Proper 17 B – 2006, Deuteronomy 4:1-9, Psalm 15 Ephesians 6:10-20, Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 The Rev. J. Brian Ponder Church of the Resurrection Starkville, Mississippi September 3, 2006 In the Name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. You hypocrites! You hypocrites! Not easy words for anyone to hear, for us to hear, especially flowing from Jesus’ lips! You hypocrites! At the junior high camp session I directed this summer, we considered a number of ways that the story of Israel includes to a great degree, the constant ebb and flow of trying to create order amidst chaos. We focused on the stories of Creation and God’s ordering of the days, Adam’s naming of the animals; things like covenant—mutual promise and understanding. We thought about and discussed rules and regulations and adherence to the Law—absolute proscription to the Law and (for camp purposes) controlled anarchy. We talked about command for Sabbath and the blessing of participating in it, as well as the concept of “Jubilee” and the freedoms it makes room for for both givers and receivers; and, in particular, we considered the idea of the Expected Christ—this warrior kind of kingly figure that would swoop in, wielding a sword, saving the day, making things profoundly different for the people of Israel—being quite different from the Radical Christ of the Gospels, the Christ who made some folks mad, who took folks to task. … Today, we see a shining example of the Radical Christ, swooping in not so much to save the day as he does to once again put a different spin on things, … re-ordering, innovating ways of thinking and being, challenging authority, pushing the envelope. I thought the idea was GREAT for Camp! (It had, after all, been my idea.) I thought it would be something that teenagers would “get,” especially junior high kids, that it would be something they’d be able to relate to, that it would be something real and relevant. And, I think it was … in the end. But, what I found out—through feedback at a couple of our staff meetings and even in our end-of-camp evaluations—was that this notion of the Radical Christ was actually something that some of our more senior staff members (some college-aged, others a little bit older) weren’t relating to so well at all, or maybe better put—they just weren’t getting it. It was something new for them—or something they needed reminding of. Now granted, there was a leap to be made, BUT the leap was this: The story of Israel is chocked full instances/moments and periods of time in which order has come down (from on high, or from humankind, or from combinations of the two) to bring sense to the chaos that was, to a large degree, controlling the lives of the people of God, and just when things were “all figured out,” just when people thought they had the answer, that all oppressors would be dealt with neatly and once-and-for-all, what happens? … Jesus enters the scene and (at the very least amongst those in authority) creates chaos … not order … not the expected order. Jesus surprises us! He confronts us! He confounds us! He embraces us! … Jesus turns things upside down—our lives, our worlds and worldviews, our perspectives—, and IF NOT, HE’S TRYING TO, and we are called because of it to reorientation—through new lenses, with new vision, with new sight and insight. … Jesus comes to us and says, “My peace is no peace at all.” And this is the true call to arms. Let me ask you a couple of questions. As a child (now that you’re grown, or now that you’re a little bit older): What is one of the earliest ideas or images you had of God? About God? … What did God look like? What did you know about God or were you told about God? What images or pictures of God did you either create for yourself or did you inherit … from stories you heard or depictions you saw? What or who was God to you? "Now what about Jesus? … From that time, what did you know or had you come to know about Jesus? What he looked like, physically or spiritually to you? … What was the image of Jesus for you? Was he meek and mild? Maybe gentle and doe-eyed? Complacent? Happy? … or was it different? And, now that you’re a little bit older … "What have you come to know of God, about God … What God looks like? What God is to you? "And Jesus? … What image of Jesus is yours, that you own, that you feel down to your very core and essence of your being—that moment in that great story of faith, that fires you and fills you and compels you to be a follower of His way? "Do you think you would have liked Jesus if you had known him, or if you really knew him today? … Our Christian faith is not rooted in a “precious” notion of the Christ—this museum-quality image of a god who does what we expect, when we expect it and how we think it should be done. … That would make us gods. The Christ of the Gospels, again, surprises us, gives us a foretaste of the feast to come … one that might sometimes leave a bitter taste in the mouth, yet one that, hopefully, leaves us wanting more. Jesus’ invitation is to radical new ways of being, despite of and amidst the chaos—not overthrowing it, necessarily, but working because of it and in it. Our life in Christ, our Christian faith, is for living. It is more than a set of laws or abstract truths. It compels us to love, to love self, but even more to love our neighbor. Love compels us to live our lives for the Other—both God and neighbor, that if we truly live what we say in this place, “Going in peace to love and serve the Lord” our work, our faith, compels us beyond these walls and beyond the precious-ness of these pews to help bring about God’s kingdom. And this isn’t that image of the well-coifed, neatly groomed, perfectly shorn sheep-bearing Christ, serving the Old Man God, robes draped flawlessly, elegantly, and not getting off his throne. … This is the bloodied Christ, half dressed, clothes ripped open, lashes sob-stuck one to the other, pierced brow, sweaty, transformed through non-complacency. … Something we need reminding of from time to time. Love calls us into the world—responsive to the needs of others, compassionate and empathetic to all who are hurting, all who are troubled, all who have been given up on by others—the disenfranchised, the lonely, the despondent, the outcast, the burdened, the downtrodden, … those still awaiting, hoping for a new day. … Love compels us to action, not for ourselves, not for show, not for spectacle, but for Love’s sake—Love. … Love is meant to be at the heart of our faith and our Christian calling, and it compels us to responsible ways of being for ourselves and others. It compels us to live for others—despite what’s come to be expected by society, by institutional ways of being, by “traditional” practices and customs—compelled beyond it all in ways in which Jesus is freed to break forth yet again into this world and in our own day. May we always be ready to confound one another. May we always be open to Jesus’ surprise! Amen. Some paraphrasing in the last four paragraphs is from “This Sunday’s Lessons” in The Living Church, September 3, 2006.