Scriptures for Sunday, June 10th
Sermon
If you have been reading the paper, particularly the business session, you may be aware the Greece is the center of a European financial crisis that dwarfs anything we are experiencing in the US. Greece is currently experiencing massive unemployment, bank runs and unserviceable debt. The government has been forced to massively cut back on public services and the economy has only gotten worse. In the midst of this crisis, the Greeks held a national election. The results showed that the people had lost faith in the two main political parties and were looking for anyone, and I mean, anyone else to lead the countries.
So they turned from the main centrist parties to those of the extreme right and the extreme left.
In the midst of crisis, needing rapid action to unify the country and make important decisions, the people elected both communists and neo-Nazi’s, central planners and anarchists, and said go fix this. There was a video going around last week of one of the neo-Nazi’s slapping several of the communist party members. How do you think that’s work out for them?
You see- in the midst of crisis, the temptation is to do anything, try anything, follow anyone who comes along in the hope that someway, somehow, you’ll get through.
This is not a new phenomenon. The tendency to panic in the midst of chaos may be one of our most ingrained responses-
Fight or Flight
This can be helpful when trying to dodge a lion in the wilderness, but less so when it comes to discerning new leadership, new direction, the new movement of the spirit.
Back in the time before the first Kings of Israel, we find the people in the midst of chaos and concern. Their long time leader, Samuel, is beginning to get up there in years. He has led the people well and has helped them to prosper. However, he feels it is time to step down and appoints his sons to rule in his place.
Up until now, the people have been governed by a series of Judges. Not judges in the way we might think of it, no, these judges were often Holy people, sometimes warriors, sometimes political leaders, who would be elevated to lead the people. The Bible tells us that these judges were like people- some of the time they followed God and did good, some of the times they did evil and the nation suffered for it.
So, the Israelite people have a real crisis moment- Samuel has handed over the reigns of leadership to his sons. And, unfortunately, his sons are corrupt. They take bribes, they pervert justice, all in all- a terrible choice for leaders. It seems like everyone knows it but Samuel.
So the people panic- and they look to their neighbors. “Everyone else has a king. Why can’t we just get one? Surely, that would solve all our problems, wouldn’t it?”
Samuel’s response? He gets angry. He declares that not only have they rejected him, but they have rejected God. He proceeds to warn them of all of the dangers of having a King, and yet, the people don’t listen. They respond- “No! but we are determined to have a king over us, 20so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
They panic. And, as panic often does- it creates blind spots all over. Samuel can’t see his own culpability in installing his corrupt sons into a position of power. But that leaves us with the people. There is no doubt that they have a legitimate grievance. They are afraid of the injustice that Samuel’s sons will inflict on society. But- if they think the real problem is injustice from above, calling their leader a king hardly seems like a solution. As the people switch from a judges-based system to a king-based one- they have good kings and bad. Just kings and corrupt kings. War and peace. Order and chaos.
The leadership has changed- the condition? Not so much.
This is an ancient problem folks- and one very much alive today. Chaos happens. We face turmoil and distress in the world. the real issue is- what do we do next?
The ancient Israelites panicked. The modern Greeks panicked.
So what all does this mean to us? My friends, I think the church in the US in general, and our church in particular, has realized that we have a problem. Membership is declining across the country and here at IUMC. Worship attendance is down. Somehow, the church has failed to be compelling to the next generation. As we who are inside the doors, we who have been helped in so many ways by the church, see the decline around us, we rightly see a problem. And- having fully realized the extent of the problem- we panic! I think the church as a whole has been in panic mode for almost a full generation. We have alternatively blamed theologies, structure, the terribleness of current generations, and a myriad of other scapegoats.
We rightly recognize the problem. And like our ancestors before us, we don’t quite know what do to.
Let’s look at where the ancient Israelites go wrong? After all, they rightly saw that there was a problem! After Samuel explained all the problem with Kings- lets recall again the response of the people- “No! but we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
They want a king. Why? Because everyone else is doing it!!!
Is this a nation of teenagers? These are supposed to be God’s people. Special! Holy! A city on a hill. The shining light that will bring salvation to all peoples. And they just want to be like everyone else. Ordinary. Normal. Just give us the day to day corruption- at least we know that.
My friends- the Israelites- the church today- we aren’t called to be normal! We aren’t called to be ordinary. We have had a heavy task laid on us- we are supposed to be God followers. We are supposed to be the medium through which God works to bring salvation to all!
Thats a heavy task. And its a task we are not going to accomplish if we keep turning to corporate business models, more modern marketing technics, or even, and you know this hurts my heart, Facebook as the answer to all our problems. We are called to be more than ordinary.
We need to look to Jesus, to scripture, and to the Holy Spirit as it moves through each other, to see who and what we are to become. One way we are going to do this this summer is spending a lot of time on the figure of David- the great and flawed King of Israel. He, like us, was a somewhat ordinary person called to be extraordinary. And he, like us, had many flaws. And yet, seeming without miracles or direct divine intervention, God used David to do amazing things. Perhaps in David we will find a bit of ourselves and find God’s will for our own lives.
Other than wanting to be ordinary, I think there is one other big problem with the Israelite’s response- “No! but we are determined to have a king over us, so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
They want the king to go fight their battles for them.
We see a problem. Now you- go fix it for us. The church is struggling- hey you-pastor, get on that. Our community is crumbling- hey you, Mayor, do something, will you? When the community has a problem- no individual leader is likely to solve it. It is the community itself that will need to do some soul searching, organize to fix the problem, and go forward and make change.
My friends, when faced with a crisis of corruption, of having lost their way, the Israelites thought they could solve the problem by being ordinary and changing leaders. They were right- the particular leaders they were faced with were corrupt. But- good and bad leaders come and go. When you look closely at scripture, what was consistent was the peoples desire to follow anyone but God. They ignored that the core issue was themselves- so they never solved the problem.
As we the church, both universal and particular, struggle with losing relevance, we have to stop pointing the fingers outside of ourselves. We have to discern what the core issue is. I’m not claiming its our own corruption and lack of faithfulness (though we have to consider that too), but I am saying before jumping to solutions we have to discern the real core issue- Why are we here? If we believe God is going to transform the world, our community through us- what is the issue that needs transformation?
God is calling us to do some extraordinary things. But first, I think God call us to answer a question-
“What do you experience in the world and the church that calls for urgent action?”
As you pray over that question- look around at your community through God’s eyes. Talk to some other people. And come back and talk to me, to your lay leader Judy Perry or any of the other church leaders as we seek to find together the will of God for our church. As we begin to discern the answer to that key question- as we really articulate the problem- it is only than that we can find our way forward.
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