Law and order
Commentary
I am somewhat of a hopeless addict to the NBC television series, Law and Order.
Certainly the writing is above par and the topics riveting. Having been born in New
York City, the show is like a weekly trip home for me. The characters, the rhythm and
tempo reflect a genuine New York City ambiance. That the show spends a good deal of
time using New York City's Union Theological Seminary as a backdrop is appealing to
those familiar with that part of Manhattan. Having the major issues of the day addressed,
defined, and resolved all in one hour is convenient to say the least. Not the least of the
benefits is somewhat of a legal education as to how the law works in real-life situations.
I have noticed that when it looks like one of the lead characters, assistant district attorney Jack McCoy, has run out of legal maneuvering room to prosecute he resorts to depraved indifference as a basis of charging a defendant. A perusal of the dictionary leads to the combination of "To debase, especially morally; corrupt" and "that does not matter one way or the other, of no importance or value one way or the other." The conclusion is that there are some things that one cannot under law be indifferent to if your unconcern arises from a moral corruption as defined by law.
Isaiah said it more forthrightly and poetically in the lection assigned for today. "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord." Some scholars suggest that we have here the form of a civil suit. Judah and Jerusalem are on trial for a faith that has amply demonstrated depraved indifference.
The letter to the Hebrews lists a long bill of particulars that is the justification for Abraham's. The text tells us that in their journey they sought a better country so God prepared a city for them. Heaven is understood here not as some state of bliss but as a new order of things that partakes of the eternal. One of the things that appeals about the Law and Order series is that the main characters do seek a better order of things as their work partakes of the values of justice and order. Make no mistake about it; they do from time to time take shortcuts. Yet there is a sense that they have a faith that pushes them to consider ethical norms that partake of a larger order. Religion makes a frequent guest appearance on the show as they sort through the ethical and legal consequence of the various criminal acts that are part of the New York City landscape. Law and order is a journey.
The text from Luke suggests that the kingdom of God may come as a thief at an hour when we do not expect it. On a recent visit to a Boston medical office, as a result of a series of break-ins the door had sprouted a series of locks that made it look like the entrance to Fort Knox or just about any apartment door in New York City. I think of the kingdom or the Son of Man coming at a time one cannot anticipate. This seems far from any notion of law and order. Yet, it may be that it is our order of things that is actually disorder.
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
It is a stinging indictment from the Lord through the prophet. The temple rituals have become an abomination to God. Rather than a delight, they have become a burden to God. The opening argument makes clear where we are headed, "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!" The reference here is to the ultimate fate of these towns that were destroyed by God. It is only a matter of time before the people of Judah and Jerusalem face a similar fate. The depraved indifference here lies in the callous disregard of how their worship impacts God. As I hear the indictment, chills run up and down my spine. I consider to what extent the impact of worship on God is a prime consideration in my ministry. In all likelihood many of us are more concerned with whether our worship stays within the safety of familiar tradition. Others will ponder in their worship planning just how our worship reflects current musical tastes. Still others will be considering the merits of our worship in terms of its political correctness.
For the most part, we have reversed the Kierkegaardian observation that the congregants are the actors and the clergy the prompters, while God is the audience for worship. Isaiah takes this up a notch from a philosophical "oops" to an indictable offense. The response of those hauled off on Law and Order for depraved indifference is usually, "You have got to be kidding." However worthwhile the objectives of keeping tradition, keeping current, or keeping up with political correctness, alone they will not keep us from being indicted.
Note that the indictment names the rulers of Judah and Jerusalem in the bill handed down. At best the laity can be construed as un-indicted coconspirators. Judging by the conversations that I hear around clerical water coolers, you would think that the laity had been named as indicted coconspirators. When the conversation comes to the topic of depraved indifference, it usually runs to something like "Don't they understand, appreciate, realize, or read their Bibles?" All of that may be true enough, however, it does not save the rulers from indictment and prosecution.
The opening argument alludes to the possibility that the rulers' failure may lead to the end of the nation. The rulers, if nothing else, have responsibility for public safety. Certainly they have the example of Sodom and Gomorrah before them. In this case they also have the case of the destruction of the northern kingdom.
The indictment makes clear that God cannot endure solemn assemblies. The Message translation by Eugene Peterson takes this in the direction of indicting the excess of ineffectual church meetings. I can only join in and say, "Amen and I hope they throw the key away." One might emphasize the solemn part and conclude that a lack of sense of humor may be an indictable offense. Again the response in prison might be, "You have got to be kidding." However, I do see churches at risk when the hallways are not filled with laughter. Particularly when one cannot laugh at yourself, you are at risk. Rulers seem to be especially vulnerable to this charge.
