Sermon Epiphany 4 (C) Jeremiah 1:4-10 Rev. Robyn M. Hartwig St. Andrew Lutheran Church Sunday, January 31, 2016 In his performance called the Young Lutheran s Guide to the Orchestra, 1 radio humorist Garrison Keillor begins, To each person, God gives some talent such as comedy, just to name one, or the ability to suffer, and to some persons God has given musical talent, though not to as many as think so. So for a young Lutheran considering an orchestral career, the first question to ask yourself is, "Do I have a genuine God-given talent, or do I only seem talented compared to other young Lutherans?" Because most Lutherans aren't musicians, they're choir members. Mostly altos and basses. And they can be sure that their gift is God-given, because who else but God would be interested? Nobody goes into choir music for the wrong reasons. But if you're determined to play in an orchestra, then you ought to ask yourself, "Which instrument is the best one for a Lutheran to play?" Which instrument would our Lord have chosen, assuming He played an instrument? And assuming He was Lutheran. Keillor proceeds through the instruments of the orchestra in great detail, disqualifying them one by one. The French horn takes too much of a person's life and is practically a religious belief all by itself. The symphonic clarinet is too snooty. Like a nice small town instrument that went to college and after that you can't get a simple answer out of them. He continues, The problem with the flute is that it vibrates your brain.you become a pantheist and sit in meadows, and you believe that all is one and God is everything--god is a column of air vibrating--and you know that's not right. The first violin is a problem for a Christian because it's a solo virtuoso instrument and we Christians are humble and decent people..did our Lord say "Blessed are they who stand up in front and take deep bows for they shall receive bigger fees?" No, He did not. Garrison Keillor concludes that there are two instruments worthy of consideration by Lutherans, one is the harp because it keeps you humble and keeps you at home. Having one is like living with an elderly parent in very poor health: it's hard to get them in and out of cars, and it's hard to keep them happy. It takes fourteen hours to tune a harp,,,, It's an instrument for a saint. The other place for a Lutheran is the percussion section. It's the most Christian instrument there is. Percussionists are endlessly patient because they hardly ever get to play. Pages and pages of music go by when the violins are sawing away and the winds 1 Garrison Keillor, Lake Wobegone Days. Accessed on 1/27/2016 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk3uialk8i4 1
are tooting and the brass are blasting. A percussionist may have to wait for twenty minutes just to play a few beats, but those beats have to be exact, and they have to be passionate, climactic. All that the Epistles of Paul say a Christian should be--faithful, waiting, trusting, filled with fervor--are the qualities of the good percussionist. In some versions of A Young Lutheran s Guide to the Orchestra Keillor even goes so far as to identify the particular percussion instrument that best exemplifies all of these characteristics: the triangle. As I head off on sabbatical to return to the rhythms of God and the St. Andrew congregation explores that theme here, in gratitude for our lead pastor s faithful leadership of our congregation and our staff, I present him with this triangle. Today we also welcome Pastor Terry Moe to serve as our Sabbatical Interim Pastor while I am away, tend to pastoral care needs, teach a class the rhythms of justice and prayer, and begin to explore ideas for a Returning to the Rhythms of God retreat that we will co-lead in September focused upon the waters of justice, I present him with this ocean drum in thanksgiving for his ministry among us. Far be it from me to argue with Garrison Kiellor, especially when he has come up with such a humorous analogy for poking fun at some of our Lutheran cultures, especially since he chose percussion as the preferred instrument for a Christian. As somebody who grew up playing drums and who feels as though rhythm might be knit into the DNA of my soul, this certainly makes me very happy. However, on a Sunday when we hear God call Jeremiah to speak a very unpopular message to people who do not want to hear it, I would be shirking my responsibilities as a preacher if I did not point out to Mr. Kiellor that there currently seems to be a problem in the human orchestra, regardless of which instruments the Christians choose to play. Whether we feel it personally in our day to day lives, broad consensus has emerged that the tempo of the human orchestra in relationship to the larger earth community that sustains the music of our lives is out of control. The unsustainable tempo and the policies that support it are increasing anxiety, causing diseases, intensifying addictions, swelling mental illnesses and heightening injustice. These realities are putting extra pressure on our families and our communities. There is so much to thank God for every day, and there are also so many pressures to figure out how to cope with. I witness at least