josephholubsermons


 

September 27, 2009 -  Pentecost 17
Numbers 11; Mark 9:30-38-50

  "Holy Ground!"

I begin this morning by posing two questions or two sets of questions. 

The first is, "What would identify as holy ground in this world?  Where are the sacred places in this world?  Where is God especially present in the world?" 

Remember the story of Moses in the book of Exodus when he was tending to his flock and he saw a bush on fire on the side of the mountain; a bush ablaze yet not consumed.  When he stumbled up the mountainside to see for himself and approached this amazing thing, he perceived a voice that said, "Take off your shoes, for the place upon which you are standing is holy ground."

So my first question is, "Where is the holy ground in this world?"

My second question is this: "Does your religion connect you with people, or does your religion disconnect  you from others? Does your religion (or spirituality) connect you especially with people different from you (different in any of a number of ways: ethnically, socially, racially, religiously, economically, politically, etc); or does your religion disconnect you from those who are different from you? 

The Old Testament scripture and the gospel for today have a common thread running through them. In the Numbers scripture Moses had reached a point of total frustration and exasperation with his people, a people who had completely lost their perspective and had lost their grip.  Complaining about their conditions of freedom, they were ready to return to slavery in Egypt - even romanticized their former conditions of slavery and servitude under Pharaoh's oppression - longing for the "good old days" of slavery!  

No longer able to bear the burden of leadership alone Moses decided to share the responsibility.  The day arrived for a kind of service of installation to officially consecrate seventy others to share the leadership of this cantankerous people.  But while this orderly and controlled ceremony was taking place inside the tabernacle, something disorderly and out of their control was going on back at the camp. Two others, Eldad and Medad, began to speak God's word outside the tabernacle.

A young man, seeing them, winced!   Like a tattling child he ran and told Moses and the others saying, "Eldad and Medad are speaking God's word outside the tabernacle!"  The inner circle of leaders were scandalized, and they demanded that Moses muzzle them and shut them up!  It was unthinkable to them that another voice would be conducting a service outside the tabernacle simultaneous with the service inside the tabernacle.  But Moses' answer simply was “I wish all the people would speak God's Word!"

In today's gospel one of the disciples, John, came running to Jesus perhaps also sounding a bit like a whining and tattling child, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to stop him because he was not following us."   I imagine Jesus staring him down and then saying, "Do not stop him, for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able to speak evil of me.  Whoever is not against us is for us." 

Michael Bruzzese, a Christian free-lance writer, writes this commentary concerning this story, "The disciples ... lost sight of the kingdom of God, and think instead of only preserving  their own power and protecting their own territory. They reacted with fear and jealousy to another who heals in Jesus' name.  Jesus rejects their parochialism, insisting that 'Whoever is not against us is for us.'  Obviously, our own desire to limit the work of God to our hands, our church, or our belief is nothing new and is intoxicating.  But religious egoism and religious territorialism were rejected by Jesus from the very beginning."

These stories are, in part, about the propensity for religion to become arrogantly exclusive.  These stories are about how quickly religion can resort to building walls: walls of moral superiority, walls of  belief systems, walls of religious practice, walls of religiously legitimated prejudice and hatred, walls of judgmentalism and fear and even very real concrete and steel walls to separate people;  walls - walls - walls - and more walls.   Our guest and friend this morning from Palestine, Michael Zoughbi, I am sure will share with us how a wall suppresses their lives as a community who lives on the other side of it. 

A friend of mine who is a youth director in one of our synod congregations told me she received a  mailing from a T-Shirt Company.  It was a marketing piece for youth groups to sell T-Shirts as a fund-raiser.  The brochure featured the picture of a black T-Shirt that on the front said, "Stop Illegal Immigration," and the back said, "Build the wall so high they cannot climb over it" with a picture of a high wall.  I am curious if they have had any takers!  Just the fact they would send out a shocking marketing piece like that to church youth leaders suggests that they probably do.  The assumption behind the marketing is that religion loves and affirms walls. 

The foundation of religious wall-building attitudes is the assumption that God is experienced and exclusively present behind our carefully constructed religious walls; that God's most authentic presence is found behind our walls.  "Holy Ground"  is restricted to the turf behind our walls, and all ground outside of our walls of religious belief, practice and experience is considered profane - so we treat it as such.  Truth exists only on our side of our wall.  (I could stop right now and tell numerous stories of wall building I have seen and experienced in the name of God, but there isn't time)

But the end of every story is the same: God is restricted to the territory behind our walls; God is confined and carefully controlled and mediated.  Religious exclusivism with its propensity for building walls always inevitably becomes oppressive, restrictive, condescending, controlling, dehumanizing and judgmental. 

And then Jesus comes proclaiming and embodying the Kingdom of God in a world defined by religious and political wall-dom.  The Jesus of Mark's gospel comes inviting us to follow him down that kingdom road - down that path - along that way of God's realm and God's vision for the world.  Thus far this year we have followed Jesus on a stunning, shocking, transformative and even frightening journey as he's led us across boundaries, barriers and invisible but very real walls both politically and religiously legitimated.  Walls we would have never crossed had not Jesus been leading us.

