Sunday, 20 February 2011

Relationships above rank

Epiphany 7 year A Sermon 
Today we’re still in the Roman Empire of the first century…sometime after Paul’s letters were written…
in
Alexandria… in Egypt…
 
And not only has this vast seaport… become the largest city on earth…with half a million people…it’s also home to the largest Jewish community in the world …they share the city equally with Greeks and Egyptians.


Since the time of Alexander the Great…three hundred years earlier… the Hebrew Scriptures have been translated in stages…into the dominant Greek language.

Hi my name is Amos like the prophet and I’m ten
and if you haven’t met me before…
you won’t know we received word last November…
that the Temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed
by Roman Troops…and thousands killed…and because of this…every Jew in Alexandria’s looking for a sign of hope…that God hasn’t abandoned his covenant with us.

Like all Jewish boys I’ve already memorised the five books of the Law of Moses… we call the Torah…
and I dream of following a famous rabbi when I’m older  taking on his yoke… becoming a great teacher myself.

For the past four weeks my grandfather…my Sabba has been reading to me from an illegal text he’s smuggled in …about the birth and baptism and temptation of a rabbi named Jesus of Nazareth. We’d never heard of him till some of his followers were kicked out of our synagogue.

Now we’re studying this rabbi Jesus’ teaching…as he lays out his yoke…his interpretation of the scriptures …on a mountaintop!

But today my grandpa’s worried…Jesus teachings are
becoming political…maybe revolutionary…even dangerous.
He says here in Alexandria we have a nice easy relationship
with our Roman occupiers…and with the Greek aristocrats
who consider themselves… above the rest of us

But like their slaves and their women…
I’ve seen our Jewish men…treated like dogs.
And I’ve seen how our men are forced to hide their rage …when they’re hit with the back of a centurions hand

Oh they’d never hit us with their fist as they would an equal…with the back of their hand
they make a point of showing us… we’re beneath them

Ok I have to be quiet now it’s time for my Sabba to read.

Thank you Amos…for letting me get a word in edgewise
…You will remember that last time I read to you… this rabbi Jesus was telling us the quality of our relationships is more important than our religious rituals …and today my grandson…he seems to be making an even bolder claim…that our relationships are more important even… than our ranking in society…

Jesus begins this teaching… with words only a rabbi with great authority would say
"You have heard it said…
'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

Yes I remember Grandpa… it says in Leviticus ‘fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury.’

Yes that’s right very good Amos… that’s what the Law says…but next this Jesus is saying…

But I say to you, don’t resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn also the other cheek. 

Amos…Incredibly…this rabbi Jesus is telling people not to give a higher ranking person the power to humiliate them…by turning the other cheek
as if he wants us to say "Try again. Your first blow has absolutely failed to achieve its intended effect.
I deny you the power to humiliate me.
I am a human being just like you…made in the image of God. Your rank does not change that.
You cannot demean me."

And Amos you can imagine how such a response would put the attacker… in a very awkward position.[i] How can he now strike the other cheek? He certainly can’t backhand it with his right hand. Oh he could slap but that is what women do…And he can’t use his fists …that kind of fighting is only for equals

The whole point of hitting us with the backs of their hands… is to make sure… women and children and slaves…and Jews…know that we’re not equal…
Now I will read some more…

and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat,
give them your cloak as well;

Oh my Amos my grandson…
this is very mischievous teaching for the poor to hear …if all they have is their coat to repay a debt…
Only the poorest of the poor who’ve paid everything they have…
Only the poorest of the poor would have nothing but their coat… as security for a loan.

Amos you may not know this but our Jewish law
requires every evening… all coats must be returned at sunset because that’s all the poor have
to keep them from the cold at night.
But Grandpa…if they offer their cloak as well like Jesus tells …they’ll be naked
and such a thing in public is forbidden in our faith…
Isn’t it? I’m right aren’t I?

Yes, Amos my grandson…this man Jesus is a shrewd rabbi…he knows that shame will fall…not on the one who is naked…but the one who sees it or causes it.

Do you mean Grandpa…Like when Ham,
saw his father Noah naked… and was cursed by him[ii].

That’s right Amos…
If the poor person strips and goes out into the street
everyone will see the greedy moneylender’s shame for sentencing the naked man to a life of poverty with his loans

but remarkably…this rabbi Jesus tells us
all this standing for equality must be done…
not with hatred and bitterness…but in the spirit of love…
listen to this…

and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and don’t refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

"You have heard it said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
so you may be children of your Father in heaven; 

for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good,
and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
And Jesus continues…
For if you love only those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even tax collectors even do the same?
And if you speak only to your brothers and sisters,
what more are you doing than others?
Don’t even the Gentiles do the same?

