His Vision, Our Mission

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday July 29, 2012, the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

2 Samuel 11:1-15

Psalm 14

Ephesians 3:14-21

John 6:1-21

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

There is something that scripture does that is both disturbing and reassuring; it shows the heroes of the faith, the people of God, with all of their warts. Today’s Old Testament reading is the prototype. David is known as a man after God’s own heart. The second and one of the greatest kings of Judah, he is the recipient of the Davidic Covenant, God’s promise that David will always have a descendant to reign on the throne of Judah.

Today, we learn of David’s unsavory side. We read that even David can be led by his urges and do something so deplorable that he is willing to do things even more horrible to cover it up. Lies and murder, adultery or sexual assault—David’s acts without apology. This is the great King David. This is the King of Judah.

In Second Samuel, a book that records the works of the King of Judah, this is the sort of thing that would hardly be recorded to glorify the king. This would be like President Nixon writing about Watergate or President Clinton writing about Monica Lewinsky for the history books. It is hardly likely, yet this is what scripture does with all of its heroes. Scripture points to the warts and scars of the heroes of the faith. In scripture we read about David and Bathsheba. In scripture we read about Paul persecuting the church. In scripture we read about Peter’s denial of Christ in the wee hours of the day of Christ’s crucifixion.

In a letter to Mandell Creighton dated April 5, 1887, Lord Acton wrote, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”[1] This certainly applies to David in this reading. There are many places where he broke from his responsibilities to the kingdom and the people in this passage. 

We learn that it is springtime, the time of year when the Kings lead their armies into battle. Then we learn that David stays in the splendor of his great palace while Joab wages the war in Rabbah. Considering what is written in this story, I imagine it’s a very hot day in the city of David. It’s so hot, that the city is living on the roofs of their homes. This wasn’t uncommon, in fact the rooftops served as an extra room, a patio. Can’t you just see this, David laying out on some sort of 11^th Century BC chaise lounge, with some sort of 11^th Century BC deck umbrella covering him from the setting sun, while the evening breeze washes over him? It’s positively decadent. 

David awakens and takes a stroll on the rooftop where he sees a beautiful young woman bathing herself on a distant rooftop. Like a voyeur with the world at his beck and call, he asks someone to find out about her. A trusted advisor answers, “Isn’t that Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” David really doesn’t care who she is, or whose daughter or wife she is, he is smitten. And with absolute power, he can do something about being smitten. 

Bathsheba is called to the palace and the royal bed chamber. If we are to take scripture at its word, in a minimalist sort of way, she spends one night before leaving. If we are to consider human nature and the biology of the human body, she spends closer to two weeks in the bed chamber of King David. Bathsheba stays long enough in the palace to be with David until she becomes pregnant.

In this piece David is written as a lothario taking this war off to stay at home and Bathsheba is faceless. In fact, this story is so vague that it is silent about whether she is a willing partner in adultery or if she is coerced into this relationship by the king. In the meantime, Uriah risks his life on behalf of David and the kingdom. 

Uriah—here’s a man with integrity. The Hittites were a race of warriors, so Uriah is a mercenary. As with any mercenary, he is in the war for the money. But his concern is not with his purse alone. Uriah is a god fearing man; his name even tells the world “the Lord,” Yah, “is my light.” David, the chosen one of the Lord is Uriah’s earthly king and Uriah serves the Lord and David. Uriah is the “flame of the Lord” in David’s kingdom.

Well, David is in a bit of a pickle. The wife of the “flame of the Lord” is pregnant and the husband Uriah cannot be the father of the child. Unless David acts swiftly, this isn’t going to look good on his performance review. So David calls Uriah back to Jerusalem, ostensibly to hear about the battle, but in reality, he does this to cover his shameful actions. Uriah doesn’t bite.

David invites Uriah to go home and spend some time with the family; to go home and wash his feet. Some time ago, the BBC and ABC had a television show called “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” In this show, the cast would improvise scenes around various games and settings. One game was called, “If You Know What I Mean.” The object of this game was to take ordinary sounding phrases and make them sound risqué by tacking on the phrase “If you know what I mean.” So when David invited Uriah to go home and wash his feet, David didn’t really mean go wash his feet… “If you know what I mean.”

But Uriah would have none of this; instead Uriah stays with the slaves. This thwarted David’s plans, David’s cover-up. Between Levitical code and personal faithfulness to King David, the battle, and his comrades in arms, Uriah refuses to go home and partake in the pleasures of home while the battle rages. Uriah stays with the slaves and other servants of David, faithful to all. 

