God's Priorities

I was dismayed when I heard recent comments that were reported in the media that suggested that older people are expendable because the economy is more important than they are. This sermon is my response to that. I am indebted to an article by Melissa Florer-Bixler, the pastor of the Raleigh Mennonite Church in North Carolina, that was posted on the Sojourners website, dated March 26,2020. It gave me quite a bit of information for my thoughts today.

There have been a wide variety of responses to the coronavirus outbreak in our country. Some, for example, have pooh-poohed efforts to quarantine people, believing that the coronavirus threat isn’t real. A pastor in Louisiana recently insisted on meeting face-to-face with his congregation, declaring that the coronavirus is “politically motivated.” On a recent Sunday morning, more than 1,100 people were in attendance at his worship service, as 27 buses picked people up for worship. “I love the Lord,” said one parishioner, “and He’s going to take care of us.” I love the Lord, too, but I don’t personally believe that loving the Lord is any protection against a virus.

Others have gone to the other extreme and called for even more extreme quarantine. These folks want us to stay away from one another for months, just in case a stray virus might be lingering about and find its way into someone’s unsuspecting system. It might come to that, but let us all hope and pray that quarantine is lifted sooner rather than later. Here in Ohio, we’ve only been under a shelter-in-place order for a week, and already many of us are going stir-crazy from sitting in the house!

And then, there are those who are not as worried about people’s health as they are about the economy. There can be no doubt that our economy is taking a hit. We may very well be in a recession for quite some time. These folks, though, believe that avoiding a recession and getting the nation “back to normal” is more important than saving lives. Well… some lives, at least. You may have heard the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, suggesting that older Americans are expendable. Well, he didn’t put it quite that way. What he said was, and I quote, “[Although] No one [has] reached out to me and said, ‘as a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’, if that’s the exchange, I’m all in.” In other words, he thinks that if older people need to die to get the economy going again, it’s a small price to pay. Let’s just all go back to work and let the chips fall where they may! Forget about this quarantine thing; it’s just costing us money; and what, after all, is more important than money?

I wonder how God feels about that? Well, it just so happens that we have a clue in the text of the prophet Isaiah. The early part of Isaiah was written during a military invasion by the Assyrians. Our own worries mirror those of the people of that time: fear, frustration, and anxiety. Just like us, they were worried about work shortages, troubled over access to food, and angered by incompetent leaders. And Isaiah begins with a blast of rage at the attitudes of the religious leaders in the besieged city of Jerusalem. Now, you need to know that the ancient sacrificial system required large amounts of food. During a time of siege, food was scarce, especially to non-landowners, the people that the Bible refers to as “the resident immigrant, the orphan, and the widow.” Instead of compromising on ceremony and toning down sacrifice during this time when resources were low, the royalty who were responsible for food distribution burned huge quantities of grain, vegetables, and meats as daily offerings. God’s response is devastating. The scripture that I read this morning (Isaiah 1:7-8, 10-17, 27-28) was written to the elite, the decision-makers, those charged with protecting and providing for the most vulnerable in their society. God is furious that leaders would value religious festivals more than hungry people who could be eating food that turns to ashes on the altar. “Seek justice,” commands God. “rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” Any society that says to its most vulnerable members that they do not matter is under the judgement of a holy God.

Paul says much the same thing to the church at Corinth, even though he uses much softer language (I Corinthians 12:12-14, 21-22, 26). “Listen,” he says, “if you think that some people are not as important than you are, you’re sadly mistaken! We are all members of the body of Christ; and maybe we should act like it. Remember that the weaker parts of the body are indispensable! If one person suffers, we all suffer!” Paul and God are on the very same page. There is no person who is expendable in God’s eyes. The very old, the very young, the one who has a job and the one who has been on public assistance for years, the one who works in an “essential” industry and the one who just opened a little boutique – we are to love and to care for all of them.

In March 27’s daily UCC meditation, Vince Amlin wrote this.

 “As I write this, we’re a week into our self-quarantine, and the conversation has turned to making tough choices. We have to choose, we’re told, between people staying safe and people getting back to work… between flattening the curve and boosting the economy… between grandparents and grandkids. We have to choose. So, what will it be?” he asks. “Your money or your God? Your money or your love? Your money or your life? Their life? All of their lives? What will it be?” But then he reminds us that these are all false choices, because we are not forced to live with the economy as it has always been! Business as usual doesn’t need to be continue! Could we change a few things so that the most vulnerable members of our society don’t end up being sacrificial victims to the ravenous dragon that we call “the economy”?

Author Dave Hollis recently suggested that “In the rush to return to normal, [we should] use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to.” How would God respond to that? Well, I’m no prophet, and I don’t dare put words into God’s mouth, but I do suggest that God might say something like, “Anything that helps out those who cannot help themselves should be normal; but anything that benefits the few at the expense of the many is an abomination.” So, I hope that we will continue to self-quarantine and practice social distancing. I hope that big corporations that can well afford it will continue to pay their workers a living wage, even if those workers have been temporarily laid off. I hope that we will put our heads together and figure out a way to care for those who are now unable to care for themselves. And I really, really hope that this nonsense about encouraging our elders to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the economy will be seen for what it is – words from someone whose only allegiance is to dollars, no matter what church he says he belongs to. God’s people take care of each other! Let’s live each day remembering that.

