Give to God the Things that Are God’s: Our Hurt, Pain, Anger, and Fear

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
October 22, 2023
Proper 24, Year A
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13)
Matthew 22:15-22

Give to God the Things that Are God’s: Our Hurt, Pain, Anger, and Fear

So, the Pharisees had a neat little trick they were trying to pull on Jesus. See, Israel was under Roman occupation. The power-hungry and blood-thirsty empire had taken over Israel, like so many other places, because they believed they were the only truly good civilization, and all other places in the known world needed to be ruled by them. They’d all be so much better off if they all just followed and did whatever Rome forced them to do.

Rome still allowed Israel to worship God, follow their own religion, and Rome also had soldiers in Israel, keeping the peace, meaning oppressing those whom Rome felt got out of line. Rome also made Israel pay them taxes so that Rome could afford their occupation and oppression of Israel. Rome’s message was, “We’re going to take over your country and oppress your people, and you’re going to pay us for it.”

So, taxes to Rome were not exactly popular. When the Pharisees, therefore, asked Jesus if it was lawful to pay taxes to Rome, they were trying either to get him arrested by Rome for saying, “No” or to be hated by the people for saying “Yes.”

So, Jesus stymied them in their efforts. “Hmmm, the coin had Caesar’s image on it, so it’s meant to be given to him.” So, yes, paying taxes to Rome was legit under Roman occupations. If Caesar wants to rule over you and control your life, fine. Pay him what is due. That way he doesn’t just come and burn your home and take the taxes anyway. Yes, give Caesar his damn tax money…  

…but don’t play his game. Dominance over others, proving loyalty. Outward sign after outward sign that you are one of us, that you belong, that you aren’t going against the powers that are. That’s the game the Pharisees were playing. That’s the game Rome played.

Jesus wasn’t interested in playing those domination games, proving loyalty, proving somehow that you really are a part of the acceptable group of people. Jesus wasn’t interested in dominating or coercing his followers or anyone else. That’s the way of Rome, the way of Empire, the way of signs and assurances that you are still part of the in-group and don’t need to be punished or banished.

The coin had an image of Caesar on it, an obvious sign of whose it was. You carried the coin; in his mind, your life was his.

Notice, however, that the things that were God’s, that Jesus said to give to God, had no image associated with them. There was no visual to put on display to show you were giving to God the things that were God’s. Jesus offered no proof of loyalty, no faithfulness test, no signs given to assure you weren’t backsliding.

That’s because none of those things exist. Jesus’ message was never, “believe or else,” and yet, we’ve taken the Gospel and turned it into a “get out of Hell free card,” written by God saying, “Believe in Jesus, and I won’t torture you forever. P.S. I love you.”

That was never the Gospel, and all of our various churches’ fearful methods of controlling people’s lives in order to “get them saved” are taking God’s Gospel of love and healing for humanity and turning it into a gospel of fear and coercion. 

What does that fearful, controlling gospel tell so many people? That they’re destined for Hell unless they happen to believe in Jesus. What, then is the god of that gospel saying to humanity? That god is saying “I love you, and I really want you to love me back, and if you don’t, I’m going to hurt you. I’m going to hurt you and torture you forever. Oh! You love me too? Well, that’s great! Now, we can be besties!”

That’s not love or healing. That’s coercion and abuse. “Believe in me or else” was never the Gospel Jesus taught. There are passages which, when misunderstood and read out of context, seem to say that, but “Believe in Jesus, and I won’t torture you forever. P.S. I love you,” is not the Gospel.

Jesus didn’t give a test to the religious leaders like they gave to him to “prove their faithfulness and good religious behavior.” In fact, Jesus made a habit of breaking the faithfulness to rules test, constantly pissing off the religious leaders.

Rather than threats and coercion, Jesus’ religion was fairly simple. Know you are beloved, and love others. That was the religion of Jesus.

See, unlike the false god, the emperor Caesar, God does not sit up on high demanding we constantly give him his due while doing his work and kissing up to him. Unlike the emperor Caesar, God doesn’t give edicts from on high demanding that we kill others in order to make the world how he wants it. That is not the god of Jesus.

Instead, God teaches us to love and care for one another. God gives us healing in those teachings. God teaches us to love, care, and pray even for our enemies, and God gives us healing in those teachings. Then, rather than give harsh edicts from up on high, God becomes one with us and shares with us all the joy and all the suffering of human life. Rather than coercing and abusing us from some throne up on high, God joins us at the cross on Calvary.  God joins in all of our hurt, all of our pain, all of our anger, and all of our fear.

“Give to God the things that are God’s,” Jesus said. We might start with our hurt, our pain, our anger, and our fear.

We find that we are giving to God the things that are God’s when we do as he did and join with one another in our sorrow and suffering. We give to God the things that are God’s when we offer to God all of our hurt, all of our pain, all of our anger and fear. We give to God the things that are God’s when we pray for our enemies rather than kill our enemies.

