The Other Old, Old Story Rev. Dr. Martha ter Kuile Bloor Street United Church Fourth after Pentecost June 16, 2013

Transcription

1 The Other Old, Old Story Rev. Dr. Martha ter Kuile Bloor Street United Church Fourth after Pentecost June 16, 2013 Sources: 1 Kings a Later the following events took place: Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. And Ahab said to Naboth, Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money. But Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance. Ahab went home resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him; for he had said, I will not give you my ancestral inheritance. He lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat. His wife Jezebel came to him and said, Why are you so depressed that you will not eat? He said to her, Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it ; but he answered, I will not give you my vineyard. His wife Jezebel said to him, Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. So she wrote letters in Ahab s name and sealed them with his seal; she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. She wrote in the letters, Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly; seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them bring a charge against him, saying, You have cursed God and the king. Then take him out, and stone him to death. The men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. Just as it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, they proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the assembly. The two scoundrels came in and sat opposite him; and the scoundrels brought a charge against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth cursed God and the king. So they took him outside the city, and stoned him to death. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned; he is dead. As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, Go, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead. As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab set out to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. 1

2 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria; he is now in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. You shall say to him, Thus says the LORD: Have you killed, and also taken possession? You shall say to him, Thus says the LORD: In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood. Ahab said to Elijah, Have you found me, O my enemy? He answered, I have found you. Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, I will bring disaster on you; I will consume you, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. May God bless to our understanding these words from Holy Scripture. This is an old story. Somebody with power wants something and would be willing to make a more or less fair deal for it. Well, maybe not a fair deal, but at least a deal. Then, when the offer is rejected, the powerful one won t take no for an answer. As Geoff recounted, betrayal ensues, forgery and lies and murder and robbery. Ethical mayhem on every level. All for a vineyard. In the end it s really more about Ahab getting his own way than about the vineyard. Absurdly, he feels victimized by Naboth, and goes into a sulk! His entitlement isn t being respected. As Jezebel says, Are you the King of Israel or not? It is an old, old story. And it is not unique to the Old Testament. It happened there then, in many ways it is happening there again now. It happened in the Indian Mutiny and then a hundred years later in the Emergency in Kenya, when the British used local resistance as a trigger for massive expansion of colonial control. We are just protecting ourselves! It has happened time and again in the complex history of relations among China and Japan and Korea. It was part of the story that produced endless human caravans of enslaved people from the interior of West and Central Africa for the coastal traders. It happened throughout Latin America, as Aztec, Mayan and Inca empires as well as small native villages fell to Spanish control. It happens within countries too. It happened in Nazi Germany, Italy, France, and other countries when Jews were pushed out of businesses and robbed of their possessions under false 2

3 accusations. Happened in the Guatemalan countryside from the fifties until the nineties. In many places around the world, arguably still happening. Two hundred years ago it happened in the Highland Clearances in Scotland. And then some of those displaced people came here and did the exact same thing to the First Nations people who were living here. The indigenous people of Canada have been pushed and harrassed and moved again and again to make way for wave after wave of settlers, and to accommodate a colonializing spirit in successive governments. The ugly combination of deceit and violence that we see in the story of Naboth s vineyard seems to be universally present in the human constitution. Coming at the end of the modern period of global history, we are more aware of it as a European phenomenon, but no race or nation has a special claim on it. It just depends who has power at any particular time. People find a way to kick other people off their ancestral land. People cheat each other to enrich themselves. And we shouldn t say they, we should say we. We dehumanize each other as a way to make it easier. We make excuses these people are a danger to my people, they are trying to harm us. Or we moralize these people worship a false god, they dress improperly, their marriage customs are shocking. Or we patronize these people are uncivilized, they don t know how to look after themselves, this will help them in the long run. [A side note whenever you hear yourself say these people be alert, you are probably about to say something regretable.] On this day when we honour and hold up the Aboriginal Day of Prayer, we want to recall and celebrate the contribution of native culture and spirituality to the heritage that all humanity shares. The love of the natural world, the sense of connection to the earth, the apprehension of what is beautiful. Our new United Church crest, as you see on the cover of the bulletin, was modified to reflect a deeper appreciation of this heritage, and as an expression of the church s desire to repair relationships that have been disrespectful. As we approach the summer solstice, it is timely to hold up the symbols and images of restoration and forgiveness that come to us from aboriginal cultures the medicine wheel, the dreamcatcher, the strawberry that sweet taste and aroma of forgiveness in the shape of a heart. In the Anishinabe tradition, June is the Strawberry moon. 3

