Shock, Shame and Self-Sacrifice, March 8, 2008

Genesis 18
Mark 8:31-ff
A short time ago, some visitors came to worship and afterward described,
“We have been shopping around, listening to what people say, and your church has a reputation for SHOCKING People. We are told you bark like a dog, dress up like Elmo, and propose grand visions to change the world!”
And we laughed and said, “Well, not so much to shock people, as to do what ever is necessary to confront and challenge people to question their commitments and behaviors. We enjoy laughing together AND if we propose visions to change the world, we then set out to never give up.”

Sometimes, we have to simply preach the passages that are before us, and this morning's deal with SHOCK and Surprise, SHAME, Self-Sacrifice and SUFFERING.
Like Peter and the Disciples, we are SHOCKED to consider SUFFERING equated with FAITH.

We would far rather celebrate God's Gift of Grace at Christmas, Jesus Feeding the 5000, healing the Blind, and Deaf, teaching Parables and even Preaching, HOWEVER, when Peter risked naming that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, Jesus explained, “YES and the Son of Man MUST suffer for the sins of all humanity.”

There is a cost to faith, the shock being that that cost is not necessarily borne by the offender, at least not alone, but by the whole people of God. Taking up the cross, does not simply mean taking the stick out of your own eye, pulling yourself up, confronting your own dependence on Alcohol or other Pain-Killers. Taking up the Cross refers to fulfilling your Calling sacrificing what ever is necessary for others to be whole.

As a people of faith, SHAME has become a motivation. However, Jesus was willing to do what ever it took, bearing any indignation, and shame, to heal the world. Abraham laughed at the possibility of he and Sarah conceiving a child at 90 and 99 years of age. Laughter is one of the ways we cover our embarrassment, we scoff at our doubts by laughing them off. So it is, that God commands they name the child to be born, ISAAC which means LAUGHTER, as God's way of saying I am Not embarrassed, be not ashamed, for this is fulfillment of the promise.

The dis-connect of Christian Faith and our world, includes the expectation of instantaneous results and recovery. We buy a ticket and expect to be entertained, we take a pill and anticipate feeling less pain, we risk putting out money on the Stock Market anticipating both Dividends and Growth, we invest in our housing as real estate and expect a return on our investment. Abram was 75 years old when they set out from Haran with Sarai and his Brother's son Lot. More than journeying for five Chapters of Genesis, they have wandered where God led for almost 25 years, with the promise of a Name and Land and a Son. Yet, other than a number of adventures, the promise seems empty and unfulfilled. Even if at this point they should be given the Land, what would be the point without an heir to receive and pass it on. The problem being that if there is no fulfillment of the promise, no land, no birth of a miracle child, Abram must question if there is faith, if there is a God.

It is all well and good to come to worship every Sunday, singing the hymns, bowing in prayer, but when your parent or spouse is dying, if you cannot take away the pain; if your child runs away and you cannot bring them back; if you are laid off; we want to ask, what is the point of faith? If we believe in the promise, but the promise is not fulfilled, when we want, do we question the power of God, the reality of God, or do we try to fulfill the promise ourselves with our possessions? Sarai made it work-out for herself, she gave her husband another woman to have a child by, and they now possessed Ishmael, so why possessing what they wanted did their faith not feel fulfilled?

God responds, you have been faithful to the Promise, now I will make with you a Covenant.
For 25 years you have followed where God led, done what ever seemed appropriate to the Promise, and yet there was no Land, no Baby, will you still believe? If God said “Let us step it up a notch, take a sharp rock and cut your most intimate part off” Would you? The meaning of the Covenant with Abraham, was not about hygiene, not a purification rite, not determination of who is part of the community and who is not willing. Many cultures at that time practiced circumcision. But in this covenant, Abram and Sarai acquire new names, new identities for each other and before God. At the same time, circumcision demonstrated that Christian faith is not a Cerebral thing, not believing or understanding a theology, reciting sacred words. Faith must be acted out in our lives in personal acts of self-sacrifice.

As a culture, we have been seduced by money, losing sight of the transition from promise to covenant, such that when a couple promise themselves to one another, what is it stake is not their commitment, not his bowing down in humility on his knees, but the appraised value of the ring and the story of how he surprised her. When a couple marry, the focus has become less about the covenant of marriage, acquiring new identities before God, of being husband and wife to each other, and more about the reception and the flowers, how many bridesmaids and whether the band played something you could dance to. We expect that once PROMISED in engagement, everything is on a timetable of planning the wedding; rather than respecting the Promise as being A PROMISE and the COVENANT as being A COVENANT CUT INTO YOUR SPIRIT & FLESH.

SACRIFICE is not about how much a thing costs. A Sacrifice is taking something dear to you, something that is part of you, that represents who you are, and giving it to God.

But we are a culture focused on money. If So, then may we use our money to make a promise?
A few weeks ago, I suggested that we need to dream new dreams and build upon what has been accomplished. So it was that someone suggested we take out an Ad in the Post Standard or the Wall Street Journal, offering CHURCH SEEKS NEW CHALLENGES, No Idea, too large or too small.

Then this week, our Mission Committee met, and we began to listen for possibilities.

The last two winters we have bought coats and made mittens, hats and scarves for 20 children a year. Children who did not have coats or gloves, living in Central New York.

There are families in Auburn, Syracuse and here in Skaneateles, whose children need dental care and glasses and cannot afford them. What if we created a fund, so that when needed these children would have dentistry and vision care?

The spouse of the Episcopal Bishop has worked for several years to create a Medical Mission in El Salvador. Is there any reason why, we as Presbyterians could not give to support her work?

In Skaneateles the question for 95% of our students is not whether you will go to college, but where, and whether you will take a year to travel first. What if, we as a church made a commitment to a neighboring community, whose families have never gone to college, that if a class of 20 First Graders committed to have the grades to get into College, we as a church would invest for their education, paying for all 20 to graduate.

Regularly, we hear reports of schools making cut-backs, not only in playground equipment, and after school activities, but cutting the number of teachers as well. We also hear regular diatribes about the separation of Church and State. What if, as a Church we could donate $20,000 for paying one teacher's salary. We might not be able to match the Government's cuts, we may not be able to fulfill all the benefits, but we could make a statement of our commitment to the education and opportunity of every child.

What if our identities, were not simply as those who have attained degrees, but seeing these as a commitment to educate others?

There are things we can do, to help others, especially in these economic times. The real question of faith is not whether we can sacrifice pledging $3,000 – 10,000. But whether we would go to the Bank and take out that $10,000 in $1 bills and coins, giving 50 cents here, investing $1 of our time in another person's life.