FULMI-NATION
Reading from the Psalms
(Sermon text): Psalm 146
Reading from the
Gospels: John 19: 8-12
Dr. Matthew S. Brown
November 5, 2006
Is it Wednesday yet?
Please let me wake to the promise of one day free of campaign
commercials, just a day without the hyperbolic half-truths, the haunted house
voices portraying opponents as ghoulish Dr. Frankensteins,
the accusatorial tones invoking the fear that a vote for the wrong city dog
catcher could result in nuclear catastrophe.
Of course, the Iowa caucuses will be here before you can say “frontrunner”, and so any relief will be brief but still welcome.
Is this any way to go about evaluating candidates for a
job? Imagine if we relied on the
fear-mongering fulminations of today’s campaigns in selecting candidates for
all job positions.
“In 2005 Rev. Smith preached over 30 minutes on 7 different
occasions. He voted against an increase
in the Women’s Circle Budget. Two
couples he married were divorced within 8 months. And on one Sunday he even forgot to put water
in the baptismal. Rev. Smith – Wrong on
Baptism; wrong on marriage; against women; can’t tell time.” Paid for by the Committee
to elect Rev. Brown.
Tell me, how in the world this is supposed to make me place
my trust in Rev. Brown, not to mention any of the harrumphing, self-aggrandizing,
terror-peddling candidates clogging the airwaves until
Tuesday. Fulmination is running rampant
through the land. Indeed, at least until
the polls close we shall be a fulmi-nation.
It may be claimed that political campaigns serve to clarify
issues and illustrate the character of candidates, but I would suggest that
contemporary campaign rhetoric only manages to confirm my prejudices against
those for whom I would never vote and foster disappointment in those for whom I
would vote. Every campaign winds up
leaving you with a foul taste in your mouth and a sour feeling in your stomach.
Strategists will tell you that the reason for all the
negative campaigning is that it works, and so they keep putting it out there
because we continue buying it. If that
is the case, shame on us. There is a
difference between innocence and gullibility.
If there is a value to the methodology of the modern
campaign, maybe it serves to remind us of human frailty and cautions us against
placing all of our trust in any political program or candidate.
And yet, we should not need one of those grainy,
gray-screened funereal campaign commercials to remind us of that. All we have to do is turn to the scriptures
which offer the continual reminder that God’s ways and our ways are so seldom
the same.
In Isaiah 55 it is said, “For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts
than your thoughts.”
In Jeremiah 17 it is said, “Cursed are those who trust in
mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength… They will be like a shrub in the desert… Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord… They will be
like a tree planted by water.”
In Psalm 2 it is said, “Why do the nations conspire and
peoples plot in vain? The kings of the
earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the
Lord… He who sits in
the heavens laughs.”
In Psalm 118 it is said, “It is better to take refuge in the
Lord than to put confidence in mere mortals.
In Isaiah 51 it is said, “I am he who comforts you; why then
are you afraid of a mere mortal who must die, a human
being who fades like grass?”
Is there a theme building here? Well, if we haven’t got it yet, let’s turn to
our Psalm lesson for the morning. The
setting for the psalm is the gathering of a congregation for worship.
The people have been walking into the temple narthex,
dropping by the visitor’s table to see what’s going on in the life of Israel’s
church. The Levites are sponsoring a
boat ride on the Jordan River. There’s a
sign-up sheet for the Summer Youth trip to the Mediterranean beach at Joppa. The ushers are smiling as they hand you your
bulletin and mention that there’s still plenty of room down front.
The announcements are made and the congregation rises for
the first hymn, and yes, here and there you see the frowns of people muttering
that this must be one of those new hymns that they don’t know. “Why can’t they stick with Psalm 23? I like that one.”
And yet, above the muttering can be heard the rising chorus
of praise,
“Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul! I
will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my
life long.” And then the first verse –
“Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. When their breath departs, they return to the
earth; on that very day their plans perish.”
Do you ever take the time to actually read the text of the
hymns? Do you ever ponder the words you
are singing? They can be powerful words,
challenging words, gospel words that penetrate, sink in, and illuminate for you
The Word.
As the people gather before the Lord, the Psalmist’s words
challenge them to set aside their ruminations about the machinations and plots
of the principalities and powers in their little corner of the world, so that
they may focus on presence of the One who actually is the source and sustainer
of life. The politicians may be
fulminating and just plain “messin’ up”; the boss may
be bearing down on you, but their power is only temporary, the psalm
hints. You’re in the presence of the
Lord now, and his power is eternal.
Second verse: Happy
are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God,
who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith
forever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry…”
Now, in the congregation that day were some folks who grew
up going to church school, and the hymn’s mention of the name Jacob brings to
mind not some memory of a great hero whose strength and character saved a
people and formed a nation.
