Tags
Christian, dignity, ecumencial, follow, Jesus, love, new, political, Sermon, subversive, witness
Several years ago, I was in a Bishop Search process. Ordinarily, I do not recommend the process – in fact, I often actively discourage the process, because in our Episcopal tradition, the search is very public, exacting, and takes a toll on your parish, even when they are cheering you on and supporting you. But if I enjoyed anything from the experience, I enjoyed the opportunity to take a wider look at the Church – a wider look at this endeavor we are all undertaking, called being Christian. One of those defining identity moments happened in one of the public interviews. A church member at one of the local churches said to me, “Our current bishop is very active politically. Would you as a bishop continue that political activity, or would you focus on following Jesus?”
Now we all know that the county our ecumenical group is situated in is decidedly “purple” politically. I haven’t really asked your clergy about your individual churches, but I know Hickory Neck is also a very “purple” congregation – I often joke that if you took a look at the bumper stickers in our parking lot you would wonder how in the world we peacefully worship every Sunday. In fact, my own church members have often heard me say that we don’t preach politics, we preach Jesus.
The trouble with that dichotomy is that although Jesus was not a democrat or a republican, he was inherently political. He lived and breathed in a politically loaded time – something with which we are very familiar. And although he may not align with our current political parties in the United States, his actions and words have political ramifications on how we live as Christians.
Now why in the world, on this Wednesday right in the middle of Lent, in the middle of our beloved peacefully ecumenical gatherings would I bring up something divisive? Well, I blame Jesus. The gospel lesson we just heard from Matthew is only three verses long. But in order to understand what is going on, we need to step back just a bit to recall where we are in Matthew’s gospel. Chapter five of Matthew starts with the beatitudes, and is just the beginning of what we call the Sermon on the Mount – Jesus’ sort of treatise on how to be a Christian – or even more clearly, the answer to “What would Jesus do?” So, Jesus sits down for an extra long sermon (or at least long for Episcopal standards – I know some of your traditions love a good 30-minute to hour-long sermon!). He starts with those beloved beatitudes, letting us know where true blessing lies. He then moves on to talk about being salt and light as disciples in the world. And then he talks about the law in the portion we heard tonight.
Before we get too far, we have to remember that conversations about the law (not the Roman law, but the very law we heard about in Deuteronomy tonight) – conversations about the law needs to be very careful. Many a scholar has tried to use this passage to argue the supersessionism of the Chrisitan Church over the Jewish people – as though by Jesus saying he came to fulfill the law that now Christians supersede the Jewish people as God’s chosen. Jesus has been confusing followers for centuries by this statement – theologians as distinguished at Thomas Aquinas tried to separate the types of law, arguing that we need to follow the moral law, but not the juridical or ceremonial law of the Old Testament.[i]
That is not what Jesus is arguing in these three short verses. Jesus never intended to bifurcate the faithful in such a way. Just like Jesus was not saying be a republican or be a democrat, Jesus is saying be a person of faith. In the verse following what we read today, Jesus says, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Just like in our day, the faithful of Jesus’ day lived in a politically charged time. As Stanley Hauerwas explains, “…too often Israel sought to be faithful in a manner that would not challenge the powers, and in particular the power of Rome. The Pharisees quite understandably tried to observe the law without that observance being recognized as subversive to those who ruled them.” Like in our day, they were not claiming a particular party, but claiming the faith. Not preaching politics, but preaching Jesus.
But here’s the problem with that way of life – and quite frankly, the dichotomy that the person in that interview asked me about. The kingdom of God cannot avoid being subversive. We know this because Jesus was so subversive that he was crucified – because instead of “…violently overthrowing the old order Jesus creates a people capable of living in accordance with the new order in the old.”[ii] What does that mean exactly? Stanley Hauerwas tells us that fulfilling the law means creating a way of life that is unlike the world. That way of life is voluntary: you cannot be born into it, but can only join by repenting and freely pledging allegiance to its king (Jesus). And the next generation is not automatically admitted – every member joins of their own volition. Two, that way of life creates a mixed community: racially, religiously, economically. And finally, that way of life is, well, a new way of life. Jesus, “…[gives] them a new way to deal with offenders – by forgiving them. He [gives] them a new way to deal with violence – by suffering. He [gives] them a new way to deal with money – by sharing it. He [gives] them a new way to deal with problems of leadership – by drawing upon the gift of every member, even the most humble. He [gives] them a new way to deal with a corrupt society – by building a new order, not smashing the old. He [gives] them a new pattern of relationship between man and woman, between parent and child, between master and slave, in which [is] made concrete a radical new vision of what it means to be a human person…”[iii]
I do not know what your Lenten discipline has been this year. Given the weight of the political environment, the anxiety floating around in the atmosphere, and the sense of radical challenge, doing things like giving up chocolate or screen time or meat has not felt, well, meaty enough for me this year. I think part of the challenge has been the sober, somber nature of Lent has felt so congruent with the sober, somber nature of everyday living these days. Perhaps why Lent feels so heavy is because I can see no way to answer that dichotomy of a question, “Will you be political or will you follow Jesus?”
I do not think our invitation tonight is to leave this place planting our red or blue flags. In fact, our invitation might just be carrying our purple flags out of this space while helping others see and experience Jesus. The new way of life that Jesus laid out for us – of forgiving, suffering, sharing, empowering, building, relating – is not unique to one political party. Our invitation is to support that new way of life through Jesus in all political parties – republican, democrat, independent, or whatever else you may be feeling tonight. That new way of life is so subversive that members of your own party may challenge you, and like a Pharisee, you may want to be a Christian while not rocking the boat. But following Jesus means rocking the boat. Following Jesus means loving neighbors, caring for the less than, respecting the dignity of others. Following Jesus means sometimes following him out of the boat into some scary, stormy waters. But if we can sit together in this room – as Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Baptists, Mennonites, Roman Catholics, and Disciples of Christ – surely we can step into those waters together outside of this room, witnessing another way…together. Amen.
[i] Stanley Hauerwas, Matthew: Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2006), 65.
[ii] Hauerwas, 67.
[iii] Hauerwas, 67-68.