Amos…this Jesus is saying…stand as an equal to all people but love them all as well…for this Jesus my grandson
‘this is kadosh…this is holiness … for he says be
holy just as your heavenly Father is perfectly holy.’
as far as Jesus’ yoke is concerned …this is the will of God

it’s Leviticus again grandpa…
"Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'be holy[iii] because I, the LORD your God, am holy.

Yes Amos my genius grandson…Leviticus again.
But to follow this rabbi Jesus will be a hard thing
for not only must we insist on our equality with others even the Greeks and the Romans
but your grandmother may insist on her equality with me…and don’t you get any ideas young Amos…

and if you vow to follow this rabbi Jesus
you’ll have to love those unclean gentile children the pagan children in our streets and the Roman soldiers too
as though they weren’t our enemies already…

But grandpa…let me tell you a secret…some are already my friends. [pause]

And here we are two thousand years later…at the ends of the earth beneath these majestic mountains and beside this shining lake … and still we are challenged, convicted and concerned
when we hear the words of Jesus teaching in the gospel of Matthew…yes thank goodness his gospel is legal here
but in some countries it’s still banned even today. 

And I hope you’ll agree that reading Jesus words in the context of a first century Jewish grandpa and his grandson …we can no longer delude ourselves that for Jesus…
holiness had anything to do with personal purity
and spiritual maturity…

those were not Hebrew longings but a desire of the greeks Greek who aspired to become divine…
in the Hebrew Scriptures holiness was never a commandment but always an adjective[iv]
describing a quality of those who are God’s children…
identifying a feature of those who are set apart
for God’s holy purposes. 

And in the thinking of the ancient Hebrew people…
holiness was only observed through actions.

holy actions enshrined in the passage from Leviticus you heard today…the one little Amos memorised by the time he was ten… holy instruction for honouring parents, for Sabbath keeping, farming and business practice, charity
and justice in community.  [pause]
For God’s children…each and every one of these
is about the acting out of holiness… not all by ourselves…
but in community.  For there is no Hebrew concept of holiness… apart from all of us together
The “you” in Jesus sermon on the mountain top is plural! 

Holy living together…
as God directs… not as the world dictates. 

What the actions in Leviticus echoed in Jesus teaching today… boil down to these…

sharing, truthfulness, protecting the vulnerable, fair dealing, guarding your tongue… loving … never hating

Jesus challenges his followers…challenges us
to embrace these expressions of holiness
in all our relationships as a visible sign we are God’s children.

and yes…in the midst of all this equality and love…
Jesus commands us to exhort and admonish one another…whether our neighbours in church and  community …our business partners …our members of parliament …maybe even other nations

urging them to holy action…when they are guilty of hoarding and corruption, and exploitation, injustice, cruelty, dishonesty, violence and abuse…
speaking out lest we be guilty ourselves.

How can we claim to be Jesus’ followers…how can we claim to be God’s Children…filled by God’s Spirit…
if we don’t manifest this holiness.

My prayer is that we …surely will.




[i] My gratitude to Walter Wink for this insight
[ii] Genesis 9:20-27
[iii] קדוש (pronounced - Kadosh)

Sunday, 13 February 2011

Relationships or Rituals

Epiphany 6 year A Sermon 
Hello out there…
from a Jewish grandfather in 1st century Egypt…
today I have a problem…my grandson Amos wants me to read to him…more of the teaching of this rabbi Jesus of Nazareth…but the next part is all about relationships even the intimate kind …and control of passions
like anger and scorn and… lust…

I’m not sure little Amos is ready for this…
he’s an innocent boy… only ten years old
what can he know of murder and adultery…
let alone lust already?

