“Getting to the Front of the Stable” Matthew 1:18-25 Annesley United Church Markdale Ontario

Preparing for the Christmas season in each church is always a different experience. Some churches leave all the planning to the minister – and in those places I can plan out a theme for Advent – sermons and worship; other churches, like Annesley, have things which are done every year, like the children’s cantata next Sunday - which means that there’s no sermon - so trying to paste together sermon theme doesn't quite work. So I decided to preach today a Christmas sermon which works for Advent too. Maybe as we go through the story this year, we'll

As this story goes, a Sunday School was putting on a Christmas pageant which included the story of Mary and Joseph coming to the inn. One boy wanted so very much to be Joseph, but when the parts were handed out, a boy he didn’t like was given that part, and he was assigned to be the inn-keeper instead. He was pretty upset about this but he didn’t say anything to the director.

During all the rehearsals he thought what he might do the night of performance to get even with this rival who got to be Joseph. Finally, the night of the performance, Mary and Joseph came walking across the stage. They knocked on the door of the inn, and the inn-keeper opened the door and asked them gruffly what they wanted.

Joseph answered, "We’d like to have a room for the night." Suddenly the inn-keeper threw the door open wide and said, "Great, come on in and I’ll give you the best room in the house!"

For a few seconds poor little Joseph didn’t know what to do. Thinking quickly on his feet, he looked inside the door past the inn-keeper then said, "No wife of mine is going to stay in a dump like this. Come on, Mary, let’s go to the barn." -And once again the play was back on track!

In all the Christmas pageants performed, Joseph mostly gets a silent role and inevitably takes up his place right at the back of the stable, but I think he is far more important than we have ever made him. Think about what he did! Everyone praises the courage of Mary, but who praises the courage of Joseph? Here is a man of integrity who always obeyed religious law, who is engaged to a young girl – and he finds out she is pregnant not by him. She says there was no other man, but the Holy Spirit which created the child.

By law Joseph has two choices: One, he can go through a kind of “divorce”, severing his promise of marriage. Mary and her family would be forced to leave the village go somewhere else, public scrutiny would be too much; or, he could call for her to be stoned to death for adultery.

Yet here is a man who hears angels - an angel who whispers to him to take Mary as his wife, and to trust God. In the English translation, we are told he marries Mary even though she is still a ‘virgin’.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Hebrew meaning of the word used is “young woman”.  When the Gospels were written, they were first written in Hebrew  - so for Joseph, Mary would not necessarily have been a technical virgin, just a young woman. The word is ‘alma’in the Hebrew. In Isaiah 7:14, it says, “a young woman shall conceive and give birth to a child.”

When the Gospels were translated from Hebrew to Greek, there was no corresponding word – one of the inevitable difficulties with translations which often changes the text - so the translator chose the Greek word 'parthenos' which meant a young woman or man who had not had sexual relations, but also 'beyond puberty but not yet married'.

Yet there was a commitment and a promise between Joseph and Mary. Mary’s father was required to pay a dowry; even though they were technically not married, all the same rules applied. If Joseph should die, she would be called a widow. If she died, he would be called a widower. If the engagement broke up, it would be called a divorce. During the time they were engaged, they were called husband and wife. While they were engaged, they were both expected to be virgins. The engagement was to last one year and then they were to be married.

In the biblical story, we are told, “Joseph was a just man.” That means that Joseph was a good man, a kind man, an honorable man. The Bible uses the word, “righteous.” Joseph was a righteous man. Then we come to this beautiful line, “Joseph was unwilling to put her to shame.” That line says mountains to us about Joseph. He didn’t want to hurt Mary. He didn’t want to destroy her. He was not punitive. He was not revengeful. He wasn’t out for a pound of her flesh. Instead, Joseph had these feelings of grace towards her, and so he resolved to divorce her quietly.  Not tell her parents. Not tell his parents. Not tell the rabbi. Not to tell the court so he could get his money back. So the very first story about the conception and birth of Jesus is a story of compassion, a story of grace, a story of a man with incredible generosity. In the eyes of that culture he had been deeply shamed, yet he still cared for Mary and took care of her.

The story continues. An angel or divine messenger appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Mary is pregnant by the Spirit of God. The Spirit hovered over her and she is now pregnant. You are to marry her and name the child Jesus for he will save the people from their sins. Call him Immanuel because God is always with us.” And so Joseph remained with Mary because he believed the dream and the message of the angel, and he knew that Mary was telling the truth.