Then, we also give to God the things that are God’s when we find we’ve done everything wrong. When we’ve acted like Caesar, killed our enemies, ignored and caused the suffering of others, we give to God the things that are God’s.  We give to God all of the hurt and the pain we have caused as well as the hurt and pain we have suffered. Then, we give to God the things that are God’s when we accept God’s forgiveness, when we accept our belovedness, when we accept the belovedness even of our enemies and oppressors, and we are healed.   

Crying Our Anger Into Sorrow, and Our Sorrow Into Love

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
October 15, 2023
Proper 23, Year A
Philippians 4:1-9
Psalm 23
Matthew 22:1-14

Crying Our Anger Into Sorrow, and Our Sorrow Into Love

“How did you get in here without a wedding garment?” The king asks. Jesus told a story about a king who invited people to a wedding banquet for his son. The invitees didn’t show up, so God sent servants into the streets, and they invited any random people they could find. Then, with the wedding feast going great, the king sees someone without a wedding garment and kicks that person out for not wearing a wedding garment.

Like last Sunday, we have Jesus giving a parable of the kingdom of God, and like last week, we may be tempted to assume an easy interpretation of Jesus’ parable with an in-group, an out-group, and ourselves, of course, being with the in-group. Such cut and dried, easy interpretations certainly make our brains happy, and placing ourselves on the side of the in-group makes our brains even happier. Jesus didn’t tell this parable, however, just to make certain people’s brains happy.

Jesus’ parable speaks to the complexities and challenges we face in this life in which the good guys and bad guys, the in-groups and out-groups, aren’t quite as easy to determine as we’d like. Also, if we take Jesus’ parable seriously, we need to take seriously the reality that we’re often in and between both groups.

The nation of Israel is about to begin a ground invasion into Palestine because a week ago, Hamas slaughtered over 1300 Israelis. Hamas’ actions were those of a terrorist group, not a legitimate government. What Hamas did was unconscionable, so it seems pretty easy to determine who the in-group and the out-group is in God’s kingdom, right?

Then we look at how Israel has continually pushed Palestinians off of their land since the formation of Israel. We look at the people Israel has killed, the oppression of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. From that perspective, it seems pretty easy to determine who the in-group and the out-group is in God’s kingdom, right?

Nope. As much as our brains would like the simplicity of it, we can’t just easily say, “You guys are the ones who refused to go to the wedding banquet, and you guys are the ones who God went out and sought who did come to the banquet.” We find instead, that both groups are often the one at the wedding feast who refused to wear a wedding garment.

See, the person without the wedding garment was again no easy solution for determining an in-group and an out-group. The wedding garment represented living life according to God’s will and God’s ways. The person in Jesus’ parable who was kicked out for not wearing a wedding garment was one who wanted all the joys and pleasures of life in God’s kingdom but who refused to live according to God’s will and God’s ways. They really wanted the feast and the great food, but they didn’t want to care all that much about others. They didn’t want to trust in God. They didn’t want to change their ways of life when they heard God calling them to, and so they created their own misery and suffering or continued their own misery and suffering.

The person who refused the wedding garment shows us that what we do in this life matters. Regardless of our faith, the way we treat one another matters. If we’re going to take Jesus’ parable seriously, we don’t just get to place ourselves among the in-group. We have to admit that we are the ones who refused the king’s invitation and didn’t come to the banquet. If we’re going to take Jesus’ parable seriously, we also have to acknowledge that we are the second group of people whom the king then invited who did come to the wedding banquet. If we’re going to take Jesus’ parable seriously, we also have to admit that we’re often the ones who come into the banquet without a wedding garment.

No amount of being in God’s in-group can change that. No amount of being part of team Jesus or team anything else can change the fact that how we treat one another matters.

We’re all messed up sinners in need of grace. We’re also all beloved and wonderful people made as blessed by God in order to be blessings to others. So, how do we bless others in the face of the horrors of terrorism and war like we see in Israel and Palestine?

Well, a way not to bless others is to simply choose a side and feel righteous. We can stir up strife against the other, hoping our team will win. We can add discord and division to the lives of people around us because of a conflict happening on the other side of the world, but that’s not wedding garment kind of life. It’s easy, and it may feel good, but it’s not being a blessing to anyone. Besides, we can each do nothing to change the outcome of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Responding with division and strive, will only add more harm to the world, while helping the side we like not at all.

The best we can do is to respond with love, prayer, compassion, and kindness. We can respond with sorrow. We can respond with anger, when that anger is tempered by tears into love.

Many are going to see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, pick a side out of their anger, and decide they don’t like Jews, or they don’t like Muslims. Muslims in our country are already fearful for the attacks they are going to receive, and Jews in this country are fearful for the attacks they are going to receive by people upset about a conflict on the other side of the world. That’s responding with anger, not love. Love doesn’t make an easy determination of an in-group and an out-group. Love sees the horrors around us, sheds bitter tears for the tragedy of human hatred and contempt, and then love chooses to love people.