Uriah explains it this way in verse eleven, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

Uriah swears his fidelity to the kingship of David, and David tries to get Uriah drunk so he would go home and wash his feet, if you know what I mean. Uriah remains faithful. Finally, David writes an order to Joab that seals Uriah’s fate. Uriah is so faithful that he delivers his own death sentence. A fate which is executed in verse 17, Uriah is killed in battle with many other troops. Uriah is faithful to the law, to the custom, to his King, and to the Lord. David is faithful to his urges and his desire not to get caught.

I began by talking about the heroes of the faith and their warts. And surely, these heroes are just as human and prone to sin as any other human being. The difference is while they may be the heroes of the faith; they are not the heroes of scripture. The hero of scripture is not just any human being. The hero of scripture is and always is the Lord, the triune God.

As promised last week, today we also heard the stories of the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on the water. Admittedly we are reading it from John’s gospel, not from Mark’s. That may seem a bit odd but that’s the way the lectionary gives it to us. Going from one gospel to the other gives us some differences, the biggest is the crowd wanting to take Jesus and make him king in John’s gospel. Other than that, there are no important differences between the stories that surround these readings other than their placement within Jesus’ ministry.

To be honest, for our purposes this morning, I don’t know how much it matters. In both there was more to come in the ministry of the Lord and that may be the point. Regardless of the rendering or placement, both stories show us that God is faithful. God’s plenty and abundance overcomes creation and feeds 5,000 men, not to mention any number of women and children, at the Sea of Galilee. God’s power over creation so complete that over what we consider dangerous circumstances, Jesus walks on the water. In danger and fear, God in Christ is present.

There is another story of the presence of God, this one in the dire circumstances of the German concentration camp Auschwitz. It is from the book “Night” by Elie Wiesel. During the hanging of a young boy, which the camp is forced to watch, the main character hears someone ask: “Where is God?” Where is God, indeed? Not heavy enough for the weight of his body to break his neck, the boy dies of asphyxiation, slowly and in agony. Along with the other prisoners, Wiesel files past him, sees his tongue still pink and his eyes clear, and weeps. Here, the story asks that question again:

Behind me, I heard the same man asking: Where is God now?

And I heard a voice within me answer him: ... Here He is—He is hanging here on this gallows.[2]

Where was God in the midst of pain, suffering and despair? Where is God in the cold, and hunger, and the tortured body of boy hanging on a gallows at Auschwitz? God is there, God is hanging on the gallows too.

God’s love is always with us and this isn’t to say that because God is present there will be no pain. In spite of the pain and because of the pain people inflict upon one another, God is present and God suffers as we suffer. God rejoices as we rejoice. And this love is greater than we can ever truly know or understand. 

In our Old Testament reading, David is unfaithful to the nation by staying home in the springtime when the Kings went to war. David is unfaithful to the vows of others when he summons Bathsheba. David is unfaithful to Joab when he takes a valued soldier from the lines. David is unfaithful to the law when he connives a cover up to hide his infidelities. Finally he is unfaithful to creation when he has Uriah, the flame of God, snuffed out. 

In our Old Testament reading, Uriah is faithful to the Lord and to the battle. Uriah is faithful to his King and to his wife. Uriah is faithful to his commander and his comrades in arms. 

It is shameful to see David benefit under these circumstances and Uriah die betrayed by the ones he loves, but this is the way of people, not the way of the Lord. God shows the highest faithfulness to David in keeping the covenant. God shows the highest faithfulness to Uriah by suffering alongside him during his darkest hour. God is faithful to Bathsheba by giving her a son, Solomon, who will become the wisest of all of the Kings of Judah. God is ever faithful to the nation fulfilling the Davidic covenant in the chosen one, Jesus the Messiah. 

God is faithful to us that he suffered death, death on the cross, that we may have eternal life. I do not pretend to understand this. Instead, I rejoice in the one whose power is at work within us. The warts of the people are outrageous, and God is faithful. In a world that is filled with pain and strife, God is faithful.

In a world where we abandon one another like David does Uriah, God does not abandon us. God is faithful. In a world where we come with blemishes, the Lord uses us as we are and by the power of his Holy Spirit makes us more than who we ever thought we could be. As John writes, Jesus knows what he will do, and as he did with his disciples on that hillside he will use us to do it.

God shares our suffering and God shares our joy. This is what makes God the hero of scripture instead of any person. God is eternal, God’s love is abundant, and God chooses to share this abundant life with us. God makes this choice not because we deserve it, but because God wishes to share this gift of grace with us.

