and the crowd came together again, so that they could not
even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people
were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul,
and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.”
And he called them to him, and spoke to them in
parables,
“How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided
against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself,
that house will not be able to stand.
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he
cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house
and plunder his property
without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house
can be plundered.
“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins
and whatever blasphemies they utter;
but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never
have forgiveness,
but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they had said,
“He has an unclean spirit.”
Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside,
they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said
to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for
you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those
who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does
the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
SERMON (PASTOR)
I wonder if this is Jesus’ college years. He has had his
preteen time in the temple, that first questioning of his parent’s authority.
He did time in the desert alone and was tempted, and now back, he is spewing
out paradigms and parables his mother, sister and brothers have never heard.
Its like he’s back to Baker for the summer, son of an Oregon
Trail ranching family, and while at college became part of the
Green Party. Its so different, so opposite, that his family is worried, “They
went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his
mind.” And I wonder the times we think
someone has gone out their mind, because what they speak challenges all that
we’ve ever known or what we believe we know.
I dislike going to the Thursdays Pastor’s meeting in town
because of this. It is hard for me to hear other leaders who seem so wrapped in
fear and rules, and judgement, of whose in and out, what’s right and wrong, and
saving the lost, and hating the sin and loving the sinner, and that America is
fallen though the elect, and everything for Israel and no mention of Palestine,
and the need for trained gunmen in the sanctuary, and then sometimes they start
comparing ministry to sports, all the while talking over and interrupting one
another, and I, the only woman in the room as the only full female pastor in
town, get to the point where I’ve had it. Once, I pointed out how they spoke to
each other, how it made me feel disgusted at their lack of listening and
unwelcome to enter in the conversation
because I am not one to raise my voice over another to be heard, and I haven’t
been back. But I tell you, in that room are pastors who cared for me, held my
hands and prayed for me while I sniffled and snotted grotesquely, and were
understanding during my divorce when I assumed they would be the last. In that
room are pastors who have taught me things about God, that I have kept with me
and used in my own ministry. Like that God has already freed us and taken on
our sin, which lifts our need to focus on confession, and turns it to praise, or
the illustration one pastor presented with the caveat that it is harsh because
it needs to be. He said, if a child dies from drinking Draino it is not the
parents the killed that child, Draino kills, and there are things in life that
just happen that are beyond our control and not ordained by God. It was a
theology I believed, but to hear it so starkly from someone I assumed was an
everything happens for a reason pastor, presented an alternative example from
my weaker ones. These are men from whom I am learn and are colleagues in
ministry, whose care is clearly in the Spirit filled. While it is exhausting to
hear the Bible preached in ways that seem just about opposite of my theology,
and sometimes seem to undo the inclusive hopeful welcome of our Presbyterian
ministry, what is harder to reconcile, is that I never leave unchanged, and
that I know those in their pews congregants feel likewise. If this version of
Christianity is so detrimental, why does it sometimes work? How can Satan cast
out Satan?
The scribes in our scripture aren’t worried about Jesus
speaking, as much as they are worried that it works. This nobody from Nazareth is collecting
followers. My worry isn't that these pastors are peaching, I worry because they
and their followers have the power to define who God is in Baker City,
so much so, that have even influenced my definition of God. I worry because
their ministry works, and like the scribes to Jesus, it puts my ministry in a
more precarious place. How can I stand here and tell you all are welcome, when
other churches say people must change to be included in the fold? How can I
stand here and tell you its not about rules, when the the social strata of this
town seems to figure itself out by high school prom and a person is defined by
that group for the entirety of their life? How can I tell you its about
service, when we have community that takes no thought in attempting to
evangelize to our Open Door kids? Sometimes, it seems like it would be easier
just to tie up the strong man, so I may plunder the house of God using
everything for my own. But I am afraid, I too have seen and felt the movement
of the Spirit outside these Presbyterian walls, because though in this town,
and elsewhere, Christianity can feel like a house divided, God is not. God is
using each of us, both inside this church, and other churches, and those who
have ever been to church. God does not cast out God. And so, sometimes I have
to get outside these walls, and frankly, I’ve been kicking myself for not
having gone back to the Pastor’s meeting, and I promise I will this summer.
I wonder what would going outside these walls look like for
you? Where do you least expect to hear the voice of God and when are going? Is
it a bar at night, is it in the youth of this generation, or the old people of
the last, is it in Fox News or the Huffington Post, is it in the internet or
the newspaper, is it in a museum or a city council meeting, or lazing around on
a Monday morning? Its not the place you want to go, or
the thing you want to do, its probably one of the least, but its the practice
of remembering that God is not defined, and that God’s family likewise may not
always look like that old Oregon Trail Ranching Family, that Jesus is in the
college student, and the disheveled family creating chaos at the grocery store.
Its the practice of remembering and experience that God is not divided, and nor
are we.
