But one day he woke up and the whole world had changed. The house was full of relatives who’d traveled far to shower him with food, warmth, familial love and gifts. Gifts! On this day of all days, even his dad couldn’t get on his case (not with all those relatives around)! Well, Christmas passed, the relatives went home, the leftovers dwindled, the toys and clothes got toddlerized, and my son slipped into something of a melancholy. He started saying things, nonsense syllables strung together, but with that one word somewhere in there. BAH-ba-Blah-da-BLAH-blah-Christmas.”

And I realized…he was trying to remind me of something that he thought I’d forgotten. To Jackson, Christmas had not been one day of celebration, but a drastic re-structuring of society in which all energy would from henceforth be focused on lavishing food, love, warmth and gifts upon him. He thought Christmas was a revolution, and that nothing could ever be the same. But then the revolution was over, forgotten, and everybody just went on as if nothing had happened.

At the time, I’ll admit, I enjoyed this. You know, children are the most expensive form of free entertainment on Earth, so you take what you can get. And I was quietly amused, thinking “yeah, kid, just wait till you’re my age, and the most colorful thing you get for Christmas is wrapping paper, with the same gray thermal shirt I get every year.” But, as I’ve continued to think about it…maybe he was right, maybe I was wrong. Maybe that’s what Christmas SHOULD be, a drastic restructuring of society in which all energy is focused on giving food, warmth, love and gifts to children.

I study the Bible all the time, I have a Masters Degree in it, but somehow I think this three-year-old understood Christmas better than I do. The Gospel authors didn’t think of the birth of Jesus as a yearly festival of over-eating, credit cards and traffic jams… Well, traffic jam, yes, with all the descendants of David (and Solomon!) showing up in Bethlehem… But the Gospel authors really thought…after the coming of Jesus…nothing could ever be the same.

Open the Bible to any page, and people are vulnerable, life is precarious, and the guys holding the whips and the weapons, chains and chariots and the nails tend to be so cold.

I got interested in Westerns while I was in seminary. My wife Elizabeth told me that, when in college, she’d taught a class on apocalyptic movies. Well I love apocalyptic movies! I love dystopias! What could she recommend? And she told me, most of the films she’d used were old Westerns. …What? But those take place in the past. And she said ‘well, it’s the future too.’ European culture tried to expand eastward, but it hit a wall…of Eastern culture. So it expanded west. And it went – it stretched itself as far and as thin as it could go, all the way to the California coast, and it could go no farther. But it was stretched too thin, so it crawled back again. And the wave left ghost-towns in its wake, dying outposts of European culture, populated with people who, for one reason or another, couldn’t go back. Women in last year’s Parisian dresses, now caked with dust, scars on their faces. Men in tattered three-piece suits, trying to maintain civilization in cheaply-built towns that look like a strong wind could knock them over. People basically waiting to die, because civilization has no future.

But there’s a theme I love in Westerns like “The Magnificent Seven,” “Shane,” “Pale Rider” and “Tombstone” and my favorite Western, “The Postman,” about… When civilization breaks down, people have a tendency to go back to what’s familiar, something deep inside them, a tiny voice long drowned out by the noise of progress…an instinct to return to what worked for humans for millions of years before the experiment with civilization began… Tribalism. Basic equality, cooperation, nobody gets food unless everybody gets food – nobody goes hungry unless everybody goes hungry. And the system works, and a little green shoot sprouts from the dry ground. It’s hope.

And then the bandits come along with their guns, and they see a system that supports life. And they say, ‘give us the best of your food and women, and we’ll be back same time next week.’ This is civilization, seeking to be reborn in its most primitive form – feudalism. Authority through ultimate force – that’s the title of today’s lesson, “Authority through ultimate force” – by which I mean “Do what I say or else…” or else what? “Or else I’ll kill you.”

And in these Westerns I’ve just named, where civilization has dwindled, tribalism has taken root, and civilization threatens to take hold again in the form of feudalism… A savior appears. A savior who also knows about ultimate force, but uses it to protect this fragile stem of tribalism. And when the bandits are defeated, the savior doesn’t set up a castle, establish a tributary economy, call himself king…he could, but he doesn’t. Instead, he rides off into the sunset.

…What does this have to do with violence in the Bible?

Everything. This, I think, is the closest we can come to understanding it. The Israelites groaned under Egyptian civilization and a savior appeared. He led them to the frontier, the wilderness, the west…which in this case was to the east. Moses did not declare himself king, but he could have. Joshua could have. Ehud could have. Jael could have declared herself queen. Gideon could have declared himself king – the people asked him to. Saul could have, but just wanted to be a general. David did and Solomon did and within a generation, the people groaned under Jerusalem civilization and God had to rescue them again. Or we could say God is the savior, working through these people, and God wants to protect Israelite tribalism. And the bandits come in the form of the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans. And they say “give us the best of your food, wine and women or we’ll kill you.” These stories turn out different ways.

And God sends Jesus… And there’s been a lot of conjecture and debate and argument about “what did Jesus want? What was this ‘reign of God’ that Jesus talked about?” Well, if I knew…there’s a line in Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose” – “If I knew everything, I’d be teaching theology in Paris.” If I knew what Jesus wanted I’d have tenure somewhere, spend my days reclining in some office, letting my eyebrows grow, with buxom seminary interns dangling bunches of grapes above my mouth… No, not grapes, that other thing…lit cigarettes.

