Psalm 29
John 3:1-17
Loving the World
"Vision Statement Sermon I"
It all seems so simple. God loves us. God loves you. God loves me. God loves the world. It’s sort of like singing “Jesus Loves Me This I Know.” This is a basic Christian tenet: we are about love.
And yet, and yet, since Paul so beautifully pronounced that “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son,” we as the tradition of Christianity have used the Bible to justify the crusades, wars, slavery, the oppression of women and children and hostility towards people of alternate lifestyles and orientations. We have selectively drawn upon ancient tribal customs to argue for segregation – “Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters”(Eph. 6:5)and to oppose women’s suffrage, “the women should keep silence in the churches…(it gets worse) For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.”(I Cor. 14: 34-35) We have horribly misused texts from Genesis such as the story of Sodom(Gen. 19) to fuel bigotry and to justify horrible acts against those whom some feel are sinful.
We have turned away from Paul’s insistence that women should not speak in church. We have put comments about slavery in their proper historical context. We have chosen to forget all those dietary laws in the Book of Exodus, thanks goodness! We have given ourselves permission to declare that God is still speaking. We can also let go of misunderstood texts used as a basis to discriminate against and stand in judgment of people who have fallen in love in ways we might not understand.
So, when I repeat the United Church of Christ’s newest line, I mean it: “No matter who you are or where you are in life’s journey, you are welcome here.”
Now, you know me: because of the limited time I allocate for sermons, I cannot get into a full-fledged argument about our abuse and misunderstanding of scripture. This is a huge topic. I can barely begin to introduce the subject.
So, to summarize the issue, let me share words of Paul Tillich which Jack Spong uses to open chapter one of his book, The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible’s Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love (San Francisco: Harper, 2005): “The Bible is a subject of interpretation: there is no doctrine, no prophet, no priest, no power, which has not claimed biblical sanctions for itself.” (p. 3)
For the first three hundred years of Christianity, the Bible, as we know it today, did not exist. The Council of Nicea made the decisions in the fourth century as to what should be branded as Holy Scriptures. So, for the first three hundred years of Christianity there was no Bible. Since then, many Christian have idolized preselected texts and have subsequently used them to justify all sorts of terrible acts against humanity.
OK. A story. Some fifteen or so years ago, I met with a young man and woman who wanted to be married. As part of the pre-marital counseling, I decided to spend some time discussing the actual marriage ceremony. We talked about the procession; who would go in what order; what the music prompts would be; exactly where the wedding party (14) in this case, would all stand during the ceremony; whether or not there would be a ring bearer and should he actually have the ring or should the best man have the actual ring and the ring bearer, a ceremonial ring; the order for the recessional; and whether or not the couple would have a receiving line in church or at the reception?
So, as thorough as I was based on my many years of experience, I overlooked something that the bride to be was quick to point out: at what point in the ceremony would her father give her away?
Ah, yes. I thought. This is the teaching moment. I am about to enlighten this young couple; I will liberate them from antiquated traditions. I said to them, “Before we talk about when he might give you away, do you know why that is a part of the ceremony? Have you ever wondered why the groom isn’t given away?”
“Well, actually,” said the bride-to-be “I don’t know. I have to say in all honesty that I never really thought about that!”
I’m thinking: “Now I have their attention. Here’s where we get to the origins of a habit and the elimination of a sexist tradition.”
“The wedding ceremony grew out of patriarchal times. Men were in charge while women were treated as property. Thus, father’s had the right to give away their daughters in the form of a business transaction.”
“Really!” said the bride-to-be.
I continued with my great words of wisdom: “So walking down the aisle with the daughter makes sense. A father is about to hand off some of his property to another man. Then he places his daughter’s hand into the hand of another man, the groom, and completes the business transaction.”
“Why, I had no idea” she said.
At that point, I just knew I was making progress in enlightening this couple.
“Let me ask you a question. (Now I was going to complete the enlightenment.) “Do you know why the part about ‘objection’ was eliminated?” You know, the part when the minister would say, “If anyone objects to the giving of the bride to this man, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.”
“Do you know what this was about? If the father of the bride was involved in a property dispute with another man, that man had the right to challenge the wedding based on the fact that the father of the bride still owed him money. This was all about property and legal disputes.”
“Just wait a minute there mister. Before you liquidate more of your assets, you better pay me what you owe me.”
“Wow!” she said. “I never heard this before! Now that you explain it, it all makes such sense.”
“So,” I said, “Do you still want your father to give you away?”
“Of course! I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I was five years old!”
Traditions die hard.
Our emphasis this morning is on the Love of God no matter who a person is or where they are, as we say, in life’s journey. We have moved beyond old ways of treating women as property, despite the fact that many still like to be given away by their father – that is a sentimental custom we retain but it is no longer legal fact.
We no longer endorse slavery, despite the fact that the Bible gives us all kinds of texts to justify it. We know that the Love of God surpasses the laws of ancient societies.
We have moved on. We have grown.
In the same manner we have also put the very words of this country’s Declaration of Independence into new light have we not? In 1776 when Thomas Jefferson worked as primary writer of this historic document, we know that he was a slave owner. So was the person behind the document’s most significant signature, John Hancock.
We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The writers didn’t realize it but the document was also written for women and slaves – it just took society some time to figure it all out.
Seventy five of you have signed your name to the Church’s charter and, therefore, have heard these words in our Vision Statement:
As an Open and Affirming congregation (Col. 3:11) we seek to provide a place for all people that will help them move deeper into relationship with God and others, living together with care, forgiveness, reconciliation and joy. (Col. 3:12-17) With God's grace, we seek to be a congregation that includes all persons, embracing differences of religious upbringing, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, mental and physical ability, as well as racial, ethnic, or socio-economic background. We welcome all to share in the life and leadership, ministry and fellowship, worship, sacraments, responsibilities and blessings of participation in our congregation.
It all seems so simple. God loves us. God loves you. God loves me. God loves the world. AMEN
