journey isn’t all about the end result. The journey is about taking each step with confidence that there will be solid ground in front of you each day. And knowing that if there isn’t, you will be carried to the next part of the path if you only ask.

         What does it mean for MCC New Haven to run with perseverance the race that is set before us? Are we running or are we crawling? Are we on the right path? Are we on the Yellow Brick Road to seek our goals or are we in the Poppy Fields, getting sleepy? What might we still be carrying on our shoulders that is keeping us from running?

         Next Saturday from 10am to 2pm, we will flesh out these questions during our Visioning Retreat. Please be there, bring a potluck dish to share, and bring an open mind and heart. Together, we can do the work God is calling us to do. Please step forward in faith with me as we realize our great potential. And so it is! Amen.

Living Into Abundance: Jesus’ Counter-Greed Vision

“Living Into Abundance: Jesus’ Counter-Greed Vision”

Sermon for MCC New Haven

August 4^th 2013

Rev. Brian Hutchison, M.Div.

Psalm 107:1-9

Luke 12:13-21

In the words of the great theologian Mr. T, … “I pity the fool!” The parable that we just heard from Jesus is commonly called, “The Parable of the Rich Fool.” And even after two thousand years, this parable is as relevant as ever. Amen?

Following the tradition of Moses, who was willing to judge on matters of inheritance and wealth, a man comes to Jesus asking him (as a Rabbi) to tell his older brother to share their father’s inheritance. Jewish law said that the majority of the inheritance went to the first-born son. So this latter son does not find this fair and he asks for Jesus’ help. Sensing that this man has enough already and is not living in poverty, he gives the man some wisdom. Jesus says, “Be on guard against all kinds of greed: for life des not consist in the abundance of possessions.” I believe that if the man had been homeless and in actual need, Jesus would have had a different answer. But in this case, Jesus sensed not NEED, but rather GREED.

Remember that a parable is not a historic event. It is rather a story, a fable, meant to make an ethical point. This parable related directly to the lives of the people of his time. He used a farmer as an example. The farmer’s crops did very well one year, so he decides to tear down his barns and build bigger ones so that he can save ALL of the crops and live in luxury. It never even crosses his mind in the text to share any of the crops.

The Jews listening to Jesus tell this parable would have known that at least 10% of the crop was supposed to be given to the poor under Jewish law. So not only was the man being greedy; he was being unlawful. Then Jesus tells us the inner thoughts of the farmer. The farmer says to himself (actually he says to his “soul,” which is a translation to English from the Greek word “psyche”)… The farmer says to his psyche, “Psyche, you have enough wealth to last for years without working. Relax and enjoy it!” I would translate “soul” to “Ego.”

This is the point in the parable where Jesus brings in the voice of God. The Ego had spoken; now it’s God’s turn. God says, “You fool! You’re going to die tonight. Who will have your wealth now?” Jesus is making the very simple point through this parable: You can’t take it with you! Again, “I pity the fool!”

Sometimes we each need a wakeup call to remember our finitude, to remember that none of our bodies can live forever. Sometimes it’s a diagnosis, or a car crash, or an injury. Sometimes it’s the death of a loved one. We do everything in our power to forget that we don’t have an eternity to live and love in this world. The multi-million dollar plastic surgery industry shows us how afraid of aging we are as a culture. And I think gay men especially buy into the denial.

We all know that our economy is in trouble and has been for a long time. This is where I’m going to preach politics. In order for a church to keep its non-profit status, it cannot endorse a particular candidate, make contributions to a candidate, or endorse a political party. So I will not do any of those things today. What I will do is what I think Jesus would do today: speak against greed. So here goes…

For starters, recent wars since the 2001 terrorist attacks have all but bankrupted our government. Listen to this carefully: The United States Military Budget for one WEEK could wipe out world hunger for one YEAR. I am not a complete pacifist, but I do know that this is terribly excessive. What ever happened to the words of the prophet Micah (4:3), “…and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Or as it has been put by the old Negro Spiritual, “Gonna lay down my sword and shield down by the river side, down by the river side, down by the river side, gonna lay down my sword and shield down by the river side and study war no more…”  When will we learn to study war no more? War not only kills our soldiers and foreign men, women, and children; it kills our poor.

The other form of greed we face today is the distribution of wealth within our capitalist economic system. Over the last forty years, the top one percent of Americans has continued to get richer and richer. How rich you ask? One percent (that’s one out of every 100 Americans) now owns 43 percent of the nation’s wealth. The next four percent owns 29 percent of the nation’s wealth. The next 15 percent owns 21 percent of the nation’s wealth. Do you know what that means? The rest of us- that’s 80 percent of the population owns just 7 percent of the nation’s wealth. That’s the entire middle and lower classes together- just 7 percent. The other 93 percent belongs to the top 20 percent of the population.