Jesus comes and a lot of what he says kind of sounds like… Equality, cooperation, nobody eats unless everybody eats – nobody goes hungry unless everybody goes hungry. It sounds like tribalism. And the people say “when are you going to establish authority through ultimate force? When are you going to kill the Romans and declare yourself a king?”

I know I’m way out on a limb here. “No, no, no it couldn’t be tribalism!” Said the Roman Empire, in the form of the hierarchical structures of orthodox Christianity… While they spent centuries riding from church to church saying “give us the best of your food and wine and women or else we’ll sick our savior on you.” But there have been people like Saint Francis, who dropped out of civilization and started something like…tribalism. Most of them were killed by the church, burned alive or whatever, and others became incorporated.

In today’s lesson, we’ll be looking at authority through ultimate force, and how it is subverted or superseded by God sending saviors. We’ll be talking about Moses and Elijah and Jesus… (The rest of this lesson can be found at http://misterjsnodgrass.wordpress.com/)

The Characters:

• Siddhartha
• Jesus

The Setting :

There is a large projected image in the background ‚Äì on one side, a very round golden Buddha statue.¬† On the other side, an emaciated, bloody, crucified Christ.¬† As the play begins, SIDDHARTHA sits up, meditating.¬† JESUS is curled on the ground asleep.¬† Then he awakens…

JESUS : …Where am I?¬† Ow…¬† My head…¬† I was praying…in a garden…¬† I must have fallen asleep.

SIDDHARTHA : I also fell asleep, beneath a tree.  I saw you here sleeping.  I recognized you.

JESUS : Yeah, I do a lot of public speaking.  That bit about the sower of seeds, who just scatters them, willy-nilly?  I came up with that.  The crowds love it.

SIDDHARTHA : …Ah, yes.¬† A joke.¬† For in truth there is no sower.¬† There are no seeds.

JESUS : …Well, not literally, no.¬† It’s just a story.

SIDDHARTHA : But your…stand-up comedy is not how I know you.¬† I’ve seen you in visions, worshiped¬† as the Christ, the only son of God, who was with God before all things came into being.

JESUS : (Pause.¬† Then he laughs) Oh!¬† So you’re the comedian.¬† Only son of God!¬† That’s rich!¬† Just wait till I tell the guys I hang out with!¬† I couldn’t use it my routine, though, because it’s…you know…blasphemy.

SIDDHARTHA : Ah, yes.  You people fear your God.  But perhaps God does not exist.

JESUS : …Don’t say things like that when I’ve got a…headache like this…¬† Ah, well.¬† At least I don’t feel like that guy…¬† (Indicates the image of the crucified Christ)

SIDDHARTHA : …Not yet apparently.¬† But give it a couple days.¬† For that suffering figure on the cross is you.

JESUS : …WHAT!?¬† A cross!?

SIDDHARTHA : You were praying in a garden.¬† So this very night you shall be betrayed, handed over to the Romans.¬† They will put you to death…and then in the third century they will raise you up as their God.¬† Emperors will use your name to keep the impoverished masses from rising up against them.

JESUS : …Now I think I’m gonna be sick!¬† You mean to tell me I’m about to get hung up naked, die on a cross, and then turned into a God?¬† Why can’t I turn into a God now so I can avoid all that?

SIDDHARTHA : It is your karma.  And the cross shall become a symbol of your power.

JESUS : After I’ve died on one?¬† Slowly?¬† Painfully?¬† Naked?¬† And then I’ll become a tool in the hands of the oppressors?

SIDDHARTHA : Yes.

JESUS : Then I’d almost be inclined to agree that there’s no God.¬† Except…who else could have such a sick, twisted sense of humor?¬† But hold on a minute now…¬† As my head clears I think I recognize you too.¬† Puff your stomach out.

SIDDHARTHA : Like…this?

JESUS : Yes.¬† And now your cheeks.¬† Like you’re holding your breath.¬† Ah!¬† I see it now!¬† I’ve also had a vision of you, all fat and jolly.

SIDDHARTHA : …Perhaps you mistake me for your good friend Santa Claus?

JESUS : No, no, you were plated in gold, like…¬† Like that guy!¬† In the picture!¬† There you are!

SIDDHARTHA : I…beg your pardon…

JESUS : Can’t you see the resemblance?

SIDDHARTHA : Absolutely not.¬† Look at me!¬† I’ve spent the last six years starving myself beneath a tree!¬† I’m skin and bone!

JESUS : You shall be called the Buddha, the Enlightened One.¬† Although ‘the heavy one’ would be more appropriate.¬† Monks will observe strict doctrine based on your teachings, temples will be built.¬† King Ashoka will use your teachings to pacify and rule his vast Indian empire.

SIDDHARTHA: But this is not what I desired!¬† I don’t even have any desires!

JESUS : Of course not.¬† What’s left to desire when you’ve eaten that much food?

SIDDHARTHA : Look who’s talking!¬† I’ve heard rumors about you ‚Äì a glutton and a drunk, friend of tax-collectors and prostitutes.

