Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope

Jarring Words

Hearing words such as prisoner, captive, or slave may sound rather jarring to our modern ears, especially on a weekend when we in this country are gathering to celebrate our freedom, and our declaration of independence from the rule of a King and an Empire.  But these are the words designated for us this day.  Perhaps some context for these words will help.

Judean Context

We know Zechariah as a prophet but he was also a priest.  In the Hebrew tradition he is known for his work to rekindle the peoples hope after their liberation and return from Babylonian exile.  His vision of hope was uniquely connected to his insistence that they immediately rebuild the house of God.

While a large portion of the countries ruling elite were in exile in Babylon the temple on Mount Zion continued to lay in ruins ever since its destruction at the hands of the Babylonians in 586 BCE.  Enemies from without and apathy from within had brought the religious and political authority centered on the temple mount to a sorry state.

Zechariah understood that the rebuilding of the temple was a necessary precursor to what would be known as the messianic age.  Yahweh was about to establish his kingdom.  His ancient dwelling place in Zion must be restored to its former glory, so that Yahweh might once again be enthroned among his people and from there achieve his divine purpose for all nations and all peoples.

The night visions described in the first eight chapters of the book of Zechariah, supposedly taking place on a single night sometime in February or March of the year 519 BCE, have as their general theme the reassurance of the people that despite all appearances to the contrary, the messianic age is about to begin.

The eighth and final vision (6:1-8) sees the culmination of the messianic age to be the bringing of peace to the whole world once again, but this time under the control of Yahweh.  This new emerging community will find life in obedience to Yahweh and will live in unity with one another.  The New Jerusalem will mean peace and prosperity for old and young.  Joy and gladness will drive out the memory of past injustices and distress.  Yahweh’s people, gathered from near and far, will be joined in Yahweh’s holy city by the Gentiles, who will have been led to know the truth by the faithful witness of the Jews, and together, Jew and Gentile, will share in the blessings of a new golden age.

Unlike other prophetic writers, Zechariah rejects the formalism of the priestly cult and emphasizes instead the individual’s need for personal commitment and obedience.  There is an emergent realization that the consummation of God’s purpose cannot consist merely in the destruction of evil but must include the transformation of evil to good.  But the culmination of this personal commitment and obedience to Yahweh is Zechariah’s basic vision of a world at peace, with Jew and Gentile gathered together in a worshiping community centered on the Temple.

Yahweh will encircle the temple with his protecting presence, and the messianic king will enter Jerusalem in triumph to inaugurate the reign of peace.  The earth is transformed by the rule of Yahweh.

We can find in the  prophecy of Zechariah various levels of thought, which characterized a people who saw little outward evidence of the fulfillment of prophetic promises, yet, they remained a people who never relinquished their invincible hope in the vindication of Yahweh and his people.

This is the context behind the words that the Christian witness proclaims to be fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth:

Lo, your king comes to you;

            Triumphant and victorious is he,

Humble and riding on an ass,

            On a colt the foal of an ass.

These familiar words seldom read outside of the celebrations of Palm Sunday are imbued with a hope that reaches beyond all understanding or any rational evidence in the world in which people lived in 519 BCE.  We understand that Jesus of Nazareth is that humble King who came to reclaim the world as God’s peaceable Kingdom.  This faith that God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit is about the work of building something new is the stronghold of our hope.

Times they are a changing

So as Christians we believe that we are living in this new age ushered in by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ (messiah).  Christ becomes for us the personification of our hope that a new age is emerging in which all of the peoples and nations of this world, indeed all of creation, will live in peace under the reign of God.  This is the hope we express when we pray ‘thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 

But in order to truly understand the source of our hope we must first recognize some hard truths about our church.

The Constantinian compromise that aligned Christianity with the established political and social institutions of the Roman Empire and all subsequent empires of Western Civilization is long past.  Further, the Protestant Reformation is over, it is finished, it is done.  The postmodern church is no longer seeking to reform the Church institutions it has inherited. 

The sad truth is that the Church of those of us born before 1962 is fast moving into a state of irrelevance for those who have come after us.  We can witness this reality in the scarcity of young adults taking active roles in the church today.  It is not that this new generation is a faithless generation.  It would be a terrible mistake in judgment to think so.  Rather, it is a fact that those sometimes called generation x’rs no longer see the traditional institutional church as a valid or authentic expression of their faith.

