New Rules

This sermon was delivered at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time, July 8, 2007.

2Kings 5:1-14
Psalm 30
Galatians 6:1-16
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

Rules, I have been thinking a lot about rules lately. I have long joked that according to Genesis, we began with one rule. Don’t eat that. Sure, humanity had chores; we were to tend the garden. We had responsibilities too; worship and be in community with God. But really, there was only one rule, don’t eat that. So, how’d that work out? Gradually, the number of rules increased. From one, we went to ten, the Ten Commandments. But really, in the end, those weren’t enough to work in an increasingly complex society. In Judaism, traditionally there are 613 commandments, the Taryag Mitzvot.

The Taryag Mitzvot are separated into two categories, there are 248 mitzvot aseh, or positive commandments, the things we are called to do. There are also 365 mitzvot lo taaseh, or negative commandments, the things we are called never to do. These numbers have significance in Judaism, 248 corresponds to the number of bones and significant organs in the human body according to Jewish tradition and 365 corresponds to the number of days in the year.[1]

Some of these rules make perfect sense to us today, things like, “Know there is a God,” “Know God is One,” and “Entertain thoughts of no other god except for the One True God.” We’re familiar with these rules from the Old Testament. These are lessons Jesus teaches us in the gospels. Then again, there are others we do not follow. For example, the mitzvot includes the prohibition against eating non-kosher fish. Sorry, but I enjoy catfish and shrimp. Neither is kosher, but both are tasty. In fact, if you brought either of these wrapped with bacon for today’s potluck, then I will make it my purpose in life to make sure you don’t have to worry about leftovers. Again, the pork isn’t kosher, but my mouth is watering anyway.

My point is this; rules have long been a part of religion. Some of them are as old as creation; some of them are as recent as the last meeting of the PC (U.S.A.) General Assembly. Some of them are wise in their time but outdated. For example, catfish and shellfish are bottom feeders eating God knows what from the bottoms of ponds and streams. Undercooked pork can lead to trichinosis. But today, with modern farming and food preparation methods the risks associated with non-kosher foods are minimized.

As for the PC (U.S.A.), the Book of Order contains 425 pages of rules of order and discipline along with the Directory for Worship which tells Presbyterians across the country what we shall do, what we should do, what it is appropriate for us to do, and what we may do.[2] Every other year when the General Assembly meets, additions and subtractions to the book are considered. Last summer in Birmingham was no exception. Next summer in San Jose will be no exception.

Know that when these rules were written, both the mitzvot and the Book of Order, they were based on scripture and formulated by the greatest theological minds of the day. None of these were created with a mind toward being petty or officious or legalistic. They were created as a way of interpreting scripture and the law of God for their given society. The Law isn’t bad, but it has its limitations. Our New Testament readings show us that Jesus has changed and continues to change the rules.

In this part of Luke’s gospel, Jesus sends the seventy ahead of him in pairs to the towns he intends to go himself. He is sending advance teams; they are laying the groundwork and doing reconnaissance work for Jesus and for the kingdom. They are sent with very specific instructions of what they are to do.

It’s kind of like when the circus comes to town. There is always a group that comes a day or two before the show to prepare for the arrival of the main caravan. They do the last minute advertising and pre-show publicity. They scout out laundromats, grocery stores, gas stations and other places that are important for a traveling show. They also staple arrows to telephone poles pointing directions for the caravan to follow to the venue. Jesus sends the seventy to do the advance work and give an indication of what a taste of the kingdom of God is like.

So Jesus sends them with instructions, new rules. The first is easy, so easy I missed it until I saw it in a commentary. Jesus’ first instruction is to pray. When reading chapter ten’s second verse, often it is read as a command to collect the harvest. Yes, the harvest is plentiful and yes, the laborers are few, but that is not the most important part of this command. Jesus commands “ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

It is always tempting to take on the mantle of the “doer,” there is something very American about finding something that needs to be done and doing it. So when reading the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, we scream, “Pick me, Monty!”[3] and take up what needs to be done. But this is not what Jesus calls them to do. Jesus gives a new rule to follow before beginning new endeavors. Jesus says pray, Jesus says, “ask the Lord.”

The next thing Jesus does is send out the seventy. He does so with two pieces of advice, two new rules if you will. He tells them it’s dangerous out there and travel light. As Jesus sends the seventy, he says, “Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.” As Cat Stevens once sang, “Hope you make a lot of nice friends out there/But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware.”[4] Perhaps this is why this piece of advice is coupled with carry no purse, no bag, and no sandals. If the seventy are in danger in the world, it is best they not worry about their stuff.

These instructions also have to do with being dependent upon the Lord for their provisions, and not their own packing skills or wiles. They are told to go and enter a home asking if anyone shares in peace, if so, this is where they are to stay. They are to rely on the Lord for their safety, their lodging, and their sustenance. They aren’t supposed to scope out the town and look for a better offer; they are to stay at the first place that welcomes them. This is the next piece of advice; rely on the peace of the Lord to show you where you are supposed to be.

The following piece comes in two separate places in the reading. Jesus changes the rules; some of the old ones don’t apply any more. In the verse that gives us the advice to travel light, Jesus also tells the seventy to greet no one on the road. Further, when they enter a new town and its people welcome them, they are to eat what is set before them. Neither of these new rules is kosher.