JESUS : …Says the guy who abandoned his wife and child to go sit under a tree and pretend he didn’t exist.

SIDDHARTHA : I don’t exist.¬† My physical body, my historical identity ‚Äì none of this matters.¬† Only my teachings of the Dharma are real.

JESUS : There will be great struggles and divisions over a correct doctrine of your teaching that can be applied to all Buddhists.

SIDDHARTHA : An no less division ‚Äì not to mention bloodshed ‚Äì over a ‘correct’ dogma for Christianity.

JESUS : What, you mean there won’t be enough blood, from me being crucified?¬† People will need to go spill more?

SIDDHARTHA : I’ll do you one better, grasshopper.¬† Your followers will be so hot for blood, they’re gonna pretend to drink it.¬† Every week.

JESUS : This is insane!  I wanted to put an end to sacrifices!

SIDDHARTHA : And you will.  But the sacrifice of you will be ritually repeated every week for two thousand years.

JESUS : I can’t believe it.¬† I’ve spent my life fighting rigid religious structures and empty piety…

SIDDHARTHA : I sought to free people from the control of corrupt Vedic priests.

JESUS : …Have we failed?

SIDDHARTHA : Eh.¬† If you can’t beat ‘em…they’ll wait till after you’re dead, and say you joined ‘em.

The Characters

PETER
MAN (Can be played by a Man or Woman)
ISAIAH

PETER : (Standing on a soap-box, preaching to passers-by) Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Love God, and honor the Emperor! Slaves obey your masters, especially when they’re cruel! Remember, the more abuse you take on Earth, the greater your reward in Heaven!

MAN : (Walking by, very tired, hears PETER) …What is this, a comedy routine?

PETER : (Ignores him) Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, and grow up in your salvation. You are coming to Christ, the living cornerstone of God’s temple. Rejected by people, but chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple.

MAN : But I just spent the whole day breaking my back, hauling stones for a new Coliseum!

PETER : What’s more, you are his holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices that please God. As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” (Isaiah 28:16)

MAN : Where do the scriptures say that?

PETER : Isaiah, chapter twenty-eight.

MAN : Yeah, but you’ve gone and taken it completely out of context! Isaiah twenty-eight isn’t about making sacrifices! It’s about lying priests getting drunk! And the Lord destroys their city!

PETER : Well maybe the cup’s half empty for you, but—

MAN : I’ll tell you what the cup is filled with! In Isaiah 28:8 “All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth.”

PETER : That’s disgusting. Besides, you’ve got to read between the lines. Isaiah was confused, obviously, but one thing he was sure of was the coming of Jesus the Christ – that’s what he meant by the cornerstone!

MAN : What? You have no idea what you’re talking about!

PETER : I’m entitled to my interpretation.

MAN : But I actually happen to have Isaiah, right here.

This novel was probably written to caution people entering the industrial age ‚Äì be careful what you design to aid in human life, there will be consequences. But when I think of this story, I see another parallel, that I do not believe the author intended. Some of us may be aware of a book…called The Bible. Written over the course of more than a thousand years, assembled in its final form some seventeen hundred years ago. Built from scraps of the past, to represent all that’s best about humanity. Designed to bring a message of hope and compassion for the future. And it keeps on asking us, ‚Äúwhen are you going to fulfill the promises made on these pages?‚Äù And in fear and dread we run from it. And it follows us. And sometimes it hurts us, and the ones we love.

Part of the way the Bible hurts us is with ancient laws from distant times and places. For example, three rules from the book of Deuteronomy…

Deuteronomy 22:5 A woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whoever does such things is [hateful] to the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 25:9 [If a man refuses to marry his dead brother's widow then she] shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal off his foot, spit in his face, and…Throughout Israel his family shall be known as “the house of him whose sandal was pulled off.”

Deuteronomy 25:11-12 If [two] men get into a fight…and the wife of one intervenes to rescue her husband…by reaching out and seizing his [opponent's] genitals, you shall cut off her hand; show no pity.

These are issues that some of us deal with every day. Even in this very room, I see women wearing pants. And I see men who would not be alive right now, if their wives hadn’t helped out in a fight. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of these laws, each one established in the hope of helping people. Yet still, the Bible follows us, in the form of people who will call us evil, tell us we will burn, and they’ve got the Biblical passage to prove it.

Jesus was something of a rebel ‚Äì one way to look at his ministry in the Gospels would be to say that he tried to lighten the load of rules, pare it down, simplify things. The book of Deuteronomy gives us ten commandments, Jesus pares it down to two. Love the Lord your God, and Love your neighbor as yourself. But no sooner was Jesus gone than the early Christians went right back to the old drawing board, coming up with more rules. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he says…

1 Corinthians 5:11-13 …I am writing to you not to associate with anyone…who is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber. Do not even eat with such a one…”Drive out the wicked person from among you.”

Whoa! What about Jesus, dining with prostitutes?

1 Corinthians 11:1-6 [Paul says] Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ…Christ is the head of every man, and the husband is the head of his wife… Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head, but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head– it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved. For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair.

1 Peter 2:17-20 …Fear God. Honor the emperor. Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all [respect], not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh. For it is a credit to you if…you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval.