And, honestly, their judgment upon the church is for the most part valid.  We have too long relegated faith to one or two hours of archaic traditions and forms that have become far removed from the every day realities of life in the post modern world.  There are just as many, if not more, opportunities to serve the community in real and tangible works of charity, compassion, and justice from organizations outside of the institutional church as there are from within.  And the language of moral obligation has been co-opted by corporations seeking to capitalize on the longing of its workers to be a part of something that makes a real and tangible difference in the lives of their neighbors, their communities.  And, of course, for the corporation, this makes for good advertising.

For those of us who grew up finding comfort, meaning, and purpose in the church of our youth this is a painful transformation that is leaving many among us feeling lost and exiled from the church we grew up with.  And, there are those among us that, no matter what, will not be able to let go of the structures, the forms, the familiar way of doing things as church for some time to come.  Change always has its winners and its losers when it comes to issues of position, power, and control.  Never the less, it is critically important that we honor these faithful sisters and brothers among us.  For they have carried us through joyous and difficult times faithfully.  We must find ways to learn from them, for their wisdom and experience are an important treasure for both the church of today and the church of tomorrow.  The reality that the church they inherited and served faithfully is quickly going away should never diminish or devalue their sacred service that continues today and into the future.

And, as from time eternal, there are plenty of zealots seeking to stop the emergence of a new church, proclaiming the new emergent church to be heretical, unfaithful, and unchristian.  It is important that we hear those critics who speak in love that we might learn from them and better understand the differences that reconciliation and peace require of us.  The church in whatever form it emerges must reach out to those of our brothers and sisters who mourn this end times with compassion and charity.

Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope

But change is happening, and it is happening now. But friends, do not despair.  Lift up your hearts sisters and brothers for we are living in exciting times.  It is not every generation that gets to go about the rebuilding of the church.  Let us remember the vision of Zechariah.  It is time to step out of the ruins of those outward forces that have sought to destroy the house of God.  It is time to awaken from our apathy and reclaim the vision of a still speaking God who commands peace of the nations, who is at work transforming evil into good, and re-establishing a time when all of creation co-exists in mutual sustainable praise to the life God created.  This is the stronghold of our faith.  Let us return to our stronghold, as prisoners of hope.

So what might this new house of God look like? 

While there are many possibilities I think this list I have borrowed from a recent  “Darkwood Blog” by Eric Elnes http://www.onfaithonline.tv/darkwoodbrew/the-inaugural-wild-goose-festival-recovering-something-lost/ provides us with a good initial summery:

(1) Christians are letting go of the notion that their particular faith is the only legitimate one on the planet, even as they fully embrace the Christian path as their own.  They understand that God is greater than our imagination can comprehend and thus may speak within other faiths.

(2) Christians are letting go of literal and inerrant interpretations of their sacred texts.  They are embracing a more ancient, prayerful, non-literal approach to these same texts, and finding new sacred texts as well.

(3) Christians are letting go of the notion that people of faith are called to dominate nature.  They are embracing a more organic understanding of human relationship with the earth.

(4) Christians are letting go of empty worship conventions and creeds.  They are embracing more diverse, creative, engaging approaches, often making strong use of the arts.

(5) Christians are letting go of a narrow definition of appropriate sexual orientation and gender identity.  They are embracing with increasing confidence an understanding that affirms the dignity and worth of all people.

(6) Christians are letting go of an understanding that people of faith should only interest themselves in the “spiritual” well being of people.  They are embracing a more holistic understanding that physical and spiritual well-being are related.

(7) Christians are letting go of the desire to impose their particular vision of faith on the wider society.  They are embracing the notion that their purpose is to make themselves more faithful adherents of their vision of faith.

(8) Christians are letting go of the old rivalries between “liberal, moderate, and conservative” branches of their faith.  They are embracing a faith that transcends these very definitions.

 (9) Christians are letting go of notions of the afterlife that are dominated by judgment of “unbelievers.”  They are embracing an understanding that God never gives up on any of us, even after we die, and that all people are loved far more than we can comprehend.

(10) Christians are letting go of the notion that faith and science are incompatible.  They are embracing the notion that faith and science can serve as allies in the pursuit of truth, and that God values our minds as well as our hearts.

(11) Christians are letting go of the notion that one’s work and one’s spiritual path are unrelated.  They are embracing an understanding that rest and recreation, prayer and reflection, are as important as work, and that our work is a “calling” and expression of what some call our “sweet spot.”

