Sermon for March 19th 2006. The Revd. J. Michael Povey and the Revd. Robert K. Massie at St. James’s, Cambridge, MA Exodus 20:1-17 + Psalm 19 + 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 + John 2:13-22 Michael Povey “It is not good for the man to live alone”. So says the writer of Genesis, and in the story, the first community is born, a woman and a man. Soon they are joined by children, and soon there is conflict. Violence and murder. Living together in community brings joy and support. It also brings challenge and conflict. The family becomes an extended family, then a clan, then a tribe, and maybe then a nation. All along that continuum, family - clan - tribe - nation, comes the question. “How then shall we live together? We can see how this works itself out in the story of this nation. First, there is the compact, or covenant. In the case of what became Massachusetts, that covenant was laid out in Winthrop’s speech on the “Arbella”. It gets worked out in what we call the “Mayflower Compact”, later in the parish, then in the Town Meeting, and even much later in Massachusetts Constitution. As the Colonies gained independence and a nation was born, that question “how then shall we live together?” gains an almost inspired answer in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We may be asked to pledge allegiance to the flag and the Republic for which it stands, but those words only make sense when we know that our commitment is to the Constitution, and to Constitutional government. In the story of another nation, the people of Israel, are given a way of living together. As a disparate group of tribes is preparing to become a people, a nation, the story goes that the Holy One gives the people a way of living in what we call the Ten Commandments. We have to be a bit careful for there is more than one version, and they would be better described as Ten Words rather than Ten Commandments. They are not sufficient in themselves, and they have to be parsed by many other commandments. But they are the starting place. Commandments five through ten have to do with how a community might be formed and live together. Murder, lying, adultery, covetousness, abuse of parents, and theft will destroy community. Of course these words tell us how to not to destroy community. They do not tell us how to create it. That is why the laws have to be explicated and filled out with many others. And Jesus, with other Rabbis teach us that it is not good enough to be proud that we have not murdered when we have murderous thoughts; it is not good enough to be proud that we have not committed adultery, when our souls are damaged with adulterous thoughts. But there are six words which have to do with living together in community, words which are good for our families, good for our Church Community, and good for the wider Civic Community. We might think about them as the sanctification of community. There is a fourth word, which is a bridge between the first three and the latter six. “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it Holy”. This has to do with the sanctification of time. Shabbat, lovely Shabbat has been all but lost to the Christian community. It is a great loss. For the meaning of Shabbat is to take time to remember who we are, and to remember to what we have been called. If we do not take time to remember those things, then we shall forget them. Two weeks ago we spoke of who we are “we are God’s beloved, and with us he is well pleased”. Last week we talked about “what we are called to do” and the call to discipleship and action. We saw that taking up the cross is a direct call to social and political action. We mused on how this got worked out in the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. But have we forgotten already? The world is too much with us, and most of us have unsustainable lives of being busy, far too busy. Shabbat, lovely Shabbat is the sanctification of one portion of time each week, so that we shall remember who we are, we shall remember our call to discipleship; and that we shall remember that all time is God’s time. For the people of Israel, the fourth Commandment about Shabbat was created to be a bridge by which people crossed to commandments five through ten - “who are we in relationship with each other” and crossed back to commandments one through three, “who are we in relationship to G-d, the saving G-d who has delivered us from bondage?”. The point is that the people of God could not have more than one god, for then their loyalties would be divided. That was the question with which Bonhoeffer and the authors of the Barmen Declaration wrestled. How could they have undivided loyalty to G-d Almighty if they also declared undying loyalty to the German Reich? Could they bow down to the idolatrous emblems of the Nazi regime, and also bow before G-d? Would they be taking the name of G-d in vain if they coupled that name with arrant Nationalism? Their resounding answer was “no”. “We must let G-d be G-d”. And some of them paid the price of that “no” with their lives. I believe that we are once again being called to “let G-d be G-d”, to renew our commitment and covenant. There are yet false gods which command our loyalty, and threaten to destroy our way of life in community. The Revd. Bob Massie and I have had three conversations about this during the past week. Bob and I share the same commitments to Almighty G-d and to the Lord Jesus Christ. We share the same concerns. And so I have asked Bob to complete this sermon. He will issue an Altar Call - as he reminds us of who we are, and who we are called to be. Thank you Bob. March 19, 2006 Bob Massie A Piece of Ourselves A Call to Prayer and Action issued at St. James’s Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts I’m gonna lay down my sword and shield Down by the riverside And study war no more Last week Michael preached a powerful sermon about the need for us to take up our cross in following Jesus. He said that we needed to remember that taking up our cross was about more than coping with arthritis or physical ailments, and more than doing our best in our complicated lives. He said that sometimes taking up our cross meant being willing to challenge the most powerful forces in the world when those forces are corrupting and destroying