For this article I was given the title ‚ÄúMy love/hate relationship with the Bible.‚Äù And at first I thought ‚Äì I don’t hate the Bible! My father, an episcopal priest, once heard me say I hated someone and he said ‘Johnny, you don’t hate that person. To hate someone means you would be happy if they died.’ And so I guess it’s true, yeah, I do hate that first letter of Peter. I would be happy if it was never heard again. Maybe everybody here can think of some passage from the Bible that told them to shut up, or told them to stay in an abusive relationship with a person or an institution or a government. Maybe some people here have been told that the Bible hates them, that the Bible itself would be happy if they died.

I remember someone once asking me how it felt to know that my soul would burn for all eternity. Then, she made the mistake of saying every member of the Pink Floyd would be there too, which made the situation seem less dire.

And I ask these people…have you read the Bible?

The Hebrew Bible says thirteen times, five in the book of Deuteronomy, to help the widow and the orphan. And sure, you hear all kinds of things about people using the Bible as an excuse to turn wives into widows, to turn children into orphans…that’s the monster, following us again…but it says to help them.

Leviticus twenty-five says that just as people are meant to rest on the seventh day, the Earth is meant to rest on the seventh year. No reaping, no plowing, no farming. But wouldn’t we all starve? Ye of little faith. But just imagine how different our environmental situation would be if people took THIS part of the book literally, if the land we farm to death, had a chance to heal itself.

Later, Leviticus twenty-five says that people should conduct their business for seven times seven years – forty-nine years. And every fiftieth year, there should be a year of Jubilee. The trumpets will sound, and liberty shall be proclaimed throughout the land, everyone would go back to their homes and families.

LEV 25:11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you: you shall not sow, or reap the aftergrowth, or harvest the unpruned vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy… you shall eat only what the field itself produces… 19 The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live on it securely.

In that fiftieth year, people will not cheat each-other, and anyone who has overcharged for land will pay back the difference. Can you imagine that, in your lease contracts? People who have lost their homes will have a chance to buy them back without inflation ‚Äì or, if you can’t afford it, it’ll be given back. Imagine the debts that the poorest countries in the world owe to our government ‚Äì and our government, founded on this Bible, is foreclosing, no mention of the Jubilee in our constitution. Some scholars have said that Jesus in the Gospel of Luke was asking for this forgiveness of debts, and restoration of humanity. But people who couldn’t think past written laws killed him for it. You could say that the monster killed Jesus ‚Äì I’m not talking about the Judeans, I mean the will to use sacred text as a weapon.

I don’t want to go on and on, I don’t need to. This monster chases us and attacks us, but it can only hurt us as long as we run away, and dread it. If you sit down with this monster, as Doctor Frankenstein should have done with his monster, if you really listen to it… You’ll find that all the best in humanity, the love and compassion and hope, is still there. Yeah, the Bible can be ugly. But if that novel Frankenstein teaches us nothing else, it’s not to judge a book by its cover.

Presentation given by J.Snodgrass for the Marble Collegiate Church Young Adults 20s/30s

Every year, the gap between rich and poor gets wider. The title I was given for this presentation – “Rich and poor, two worlds…” reminded me that in economic terms we actually have three worlds on this Earth ‚Äì the first world, capitalism, the second world, communism, and the third world, “other,” which has become synonymous with whole nations of people living in abject poverty. The recent disaster in New Orleans was yet another reminder that, although America is a first-world country, there’s a third world in here, too, a small nation’s worth of people that our own government left behind and forgot once the first-class citizens had been rescued.

Every year the chasm gets wider, and every year I’m reminded of a story Jesus told in the Gospel according to Luke chapter sixteen, about an un-breach-able chasm.

Luke 16:19-26

“There was a rich man…dressed in purple and fine linen who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.

In Hell, where he was being tormented, [the rich man] looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’

But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus [got nothing]; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’

So here we’ve got this rich man, dead, suffering, and what does he say to Abraham? ‘Send that boy down here, that poor boy that used to lie outside my gates, tell him to fetch me some water.’ Even dead, burning in Hell, this rich man has not learned his lesson. But the chasm cannot be traveled, even if Lazarus had wanted to. This rich man could have spared himself all that suffering, if he had bridged the chasm in life, but never had he reached out to invite this poor man to his table. The story continues…

Luke 16:27-31

[The rich man] said, ‘Then…I beg you to send [Lazarus] to my father’s house– for I have five brothers– that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ [Abraham answered], ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

How correct Abraham’s words proved to be. Because later in Luke chapter twenty-four, someone does rise from the dead. And from that time to this, two thousand years, every Easter Sunday Jesus rises from the dead again to tell the rich man and his five brothers how sorry they will someday be…for not bridging that chasm, for not inviting that poor man to their table. And every year on Easter Monday the stock-exchanges open again, tracts of land are bought and sold out from under peoples’ feet. The price of fruit goes up and someone goes to bed hungry. The price of fruit goes down and someone wakes up without a job. And the dogs just keep on licking that poor man’s open, running sores.

It’s a good thing dog-saliva contains natural antibiotics, because that’s the only kind of health-care a lot of people can afford. I know that’s nasty. When I was a migrant construction-worker, we’d come in all bloody at the end of the day, and the dog was our medic ‚Äì we didn’t even have band-aids.

