One of the marvelous virtues of
Judaism is the manner in which the message is conveyed. The Rabbis,
from ancient days, were wonderful story-tellers, and the message they
were presenting frequently came in the form of a story. Lately, there has been a resurgence
of interest in rabbinical stories, precipitated primarily through the
Hasidic sect of the Jewish faith. This emphasis has filtered through to
Christian scholarship, and it has illuminated the power of stories
found in the Bible. Stories are a primary method of presenting
theological insights and asking probing and often disturbing
questions. Jesus was a masterful storyteller. His stories cut
through to the quick of the human condition.
Today, I want us to look at two
stories, which will be familiar to most of you. First a bit of
background. Stories by Jewish leaders have always been told from the
understanding that they, as a group, were a minority. The greatness of
Yahweh or God is that tremendous happenings have occurred through the
actions and devotion of a faithful few. In these stories, the underdog
becomes the champion. We
too love such an emphasis. In sports, nothing captures our imagination
quite as much as an underdog who is expected to lose rising up and
defeating a heavily favored team. When I lived in California, I think
the only time I saw people interested in hockey was when the USA hockey
team defeated the Russians for the Gold Medal- a huge upset.
The Old Testament is full of upset
stories; and for good reason.
Had the armies been huge, the resources vast, and the people
multi-talented, instead of giving God the glory for victory, the people
would have praised themselves. But because it was a small group
whom God had taken and used, the glory goes to God, and the stories are
passed on from generation to generation, making their eternal point.
Now, in your imagination, picture
yourself sitting on a rather barren hillside, typical in Israel, where
a Rabbi is telling you a story. Abraham, he states, lives in an oak
grove in Mamre. Somehow, God gets involved, along with two others, whom
we never get to know. Abraham meets them and says, “Don’t go any
farther. Stop and rest while I go and get some water and some food to
refresh you for your journey.”
Abraham runs home and says to his wife Sarah, “Quick! Mix up some
pancakes, use your best flour, and make enough for three.” Next Abraham
runs out to the herd, selects a fat calf, brings it to Sarah and says,
“Kill this and cook it as quickly as you can. (You women can see that
some things never change!) Abraham returns, bringing the
travellers with him to share a meal of cheese, milk and roasted meat. One of the three, who is actually
the Lord asks “Where is your wife?” “In the tent” Abraham replies,
that's where women of that era were supposed to be. “Tell her,” says
the person, “next year I am going to give her a son.” Sarah is
sitting by the door listening, and when she hears all of this, she
bursts forth in laughter. “A son!” she says. “How can this happen? I am
90 years old and Abraham is older then me.”“Why are you laughing?” said
the Lord, cast as one of the visitors. “Is anything impossible with
God? You and Abraham will be the beginning of a great nation.”
Abraham joins the three as they walk
toward the next town. The Lord ponders, “Should I tell Abraham what I
am about to do?” I have already told him he is to be the father of a
great nation- I will tell him.
“Abraham, I have heard that Sodom and Gomorrah are very wicked cities,
and there is no good in them, so I am about to destroy them and all
their people.” Abraham begins to argue with God, “you wouldn’t kill the
good ones along with the bad, would you? If there were fifty righteous
people, would you save then city?” God says, “for fifty I will save it”
Abraham counters, “I am just a mere
man, but how about forty five?” He continues, “Forty?” God says, I will
not destroy it if forty people are righteous.” “Don’t get angry,” says
Abraham, “How about thirty…twenty… if there are only ten?” God says,
“If there are ten righteous people, I will not destroy the cities of
Sodom and Gammorah.” The
sad part of the story is that ten could not be found, and the cities
were destroyed. However, the part I would like us to dwell on is that
just ten righteous people in two cities would be enough to stop the
cities from being destroyed: the power of a faithful few.
Another story-this one from the book
of Judges. Gideon is hiding because he has torn down the altar of the
God Baal and the people of Midian, near what we now call Saudi Arabia,
were very angry. They were calling Gideon, Jerubbaal, which means: ‘let
Baal contend against him.’
God says, “OK Gideon, get ready, now is the time. We are going to
battle.” Gideon says, “God, if you want me to lead the army against the
Midianites , I need a sign to be sure, because there are many of them.
I am going to place a fleece of lamb's wool on the ground. If I
am the one to lead, let the ground be totally dry and the fleece
wet.” That happened, so Gideon said “now don’t get angry, but
I’ve got to be sure. Tonight, let the ground be wet and the
fleece dry.” The next morning it was so. So Gideon went ahead and
began to form an army.
“Too big”” said God, “We can’t handle
that big of a group. Tell those who are afraid to go home.”
22,000 left, leaving a group of 10,000. God said again “too big. Go
down to the river and let the men drink; there will be two groups.”
Some put their faces into the river and drank, while others dipped
their hands in the river and lapped the water out of their
hands. God
said “take the ones who lapped the water out of their hands.” There
were 300 who drank in that manner-300, that’s all. That became the army
that Gideon was to lead against the Midianites.
