The Red-Eyed Monster

 Halloween is monster season! What is the most frightening monster of all? Dracula? King Kong? Godzilla? It might be one that lives inside each one of us. This sermon takes a look at it and suggests some ways to deal with it.

This is the season of monsters. They’re all around us at Halloween time: mummies, vampires, and things that go bump in the night. If we like movie monsters, there are a lot to choose from: King Kong, Godzilla, Dracula, and Frankenstein’s monster. Sometimes we laugh at them, like the creatures in “Men in Black;” and sometimes they scare the pants off us, like the alien horror in the movie “Alien.” But we can’t get away from them, especially during this season of the year. Now, monsters are nothing new. Throughout history, people have imagined monsters as the cause of things that frightened them. The sea, for example, in ancient Israelite lore, was the home of the chaos monster named Leviathan, which no human being could control. Later on, Leviathan was joined by leathery-winged dragons, fearsome giants, and the Kraken, a giant sea serpent that could drag whole ships down to the ocean bottom. Eventually, people realized that monsters could be part of their character; and they imagined human vices as monsters. In the play Othello, Shakespeare called jealousy the green-eyed monster, an emotion that can lead to dreadful behavior. “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy,” the character Iago says. “It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” In Shakespeare’s play, jealousy is the downfall of the hero Othello, who kills first his wife and then himself because he has been duped into believing that his wife has been unfaithful to him.

As powerful as jealousy is, though, there is another emotion that is more powerful still: the red-eyed monster of anger. If anger were visualized as a monster, it might have red eyes that glow with passion, powerful claws to grip its victim, and powerful wings to fly from one person to another. Anger seems to have our whole country in the grip of its claws today. Which of us isn’t angry about something right now? There are certainly lots of things to be angry about! You might be angry at the people who refuse to wear a mask and put others at risk for the COVID virus; or you might be angry at the people who insist that you wear a mask, threatening what they see as your civil rights. You might be angry at the actions of our government; or you might be angry at the people who are protesting against the government. The Democrats are angry at the Republicans, the Republicans are angry at the Democrats and we’re all angry at the COVID virus that has completely disrupted our lives.

As odd as it may sound for me to say it, there is nothing wrong with anger in itself. We all get angry at situations that we think are unfair. Job got hopping mad when he lost everything he had; and we get mad, too, when we look around and say to ourselves, “This isn’t right! Things shouldn’t be this way!” The trouble is that when anger takes over, we lose control of ourselves. The very first instance of anger in the Bible took place not long after Adam and Eve had been expelled from the Garden of Eden, in Genesis 4:1-8. Cain was angry because he thought that God was being unfair to him. Did you notice that God never told him that his anger was wrong? God told him to watch out, because if his anger took over, things would go from bad to worse. “If you do not do what is right,” God warned Cain, “sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you, but you must master it.” We know the end of the story. Cain’s anger did indeed get the better of him, and he murdered his brother Abel in cold blood.

I’m going to get scientific for just a minute. The emotion of anger causes what scientists call a “fight or flight” response. It makes us want to run away, to escape what makes us angry; or we want to take action. Running away works if you are being threatened by a bear. These days, though, renegade bears don’t usually make us angry. We can’t escape the things that make us angry today; so we turn to violence: violent thoughts, violent words, and sometimes even violent actions. 19^th century American politician Robert Green Ingersoll said that “Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind.” Anger makes us do things that we would never, ever do under normal circumstances! But we’re angry, right? We HAVE to do SOMETHING! And therein lies the problem. What do we do with the anger that all of us feel? I’m going to suggest a three-fold approach to anger: recognize it; name it; and use it as power for change.

We need to begin by recognizing our anger; and that isn’t as easy as it sounds. Lots of people don’t even realize that they are angry! “Oh, no,” they say, “I’m not mad. Everything is fine!” Of course, everything isn’t fine at all. When we push our anger under the surface, it doesn’t go away at all. In fact, it can burst out as physical conditions: depression, high blood pressure, or digestive problems. Suppressed anger can even lead to a heart attack or a stroke. So let’s be honest about it. We’re all angry about something – every single one of us.