“Rich and Poor: Two Worlds, One Family.” The family aspect of this reminds me of something else Jesus used to say… “A father had two sons…” Jesus begins a couple of his parables this way, the most famous being the Prodigal Son. Two brothers born equal, each entitled to half of their father’s estate, but one of them is, well, prodigal, which means ‘wasteful, recklessly extravagant.’ And he blows his share of the wealth and ends up feeding pigs in a foreign land, then returns to ask for work as a day-laborer, and the father welcomes him home with open arms.

But Jesus was not by far the first in the Bible to use ‘two sons’ to represent the different worlds in our human family. Going all the way back to Genesis, when Adam and Eve had two sons. One of them, Cain, was a farmer, he settled on some land and grew crops, and stored up his goods. Their other son, Abel, was a wandering shepherd, he never had more than the animals in his flock, and the shirt on his back. But when they each made sacrifices to the Lord ‚Äì Cain from the surplus of his wealth, Abel from the bits of his sustenance, the Lord preferred what Abel offered. Then Cain smashed his brother’s head and stashed the body.

Abraham had two sons. One was Ishmael, born of an affair with an Egyptian servant-girl, Hagar. The other was Isaac, born later with his wife Sarah. And when Isaac was born, Sarah demanded that Hagar and Ishmael be sent away. As we read in Genesis twenty-one…

Gen 21:14-21

So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered about in the wilderness… When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes…and sat down opposite him a good way off, [saying] “Do not let me look upon the death of my child.” And…she lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the [cries of mother and child and] called to Hagar from heaven… “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for [I have] heard the voice of [Ishmael] where he is. Come, lift up the boy…for I will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well… She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. God was with [Ishmael], and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow.

One of Abraham’s sons inherited his father’s lands and fortune, while the other received nothing but a loaf of bread and a bag of water. And yet from the Lord, both sons received the promise, and Ishmael who had nothing, became the father of a mighty nation.

Abraham and Sarah’s son Isaac…had two sons. Twins, but definitely not identical. The first-born was Esau, and as we read in Genesis twenty-five, he was born covered in red fur, like wool. Reading further in Genesis twenty-five…

Genesis 25:26-34

Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob [which means "ankle-grabber"]… When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents… Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from [working in] the field, and…said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!” …Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.”

Esau’s birthright was his share in the promise of his grandfather Abraham, to inherit lands and become a founding father of a great nation. But unlike his brother Jacob, who lingered in the tents with the servant-girls, Esau knew how to fend for himself, how to farm the fields and hunt for food. Esau didn’t need the promise to survive, he traded his share of it for a bowl of stew. Later, Jacob tricks Esau again, and this time he steals something that does matter to his brother ‚Äì the dying blessing of their father. Esau was enraged, and Jacob fled to spend years hiding from him. And while Jacob became known as Israel, stumbling through misadventures, fathering twelve sons who became the twelve tribes, Esau kept right on working, and became a wealthy and powerful man of the land.

Years later, the two sons of Isaac and Rebekah met again ‚Äì Jacob was wandering around with his wives, servant-girls and twelve rag-tag kids, and sent gifts of livestock ahead, for fear of his brother’s anger…

Genesis 33:1-15

Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. He put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. He himself went on ahead of them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother. But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him…and kissed him, and they wept.

When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” [The maids, Leah, Rachel, and their children bowed down before Esau, who asked,] “What do you mean by all [the livestock you sent me?]” Jacob answered, “To find favor with you, my lord.”

But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” Jacob said, “No, please; if I find favor with you, then accept my gift…for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God– since you have received me with such favor.”

Jesus probably knew this story well, of the wandering son, crawling back to grovel at the feet of his wealthy brother. In this case, their father is dead, but Esau welcomes Jacob with open arms. And seeing the forgiveness in Esau’s face, Jacob compares it with the face of God. As was the case in the Prodigal Son, the chasm is bridged between rich and poor, between the two worlds in this one family, so that another chasm will not have to divide them in the life to come.

Sadly, war in the East is nothing new ‚Äì some of us may remember Operation Desert-Storm. Some of the older ones among us may remember…the Crusades… There might even be a person or two in the room who remember the Hebrews invading Israel some thirty-three hundred years ago, and how they were in turn attacked by the Philestines, the Persians, the Babylonians and the Romans… And those who remember all that ‚Äì what are you still doing in the 20′s/30′s group? You know who you are…

With all this history of conflict, the question is…How do we bring peace to a warring world? And to answer the question, I’ve opened the lines for some Biblical figures to give us their unput. Hello?

GOLIATH : Urrrrrr…

NARRATOR : Ur to you too. Who may I ask is calling?

GOLIATH : I am Goliath.

NARRATOR : And where are you calling from?

GOLIATH : Gath.

NARRATOR : And how is Gath this time of year?

GOLIATH : Urrrrrr…

NARRATOR : Same here in New York, I hear ya. So we’re wondering. How would you bring peace to a warring world?

