Yes, But . . . : Proper 18, Year A

Exodus 12:1-14; Ezekiel 33:7-11; Psalm 149; Psalm 119:33-40; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:15-20

The Elves must have tied on blindfolds then riffled the pages and planted a finger on the verses from Romans and from Matthew. How else to come up with opposing teachings from Peter’s Jerusalem faction (“If [they] refuse to listen . . . treat [them] like you would a pagan or toll collector”) and the Apostle Paul, sent off to bring the Jesus story to those very pagans, jailors, collaborators and sinners throughout the Roman empire (“Love is the fulfilling of the law”).

When confronted with blatant contradictions in the gospels, go back to the four questions for the apocalypse:

1) What is the nature of God? Violent or non-violent?
2) What is the nature of Jesus’ message? Inclusive or exclusive?
3) What is faith? Literal belief, or commitment to the great work of justice-compassion?
4) What is deliverance? Salvation from hell, or liberation from injustice?

For Christians, the answers to these four questions frame the difference between the continuing normalcy of civilization and its retributive systems of control and participation in the ongoing program of restoring God’s distributive justice-compassion, as taught by Jesus. The answers for the authoritarian right (Empire) are: violent, exclusive, literal belief, and salvation from hell in the next life. The answers for the partnership on the left (Covenant) are non-violent, inclusive, commitment to the great work, and liberation from injustice in this life, here and now. These answers provide guideposts to the authentic teachings of Jesus, and to a faith that might swing the balance to sustainable, conscious life on Planet Earth.

Matthew’s Jesus is spelling out the ground rules for living in Matthew’s Jerusalem community. They are bogged down in the minutiae of normal civilization, where “justice” is based on what can be proved or witnessed to by at least two, but ideally three people. The Elves stop short of verses 21 and 22, where the hair-splitting continues as Peter demands to know how many times one person must forgive another.

This is easy piety. Paul is dishing out the rough stuff. “The one who loves another has fulfilled the law. . . . The [ten] commandments are summed up in this word: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” In that context, verses 11-14 of this amazing letter to the Romans cannot possibly be reduced to apocalyptic judgment upon petty sin. Paul did believe that the day of the Lord’s restoration of the Kingdom of distributive justice-compassion was imminent – and indeed it is. All that is required is to “lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light . . .” Just like Jesus said – the Kingdom of God is here now, all we have to do is look and listen, all we have to do is step into that parallel universe.

Ah, yes, but . . .

Coal companies in West Virginia complain of lost profits because of increased government oversight of mine safety.
Worse are the outrageous actions of Agriprocessors, a kosher meat-packing plant in Iowa. After a raid by the Immigration Department in May arrested half its workers, the company has continued to cut corners on wages, working conditions, health, and safety, and has deliberately recruited workers from such disenfranchised populations as residents of a homeless shelter in Texas, Somali refugees from Minnesota, unemployable former prisoners from other states in the midwest, and unsuspecting people from the island of Palau, who are not subject to U.S. immigration rules because they belong to a former United Nations trusteeship, now administered by the United States. One wonders where the U.S. Government has actually intervened in this case?

Meanwhile, back in the Old Testament, the Elves skip all the nasty plagues visited upon the hapless Egyptians and cut to the chase: The Passover ritual is a blood ritual that identifies clearly who belongs to God and who does not, and Ezekiel is the sentinel – the guardian of the faith, who warns the people when they are slipping into injustice and away from God’s rule.

In fairness to the Elves, the lectionary readings are not intended to coincide. The passage cherry-picked from Ezekiel is the “alternate,” to be used in case it is more pertinent to the needs of the local congregation. Nevertheless, the exodus from Egypt after the commitment of the people to God and the later exile to Babylon might be seen as parallel metaphors. Both are mass movements of the Hebrew people from their settled existence. Both events were triggered by corporate injustice – the oppression of the Hebrew people by the Egyptian Pharaoh on the one hand, and on the other, the complicity with injustice by the Israelite nation in their own land. Moses is the leader of the exodus, Ezekiel is the prophet that went to Babylon.

God seems to revel in deliberately “hardening the heart” of Pharaoh so that Moses can demonstrate God’s awesome power through nine plagues. Only when the first-born children start dying does Pharaoh relent. Then he does not stop at merely letting the people go, he throws them out. God tells Ezekiel that if he warns the people about turning away from God, and the people pay no attention, then God will destroy the people, and their blood will be on their own heads. However, if Ezekiel does not warn the people, and they turn away from God, the people will be destroyed, and Ezekiel along with them.

The point seems to be that the leaders are accountable for the fidelity of the people to God’s rule, which is distributive justice-compassion, and the leaders are equally accountable for the consequences of infidelity. What an interesting concept for 21st Century civilizations, when the more closely a candidate for office is identified with conventional piety (sexual abstinence for the unmarried; social and political exclusion for GLBT people; unquestioning compliance with authority), the greater the probability that even the appearance of impropriety signals a lack of personal integrity.

We may ask, who belongs to God today, and who are the sentinels?

Keeping the 4 Questions and the partnership answers in mind, (non-violent God, inclusive message, commitment to the great work, and liberation from injustice in this life, here and now), injustice must be recognized, named, acknowledged, and owned. The Ten Commandments (that great foundation for conventional piety) are irrelevant, says Paul. What matters is the radical abandonment of self-interest: “. . . make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” This is not about petty sexual sin. It is about comfort at the expense of the environment; profit at the expense of well-being; personal advancement at the expense of relationship.

Participants in the program of restoring God’s realm of distributive justice-compassion are the sentinels for our time, whether they are on the political left or the political right, whether they embrace Christianity or not. The proof lies in the results.

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