The Psalm and Gospel texts for Sunday 7 August 2022

Psalm 10.1-14

Why, Compassionate One, do you stand afar? 

       Why do you hide yourself in hard times?

In arrogance the wicked harass the poor; 

       let them be caught in the schemes they have devised. 

For the wicked praise their [every] inmost desire,

       extort gain and bless those who despise the Creator of All.

The wicked turn up their nose and do not seek [God];

       There is no God in all their thoughts. 

Their ways prosper all the time; 

       your judgements are on high, beyond them;

       all their foes scoff at them. 

They say in their heart, “We shall not be shaken;

       nor [see] evil down through the generations.”

Cursing fills their mouths along with the deceit and oppression; 

       under their tongues are trouble and iniquity.

They sit in ambush in the villages;

in hiding places they murder the innocent.

       Their eyes surveil the vulnerable. 

They lie-in-wait that they ay snatch the poor;

       they search the poor and drag them off in their net. 

They stoop, they crouch, 

       and the vulnerable fall prey through their might. 

They say in their heart, “God has forgotten,

       she has hidden her face, she will never see it.”

Rise up, Faithful God; dear God, lift up your hand;

       forget not the oppressed. 

Why do the wicked despise God,

       and say in their hearts you shall not find out?

You see, you regard trouble and grief, 

       to take [it] into your hands. 

Upon you the vulnerable entrust themselves; 

       to the orphan you have ever [only] been their helper. 

John 10.11-16        “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd to whom the sheep do not belong, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. All because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Shepherd-Of-All knows me and I know the Shepherd-Of-All. And I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold: I must bring them as well, and they will listen to my voice, thus there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

 

Reflection      Here is the secret about bullies. Bullies are people or nations driven by fear to project an image that they are special, superior and sinless. In a bearded effort to cover up their own weakness, smallness and vulnerability, bullies puff themselves up to exert power over others who seem weaker, smaller or more vulnerable.

Remember the swaggering giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17) armored in bronze and fitted with fine forged shield and spear? His looming presence sends the ordinary citizens of Israel fleeing in fear.  Goliath was a bully. We face another Goliath as the Russian superpower deploys masses of money and military might to impose its tyrannical will and exile ordinary Ukrainian citizens.  Here is the thing. When brazen superpowers appear to get away with their barefaced bullying, they boast about being exempt from the will of God.  Cocksure and crowing, “the wicked turn up their noses and do not seek God.” They rant and rave, “We can get away with anything. What need have we for God?”

Meanwhile, drenched in dread the oppressed lament, “We cannot trust anything (the wicked) say, because “cursing fills their mouths along with deceit and oppression…” What are we to believe? What can we do?”  Still, all is not lost if the subjugated do not give up on God. Truth be told, what else can they do? 

A survey of people who identify themselves as nonreligious completed in the United Kingdom in 2018 found that “one in five atheists and agnostics pray on a regular basis in times of personal crisis. Atheists and agnostics reported that the most common reason for them to pray is during a tragedy, but 25 percent of these individuals admitted to also praying for comfort or simply out of loneliness.” **

When we are invaded by a superpower or for any reason come face to face with a bully, there is a good chance we will join the Ukrainians and the psalmist protesting ,  “Why is God not devouring the oppressors and rescuing us?’  Consenting to the reality that we are vulnerable we put our faith in God rather than ourselves. We implore God to take decisive action, “Rise up … lift up your hand”…do not forget us!” 

Unlike bullies who act as if they were gods, the vulnerable never stop calling out to God.  The vulnerable, even the atheist, pray, “Faithful God, “you see, you regard our trouble and grief, take it into your hands.”  Faithful God, we entrust our selves to you.”

Consenting to the reality that we are not in control,  the vulnerable and oppressed are blessed. As Jesus teaches in the gospel according to Matthew, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. “(Matt 5.5,6,8)  Restored to hope, we join the psalmist and our Ukrainian sisters and brothers proclaiming, “Faithful God, to the orphan you have only ever been their helper.” 

