Choices

A Sermon preached on Lent III, March 24, at St. Augustine’s Wiesbaden

Exodus 3: 1 – 15, 1 Corinthians 10: 1 – 13, Luke 13: 1 – 9

So, a Calvinist arrives at St Peter's pearly gates and sees that there are two queues going in. One is marked 'predestined' and the other is marked 'free will'. Being the card-carrying Calvinist that he is, he strolls on over to the predestined queue. After several moments an angel asks him, 'Why are you in this line?' He replies, "Because I chose it.' The angel looks surprised, 'Well, if you "chose" it, then you should be in the free will line.' So our Calvinist, now slightly miffed, obediently wanders over to the free will line. Again, after a few minutes, another angel asks him, 'Why are you in this line?' He sullenly replies, 'Someone made me come here.’

That sounds like a Catch 22 situation to me, but don’t worry, that’s not how free will works! Let’s talk about choices. We are all constantly faced with choices: little ones like what am I going to have for breakfast, am I going to church, or will I go out for a coffee with friends instead – you all made the right choice today. Then we have the big, life choices: our career path, relationships, having children. Some are easy, and some are real struggles.

I think we can safely assume that the choice Moses was given in this morning’s OT reading was one he struggled with. You do not expect an encounter with God when you are out grazing sheep in the middle of nowhere. You do not expect an encounter with God, at least not a pleasant one, when the reason you are in the middle of nowhere is because you have fled there after killing an Egyptian overseer. And you do not really want an encounter with God, especially one in which God asks you to help with something really difficult, when you have just made yourself comfortable, and married a nice girl whose father is a priest. Good choice!

But God wants to talk to Moses and so having got his attention, spectacularly, “God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:4) What does God have to say? God knows that Moses, and Moses’ people have forgotten who God is, so first God tells Moses: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." (3:6) Moses is afraid to look at God, perhaps also because of his recent past. But God has not finished. He has not just come to reestablish a relationship, he has a request: “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt,” God continues, “I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to … a land flowing with milk and honey.” (3:7-8) So far so good. But Moses has a role to pay in this plan: “So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” (3:10)

And this is where Moses’ struggle really begins. He starts a discussion with God: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (3:11) I sense both fear and a sense of inadequacy on Moses’ part in this question. God’s answer is simple: you will have to trust me. “I will be with you,” is God’s promise and one day, “when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.” (3:12) Moses’ second objection is that the Israelites won’t believe him. But God assures him that once Moses reveals who God is, the God of their ancestors, the God who simply is and called everything into being, they will follow. And as we know, they did … though as we hear Paul tell us in the extract from his letter to the Corinthians, not without complaints and backsliding. God does not promise that it will be easy, just that Moses will get all the help he needs to complete the task. I should add that the discussion continues after this passage and that it takes a lot to convince Moses.

Tomorrow we celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation, commemorating the appearance by the angel Gabriel to Mary and that angel’s announcement that she would be the mother of a son, Jesus, who will be called Son of God. (Luke 1:26-38). If it’s an announcement, does Mary have a choice? I think so, even if again a difficult one. Like Moses she was not expecting an encounter with God’s messenger, who does, and is surprised, ‘perplexed’ is the word used in the passage. Like Moses she has questions. “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” This is both a practical question and an expression of concern for the consequences for her as a woman engaged, but not yet married. But faced with both the importance of the task, and trusting in God’s promise through Gabriel that God is with her and that nothing is impossible with God, Mary assents and agrees, in faith, to God’s invitation: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."

Both Moses and Mary were afraid, both of them first felt totally inadequate for the task, but after a struggle, both chose to accept God’s invitation to be an instrument of God’s saving grace and to trust that God would not only choose them, but also empower and equip them. This is the same promise that Paul refers to in his letter when he urges the Corinthians to draw from the source of their power: "God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it." (1 Cor. 10:13)

Looking at these examples, do we really have a choice with God? Yes, we do. God never forces us to do things. God always asks. Sure, God is persistent because God loves us and has our best interests at heart. And God has pretty good arguments as we heard in the two stories. But we can say no. One sure sign that someone is not sent by God or acting on God’s behalf is if they say that God made them do it. We are not puppets, we are created in the divine image which includes our ability and power to choose, even when they are wrong choices.