Because of this, we are called to do what the people in John’s gospel did not do. John writes the people came, but they came on their own. We are not only to come, but we are to bring our neighbors with us. We are to share God’s gift with the world. Not because anyone deserves it, but because as the 5,000 were fed, there is plenty and we are called to take and eat. Taste and see that the Lord is good—and faithful. That is his vision. This is our mission.

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[1] Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations Requested from the Congressional Research Service. Washington D.C.: Library of Congress, 1989; Bartleby.com, 2003. www.bartleby.com/73/.  July 30, 2006.

[2] Wiesel, Ellie, “Night.” New York: Hill & Wang, 1960 (page notation from Bantam Paperbacks edition 1982, pages 61-62).

Sabbath Rest

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday July 22, 2012, the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time.



2 Samuel 7:1-14a

Psalm 89:20-37

Ephesians 2:11-22

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

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

My friends, there is an epidemic of massive proportions raging out of control on the West Coast. To a lesser degree it is seen in the eastern US, particularly around the island of Manhattan. It is rarely found in the states in between, but this illness threatens to spread like wildfire across our great land. If you’ve gone to a concert or see a movie you might have seen the ravages of this disease. This ailment has a name, my friends, Celebrity Exhaustion.

A writer for Glamour Magazine[1] reports one of the earliest cases of this most despicable illness was reported almost exactly eleven years ago when Mariah Carey’s exhaustion kept her from appearing on MTV’s TRL with Carson Daly. Glamour reported, “the songbird checked into a hospital for treatment of ‘extreme exhaustion’.” To that her rep added: “She just hasn't been herself for a little while, and it just caught up with her.” Oh, the tragedy.

More recently, Demi Moore has suffered from this infirmity. Her rep issued a statement saying that “because of the stresses in her life right now, Demi has chosen to seek professional assistance to treat her exhaustion and improve her overall health.” [2]

Others who have suffered from exhaustion over the past ten years include Hollywood young lions like Tracy Morgan, Colin Ferrell, and Dave Chappelle. The young Hollywood lionesses with extreme exhaustion include Selena Gomez and Ashlee Simpson. The article has an entire paragraph devoted to Lindsay Lohan and her exhaustion hospitalizations.

It’s true, I’m making fun of celebrities who are tired. Please know that I am not making fun of people whose fatigue is a symptom or result of chronic immune diseases. With diseases like fibromyalgia and Crohn’s disease, exhaustive fatigue is a major symptom. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients are also victims of a disease, not an attitude. I certainly won’t make fun of people who are receiving chemotherapy which devastates the body. Lyme disease is a tic borne illness that causes among other things fatigue. Many people suffer, truly suffer from these diseases and need more than “perk up!” as a treatment plan.

I will also refrain from making fun of two women from the Glamour article whose exhaustion causing lifestyles led to their deaths, Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston were both mentioned in the article. Mocking the dead should never be spoken anywhere, especially in this pulpit. Addiction is itself a terrible destructive disease.

While substance abuse and addiction may be a cause of some of these exhaustions, my grandmother (who would be 106 years old and knew nothing of addiction as a disease) would suggest these folks stop burning the candle at both ends.

The apostles were sent out in pairs with the authority of the Lord to do great things in God’s Holy Name. In time, they returned and gathered around Jesus. They shared stories about all they had done and all they had taught. This must have been glorious. It’s exactly like returning from a mission trip and sharing what happened during a minute for mission and sharing a meal. There were halleluiahs all around.

Then, the people came, oh, the people came. Jesus knew that the apostles have had a busy time of late, doing work with his authority and all. Jesus knew that they had been burning the candle at both ends recently and they needed time. They needed a Sabbath. So they went to a solitary place by themselves.

From here I’m tempted to say that the apostles and we too need a rest from the work of the week. We need a rest so we can be rejuvenated for the week to come. Let’s face it, there’s work to be done in the world. In our own city there is poverty and crime. The local races for judge and senate include accusations that if true are horrible. If you listen to our national political discourse we have a choice of being led by commie scum or authoritarian fascists. We live in such a sin-sick world that someone actually planned and executed an attack on a movie theater.