GOLIATH : I would stand against the enemy forces, wave my spear at them and shout out ‚ÄúChoose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to kill me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us… Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and [your bones] to the wild animals of the field.” (1 Samuel 17:8-9, 17:44)

NARRATOR : …Well yes, that’s one way of bringing peace, but…

GOLIATH : Also I would call them cowards. And fools. Foolish cowards.

NARRATOR : Alright, thanks. And I see we’ve got another caller. This is..?

SAMSON : This is Samson. You can tell that fool Goliath I killed a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey, so I bet I could take him down with the beak of a sparrow. (Judges 13:15)

NARRATOR : Um… We’re talking about peace here. How would we bring peace to a warring world?

SAMSON : Oh yeah, um… Well, you let me know how that works out. But if it doesn’t, all I ask is a fresh supply of jawbones and I’ll take on any army.

NARRATOR : Thanks. Okay. Alright. Um. So. Are there any callers who’d like to tell us something about bringing peace to a warring world? Hello?

JAEL : (Pronounced ‚ÄúYah-El‚Äù) Hi, this is Jael. I think, with these men always so hot to clash against each-other on the battle-field, it’s no wonder we never have peace. If you want war, ask men. But if you want peace, you should be asking the women.

NARRATOR : And how would you bring peace about?

JAEL : Well, I remember when there was a terrible battle near my tent, the Canaanites attacked, our men fought bravely, and the Canaanites went into retreat. Their commander, Sisera, snuck into my tent to hide. And even though he was the enemy of my people, I let him in, gave him some water and a place to sleep. (Judges 4:17-20)

NARRATOR : And did your kindness change his disposition?

JAEL : I don’t know if my kindness changed him…because while he was sleeping I took a hammer and drove a tent-peg through his head till it sunk into the ground. (Judges 4:21, 5:24-27)

NARRATOR : Ow…

JAEL : But things definitely got more peaceful after that.

NARRATOR : Um, you know? While we’re on the phone, I think maybe I should…cancel my reservation at your Bed-n-Breakfast, I, um… Something…came up. Urgent.

JAEL : I understand.

NARRATOR : What about prophets? Any prophets out there with a word about peace? Jeremiah, is that you?

JEREMIAH : “The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.” (Jeremiah 28:8-9)

NARRATOR : And how likely does that seem?

JEREMIAH : Not very.

NARRATOR : Is there no-one who will speak for peace?

ZECHARIAH : Hello? Hello?

NARRATOR : Hello?

ZECHARIAH : Got my voice back just in time! You see, I’d lost it for a while. This is Zechariah, husband of Elizabeth, father of John the Baptizer.

NARRATOR : Quite a resume. And do you have some words of comfort for us?

ZECHARIAH : ‚ÄúBlessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us…that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant…that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days… By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.‚Äù (Luke 1:68-79 Abbreviated)

NARRATOR : Thank you, Zechariah. And our other callers, you were…helpful too. And now, rather than a word from our sponsors, I’d like to share a passage from Isaiah, chapter fifty-seven.

‚ÄúIt shall be said, ‘Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s [path].’ For thus says the [Lord]: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. For I will not continually accuse, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirits would grow faint before me, even the souls that I have made. Because of their wicked covetousness I was angry; I struck them, I hid… I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will lead them and repay them with comfort, creating for mourners the fruit of [song on their] lips. Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the Lord; and I will heal them. (Isaiah 57:14-19, Abbreviated)

James 1:19-27

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into…the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act– they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God…is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Unstained, undefiled by the world. It reminds me of a sleep-away-camp skit I saw once saw. A little girl held a clean, white sheet of paper. And someone stomped onto the stage, grabbed her piece of paper away and crumpled it. She picked it up and held it. Someone else walked across, took the sheet of paper, threw it to the ground and stomped on it. She smoothed it out and held it again, but it looked so different from what we’d seen at first. Finally, a third person stomped across the stage, grabbed the paper and ripped it, throwing both pieces to the ground. This time the girl did not pick it up. She just looked at us. A fourth person walked on, picked up the two pieces, smoothed them out, held the pieces together and handed it back to the girl.

Anybody ever wake up with a sheet of paper like that? Anybody ever look in the mirror and say ‘Jesus called me the light of the world, and today I’m gonna let it shine’? Anybody ever bring a sheet of paper like that onto the subway at rush-hour? When I was growing up, we moved around a lot. And I remember the first day of school in New Jersey, first day of school in Ohio, first day of school in Western New York…me and my clean sheet of paper. And then a few days later in the principal’s office, waiting for my parents to show up, because I’d been fighting again. But look what they did, I always tried to say. Look what they did to my clean sheet of paper.

Presumably Jesus started out with a clean sheet of paper ‚Äì maybe even cleaner than the rest of us. But in Mark’s Gospel he’s often unwelcome, and sometimes insulted and openly conspired against. Entering the Synagogue in Mark chapter three he almost loses his temper…

NRS Mark 3:1-5

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. [The pharisees] watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him [of breaking the laws of Moses]. And he said to the man [with] the withered hand, “Come forward.” Then he [asked the Pharisees], “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” [The man] stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

Here he was, trying to do some good in the world, and these dudes are trying to bust him on this technicality, working on the Sabbath. Even doing the Lord’s work on the Sabbath. And he could have walked away, or maybe he could have taken them down ‚Äì he did travel with a posse of twelve big dudes – but instead he breaks the law right in front of the pharisees…by healing someone.