three alternative coping strategies among members of our community most every day: 1) push ourselves harder and faster to keep up, 2) drop out, or 3) find a little corner of the orchestra where we can buffer ourselves from the insanity as long as possible. When it comes to the first option, the experience of going faster and faster and trying to keep up, I will never forget the face of the woman who came into my office in 2001 when I served in ministry in Sacramento. Her employer had eliminated the jobs of one co-worker, then another, then another. She barely holding onto her job. Over the past year they had first given her a cell phone and then a laptop to take home. She was increasingly becoming a slave to her work, and she was on-call all the time. She had purchased a set of 10 stress reduction tapes and had listened to all 10 three times when she sat down in my office saying, There must be something wrong with me. I have listened to these tapes three times, and I am still so stressed out. Why aren t I getting it? 2
Two nights ago I saw it in the face of the young man working at the Beaverton convenience store on Farmington Avenue where I had intended to stop for a one minute visit. I stayed for 30 minutes when the young employee was incredibly nauseous and holding the back of his leg which was causing him intense pain. He could barely wait on me. He felt convinced that he had a blood clot, but he had been on the phone with his manager, and his manager would not find him a replacement. He was terrified that he would lose his job if he left the store to go to the hospital. Fortunately some police officers in search of a snack showed up at just the right time to relieve this pastor. This past August, just a few days after our congregation was awarded the Lilly Grant to explore the theme of Returning to the Rhythms of God, Pope Francis said There are millions of men and women and even children who are slaves to labor! At this time there are slaves, they are exploited, slaves to labor and this is against God and against the dignity of the human person! The obsession of economic profit and technical efficiency threatens the rhythms of human life. The time of rest, especially on Sundays, it is meant for us because we can enjoy what is not produced and does not wear out, what is not bought and is not sold.... The greed of consumerism, which leads to waste, is an ugly virus which, among other things, makes us end up even more tired than before. It harms true labor and consumes life. 2 Can we even hear the voice of Jesus, who in Matthew 11:28 says, Walk with me and work with me watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. 3 The creation of a disposable society can be seen not only in the degradation of creation but in the ways people here and around the world are being pushed to pick up the pace, go faster and faster, and do more and more with less and less. They fear the second alternative coping strategy which is to be discarded, sidelined, marginalized, or eliminated. You get kicked out of the orchestra for failing to keep up or else you quit in a desperate effort to save yourself, assuming you were ever given a chair in the orchestra in the first place. The Pope has also said, We are experiencing a moment of crisis; we see it in the environment, but mostly we see it in man. The human being is at stake: here is the urgency of human ecology! And the danger is serious because the cause of the problem is not superficial, but profound: it's not just a matter of economics, but of ethics and anthropology. The Church has stressed this several times; and many say: yes, that is right, it's true but the system continues as before, because what dominates are the dynamics of an economy and a lack of financial ethics. So men and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption: this is "scrap culture", the culture of the disposable.... Conversely, a ten-point drop in the stock market in some cities, is a tragedy. A person who dies is not a news story, but a ten 2 Pope Francis General Audience from August 12, 2015 Accessed on 1/27/2016 at http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/08/12/pope_francis_at_audience_celebration,_work_and_prayer/1164589 3 Message Bible Translation by Eugene Peterson 3
point drop in the stock market is a tragedy! So people are discarded, as if they were trash. 4 A third alternative to the crazy pace is to insulate ourselves. As the stringed instruments are forced to move their bows faster and faster and the woodwinds and brass must move their fingers more quickly while blowing ever more air, we could seek out that section of the orchestra, like perhaps the percussion section, where we are buffered from needing to play harder and faster. We find our place in the back where we profit off of the time others put in so we can enjoy ourselves. In my high school drum section where I was the only girl, this was evident when the drummers entertained themselves during 48 measures while I stood counting the measures of rests for all of us, pretending not to notice what they were up to, lest it become even more obvious that I was different. At the end of the rehearsal one or more trumpet players would stand up and find