Notice that Joseph never says a word, in the few times he appears in the birth narratives. He listens, he takes actions, but he never speaks. He's *there*. We might hope his words are recorded, because we can imagine the conversations he had with Mary, and the Angel Gabriel. We can “hear” him talking to the innkeeper. We can visualize him teaching Jesus about carpentry. After the birth he is again visited by an angel who tells him to take Mary and Jesus and flee into Egypt – a refugee family – where they live for two years. He reappears briefly again when an angel says it’s now safe to return to Nazareth, but then he fades from the rest of the narrative altogether. It is widely thought that Joseph was much older than Mary, which would be consistent with cultural practices. When Jesus finally begins ministry, Mary appears alone - the assumption is that Joseph has died and Mary is a widow.But we don't know - he just disappears.

I think of Joseph as a man of integrity. He was a carpenter - not quite an untouchable, but close to the lowest of the low. Yet he was also fluent in several languages - he would have to be, in order to work in the town of Sepphoris near Nazareth, where Greek, Roman and many other cultures rubbed elbows. He would also have been able to read. He seems like a man who plans carefully. When he was secure enough, he began to think about marriage. When he finds out Mary is pregnant, he risks being questioned and ridiculed. In those days, a marriage contract was worked out between families, and the engaged couple continued to live with their parents till their wedding. The townspeople could well have thought Mary and Joseph didn’t wait till their wedding. Joseph protected their reputation by moving up the wedding date, and the Roman census took them far away from the town’s questioning eyes.

Although Joseph came from the royal lineage of King David (thanks to the Gospel genealogy), we can easily picture him as a humble man. The brief portrait of him in Scripture suggests he was a quiet, unobtrusive man, available when needed, willing to endure hardship and disappointment. Looking forward to fathering his own child, his first was a child not his own. He accepted the humbling circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth, and he trusted God as much as Mary did.

Instead of being indignant, he accepted the child as his own, and accepted the revealed will of God. He followed the instructions—journeying from Nazareth to Bethlehem, then to Egypt, then back to Nazareth. Instead of putting Mary aside, or rejecting the child, Joseph received the child as a gift from God.

I think it’s high time we take Joseph out from the back of the creche and put him right up front, with Mary, from the beginning.

Ann Weems, a Presbyterian elder and lecturer, wrote this poem, called “Getting to the Front of the Stable”.

Who put Joseph at the back of the stable?

Who dressed him in brown, put a staff in his hand,

            and told him to stand in the back of the creche,

            background for the magnificent light of the Madonna?

God-chosen, this man Joseph was faithful

            in spite of the gossip in Nazareth,

            in spite of the danger from Herod..

This man, Joseph, listened to angels,

            and it was he who named the child Emmanuel.

            Is this a man to be stuck for centuries at the back of the stable?

Actually, Joseph probably stood in the doorway,

            guarding the mother and child,

            or greeting shepherds and kings.

When he wasn’t in the doorway

            he was probably urging Mary to get some rest,

            gently covering her with his cloak,

            assuring her that he would watch the Child.

Actually he probably picked the Child up in his arms

            and walked him in the night,

            patting him lovingly until he closed his eyes.

This Christmas, let us give thanks to God

            for this man of incredible faith

            into whose are God placed the Christ Child.

As a gesture of gratitude,

            let’s put Joseph in the front of the stable

            where he can guard and greet

            and cast an occasional glance

               at this Child

                  who brought us life.

Sources:

1. “Getting to the Front of the Stable”, a sermon by Rev. Fran Ota, Christmas 2005.

2. “Joseph and the Virgin Birth”, a sermon by Rev. Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, WA.

3. “Joseph—Father of Jesus” a sermon by Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts

4. “Getting to the Front of the Stable”, a poem by Ann Weems. From “Kneeling in Bethlehem”. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia. 1987.

“Deconstructing Christ, Reconstructing Jesus” Sermon for “Reign of Christ” Sunday November 20, 2016 Annesley United Church, Markdale

Jeremiah 23:1-6“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing.  The days are surely coming, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “God is our righteousness.”