That leads to the next question: “What are we angry about?” After we’ve recognized our anger, we need to name it. There are all kinds of things to be angry about these days; and I’m just going to mention some of them. The biggies, of course, are the COVID virus and the political situation. I’ve already mentioned those; they’re old news these days. But other problems that you consider to be smaller may actually be causing you more anger than these big issues! Do you have a neighbor whose cat insists on digging in your petunias? Do you have a co-worker who isn’t pulling his share of the load? And how is your family doing? Do you have a relative who is a real jerk? Maybe you’re angry about issues that arise over the upcoming holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas cause more anger in our society than any other time of the year! Relatives you don’t especially like insist on visiting; visitors cause more work for their host than they probably should; and disagreements over politics and religion get out of hand. Anger? We practically swim in it during the holidays! It’s OK to be angry! I’ll say it again: we get angry when we feel that a situation is unfair. So, now that we’ve recognized it and we’ve named it, what do we do about it?

We have all kinds of healthy options for dealing with that red-eyed monster. Some people cope with their anger by exercising. I’m a great one for walking – just walking. Walking on the bike path can get rid of some of the physical tension that is part and parcel of anger. Other people concentrate on a hobby. Focusing on something else can help to defuse the anger. It even helps just to talk about it! Find a good friend who won’t judge you, and spill your feelings. Talk about that anger! Just talking about it will help to lessen some of its effects.

But there is something else that we can do, something that is very biblical. We can do what Jesus did when he was angry. He did what he could to change the situation. A man with leprosy once came to Jesus and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus answered, “I am willing! Be clean!” and he cured the man of his leprosy. (Matthew 8:2-3) Now, none of us are Jesus; and we can’t do all the things that Jesus could do. There are some situations that we just can’t fix. But there are others that we can help to change. Many doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and therapists have chosen medical careers because of a desire to help people. They were angry that people died needlessly, and they did what they could in response.

Jesus did something else, too. He named the people who were responsible for the situation. In Matthew 23:13-32, Jesus condemned the Jewish religious leaders for their emphasis on rituals that actually kept people away from the God they were trying to worship! “Woe to you,” Jesus proclaimed over and over and over again, saying, in effect, “This isn’t right! It needs to change!” We can do that, too. We can call out people whose behavior oppresses others. We probably won’t choose to do it on a soapbox in the middle of the square, but we can do it on Facebook, through letters to the editor, by contacting our local, state, and national representatives, and in the voting booth. Speaking out is a great way to deal with anger. Near the end of the musical “Ragtime,” the character Coalhouse, who is full of anger at the injustices that he has suffered, sings about the effect that speaking out can have. “Proclaim it from your pulpit,” he says, “in your classroom, with your pen. Teach every child to raise his voice; and then, my brothers, then will justice be demanded by ten million righteous men!” Words are powerful; and when we are angry at injustice, they have to potential to change the world.

Anger doesn’t go away by itself. Besides, as soon as we get rid of one reason to be angry, another will pop up in its place. There are as many reasons to be angry as there are mushrooms in a spring forest! But when we recognize our anger, name it, and take action to change the situation, our anger can be a force for good. When the red-eyed monster threatens to overwhelm us, let’s do what Jesus did – speak out and take action. We never know what might happen when we do. We might even help to make the world a better place.

The Soul of Our Nation

 In this very political season, it is wise to remember who we are and what we stand for. We in the church of Jesus Christ are Christians before we are Democrats or Republicans; and we have an obligation to lift our voices in support of the values that we hold dear. This sermon will explain in more detail what I mean by that.

When I visited Norway a few years ago, I visited the home of composer Edvard Grieg. While I was there, I enjoyed a piano concert of Grieg’s music. It was a real treat for a music lover like me! Norwegians say that Grieg’s music embodies the soul of their nation. That’s because Grieg was a master at capturing experiences in his music. His quiet, lyrical pieces recall the sunlight falling on the long-awaited, first green grass of spring. The low, deep chords in some of his compositions reflect the mysterious depth of the fjords, and the darkness that covers Norway during their long, cold winters. And when you listen to his composition “In the Hall of the Mountain King,” you can’t fail to picture the fabled trolls of Norway frolicking in their mountaintop caves with their knit hats and their long beards. From a spring morning in Norway to the gloom of a mountain cave, Grieg captured it all.

