Surprising Views

Ever noticed how addicting excuses are?  We can’t try that, it’s been done before.  It’s too risky, it’s too new, nobody will like it, the community won’t care, people are too busy, life’s not like that, we don’t have any power over the situation, people don’t change, and on and on.  The excuses are legion, and we all have endless supplies of them that we can whip out at a moment’s notice.  Risk is often seen as scary, especially when we are anxious about the state of our world.

The continued presence of smoke from forest fires, the rising cost of groceries, the challenges of renegotiating mortgages, and the sticker shock of school supplies do not help.  We can feel like we are laboring on giant pyramids for the sake of folks like Jeff Bezos who reported earning $75 billion dollars in 2020 while the average warehouse worker for Amazon won’t be a billionaire any time soon.

New pharaohs are in our world, and the poverty of the folks that support their pyramid or yacht building schemes are also real. The view is bleak. But Exodus tells the tale of a God who has a different and surprising view of the world, “I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, I have heard their cries under those who oppress them; I have felt their sufferings.” That is as true today as it was several thousands of years ago.

Of course, Moses came up with a million excuses as to why he couldn’t help.  He was a nobody shepherd doing the worst jobs for minimum wages.  He was even a convicted murderer who had left Egypt after killing some Egyptian overseers for abusing their workers.  He was a poor public speaker. He knew he was the wrong man for the job.

God had other views.  God knew that Moses had grown up in an Egyptian palace and had an insider’s knowledge of Pharaoh’s court.  Moses also had an insider’s understanding of the religious system, the priests, the court officials, the racism that had been institutionalized from before he was born.  As an adopted child, he would have experienced a disconnect, on one hand, he would have learned his family’s culture, but on the other hand he would have been pampered and set aside from them.  He would have been a member of both the elite and the oppressed, and not fully comfortable in either.  No wonder he attacked the Egyptian overseers.  Like most middle managers, they didn’t think about what the system was doing to the people under them.  They went with the status quo and didn’t question orders from higher ups.  Curiosity, empathy and imagination were not part of their mindset. And they certainly were quite happy with their place in the world.

Peter was also happy with his place in the world.  In last week’s reading, he said Jesus was the Messiah, the anointed one specially chosen by God to bring about change for the oppressed people, a new Moses.  And Jesus was happy, calling him the rock on which he would build his new community, his new network.  And then Jesus took Peter down a peg when Peter tried to be his image consultant.  Peter wanted Jesus to tone down his rhetoric, keep things positive and light, stop talking about sacrifice and pain.  Jesus unequivocally rejected that.  Watering down the message was not on, and that if Peter wasn’t on board with that, Peter could find another rabbi to follow.  Harsh words, and a difficult criticism to accept.  But crucial for the vision Jesus had in mind, establishing a movement that was so radical it would have ripple effects for centuries. He didn’t want to hear Peter’s excuses as to why that couldn’t be done or couldn’t be said.

The famous rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan!” would have been a real shock to Peter’s ego.  It would have startled and surprised him, like an emotional burning bush.  He would have had to rethink all his assumptions that he held about what a messiah was, what Jesus was up to, what the future held in store, what he was prepared to sacrifice in order to live into the expectations Jesus had of him.  It shocked him into a new sense of mission, and a new sense of purpose.  It was both humbling and hurtful, and reminded Peter that he still had a lot to learn.  Shocks hurt.

Shocks like the burning bush.  Moses didn’t expect it, and his curiosity got the better of him.  Rabbis often say that there were many shepherds wandering by, but only Moses got curious about what was happening.  How long had God waited for someone curious and humble to come along?

Many people long for a new Moses to come along and fix things, a new Jesus to end their suffering.  They look for strong people that will do their thinking for them.  It’s hard work being open to the shocking divine mystery, to hearing the surprise, to learning to be humble and open, to letting go of the sure-fire easy answer that they know will quickly fix everything.  They don’t want to think about the systems they are caught up in or the oppression they are perpetuating.  Unfortunately, there are no easy answers.  We will need to use our curiosity, empathy and imagination, while sacrificing our excuses, our safety and our comfortable habits in order to bring about the real change God is calling us to.  But when we have a clear and noble, God-given purpose that is centred on love of neighbor, we can work together in joy!  We are called, after all, to be the Church: to celebrate God's presence, to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen, our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God!