"More Than Just a Comfortable Pew"

Transcription

1 Rev. Dr. Doug Showalter Scripture: Amos 5:21-24 The Church of the Pilgrimage, Plymouth, MA Copyright 2011 June 26, 2011 "More Than Just a Comfortable Pew" I'D LIKE TO BEGIN my sermon this morning, by inviting you to join with me in reading the "Litany of the Apathetic," which may be found in your worship bulletin insert this morning. OUR CHURCH HAS STOOD ON THE SAME SPOT FOR OVER 200 YEARS. Isn't that nice. I PREACH SERMONS THAT THE PEOPLE LIKE AND NEVER DISTURB ANYBODY. We enjoy your sermons so much. OUR LADIES AID HAS MORE MONEY IN THE BANK THAN ANY OTHER LADIES AID IN THE ASSOCIATION. Isn't that nice. WE DON'T BELIEVE THE CHURCH SHOULD MIX IN POLITICS, SOCIAL ISSUES, OR ECONOMICS. It is so nice to have a churchy church. OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHES THE BIBLE FROM COVER TO COVER. Little children are so sweet. WE BELIEVE CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME. And ends there. WE DON'T LIKE ANYONE TO TELL US HOW MUCH WE SHOULD GIVE TO MISSIONS. God helps those who help themselves. WE BELIEVE THEOLOGY JUST MIXES PEOPLE UP. It is so nice to have our religion make us feel good. OUR DEACONS ARE THE OLDEST MEN IN THE PARISH. It is so nice to have such spiritual looking men.

2 -2- OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES NEVER WASTES ANY MONEY ON NEW-FANGLED IDEAS. Isn't that nice. OUR PEOPLE ARE SOUND NEW ENGLAND STOCK. We are thankful we are not as other people are. OUR CHURCH IS FREE TO DO AS IT PLEASES IN ALL MATTERS. Nobody can tell us what to do. OUR CHURCH HAD TO CLOSE BECAUSE NOBODY WAS AS GOOD AS WE ARE TO CONTINUE IT. Isn't it a shame! THE FACT IS, I stumbled on this particular litany a number of years ago, and have enjoyed it ever since. As you can see, there's a great deal of humor in it. But that's not all. Behind all the laughs, there are also some points being made. Points which, I think, should be important to all of us Christians. One of those points, which I'd like to focus on this morning, is this: It's so easy for us Christians to strip our religion of its ethical dimensions. It's easy for us Christians to imagine that our faith is solely a matter of our own personal feelings, and not also a matter of acting on those feelings, to bring about some good for others. As the Litany declared: We believe theology just mixes people up. It's so nice to have our religion make us feel good...we believe charity begins at home. And ends there...it is so nice to have a churchy church. EVERY SO OFTEN in her newspaper column, "Dear Abby" used to print a letter from a disgruntled church attender. As I recall, one of those letters went something like this: Dear Abby, I'm so angry! After years of absence my husband and I stopped into church last Sunday. We were seeking a precious bit of spiritual uplift for our harried lives. Boy, were we mistaken! Hardly had the service begun, when

3 -3- a layperson got up to talk about the parasite-infested, starving children of Ethiopia. Someone else asked the congregation to pray for the victims of AIDS. But worst of all, when it came to the sermon, the minister talked on and on about the problems of elderly people in nursing homes and the great need for Christian love there. Abby, when we go to church we want to feel good about ourselves--not hear about everyone else's problems. Didn't Jesus himself say, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest"? Abby, do you know of any restful churches in our area we can visit? Signed: NO COMFORTABLE PEWS IN POUGHKEEPSIE I don't recall "Dear Abby's" answer to this letter or to others like it. But I can give you my answer to it. Of course, there's nothing wrong in seeking spiritual uplift from one's Christian faith and worship. In fact, such inspiration is a vital part of our relationship with God, which we should be seeking. However, here's the point I would emphasize. It's a distortion to think that our spiritual uplift, comes only from things which bring us inner peace and tranquility. For such spiritual enrichment also comes from things which stir our hearts and our consciences. It also comes from things which make demands upon our compassion, our faith commitment, and our sense of moral righteousness. LONG AGO, the prophet Isaiah called the people of God, to look to the rock from which they had been hewn. [Isaiah 51:1] This was [as someone once said] not a call for God's people to look to the jelly from which they had been spooned. In fact, there is a great deal more to spiritual uplift, than just basking in warm, good feelings about ourselves. Spiritual enrichment also comes, when Christians are

