Peter Bankson
October 27, 2024
Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost
INTRODUCTION
For many years in worship at Seekers Church we have designated the weeks between our annual recommitment and the beginning of Advent as our “jubilee” season, a time of celebration and restoration. We came to that image to acknowledge the time between recommitment and Advent. These weeks leading up to the observance of Thanksgiving, as a time of gratitude, rooted in traditions celebrating the harvest, the time to gather together what we will need to sustain us over the winter.
The huge piles of pumpkins at the entrances to the supermarkets around us remind us that it is still harvest time, at least in this part of Creation. But this year seems really chaotic and not ready for harvest, with wars and climate disasters and political strife raising our levels of concern in many different ways. In a deep sense, the kinds of chaos all around us are signs of changing seasons. The challenge for us as a people called to care for Creation is to help see, and acknowledge, and care for the health of this Creation.
As we worked together in Celebration Circle to develop our Jubilee liturgy, we followed our usual process. We looked at what we thought would be going on in the wider world, our nation, and Seekers community. We also looked at the weekly scripture readings we would be using during the season. Then we searched for a reflection paragraph that could stimulate deeper consideration. Finally, we chose the theme, “Telling the Deeper Truth.”
The reflection we chose, drawn from about 40 possibilities, is by Anne Lamott. It acknowledges the ongoing turbulence of these times AND the sense of the deeper love of God, creating opportunities for healing and reconciliation.
Today, as we begin this short season, we have the opportunity to explore some paths to find, embrace, and tell the deeper truth. I want to start with some ideas that emerged from this week’s scripture, recognizing and accepting a deeper truth as individuals, and as a community.
We’re in the middle of some important, transformational work! It may not feel jubilant, but as we bring our diverse gifts and skills together, we are building our sense of community and searching for common ground together. In telling the deeper truth, the first step is to find it!
REFLECTION
Our reflection for this season is from Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I’ll read it again, because it’s the first week of this season and you’ve heard it only once:
You can’t get to any of these truths by sitting in a field smiling beatifically, avoiding your anger and damage and grief. Your anger and damage and grief are the way to the truth. We don’t have much truth to express unless we have gone into those rooms and closets and woods and abysses that we were told not go in to. When we have gone in and looked around for a long while, just breathing and finally taking it in – then we will be able to speak in our own voice and to stay in the present moment. And that moment is home.
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird, p. 200
Anne Lamott is pretty clear in identifying that when we are in a dark and threatening place, finding and acknowledging our anger and damage is the path to truth. When I look around, it looks like we’re in a pretty dark cellar:
- War in the Middle East and Ukraine;
- Famine in Nigeria, Yemen, Somalia and South Sudan;
- Climate calamity: hurricanes, floods, and famine;
- Political chaos around the country as we race toward critical elections; and
- Tension close at home as we struggle to see common ground in our commitment to stand for “just peace.”
We find ourselves in those rooms and closets and woods and abysses that we were told not to go into. We’ve been living with the anger and damage and grief for a long while, just breathing trying to do the next right thing that’s within our reach. The reflection calls us to see from a different perspective.
So this Jubilee season we are being invited to consider how “telling the deeper truth” can be a time of Jubilee, a sacred celebration of God’s love for all Creation … even THIS chaotic time, filled with anger and damage and grief.
I think we’re called to finally take it in, to see things differently, to find common ground, to help shine a light in the cellar. Then we will be able to tell the deeper truth in our own voice and to stay in the present moment. Our Scripture lessons for this week help point the Way.
SCRIPTURE
In the Hebrew reading, Job confesses that he has been blind, but now sees in a new way: “My ears had heard about you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore, I relent and find comfort in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6)
The Psalm promises delivery from our fears and troubles, relief from our anger, damage and grief:
- I sought the Holy One, who answered me. God delivered me from all my fears. (Ps. 34:4)
- When the righteous cry out, the Holy One listens and delivers them from all their troubles. (Ps 34:17)
- The Holy One is close to the brokenhearted, saving those whose spirits are crushed. (Ps 34:18)
- The righteous have many problems, but God delivers them from every one. (Ps 34: 19)
In the Gospel reading from Mark 10, blind Bartimaeus asks Jesus to let him see again. Jesus tells him that his faith has had made him whole, freeing Bartimaeus to follow Jesus, able to speak in his own voice and to stay in the present moment.
These lessons illustrate, at least for me, the importance of recognizing and acknowledging our limitations, even when we ae carrying anger, damage and grief. I see them calling us, to ask, in faith, to be given new vision, to see a deeper truth. Finding this new vision is the first step in a call to tell the deeper truth.
OBSRVATION
Our vision (for the future) reflects our values. Looking “through a glass, darkly” has reflective qualities. We think we’re looking at something holy, but sometimes what we’re seeing is a reflection of ourselves. Turning on the light on the other side of that dark glass helps us see the Holy rather than a reflection of what we feel is right.
