September 3, 2006
The Rev. Cn. Joel Atkinson
Preached at St. Barnabas, Kutztown, PA
After the crucifixion there was not a Christian church!
The earliest followers of the man who died upon that cross at Calvary
were Jews engaged in a Judaism
centered ’round the Temple in Jerusalem.
Those early followers saw no discontinuity
between the teachings of the Torah
and the teachings of the man
whom they had pledged their allegiance to.
It is true there was some discomfort
within the religious establishment of Judaism
and those out of the box thinking Jewish followers of Jesus
and with other developments taking place within the Judaism of their day.
Rather than seeking a middle way,
so typically human,
a game of blame the other came into play.
Another and perhaps better word
for this game is “scapegoating” those who held opposing views.
When we scapegoat we don’t take responsibility
for our contribution to the conflict between them and us.
Then there was Paul
and his zealous evangelism
among the uncircumcised,
that is, all those non-Jews out there.
As a consequence, a split occurred
between the Jewish and the Hellenist wings of our early church
threatening the existence of that early church.
“After all it was Paul’s fault,
that former Pharisee,”
the Jewish Christians said,
“He did it,” and fingers were waggled,
“for introducing Hellenistic views
into our so, so Christian Jewish community.”
Fortunately, a middle way was found
[The first Anglicans were born!]
and our church made it beyond
those raucous infant days.
Unfortunately, between the early Jewish Christians
and what was soon to be a synagogue-centered Judaism
a permanent split took place.
We were a rather aggravating lot!
On the other hand,
perhaps we’d not have become who we are today
if we’d not been booted out.
In all this mess,
those righteous Pharisees got a very bad press.
I use righteous
not intending a negative judgment
as it’s often used when associated with them,
but as actually complimentary
for those who sought to uphold the good order
of their particular religion.
Scapegoating has to have ones to fault
and in this conflict the Pharisees
were convenient targets.
With all the rancor and waggling fingers,
it was easy to ignore the message
of He who had died to set them free,
thus the reminder
in the message
contained in the lessons read today.
Therefore, I will not spend any time
in those ancient arguments
nor any we might have today.
I’ll not do any finger-waggling at the Pharisees!
I wonder how often today
the Good News is not heard
because we enter into such blaming, scapegoating games?
I wonder too how often opportunities
to be more fully God’s people
are not taken
because of our blaming and scapegoating ways?
This is not meant to deny
the conflicts Jesus had
with the religious authorities of his day.
His teachings pushed the edges of their theological thinking
and heaven forbid crowds of the faithful came to listen.
Naturally this led to conflicts
with those in power.
Honestly, folks,
doesn’t this sound familiar,
too often,
like our church today?
Enough is enough
now to the message
we are supposed to hear this day.
[Solomon 2:8-13]
The voice of my beloved! Look, He comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, there he stands behind our wall. Gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice. My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.”
The intent of his metaphor
for us who will listen to these words
is God is the lover who calls
and we the beloved are asked to respond.
God is the one who rushes to us.
God is the one who desires for us to come away with God.
Our time of separation is over
and God calls for us to come away
into a new life only God can give.
What is it that keeps us from arising and going with God?
What is it that keeps us from truly living into all God calls us to be?
What is it that keeps us alienated from our lover?
Can you guess?
It is not those,
who in our opinion,
have replaced
those righteous Pharisees of old
nor is it those
who as Paul
push the edges of our theological understanding.
Rather the answer is our idolatry.
We think so much of ourselves
that we want to be in charge
rather than God!
We want to tell God who to be and what to be and how to be.
We want to box God in.
We want to catalog and categorize God
in order to better define
that which is beyond definition.
We make God into an idol of our creation,
something less than who God really is.
Then we worship our creation
seeking the Life only God can give –
how ironic.
God is beyond the boundaries of the universe
with its billions of galaxies
and the billions of suns within each
of those billions of galaxies.
Yet, in some ineffable way
God is as small as the smallest thing.
In all the enormity of the universe
I’ve described nothing is too small
for God not to be there.
God is with us each today
and into all the time to come.
Yet we constantly defile ourselves
with our idolatrous way.
We defile ourselves
when we blame others [when we scapegoat]
to avoid acknowledging our own sinful ways.
We defile ourselves
with idolatrous ways
when we move ourselves from God’s embrace
so that we might be in control.
God come to us this day.
Come that our eyes might be open to see.
Come that our ears might be open to hear.
Come that our minds might be open to learn.
Come that our hearts might be open to feel.
Open us to our lover’s presence.
Open us to listening to our lovers call.
Let us be open to the God
who comes into our lives
that we might find what it is we are called to do
as loved and forgiven children of God
commissioned to make known God’s love in a world
too often broken and alienated from our lover’s call.
Let us be open to the God who
comes to give us Life.
“Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.”
If some day you or I find ourselves drifting from the call of God,
don’t blame the Pharisees
or the Paul’s in our lives
who push the edges of our understanding of God.
Rather let us look to ourselves.