The lowest portion of that 7 percent of wealth includes those who work for fast food chains. Across the country, they make as low as just over 7 dollars per hour, what we call “minimum wage.” But we all know that minimum wage is NOT a living wage. No one can feed a family on minimum wage. This past week, thousands of fast food workers went on strike, demanding higher pay. Even our current president has pushed consistently for raising minimum wage. Corporations respond by saying that they cannot survive if they pay their workers more. They say that they would have to raise the price of their food. But look at their profits in the last year and see that they are in the tens of billions of dollars. Instead of paying their workers that stand in hot kitchens for hours and repeat, “May I take your order” hundreds of times a day, CEOs decide to instead ‘tear down their barns and build bigger ones’. In Jesus’ words I ask, “And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”

A certain news channel named after a sly animal that steals from others… justifies this distribution. They say that if wealth were distributed more equally, the poorer classes would become lazy. They say that the poor would not strive for anything better because they already have enough. They say that those who are wealthy have worked hard to get where they are and deserve their wealth.

The truth is that our laws have allowed the lower class to be exploited. The “trickle-down economy” theory of Ronald Reagan did not work. Wealth didn’t trickle down; it evaporated up into the clouds of the one percent and stayed there. And dark clouds have continued to loom. Remember, you can see rain, but you can’t often see evaporation. You can tell when you have extra money to pay bills and feed your family. But the wealth of the rich is hidden in barns, or should I say, “Off-shore accounts.” The drought has lasted for much too long.

1700 years ago in the fourth century, St. John Chrysostom had a lot to say about greed. He was known for his great preaching abilities, which gathered great crowds to hear. He was given the name “Chrysostom,” which means, “mouth of gold” because he preached so well, not because he had gold teeth like Flava Flave J. Many of his sermons are now considered anti-Semitic because he pushed for Christians to not follow Jewish customs. But what I can praise him for is a sermon series he preached called, “On Wealth and Poverty.” I don’t agree with him completely because he essentially says that all the rich that don’t give to the poor go straight to Hell. In my opinion, God will determine our eternal fate. But I do know the wrong that happens in this world, so I will share some of his words.

John Chrysostom preached these words about the rich not giving to the poor in the year 388: “This cruelty is the worst kind of wickedness; it is an inhumanity without rival. For it is not the same thing for one who lives in poverty not to help those in need, as for one who enjoys such luxury to neglect others who are wasting away with hunger… Again, it is not the same thing for one who is troubled in his heart by misfortune and distress not to help his neighbor, as for one who enjoys such happiness and continuous good fortune to neglect others who are wasting away with hunger, to lock up his heart, and not to be made more generous by his own joy.”

John Chrysostom’s words echo exactly what the Apostle Paul said in his second letter to the Corinthians: “Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor. 9:7, NRSV). Repeat after me: God loves a cheerful giver. If any of that 20% of richest Americans claims a Christian identity, and if any of those who determine military spending claim a Christian identity, I give them the challenge of following the Christian message of distribution of wealth.

So we’ve pointed out today the gross sin, the gross lack of love in the form of greed that is demonstrated daily by the richest Americans. But what about us? I don’t think anyone in this room is a multi-millionaire. If you are, I know for a fact that you don’t tithe J. So what is this parable of Jesus saying to us today?

In a few short weeks when we meet for our Visioning Retreat, a portion of our time together will be devoted to stewardship. You will be given the opportunity to hear about biblical principles of stewardship and how God is calling us all handle our finances. I know that some of us are struggling financially. I know that others have stable employment or are retired. We have a good mix of folks here.

But more importantly, we will examine whether we are each sharing with our church the portion that God is calling us to share. Do you embrace a spirit of scarcity when you give each week or do you embrace a spirit of abundance? Do you trust God with what you give or do you give based on whether or not your personal needs are being met by the church? Do you see worship as a time to be entertained or a time to share in beloved community together, experiencing the presence of Christ?

We must never forget that ALL that we have is a gift from God. Yes, we all work hard for what we earn. We are all tired at the end of the day. But without the grace of God, would you have the ability to work? Would you have a job in the midst of this economy? Would you have your pension? This church is not in the moneymaking business. It is in the ministry of saving lives in the midst of a fearful world. I am our only paid employee and I am paid part-time. I can assure you that this church is not greedy and neither is our denomination. We do not subscribe to the coercive tactics of televangelists who drive around in expensive cars and live in mansions. We don’t promise immediate financial return when you use some kind of ‘miracle water’ or ‘prayer cloth.’ In other words, we don’t sell indulgences. No, we strive always to follow the economy of God, which is the great vision Jesus gave us of a world of true shared abundance.

So today, we have two challenges. The first is to keep our lawmakers accountable. A living wage is a truly Christian ideal. Sign petitions, attend rallies, and talk with your friends and family about it. The second is to be true to what God is asking each of us to contribute to MCC New Haven. This church has the potential to work miracles in our community. Will you take Jesus’ words to heart and share whatever abundance you have in order to fulfill our mission of Celebrating God’s Unconditional Love, Caring for each other, Cultivating our faith, and Carrying God’s justice into the world? If so, say “Amen!” And so it is. Amen.