Luke 1: 68-79

Wonderful is the Holy One of Israel, who has visited and set the people free, and has sounded the trumpet of new life for the descendants of David. As the prophets preached long ago, that we should be saved from those who would harm, and from the hands of those who hate us, to live by the love promised to our forebears. To remembering the holy covenant, made with Abraham; that being free from the grasp of enemies, we might serve God without being afraid and do good things in God’s presence throughout every day that we live. And you, little child, will be named the prophet of the Most High. For you will go on ahead, to prepare a new way, so that people will know true freedom as all their errors are forgiven. This will be the outcome of God’s yearning love, when the new dawn shall shine on the heights,  to shed light on those who cower in darkness and in the deep shadows of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

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Today is generally known in the Christian year as “Christ the King” or “Reign of Christ” Sunday. It’s the last Sunday of the current liturgical year, before we begin a new year with the first Sunday of Advent, next week.

I confess I don’t really like this Sunday. The language of faith in our Christian history, became the language of empire – conquering, oppression, power, authority. We still use words like “King, Lord, throne, kingdom, conqueror”, and despite how we bend ourselves into pretzels explaining that we don’t really mean those words exactly that way, language is critical to how we see ourselves and see others. Here’s an example. Tolerance. Its root is in ‘tolerate’, and it means ‘to put up with’ ‘to allow to continue’. When we talk about ‘religious tolerance’ or ‘racial tolerance’, we’re still using a word which implies that we hold power to stop those things from happening if we change our minds. But what about the word ‘respect’? What would happen if we use the words ‘religious respect’, or ‘racial respect’. There is a difference – one is a power word, the other is a relationship word.  Language does matter.

There’s a group of like-minded people within the church who are moving away from the word ‘Christian’ and rather identifying as ‘People of the Way’ – the way the original followers of Jesus referred to themselves. How did we go from Jesus to Christ? Who was Jesus of Nazareth? What were the core values and the grounding in which his following developed? When did a first-century peasant known as Yeshua become known as “Christ”. What do we know? He lived and died.  He was a Jew, born in Galilee. Most of the people he knew  - colleagues, disciples, friends - were Jews. He went to services in synagogues, preached from Jewish text; celebrated Jewish festivals; went on pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. The gospels offer no sense that he came to found a new religion, nor that he was an educated rabbi. He was called ‘rabbi’ which means teacher, but that isn’t quite the same as being one.

The challenge, according to Biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan, always “asks about the relationship between any and every historically reconstructed Jesus and any and every theologically accepted Christ.”  The late Marcus Borg identifies Jesus as a spirit person, a teacher of wisdom, a social prophet, and almost by accident – founder of a movement. He's completely embedded in the Judaism of his time. He's not a Sadducee, nor a Pharisee, nor an Essene, nor an insurrectionist. He does argue with members of these other groups because that's what the Jews all did - argue with each other all the time...and because he has a particular view of an increasingly doctrinal faith which is rigid in law, at the loss of compassion and openness, and inclusion, which *is* the law.

He talks about God’s realm using the language of empire – since his listeners are well associated with that – but turns that upside down by describing an empire of equality. After the death of John he began to preach the realm of God as healing in the present, rather than imminent apocalypse.

There was an expectation following Jesus’ death that the Realm of God would arrive immediately, Nothing happened, and the followers simply went home not sure what to do. They started looking into their own scriptures to find something which might give the experience meaning – and found among others, the passage from Jeremiah describing the shepherd who would rise from the line of David. Note that both shepherd and king are mentioned. Now, Jeremiah was a prophet, but prophets didn’t predict the future – they spoke directly to the people of the time. So while Jeremiah’s text didn’t predict the coming of Jesus, it gave the early followers a frame for explaining the Jesus experience. Kings were not crowned in the way we think, but anointed to be shepherds of the people.

The resurrection narratives didn’t come along until approximately 70 years after Jesus’ death. The Jesus followers still continued to practice their faith – but identified as one of many small sects within Judaism. They called themselves ‘People of the Way’ and they simply went on doing what Jesus had taught them. In the book “How Jesus Became Christian”, author Barrie Wilson notes what he terms the “Conventional Model of Christian origins” - a straightforward chronological line from Jesus to church to Paul to wild success. This impression stems from the Book of Acts, written in the late first or early second century. Yet as noted above, the original Jesus movement continued – at least until the year 62 CE and the death of Jesus’ brother James – within Roman-occupied Israel. The resurrection stories were almost post-James, so the disciples didn’t have them. The Christ Movement arose out of Paul’s travels, and the two were at odds with each other. So little by little the original movement died off and was superseded by the Christ movement – and the leaders of both never met each other at all.

