Parallel Parable

Sermon: "Parallel Parable"
(These are notes from a sermon preached both at a Pennsylvania state park, and in a small, rural Penna. church.)
Text: Luke 10: 25-37

1> Tell story of Good Samaritan:
> the questioner is a lawyer-- a pillar of the relig. community, a person w/ very strong place in society--thru story, placed in position of a vulnerable, needy person
> priest & Levite -- good persons -- who may feel some sympathy but have a "good," i.e., understandable reason for not stopping
> the Samaritan, (Jews who stayed dur. Bab.exile + mixed w/other races), (mixed, therefore, adulterated) race, wrong relig.--despised, impure, unclean.
> prophets of OT, etc. warned with word of God about mixing with other peoples, losing relig.
> But what would your natural reaction, your natural response, be to someone who had just saved your life? Great gratitude? Blessing?
> (e.g., when I picked up foreign woman--drove her to Our Lady of Victory--her gratitude--not because I was Catholic, or Slavic, or whatever)
> Jesus setting up a situation for this virtuous pillar of his community to see that this despised, “unclean,” of mixed, adulterated race, wrong-relig. person was rightfully his neighbor

2> Realization: Jesus doing many things in this story, that we don't usually recognize when we learn/teach it in Sunday school:
> not just story about helping your neighbor -- because Jesus asks "who was the neighbor to the man who was in need?"
> [i.e., our neighbor not just the one who is in need--our neighbor=the otherwise despised one who shows God's love by helping us
> Consequence of hearing parable:
> emotional walls broken down that divided this socially secure pillar of commun. from the despised member
> Strong, secure member of society comes to realize that the despised member of a adulterated race is his neighbor, and that that person is qualified to help him and show him God's love
> Jesus in this parable not only showed who neighbor is, but broke down social/cultural/psych./emot. walls and barriers

3> We've got to realize Jesus in many ways seemed like one of these untouchables to the good, religious people of his day-- set aside laws, even those graven in stone (like working on the Sabbath)
> set aside purity laws of who is touchable, what is clean/unclean--washing hands, touching dead body, menstruating woman

4> Let me tell a parallel parable of our neighbor today--
> Young Hispanic woman, a legal immigrant--moral upbringing in conservative Catholic family--pretty good-paying job in L.A.--driving rather old used car from Baja Calif. in Mexico to Los Angeles. (Back from helping mother, to job in L.A.) Car breaks down in middle of nowhere.
> She is set upon by two young hoodlums who beat and rape her and leave her for dead.
> Hours later, 3 vehicles come by, one after another
> Trucker goes by w/ load of fresh produce to get to distributor in L.A., is in rush to make his delivery
> notices what might be a body beside road, can't stop, but starts trying to get ahold of authorities on his CB
> Elderly couple goes by--frail elderly woman, her husband w/ heart condition; they notice what might be a body lying beside road. --afraid to stop for fear hoodlums may still be around, and what can they do? (they ask themselves), neither can stay while other goes for help; resolve to call authorities at first gas station or town they come to.

5> Ellen DeGeneres & gay friend have been on vacation in Baja Calif., driving homeward to L.A. Notice what might be a body lying beside the road
> Pull over, see it's a badly injured woman--get kind of frantic, yell, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Don't know what to do, but know the woman can't stay there.
> Check pulse, find still alive--pick up woman into back seat of their car
> Drive as fast as they can to nearest city w/ med ctr., pay for woman's care--leave money & say charge any other expenses to Ellen

6> Now we could ask, who was neighbor to the woman who was in need? ....?
> Of course--the one who showed God's love to the one in need...

> Wouldn't it be nice if changing one's mind were that simple?

> Well, it usually isn't that easy—“There wasn't any gay person who saved my life or payed for my medical care” (Tho' probably has been for someone else!)

7> In my own life, in various places throughout my life, I came to know many people of all kinds--artists & designers, students in psych & hum dev; human service workers; etc., etc.

> Many people, both men & women--who were interesting, intelligent, funny, creative, caring, compassionate, friendly, ethical
> only after I got to know them as somebody I like & cared about & respected, did I learn they were gay.