This is a sin sick world and it is our vocation as the Body of Christ to reflect the light and life of God in the world. So we had better get our rest and eat our Wheaties because it’s gonna take blessed work to accomplish the gracious work we have received. There’s one problem with this attitude though, and it’s a pretty big problem. It’s not biblical, it’s Greek. It’s an opinion Aristotle would have had,[3] not the Lord God or Jesus the Christ. To say we need relaxation because we cannot work continuously is true, but that is not why the Sabbath was created.

Now you may find that an interesting phrase all by itself, the Sabbath was created. Yet it is true. Genesis 2 reminds us that after the sixth day “the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.” But on the seventh day, we are told God did three things: God rested, blessed, and hallowed the seventh day.[4] Hear this joyous truth, the first thing God called holy is time. While creation is good, only the Sabbath is holy.

Later, in the Sinai, God told the people of Abraham that they would be a holy people unto the Lord. Only after that Golden Calf incident did God tell the people to create the tabernacle, a holy place. No matter what we might think about the importance of holy ground, the order in which God declared holiness on earth was time then a people then a place. Time was hallowed by God, space was consecrated by Moses.

This means something very special to the ancient Jews and to us too; as God rested, blessed, and hallowed the seventh day, so too are we to rest, bless, and hallow the Sabbath day. We are to celebrate what God created on that seventh day, “tranquility, serenity, peace and repose.”[5] We are to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

Rabbi Abraham Heschel teaches the meaning of the Sabbath is to “celebrate time rather than space. Six days we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time.”  You see, God wants us to “share what is eternal in time.” God wants us to “turn from the result of creation to the mystery of creation; from a world of creation to the creation of the world.”[6]

So for us, this is more than a day off. The Rabbi[7] reminds us “Labor is a craft, but perfect rest is an art.” There is a discipline to celebrating the Sabbath lest it become a pit of sloth. We are to celebrate Sabbath. We are to consecrate Sabbath. We are to share the Sabbath. We are to welcome the Sabbath as we would welcome a distinguished visitor. We are called to spend the Sabbath in “charm, grace, peace, and great love.”[8]

Of course, as our Lord and his apostles went out for their Sabbath, they were followed by many people. When they landed, the people were there ahead of them. While we don’t read the next story until next week, it is the “Feeding of the 5,000,”[9] it’s hardly a time for the Lord and his apostles to kick off their sandals and spend some quality time together.

In doing research on this passage, one of the commentaries I read had this possible preaching theme:  “Jesus demonstrates a healthy balance between having boundaries (the need for rest) and being a sacrificial blessing (caring for the crowd).”[10]

My first thought about this was, “Oh, really?”  When I read this passage I didn’t think any such thing.  I agree that Jesus demonstrates the need to keep a healthy balance, but honestly, I thought he failed in actually getting there.  It’s like a long fly ball being curled foul by the wind into the stands.  The long drive looks great and has plenty of distance, but other forces take over and when the ball lands it’s a strike against the batter.

Despite the fact that in our reading the apostles don’t really get to celebrate it, they know and we know too that Sabbath is vital to life.  In the second chapter of Mark Jesus tells the apostles, the disciples, the scribes and the Pharisees that the Sabbath was made for humanity, not humanity for the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is a day of rest, as God took rest from the first six days of creation in Genesis 1, yet it is so much more. The Sabbath is a time to celebrate and be made holy. It is a time to make time itself holy again. It’s a time to share not creation but life with God and with one another.

Yes, Aristotle’s world, a world of toil will return Monday morning, but more importantly, today we are called to celebrate the holy. It is a time to share God’s peace with one another and with all creation. It is a time to remember that creation is good, but time is holy. It is our time not to take our Sabbath rest at the lake, but in the outstretched arms of our loving Lord.

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[1] “From Demi Moore to Mariah Carey, 10 Celebrities Who Played the Exhaustion Card, http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/blogs/obsessed/2012/01/from-demi-moore-to-mariah-care.html, retrieved July 19, 2012

[2] Ibid

[3] Heschel, Abraham Joshua, “The Sabbath.” New York: Farrrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1951, page 14.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid., page 22

[6] All quotes Ibid., page 10, italics in original text.

[7] Ibid., page 14

[8] Ibid., page 29

[9] Mark 6:35-44

[10] “G Force,” HomileticsOnline.com.  http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93040467, retrieved July 14, 2009

When Worlds Collide...

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday July 15, 2012, the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12-19

Psalm 24

Ephesians 1:3-14

Mark 6:14-29

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

A few years ago, I preached a sermon called “Great Generosity”[1] In it; I highlighted the philanthropy of one man at the University where he worked. I wrote that since 1998 he and his wife had given, “more than $4 million to the university. Their generosity funds scholarships, faculty positions, construction of an interfaith spiritual center and a sports hall of fame.”

