God Bless You!

I preached this sermon February 15, 2004 in Alice Millar Chapel.

If timing was truly working in my favor this morning, I would have stepped into the pulpit, offered a prayer, and upon saying, “Amen,” sneezed. And you all would have said… [Come on, work with me! And you all would have said…] Very good! Have you noticed that each one of us has a very unique sneezing style? Some sneeze once, some twice, some three times. I’ve even heard some sneeze five or six times straight. I may have even sneezed five or six times straight, on occasion. Some sneeze very delicately – stifling as much as possible. I’m of the opinion that can’t be healthy, but that’s just me. Some let it all hang out. I had a teacher in high school with a sneeze that sounded as though someone was hurting a French poodle. When I sneeze, they pretty much know about it in Winnetka!

I tried to do some research as to why we say “God Bless You” after a sneeze. It seems there are as many theories as there are sneezing styles. But, to be honest, my point isn’t really why we do it, but that we do it. Chances are good, at least once a day – considerably more if you happen to be in the Chapel office – we ask God to bless one another. We also ask God to bless the food we eat. Sometimes, when signing a letter, or a card, or even an e-mail, we might include “God Bless,” depending upon the circumstances. Couples preparing to get married seek the blessing of loved ones, parents in particular, as well as the church. Casual, everyday blessings abound in the midst of our ordinary, everyday lives.”

So, too, blessings abound in our scripture texts for this morning – and with them, their shadow selves, curses. Shall we begin with the Psalter? “Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night.” A particular lushness is reserved for the “good,” the “pure,” the “prosperous.” “They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither.” As cold and snowy and wintry as it is, isn’t it nice to think of trees with rich, green leaves, and streams with cool, clear water? Not, icy, frigid “water like a stone?”

And then, the shadow self: “The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.” Finally, “…the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” I wonder… is that something we truly believe? Let’s be honest, as often as not, doesn’t it sometimes seem as though “the way of the wicked” most certainly has the upper hand? As Rabbi Kushner tells us, sometimes bad things happen to good people – and good things happen to bad people!

If we look to Jeremiah, we find more of the same: “Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord. They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.” Again with the imagery – dry, cracked land, parched, unlivable. Those who place their trust in the Lord, those who look to God, those folks are to be blessed. Again with the imagery – lush ground, green leaves, fruitful bounty. “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord.”

Are you familiar with the one about the man and the flood? No, not Noah! There was a terrible rain storm – flood warnings, evacuation plans, it was all very serious. The sandbags were no match for the torrent of water pouring down. There was quite a flurry of activity, as folks fled the area. One man couldn’t understand all the commotion. Perhaps he had just been to church and heard the text from Jeremiah! At any rate, he was sitting on his porch when a school bus drove by. “Come on, we’ll give you a ride.” “No thanks! God will provide.” The waters rose – our friend was leaning out of a second story window as a speed boat approached. “There’s room for one more – come along!” “No thanks! God will provide.” The waters rose – our friend had moved up to the roof, where he sat, leaning against the chimney. The roar of a helicopter, a life line being dropped – “Grab ahold – we’ll pull you up!” “No thanks! God will provide.” The waters rose higher still. Our friend is over come, and eventually drowns. Once in heaven, he is granted an audience with the Almighty. “God, I trusted you! I put my life in your hands! Why wouldn’t you save me?” To which God replies, “I sent a bus, a boat, and a helicopter – what more did you want?!?” Indeed, we would all do well to remember that God often works through those mere mortals, the community of faith of which we are a part, as well as folks well beyond our comfort zones. Sometimes, God even works through us! Trust in God, about all else, but by all means, pay attention to those at times unlikely spaces where God is made manifest.