> I know that people here are not judgmental
> but in some places, people talked about people I had come to know & respect & care about--& called them degenerate, perverts

> Define homosexuality: NOT pedophilia, rape, prostitution, abuse or harm of another--but homosexuals as persons who, for whatever reason, are not phys. attracted to opposite sex.

> Evidence that it's genetic, growing every year --
> Some say, yes, well--"Even so, it's like alcoholism & can be avoided/cured" -- some others say "it's genetic & like left-handedness or albinism" --
> left-handedness can be "cured" too, many were treated thus in childhood -- but used to be thought "sinister," bad
> and sure, an albino can dye hair & wear contact lenses so we don't have to look at someone with white hair & red eyes--but should an albino have to dye his hair & wear contact lenses because somebody calls them a degenerate monster, if they don't? (When they were born that way?)

> homosexuality is often a real disadvantage in this society = albinism is a real disadvantage, but it can't be “cured” by disguising it or covering it up, in fact it can't be “cured” at all -- and real homosexuality can never be changed--and trying to would remove other gifts

> So we need to recognize the gay person as our neighbor, and respect him or her, and not despise our neighbor--just as that proud, secure Jewish lawyer, pillar of his community, seeking to justify himself, had to learn that the despised, adulterated, wrong-religion Samaritan was indeed his neighbor -- and indeed that he had to emulate the good actions of that very person

"Clean Water, Dirty Water" - a Children's Sermon on Baptism

[Set up 2 jars of water - one clean & clear, one gray & dirty]

Now, kids---

When we're working, playing, or having fun outside all day, it's pretty easy to get dirty, isn't it?

Which parts of you get dirtiest when you're playing outside all day?

(hands, feet, knees, clothes, etc., ...)

Well, at the end of the day, what does mom or dad or someone say to you?

Before dinner -- "Go wash your hands!"
Before bed -- "Go take a bath!"
Or at least -- "Go wash those feet before you get into bed!"

Well, if you're going to wash your hands or take a bath, which kind of water would you like to (--hold up jar clean water/dirty water--) get clean in?

Sure..., the clean water!

Well, you know, our insides--our hearts, our minds, our souls--can get grimy too, living in the world every day--they get dirty by the things we do: What kinds of things might make our insides dirty and grimy--can anyone guess?

What about if we get mad at somebody who's bothered us, and tell them, "I hate you!" and we think of ways we'd like to get back at them--do you think that might make our insides kind of dirty?

...Or what if we told a lie to someone? Do you think that would make us dirty inside?

...Or what if we see someone calling a kid "stupid" or "ugly"--and then we start talking that way too, and start hurting other people's feelings and putting them down? Do you think that might make our insides dirty and grimy?

...(kids might suggest others)

You know when we do things like these, or when we do something we know is bad, just because everyone else is doing it, or when we think about and talk about how much better we are than someone else,...all these are ways we might get kind of grimy and dirty inside.

But, you know what else? There's a way of getting clean inside, just like getting clean outside. What do you think that is? Would you do it by listening to music on the radio where they're talking trash about someone, or about taking drugs or hurting people? Would you do it by watching TV shows and advertisements? Probably not....

One of the best ways I know of getting clean inside--in heart and soul and mind--is to hear about Jesus. Because Jesus always speaks the truth, even when he can get in trouble for it; and Jesus always loves people and works for their good, even if they have done something wrong; and Jesus always does the good and brave thing, even when the people around him are running away. Because Jesus is the Son of God.

So when people decide to follow Jesus, they get baptized. It's kind of like taking a bath--a symbolic bath: a small visible sign of something much bigger. And baptism is kind of a short, small bath that's a sign, a symbol of how Jesus cleans people inside, makes them all clean and fresh & new & beautiful inside....

OK? So trying to get yourself cleaned up inside by watching people kill each other on TV--or trying to get cleaned up by listening to music that talks about being nasty--is just like trying to wash your hands in dirty water. But hearing about Jesus, and hearing about what he did and what he said, is like washing your hands in clean water.

And when people get baptized, they're saying they want Jesus to make them clean inside--every day.

Now, we're going to have a meal later...would anybody like to wash their hands?