This man was not only outstanding in his giving, but he was outstanding in his work. When I preached that sermon three years ago his work was record breaking, records that have become insurmountable since. In addition, this man’s program graduated 78% of its participants. Take it from someone who used to study graduation numbers for a living, that’s huge.

A year ago, all of that came crashing down. Scandal came to town and when it did, it came with a fury. Ultimately, the scandal and lung cancer took this generous giver to the grave. This is a part of the obituary I wrote on my blog about him and the scandal:

Yes, [he] did what he was supposed to do. No, he did not do enough--but he trusted that those who he told would do what they were supposed to do. That is why several of those folks are under criminal indictment.

But before anyone says what [he] did was bad or evil, remember that none of us are truly good enough to cast the first stone, especially at someone whose position, God willing, we will never share.[2]

If you haven’t figured it out, the subject of my opening illustration from “Great Generosity” and the subject of this obituary was former Penn State Football Coach Joe Paterno. What started to crash last year took a big turn toward crash and burn last week when former FBI Director Louis Freeh released his report on what had happened at Penn State and in the Football Program. Freeh’s words are the seed of horror movies.

To make a long story short, Freeh reported that my words “Yes, [he] did what he was supposed to do” are plain, flat wrong. Coach Paterno knew more than he told, covered up what he could, and enabled a sexual predator to operate in Happy Valley. Fame and money and power and prestige came together in one horrible decision that laid a path of devastation that extended years beyond when it should have.

The cover up had one purpose, to maintain the status of Penn State Football. What began with one single decision soon became a massive, systematic cover up. Fear ruled the day, not truth. Fear of losing all they had built. When these worlds collided, higher education, college football, money—tons of money, fame, and power that moves an entire state, not just its flagship university; when these worlds collided, children were hurt. Children were hurt. When the truth came to light, as it always does, all was lost. The only thing left is to see what and how much will get swept away in the torrent to follow.

So let’s meet the Herod family, shall we. Herod the Great was the patriarch of a family that ruled the Holy Land for over 150 years. Rome even gave Herod the title of King of the Jews. A title like this was a rarity in the Roman Empire which guided itself by absolute control. To name another king within the empire was risky to Rome, but Herod the Great earned the title King Herod.

Among the four of his sons who came to rule a quarter of the Herodian holdings were Herod-Philip and Herod Antipas. Antipas is (perhaps jokingly) called “King Herod” in this passage. Philip had a wife named Herodias and they had a daughter named Salome. (Other versions call her Herodias too, but for our purposes, that’s neither here not there.) Not long after Philip and Herodias divorced she married Antipas. This divorce is the reason John the Baptist said, “It is not legal for you to have your brother’s wife.”

This is where we get to see the ways family dynamics twist. Herodias knew what would become of her as a single mother. As a single mother she could have very quickly gone from being a princess in the palace to a beggar on the street. She might have been sent out with no standing in the community and no sons to take care of her. If she had not wed Antipas her fate would have been somewhere between a rock and a hard place. If John can convince Herod to repent of his illegal marriage, Herodias could well be put on the street. She was not going to let that happen. So, something’s gotta happen to make sure it doesn’t.

This is root of the grudge Herodias nursed against John. This is why she wanted to kill him. It’s only her husband’s fear and protection of John that stayed this execution. Family dynamics don’t get more precarious for a woman who could have been put out of her home.

We all know the scene that follows; Herod throws himself a birthday party. He throws a great banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. Like leaders do today, Herod throws this party to curry favor and solidify power. He wasn’t renowned as a great leader. He was known as a weakling among the Tetrarchs. This party was a time to show his power, wealth, might, and prestige among those who might overthrow him if the opportunity arose.

Let’s face it; Herod’s birthday party could have been an inspiration for Sue Ellen’s fundraiser on the premier of the new version of “Dallas.” Like in “Dallas” one moment of weakness, one note of indecision and everything you have worked so hard to have and hold would be gone, taken by those who kowtow to you. There isn’t anyone who knows the story of J.R., Bobby, and Sue Ellen that doesn’t know every word is a weapon, every glare a threat.

Herod’s party was no different. Herod was playing a game and he knew it. He was playing a game where fame, wealth, power, and prestige were on the line; a game where with one slip all was lost. He slipped.

In his grandiosity and pomposity he offers his daughter anything, up to half his wealth. You better bet when you get that kind of offer you had better ask mom what she thinks. On her mother’s prompting, Salome requests John’s head on a platter.

