Faith Works
September 18 , 2005
James 2:14-26
Today’s message starts out so nicely doesn’t it? I mean, it’s a tough gospel message, but we’ve heard it from James before…something like, “Don’t tell me you’re a Christian, that you go to church, that you believe in God if you drive by me, pretending not to see me dirty, hungry, dying, lost. Don’t say you align yourself with the least of these until you know what we smell like, know the color of our eyes, know the sound of our voices, can hear what we are asking for, are doing something to change this world for our lives. It is difficult…threatening…Seeing the people ignore. Seeing the throw-away people of our first-world reality. Forcing ourselves to see them in our washes, in the kitchens where we eat, paving our streets, picking through our trash, sleeping in our parks, locked away in our prisons. Until you are willing to align yourself with the poor, the disenfranchised, the broken-hearted, the mentally ill…until you’re willing to orient your faith here in action and practice, we don’t have faith. We only have a story…that’s a one dimensional story, not a three dimensional life.
And, as if that doesn’t feel like a 2x4 of reality smacking into us…here come two texts of terror to up the ante. In fact, last week in the “Living the Questions” Adult Education class this story of Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac came up. I think I remember our discussion going something like this, “What kind of sick God needs to ask someone to do something just to see if they’ll do it? What kind of God manipulates us to make sure we’ll do what is asked and scars the emotional well-being of a child while at the task? Not my God.” And, I couldn’t agree more. If we took this first text of terror, the story of Abraham and Isaac at face value. Dad marches up the mountain with the son, ties him up, lays him on a fire, lifts a knife up preparing to kill him when God intervenes and provides a ram at the last moment because Abraham was obedient. Son saved. But, here in the UCC we never take anything at face value, especially our stories of metaphor. We challenge ourselves to examine the history, literary function, logic and experience associated with every Scripture passage. We know from ancient relics and historical documents from the time, that Genesis was written to reflect that human sacrifice was a huge part of other religious practices of the time. Part of what a new religion does is dialogue with the old practices and religions of the time. Judaism did not feel that a God who created and ordained creation as good would need to sacrifice anyone to honor that Creator God. But, instead we must honor all of God’s creation as good and honor life as sacred. This story of Abraham and Isaac when placed into this dialogue with history and reason, becomes a metaphorical teaching which is grounded in a new theology teaching us something about this new God of Israel within the culture of its time. This new God says we do not need to take life in order to honor the coming of new life. And, this includes these young people in our lives, our gifts of offspring, they are precious and sacred in their living. (As a sidebar I will tell you also in looking at history…Later in Genesis we are informed of the year and age of Sarah’s death. No matter how we count, Isaac, the child, when going to this place with his father is between 12 and 37 years of age not the infant so often depicted…) And these cultural practices of human sacrifice do not serve our God or God’s vision for the world. We must work to change these sacrificial practices to honor God’s vision. One way that this was done, was to weave the lesson into story dismantling an old way of thinking and replacing it with a new way of thinking. This story is not one of sacrifice, this story is one regarding a cultural shift. That to live life was more precious than to sacrifice it. To live life was sacred. That our lives and living is sacred, and nothing pleases God more than to live the lives we are given with God’s new vision of appreciating and honoring all life that has been created.
In Christianity some of us have also harbored a story of child sacrifice. Many of our brothers and sisters consider the story of the cross to be one of the sacrifice of a son by a Father. Many hold this to be the story of Jesus and his death and resurrection. For me and other scholars this is a dangerous, literal move that promotes a manipulative, punishing and bloodthirsty God. Instead, I believe the crucifixion of Jesus is not another human sacrifice but a cultural lynching. I believe just as God wanted to end human sacrifice, Jesus came to offer a different way of living into the practice of faith centered in the midst of all those people who were left out, who weren’t clean enough, sober enough, straight enough, male enough, rich enough. And, I believe that it wasn’t God’s intention for us to murder that message of hope, peace, and love. Instead I believe that was the consequence for our greed of the power we have, the position we have as the dominant culture. I believe our God is always attempting to speak to us in new ways, reach out to us with new ideas, and doing whatever it takes to move our faith out of our minds and motivate our feet and hands. Changing lives. Changing policy. Changing our purpose and goal. Reorienting all to kindness, mercy and compassion. This means changing cultural norms and practices. Jesus changed cultural norms and practices every time he ate, spoke, healed, prayed, taught. His execution was an attempt to end this cultural shift. His resurrection was the response that even when dominant culture was not ready for the shift, God was, is and the message, the work, the practice would live on in Spirit.
The other story that we hear from James to make his point is the story of Rahab. She’s a prostitute who lives within the city walls. Many cities of the time had two walls that encircled them. This allowed for some to knock a door into the inner wall and live between. A window in the outer wall allows her access as others do not have. This window in the wall allows her to shelter men who will change the lives of many in the city. God calls Rahab to be the key person in this brave tale. A woman who was to be stoned according to the cultural practices of the time. A woman who wasn’t to think or have a voice. A woman who had absolutely no position in life. A woman who could not even be considered property, she was used, dirty, filth that should be destroyed according to the cultural practice of the time. I think it is another direct move by James to remind us that this God that we identify with, this faith that we say we practice, it oftentimes calls us to change our ways. It oftentimes calls us to widen our circle, to include more people and more kinds of people in our human family. Oftentimes, this faith of ours calls us to reconsider who it is we are excluding. For it is clear that our God has a radical welcome…no matter who we are or where we are on this journey…No matter who we are or where we’ve been on this journey. We are part of God’s created vision.
James reminds us today, that it is our work, if we are the people of faith, to change the cultural practices of today that shun, belittle, engender hate. It is our work to dismantle the systems that make some rich and others poor. It is our work to befriend, inspire, share, challenge and grow. Because we are the people who see God’s vision and are here to do the work to make it a reality.
How is it this week that we will align ourselves with God’s vision to end the sacrifice of children? We may not be binding children and throwing them on altars and slicing them up, but we’ve become more complicated in our death dealing. How is it this week we will break that cycle of death by supporting public education, ending poverty, providing food for all, making sure every child is immunized, creating safe and loving families…what vision has God given you to put your faith into practice, to see the love God has for children?
How is it this week we will begin to end the system of oppressions that make some outsiders, less than, ignored, overwhelmed, unwelcome. What vision has God given you to put your faith into practice to see the love God has for the least of these?
Whatever it is…However it begins…Whenever it comes…Bring it here, tell us about it. Let us nurture and support you, for we are the people who are committed to changing the American dream to include all the worldwide, created peoples, for we have the vision from a God who believes that we all can and shall be one. Amen.