Welcome Disruption

Welcome Disruption

Psalm 67, Isaiah 56:1-8

We Presbyterians tend to be fans of order. Our constitution is in two major parts – the Book of Confessions and the Book of Order. Both Pastor Elana and I chose to memorize the same verse before being examined by our separate committees on preparation for ministry as we were in the process of being ordained. That verse, I Corinthians 14:40, states: “Let all things be done decently and in good order.” Contemporary Presbys have a tendency to want to study issues carefully, to send things to committee, and to change slowly and surely, according to the Spirit of God, as expressed through the church as a whole. Our history lends us a distrust of authority – after all, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” and so we institute checks and balances to try to keep things decent and orderly.

This is, I think, a good thing. We generally are insulated from wild swings of a governance pendulum, and find a fairly steady path before us, illuminated by the light of God. That’s not to say we’ve gotten everything right – because, of course, we too are subject to misinterpretations and have fallen short of God’s intent. But we adapt and change and grow in faith and in love. And, using our slow and steady pace, we also influence the world around us to take care in the same way.

But, there are times when that slow and steady pace is disrupted. There are circumstances in the world that call for immediate action – or at least, swift action. When wildfires burn through communities, we send help. When someone is sick or injured, we ask for healing and help get them to medical facilities. In those instances when swift action is needed, we let the principles of the church guide our actions, and make modifications as needed. For a non-controversial example, when the pandemic hit and churches suddenly found themselves unable to meet in person, it was realized that, technically, the Book of Order doesn’t specify that meetings can be held remotely. Churches that met via zoom were in a grey area – but the meetings were important enough to happen, even without being in direct line with the Book of Order. Now, the Book of Order has been updated to explicitly allow remote meetings, but it takes time for those changes to be made official.

On the bulletin cover is an image of a crosswalk sign – placed against a corner of a building. Signs like this are setup where there is need for disruption – when traffic needs to stop for people, in an orderly sharing of the road and resources. But we often build walls instead of bridges, privileging drivers over pedestrians, even if unconsciously. That’s where disruption is most needed.

Jesus is famous for showing how disruption is a part of God’s path for us, too. His parables, for instance, contain references to setting aside personal comfort to help others (Good Samaritan), to welcome home those who have made mistakes, but have changed hearts (Prodigal Son), to loving those who persecute you, to give to others that all may be sheltered, fed, and loved, and so on. Jesus’ suggestion of disruption to the status quo is certainly radical – but it follows in the grand tradition of the Prophets, all of whom showed that God’s preference lies towards disruption of comfort and order if it means helping people – especially those whom society has pushed to the outside.

When the Judahites were allowed to return home following the exile to Babylon, they were a people who had suffered oppression and disruption to the way they had always done things. There was a strong movement to try to return to traditional ways, and a big part of that was in a rejection of anything “foreign.” Even related peoples, like the Samaritans, the Edomites, and the Arameans, were considered “foreign” in the time of return. The identity of the people of Judah became more and more tied up in the notions of “us vs them.” As Professor Amy Ogden puts it, “It’s easy to see how a vulnerable people who had been attacked and conquered would be suspicious about welcoming outsiders. Such welcome could be seen as a betrayal of their own struggle, their sense of community identity and integrity.”

This is important, because when Isaiah says, “I will bring [foreigners] to my holy mountain of Jerusalem, and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer,” it is very much not what the people are expecting to hear. It is a disruption – in many ways, an unwelcome disruption. Now, when you look at what God is saying through Isaiah, it’s clear that God is welcoming those who follow God’s ways, not those who still follow foreign gods or idols. But, Isaiah’s prophecy is a reminder that the Israelites have a tradition of welcoming converts and caring for people that is more important to their identity than they want to acknowledge.

God extends the welcome beyond the foreigner, however. Many of you remember that God’s first commandment, in the beginning of Genesis, is to all creation: “be fruitful and multiply.” Much of the identity of people in Israel and Judah was tied into this idea – that they were part of families whose names were written in the holy scripture, and that their families would number more than the stars in the sky and the grains of sand in all the beaches of the world. But there were people who did not have children – either from choice or from accident. During the exile, many Judahites were made into Eunuchs at the whim of the king – and during the many diasporas, the smaller exiles that preceded and followed, the same was true of many others.

Many of these people felt that they were no longer worthy of God’s love, since they were not able to contribute to the growth of the people of God. But God spoke through Isaiah, saying, “I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath, who choose to do what is right and commit their lives to me. I will give them, within the walls of my house, a memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters could give. For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never disappear!”

