Being Religious
Rebecca Clancy
Esther 1:5-12 Mark 2:23-28
One thing about being a pastor is that when I tell people what I do for a living, it evokes some strange responses. Sometimes it’s an explanation of what they have against the church. Sometimes it’s an excuse why they don’t attend church. Most often though, it’s, “You’re a pastor? You don’t seem religious.”
I am not sure what to make of the response that I don’t seem religious. I don’t seem religious? My father was a pastor and a theologian; my mother the church musician. I was raised in the church. It was a second home to me. At college I majored in Religion. I went to seminary and became a pastor.
Moreover, per the apostle Paul, I am not ashamed of the gospel. I make so secret of my faith. I witness to it every way I can every opening I get. My express central focus in life is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. So I wonder why it is that I don’t seem religious. Perhaps it is the case that people have a preconceived notion of what religious is, and I don’t fit it.
Though come to think of it, few in the Bible would probably fit it either. The prophet Elijah? The prophet Jeremiah? The prophet Ezekiel? Job? Ecclesiastes? John the Baptist? Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah? And while we’re on women, certainly not Esther from our Old Testament lesson.
Esther was the wife and queen of the Persian King Ahasuerus. Esther’s rise to that position reads like the story of a fairy tale princess, complete with all the twists and turns, all the foils and villains. King Ahasuerus had originally been married to Queen Vashti, but Queen Vashti fell out of his favor. The king had thrown a week long banquet that was lavish to say the least. It was certainly lavishly supplied. The drinking was, to quote, “by flagons and without restraint.” Needless to say, by day seven the King Ahasuerus was deeply in his cups. In this state he summoned Queen Vashti in order to show her off to his fellow inebriants. Being a modern woman 2,500 years before her time, she refused to come. King Ahasuerus was humiliated and enraged, yet quite at a loss as to how to respond, so he consulted his sages. They advised that Queen Vashti be deposed, but not for reasons had to do with king’s dishonor. They feared that if word got out that a wife disobeyed her husband, other wives would follow suit, and then what? What would happen if wives were suddenly given to realize they could disobey their husbands? It would mean anarchy. It would mean the downfall of society. An example had to be made of Queen Vashti, and so she was indeed deposed. It was probably the happiest day of her life.
But then of course, Queen Vashti had to be replaced. Accordingly, all the beautiful virgins of the kingdom were brought to the palace for the king to select from among them; after, that is, they submitted to, again to quote, “cosmetic treatments….six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics.” The king clearly had a penchant for fragrant women. Esther was among the beautiful virgins selected. The odds were that with all the beautiful virgins of the kingdom as competition she would be cosmetically treated and released. But no, King Ahasuerus chose Esther to be his wife and queen.
As I said, the story of a fairy tale princess, but not a particularly religious fairy tale princess. In fact not a religious fairy tale princess at all, because there’s more to it. Esther was a Jewess. And after she was selected by King Ahasuerus, she was fearful to divulge it because she had not divulged it earlier. And so, she didn’t. She kept her religious identity entirely a secret.
One may wonder at this point why the book of Esther is even in the Bible. The answer is that it is in the Bible because from Esther’s precarious station, she was positioned, when she stumbled upon a plot to annihilate the Jews, to thwart it. And, though it nearly cost her her life, thwart it she did. It is in the Bible precisely because it teaches that those who do not seem religious often are.
For mainstream Judaism at the time Esther was written had developed a fixed view of what religiousness was. Religiousness was adherence to the law; strict adherence; adherence down to its very letter. It mattered little the religious became inflexible, legalistic, spiritless, technical, separatist, and even xenophobic. In fact the book of Esther is in the Bible for a reason beyond that it teaches that those who do not seem religious often are. It teaches too that those who do seem religious often aren’t.
You know, come to think of it, Jesus himself might not fit people’s preconceived notions of what religious is either. He certainly didn’t fit the people of his day’s preconceived notions of what religious was. Consider this morning’s gospel lesson. Mainstream Judaism had by Jesus’ time changed very little from Esther’s time in its fixed view that religiousness was adherence to the law. If anything, it had grown worse, as the Pharisees
proliferated law upon law upon law in their attempt to contemporize the law of Moses.
