Friday, February 8, 2008

Have a Happy Lent!

Brad Sullivan
Ash Wednesday, Year A
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Isaiah 58:1-12
Psalm 103
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21



Happy Lent, y’all. Today on Ash Wednesday, we begin the season of Lent, our time of fasting and preparation for Easter. One might call Lent a time of heightened religious observance when we are more intentional about our religious practices, and so as we begin our Lenten journey, hearing the passages from Isaiah and Matthew is very appropriate. Both passages speak proper religious observance, how properly to fast, to pray, to draw near to God.
First, in today’s lesson from Isaiah, the prophet seems to be speaking to a people who are very confused about religious observance. The people ask God: “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” The people think they are very devout in their religious observance, and they probably are. So why does God seem unimpressed? His answer is very direct. “Look,” he says, “you serve your own interest on your fast-day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.”
In short, the people had devout religious observance with little or no connection to the rest of their lives. They wanted God’s blessing and so they followed the religious rules and made the appropriate sacrifices, but then didn’t treat people very well in their work lives, or their home lives, or their public lives outside of the religious establishment.
This same disconnect between religious life and the rest of one’s life still exists today. People often say they can’t behave a certain way because they are in church. People often tell me they can’t tell a certain story or use a certain word because I’m there. “If the priest hears me, then I’m really in trouble.” Now, that we try to be on our best behavior at church isn’t really a bad thing, but there seems to be a feeling that God will really notice if I say or do the wrong thing here. Once I leave these walls, I’m ok.
Such a way of life reminds me of how many of us were as children, going to bed at night, would seek protection from our bed sheets. “The monsters can’t get me if I’m all covered up,” so we wrap ourselves up tight as children, keeping the monsters away. This works pretty well for kids especially since there aren’t really monsters, but for adults thinking, “I’m away from Church, God can’t see me now,” doesn’t really work.
God isn’t pleased if we follow all our religious practices within these walls, but then treat people badly once we leave. How do we treat people outside of church? I remember a scene from the TV show “Dirty, Sexy, Money”, a show I kinda like, where a priest, collar on and everything is cussing a guy out, shouting at him, threatening him, insulting him. Then as the priest turns to leave, the other gentleman asks, “Where are you going?” “I have to go do a Baptism,” the priest replies. There’s a disconnect there.
In order to get over some of the disconnect in our lives, our Youth Minister has given the youth group these purple wristbands from “A Compliant Free World.Org.” The idea behind these bands is to help people see just how often we complain, not just point out something wrong, but complain about it, and to help us stop complaining so much. We wear the band on our left wrist, and then, whenever we complain, we’re supposed to put the band on our right wrist, and then when we consciously don’t complain about something, we can put it back on our left. We’re supposed to go 21 days with it on our left wrist to help form the habit of not complaining. In a week and a half, I have so far gone…one consecutive day without complaining. There’s a disconnect there in how I want to behave and how I am behaving, between how I behave here and when I’m not here.
So, regarding our Lenten fasts this year, thinking about what we’re going to give up, try fasting from acting differently here than from anywhere else. “You mean I can cuss and fight in church now?” Yes, if you think it’s ok to cuss and fight anywhere else. The point is, this Lent (and then hopefully beyond Lent) try making all of your life a religious observance. Don’t think God can’t see or doesn’t care just because you’re not at church, just because you’ve got the bed sheets over you. They may protect kids from monsters, but they don’t stop God from seeing or caring about what we’re doing and how we’re acting. So, this Lent, fast from acting one way in church and another way everywhere else. Make all your life a religious observance.
Now this leads us to the passage from Matthew, which I will address briefly, in which Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them…” (Matthew 6:1a) The second clause of that sentence is a very important one: “in order to be seen by them.” Jesus didn’t say hide your religious observance to make sure no one sees you. Seeing someone’s religious observance can be one heck of a witness.
Jesus advised not to flaunt one’s religious practices in order to be seen and praised for them, but we needn’t hide all of our religious practices either. “I went to church on Sunday,” is a perfectly acceptable answer to the question, “What did you do this weekend?” The problem comes when you tell people about your faith life in order to show off or to make others think you’re a good person.
Thinking about why we pray is important this Lent especially because we’ve decided to observe Lent this year at Emmanuel by each one of us praying four times a day for two minutes each time, using these prayer cards, taken from the Book of Common Prayer. If we all stick to praying four times a day, some of us will likely be praying at work or in places where other people might observe us. Don’t be afraid to let other people know that you’re praying. Doing so could start up a conversation about God. God might use you to draw someone closer to him or to draw someone back to him.
We needn’t hide our prayer. Remember, all of our life should be a religious observance, so we shouldn’t hide our faith. The danger comes when we try to be seen in order to be praised. Don’t flaunt your prayer, but don’t hide it either. Take this Lent as an opportunity to get the rest of your life more in sync with your religious life. Pray these four times each day; don’t flaunt it, but if someone sees you, let them know why you’re praying. Think about how you treat others beyond these walls. Observe the kind of fast God asked for through Isaiah, and have a happy Lent. Amen.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

