August 2, 2009
The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Year B)
2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a; Psalm 51:1-13; Ephesians 4:1-6;
John 6:24-35
This past week, I read an article about a group called “The Family.” The “Family” is not a TV sitcom, nor does it have anything to do with the Mafia. Although the Family's current leader, 81 year old Doug Coe, when stating that the first rule of the family was not to talk about it, said, “The Family functions invisibly like the Mafia.“ He further stated, “The more you can make your organization invisible, the more influence it will have.”
The “Family” has come to light recently because a number of prominent politicians, mainly conservative politicians, are members of the group and three of them were recently involved in sex scandals: South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, Nevada Sen. John Ensign, and former Mississippi Rep. Chip Pickering. All three are long time members of the group.
Not all of the members are politicians, nor are all the members involved in scandalous events. The original purpose of the group, which was founded by itinerant preacher Abraham Vereide in 1935, was to be a veritable underground of Christ's men all through government.
The Family's only high profile event is the National Prayer Breakfast. In Washington, DC each year, this breakfast gathers national and “world leaders for a morning of nondenominational worship.”
The article goes on to say that “the (Family's) theology is vague, elastic, and focused on power.
The basic precepts came to Vereide in a vision in 1935. Living in Seattle, he came to believe that union organizing in the city was communist-inspired. Jesus appeared to him in the form of the president of U.S. Steel, who told him to gather “key men” – prominent business men and political leaders – to beat back the unions in His (Jesus') name.
His (Vereide’s) name spread, and in 1941 he arrived in Washington where he began cultivating friendships with powerful people and setting up prayer groups.
He believed that conventional Christianity had it backwards: Instead of ministering to the down-and-out, he believed that Jesus wanted believers to tend to the “up-and-out” members of America's elite who lacked intimacy with Jesus.”
He believed that “as long as the powerful develop a close relationship with Jesus, 'then they will dispense blessings to those underneath them.’ It's a sort of trickle-down fundamentalism.” Vereide believed that only powerful men could change the world and only with Jesus' guidance will they change it for the better.
I have to tell you when I read this article my first reaction were fear. It sounded like second century Gnosticism. In the Second Century of Christianity there was a group of Christians that believed Jesus had given special knowledge to them and to them alone. They believed that through them God would speak and they were to lead those who did “not know” all the special knowledge – thus, GNOSTIC, one who knows, one who has special knowledge. Gnosticism was condemned as heresy.
The early Christians saw nothing in the writings that were passed down to them, or from the accounts by the apostles and followers of Jesus that spoke of special knowledge to a few. Instead they believed that Jesus had come to save all people and that through belief in Him all would be saved. As in today's Gospel Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Another difficulty, I have with the “Family's” Theology is the only reference to the rich and powerful in the Bible generally has them in deep trouble with the Old Testament Prophets and with Jesus in the New Testament. David is a key example of that problem. In today's reading, God has given him everything. He has all the power of Israel and Judah. He has many wives, even the wives from the families of his enemies, and riches beyond recognition, yet after a mere glimpse of Bathsheba, another man's wife, he decides to have her husband killed in battle and take her for his wife. When the prophet Nathan tells him a parable about a powerful man taking from one of less power, he doesn't even recognize himself in this story. With all the power he has, he forgets that it was given to him by God for the care of God's people.
In the all three of the New Testament Gospels, Jesus says that “it will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter into heaven.”
Now understand, I am all for those with or without power depending on their relationship with Jesus to change the world for the better. What does concern me is the “Family's” belief that only the powerful are able to make change, and they believe a small group of people, who feel it necessary to remain invisible in order to wield their power, believe that God is speaking directly and only to them. That is the danger of religious fundamentalism.
I define Religious Fundamentalism as being a narrow, defined set of beliefs which require absolute adherence – without question or criticism. Also, the danger of religious fundamentalism is, and I believe this is the case of the “Family,” that only those in power get to make decisions and they may or may not consider the needs of those they perceive are beneath them.
Paul's Letter to the Ephesians may be dealing with just this issue. In Ephesians Paul addresses a crisis that has come to the community. The community has a strong group of Gentiles who may be in positions of wealth and power in the larger community. Paul is reminding them, “through their baptism they are now in Christ Jesus.” He further tells them that they are to be in unity with their Jewish brethren. He reminds them that through Christ they are re-socialized into a broader family. It is a family where there is to be unity. It is a family where all gifts are needed for the building up of the new community. It is to be a community where no one is greater than or less than another.
We are now in a time of difficulty in this country and around the world. Many people who had much power and wealth have found themselves to be destitute or having great difficulty making ends meets. Also, all of us, whether we are in powerful positions or have had lives of privilege are reassessing the meaning of wealth and its place in our own lives. It behooves us to think about what we believe, why we believe it, and how we plan on living our lives.
Although I do not believe that God caused this time of struggle, I do believe that with God's help we can begin a new way to view how we live our lives and to what we give our time, talent and treasure.
Many years ago I was working with a Youth Group in a congregation near here. I deliberately sent the teens to a youth gathering where they would meet teenagers from all over the country, with many different views on Christianity. I believed, and it was proven by their comments and requests after the event, that we must understand what it is we believe and why we believe it or we may be seduced by a theology such as that of the “Family.”
I met with the young people right after they returned from the trip. They told me they had a wonderful time, but they were concerned because they heard comments about God, Jesus and their faith that bothered them and they didn't believe. They were astounded at how many young people were able to talk about the Bible, what they believe it says, and to discuss and argue their faith with seemingly deep knowledge of the Christian religion. They felt they were at a great disadvantage because they questioned much of what the other young people said, but they were unable to argue it with any authority because they lacked the biblical and theological knowledge. They asked me if I would help them get more knowledgeable.
You can imagine how delighted I was to help!
I invite all of you, whether or not you are struggling with this financial downturn, to learn more about your faith. I invite you to ask your clergy and your leaders for more programs on scripture, theology, church history, worship, the early church and on the reformation. I invite you to prioritize your time to make a place for daily prayer. It need only be five to fifteen minutes, even with a cup of coffee, where you say “The Our Father” and then sit in silence with God for a few minutes.
I invite you to see church as not just a once a week event, but take time to come together for other worship, prayer, and spiritual nourishment, to be a community of Christians at all stages of life that supports and nourishes each other through word and sacrament.
Finally, I invite you to think critically about what you hear and see around you. Jesus Christ's one message was of love. We are to love each other, no matter our station, our economic condition, our power or powerlessness. All are seen as equal in God's eyes. If there is any lesson we can learn from today's readings, it is that God always gives preference to those who are most in need in society and that those who have been given much, much is demanded of them.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being. In this time of great need, help us to hear your love for us. Strengthen our faith so that we may be justice seekers in the world. Guide us to those who are in need and give us the courage to use our many gifts to spread your love throughout the world. We ask all this in your name and in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, and through the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
The Rev. Patricia A. Eustis
Guest Celebrant and Preacher