Isaiah is clear that the issue here is "appointed festivals." Some have read this text as if it were the endorsement of a low church plain worship tradition. Coming from a reformed tradition the indictment is too close to home for this to be a matter of taste in liturgics. Rather, it is clear that at one time the temple worship practices were not an offense to God. Now, God says, "They have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them."
What has happened is that this worship has stopped being a sense of ethical insight, judicious conduct, protection for the oppressed and the marginalized, "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow."
The opening argument concludes with a clear choice that is set before all those who would show such depraved indifference. Those who accept responsibility for their sin can, if they are willing and obedient, eat of the fat of the land, or "if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
One of my favorite moments in Law and Order comes when a defendant must "allocute" to the details of their crime as part of a plea bargain. In the letter to the Hebrews we are given such an allocution as a defense of the actions of the leading figure of the Hebrew testament.
Standing before the judge, what could we allocute to as the basis of actions? The lection makes clear that the basis of the actions of the Hebraic heroes was their faith. Certainly that seems to be the right answer and ought to be the answer in our case. A recent news story recounts that only half of all high school seniors could name all the Ten Commandments. Has something slipped through the cracks here? Just how much faith is required to be part of the plea bargain? The letter to the Hebrews gives some indication of what ought to be covered in our allocution.
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Can there be anymore classic a statement of what it is to live by faith than is found here? Yet when it comes to allocution I wonder if the deal is off. Much of the literature on church growth seems to be saying to me that churches focus on those who are outside their church walls are the ones that are most likely to have sustained growth. Sometimes it seems that churches are more likely to focus on the folks that are here than the one's that God wants here. Certainly one can understand that the comfort zone will be higher with people that we are familiar. However, allocution demands to be honest that we may have been moved more by our comfort zone than the assurance of things hoped for, or the conviction about the ones not yet seen.
If anything, the letter to the Hebrews allocutes to a low comfort zone as Abraham sets out on a journey not knowing where he is going. I have had the opportunity during my ministry to lead youth through the canyons of New York City, spend 26 hours with youth on a bus to Tennessee, and lead kids up a mountain that none of us had been up before. In a sense, we knew where we were going. In terms of the invisible who knew where we were headed? Who knew what bonds of friendship would be formed, or what seeds would be planted? Who knew what personal victories that would last a lifetime would occur? Who knew what defeats would happen that might take a lifetime to deal with? Anyone who has done youth work knows how Abraham felt. The journey is worth it because looking to the unseen God's activity is made known.
"By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise." "Then I bedded down in a foreign land." Can you allocute to that? As I write this and as one who is often on the left/peace side of the spectrum, the other side of my brain is dealing with preparing a funeral for the first soldier to die in Iraq from our town. I suddenly find myself bedding down with the military, the media, various political types, as well as a grieving family, the body not having arrived yet, who understandably is knee-deep in denial. The feeling is none too comfortable as I wonder what to say and how to deal with all these expectations.
If I allocute honestly, I know that the faith journey propels us to such places. I also know that by living in tents we do not get stuck in such places but can move through and continue on the journey with God. For those who can allocute to wanting a better country, "God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed he has prepared a city for them."
Luke 12:32-40
Law and Order is divided into two segments. The first is devoted to the work of the police detectives in apprehending a suspect. Though most of the time they manage to get the right one, frequently the perpetrator turns out to be someone neither they nor the district attorney had imaged would be the guilty party. The lection from Luke ends on a surprise note. Who would have ever thought that the Son of Man might come as a thief?
When you get ready for a thief you come well armed, or you bolt your house to prevent their getting in. The text suggests that we are to be as on guard in our anticipation of the coming of the Son of Man as we are vigilant about the coming of a thief. Of course, the problem in our lives is that we are so vigilant against what may rob us that we also keep out the one who would bless us.
As one fast approaching retirement, I have done my best to do all the physical activity and diet regimes that would prevent advancing years from robbing me of vitality. Yet in distancing from the advancing years I wonder if I am locking out what God may be offering as I grow older. On a seminary trip to Puerto Rico several years ago, many in the group were so vigilant in protecting their belongings from theft that they were unable to rub shoulders with the people of Puerto Rico. I noticed that a large number of Americans congregated around the Burger King in downtown San Juan lest their vacation be robbed by some hidden intestinal virus. Unfortunately, they were also robbed of the opportunity to go into the market and experience the hospitality of the Puerto Rican people. This is not to say that reasonable precautions ought not to be taken but it does seem that we lockout a lot of opportunities to grow. Our estimation of when the house might be broken into or by who often has a lower batting average than the detectives on Law and Order. The most shocking discovery might be that we are the ones who have robbed ourselves!