Paul was in Damascus when he had his conversion experience – and began reaching into the Gentile communities  about five years after Jesus' death. There were Greek-speaking communities in Greece, Turkey into Macedonia. Within that time a church was also founded in Rome, but not by Paul. 

Already there were Christians saying that the emperor and the state are ordained by God. By the third century, Christians are claiming loyalty to the state, and by the fourth century and the Emperor Constantine, Christianity is the mandated state religion with the now Greek word “Christ” Christos, anointed one – but now set up as a King  - and as the Roman empire gradually declined, the church of Constantine became the empire.

I want to go back to the notion of Christ and Jesus as two different persons – and revisit that definition of Jesus as Lord. In the church today, there appear to be several phenomena – one, a trend among the more conservative, fundamental and even reactionary practice of Christianity towards the Christ of Empire, Christ the post-Easter Deity, the Lord and King who supports violence as claiming and maintaining a way of life – the NRA types who brandish a Bible and a gun and claim Christ backs them up; the second, a more progressive Christianity which still uses that language, but claims the words no longer hold those same meanings; and third, a movement within and among what I will call ‘people of faith’, towards following the teachings and way of Jesus, the pre-Easter human person. Marcus Borg, John Shelby Spong, John Dominic Crossan, writers about the church such as Diana Butler Bass; and those who call themselves atheists or non-theists, within the structure of the church, such as my colleague Rev. Gretta Vosper in Toronto. It’s a stepping back from, a stripping away of, the traditional language and structures, to go back to the beginning – the ‘People of the Way’. It’s a re-claiming of original principles, a re-framing in different language, what Jesus was teaching. It says we don’t have to cling to formulae or doctrines to live the Way.

Both Jeremiah and the Luke passage set up this difference – woe to the poor shepherds who destroy the flocks, says Jeremiah – and maybe you could read into that the religious leaders in power, in any time and place - they will be replaced, says Jeremiah, by shepherds who have all the flock at heart; Zechariah sings of the new ‘king’ who sets things right, who prepares a new way, who teaches an alternate way of being that rejects violence and anger but is based in love. Jesus taught that the Realm of God was right at hand, right around the corner – and that love was the key.

For us, to reduce it to a perhaps simplistic formula – rather than ‘Christ the King”, I’d substitute ‘God is Love’, or even ‘Love is God’. It finally removes any barriers, and declares Love as the key. So God, by whatever name, is present. May it be so.

Sources from the original paper “From Christ to Jesus: Reclaiming the Way”

1.       Borg, Marcus. “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time”. HarperOne, 1994.

2.       Crossan, John Dominic. “Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography”. HarperSanFrancisco, 1994.

3.      Curtis, Ken.  Church History Timeline 301-600 CE. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/constantine-11629643.html

4.      Fredriksen, Paula. “From Jesus to Christ”. Yale University Press, 1988.

5.      Meyers, Robin R. “Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshipping Christ and Start Following Jesus”. HarperOne, 2009.

6.      Spong, John Shelby. “This Hebrew Lord”. HarperOne, 1993,

7.      Wilson, Barrie. “How Jesus Became Christian”. Random House Canada, 2008.

8.      https://www.westarinstitute.org/blog/how-to-read-pauls-letters-chronologically/

9.      http://www.politicususa.com/2016/01/02/cruz-calls-clergy-awaken-energize-christs-body-white-house.htm

10.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea

11.  Sermons from the New Testament “People of the Way” http://executableoutlines.com/text/ac9_2.htm

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[1] Wilson, Barrie

“Now What?” Sermon for November 13, 2016 Annesley United Church Markdale, Ontario

 Based upon Isaiah 65:17-25 and Revelation 21:1-4 (Paraphrased)

For I am about to create new heaven and a new earth; the past things shall not be remembered or come to mind. Be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. No more shall there be an infant that lives a few days, or an old person who does not live out a good long life; the one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, the one who falls short of a hundred will be considered cursed. They will build houses and live in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their own fruit. They shall not build and someone else inhabit; they shall not plant and someone else eat; my people’s lives shall be like the days of a tree, and the people shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not work in vain, or bear children for calamity;
for they shall be blessed offspring, and their descendants as well. Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will eat together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; the food of the serpent will be dust! They will not hurt or destroy anything on all my holy mountain, says God.