Basically, there was the easy way…and then there was the Jesus way. Never the same thing. I can’t help wondering how he’d be remembered if he’d have gone before Pontius Pilate and said ‚ÄúTruly I say unto you…lemme outa’ here and you’ll never see my face again, I’ll be on a beach in Margarita-ville.‚Äù Pilate didn’t care. He probably would’ve said ‚ÄúYoe, you’d better take my limo, the one with the tinted windows, ’cause there’s people looking for you.‚Äù Wow… No, Jesus never did things the easy way.

He worked hard…and he PRAYED hard, like we heard last week in Luke 22:44, how he prayed and the sweat rolled down his face ‚Äúlike great drops of blood falling down on the ground.‚Äù And maybe one of the things he prayed for was for other people to be born into a better world than the one he found. This world of war, occupation, un-met need, crime… A world where people could shine their light, hold up their clean sheet of paper without fear of how it would be crumpled and torn and thrown back at them. ‚ÄúDon’t hide your light,‚Äù he said ‚Äúor else what good is it? What good is even the greatest faith if you never go out and show it?‚Äù

James 2:14-18

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

One of the ways in which Jesus showed his faith was through activism ‚Äì non-violent demonstration. On the very first Palm Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem. Imagine this country-boy, riding into the big city on a colt… Actually, according to Matthew 21:5, he rode in on a colt and a donkey at the same time…but I don’t know, Matthew may have written that real late at night… Anyway, what’s important to remember is that if he’d wanted, he could have rode in on a chariot, or a thunder-cloud. He could have told the people to bring swords, but instead…palm-leaves… And instead of shouting in anger they were singing with joy.

Jesus showed peace by enacting it, by letting people know he had abilities beyond a normal man, but using those abilities to bring people together, even back from beyond the grave. These are things that some of us…are unable to do. But in our own ways, like Jesus we can model peace, show others and ourselves what the world would be like if just one more person practiced forgiveness. All of us are called to make the world a safer place for others to hold up their clean sheet of paper, without fear of what might happen to it.

Jesus couldn’t have it both ways, couldn’t always take the hard road AND survive for two thousand years to be with us now. As the expression goes, ‚Äúno good deed goes un-punished.‚Äù Jesus knew he had to leave, had to demonstrate his peace a final time on the cross. And so in John 14:27 he says to his disciples, ‚ÄúPeace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.‚Äù

Somewhere inside, I still carry that kid, the fighter I once was and still sometimes his anger comes to the surface. What can I do? I try to set a good example for him.

Ephesians 4:29-32

Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God…has forgiven you.

Proverbs 3:5-24 (Wildly Abbreviated)

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. … 13 Happy are those who find wisdom… 15 She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. … 21 My child, do not let these escape from your sight: keep sound wisdom and prudence, … 23 Then you will walk on your way securely and your foot will not stumble. 24 If you sit down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Proverbs 1:7 tells us that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Ironically, as we find in Genesis 3:10, knowledge was the beginning of fear. Once Adam and Eve have eaten of the tree of knowledge, their first act is to hide from God. Because for the first time they are aware that they are naked.

Fascinating to find that fear of the Lord did not prevent them from breaking the one rule in the Garden…not to eat of the tree of knowledge, not to break the first covenant with God ‚Äì that the Lord would take provide for them. Their fear begins as they come to realize that they have insulted the Lord by seeking the knowledge to provide for themselves.

Adam and Eve, expelled from the Garden, made clothing for themselves, but they were still naked. They learned to provide food for themselves through toil and hardship, but they were still afraid.

Thousands of years later, we work to buy clothing and food for ourselves, but we are still naked and afraid. Henry David Thoreau described modern life with the expression “quiet desperation.” No matter how well we provide for ourselves, one wrong step on the high-wire and we lose everything, with no Garden of Eden to go back to.

From Genesis three onward, fear is a constant theme in Biblical texts. The words “Be not Afraid” appear eighty-five times in the Bible, twelve times on the lips of Jesus. Maybe because he knew that Adam and Eve ran naked from the Lord, and we’ve been running naked ever since, frightened that God and Man alike will see how exposed we really are.

In paintings, Mary is always shown being calm. But when we first see her in the Gospel according to Luke, she is a frightened girl of maybe twelve or thirteen with an Angel standing over her. And he says, in Luke 1:30, “Do not be afraid.” Paintings of Joseph show him as an older man, calm and patient, but in Matthew’s Gospel he hears about Mary’s pregnancy and an Angel catches him trying to skip town. Joseph was concerned about his reputation. And the angel said, in Matthew 1:20, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is on a boat with his disciples when a terrible storm hits. Calming the storm he asks them in Mark 4:40, “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”

The Gospel of Mark ends with three women going to the tomb of Jesus after his death, to clean the scarred and broken body. But when they get there, they find that the tomb has been opened, and a young man in a white robe is sitting inside it, waiting for them. He says “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here.” And why would he say this unless they were terrified? Mark’s Gospel ends with chapter sixteen, verse eight: [Mark 16:8 (Original Ending)] “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

Another ending was added later, showing the celebration of the resurrection, the joyful reunion of Jesus and his disciples, but the original ending has a lot more to tell us about the early Christians. This was a message to a frightened, persecuted people ‚Äì if you hide the good news, it will be lost. These witnesses at the tomb told no-one, but I tell you this: SOMEBODY must have told SOMEBODY, else we wouldn’t all be gathered here right now.