Gideon was instructed to give each
soldier a jar, a torch and a trumpet. They were to go to the
battleground where the Midianites were sleeping, and wait until the
darkest part of the night. Gideon placed 100 at the front of the camp,
100 on one side and 100 on the other side. At the appointed time, 100
blew their trumpets, then a second 100 theirs and then the final 100
blew their horns and then, all at once, they smashed their jars on the
ground and raised their torches in their left hand. When the Midianites
awoke and saw all of this, they were terrified. The 300 looked immense
in the darkness of the night, so the Midianite soldiers fled in
differing directions: the power of a faithful few.
Well, what has this to do with today?
Just this! We are a faithful few. We are Christians, so we are in a
minority just for being believers. We are United Church people, which
means we stand for pluralism, openness and equality, where people can
follow the dictates of their own hearts as they relate to Jesus Christ
as Lord. We are situated in the downtown area of Squamish, the only
Church occupying such a location, so we are a distinct minority. In the next short while, we are going to be
called upon to make some very hard decisions about our emphasis and our
location. We are going to have to be very strong people to act wisely.
We are going to have to rely on God for our inspiration and leadership,
and like Abraham and Gideon, we are going to have to be willing to
follow, even when the odds seem to be very difficult.
As I see it, our task is to be
dedicated to quality. We want to insist on the best of music,
sermons that force people to think because they are theologically
sound, historically accurate and relevant to today’s circumstances. We
want to have religious education that reflects the best of what is
happening in today’s Christian thought and service projects that enrich
our lives while they elevate the city as a whole, both those who are
fortunate and unfortunate, without over emphasizing either. Our emphases is to proclaim that with God’s
help we are a people who are strong, happy, talented and able, not
people who are weak and sinful. We can be a powerful few if we will
allow God to lead us.
William Willimon wrote, “Jesus showed us true strength. He
showed us that having real strength lies in having so much power within
oneself that one is free to be carefree with power, to give power away,
to empty one’s self. He who knows the value of life is the one who is
able to give up life for others. The one who is master of all is the
one who is servant of all. The one who is richest is the one who knows
how limited are our checkbooks in helping us solve life’s deepest
yearnings. The one who is most liberated is the one who yokes himself
to the plight of the oppressed.
Let us speak to persons of strength
with a challenge which shakes them to the core with its boldness. As
Christians, as the Church, we have demanded so little. We have spoken
of Christianity as if it were a cushion and not a cross. We have
promised to relieve people of all their aches and pains, all their
crosses and burdens, all their questions and doubts. We have
transformed the faith into an insipid soufflé with all air and
no nourishment, a sweet placebo o which cures nothing because it
challenges no one. It is a faith, which is hardly worth living for,
much less dying for. We have so tamed and housebroken the Spirit that
it soothes more than it prods. This dull domesticated, impotent
version of the faith is a heresy which mocks the Christianity for which
people once bled. We need people who can present the Christian faith,
by their words and their deeds, in such a way that everyone grows
stronger and taller having encountered them. The recovery of our old,
holy boldness is that for which we must now pray.” (The Gospel for the
Person Who has Everything. Page 59)
Throughout the history of the
Judeo-Christian religion God has always accomplished the purposes
needed through a faithful few. Maybe, just maybe, the snubbing of
religious values in our secular society that is increasingly possessed
with achievement no matter what the cost, even if it is unethical,
unscrupulous and immoral, is God’s way of arriving at a faithful few.
Maybe God wants us to begin taking the
message of the scriptures and the scholars so seriously that it makes a
difference in our lives; a difference that we are willing to put on the
line. Maybe we are the ones being called to smash jars, hold up torches
and blow trumpets so that the infidels are scared. Maybe, just
maybe, God is calling us to be the faithful few that revitalize the
religious life of Squamish.
I close with another rabbinical story.
As I read it, fill in your own name. Once the great Hassidic leader,
Zusia, came to his followers. His eyes were red with tears, and his
face was pale with fear.
“Zusia what’s the matter? You look
frightened!”
“The other day,. I had a vision. In it
I learned the question that the angels will one day ask me about life.”
The followers were puzzled. “Zusia,
you are pious. You are scholarly and humble. You have helped so many of
us. What question about your life could be so terrifying that you would
be frightened to answer it?”
Zusia turned his gaze to heaven. “I
have learned that the angels will not ask me, “why weren’t you a Moses,
leading your people out of slavery?”
His followers persisted. “So, what
will they ask you?”
“And I have learned,” Zusia sighed,
“that the angels will not ask, “Why weren’t you a Joshua, leading your
people into the promised land?”
One of his followers approached Zusia
and placed his hands on Zusia’s shoulders. Looking him in the eyes, the
follower demanded, “But what will they ask you?”
“They will say to me, ‘Zusia, there is
only one thing that no power of heaven and earth could have prevented
you from becoming.’ They will say, “Zusia, Why weren’t you Zusia?”