Revelation 21:1-4

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals. God will dwell with them; they will be God’s peoples.
Every tear will be wiped from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”

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Normally, we don’t preach at our own covenanting services. It’s actually usual to have someone else preach. The plan earlier this week was to do a kind of dialogue sermon with Mark Waugh and with you, about the nature of covenant. I knew we were using the Isaiah and Revelation texts and had planned to talk about covenant using those texts.  On Wednesday I emailed Mark to say forget the dialogue bit, I just feel like I need to preach this one.

Preaching, for me, is not about the minister getting up and telling you what to believe or how to believe, what to think or how to think. Part of preaching is about opening a text and helping find meaning and direction – and for me, preaching is about ministers being able to wrestle with their own faith and their own doubts, their fears, anger, and discouragement – together with the congregation – because we do struggle, and sometimes we really just don’t know where to go with something. Where to find some hope, when hope seems to have been destroyed. How to find our way forward when suddenly everything seems so dark and history appears to repeat itself.

Today was supposed to be a hopeful sermon about the new realm, the one we keep hearing about in the New Testament – where the realm of God is right at hand, right around the corner, all we have to do is seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly through this short life. So easy.

And for me these two texts  have always been the ‘bookends’ of the vision – that there’s yet work to do, but we are on the right path, slowly building bridges so we can come together as united humanity. The ‘vision’ is laid out in Isaiah – children and infants will live out a long and healthy life, no one will die young, people will be able to build their own homes and plant their own crops and eat their own food – instead of doing it for someone else while they struggle. Everyone, no matter who, no matter what faith or colour or gender or orientation – everyone, has a place in this vision – and that place is equal in every way. This ‘vision’ is really, for me, the full text of the covenant, the promise made by the one the Hebrews called Yahweh – and we, human beings, were to be co-creators in this vision.

And the Revelation passage, the other ‘bookend’ is the vision accomplished – the new world come about. The old anger and hatreds and prejudices are gone, all the old ways are gone – a new way of being, of living, of relationship.

This week, that vision has gone up in flames. A friend of mine  – of mixed race, wrote “Don’t talk to me any more about building bridges – we’ve tried doing that, and our bridges have just been burnt to the ground.”

So here we are, now – the vision has faded like a mirage in the desert, and now we have to start the walk, all over again, to the promised land – because the mirage wasn’t it. How many years will it take? How can we take any promise seriously any more?

But I have some even harsher questions: did we really think if we just sat and enjoyed our lives, and were good people on the whole, God would somehow bring it about? Do we think that things like screening visitors, immigrants, refugees for ‘Canadian values’ will bring about something better? What are Canadian values? Do we live those values all the time? What about a new “House Un-American Activities” office in the FBI – which has already been proposed? Do we think the bigotry and anger we are seeing there won’t touch us here? Do we think that these activities will bring about the vision in the covenant?

A colleague of mine, Kathy Donley, writes about the preaching of one of her African-American colleagues – that God makes a Way out of No Way. “After the sea has been crossed, after the people have returned from exile, after the abolition of slavery, after women and then people of colour get the right to vote,” - ….after same-gender couples get the freedom to marry, after people of all religions and colours are truly part of the fabric of life,….. “THEN we can see that there was a Way made out of No Way. When you are on this side of ‘No Way, this side of the unthinkable which is happening yet again, it is entirely different to affirm with a whole heart, - a Way will be made out of No Way.” I don’t know any more. I honestly don’t know. 

As I was scoping some of this sermon on Friday, while driving the highway, I started to cry in the car. I cried for gays, straights, trans-gender, black, Asian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Latino – immigrant and refugee – and I cry for Christians and for myself too – because this isn’t the dream, this isn’t the vision, this isn’t the covenant. It’s everything the promised covenant is not.

