[Mcgregorpage] McGregorPage 511, Pentecost 5, July 9, 2006

[rmcgregoralbq at aol.com]

NOTE: This Starter Sermon is being sent early. Please note the date.

PENTECOST 4 -   (July 6, 2003)

2 Samuel 5:1-10
Psalm 48
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13

Responding with Faith

The account of David's taking Jerusalem from the Jebusites is a 
national celebration in the same sense that the story of the defeat of 
the British by the Colonists is a national celebration.  Some are 
embarrassed by the stories.   "David had said on that day, 'Whoever 
would strike down the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to 
attack the lame and the blind, those whom David hates.' Therefore it is 
said, 'The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.'"  (2 
Samuel 5:8)

Apparently there were no “Israelites With Disabilities Act” then.  
Although the reference to lame and blind was a play on the Jebusite 
taunt, who knows what the sensitivity was to persons with disabilities? 
  It is clear what their sensitivity was to Jebusites -- none.  In 1776 
our sensitivity to the human needs of "Red Coats" was low, to say 
nothing of the "Red Skins."  So, shall we be too embarrassed to 
celebrate these points in history that turned so dramatically to our 
favor and redound to our glory and prosperity?  Shall we shrink from 
celebrating before the Lord and giving God the credit because of the 
moral ambiguity of human history?

For God to endorse, even promote, human events is for God to 
participate in our sinfulness.  When God promised Abraham the 
possession of a land, God had entered the realm of our sinfulness.  The 
Canaanites thought it was their land.  Native Americans thought this 
was their land.  Our ancestors were sure that God had given the land to 
them.  Were they right?  If we say they were wrong, if we say God is 
above such land grabbing, then do we not also deny that our country has 
any special responsibility to God for the gift of the land.  We are 
not, then, a chosen nation commissioned by God to bless the world.  We 
are free to embrace the self-righteous position that follows:
We decry the self-centered brutality of the birth and expansion of this 
nation, but we claim all the wealth and power that acrues to us because 
of it.  We deny any league with God that led this nation to preeminence 
in the world and therefore deny any responsibility to God for our 
behavior.

That is just great, very enlightened, the kind of "enlightened" 
position that a future generation will view just as this position views 
preceding generations.

I hear some preachers reclaiming the self-righteousness of the past as 
they interpret our history and our present theologically.  They talk as 
if the transition to secularism had never happened, or having happened 
can be undone by ranting.  If we are to link God and country in a way 
that glorifies God, our efforts will have to mold the future, not mimic 
the past.  We can be sure that it will not be a popular message, the 
Word of God to the United States about the United States.  It will be 
like the scroll that Ezekiel had to eat and would rather have just 
eaten than have proclaimed to "a rebellious people."  Preachers will be 
like Paul, straining to maintain credibility with a finicky church.  
Jesus brought a theological interpretation of the present that his 
hometown could not abide; therefore, he could do no "deed of power" 
among them.  God will do no mighty work with America again unless the 
preacher interprets the history and present of the country as a part of 
God's call and God's work -- unless the people respond with faith.

May these thoughts strengthen you.

McGregor's Open Letter To Fellow Pastors
(an e mail service)

*****

McGregor’s Open Letter to Fellow Pastors
(an e-mail service)

[See Web Page address below for a Children’s Message coordinated with 
these lections.]

Roland McGregor, Pastor
Asbury United Methodist Church, Albuquerque New Mexico, USA

http://www.webspawner.com/users/McGregorPage/
http://www.webspawner.com/users/ChildPage/

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