4 -4- stirred to move beyond the small, tight circles of their own personal comfort and solace. It can come, when Christians are moved: to struggle, to sacrifice, even to suffer at times, for the sake of accomplishing some moral good for others. A "HARD-DRIVING" BUSINESSMAN once said that he enjoyed coming to church Sunday after Sunday. Why? Because it gave him a chance to sit down, close his eyes, and think of absolutely nothing for a whole hour! Of course, there are times when all of us need our faith and our church to be a haven from trouble, a harbor from fear, a soothing oasis of relief from both our own problems and the world's problems. Clearly, Christian churches do have an important role to play, as places of sanctuary. However, if that is all our Christian faith ever amounts to, just a pious retreat from the world, then we are hardly walking in the steps of our Lord Jesus Christ, or living the kind of life he called us to live. CONSIDER THE MINISTRY OF JESUS. Of course, there were times when his weariness drove him into the solitude of the wilderness, to be with God for renewal and refreshment. That's very true. But let us also remember this: Jesus never remained in the wilderness. In fact, it was precisely because of Jesus' deep faith and his relationship with God, that Jesus repeatedly went back into his society, to confront some of the serious problems and inequities of his day. Let's suppose for a moment, that the only purpose of Jesus' faith was to have a serene life and inner peace-of-mind. If that was the case, then Jesus never would have put himself in a position of risk or controversy. Jesus never would have challenged the religious leaders of his day who, in the name of religion, put such harsh burdens

5 -5- upon people. Jesus never would have carried his ministry from town to town. For such public displays of his work, brought Jesus both popular acclaim and fierce opposition. And yes, if finding serenity and peace of mind, were the only goals of Jesus' faith, then very likely Jesus never would have gone to a cross. And, if that had been the case, then, very likely, there would have been no Christian religion, for any of us to follow today. YES, THERE IS MORE, a lot more, to our Christian faith than just finding a comfortable pew and inner peace for ourselves. And that something else has to do with Christian ethics. THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS were strong in denouncing the attempt to isolate the life of faith from ethical and social concerns. All around them, those Hebrew prophets saw glaring examples of human greed, injustice, and exploitation -examples which bothered them greatly. Yet even worse: in the midst of those evils, those prophets also saw devout religious people who followed their religious rituals, but, who did absolutely nothing, and cared very little, to uplift and improve the lives of their fellow human beings. As you heard in our scripture reading this morning, the prophet Amos sharply denounced the self-absorbed religion of his day. Speaking as "God's mouthpiece," Amos declared to God's people: I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies...take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. [Amos 5:21, 23-24] In a like manner, the Old Testament prophet Micah declared:

6 -6- With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high?...he has told you, O mortal, what is good: and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? [Micah 6:6,8] DOWN THROUGH THE AGES, our world has known numerous religions which contain little or no ethical component. Consider, for example, the ancient Roman religion, with its pantheon of gods. Far from being examples of virtue, some of those Roman gods were themselves quite immoral. Thus, those gods could hardly expect that their human subjects, would strive to be any better than they were. In ancient Roman religion, the primary focus was on appeasing that pantheon of gods, who could be cruel and capricious. In that ancient religion, there seems to have been little emphasis on having high moral standards, in the treatment of one's fellow human beings. Generally speaking, it is only the more primitive religions which lack a strong ethical component. However, even a great religion like Christianity is diminished, if, in actual practice, its followers ignore its ethical demand upon their lives. AS THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS, Amos and Micah, and others realized: our Judeo-Christian God is not a capricious and cruel God. Rather, our God is a supremely ethical God--a God of great righteousness and love. Thus, because our God is so moral, our God expects us humans to be moral in our treatment and concern, for the well-being of others. Our Judeo-Christian God seeks our worship and reverence. But, our God also expects us to emulate God's own righteousness and love. Moses had no doubt that he was dealing with a moral God, when