"Are You for Real?" - a Christmas Sermon for grownups

"When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, 'Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?' Jesus answered them , 'Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense in me.'" Matthew 11: 2-6

Waiting in jail, maybe even patiently, John sent to Jesus to ask, "Are you for real?" --And by that I think he might have meant: "Are you the one who is going to bring God's wrath and judgment on all the sinners in Judea and Galilee? Are you the one who is like a refiner's fire and a fuller's soap--burning away all of Israel's uncleanness and impurity? Are you really the one I have been preaching about, who's going to burn up all the dead wood and all the refuse among the inhabitants of our land? Are you the one who is going to throw the oppressors off our backs, by whom the Lord has chastened us these many years?"--"Because that's how I read the scriptures," thinks John; : "That's what I've been preaching about...!" (cf. Matt. 3:7-12)

So John asked Jesus, "Are you for real?" ...Because up to that time, John had probably heard reports about many things Jesus had done: how he had healed many, many people, and how he had preached about not judging others, and not being anxious about tomorrow, and doing to others what you would have them do to you, and loving your enemies. But John hadn't heard very much about Jesus getting rid of God's enemies.

I mean, John had baptized Jesus, and had great expectations of him, but up to now, had Jesus fulfilled John's fiery expectations of the Messiah? --(Was John beginning to doubt?) So John asked him: "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" "I mean, I hear people are calling you the Messiah, but are you for real?"

So we might ask ourselves: Why didn't Jesus just say Yes or No when John asked him, "Are you really the Messiah?" Well, if he had simply said Yes, that would have meant to John that he was the one to fulfill John's pretty fiery, cataclysmic expectations of the Messiah as a wrathful judge. And of course if he had said No, he wasn't the one who was to come, it wouldn't have been true.

So instead of saying Yes or No to John, he pointed to his works--healing and redeeming works of the Messiah that accompany the judgment and salvation of the Lord--that the prophet Isaiah had foretold: "Then the eye of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy..." (Is. 35:5-6) . The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted... " (Is. 61:1).

Jesus knew that there were violent, fiery judgmental, cataclysmic expectations of the Messiah that he would not seem to fulfill, because people's eyes were trained upon the outward appearence, and not spiritual realities: He knew his words and actions were set to shake up the usual order of things something awful: ...The kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor, the last shall be first and the first shall be last, the meek shall inherit the earth--his words and actions would shake up the usual order of things something awful, and the world could not remain as it was--great currents would be set in motion.

But Jesus knew that because he didn't seem to fit John's expectations, and John might feel disappointed in a non-violent Messiah....he said, "Blessed is he who takes no offense in me...." You see, John's expectations--and many people's expectations--of the Messiah who would set Israel straight and free her from oppressors by violent, probably military means, these expectations were really very small compared to the kind of Savior Jesus was really going to be.

Because John the Baptist was a little like the child at the mall who asks if the Santa at the mall is for real--meaning, "Is that the one who brings presents to children all over the world at Christmas?" Is that the jolly old man in a red suit who slides down chimneys and makes sure children all over the world have presents at Christmas?

That child's expectations are really much smaller than the truth: that there is a spirit of goodness and love, and joy and laughter, of generosity, and of caring for children, and of unselfish giving, that can and does fill people's hearts all year long if they're open to it. And at Christmas time the celebration of Christ's birth reminds of God's gifts to us: the gifts of our lives, and our world, and the gift of Jesus, who shows us the way home to God's heart.

Let me tell you a story about someone who believed in Santa Claus all his life. It's a true story: A Christian writer named Gilbert Chesterton grew up in England about a hundred years ago. Usually Santa Claus becomes less and less important to people as they get older, but for him, Santa Claus grew larger and larger, until he filled most of his life. This is how it happened:

When he was a child he saw something happen that needed an explanation: He hung up a stocking at the end of his bed, an empty stocking, and in the morning it was a full stocking! He hadn't done anything to produce the things that filled it. He hadn't worked for them, or made them, or even helped to make them. He hadn't even been a very good boy--far from it. But the explanation he heard was that there was a certain being, whom people called Santa Claus, who--for some reason--liked him very much.