On this journey through Mark’s gospel we've followed him across walls of politically and religiously enforced segregation.

We've followed him across walls of exclusivity and seen him redefine the meaning of community life  with inclusive table fellowship that includes the scorned and marginalized.

We've followed him across rigid walls of economic injustice that were built to make sure that the haves and have-nots were kept separated and that the haves retained their power; watched him step over economic walls as we saw him in the feeding of multitudes demonstrate a new paradigm of distributive justice for all.

We've have followed him over walls built by sacred Mosaic Law, as he time after time trumped Mosaic Law with love and compassion and established new definitions of the religious life not based on rigid law but based on love. 

We have followed him over wall after wall, boundary after boundary, barrier after barrier.  We have met great resistance and even incurred the scorn of the religious and political elite.   We have experienced the headwinds of resistance and the choppy waters of fear that would have swamped us and drown us if they could. 

But nothing has stopped Jesus - nothing - he has been relentless in his journey, and he has never stopped inviting us to follow.  "Follow me - follow me - follow me - follow me";  he has kept inviting and kept encouraging.  

And the journey he leads us on is a journey into the territory beyond our walls; territory that up until Jesus we thought was profane, but in our following we have had a glimpse that it is perhaps the holiest ground of all; that God will not be confined by our walls, but God in Jesus leads us past and beyond our walls into a whole new living experience of God and full humanity.

It was Wednesday morning and the phone rang.  Katie answered and the voice asked for the pastor.  She transferred the call to me.

"This is Pastor Joe," I said.   Then I heard a what only can be described as desperate voice, "Please don't hang up on me, please!   I just need you to listen for maybe five minutes.  Can you do that?  I have called five other churches this morning, and I have either been hung up on or yelled at.  I am sorry for interrupting your day, but can you listen for five minutes." I said, "Yes, I can do that!"

To summarize, this man was from Pennsylvania.  He had made his way by bus to Arizona to attend the funeral of his brother, his last living relative outside of his wife.   He had traveled alone since his wife was ill and unable to travel with him.  While in Arizona, attending his brother's funeral, he had  a heart attack that required angioplasty.  Now he was headed back home to Pennsylvania.  He had hitched a ride with an over-the-road-trucker who happen to also be headed for Pennsylvania.  He had run out of resources; no food, no money, (18 cents in his pocket) the last of his money for a room at a motel down the street, while the trucker slept before resuming his journey. 

Could I help in any way was his question. He had not eaten for a day and had several days journey ahead of him.  I said, "Yes, I could."  I scraped together some resources and went down to the motel where he staying.  I told him the description of my car, and he indicated he would wait in the lobby and look for me at a specified time.

I pulled into the parking lot.  He spotted me and came out the door.  He was an much older than I had guessed walking with the aid of cane and limp. 

He came up to my car, and I was about to hand him the envelope containing a small amount of cash and a coupon.  But as I extended my hand to give him the envelope, he didn't take it at first but put his hand up.  I looked into his face, and I saw tears streaming down his face, and with his voice breaking he said, "This is hardest thing I have ever had to do, and even more than for the money I thank you for listening."

I came back to the church, but I just sat for some minutes in my car and reflected on what had just happened and how I felt.  Let me tell you how I felt. 

First, I will tell how I did not feel.  I did not feel, "Way to go Joe!  You are such good guy!  You earned a spiritual merit badge today."  No, that's not it all - not even close. 

I felt blessed!  I felt blessed and honored that I was the one given this opportunity.  I felt blessed.  When I looked into that man's eyes, I realized that I stumbled on to "holy ground."  I was humbled!

I didn't hear, "Goody for you Joe"  What I heard in my head and heart was, "Take off your shoes, Joe!  You are standing on holy ground!"   I realized, in reflection, that I had been led to a place beyond beliefs, a place beyond judgmentalism, a place beyond attitudes that would have dehumanized this man even more by hanging up the phone or saying something disparaging.  But by the grace of God I was led to a holy place where holy business was conducted; a place where I believe both of us acknowledged we had been in the presence of God and walked on holy ground - a place far beyond the walls we build.

There were many walls that would have stopped me Wednesday morning.  Walls like, "Does he deserve it?" "How do you know you are not being conned?"  - and about a hundred others.  I have heard them all and there have been many times I have cowered behind them in my own life - but I must ask, "How many of those times have I missed the "God-presnece" on the other side of my wall. 

Over the years I have ministered to many people who have been deeply wounded and victimized by harsh and judgmental expressions of religion; religion that hides and lives behind walls. 

Jesus had  some pretty harsh words in our gospel today for anyone, including us, when choose to build walls in God's name; confine God behind them and cower there.  Launching into dramatic Hebrew hyperbole he said, "It would be better to have a millstone hung around your neck and be thrown into the sea."    

In Mark chapter 1, Jesus invited disciples with the invitation, “Follow me.”  From that point on he led them on a journey beyond the walls of exclusive religion to the holy ground and holy people and God-presence on the other side.  I pray we will we be among those who follow?