Being A Prophetic Church

Transcription

1 Being A Prophetic Church First Congregational Church, Camden T. Richard Snyder, PhD May 22, 2016 Jeremiah 29:1,2,4-7 Revelation 21:1-8 Our nation is in deep trouble. This past Monday I heard Hedrick Smith, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, talk about how we have lost the American Dream and how we might recover it. You can hear it on the website of the Midcoast Forum on Foreign Relations. I am sure you will be deeply moved, challenged, and inspired. As he pointed out, our problem runs much deeper than who is elected president, which party is in control, or even who is appointed to the Supreme Court. While each of these is important, what we have is a failure of our democracy. The vast majority of the middle class has fallen behind, the poor even more so, while a few amass wealth and power unprecedented in our lifetime. The current stalemate in Washington has led to an almost total impasse and the presidential races are symptoms of our national dysfunctionality. Anger, disaffection and despair are widespread and increasing. We are at a crisis point. The soul of our nation is at stake. The edifice of our society is in danger of crumbling and it will not be our adversaries from without who do us in but rather our own failure to turn the ship of state around. So what can we do? I have been thinking a great deal about the prophetic tradition within the Bible. When injustice ran rampant, prophets arose to call the nation of Israel to its senses to its true calling. Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Jesus. The prophets were not for-tellers, predictors of what would occur. Rather, they were forth-tellers, voices that spoke truth to power warning of the consequences of continuing on the present path. No one can predict the future. There are too many surprises. But it does not take a genius to know that if someone drives 100 miles an hour on the wrong side of the road they will eventually have an accident or if we continue to produce nuclear weapons someone will use one. 1

2 This is a church, not a political party. We do not all agree on what is best for our nation and state. Shucks, we don t all agree on which hymnal to use. No wonder we have differences on the really important issues. But it is part of our calling as members of the church to honor the differences among us. We dare not deride or try to silence those whose journeys and perspectives differ from ours. That is one part of the equation. The other part of the equation is equally true. This congregation is a member of the United Church of Christ, a denomination that is characterized not by obedience to rigid doctrines but rather by its commitment to follow Jesus and be a community of justice in an unjust world, a community of love in an unloving world, a community of embrace in a divided world. We are a people who have been shaped by the promise of new birth, of God s kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven; a people who seek peace, liberty and justice for all, and who care about our environment. This means that we inevitably must take stands as our conscience and collective wisdom lead us. Not everyone begins at the same point as I. Not everyone draws upon the same faith tradition or social analysis and certainly not everyone reaches the same conclusions as I. And that s ok. You have the right to your unenlightened ideas that differ from mine. But seriously, I offer this sermon as part of a discernment process for all of us, myself included. I believe that the church has the responsibility to be a prophetic community with all the difficulties and risks inherent in that calling. So I ask myself and I ask you, What does it mean to be a prophetic people? We are in a struggle. Despite the 24/7 media focus on the upcoming presidential election, the fundamental contest today is not about political parties or leaders. The underlying battle today is over values. It is about the value of human life itself, the value of all people having equal voice and vote, the value of all loving relationships, the value of reconciliation, the value of fairness in the use and distribution of resources and the inherent as opposed to instrumental value of the planet. We are in a battle for the soul of our nation. And millions despair. We despair because of the reliance upon war to resolve conflict, the increasing gap between rich and poor, the erosion of civil and human rights, the senseless taking of human lives, 2

3 the continuing destruction of the planet. For those of us who believe that matters of life and death are at stake, what are we to do? First, recognize that, as Disraeli said, Despair is the conclusion of fools. The Psalmist s wisdom parallels this, the fool who has said in his heart, there is no God. He could have also said there is no hope. We may live in a time of despair, but we dare not be a people of despair. When we are tempted to despair, we need to be reminded of those who have faced deeper valleys, higher mountains, greater obstacles. Remember the Czech Republic, a nation that suffered under the occupation of Germany for 6 years and Soviet Communism for 51 years. Remember the prophet Jeremiah, imprisoned for forty years who claimed and proclaimed the promise of Yahweh that Israel would be restored. Remember Nelson Mandela who kept his dream alive while imprisoned for 27 years. Remember the women s suffrage movement that took over 70 years to gain the vote. Hope has survived over and over in times of darkness. So what does it mean to be a prophetic church in this time of darkness? The first task of a prophetic church or community is to cultivate the vision of a new future. Hope is born in the imagination. Out of the experience of injustice, alienation and death, we imagine a different world, a new possibility. Our vision is rooted in the expectation that what is does not have to be. We dare to imagine a new possibility. Hope led MLKing to claim that the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice. Hope is found in the promise of Isaiah that every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill made low Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation and destruction within your borders. And hope is what we claim each time we pray thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Hope led the writer of the book of Revelation to imagine a new heaven and a new earth. The book of revelation was a seditious document, written in allegorical language to call Christians to a prophetic 3