Of course, he says, many people who talked about these things got themselves confused because they attached such importance to this being's name. He says: We called him Santa Claus because everyone called him Santa Claus; but the name of such a being is merely a human label. That being's real name might have been Joe Fonebone, or it may have been the Archangel Sally. What's really important is that we believed that a certain benevolent being did give us these toys for nothing.

And as he grew up Chesterton still believed in this wonderful being. He believed this being all his life--but he merely extended the idea: When he was a child he only wondered who put the toys in the stocking. As an adult he wondered who put the stocking by the bed, and the bed in the room, and the room in the house, and the house on the planet, and the planet in the universe. Once he only thanked Santa Claus for a few toys and crackers, but now as an adult, he thanked him for stars, and people in the street, and good things to eat and drink, and the wide ocean. Once he thought it was delightful and astonishing to find a present so big that it only went halfway into the stocking. Now as an adult he was delighted and astonished every morning to find a present so big that it takes two stockings to hold it, and then leaves a great deal outside. It was the large and preposterous present of himself and the whole world around him, and he could offer no explanation of where it all came from except that Santa Claus gave it to him in a fit of peculiarly fantastic goodwill. ...Of course, when Chesterton spoke of Santa Claus, who do you think he was really referring to?

Now, John's expectations and many people's expectations of the Messiah, who would judge with fiery wrath, and destroy all of God's enemies in Israel, and who would set up a powerful kingdom of Israel in the ancient Middle East, with Jerusalem at its center--these expectations of John's and many others were much smaller than God's real intentions for Jesus Christ: to transform the whole world, most of which they didn't even know about in John's time...; to transform the whole world, not by violent, wrathful, judgment, ....but by winning the hearts of the whole world: "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all people to myself...".

For Jesus Christ came to teach people that GOD--the great unspeakable God who made the universe--that God is love, and Jesus came to call people to love as God loves--even their enemies, and came to heal and redeem people of all the many ills that fear and sorrow and hatred had brought them...and to help us bear those things that we must bear for his sake....

And Jesus Christ's work on earth will not be done until everyone on earth has heard and understood his message: that God is love, and that we are to love as God loves--even to love our enemies. Can we hear and understand this message in our hearts today? Because Jesus Christ is very much for real.

"Strike the Rock"

Lectionary texts for the date (Sept. 28, 2008) included Exodus 17:1-7 (Moses told to "strike the rock," and water comes forth in the desert); Matt. 21:23-27 (Jesus is asked "...by what authority do you do these things?"); and Phil. 2:1-13 ("let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus....")


The year was 1917—a tall, strong farm boy from Broadway, VA [John Kline's hometown] found himself on Parris Island with the US Marines, along with a whole lot of other young men—who were training to fight & kill. But there was something different about this young fellow....

Michael Robert "Bob" Zigler's story -- the life of M.R. Zigler, founder of OEP, and the inner struggles he went through to stand up and tell the truth of who he was as a conscientious objector and pacifist while working for the YMCA [historical movement of social uplift of esp. working classes thru providing Christian recreation, religious & social services] w/the U.S. Marines on Parris Island in 1917--recreational sports & games, music, prayer services, stationery for letters home, a listening ear, a friend who's response was something more than "buck up-yer a Marine now!", etc. But conscientious objectors and pacifists were reviled in USMC. Finally spoke to commanding officer & said he was a CO. Surprisingly, found support from tough Marine colonel, who said, "Don't change. But don't tell anyone I said that until I am dead." This officer said something that continually challenged Zigler: idea that churches could prevent war if Christians agreed not to kill each other. Working through this inner struggle to speak his truth helped him find peace with himself, and also began his great work for peace in the world....I'll come back to his story.... Great creative energy for can be liberated if we face our inner demons and fears and get thru them….

Did anyone think about the question from last week: What we have to change to make Christianity itself more peaceful?

Seems contradictory, but sometimes it can be a difficult inner struggle to find and live out "the things that make for peace" in ourselves & in the wider world.

