Editorial note: We don’t usually post the Rev. Dr. Phillip’s sermons since the idea is it’s meant to be experienced in person on Sunday mornings as part of worship.  However, we have had an extra large number of requests for this one from the first Sunday after the Boston marathon bombings. Please share as you see fit.

Fourth Sunday of Easter

April 21, 2013

Rev. Dr. Buran Phillips

 

Texts:  Psalm 23, Revelation 7:9-17, John 10:22-30

 

“The Voice”

 

I don’t really have a sermon this morning.  Like many of you I know the words of the 23^rd Psalm very well, so I found myself sort of praying through the Psalm this week, and this is the prayer that was running around in my head.

 

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…You are my shepherd, Lord…But I do want.  God help me, I want so many things.  It’s hard not to when you live in a society based on the notion that one should always want more, and is entitled to it.  I think the very purpose of advertising is to create dissatisfaction in our lives.  How could one possibly be satisfied with the I Phone 4 now that the I Phone 5 is here?  Are you suggesting there’s a connection between accepting you as Lord and accepting my life and the things and people in my life?

I get it…but I still want.  I want to be 30 again.  Well, not really, I wouldn’t want to lose a minute of my life since then, but I want my back to be 30 again, and I want my left knee to be 27 and my right shoulder to be 23 and, well, you get the picture.

But I gotta say, I still want, Lord.  I want people to go into a movie theatre and 6 year olds to go to school without getting shot.  I want a family to go and see Daddy run a marathon and not get blown to bits.  I’m never gonna be satisfied with that, Lord…I hope that’s okay.

 

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters…Ah, a wonderful image, Lord.  But I gotta say, I’m embarrassed…when I see dirty waters and polluted pastures, and think of those who don’t have clean water to drink, I’m embarrassed by what we do and what we don’t do.  And how selfish to think that only the human spirit can form a prayer—what if the earth itself were praying this Psalm?  The Lord is my shepherd…Is it possible that my personal, private Norman Rockwell Psalm is an ethical challenge, prompting all of us to begin speaking of earth rights?

But I have to be honest, Lord, I’m looking for those still waters in my own spirit this week, the still waters that calm the anxiety, and the anger.  For what happened in Boston and everything like it, there is anger.   And then there is the anger felt at the doctor’s waiting room this week.

I was sitting there in the doctor’s waiting room with folks gathered around, CNN playing above, replaying the events of Monday.  Others were engaged in their own conversations but for some reason I could hear the one just across from me.  It started out innocent enough, with a middle-aged lady turning to the older gentleman beside her…”So, whaddya think about this whole Boston thing?”  “Well,” he said, “that’s what happens when you have Muslim for a President”…and it went downhill from there.  I was stunned.   More about the book of Revelation and how it taught this was coming, and then something about dark-skinned peoples and the new world order, and then I get a text from my 16 year old son Sam, who, by the way, is sitting right beside me –Dad, can I punch this man in the mouth?  NO, I shake my head and roll my eyes…and the man continues, “of course, I’m not a bible scholar,” (Really?) but then more talk about one world religion and how Jesus is the only way and one day will “pay them back” and how all Muslims, ALL Muslims want to convert you, and, if they can’t, they will…then he forms his hand into the image of a gun, sticks it to her head and says, “they will shoot you.”  OMG, I don’t know what to say, to do, I’m getting angry, should I leave, should I ask him to leave, and then another text from my son – what is it now?  Dad, can I please hit this man in the mouth?  No Sammy, but…it was just shocking.  There was a lull then as someone’s name was called, but I sat there sad, and embarrassed; embarrassed for this state, embarrassed to be a Christian.  And angry.  At this.  Angry at myself for not saying anything.  I’m not in the habit of policing other people’s conversations, but still…

