October 1, 2017
The Rev. Mark Pendleton
Christ Church, Exeter
The Cross, the Flag, Standing and Kneeling
Let’s look a little closer
at the today’s reading from Philippians, (2:1-13) a letter of Paul when he was
in prison to a community that was in distress. No one is quite certain what was dividing the
Christian believers in this ancient city -- some of them may have felt
forgotten or ignored by the apostle. Yet
Paul knew something true then as it is today: when a community feels threatened
or insecure they can quickly start
behaving in destructive ways towards one another. So, Paul urged unity over division: “be of
the same mind, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,
but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not at your own
interests, but to the interests of other.”
Why do those words seem so
appropriate for us to hear and echo today – in our communities, our nation, our
world? We hear it so often that a
narrative is settling in. We are more
divided now than ever. People live in
their own bubbles and do not engage in real conversation with others with whom
they may not agree. We hear of people
feeling threatened, forgotten, attacked, marginalized, labeled, stereotyped, is
there any guidance from the Scripture for us?
Let’s take this past week
for example.
The watercooler in America
is a place – a metaphor even – where people come together to discuss everyday
life and events. Co-workers might share
what they did last weekend or give their take about who got voted off on “Dancing
with the Stars.” In some parts of the country the barber shop is that kind of
place, or the beauty parlor, the local McDonalds or diner -- or the Rotary Club
meeting. News, controversies, scandals,
a little gossip thrown in – they merge at places where people gather, listen
and talk.
If one gathered around
that proverbial watercooler this past week, there was probably one dominant
topic of conversation. Sadly, in my
opinion, it may not have been the devastation in Puerto Rico and the growing
humanitarian crisis unfolding in this U.S. territory. Rather it seemed that
many were talking about what NFL football players were doing or not doing
during the singing of the National Anthem before last Sunday’s games.
This all began more than a
year ago when one player, Colin Kapaernick, took a knee during the playing of
the Anthem to call attention to racial injustice – specifically police
shootings of black men. The controversy
exploded when politics and sport converged, as the President weighted into the
issue. We saw entire NFL teams locking
arms during the singing of the National Anthem played before the games, while
some players took a knee.
Sports have long been
seen, or perhaps idealized, as that one place in American life where people
could come together to root for their team – celebrate victories or agonize defeats
-- together. Last Sunday our divided country
seemed even more so, with fans and players taking sides, cheering some and
booing others. It was a mess. What are you and I to make of all of this?
Christians know a few
things about symbols and gestures. As Episcopalians,
we certainly do a lot of standing, sitting, bowing, and kneeling – ‘pew
aerobics’ as the late Robin Williams called it. When we sing hymns we stand, when we listen to
preachers and Scripture we sit, and we confess our sins we kneel. This
nothing new. (Ps 95:6-7) O come, let us worship and bow
down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker!
Many take on the practice
as bowing in front of the altar as a gesture of honor and reverence for what we
believe takes place in this space: bread and wine becoming the Real Presence of
Christ in the Eucharist. Some,
especially if raised Roman Catholic, still genuflect – bending or touching one
knee to the floor – as a gesture of worship and reverence.
Symbols are powerful. They represent and define what words cannot fully
describe.
The main symbol of our
faith is, of course, the cross. Yet even
this sacred symbol of the Christian faith – representing the death of Jesus to
take away the sin of the world and leading to his Resurrection -- is not exclusively
our own. The cross is worn as a fashion
accessory by rock stars and fashion models. It is painted, tattooed, sculpted
by people of great, little or no faith. I
think of the haunting images of the rows and rows of white crosses at Arlington
National Cemetery and Omaha Beach in Normandy France. I conjure up images of
the K.K.K. setting crosses on fire in fields or in front of the home of those
they want to threaten or intimidate.
Symbols, as powerful as
they can be, are not always the property of those who most believe in and care
about them. I believe that this is as true
of the Christian cross as it the American flag and National Anthem. They are shared by all – each of us drawing
from them levels of inspiration and meaning.
When a community is under
stress, experiencing hardship, loss, disappointment, it is not surprising that
anxiety levels go up. At some point that
distrust and anger gets reflected inward.
I’ve certainly seen and experienced churches go through this -- attendance
and giving drops, clergy come and go, factions leave over the slightest
controversy or slight.
Many believe that we in
this country and the world are living through a time of great dislocation and
uncertainty. People are genuinely fearful of the future. Workers fear being replaced
by technology. We have fought two recent wars with all-volunteer
troops where sacrifices have fallen disproportionally upon poorer communities
and proud military families. Our nation’s nerves are raw. In these moments, it can become harder and
harder to presume the best intentions of those with whom we do not see eye to
eye.
If good advice was the
only thing that Paul could offer to the Philippians, Romans, Corinthians and
other, I don’t believe they could have sustained the communities they way his
words did. He pointed them to
Christ. He reminded them of why and in
whom they believed.
Christ Jesus “was in the
form of God and did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited. Another way to think about this: If you know
you are God’s son on earth, you might be tempted to use this perk to your
advantage. To live an easy comfortable
life. To eat, drink and be merry. To
conquer and rule. To accumulate, dominate
and preside. To retire to the
countryside and live out a peaceful retirement and die of an old age surrounded
by those who loved you. To float over problems
and discomforts without even touching the dirt and the grime of this world. We
know, this was not Jesus’ chosen life.
He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. People cursed him, drove him out of their
towns, judged him as a heretic, and maligned him for the company he kept. Yet he
humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death.
If despised or rejected in
his life, God also lifted him to heaven and gave him the name that is above
every name, “so that at the name of Jesus ever knee should bend.”
Every knee should bend –
interesting image. As a subject would bend a knee to her king or queen. As a sign of respect and honor. But this king would wear a crown of thorns not
a crown encrusted with jewels and he would ache for the injustices of this
world.
If, in a free society, we
are not in full control of our symbols or gestures, we may never agree on the
other’s views or actions. And that can discourage
and frustrate.
What I hope we can learn
to control, or at least own, is how we behave and respond. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or
conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.” That was the sameness of mind and being of
full accord that Paul was getting at.
What would Jesus do? That pesky, repetitive and disruptive
question comes around to us again and again.
I said last week how many
of Jesus’s parables show his concern for the least, the lowly, the last, the
lost and the losers of society. He
emptied himself to become like the least and the lowly.
Exodus 17:1-2 In the wilderness after the Exodus, there was
no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said,
“Give us water to drink.” People are
thirsty for water that truly quenches our thirst for a more joy-filled and God
grounded life.
There were no watercoolers
in Jesus’ day. But there were wells. It
was at well where Jesus met a woman with a checkered past. In the book that we have been reading midweek
for our Living in Faith series, The Very Good Gospel by Lisa Harper writes that:
“a well serves as a metaphor for a place of legacy and love. It is a place
where deals are made and people are set apart for God’s purposes. Jesus sat by Jacob’s well, and the nameless
Samaritan woman – representing a cross section of ethnicities and living on the
margin of the margins – met him there.”
So, the next time we are
at those water coolers, barber shops, bus stops, and lunch breaks, as we engage
and wade into the latest topic of public conversation and controversy, may our
faith ground and inform us. With all the
conversation about standing or kneeling: who stands at the center of our
lives? Who are we willing to stop out
and stand up for? And what injustices
can we no longer remain silent about and accept as given. What
heartache and longing will bring us to our knees?
Paul was right: God is at
work in us.
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