Sacrificing Violence

Violence is all around us. It has infiltrated the mass media, our entertainment, and even our conversations! What if we gave it up for Lent? This sermon suggests some ways to do that.

We live in an incredibly violent society. Violence is everywhere: in movies and TV shows, on the evening news, and even in the catch-phrases that we use. It seems to be in the very air that we breathe! And it wasn’t always this way. Oh, gangsters and members of the Mafia have always been violent; but until relatively recently, that violence was for the most part hidden from public view. Now, we can’t escape it. Video games like Death Race or Mortal Combat encourage its players to kill as many opponents as possible in order to win the game. Television shows show the effects of violence in all kinds of ways. I recently stumbled upon an old episode of CSI. In just the first five minutes of the show, I saw a bloody corpse hanging on a barbed wire fence with its decapitated head impaled on a nearby post. When I was a kid, I watched shows like Leave It to Beaver, where the only violence was Eddie Haskell threatening to punch out the Beav if he tattled. (And we knew that Eddie would never do that, anyway.) And the movies are experts at depicting violence. In 1952, the year that I was born, the three most popular movies were Moulin Rouge (a biography of artist Toulouse-Lautrec), Singin’ in the Rain (a musical) and The Quiet Man (a love story). Sixty years later, the most popular movies were The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Hunger Games, every one of them violent or based on a violent situation.

But while the violence that we see in movies and TV and video games isn’t real, the deaths that have taken place as a result of mass shootings over the past 20 years certainly are. Their names fall on our ears like the tolling of a bell in a funeral procession.

Columbine

Virginia Tech

Fort Hood

Sandy Hook

Emmanuel AME Church

Pulse nightclub

Las Vegas

Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Over 300 men, women, and children have lost their lives since the Columbine High School massacre took place in 1999. What in the world is going on?

There is no easy way to answer that question. I’m not going to analyze the causes of violence this morning. That’s the work of a sociologist, not a preacher. I’m not going to offer a political solution to the problem, either. Jesus didn’t give us any political solutions, and neither will I. But Jesus does call us to reject violence wherever we find it; and the fact is that violence has infiltrated our society to such an extent that most of us accept it as normal. And it’s not normal! It’s not normal to be entertained by torn flesh, bullet-ridden bodies, and decapitated corpses! And if we want to draw nearer to God, we need to free ourselves from the swamp of violence in which we are mired. I’m going to suggest that during this this Lenten season, instead of sacrificing small luxuries such as chocolate or cookies, we try our best to sacrifice some of the violence that is part and parcel of our daily lives.

Now, you may object that no one here is violent. On the whole, we all live peaceful lives. That’s true. I’m fairly certain that none of us is going to plan a mass murder anytime soon. But do you know what we will do? We’ll use violent words and phrases without giving it a thought. Instead of saying, “I’ll give it a try,” we’ll say, “I’ll take a shot (or a stab) at it.” Instead of asking, “Are you ready to start?” we might ask, “Are you ready to pull the trigger on that?” (Do you see what I’m shooting for here?) And I’ll bet every single one of us has said, at one time or another, “I’d like to knock some sense into his head!”

I’m just as guilty as anyone! Those catch-phrases show how easily we have accepted the violence in our culture! Why, we don’t think twice about it! What if, during this Lenten season, we did think twice about it? What if we decided to take a tiny step towards reducing violence by eliminating violent language from our vocabulary for the next 6 weeks? It might not decrease the violence in our society by much, but it would certainly make us more aware of how pervasive it is!

Changing our speech is relatively easy. But his next suggestion will be much harder for some of us. What if we sacrificed watching violent movies and TV shows during Lent? Could we watch The Greatest Showman instead of Death Wish? Could we tune in to The Big Bang Theory instead of Game of Thrones? We might even consider turning off the evening news in order to avoid some of the images of bloodshed from around the world! If we sacrificed some of the violent entertainment that we watch regularly, even just for a few weeks, we might start to recognize how twisted that violence really is!