I realised through the week that I was first shocked, then stunned, then furious, and finally – angry. I realised I have to pick myself up by the scruff of the neck and recognise that it isn’t going to happen unless we keep going. But this time we have to keep going angry. I don’t mean violent or rude angry – I mean determined-angry, focussed-angry, peaceful-angry, constructive-angry – ready to push back against the unthinkable – but not returning hate for hate, or violence for violence. And that’s hard, because yes there’s a part of me which would like to lash out and hurt. Yes, there is.

What do we do when the unthinkable happens? What in our covenant – our promises of faith – puts us in place to do anything? What do we do in this in-between time, when we have left one place, and we can see the place of the vision, where we need to be – but suddenly there is this enormous yawning and daunting desert in front of us to be crossed before we get there? What do we do when we are now standing in the middle of those ‘first things’, and they’re ugly?

Today – we covenant – as a whole people made up of minister, congregation, presbytery and conference – to lead each other in this wilderness. That means speaking truth regardless of consequence. It means naming hatred, bigotry and racism for exactly what they are. Theologian Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggeman says “What a time for truth-telling! As we all know the world is baffled and confused. It does not know where to turn, because there is so much deception and seduction and manipulation out there. But the mouth that Jesus gives tells the truth, that it may be simple and direct and clear. When faithful, the mouth of the church has always been on the side of justice and mercy and compassion, and against fear and greed and brutality…..and Jesus says to his disciples “If you have courage for truth-telling, you will always get into trouble.” (2)

What about the vision?? Is that unthinkable? That we could have a world where there is economic equality – where people can live in their own homes, grow their own crops for their own consumption instead of being enslaved by markets and economies which leave so many behind? Where everyone has health care and children look forward to living, and old people have plenty of productive years? Where all can sit together to eat, and where the dinner of all those other violent and hurtful and destructive ‘unthinkables’ will be dust?

Where do we go in this in-between time? We can’t go back – that’s not an option now. We can, however, look around us and take stock of how to go forward. Rev. James Eaton in his sermon for today says “What do we do now? Because we know it’s not like that now. The wolves and the lambs are not lying down together now. We are living between the past, and that vision.””Someone has said that the Puritans were so effective because they believed everything depended on God but they acted like everything depended on them.”(3) And James notes that the Rabbis say “Even if the Messiah comes, still finish your Torah study for the day.” Work for the vision is how that vision gets created – it won’t happen without all of us; and that’s where our covenant, our promises here today, come into the picture.  

JRR Tolkien was considered a leading Christian author, who bemoaned not just a lack of Christian values but the lack of plain decent human values, which were not being taught in schools. In the very first story of Lord of the Rings, called “Fellowship of the Ring” the young hobbit, Frodo, is told by Galadriel, the Queen of the Elves, that it is his role to return the One Ring to Mount Doom where it is destroyed so that the lands can live again – no one else can do it. Frodo responds “Then I know what I must do. It’s just, I’m afraid to do it.” Galadriel answers “Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.”

In Hebrew, the verb ‘to create’ is ‘barah; but in the Hebrew scriptures that word is only used about God. In our current theological understandings, that which we call God lives within each person – so my logic tells me that the only way the creation of the vision will happen is if we are truly the hands and feet and mouths and bodies which make it happen. There isn’t going to be some kind of magic event which suddenly makes this desert go away.

So I believe that our covenant, here today, is one of ministry to and with each other , yes – and ministry to and with the community, yes. But to covenant to ministry as a follower of The Way means to speak truth – even if it means we get into trouble for it. We are called to live as People of the Way, and the Way was one of equity, equality, the Hebrew word ‘shalom’, the vision of that time and place in which everyone can sit outside  - as Micah says – in the shade under the fig tree, welcoming others to join us and eat our food and we each learn each others ways, and live in peace, and not afraid. To do that – to bring about that vision which suddenly seems so far away, we must covenant to work actively to ensure that happens.

So my covenant to you today is to speak my truth without fear. It might get me into trouble. But it might also, in this short remaining 5 ½ months, help you to stand and speak against the unthinkables of racism, bigotry, violence, retaliation, war. Because it’s critical for all of us. May it be so.

Sources:

1.      Rev. Kathy Donley, sermon November 13, 2016  “When the Unthinkable Happens”

2.      Walter Brueggeman, The Collected Sermons of Walter Brueggeman, Volume 2 (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2015) p. 240-241

3.      Rev. James Eaton, sermon November 13, 2016 “Do Over, Do Now”