A chief area of their preoccupation was, unsurprisingly, Sabbath Day observance. The word Sabbath in fact means rest, so they undertook to delineate the meaning of rest. They arrived at thirty-nine general categories of conduct that could give rise to infractions. You certainly couldn’t harvest a field on the Sabbath. But as Jesus and his disciples made their way through a grain field one Sabbath, the disciples plucked heads of grain and ate them. The Pharisees demanded an explanation. Jesus merely referenced David, whom the Pharisees and everyone else hoped Jesus would be more like. David and his companions wouldn’t have fit their preconceived notions of what religious was either. They didn’t adhere to the law. They ate bread that had been sanctified for the priesthood. And so, Jesus concluded, over against the thirty-nine general categories, “The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath.” Jesus too would seem to be suggesting that those who do not seem religious often are, and those who do seem religious often are not.
And this is no isolated example of Jesus’ views on the matter. Consider the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew’s gospel. “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them…Whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the
synagogues…Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites…whenever you fast, do not look dismal like the hypocrites….”
And later in Matthew’s gospel he really gets going, “Beware of the …scribes and Pharisees; they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others….Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, for you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law -- justice and mercy and faith….Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful but inside are full of bones of the dead and all kinds of filth….” Jesus is clearly concerned that those who seem religious, especially those who take pains to seem religious, can even be masking inner unrighteousness.
And so perhaps we should reconsider our own preconceived views of what religious is. And despite the thousands of years between the Bible and us, our preconceived views of what religious is may not be all that different. Religiousness is still adherence to the law, or perhaps better laws: not those of Moses or course, but laws none the less. Those who are religious don’t drink, don’t smoke cigars, don’t dance, don’t gamble, don’t joke to much or laugh too freely, don’t listen to loud music, disregard scientists and secularists, dress conservatively, cut their hair, keep respectable company, and are scandalized at the lawlessness of others. But the Bible exposes these preconceived views as false.
And so, what is the true view, the biblical view, of what religious is? The Bible doesn’t agree on everything, but it agrees on this. And its very simple. The religious are those who are given to know that laws are not at the heart of religion, that at the heart of religion is just that – heart -- heart that loves God and heart that loves God’s people. In short, heart that loves. This is the only kind of religious we need to be. Amen.
Romans 8:25 Waiting on the Lord Many years ago, almost too many to count, I had the opportunity to study the Old Testament at the University of Edinburgh. That means that I had the opportunity to live in Scotland for a time -- so I am here to tell you that there is more to Scottish culture than kilts and bagpipes. There is the Scottish national dish -- Haggis to be precise. In case you’re unfamiliar with Haggis, it is made from the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep. They pack them into the sheep’s stomach, toss in a little oatmeal, and boil it. I only tried it once. Once was enough. Then there’s the Scottish national flower – the thistle. You see thistles everywhere -- on flags, coats of armor, dishware. They were once even featured on the currency. I would have thought that heather would have been a better contender for the Scottish national flower -- it is everywhere, and it’s much less prickly -- but no one consulted me. Then there’s the Scottish national poet, Bobby Burns. Burns wrote in Old Scottish. I actually picked up quite a bit of Old Scottish during my time in Edinburgh. I pride myself that I can recite much of his poetry by heart. Old Scottish is unintelligible to the modern ear, but the Scots still love him. I used to walk past the Scottish National Gallery of Art on the way to class. You could peer in the front door and see the famed portrait of him. If you’re unacquainted with his