When the lady left, I got up and followed her outside and stopped her at the elevator.  “Ma’am,” I said, “I’ve been a Christian minister for almost 25 years, and I am a biblical scholar, and everything that man said to you, outside of his name, was wrong.  I’m sorry you had to listen to that.”  She seemed very appreciative.  “Oh, thank you,” she said, “I didn’t know what he was talking about.”  It’s been hard to let the anger go this week.  When I got back to the office later in the day, Renee sent me home!  “It’s such a nice day, you ought to go ride your bike – seriously, go, go now…”

 

He restores my soul…That’s what I need, Lord, soul restoration.  This is my prayer, I kept going over this line.  Don’t let me become jaded or cynical, don’t let me think that that kind of Christianity is what others think of when they think of Christianity…my soul, my spirit, I need to get that back.

 

He leads me in the paths of righteousness…That’s what it’s about, isn’t it?  Different paths.  In John’s gospel reading for today, Jesus says that his sheep hear his voice and follow his way.  As I sat there and listened to that vile rhetoric, I thought, it’s about different voices isn’t it?  I don’t hear that voice; I don’t hear the voice that makes Christianity into a club and then demonizes those not in the club.

I hear a different voice from the good shepherd…I hear the voice of understanding…

the voice of compassion…

the voice of inclusion…

I hear a voice that opens us up to the best in each other, not one that plays to the worst.

 

And I hear it even in John’s gospel.  I struggle with elements of John’s gospel; I struggle with your Word, Lord!  And I don’t mean struggle to understand, I mean I don’t like it; or at least that I have problems with it at times.

I struggle with the exclusive nature of John’s gospel.  I understand it.  I get it.  I know the context.  When you’re working and ministering to a small, beleaguered group who feels like the world is out to get them, because, the world is out to get them, then you say, “Hold on to your faith.   Hold on to Jesus.  He is the way, He is the truth.  You are God’s precious sheep.”  I get that, I would say that too.  But those same words in a different context, say just a few centuries later when the church now has power and wealth and kings are bowing before its leaders, take on a meaning that maybe not even the author intended.

I struggle with this gospel’s portrayal of the Jewish religion –as in our passage today where John has Jesus say that “the Jews” do not belong to his sheep.  Or in other places where it is mentioned that God is our Father, but your father is the devil…Some of us have made a commitment, even when reading this gospel, that instead of the phrase “the Jews” we will say, “the Jewish people” or the Jewish religion or some such variant, as this phrase is just too pejorative.  I don’t think for the life of me that the author of the gospel of John was anti-semitic, but his words have played a role in it.  And I believe we can bring forth the best of this gospel and its message without bringing forth all of the historical conflicts behind it…

I hope that’s enough Lord…

But even here in this gospel I hear the voice of tolerance, openness…

I hear phrases like whosoever will…

words of Jesus saying he has other sheep not of this fold,

I hear a voice saying that to embody the sacrificial love of Jesus is to be one of God’s sheep, regardless of what you call yourself…

I hear the voice in our reading from Revelation this morning—did you hear it?—all nations, tribes, languages—not destroyed by the wrath of the Lamb, but brought together by the love of the Lamb.

I believe that is the path of righteousness…

 

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…Oh, Lord, I can’t even go there.  We know this walk well, don’t we?  As someone once said, there are two truths that we live with once outside the mythological garden of Eden; 1)  we don’t live in paradise…2) we don’t live forever…this is the valley where we live.  How good of you to follow this with:

 

I fear no evil, for Thou art with me…I struggle here too, Lord.  We do fear.  Everything in our lives is built around all the things we fear.  How do we get there?  You tell us in your Psalms that no harm shall come to those who belong to you.  In the gospel today Jesus says those who belong to him shall not be snatched away, they will never perish…so those who perish, those who perished this past week…Did you not care for them?  Are those words a lie?  Or am I being challenged to see life and death broader than I have defined them?