Finally, just for the next 6 weeks, let’s practice turning the other cheek. Now, I understand – that’s sacrificing our rights as citizens to respond to insults, slurs, and other affronts any way that we like. But the way that we like to respond isn’t the way that Jesus wants us to respond! I recently ran across a story that is almost unbelievable given today’s climate of retaliating for every slight. And it took place, of all places, on Facebook, that hotbed of trolls who use offensive vocabulary and even worse grammar! It seems that a young lady who is, admittedly, overweight posted a modest photo of herself on her Facebook page. The internet trolls came out of the woodwork! One told her that she looked like a pig. Another advised her to get off her big fat rear and exercise. A third asked her why she was offending their eyes by posting the photo at all! Now, what would you do if anyone said those things to you? Most folks on Facebook would immediately respond in kind. “You think that I’m fat?? Oh, yeah???” or something of that sort. But this wise young lady responded in a very different way. She said something positive to every single one of her attackers! She complimented one on the lipstick that she was wearing in her profile photo; and she thanked another for the suggestion that she exercise, saying that it gave her motivation to improve her general health! Do you know what happened? The vast majority of the folks who had insulted her contacted her to apologize for their ugly words.

Do you suppose that Jesus is on to something when he tells us to turn the other cheek? Could we help to de-escalate the violence in our society by learning to do just that? The book of Proverbs (15:1) says that “a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Maybe we should take that advice seriously.

“Those who live by the sword will die by the sword." That’s still as true today as it was when Jesus said it. My prayer is that the violence in our society will be rejected by men and women who are as tired of it as I am, and who decide to practice non-violence in their own lives in greater or smaller ways. It may not be an easy sacrifice, but it’s one that I guarantee will draw you closer to God during this season of Lent.

From the Mountain to the Valley

On this first Sunday in Lent, I reflect on how far it is from last Sunday (Transfiguration Sunday) to today, and why we don't have to be afraid of the change.

It’s a long way from the top of a mountain to the valley below. It’s an even longer distance from the vision of Jesus’ Transfiguration to the solemn journey through Lent. That change from the mountain to the valley can come as quite a shock to our systems, because we have very little time to adjust to it. One day, Jesus takes us to the mountain where we see a vision of him in all his glory; and the next day, we plunge down into the valley where we have to deal with doubts, mistakes, and misunderstanding. Given a choice, we’d much rather stay on the mountain. Peter wanted to stay there, too (Mark 9:12-10). He even wanted to build three shrines – one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah – so that he could come back to the mountain and experience the sight of Jesus in glory any time that he wanted to! But it doesn’t work that way. No sooner had Peter offered to build those shrines than a cloud surrounded the disciples so that they couldn’t see Jesus’ glory anymore. When that cloud disappeared, the everyday Jesus that they knew was back – the human Jesus who got tired and hungry and thirsty, the Jesus who plodded along the dusty roads with dirty feet, the Jesus who was just as frail and vulnerable as his disciples. It was that Jesus who led them down off the mountaintop back into the valley.

Is it any wonder that Peter wanted to stay on the mountain? When we’re on that mountain, we’re lifted up into a realm that we usually only dream of, far away from the stresses and troubles of our normal lives. When we’re on that mountain, we see Jesus in glory, and we are absolutely certain that he is the Son of God. We don’t doubt his power when we see him like that. When we’re on that mountain, we have no doubt that we’re God’s beloved children. We know that we’re precious to God! But when we go back to the valley, suddenly we’re not so sure. But just as our mountaintop experience reassures us that Jesus is truly the Messiah, it also assures us that God goes with us when we leave the mountain and return to the valley.