Of course, the key to crime prevention is to have our treasure in a secure place where not even we can mange to rob ourselves of what God has to offer. Our treasure is to be secured in heaven. I can hear the detectives from Law and Order asking for a warrant to go check this out. We ought to have a suspicion of anyone who talks of heavenly treasure too glibly. Many have been robbed of the life they could have had by premature talk about the life to come in the sweet by and by. This requires some detective work.
Of course, one must ask just what is meant by heaven here. It seems to me that on closer examination, for Jesus what heaven was is the quality of human relationships. If we do not find blessing there then we are not likely to find blessing anywhere. Lay up treasure here and things have a way of falling into place in other places in our lives. Fail to lay up this treasure and things never seem to fall into place. Cultivating these relations even have a way of limiting our own attempts at robbing ourselves of what God has to offer.
In the story, there is also the surprise at the center of the text for those who have laid up treasure in heaven and are living in the appropriate state of readiness. "Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them." This comes as a surprising plot twist that the one whom we serve is ready to serve us. Like Law and Order, you never know in the gospel how things may pan out.
Application
In these three texts, the reader is placed in several different contexts. Certainly one feels the sting of Isaiah's indictment. However, the reader is not invited to a passive flagellation of their feelings. Indeed, the reader is invited to argue this out with the Lord. The reader of Hebrews is invited to become part of the epic journey that begins with Abraham. The conclusion to the eleventh chapter is that we should run the race with perseverance that is set before us. The gospel lection invites us to be dressed for action and have our lamps lit. All of these texts invite the reader to be a person of action.
While the individual texts challenge the human enterprise in their own way, they all call on humans to take in a collaborative role with God in order that God's plans may be fulfilled. I wonder to what degree many leave church on any given Sunday feeling that they have been called to a role in God's drama of law and order that lays down the foundation for our lives?
Alternative Application
In the Isaiah passage we are invited to argue with God. This seems to be the last thing that many of us want. More is meant here than an intellectual exercise on the fine points of theology. God does not seem to be all that interested in theology. Indeed God seems somewhat put off by solemn assemblies. God is passionately committed to the healing of the world. Can there be healing for humans without the airing of grievances and differences? Can we find our own strengths without matching our acumen against others? I doubt we can ever find the holes in our own reason outside the context of conversation with another. Since God invites us to discover truth through putting God to the test, we cannot avoid such conversations with each other.
The lection invites us to consider the last time we had a good argument with God.
Preaching The Psalm
Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23
Ask someone who doesn't go to church what it is that they don't like about church. Ask anyone. In fact, ask several people. Invariably they will say that they don't like all that judgment stuff. If they're talking about judgmental people, then who can blame them? No one wants to step into a community and find the wagging finger of judgment pointed in their direction. But on the other hand, if it's judgment in general that these folks are trying to avoid, that might be worth a moment's consideration.
Maybe it's a hangover from the "I'm okay, you're okay days," but people really don't want to deal with this concept, especially if it's God who's doing the judging. But there it is. Throughout our scriptural tradition we find God as judge. Thankfully, it's God who gets to do that, because frankly, we're not up to the task.
If we are allowed to do the judging, the whole enterprise is doomed. We humans judge according to silly things like race, gender, or religion. We even stoop to judging people by their clothes or other meaningless preferences. But God isn't concerned with our trivial and shallow issues. God will judge us ... God is judging us now by the way we love one another, by the way we care for the planet God gave us to look after, and by the way we care for the poor.
The bottom line here really isn't about judgment itself. It's about being accountable. Those who would wiggle into a judgment-free zone in life also wish to escape from accountability. We are, simply put, accountable for our actions. We write this fundamental principle into our human laws. In our social context we "covenant" not to kill one another, unless of course it's sanctioned by the state. Then it's okay. But in our streets and neighborhoods we try to live by this covenant of not harming or stealing from one another. Our laws provide accountability measures to help assure that the rest of us can live in safety and relative comfort.
