Rethinking Strength & Weakness
Rev. Eugene N. Nelson, Jr.
The Community Church of Sebastopol
July 5, 2009
Matthew 5: 43-47
As I said, these familiar words of Jesus, sound rather gentle. They roll easily off the tongue, perhaps too easily. For could it be, that in spite of their easy familiarity, in these words we are introduced to a God who is determined to be unpredictable, to upset the apple cart, and to take us, both as individuals and as nations, into unexplored and perhaps even frightening new territory? "Love your enemies...pray for those who persecute you...understand that God's sun shines on both the evil and the good." Or how about this: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the light, let us strive...to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." You feel it? These words are inviting us to go in a whole new direction. Do you feel it? In these words something's changing.
Now on this July 4th weekend, there have been many eloquent words spoken, words celebrating the blessings of liberty and freedom. And there have been many words spoken about the need for vigilance and strength and power if we are to protect and maintain those blessings. But what exactly do we mean when we speak of vigilance and strength and power? And what does it mean for people of faith to use such words?
Whenever we talk about the life and teachings of Jesus, we really must remember the world into which Jesus was born and in the midst of which he pursued his mission and ministry. It was a world dominated by Rome, a world in which the emperor was God. Everyone knew that titles and phrases such as ‘Lord’, ‘Son of God’, ‘Savior of the World’ and ’ Prince of Peace’, referred to Caesar. And peace as defined by Rome and pretty much accepted by everyone was peace through victory. This was the world of imperial reality and values, a world where there was always the promise of peace through one more battle, one more victory. Every war was the war to end all wars.
Then Jesus showed up. And by the end of the first century Paul and others were calling him ‘Savior of the World’ and ‘Lord,’ which was, of course, high treason. For Paul insisted that if Jesus was Lord, then no one or nothing else could be, and Rome did not take kindly to such language. And what did this new Lord teach? No longer peace through violence and victory, but peace through justice. He embodied a new reality, a new set of values, defined most clearly in the Sermon on the Mount, a portion of which we heard this morning. Think of what we celebrate every time we gather at this table: a Lord who loses that he may win; who gives his life away and finds it; who carries a cross that he may open a tomb; who refuses the world's ways - which Paul called "the wisdom of the world", in favor of his own. What do we do with a Lord such as this? What do we make of this?
I ask your permission to share with you, one more time, this "Peanuts" cartoon. You've heard it from this pulpit before. Lucy is chasing Charlie Brown. "I'll get you Charlie Brown! I’ll get you! I’ll knock your block off, I’ll..." Suddenly he stops running, turns and faces her. "Wait a minute," he says, "Hold everything! We can't carry on like this. We have no right to act this way. The world is filled with problems. People hurting other people. People not understanding other people. Now, if we as children can't solve what are relatively minor problems, then how can we ever expect to..." POW! She drops him with one punch. As she walks away from a flattened and dazed Charlie Brown, Lucy turns to a friend and says, "I had to hit him quick. He was beginning to make sense!"
And isn't that so often what the world has said about Jesus? Oh, he has always been popular - as a name, a memory, a kind of cult hero, a symbol. I suspect his name has come up in a lot in 4th of July speeches. He's been popular. Ah, but his way, his life, his call to transformation and change of heart for individuals and the world - again, a call we heard in this morning's text - now that's something very different. Let's hit him quick. Let's get rid of him. He's beginning to make sense. "With malice toward none, with charity for all..." I think Lincoln understood the Sermon on the Mount, but it sets the bar pretty high. Can anyone or nation really do that? Do we even want to do that? Little wonder that Frederick Douglass said of Lincoln's Second Inaugural speech," sounded more like a sermon than a state paper."