We may not be confronted with the sort of invitation that Moses and Mary received. But we are all invited into a relationship with God that is, I believe, the very purpose of our creation. And we are all called to be instrument of God’s saving grace:

Like Moses we can help release the people of this world from slavery and dependence, including the self-imposed, and from oppression. Like Mary we can be God-bearers, bringing the good news of God in Christ to the world. Choosing whether to accept this invitation is our biggest life choice and it is first and foremost one that is good for us.  

On last week’s Lenten walk, Andy read a lovely prayer he had found about God’s created world[1] and one verse stuck in my mind, because it sums up just why God’s invitation to us should be so compelling:

In the beginning, Lord I was alone,

but when I saw you in the light, I was no longer afraid.

You held out your hand,

and though I had a choice

I had no choice,

because to refuse

was to embrace again the darkness.

Amen.

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[1] http://www.faithandworship.com/creation_prayers.htm

Whose citizens?

A Sermon preached ine German on Lent II, March 17, at the Old Catholic Friedenskirche

(Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18), Philippians 3:17-4:1, Luke 13:31-35

English summary follows - see end of text

Paulus klingt mal wieder recht vorwurfsvoll. Wir hören von den "Feinden des Kreuzes Christi." (Philipper 3:18) Wer sind sie? Viel zu häufig in unsere Geschichte haben wir Christen Juden, später auch Muslime als Feinde des Kreuzes bezeichnet, und aufgrund dessen leider auch verfolgt und manchmal umgebracht. Wir befinden uns gerade in der Mitte der UN-Wochen gegen Rassismus. Seit einigen Jahren nutzen auch Religionsgemeinschaften diese Tage, um Zeichen für ein friedliches Miteinander zu setzen. Heute findet auch die zentrale christliche Feier, in einer evangelischen Gemeinde im Hessischen Seeheim statt. Im Aufruf dazu steht u.a.:

„Hass breitet sich im heutigen Deutschland wieder aus und belastet das Miteinander. Im Jahr 2017 gab es in Deutschland über 2.000 Angriffe auf Flüchtlinge sowie etwa 1.500 antisemitisch und 1.000 antimuslimisch motivierte Anschläge. Rassistische, nationalistische und europafeindliche Einstellungen werden Einfluss auf die Europawahlen im Mai 2019 haben. Der Frieden in Europa ist dadurch gefährdet. Unsere Gesellschaft muss aufwachen und solchen Entwicklungen entgegentreten. Sie widersprechen grundlegenden Überzeugungen unserer Religionen, die sich für die Würde von Menschen aussprechen.“[1]

Wenn der Begriff „Feinde des Kreuzes“ verwendet wurde – oder noch wird – um die Angehörigen anderer Religionen zu diffamieren, dann ist es sowohl falsch als auch gefährlich. Paulus wollte nicht alle Juden angreifen, schließlich war er selbst Jude, sondern nur diejenigen Judenchristen, die lehrten, man müsse quasi Jude werden, und allen rituellen Vorschriften einhalten, um Christ zu sein. Wenn er ihnen vorwirft, „ihr Gott sei der Bauch,“ zielt er damit auf die Speisevorschriften und mit dem Hinweis, „ihre Ehre besteht in der Schande“ auf die Beschneidung. (Philipper 3:19) Beide Praktiken waren für ihn nicht per se schlecht, nur nicht zwingend und universell notwendig.

Auch mancher Satz aus dem Lukasevangelium mag beim ersten Hinhören sehr vorwurfsvoll klingen: „Jerusalem, Jerusalem, du tötest die Propheten“ oder „ihr habt (mich) nicht gewollt.“ (Lukas 13.34) Tatsächlich wird Jesus in diesem Moment von einer gewissen Trauer heimgesucht. Diese Reise nach Jerusalem wird seine letzte. Seine Motivation ist Liebe, Mutterliebe könnten wir sagen: „Wie oft wollte ich deine Kinder sammeln, so wie eine Henne ihre Küken unter ihre Flügel nimmt.“ (Lukas 13) Jerusalems Schicksal kennend, die nach einer Revolte in wenigen Jahren bevorstehende Zerstörung durch die Römer, ist er einfach tieftraurig darüber, dass die jüdische Führungselite nicht den Weg der Liebe, sondern des Hasses und der Gewalt wählen wird, mit tragischen Konsequenzen für das Volk. Vor dieser Wahl stehen nicht nur die Mächtigen immer wieder, welchen Weg wählen wir?