4 But it is timely also to acknowledge the great harm that has come to the decendents of Naboth who lived in this land before we did, and the ways in which that injustice still plays out. Just a few key numbers from a presentation at Emmanuel last year by Kim Stanton, a specialist in Aboriginal law, and the Truth and Reconciliation process. Life expectancy for aboriginal people in Canada is ten years less than for nonaboriginal people. Rates of disability are higher and aboriginal people live for twelve years more with disability than others do. Death in childhood, 3 times higher. Traumatic injuries, 4 times higher. Suicide rate 6 times higher. Suicide and selfinflicted injuries are the leading cause of death in aboriginal youth and adults up to 44 years of age. Among Inuit youth, one of the highest suicide rates in the world, 11 times the national average. Investment in health care lags and illness rates are high diabetes 3 times higher, TB 16 times higher than the rates in the general population. Unemployment and poverty rates, 5 times higher. Thirty-six per cent of aboriginal women in Canada live in poverty. Sub-standard housing is standard. In education, the disruptive and painful legacy of the residential schools can hardly be overstated. Yet nowadays, governments invest less per aboriginal child than for other children, with predictable results about a third of aboriginal kids drop out of high school, 3 times the rate for other communities in Canada. Four per cent are university grads, about one quarter the rate for other Canadians. Stanton s statistics are jarring there is bad news everywhere you look. And we are a part of it, even if only passively. This is an area of ill-health in Canadian life which slowly poisons all of us, and which each of us must find a way to respond to through education, through political action, through practical measures of solidarity and friendship. Even if it begins with something as simple as the kids trip next week to visit Evan on Christian Island for the Indigenous Solidarity Days. As Christians we would prefer to place ourselves on the side of the angels, prefer to think of ourselves as enlightened and helpful, leading the way with the combination of deep compassion and insight that we learn from Jesus. Look at our Apology, look at our nice new crest, we say. We like to be the ones with good news, it s kind of our stock in trade. But sometimes the good news is that you don t have to lie about the bad news. Part of the good news is that you don t have to pretend there is no 4

5 ambiguity about human history, no uncertainty about the right practices or the wise beliefs. Part of the good news is that at the end of the day, we are all just human beings, getting some things right and some things miserably wrong. In the words of the old gospel hymn, we are all, in various ways weak and weary and helpless and defiled. Needing to offer and to receive the gift of a strawberry. The old, old story of indifference and brutality lives on and touches us all, but as Christians we also claim the other old, old story. In our traditional language, as we are going to sing, they call it the story of Jesus and his love. A story of resurrection which goes far beyond the boundaries of a particular religion. With great humility and admiration we can recognize the signs of resilience and strength Dene selfdetermination; growing empowerment through Idle No More; growing confidence among those who never were idle; indigenous-led pipeline activism in BC musicians, radio programs, the APTN. The U of T now offers courses in three indigenous languages and the First Nations school in the TDSB is going strong, if Nora is any indicator. There is an old, old story of wholeness that is to be found at the heart of the human community, a story of reconcilation and truth that will always triumph over cruelty and death. The story of beauty and brightness, of a sacred earth, and of the web of life and the circle of eternity that connects us. For this story, and for all the ways it nurtures and upholds, we give thanks. Amen. 5