May 1, 2010
-
Making all things new requires change
I love the story of God teaching Peter to accept the Gentiles as acceptable because God has declared them to be clean. It is easy to see Peter as representing the church and the Gentiles representing people marginalized by their sexual expression or gender identity. People like Troy Perry, Nancy Wilson, Delores Berry, and Justin Tanis speak God’s words to the church, do not reject that which I have said is acceptable. We love to hear this story from the point of view of the Gentiles challenging the privilege and bigotry of the established church in Jerusalem. How often do we read the story from the point of view of the Christians in Jerusalem? How willing are we to consider the ways we cling to calling others unacceptable when God has challenged us to see them as part of God’s family? Here is what Kayla McClurg wrote in an article entitled, “What about the Other?”
If we who have entered the new community of those who claim a common bond with Jesus are to be faithful to that bond, how shall we respond to the “other” in our midst? (Or, for many of our churches, the ‘other’ not in our midst?) What tree did we come from? Who are we in relation to one another?
Scripture is fairly clear on this issue. We are one. We are to treat those we think of as foreigner, alien, stranger as we would treat ourselves or our friends. There are no longer outsiders and insiders. Those with whom we do not have common bonds, who are not our friends, who are foreign to us, are to be loved with the same priority as anyone else.
‘And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt’ (Deuteronomy 10:19).
‘You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien’ (Exodus 22:21).
‘The alien who resides among you shall be to you as the citizen among you’ (Leviticus 19:34).
‘Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers’ (Hebrews 13:2).
‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19; Matthew 5,19, 22; Mark 12; Luke 10; Romans 13; James 2; need I go on?)But wait a minute. Is this practical? No, definitely not. Is it fair? No, probably not. Is it reasonable? No, not at all. Unless we’re talking about the absurd reasonableness of love. Love makes the craziest things possible.
Last Sunday after worship, a couple of people were discussing the immigration question. One of these good folks felt strongly that Arizona’s governor should be praised for her action, and I thought, regardless of our opinions, the gift is that we now have a reason to come out of the closet with our opinions. We will get to know each other better than before … and we might learn that there are indeed strangers in our midst!
What does it mean to ‘love those who are aliens,’ ‘treat them as though they were citizens,’ ‘not neglect to show them hospitality’? Does it mean to treat people politely as we deport them back to their homes? Does it mean let anyone at all live among us without question? Does it mean accept only those who are within the boundaries of the law?
‘Love of stranger’ is a pivotal issue for pilgrims on the Way because it represents so many other issues. ‘Love your enemies’ comes to mind as another complicating rule in a time when we are the main actors in more than one war. ‘Show kindness to those who mistreat you’ challenges us not only in the area of how to treat terrorists but all of us who wish to set healthy boundaries and learn to say “No.” How will we balance being good caretakers of ourselves and our society with being good followers of Jesus? Or could it be that truly following Jesus is the way to create a civil and just society?
Maybe if we risked living the rule of Jesus, we’d discover that there really is enough for everybody and that perfect love casts out fear and good order is accomplished when ‘the last shall be first.’ Maybe we just haven’t put God’s way into action yet.
Personally, I appreciate most of the laws of the land, but do I equally appreciate God’s laws? Oops. Wrong question. The question is, do I love God’s law more? So if my country makes a law that says those who speak ‘other’ or in any way appear to be ‘other’ will be arrested if they don’t carry the proper papers, and God has a law that says I am to lovingly welcome all who are ‘other’ and treat them as citizens of the land as much as any of us–then whose law will I follow?
Let’s look around our church worship group as a starting place. Do we see a microcosm of the family of God in all its glorious ‘otherness,’ the so-called insiders and outsiders praising the God of creation together? Or do we see people who appear to be pretty much like ourselves? After worship ask two or three if they are like you. Be ready with some questions to find out who these people you think you know really are.
Only then will we have a shot at falling in love with all the ‘others’ in our midst and beyond. Who knows, maybe our own inward alien parts will begin to emerge and we’ll fall in love with those, too. Maybe then we’ll no longer question who belongs and who doesn’t.”
Just because we belong to a denomination and a church with a ministry to the marginalized does not mean we are without our own sense of privilege and our prejudices. What behaviors, ideas, or beliefs do we think have no place in our worship community? Do we have subtle ways of communicating to others how they must be if they want to be welcome here? Are there things about ourselves we will not let others of this congregation know about us? Kayla challenges us to ask others question to find out if they are really like you. This will only be effective if we can expect to receive honest answers. I also received a post this week from Rev. Kharma Amos of MCC NOVA on telling the truth in church. She sums her thoughts up this way, “what it boils down to for me is this: We really should be able and invited to tell the truth about our lives in church. These lives we are living–in all their complexity and variety–are the contexts for our questions, hopes, doubts, fears, and aspirations. These lives we are living (with their specific pains and struggles, joys and triumphs) are the ones in which we long for our faith to make some meaningful contribution. And, I believe that it is specifically in these lives we are living that God wants to be engaged and active and alive. I hope that MCC NOVA can be the type of church where people can tell the truth about their lives, and where the truths of our lives can be the raw materials from which our insights, prayers, rituals, and actions in the world flow freely. These lives we are living are gifts, and they are probably also the best testimonies we have to offer.”
If we are going to create a congregation where the alien, the Other, feels welcome and a place where we feel safe to be honest with each other, we must consider why we are concerned about otherness and about our true nature. The church in Jerusalem was angry with Peter for inviting the Gentiles in because it wasn’t the way it had always been, they hadn’t earned the right to be among God’s chosen people. Letting the Gentiles in was going to change everything. We must be willing to risk everything changing if we are going to live into God’s promise to make all things new. I think we confuse the unchanging nature of God with the importance of not allowing change in ourselves and in our churches. God never changes but God does desire to work change in us. God loves to make all things new. The new heaven and new earth are not reserved for the time after this mortal life, it is not about when Jesus comes back and God changes everything. We are supposed to be working toward the new heaven and the new life every day. The new heaven and new earth is not a destination, it is a way of living we strive to achieve throughout this life time.
The plan isn’t for us to achieve perfection and then rigidly hang on to it for the rest of our lives. The plan isn’t for Eternal Joy MCC to find the perfect mission statement and never deviate from it. The plan is for us to open ourselves up to all the possibilities God has for us as individuals and as a congregation and then live into them as best we can. It is less important that we get it right than it is that we live honestly in the struggle. We cannot refuse to act unless we are 100% sure it is the right thing to do. We cannot vilify each other if we try something and it doesn’t go as planned. We cannot criticize others for lack of faith or vision when they question what we believe or what we are doing. We must sincerely believe that it is okay to be different and to change. I believe the foundation of the Tea Party Movement in this country is fear of difference and fear of change. Many of them are afraid of having an African-American president, they are afraid of having a female Speaker of the House of Representatives, they are afraid of giving away too much to others and they won’t be special, privileged, and they are afraid the world is changing and they will be lost. There is truth in their belief the world is changing but they will only be lost if they refuse to learn their way around in a new world. Your world here at Eternal Joy MCC is changing and the only reason to fear is if you are unwilling to learn how to live into the change. You see change is inevitable, the choice is whether you work to make the change as positive as possible or whether you fight the change every inch of the way.
God is making all things new and this will require CHANGE! Amen.
