A call to follow ... and a
time to withdraw
January 23, 2005
North Anderson Community Church, Presbyterian, Anderson, SC
The Rev. Jake Young
Texts: 1 Cor. 1:10-18;
Matthew 4:12-23
[1-24-05]
The Rev. Jake Young considers the
President's Inaugural Address and the values proclaimed by Jesus in the
Sermon on the Mount. He finds some tensions between them.
Well, we've lived through another momentous
week in America. Many important things took place this week if you paid even
the slightest attention to the news. Near the top of my list was the
startling revelation by Dr. James Dobson - a leading proponent of myopic
"moral values" in America - that Sponge Bob Squarepants is a homosexual! I
thought, "Now that's quite an achievement for a cartoon character!"
Upon further examination, it turns out that
Dobson was not protesting Mr. Squarepants' sexual identity, but his
promotion of tolerance of all people. Apparently, the adorably obnoxious
square sponge stars in a video, along with Barney the six-foot purple
dinosaur and other characters familiar to children, teaching the value of
basic respect for everyone you meet. Apparently this is not a "moral value"
favored by Dobson because he and other conservative evangelicals were
protesting the video distributed by the "We Are Family Foundation."
The press contacted the attorney for the
Foundation for comment. Of Dobson and the other critics he said, "They need
medication."
Dobson made his comments at a black-tie
affair in Washington on the eve of the second Inauguration of George W.
Bush. In his speech the next day, President Bush outlined an ambitious,
albeit very generalized, agenda for the United States. The headline in the
paper declared, "Bush vows to Liberate!" and "Bush vows to End Tyranny."
There was no hint that the President or his speech writers recognized the
irony of these claims - claims made by the leader of a government that has
consistently curtailed the freedoms of others, including their own people,
in the name of fighting terror.
In different circumstances, I might
approach this topic from a church pulpit with fear and trembling. After all,
don't we observe a separation of church and state in this country? But this
is a President who openly professes to being a born-again Christian and
invokes the name of God with some regularity in relation to his role as
President. It is our role then, as Christians - and indeed as citizens of a
democracy - to closely scrutinize our leader's words and, more importantly,
his actions.
Mr. Bush did not invoke the name of Jesus
Christ on Thursday, but he did invoke Jesus' Sermon on the Mount as
containing the truths upon which our nation is based. Therefore, being good
Christian disciples, let's look at what Jesus said there.
Now, the Sermon on the Mount was no brief
undertaking. [Lucky for you today's sermon is not near as long!] But there
are a few points Jesus makes we may want to highlight for the President as
we all embark upon these next four years. The sermon begins with the
blessings, or the beatitudes. Among these we read, "Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." Call it what you
want, but our country's foreign policy the last four years has not focused
on peacemaking.
In his address, Mr. Bush said "There is no
justice without freedom." That sure sounds nice, but I'm not sure what it
means. It is really rather tautological. [Couldn't we have heard "There is
no freedom without justice" and find it equally meaningless?] But alas, can
we get a glimpse of Jesus' justice in the Sermon on the Mount? Yes. Jesus
says, "You have heard it said, 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'
But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. [Evildoer, now where have I
heard that recently?] But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the
other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your
cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second
mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants
to borrow from you." Now there's a good basis for forgiving 3rd
World Debt and supporting more fully the UN's efforts! Again, Mr. Bush was
short on specific policies in the speech, but I don't think he had this in
mind.
The President mentioned "freedom" and
"liberty" and "democracy" repeatedly, contrasting these words with words
like "tyranny" and "oppression." But never a single case was mentioned to
illustrate exactly what these words really mean.
He said, "America will not impose our own
style of government on the unwilling." If those insurgents in Iraq are not
unwilling, I don't know who is!
Mr. Bush said, "Today, America speaks anew
to the peoples of the world. All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can
know the United Sates will not ignore your oppression or excuse your
oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you." Does
this President really intend to stand with that lone man before a tank in
Tiananmen Square the next time the people of China resist their government?
He said, "America will not pretend that
jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and
servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies."
This from the man who incarcerated record numbers of criminals in Texas,
jailed war captives at Guantanamo with open disregard for the Geneva
Conventions, vowed to do everything within his power to see a woman's choice
over her own body be denied, and invented the doctrine of pre-emptive war to
attack Iraq - a bully policy if there ever was one.
Given this administration's track record,
all of this flowery rhetoric, with no specifics, must be veiling something.
All these vague promises to work for freedom throughout the world are the
prelude to some new initiative. For example, when the President says,
"Democratic reformers facing repression, prison or exile can know: America
sees you for who you are: the future leaders of your free country," I think
he means it. But what "it" does he mean? When I hear that, at first I think,
"Praise God! We're finally going to help the Dalai Lama return to Tibet as
the rightful ruler of that country!" Or maybe we are going to work with Aung
San Suu Kyi to see a new beginning in the troubled country of Burma! But I
don't think so. I think there is a less honorable strategy afoot. Some have
speculated that the administration plans on pre-emptively attacking Iran
next. But when I hear words like "reformers in exile" and "leaders of
governments with long habits of control" and look at the utterly
inconsistent policies of this administration's approach to non-democratic
countries, I start thinking, "Cuba."
