Enjoy one of the many great sermons by Sarah Hollar...
November 15, 2009
At the end of the modern era continuing now into post modern times, a lively debate erupted between anthropologists and religious commentators. A question persistently raised is, does the world’s prevailing culture influence and shape religious belief or does current religious interpretation drive cultural values and policy? This is a classic chicken or the egg discussion. Inevitably, both sides can make a compelling case. In the Victoria age when the British Empire was the world’s dominant power, the movement to spread English law, language, trade practices, social class structure, and manners throughout their acquired colonies was equally matched by their missionary zeal. Men and women set on fire with the love of Jesus and brimful with Christian certainty traveled to every conquered outpost under the British flag to convert the heathen and save them from corrupted lives and certain eternal doom. English culture and Christian doctrine were presented as a unified, inseparable entity. The native people of Africa, India and Asia would have a hard time distinguishing the ideals of the queen and the words from Jesus. Her regents and his disciples were presented as consistent colleagues. With unwavering confidence, the British government and the representatives of the missionary societies said in one voice, The Lord God and his one Son want you to be just like us! American evangelists made the same claim on Indian reservations and in the islands of Hawaii. Conversion was goal and adaptation of all things western was the clear sign of success. To be a new, true Christian in that time meant to put aside all traditions of your people. The music you loved, the clothes that made sense to your work were folded up and stowed away. To love the Lord was to imitate every thought, action and attitude of the people who brought his “good news. There was no room, no space, and no allowance for your cultural expressions or values in the Son’s kingdom.
Today, the predominant culture of the world is more diversified. Globalization has replaced imperialism. There is a recognition of interdependence between the continents and the first, second and third world nations. As our political and cultural language and policies shifted, so did our missionary practices. Bringing people to Jesus by trouncing on their arts, traditions and ingrained values has been replaced by invitation. Conversion is no longer the immediate goal. That outcome is left in the hands of God. The new requirement of the evangelist, the work of the contemporary missionary is to initiate conversation. In the past, conversion meant the subjugation of one tradition and culture in favor of all things of the new order. Conversation, on the other hand, implies two parties sharing their ideas, beliefs and values. Conversation assumes mutual respect and attentiveness. Conversation encourages acceptance while conversion has often been associated with coercion. Today many Christian leaders believe bringing in the Kingdom of God rests more on establishing connections throughout the whole human family and less on worldwide acceptance of one church doctrine.
From this pulpit, we recently heard a bishop in the Anglican Communion, a man raised up and given power to speak about our faith in venues across the globe address this very point. From this spot, he stated that our primary work as Christians is to recognize our ties to all humanity. We are the brother, the sister of the rice grower in Vietnam, the wheat farmer in Africa, the Turkish fisherman, the Syrian olive grower, the Honduran cigar maker, the Kuwati businessman, the Chinese banker, the Latino gang member, the irritating neighbor with the barking dog, the less than forthright city councilman. Being the brother, the sister to every other human being, being tied to each member of the human family is hard work and a messy proposition. Fostering widespread connections requires inordinate patience. Uncommon tolerance, extensive kindness, abundant, repeated forgiveness is demanding. Grace, limitless, free-flowing grace, grace in the moments when resentment is the natural reaction, is the chief post-modern Christian virtue. Maintaining relationships with people like us and very different from ourselves is not easy. People just being their human selves will naturally irritate us and get on our nerves. They will say ridiculous, hurtful things at the worst possible moment. They will step on our feelings and undercut of confidence. People, our brothers and sisters in the human family will do things to threaten our peace of mind and sense of well-being. Sometimes they will do so without any malicious intent, sometimes they will hurt us with cruel abandon. Fostering connections to bring the Kingdom of God near is hard work and often contrary to our nature. Tolerance, patience, kindness, forgiveness and grace are required.
Our first reading from 1st Samuel demonstrates this point clearly. In the story where Hannah is praying fervently for an heir and God hears and answers her faithful petition, we come across a six verse encounter. Hannah, deeply distressed, goes to temple and begins praying silently. Engrossed in her conversation with God, she is oblivious to anything around her. As she prays, her lips form the words of her heart. She is a righteous woman acting on her faith in the appropriate place at the appropriate time. Everything about her in this moment is right and proper. Eli, a good, faithful, accomplished priest, is at the temple door. He’s where he’s supposed to be, fulfilling his appointed duty. He notices Hannah and makes an assumption. For respect and love of the Lord he serves, Eli is offended. He believes Hannah is insulting the God he serves and worse, she is disrespecting the Lord’s holy space. Eli approaches and chastises the arrogant woman, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself?” Hannah, interrupted from her prayers by her priest and his accusations, explains herself. Eli, in the parlance of the day, apologizes, wishes her well and adds his prayers to her own. Hannah accepts his apology and keeps her relationship intact.
Within this interaction there is ample opportunity for disaster. A connection between two of God’s children could have been corrupted forever. Somehow a good and faithful priest made a foolish, ill-advised determination and uttered an inappropriate harsh comment. Somehow a good and faithful member heard the hurtful thing and did not react in anger or resentment. Somehow, somehow grace flowed between the two. And we see in this passage that living connected in the human family is hard, messy work. Patience, kindness, forgiveness and grace are required.
A friend of mine tells the story of riding in a New York City subway one cold, rainy Thursday night. People were traveling home, weary after a long day at work. The car was crowded and, at the back, a man sat totally disengaged from his three children as they ran about the enclosed space. As the ride grew longer, the other passengers grew increasingly irritated. One finally spoke up and said “Sir, your children are annoying us. They’re really loud and they’re running into us, stepping on our feet. Can’t you do something to control them?” The father looked up and said, “We’re going home from the hospital. My wife, their mother, is dying of cancer. I don’t know how I’m going to tell them that their mother won’t be coming home. She’s the heartbeat of our family. I don’t know how we’re going to go on. So no, I really don’t think I can control them right now.” The passenger said I’m so sorry and picked up one of the children and bounced her up and down. Two other riders gently played with the other children. Life in the human family is both messy and powerful.
In truth, we know that in our lives, we will each have Eli moments. We will each be sure of our assumptions. We will each say things, do things out of our righteous certainty and we will be wrong. We will need to apologize and make amends. In our lives, each of us will have Hannah moments. We will be misunderstood and dismissed. We will be wronged and we will need to let go of our hurts and replace our resentment with forgiveness.
Dear friends, the way the human family resembles the family God intended at the beginning of creation, the way the human family matches the dream God holds out for us is not through conversion where every living soul around the globe believes the same doctrine, prays the same prayer, shares the same politics, upholds the same cultural norms. The way the Kingdom of God comes closer and closer and closer is when the human family digs deep and protects its connections. When kindness replaces impatience, forgiveness trumps rightness, and grace is freely given and graciously received between human brothers and sisters, this is when the hope of God is realized.
Acceptance and kindness is the new way to conversion. May we be faithful disciples in this way for this age.
May we bring in the Kingdom of God with our invitation, not our intimidation.
May grace freely given and graciously received. Amen
