Friday, October 31, 2008

True Reformation - Matthew 23:1-12

Many of us Protestants do not give much attention to Reformation Sunday anymore. To some, it seems to focus more on our differences as Christians, rather than our similarities. But I think that on this Sunday before the presidential election, we should think about the very deep meaning of reformation.
The text in Matthew's gospel deals with perceptions of power. "Who will get the best seats?" seems to be the tone of the mindset which Jesus challenges. He makes it clear that true reformation has nothing to do with status, religiosity or power. We can speak eloquently about power and faith, but faith that does not translate into action is worthless, in Jesus' view. If we are concerned about who gets the best seats, it may indicate our own lack of awareness about power that is not ours.
Jesus had a marvelous way of bringing things down to the everyday level. If one was to ask, as did the disciples at one point, as to who would have the best place at the table, Jesus used his answer to show the individual that the question just asked was the wrong one. To avoid traps like this, we should not lose a true sense of self and place. I like the paraphrase of the beatitude that states, "happy are those who know their place before God." Even an awareness of the need for humility and wonder can go awry. Sometimes, we who are in positions of leadership or power, will try to appear humble, even though we like our positions and our power. We can still lose sight of the world and our place in it. We are religious people, and well-educated, and we must be modest about that, right? There is a wonderful quote, spoken by Golda Meier to one of her cabinet ministers, "Don't be so humble; you're not that great."
Presidential candidates seek to identify with "everyman/woman" by trying to show how out of touch the other candidate really is. This current campaign has been hateful and full of half-truths, because that is what works in American politics. How badly must one want power, to campaign for almost two years for an office? I have little doubt that, on the day after this election, someone will come forth to announce that he/she will make a run for the office in 2012!
We must seek true reformation as a country, because, no matter how much we try to convince ourselves of the truth of the belief, we are not God's chosen nation. However, I do believe that God does hold us to a higher standard, because we have the resources to reform society and to influence the rest of the world for good. So, as we live through this election, may we look for signs of reformation that rise above the bidding war for the best seats in the house. God really does care about our motives and actions, and those cannot be summed up in a thirty second soundbite.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Competing Loyalties - Matthew 22:15 - 22

I recall a time, early in my ministry, when the local ministerial association decided to try to communicate with the local youth football league officials. Although most games were played on Sunday afternoon, most coaches required the players to be there mid-morning. We were treated with contempt by the league reps, and were made to feel as if we were somehow unpatriotic. And this was in an area that was still somewhat traditional about Sunday morning being a special time.
These days, hardly a Sunday goes by when some charity is not sponsoring a walk or run on Sunday morning. My family attended a church a few years back where services were canceled one Sunday each summer so that members could work the barbecue/fundraiser at the local church-related retirement home. My religious life activities almost always take a back seat to athletic events, field trips and other activities that have taken over the Sunday morning slot.
I look at the passage from Matthew where Jesus tells the religious and secular folks that their loyalty to God is a personal decision, and that they must render to God and Caesar what they think each one deserves. American Christian institutions have done so much to accommodate themselves to the schedules of their members that I do not think this passage carries much weight these days. I coordinated the CROP Walks for hunger in the county where I served my first parish. We held our walks on Sunday afternoons. I participated in an MS Walk on a Saturday in another town later in my career. It's a sign of the times when we make folks choose between community worship and community service. There has to be a way to preserve the importance and complimentarity of both.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

When the Week Gets Away From Me, Exodus 32:1 - 14

The trouble with taking a few days off, inevitably, is returning to work. Tasks that seemed to have distant deadlines before the break suddenly become ASAP. The calendar fills up in a manner that is proportionate to the amount of work that one had hoped to get done, thus forestalling the completion of meaningful work, including sermon preparation. However, a real time correlation can be drawn between Moses' sojourn on the mountaintop and the behavior of those in waiting at the bottom of the mountain, and my return to campus after taking a few days off. While I was away, seeking refreshment on the mountain, co-workers and students, often inadvertently, were busy constructing several golden calves of their own and leaving them in the most unexpected places. Since my return, I have been stumbling upon them at every turn. I shall come back to this space next week, with a fuller treatment of the week's texts. For now, I am putting on my barn boots and preparing to walk through the pasture, where the calves have been grazing and are, I'm afraid, exceedingly well-fed.