Earthrise from the Apollo 8 mission
December 24, 1968
Keep surprising us God.
Keep
coming in ways and people
we don’t expect.
Amen.
“In
the beginning was the Word”.And what
was that Word?The word logos, Greek for ‘word’, can also be
translated as message, theory, motive, reason, wisdom, and probably the best
one of all—story.In the beginning there
was a message, a theory, a motive or reason, there was wisdom, there was a story,
and this story was with God, and the story was God.All things came into being through this
story.Without
this story not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4through this story was life, and the life was the light of all
people.[i]
In order to accomplish this story, to write this story,
to have this story in the flesh, certain ingredients were necessary.One of them was gravity,a necessity for not only life on earth but
for the existence of this universe.I’ve
been reading Col. Christopher Hadfield’s book An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth.One of the characters in the Christmas story
is a star, and I thought it would be interesting to read about someone whose
job it is to live amongst the stars and to explore space.
It was also 45 years ago tonight that the Apollo 8 crew
broadcast greetings from their orbit around the moon, the first ever.As the crew took turns reading from the first
chapter of Genesis, there were perhaps some who remembered Yuri Gagarin’s
infamous statement that he didn’t see any God in space.
It’s true, there’s not a lot of room for God or faith in
the unknown in space.Chris Hadfield
writes of the numerous simulations and multiple years’ worth of training that
he went through before he would go into space.There’s no room for mistakes in zero gravity and zero atmosphere outside
a wall that’s only 10 cm thick.In
space, prayer just might be the last refuge of an astronaut.
There’s not a lot of room for the Holy Spirit in space:
that unpredictable dance between us and God.There’s not a lot of room for grace, if most mistakes are accounted for
before even leaving Earth’s gravity.The
incarnation, God’s story in human flesh, needs gravity, that force which also
brings stars into being.
Almost all of us will never be in space.All of what we do and feel and experience is
here on Earth.We are grounded.Most of what we do and feel and experience is
not life or death, like it is in space.We
don’t need to control the human factor not nearly as much, try as we might most days.We need to leave room, indeed, a wide
spaciousness for the Holy Spirit.There
is not only room but a great need for grace and forgiveness, because we can’t
foresee or simulate all the mistakes we might make from now until we leave this
Earth.
But in space the view is one of wonder and awe at the
expansiveness of God’s creation that includes tiny, insignificant, precious,
and rare little us.[ii]Each of us is a story enfleshed within a
cosmic story of grace and love, justice and peace.Each of us is made of the same stuff as stars,
and through our lives light can shine.And tonight we celebrate the One who came to show us the way.
The incarnation is earthy, with a gravitational pull that
pries us off of ourselves and puts the outcast, the poor, and the forgotten at
the center of the universe.Holy Jesus,
may the force of love draw us to your lowly birth, to your life lived for
others, to your cross, to your story of justice and peace for all
creation.Amen.
[i]
Many thanks to Kate Braestrup for her words on this in her book Here If You Need Me, Little, Brown
Co., New York: 2007.
[ii]“…tiny,
insignificant…”: Eleanor Arroway, played by Jodie Foster in the movie Contact.
For the last 50 years or so, off and
on, we have begun the process of breaking with convention.We see it in everything from art to style of
dress to types of worship to parenting to lifestyle.And since the advent of the Internet and
social media these changes have increased not only in speed, but also our
ability to adapt to them.Sometimes it
seems as though everything is up for grabs, that the very ground is shifting
under our feet, and there are times we don’t know when we need to stand and
stand firm.
Theologian
Paul Tillich wrote in his book The
Shaking of the Foundations that there were spans of time when we could
listen to the prophets’ words of the mountains trembling, of the earth breaking
into pieces and not take them so seriously.But I think we’ve known for some time now that those days are gone.
And
thankfully so, because in order for true change to occur, there needs to be
some shaking up.Breaking with
convention in big and small ways helps pave the way for true liberation, so
that those who have lived in hiding can come safely into the light.
Convention
told us that if you have a mental illness, suffer from depression, or if you
have an addiction, you should keep it to yourself or at least within your
family.Convention told us if you had
autism or Asperger’s, that you wouldn’t be able to relate us or us to you.Convention told us that if you were being
bullied, that it was part of growing up.Convention told us that if you didn’t want to have children, it would be
hard for your parents to not have grandchildren, that you were being
selfish.If you love someone of the same
gender, convention said we don’t want to see you; don’t expect to enjoy the
same rights or receive the same treatment as heterosexual couples.Convention told us that there was an “us” and
a “them”.
It
was not only convention but Jewish law that told Joseph that he shouldn’t go
through with his betrothal to Mary.In
fact, the law called for Mary to be stoned to death, since she was found
pregnant before being legally married.When Jesus said, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first
to throw a stone at her”, he could have been reminded of his own mother.
We
read, though, that Joseph is not one to throw stones.He is a righteous man, a man of noble
virtues, and does not want to publicly disgrace Mary.This is one strong man.Joseph was within his rights.He could have had his pound of flesh for what
appeared to be a betrayal of his trust.Instead he planned to dismiss Mary quietly—a private divorce.Which would have been more than enough for
anyone else.