It is so like you to respond to my questions, not with an answer, but with a promise.  You are with me…Isn’t that the magnificence, the purpose of the Christ?   Not to divide people, but to show in the realest way possible that you are with us…you are with us in all kinds of ways…in “all” things.  It makes sense, Lord, that the word is not really “evil” per se, but, I fear no “adversity…” in everything and anything, you are with us.  I am thankful for that, but if it’s all the same Lord, just this week, be with others…

 

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies…why would you do that, Lord?  So that I can boast?  I can sit down and eat in protection and think, Hey, look at me, you can’t touch me.  Of course, a table is for everyone to sit down together and eat, and fellowship, and…hey, wait just a minute, Lord, exactly what are you suggesting here?  You know, all that stuff about openness and tolerance, that’s for others!  You aren’t suggesting that people who talk about inclusion actually practice it, are you?

And who are my enemies?  I don’t know if I have any, anyone who wakes up in the morning with the sole purpose of destroying my life…

But as I sat there in the doctor’s office listening to that conversation and watching again and again the images on CNN directly overhead, I felt like I saw the enemy…

the enemies are intolerance…

and narrow-mindedness…

and racism…

and prejudice…

and FEAR…God help us…fear of the other…fear of difference…fear is the greatest enemy of all…

 

Thou anointest my head with oil…Thank you, Lord, for re-living a brief memory of nostalgia.  In the days when my Grandfather and I used to milk cows, we would often put a salve on the cow…sometimes to heal a wound, but often just for protection, to keep the flies and pests away from the ole’ gals head.  I love this image—not a regal, royal image per se, but a wonderful reminder of your protection…to help us endure the things that would harm us.

 

My cup runneth over…Whew!  This one hit me, Lord.  This one wouldn’t let me go…My cup overflows with blessings.  For those of you who were not at the All-Church Retreat last weekend, you may not realize that the big news, above and beyond the fun and the fellowship, the great food and the outstanding music, the big news that captivated the masses was that Jake, our 7 year old, lost his first tooth!   Yes, Jake lost a tooth…

that hit me…Jake lost a tooth…

a silly thing to get emotional about…

Jake lost a tooth…

But see, that’s the thing…he didn’t lose a sibling, he didn’t lose a limb, a hand or a foot mangled in an explosion…My Jakey lost a tooth…my cup runneth over, embarrassingly so, no matter how you pour it…God forgive me if for any second of the past week I’ve been anything but astonishingly grateful…

 

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…I’m sorry, Lord, if we have translated this a little too timidly…follow…when the word is more like to pursue, to chase…goodness and mercy shall run after me…

Isn’t it interesting, in the midst of everything, every time that evil rears its ugly head in something like this, in every tragedy, personal, national and international, every time…

if you open your heart and eyes and look around…at friends, at neighbors, in communities, even among strangers, what you always find, is goodness and mercy…they are always there…what stands out is the goodness of people…it always follows, as if it were literally chasing the evil down and saying, “YOU WILL NOT WIN.”

 

This helps me to believe in you, Lord.

 

And I like the confidence of it…surely…because I need it…it asks me to trust that there is something bigger than me, than us, than the evil we see.

 

 

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever…In a class on the Psalms we looked at some different translations of Psalm 23.  Some translate the last line with phrases like, I will dwell the house of the Lord “a long time,” or “my whole life long.”  We all agreed that here we liked the King James Version the best – FOR EVER!  It sounds, well, longer, more substantive.  But, ya know, in John’s gospel, words like life and eternity, here and there, it’s almost as if they don’t make a lot of difference.

For John, God dwells with us…if we are breathing we are in God’s presence, and if we stop breathing, we are in God’s presence…

It is about life…eternal life…not life in some far off resurrected place, but God’s life breaking into our life here…about hope and life and love, here…

To love one another, to live out and embody Jesus’ words, is to find:

life…

green pastures…

still waters…

restoration…

 

My cup runneth over…Thank you, Lord…Hallelujah and Amen.