When Marjory and I sit at our dining table at night and look out the window, we see ourselves sitting in a room filled with pictures, pottery and comfortable seats. Then, unexpectedly, a car turns into the alley beyond our porch, shining its bright lights in the narrow, crowded, dead-end place. Suddenly we see the parked cars, food trucks and dumpsters behind the row of interesting shops and restaurants lined up around the corner from our home. When the car lights up the driveway, we can see a deeper truth: the bustling support that it takes to keep the customers coming back along 4th Street. My image of living in a quiet apartment near the church coexists with that small group of businesses. We get along OK in the alley by respecting our sometimes-different needs, but we are aware of our differences. Sometimes there are touches of anger that call for special effort from me to wait while they fill the trash truck. Sometimes, when I’m waiting for the crew to roll an empty dumpster back into place, it helps me pray for the insight to remember that the trash truck and I are all in this community together. It’s a little glimpse of searching for common ground. “Lord, relieve me of the fear that I will be late for my appointment! Help me just be here and look around and take it in. Deliver me from my fears.”
In a personality-dominated culture driven by clamoring social media, it is easy to look in a dark mirror of social values and see myself as the manifestation of the holy. Seeing behind the mirror to the deeper truth takes faith and hope. Seeing with new eyes gives us a new story to tell – a new way to share the good news of God’s call on us as we work for peace and justice in new ways, ways that have traction in this chaotic time. Telling the deeper truth is central to our call. But we need to see it before we can say it.
Job finally saw that he had misunderstood God and spread misinformation: “I have indeed spoken about things I didn’t understand, wonders beyond my comprehension.” He asks for healing, “My ears had heard about you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore, I relent and find comfort on dust and ashes.” Hearing this repentance, the Holy One empowers Job to begin sharing deeper truth.
Bartimaeus knew he was blind and wanted to see. He asked Jesus to have mercy on him. Jesus, knowing that Bartimaeus had the ability to see in the way he needed to see, told him that his faith had made him free.
How many times does our ability to see new, deeper truth rest on our ability to admit that we’ve denied something that is right in front of us? We can see new truth in the light at the foot of the stairs as soon as we admit / confess / acknowledge that we’ve been looking the other way.
I think there are, closer at hand, examples of recognizing and acknowledging the deeper truth close around us even as we keep seeking common ground.
I know that’s true for me when it comes to the way I’ve lived within the structural prejudices of our culture: racism, sexism, meritocracy… One example that I know I’ve shared with some of you is an extended conversation I had with Larry a year or so ago about racism. After several deep conversations over lunch at Busboys, I came to see that, from his perspective, my attitudes and actions were prejudicial, that is, RACIST!! I wasn’t conscious of choosing that offensive behavior, but I came to see how what I had done fit his criteria in that way. That’s not what I wanted.
I vowed to wake up and change my behavior. And I asked him to tell me when he saw “racism” in my attitudes or actions. It was a moment of seeing into the dark cellar behind the glass. Larry helped me see those behaviors, and I worked on a different story. One day, some time later, he identified me as a “recovering racist.” It felt like a glimpse of deeper truth, and it became a characteristic I could acknowledge. I know I have work to do to identify my blind spots so I can help us see and share the deeper truth. Here, I think, the deeper truth is that, old as I am, I still have lots to learn about how to be a Steward of God’s Creation.
When we find ourselves in “community” we know we are on common ground. But we may not have common, shared language for the common ground we feel under our feet.
Here in Seekers, we are working on ways to find and claim new vision, a shared vision to describe our shared commitment to work together for peace and justice in creative, inclusive ways. Our Racial and Ethnic Justice Ministry Team (REJMT) feels a sense of community. The common ground there is built on a shared commitment to work together in creative and inclusive ways to nurture just peace at all levels – family, congregation, political party, nation. Planet, creation.
Sometimes we are surprised, or disappointed, or hurt when our vision of the story doesn’t resonate with others in the community. Sometimes it seems clear that we are using different language to express common, shared values. In those cases, we can usually find common ground by consciously taking the time to tune our vocabulary. But sometimes the common ground is still in the dark, and finding the deeper truth is a painful process. In these times, I pray that we can stand together and stay in touch as we feel around in the dark for seeds of hope.
CLOSING
As stewards of God’s Creation, we re called to care for what we did not create and don’t control. It would be easier if there was only one right way and we all agreed on what it was. But God makes diversity such a fundamental element of Creation that it is always a challenge. Being in community helps us find common ground and discover what we can do together to find the deeper truth, the places where we can nurture community as we work together.
So, as we stand together in the dark cellar of this turbulent time, let us ask the risen Christ to restore our sight and give us the courage to tell the deeper truth as we work together for creative, inclusive ways to plant our feet on solid ground and work for peace – just peace. JUST PEACE!
May it be so.