Our passage from Jeremiah concludes with a somewhat harsh declaration: “The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse-- who can understand it? I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.” Now, this passage brings to mind a dear friend from college – and I am quite certain she would not be offended by my saying so. We often found ourselves consoling and counseling one another in matters of the heart. Without fail, Shelly would advise, “Listen to your head – your heart’s stupid.” I can’t say that I ever bought her theory whole heartedly, but I will admit she may have had a point. Our hearts often shy away from reason, tending toward gut reaction instead. And, as often as not, that gut reaction can get us into trouble! But the Lord resolves to see through the nonsense and sort it all out, whatever it might be. The pure will get their just reward, as will the perverse receive proper punishment.

And now we come upon our Gospel lesson – the Beatitudes, as recorded in the Gospel According to Luke. I think, quite often, when we think of the Beatitudes, the rendition that comes to mind may be found in the Gospel According to Matthew: “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Buffered by such language, we can skirt the issue. Surely we are poor in spirit. Surely we hunger and thirst for righteousness. Surely we will be blessed. Surely we will be blessed. The author of Luke is in our face, telling it to us like it is – no sugar coated metaphorical mumbo-jumbo. “Blessed are you who are poor,” “Blessed are you who are hungry,” “Blessed are you who weep,” “…when people hate you, exclude you, revile you…” And then – the shadow: “But woe to you who are rich,” “Woe to you who are full,” “Woe to you who are laughing,” “…when all speak well of you” You cannot have the sweet without the bitter, the calm without the storm.

My hunch – we are more than a little uncomfortable with the Luke text. I know I am. Perhaps we feel indicted. Into which camp do you fall? Let me help a bit – did you sleep in a warm bed last night? Did you shower this morning, put on clean clothes? Did you eat breakfast this morning? Will you eat lunch? Certainly, we all have occasion to weep. But, as a rule, as much makes people uncomfortable. Society would have us relegate our tears to our pillows at night, or the shoulders of perhaps one or two friends, or, better yet, our therapists’ couches. We are encouraged at every turn to be done with it. To suck it up and deal. Finally, from time to time we may be excluded, derided, mocked and belittled. But, many of us spend an inordinate amount of time and energy wanting to be liked, wanting to be loved, wanting to be respected. From my perspective, many of us would appear to be waiting on woe. That kind of turns my stomach, as perhaps it should.

Alice Walker, in her novel The Temple of my Familiar, offers a religious treatise, if you will, entitled “The Gospel According to Shug.” Ultimately, it amounts to a recasting of the beatitudes. Some of my favorites: “Helped are those whose every act is a prayer for harmony in the Universe, for they are the restorers of balance to our planet. To them will be given the insight that every good act done anywhere in the cosmos welcomes the life of an animal or a child.” “Helped are those who risk themselves for others’ sakes; to them will be given increasing opportunities for ever greater risks. Theirs will be a vision of the world in which no one’s gift is despised or lost.” “Helped are those who love the broken and the whole; none of their children, nor any of their ancestors, nor any parts of themselves shall be despised.”

These phrases carry a different connotation – that we might be helped, more so than blessed. Some might say this flies in the face of grace. A blessing is perhaps a gift, unmerited. But remember – the blessings recorded in Luke do not come cheaply, nor do they come without a corresponding curse. Tit for tat. Cause and effect. That, too, would seem to fly in the face of grace.

These texts have gnawed at me all week long. Perhaps now they might gnaw at you, too. Simply put, I’ve struggled with the harsh words, the black and white of it all. My world has many shades of gray.

Yesterday, I sat in this sanctuary, as did some of you, and listed to Helen Caldicott speak of the ongoing nuclear crisis. Caldicott is a respected pediatrician, not to mention that she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. During the Q&A session, she invited a woman to bring her child up to the front. Dr. Caldicott took this infant in her arms, gently cradling him, rocking back and forth, and powerfully drove home the urgency of her concerns. As a chaser to this deeply disturbing call to consciousness, or perhaps call to conscience, I went to see the documentary feature film, The Fog of War. If you’ve not heard of it, it is Robert McNamera’s take on the Viet Nam war, and his experience as Secretary of Defense under JFK and LBJ. The world in which we live is not black and white. Good and bad. Right and wrong. It is blessing and curse. And we need not simply wait and see.

Was that a sneeze I heard? God bless you! Amen.