humanity. I was moved by his sermon. I wanted to respond to it – not just in words but in my actions. I went up to Michael and told him that I wanted to accept his challenge and that I was sure that there were many other people in the congregation who wanted to accept his challenge, but that to do so truly we would need to build new relationships with each other. I love and admire so many people in this community. I admire the devotion and persistence that you bring to many forms of Christian service and witness. I know that many people here are already living such intense lives of commitment, and I draw strength and hope from that. My only reservation concerning our Christian witness is that we do so much of our work individually. We go into the world and give what we can, working on many different fronts, giving in many different ways, and then we come here on Sunday for relief, restoration and renewal. Thanks be to God for all the good work that is being done. But my brothers and sisters, I want to put to you the question that struck me so forcefully last week: are we doing all that we could be doing as a community of the faithful in the face of year after year after year of this endless “war”? On the morning of September 11, 2001 I had doctor’s appointment at 8:30 in the morning. As I left his office a little before 9:00 I heard from the nurses in the hallway that something terrible had happened – some sort of explosion at the Pentagon. I learned that the World Trade Center Towers had been hit when I got into my car. I was driving down Highland Avenue, staring through the windshield at the glorious blue sky, when the radio announcer suddenly went silent. I thought my radio had stopped, but the silence had occurred because the announcer was too horrified to say what he had just heard – that the first tower had collapsed. Anne was on her way to Providence but she turned around and came back and together we made sure that our children were fine. And then we came here. We came to this church. We sat alone in that pew and we prayed. I remember the sunlight that poured in through the great lantern over our heads and I remember how that light shone off of the pool of tears that gathered on the floor. We prayed and prayed and hurled our minds and voices in anguish to God. We prayed for the thousands of men and women who had awoken that same morning just as we had, and who had gone to work or boarded an airplane and sipped their coffee and stared at the glorious blue sky until their lives were ripped from this planet through an act of unthinkable brutality. We prayed a thousand prayers for them and for their families. And in the midst of all those prayers there was one prayer that I prayed with particular intensity, because I felt a great fear rising up within me. Dear God, I prayed, protect this nation from what it might become. My brothers and sisters, you all know that I have worked hard for candidates I have supported in the past. I have done so because I believe that it is our responsibility as citizens and as Christians to take the future seriously and to live our lives not only as people with private compassion but also with public commitments. But I believe we are now straying into a domain that is far beyond partisan politics. I believe that somehow, through some process that I do not understand, and for which we all bear responsibility, we have drifted into a dark and dangerous place. And because we have busy lives and because we are so conscious of our own limitations and because we feel powerless and because we are never quite sure what it is the right path, we, as citizens and as Christians are watching the erosion, the destruction, the desecration of the ideals which have guided us as Americans for more than 230 years. The founders of this country feared one thing more than anything else. They feared the concentration of power. They believed that such concentration of power – cloaked in exuberantly blind self-justification – had caused more injustice, and cruelty, and war than any other force in the history of humanity. And with the establishment of our American democracy – government of the people, by the people, and for the people – they sought to forestall that concentration through two tools: the separation of powers and the rule of law. They believed that through the separation of powers and the rule of law, they could hold back the natural human instinct toward coercion. They believed they could hold the line against tyranny. I am standing here because I believe that we are in the midst of crossing that line. I don’t know when exactly we crossed it. I don’t know what exactly we can do about it. I don’t know why I am suddenly stepping before you today, rather than yesterday, or a month ago. But Michael’s sermon last week touched me powerfully, when he reminded us that we are called to take up our cross and follow Jesus. When Jesus collapsed on his way to the crucifixion, Simon of Cyrene was compelled to take up his cross and carry it. He did not choose it. He was compelled. And some of the crosses that fall before us are clearly not of our own choosing. My brothers and sisters, somehow, somehwere we have crossed the line. I know that because somehow we have come to accept – to accept! -- that there are thousands of fellow human beings who have been imprisoned for four years without rights, without recourse, in cages, all around the world outside of normal American legal jurisdiction. They exist in legal limbo without rights. They are not prisoners of war, they are not criminals. They have been kept as animals, they have been turned into slaves, American slaves. And we have done nothing. We all want freedom and peace and democracy for every human being on earth. We want freedom and democracy for Iraq. But I do not believe that we can achieve such freedom and peace and democracy for ourselves or for anyone else by violating, before the eyes of the world, the principles that we are working to establish. Four and a half years ago, even as I sat in that pew and wept for my country, even as I sensed the terrible dark cloud of revenge and hatred and self-righteousness and brutality that might come over us, I never imagined that I would find myself listening to a president who could shamelessly ignore and then justify