Proper 7 2014

Proper 7 2014

Jesus said, “Where two or more are gathered, there will be politics…” Okay, Jesus didn’t really say that—one of my professors in my undergrad used to say it often. But the point is well taken, even if Jesus didn’t say it. Because whether we’re talking about groups of people, communities, families, even societies—there are ‘politics’ about the way the individuals within the whole interact; and therefore, how the whole group interacts and functions.

So, for instance, in the First Century, you had the Pharisees. The Pharisees were religious men who were doing their best to keep the religious identity of the Jewish people together—they were constantly working to maintain the purity that the Law of Moses seemed to call for—and they had even developed a provocative theology around life after death, and even resurrection.

It’s no accident that they sound a bit like Jesus. After all, the things that the Pharisees believed, foundationally, were exactly the things that Jesus held dear—but the problem was that all of the surface ‘stuff,’ the minutia of living under Roman occupation; living within spitting distance of Gentiles and Samaritans; having sites of pagan worship near the sacred spaces of Israel…well, these things just made the Pharisees a little crazy. And inevitably, we see them turning on their own people—expecting rigorous religious adherence; isolating themselves and their culture so that it could remain (as they understood it) ‘pure’ and unchanged… In Family Systems Theory, this would be called homeostasis—and in this case, it was a negative thing.

So into this system stepped Jesus. He would probably agree with the core beliefs that the Pharisees held to—but because he’s coming from an outside perspective, he can see what isn’t working in this system. Obviously he’s the Incarnation of the Living God (so that has to help out a lot)—but, remember, we’re also told that Jesus never counted equality with God something to be exploited—so, even in his humanity, Jesus steps into the system bringing change.

Now, the interesting thing about how Jesus introduced change is that it wasn’t always miraculous, or provocative. Remember, even though he worked miracles, these he did only to help them realize that he speaks truth with authority. But, otherwise, Jesus began his work pretty quietly. He taught in the synagogues—obviously he didn’t teach things that were so far out there that he wasn’t welcomed in the synagogues—instead, he just spoke clearly to the nature of God’s truth.

Well, we all know the story, and we know that Jesus was constantly challenged by the Pharisees and scribes. All of these men wanted to know where he got his authority. All of them wanted to try to tie him up in arguments about interpretations of Torah and the Law.

But Jesus never got into it—he regularly reframed the conversation, and continued to teach truth, justice and love as he always had done… And this continued to make the religious authority all the more crazy.

In fact, there were times when the Pharisees would yell that Jesus was unsettling everything. And y’know, they were absolutely correct—he was upsetting their unhealthy system by only slightly altering their homoeostasis…which, as it turned out was enough to change the world.

In today’s Gospel Reading, we find Jesus commenting on this kind of change that he’s proposing. After all, he says that he’s not come to bring peace—he wasn’t interested in perpetuating a false sense of peace, this unjust, unhealthy system that they were in. Instead, he came to bring the sword—and the way that the Prince of Peace brings a sword is simply by being and preaching the truth.

See? He really was dangerous in his ministry.

The point is that whether we’re talking about a religious culture, a church or even a family; the systems that are created by people being together take on certain behaviors. Often because of unresolved issues between even just a few members of the group, it can cause stress and anxiety throughout the whole system.

This happens a lot in congregations, for instance. So, for example, you might have a congregation which seems to be working pretty well. By all outward appearances, the group seems happy and healthy—and, everyone gets along really well, except for the minister. Not only is she rude to people, but she’s also in the middle of a messy divorce, and maybe there have been some allegations that she might be embezzling money…

This is just an example (unfortunately, it’s not exaggerated. These things can be more common than you might think.).

Anyway, while it might be easy to say that the minister is the only problem with the congregation; family systems theory would say that there are probably some unresolved issues in the congregation. And, in this case, the minister is taking on the anxiety and stress of the congregation.