7 -7- he brought the 10 Commandments down from the mountain, to his people. Many of those commandments concern the just treatment of others. LIKEWISE, the ancient Hebrew people had no doubt that their God was ethical. In addition to their various rituals, their religion also prescribed such things as: generosity to widows, orphans, debtors, and the poor; the impartial administration of justice; and even the duty to return the stray cattle of an enemy. As the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah proclaimed: Thus says the LORD...let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight... [Jeremiah 9:23-24] Emerging from the context of ancient Judaism, Christianity went on to forge its own unbreakable link between ethics and religion. In fact, as Jesus taught us: God cares as much about how we treat others, as how we treat God. I say that, because Jesus essentially boiled our religion down to two key principles--namely these two: love God and love others as we love ourselves. The "always wanting a comfortable pew" approach to the Christian faith can--on the face of it--be strong on loving God. But it certainly can leave a lot to be desired, on our Christian responsibility to love others. AS YOU KNOW, Jesus denounced certain Pharisees. Why? He denounced them, because they had built-up an artificial wall around their religion. It was an artificial wall which separated and insulated their religion, from many of the ethical and social concerns of their day. For example, those Pharisees criticized Jesus for healing people on the Sabbath. As those Pharisees assumed, God's holy Sabbath should be reserved only for the performance of religious rituals. Yet, as Jesus declared to those

8 -8- Pharisees so plainly, The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath. [Mark 1:27] Repeatedly, throughout his ministry, Jesus came across such artificial walls which people had built-up, to isolate their religion. And just as often, Jesus went about tearing those false dividing walls down--in the name of his heavenly Father, the supreme God of righteousness and love. LOVE GOD AND LOVE OTHERS as we love ourselves. Jesus was not willing to abandon either of these two principles. In fact, Jesus taught that these two principles are inseparably joined together. Both are vitally important to people of faith. We sometimes forget it, but Jesus taught his followers, that their forgiveness from God is dependent on their willingness to forgive those who have wronged them. In other words, to open themselves to God s forgiveness, Christians need to be forgiving of others. For that reason, in the "Lord's Prayer," Jesus taught his followers to say [and truly mean from their hearts] these words:...forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. [Matthew 6:12,14-15] That love God and love others connection is also stressed in Jesus great parable called "The Judgment of the Nations." For in that parable, Jesus taught his followers that whenever they help someone in need [such as a person who is hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or sick, or in prison] they are essentially ministering to Jesus himself. [Matthew 25:31-46] In Christianity, the vertical dimension of loving God, and the horizontal dimension of loving our neighbors, really do go together. They are inseparable.

9 -9- Thus, the New Testament book, I John, could make this declaration: Whoever does not love does not know God; for God is love...those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. [I John 4:8,20] For the Christian, religious piety and ethics cannot be separated. For by its very nature, a sincere Christian faith will have a social conscience. Such a faith will genuinely care about the welfare of other people. And it will do something, to reach out and help those other people. As the Litany we read earlier said: It's so nice to have our religion make us feel good...we believe charity begins at home, and ends there. It is so nice to have a churchy church, and such spiritual-looking deacons. Yet, as followers of Jesus Christ, as members of Christ's Church, and as worshipers of a truly ethical God, we Christians need to care about others. We need to extend ourselves for others. And when issues of truth, justice, or compassion are at stake, we need to stand up and be counted, for the sake of others. TRUE ENOUGH, our Christian churches do have sanctuaries. And like the wilderness to which Jesus often went, our sanctuaries can serve as places of peace and refreshment for us. Yet, more than just resting places, our sanctuaries should also be refueling stations. They should be refueling stations, which empower us Christians and equip us, to go back out into the world, to really practice our religion of love there. For it was out in the world, and not in the wilderness, where Jesus conducted most of his ministry.

10 -10- And, it was out in the world -not in the wilderness -where Jesus' ministry had its greatest impact for good. As someone once wrote, The holiest moment of the church service is the moment when God's people--strengthened by preaching and sacrament--go out of the church door into the world TO BE THE CHURCH. We don't GO to church; we ARE the church. [Ernest Southcott, quoted in the "Christian Herald"] And so I believe it is. The best thing about any church, is what it empowers its people to do for Christ and for their fellow human beings, during the other 6 days of each week. Yes, there really is, a lot more to our Christian faith, than just a comfortable pew!