Repentance as Challenging the Status Quo

The blessed season of Passover will come to pass this weekend for our Jewish sisters and brothers - and as the Christian community wrestles with Eastertide I am drawn to a consideration of what are the marks of true discipleship in the 21st century?

There is a story the mystics of Islam – the Sufis – like to tell about a group of believers “whose hearts were set on pilgrimage.” No matter what their spiritual elder told them, these folk were certain that they would experience a change of heart by visiting the sacred places of tradition. So as they were preparing to leave, their sage told them to “take this bitter gourd along with you. Make sure you dip it into the holy rivers and bring it into all the holy shrines.” When they returned, the bitter gourd was cooked and served to the pilgrims. “Strange,” the elder said slyly after they had all tasted it, “the holy water and the shrines have failed to sweeten it.”

“All the prayer in the world,” Joan Chittister writes, “is fruitless and futile if it does not translate into a life of human community made richer and sweeter by a change of heart.” It would seem that both prayer and community – the inward and outward life of the spirit – are necessary for an authentic spiritual life and we may not neglect either. (Chittister, The Rule of Benedict, p. 127) It has something to do with the “Word becoming Flesh” and not abstract. No wonder the gospel of Mark tells us that when Jesus began his public ministry after his baptism, he said: “The time is up! God’s kingdom is here. Change the direction of your life and trust the Message.”

And that commitment to repentance as a way of life – that disciplined choice to challenge the status quo within and among ourselves as well as in our society – is what I want to talk about with you this morning. I’m going to call it the first mark of discipleship, not in a hierarchical way, but simply to claim a starting point so that we might organize our thinking about living as disciples of Christ. You see, the whole point of the spiritual life is to nourish sweetness and strengthen within so that we can share it beyond ourselves and bring hope and healing to a broken world.

That’s what the gospel for today suggests in Mark 1: 9-14 – and if you remembered to bring you Bibles or want to use the pew Bible – you can follow along with me in the story of our Lord’s baptism and preaching ministry. And let me just add before we really get going that the reason I am urging you to bring your Bibles to church – and use them with me – is not to turn you into a bunch of Bible-thumpers. We’ve already got too many of those sisters and brothers throughout the world. No, what I want you to do is both become familiar with the essential scriptures concerning discipleship, and, have a visual learning tool to work with, ok?

Let’s start with the story of Christ’s baptism in Mark 1. First, it tells us that the Lord’s baptism came only after Jesus was trained and encouraged by John the Baptist. John was a Jewish holy man like Elijah and Elisha (I Kings 17/II Kings 13). And holy men in this tradition were given visions by the Lord and practiced a type of mysticism that helped them find God’s presence in ordinary experience. They were simultaneously prophetic and practical; that is they both spoke about love and justice and helped everyday people find physical and spiritual healing in their lives. So let’s be clear: the ministry of Jesus did not falleth from out the sky without a context nor did it pop up into first century Palestine without roots. And the scripture tries to help us understand this by the very placement of today’s story: Jesus begins his ministry only after we hear from John the Baptist, right?

And what does the Baptist tell us? Another is coming who will be a greater holy man than himself. (vs. 7) This holy man of Israel will be called God’s beloved. (Vs. 11) And Jesus’ ministry will start where John’s left off as he shows us what God’s kingdom and repentance look like. (vs. 15) John spoke and taught about repentance – and so does Jesus. John made it clear that repentance is about changing the direction of our lives so that they reflect and embrace the kingdom of God – and so does Jesus. And John lived as a practical and prophetic holy man in Israel – and so does Jesus. What I am trying to say is that choosing to challenge the status quo within and among us is less about feeling badly – which is how some understand repentance – and more about changing the direction of our lives so that they reflect God’s kingdom.

Now I want to share with you three examples from scripture of what it looks like and means to choose to challenge the status quo with the values of God’s kingdom. I want to consider a public, a personal and a spiritual insight as we go deeper into wrestling with repentance, ok? A good example of changing direction in public can be found in the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19: do you know that story? Now the scripture tells us that Zacchaeus was the chief toll collector in the region who had become very, very rich by this work which means that to most people – who were poverty stricken – he would have been “stereotyped as a greedy, dishonest” collaborator with Rome with no local credibility.

Jesus turns this stereotype on its head by breaking bread with Zacchaeus, doesn’t he? Here is a Jewish holy man sharing table fellowship with a public sinner – what does it say in Luke 19: 7? The very example of Jesus points to one of the truths about challenging the status quo: stereotypes and first impressions – even a person’s social history – are not the whole story and living only on such surface knowledge is often ugly and mean spirited.

So Jesus challenges the social status quo and eats with this so-called sinner – and what happens? We don’t really know, do we? The story doesn’t tell us what took place at dinner. We can guess – Jesus talked with Zack about how it felt to be so hated and lonely and asked him why he thought he was so isolated – I suspect that as a good rabbi Jesus also taught Zack about compassion and justice and suggested ways to reconnect with the wider community. But we don’t really know: all we can say for certain is that when the supper was done, what does Zacchaeus tell the crowd in verse 8? He will give away half of his possessions to care for the poor – and – if he has hurt anyone in a financial deal he will pay him back four fold.

The story ends with Jesus proclaiming that Zacchaeus has been healed – he is now truly a son of Abraham – an authentic member of the tribe who should be welcomed back into community for now true kingdom living is taking place. Repentance in public, it would seem, is all about justice and compassion – restoring right relations – and strengthening the public good.