But
God says it’s not enough to be righteous and do the right thing quietly.“Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,
for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”Though Joseph knows the truth about this
child, no one else will.From all
appearances Joseph will be judged as the father of this child conceived before
marriage. He too will bear the sting of
humiliation.
It
wasn’t enough for United Methodist pastor Rev. Frank Schaefer to perform the
marriage ceremony for his gay son.“Do
not be afraid, Frank, to stand firm against bigotry couched as Christian
doctrine.For what you are doing is
conceived of the Holy Spirit.”Now he
has vowed to continue to serve the LGBT community regardless of the decision by
church officials to defrock him."I
am actively committing to having those discriminatory laws changed and banished
from our Book of Discipline," Schaefer said. "That's the only way I
can reconcile being a United Methodist at this point."
It’s not enough to say ‘no matter
who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here’ and then get
antsy about who might walk through the door or worry about children making
noise.It’s not enough to break with
convention, to invite those who are in hiding into the light but then we must
stand with them where they are, until it becomes so crowded that the walls begin
to crack and the light streams in.
This Great Emergence that we’re
living through, this time of what seems like anything is up for grabs, this
time of breaking with convention, this time of upheaval, what if what is emerging
is us, our true humanity?What if this
is the time to bring all of who we are into the light?That finally it is acceptable to be human in
all our myriad incarnations, none of us the same, all of us beautiful and
flawed, imperfect yet perfectly ourselves, authentic and real.
What if what is being revealed, what if what is emerging, is the image of
God within all of us?“Do not be afraid
to love, to be just, to have courage, to stand with those in hiding, for what
you are doing has been conceived of the Holy Spirit.”
Recall if you will that
two months ago I first mentioned this Great Emergence and that the pressing
question that humanity must answer as part of this upheaval is “By what
authority do we live?”We know that for
Western Christianity it is no longer the Bible.
We know that slavery is wrong, that women are not property nor should they be silent in church, that every person should be able to marry the person they love. This knowledge contradicts the Bible and its ultimate authority. So by what authority do we live? What if, though, the answer could be universal for all human beings, no
matter what their creed or belief?
I think the answer is
another question:In anything that we
say or do, will we do so with fear or with love?I think it is as simple as that.Will love be our authority or fear?Joseph was willing to do act with love but
only so far as his fear would let him.“Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”
Where in our own lives or
in our life together is God speaking to us, telling us to not be afraid to be
loving, to be just, to be our true self, to have courage to do the hard thing?When do we wear the outer armor of fear
rather than the inner armor of love?What are the hiding places and prisons in our lives and in our human
culture that need to be brought into the light?What do we really mean when we say and celebrate that God is with us?
Do not be afraid,
Cynthia, to move away from the familiar, to start all over, to upend your
family and to wed yourself to this church and this community, for this has all
been conceived by the Holy Spirit.And
God is with you.
Do not be afraid, New Ark
United Church of Christ, to be exactly who you are—flawed and fabulous—for you
have been conceived by the Holy Spirit to be the Body of Christ, to be fearlessly
loving, to be just, to have courage to do the hard thing, to stand with those
still in hiding until the walls crack and the light streams in.And God is with you.
When I was in college, I marched
against South Africa’s apartheid.It was my first protest march.“What do we want?Divestment!When do we want it?Now!”Friends and classmates from Westfield State
College, along with hundreds of others from various schools and walks of life
converged on the steps of the city hall in Springfield, MA on a sunny, spring
day to declare our hopes for a peaceful end to apartheid.
Whenever
we march and make protest, we do so with hopes rather than expectations.For we know that “our struggle
is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”, as Paul says to the church in
Ephesus.And so we temper our
expectations with a dose of reality, recognizing that a good and lasting peace
takes a long time to achieve.
It did take a long time for
apartheid to come to an end, for the people of South Africa to be one nation, for
Nelson Mandela to be released from prison.27 years.I doubt that anyone in
the apartheid regime expected Mandela to survive prison, let alone be
released.He was 71 years old when he
walked out of his cell at Victor Verster Prison.He then went on to become the first black
president of South Africa, enlisting his predecessor, F.W. de Klerk, as one of
his deputies.He formed a Government of
National Unity, blending an administration of white and black South
Africans.He initiated the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, bringing to light human rights abuses on both sides,
so that the process of healing and potential forgiveness could begin.
I doubt anyone expected any of this to
work.The memories of violence, fear,
and overwhelming death were still fresh and visceral.Some did not expect Mandela to survive his
presidency, that he would be assassinated not only for his radical initiatives but
for simply being black. Then to live to
the age of 95; a black South African man living 9 ½ decades!Who would have expected that?From all appearances, the odds were stacked
against him.
Madiba, father of a nation
It’s not that people didn’t have
faith.Millions around the world
believed in the rightness, the justice of his cause.We human beings always seem to be caught
between what is and what could be.So we
have hopes, that we may not risk our expectations to despair.