The same is pretty much true with God. We have covenant with God, who is our God, and we are (his) people. If we violate the covenant we are held accountable, not by the local police and justice system, but by the One with whom we have made the agreement.
At the end of the day, accountability is a pretty good thing. It works in our social arrangements, and it works in our relationship with God.
So the next time someone tells you they don't like church because of this judgmental God stuff, talk to them about accountability.
I have noticed that when it looks like one of the lead characters, assistant district attorney Jack McCoy, has run out of legal maneuvering room to prosecute he resorts to depraved indifference as a basis of charging a defendant. A perusal of the dictionary leads to the combination of "To debase, especially morally; corrupt" and "that does not matter one way or the other, of no importance or value one way or the other." The conclusion is that there are some things that one cannot under law be indifferent to if your unconcern arises from a moral corruption as defined by law.
Isaiah said it more forthrightly and poetically in the lection assigned for today. "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord." Some scholars suggest that we have here the form of a civil suit. Judah and Jerusalem are on trial for a faith that has amply demonstrated depraved indifference.
The letter to the Hebrews lists a long bill of particulars that is the justification for Abraham's. The text tells us that in their journey they sought a better country so God prepared a city for them. Heaven is understood here not as some state of bliss but as a new order of things that partakes of the eternal. One of the things that appeals about the Law and Order series is that the main characters do seek a better order of things as their work partakes of the values of justice and order. Make no mistake about it; they do from time to time take shortcuts. Yet there is a sense that they have a faith that pushes them to consider ethical norms that partake of a larger order. Religion makes a frequent guest appearance on the show as they sort through the ethical and legal consequence of the various criminal acts that are part of the New York City landscape. Law and order is a journey.
The text from Luke suggests that the kingdom of God may come as a thief at an hour when we do not expect it. On a recent visit to a Boston medical office, as a result of a series of break-ins the door had sprouted a series of locks that made it look like the entrance to Fort Knox or just about any apartment door in New York City. I think of the kingdom or the Son of Man coming at a time one cannot anticipate. This seems far from any notion of law and order. Yet, it may be that it is our order of things that is actually disorder.
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
It is a stinging indictment from the Lord through the prophet. The temple rituals have become an abomination to God. Rather than a delight, they have become a burden to God. The opening argument makes clear where we are headed, "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!" The reference here is to the ultimate fate of these towns that were destroyed by God. It is only a matter of time before the people of Judah and Jerusalem face a similar fate. The depraved indifference here lies in the callous disregard of how their worship impacts God. As I hear the indictment, chills run up and down my spine. I consider to what extent the impact of worship on God is a prime consideration in my ministry. In all likelihood many of us are more concerned with whether our worship stays within the safety of familiar tradition. Others will ponder in their worship planning just how our worship reflects current musical tastes. Still others will be considering the merits of our worship in terms of its political correctness.
For the most part, we have reversed the Kierkegaardian observation that the congregants are the actors and the clergy the prompters, while God is the audience for worship. Isaiah takes this up a notch from a philosophical "oops" to an indictable offense. The response of those hauled off on Law and Order for depraved indifference is usually, "You have got to be kidding." However worthwhile the objectives of keeping tradition, keeping current, or keeping up with political correctness, alone they will not keep us from being indicted.
Note that the indictment names the rulers of Judah and Jerusalem in the bill handed down. At best the laity can be construed as un-indicted coconspirators. Judging by the conversations that I hear around clerical water coolers, you would think that the laity had been named as indicted coconspirators. When the conversation comes to the topic of depraved indifference, it usually runs to something like "Don't they understand, appreciate, realize, or read their Bibles?" All of that may be true enough, however, it does not save the rulers from indictment and prosecution.
The opening argument alludes to the possibility that the rulers' failure may lead to the end of the nation. The rulers, if nothing else, have responsibility for public safety. Certainly they have the example of Sodom and Gomorrah before them. In this case they also have the case of the destruction of the northern kingdom.
The indictment makes clear that God cannot endure solemn assemblies. The Message translation by Eugene Peterson takes this in the direction of indicting the excess of ineffectual church meetings. I can only join in and say, "Amen and I hope they throw the key away." One might emphasize the solemn part and conclude that a lack of sense of humor may be an indictable offense. Again the response in prison might be, "You have got to be kidding." However, I do see churches at risk when the hallways are not filled with laughter. Particularly when one cannot laugh at yourself, you are at risk. Rulers seem to be especially vulnerable to this charge.