themselves locked to the furniture. Just the drummers enjoying their Sabbath play time at the expense of others. As you take up your percussion instruments, Pastor Brocker and Pastor Moe, please remember Jesus words that it shall not be so among you! For my part, I want to repent of the countless times in my life when I pretended not to notice while others were being mocked or harmed. The three options given to us by the dominant story of our time appear to be: Go faster; Get out; or Protect yourself. There would seem to be no other way. But our faith tells us that there is another way; there has always been another way: God s way. In our first lesson, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in the most typical way it tended to come to prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures, through a rhythm of God s initiative personal objection God s reassurance a commissioning and a message. This word comes to Jeremiah in the midst of very difficult times. The good news is that God declares that he has known Jeremiah since before he was even born and God has had a purpose for him since then. It s just that Jeremiah wasn t so sure he wanted to be part of that purpose. Perhaps Jeremiah had been buffered from many of the harsh realities of daily life until then. He was a PK (a priest s kid) born in the village of Anathoth just on the outskirsts of Jerusalem. It was just outside the big city, there on the way to the Sea. His people, Israel, were pawns in larger disagreements between the three big superpowers of Babylon, Assyria and Egypt. He wanted something different for his people, his country, his home. But things were not looking good, and he was called to tell the truth which meant saying things he did not want to say and naming realities people did not want to hear. So when that call came to him, he initially said, No. Now I love that quote by Fredrick Buechner that says the place God calls you to be is the place where your deep gladness meets the world s great need. But, yeah No. This is not that call. 4 General Audience of Pope Francis from June 5, 2013. Accessed on 1/27/2016 at https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130605_udienzagenerale.html 4
This is the call of one who says, God I don t know how to play that rhythm. Truly I do not know how to speak because I am only a boy. God says, Do not say, I am only a boy ; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Retired United Methodist Bishop, Will Willamon said, God comes to Jeremiah, not offering him a more meaningful life, but rather assigning him a job to do. We who have been taught to think of God as a way to get what we want may find it hard to hear that we are God s way to get what God wants! 5 God then intuits that Jeremiah is afraid. So God says, Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you. Jeremiah had one challenge after another after another, but God was indeed with him and God did indeed deliver him. Jeremiah said, Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, Now I have put my words in your mouth. God then describes the rhythms of life to which he has called Jeremiah from plucking up and pulling down to building and planting. Jeremiah feared he could not speak so God extended God s hand and touched Jeremiah s mouth saying, Now I have put my words into your mouth. I once knew a man who was such a great social activist. He was a complete workaholic but one who was constantly working to help others have better lives all the time. But secretly he confessed to me one day that he was terrified to sit alone in silence. He was afraid that if he actually got quiet he might discover that God was not in the silence. He would be utterly alone. If he had given it a chance, might he have felt God put out a Divine hand and touch his heart and remind him that he was not alone and that he need not be afraid. I once knew a woman who did know how to sit in silence. She sat with her broken heart following the death of her husband for a few years wondering if she would ever come out from under her grief when God did essentially come to her and say, Do not say, I am only a widow, for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid. And she found her call again, her vocation within the community. According to the Pope. this task entrusted to us by God the Creator requires us to grasp the rhythm and logic of creation. 6 I do not seek to offer up all of the answers today. This is intended to be the first installment of a three month long sermon or time of exploration. I concluded the sermon by moving into a time of practicing the rhythms of silence, listening, conversation, and engaging in expressions of our call through singing together. I will end it here by inviting you to join me on this journey by subscribing to this blog and engaging in your own Lent/Easter journey of returning to the rhythms of God through a spiritual practice to which you sense God may be leading you. 5 The Hardest Question Blog. Accessed on 1/27/2016 at http://thq.wearesparkhouse.org/featured/lect21cot/ 6 General Audience of Pope Francis from June 5, 2013. Accessed on 1/27/2016 at https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130605_udienzagenerale.html 5