For just a moment, let’s focus not on Jesus, but on the cloud that surrounded the disciples. The disciples would have known right away that cloud was the very presence of God. They all knew the stories about God giving the Law to Moses after the Exodus. In all those stories, God looked like a cloud on top of Mt. Sinai! The book of Exodus (19:16-19) describes the scene this way: “On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain... Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. [Then] …Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.” That’s the way that God spoke with Moses: out of a cloud. So when a cloud surrounded Jesus’ disciples on the top of mountain of Transfiguration, they knew what it was. It was the very presence of God! But God wasn’t supposed to work that way! The only people who were ever in the presence of God were the priests, the ones who sacrificed in the Temple and kept themselves ritually clean. God never mingled with ordinary people! God lived in the Holy of Holies in the Temple where he wouldn’t get dirty by rubbing elbows with people like us. God never came to the people; the people had to go to God!

Well, apparently nobody told God that; because God’s presence not only rubbed elbows with the disciples; it surrounded them, enfolded them, embraced them, and even spoke to them! “Listen to Jesus,” was what God said. God might have added, “Listen to Jesus, not to tradition. Don’t rely on what you think you know. I’m going to do something absolutely new, so keep your eyes and your ears and your minds open!” The disciples would need to remember those words when they went back to the valley and Jesus told them that he would not only die, but be raised from the dead. And as they traveled through that valley on their way to Jerusalem, the presence of God that embraced them as a cloud on the mountain would travel with them. Oh, they couldn’t see it, but it was there, helping them to understand when they were baffled, helping them to be brave when they were afraid, and helping them to face the future when they wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. Today, we call God’s presence the Holy Spirit; but it doesn’t really matter what we call it. The important thing is that just as it was with the disciples, God’s presence is still with us, wherever we go and whatever we do.

God even travels with us through Lent, that time in the church year when we focus on all the ways that we have failed to follow Jesus. It’s all too easy to forget that God is still with us during Lent. We fall into the trap of only seeing God in all God’s glory, sitting up on the mountaintop on a golden throne; and we imagine that God looking down on us just waiting for us to mess up. When we have that image, we falsely believe that God is waiting for us to do things during Lent that will pacify his anger with us. But God isn’t angry with us! God loves us! And because he loves us, God wants us to do things during Lent that draw us closer to him! God doesn’t want to travel through life with us walking on the other side of the street, or even walking at arm’s length. God wants to be as close to us as our own breath; and when we do things during Lent that focus on our relationship with him – things like prayer, meditation, and works of charity – then we invite God into the very center of our lives, and our relationship with him becomes much more than just a nodding acquaintance.

During the upcoming days of Lent, I hope that you will do just that – invite God into the very center of your life. With God’s help, when we reach Easter Sunday, we will see Jesus again in all his resurrection glory, just as we saw him on the mountaintop. And on that day, we will recognize the God who raised Jesus from the dead as the very same one who has been traveling with us all the way through the valley of Lent, guiding us through the cross to an empty tomb.

Ultimate Authority

The first story in the Gospel of Mark goes on for quite a while (Mark 1:21-45), even though we usually break it into three pieces of text, or even into four. (We could even argue that it goes as far as Mark 2:12.) Why such a long story? I believe that Mark is showing us the extent of Jesus' authority. This sermon will explain what I mean.

Lots of things come in threes. I’ll bet that you can think of some. The Three Stooges. The three little pigs. The three Billy goats gruff. Even this story in Mark’s gospel is full of threes! Three different people are healed: a man who was possessed (you heard about him last week), Peter’s mother-in-law, and a leper. There are three different kinds of healing: Jesus exorcised an unclean spirit, cured a fever, and healed a leper. And they took place in three different locations: a synagogue, a home, and in the wilderness. What is Mark trying to tell us with this surplus of threes? Why not just tell us one story and leave it at that? I think one answer is that Mark is showing us the extent of Jesus’ authority. He cures both men and women; fevers and leprosy and demons; and he can do it anywhere. I could preach on just this one story for a couple of months! But today, let’s focus on just the places where Jesus has authority. The first healing was in a synagogue; the second was in a private home; and the third was outside, in a “lonely place.”