Isaiah is clear that the issue here is "appointed festivals." Some have read this text as if it were the endorsement of a low church plain worship tradition. Coming from a reformed tradition the indictment is too close to home for this to be a matter of taste in liturgics. Rather, it is clear that at one time the temple worship practices were not an offense to God. Now, God says, "They have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them."
What has happened is that this worship has stopped being a sense of ethical insight, judicious conduct, protection for the oppressed and the marginalized, "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow."
The opening argument concludes with a clear choice that is set before all those who would show such depraved indifference. Those who accept responsibility for their sin can, if they are willing and obedient, eat of the fat of the land, or "if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
One of my favorite moments in Law and Order comes when a defendant must "allocute" to the details of their crime as part of a plea bargain. In the letter to the Hebrews we are given such an allocution as a defense of the actions of the leading figure of the Hebrew testament.
Standing before the judge, what could we allocute to as the basis of actions? The lection makes clear that the basis of the actions of the Hebraic heroes was their faith. Certainly that seems to be the right answer and ought to be the answer in our case. A recent news story recounts that only half of all high school seniors could name all the Ten Commandments. Has something slipped through the cracks here? Just how much faith is required to be part of the plea bargain? The letter to the Hebrews gives some indication of what ought to be covered in our allocution.
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Can there be anymore classic a statement of what it is to live by faith than is found here? Yet when it comes to allocution I wonder if the deal is off. Much of the literature on church growth seems to be saying to me that churches focus on those who are outside their church walls are the ones that are most likely to have sustained growth. Sometimes it seems that churches are more likely to focus on the folks that are here than the one's that God wants here. Certainly one can understand that the comfort zone will be higher with people that we are familiar. However, allocution demands to be honest that we may have been moved more by our comfort zone than the assurance of things hoped for, or the conviction about the ones not yet seen.
If anything, the letter to the Hebrews allocutes to a low comfort zone as Abraham sets out on a journey not knowing where he is going. I have had the opportunity during my ministry to lead youth through the canyons of New York City, spend 26 hours with youth on a bus to Tennessee, and lead kids up a mountain that none of us had been up before. In a sense, we knew where we were going. In terms of the invisible who knew where we were headed? Who knew what bonds of friendship would be formed, or what seeds would be planted? Who knew what personal victories that would last a lifetime would occur? Who knew what defeats would happen that might take a lifetime to deal with? Anyone who has done youth work knows how Abraham felt. The journey is worth it because looking to the unseen God's activity is made known.
"By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise." "Then I bedded down in a foreign land." Can you allocute to that? As I write this and as one who is often on the left/peace side of the spectrum, the other side of my brain is dealing with preparing a funeral for the first soldier to die in Iraq from our town. I suddenly find myself bedding down with the military, the media, various political types, as well as a grieving family, the body not having arrived yet, who understandably is knee-deep in denial. The feeling is none too comfortable as I wonder what to say and how to deal with all these expectations.
If I allocute honestly, I know that the faith journey propels us to such places. I also know that by living in tents we do not get stuck in such places but can move through and continue on the journey with God. For those who can allocute to wanting a better country, "God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed he has prepared a city for them."
Luke 12:32-40
Law and Order is divided into two segments. The first is devoted to the work of the police detectives in apprehending a suspect. Though most of the time they manage to get the right one, frequently the perpetrator turns out to be someone neither they nor the district attorney had imaged would be the guilty party. The lection from Luke ends on a surprise note. Who would have ever thought that the Son of Man might come as a thief?
When you get ready for a thief you come well armed, or you bolt your house to prevent their getting in. The text suggests that we are to be as on guard in our anticipation of the coming of the Son of Man as we are vigilant about the coming of a thief. Of course, the problem in our lives is that we are so vigilant against what may rob us that we also keep out the one who would bless us.
As one fast approaching retirement, I have done my best to do all the physical activity and diet regimes that would prevent advancing years from robbing me of vitality. Yet in distancing from the advancing years I wonder if I am locking out what God may be offering as I grow older. On a seminary trip to Puerto Rico several years ago, many in the group were so vigilant in protecting their belongings from theft that they were unable to rub shoulders with the people of Puerto Rico. I noticed that a large number of Americans congregated around the Burger King in downtown San Juan lest their vacation be robbed by some hidden intestinal virus. Unfortunately, they were also robbed of the opportunity to go into the market and experience the hospitality of the Puerto Rican people. This is not to say that reasonable precautions ought not to be taken but it does seem that we lockout a lot of opportunities to grow. Our estimation of when the house might be broken into or by who often has a lower batting average than the detectives on Law and Order. The most shocking discovery might be that we are the ones who have robbed ourselves!