And, speaking of speeches, I wonder what you thought of President Obama's speech in Cairo a month ago. I'm not going to equate it with Lincoln's words, but in many ways it was quite remarkable, sounding at times more like a sermon than a formal address. In that speech, you'll recall, he called for a new beginning in relations between the Muslim world and the United States, the President honestly acknowledged the pain and ambiguity of current realities, acknowledged past failures and shortcomings and sought sources of common ground. Sighting years of mistrust, he spoke both of Western colonialism which had denied rights and opportunities for Muslims - when was the last time you heard a U.S. President even speak of colonialism? – even as he spoke of the violence of Muslim extremists, violence which as led many in this country to view Islam as hostile, if not dangerous. He acknowledged mistakes the U.S. had made in its relationship with the Muslim world, and then pointed to areas of common concern where we might move from confrontation to cooperation. He even quoted passages from the Koran that refer to peace and justice and equality. And yes, as you know, Obama is a big fan of Lincoln... and oh yes, Jesus of Nazareth, too.
Well, it would seem that the speech was really more popular in the Arab/Muslim world than in the United States. While many here praised it, many denounced it as weak, spineless, not harsh enough against extremist violence. Besides, the U.S. doesn't need to apologize to anyone; we don't acknowledge mistakes, we don't ask for forgiveness. It makes us look weak and pitiful. Which brings us back to where we began. What does power look like? How might we define world leadership? How best to share the blessings of liberty?
As many of you know, in May I had the marvelous opportunity to hear Nobel Peace Prize recipient and former Archbishop of Capetown, Desmond Tutu. In that speech, and in a lengthy interview in the Rotarian magazine, he spoke of his vision of U.S. leadership and power and what that might look like in the world today. He insisted the world wants America to lead, that this country still stands for and means a lot to the rest of the world. Here is his vision of what that leadership should look like: "A new era has dawned," he says. "We are going to see an America that leads because it has moral leadership. It's going to be an America that is collaborative, consultative. It's not an America that throws its weight around. People want America to lead."
Remember what Martin Luther King Jr., said, "We must learn to live together as brothers" and today we would add ‘and sisters’. "Because if we don't, we're going to die together, we're going to perish together like fools."
Now I know, such talk is totally unrealistic, totally impractical. The world is too dangerous. To speak of collaboration and cooperation, even with our enemies - especially with our enemies - makes us look foolish and weak if not stupid. If you don't believe it, Fox News will remind you every day! And no one knew this better than Rome. So they took care of Jesus, they knew what to do. They took care of Jesus and his crazy ideas once and for all, right? They showed him who was in charge. They made sure he would never be heard of again, that's for sure. Interesting, isn't it, what ultimately prevails and what passes into the dust of history.
So yes, we can continue to divide the world and each other into friend and enemy, good and evil, them and us. We can continue to demand an eye for an eye until we are all blind. I mean, look how well it is working for Israel and the Palestinians. But look what efforts at forgiveness, understanding, reconciliation and restoration have meant for Northern Ireland, or for Bishop Tutu and South Africa, or even for our own intimate relationships, and marriages and families. Is this the path of pitiful weakness or could it be the only way, the only path to life and health and peace and joy and restored human encounter and community? Could Jesus' way be in fact what strength is all about?
Do you recall that moment in the classic war film "All Quiet on the Western Front" when Paul Baumer kills an enemy soldier, only to discover that this enemy was a man like himself? Looking at the dead man, he says, "I had thought you just an idea. But here I see you, face to face, and you must have had a mother, and been afraid to die, and been very much like me." I hear Jesus saying, "Now, that's what I'm talking about."
And so, in my own wanderings among the debris of history, my own search into the recesses of the human condition, and from the depths of my own heart, I come to this table month after month, year after year, because I truly believe, Jesus is right. It may not make sense, but it works. It may not seem wise, but it gets the job done. It may seem doomed to failure, but it strangely prevails. It's never without pain- consider it rises from the shadow of a cross - but it always tends toward beauty: the beauty of overcoming evil with good, of ending hostility through reconciliation, of discovering that God's sun shines on all of us because in fact we all need to be forgiven and given the opportunity to begin again. And by God, we are!