Tell them to Stop!

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
March 28th 2010
Palm Sunday
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 19:28-40
“Tell them to Stop!”

With all the joy and excitement of the day it is easy to forget that Palm Sunday was highly organized and was intended to send a clear message. Palm Sunday is a day where the ethos of God and the ethos of empire come into direct conflict. In other words, it’s a fight, a clash of ideals and ideology. And, the values being expressed in the parade may not be of this world, we are expected to live them in this world.
Picking up the palms means we are saying yes to the ways of humility over hubris. We are saying no to hubris, pride, and arrogance. Picking up the Palms means we are saying yes to the ways of honesty and no to the ways of deceptive or misleading speak. It means we are saying yes to the ways of love and no to the ways of domination, violence and even rhetoric that leads to violence.
It has been quite a scary week if you are a legislator in this country, particularly if you are a Democrat who supported the passage of healthcare. Here are a few examples of the rage that is erupting. A gas line was severed at the home of the brother of a representative from Virginia. Windows have been smashed and graffiti was painted in congressional offices. Pictures of nooses were sent to white and black legislators by fax, white powder was sent to another with threatening messages inside. Threatening phone calls have been made and the death threats are piling up. A man was a victim of road rage in Nashville because of his Obama/Biden bumper sticker, and here Saint Louis a coffin was placed out front of Russ Carnahan’s home after he voted in favor of the health care bill. There is clearly something going on around us that is getting out of control.
What began as an angry response to myth and misinformation fed by the flames of a bad economy is now threatening to swallow up even the people who fanned those flames. Over the last week and weekend some of the rhetoric that found voice came from other legislators. Leaders of the opposition party said: "America has just witnessed an unconscionable abuse of power." They also said that what happened was the beginning of Armageddon and that the speaker of the house should get “ready for the firing line this November.” Missouri’s own Todd Akin did his part to fan the flames by saying: Today Americans are reacquainted with the danger of an arrogant all powerful government, a deadly enemy within, a clear and present danger in Washington.” I am sure no coffin showed up on his lawn. And two other congress people have called for revolution saying it was time to water the tree of liberty with the blood of patriots. And a former governor said now is not the time to “Reload.”
It is easy for these legislators to claim they are not inciting violence. Their rhetoric is just that, words. But, as people of the book, we know that words matter. Words have the power to shape reality. And despite the saying, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” we all know that is not true. Today we celebrate the king who taught us that if we have hatred in our hearts for others, that we are responsible for murder. So to our brothers and sisters who are legislators, it is time we call them out, on the right and the left. But even more importantly, we must own the anger that resides in our own hearts. Today is just the day to do it. By picking up the palms and shouting our Hosannas we are recommitting ourselves to the way of the king who would not resort to violence.
It was the celebration of Passover. And by way of refreshing your memory, Passover is the Jewish commemoration of the release from the slavery of the Egyptian Empire by God. Deuteronomy 6:20-22 sums it up quite nicely:
When your children ask you in time to come, “What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the LORD our God has commanded you?” then you shall say to your children, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The LORD displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household.
It is a celebration of the event and a claiming of that event in ones current setting. It is about aligning ones life to the story of faith which begins with freedom from slavery and ends with a life meant for serving God alone.
In first century Judea, the Passover celebration was always a cause for concern among the religious and political leadership. It was not good for the security of the Empire for the people to gather and celebrate freedom from oppression. As a result, each year during the Passover celebration an entire Roman Legion was ordered to “keep the peace” in Jerusalem. Their job was to prevent any riots or uprisings from occurring and to brutally end them if they did. That is how the ‘Peace of Empires’ is always maintained. So, it was into this religious and political powder keg that Jesus enters Jerusalem.
When the religious leadership comes to Jesus and orders him to quiet the crowd they are fearful of the crowd and of those brought in for crowd control. They know too well that once a crowd is stirred up only blood will satisfy. Once the people are stirred into a frenzy someone is going to have to die. If Jesus will not bring this crowd down then they will make sure he will pay. And at the end of the week Jesus will pay with his life.
Jesus will pay with his life because he will not play by the rules of the religious authorities. Neither does Jesus bend to the will of the crowd. Instead, he offers everyone a different way of acting and living in the world. To the religious leaders he demands authenticity and integrity. To the political leadership he shows the way of real power. And to the crowd he offers liberation and hope. But for all, he exposes that which each group does not want to face. He does not exploit the anger of the people. He does not use his faith to gain power, and he will not play by the rules of Rome. On this Palm Sunday, as we give all glory laud and honor to King Jesus we are saying no to the rhetoric which leads to violence and to all other claims upon our life. The question that remains for us is as chilling is it liberating: “Will our hosannas lead us to embrace the cross, or will we finally feed our own desire for justice and retribution and blood thirst that resides in every human heart?”

