Good News?

Exodus 1:8-2:10     Romans 12:1-8     Matthew 16:13-20

The world is broken, and we need some good news. That’s why we’re here, right? The worst storm since Katrina and Rita has just hit Texas. Our nation remains in a protracted war in Afghanistan with ongoing military actions in Iraq. Meanwhile some seek to tear us apart from the inside over issues of race and political ideologies, while there are yet those among us that are suffering. They suffer from lack of healthcare or because they are immigrants fleeing violence or because there are issues of discrimination and bias and privilege that we have simply never dealt with in our 241-year young nation.

Yes, the world is broken, and we need some good news! Of course, when we realize this, most of us look for a cat video or something positive to distract us from the brokenness. Or, maybe we’ll look for one of those emails to forward – or a meme to post – that justifies what we think and feel so that we can feel like we’ve done something good in the world.

But that’s not the good news that we need. That’s not the good news that we’ve been given today. The good news that we have been given today is the story of a couple of liars, Paul’s advice on vanity, and Jesus asking who we say he is.

So, let’s start out with our holy liars, Shiphrah and Puah. There’s a new King in town, and he doesn’t know Joseph. For those that may not recall, Joseph made his way to Egypt through the treachery of his brothers, ended up an advisor to the King by interpreting dreams through divine inspiration, and then saved Egypt from a famine. Naturally the King was glad for his family to come and be a part of the kingdom, but the King was unaware of the promise of descendants like stars that God made to Abraham which was being fulfilled through Joseph.

A generation passes, a new king comes along, and now these descendants of Israel are looking more like a threat than a solution. You can imagine how the Egyptians felt when the line between minority and majority became more fluid. In fact, I think we’re in a similar place today. Just the other day my sister and I talked about her son’s school, which has become – in the past 30 years – a school with whites in the minority. The income levels are about the same, mostly upper middle, but there are cultural issues that are different from the suburban/country vibe that we grew up in.

Some see this as a great opportunity. Some see it as a threat. Obviously, the Pharaoh saw it as a threat. He gets painted as the bad guy here – and rightfully so – but I wonder how much pressure he was under from others to preserve what they knew of as good and true. We’ll never know. What we do know is that Shiphra and Puah (Hebrew midwives) were told to kill the baby boys, and they flat out lied to him about it. I think we have to be careful about generalizing this too much. This is not an overall blessing of the means to a good end.

This is a story of two women of faith who were told to do the unimaginable, and who would not be moved. These women refused to take part in a system that resulted in genocide, and for that God rewarded them.

And as the story goes, the Pharaoh made it open season on Hebrew baby boys. Yet it was through the hopeful obedience of one mother, the protective guile of one sister, and the compassion of an enemy that God made a way for all of the Israelites to be saved. And through this baby – Moses, the one who was drawn out – began the line of David that eventually resulted in salvation for all of us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

That’s some good news – way better than a cat video, right? Except that it’s sometimes hard to connect such a story with our lives today. There is no king threatening our babies. Yet there are those that are more likely to meet a violent end as adults. There is no king assigning hard labor to a population of immigrants, yet without them we would not have fresh vegetables in our markets.

We can boil those scenarios and many others down to personal choice if we want. We can say that it’s better here than somewhere else if we want. We can watch the cat video. We can stand on principals. We can remain as uninvolved and unattached as Pharaoh’s daughter’s handmaiden if we want to, but I don’t think that’s the good news that we need.

I think the good news that we need is the permission that Shiphra and Puah give us that in the face of suffering we can refuse to participate. I think the good news that we need is the good news proclaimed by Peter at Caesarea Philippi (huge cultural nexus of worship and commerce and military might), and the good news proclaimed by Paul to the Romans.

For Peter reminds us that Jesus is God’s anointed one. He’s not just a prophet or an example to follow. He is the embodiment of grace and mercy and truth and love. He is the permission giver who reminds us that it is God that gives the vision of what is true and good and right.

And Paul reminds us that we cannot know these things without the constant renewal of our minds. It’s not that truth changes. It’s that our ability to understand what is true is constantly conforming to the cultural realities that make up our world. In his book, Renouncing the World, Catholic Theologian, Richard Rohr says it this way:

“The New Testament often uses the word world to speak of the corporate false self. “World” used in this way is not speaking of creation, the planet, or nature, but what we might call “the system.” Unfortunately, many Christians are enamored with the “filthy, rotten system,” showing little concern for earth care, animals, or global warming. What a strange and sad turnaround from the original intention.”

While that may still sound a far cry from the good news that you are hoping for, I believe it is the good news that we have received, and it is the good news that we need. For in this day and through God’s word we are being given the permission to abstain from whatever systems and actions create hardship on others.

We are being invited into a way of living that is sacramental and sacrificial – but not in the way that consumes you and leaves nothing left. Quite the opposite, really. Our sacrifice is one that gives us meaning and purpose and even opens gifts inside of us that we did not know we had.

I know it’s true, because I’ve seen it. I saw it last Friday when I got a call from one of our elders, because his appointments had run long and he needed me to open up for the NA group. Well, I already confessed it to God, but I was grumbling about “having to do that.” Then I got to the church and the patio was packed with people from all walks of life who chose to come here and seek the guiding presence of their higher power to overcome addiction. Suddenly I realized how often church happens without me, and how amazing and tender the mercy of God can be. I also realized that opening those doors wasn’t a “have to do” it was something I was allowed to do.

The next gift I received this weekend happened yesterday morning when I joined Pastors and community members from at least ten different congregations in order to pray for the unity of our city. Now, you all know that I am not a morning person, but the joy of being with others and receiving their hospitality soon brought me to another place. It brought me to a place that made me want to kneel before God. It brought me to a place where I could hear and see the humanity of my brothers and sisters in other congregations. It helped me to see more and more of the body of Christ that is the church, and the very small part that I play in it.

But more than all of that, it affirmed the relationships I have with others and it gave me the permission to call out suffering and refuse to take part. Of course, the hard part is not telling you about it. The hard part is following Jesus into the halls of power and into the lives of the powerless. The hard part is realizing that Jesus doesn’t want me to tell everyone that he is the messiah, so much as he wants me to show others what life is like for those of us that follow Jesus.

Fortunately, we have been given each other to work that out together. For we are the Body of Christ, and individually members of it. That, Beloved of God, is good news indeed! Amen!