Here’s a question, when Herod made his offer, did he ever imagine this would be the request? A wise man, a man who considers all the angles, a man who knows all the moves—this man expects the request. Herod doesn’t expect it. When Salome makes the request Herod is between a rock and a hard place.

He couldn’t turn down his daughter. Her mother would have been livid and when Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. This unhappiness comes with a layer of home grown political intrigue given that Herodias is a grand daughter of Herod the Great. That’s right; Herodias married her uncles and if Antipas did not come through the other Tetrarchs, who were also her uncles, would have had a hey-day.

If he had shown himself weak in front of his high officials, and military commanders, and the leading men of Galilee then those alliances, the ones he had been cultivating, would have dissolved before his eyes.

There is one more place where Herod was stuck, his relationship with John the Baptist. It’s difficult to get a real handle on their relationship; John indicted Herod for his crimes yet Herod liked to listen to John. John puzzled Herod.

I think I get it, at least a little. You don’t have to agree with someone to have a relationship. As for me, I need people who think differently than I do in my life. If I only keep company with people like me, life would be boring. I need people who think differently, otherwise what am I going to learn?

Maybe this is the sort of relationship Herod had with John. Herod was a Jew, at least technically. Herod would come to listen like any good student at the feet of a Rabbi. Of course, Herod kept this Rabbi locked up in a palace prison. Maybe Herod liked this Rabbi for the challenge he presented. In truth, in the end, we will never know the how’s or why’s, but we do know this, Herod liked to listen to John.

This became the third thorn in Herod’s side along with his wife and his company. To keep his place in his kingdom and in his family he would have to execute the one he liked to hear. When worlds collide, Herod sacrifices John so that the rest of his world doesn’t crumble around him.

This is where we go back to the beginning of our reading. Some were saying John had been raised from the dead. We know Herod’s reaction is that he believes John, the man he beheaded, has been raised from the dead.

I’ve wondered how Herod faced this news. I always thought it was with dread. “Oh no, the guy I killed is back, this can’t be good.” Another reaction I heard this week was that he heard the news with guilt, “Oh no, who did I kill that he has returned?” A third opinion from something I read offered the strangest reading, hope. Herod might have hoped “There is again a chance for me to have a relationship with this John who I have killed.”

Hope is the most biblical. Optimism is based on what we can do; hope is based on what God has already done. In new life there is hope and in hope there is new life. Maybe it’s not such a stretch after all.

The problem faced by Coach Paterno and King Herod Antipas is leadership. They both let something less important get in the way of what’s really important. For Joe Pa it was wins and prestige and the “good” that could be done with him in charge. (And anyone who doesn’t think Coach Paterno ran Penn State needs to read the Freeh Report.) These goals were all met at the cost of the innocence. Herod kept his place, but at the expense of the life of the one righteous man.

Both kept their positions after their transgressions, but today we know Herod because he executed John and asked Jesus “What is truth?” As for what Coach Paterno will eventually be known for, that is left to a history written in the future.

These questions extend to leadership in the church. The Rev. Dr. Michael Jinkins, President of Louisville Seminary cites the three essential tenants of leadership: clarity, non-anxious presence, and the will to lead even in the face of resistance and sabotage.[3] Neither of these men truly showed these qualities.

As for Paterno, he never seemed to lead in the face of resistance and sabotage. In fact, the Freeh report cited Paterno as a feared leader, a boss that could eliminate any challenge with the boot with the warning “you’ll never work in this business again.” There were janitors who feared the reach of Joe Pa’s iron glove.

As for Herod, I don’t see much non-anxious presence. His flamboyance is what started him down the road to the death of the Baptist. As for resistance and sabotage, we only have to look to the dinner for how that worked out. Herod buckled to the practical over the righteous.

Neither of them had a clarity that was of any value; power, prestige, money, you know the rest. They were both ultimately tied to the sizzle instead of the steak.

Scott Van Pelt, a broadcaster on ESPN said on the radio that maybe Coach Paterno was a good man who made one very bad mistake. As soon as the cover up began he was married to it forever. So it was, and as the old saying goes, “forever is a long, long time.” I would love to believe that. If that were so then what I said about Joe Pa in my blog was written out of one moment of blindness, not a pattern of allowing abuse. I’d love to believe it, but I can’t, not today.

Herod was weak, but he did have one hope, one of redemption. He hoped he could have his time with the Baptist again. He hoped for the good ol’ days. Of course, we know how that ends. Herod has to ask “what is truth?”