work, he wrote, To a Mouse. To a Louse. And, I kid you not, Address to a Haggis. And then, of course, there’s Greyfriars Bobby. I guess you could call Greyfriars Bobby the Scottish national dog. Grayfriers Bobby was a good Scottish breed -- the Skye Terrior. He and his master were inseparable, and after his master’s untimely death, Greyfriars Bobby remained at his master’s graveside -- day in and day out -- for 14 years, until he himself died. Greyfriars Bobby is a testament of devotion and loyalty not just to the Scottish, but to everyone. A statue of Greyfriars Bobby stands in the heart of town. At the funeral of his master, when the casket was being lowered into its final resting place, Greyfriars Bobby gave way to grief. He whined, whimpered and pawed at the grave. Beyond his grief, however, Greyfriars Bobby settled into a daily routine. Every day, when the 1:00 gun was fired, a man by the name of William Dow, who had befriended Grayfriers Bobby, picked him up at the cemetery. They strolled together to a local coffee shop, where Grayfriers Bobby ate his daily meal. After a bit of socializing, they strolled back to the cemetery. Greyfriars Bobby settled back onto his master’s gravesite and watched the sunset. There were attempts to lure Greyfriars Bobby away from his master’s graveside, especially in inclement weather, but they were fruitless. Greyfrirs Bobby refused to leave. Greyfriars Bobby is all the proof I need that dogs go to heaven. Do you really think that he when arrived at the Pearly Gates to be reunited with his master, Peter, who Jesus entrusted with the keys to bound and to loose, turned him away on the grounds that he was a dog? That makes no sense to me. And I’m sure it made no sense to Peter. There’s a lesson we can learn this morning from Greyfriars Bobby. And lest you register skepticism that there’s a lesson we can learn from dogs -- this is the whole point of the book of Ruth – that we can learn lessons in unexpected places. Ruth was a despised foreigner. She was feared. She was suspected. She was accused. Yet there were lessons that the people of Israel learned from her. There are lessons we can learn in unexpected places. At least that’s what the Bible proclaims. And it’s not just Ruth. It’s Ruth, yes. But it’s also the Good Samaritan; it’s the Magi, it's the Roman Centurion, it’s the Canaanite woman, it’s the Ninevites, it’s the Ethiopian eunich, it’s Cornelius. And if the Bible hits you over the head with something that many times, and you still refuse to accept it, you’re just being stubborn. There are lessons we can learn in unexpected places. And the more unexpected the place, the more important the lesson. Sure, there’s a lesson we can learn from Greyfriars Bobby about loyalty and devotion, but there’s also a lesson we can learn from him about waiting for someone. Because if you think about it, we are all waiting for someone. Every one of us. It could be someone who is angry with us – someone who holds a grudge against us, someone who dislikes us, someone from whom we are estranged. It could be someone who is stationed at a far-flung corner of the earth -- someone who is called to serve and sacrifice, someone who has placed himself in harm’s way, someone we may never see again. It could be someone who has fallen prey to an addiction – someone who is facing an uphill battle, someone who has made strides only to fall back, someone whose potential and possibility are under siege. And it could be, like with Greyfriars Bobby, someone that we lost – someone who is irreplaceable, someone who enriched and defined our lives, someone who spared us from loneliness and aimlessness. We are all waiting for someone. And so, we can learn a lesson from Greyfriars Bobby, and it is this. Yes, for a time we grieve their absence. We weep. We mourn. We despair, even. We do all these things…for a time. But then we must get back to the business of living. As Langston Hughes reminds us, Life is for the living. We must get back to the business of living – of caring for others, of speaking the truth, of practicing fairness, of sacrificing for others, of sharing our abundance, of striving for peace – of doing the best we can to prove, day by day, that we have heard the upward call of Jesus Christ. While all the while we are waiting for someone. But here’s the thing. We don’t wait in vain. Because we wait, ultimately, through Jesus Christ -- so we wait for our eternal home in heaven where those for whom we wait are waiting for us. And we will know that joyous reunion that Greyfriars Bobby and his master now know. Amen.