Some five hundred years later, Saint Patrick went to Ireland, to live among the Pagans and teach them of Christianity. He met with total disinterest. He tried to tell them the stories, teach them the prayers, but nothing he could do would get through to them. These were the Celts, known to be the wildest warriors the Romans ever faced. How wild, you ask? Well, imagine your average Roman soldier, wearing some sixty pounds of armor. Now imagine your average Celt, wearing some four ounces of blue paint. Anyway, gradually, as Patrick lived among them, they came to notice something about him. Every night, as the sky darkened, they would toss and turn in fear of the darkness, while he would sleep peacefully. Finally they asked him how he had overcome his fear of the darkness, and he told them about theGod who had taught him not to be afraid.

I don’t know how this presentation came to have so much nakedness in it…I guess that tells us something about MY fears. But I do feel exposed and afraid, naked even in my clothing…especially when I’m addressing a room full of people. And then I think of the Biblical heroes, how they overcame that fear through faith. Jesus on that cross was naked but not afraid. As Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians, chapter six…

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. …Fasten the belt of truth…and put on the breastplate of righteousness…Take the shield of faith…the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

In closing, I’d like to share some of the 27th Psalm.

NRS Psalm 27:1-14 (Wildly Abbreviated) The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh…they shall stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. …Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me…I will sing and make melody to the LORD. Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud…Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me…Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence. I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the and of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

There’s an episode of the Simpsons called “Homer the Heretic,” where Homer stops going to church. In this episode, he has a vision in which he meets God, and the two of them take a walk together in the clouds.

Now, in Deuteronomy 4, The Lord says…

Deuteronomy 4:15-19 You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman‚Ķany animal‚Ķor any bird‚Ķor any fish…. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars‚Äîall the heavenly array‚Äîdo not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. (NIV)

The God of the Israelites refuses to be depicted in any sculpture or image, and yet many of us do have a picture in mind of what God might look like. If you would, please close your eyes a moment, and see if you have a mental image of God.

Would anyone here like to share what they saw?

In “Homer the Heretic,” God appears in the following way. He’s‚Ķ Well, first of all, he’s clearly male, and probably white, because his hand is yellow. God’s face is never seen, always cut off at the top of the screen, but we do see the long white beard and flowing white robe. I don’t think the Simpsons creators showed this image to reinforce the idea of God as a white man ‚Äì rather, I believe God is depicted in this way as in invitation to reconsider this icon. What does it mean about us if we imagine God in this way? What does this tell us about the concept of God having a “chosen people?” This, obviously, could be its own discussion ‚Äì and if we locked ourselves in this room for seven straight days, I doubt we’d have run out of things to say.

But rather than hold everybody hostage, I’d like instead to take a look at this image of God, where it might have come from. As many of you know, the most famous portrait of God is probably in Michelangelo’s painting on the roof of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. There we see numerous portraits of God, enacting the various stages of creation from the book of Genesis. One of these is the iconic depiction of God, reclining on a heavenly couch made of cherubim, giving life to Adam by touching his finger. Can everybody close their eyes a moment and see this image?

Michelangelo was commissioned in 1508 to paint the ceiling of the church, and the project took him four years. He’d originally been a sculptor, and as references for some of the images, used sculptures rather than hired models. So it’s actually possible that, just as God made the first person from clay and then brought it to life by breathing, Michelangelo may have actually made God from clay, then brought it to life by painting on the ceiling. Michelangelo’s God is a bearded white man.

When we look at artwork based on Biblical stories, particularly from centuries past, it’s important to remember that an artist had two major avenues for actually getting paid. One was portraits of rich people. The other was Biblical scenes. But nonetheless, these artists had something inside themselves to express ‚Äì messages about their own time and place, using live models and familiar scenes. Obviously, a painting of David, a blond shepherd boy in blue pants, standing in an Italian meadow has nothing to do with David the Semitic teenager in brown robes on the rocky terrain of Israel. But nonetheless, these renaissance images have entered into our cultural consciousness and become definitive. We were made in God’s own image, but we have depicted Biblical characters in our own image.

Several times throughout the run of the Simpsons, we’ve seen vignettes where Bible-stories are played out using Simpsons characters. In one for example, Bart is shown as David, taking on a giant Nelson-Goliath. Here again, we see the mark of our own culture superimposed over a Biblical story.

‚ĶAnd, speaking of Biblical stories, I’d like to close with a tale from Exodus 33, where the Lord’s glory is revealed to the eyes of Moses.

Exodus 33:18-23 And Moses said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And [God] said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee [but] Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live… Thou shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will…cover thee with my hand…And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen. (KJV)

The next time you’re touring Rome, or viewing the roof of the Sistine Chapel on the internet, you may be surprised to find among the many images of God, one in which the Lord’s back is turned to the viewer. And the flowing robes hang open in the area of God’s back-parts, to inspire and strengthen us, as Moses was amazed by God so long ago.