Are Our Ancient Stories Still Relevant? - February 27, 2022
Matthew 13:34-35 & Luke 9:28-38
Deborah Laforet
Are Our Ancient Stories Still Relevant?
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by the Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
What a week! Last week, the Canadian government enacted the Emergency Measures Act and last weekend, we saw the freedom convoys cleared off the streets of Ottawa. This week, the situation has escalated in the Ukraine and we watch with held breaths to see what our world leaders will do next. Wednesday marked the two year anniversary of the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man in Georgia killed by three white men while he was running down the road. This week, those three white men were convicted of hate crimes. And of course, we continue to live through a pandemic, and wonder, as restrictions lift, will they continue to lift, are we safe now to leave our homes, and are we going too quickly? What a week!
And today, in church, we’re hearing about parables and transfigurations. I had to rewrite my sermon this week, as it just felt so disconnected from what’s happening in our world? How do parables and transfigurations connect with what’s happening?
Jesus and his followers also lived during a time that was confusing, tumultuous, dangerous, and many people suffered during this time because of poverty, physical and mental illnesses, the violence of war and peace-making, and the obligations of living within a powerful Empire. Jesus was speaking to people who were searching for answers, people who were angry about their situation, people who were scared for themselves and their loved ones. We don’t live in a time like Jesus and here in Canada, in Oakville, we have a lot more privileges than those who followed Jesus, but I think we can all relate to these feelings of searching, of anger, of fear. The parables Jesus shared were relevant then and they are relevant now.
It’s why we continue to preach on them. It’s why we have teaching methods like Godly Play to help us to continue to wonder about the stories in our bible and the words shared by Jesus. It’s why we continue to gather as a Christian community. We believe the stories and the lessons within our bible resonate for us today and that ancient teachings can guide us and offer us wisdom.
These ancient teachings were first shared orally and then people began to write them down. These stories are thousands of years old, and, as we saw with the rainbow coloured boxes, each generation has passed down these stories and have used them in their own way, to apply to their own contexts. Even changing the language of the original texts (if the texts we have are the originals), can change the meaning of the story. Although these stories are thousands of years old, we still refer back to them, they still resonate with us, they still provide wisdom.
Unfortunately, these texts have also been used in negative ways. The church and the people within the church have used the texts to justify slavery, to abuse women and children, to further white supremacy, to ostracize and condemn people who don’t toe the line, the line the church created. People who loved parables, who professed to obey the commandments and follow Jesus, created boxes that kept others out and that caused harm to other human beings and all life on this earth.
Today, churches are accused of living in the past. Churches are accused of wanting to relive their glory days. Churches are accused of being places of comfort for privileged people, rather than places of mercy and justice for all people. The stories in our bible and the words of Jesus haven’t always been used in healthy ways and many times the church has put forward its own agenda of power and control, rather than God’s mission or the mission of Jesus towards a world of peace and justice. The church, in the name of God, has made a lot of mistakes over its history, mistakes that have caused pain and suffering to others, mistakes that have turned many away from faith and religion, mistakes that continue to have ramifications on the lives of many today.
This month is Black History Month. We have not focused on it because of our Parables theme, but next week, in worship, we will recognize Black history in our country and our church. The following week, we will celebrate PIE Day, remembering our public, intentional, and explicit stance on the rights and the inclusivity of all sexual orientations and gender identities. In April, we will celebrate creation during Earth week. In June, we will honour National Indigenous Day, and celebrate emancipation day on August 1st. We do all of this because the church has been so complicit in many of these injustices, a part of the racism and sexism of our society, a part of the attempted genocide of peoples, a part of colonialism and imperialism, a part of much of the division in our world.
But our faith is not about racism, sexism, power-over. None of these things are inherent in religion. Religion is not bad; it’s been used in bad ways. People of faith have performed some terrible acts, but it is not shameful to be a person of faith. People in power, whether they are in government, part of a corporation, or part of a faith organization can be corrupt. Power corrupts. Our faith does not corrupt. The ancient stories do not corrupt. Love of God and love of our neighbour does not corrupt. In the story I shared about the parables, we hear of those who loved the parables so much that they put them into a box so they could take them with them wherever they went. Over the years, people have felt such love for these stories, but have needed to create new boxes to carry them, a new box for a new time and a new context. They never felt they had to throw our the parables; they always held meaning. They just needed to be held in a new way, in a new box.
When we look at the parables today, or any of the stories in our bible, some think we should abandon them, to move beyond them, but I think we still have a lot to learn from them. There are lessons in the stories of people of faith, about relationships, about injustices and freedom from oppression, loving our enemies, and caring for the vulnerable. We can learn about being a community, about prayer and lament, about living with pain and suffering, celebrating new life, and giving thanks for our lives and the life around us. This is why we continue to build new boxes, so that we can continue to share the stories, continue to grow in wisdom, continue to strive towards a world full of love and justice for all people, a world where, as it is written in our bible, we can “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24)
Today we heard a bizarre story about Jesus in dazzling white robes and the voice of God coming from a shadowy cloud. What does this story tell us today? Read it again on your own. Do some wondering. What does it mean that Jesus transformed in this way and was seen with Moses and Elijah? What does it mean that Peter wanted to build monuments for all three of them? Why did the disciples keep silent afterwards? Can you relate to Jesus when thinking about those mountain top times in your lives when you were transformed? Can you relate to the disciples, witnessing an event that has you baffled and confused?
This is what it means to be a person of faith. We explore our ancient stories and we wonder. We wonder what happened then. We wonder what it means for us now. We continually question what we are called to do in this world. We remain open to the wisdom of others, especially the marginalized, and we hold ourselves accountable for our mistakes. And we love. We love ourselves, we love our neighbours, we love our enemies. We love our earth. We love God. We love and are loved.
May God grant us guidance and wisdom as we continue to grapple with our stories of faith. May Christ be our dazzling white light and our shadowy cloud as we watch, listen, and learn. May the Spirit inspire us in the building of new boxes for old stories, from generation to generation. Thanks be to God. Amen.