For the summer, we are reflecting on "extraordinary living in ordinary time." The old-testament readings come from
the Book of Genesis. Here's a reflection on Abraham's two sons and the two nations of which he is the father.
June 22, 2008
Ishmael
and Isaac
In the name of our God, whose love is broader than the measures of our mind.
Let us be most wonderfully knid. Amen.
I don’t know about your extended family, but I’ve got plenty of rivalry and dysfunction in mine. I am the youngest grandchild of 30 on my father’s side and in the last six of 28 on my Mom’s
side. So there’s lots of material to work with when it comes to family
dynamics and how rivalries play out. I can’t even begin to imagine how
difficult it would be if we all lived on the same island much less the same state, town or compound! That’s one of the many things I thought of when I read the story of Abraham and his two families
– intermingling Sarah and Isaac with Hagar and Ishmael. It’s like
watching a sitcom play out that would even fit modern times.
For any one who thinks that the Bible is boring or has nothing to do with our lives today, then they probably haven’t
read the Old Testament stories as adults. These are real life scenarios that
will take your breath away in terms of earthiness, revenge, jealousy and sometimes even love.
Our religious forebears are portrayed as ordinary people with everyday human problems and dynamics that happen whenever
people co-exist together. I’d much rather read about them and the lessons
they teach than any inane thing regarding current pop stars or athletes in the tabloids.
Let’s recap what’s going on with Abraham this week. He and
his wife Sarah have been promised a child in their very old age. God’s
timing is not like our timing and they got tired of waiting around for it to happen.
So Sarah suggests that Abraham take her handmaid Hagar as a concubine to bear a child for them to raise as their own. Just in case you don’t get the significance, I think of Hagar as the first recorded
surrogate Mom. Only Abraham and Hagar did it the old fashioned way – no
artificial insemination, embryo transplant or frozen sperm – just good old-fashioned sexual relations between consenting
adults. And as you can see from the results, it didn’t pan out any better
then than it does nowadays. Seeing that reproductive ability is pretty heady
stuff (as powerful as creating itself), Hagar feels cocky and superior after becoming pregnant and lords it all over Sarah. The jealousy and rage that Sarah experienced is a tale to be told! This rivalry only intensifies when Isaac comes on the scene as the pride of any new Mom. Exclusive birthrights and inheritance was everything in ancient cultures.
And usually just one child laid claim to the whole shebang. Sarah, as
a long-anticipated Mom, wants to make sure that her child Isaac is the sole beneficiary of their accumulated wealth. So let the games begin! The showdown
was between Sarah and Hagar: and Abraham felt put in the middle. Hagar as we read today is banished for a second time with her child Ishmael out into the desert.
God’s ways are not our ways. Hagar cries out to God and God hears
and sees her anguish. Now the Biblical account is full of word plays and the
use of double entendre that really must be understood to be appreciated. “Ishmael” means “God hears” in Hebrew and God does hear and pay attention to Ishmael a
lot in this story. In chapter 16 of Genesis, Hagar receives an almost identical
blessing and promise as the one given to Abraham. “Isaac” means laughter because Sarah laughs when she finds out she will have sexual pleasure and a
child in her old age: (and maybe, too, because God has a sense of humor as well
in how God deals with us sometimes). Their names continue to have significance
that influences the course of their lives. What one of us has not marveled at
the different personality traits that come out of one family? How can two children
turn out so differently that came from the same flesh and blood family when the parents tried so diligently to raise them
exactly the same? We cannot control how a child or person interprets their upbringing
or environment. It is the most confounding dilemma for parents!
Are there members of your family that insist on having a different interpretation of events that occurred that just
don’t jive with anybody else’s? Within the eight daughters on my
Mom’s side, there is one who always saw and remembered things differently. Her
version of things that happened never did match anyone else’s. You can
imagine what fun family friction that caused! And usually whispered about, not
brought out in the open to deal with in any constructive way. No one had family
counseling back then that they would admit to. So things festered and built for
years on end. The fallout lingers.
