When some were speaking about
the temple,
how it was adorned with
beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God,
Jesus said,
“As for these things that you
see,
the days will come when not
one stone will be left upon another;
all will be thrown
down.”
They asked him,
“Teacher, when will this be,
and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?”
And Jesus said,
“Beware that you are not led
astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’
and, ‘The time is near!’
Do not go after them.
“When you hear of wars and
insurrections, do not be terrified;
for these things must take
place first,
but the end will not follow
immediately.”
Then Jesus said to them,
“Nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
there will be great
earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues;
and there will be dreadful
portents and great signs from heaven.
“But before all this occurs,
they will arrest you and persecute you;
they will hand you over to
synagogues and prisons,
and you will be brought before
kings and governors because of my name.
This will give you an
opportunity to testify.
So make up your minds not to
prepare your defense in advance;
for I will give you words and
a wisdom
that none of your opponents
will be able to withstand or contradict.
You will be betrayed even by
parents and brothers, by relatives and friends;
and they will put some of you
to death.
You will be hated by all
because of my name.
But not a hair of your head
will perish.
By your endurance you will
gain your souls.
***
I called my dad Wednesday morning. At thirty-three it’s hard to know what
comes next after historic events like this week’s election. Having studied
American History and Foreign Policy, I tend to trust that my dad will be able
to look back and predict into the future. “Kate,” he said, “This hasn’t
happened before.” “The closest was Andrew Jackson, in 1828, but the country
wasn't a tenth as divided as in this election. People didn’t like Andrew
Jackson,” “Well he was horrible to the Indians,” I quipped. My dad continued,
“No, he wasn't a very good person, and people in the cities were angry about
the election, but Jackson pulled more rural votes from a white male electorate,
but it’s not like this. This is so much more contentious. I don't know what
happens from here.”
I thought I would call my dad,
and he would pull out some random election from fifty years ago, and
essentially tell me that we as a country would come together again and
everything would be fine. But he couldn’t tell me that. This was something he’d
not seen nor studied. Likewise, my ninety-three year old, Grandpa, said this
summer, “Well Pal, it hasn’t been this bad since Calvin Coolidge and this is
worse.” He made a joke, but I don't like that one of the oldest as well as one
of the most well-versed people I know, both were in new territory. And I too
have been seeing things for the first time.
Both before and after the
election, it was easy to see how the media on both sides, bent the facts into
opinion. I don't remember growing up that you could watch the news and tell for
whom people were pulling. It made me nervous, and question if there were
unbiased reports at all. And like a gross characterization of national
political discourse the things that people posted on Facebook were egregious,
not only for their insensitivity, to put it mildly, but also for the lack of
any honest discourse, which can never, happen on Facebook. One is allowed to
post their opinion, and to find camaraderie in that stance, but by the same
token, it is not the way to change minds. What I believe is there is degree to
which such stances, without conversation, have lead to the increasing polarity
of our nation. We live in country like the signs of the scripture,
“Nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
there will be great
earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues;
and there will be dreadful
portents and great signs from heaven.
In the scripture’s context,
the temple, the greatest building in the world and a symbol of power and might
has been brought down because of Roman civil wars. Note that the gospel doesn’t
say, because of one leader or another, but instead because of infighting. We
too are living as citizens, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, the
likes of which have never before happened in our history. I see two uprisings,
one stirred up by president elect, Donald Trump, where citizens of rural and
conservative America
like embers caught flame again. And the other uprising, marked by protests in Portland, where more
liberal voters were surprised at the complacency of their own constituency, and
the change in wind’s direction. And then there are those, almost fifty percent,
who were too disenfranchised, or disappointed or disgusted to vote at all. And
so here we are, wondering who our neighbor is, a Trump supporter, Hillary,
third party, or someone who didn't vote. Well, I will tell you, that what is
more important than knowing whose side someone is on, is knowing that conflict
itself can be measured by the percent of people you know who are for and
against your own beliefs, the rise of conflict can be measured by own taking of
sides. Therefore the opposite of escalating conflict is the ability to maintain
conversation. It means that the more ardently we take sides, the less likely we
are able to moderate.