It got me to wondering: what music embodies the soul of our United States? We have a huge country to capture! What music reflects all of that? We might choose the music of the American west. When we sing “Home on the Range,” we remember the sturdy pioneers who helped to settle the West; and when we listen to Grofé’s “Grand Canyon Suite,” we picture the vastness of that awe-inspiring natural wonder. But we might choose something very different: the music of Stephen Foster, for example. We hear “Way down upon the Suwanee River,” and we think of the Old South with its plantations and cotton fields. The world-renowned Kentucky Derby always plays one of Stephen Foster’s compositions, “My Old Kentucky Home,” just before the horses begin to race. Other folks would remind us that we can’t forget our cities; and they might choose the music of George Gershwin: “Rhapsody in Blue,” perhaps. Its wailing clarinet and syncopated rhythms reflect both the sophistication and the quirkiness of New York City. And on the Fourth of July, surely we would all agree that the marches of John Philip Sousa capture the soul of an America that is afraid of nothing! Who can hear “The Stars and Stripes Forever” without getting a few goose bumps of pride that we are Americans?

There are lots of choices when we think about music that embodies the soul of our nation. We’ll probably never agree on just one; and that’s OK, because we are a vast, diverse nation both in natural resources and in our people! But whatever the soul of our nation may be, no one can dispute that the church of Jesus Christ has helped to make it what it is. That’s good to remember in this election season. We tend to think that politicians have shaped the soul of our nation; but Christians are, and have always been at the heart of our country. We Christians are not (and should not be) a political group. We are, as this morning’s scripture describes us, “a royal priesthood, a holy nation… the people of God” (I Peter 2:9-12). But the church of Jesus Christ has always influenced our nation for good. Our own soul – the soul of a church that is loyal to Jesus Christ above anything else – has helped to shape the soul of our nation into something that we can point to with pride.

The United States, for example, is one of the most generous nations in the world. If you consider how many Americans donate money to a charity, volunteer their time, or offer help to complete strangers, we rank 5th in generosity in the world! That figure was generated by the World Giving Index and published by the Charities Aid Foundation after a survey of 195,000 people in 153 countries worldwide. That generosity didn’t just appear. It is a result of our Christian heritage that has taught us to help others. We all know the story of the Good Samaritan who stopped to help a stranger in need (Luke 10:25-37); and we take that story seriously. We donate our money, our time and our possessions; and our generosity has worked its way into the soul of our country. I, for one, am proud that it has.

There’s something else that makes me proud: the fact that our country considers all people to be equal under the law. We all know what the Declaration of Independence says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It sounds very much like the book of Galatians that says: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). We Christians don’t believe that anybody is better than anybody else. A white man who is the CEO of a Wall Street investment firm is no better than a poor black girl who lives in the inner city. God created all people equally in the divine image. Now, we don’t always do very well in putting that into practice. It’s easy to fall into the trap that “we” are better than “they” are, especially in this day when Americans are so divided and disagree on so many things! But throughout our history, Americans have fought for the rights of not just a few, but everyone; and I am proud of that.

We Americans have a long tradition of hospitality, too. We have welcomed millions of immigrants over the 241 years of our history! They have come from England, Ireland, and Wales; from Germany, Denmark, and Norway; from Italy and Greece and Russia; from India and Laos and Cambodia; from Syria and Lebanon and Jordan; and I haven’t even begun to name all the countries in Africa that were home to millions of slaves who were brought here against their will! We are a country of people who originally came from someplace else; and America has always welcomed those strangers. Inside the base of the Statue of Liberty is a plaque containing a poem by Emma Lazarus. I’ll bet that you are familiar with its final lines: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door! That’s what we do, we Americans, we welcome people; and that hospitality is part of our Christian heritage, too. The book of Hebrews gives us this advice: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2) We are a country whose arms have always been open wide to welcome those people who needed a welcome the most; and I am very proud of that.

Generosity, equality, hospitality. We Christians helped to put these virtues into the soul of America. Since our country was founded, they have been part of the cornerstone of who we are and how we do things. They are so much a part of our country that we take them for granted! But we Christians can’t stop proclaiming them; because some Americans want us to forget them. Some people are unbelievably greedy, like the character in the 1987 movie Wall Street who believed that “Greed is good.” We Christians need to keep proclaiming generosity. Some Americans are full of prejudice. They look down on anyone who isn’t just like they are, whether those people are women, homosexuals, or people of color; and they want the laws of our land to reflect their prejudices. That’s why we Christians need to keep proclaiming equality. And some Americans are afraid. Because they are afraid, they want to close our borders to people who aren’t just like we are. Is that protection of our own citizens or prejudice against foreigners? I don’t know the answer to that, and time will sort it out. What I do know is that our scriptures tell us to practice hospitality, and we Christians are called to encourage it.

Our country isn’t perfect. All of us know that, especially during these difficult days! But with God’s help – and with our Christian witness – things can get better! During this very political season, as we ponder who we will support when we go into the privacy of the voting booth, I invite you to pray for our country; and then to think seriously about what we can do to improve it. Remember the words of John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” It’s what we’re called to do, as good citizens – and as good Christians.

