Today
as we continue our “Experiencing the Bible”
sermon series, we begin in 1500 BC,
when the Israelites were emancipated from slavery in Egypt. Their
master, Pharaoh, King of Egypt, was a most cruel tyrant-- Beatings, executions, and abuse
were all part of the daily routine. The Israeli slaves were deployed in forced
labor to make bricks from straw and mud,
which Pharaoh used for his grandiose building schemes. Pharaoh’s expectations for brick production
were wildly unrealistic. When production
was down, then Pharaoh cut their food
rations, and then raised his demands for increased production. Consequently , more slaves got weak, sick and
died; and then the healthier slaves were forced to pick up the slack. The slaves pleaded and cried for mercy, but Pharaoh just didn’t care. He was intoxicated by the power of controlling the people beneath him.
Although
we are not slaves, I hear modern day versions of this story all the time.
· Employers cutting
salaries and cutting staff.
· Employers demanding staff to complete the work of two or more people, while
production expectations rise.
· And I
have heard of many workers plead for relief and make constructive suggestions, but their supervisors and employers just don’t seem to care.
Are they, too, intoxicated by their power, by which they control employees beneath them?
Another
example: we are all horrified that too many
families of all economic levels, are victimized by abusing control
freaks. But now many of us are learning
that child on child abuse has grown to toxic labels in our schools. Sometimes,
the abuse is physical, against those weaker.
Other times people use their words to frighten, intimidate, and to
control those without recourse to defend
themselves. Often, these victims feel trapped by fear without recourse. And the bully
abusers just don’t care. Perhaps they
are intoxicated by their power in controlling their families or terrorizing
their classmates.
And,
finally, there are those of us in this room, and others
we know, who have been spiritually manipulated by authoritarian religion. There are some denominations & churches out there, where the clergy and
church hierarchy have imposed guilt,
shame, and fear upon their people, in order to control them. These clergy & religious leaders just don’t care. It must make us wonder if they, too, are intoxicated by their power controlling those
beneath them.
And,
where is God in all of this? PAUSE
God is on the front lines, doing battle for
you and with you. Throughout the Bible,
God has always stood with the victims of tyranny and oppression, and has,
quote, “cast down the mighty from their thrones to set the captives free,
unquote. “
1. God raised up Moses, to lead the Israelites out of slavery. As they made their escape, Pharaoh was delusionally full of himself and drunk with power. He sent his armies to cut them all down. However, in so doing, Pharaoh made his fatal
mistake by neglecting the God
factor. God provided the a way for the
slaves to escape through the red Sea; but when Pharaoh’s army tried to go the
same way, God cut them down.
2. God later used David, a young & naïve pre teen, to defeat Goliath, the murderous giant, & leader of Israel’s
enemy. Goliath also neglected the God
factor by cursing, ridiculing, and damning God.
Due to his over whelming size, strength, and skills with weaponry,
Goliath inspired horror as he and his armies terrorized the Israelis—killing,
raping, plundering, destroying any
victims who stood in the way. Goliath never
lost a battle, until this nothing of a boy challenged him to a duel to the
death. God raised up this mere child, armed only with a
sling shot and a couple smooth river stones,
to defeat the dreaded tyrant. Through
David, God cut Goliath down to size, and won the battle.
3. And in today’s
Gospel, Jesus stands up against an angry
, murderous mob, to free a woman from impending death. This time, the
religious leaders were the tyrants.
Seeing an opportunity to discredit and to slander Jesus, they thought that they had him trapped -- If Jesus
violated Jewish law, then he would be slandered as a heretic. Or, if Jesus condoned the woman’s execution,
he would have denied his own teaching, and been labeled as a hypocritical/ coldhearted fake. However, Jesus stood up against and
defeated he unscrupulous religious leaders by sending the mob away. Jesus used the sword of his tongue and faith
to save the woman, and to expose the religious leaders as the hypocrites that
they were.
Throughout
the Bible, God has raised up people to defend the helpless, and to defeat
tyrannical giants. Our God is working to break the chains that bind us, to set
us free to live fuller, richer, & better lives through Christ Jesus. Jesus is the one who was enslaved by death on
the cross, and enslaved in a tomb. But
freedom in Christ is stronger than the chains of tyranny, so Jesus came back to
life and rolled the stone away from the
tomb. Now He is the one seeking to free
us from all tyrants.
SO, WHAT GIANT IN YOUR LIFE DO YOU NEED TO DEFEAT?
A.
Looking at the work place---Sometimes you may feel like
hitting your employer in the head with a rock,
don’t do it. But Jesus wants to
fight for you. Jesus wants you to look
at the situation with eyes of faith---confident that He has a plan to help you.
Here’s what you do: Seek out God’s strategy & plan for you. problem. Get advice and counsel from someone you trust,
someone at church, or a job coach or
counselor, or maybe even someone else at work.
Seek to discern one of the two actions plans: change what you can
change, or go to greener pastures, at least looking for something else; or ask
God to give you the grace and serenity to
accept what you can’t change, knowing that you can be free on the
inside, even if things don’t change on the outside.
B.
Likewise, Jesus wants freedom
from abuse in families and at school. God has rocks for you to use to knock out
the abuse. The first thing you do is to get some help from the outside. There
are specialists, counselors and clergy who are
dealing with family abuse issues all the time. Never have there ever been so many resources
available; and there are victory stories all around. You may feel small before this giant, but just
like God used little David, so can God use you.
Also, as part of God’s work, the Christ Church Vestry is forming a task
force to work with our own parishioners and others in our community to promote
child safety in the local schools. You will hear more about this soon.
C.
Concerning the spiritual
tyranny of clergy and religious leaders---God is showing more and
more people to the way of freedom in Christ.
Here at Christ Church, and in many other places, millions of people are
learning that you are important to God:
God does not condemn you, he forgives you; God is not angry, but loving. God opposes the proud and defeats them, just
like Jesus did in today’s Gospel… and just like He did when He rose from the
dead, demonstrating that he is the
truth, and the truth will set us free.
Further, I see a lot of action in
freeing up religion from religious despots:
1. Clergy immorality and crimes, which were covered up,
and now being exposed, fulfilling Jesus words when he said, “That which is
hidden, will be revealed.” That is the
God factor which those criminals neglected to consider,
2. Also, there are millions
of people who have rejected the judgment
of their former churches, and finding God’s love in new ones. How wonderful that God and you are making
this church into a spiritual oasis. It
has been my delight, as your rector, to
see so many of you discover freedom in Christ’s love. For me, this is what it is all about. This is
“Experiencing the Bible.”
So,
God is in our corner, slaying giants to set us free. Now this week I want you to remember this,
so we are giving you a little present.
When it time for communion, please come forward to receive the bread,
the wine, and the rock of Christ. These
rocks are smooth, like the smooth stone that David used to slay Goliath; and
the stones are engraved with a cross, to remind us of the stone at the entrance
to the tomb, that Jesus rolled away, when He escaped from the chains of
death—so that he could be our champion warrior, our defender, and our savior,
now and forever. Amen.
--The Rev. John Donnelly, Christ Church Quaker Farms
No comments:
Post a Comment