All Barriers to God Have Been Removed

Brad Sullivan
Last Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
Sunday, February 3rd, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 2 or 99
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9


Today, in Matthew’s version of the Transfiguration of Jesus, we have something of an opening of the relationship between God and humanity. God was made more accessible to humanity than he previously was, or God was shown to be more accessible than we understood him to be. In the passage from Exodus we heard today, Moses was going up on top of Mount Sinai by himself to talk with God. Only Moses was allowed on top of the mountain to see the Glory of the Lord up close. “The appearance of the Glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel,” (Exodus 24:17) and the people couldn’t come near because they weren’t pure, or they would die, or they were afraid. For several reasons listed in the previous chapters of Exodus, only particular people were allowed to see the face of God, to draw near to God.
These particular persons, then, were to serve as mediators between God and the rest of the people. For the people of Israel just after the Exodus from Egypt, Moses was their means for communication with God. Moses was the one who prayed to God to intercede for the people. Moses was the one who heard God’s commands to the people and then told the people what God had commanded.
Later in the cultic practices of Israel, after they had established the temple, the Israelites had many priests to offer their sacrifices to God, but again, only the high priest was allowed to enter into the inner chamber of the Temple where God dwelled above the Ark of the Covenant. Only one person among all the people was allowed access to God. While anyone could pray to God, there was still only one person who could draw near to God, to intercede for the people.
On the other hand, when Jesus went up on the mountain, he did not go alone. He took with him Peter and James and John. Presumably, Jesus, Peter, James, and John were going up on top of the mountain to talk to God. Looking to the past, Jesus should have gone up by himself, being that one person who could draw near to God, but he didn’t, he took people with him. That fact alone tells us there was a change in our relationship with God, an opening of that relationship. No longer was there only one who could draw near to God, others could go with that one.
Further, we see in the transfiguration of Jesus, a change in how the Glory of God was revealed. Rather than in a cloud, the Glory of the Lord was revealed in Jesus himself. Rather than a devouring fire on top of the mountain, the face of Jesus shone like the sun, and these three disciples of Jesus were there to witness the Glory of the Lord close up, first hand. They were not priests, they were not prophets like Moses, they had not been consecrated, and yet were allowed and even invited to witness firsthand the Glory of the Lord shining through the face of Jesus.
God was opening up his relationship with humanity. No longer were elaborate rituals needed to be pure enough to draw near to God. No longer were only a few or even one allowed to draw near to God. Regular people who wanted to draw near to God now could. The barriers of access to God had been removed.
This is not to say, however, that God had changed who he was. Nor were Peter, James, and John seeing the Glory of a different Lord in the face of Jesus, than Moses had seen on top of the mountain. Moses and Elijah being on top of the mountain with Jesus and the three disciples show Jesus to be the same Lord they had served and witnessed. The biggest problem Moses and Elijah faced as prophets of Israel was apostasy. For Moses, the people of Israel made a golden calf and began worshipping that instead of God. For Elijah, the people began worshipping the Canaanite god Baal, rather than God. Keeping the people of Israel focused on worshipping God, the Lord, rather than other false gods, was of primary importance to both Moses and Elijah, so you know if they were there with Jesus on the mountain top, then the same Lord was being revealed when Jesus was transfigured as when Moses was up on mount Sinai and Elijah was up on mount Horeb.
