The Stranger - August 1, 2021

Recorded Worship on YouTube

Sermon. “See the Stranger”, Carolyn Smith Aug 1, 2021

As I mentioned earlier “Music that matters” comes in all shapes and sizes, and you

likely won’t argue with me when I suggest that sometimes there is no accounting

for taste.... Apparently I am totally out to lunch because I really can’t abide Billy

Joel. Because of that, this was a special request to me to tackle a Billy Joel song.

So I’ve spent time digging into “The Stranger,” the title track on Billy Joel’s huge

hit album of 1977.

The Stranger is about as cryptic as “Jesus loves me,” but it’s jaded. More than

that... it’s discouraged, even resigned. When it comes to the voices of judgement

in our own head, the personas we try on or show off, and the voice of doubt, It’s

entirely relatable to our human struggles to live authentically and build

relationships. Billy Joel isn’t trying to be cryptic or poetic, you can almost hear the

clink of the ice in a glass of whisky as he shrugs and resigns himself to the song.

It begins... Well we all have a face That we hide away forever

And we take them out And show ourselves When everyone has gone

Some are satin some are steel, Some are silk and some are leather

They're the faces of the stranger, But we love to try them on.

A quintessential 70’s rock & roll riff, and it is an old old story. A lot of theology

and reflection gets wrestled on bar stools, outside of churches, far away from pipe

organs and Sunday best. The different masks we try on, trade off, claim for

ourselves, or discard... am I classy or hard, am I gentle, or armoured? Am I fun-

loving, or wounded and wise? And at times, I am entirely worn out from never

feeling sure, or feeling my feet on solid ground, and never measuring up. When it

becomes so difficult to sort through, then comes the resignation, and we armour up

- that steel and leather, heavy, sinking us like a stone towards arrogance and pride.

Things we mistake for strength. Things that betray weakness.

I don’t know - before I see that in myself, sometimes I judge it in others.... But

maybe that’s a face inside I’d rather not share with you... And Billy Joel calls that

out too:

The stranger in yourself?

Don't be afraid to try again

Everyone goes south, Every now and then

Ooh,You've done it, and why can't someone else?

If we’re avoiding judging ourselves, we tend to judge others, instead of making use

of compassionate empathy for their similar struggles, and that’s often when things

go south. “Judge” - now, There’s a name for a stranger many of us know inside.

And judged to what standard? Billy Joel is a classically trained musician still

today never feels he measures up- his high standard is Beethoven... who can ever

measure up to that? And when that frustration is the end of our digging, when

resignation takes over, we can all write a sad and empty song like this one. Good

thing we have good news, good thing we loves stories of unlikely heroes, The bible

is filled with them. And around here, in a church family like this, when we can

quiet our own judges, we’re all fans of redemption and grace and second

chances....

Peter the disciple came to my mind... his story is sprinkled through our gospel

story, he is rarely the focus, more of a reflection for others to see more clearly...

but it’s hard on every person when no-one sees us deeper than that- they see our

different facets and masks that become the way they see or judge themselves. As I

read through the Peter stories, he is often a relief to us! Despite his central

presence, his leadership in that inner circle, he constantly fails. He misunderstands

teachings, is rebuked by Jesus and called Satan: at the lake, Peter tries to run across

the water in great faith until fear takes over and he sinks like a rock; on the

mountaintop, he strips his clothes off in a frenzy of enthusiasm! He cuts off the ear

of a soldier indignantly, but then lies about his allegiance to Jesus when it mattered

most. He struggles to find courage and set his feet on solid ground and get all his

impulses working together. But if Peter can be Jesus’ first mate, with all his

confusion, then surely you and I aren’t hopeless! If he doesn’t get the point of the

kingdom, and we do, then we must have something right. He is our LOW

standard, poor Peter at rock bottom.

And Laura tells us the foundational Peter Story.... Simon Peter, was originally just

Simon: one of the first fisherman disciples, he sees clearly the fullness of who

Jesus is, first. And in turn, Jesus sees Simon through all his struggle - and calls

him out, calls him up - gives him a new name “Peter,” a new title in a way:

“Peter” translates to Petra or petros, as in Rock, and on him, Jesus puts great faith.

Great expectation. Great challenge. Peter will be the rock on which the church

grows, so strong that Hades will not overcome it. But may I remind you this is the

same guy who strips naked in a moment of enthusiasm? And responds harshly to

curious seekers, and no doubt had Jesus groaning “For Pete’s Sake, Pete!” Jesus

who is for us 100% wholehearted, divinely compassionate and wise and leading

the WAY, Jesus never leaves Simon Peter behind, he sees through all of his

struggles, and his strange facets, and instead of weakness or fault, Jesus sees his

passion, his courage, his intuition and he calls him up, turning weakness upside-

down, uncovering it as strength.

Imagine seeing our weaknesses, and discovering a source of strength.... Billy Joel

wonders about that; late in the song, he says “

You may never understand How the stranger is inspired

But he isn't always evil And he is not always wrong

Though you drown in good intentions...

Those strangers in our heads don’t make it easy - despite our efforts, sometimes we

get discouraged, We don’t make it far enough to grasp what is strength or

inspiration. Humans are at times more likely to drown out the discouragement, or

buck up and toughen up and avoid pain or regret, and NOT look in, and NOT

really SEE...

What if I asked you to trust and lean in? Close your eyes for a moment, and allow

this challenge, to consider the faces you have claimed or tried on, the struggle to

know what is real and true, the good intentions. Like a prayer without words, let

these thoughts rise up and drift away. Trust and remember the Spirit around you

now, warm like a cloak on your shoulders, sun on your face, we know that God

SEES our divine selves, through all the layers. Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there, if I

make my bed in the depths, you are there.... The words of our psalm. Rest as long

as you need here.

Who is it in you, true and gifted, that God sees and uses? What longings and

lessons do the strangers inside have that reveal strength and pathway? What

stories have we told ourselves that can begin to drift away and in the empty space

there is calm, new insight, solid if rocky ground on which God builds new things.

Even the darkness will not be dark to you O God; the night will shine like the

day, for darkness is as light to you.

Deep breath....it is hard ongoing work to see through our masks and mistakes, and

make sense of our true divine self. We’ve armoured up and masked up, and drawn

lines sometimes to avoid what’s true. It takes trust, and reminders, it can take

intentional help to make it past discouragement, and this song is plainspoken

because Billy Joel is singing for people who have given up on poetry and false

positives. Like Peter, like everyone stuck between the rock and the hard place,

everyone who leaned in, and tried again, we are invited to trust and SEE who and

whose we are. We are never alone, thanks be to God.

Deborah Laforet