What we have is clarity; Jesus is the way and the truth. What we need is a greater clarity, what do we do with this wonderful redemption we have been given. Thank God in Christ’s love by the power of the Holy Spirit that we are afforded the chance to work that one out.

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[1] “Great Generosity,” http://timelovesahero.blogspot.com/2009/09/great-generosity.html

[2] “Adios, Joe Pa,” http://fatmaninthebathtub02.blogspot.com/2012/01/adios-joe-pa.html. The [bracketed text] is not an effort to protect Coach Paterno’s name, it is an effort to add suspense before the final reveal.

[3] Jinkins, Michael, “Transformational Leadership: Church Leadership and the Way of the Cross.” Edinburgh: St. Andrew’s Press, 2002, page 42

Buddy System

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday July 8, 2012, the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Podcast of "Buddy System" (MP3)

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10

Psalm 48

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

Mark 6:1-13

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

The last time I was in this chancel, at this pulpit, I told you all how good it was to be back again. Well, again, it’s good to be back again. This time we covered a little over 2,200 miles in six days, traveling 600 on the final day of the trip. It was hot, it was humid, it was long; but it could have been so much worse.

We were cutoff only once by a vacation home on wheels. I couldn’t count the number of speed checks we went through especially in Ohio. There were dozens of wrecks none of which involved us. Marie needed to get off the road about 20 miles north of Nashville and there we found out about a very bad accident that had closed the highway. Only because we pulled over did we take an alternate route and pay just $3.05 per gallon for gasoline. So yes, we were trapped in one interstate delay that took us 90 minutes to move 10 miles, but only one. I even hit a fresh semi-truck tire that didn’t destroy the undercarriage of the Xterra. All in all, we were blessed, it could have been much worse.

I mention this because worse almost happened last night in Longview. Somebody decided to pass between us and another vehicle when we were not a car length apart. So there I am; slamming on the breaks, weaving quickly into the left turn lane, and tossing Marie from side to side. We were safe, but it made me think about our trip again. It made me think about high school when I took driver’s education.

We were taught that when we drove, we should work toward one goal, drive so no one else has to adjust to my driving. Make it so no one has to swerve or slam on the breaks or make WARP speed because of my driving. This is the opposite of aggressive driving, driving like you are the only one on the road. Aggressive drivers drive like everybody better adjust. I was taught was to drive so nobody has to adjust.

I love the concept of defensive driving. My driving teacher taught us to drive like everyone else on the road is an idiot. Drive like nobody’s going to signal and if they do it’s because the signal has been on since the car left the factory. Drive like the person behind you doing 90 is going to cross four lanes of traffic to take the exit—barely making it. Drive like you’re on defense because you don’t know who’s drunk or stoned or on other drugs or smoking incense purchased from a convenience store. You know, the kind you find right next to the pipe cleaners.

What’s good about driving defensively is that you can’t overestimate the skill of the people on the road with you. You just can’t, so drive like everyone else is an idiot. The problem with this though is that you drive like you’re all alone in this world, you’re the only person in a world of zombies behind the wheel of a car. Living like we’re all alone is no way to live.

Don’t get me wrong, defensive driving is smart, but acting like everybody’s an idiot is an awful way to live.

I have heard people say that all they need in this world is “Me and Jesus.” That’s it, nothing else. Friends, we need to remember this, if we say we need only “Me and Jesus,” if we say that we don’t need anybody else in this world. If we say we are better off without other people then we do not know God’s truth.

Two weeks ago I began at the very beginning, Genesis 1. Today, I want to share something from the next chapter:

Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones

    and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called ‘woman,’

    for she was taken out of man. ”[1]

In Genesis it was clear to the Lord God that it is not good for us to be alone. When it becomes even more clear that beasts wild and domestic are not enough, the Lord God creates a suitable helper.

From the beginning, the Lord God understood that people were better when they lived in community than when living alone. The Lord God knows that the old “Me and Jesus” is not enough, we all need a suitable helper. We all need someone at our side. The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”[2] A suitable helper is vital to make our lives complete.

Jesus knew how important a companion was. When Jesus sent out the twelve, he did not send them out on their own; he sent them out in pairs. He sent them out two by two. He sent them out and gave them authority over evil spirits. They took nothing but their staffs, sandals, and the clothes on their backs. No extra tunic, no extra bread, nor extra cash. They were traveling light; all they had was their clothes and the Christ’s authority.