For myself, I will tell you,
being a pastor in this time has stunk. It is a hard thing to be fervently
opposed to something you consider unChristian, and not feel allowed to speak
openly against it. It makes for a lonely and somewhat secretive-icky-feeling
when I and other pastors have to weigh our words so carefully, have to remain
silent when Jesus himself was if not anything else, a political prophet, during
his life on earth. This stipulation means that when I break the silence, I feel
a little more like Jesus the prophet, but when I abide to it, I recognize my
call to Jesus of the parable, who gives us something to think about, something
with which to wrestle. It is hard to decipher, which we are called to be at
different times, a political prophet, or a teller of parables. But I think,
being a pastor, and for that matter a Christian, makes us consider that to be a
prophet is to be the teller of parables. That you don’t preach against people,
you preach issues, you preach stories. It’s taught me that prophesy can come in
things like protest, but what is the point when we have lost the ability to
humanize our neighbor? Instead, if the point of protest is change, rather than
simply camaraderie, I believe it is done more carefully through parables like
the Good Samaritan, or the Woman who was about to be Stoned.
This scripture too is a
parable. It is a story where we can easily place ourselves, no matter for whom we
voted, or didn’t, and in a nation never so far divided, it can seem the end of
the world is upon us, “with dreadful portents, and great signs from heaven.”
But as Christians, if we are able to imagine ourselves into this parable, we
are also given an opportunity, an opportunity to testify in Jesus’ name.
But this testimony, I imagine
looks a little different than the rhetoric to which we as a nation have
succumbed. It isn’t someone making a Facebook meme, with a politician’s
face and some ill-chosen words, it isn’t a debate where interruption equates
winning, it isn’t even gathering up like kindling, all the possible angles to
enflame the other side. Instead it is to empty ourselves of all our
defenses.
Jesus says,
“So make up your minds not to
prepare your defense in advance;
for I will give you words and
a wisdom
that none of your opponents
will be able to withstand or contradict.”
When we think about the type
of dialogue which is hard to critique, withstand or contradict, it is the human
dialogue. It is someone who comes just as they are, with the hope of having a
conversation, not wanting to change your mind, but wanting to bridge, to let
you know how they feel. They come humbly and personally and with love for the
other paramountly. You know the difference in these types of conversations.
This is how Jesus speaks, answering the question, “Who is my neighbor?” saying
to the crowd, “You without sin, throw the first stone.” Through parables, the
listeners are able to get beyond their sides, to find their common humanity, to
find the divinity in coming together.
Also on
Wednesday, people of two opposing parties and myself unclaimed, happened
to be in the church. I your pastor and another person were pretty raw, while a
congregant was reasoned and calm. He walked in on us, “talking politics,” in
the church, something that I don’t tend to do, but that being raw that morning,
happened, more about issues than a person, but it happened. Not with debate,
because I came with no defense, just my feelings, my wonders, my worries, and
that other congregant, listened and with grace, stated he typically was on the
other side, but he listened, heard and encouraged. I remember thinking in
the moment, here I am the pastor, who isn’t supposed to talk about politics,
and this congregant is moderating, is caring, is being Jesus in this parable.
It wasn't just the congregant, it is you as a church, it is who you are. I
think, and have said before, that this is your greatest gift, your ability to
think differently, to discuss hard and opposing issues and love one another in
light of your differences. I think it is because you know each other’s
humanity. You have courageously lifted personal prayers of the people which
tell of the hearts of your lives, you have seen each other through deaths and
births, hardship and success, failings and triumphs, and it is really hard when
you love each other that much, and you know each other that well, to villainize
someone who thinks differently than you, to come with all your defenses. You
come instead with openness and love, and this in this time, gives me more hope
than any political swing there could be.
So I think our calling is to
take who we are as church out into the world, and model to our nation, not to
prepare our defense in advance, but to know that Jesus will give us words and
wisdom that no one can contradict. Words and wisdom that see the humanity in
one another.
For this we shall be blessed,
The blessing reads,
“But not a hair of your
head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.”
Perhaps, this endurance is
what my dad, and my grandfather couldn’t recollect, what our nation’s history
has not yet foretold. I told my dad at the end of our conversation, that this
was the part where I think my calling that had more hope than his. I got to see
a way above the polarity, into unity, and it was my job, and it is ours as
Christians. We get to see another way and to receive the blessing of each soul
thereunto.