John 20:1-18 But why? Why did Mary stand weeping outside the tomb? There is, of course, the easy answer. Mary stood weeping outside the tomb because, arriving at the tomb, she discovered that Jesus’ body had been stolen. But that’s the easy answer. Easy answers are, as often as not, simplifications; and simplifications are, as often as not, distortions. So, let us look beyond the easy answer and ask again, Why did Mary stand weeping outside the tomb? Mary was one of those people whom nature had favored. And nature does play favorites -- that much is undeniable. Mary was tenacious, discerning, steadfast, spontaneous, courageous – not to mention brimming with natural affections. Yes, she was one of those people whom nature had favored, but sometimes that is not enough. Mary had a bad start in life, and that tends to temper even nature’s most generous gifts. When Jesus first encountered Mary, she was not of sound spirit. She was afflicted and tormented. But Jesus performed a miracle that recalled her to life. She became his passionate and devoted follower. It would seem that her past was behind her. Like with so many others Jesus encountered, Mary had been lost and now was found. But this only led her to the foot of his cross. She had endured the entire spectacle. Dark men – petty, jealous, and scheming -- closed in on him. They subjected him to a farce of a trial, and this only as a formality. They intended to see him executed from the very beginning. The disciples, for their part, panicked and scattered. What if they were next to be targeted? But not Mary. She abided with him those endless hours as he hung on the cross right through to his death agony. She watched from a distance as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus deposed his body from the cross and laid it in a tomb. Mary was shattered. She was traumatized. She was devastated. She was forced to endure the unthinkable – the death of one deeply beloved, and to malicious violence. But Mary was not entirely bereft. She still had his body. She could cleanse and anoint it, bestow upon it what loving care she could. And going forward she could become that person – the one who visits the graveside, the one who keeps memories alive, the one whose tears are never exhausted. In time she would achieve a sort of notoriety for it, but it’s the kind of notoriety no one wants. But she arrived at his tomb only to discover that his body had been stolen. So why did Mary stand weeping outside the tomb? She stood weeping outside the tomb because she had hit rock bottom. I have never hit rock bottom. If dread keeps it at bay, dread has done that much for me. But I have seen others who have. It’s a terrible thing to witness, much less to experience. A kind of derangement takes hold. They aren’t recognizable. They aren’t themselves. This is why Mary couldn’t add up two and two. She peered into the tomb and saw two angels robed in white raiment. Why are you weeping? They asked. Now they didn’t ask because they wanted to hear her theory about the graverobbers. This was not the sense of their question. Woman, why are you weeping? They were asking to convey that there was nothing to weep about. And it was the same thing when the resurrected Jesus asked the same question. Woman, why are you weeping? There’s nothing to weep about. I am alive. I am here. I am with you. Dry your tears. But Mary had hit rock bottom, so it didn’t add up. But then Jesus said something. Something cataclysmic. Something earth shattering. Something beyond description and explanation. And something right under our noses. If there’s one trait we all share, one thing we are all good at, one thing we are all GREAT at, it’s not seeing what’s right under our noses. Jesus called her by name. Mary! he said. And suddenly the truth broke in on her. Dimly, but at the same time, and paradoxically, with crystal clarity. She knew. She knew how we know most deeply – in our bones, in our guts, in our hearts. This man so beloved by her – her teacher, healer, leader, friend….he was much more than that. He was the one that time could not bind, the one that darkness could not thwart. He was the one over whom death had no dominion. He was the one she declared him to be. He was the Lord. And he called her by name . Rock bottom? There was no rock bottom. There was only hope, consolation, meaning, purpose, direction, relief, and rejoicing. From his height to her depth, he called her by name. Rock bottom? She now had good news to proclaim, and she proclaimed it for all she was worth. Friends in Christ, her good news is our good news. No matter what you’ve done, what you are doing, or what you will do. No matter how low you fall. No matter how deep you sink. No matter how bad you’re stuck. His deliverance has your name on it. His triumph has your name on it. His love has your name on it. So let us call him by name – Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