The Abraham story is the beginning of one such legacy with epic proportions.
Abraham is the common ancestor of three great Biblical traditions: Jewish,
Christian and Muslim. He is literally the father of many nations. In the Muslim faith Ishmael is the child Abraham is asked to sacrifice.
Our Scriptures tell us it was Isaac. We like to look at Ishmael as the
rejected child who was sent away. But the Muslim world sees it differently. God paid huge compliments to Hagar and Ishmael and looked upon their single homeless
mom plight with great compassion. Hagar for one sees God and not only lives to tell about it but out of that experience, she names God: “God who sees me!”
And God is faithful to Ishmael by being present in his life throughout. Ishmael,
the heir of Islam tells us that God is not deaf, dumb or blind. God is not indifferent,
impersonal or abstract. God sees all of their painful history and hears every
sob. We are just starting to come to terms with the ramifications of that now
in the Christian world. How are we to get along?
Both Isaac and Ishmael found favor with God. How do these stories go together? What are we to make of their differences? All
of these are good inquiries and starting points. First of all, I would commend
this saga to you for your own study. It isn’t easy to grapple with the
problems of history if we’re not familiar with the basic players or story line.
We must become familiar enough with our own Christian history so we can deal with the variations. It is not unlike the genealogies in any of our families.
My memories of being in the Holy Land grow deeper as time goes by. I remember being
in one church that had a prayer with a great deal of challenge: “Pray not
for Arab or Jew separately. Do not divide them in your hearts. Pray that they may be bound together.” I would add Christian
to that dynamic, too. We may be a balance to one another if we are not intent
on taking sides. Just telling the story as each recalls it can be healing enough. Let there be a willingness to hear and understand that there are indeed different
interpretations to history. As we understand from a modern perspective, the victors
write the history books.
Some Biblical scholars refer to the stories of Abraham and Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael, Lot
and his daughters as “Texts of Terror.”
Terror because of the awful things that happen to them and what seems like God’s tolerance and even sanction
of these events. Living with and studying this story for awhile has made me think
of it in terms of terror in how we have come to interpret it. The outcome is
indeed terrifying when we keep the same historical dynamics at play in pitting sibling against sibling, favoring one over
another and also mother against mother.
Since the beginning with Adam and Eve’s children there has been sibling rivalry.
I don’t think God invented it or intended for it to spoil our existence.
But human nature certainly has capitalized on the negative side of this dynamic with war and bloodshed and murder stemming
from sibling rivalry throughout history. We look for ever increasing ways to
hate and destroy one another. It is not a new story. What would be a new twist is to have appreciation for differing perspectives. It doesn’t have to be winner takes all. I know I tend
to think of tribal disputes in Africa and Southeast Asia as primitive and perplexing. But today’s Old Testament story tells me it is even more basic than that –
it is familial! Not wounding
or causing more violence to continue in our own families is a good way to move ahead with this story. God’s love is certainly broad enough to encompass us all. Even
if our parents played favorites in raising us, God’s love is different because it has no limits. God’s love is so enormous that it can embrace the world and tolerate Abraham being the father of
many nations inclusively. We are
not pitted against each other in never-ending wars of perspective or comparison. We
are meant to live lives of compassion that can turn the world upside down with transforming love. We can be ordinary people living extraordinary lives when we choose a response other than one motivated
by rivalry, comparison or competition. Basing our lives on Divine love rather
than human nature is what will save us. Jesus says: “If we love only our own kind more than God, we are not ready for God’s kingdom to break in.” When we give up our own claims as sole inheritors, then we gain everything. God’s love and blessings are universal. These are ancient
stories re-told for our time because they have global significance. God is still
at work challenging us to be ever more faithful people. Do you accept God’s
throw-down? I believe Abraham did. Shalom and Salaam. Amen.
Rev. Jana L. Johnsen
May 18 was the Feast of the Holy Trinity -- a theological concept that people sometimes find confusing. Here are
several things I wrote that might help your own reflection.
