That's Not Funny

Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

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As I walk through
This wicked world
Searchin' for light in the darkness of insanity.

I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?

And each time I feel like this inside,
There's one thing I wanna know:
What's so funny 'bout peace love

"(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" by Nick Lowe performed by Elvis Costello

There is something terribly odd about the Gospel in our day and time. The Gospel was written for a band of God Fearers who were outside of Roman and Pagan society and not really a part of the Hebrew society, not anymore. They really didn't fit into any niche that existed at the time.

Now it's all different, or is it.

It wasn't written for people generally like me, an affluent (certainly by the world's standards if not by American standards), man of Northern European descent. In our world, this makes me one of the "insiders."

The Church as it began had no legal status and little protection. The Apostles, those who were first sent with the Word of the Good News were easy targets. Other followers of Jesus paid the ultimate price of their faith too.

The faith we know became generally accepted at the time of Constantine when he had a dream that his army would be victorious if they painted crosses on their shields. This was affirmed by his wife who was a baptized Christian. Of course, this wasn't enough for Constantine to live wet, he was never baptized. He still knew which side of fame's toast the butter went on, he might have believed-or he might not have, but he surely knew that there was power in the blood.

From there, the church began to exercise its own power and authority until it was so entwined with the government that the empire came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire. Separation between church and state? It never existed before the United States. Christian rule over the politics of the Empire started so long ago that to us it never seems out of place.

In less than 500 years, the church went from being an outlaw and outcast group to the rulers of the "modern, civilized world."

Funny thing about power, power corrupts, even the church.

That's a lot of history to say only one thing, in a world that values power and stuff, we need to take a page from Paul's letter to the Philippians. Rejoice! How often do you hear of peoples in world capitals (or in the power structures of the church) scream and rejoice!? As much as this oversimplifies power and faith, it does not seem a stretch at all when reading what comes from the power brokers of either the government or the church.

People concerned with getting and keeping power never let their gentleness be known to anyone. Nor do they seem to want to bring anything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Supplication? Please.

It's time again to ask the musical question asked by Nick and Elvis and Paul and Micah and the prophets and the apostles: What's so funny about peace, love, and understanding?

It's not that we can quit asking the musical questions "Is all hope lost? Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?" Surely there is, but we need to ask, what is the cure of these ills. Where is the salvation that cures the world?

"Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you." We need to get back to the basics.

Idols on Fire

Luke 21:5-6

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”

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Burn down the mission, Lord,
If we're gonna stay alive.
Watch the black smoke fly to heaven,
See the red flame light the sky.

"Burn Down the Mission" by Elton John

There is something historical about this bit of scripture from Luke. Something that just gets written off as exaggeration. When we read "not one stone will be left upon another" it's easy to write it off. Well, that is what happened.

When the temple was burned, all of the gold gilding that was on the walls melted. Then it flowed into the deep recesses of the foundation. To get all of the gold, the Roman's slaves would have to remove all of the stones to get the gold that fell into the nooks and crannies and into the foundation. By the end there was not one stone left upon another.

The temple in Jerusalem burned, and it burned so hot that gold ran like water.

The people loved the temple. It was beautiful. It was holy. And in a way it became an idol. To some the temple and the earthly things it stood for were more important than the the Lord who sanctified it. When things get more important than God, they become idols.

What is it that we love? Is it the church building? Is it the stuff inside the building? Let me ask my fellow Presbyterians, is it our polity? Or maybe I should ask was it our old polity? Sometimes, to get past the things we love about God, we have to burn down the mission so that all we have left to love is God.

Everything else can be a guide post, but only the grace and peace of God is our hitching post. Everything else can become an idol. We need to discover our idols and burn them because the last thing we want to hitch our lives to are our idols.