Living in Unity

 This is World Communion Sunday, a day when I like to remind my parishioners that we aren't the only Christian community in the world; and the more we know about people in other countries, the less likely that we are to stereotype them negatively. I hope that this sermon is a good reminder for you, too.

One of the sporting events that Fred and I look forward to every year is the Tour de France. It is the largest and arguably the most prestigious race in professional cycling. During three weeks in the summer, the cyclists travel over 2,000 miles all around France, over level ground and over mountains, finishing at last in Paris. This year’s Tour was one of the most exciting races in recent memory! 176 riders who rode for 22 professional bicycling teams took part in the race; and I’ll be happy to give you more details if you are interested.

Right now, though, I want to talk not about the race itself, but about the cyclists who rode in it. This year, they came from 30 different countries: from France, of course, but also from Australia and Israel, from Luxembourg and Russia, from Slovenia and Ireland, from South Africa and Spain, from Kazakhstan and Colombia. They often don’t speak one another’s language. Yet, they not only get along, they frequently become the best of friends. I heard a story about two men who competed together one year: one was from Denmark, the other from Sweden. Even though those two countries are located very close together geographically, they don’t speak the same language. These two cyclists, though, cobbled together their own language – a little bit of Danish and a little bit of Swedish – and understood one another very well. When they are racing, they are fierce competitors. Every man rides for his own team, hoping that they will win one of the prestigious prizes that are available. And every bicycle racer is not the same. Some of them are sprinters. These men can summon a tremendous burst of speed in the closing meters of each day’s stage to win the daily race even before the entire race is decided. Others are climbers. They lead the way up the mountains, riding up inclines that I might not even attempt to walk! They all have something in common, though – their life is bicycling; and their lives are organized around their health, their physical condition, and how well they can perform on their bicycle. Although they are from different nations and have different skills, they understand one another very well. They have the same priorities in their lives; and they have the same goals.

Maybe you’ve guessed where I’m going with this on this World Communion Sunday. Those bicyclists are not all that different from we Christians who come from all over the world. We live in very different places; and we don’t speak the same language. We come from different cultures; and we have very different backgrounds. Even here in the United States, although we may speak the same language, people who were born in New Hampshire, California, and Alabama will have grown up very differently. But we’re all on the same team, and we have the same goal: all of us are trying to follow Jesus Christ the very best that we can.

The reality is, though, that we often don’t get along very well. It is so tempting to believe that our way to be Christians is the only way, especially in this day when we are suspicious of one another, and mistrustful of people who are from other countries. There’s a lot of stereotyping going on, and it’s easy to buy into it. We’ve all heard untruths about foreigners. We’ve heard that Mexicans are lazy; the French are rude; Colombians are drug dealers; Russians are religion-hating Communists; and all immigrants, no matter where they are from, want to come to this country to take our jobs. But these stereotypes only divide us in a time when we need to be united! Mark Twain once said that “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”  And, indeed, the more that I travel, the more that I learn that people are people everywhere. They love their children; they are proud of their accomplishments; and they want to make their lives better.

The Christians that I have met are just like we are, too. They are trying to follow Jesus as best they can in a world that is often hostile. I met families in Russia who had a space set aside in their homes for religious icons, despite the old Communist policy that outlawed Christianity; and many had continued to attend small local churches throughout the Communist era. I met people in Denmark who told stories of caring for the property of their Jewish neighbors during World War II when those neighbors were carted off by the Nazis. They kept that property in pristine shape, because they wanted to be both good neighbors and good Christians. And I visited a church in Scotland that has hosted both Roman Catholic and Reformed worship during its 700-year history, and has witnessed both violence and reconciliation between those two factions of the Christian faith. I have been inspired by all of it! I know that there are good Christians all over the world, because I have met some of them!

Now, you might not be able to travel. Some of us can’t, for physical or financial reasons, or just because traveling may not be appealing. But I encourage you to learn about the people of other countries. There are plenty of TV channels that highlight life in other countries if you can’t go there yourself. You’ll find out how similar we really are, even though we are different in many ways! Whether we realize it or not, we are a global community of faith; and we need to care for each other even as we care for the world around us. “How good and pleasant it is,” says Psalm 133, “when brothers and sisters live together in unity.” On this day when Christians all over the world will celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion, I invite you to pray that one day, the unity for which we yearn will be not just a dream, but a reality.