Beim 2. Vatikanischen Konzil, im bahnbrechenden Dokument Nostra Aetate,[2] die „Erklärung über das Verhältnis der Kirche zu den nichtchristlichen Religionen,“ hat die römisch-katholische Kirche u.a. festgehalten, dass „die Juden (auch) nach dem Zeugnis der Apostel immer noch von Gott geliebt (sind) um der Väter willen; sind doch seine Gnadengaben und seine Berufung unwiderruflich.“ Außerdem, „im Bewusstsein des Erbes, das sie mit den Juden gemeinsam hat,“ verwirft die Kirche „alle Haßausbrüche, Verfolgungen und Manifestationen des Antisemitismus.“ Über den Islam lesen wir dort, „mit Hochachtung betrachtet die Kirche auch die Muslime, die den alleinigen Gott anbeten, den lebendigen und in sich seienden, barmherzigen und allmächtigen, den Schöpfer Himmels und der Erde, der zu den Menschen gesprochen hat.“ Diese Aussagen tragen nicht nur die römisch-katholische Kirche mit, wir auch.

Gegen Ende des Dokumentes steht, dass es „die Aufgabe der Predigt der Kirche (sei), das Kreuz Christi als Zeichen der universalen Liebe Gottes …. zu verkünden.“ Und auch „deshalb verwirft die Kirche jede Diskriminierung eines Menschen oder jeden Gewaltakt gegen ihn um seiner Rasse oder Farbe, seines Standes oder seiner Religion willen, weil dies dem Geist Christi widerspricht.“ Besonders Rassismus in allen Formen ist eine Sünde. Die wahren Feinde des Kreuzes Christi sind alle, die Hass, Abgrenzung, und Diskriminierung lehren und säen.

Der richtige Kontext ist auch wichtig im Zusammenhang mit einem anderen von Paulus verwendeten Begriff. Ich möchte mich weder mit der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz noch mit der EKD anlegen, aber die von ihnen herausgegebenen Übersetzungen, also sowohl die neue Einheitsübersetzung als auch die neue Lutherbibel, sind in einem Punkt nicht ganz richtig. Laut Einheitsübersetzung hätte Paulus geschrieben: „Unsere Heimat ist im Himmel.“ Auch die Lutherübersetzung ist mit „Wir aber sind Bürger im Himmel“ nicht viel besser. (Philipper 3:20) Nein, wir sind Burger des Himmels, aber hier und jetzt – nicht erst später, nicht erst nach dem Tode.

Zum Kontext gehört, dass Paulus an die Christen in Philippi schrieb, einer römischen Kolonie. Im Jahr 42 vor Christi gründete Marcus Antonius dort eine Kolonie und siedelte Veteranen an. Dort dominierten die römische Lebensart und Kultur, man sprach sogar von einem Rom im Kleinformat. Die meisten Bewohner dieser Stadt in Mazedonien waren Bürger von Rom, aber in der Fremde. Sie verstanden es als ihre Aufgabe dort so zu leben, als ob sie in Rom wären. Sie werden also den Hinweis von Paulus auch so verstanden haben, dass es ihre Aufgabe sei, im hier und jetzt so zu leben als ob man eine Kolonie des Himmels wäre: nach „himmlischen“ Maßstäben. Nichts anderes sagen wir auch, wenn wir das Vaterunser beten:

„Dein Reich komme. Dein Wille geschehe, wie im Himmel so auf Erden.“

Nur von dort und nur von Gott, nicht von Rom, nicht aus Jerusalem, von keiner Hauptstadt, und von keinem irdischen Herrn oder Herrscher, kommt unser Herr und Retter, Jesus Christus.    

