Integrity:Trusting In God

Psalm Introduction:
Rabbi Kushner states that this verse may be the most open to creative interpretation of any in the Psalm. When we hear that God sets a table before us in the presence of our enemies, Kushner says that many see it as God helping us be a little spiteful towards those who have rejected us or made fun of us in the past. It is man driving up in his Mercedes Benz at his high school reunion anxiously anticipating this moment where he can show all those guys who made fun of him and all those girls who would not go out with him that he made it and now it is his turn to feel a little smug. As Kushner says, we know that this is not how God operates. So what might this passage mean? The word translated enemy has more the sense of “opposite.” Someone who is different from us. An acceptable translation would be, “You prepare a table before me in contrast to the people around me.” Kushner says, “It is the acknowledgment that even when we sought support from those around us but did not receive it and we felt alone, God was still there nourishing us.”

Jesus takes this whole idea of table and fellowship to a deeper level for us as Christians. He reminds us that at the table of God, there are no opposites, for all come seeking and needing the grace of God. All are invited to the banquet table of God.

Read Psalm 23:1-5a

Today is Palm-Passion Sunday. We are often asked to compact fully 1/3 to ½ of the Gospel stories into a one hour worship service. Today, we will celebrate Palm Sunday and Jesus entry into Jerusalem as he prepares for those final days of his life. Today, we will hear the hope and anticipation from his followers that this may be the Messiah they have long anticipated. We hear the shouts of “hosanna” which means, “save us we beseech you.” A true prayer from their hearts.”

Read Mark 11:1-11

SERMON:
A man was being tailgated by a very stressed-out woman on a busy boulevard. The light ahead turned yellow, and he stopped as he should even though he probably could have made it through. The woman who was tailgating went ballistic, and began honking her horn and screaming at him as she felt she missed her chance to get through the light. She was so upset she tipped over her purse and her cell phone, compact and contents of her purse went all over the floor of the car. While she was bent over picking up her mess, she heard a tap on her window and looked up to see a police officer standing b her car. He had her pull over, exit the car and then cuffed her and took her to jail. There she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed and placed in a jail cell. After a couple of hours a police officer came and took her to the front desk where the arresting officer awaited her arrival. He said, “I’m very sorry for this mistake. When I pulled up behind you at the light I saw you ranting and raving and flipping the man ahead of you off. Then I saw your, “What would Jesus do” bumper sticker, your “Chose Life” license plate holder, your “Follow me t Sunday School” bumper sticker and your chrome plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, and naturally thought you must have stolen the car.”

When John Wesley, the founder of our denomination, would be out trying to evangelize, he would at times hear, “I will not attend church, it’s full of hypocrites.” To which he would reply, “Good, they’re right where they need to be.” The implication being, that people were watching and what they saw was a group of people who claimed to believe one thing, and yet lived in another way. Today, the church may not hear the judgment of hypocrite, but what many people say about why they are not a part of the church is this. “Why should I attend church? I do not see any difference in the lives of those who attend than those who do not.”

I believe people watch us, not to so much to find judgment, but in fact just the opposite, to hope. They hope that what we say and what we stand for is true, and real. They want us to show that we and our lives are different, are opposites of those we see in the general culture we live. They want us to be successfully different. Who wouldn’t want to see lives lived and experienced in the truth of being a child of God, loved by God, accepted by God and that belief translated into how we respect and love each other? Of course they want us to be successful by being opposites, for it means that what we believe and stand for is real and truly makes a difference in living our lives.

The Psalmist reminds us that we have a God who sets a table before us in the presence of our opposites, those who are in contrast to what we believe and who we are. And it is this God who will nurture us and care for us when others will not. But it seems to me Jesus changes this idea about table fellowship. That Jesus tells us we come to table, not because we are opposites, but because we are the same. We experience that table every month when we celebrate communion. As someone said, “Communion is the most leveling act we celebrate as Christians, as we all come to the table of God to receive the grace of God. There are no opposites at the Lord’s Table, simply people loved by God. I believe we see this hope I am talking about as we hear the crowd cheering Jesus as he enters into Jerusalem. We hear them cry out, “Hosanna, Hosanna,” which means “save us we beseech you” There is real hope in these cries of the people. Here is one who came seeing us differently, seeing us as people who are special to God. Seeing everyone as worthy of coming to the table of God.

In Jesus’ day, to sit at table meant that the person you ate with was someone worthy of being your friend. We hear the religious leaders complain to Jesus’ disciples that he eats with tax collectors and sinners, people who were not worthy to receive his acceptance and affirmation. Even worse, as one recognized from God, Jesus was saying by eating with them that they are not only acceptable to him, but they are acceptable to God. In fact, biblical scholar Marcus Borg claims that it was this table fellowship that got Jesus crucified by those who did not want to lose the social distinctions that kept one group more important, and more special t God than another. That causes him to hear a little later this week not the cheers and cries of “hosanna” but, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Our table fellowship may cause us to enter into dangerous waters.

