The Greatest Among You Will Be Your Servant Micah 3:5-12, Psalm 43, Thessalonians 2:9-13, 17-20, Matthew 23:1-12 October 30, 2005, Year A, Proper 26 The Rev. William V. Livingston, Rector Church of the Resurrection, Starkville, Mississippi Does the Bible, did Jesus address politics? I frequently have folks say to me the Church should not be involved in politics. I guess it depends on what one means by politics. I remember a preacher of a mega-church in Florida with a large television audience speaking to the McComb Rotary Club and being horrified when he said, “I personally control over 50,000 votes, and any politician in Florida who doesn’t do what I ask won’t be reelected.” No, this is not the Church’s politics. Although the Church far too often mimics the bickering we see in the Capitol chambers or the name calling of news conferences, it is also not to be involved in this type of politics. But yes, the Bible is a political document, and Jesus advocated politics. Why begin a sermon with such references to politics? Because today’s texts from Micah and Matthew confront politicians who misuse religion, abuse the people and turn the whole spiritual enterprise into a self-serving charade. Demanding divine justice from leaders, our text from Micah opens with, Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against those who put nothing in their mouths. The matthean text is more than a diatribe against hypocrisy. As did Micah, Jesus condemns the hypocrisy of the leaders. In first century Palestine, no separation of church and state existed. The leaders of the synagogues were the town leaders, the Temple leaders were (while only at the whim of the Roman Empire) the leaders of Israel. They would have been both our bishop and governor in one. And so if we don’t see Jesus as political in today’s scene, we aren’t listening. It began when he entered Jerusalem on a donkey – a symbol of a humble king yes, but a political leader nevertheless – and challenged the system of money changing, the means of the Temple tax which financially supported the Temple leaders and those who kept them in power. By various parables, he warned these leaders and rebuked their efforts to trap him. Still standing within the Temple compound (imagine him on October 30, 2005, standing in the Capitol Rotunda) he minces no words in his condemnation. He condemns their claim to virtue, a claim which they used to oppress ordinary folk. Because they had positions of authority, they assumed that they had the right to run other people’s lives. It was against this tyranny that Jesus contended. Some things never change. We live in an incredibly different world than did Micah and Jesus. Nevertheless – how amazing is the consistency in behavior of those who abuse their power. With every member of Congress – from both sides of the aisle – indebted to those who underwrite their campaigns – Micah would still shout, Its rulers give judgment for a bribe, its priests teach for a price, its prophets give oracles for money! Recently all candidates from every political persuasion have begun and ended each public statement with, “God bless America!” And, before he warned then, Micah would still challenge, Yet they lean upon the Lord and say, “Surely the Lord is with us! No harm shall come upon us!” Jesus told his followers: The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. How many of you associated with the university have witnessed persons promoted to deans who may be brilliant but have no concern for students or faculty? It was only a minor symbol, but when I arrived as the CEO of the mental health center in Abilene, TX, the first thing I did was eliminate staff parking spaces, beginning with my own, instead designating them for patients. So, when I arrived at seminary in Austin, which had twice as many commuting students than it had parking spaces, I was amazed that the Bishop of Texas, the symbol of Christ’s humble service, had a reserved parking space that remained empty except for the one or two days a year he was on campus. It should be far more than gender orientation that we worry about for those we elect to sit on the Bishop’s Chair. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. While none of those who proposed it and very few of those who approved it have ever served in combat and only five members of Congress have a child in the military, with great bravado our Congress, again on both sides of the aisle, approved sending yours and others’ sons and daughters and grandchildren into harm’s way. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. “Phylacteries” is another term for tephillin, small leather boxes containing portions of the Torah strapped to the forehead and arm during the recitation of prayers, in literal obedience to Deuteronomy 6:8. The “fringes” are the tassels attached to the prayer shawl. While meant as aides to ones prayers, both phylacteries and fringes can be worn to draw attention to the wearer’s scrupulous religious observance. Do we think Jesus would not confront today’s leaders? A president who swore to uphold the Constitution but perjured himself about having sex with an intern in the White House. Elected officials who so vehemently proclaimed their piety in the public spectacle of the Terri Schiavo case and made a mockery of the difficult end-of-life decisions families must make, and are now indicted for corruption or may face criminal charges. Yes, my friends, the Bible is one of the most political documents you will ever find. However, right now none of us serves in Congress or as a bishop. So, what’s the implication for us? Do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do. Our problem is not our laws, but that we have far too many elected officials – from both parties – motivated more by power and greed than by serving the common good, who see themselves as above the law and who have used mass media and sound bites to divide our nation over partisan politics. Rather than follow their example, we need to discuss differences with respect, without implying that if the other doesn’t agree he or she is un-American or a heartless capitalist. We are to be committed to the Gospel and Divine Justice regardless of our party affiliation and which party is in power: holding elected officials accountable for promoting the common good, not for winning partisan skirmishes. In our Prayers of the People, we pray for our elected officials. We need to do so regularly in our corporate and personal prayers. During elections, we need to pray: not pray that our preferred candidate be elected but pray for guidance on how to vote. We need to have more conversations within our parish and with fellow Christians about what an earthly kingdom of God would look like and request our officials to support legislation that would best bring such visions to fruition. We need to elect more bishops like Bishop Gray who are more focused on humble service than on the power of sitting on the Bishop’s Chair. As a priest, I have been asked in various ways, what’s the minimum one must do to be licensed as a Lay Eucharistic Minister, inducted into the Daughters of the King, elected to the Vestry. To which I respond, “To ask what one must do to pass is to miss the point.” Compassion and love dictate the way Scripture should apply and how we fulfill our lives as Christians, not a kind of legalistic bureaucracy which assumes God is a control freak. Being a Lay Eucharistic Minister is about more than bearing the chalice; being a Daughter of the King is about more than wearing an Order of the Daughter of the King Cross; and being a member of the Vestry is more than having a vote on the parish budget or personnel decisions. They are about modeling the Christian life by being faithful in our worship attendance, giving proportionately of our income and offering our time and skills to support the mission of this parish. We need to understand that these are the vows each of us took or someone took for us at our baptisms and which we restate each time we celebrate a baptism. We live in an incredibly different world than did Micah and Jesus, but in God’s kingdom, the greatest among you will still be your servant.