Wie können wir leben als Bürger des Himmels? Paulus fordert die Philipper auf, „Ahmt auch ihr mich nach, Brüder und Schwestern, und achtet auf jene, die nach dem Vorbild leben, das ihr an uns habt!“ (Philipper 3:17) Paulus verzichtet auf Privilegien, er predigt die Gleichheit aller Menschen vor Gott, er setzt sich unermüdlich für das Evangelium als Weg der Liebe ein, er verkündet das Kreuz Christi nicht als Zeichen der Abgrenzung, sondern als Zeichen der allumfassenden und unendlichen Liebe Gottes. In dem Sinne kann man von ihm auf jeden Fall sagen, „Gepriesen sei er, der kommt im Namen des Herrn!“ (Lukas 13:35) Ich hoffe von uns auch. Amen.

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English Summary

Paul sounds once again quite reproachful, referring to “the enemies of the cross of Christ.” (Philippians 3:18) Who are they? Too often in our history, Christians have called Jews, and later also Muslims, enemies of the cross, resulting in persecution and even killings. We are in the middle of the “UN weeks against racism.” For some years, religious communities have been using these days to set signs for peaceful coexistence. From the invitation to participate in these events:

"Hatred is spreading in Germany again today … In 2017 there were more than 2,000 attacks on refugees in Germany as well as around 1,500 anti-Semitic and 1,000 anti-Muslim incidents. Racist, nationalist and anti-EU attitudes will influence the European elections in May 2019. Peace in Europe is at risk. Our society needs to wake up and confront such developments. They contradict the fundamental beliefs of our religions that speak out for the dignity of all human beings. "

When the term "enemies of the cross" has been or used to defame the members of other religions, then it is both wrong and dangerous. Paul did not want to attack all the Jews, after all he was a Jew, but only those Jewish Christians who taught that one had to become a Jew and follow all the ritual rules to be a Christian. With "their god is the belly," he is aiming at the dietary rules and with "their glory is in their shame" at circumcision. (Philippians 3:19) Both practices were not per se bad: but neither mandatory nor universally necessary.

Some sentences from the Gospel of Luke also sound very reproachful: " Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets," or "you were not willing." (Luke 13:34) In fact, Jesus is moved by grief and sadness. This trip to Jerusalem will be his last. His motivation is love, motherly love: " How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings." (Luke 13) Knowing Jerusalem's fate, its impending destruction by the Romans, he is simply saddened that the Jewish leadership will choose not the path of love, but one of hatred and violence, with tragic consequences for the people. This is a choice we continue to be confronted with: which path do we choose?

At the Second Vatican Council, in the ground-breaking document Nostra Aetate, the "Declaration on the relation of the Church to the non-Christian religions," the Roman Catholic Church has, among other things, stated that " God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues. And, " mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews, "the Church" decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.” About Islam we read “The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to the people.” These statements apply not just to the Roman Catholic Church, but to us too.

The authors finish by stating that it is "the burden of the Church's preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God's all-embracing love.... "And that “The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against men or harassment of them because of their race, color, condition of life, or religion." Racism in all forms is a sin. The true enemies of the cross of Christ are all those who teach and sow hatred, division, separation, and discrimination.

Proper context is also important in understanding another term used by Paul. In some translations:  "Our home is in heaven" or "We are citizens in heaven. No, we are citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20): here and now, not later, not in the next life.

Paul was writing to Christians in Philippi, a Roman colony. Marcus Antonius founded a colony there in 42 BC and settled veterans. The Roman way of life and culture dominated, some spoke of a miniature Rome. Most inhabitants of this city in Macedonia were citizens of Rome, but in a foreign place. They understood as their task to live there as if they were in Rome, and that is how they will have understood Paul's remark. That it is their task as Christians to live here and now as if they were a colony of heaven: by "heavenly" standards. We say the same thing in the Lord's Prayer:

"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."

This where we expect a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ to come from. From God, not from Rome, not from Jerusalem, or from any other capital, or from any earthly lord or ruler.

How can we live as citizens of heaven? Paul invites the Philippians to "join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.” (Philippians 3:17) Paul renounced all privileges, preached equality of all people before God, worked tirelessly for the Gospel as the way of love, proclaimed the cross of Christ not as a sign of division and difference, but as a sign of the all-embracing and infinite love of God. There is no questions that the phrase “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” applies to him. I hope it applies to us too. Amen.

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[1] Aus „Würde statt Hass: Religionen laden ein.“ Hg.: Stiftung für die Internationalen Wochen gegen Rassismus und Abrahamisches Forum in Deutschland

[2] http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_ge.html