Jana
Meditation
on Pentecost and Trinity
Last Sunday was the Feast of Pentecost when we celebrate Jesus’ gift of the Holy Spirit to us in the church. This Sunday is Trinity Sunday when we worship the fullness of God as Father, Son and
Spirit.
I want to tell you about an experience we had last week that expressed the beauty of these two liturgical occasions. Tony and I had the opportunity to be part of a Religious Diversity panel for all the
foreign exchange students in our state this academic year. This took place at
Iolani School in Honolulu. It was a significant occasion with
a Buddhist priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Unitarian minister all speaking. (Unfortunately
the Muslim Imam was unable to attend.) The experience made me realize how true
it is that the religions of the world need to find ways to make peace together as they are the cause of so much strife around
the globe. The students are the best and the brightest from many Middle Eastern
countries, the former Soviet Union and other Eastern regions.
So their questions were thoughtful and penetrating. Our languages were
not scrambled, but we came to common understandings and appreciations. It was
a true Pentecost experience for me – a gift inspired by the Holy Spirit!
Tony and I divided up topics to give them a Christianity 101 crash course. I took on speaking about the Trinity. Using
metaphors and graphics I tried to explain that we worship the unity of God as three manifestations. I will show you some of my illustrations: The traditional
triangle found in your worship bulletin today with equal sides representing Father, Son and Spirit. A scientific explanation using the three properties of water: liquid,
steam and solid. A more Eastern interpretation with God conceived of as a never-ending
circle in a dynamic dance. And a tangible example of an egg. An egg has three parts: shell, yolk and albumen. Taken together
as a whole it is one entity, with three distinct parts. But, of course none of
these explanations comes close to describing God. No words can ever convey the
complexity and simplicity of God. God has to be experienced.
One of the questions a student posed was “Do we as Christians have just
one word or phrase to explain God?” How refreshing it was to say: Yes, just as we all learned in Sunday School, “God
is Love!” All theological statements and explanations aside: we first and foremost experience God as love in all three forms!
Just as Muslims simply say that God is One, Christians can just as simply
attest to the love of God which surpasses all human understanding and knowledge.
We know from the very beginning in the Old Testament Creation
story of Genesis that God created everything and made it good, perfect and beautiful.
Humans are the pinnacle of God’s creation. Next we learn from a
New Testament creation understanding that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that the world might
be saved through Him. And then we learn from Jesus that He will never abandon
us. Before He ascended into heaven Christ left us a Comforter who promises to
be with us always. These manifestations of the Trinity are also sometimes described
in different ages: With the Father came the age of Creation. When Jesus became Incarnate in human form, we call that the Messianic age.
And now we live in the age of the Spirit. This will go on until God’s
reign is complete and we all meet God face to face in the realm of God’s kingdom.
It gives me great assurance to know that God was in the beginning and God will be in the end. God is Alpha and Omega
– beginning and end, much greater than we can ever conceive or imagine.
I also included a page to show that Christians use a variety
of different titles and words for God that enriches our understanding of God. I
share them with you now so that they might add new life to your devotions as well. Sometimes
we get into a rut for how we think of God or the names we use for God in prayer. Try
on some of these examples and see if they stretch you to expand your notion and experience of God. God as Stillness, Healer and Wisdom resonate with me these days. Nowhere in Scripture is God referred to as “Trinity.”
It is an entirely human construct to express the inexpressible and to experience the mystery and majesty that is our God.
(see Names for God, below.)
The best way that we can demonstrate God’s love to
the world that God created is by being love incarnate ourselves. Paul told the
Corinthians to live in peace with one another, to greet each other with a holy kiss (which was part of the liturgical celebration
of the early church), and to share the Good News of God’s love that we experience to the ends of the earth. That is how we all came to faith. And that is how the faith
will be continued. We are the body of Christ here and now and we receive the
fullness of God’s love poured out to us in this place.
Remember that Jesus promises to be with you always, to
the end of the age. Amen.