(12) Christians are letting go of old hierarchies that privilege religious leaders over laypeople.  They are embracing an understanding that all people have a mission and purpose in life in response to the Spirit’s call. It’s no longer about who wears the robes but who lives the life.

While none of us have any way of knowing what the church will look like by the end of our appointed life span.  We can say with confidence that it will look much different than it does today.  But, let us not despair.  Instead, let’s get excited, let hope captivate us.  It is time to rebuild God’s house.

Community of Hope

Now we come to a time when we must say goodbye.  Wednesday, Cathy and I will be loading a Uhaul truck with all of our belongings that will fit.  We are on our way to Conway, Arkansas to do our part in this new creation.  We are in the midst of planting a new church in Conway we have named Community of Hope.  It will be based in large part on the radical hospitality and inclusive love we have experienced here at First Central.  But we will also be incorporating some of the current ideas and forms coming out of the Progressive and Emergent Church communities.  We will be sharing this exploration with those who choose to physically gather with us in Conway, and with those who gather by way of our Internet presence, what it means to be a part of this new church God is creating in this new post modern age.  For those of you interested you can find the community of hope on Facebook www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_150555224991585&ap=1.  You are welcome to follow along as passive observers, or if you feel so led, to join as an active participant in this new mission by way of the Internet.

Cathy and I will remain members of First Central.  The Church Council has voted to extend to me an indefinite leave of absence.  This means that my call to ministry remains with you, and my standing as an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ continues to be held by the Living Waters Association, of the Nebraska Conference.

But please know this truth, that it is more than membership and standing that you hold.  You hold in sacred trust our hearts, our love, and our gratitude for having allowed us to be your friends in this life we share together as First Central.  Leaving this church is the single most difficult decision that Cathy and I have ever had to make.  We look forward to returning from time to time to visit Cathy’s family in Council Bluffs and to visit and worship with you here.  We also look forward to continuing our participation in the life of this church through the new technologies of email, Facebook, and twitter.

So with affection and gratitude let me simply say,


May the Peace of Christ be with you and sustain you, no matter what God has in store for you, O prisoners of hope!

Amen!


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To the glory of God, and the people of First Central Congregational United Church of Christ, Omaha, Nebraska.  Delivered during morning worship on Sunday, July 3, 2011.  First Reading:  Romans 7;13-25a.  Second Reading: Zechariah 9:9-12a.

Fidelity--The Stoning of Stephen

Fidelity can be a terrible temptation. Fidelity can be a terrible judge. I know, because I was there the day we stoned Stephen. The vision of my coat lying at the feet of Saul haunts me even to this day. I am here to tell you, fidelity is a terrible temptation. For the right beliefs, … for the right sacrifice, …the whole world will lay their coats at your feet.


Let me explain…
I was born and raised in the great city of Jerusalem; I lived near the gates of the great temple. I made my home on Mt Zion. As a child I lived and played in and around the great market place that had emerged around the walls of the temple, where pilgrims attending the great festivals and feasts did their shopping.  If need be, pilgrims could have their monies changed into the local currency, buy gifts, even purchase a sacrificial lamb. I can remember days when the sweat smell of the sacrificial blood, the smell of spices and ointments, mingled with the incense flowing from the temple, saturating the air I breathed. To this day that particular combination of smells reminds me of Jerusalem, it reminds me of home.  But the smells filling my nostrils was only a fortaste of the exotic pagentry that filled my eyes. The streets leading in and out of the temple gates were filled with sights of the exotic and the ordained.  The faithful pilgrims, children of Abraham, Moses, and David traveled from far and near to come to the Temple on Mount Zion, where they comingled with the priests and Levites, dressed in their finest ecclesiastical and liturgical adornments.

Vision of the High Priest
If you were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the High Priest you know that sacrificial blood never touched his hands, never splattered his garments. He had an army of ordinary priests to take care of the daily slaughter of the innocent lambs.

I guess we really had come to a point in our history when we worshiped the High Priest.  We placed all of our hopes in him and his office to protect the way of life that had been handed down to us by our ancestors.  Once the Romans seized control of the government and the economy, dismantling the dynasty of David and Solomon, our only true leader was the High Priest, who kept our religious and cultural heritage safe from the encroachment of the infidels. On occasion, while hanging out around the temple, I would get a glimpse of the High Priest decked out in his vestments. If you have ever seen the High Priests dressed in his ecclesiastical vestments you know what I am talking about, it was a sight to behold.