Now, the church is where we expect Jesus to have the most authority. It’s where we call him Lord and Savior, and where we celebrate the power that raised him from the tomb on Easter morning. Of course, sometimes we don’t always behave as though Jesus has any authority at all. When a petty quarrel divides us – like when Nellie isn’t speaking to Gertrude because she brought the wrong thing to the potluck dinner – we wonder where Jesus is, anyway. But when a tragedy strikes Nellie’s family and Gertrude is the first one to phone her with an offer of help, we see the spirit of Jesus working. Yeah, he’s in here, even though he’s difficult to see sometimes.

Because Jesus specializes in repairing relationships, he’s in our homes, too. As most of us know, the most difficult relationships can be found in our own homes. It might be the teenager that is driving you nuts, your Democratic Uncle Charlie who can’t get along with the rest of your Republican family, or your crotchety Dad who refuses to age gracefully. Those situations can be really tough! But Jesus knows what a good relationship is like – and Jesus wants us to experience that, too. After all, he is in a perfect relationship of love with his Father and with the Spirit. As Jesus transforms us into his image, he can also transform our relationships into the image of the love that Father, Son, and Spirit have for one other. That is very good news for all of us!

But maybe the most powerful authority that Jesus has is in the “lonely places” of our lives – the places where we feel like lepers, estranged from each other and even from ourselves. We don’t talk much about those places; but we all have them. They bubble up in our minds on those nights when we lie sleepless and miserable; and it’s all we can do to shut out the images. They cling to us like Super Glue. We don’t talk about them, except maybe with our very best friends every now and then. Theologian and author Frederick Buechner wrote about one of his own lonely places as he remembered the suicide of his father. “We didn’t talk about my father with each other; and we didn’t talk about him outside the family either, partly because suicide was looked on as something a little shabby and shameful in those days. My father had tried to keep it a secret himself by leaving a note to my mother in a place where only she would be likely to find it, and by saying … that there was something wrong with the Chevy’s exhaust system which he was going to see if he could fix. His suicide was a secret we tried to keep as best we could; and after a while, my father himself became such a secret.” (Telling Secrets)

Suicide. Mental illness. Divorce. Child abuse. Sexual molestation. Bankruptcy. Jesus has authority even in those lonely places. We may be afraid of the shadows that lurk there, but Jesus isn’t afraid. Jesus will come and stay with you regardless of your lonely place. He will hold your hand like a mother whose child is frightened by the boogie man under the bed. He’ll shine a light into the darkness, and he’ll reassure you that nothing can hurt you while he is there. Slowly, slowly, that lonely place won’t feel so lonely because Jesus is there with you. More slowly still, we will reach out to others who are also in that lonely place, and we’ll begin to support one another as we are partners with Jesus in the healing process.

In the same book in which he confesses his father’s suicide (Telling Secrets), Fred Buechner ponders how members of Alcoholics Anonymous cope with living in their own lonely places. He writes that they are a varied bunch: men and women, young and old, educated and illiterate, Christian and Jew and atheist. But they have one thing in common. “They all believe that they cannot live fully human lives without each other and without what they call their Higher Power. They avoid using the word God because some of them do not believe in God. What they all do believe in, or are searching for, is a power higher than their own which will make them well. Through prayer and meditation, through seeking help from each other and from helpful books, they try to draw near any way they can to God or to whatever they call what they have instead of God.” Alcoholism is a powerful lonely place; and even though many alcoholics talk not about Jesus but about a Higher Power, I’m convinced that it’s really Jesus at work. I have seen the transformation that he can bring about in their lives. Jesus is always ready to go into a lonely place with us, and help us to face whatever terrors it holds. What would happen if we all sought for Jesus as fervently as many alcoholics do as they seek their Higher Power for support and healing?

The good news is that Jesus has authority everywhere – in church, at home, and in our lonely places. He healed a demon-possessed man in the synagogue; he healed Peter’s mother-in-law in her home; and he healed a leper in the wilderness. Jesus has authority no matter who you are, where you are, or what problem is bothering you. Whether your life takes you to three places or to three thousand, Jesus – the One who went through his own lonely place, who died for love of us, and whose authority was proved by his resurrection from the dead – that One is already there with ultimate authority over whatever difficulties we may find in our travels through life! Thanks be to God!