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June 20, 2010. Lectionary 12, Proper 7, Pentecost 4 “C” H. Fege, D.Min. MLC Ocean View NJ. Lk. 8.26-39, Gal. 3.23-29. Is. 65.1-9

 

For the past several weeks, if you have been attending, you would have heard stories from Luke telling us of Jesus’ travels along a road that took him to a Roman Centurion, whose favorite servant was near death, to a widow, whose only son had died, to the home of a first century fundamentalist who invited Jesus to dinner and was put off by both Jesus and a nameless woman whose seductive overtures were not only welcomed, but whose actions became an opportunity for one of Jesus object lessons…

Today the road takes Jesus to the country of the GERASENES… a word that I have always had difficulty pronouncing… until I looked it up.

For us 20^th century folk, it’s a kind of far out story. But for those who first heard it – it would not have been so much an account of an exorcism but of a HOLY man’s encounter with the town’s crazy man.

The occupation of raising pigs was not found in a people who worshipped the God of Israel.

Bracket all that for a moment and let me introduce you to a former fundamentalist turned liberal… a Bible toting, Bible believing Jew who gave Bible-believing a whole new meaning.

Our second lesson, which is just a few lines from a much longer writing from the Apostle Paul, questions the requirement some Christians added in admitting new converts to the faith…

The “fundamentalists of the faith” said “before we can accept you into our fellowship you need to first accept the Bible as we do and if you have not been circumcised well… get on with it.”

Paul, for all practical purposes told these Bible Thumpers – “wait just a minute!”

He, in some of his strongest language said… “I have a word that trumps your hand”.

What is that…? Jesus Christ! 

Even non-Jews are Children of God. “All are welcome”.

Sometimes Paul got carried away.  What about ethnic or religious divisions, they asked?

Paul said “no!”

Surely they said, socio-economic forces must be taken into consideration – Paul said “not so”.

What comes next is absolute heresy.

“There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free; there is no longer male or female, for you are all one in Christ.”

They took notice of his emphasis on ALL.

Paul said their definition of ALL was not enough. The hardest words to learn in any language are not the big words but the little words.

The Galatians had no problem pronouncing the big words like circumcision, disciplinarian, Gentiles but the little words… ah, that was another matter.

Words like love, faith, grace, baptize, and especially “all.”

I can understand their frustration… I graduated from LTSS 1969.

There was a lot of talk back then of busing to desegregate the school… Most people of color lived on one side of town and the rest of us had fled to the suburbs.

So called “Christians schools” were popping up like mushrooms after a spring rain.

My first call was to St. John’s Nashville, a congregation of about 35 or 40 that was still worshiping in the their first building.

There were those in that congregation who had the idea that maybe we could start a school too. I asked, “And would it be open to all?” There is that word again. We never got that far…

My next call was 7 years later to a congregation in the Deep South.

The Orangeburg Massacre (4 dead and 31 injured) in Orangeburg SC, had taken place 8 years before.

When I got to Summerville SC, a congregation of 400 plus… they already had a school. One day Evelyn Addison came to worship with her two children.

One was pre-school age, Shaniqua Nichole…

She asked to enroll Shaniqua in our kindergarten… of course.

Didn’t the Sign on the church kiosk say “all welcome?”

It wasn’t a week later that the phone rang… Pauline Khornarins, one of the matriarchs

said that she had heard that some coloreds were attending – our kindergarten…

“What color were you referring too…?”

She didn’t think that was funny. She told me in no uncertain terms that her grand’s were not going to school with coloreds.

But what about our sign at the church? I said.

Her response – “we all know how to read the sign don’t we?”

My next call was to start a new congregation on the Northeast coast of South Carolina, 20 miles south of Myrtle Beach and 70 miles North of Charleston.

After door to door visitation and worship in a bar called “Big Daddy’s Bottom”, later a school and then our own building, we finally arrived.

We were just getting settled in when it happened.

A request by a group that called themselves “Friends of Lesbians and Gays” asked if they could use the building for meetings.

I took their request to the Leadership team, and the night of the meeting, I asked them to come outside and take a look at the church kiosk which was headed “all welcome.”

I shared with them the request from the group. There was some discussion but in the end they gave the group an ok.

After 35 years of parish ministry and a few detours, I felt I needed to settle back and take a look where God was leading me next.

In conversation with the Bishop of this Synod, I was told of a congregation on the South Shore… in Sea Isle City that was in transition. Watch out for code words like transition, gentile, circumcision… etc.

Before I agreed on being open to a call I asked him… “Tell me, what is the political make up of Cape May.

He said Republican, but a New Jersey Republican is more like a South Carolina Democrat and besides, it depends on which side of the altar you stand.

Paul’s words keep upsetting the status quo … “there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for all of you are one in Jesus Christ.”

When we least expect it our cozy little fellowship will be interrupted;

be it illegal immigrants, global warming, health care, a war without end, an environmental nightmare... good people will take sides but there is a word from God – The Good News is that the demonic no longer holds sway. Amen.