His vestments consisted of a blue woven robe. And on the hem there were golden bells alternating with blue, purple, and scarlet pomegranates. Over the robe the High Priest wore this embroidered, apron like vestment. This apron was made of blue, purple and scarlet material of fine linen interwoven with threads of gold, with each of its two shoulder clasps carrying a precious stone each engraved with the names of six of the twelve tribes of Israel. The straps helped secure a square breast piece made of the same material. The breast piece had four rows of three precious stones each, on which the names of the twelve tribes were inscribed. To finish it off, the High Priest wore a linen turban to which a golden crown was attached with a plate inscribed “Holy to Yahweh.” No one ever doubted, no one ever questioned, his worthiness of our fidelity.

Perhaps now you can understand why we were so angry that day when Stephen, in all his righteous indignation, challenged the very fidelity of the High Priest and the authority of the Temple hierarchy. I mean, who did he think he was? Here is this young Hellenist Jew, a follower of that radical rabbi Jesus, who dares to walk into the very courts surrounding the sanctuary of God and accuse the High priest, the entire hierarchy of the priesthood of infidelity to God. He dares to quote Holy Scripture to support his charges against us. It is a wonder he did not start a riot right then and there within the walls of the city.

I am sure the High Priest had thought he had put an end to this Jesus movement when he arranged to have the Rabbi crucified. But instead a full-blown movement began to emerge claiming that the one we thought crucified, God had raised from the dead. It had not taken long before there was no place you could go in Jerusalem where you didn’t find these disciples teaching and preaching there good news, gathering together in each others homes to worship, sharing common meals and a common purse, creating programs of charity for the widowed, the orphaned, and the poor, proclaiming a new covenant with God as if the old covenant was no longer sufficient for the salvation of God's chosen people.

So on that fateful day, when Stephen came into the courtyards of the temple and began to preach, challenging the fidelity of all of us gathered, accusing us of worshiping the Temple like a golden calf -- it was more than we could take. Our anger consumed us. But as angry as we were we knew the law. Proving our fidelity to the law, we took the time to seize Stephen and drag him outside the city walls, where we proceeded to do exactly what the law required we do to blasphemers, heretics, to any one who dared to challenge the authority and dignity of the Temple and the High Priest. No one questioned that Stephen was guilty. The great prosecutor Saul looked on with approval as we vented our righteous indignation. We reach down into the dust of the street, picked up the stones from the ground, we closed in on him, and we stoned him! I know what the cracking of his skull sounded like as a stone found its target.  I know the smell of Stephen's sacrificial blood. I was there, I was a witness, I laid my coat at the feet of Saul. And I felt a righteous satisfaction in what we did that day. It was only later that I realized that we were not the good guys in this story of fidelity.

Yes, I am haunted by the events of that day. It shames me when I remember how Stephen responded to our hatred, and the stones hurled at his mortality. How he pleaded with God to forgive us. And even though I covered my ears with all my might, and rushed with the others to stop his witness, I could not help but hear the joy and wonder in his voice as he proclaimed a vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God! There was a way in which Stephen died that was hauntingly similar to the stories of the death of Jesus. In the end it was the way Stephen died that witnessed to his fidelity.

Vision Lost
Then it was over! The Romans put an end to it all. The order and security we had come to know in the ‘50s gave way to the revolts of the ‘60s with its great cultural cataclysms and assassinations. Everywhere one looked there was rioting in the streets. The jails were being filled. Homes and businesses were being burned to the ground. The land of David and Solomon was quickly sinking once again into civil war. Then in the year 70, the Romans finally had enough. With the terrible power and might of its modern army, with all of its deadly technology and brute force it systematically began to destroy everything and everyone that got in its way. There was little or no regard as to whether they were killing a sinner or the righteous. Everything, and just about everyone, in the path of the Roman army was destroyed. Then the impossible, the unthinkable, the great Temple, the house of God, was torn down to the ground, not one stone was left standing on top of another. The great treasures of the Temple, all of its instruments of sacrifice and worship were looted, carried off to parts unknown, by the conquering armies of the empire. What had been was now no more. Those of us who survived--fled.