What do you think about this way of challenging the status quo? It reminds me of Bill Gates and his father William Henry Gates. Young Bill is quick to remind us that it was his father and wife who helped him see the light and create the Gates Foundation. Left to himself he would have kept all that money – but his father, a strong and active Methodist layman and his wife, an authentic woman of justice – convinced him that justice and compassion could be better served by sharing than hording – and now $38 billion is endowed for acts of healing and hope throughout the world. What’s more, the encouragement of Poppa Gates has helped push Warren Buffet into the mix who has anted up another nearly $3 billion to the kitty.

So challenging the status quo with kingdom values has a public face; it also has a private one: do you know the story of the woman at the well in John 4? There are three key insights that happen in this story. The first is what we are told about the woman: she is a Samaritan – which makes her an outcast to the Jews – she is at the well at 12 noon – the hottest time of day which means she is an outcast to her own community – and she is a woman – which makes her an outcast for a Jewish holy man.

Let’s talk about each of these: Why was a Samaritan an outcast to a Jew? Historically, the Samaritans were thought to have emerged from the poor and lower classes of Israel who inter-married with non Jews after Assyria carted into exile the best and the brightest in 721 BCE. When the Jews return to Israel in 531 BCE they found people of mixed race and theology claiming to be God’s chosen. These so-called “mongrels” were eventually pushed out of Jerusalem, shunned and relegated to and the margins. So first there is racial and religious antagonism taking place here.

What does the fact that this woman was at the well at 12 noon tell us? Well, apparently she wasn’t allowed to go to the well with the other women at the break of morning when it was cooler. The story says she was there all by herself because she is being shunned at the hottest moment of the day. Scholars tell us this has to do with her promiscuity so there is a moral reality taking place, too.

And we know that a woman could render a Jewish man ritually unclean and impure – especially a woman who was a stranger to him – yes? But once again if you follow the rhythm and movement of the story you can sense how challenging the status quo creates a safe place for personal repentance. Jesus greets this outcast – treats her like a real person. He speaks to her of deep things and doesn’t patronize or marginalize her. And when she feels safe, he invites her to get her life in order. It is a beautiful and gentle story of how hospitality paves the way for moral change – and I would almost like to say that radical hospitality is the necessary pre-condition for repentance.

And please pay careful attention to what Jesus asks of her: not to quit sleeping around or go to confession; Jesus simply speaks the truth to her in love after already welcoming her as a full person of integrity. He recognized her wound, spoke truth to her in loved and then invited her to change direction. And this woman was so overcome that all she could do was talk about the goodness of God to those who had once cast her away. This is another healing story – a moral healing, a community healing and a healing of integrity – that is a delight to behold. Does that make sense?

Repentance has precious little to do with lecturing or shaming people – telling them what we dislike about their words, ideas or deeds – for that is self-righteousness – and self-righteousness is always empty and hurtful. Rather, true righteousness born of repentance is much more about challenging the status quo that categorizes people – that is extending radical hospitality beyond race, class and gender – so that the wounded can taste God’s grace and then share what has nourished them. You can’t give what you don’t have…

So, there is public and there is personal repentance. There is also spiritual repentance – and for this let’s look at the words of another Jewish holy man: the prophet Micah in 6: 8. Here is one of the key Bible verses for understanding the spiritual, prophetic and practical roots of repentance: what does the Lord require but to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God.

In Hebrew that is mishpat – justice – restoring dignity, hope and integrity to the wounded and forgotten. It is all about right relations between people in the community. It is also loving kindness –or sharing mercy as some translations put it – which in Hebrew is hesed – or more accurately compassion – which is living in solidarity with those who are hurting so that they never feel alone. And there is walk humbly with the Lord – in Hebrew tsana – which might be described as modesty or the awareness that we don’t really understand all that much about God.
In terms of a spirituality of repentance – the real life practice of challenging the status quo with the values and habits of God’s kingdom – we discover that it has its roots in righting wrongs with compassion and clarity, welcoming and embracing the outsider tenderly all the while being aware that we might not know the whole story – or at the very least trusting that there is still more to be revealed in God’s justice, compassion and humility.

This is a repentance that heals the world – tikun olam in the Hebrew holy man tradition of Micah and Jesus – it joins with God in restoring dignity and health to the broken: It lives and breathes the Biblical truth that human unity is not something we are called to create, only to recognize. And it celebrates and honors the life altering nature of changing directions and challenging the status quo.

Old William Sloan Coffin at Riverside Church in NYC used to say about this type of repentance:

Most churches get nervous when you start talking about a repentance that can change the world because most church boats don’t like to be rocked; they prefer to lie at anchor rather than go places in the stormy seas. But that’s because we Christians view the Church as the object of or our love instead of the subject and instrument of God’s. Faith cannot be passive; it has to go forth – to assault the conscience and excite the imagination. Faith fans the flames of creativity altogether as much as it banks the fires of sins… so let’s go! Let’s let faith and real repentance kick us in the pants lest we domesticate God’s word so much that we… evade the big problems by becoming mesmerized by the little ones.

Jesus was clear: times up! If you are going to follow me… you have to change direction and challenge the status quo with the Kingdom of God.

(For a kick, check out Tracy Chapman's musical version of this sermon: Change)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lLqeL-1WNk&feature=related