No Pigeonholing

No Pigeonholing

                                                            

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas

February 28, 2016; 3 Epiphany, Year C

Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(Luke 13:1-9) At that very time there were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them--do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."

Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, 'See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?' He replied, 'Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"

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At a time when it was illegal in Egypt to raise a male Hebrew child, there was a baby born to a Hebrew mother. In desperation she placed the child into a handmade basket and floated it into the reeds on the bank of the river. A princess found the child and raised him as a prince in the Pharaoh's palace, giving him the Egyptian name Moses.

One day, after he had grown up, Moses saw an Egyptian boss beating a Hebrew worker. Moses looked around and saw that they were alone. He killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand. The next day he learned that his act wasn't a secret, so he fled from Egypt into Midian, in the northwest desert of today's Saudi Arabia. There he married, had children, and worked for his father-in-law.

Time passed. One day, while keeping his father-in-law's flocks, Moses stopped to gaze upon a bush that appeared to be on fire, yet not consumed. That encounter with the mystery of God convinced him that God sees our misery; God sees all human misery; that God hears the cry of the oppressed; God hears the cry of all who suffer. And God acts.

So the murderer accepted God's call through an encounter with a burning bush. Moses returned to Egypt, on fire yet not consumed. His was a call from an ineffable God, with an untranslatable Name: I am who I am. I will be who I will be. I am becoming who I will become. I am. The God of Moses, who is utterly mysterious and free. No one can tame or pigeonhole this God.

But subsequent generations have tried to tame this God. One of the most enduring attempts to pigeonhole and tame God is the theological notion that God rewards the good and punishes the wicked.  There is the further implication —that those who suffer have somehow brought on their misery and deserve their fate. That doctrine is central to many of the biblical books: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, many of the Psalms, and especially Proverbs.

In contrast, the biblical books of Job and Ecclesiastes speak in stark protest to the simplistic notion that if you do good, you will be rewarded, and if you do bad, you will be punished. Job and Ecclesiastes challenged the simplistic notion that the successful deserve their success and those who suffer somehow have brought on their fate.

In today's Gospel reading we see Jesus standing firmly in the camp with Job and Ecclesiastes. What about the Galileans whom Pilate executed so their blood mingled with their offerings of sacrifice in the Temple? What about the eighteen who were crushed when the tower fell on them? The Bible says they must have done something to deserve their fate, right? "No!" cries Jesus. "But unless you repent…" – change your mind, change your opinions, change the way you are thinking!

Jesus refused to victimize the victims.

It has been an enlightening experience to become engaged in our prison ministry and to hear the stories of many of the women there. We've learned about what happens to the human brain and body when we experience early childhood trauma. There are so many children born into communities where their parents have no access to fresh fruits and vegetables because the only stores are convenience markets that serve mostly junk food. Places with substandard housing and schools, void of beautiful parks and trails, haunted by violence, crime and drugs. Where children are likely to experience abuse—physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual and sexual abuse—during the vulnerable time when their brains and bodies are developing. And when these children of ours fail to thrive, when they see drug dealing or demeaning sexual transactions as their only path to security, when they act violently as the only way they know to solve problems, we tend to blame them. Like the Gospel conversation we say, "they are worse offenders than all the others living in the city," and we send them to prison.

Jesus answers the problem with a parable about a fig tree. Give the tree the same chance as the other trees in the garden. Dig a trench around it and put rich manure on it. Invest in the children's communities—the infrastructure and public schools; access to healthy food and affordable health care and good jobs. Listen to their cries and facilitate their exodus from bondage into freedom.

People want to do their best. It is innate in us. Every human being is made in the image and likeness of God and the divine Spirit in us energizes us to try our best. I am convinced that nearly every person is doing the best they can, given the limitations of their history and experiences, their capacities and resources. If we could understand fully the heart and mind of others, I think it would change the way we think of them and open our hearts to compassion.

Some time ago I visited with an older man living in an extended family arrangement of three generations. He was frustrated with his son-in-law, who was unemployed and spent most of his time in front of video screens. The son-in-law often yelled at the kids, which angered my friend. But the younger adolescent son seemed particularly fond of his dad and the older son, now at adulthood, wouldn't think of leaving home because he felt nurtured there. My friend said of his son-in-law, "He's worthless. He contributes nothing and only mooches on the rest of us. I don't like him, and he doesn't like me. For the most part, we just don't speak." But whenever my friend would bring up her husband's deficiencies to his daughter, she always cut off the conversation immediately. "If he goes, I go."

On an intuition, I asked my friend what he knew about his son-in-law's childhood. Horrible, he said. The boy's mother was injured during her birth and was never normal. His father left when he was about five, and there was a string of unhealthy men in and out of the home thereafter. Drugs, sex, violence, noise. The boy was abused also. Neglect was relief. That's how he was raised.

So, I suggested, look what he has accomplished. He is a faithful and loved husband. No drugs. Other than the occasional raised voice, no violence—no raised fist. No abuse. When compared with what he learned—how he was taught to be a man, taught to be in a family—he has made an exponential jump. Yes, in many ways he's not a good father/husband/son-in-law, but what evolutionary progress he has achieved from what he inherited.

So I suggested to my friend, whenever he starts to bug you, think of that little boy. You can empathize with that little boy growing up in a chaotic, abusive home. If you can empathize with the child, maybe you can let the man off the hook. And if you can let him off the hook, you will free yourself from the choking resentments and angers that diminish your life.

Jesus, what about the worthless man who won't work and sits in front of a screen all day? Do you think he is a worse offender than the others? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, change your opinions, change the way you are thinking… 

It's the kind of direction you get from a mysterious, free God who will not be pigeonholed.

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The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate

God's infinite grace, acceptance and love.

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