Embracing the Enemy
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20; 2 Kings 5:1-14, Psalm 30, Galatians 6:1-16
In our congregation, we use the NRSV normally, but today I wanted to share the Gospel reading as interpreted in The Message:
Luke 10:1-12 The Message (MSG)
*I would probably rephrase verse four as, “Don’t dawdle and procrastinate, but focus on the mission ahead.”
Today we have the story of Naaman, an Aramite, who has a slave girl taken from Israel, which would naturally set up an enmity relationship, but the girl helps Naaman instead. Then, the King of Israel fears the King of Aram, who sends Naaman, accompanied by costly gifts to be healed by the prophet Elisha. Elisha is not swayed by the display of human might or wealth that Naaman makes, but simply directs him to the path of healing revealed by God. The simplicity offends Naaman, but his other servants compel their mighty master to obey, and he is indeed healed. (2 Kings 5:1-14)
In addition to this, Paul teaches us how to work with someone who has done us harm or has screwed up somehow, that we should do this with gentleness, and also not be tempted to wrongdoing in the process. (Note that God outlines healthy boundaries for ourselves and in working with difficult people). Also, instead of judging others, we’d better take a look at ourselves and our own work, and ensure that it is a truly respectable source of pride in our lives. Finally, in all things, we are to work for the good of all people, regardless of how humanity draws its barrier lines. (Galatians 6:1-16)
And then we have the story of Jesus giving seventy followers their first real on-the-job training, with a bevy of practical advice for dealing with difficult people. (Luke 10:1-11)
Now, this Gospel reading has a few verses that have been used as weapons throughout Church history, and I’d like to talk about them a moment. The first, verse 11, is read in the NRSV as “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this, the Kingdom of God has come near” and Whoever listens to you listens to me and whoever rejects you rejects me and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” BOth of these sound rather threatening and ominous. However, one of the things I liked about The Message’s interpretation of today’s Gospel is that verse 11 comes across more as a ‘missed opportunity,’ rather than a threat of damnation. Some folks take longer to come around than others. We don’t have to destroy them over a disagreement, especially what may even be a temporary one.
Also, the lectionary specifically doesn’t include verse 12, but you’ll recognize it, and I thought it’s better to get it out in the open: Sodom will have it better on Judgment Day than the town that rejects you.Now the reason the lectionary probably leaves it out is because we’ve assumed for centuries that ‘Sodom’ means ‘gay people,’ and so this is quite certainly a verse which has been used as a weapon against other people. However, the point of the story of Sodom, and the point which I believe in context Jesus is trying to make here, is that the strangers were not welcomed with hospitality by the town--rather, the town rejected them with threats of extreme violence. The family which sheltered the strangers provided hospitality at risk to their own physical safety as well as their social standing in the community. And that is no small thing.
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I got to thinking about our experience this past weekend at the Summerfest Parade, where several members of our church joined the PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) float. Part of the reason we did this was because PFLAG had been rejected as a parade entry in some locales in earlier years, and we wanted them to feel welcome in our parade. Something that our friend and organizer Karen Baker said just before we started walking was, “Sometimes people will clap, and I encourage you to just say, “thank you.” And it struck me right then that I had not expected people to clap. I wasn’t exactly expecting folks to throw rotten tomatoes, but maybe I was thinking the reception would be more...lukewarm. After all, this was the first time we’ve been in the parade. And a really large number of people were clapping and saying thank you. So I waved and said thank you too. It was truly a lovely time.
Into the midst of this week I read an article about the ending of the organization Exodus International, which promised that gay and lesbian people could overcome their orientation through prayer and reparative therapy. One couple spoke at the group’s final meeting, at the request of its leader, about their experience with their gay son. They said they used to pray that their son would be attracted to girls and never have a boyfriend. That he would not be gay, that he would be saved---and how in teaching him to reject his sexuality as a Christian, they had inadvertently taught him to reject and hate himself. Over the next few years he descended into drugs and disappeared from their lives. During this time, the parents changed what they prayed for: they started to pray just that they’d see their son again, that their son would know he was already saved and forgiven, that they would get to meet and befriend his boyfriends, and that he would know he was loved for who he was. As their lives changed forever, they realized that the true enemy was not what they thought it was.
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There are different kinds of enemies in life, and different ways in which we respond.
There’s the enemy within, to whom we respond with regret.
There’s the unknown enemy, to whom we respond with fear.
Then there’s the presumed enemy, to whom we respond with hate or resentment.
Now, it is tough to truly embrace any kind of enemy, and it is too much to do alone. Yet we are not alone in this work, but we are surrounded with God's grace, just like the prophet Elisha facing Naaman, and like Jesus’ followers entering strange territory. It takes courage and love to do this kind of work, at any level. As God has first had the courage to love us--even in those times when we have acted like enemies of God, either collectively in the crucifixion of Jesus, or individually in our own sin and shortcomings. God has forgiven us, and loves us, and en-courage-d by this good news, let us go and do likewise.
Amen.
Prayers for:
People cleaning up from floods and storms
19 Firefighters killed in Arizona
Egypt; Syria; and all places of strife
Our partner church in Portugal, faced with country-wide desperate poverty
Homeless families in Oregon School District
Plane crash in San Francisco
Those who give life through organ donation
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