Of course, the key to crime prevention is to have our treasure in a secure place where not even we can mange to rob ourselves of what God has to offer. Our treasure is to be secured in heaven. I can hear the detectives from Law and Order asking for a warrant to go check this out. We ought to have a suspicion of anyone who talks of heavenly treasure too glibly. Many have been robbed of the life they could have had by premature talk about the life to come in the sweet by and by. This requires some detective work.
Of course, one must ask just what is meant by heaven here. It seems to me that on closer examination, for Jesus what heaven was is the quality of human relationships. If we do not find blessing there then we are not likely to find blessing anywhere. Lay up treasure here and things have a way of falling into place in other places in our lives. Fail to lay up this treasure and things never seem to fall into place. Cultivating these relations even have a way of limiting our own attempts at robbing ourselves of what God has to offer.
In the story, there is also the surprise at the center of the text for those who have laid up treasure in heaven and are living in the appropriate state of readiness. "Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them." This comes as a surprising plot twist that the one whom we serve is ready to serve us. Like Law and Order, you never know in the gospel how things may pan out.
Application
In these three texts, the reader is placed in several different contexts. Certainly one feels the sting of Isaiah's indictment. However, the reader is not invited to a passive flagellation of their feelings. Indeed, the reader is invited to argue this out with the Lord. The reader of Hebrews is invited to become part of the epic journey that begins with Abraham. The conclusion to the eleventh chapter is that we should run the race with perseverance that is set before us. The gospel lection invites us to be dressed for action and have our lamps lit. All of these texts invite the reader to be a person of action.
While the individual texts challenge the human enterprise in their own way, they all call on humans to take in a collaborative role with God in order that God's plans may be fulfilled. I wonder to what degree many leave church on any given Sunday feeling that they have been called to a role in God's drama of law and order that lays down the foundation for our lives?
Alternative Application
In the Isaiah passage we are invited to argue with God. This seems to be the last thing that many of us want. More is meant here than an intellectual exercise on the fine points of theology. God does not seem to be all that interested in theology. Indeed God seems somewhat put off by solemn assemblies. God is passionately committed to the healing of the world. Can there be healing for humans without the airing of grievances and differences? Can we find our own strengths without matching our acumen against others? I doubt we can ever find the holes in our own reason outside the context of conversation with another. Since God invites us to discover truth through putting God to the test, we cannot avoid such conversations with each other.
The lection invites us to consider the last time we had a good argument with God.
Preaching The Psalm
Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23
Ask someone who doesn't go to church what it is that they don't like about church. Ask anyone. In fact, ask several people. Invariably they will say that they don't like all that judgment stuff. If they're talking about judgmental people, then who can blame them? No one wants to step into a community and find the wagging finger of judgment pointed in their direction. But on the other hand, if it's judgment in general that these folks are trying to avoid, that might be worth a moment's consideration.
Maybe it's a hangover from the "I'm okay, you're okay days," but people really don't want to deal with this concept, especially if it's God who's doing the judging. But there it is. Throughout our scriptural tradition we find God as judge. Thankfully, it's God who gets to do that, because frankly, we're not up to the task.
If we are allowed to do the judging, the whole enterprise is doomed. We humans judge according to silly things like race, gender, or religion. We even stoop to judging people by their clothes or other meaningless preferences. But God isn't concerned with our trivial and shallow issues. God will judge us ... God is judging us now by the way we love one another, by the way we care for the planet God gave us to look after, and by the way we care for the poor.
The bottom line here really isn't about judgment itself. It's about being accountable. Those who would wiggle into a judgment-free zone in life also wish to escape from accountability. We are, simply put, accountable for our actions. We write this fundamental principle into our human laws. In our social context we "covenant" not to kill one another, unless of course it's sanctioned by the state. Then it's okay. But in our streets and neighborhoods we try to live by this covenant of not harming or stealing from one another. Our laws provide accountability measures to help assure that the rest of us can live in safety and relative comfort.
The same is pretty much true with God. We have covenant with God, who is our God, and we are (his) people. If we violate the covenant we are held accountable, not by the local police and justice system, but by the One with whom we have made the agreement.
At the end of the day, accountability is a pretty good thing. It works in our social arrangements, and it works in our relationship with God.
So the next time someone tells you they don't like church because of this judgmental God stuff, talk to them about accountability.
