Gospel Test for 3rd Sunday of Advent 13 December 2020

                                                        MLK Kneels & Stands

John 1:6-8,19-28        There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

Reflection        This week I heard the voice of a woman crying out from her wilderness, “I do not feel brave enough to speak up. I slip into silence rather than take the risk of calling out lies, confronting hypocrisy, or condemning the keepers of the status quo for failing to care for so many suffering people. My lips refuse to move because I do not have courage.”

My heart nods with her prophetic words. “Me too. I prefer to settle in comfortable silence rather than brave confrontation.”  How about you? Do you have the courage to join John and be a voice “crying out in the wilderness, ‘make straight the way of the Lord?’” or do you prefer to be silent?

Were he with us today John might say, “It is time for a course adjustment. The people of God have chosen countless detours, diversions and distractions, making crooked the way of the Lord. It is time to get on track, return to basics, reclaim the straight way of love; love God, love our neighbors. No exceptions.“ John’s instruction is simple. It is the execution that we trip over.

Here is the thing. The “straight way of the Lord” is not easy because instead of seeing people who think, believe, vote, worship or live differently than us as beautiful revelations of Divine creativity, we experience them as wrong or even threatening.  We cannot wrap our minds around God’s pronouncement that all of humanity is good, very good, when so many of “those people” seem to be our adversaries or assailants.

There have been and always will be lots of people with whom we disagree, and many who have hurtful things to say to or about us,  but that does not make them enemies. Therefore, it is right that we should ask, "How are we to love people who disagree, disrespect or devalue us?" I believe the answer is hidden in plain sight in the  text describing John the Baptist’s encounter with the priests and Levites who confront him, “Tell us who you are.” 

Looking carefully we see that John responds with the utmost humility. “I am not the Messiah nor anything special. Just a lone voice pointing to something greater than I am.” He kneels before his challengers and at the same time acts with integrity to advance the way of the Lord, “Make straight the way of the Lord.” The lesson we take from watching John is this; let our lives speak with humility, integrity and conviction.

This week I also heard the voices of two religious luminaries, individuals with distinct and widely divergent views. During a joint interview of the Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Dr. Russel Moore, the chief ethicist of the Southern Baptist Convention addressing the question of how to be in relationship with people with whom we completely disagree, Dr. Moore avers, “I see other people as those created in the image of God, and not ultimately my opponents.” The conservative evangelical continues, “Scripture calls us to both conviction (of our beliefs) not an evaporating of our differences, but also to kindness and active love for even those people who disagree with us completely.” *

Magnifying the wisdom of our gospel text the progressive Christian Curry asks,“How do I stand and kneel at the same time in my relationship with others especially with those who disagree with me?” He then reflects, “so I’ve got to kneel before them as someone created in the image of God, just like me.. and, at the same time I must stand with integrity.” Coming from vastly different perspectives both religious scholars affirm the instruction to let our lives speak with humility, integrity and conviction. The key is, beginning in humility.

When the priests and Levites ask John, “Who are you?” he knows they are asking the wrong question. John knows he is not defined by the tribe he belongs to or the ideology he affirms. John experiences the meaning and value of his life in humbly pointing toward something greater than his conservative or progressive self.  Rather than defending his personal perspective, John ranks himself below the Messiah, Elijah and the prophet. In humility he receives the God given courage to stand with integrity and speak with conviction. The key is, beginning in humility.

Returning to the woman crying out in her wilderness, “I do not feel brave enough to speak up,” I pray she hears John’s message. “Do not be afraid of people who disagree with you completely. Remember, God is God and you are not. So, humbly kneel before the people who disagree with you, receive the God given courage to stand with integrity and speak your truth with conviction. Let your life speak.”

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 * Faith, Compassion & Healing Our National Divide   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1yM0c0E9ZQ

Text from the Acts of the Apostles 29 January 2017

Acts 26:9-21 Paul said to King Agrippa, "Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.

"With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday along the road, your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, `Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.' I asked, `Who are you, Lord?' The Lord answered, `I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles-- to whom I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

"After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me."

Reflection     When I hear the story of Saul’s conversion I believe the Spirit of God must have been working overtime within Saul to transform his consciousness until for some incomprehensible reason he reached the tipping point, the asymptote, and the tumblers of the lock fell open as did the eyes of his heart.

Because I believe the Spirit of God is with all people at all times, I believe that even in the midst of Saul’s murderous campaign the Spirit of God must have been winding him up, must have been goading and prodding and stirring him to wonder, “What is it with these Jesus people? Why are they willing to die rather than renounce their dead and disappeared leader? Why do they risk their lives to get together to remember him and tell his stories? Why do they share everything they have? How is it they are so peaceful even when we terrorize, entrap and kill them? What is it about this Jesus that has such a hold on them?”

Here is the thing. Saul did not become someone else that day on the road to Damascus. The clue is in the voice Saul hears speaking in the language of his true self saying, ”Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.” Saul’s inherent trues self, the Spirit of God with him, was goading him, pricking him, encouraging him to pay attention to what he saw and heard and felt in the presence of the disciples. The Spirit of God with Saul was goading him to stop denying his true self by persecuting the followers of Jesus. 

The irony is,  Saul’s inherent capacity for conviction, passion and action, the qualities that made him an exemplary Roman soldier are the same qualities that when channeled through a different understanding of reality made him one of the most effective early apostles spreading Jesus’ message of peace and dignity for all people throughout Asia Minor and Europe.  By channeling the same conviction, passion and action that sought to exterminate the Jesus movement through a different understanding of reality, Saul forever transformed the human experience, founding the first churches and writing letters we still read to counsel and encourage Jesus’ revolutionary first century peace and justice movement.

As we wake up at the dawning of the twenty-first century and realize there are more than a few versions of reality, can we feel the Spirit of God winding us up, goading and prodding, provoking and inciting tears, fears, anger and exasperation? Can we hear the Spirit of God calling us by name, “Debra, Jon, Linda, George, Carol, Frank, Henry, Morgan, (fill in your name), why are you persecuting me? Why are you hurting yourself by refusing to acknowledge my goading and prodding to stand on your feet and embody the version of reality that claims all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, social or financial status, political or religious affiliation or lack thereof, all people are welcome and deserve dignity and justice?"  

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