August 17, 2013
-
Are we called to play well with others?
Sacred texts:
Isaiah 5:1-7
Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning a vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
2 My beloved dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines;
built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it;
my beloved expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.3 And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
4 What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.7 For the vineyard of the sovereign of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah are God’s pleasant planting;
God expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry!Hebrews 11:29-12:2
29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered monarchies, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Bereaved received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39 Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Luke 12:49-56
49 “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:
parent against child, and in-laws against children and parents.”
54 He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
End of source texts.
It has been my experience that some people believe that those who follow Christ should always be nice. Some of these people are Christ followers and some are not. The general impression is that Jesus came to make us all play well together and get along. I have encountered people within the church who firmly believe that the most important characteristic a congregation must have is unity. We must strive to show the world that we are one big happy family. The congregations I have served know that I am not a fan of the family metaphor for congregations. Families are not easy to gain entry to, you must born, adopted, or married into a family. All of these require a decision by the family head to allow your entry and once in, you are expected to conform to family identity or you will find yourself on the outside. The honest truth is there are very few big happy families. There are always persons who are not welcome in the family and people who wish they weren’t in the family, and people who aren’t sure they are a member of the family.
The other major problem with the big happy family image is that it is rarely an honest portrayal of the congregation. Where two or three are gathered, there will be an argument about something. We aren’t designed to be in total agreement with others; we rarely are in total agreement with ourselves. I know I have some pretty fierce arguments with myself. The wisdom of organizations has proposed that once a decision is made everyone in the organization is to come on board and deny any disagreement. I suppose there is some value to organizations that require a unified effort to succeed at their purpose. However, social organizations suffer with forced unity of thought. People who are considering joining a social organization may decide to opt out if they believe everyone in the organization thinks, acts, and believes the same. What if they don’t agree with some action or tenant of the organization? I know I am more comfortable joining an organization where a variety of ideas and positions are expressed and encouraged. Certainly the organization must decide to take one course or action or hold some beliefs in common but that shouldn’t require that those who think differently must be silenced. Also lost when we silence the opposition for the appearance of unity is that we lose the voices we need when we see our chosen course is not taking us where we want to go. I am a firm believer that living in beloved community does not require us to surrender our individuality or silence our dissent.
My position is supported by the texts for today. Isaiah was a member of the nation of Israel and had great love for the people of God and yet he spoke a harsh message to them that they were off course, that they had lost sight of God’s plan for them to be a people of justice and righteousness. I am secure in believing that Isaiah would not have been seen as a team player in his time. He was not playing well with others but he was speaking truth to power. He was pointing out to the people that their peace and prosperity were not based on God principles and it would surely fail. They were producing fruits but they were sour fruits and their garden would be destroyed so it could be replaced with others that would produce sweet fruits. Being a God follower requires us to speak honestly to power when power is being used in exploitive or hurtful ways.
Jesus clearly tells us that his mission was not to produce big happy families of people who never argued. I am a member of a clergy group and someone posted that this was a hard lesson to preach and several agreed that they would be going to the other texts for this week. I think this is a hard lesson if you want to insist that being Christian is about playing nice with others. On the other hand, this lesson can be quite comforting if you have ever found yourself having to disagree with family members you love. Love of family must never silence us when those family members say, do, or believe things that demean or harm others. There is a family intervention concept called tough love. The concept expresses the belief that sometimes love requires us to confront the one we love with the realities of their behaviors and the consequences. Sometimes the most loving thing we can do is to tell someone that we think they are wrong. I know that some of my most treasured moments of friendship were times when another person loved me enough to confront me with the implications or consequences of my words or actions. If no one tells us, we will not know when we have acted from privilege or selfishness.
That said, it is important to say that not playing well with others will have its own consequences. While the most loving thing we can do may be to disagree and confront, it does not follow that this loving act will reap us great love. One of the hardest lessons we must learn about following Christ is that sometimes Christ will lead us into tough spots, painful spots, even deadly spots. The promise of our faith is not that we will have a life of ease, that we will be loved by everyone, or even that we will see the fruits of our faith in this life. As the letter to the Hebrews declares, those who have lived lives of faith have suffered all sorts of hardship. Our faith is not a promise of a good life but a promise of a better world and a life that matters. One of the clearest truths I have gained from my life as an interim minister is that it is much more important to be honest with the congregation than to be liked by the congregation. I firmly believe this is the way every pastor should be with their congregation, the way every congregation should be with their pastor, the way every congregation should be with their visitors, the way every family should be with each other, and the way each of us should be with each other. Playing well with others should mean being honest not pretending to agree for the sake of keeping the peace. We will only achieve true peace when we love each other honestly and just as they are and just as we are. Amen.