Free Food!!!

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
March 7th 2010
Third Sunday in Lent /Communion Meditation
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
Psalm 63:1-8; Isaiah 55:1-9
“Free Food”

This text from Isaiah sounds like a fairy tale. While living in Exile, the people of Israel are told that everything is going to be alright. God is going to take care of it. The good guys win. If we are honest, these stories have the ring of ones we read to our children but do not really believe ourselves. The message of the prophet simply does not look like the world in which we live. And the truth is that we are often afraid to say this out loud. Well, today I am saying it out loud.
How can this not be a fantasy? After all, water, food, wine, milk without a price? For free? In our world bottled water and milk both cost more than a gallon of gasoline. And when was the last time you saw food being handed out for free, when it wasn’t a holiday? Instead of wrestling with this incongruity, we either ignoring these scriptures or simply, and quickly, turn them into metaphor.
By talking about this text as metaphor we can talk more freely and with more confidence. This allows us to ask important questions like: Where are the places in your life you are faced with hunger? This is an important question because we live in a culture which says we should never be hunger. In fact, we may be so hungry for so much that we do not even know how to name those hungers. It is not wrong to ask these questions. This scripture does point us in that direction with the words: “that which is not bread.” So it would be faithful to talk about naming the places of our hunger and then finding healthy ways to feed them. But, I do not believe this passage is really about metaphorical hunger.
When the prophet speaks the words of God:
(E)veryone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come; buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. (Isaiah 55:1-2)
In a closer examination it turns out that nowhere in this passage does this prophetic poetry point to anything other than real food, water, wine, milk and rich food! In fact, it is clear that the problem has to do with a misallocation of resources. Money is being spent that which is not real food. While I believe the metaphor and the reality are connected, today I want to focus on real food.
Food plays an important role in the bible. When the people of God are in the wilderness and real hunger arises, God provides real food. When a widow in ancient Israel is on the verge of starvation, God provides real food through the prophet Elijah. And when Jesus is surrounded by people facing real hunger he takes five loaves and two fishes, real food, and feeds thousands. And, in the early church, when they celebrated communion it was with enough food to feed everyone to satisfaction.
If you have always had enough food to eat or enough money to get food whenever you wish, this focus on real food can seem strange. So the best approach is to slip into metaphor. But, if we can suspend that impulse I believe we will find out surprising and disturbing things. If this passage is about God’s plan is that people have enough to eat, we have to pay attention to real food. Who has access to it, how it is produced, how is it grown, and its nutritional value.
When we talk about real food we have talk about the epidemic of obesity. This epidemic is not due to an overabundance of real food. In fact, we live in a culture that is awash in that which is not real food. Chemicals, flavoring, fillers, and the food science industry has so confused us that we put too much into our bodies that does not satisfy, makes us fat, and is killing us. Cheep food is available but too often it does nothing to feed us and may even harm us. So is this an issue of faith? I believe the scriptures do have something to say to us about real food.
I am no expert on these issues but do believe we, as a people of faith, need to educate ourselves. There are many places we can learn about the problems with our food. I am a particular fan of Michael Pollan who has written numerous books on the issue. It is no overstatement to say that we have a crisis in our food system. But the good news is that we do not need feel overwhelmed and there is much we can do. Some of these things are quite simple. The call is not to suffer with the newest and latest fad or spend hours getting exercise. I suggest that the first thing we do is, when possible, do not eat alone. At the heart of our faith is a communal meal. Eating with others can raise our spirits and usually means we eat healthier. When we give food to those without enough, like with the Give-a-Meal a month program, buy food that you would actually eat or choose the healthier choice. Or, if you are able, grow your own produce. I learned the joy of a carrot fresh out of the ground and have been ruined ever since. If you do not have a place to grow food at home, you can grow food right here in the community which will get us exercise, and give back to the community. And finally, buy food that is locally grown and in season. This does not mean going to the most expensive grocery story. Instead, there are growing numbers of local farmers who do not expect to take your Whole Paycheck. Not only is it healthy, but it turns out, the food actually tastes better. This is not a political rant or the voice of one avid gardener. Instead, it is a call for spiritual wholeness which begins with real food.
Real food was so important to the early church that the first symbol of the church was fish and bread. Jesus could talk about being the bread of life because people understood that real bread could sustain real life. Until we understand the real in food and hunger, the metaphorical has no place. When we gather around this table seeking God’s sustenance, it is no fairy tale. Let us never forget that food and hunger in the bible are indeed about larger issues in life, but they are never detached from real food and real hunger. The faith we share has much to say about life right now. So let us gather at this table and remember when we leave here that the creator of us all wants us to choose those things that bring life, especially with what we put in our mouths.
Amen? Amen!