Rules

Some rules build up the Kingdom of God and some rules do not.

My niece who is now six-years-old is fond of coming up with rules. They are often hilarious, as her insight provides a funny glimpse into how a child views the world, but on another level these rules are remarkable and sometimes even a little breath-taking, as I get to see how a child envisions justice and even God’s presence in the world. The following are some of my favorites:

As a six-year-old:
-Don’t flush anything but the toilet. (Practical advice)
-Never yell at your daughter—if you are a mama.
-Be careful where you step. (Helpful around my apartment complex it seems)

As a three-year-old (these fall into “thou shalt not” category):
-Don’t touch a turkey while it’s cooking.
-Don’t mess up the settings once they are on the table. (Proper Southern Etiquette)
-Don’t interrupt a blessing. (As a priest, this one is a reminder to keep blessings short and sweet!)

I love these rules. I love them because they are funny. I love them because they don’t just reveal who this child is, but how the innocent see the world. It’s almost as though through these rules we get a glimpse of how God might rule the world.

Rules are peculiar though. As the rules we make do not always provide justice and protection for all, or give us an image of God’s way of ruling, but instead they write in stone a certain prejudice or a practice of discrimination. We can clearly see now that racially segregated restrooms, drinking fountains, and schools were not just a problematic practice, but they choked the very breath from the Body of Christ and prevented the Kingdom of God from existing let alone thriving. While this example is easy to spot after the fact, we still make the same mistakes today. Whether it is passing legislation to deny service to gay and lesbian couples, to keep black or Latino/a voters from easily making it to the polls, or humiliating transgendered persons when they are simply trying to use the restroom, state and federal politicians around the country are sponsoring laws that are once again maiming the Body of Christ and halting the spread of God’s Kingdom.

Of course, Jesus witnessed this type of discriminatory rule making. When he engaged with the people in Chorazin and Bethsaida, they attempted to shut down his cousin John's and his own ministry. The people in these places misused their understanding of the Torah to ridicule both John the Baptizer and Jesus himself. When John came with his radical message of repentance and fasting they said he had a demon and told him to lighten up. Then, when Jesus came fulfilling all Scripture and bringing with him the Good News to outcasts they called him a glutton, a drunkard, and a friend to the sinners. They changed the rules to discriminate as they saw fit. They did everything in their power to feel comfortable where they were, but Jesus said "Woe unto thee." They were missing God at work because they had such a narrow view of how God worked into the world.

The one “woe unto thee” rule my niece uttered that I did not mention earlier is pretty profound. She said, “Don’t ever make the children of God be bad!” However, I feel that is exactly what happened to tax collectors and sinners in Jesus' day and it happens today when we turn our spiritual relationship with God Almighty into a list of rules that exclude people. As one Episcopal Café writer put it, “Whenever you draw a line in the sand, Jesus is on the other side of that line.” (Bowie Snodgrass, “The relativity of modern morality,” Washington Window, Vol. 73, No. 11, November 2005). When we use our religion as brick and mortar to build a wall between ourselves and others Jesus is on the other side of that wall from us. When we use our religion as demolition crew to knock down bridges Jesus stands on the other side of that gulf from us. When we use our religion as a stick to draw a line in the sand Jesus will be on the other side of the line from us. When will we Christians learn to be more like Jesus who embraced the outcasts?

Jesus summed up all the commandments very simply, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength...Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31, Matthew 22:37, Luke 10:27). While quite often we try to narrow down who are neighbor is, Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan made clear for us that neighbor is an infinitely applicable term that extends even to those we believe we are to mistrust, to fear, or even to hate. We are to love all our neighbors regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, country of origin, or any other category we may make up. And, we are to love not with some halfhearted gesture, but with the best of our abilities.

Love does not discriminate. Love does not shut off. Love does not do violence. Love equals respect. Love equals openness. Love equals laying down our own agenda for the building up of Christ’s Body and God’s Kingdom.

We have an opportunity in the world today. Using legislation, policy, and our votes we may create a society that keeps us comfortably divided, racially separated, and fearful of LGBTQ neighbors. Or, we can see what Jesus continually did, that is side with those on the other side of hateful rule-changing, wall-building, bridge-destroying, and line-drawing.

