September 14, 2014
Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost
SCRIPTURE: Hebrew Bible:
Exodus 14: 19-31
Epistle:
Romans 14: 1-12
Gospel:
Matthew 18: 21-35
MEDITATION: This Ain’t Easy!
Pray with me: Creator God, on this day of both joy and sorrow, as each day is, We thank you that you
are with us. As we search together for the meaning of your teachings, strengthen us to know what it
might mean for each of us as we strive to be your people, both individually and as community. AMEN
You know what; I got to thinking this week that I have said this to you before – THIS AIN’T EASY! Have I
said that to you before?? . . . . . I thought I might have. You know why? Because the truth is that this is
NOT easy. This being a learner and being a follower – NONE OF IT IS EASY!!
Take the scripture that we just heard this morning. In the New Testament it seems to be telling us that
no matter what – we had better be ready to forgive ANYONE who does US wrong. There is a subtle
warning there, and maybe it isn’t even very subtle, that says if we don’t then maybe WE won’t be
forgiven by God. That seems to me to be a pretty big threat since God is the ultimate forgiver. Mostly I
think we remember that when we are facing our own mortality or maybe standing with someone we
love who is facing their mortality. We are inclined to think at those moments that we don’t want to get
this thing wrong –JUST IN CASE! The stakes are pretty high if there is the possibility of being judged
harshly for what we have done OR not done in life. What makes this worse is that we are hearing the
message of scripture as it is spoken by Jesus. That’s pretty compelling if Jesus said it! BUT there is one
thing that we can comfort ourselves with – Jesus often used hyperbole in order to get his point across!
Jesus tells a story and then he exaggerates it to the “enth” degree so that he is sure the disciples and the
followers will get it. I am going to accept that because I don’t believe that there is anything that
separates any of us from the love of God. I don’t believe that God is somewhere “up high” with a big
note book waiting for us to make a wrong step, recording it and ready to bring out that note book at the
moment of our meeting. That’s old theology – an angry, vengeful, God just waiting to heap retribution
on us. That’s old stuff that I believe was used not for the love of God but for the CONTROL of each other
as human beings. Do as I say is right or God will get you in the end and you won’t like it! That’s scary
stuff! That’s childhood theology that we Christians have been struggling with for a very long time in the
history of Christianity and if we are to mature in our understanding and our faith and become “doers” of
faith rather than “fearers” of faith we had better give that up!
But we still have more problems with the scripture this morning, because we have heard once again the
historical story of our Hebrew ancestors. Who doesn’t remember the scene in the Ten Commandments
when Yul Brynner madly chases the poor Hebrew slaves across the desert and Charlton Heston saves the
day with his staff separating the water of the Red Sea. Remember the frantic drive of the people and the
cattle across the sea bottom and then the water pouring in on to the chariots and horses just as the
Hebrew people safely reach the shore. I saw this for the first time when I was about 10 and I can still see
that scene today in my mind’s eye! What are we to make of this God who saves the good and the
innocent while destroying with mighty force the “BAD GUYS”? Let me ask you – have you seen that lived
out anywhere in your own life time? Have you seen where bad things don’t happen to good people or
where the evil of the world doesn’t seem to win while countless innocent people suffer terribly? If you
can say YES to that question then I suggest that you make an appointment with a psychiatrist. IT
DOESN’T HAPPEN – the good and the bad are all mixed up together. Good people get hurt all the time
and Bad people don’t even notice let alone care! And the worst thing of all is that most of us get pretty
confused about who is good and who is bad and what to do about it. What can this mean? This AIN’T
EASY for sure!
I have been pondering and reading all week trying to “rescue” this story from its violence. Maybe it is,
as some have speculated, a story that shows us that God is always with us and ready to rescue us if we
just allow it. Maybe it is a story about our helplessness and our vulnerability as humans when our backs
are against the wall, when their seems no way out of a hopeless situation, when our strength is gone
and our courage fails us and there seems no way forward and no way back. There is a drowning sea in
front and an army of enemies behind! Then in those human moments there is only God. Maybe here is
the spiritual connection to our everyday lives in how it is we find that way when there is no way. Maybe
here in this story we just might be the Egyptians floundering in the water because we didn’t see that
there was another way to go and another way to be. Maybe when we can’t find the way to love the
people we don’t even like, or strive to be part of fixing the things that are wrong in our world then we
are going to flounder in what feels like a sea of water overtaking us.
Asking for forgiveness or receiving forgiveness are not easy things to do. Saying we are sorry for
something wrong that we have done is not an easy thing. It is hard – sometimes it seems impossible –
but we have this God that rescues and shows us the way when there is no way. What if we reinforced
for each other that God rather than a punishing and angry God is a God standing beside us, cheering us
on, and assuring us that we CAN do this thing of human life in a better way. What if saying sorry with
authenticity and sincerity really made a difference, changed us at the very core so not only are we sorry
but we are determined not to let it happen again? What if saying we are sorry helped someone else find
a way to do the same thing. Can we even begin to imagine how that might heal, and build bridges and
deepen our faith and even start whole new relationships that can begin to put an end to the GOOD
GUY/BAD GUY reality that our world seems to move us toward. If we can move ourselves first and the
world follows so that we see in all creation and each other the presence of the divine, that God is in us,
all around us, in everything that we see and do and are – wouldn’t this human journey begin to change
and transform. Can we even imagine a world in which the GOOD and the BAD merge in the love of God
and become something totally new with new possibility of ending the madness of vengeance,
retribution and retaliation.
I don’t want to make light of the very serious difficulties that exist in our world. They are real and they
are going to take real effort to solve. Platitudes and flowery words are not going to do it. It’s going to
take extraordinary effort and extraordinary commitment from ALL human beings if we are going to get
out of the mess that the world of human beings so often creates. We absolutely need a God who will be
with us and help us as we keep on trying. We don’t have now and I don’t believe we will ever have a God
who sweeps in and in some magical way changes everything. I do believe in a God that gives us not 7
times but 77 times the opportunities to forgive and be forgiven as we do this work of being human. It
AIN’T EASY; I don’t think there are any promises of easy in the teachings or in the lessons. There are
promises of being with us though. There are promises of love and hope and grace and forgiveness and
that is all we need if we believe in those promises. I am grateful for that. AMEN