"And we Feared the Election" November 13, 2016

Exodus 12 Haggai 1: 14 – 2:9 Luke 20: 27 – 21:19 Perhaps I am wrong. I need you to tell me and I need to listen to understand better. It seems as though the whole world, particularly our Nation, are angry and afraid. A majority of our nation, both Republican and Democrat and Libertarian sincerely believe our system is broken and corrupt. Fear and anger is present across our lives. Perhaps it was more covert before, but the election brought this to a boiling point. I believe it would have taken place whomever won, but before the election, I feared that our Nation was so divided in our realities, we might not heal. Ever since the election, there have been riots in the streets in New York City, LA, Chicago, San Francisco. A retired minister wrote to me “I am thankful I do not have to preach this week. I need to listen. We need to listen. I need to be challenged to hear and to pay attention to what I had not heard. What I had not known to listen to” The Word I have for you is: 101 verses in the Bible say “Fear Not, I Am with you!” It is the basis of God’s Call to Abram, and what the Angel says to women at the tomb. On Monday, I came upon our sermon title, before the Election occurred. When Bible passages appointed for this day include death of 7 husbands, not trusting leaders, destruction, Signs of the End of the World, there is worse than who wins an election! The First Word I hope you will hear this morning, is ABOUT BEING AFRAID… There is a distinction between Acute Fear and Chronic Fear. Acute Fear is normal, immediate fear that protects your child from danger / that causes you to scream. Chronic Fear is a perpetual state of oppression, where you know not why you are afraid, only that going on is intolerable. In Chronic Fear, people have been known to project our fears on to others, to cause others to suffer so we do not feel so bad. Tuesday morning, the Clergy of our community met together as we do monthly. The School Superintendent shared that over the last 24 months, a group of students have been visiting an Internet chat-room, where they posted screenshots of themselves and guns, descriptions: “Going hunting for… (derogatory names ethnic groups).” This racism and aggression crossed a line. Out of pastoral concern, that our Village and Town not become another Columbine or Sandy Hook, I was prepared and impassioned to speak. That racism and intolerance, persecuting others because of our fears, particularly minorities and marginalized groups were among the evils of Nazism and Fascism and cannot be tolerated by us as Christians. As a Pastor in this community, I feel embarrassment at being a first-responder rather than a prophet. At witnessing the signs and not speaking out. Our son in 3rd grade had a classmate whose father not only committed domestic violence, he took a baseball bat to the hospital and killed his wife. I remember the Sunday morning, with helicopters flying over the lake and village, when an off-duty Police Officer and his fiancé were run over by another boat, and those who committed the crime went home to be hidden their family. As a pastor in this community, I knelt before the altar at the Catholic Church during his funeral mass and wept. I remember the feeling of helplessness as a pastor knowing that field-parties were going on and we knew not what to do. So I am speaking out to say “No! Fear not! Trust that God is with you.” Wednesday morning, we awoke to news of the election of our 45th President. During the election, there were references to our current President, just as there are now to our President Elect, that this is “Not My President.” When a person is elected to Office, and swears an oath before God to fulfill the responsibilities of that office, they are our Leaders. Regardless of whether you like them, we the people have responsibility to listen and pray for the Office. The second is to TRUST GOD IS WITH US… Imagine you were among the Hebrew slaves. Suddenly, Moses and Aaron came describing that every household needs to take a lamb into their home to bond with, as a pet of their family. Then, after the lamb has lived under your roof, been cared for/loved by your children and grandchildren, after you have nursed it from a bottle, and have the smell of the lamb upon you and you on him, you are to sacrifice the lamb for your sacrifices. Sacrificing your lamb, you are to anoint the doorways of your house with the blood. The blood of your sacrifice will be a sign upon you and for God that you already were sacrificed for. Haggai is from a time 1000 years after the Exodus. Haggai wrote one of the shortest books of the Bible, a total of 37 verses. However, Haggai is a pivotal text for the Bible. Returning from Babylon to the land of Moses and King David, they barely scratched out survival. Haggai challenged that things would never get better until they first built the Temple as a House of God. Refugees of 70 years of captivity, with little in the way of funding, the stones they laid upon stones could not compare to what the Temple had once been. Haggai’s sermon described it is not the stones they laid up for themselves, but “what God will Make Out of the House of Israel.” Haggai promises “From the poverty, despair and factionalism of this people, the Lord promises deliverance.” Rather than a stewardship sermon, about all of your gold and silver belong to God, the word translated here as “prosperity” is actually “shalom” which we know to be about peace, justice and righteousness. THIRD is Jesus called us to SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE WITH GOD, not in FEAR… Turning to the Gospel, the Saducees attempted to trap Jesus in a philosophical argument about the resurrection. At that time, the purpose of marriage was procreation, to leave behind a legacy in this life, so if a couple were unable to conceive and the man died, his nearest relative had responsibility to take her as wife, with the caveat that any children they had, were children of the first husband. So if 7 brothers each inherited a wife, and none had children, in heaven whose wife was she? To which Jesus points at their making a farce of tragic events. First, Resurrection is not about inheritance, but in this life she had such tragedy. Second, God is God of the living, and God named to Moses, being: God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so these live. Third, the Son of Man is Lord even over King David. Fourth, leaders are human beings who love power / influence and are not trusted. Then Jesus made a wordplay using Haggai’s phrase “one stone stacked on another” to describe how we build generation atop generation, when in fact all pass away and are resurrected. But the end of our lives, even the destruction of our establishments is not The End of the World, so fear not. Personally, I have been emboldened and proud of both President Elect Trump and President Obama, who after the election attempted to put people’s fears to rest. Both described that we need to work together as the United States. Both mentioned the fear and brokenness of our Nation as never before. I heard from each the need to go back and listen, to hear what had been ignored, to re-assess and go on together. What I did not hear from either, what is difficult for politicians ever to admit, but is the basis of our Confession as Christians is “We have done wrong, we will change.”