God promises not only to welcome those who were outside the norm for their society, but to bless them, to love them, and to remember them. All they have to do is to not desecrate the Sabbath, and live righteous lives. It’s the same contract with anyone in Israel, in case you’re wondering – follow the commandments, and live lives of loving each other. When you make mistakes, seek to make it right, and ask forgiveness both from those you’ve wronged and from God.

Many of us today, hearing “keep the Sabbath holy” hear it as an additional burden. We remember the Blue Laws, with everything shut down on Sunday, and the extra burden that placed on families. But, for the people in Isaiah’s day, keeping the Sabbath meant a return to the rest that they did not have in exile! Babylon would not have allowed for communal days of rest, especially not for all levels of society. This is the joy of the Sabbath commandment – God knows that we humans need to rest.

Sabbath should be a welcome disruption to the order of our week – a chance to put aside work and enjoy the company of friends and family. God rested on the seventh day of creation – and if God can rest, then so can we and so should we. God rested, not to improve God’s productivity, or to think of new creative ideas – but because it is important to take time to love and enjoy creation. To take time to study what is, to notice little details, and to get the rest that is so lacking in the world today.

Just as Sabbath is a welcome disruption, so too should people who are different be a welcome disruption. “God welcomes all,” we sing – and we should be aware that “all” is a very large bunch of folks! It’s not just neighbors who recently moved in, but the cries of children who are exposed to hymns for the first time, and those who society has rejected for any reason. People of all origins, orientations, and abilities.

For God’s welcome is inclusive and expansive. God’s disruption of our status quo helps us to connect with people all over the earth, and all over our communities. To sing, with the psalmist and all who have sung the psalms through the years: “Let the people celebrate and shout with joy because you judge the nations fairly and guide all nations on the earth! Let the people thank you, God!”

For God’s welcome is a grace and a blessing extended to us all. Let us likewise extend grace and welcome to others. When we need a way forward, let us remember to pray – for we are a part of the house of prayer for all people. When we fail to act in righteous ways, let us ask forgiveness, make things as right as we can, and then worship and rest together. When society has built barriers, let us build crosswalks. When our own barriers exclude, let us tear them down and show God’s love. Amen.

Leftovers

Leftovers

II Kings 4:42-44, Matthew 14:13-21

(YouTube)

In our world today, it is hard to avoid food – it’s everywhere! Ads show up on TV and radio, billboards proudly pronounce the latest fast food fad, and even here at church, there’s always coffee and treats on a Sunday morning. Before the pandemic, the church hosted a pastor from Malawi in Africa, and he said something that has stuck with me all these years: he said, “You American Presbyterians, you don’t just practice fellowship – you practice swallowship!” Food is such a part of how we interact with others, too – when meeting someone new, we often “go for coffee.” Lunch meetings aren’t uncommon either – especially as video meetings allow us to turn off the camera and mic and still enjoy a treat.

All that being said, however, it is not that way for everyone. There are parts even of Tulsa that are considered “food deserts” – that is, areas where more than a third of the population cannot easily access fresh groceries.(1) While Elana and I were living in Corona, New Mexico, the town grocery store closed – leaving the nearest small store with anything fresh about 45 miles away, and the nearest supermarket about 90 miles away. If we hadn’t had access to transportation, we wouldn’t have been able to live in our home. In the first years after moving to Tulsa, we found ourselves buying waaay too much at the grocery store, just because we were so trained by experiences in New Mexico – we always needed to have extra on hand, to prevent a 4 hour grocery run. Now, we trust in the availability of food, but during the height of the pandemic, it was hard to not revert to those old habits.

In the ancient world, there were no such things as supermarkets, of course. In rural areas of Galilee and Judah, people would grow some of their own food, fish and ranch, and trade with others. In urban areas, food was brought in from the countryside and sold in markets by individual vendors, a lot like farmers markets today. Jews, though, had a cultural difference from most of the ancient world – they usually tried to keep kosher, making sure that if they were in an area where they weren’t sure they’d have access to kosher food and preparation methods, that they’d bring their own. So, most Jews would carry a woven bag or basket whenever they’d leave home, making sure that they had food. Bread, fish and maybe even cheese might be carried this way, wrapped in beeswax-impregnated cloth to keep it clean and dry.

