07/28/2013 ~ Tenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Proper 12 ~ Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Hosea 1:2-10; Psalm 85; Genesis 18:20-32; Psalm 138; Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19); Luke 11:1-13.
Disqualifications
“Do not let anyone who worships angels and enjoys self-abasement disqualify you, judge you. These people go into great detail, dwell on their visions and their worldly minds keep puffing up their already inflated egos, their human way of thinking.” — Colossians 2:18.
They are so popular, they are ubiquitous. It’s unlikely a day goes by without one cropping up on a broadcast network or a cable channel or over the latest of mediums, the internet. What is it? What are they? The reality show.
From a business prospective one reason reality shows constantly get produced is they are cheap to operate. It does not cost a lot to manufacture one.
Even shows that give away a million dollar prize and shows that send people overseas— Survivor and The Amazing Race, for example— these do not cost as much to produce as scripted shows. After all, you pay nothing for your star actors.
And there is no script written beforehand. The observant among you probably realize scripts on reality shows are written but these are put together by producers, not writers, and this is done after the show is recorded and compiled, not before. Makes writing a little bit easier, right?
Since there is no script there are no writers to pay. And the long and the short of that is, the less you spend to produce a show, the more profit there is to be made. And that’s not the Biblical prophet we’re talking about— right? O.K.
Rumor to the contrary, however, reality shows are not a new phenomena. And if we think they are new, we delude ourselves. Reality shows date not just from the infancy of television. Believe it or not, reality shows also date nearly from the infancy of radio.
Indeed, anyone who remembers the 1930s or has studied the social history of the 1930s, probably knows the Major Bowes Amateur Hour and that went on the air in 1934, just 14 years after the first commercial radio broadcast of any kind. Amateur performers competed on the show by coming to the radio station, to the studio.
And, not unlike the modern show, American Idol, Major Bowes sent the best performers out on tour and, thereby, made even more money. A fellow named Ted Mack took over from Bowes in 1945 and brought the same show to televison in 1948— television in it’s infancy.
So tell me, what is the difference between the Amateur Hour and programs like American Idol or America’s Got Talent— really? There is none— nada, zilch, nothing— no difference whatsoever. Since these more recent entries all carry the label ‘reality shows’ I’d be hard pressed to say their older predecessors were not also reality shows. We just did not give them that name back then.
And indeed, just to mention yet another historic precedent, the hidden camera show, Candid Camera, a show which tried to catch people in the act of being real, went on television for the first time in 1948. But the show started on radio as Candid Microphone.
So again tell me, what’s the difference between Candid Camera and, say, Big Brother? There is none— nada, zilch, nothing. They both try to catch people in the act of being real.
Of course, the phrase ‘people being real’ has a deeper implication. You do realize all people are flawed; noone is perfect, right? And, frankly, the last time I looked being flawed and not perfect is a human condition. We all share it. (Slight pause.)
The current reality show Survivor is perhaps best known for the cutthroat practice of the contestants voting one another off the island. The show’s motto, after all, is “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast.”
In any case, have you noticed, when the host of Survivor, Jeff Probst, dismisses a contestant who has been voted off he never says: “You have been voted off the island.” What he says is this: “The tribe has spoken.”
I find that phrase fascinating because it reflects another human reality. We humans tend to form tribes. We tend to be tribal.
We form relational customs, habits, ritual behaviors we believe to be shared only by other tribe members, other people in our social group. Further, we tend to ignore, even banish those who fail to conform or meet certain standards or criterium. And, interestingly, these standards or criterium are often hidden, unspoken. (Slight pause.) The tribe has spoken— even when not a word has been said. (Slight pause.)
And these words are found in Colossians: “Do not let anyone who worships angels and enjoys self-abasement disqualify you, judge you. These people go into great detail, dwell on their visions and their worldly minds keep puffing up their already inflated egos, their human way of thinking.” (Slight pause.)
This should be a surprise to no one since it is something I occasionally remind us about. Jesus was a Jew. Paul was a Jew. Hence, one question we should constantly keep in front of us is this: who is the God of Israel? (Slight pause.)
You see, in ancient times everybody believed in a god or the gods. That was a given. What set the God of Israel apart is the Jewish people did not understand Yahweh, God, to be the God of only Israel.
While other nations and peoples had gods for only themselves or gods who took care of specific tasks like harvests, Jews did not understand God in that way— as being either a god of one people or a god who tended to specific tasks. For the Jews, the realm of God and the role of God was all encompassing.
Hence, God was the God of all people. God was the God of the whole world. God was inclusive. This concept, this idea that Yahweh, God, was the God of all people, the God of the whole world, an all inclusive God, was a strange, even unique idea in ancient times.
Further, like all premises, that Yahweh, God, was the God of the whole world had consequences. The obvious consequence of that concept was loving one’s neighbor became not a duty but a way of life.
You did not love your neighbor because it was a demand made on you or because it was a law. You loved your neighbor because you understood that God was the God of all people. You understood that God was not the God of just your tribe, not just the God of people who conformed to your particular customs, habits or ritual behaviors. God was shared.
And that brings us back to what Paul says in this passage. In verse 9 Paul states a concept about Christ in this way (quote): “...in Christ the whole fullness of divinity dwells in bodily form...” (Slight pause.)
In short, God is fully present to all people in Christ. Hence (to truncate Paul’s words slightly), do not let anyone... disqualify you, judge you. (Slight pause.)
It seems to me we Christians get into a bad pattern, a bad habit. We make Jesus into the exclusive Child of God instead of the inclusive Child of God. But that is not the kind of thinking Paul exhibits.
On the other hand, being tribal is a very human tendency. We do seem to have a proclivity to form ourselves into tribes. We do seem to have an inclination toward not seeing humanity as one family, one tribe. (Slight pause.)
I want to suggest that God sees us as one family, one tribe. But our relationship with God, indeed all religion, is not and should not bee seen as a pursuit. Our relationship with God should be seen and should be practiced as a way of life. On the other hand, when we see our relationship with God as a pursuit and not a way of life, then it becomes a game, something to be won, grabbed.
I’d be the first to say, if a relationship with God is something to be won— if it’s a game— it would require tribes. So we need to remind ourselves daily that no one gets voted off God’s island— not by us or by anyone else.
Why? The call of God is simple: love your neighbor. And your neighbor is not a rival contestant to be outwitted, outplayed or outlasted. Your neighbor is simply to be loved. Amen.
07/28/2013
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Congregational Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “Dr. Paul Farmer is an American anthropologist, physician and Harvard professor. He was recently appointed United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for Community-based Medicine— impressive sounding fellow, isn’t he? And he has said this (quote): ‘The idea that some lives matter less than other lives is the root of all that is wrong with the world.’ ‘The idea that some lives matter less than other lives is the root of all that is wrong with the world.’ Who is our neighbor? Everyone. Why? God is the God of everyone.”
BENEDICTION: This is the blessing used by natives of the islands in the South Pacific: O Jesus, please be the canoe that holds me up in the sea of life. Please be the rudder that keeps me on a straight paths. Be the outrigger that supports me in times of stress. Let Your Spirit be the sail that carries me though each day. Keep me safe, so that I can paddle on steady in the voyage called life. God of all, bless us so we may have calm seas, a warm sun and clear nights filled with stars. Amen.
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