I hope I'm wrong about our leader's
intentions to attack Iran or Cuba. But this administration has perfected the
Machiavellian political strategy of "tell 'em what they want to hear and
then do whatever you want." And with the convenient doctrine of pre-emptive
war in place, "do whatever you want" takes on a whole new meaning in the
world of modern geo-politics. Am I being cynical? No, I'm using history to
assess the likelihood of someone's next move. But, whether cynical or not, I
have ventured into the area of speculation, and that is sure quicksand for
any preacher.
So, let's move away from speculating what
the administration's plans may or may not be and return to what our actions
should be. We have looked at the Sermon on the Mount already, but you may
remember that our texts for today did not actually include that text from
Matthew. Our Gospel text was the passage immediately preceding the Sermon on
the Mount. In it we heard about Jesus calling his disciples. We noted that
Jesus came to them, they did not come to him. And Jesus sees Simon and
Andrew, James and John. They did not first see him. And finally, Jesus is
the one who calls them, they do not presume to stand there with their
fishing nets in hand and say, "Hey, Jesus, how about if I put this down and
come follow you?"
Well, God is calling us today as well. We
are being called to serve the Kindom of Heaven. We are being called to be
disciples of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. As disciples, we take our
ethical cues from Christ. We are familiar with some of Christ's ethical
teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. But we should also observe Christ's
actions because actions really do speak louder than words. In our passage
for today, Jesus undertakes a subtle action. It is easily overlooked
because, in many ways, it is an inaction, or a passive action. Did you
notice it? It came right at the beginning of the text when Jesus hears that
John the Baptist has been arrested.
Now, how would you act if the person who
baptized you was arrested. I personally, self-interestedly hope you would
come running to that person's rescue with a high-priced lawyer. But that's
not what Jesus does. Matthew says, quite simply, he "withdrew." That's not
very remarkable, is it? In fact, it is completely underwhelming. Jesus
withdrew. But why?
Jesus did not withdraw from that context
out of cowardice. Jesus did not frighten easily. Mel Gibson has more than
proven that point. Nor did Jesus withdraw as a simple self-preservation
strategy. No, his choosing to withdraw is an indication of the substantively
different character of the Kindom of God from any kingdom we have ever
known. Matthew constantly informs us that Jesus is the King of God's Kindom.
And as King, he embodies a vision of this new type of Kingdom - this Kindom
- that is based not on violence and forcing one's will on another, but on
non-violence and non-retaliation.
Matthew's choice of this word, withdraw, is
not accidental. He uses it on nine other occasions in the Gospel to describe
the actions of Jesus and others who are embodying God's will, a will for
Peace on Earth and good will for all . . . creation.
As we contemplate what our role as
disciples is to be, we may want to keep this word in mind: withdraw. To
withdraw is sometimes the precisely right action to undertake. There is
never a good reason to maintain a poor position. That is nothing more than a
sign that pridefulness is at play, rather than wisdom. Rather than speculate
on what Mr. Bush might do next in the name our country, we may want to think
about how we will call for the withdrawal of our young women and men from
Iraq. We may want to say as loudly as we can, "ENOUGH!" to this misadventure
that has lost more than 1,300 Americans and untold thousands of Iraqis. We
may want to recognize that withdrawal IS a legitimate exit strategy . . . a
legitimate Christian exit strategy - especially when there is no
other exit strategy currently in place.
There are no weapons of mass destruction.
They weren't sent across the border to Iran. Our presence is no longer
productive for peace in Iraq. Our troops have been there too long and are
spread too thin. We have forgotten that we are also at war in Afghanistan.
Where is Osama Bin Laden? Let's re-focus our efforts. Let's remember that
one nation pursuing nation-building is not nation-building, but
empire-building. This is neo-colonialism! Let's invite the UN to take the
lead in Iraq and pray they have a shred of willingness to do so. In short,
we must withdraw . . . Like Jesus would.
This was George W. Bush's second inaugural
address. It was the first war-time inauguration in more than 30 years. But
we've had war-time second inaugural addresses in even more harrowing
circumstances. On March 4, 1865, a war-weary, wrinkled, thinner-than-ever
Abraham Lincoln said the following:
The Almighty has His own purposes. 'Woe
unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses
come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.' If we shall suppose
that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of
God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed
time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South
this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall
we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the
believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope,
fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass
away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the
bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk,
and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another
drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it
must be said 'the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
altogether.'
With malice toward none, with charity for
all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us
strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to
care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his
orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace
among ourselves and with all nations.
Let us remember who we are and whose we
are. Let us remember what our mothers and fathers, and their mothers and
fathers, went through so that we could sit here comfortably today. And let
us pray with all sincerity that our acts of supreme arrogance and extreme
ignorance are forgiven us.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, forgive our nation for
violently attacking others pre-emptively, selfishly taking from the poor and
giving to the rich, and senselessly berating a cartoon character for
innocently preaching your message of tolerance and acceptance to children.
Amen.