As I began to think about what it means to be the church as a beacon of hope to the world, remember our stewardship theme, I thought about those times and places that the church showed a different light than the world around them. I thought about the days of Civil Rights, and the deep cost and pain some endured to bring about justice in the face of injustice. I thought even then, the real essence of table fellowship when whites would go into segregated restaurants and sit at the table with African Americans. Making a statement that we sit with our brothers and sisters as children of God created in the image of God. And we know how deep the cost some paid to make that statement. Who are our opposites today, and where do we need to practice table fellowship again?

What does it mean to be different? What does it mean to live a life that shows the love and full acceptance of God’s love in the world? How do we help a world see that who we are and what we stand for and how we live our lives is indeed different than the world around us?

Many of you have heard of Tony Campolo. Tony is the author of many books and is a highly sought speaker. The other thing about him is he always seems to find himself in places that surely show him being at the opposites of the people around him. I would like to share a couple of stories to show what I mean. The first one takes place in Hawaii, where Tony flew in late one evening for a speaking engagement. Because it was late, he went directly to his hotel and tried to sleep. But due to jet lag and not being fully ready for his talk, he found he could not sleep so he got back up and began working. About 2 am he found he was hungry and he could see out his window a diner that was open. So off he went. While he was at the table eating, a young woman entered, one Tony said he could clearly see was a lady of the evening. She ordered a cup of coffee. She was obviously a regular, for she knew the waiter by name and they carried on a conversation. After she finished the coffee she began to leave, but just before she walked out the door, she said to the waiter, “Tomorrow’s my birthday, as if anyone cared.” Then she left.

Campolo hearing those words then struck up a conversation with the waiter, asking him questions about the young woman. He found out she did come in every night for a break, and that her name was Sarah. Tony then said, “I am a pastor and I would like to throw her a birthday party.” The waiter loved the idea. Tony said, he would pay for the party and would get balloons and decorations. The waiter said he would get his wife to make her a cake, and that many of the other ladies of the evening also came in for coffee during the night so he would spread the word. They decided that everyone would gather at 1:30 as Sarah usually came in a 2 am. Sure enough, Campolo shows up the next night and the place is decorated and many of the women have already started to gather. At 2 am Sarah walks in and everyone shouts “Surprise” and sings her happy birthday. Then they bring her the cake and tell her to blow out the candles. She does, but then as the waiter’s wife moves to cut the cake, Sarah grabs it with tears streaming down her face and says, “Do you mind if I just save the cake, I never had one before.” And she turns and runs out of the diner, cake in hand.

Obviously everyone is taken back and yet moved at the same time. Finally the waiter turns to Campolo and says, “You said you were a pastor. What kind of a church do you belong to anyway.” Tony replies, “I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for hookers at 2 am in the morning.” The waiter replies, “You know, I would like to be a part of a church like that.”

Table fellowship is a powerful statement to others, to the world. A message to people that we are all important to God, and to each other. This story of Campolo’s reminds us that those we may judge, may in fact be hurting and broken and have no idea that they are worthy of any kind of respect as a human being. There is another story Campolo tells that is much more troubling, in that we see the need to be people of integrity, people who fully trust God and who at times not only need to sit at table with others, but also be ready to enter into life for them. In essence, this is what table fellowship does. Once you have been at table and recognized the humanity of another, you can no longer ignore and not be moved by what happens in their life.

Campolo found himself in a country where young girls were forced into prostitution. Girls as young as 12 and 13. When Tony saw these girls he asked, “How much does it cost to have one of these girls for the night?” He was told $15. He reached in his wallet and found he had enough for three girls. He told the man at the desk of his hotel, send me up three of the youngest girls you have. When he got to his room, he called room service and asked them to send up sodas, popcorn and every Disney movie they had. When the girls came to his room, Campolo said “We are going to have a movie night.” And they watched Disney, and they drank soda and ate popcorn till the early morning hours.

Campolo said, “I might not be able to change their world, but for one night I could help them be little girls again and have fun. ”I appreciate what Campolo did, and it is far more than I have done, but I must say I do not find this ending very satisfying. It is wonderful that he was able to give the girls a chance to experience a night of who they really are, but it did not change the essence of what they faced day in and day out. This is for me the real challenge for us as the church and the integrity of our lives. This is what Jesus showed and lived by his table fellowship. This is what got him crucified. The absolute commitment to God that manifests itself in his commitment to those who find themselves on the opposite side of humanity’s care and love.

Who are the ones who find themselves feeling the rejection of those around them today? Who are the ones who need us to sit at table with them today? Who are the ones who need us to be at opposites with those who are willing to deny another’s humanity and diminish another’s life? What are people around us looking for, as we live our faith and as we claim to be followers of the one who sat at table with those rejected by the culture around them? Who are the one’s crying out to us today “Hosanna, Hosanna” save us we beseech you?

Sermon delived by Rev. George Cushman on Palm Sunday, March 16, 2008.