The misunderstandings I have written about in recent days are actually reversals and repudiations of the words of the prophets, Jesus, and Paul. These broken stories have done great damage to the church and its members over the centuries, and are posing grave danger to the church and the world in our current times . The great harm stems from the traditions that cling to the view that sin makes us abhorrent to God: ugly, undesirable, dirty, ruined. Most of the Hebrew Bible, especially the Prophets, and almost all of the New Testament, especially the Gospels, is the story of God trying to tell us and show us that we are wrong, that God really does love us still, and as much as ever desires usin ways much like the way a handsome king would yearn for his beautiful princess bride. Perhaps more down to earth and powerful the story that God wants us to grow, be safe, and be happy like a nursing mother would feel towards her baby, or a like father would feel towards his teenage child, especially one who is feeling devastated that they have just ruined their life with a bad decision.I know. as Paul knows, and God knows, that YOU know this God, because most of you have had these feelings for your own children, grandchildren, and closest friends.A big part of Paul's mission was to fix and reframe this broken story, and then sanctify it with a shared meal (no doubt a bean supper followed by make your own sundaes).
The tendency of religion, especially the traditional pagan ones that ancient peoples were steeped in, is that the divinities are fickle, demanding, and self centered and therefore must continually be placated by material sacrifice and self-abasing, almost groveling, worship. Like Wayne and Garth, the antiphon for every prayer, the posture of every encounter, is, “We’re not worthy!!” But from God’s first encounter with Abram, God wants to tell a very different story, one that we have come to name covenantal love: “ I am on your side, I will love you forever, I want to be close to you.” . Paul is the great custodian of this covenant story, an apostle whose personal encounter with the Risen Christ, convinced him that Jesus IS the true, complete expression of the heart of God. Paul’s emphasis on “Katalasso” is his way of expressing how Jesus undid the great harms of disobedience, idolatry and injustice, of slavery, oppression and exile. I want to use Paul’s teachings today to undo a great harm that has come from “Christendom’s” distortion of Jesus’ message as it has reassimilated itself with “the powers and principalities” to extend its reach and influence, to elevate it status in the hierarchy of Western values.
Looking back to the original occasion of disconnection, fear, and self loathing as related in Genesis, we can notice that when Adam and Eve recognized their disobedience, they are surprised at God’s calling out, literally a father searching in the woods for his lost children, “Where are you?” I can hear the plaintive, worried note in God’s voice. You and I know how gut punched we would feel if our child was missing, whether because of their own bad behavior or by the trickery of an evil stranger. If we read attentively, we can see that God did not lose his temper and freak out on them. God acted as a provident mother as her frightened children started their journey “And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man[ and for his wife and clothed them.”
Unfortunately, the community of Christ, especially as it blended into the Roman empire and the dominant patriarchies of their culture, lost Paul’s positive reframing of the God story as quickly as the people of Moses, David and Elijah had forgotten the stories of God’s covenant of love. Even when the Holy Spirit brought liberating reminders in the shape of reform, the church’s collaborations with monarchy brought the distorted but pervasive story of man’s ugliness back for the sake of exercising institutional power and control.
For example, as the Roman Empire was self-destructing, a panicked Bishop Augustine doubled down on Constantine’s conquest of the church by inventing a doctrine of original sin. After centuries of war, unjust domination, and false equivalencies among the kingdoms of heaven and of earth, Martin Luther Luther initiated a Reformation intended to return the church to the joy and freedom of God’s grace, but Luther remained stuck within the feudal power structure by emphasizing how literally crappy human beings are. John Calvin preached a doctrine of depravity intended to emphasize God’s generosity, but followers like Jonathan Edwards end up magnifying God’s vindictive anger.
But gratefully, holy people on fire with love always have been sent to us to refresh the good story of the heart of God made manifest in the Love of Jesus. Macrina of Cappadocia and her little brother popes Basil and Gregory lifted up the figure of the affectionate and merciful Mary as the mother of God, Francis of Asissi helped the church rediscover the original blessing of creation and the blessedness of the poor. Mystics like Teresa of Avila embraced the deeper meanings and blessed gifts of our sensual desire. John Wesley preaching a gospel of freedom and the possibility of holy living, redefining sanctification as a collaborative interaction with God that human beings can choose to become ever more open to God’s grace.. Today in America, it is the black church who most prophetically reminds us of the fullness of God’s delight in God’s people. In a culture in which their bodies are despised, exploited, and destroyed, embodied and celebratory worship is a witness to God’s loving and liberating faithfulness. Poets like Mart Oliver and Wendell Berry, and innovative theologians like Matthew Fox and Richard Rohr remind us of how all of creation is a reminder of life’s goodness and God’s love for all creation:
“ God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness….God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.
All of the Torah, Law, and Wisdom Poetry of the Bible proclaims that not only is God never giving up on us, but that through the life and teaching of Jesus, a well as his death and resurrection, God is literally close enough for us to touch and longs to be near to us.. As John the Baptist, says. You just need to turn around and look for him. That is really what repent means:turn around again. “Just look over your shoulder!” the high priest of Motown, Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops sings. Jesus, the kingdom of God is very near to you!
Not only would Paul love to share meals with us in our Luau, (especially the beans and special desserts), table fellowship was a compelling focus of his ministry, likely the most dramatic and impactful. In his calling to preach the Gospel to Gentiles was a source of dangerous conflict between Paul and his fellow Jews. We hear about Paul fighting AGAINST circumcision of adult male converts, for which many Greek and Roman men of his time were deeply grateful), but what he was really FOR is that all followers of the Lord Jesus could share their meals with one another. The whole clean/unclean, worthy/unworthy, insider/outsider binaries were most concretely and dramatically on display at communal gatherings, especially the commemoration of the Lord’s supper which had been established from the beginning as the central worship experience of the Jesus followers. For Paul, it was THE key question of his theology of Jesus being the true Messiah of Israel. The entire point of the covenant from the very beginning with Abraham. It ramified well beyond theology to justice and the very core of human identity and the purpose of community. This focus on expansive table fellowship wasn’t a Pauline quirk or innovation, it was at the very heart of Jesus’ message and the way Jesus lived his daily life. In some ways, Jesus was killed because he ate with the wrong kind of people. Jesus’s parables are full of references to a God of banquets and celebrations. For goodness’ sake, even Jesus’ first documented miracle involves providing wine for a wedding party.
The lead scholar of the Jesus Seminar, an interdisciplinary search for the historical Jesus, John Dominic Crossan, suggests that commensality (sharing the table with everyone, give us this day our daily bread), is at the very heart of Jesus mission as a social revolutionary. I think of Jesus as God showing up to really be the life of the party, providing food and drink, telling stories, laughing, listening, and helping each person feel like they are the most beloved and important person in the room. If Jesus is at the party, NOBODY is going away hungry, lonely, or troubled. And isn’t that what this Empire Grove community has always been about?! If you’re here, you know that you are welcome, you are treasured, you are needed. You and I act naturally in the name of Jesus and the deep hospitality of the Holy Trinity to let every person know that God is delighted that they are here and is grateful to be in your presence. It’s not controversial. We’re not concerned with your financial portfolio, your political affiliation, or your sexual orientation. We want you to let your beautiful light shine so that we can feel joy, gratitude, and peace that you have chosen to be withPaul, Jesus, and one another tonight.
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