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Oct 18, 2009
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Scripture: Hebrews 5:1-10
As many of you know, Trish and I were away last weekend in New Orleans for a friend's wedding and a little recreation. Thanks to Liz for preaching and thank you all for letting me get away for a few days.
Something monumental happened while we were there. President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. People were talking about it all day. Amidst the gumbo and the beignets, CNN or Fox News was on the majority of the televisions in the bars and restaurants of the French Quarter.
That evening many of us were gathered at a party celebrating the upcoming marriage and we were talking. I wondered aloud if this was not some kind of attempt by the world community to limit the united states in some way through the Office of the President. And, if so, why? Then it hit me. We've been judged...perhaps even by God.
Allow me to explain. Proclaiming God's judgment is tricky business. There we were in New Orleans, a city that some Christians proclaimed had been judged in the form of a hurricane.
"Drunkenness, licentiousness, debauchery..."
The city had been punished.
But to me that understanding of judgment makes no sense. The French Quarter, the place for much of that activity and "misdirected desire" is on comparatively high ground and recovered from the storm very quickly. Whereas the Ninth Ward and St Bernard Parish were under water (submerged) for weeks. The poor suffered the most. If Katrina was God's judgment, God must have very poor aim.
Blessed are the poor.
Indeed.
If there is discernible Godly judgment perhaps it is upon those of us who would not care for the poor who were in harms way.
Judgment.
We have faith that our God is a God of history. IN our reading from Hebrews this morning we are reminded of this particular understanding about God in Christ.
The writer of Hebrews states that Jesus is "a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." This is a wonderful but of esoterica.
Melchizedek is mentioned in Psalm 110:4 - and Hebrews is quoting the Psalmist.
The lord has sworn and will not change his mind,
"You are a priest forever according
to the order of Melchizedek."
Both Hebrews and the Psalms refer to the King of Salem from the fourteenth chapter of Genesis.
Abram (not yet Abraham) has won a great battle and the King and High Priest of Salem (later to be named Jerusalem) named Melchizedek blesses Abram. Abram returns the spoils of war to their rightful owners, makes a sacrifice to God, has rescued his nephew, Lot, and many others. The blessing of Melchizedek, tradition holds, the the blessing from the progenitor of the Temple priesthood - from a man who is both King and High Priest rolled into on.
Earthly and divine.
Priest and King.
And though there is clearly danger in this combination, Hebrews proclaims it no less and describes how the King and Priest of a place called Peace might behave.
Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.
The human and the divine are irrevocably intertwined. This is the priesthood that baptists proclaim as a "priesthood of all believers." And this is, I believe, the nature of the lens through which we are to discern God's judgment.
This is not a sermon about whether or not President Obama is deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize is not always awarded based on the success of the individual nominee. Instead it is simply the efforts that are lauded. The work for peace, the efforts to live into non-violent solutions to the world's problems, are not always successful by any measurable standard. But that peace is proclaimed,
justice and mercy are revered,
the enemy or adversary is loved,
actively,
passionately,
authentically,
and sacrificially,
is to be lauded whether or not that love is ever reciprocated.
God's judgment is hard to discern. The results are so fluid. The entirety of Christ's Gospel is about relationships and how complicated human relationships can be. Free will. Liberty. Call it what you like, but human beings can choose evil. And we often do.
This is why Hebrews calls us to remember the King and Priest of a city called Peace.
Humility.
Compassion.
Mutuality.
Shared responsibility.
These are the tools of peacemakers. So if there is any metric for God's judgment it may be the presence of these virtues, the presence of peacemaking.
Peacemaking is not peacefulness or the absence of conflict. Peacemakers are people with the willingness to step into the midst of conflicts in love, in the spirit of reconciliation, and work for peace. Peace is the ongoing business of the church.
Aung San Suu Kyi
Mother Teresa
Jimmy Carter
These people are recognized peacemakers. Successful or not at ending a specific conflict, they were recognized for their efforts...for their presence and not the specific results.
Through the Office of the President, I believe our nation is being called to reassess how it understands peacemaking. We are being asked to live into the virtues of the intermingling of the earthly and the divine...
Humility
Compassion
Mutuality
Shared responsibility
and sacrificial love for all - even our enemies and adversaries.
This is how we are judged. These are the criteria - and they can serve to encourage us.
As a nation, is it possible that we have been in survival mode too long? I think so. We can see it from how we measure ourselves.
- economic self-interest (trade deficits, GNP/GDP, rates of inflation, lengths of recession, buying power
- national security
- homeland security
- our so-called war on terror
- our ability to monitor our borders and to keep the unwanted out
These criteria for judgment cannot lead to growth. This kind of judgment closes doors, limits opportunity, and frustrates innovation. We are judging ourselves by the measure of our fears. This judgment is not God's judgment.
As a congregation, we have an opportunity to show our neighbors and our nation the nature of God's judgment. As a church we have an opportunity to live as the writer of Hebrews demonstrates by his understanding of Christ Jesus: to not count the cost, to not count the loss, but to live as if these words were for us because they are. Do not live in fear. "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."
Thanks be to God. |
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