That’s the best response we can have. That’s wedding garment response. Paul knew this when he wrote to the church in Philippi. Knowing there is strife and horror always around us, Paul encouraged the people with these words.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in [Jesus], and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9)

Crushed By God and Remade

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
October 8, 2023
Proper 22, Year A
Philippians 3:4b-14
Psalm 80:7-14
Matthew 21:33-46

Crushed By God and Remade

Happy Sunday everyone! The Astros won, it’s cooler outside, Jesus is talking about crushing people with stones. “The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” Hurray! Jesus was saying this about the chief priests and Pharisees, those who were constantly critical of and at odds with Jesus. So, when we who are on team Jesus read Jesus saying that the stone will crush anyone on whom it falls, there’s a tendency to read that as, “someone else.” That feels pretty good. The stone will crush someone else. We’re on team Jesus, so we’re ok.

We’ve got to assume, however, that at least at some point in our lives, we’re going to be the ones on whom the stone falls. We’re going to be the ones crushed by the stone. At some point, we’re going to be tripped up by the stone and broken to pieces.

So, the first question I have is, what is the stone that Jesus is talking about?

Well, according to Isaiah 8:14-15, the stone is God. “[God] will become a sanctuary,” we’re told, “a stone one strikes against…a rock one stumbles over…many…shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken…”

Well, that sounds fun! Yea for God being a stone over which we stumble and get crushed. I realize I’m not really selling the whole, “love God” idea right now. God becomes a stone we strike against, a stone we stumble over, and a stone which breaks and crushes us. Can’t God just let us go our way and not hurt us? That sounds kinda nicer, or can’t we just go back to thinking the whole God Rock Stumble Crush Thing is about someone else?

No. We can’t. Deciding who those others are that God is going to make stumble is a pretty quick way to make sure God is going to trip us up. Do not judge others, Jesus said. Take a look at the log in your own eye, rather than the speck in someone else’s. When we’re focusing on everyone else’s faults and flaws, we’re ignoring our own, pretending that we’re just fine and everyone else is at fault. God loves us enough not to go along with our self-deception, so there will be times when all of us will be crushed and tripped up by the stone that is God.

We don’t want it, but because God loves us, God is going to trip us up and have us be crushed and broken to pieces by the stone that is God. So, why would God do this to us as an act of love?

Because we are so often going a thousand miles an hour completely and obliviously in the wrong direction? At that point, it might be kinda nice to have a stone to trip us up and stop us. 

 A stone of stumbling and crushing, well, yeah, at a thousand miles an hour, we’re going to get crushed by whatever stone we trip over.

That’s an act of love because when we’re going a thousand miles an hour in the wrong direction, we need more than a slow down and some course correction. We need to be remade. God tripping us up when we’re going a thousand miles an hour in the wrong direction crushes us and shatters us so that we can be remade.

 

On a societal level, think of times and ways we have been remade. Think about what it took to end slavery in this country. The Civil War crushed and shattered this country so that it could be remade. We didn’t do a great job of it, and so there was the Civil Rights Movement which shattered the country again so that we could be remade. Striving to end discrimination on the basis of sex has shattered many who believe they are righteous in their discrimination.

 

Stumbling over the rock that is God and being shattered is never pretty, but it is an act of love so that we can be remade, no longer going down a path of destruction. On an individual level, being crushed by the stone of God is often called hitting rock bottom.

 

I think of a man I know, a friend, who was successful and miserable, addicted to alcohol, cheating on his wife with multiple women. He was finally shattered when she left him and took their son with her. He also lost his job. Crushed and shattered. So then, recovery, sobriety, working on his resentments and fears with others’ help, starting to be of service to others rather than just taking from others. After he was crushed and shattered, he was remade. He has a job again. He gets to be with his son again, and his ex-wife trusts him to be with their son. Being shattered wasn’t pretty, but being remade was beautiful. All of it was an act of love by God.

 

St. Francis was another who stumbled and was crushed by the rock that is God. In his case, his family was hugely rich, and yet he couldn’t help be the poverty he saw all around him. After first stealing from his dad to try to help people out (that didn’t work out so well), he decided to give up his wealth and lived a life of love, prayer, and service. He led others in lives of prayer and service, some living a monastic life, supported by the church, others continuing with the jobs and families, while also devoting themselves to prayer and service of others.

 

What St. Francis and those who joined in his way of life found was peace in their lives. Love and service to others grounded in a life of prayer became a sanctuary for them, a life of blessing, having first been tripped up by the rock that is God, then shattered and remade.

In the same passage that calls God a stone to trip us up and shatter us, God is called a sanctuary. When we are stopped from going in the wrong direction, we then get to take refuge and recover in the sanctuary that is God. We can then find our way to be led by God in a direction that is whole and healing for us. That’s the idea behind God being a stumbling block that crushes us. God stops us from the harm we are living, we are crushed and remade, and then God becomes a sanctuary for us as we live a life of love and service, grounded in prayer.

So, when Jesus says, “The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” I really do say, “Hurray!” Hurray for being remade in the sanctuary that is God. Hurray for the peace that comes with God as our refuge, living lives of prayer and of love and service to others.