Now, let’s turn to the story from Matthew’s gospel, where Jesus gets the bad news that his cousin, John the Baptist, has been executed by Herod. He, perhaps grieving, sets out in a boat with his disciples to find a place to be alone for a while. But, at this point in his ministry, he is well known as a healer and teacher, and so people from all around the lake track him down, wandering in on foot to where Jesus is trying to pray by himself. It’s a bit like a celebrity sighting, mixed with hope for healing! Jesus has compassion for them, and proceeds to heal them for many hours, as more and more people stream in. By the evening, the people are hungry – and all the disciples have are two fish and five loaves of bread. They might even have caught the two fish on the way across the lake!

Fish and bread are interesting fare for another reason – it is evidence of the prevalence of Greek ways of thinking. You see, traditional food in the Hellenized or Greek-speaking world always consisted of three parts – sitos, opson, and oinos. Oinos is wine – every complete meal included wine in the ancient world. Sitos is bread, the main dish, the base of every complete meal. But bread on its own is boring, and needs opson – relish. The most common opson was, of course, fish. In the Greek culture, people would scorn those who ate too much relish with their bread, or even would eat without bread at all. By including both bread and fish, Matthew is pointing out that the parts of a complete meal were there, even if nowhere enough for the 5000 men, plus women and children – as many as 20,000 people gathered there!

Nevertheless, Jesus tells the people to relax and recline – as though they’re at a fancy feast, a symposion or as though this wilderness area is formal as the home on Passover. Jesus blesses the meagre food before him, and the disciples distribute it among the people. This distribution method – with elders and deacons taking the place of disciples – is how the early church worked to distribute communion. Only later did the practice begin of approaching the table.

Now, as for the specific blessing that Jesus used – it may have been a blessing like the one still used by Jews today.

Baruch atah Adonai, Eluheynu melech ha’olam, ha-motzi lechem min ha’aretz.

(Blessed are you, Lord our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.) This blessing is based on Psalm 104 – but I love that it includes the line, “brings forth bread from the earth.” Bread doesn’t grow on trees – but ultimately, God is responsible for all food that we eat, from the growing to the preparation, to the consumption of it.

This story, and the subsequent miracle of feeding of 4000, echo the Elisha story from II Kings – in both cases, bread forms the basis of feeding a group of people, and when everyone has eaten, God has miraculously brought forth such an abundance of food that there are leftovers for all. In the feeding of the 5000 (+women and children), the disciples gather twelve baskets of leftovers – basically, each disciple’s food pouch or basket is more full than when they started! Jesus feeds everyone gathered – not just the disciples, not just the men, but the women and children too – and there are leftovers aplenty. Matthew directly mentions the women and children, even though Mark left them out. In some ways, they may feel like “leftovers” themselves in the Biblical account. Yet, not to Jesus – Jesus provides for everyone, from the poorest person who wore their feet out walking around the lake to the wealthiest townsfolk who wandered out to figure out what was happening.

The traditional place of this miracle is today called Tabgha,(2) and a Byzantine church was built at a small rocky ledge that became known as Mensa Christi – the Table of Christ. In front of that ledge was built a beautiful mosaic representing this miracle of the feeding of the 5000 – the very mosaic present on your bulletin cover! The mosaic was uncovered in the 1800s after centuries of being buried – and today is a pilgrimage site for groups who like to share a meal in memory of the meal that Jesus provided thousands of years ago. Even without travelling to Tabgha, we know that every time we eat a meal together as a church, we are celebrating the memory of Jesus’ miracles.

And communion, too, is a celebration of that miracle! When we celebrate communion today, imagine yourself reclining on a lakeshore with people you’ve never met, sharing food that was blessed by Jesus. And that miracle continues, as we provide food through the community garden, and through the blessing box, and through welcoming people into the “swallowship” practiced here at Trinity. In so doing, we remind people and ourselves that we are not “leftovers” but members of God’s beloved family, extended throughout time and space. And there will be enough and more than enough to feed us all!

May God multiply your food – enough to share with all you meet. May the Holy Spirit fill you with compassion and love, that you share what you have with total strangers as well as family and friends. May Christ walk with you, blessing you with abundant grace and hope, even when you find yourself in places of despair. Amen!

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(1) The technical definition is, in urban areas, those in each half-kilometer square who are more than a mile from the nearest source of fresh food. For rural areas, it’s the same half-kilometer square, but who are more than ten miles from the nearest source of fresh food. This is set by the USDA Economic Research Service. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/

(2) An Arabic pronunciation of Tapego, a shortened form of Heptapegon, the Greek translation of Ein Sheva – Seven Rivers