4 stance over against the Roman Empire. Despite its apocalyptic and often violent language, it is a book filled with hope hope in a new heaven and new earth in which God s will reigns. Imagining a transformed world requires that we be alive to what is around us. Unfortunately, our culture is designed to numb us to the harsh realities of the world. We are anesthetized by mesmerizing entertainment, substances that take the edge off, and the opportunity to consume food, leisure and material goods until we are satiated into complacency. It is hard work to stay alert to the injustice, alienation and death that envelop the lives of so many of the world s people. It demands discipline and a stomach to face the harshness of life. That is the difference between hope and optimism. Optimism is simply the wishful thinking of those who deny the reality in which they live. Hope requires facing squarely the dreadfulness of what is and the recognition that we draw upon a power greater than that which we face. The book of Revelation squarely faces the horrors of Rome yet it is a book of hope. Once we have a vision of a different world, we need to live out whatever of it we can, wherever we are. As Mother Theresa said, we may not all be able to do great things but we can do small things with great love. We are called upon to do more than complain and speak of a better time. We are called to live the dream to the extent possible. When the Israelites were in exile in Babylon they wondered how they might live faithfully in such dark circumstances. The prophet Jeremiah wrote to them and said, Build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters and seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. Their captivity limited what they could do, but it did not prevent them from doing something. And so it is with us. Where there is greed let us show generosity. Where there is exclusion, embrace. Where there is apathy, compassion. Where there is celebrity worship, honor of the least. Where there is hatred, love. Where there is war, peace. Where there is exploitation of the planet, tender care. A prophetic community lives what it can of the dream wherever we are, no matter the circumstances. It is tempting to feel that there is so little we can do that it doesn t make a difference. But we dare not minimize the possible impact of our actions. A letter, a word, a protest, no matter how small can make 4

5 a difference. I have shared with you before the words of Maggie Kuhn who founded the Grey Panthers. At the end of her life when she was being carried up and down the stairs she said, I may not be able to butter my toast but I can still work to change the world. And a prophetic people must speak truth to power. In a prophetic church, there is no room for bystanders--no room for those who see the evil but refuse to name it. McCarthyism ruled the day because of the silence of so many. Hitler rose to power because of the silence of so many. When Israel s cities were under attack, it was common practice to place watchmen on the walls of the city. Their task was to warn of impending danger and those who failed to give warning were considered as guilty as the marauding invaders. Prophetic people stand on the watchtowers and proclaim truth to power, no matter how unpopular our message. Silence is not an option, even when friends may turn against us or allegations of sedition might follow. We must speak to those in power and warn of the consequences of maintaining the current path. In order to speak the truth we must do the hard work of discovering the truth. Ferreting out the truth has become increasingly difficult with the ever increasing control of the media by large corporations, the embedding of reporters under the control of the military, the expansion of information locked away under the rubric of national security, the substitution of sound bites for thoughtful dialogue, and the obfuscation of complex facts with euphemisms. A prophetic church must read the signs of the times by getting behind the stories, reading between the lines, and listening to the silences. The hard work of analyzing what is going on cannot be entrusted to the experts, the think tanks and the talking heads. That is the responsibility of a prophetic community. It should be one of the fundamental religious education tasks of every congregation to provide a forum for the ferreting out the truth from pre-school to Adult education. Our schools won t do it. Our media won t do it. It is our job to do it. A prophetic community needs to move beyond resistance to building a new society. While it is essential to dream, to seek the truth, to live the truth, and to speak truth to power, it is also imperative that we take whatever steps we can create alternative ways of organizing our world. That is, we must engage in the political task of building a new future. This kind of politics at times may involve what we today call partisan politics, but it goes far beyond that. Sadly, neither the Democratic nor the 5

6 Republican party has sought to create a world that even begins to approximate the dreams most of us have, let alone the dream of a new heaven and new earth. So the political task for us is to reach out to our fellow citizens, to help them to see the truth of their circumstances, to experience the power of hope, to organize to resist the forces of injustice in word and deed and to build a new future. If we fail to take on the difficult task of creating the new, we will be left with nothing but complaints and a fantasy. Finally, a prophetic church will be in it for the long haul. In working for a transformed world, we shall have to learn to celebrate small victories. Transformation does not occur overnight. The ending of Apartheid, the obtaining of civil rights for people of color, the overthrow of the communist occupation of Czechoslovakia, each involved long struggle. Every major historical societal transformation has occurred one step at a time even though it may have come to a cataclysmic tipping point. But here s the problem. We are all shaped by a culture of instant gratification, of quick problem solving. We are a nation of sprinters but the sprinters will not achieve justice and peace. What we are up against is not simply a problem to be solved but a fundamental transformation of values, culture and the organization of our common life. Such a monumental task demands long distance runners. The words of the writer of the book of Hebrews come to mind. Therefore, laying aside every weight that clings to us, let us run with patience the race that is set before us. To be a prophetic church means that we are in this for the long haul. The final words of Nelson Mandela s autobiography ring in my ears. I have walked that long road to freedom.i have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended. The long walk continues for us all. But remember, the words of the prophet Isaiah, they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. 6