Oh he knows Abraham had three wives…
as it was with the ancients…and knows their names were Sarah, Hagar and Ktura…and I guess he knows it was a complicated family …because…Sarah was Abraham’s sister…actually his father’s daughter

And Amos knows the story of the rape of Dinah …Jacob’s daughter…and the murders of retribution that followed. But I don’t think he has any idea
what rape is…

And  …my grandson learned King David
stole the wife of poor Uriah…and then had him killed

Amos knows these things because at synagogue school he’s had to memorise all five books of the Torah and listen to Samuel and the Kings and the Psalms

Of murder…he knows how Cain killed his brother Abel… in a jealous rage. But I’m sure he’s never felt it…yes I grant you… maybe he had a tantrum when he was a toddler…but rage…I don’t think so…

And of course Amos knows the commandments of God against killing and adultery …but I don’t think he has any idea… exactly what happens in adultery…
I certainly haven’t told him…

And when in this illegal writing…Rabbi Jesus speaks of the dangers of the fire of hell…the word is Gehenna in our Hebrew language…this won’t be so hard to explain …Amos will know of it also from the scriptures

He’ll know it as that vast burning garbage dump…
in the Valley of Hinnom… outside Jerusalem…
where the followers of the so called god Malloch
long ago sacrificed their children in the fires

…and Amos knows that legend declares at Gehenna
is a gate to the underworld…one of three gates actually …but this legend gives him nightmares his mother says …so we don’t tell it very often

I suppose some little Jewish children were there…
when this Rabbi Jesus was teaching on the mountain top …laying out his yoke…his interpretation of the Law

…and I suppose parents and even grandparents…
had to sum up Jesus teaching for them…
when they began to ask their questions as children do…

But this section of Jesus teaching…the one you heard just before… is a challenge

what can you tell a child… who knows nothing…
of lust and divorce and murder and adultery…
except from stories in the sacred scrolls?

I have prayed about this you know…and I think I will read it plainly… and then just summarise it for Amos without going into too much detail…before he can ask too many questions…tell me what you think…

First I’ll tell him… it seems to me Amos my grandson
that this rabbi Jesus is saying… his yoke…his understanding of the will of God… is this

that our relationships with people are more important
than our religious rituals…that sorting them out …healing relationships when their broken… should come first…
God’s law of love must be raised above our duties at the synagogue or the Temple.

Second…I’ll tell him… in Jesus yoke …in relationships with people…faithfulness respect and honour are due to every single human being…men and women…

and third Rabbi Jesus is teaching…
what goes on in our hearts…is as important…
as what we do…

remember Amos…the words ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart’…is repeated thirty eight times in our scriptures

Fourth… here Jesus is saying…the seeds of murder and adultery are planted in the heart…they start out as anger and lust and scorn…and they grow… to become murder and adultery…so Jesus binds these things…forbids the seeds of these in his yoke.

And lust…well…I think he’ll askLust Amos my grandson…is when we forget… that a woman or a man are made in the image of God. With lust in our hearts we make them into objects of our desires…
no longer human beings made in the image of God
just things for our secret pleasure.

This Rabbi Jesus will not have it…in his followers

And then Amos I’ll explain
the sixth thing in this teaching of Jesus is this…
to say another person is beneath us… or worthless
when we’re all made in the image of God
is as bad as killing them…

In this teaching…Jesus is saying …we’re in some way destroying them …and when we call someone a fool… we are spitting on the image of God…

Seventh and eighth I’ll talk to him about divorce and oaths.

And I will explain that the Greek culture we live in here in Alexandria…is very different from ours…
You see Amos I’ll say…one thing we Hebrews understand… is that the heart and the mind and the spirit of a human being are one…our being is one …all of it made in the image of God…

we Jews are not like the Greeks…believing flesh is corrupt…emotions a little higher and the intellect…
the mind… the highest of the high

no we Jews believe our whole being is one
and made in the image of God…and as the scriptures say…created good…
Amos will know that our word for this is nephesh

This is why something felt in the heart is as good as done… that just fulfilling the letter of the law doesn’t accomplish the spirit of what God requires of us to live in love with one another.

No wonder some of Jesus followers have been kicked out of our Synagogue…if they insist on putting their relationships with other people ahead of our religious rituals…

But I like what this Jesus is teaching…don’t you?
That the judgement of God is greater than the Sanhedrin or the courts of the synagogue…
oooh…I could get into trouble there.

Wanaka slide
But here we are two thousand years later still struggling with the same issues of the heart…aren’t we…
Everyday tempted to leave conflict unresolved …emotional debts unpaid…

As we watch TV or gossip over a cuppa aren’t we tempted to pour scorn on the heads of others and call them fools…good for nothing…
Even in our most intimate relationships…hiding disrespect in our hearts instead of saying it out loud…

Most of us have never killed anyone…but
have we destroyed someone’s ego or abused private information to kill a reputation.