"Don’t ever make the children of God be bad!” A three-year-old has a better grasp on following Jesus than many politicians who claim a Christian identity. As we continue in this polarizing, divisive, and hurtful trend of new rules perhaps we would be better served to figure out how our neighbor might want to be respected, understood, and loved. Of course, it's not a rule or law to love God and neighbor it's simply the Greatest Commandment.

The Spiritual Realm

Don’t you just love a good demon story? In our world where popular culture craves post-apocalyptic/Sci-Fi/fantasy TV shows and movies with zombies, vampires, and witches, a story about Jesus releasing two demoniacs appears a bit mundane though. Were there no werewolves or ogres to conquer? While I am being a bit playful, I have a hard time with stories about demonic forces in the Bible.

I do not think I am alone in the Episcopal Church in having some questions about demons. We keep a tight lip about things like exorcism in this tradition. In fact, the only reference made to it in our liturgical resources is one page within The Book of Occasional Services. It merely urges one who suspects some sort of demon-possession in oneself or another to call the bishop. And yet, Matthew’s telling of the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth overflows with references to demons.

People bring the demon possessed to Jesus for a cure, Pharisees claim that Jesus casts out demons because he is the ruler of the demons (Beelzebul), and Jesus gives voice to a mute man by casting out his demon. Other stories in Matthew and the other Gospel accounts seem to have much more credence in how we live out our Faith in God. “Love God with all your heart, mind, spirit, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself,” (Matthew 22:37-38) makes sense to us. Heck, even the feeding of the 5,000 has some interpretations that allow ultra-rational folk to understand it in a way that applies to my life. When some saw the generosity of a few who offered the bread and fish that led to all sharing the provisions they had brought with them. However, curing people with demons lies outside of my tightly-held worldview. One could choose the route of believing that demons were what we call mental illness, but an experience from my life showed me that there is more to this world than what meets the eye.

On an outreach experience in Quito, Ecuador my group went to a small church one Sunday morning. This community met in a bright yellow school room that sat on the edge of a cliff face that overlooked the valley where Ecuador’s capital city rests. I was completely out of my element at this service. Electric guitar praise music blared through a broken set of speakers, a thirty minute sermon turned into a forty-five minute sermon due to translating it into English, and then came the altar call. When one of the students on the trip wanted to go up I felt the need as group leader to support her decision, even if it made no sense to me. After hearing the prayer both in Spanish and then translated into English I thought, “This is not so bad. It is kind of like the Public Service of Healing.” The student got up from kneeling and she returned to her seat.

At that moment I turned to walk back as well, but the leader of this congregation stopped me. What was translated to me was something like, “You are the leader of the group and you need a blessing.” I waved my hands and shook my head saying, “No, I’m good.” Then he insisted, and not wanting to deny his hospitality and thinking, he’ll just say some prayer, I agreed to the blessing. This is when things got weird.

As soon as this man put his hands on my shoulders my heart began to race, as though it were trying to burst forth from my chest. He spoke words that were being translated, but somehow I already knew what he was praying. His hand touched my forehead and it felt white hot! Then, he said the Spirit is strong with you and this blessing will knock you down. I thought, “No, it won’t!” I had no power over what was happening, though and I fell backwards into the arms of some fellow leaders. There’s a picture of me after this experience and I have this calm look on my face, as though a peace, which I cannot understand was dwelling within me.

As much as I try not to believe in a spiritual realm where demons, angels, and other forces exist, I am almost certain that I am wrong. Just because I do not understand quantum physics does not mean that it does not exist. Jesus was more than aware of the spiritual realm; he encountered it; he tamed its unruly members; he held control even over those parts of reality that we cannot see or have a hard time believing exist.

When the Messiah came among us in the person of Jesus God touched every part of our existence setting it apart as holy! This story of Jesus casting out demons from two Gadarenes (Gad-a-renes) informs us of the thickness of our reality. There is more to life than what meets the eye. While on some level this may appear frightening, Jesus controls even those parts in this universe that we cannot perceive with our human senses. When we trust in God through Jesus strange things may happen, even the casting out of forces that repel God. Following Jesus is not about having understanding, but about having Faith. Have Faith that Jesus is the Lord of all things: seen and unseen!