My Neighbor's Keeper

Is anyone neutral about the steps being taken to curb the spread of the coronavirus? I seriously doubt it. This virus has upended our normal way of life in a myriad of ways. My church is now closed until the end of March, maybe longer. We are all resentful, uncertain, and afraid. I preached this sermon on the most recent Sunday that my congregation worshiped together to remind all of us why these steps are being taken -- and remind them who they are as Christians.

Genesis 4:2-9

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Luke 10:25-29

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?” The lawyer answered, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But the lawyer wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

This is not the sermon that I had planned to preach this morning. I had planned for this morning’s sermon to be about the abundance that God offers us. I had planned to focus on the way that Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of barley bread and a couple of little fish, and the skepticism of the disciples who muttered to themselves, “Why, a whole month’s wages wouldn’t buy food for this many people!” I had planned to remind you that God has better ways to solve problems of scarcity than we do; because God certainly does! You might hear that sermon after Easter; but you won’t hear it this morning. That’s because, between last week and today, our lives have been turned upside down by something so small that you can’t even see it under a regular light microscope. Between last week and today, we have been hit between the eyes by a new strain of coronavirus.

By now, you all know how drastic and widespread the response has been to stop the spread of this virus. All professional sports have been suspended, at least for the time being. All college sports have been postponed if not cancelled outright. International travel restrictions have been set in place. Here in Ohio, many nursing homes and long-term care facilities no longer allow visitors, even family members. Conferences have been rescheduled, and schools are closed until the end of March. Now, there is a wide variety of responses to all these actions. On one end of the spectrum, some folks deny that the virus is a serious problem, and think that all these actions are nonsense. On the other end of the spectrum is a lingering fear that the coronavirus will turn out to be a modern-day Black Plague, sending many of us to an early grave. Both of them are wrong. The coronavirus is a serious problem; but while it has the potential to sicken and even kill many people, we have the potential to stop it. That is, if we care about one another at least as much as we care about ourselves.

Here’s why so many entertainment events have been cancelled (including professional and college sports). When anyone attends a mass gathering, they are exposed to viruses and bacteria from all the people around them. Most of those little germs don’t do anything to us. But if we are exposed to this particular coronavirus and we contract it, it can be a week before we show any symptoms. In effect, we turn into Typhoid Mary – or maybe I should say “Coronavirus Carrie.” Before we show any symptoms, we visit Grandpa, shake the hand of an elderly friend at church, and sit right across from a stranger in a restaurant. If we haven’t washed our hands or if we sneezed thoughtlessly, guess where that virus goes next? It jumps to Grandpa, to our elderly friend, and even to that person we’ve never met.

Now, young people have very little chance of having a killer case of coronavirus. But the chance of getting a serious, maybe lethal case increases in folks over 60; jumps up in folks over 70; and skyrockets in people over 80. And if you have a chronic disease like asthma – from which I suffer myself – the possibility of that coronavirus killing you is higher no matter what your age is! So, how can we keep everyone healthy? Only by staying away from as many people as possible; and that means skipping the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, the symphony, and the party at the Dublin Pub on St. Patrick’s Day. Yeah, I know – I hate it, too. I just named three of my favorite things; and I won’t be able to do any of them!

In view of all this, our UCC Heartland Conference has recommended that face-to-face worship and other church gatherings be suspended until at least the end of March. Now, I don’t like that one bit, because I truly believe we cannot effectively “be the church” without gathering for worship on a regular basis. But I also believe that Jesus calls us to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers; and part of that is minimizing the harm that we might do to folks who are at risk. When we do what the CDC – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – ask us to do, we not only help to keep ourselves safe, we help to keep others safe, too. When we think of helping others, what usually comes to mind is feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. What if, right now, Jesus is calling us to help keep the most vulnerable members of our society healthy by staying away from large gatherings? What if Jesus is calling us to stay home for a while? What if Jesus is calling us to watch a movie, play a board game, or do a jigsaw puzzle at home instead of going out to the mall to shop? Those are things that we can do relatively easily. It doesn’t mean that we won’t be inconvenienced. We have already been inconvenienced, and that will probably get worse before it gets better. But saying, “I’m not going to let this virus stop me, and I’ll do what I want to!” is ignoring Jesus’ call to take care of our neighbors. It may sound brave, but it means that we don’t care a pin about the most vulnerable members of our society. I’m thinking that’s not what Jesus had in mind when he told us to love our neighbors as ourselves.

There are certainly things that we can do to continue to “be the church” during a time that we may have to do without Sunday worship. Pastor Janice and I will be brainstorming during the next few days about how we can continue to be there for one another; and your ideas will be welcome! We will certainly need to be more intentional about communicating with and supporting one another than we usually are! Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky has commented that, “Every hand that we don’t shake must become a phone call that we place. Every embrace that we avoid must become a verbal expression of warmth and concern. Every inch and every foot that we physically place between ourselves and another must become a thought as to how we might be of help to that other, should the need arise.”