A Refugee – And you welcomed me
For years I wandered from place to place, trying to find meaning to a life without the Temple. What I understood to have been the center of the earth, God’s home on earth, had been destroyed. Having grown up in a time when everyone knew their place in the hierarchy of life, a time when religious institutions seemed a sanctuary from the encroachment of the secular enticements of modern life, reality as I now experienced it, was very much a wilderness experience. I spent years wandering from place to place looking for something worthy to attach my faith. I wandered searching for a new home, a refugee of fidelity.

Then by the Grace of God, I found my way to this place. And you welcomed me. I mean you really welcomed ME! It did not seem to matter who I was, where I had come from, or where I was on life’s journey. I was truly welcomed. For the first time I began to understand the power and glory of God’s radical hospitality. From the passing of the Peace of Christ, to the sharing of the Feast at Christ’s table I have found myself to be a part of a new community: a community of love, a community with a new vision of fidelity. For the first time I came to realize that we refugees of faith are like newborn infants, longing for something pure, spiritual milk, and with this spiritual sustenance, the hope we might grow into our salvation. Here with you, I found a home: a place to rest, a place to heal, a place to learn and to serve.

New Vision -- We are building a New Temple
Over the past seven years as I shared my life with you, here in this place, and you have shared your life with me, a new vision of fidelity has emerged, replacing the vision of old. This emergent vision is not of this great building. And, this is a great building, but it is not a temple. This emergent vision is not of great hierarchies of authority, for here we are each equal members of the priesthood of all believers. This emerging vision is about how our ordinary sacred lives of fellowship, community, and service are contributing to the building of a new kind of temple. Not a temple made of stones and mortar, but a temple of living stones. When we gather together in this place, we gather as living stones, stones that are being shaped and formed into a new temple, a spiritual temple. And this spiritual temple has proven worthy of our fidelity.

When we come together and hear Stephen play the organ, the choir sing, Scott preach, when we give of ourselves in prayer and offering, we are in each sacred moment being shaped and formed into something new. When we nurture our children in worship and in Grand Central Stations, we are doing the work of building a Spiritual house. Every time we gather in this place, the hard edges of our lives are gradually being chipped away through radical acts of hospitality, fellowship, and service. But it is not just here in this place that we are being formed.

When we give of ourselves to the work of the Parrish Alternative School, when we get involved with the Amnesty International Freedom Writers, when we join with others in the building of a Habitat for Humanity home, we are in these acts of compassion and justice being shaped and formed by the Spirit into living stones, into a spiritual temple.

When we reach out to minister to those in prison and their families through CrossOver Prison Ministries, or when we look to the needs of our neighbors by providing personal and household goods at an affordable price through the Evergreen Thrift Shop, or when we provide for the faithful at the Siena/Francis House, in these acts of compassion and justice we are being shaped and formed by the Spirit into living stones, into a spiritual temple.

When we reach out to the homeless poor, cooking for them and offering fellowship through the Neighbors United Team, when our youth and their leaders travel north to work among our brothers and sisters living on the reservations of the Dakotas, we are in these acts of compassion and justice being shaped and formed by the Spirit into living stones, into a spiritual temple.

In these ways, and in so many other ways that I have not named, we are witnesses to the reality that God has chosen us to be a spiritual house, that we are indeed precious in God’s sight, and that Christ can still be seen not only standing at the right hand of God, but actively working with us and within us, here and now.

Yes, I am still haunted by the vision of my coat, sitting at the feet of the great prosecutor Saul. I am still saddened over the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. But I have come to know that God heard Stephen’s plea and that I am forgiven. For the first time in a very long time I am hopeful again. But this time, my hope is not in great buildings, rituals, or religious institutions with their ecclesiastical hierarchies and granduer. This time my hope is in the promise that from the beginning to the end of each day it is God’s fidelity that will prove to be the salvation for which the world is longing.  It is to God's fidelity that we hymn our prayers.

Be Thou My Vision
So now, when I go to bed, and when I wake, I find myself hymning this prayer to the still speaking God …

Be Thou My Vision

Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me

Save that thou art

Thou my best thought

By day or by night

Waking or sleeping

Thy presence my light

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To the glory of God, and the people of First Central Congregational United Church of Christ, Omaha, Nebraska.  Delivered during morning worship on Sunday, May 22, 2011. 

First Reading:  1 Peter 2:2-10.  Second Reading: Acts 7:54--8:1.