Some find themselves in a desert in the context of American Christianity; there might still be "sacred cows" in the church (maybe even University Baptist & Brethren Church!) that are bulwarks of injustice and violence against groups of people in the world—LGBT folks of course come to mind, but there are other groups as well [e.g., for women: NRSV’s changing of pronouns in Bible from “he” to “he and she”--much more to do here]. One example—what does it do to peace and justice in the world to have the history of Israel's "God-given" occupation of the Holy Land recited over and over again every year in Christian churches? [ e.g., Exodus 3:7b-8 few weeks ago: "Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.... What does it do to the world today that Israel is recognized as a people and all other people of the land as nothing?] Discussion of subject must be nuanced w/respect & tenderness love for Jews, Judaism & Jewishness, and also w/recognition of abuse of the claim to the Holy Land--& clear, new ways of interpreting Israel's conquest of Canaan. [My own story of growing up in S. Conn., near NYC, school where most of my friends were Jewish—learned meaning of kindness, friendship & forgiveness from Jewish people.]

The Bible begins with story: "There is a people that once was no people, had no identity--that once were enslaved & oppressed w/o a land of their own—had no land, no country, no standing among the nations…. God called to them and made them a people and gave them a land…" But--does this describe the Jews, ...or the Palestinians, or both?

I am hoping to go to Palestine/Israel in January—will stay with Palestinian family...what does it mean to come from a country w/tradition where I have heard unthinking recitation over and over again from the Old Testament...?] The cry of the people is also Holy Scripture; if the Bible teaches us nothing else it teaches us that.

Is it like making an assault on God?--is it like striking at Jesus Christ himself?--to try to remove some of these bulwarks of injustice that have been pillars of American Christian practice? Is this topic red hot? Are we afraid to touch it?

(Ask for some suggestions from congregation of other examples of “sacred cows” in church that are bulwarks of injustice & violence, or of how we can make Christianity itself more peaceful:)

(from congregation)

· Not look down on other faiths—all to think of selves as children of God first
· Taking Christianity not as an excuse for war
· Peace starts with loving your enemies
· Peace is connected with anger when anger moves toward love and not toward hate
· Peace starts with talking to your enemies & listening to them
· What does it mean that when people are told to do something—like wear white to a football game—that they obey? What are they/we obeying? …Important to realize faith & religion tremendously entrenched in minds of servicemen—can be the only thing that gets them thru when desperately afraid—we can’t just devalue that….
· Everyone working for a better life for their children & grandchildren
-----

A parallel has been drawn before between Jesus Christ and the rock in the desert that gave life-giving water to the Israelites (I Cor. 10:4). Jesus Christ is the one from whom living water flows.... Maybe we have to "strike the rock" again in order to have lifesaving water gush forth for people dying of thirst because of oppression in our world. I think the rock can take it.

Now, do I need to say this?--that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with Jesus that we need to correct, it doesn't mean we have to "beat up on" Jesus--just means we may have to knock off some of the old accreted notions that cling to our concepts of Jesus and let Jesus himself shine forth: the Jesus who broke rules and expectations, Jesus who shocked the "righteous" folks, the Jesus who spoke truth to powerful people who could hurt him....

Jesus was asked "by what authority" he did things that went against prevailing religious practice. In Philippians 2:1-13 Paul tells Christians to "have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus." While Paul emphasized Jesus' humility and obedience, I think we are to do the same (possibly dangerous) rocking of the pillars of injustice, hypocrisy and greed that Jesus did, and have the same authority to act on his behalf. After all Jesus said, "The works that I do, you will also do, and greater works than these" (John 14:12 paraphrase) As much as healing lepers and restoring sight to the blind, that work means rocking the foundations of un-truth that keep people oppressed and souls in prison, don't you think?

....And that all has to do with peace!

Close w/story of Michael Robert Zigler
name given to hall at Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, MD, where work goes on to teach the things that make for peace in this world: M.R. Zigler (1891-1985), Church of the Brethren executive and peace advocate. His years included work with Brethren Service, Christian Rural Overseas Program (CROP), the Heifer Project and CARE, his founding of On Earth Peace Assembly, his active and vocal participation in the World Council of Churches, from its founding, and more….

Great energy for good can be liberated when we face the things we fear and get thru them.

May God be glorified in all that we do…. Amen.