The letter that our Heartland Conference recently sent to all the UCC churches in Ohio, West Virginia, and northern Kentucky reminded us that we are a people of faith; and that we are called to have courage and hope, especially in this time of anxiety and confusion. It’s OK to be afraid of this virus! Only a fool would yawn at a virus that could be lethal! But remember that God is here with us even in the middle of a pandemic. We are still the church of Jesus Christ. The Spirit will guide us, not only in caring for ourselves, but in caring for others, too. Be of good courage! God is with us.

Snakes and Doves

Jesus tells us to behave like snakes and doves. How does that make you feel? Confused? Insulted? Curious? In this sermon, I try to unravel what he means.

What do you say to someone you love when they’re about to venture out into the world? What, for instance, does a parent say to a child as she prepares to leave the house? Let’s listen in to what a mother is saying to her 3^rd grader as he goes out to play with his friends. “Now, Pete, be sure to stay away from strangers. If someone tries to talk to you and you don’t know him, just walk away. Be careful not to hurt yourself when you’re on the slide or the swing set. And if a big kid comes over and starts to bother you, come home right away.” “Be safe and take care of yourself.” That’s what most people say to the ones they love when those loved ones are getting ready to go out and meet the world. No matter if that loved one is a third-grader, a middle-aged adult, or an elder citizen, that’s what we tell them: “Be safe and take care of yourself.”

When Jesus sent his disciples out into ministry, though, that’s not what he told them at all. No, instead, he said, “I’m sending you out into the midst of people who are as dangerous as a bunch of hungry wolves. And you’re going to run into trouble, because those people aren’t going to like what you say and do. So be as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves.” He didn’t say, “Take care of yourself.” He didn’t say, “Be safe.” Instead he said, “When you run into trouble – and you will – be like both snakes and doves.”

What did Jesus mean by that? Well, being like a snake means having all kinds of savvy – street smarts, if you will. In Jesus’ time, snakes were a symbol of wisdom. Remember that a snake is the one who deceives Eve in the story of the Garden of Eden. In that text, the snake is described as being “craftier than any of the wild animals.” There are still reminders today of the snake’s reputation for wisdom. The physician’s symbol is a caduceus, a staff entwined by two snakes. Who is wiser than a doctor? That’s why those snakes are on the symbol’s staff. But doves were the opposite. They were seen as being innocent, pure, and harmless. We don’t think of someone innocent and pure as being wise! We talk about “innocent children” who haven’t learned wisdom yet. Children have no knowledge of the ways of the world. They are idealistic, always looking for the good in people; and trusting, assuming that no one would wish them any harm. Wisdom and innocence seem to be complete opposites. How can Jesus expect his followers to be both at the same time?

The way out of our dilemma lies in the kind of wisdom that we’re talking about. The wisdom that Jesus wants us to have is the holy wisdom of God; and it is very different from the wisdom that the world offers us. We all know what the world says: “Take care of yourself. Play it safe. Do unto others before they can do unto you. And in situations that look hopeless, you might as well not even try.” Jesus teaches us something very different. He asks us to be vulnerable; to take risks in helping others; to go where the Spirit leads us, even into situations that appear to be hopeless; to treat others the way that we would want to be treated; and always, always, to trust God to be working for good in every situation. If we have that kind of wisdom, it’s easy to be wise and innocent at the same time. God’s holy wisdom encourages us to behave just like that innocent child: to look for the good in others, to trust the people that we meet, and to assume that everything will come out all right in the end. Do we throw away our street savvy and our knowledge of how the world usually works? Absolutely not! But we don’t let that dictate how we behave! We follow Jesus’ leading wherever it takes us!

A wonderful example of being both wise and innocent is a long-married couple that I know well. During their lives together, they have spent quite a bit of time in Brownsville, Texas volunteering with a local ministry there. They helped to repair homes and pass out clothing to needy local residents; but they didn’t stop at that. They regularly crossed the border into Matamoros, Mexico, and helped folks who lived in the poorest sections of that town. Their friends were horrified at their actions. They protested that Matamoros is full of drug cartels, and that my friends were putting themselves in danger by crossing the border. They crossed the border, anyway. But they were wise as snakes in the way that they went about it. They drove an old, ratty van so that it wouldn’t attract the attention of the drug cartels; and they dressed so that no one knew they were Americans. But they were also as innocent as doves in believing that their actions would make a difference to the people there. And they did make a difference! They distributed clothing and blankets to people who had nothing; they built new homes and repaired others; and every holiday season, they helped to throw a Christmas party. Folks came from miles around to receive new clothing, a hot meal, and toys for their children. That’s what it looks like when you are as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves as you minister in Jesus’ name.

During this Lenten season, Jesus may ask you to do something for him. He may send you somewhere, and it might be somewhere risky. If that happens, don’t focus on the wolves that are all around you. Trust in the wisdom that God gives you and believe that you can make a difference; because, as you minister in Jesus’ name, you can make a difference. Be like snakes and be like doves as you follow Jesus Christ.