Matthew
11:16-19, 25-30
I
saw this phrase this week in something I read: Religious know-it-alls. It
refers to people who are confident they know what God thinks and whom God
loves. They are also confident that they know whom God hates.
I
saw a Facebook post this week warning the participants of the Women of the ELCA
Triennial Gathering that people from a particularly vocal congregation would be
picketing outside the Convention Center in Minneapolis. They say that the ELCA
is a false religion, because of our legal acceptance of all people, including who
are homosexual. They also insist women should be silent in church, that women
pastors are an abomination, especially Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, and
that women who are active in church leadership are serving the antichrist.
The
leaders of this group are religious know-it-alls. Yes, this is an extreme
example of contempt and hatred. But these emotions and opinions are expressed
everywhere, with very loud voices. We have all heard and maybe even experienced
them. When we decide for God whom God loves and whom God hates, we enter a
risky place unless we look to Jesus as our role model.
We
find that kind of role modeling in this text from Matthew. Jesus talks about
himself and John the Baptist. The crowds love them both, follow them, support
them, talk about them. If this was happening today, there would be Facebook
pages, and Twitter and Instagram posts. There would be news interviews and
soundbites galore. That’s how popular they were among the people.
However,
the leaders had different responses. They were religious know-it-alls. John
fasted and lived in the desert when he wasn’t preaching and baptizing. He resembled
the Prophet Elijah and preached like him, challenging the powerful people of the
day to change their ways. King Herod had him arrested and killed.
Jesus
hung out with everyone: sinners of all kinds, foreigners, religious leaders,
tax collectors. He touched lepers and talked with women. And the leaders
arrested and tried him and turned him over to the Romans, who killed him. The
religious leaders were not able to see the God that John and Jesus presented to
them. They were not able to see that God welcomes all, accepts all, forgives
all.
And
2,000 years after Jesus, we still have trouble with that. I have seen and heard
and read so much this past week alone: TV news, Facebook posts, sermon
commentary, books, and so forth about how divided we are as a community, as a
nation, and as a world. Jesus must be weeping at all the hatred he sees despite
his sacrifice for us.
So,
how do you know whom God loves? How do you decide?
Here
are some stories of people who made acceptance of all an important part of
their lives. They are working to accept all people as Jesus would.
These
two stories are about accepting people of all faiths, but they could equally
apply to accepting people who are gay or lesbian, disabled, immigrants,
homeless, and so forth.
… In
2004 in Pittsburgh a group of Muslims joined together to form an ummah, a worshiping community. But until
they saved enough money to build a mosque, they needed a place to meet. They
needed space for Friday midday prayers and daily prayers during Ramadan, the
month of fasting.
They
approached all the churches in town, asking to use their fellowship halls. And
they were turned down by everyone, until they spoke to Trinity Lutheran Church.
It turns out that Pastor Fred had recently participated in an educational event
about the things that Islam and Christianity have in common.
The
Council agreed to let the ummah use
their hall. In return, the Muslims invited the members of Trinity to join them
for iftar, the meal Muslims eat to
celebrate the end of Ramadan. The two congregations worked together to clean up
the building. Eating and working together, they got to know each other and
became friends.
The
Muslims now have their own community center and they continue to celebrate iftar together. Pastor Fred says, “They
basically want the same things we do. Love their God, love their families, and
contribute to their country.”
… Brandon
Robertson is the speaker at the Franciscan Chapter meeting I am going to in a few
weeks. It has been recommended that we read his book, “Nomad.” It tells of his
spiritual adventure from rigid religious know-it-all to an expansive acceptance
of all.
He
tells this story: As a senior in high school, he met two Muslim boys. At first,
he tried to convince them to become Christians. He said their God was a pagan moon-god
named Allah, that they were commanded to kill anyone who did not accept their
faith, that they were out to destroy America, and that they worshiped cows. These
were all things he had been taught or heard on TV about Muslims.
As
he talked with the boys, telling them that what they believed was wrong, the
Muslim boys began to laugh. Those things were not what they believed. The
Muslim boys had also been told untrue things about Christians, and they all
laughed together at the falsehoods they had been taught.
They
spent time getting to know one another, and realized how much they had in
common. Their face to face conversations enabled them to respect each other and
each other’s beliefs even though they were different.
… I
believe this is what Jesus calls us to do and be. He does not need or want any religious
know-it-alls. He wants people who are on their own spiritual journey, learning
day by day to love and accept as Jesus himself does.
There
is much in our culture which has caused us to be unkind to others. There are
constant negative voices which tell us one side, one person, is right in God’s
eyes, and just as many voices telling us the other side, the other person, is
right in God’s eyes.
The
truth is that God loves both sides, both people. It’s true that God doesn’t always
like what we do and say, but God never stops loving.
Our
task is to work hard to not be religious know-it-alls but to be open to face-to-face
conversations. When we know and understand those with whom we think we
disagree, we will most likely discover we have more in common than we ever
thought.
I
also admit that there will be those with whom we will never agree, such as the
leaders of that vocal congregation. While we may be willing to talk with them,
they would never be open to hearing what we have to say. For folks such as
they, we can merely, and powerfully, pray for them to hear the truth in God’s
heart.
Please
pray with me. God of love and mercy, help us to love those whom you love. Amen