As for greeting people on the road, there is ceremony involved in greeting. When I lived in southeast Colorado it was traditional that when driving down the street everyone waved to everyone. I was told if you didn’t wave to a neighbor when you passed them on the road they wouldn’t talk to you again until after church on Sunday. Because your neighbor snubbed you, everyone at church would know you had snubbed your neighbor. It may seem petty, but it happens everywhere.

Comedian Jeff Foxworthy says that if you allow someone to pass you on the highway and they don’t give you the little “thank you” wave, you should be entitled to ride their tail, make them loose in the back end, and force them into the wall.[5] In a place where greeting someone on the road could end in a ritual taking several hours, Jesus tells his disciples to forego ritual and go.

Of course the command to eat what you are given is difficult for a Jew who keeps a kosher table. The command to cast aside familiar dietary requirements for bacon wrapped shrimp would be very difficult for the seventy to grasp. While Jesus ministry was focused on the Jews, he was traveling through gentile regions too. His recon teams would be traveling into these places first, so they had to be ready for what was ahead of them. So he gives this new rule my father would be proud of, clean your plate.

Jesus’ final piece of advice, his last new rule is to deliver the one message of the imminence of the kingdom of God. He tells the seventy to deliver this one message whether facing acceptance or adversity. He tells them when welcomed into a new community to say this, “the kingdom of God has come near.” Then he tells them what when they are not welcomed into town to say this, “the kingdom of God has come near.” Two completely different circumstances, only one response, “the kingdom of God has come near.”

For those who know the peace of God, this information will be reassuring. This is what we who know the Lord all long to hear and experience. The kingdom of God has come near. For those who reject the peace of God through the disciples, this is an ominous warning. Beware; the kingdom of God has come near.

Two situations, one message; Jesus tells the seventy to deliver the one message of the nearness of the kingdom, and let the chips fall where they may. The seventy are not to call down fire from heaven. James and John were told not to do this in last week’s gospel reading, and the seventy are told not to call down fire this week. The message all humanity needs to hear and learn and respond to is “the kingdom of God has come near.”

So Jesus has given the seventy new rules. Some of these are consistent with the 613 mitzvot, some are not. The Presbyterian Book of Order is not inconsistent with the new rules, though there doesn’t seem to be a specific mention of these rules either.

Earlier I said not only that Jesus changed the rules, but continues to change the rules. This is a dicier proposition. If Jesus is still changing the rules, then what do the new rules look like? I believe Paul’s letter to the Galatians helps us answer this question. Paul tells the church at Galatia to bear one another’s burdens, this way the law of Christ will be fulfilled. He tells the church people who think they are something they are not that they deceive themselves. He tells the church God will not be mocked and they well reap as they sow. This harkens back to the 613 mitzvah. We are reminded not to grow weary in doing what is right. Paul says our lives, our very beings are to be circumcised to Christ, not our bodies to the law. We are to boast in nothing except for the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Darryl Hill was the first African American to play football for the University of Maryland in the early 1960’s. He received a great deal of abuse from fans throughout the South, but he was especially shocked by the shouts and taunts of the crowd at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Wake Forest had deep Baptist ties and its teams were known as the Demon Deacons.

As the pre-game warm-up ended, Hill notices Wake Forest’s captain approaching him. “I want to apologize for the behavior of my fans,” he said to Hill. Then draping his arm over Hill’s shoulder, he began to walk toward the Wake Forest side of the field, where the jeering was at its worst. By the time the two of them reached the middle of the field, the rude screaming had dropped to near silence.[6]

In a place where slavery and all of its horrible degradations found sanctification in scripture, new rules ended this inhuman practice. In a time and place where abuse of another was justified because of skin color, one man in a football uniform made a step toward changing things by embracing who his fans would not. The old rules people lived by were and continue to be replaced by new rules pointing to new life in Jesus.

Oh, as a professional football player this Wake Forest man would be the first white man to be paired with a black roommate in the National Football League. While the “Kansas Comet” Gale Sayers made a bigger splash in the NFL, it was his roommate who walked Darryl Hill to the Wake side of the field. It is this man who Sayers wrote about him in his book “I Am Third.” This man’s name is Brian Piccolo. You might remember the NFL part of this story from the 70’s TV movie, “Brian’s Song.” Like Paul Harvey would say, “Now you know the rest of the story.”[7]

Remember that the Lord is the one who writes the story, and continues to write the story. And be alert, because sometimes, sometimes he changes the rules. And when rules change we need to be vigilant discerning whether the new rules come from God. When rules point to ways we present ourselves, Jesus reminds us this is nothing. How we present ourselves to him is everything. This is the new rule, the rule of love and obedience toward Jesus Christ our Lord through the cross. We need to be sure any new rule reflects the one truth we know for sure, the kingdom of God has come near.

[1] 613 Mitzvot, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_Mitzvot, accessed July 2, 2007.
[2] The Office of the General Assembly, the PC (U.S.A.), The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., Part III, Book of Order, 2005-2007, Preface. Louisville, KY: Office of the General Assembly, 2005, page 4.
[3] Monty Hall, a “Let’s Make A Deal” reference
[4] Stevens, Cat, “Wild World.” Off of “Tea for the Tillerman.” 1970.
[5] Foxworthy, Jeff, et. al. “Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again.” Paramount Pictures, 2004.
[6] Animating Illustration from Homiletics Online, http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/printer_friendly_installment.asp?installment_id=9300004, accessed June 10, 2007.
[7] Paul Harvey ends his human interest stories with the tag line, “…and now you know the rest of the story.”