So, the same God who was revealed to Moses and Elijah was now being revealed to the disciples in the face of Jesus. The relationship of God with people was opened. Some would say, however, Jesus actually closed or narrowed the doorway to God. You may know some people who feel that way. Looking at the fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel, we can see why some feel that Jesus closed the door. “Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.’” (John 14:6) While stating you can only get to God through Christ, remember, Jesus is God, the same God served by Moses and Elijah.
Therefore, God is the way to God. We don’t need priests or mediums, or prophets like Moses to talk to God for us. We can all talk to God. We can all draw near to God. In Jesus, God allows us to come near to him by coming near to us. With God as a wholly transcendent God, people devised elaborate rituals to gain access to God. Animals were slaughtered to make ourselves pure. Certain people or places were seen as the access points to God. God was seen as a God who was inaccessible, beyond this world, or at least invisible and hard to witness. In Jesus, however, God became accessible to humans by becoming human, not through ritual or sacrifice on our end.
Ritual, sacrifice, and particular persons had been used to communicate with God because God was seen as so far above us, that we couldn’t raise ourselves up to be with God. So, in Jesus, God came down to our level, or showed he was already here among us. God showed us that he is here with us and will always be here with us. While still accessible through a person, the difference between the person of Jesus and the prophet like Moses is Jesus is not someone other than God. By becoming human, God became accessible to humans. The glory of God was revealed in the face of Jesus, showing that Jesus was and is God.
God, the infinite, became finite, while remaining infinite, and by doing so, he became infinitely accessible. God is accessible through Jesus because Jesus is God. In other words, God is accessible through God. We need no mediator. We need no ritual or sacrifice to connect to the transcendent God because God is here with us, the infinite made finite. God was physically here in the person of Jesus, and we need no mediator between us and God because our mediator to God is God himself. Rather than putting up a barrier to God, Jesus tore all barriers down.
There are many, however, who still like ritual, who find various rituals helpful in communicating with God. To that, I think Jesus would say, “fine.” Rituals can still be helpful. While we can simply talk to God as easily as we talk with one another, just like talking to the person of Jesus, many find simply talking to God to be rather difficult. Many especially find hearing God to be difficult, and this is because the way in which God often speaks to us.
Look at the example of Elijah. Elijah was up on the mountain, a prime place to meet God, and while there, Elijah heard a cacophony of sound: a whirlwind, an earthquake, a fire, but God was not in these. Rather, God spoke to Elijah in a still small voice. That still small voice is often hard to hear. That still small voice may come to us today in many forms, in many places, in our daily lives, in the city, in the voices of people we meet, but we are often so distracted by noise that we fail to hear or recognize the still small voice. Many of us, therefore, still have rituals we practice not in order to gain access to God, but to quiet things down so we can hear God. Many of us still need some ritual not because God is inaccessible, but because we can often be distracted.
For example, I cannot hear a word my wife says to me if the television is on. For us to communicate, there must be a certain amount of ritual: I must turn off or mute the TV. The only barriers to communication between my wife and me are the barriers we put up ourselves. In the same way, the only barriers in communication between each of us and God are the barriers we put up ourselves, and sometimes we have to work to take those barriers down. Often we need to help each other to remove those barriers, but from God’s end, all barriers have been removed.
Maybe Jesus still feels like a barrier. Maybe you prefer to talk to God as Father or Mother. Fine, do so. Maybe you prefer to talk to God as the human person, Jesus. Fine, do so. Maybe you prefer to talk to God as ethereal Holy Spirit. Fine, do so. All access points are open. Maybe you prefer to be out in nature to talk to God, or maybe you prefer to be in the city to talk to God. Maybe you prefer to be alone or maybe you prefer to be with people to talk to God. Fine, do so. Talk to God. Listen to him. God has removed all barriers, so talk to God, and listen, listen to what he has to say. Amen.