They went out with his authority, and frankly it seems pretty logical to think we need nothing more than that. What do we need beside the authority of Christ? The answer to that question is we need a companion. The Lord God found that we humans needed companions since the first human was created. Jesus knew this lesson so well he sent the twelve out in pairs. He sent them out as comrades. He sent them out as suitable helpers.

The Claddagh ring is a traditional piece of Irish jewelry that originated in a small fishing village of the same name. The ring’s design is a band with two hands holding a heart on which a crown sets. The hands, heart, and crown stand for friendship, love, and loyalty. There is a method to wearing a Claddagh ring. When the ring is worn on the right hand with the point of the heart toward the fingertips, the wearer is single and may be looking for love. When the ring is worn on the right hand with the point of the heart toward the wrist, the wearer is in a relationship, or their heart has been captured.

In 1996, sixteen years ago, Marie came to Missouri to meet my family over Independence Day weekend. That weekend, in my own words, to make a longer story shorter, she told me she wanted to be more than friends. Then she showed me her Claddagh ring.

She explained its significance and the significance of how it was warn. She was wearing it with the point of the heart point toward her fingertips. She was hoping I would turn it around. I would love to tell you that I turned the ring without hesitation, but well, I was still in the “being alone” stage of life. Another way to say it is that I was stubborn and stupid. My parents would have said it that way.

A couple of days later I came to my senses. With her permission, I turned her ring over. We were engaged to be engaged. On the last day of November that year I proposed.  We wed a year after I turned her Claddagh on July 5, 1997.

This week, Marie and I celebrated our fifteenth wedding anniversary. God knows we are better in pairs. So while I cannot speak for anyone else; when I compare the first thirty-four years of my life verses the last sixteen, these are the best years hands down. Thanks be to God.

Right now, I would love to tell you all what it takes to have a wonderful marriage. I would love to tell you what it takes to find and keep and be a suitable helper. I have some ideas on the matter too. Most of them are overly specific to my marriage and personal experience.

What I do know from Genesis and Mark is that God creates the pairs. The Lord God created the man and the woman. Jesus sent the twelve out in pairs. When we let God be in charge, as God is always in charge, pairs are created are blessed.

Maybe, maybe, that has something to do with why Jesus could not perform miracles in his hometown. Mr. Al[3] tells a story of a man who greets people when they come to town. The moral of this story is that we tend to find the kind of people we expect to find.

Jesus returned to his hometown after performing great acts of power and authority. When he got there he was unable to do any miracles except for a few healings. When Jesus returned to town, the people got what they expected… the son of Mary not the Son of Man. They only saw the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon. They saw the brother of sisters. They did not see the Messiah and they took offense with him. They did not receive the Messiah, instead they got exactly what they expected. When they didn’t let God be in charge, they got what they expected.

This goes to show that in our own ways we can limit God. When we expect God will do nothing that is all we can see. But next Jesus sends out his disciples with authority sending them out in pairs.

Today we welcome our youth back from Camp Gilmont. When I was young I went to Boy Scout Camp. Some of the most fun I had was in the pool, but there were rules. One of rules that kept us safe was that we entered the pool in pairs. We were supposed to always have an eye on that other scout and that scout had an eye on me. It was a Buddy System.

There was always someone making sure I was safe and I was making sure he was safe. The pool had lifeguards, but our buddy was our first line of defense. The life guard is in charge and your buddy is keeping an eye on you.

In this life, God is in charge, and God has created buddies, helpers, companions to help keep an eye on us. Buddies help keep us safe and secure. Buddies keep us company and lift us up. We serve God alongside our buddies.

Robert Fulghum had this figured out. He wrote “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” Where we used to live, there was a poster in the office with highlights from the book including this quip, “When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.”[4]

We have been sent into the world. That’s actually what the word “apostle” means, ones who are sent. We are sent with our Lord as shepherd and God. We are sent with authority and with power to exercise that authority. Our God saves. That’s more than enough, and we are sent with even more.

We are sent with a buddy, a Godly buddy system, to join us in this life. God has given us suitable helpers to carry out the mission we have been sent to carry out. We are called to keep an eye to the Lord and an eye on our buddy. Fulghum got it right. “When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.” By God’s power and authority we can do great things this way.

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[1] Genesis 2:19-23

[2] Genesis 2:18

[3] Al Key is an Elder, Worship Leader, and purveyor of children’s sermons at First Presbyterian—Marshall.

[4] Fulghum, Robert, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things.”