Yes we are only human…and Jesus knew that…of course…for he was human with us…but his teaching is as much for us today as it was for Amos and his grandfather…as a Rabbi with authority Jesus compares the Law of Moses with his new covenant… which as the prophets foretold…is to be written on our hearts…

Relationships can be male and female…husband and wife…parent and child…but they can also be Pakeha and Maori…rich and poor…government to people and nation to nation…sorting out relationships is hard work…
but it is precisely this work…to which Jesus calls us

…my prayer is that we will take seriously every word of his teaching and his call.

Sunday, 6 February 2011

Jesus yoke

Epiphany 5  year A 10 Sermon Jesus Yoke
Title slide
Ok… it’s still the first century…deep in the Roman Empire…in the Jewish quarter of the huge metropolis of Alexandria in Egypt…sometime after Paul’s letters have been written…

Jews across the Empire
have received word…the Temple in Jerusalem is in ruins …destroyed by the Romans…and thousands killed …they’re looking for any sign of hope…
that God hasn’t abandoned them
                          
Slide words Me!
My name is Amos like the prophet
if you haven’t met me before… and though I’m only ten
I dream of following a famous rabbi when I’m older  …
taking on his yoke… becoming a great teacher myself.

my grandpa…my Sabba… has been reading to us from some illegal writings he’s smuggled in…about the life and teaching… of a rabbi… called Jesus of Nazareth…
it’s scary but fun…to know we have to read it in secret
and until a group of Jesus’ followers were kicked out
of our synagogue… we’d never heard of him before.

I love to play rabbi when my Sabba isn’t looking…

Tallit slide
I love to put on the Tallit…my big brother’s prayer shawl…and I count the tassels and remember the commandments of God just like it says in the book of Numbers…
which I’m very proud to have memorised already…

And God spoke to Moses: "Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them from now on they’re to make tassels on the corners of their garments and mark each
corner tassel… with a blue thread.

‘When you look at these tassels… you'll remember and keep… all the commandments of God to live a holy life. 

you can see the Atara... across the top …Atara’s our Hebrew word for yoke or crown. we put the yoke over our heads when we pray…

And see the words on the yoke…well every rabbi his own list of what is permitted or forbidden…how he interprets the Law of Moses…and these teachings are embroidered onto the yokes of their tallits…
and his students say they’ve taken up their rabbi’s yoke.

I will choose my rabbi
because I believe his interpretation of scripture…
his yoke… is the closest…to what God intends for us.

Fishermen and nets slide
I was excited when Grandpa read the story of how this rabbi Jesus called his disciples from their boats…just ordinary fishermen not the best students…and I asked my grandpa… if maybe I could be Jesus’ disciple

But my Sabba looked worried… he wasn’t so sure…
he said… Amos we don’t even know yet what it would mean to follow this rabbi…to take on his yoke…
and live out his understanding of the Law and the Prophets. We don’t even know what his yoke is yet..


But today my Sabba’s going to read us the next part of the story…where Jesus begins to teach his understanding of the scriptures and what his followers must do to be his disciples…

And I have promised my Sabba that I’ll try to keep quiet and just listen…

That’s right Amos good boy…Now this story happened maybe forty years ago in the north near Jerusalem…
you can see it on this map

Map slide
Now this Matthew writes…large crowds began to follow Jesus…people from Galilee, Jerusalem Judea and even the Greek speaking cities of the Decapolis
and the regions beyond the Jordan.

Jesus slide 1
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; he sat down to teach and his disciples gathered round him. Jesus said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Amos slide 1
Hey grandpa…Jesus went up a mountain like Moses…
and spoke our prayer of adoration
Baruch Atah Adonai Blessed is the Lord…I know the words by heart

Yes my noisy grandson…but you aren’t listening…
this is about the people being blessed by God…tenderly held and loved by God… I’ve just started the story and already you’ve interrupted…

Herumph…I will begin this story again…

Jesus slide 2
Jesus said…Adored…"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they’ll be comforted.

Oh Grandpa we’re mourning Jerusalem aren’t we…
and all those who died

Yes Amos but be still!…

Jesus continues his yoke…Adored…blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. And  those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy and the pure in heart…for they will see God.

[finger to lips] There is more Amos…
Adored…blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God and those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake or ridiculed or lied about for my sake…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Amos and Sabba slide 2
Oh Grandpa…this could be good news for the families who were kicked out of our synagogue…because they chose to follow in the name… of this rabbi Jesus?

[Sighing] I suppose you’re right Amos my inquisitive grandson…and here’s more good news for them

Jesus slide 3
Rejoice and be glad Jesus tells them…your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way…
they persecuted the prophets who went before you. Don’t’ you realise you’re the salt of the earth…

But if salt loses its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It’s no longer good for anything,
and thrown out to be trampled underfoot.