We’ve been studying about Jacob in our Disciple 2 class and
I’d encourage you to find one of those students and have them tell you a little
bit about Jacob. There’s a whole lot of
the story that seldom gets mentioned up here because it would offend little
ears! Let’s just say that a movie
telling the Genesis story could never be rated G. That’s why I’m always laughing when I hear
political candidates and wannabes talking about the desire to return to
biblical family values. Have they read
this stuff? They don’t know what they’re
asking for!
Jacob was a scoundrel, a passive-aggressive, manipulative,
conniving, scoundrel with two wives and any number of concubines. And yet, here he is mentioned in the
Psalm. Why does the psalmist want to
bring the Jacob image to mind? Jacob was
a rascal, but that did not prevent God from pursuing His purpose through
him. That did not prevent God from
carrying forward his promise that somehow through Jacob all the peoples of the
earth would find their blessing.
In talking about the Jacob and Joseph story line in the
Bible, my Old Testament professor said it well.
Our Lord has the capacity “to wiggle and twist through the tragic
decisions that God’s human creatures make in order to bring God’s loved ones to
self understanding and to faithfulness; and in order to bring the incandescent
promise of blessing to it’s brilliant fruition.”
“Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope
is [not in the Jacobs of this world, but is] in the Lord their God.”
I don’t think the Psalmist is calling on the congregation or
us to completely disengage from the political and cultural apparatuses in our
little corner of the world. But the
Psalmist is reminding us that God is God and that the princes, the powerful,
the pundits, the experts, no matter what they promise you, are not.
I think the psalmist would have us be wary of those who try
to wrap the flag around the cross and plea for our support with the promise
that their plan will usher in the equivalent of the kingdom of God. In one commercial this week I heard one
candidate indicate that her plan, her program would make this nation – and she
used either the word “invincible” or “invulnerable”. I hate to tell you, folks, but the words
invincible and invulnerable cannot be put together with the word “human.” We just weren’t made that way.
The good and peaceable kingdom of God will not come with election driven promises.
Be aware of the mixed motivations of all who seek the power
of public office. That doesn’t mean that
good will not come from their service, indeed much good can and should be
accomplished, sometimes in spite of them, but human institutions (whether it’s
the government, the church, or the PTA) will always be hindered by the weight
of human pride and sin. Maybe the
moderate cynicism of one observer would be healthy. Who is it who said, “Ours is the worst system
of government imaginable, except for all the others.” It is good, it is important to celebrate our
strengths as a people, as a nation. It
is good to propose and foster programs that seek the good of all, but always be
aware that we, along with our ideas, are flawed.
“Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there
is no help,” says the psalmist. “5 Happy
are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, 6 who
made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith
forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the
hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the
blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the
righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan
and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.”
Do you see what the psalmist has challenged the congregation
to sing? The kingdom of God will not be
brought in by partisan political platforms.
But if you want glimpses of the kingdom of God breaking in, look to
where the Lord is at work – lifting up those who are bowed down, welcoming the
stranger, caring for the orphan, the widow, the
hungry, the oppressed, bringing healing where there is brokenness. It is the life that Jesus lived, a life that
put him into conflict with the powers and principalities of this world. Look to those places where the Lord is at
work – lifting up, caring, healing, seeking justice for those without a voice –
look to those places and join in that work, for that is the work of the
kingdom.
Now, I’ve never been a three points and a poem
preacher. I just always hope there’s
some point in there somewhere. But at a
conference in New York last week I did have the opportunity to be introduced to
the poetry of Peggy Shriver, a marvelously eloquent woman who’s husband Donald
Shriver was the long time president of Union Theological Seminary in New
York. Her poetry demonstrates a close and
careful observation of the events of daily life in New York City and reveals
her as one who has seen the subtle signs of God’s kingdom breaking into our
midst.
And so I leave you with a glimpse of the kingdom of God,
brought to you not in a prosaic political promise but in an encounter on a New
York subway.
Shriver writes,
Doors opened with a silent scream,
like photographs of anguish.
The subway paused, shed cargo
and raged on.
She lurched aboard,
sagged into a vacant seat,
frail weight of her gray years
hunched with cold.
Numb fingers plucked at rags,
drawn close against raw misery.
Knuckles, cracked and swollen white,
clutched into a plea for warmth.
He, dark and lithe,
swung down the aisle,
taut jeans dancing
rhythmically.
With Latin grace,
He, sidling past
her patient form,
in one smooth gesture
disappeared through subway doors,
leaving in her lap,
like folded dove wings,
his black leather gloves.
(Peggy
Shriver, The Dancers of Riverside Park)
God’s kingdom won’t come with grand political promises and
fear-mongering fulminations, but it can be experienced in the subtle signs of
love inspired by the One who truly is our help.
Let us find Him there and dedicate ourselves to that work. “Happy are those whose help is the God of
Jacob.” Amen.
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