I Samuel 16:4-5 Matthew 5:9 To set the scene for our Old Testament lesson -- Tension was rife. Anxiety was rife. Dread was rife. And why? It was because there was conflict, and conflict produces tension. Conflict produces anxiety. Conflict produces dread. And let’s not pretend that it doesn’t. The hold outs among us might stick their chests out and assert that conflict has no effect on them -- that they are immune from conflict. But personally, I’m a bit skeptical. As I’ve mentioned before, in my various vocations and avocations, I have been subjected to psychological tests. And not just a few of them. And one of the areas that is tested is how you react to conflict – whether you are conflict tolerant or conflict intolerant. According to the tests, I am conflict tolerant, as conflict tolerant as one can be. According to the tests, there is nothing that makes me more comfortable, and more relaxed, and more at ease than conflict. Conflict? Bring it on. There’s nothing I relish more. At least according to the tests. But why is it that in the face of conflict, I become preoccupied. I can’t get it off my mind. I become sleepless. I toss and turn at night. And I feel an enormous sense of relief when the conflict is resolved. So, in my own experience at least, conflict produces tension. Conflict produces anxiety. Conflict produces dread. And that leads us back to our Old Testament Lesson. Talk about conflict! But to understand it, we must back up a bit. In fact, we must back up quite a bit. We all know that Moses received the Ten Commandments atop Mt. Sinai. We all know that with the Ten Commandments in hand, Moses wandered with the people in the wilderness for forty years toward the Promised Land. But we might not all know what happened next. What happened next is that Moses died. Moses was succeeded by Joshua, who conquered the Promised land. And after that? The people settled onto the Promised Land. Since the people were comprised of twelve tribes they settled into the Promised Land accordingly. Each tribe deployed itself on a parcel of land. And they all lived happily ever after. Or not. Problems emerged in short order. The tribes did not get along. Surprise, surprise, the strong tribes picked on the weak ones. Why is it that at all times, and in all places, the strong pick on the weak? But that’s another question. Bottom line, there was disunity among the tribes. Beyond that, they were twelve tribes who each deployed itself on a parcel of land. But they were surrounded by enemies, enemies that had not been wandering around in the wilderness for the past 40 years. Enemies who were trained to fight. So, the people were threatened from within and from without. The closest thing that they had to a leader was Samuel, so they demanded of Samuel a king, a king to unify them and protect them from their enemies. Samuel listened to their demand and anointed King Saul. King Saul was the man of the hour. He was a standout. He stood head and shoulders above all others, was strikingly handsome, and teamed with charisma. He was clearly meant to be. So once again, they all lived happily ever after. Or not. There was something wrong with Saul. Now sometimes when there is something wrong with someone it’s obvious, it’s easy to name – as in the case with addiction, or physically abuse, or mental illness. But sometimes it’s not obvious. Ask twelve scholars what was wrong with Saul, you’ll get twelve different answers. For whatever reason, he proved not to be the stuff of it. He had some fatal flaw. Was it his temper? Was it his jealousy? Was it his paranoia? Was it his anger? Was it his desperation? Because all those things can prove to be fatal flaws. In that last analysis, it doesn’t matter what was wrong with King Saul – simply that there was something wrong with him. Predictably, those closest to him saw it first. But no one else was inclined to believe them. They believed what they wanted to believe, what was easiest to believe. And this is how it goes. The ones closest see it first, and no one is inclined to believe them. Moveover, they didn’t want to face the fact that King Saul was one big false start. But King Saul had some fatal flaw. And fatal flaws are fatal. King Saul deteriorated. It became increasingly difficult to deny. Conflict was brewing. It was not yet open conflict. Soon it would be and in terms too horrific to describe. But rumors were circulating. The atmosphere became charged, and not in a good way. Not one knew just how the thing would play out, but everyone sensed that it would not end well. And that brings us to our Old Testament Lesson. Samuel arrived in Bethlehem, unannounced, unexpected -- in full vestment and with full retinue. What did he want? Why did he single them out? What had they done wrong? Was he there to exact vengeance? In a spark would they all be dead? To set the scene for our Old Testament lesson -- Tension was rife. Anxiety was rife. Dread was rife. And why? It is because there was conflict, and conflict produces tension. Conflict produces anxiety. Conflict produces dread. And so, the people approached Samuel with a question. It was the right question. It was the key question. It was the decisive question. It was this question: Do you come in peace? If you remember one thing about this passage, if you remember one thing about the whole book of Samuel, remember this question. Do you come in peace? Because the people’s question to Samuel is the people’s question to us. Do we come in peace? In the face of conflict do we come in peace? Do we come in peace, or do we come bearing blame for things for which we know we are full well complicit? Do we come in peace, or do we come exacting retribution demanding an eye for an eye? Do we come in peace, or do we come rehearsing old grievances, resentments, jealousies, and grudges? Do we come in peace, or do we come pressing our advantage -- power up, poised to defeat? Because the people’s question to us is also Christ’s question to us? Do we come in peace? Have we gone that extra mile for the one who has burdened us? Have we turned the other cheek? Have we declined to let the sun set on our anger? Have we made peace with our accusers? Do we come in peace? For Christ declares that the peacemakers would be blest, and that through them, but only through them, would his kingdom grow. Amen.