This is the Good News that points to the familiar gospel text known as the Good Shepherd. The sheep depend upon the Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd never abandons the sheep, cares for the sheep and knows each one by name. Here is the tricky bit. The Good Shepherd is the Shepherd-of-All.  All means all. The  Shepherd-of-All has other sheep, “that do not (yet) belong to the fold.” The Shepherd-of-All is faithful to the oppressed as well as the oppressors, the Ukrainians as well as the Russians, because the Shepherd-of-All’s superpower is not forged in bronze nor deployed with fear. 

Sending the disciples out “like sheep into the midst of wolves,” (Matt 10.16) like Ukrainians into the midst of Russians, like us into a world fraught with division and violence, Jesus offers counsel, “…have no fear…  for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul… “ 

Here is the uncovered secret about bullies. Bullies are people or nations driven by fear to project an image that they are special, superior and sinless. In a bearded effort to cover up their own weakness, smallness and vulnerability, bullies puff themselves up to exert power over others who seem weaker, smaller or more vulnerable. In other words, bullies and reject their role as sheep assume the posture of Bloated Bad Shepherd.   

Even Jesus is both, a vulnerable sheep known and cared for by the Shepherd-Of-All and Good Shepherd of his flock. We all are meant to be both, good shepherds extending our lives for the benefit of others and vulnerable sheep, known and cared for by the Shepherd-Of-All. The thing is, we cannot be one without also being the other. Sheep and Good Shepherd are two sides of one coin. Power held in check by humility. 

I can think of no better counsel for the Ukrainians and every other person subject to the vulgar misuse of power by bullying tyrants who deny they are sheep. “Do not fear those who would kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Though bombastic bullies may polish their armor and sharpen their tongues, we need not be afraid because as sheep we entrust ourselves to the One who has “ever only been our helper,” the Shepherd-of-All who knows our name and cares for us as we muddle along in the midst of bullies while doing our best to be good shepherds of others. 

Have a listen to James Finley speaking about Sacred Moments of Vulnerability by clicking on image near the upper right of your screen. 

**https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/14/half-of-non-believers-pray-says-poll

The Passion Narrative for Palm Sunday 28 March 2021

 Mark 15.1-39          As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.” Then the chief priests accused him of many things. Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.

Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.

It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

Reflection     Remembering the musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, I can almost hear Judas singing,

“Listen, Jesus, do you care for your race?

Don't you see we must keep in our place?

We are occupied; have you forgotten how put down we are?

I am frightened by the crowd.

For we are getting much too loud.

And they'll crush us if we go too far.

If they go too far....

Listen, Jesus, to the warning I give.

Please remember that I want us to live.

But it's sad to see our chances weakening with every hour.

All your followers are blind.

Too much heaven on their minds.”

When Jesus begins his ministry the Jews have long been waiting for a superstar to rescue them from their Roman oppressors.  Even though the homeless Jesus of Nazareth seems  to have no shortage of superpowers to heal, cast out demons and teach with authority, he fails when it comes to miraculously freeing the masses from their afflictions.  So it is not surprising that the same crowd that waves palms and sings “Hosannas” as Jesus enters Jerusalem a mere week later exchanges their praises for the piercing cries, “Crucify him. Crucify him.” 

It is the morning after his donkey ride into Jerusalem when Jesus enters the temple and immediately  “drive(s) out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturn(s) the tables of the moneychangers…” And then Jesus dares to declare, “Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 

Can you hear the people protest? “Jesus, what are you doing? You are making things worse for us? The Temple is the centre of our worship, commerce and national identity. Not only does it house our religious scripture but also the national literature. It is the meeting place of the highest court of Jewish law, the Sanhedrin. Jesus, you are upsetting the chief priests and scribes, making them afraid. Nothing good can come of this.”

Undeterred, the next day Jesus and his disciples return to the temple. Once again Jesus foils both religious and political officials when they plot to entrap him and then in a fate filled turn of tongue he hammers the proverbial nail into his cross when as he leaves the temple he says, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” (Mk 13.2)  

And we hear CAIAPHAS singing.

“Tell the rabble to be quiet, we anticipate a riot. 

This common crowd, is much too loud. 

Tell the mob who sing your song that they are fools and they are wrong. 

They are a curse. They should disperse.”

Jesus is silent.

Realizing it is out of jealousy that the chief priests have handed Jesus over, Pilate asks the crowd, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” Meanwhile, hoping to secure their place of privilege with the Romans the chief priests stir up the crowd. Should such a thing happen today I suspect the instigators would  use social media to incite the crowd. But I digress.

Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!” So “Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd… handed Jesus over to be crucified.” 

Here it is tempting to reference the sociology of crowd behavior; how a combination of social conditions that cause people to be frustrated and angry (being occupied and oppressed by the ruling class), a distinctive precipitating event (someone or something is identified to blame, the superstar has failed to save them)  and a lack of social control (no fear of punishment or reprisal for acting out, the officials are actually inciting the crowd), are the ground from which protest and violent collective behavior arise. * 

Returning to our story we see Jesus nailed to a cross. All who pass by him, including the chief priests and scribes, mock him and demand that if indeed he “would destroy the temple and build it in three day,” he should use his superpowers to save himself.  And when Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” we are not surprised that other bystanders call for another superstar, Elijah, to intervene. 

What is surprising is this. A Roman centurion, no doubt the soldier responsible for Jesus’ execution, a man with neither connection nor affection for the Temple or the Jewish God, the centurion is the only person in the crowd who recognizes God in the presence of the crucified Jesus. The centurion is the first person to see, know and believe the paradox of the cross which he declares saying, “Truly this man was God’s son.”

I have no idea what awakened  the centurion. I wonder if it was the dignity with which Jesus faced his accusers. Perhaps Jesus’ courage and composure while enduring unspeakable humiliation broke something open inside him. However we explain this, in some way the soldier was profoundly present. With no personal stake in the outcome he was able to see beyond the chaos of the circumstance to the mysterious presence of God with the suffering Jesus.  

Another surprising thing about this story is the unlikely superstar; a homeless Jewish man who wanders the Judean countryside loving on people, preaching peace and praying, a superstar murdered by political and religious officials who are afraid of his superpower love, a superstar who consents to his life and his death without ever turning away from God. 

Therein hides the secret of  the superstar’s power.  He finds his superpower in God alone.  Which makes me wonder if as Jesus faced Herod, Pilate and all those who mocked, scorned and betrayed him, if he might have been silently singing the words of David’s Psalm? 

^“”For God alone my soul waits in silence… 

 God alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; 

I shall never be shaken.” (Ps 62.1-2) 

I wonder if in some mysterious way the centurion heard Jesus’ silent song. Do you?

*Smelser, N. J. (1963). Theory of collective behavior. New York, NY: Free Press.

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Gospel text for Independence Day 3 July 2016

Matthew 5:43-48        Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”                                                  

Reflection        Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 I believe Martin Luther King, Jr. embodies Jesus’ foundational teaching, “Love is the superpower that prevails over all.” Although to the best of my knowledge neither Jesus nor MLK used the word “superpower” it seems the perfect word to describe the encounter of love with whatever wastes or contributes to the ruin of life. God’s superpower, love prevails. 

God’s love “rains on the evil and on the good…on the righteous and on the unrighteous” because God’s superpower is free of human constructed concepts of right or wrong, good or evil, left or right, friend or foe, Republican or Democrat, Christian or non-Christian. Being free, God’s superpower has the unparalleled ability to transform closed minds and hardened hearts. God’s superpower love wakens life in the midst of destruction and death. God’s superpower prevails.

Which of course is the heart of our Christian narrative. In the story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection we see that evil is overcome with love.    Being falsely accused, betrayed, beaten and tortured to death did not vanquish Jesus’ love of God, his unfaithful friends or his murderers.  Evil or destruction never has the final word because love prevails. As Paul instructs the Romans, “Nothing will separate us from the love of God…” (Ro 8.38) 

The thing is, God depends on humankind to continue God’s work of subduing evil with love.  Jesus shows The Way, Martin Luther King, Jr. follows. Now the task falls to each of us to deploy God’s superpower with nonpartisan love. The old way of dualistic seeing; friend v foe, ally v enemy, us v them; the old laws commanding an eye for an eye, restitution or defense, must be unequivocally replaced with the New Way of deploying God’s superpower; meeting corruption with decency, engaging vulgarity with restraint and embracing enmity with love. God’s  nonpartisan life-giving love is the superpower that prevails and transforms whatever wastes or contributes to the ruin of life. God's love is with us. Now let us pass it on.

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