Amos and Sabba slide 3
Uh excuse me grandpa… do you think what Jesus means is like what we had to memorise from the prophet Micah?
I can repeat every word

‘He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.’ Does Jesus mean if we’re not doing those things
then we kind of lose our saltiness?

Amos my grandson…you show remarkable understanding for a ten year old…maybe you’ll make a good student after all. But let me finish reading
this teaching of the Rabbi Jesus

Jesus slide 4
You’re not only the salt of the earth…Jesus says to his followers…you’re the light of the world. At night it’s impossible to hide a city built on a hill. And no one lights a lamp then hides it under a basket. They put it on a lampstand…and it gives light to everyone in the house.

In the same way…let your light shine before others,
so they can see the good you do
and praise God because of it.

Amos slide 4
Didn’t the prophet Isaiah say…If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, and offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted instead… then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn…

Yes my grandson…we Israel are meant to be a light to the nations…and Jesus is telling his followers they are the light of the world…next Jesus says…He’s come to fulfil the Law …not to abolish it or the prophets…

But Grandpa what could it possibly mean to fulfil the law and how could anyone abolish it!

When you are older Amos… you will understand…

No Grandpa I want to understand now!

All right all right I’ll tell you… but such a thing is only said between a Rabbi and his followers

Jesus slide 5
Amos have you noticed how our Rabbi spends hours and hours discussing and debating with the older boys?
Well they’re usually arguing about what it means
to live out a certain text in scripture.

When a student makes a suggestion… and the rabbi thinks he’s totally missed the point… the rabbi will say to him…. ‘You have abolished the Torah’ ‘you have abolished the Law’… because in the rabbi’s opinion…
the student wasn’t even close to what God wants.

But when one of the boys gets it right
When the rabbi thinks they really understand what God
is looking for in living out the Law…the rabbi says … ‘congratulations you have fulfilled the Torah’…
‘You have fulfilled the Law’

That’s why Jesus choose just those words

slide words
Don’t think that I’ve come to abolish
the Law or the Prophets; I haven’t come to abolish … but to fulfil them.

Amos I think Jesus is saying ‘He never meant to do away with the Law; but to show us what it looks like …when the Law is lived out perfectly…’

blank slide
And Jesus goes on here to tell his followers to teach others to do the same…to live it out…
to make more disciples in his name …
more people to take on Jesus’ yoke.
[pause]

Wanaka slide
And here we are… not Jews living in first century Egypt …  but 21st century Christians… living and worshipping in Jesus name… beside a sparkling lake in the shadow of mighty mountains...

We’re here because Jesus followers were obedient to his call… because they went to the ends of the earth baptising in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and making disciples to carry out his teaching.

Here in our land on this Waitangi Day… we remember the great Maori disciple of Jesus…Te Whiti
who tried to live out God’s will at great cost
who was a peacemaker… and for that…
persecuted and imprisoned in Jesus name.

Te Whiti tried to plant the seeds of peace through passive resistance…in the Taranaki village of Parihaka… He corresponded with Mahatma Gandhi doing the same in India…

Taranaki slide
In 1881 when the government lost its patience with
the people’s passive resistance…it planned an armed invasion of Parihaka to close the village down.  Finally at dawn on November 5th 1600 government soldiers stormed the village…

But instead of violence, the soldiers were greeted with hundreds of skipping and singing children… offering them food. Because of this no lives were lost…
but Te Whiti was imprisoned and most of Parihaka’s people were expelled from their homes…

Soldiers looted and destroyed most of the settlement.
But the yoke of Jesus had been demonstrated and the story of Te Whiti is still taught today at Mount Aspiring College and high schools throughout New Zealand.

Book slide
And we have a book in our own library called Ask that mountain about what our Christian brother Te Whiti did.

Local slide
It’s not easy to be a follower of Jesus…it’s not easy to face contempt and ridicule with mercy and humility…
It’s hard to be a peacemaker when soldiers ride their horses through your veggie garden…or boy racers ruin drive their cars over your lawn…its even harder when someone you know is hurt or when you are being trampled underfoot…

it’s tempting to pick up a stone and throw it…its tempting to shout some cutting words…

but if we want to be called the children of God then has told us what must be done…how we must live…

But how can we make more disciples of Jesus if we can’t even carry his yoke and do what he did…and Amos doesn’t even know yet what cross Jesus would have to bear.

Let us stand and pray together.