Now, (as I’m just making this situation up) if there were someone in the system—even this problematic minister—who were to “give” the congregation’s stress and anxiety back to the congregation…well, not only would the congregation have to finally deal with the unresolved issues, but the minister might be able to work through marital difficulties and financial stress—all of the negative stuff that she’d been dealing with. Hopefully the end result of all of this would be a much healthier community.

The way that all of this stuff begins to happen—the work of giving back the anxiety and stress, whatever the case, back to whom it really belongs—starts when those in the system (usually the leadership) works to remain healthy.

In the case of Jesus, he was able to avoid getting into pointless arguments with the religious authorities by not getting dragged into their traps. He never allowed himself to get bogged-down by their questions, and he never allowed their tantrums to faze him. Instead, he kept true to his purpose and his ministry.

This would also be called in Family Systems “self-differentiation” and “avoiding triangles.” This means that Jesus doesn’t let the Pharisees draw him into unproductive quarreling, because, in the end, their anxiety is really about the purity of their culture under Roman occupation—not a young reformer who believes much of the things they do…even if he is the Messiah.

One of the ways that we avoid triangles in our own communities, families and congregation is by understanding the truth of what Jesus says in our reading. He says “nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.”

The reality is that those things that we don’t deal with—the stuff that we think is covered up; whether it be disagreement with someone else, a person acting out, or whatever—these things will come to the surface eventually. The only question is ‘how’ they surface. Most often in systems where these things are ignored, the issues surface in different ways. This can be anything from a dysfunctional minister, to the inability of the congregation to flourish—and, yes…it can all be due to one or two relationships.

The reason this happens isn’t really all that hard to understand—because all of us know that in a family or a congregation, a fight between two people isn’t just between those two people. Instead, what happens is one person goes to another person and talks about how terrible this person is…and suddenly, we have one more person involved in a situation that started out as a disagreement between two people.

The problem is, however, is that as these triangles grow—they mushroom, so does the anxiety—and before we know it, the whole system is working very hard to hold things together to keep them the way that makes everyone feel ‘stable.’ Unfortunately, what is ‘stable’ is also what is anxious, and the system gets stuck.

But the hopeful thing about all of this is that the system has built into it the tools it needs to be healthy. Not only in the Church do we have the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but we have guideposts like today’s reading to help us get better. We’re given any number of examples in Scripture about how to deal with this stuff. Don’t gossip. Don’t take part in silly arguments. Squash your arguments and leave your issues at the door before you come in for Holy Communion.

Start with faith, hope and love; and know that the rest will work itself out with patience. Because with faith we trust in what we can’t see beyond the present moment; in hope we believe that there is always potential for good; and in love we have to value and believe the best of everyone…

And in the end, we just need to take responsibility for ourselves, stay healthy; and hope to encourage the same things in others. (in other words, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”)

Talk about a culture change. But that’s what we’re supposed to be about.

What I’m getting at with all of this is simply that: God, through Jesus Christ, calls us to life, and life more abundantly.

Personally I believe this call to holiness is the call to be whole. It means learning to live with ourselves and with others in a way that is transformed by love. I believe that we’re called to respond to a Gospel that radically expects us to give ourselves fully to the work of loving God and loving one another so that the world can see through us the potential for peace and justice.

And if we were willing, even within our families and our faith communities to commit simply to being honest, and healthy to cultivate healthier communities—imagine how we can invite others to learn the same. Imagine families who could learn to break negative cycles. Imagine communities working for the common interest rather than selfish ends. Imagine this being the way we share the Gospel…or even better, incarnate it.

I don’t think for a second that any of this is idealistic—and it’s certainly not rocket science. In fact, more often than not, systems become a little chaotic just before they change for the better. But in most systems it has to happen; and it has to begin with our own willingness to want to be healthy—to take up our crosses and forsake the illusions of the world, and walk with Christ to fuller life.

This is where, I believe, our job of Kingdom work starts—health and wholeness; and I believe it is a powerful gift that we can share in Christ’s name.