torture, who could in his addresses to Congress boast our ability to murder anyone anywhere I never imagined that we would drift to the point where the most fundamental of our legal rights – the presumption of innocence, the protection from warrantless search, the ability to exercise free speech – could be abandoned without all of us rising up into a great wall of indignation. But we have not done so. Somewhere we crossed the line. On the front page of this morning’s New York Times there is a story about how a shadowy American force called Task Force 6-26 turned one of Saddam Hussein’s torture chambers into a torture chamber of their own, a place without rules or limits, a place they called “the Black Room.” We are drifting into a national Black Room, a place of intimidation and helplessness. I wanted to phone the Department of Defense and demand to speak to someone about the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay – but then I wondered whether I really wanted to be put on yet another government list and then find myself under arrest the next time I go to an airport. When I talk to my father, an eminent historian and former Naval officer, and I hear him vent his fury over the phone about our government, I find myself wondering what machines or people might be listening in on his intemperate words – and I urge him to be quiet. Somewhere we crossed the line. We are witnessing the slow militarization of every part of American life. We are bowing down to the false god of endless war. Every brutalized person, every abuse of power, every absurd expenditure, every insinuation of treason, every collapse of legal protection has been justified and excused because we are a “nation at war.” Every time I see that phrase in the newspaper I want to know: at war with whom and with what and for how long? Where is the capital of the enemy that we can march into and occupy? Whose unconditional surrender are we seeking? With whom could we ever sign a peace? How long is this war going to continue? How far will it spread? How much more death can we swallow – how long will it take for us finally, as nation, to gag? We know from history and experience, from the wisdom of the founders and the wisdom of scripture that the idolatrous pursuit of endless war against an unknown enemy is the most direct path from democracy to tyranny. We are already far down that path, and now we must turn back. My brothers and sisters, I do not know the answer to any of these questions. I am only one person – a frail and tired person. I cannot stop anything by myself. But I believe in you. And I believe in us. And I believe in God. As it says in today’s reading from Ephesians “God’s weakness is stonger than human strength.” And I believe that if the people of St. James, in our frailty and busyness and imperfection, could add our voices to those who can no longer stomach the idea and culture of endless “war,” then the same God who came to us in Jesus can yet again bring forth justice and peace in his name. What is to be done? I have no brilliant ideas – only faith. I believe we must restore the rule of law. We must decisively and permanently reject the idolatry of endless war. I believe we must pray – each of one of us individually, and all of us together. I believe we must pray – in public, before our legislatures, before our governor, before our military. We must bear witness against the asphyxiating culture of death. When you come forward today, if you want to stop this endless war, put something of yours in this basket. A piece of clothing that you will never see again. Put in your photos of your children or your shoes. And we will mail them to Congress and say, “This is our offering. You have not heard our voices, so we are sending you a piece of ourselves. A piece of ourselves in exchange for the defense of our ideals, the rebirth of our democracy, and the restoration of the rule of law.” Amen, Amen – dear God Amen. ======================= Exodus 20:1-17 20:1 Then God spoke all these words: 20:2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 20:3 you shall have no other gods before me. 20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 20:6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 20:7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 20:10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work--you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 20:13 You shall not murder. 20:14 You shall not commit adultery. 20:15 You shall not steal. 20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Psalm 19 19:1 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 19:2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. 19:3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; 19:4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, 19:5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. 19:6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple; 19:8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes; 19:9 the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 19:10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. 19:11 Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 19:12 But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. 19:13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 1:18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1:19 For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." 1:20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 1:22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 1:23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 1:24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1:25 For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. John 2:13-22 2:13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2:14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 2:15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 2:16 He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" 2:17 His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." 2:18 The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" 2:19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 2:20 The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" 2:21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 2:22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.