The people of the southern kingdom
of Judah may have even given up hope in their Babylonian captivity.After approximately 50 years of exile, who
would think that they would be able to return home?And if so, what was left of not only their
homeland but of their faith and God’s desire to be in covenant with them?Hindsight isn’t really 20/20.When bad stuff happens, our judgment and
memory are clouded with emotion.We look
for who is to blame, sometimes holding ourselves not just accountable but
worthy of shame.And so God’s people
blamed themselves for their exile, believing that because of their sin, God had
abandoned them to the whims of their captors.
The book of Isaiah is believed to
have three authors, writing at different points in Judah’s history.Isaiah 11 is believed to have been written
while Judah was still in exile in Babylon.These words surely spoke to the people’s hopes but this prophecy was not
what was expected.“A shoot shall come out
from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”Out of something strong and established yet
cut down shall come forth something vulnerable, something growing where nothing
should.God judging not with what the
eyes can see or what the ears can hear (as we do) but with righteousness, with integrity
and equity.And then all those predators
and prey shacking up like old friends, with a child at the front of God’s
parade.Not what was expected but
certainly a dream worth longing for.
But we know that receiving not what was expected is not
always a good surprise.We don’t expect
cancer.Or a stillbirth.Or a gunman in an elementary school.Or a natural disaster taking away a slew of homes.Or the well-meaning but insensitive comments
of others when we are hurting.Or the rich getting ever
richer and insulated and the poor continuing to get even poorer.God upends our expectations of despair with
utopian dreams when we have lost hope but what of God when it goes the other
way?
Certainly the people of Judah and Israel did not expect
the Greeks and the Romans to be an occupying force in their country.It was one thing to be carried off into
exile; it was quite another to be rendered to a police state in one’s own land.John the Baptizer was preaching a baptism of
repentance, demanding that God’s people turn their lives toward God’s
righteousness; that they turn in their ‘old lives for a kingdom life’.In
John’s hopes for the expected Messiah we can hear intimations of a longing for
a zealot: someone who will clean not only the spiritual house of the Lord but
also the land of Judah and Israel from foreign occupation.
The peaceable kingdom
And though Jesus said that he had come not to bring peace
but a sword, he also said that those who live by the sword, die by the
sword.He was given a bandit’s, a
zealot’s death but he went to it willingly, even offering forgiveness from the cross.Jesus hoped that there would be peace between
God and human beings, but it would take longer than his lifetime.Frederick Buechner wrote, “For Jesus, peace
seems not to have meant the absence of struggle but the presence of love.”
To make peace with a world full of beauty and brutality can
take a long time. And to make peace with
the God, the power, the mystery that created it can take even longer.Oftentimes, we ascribe to God, that power
greater than ourselves, the evil that we did not expect, that gave us
unimaginable grief, for we do not want to make peace with that which does not
give peace.Though we would exile
ourselves from God, God welcomes us home anyway.Though we do not even know the way home, God
sends us Jesus, a fiery, fierce yet peace-filled savior.Though we do not know whether we can love or
forgive or make peace yet again, God waits for us.
And maybe that’s what Advent is all about:God waiting for us while we’re coming to
peace with what this whole existence is about.Where does life come from and where does consciousness go when life is
over?Who are you?Who am I?Who are we?How can I live
peacefully with myself and with other human beings?
Here are some signs that we might be experiencing inner
peace:
·Tendency
to think and act spontaneously rather than from fear based on past experiences;
·Ability
to enjoy each moment;
·Loss
of interest in judging others;
·Loss
of interest in judging self;
·Loss
of interest in interpreting the actions of others;
·Loss
of interest in pursuing conflict;
·Loss
of ability to worry;
·Frequent
periods of appreciation;
·Feelings
of connectedness with others and with nature;
·Increased
susceptibility to acts of kindness extended by others;
·An
increased tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen;
·Uncontrollable
urge to extend kindness;
·Gaining
the ability to love without expecting anything in return.
Not what you’d expect,
these signs of inner peace.And I think
before we can make peace with God or with our neighbor, we have to make peace
with ourselves.Accept ourselves, all of
it, our flaws and our unique capabilities, our sins and how we can be such a
blessing, our hurtful ways and our ability to love, be courageous and humble in
heart.
For in this way the wolf and the lamb can lie down within
us.For in this way a child can lead us.
This past Sunday we didn't have a typical sermon. I had arrived the night before by train from visiting my family for Thanksgiving. Happily, this is a church that cares more about the integrity of message rather than its form.
So I gave some introductory comments to set the tone.
I reminded folks of a classic Star Trek episode, entitled "Wink of an Eye", about a species of humanoids whose metabolism is so accelerated that they are rendered invisible to the human eye.
This video contains time-lapse photography in which we see the blooming of flowers, the sunrise and sunset in a span of seconds. Imagine if our lives were filmed with time-lapse photography. Would we be rendered to a blur by all of our activity?
Advent is a time to slow down, to allow ourselves to see the way God works, so we can live the way we we're made.
