"A Mystery" February9, 2014

Isaiah 58: 1-12 Matthew 5: 13-20 Finley Peter Dunne was a humorist in the late 1800s who critiquing Society wrote: “Th' newspaper does ivrything f'r us. It polices th' polis foorce an' takes interest in th' banks, commands th' militry, controls th' ligislachure, baptizes th' young, marries th' foolish, comforts th' afflicted, afflicts th' comfortable, buries th' dead an' roasts thim aftherward.” From which every “would be pastor/preacher” is charged to Comfort the Afflicted and To Afflict the Comfortable. Most weeks we err on the side of “Comforting” because of the Biblical passages, our focus is to recognize A Challenge to our Comforts. The New York Times Magazine recently ran an article about the difference between the Locker Rooms of the Football and Basketball Leagues versus the Baseball Association. The reporter was commenting on the attitude of the players to having Reporters in their Locker Rooms. The gist of the article was that Reporters seemed treated better by the Basketball and Football players than by the Baseball players. Unpacking this, it became apparent that while few among us can throw a pitch at 90 mph, physically we are indistinguishable from the stature of Baseball players. Whereas the tree-trunk calves of a Football player, and the stature of Basketball players, made non-athlete Reporters easily identified. His point being that provided class-distinctions were maintained, everything was in harmony. Okay, true confession time, how many of us have become addicted to the PBS series Downton Abbey? Like the old Upstairs/Downstairs, there is a hierarchy among the characters in each society. While the Earl of Grantham and his dowager Mama may be leftovers from the 1800s, they must be treated with respect and due reverence. Perhaps even more so, downstairs in the Pantry, the proud peacock Mr. Carson rules and there is an extreme pecking order of Butler to Valet to 1st, 2nd and 3rd Footman, to Gardener, with Daisy at the bottom, able to question, provided she defer and never challenge. This caste system is what the Apostle Paul was railing against in our Call to Worship from the 2nd Chapter of 1st Corinthians. The Roman Culture, just as the Greeks, followed a hierarchy. Soldiers of the Roman Legion took what they wanted by brute force. Senators and Freemen were treated as being a different species from tradespeople, or servants or slaves. Even in Judiasm, there had come to be an order of Pharisees and Priests, over Saducees, over Scribes and Rabbis, over disciples and worshippers. Paul's intent for development of the Church was that here everyone and everything is equal. There was not need to put on airs or speak in poetry or philosophical ideas, because the mystery of faith is a reality few understood. Christian faith is intentionally illogical! There are Churches where Class and Caste, giving of presents and repayment of favors is common. Where gathering as the Community of Faith encourages greater “networking” than the Country club. There are Churches with paid soloists. Protestantism is routinely challenged for a Works-righteousness of feeling good because of success and good works. There can be a Feel-Good religion which goes on from the Beatitudes to bless those with Power and Influence and Pride. But this is not Righteous according to the Bible. The Book of Isaiah is a difficult one for people to grasp. Isaiah is a mystery, not for the masses to understand, but for those who see by faith. While written as if from one prophet, Isaiah covers a period of history of at least 200 years, during the Assyrian attacks, and the Babylonian Exile, and the return of a people who believed they would return with more than they left but instead find disillusion. The Book of Isaiah includes a cynicism from God about humanity, few of us are prepared to listen for. We hear the Vision of Isaiah's Call, paying attention to Serphim and Valentine's Cherubim crying “Holy, Holy, Holy!” with burning Coals, and we recognize the faithful response “Here Am I Send Me!” But what God says to the Prophet, is that you will preach and people will listen NOT. Their ears are stopped, their hearts hardened, people are so accustomed to their being right they are not ready to be convinced. They were faithful, 500 years before the birth of Jesus, Religion had become a cultural reinforcement, comforting people with acceptance of circumstance. Few of us in the 21st Century have ever experienced “fasting”. We hear of hunger fasts to gain attention. We recall Ghandi fasting to Call attention to a cause of Justice. In the earliest forms of Judaism, Fasting was a ritual of devotion, cleansing and humility. As an act of confession and contrition, you purged yourself of everything, not only excess, but you intentionally chose in an act of mourning and repentance to have your body consume its fat, to empty yourself until all that was left was dependence upon God for survival. However, over time, practices and traditions are maintained adapting the purpose to fit what is culturally acceptable. The Canaanite Religion included whipping and beating yourself, so as to suffer, because God responds to suffering. So perhaps by starving one's self, by doing without what we want, by complaining, God would take notice? There is a radical change between newborns and Terrible twos not only in size, but Infants cry because they are hungry, because they are dirty or uncomfortable. By age Two, a signal trips in our minds that when ever we cried we got attention, so the louder we cry, the more attention will come. I am looking for a Bumper-sticker that quotes God saying “Do you really think I like the sound of whining and complaint?” The great mystery of Isaiah, and here is Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, is that the masses of people came knowing they were oppressed, knowing life is hard and we do not get what we want, when instead of being comforted they/we are challenged to quit oppressing others. We complain about our taxes instead of seeing what they accomplish. There are a current set of commercials that praise Lincoln for the Transcontinental Railroad, and Eisenhower for the Interstate Highways, when at the time people complained about their cost benefiting few in the world. No matter how many times you have registered for the Do Not Call Registry, you receive calls at dinner asking your opinion. What if, instead of hanging up, or acquiescing, we actually gave our opinion, not to the questions they ask but to what you believe? Jesus calls us to realize your power. Throughout the Scriptures, the great sin of humanity is that we created a reality without God, we lived as if we were God and there were no other. What if, instead, we chose to act as God does? Realize being God is not having whatever you want whenever you desire. Being God is not controlling life. Being God is responding to every circumstance with acts of Grace. To a people enslaved, God gives freedom. To a people who were starving God gave Manna from heaven. To a people a thousand years after receiving the Law and Commandments, Jesus describes I have not come to change the Law, but instead to fulfill the Covenant relationship between God and Humanity. To an Empire that sought to kill Jesus, he died and gave hope in Resurrection beyond the control of the Empire. What if Valentines' were not about purchasing Cards, Chocolate and Roses? Most of us are not Poets, we are not as clever as Hallmark. But if we try, we can tell those we care about how we really feel. One day this week, I went to Moe's for Lunch. Ahead of me was a Mother with two young daughters. The younger was dragging her coat, wearing a tutu, with a feather boa, dark glasses, and a sparkling tiara. When they got up to the check-out, the cashier did not look up but announced the charge, the Mom went to hand the cashier her card only to realize it had the strip across and had not yet been activated, she reached for a second card that also had the sticky strip. You could see the dilemma going through her mind... How can I pay for this? What scene are the children going to make? How insulting is the cashier going to become? When someone handed the cashier $20. It all happened so fast, neither the Mom nor the cashier knew where the $20 had come from. The drawer closed and the cashier began ringing up the next person. A simple act of Grace, that is what God gives each of us, what if we gave Grace to one another?