- Who is that, really?
- Is that scary witch REALLY a witch?
- And, scariest of all: If I wear a Superman costume, can I fly?
It’s an identity issue they will carry into Christmas, when the younger ones will be frightened of Santa, while the older ones will reassure them that it’s really just Grandpa, all dressed up…
Who is this person, really?
And, more importantly, who am I, really?
Today’s Gospel lesson is basically about identity:
Those scribes and Pharisees you see all dressed up? Don’t be fooled! It’s not in the phylacteries and the long fringes. The clothes don’t make the man!
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat,” Jesus tells his followers. “Therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.”
Those scribes and Pharisees – they know a lot of important stuff that you should know! Learn it! Do whatever they teach you…
But sadly – knowledge does not necessarily inform behavior.
Just look at those scribes and Pharisees!
- And we know in our own experience that is true as well:
- most smokers can cite the Surgeon General’s report, and they smoke anyway;
- and, “Just say no!” is an admirable program – but some children going through that curriculum have also fallen into drug use, and we discover that “just saying no” isn’t quite as easy as we had thought or hoped.
- And, we all know that a healthy diet and regular exercise is important in our lives – but how many of us take what we KNOW and make it a part of what we DO?
Closer to home, we all – you and I – know the Christian imperative to love our neighbor – to love whoever is in front of us at any particular moment – and yet we find ourselves again and again falling tragically short.
What does that say about who we are as Christians?
So – today’s question would seem to be, “How do we bridge that gap between what we know, and what we do; what we have learned, and how we live? How do we integrate who we are ‘up here’ (in our heads) and who we are ‘in here’ (in our hearts)?”
Because Christian teachings are not simply something we put on, like a Halloween costume, a cloak or a mask which we use to cover us – and then discard when we get tired or uncomfortable or it’s inconvenient, and we’re through... Christian teachings are something we absorb and live into…
So I ask myself: HOW can we take those Christian teachings into ourselves so that we can BE Christians?
Because the teachings are hard, and, if you’re like me, it can be a struggle to fully live into them!
Of course, it is a process, and it takes practice. We know that – that’s why we come together as a community – to support and inspire one another, to celebrate our successes and confess our failures.
But it also takes faith:
- Faith in the one whose teachings we follow;
- Faith in the relationship we have with Jesus;
- Faith to risk and to take that first step;
- Faith that what sounds crazy – turning the other cheek, for example, or the last shall be first, or loving one’s enemies – are in fact important Truths.
Our lesson from Joshua today is a concrete example of that kind of faith: as instructed, the twelve priests bearing the ark of the Covenant step into the Jordan River – which parts to become dry land so that the people may cross over. It is reminiscent of the story in Exodus of the parting of the Red Sea. According to Midrash when the Israelites were trapped between the Sea of Reeds and Pharaoh's army, and while Moses was praying to God for help, an Israelite named Nachshon decided to take matters into his own hands and leaped into the sea. Then God said to Moses "Stop praying already! Turn around and look at what your friend Nachshon has done. While you stand here praying he is taking some action!" Only then does God part the sea so that the Israelites can cross.
So yes, we pray.
But we also act.
And our world presents us with many challenges and gives us many opportunities to respond, to act, as Christians.
Certainly, we can step with love into our relationships in such a way that the waters of bigotry, or animosity, or fear, or injustice, are parted, trusting that indeed love is the better way to live.
And sometimes it feels “crazy.” Unimaginable. It doesn’t make sense! The seas don’t part like that, leaving dry land for us to walk on from one side to the other!
That’s not the way the world works!
No, it’s not.
Jesus knew that, also. That’s why he tried to teach us a different way to live, a different way of being in the world.
Because, when we’re different, the world is also different!
And when I get forgetful or discouraged or begin to question WHY? How so? Is it true? Or begin to look for loopholes and exceptions, I am sustained by Stanley Hauerwas’ remark that “I have tried to live a life I hope is unintelligible if the God we Christians worship does not exist.”
“I have tried to live a life I hope is unintelligible if the God we Christians worship does not exist.”
Such informed lives, shaped by the teachings of Jesus and unintelligible if the God we Christians worship does not exist, will surely transform this world, one life at a time.
Amen.
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