Rev. Jana L. Johnsen
May 15, 2008
Names
for God
From Scripture, hymns and prayers we know God is made known to us (manifested) as three persons. This is what we refer to as the Trinity. Traditional
language is: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
But many other images of God are found that can enrich our worship and relationship with God. I encourage you to incorporate broad usage of descriptions in your own prayers and references to God. As you grow and change, some images will become more and less important. Reflect on what fits for you and others in your family now. What
follows are the three aspects of the Trinity with various references for each one. Try
them on – there are no right or wrong ones – just what language seems fitting for you.
First Person
Second Person Third
Person
Creator
Redeemer
Sustainer
Eternal Majesty
Incarnate Word Abiding
Spirit
God
The Christ
Holy Spirit
King
Savior
Advocate
Almighty
Anointed One
Comforter
Alpha
Prince of Peace Breath
Omega
Lamb of God
Messenger
Abba “Daddy”
Healer
Companion
Holy One
Friend
Angel
Parent
Prophet
Wisdom
Divine
Rabbi
Wind
Stillness
Teacher
Agitator
Covenant Maker
Wonderful Counselor
Power
Servant
Gracious God
Blessed
Law Giver
The Messiah
Living God
Omega Human Being
Judge
Hosanna
Source of all Being
Son of God
Ground of Faith
Rock of Salvation
Powerful Hand
The Living Word
All in All
Vine
Body/Bread
Living Water
Son of Man
Brother
Hope of the World
Light of the World
In the name of our God who comes to
us as eternal Trinity, in the power of Divine majesty to be worshiped in unity. Amen.
“Goodbye
and Hopin’ We’ll Meet Again”
It has been a wonderful experience for us having Saikat with us this year.
The International exchange program is so well run and organized. All of
the exchange students this year have lived up to the high expectation of being great ambassadors from their own countries
and willing participants in American culture. Of course there are adjustments
along the way – they are real teenagers and we are real families! With the end of the school year right around the corner
for everyone, it is time for us to think about saying “good-bye” and “farewell” to all of our graduates
and those moving on in their own lives.
One of the traditional rituals for end of the year reminiscing is the Yearbook. When Saikat got his Yearbook over a week ago he proudly showed us all the places and
activities he’s featured in. He even wanted us to borrow it for a night
so we could really appreciate it, too. Yearbooks now are much nicer and more
creative than in my day. That’s one thing technology has improved! I even unearthed my own High School Yearbook and had fun reliving old memories. The tradition of signing and wishing well lives on in much the same fashion, however. Full of fresh emotions and great sincerity, it is a very heartening gesture knowing
for sure that you will never see some classmates again.
Psychologists and counselors are always interested in how we say “goodbyes.” It says something about the quality of relationships we develop, our personalities, maturity and our ability
to “move on” positively. The tradition of signing Yearbooks is very
useful in this regard. You pass it along to those you wish to remember fondly,
faculty and fellow students alike.
The passage today from II Corinthians is Paul’s final farewell address to the Corinthian community. He spent a fair amount of his missionary travels in Corinth
and kept in touch with them via letters. In return he received on-going reports
from them about how they were getting along. Between visits he wrote them warnings
and admonitions about keeping the faith. He had some serious issues and quarrels
with them because he had so much affection for the faith communities he started. We
are fortunate to have a record of his communications in I and II Corinthians. Just
like real church life throughout the ages, there were not always smooth relationships and it was rough sailing through some
periods. So this peaceful farewell from Paul is the culmination of a lot of hard
work and care that he shared with this community over the long haul.
It’s the kind of farewell you’d like to share
with your teenager; recognizing that their own journey towards independence is beginning and acknowledging the years of living
together, of sharing joys and struggles together that have gone into getting to this point.
It is a very fine farewell: “Put
things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace. Greet
one another with a holy kiss. And the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love
of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit will be with you.”
The Scriptures today couldn’t lend themselves any
better to our own reflections and farewells. In the Genesis passage (that the
graduates shared in reading) we have an understanding of our beginning history and relationship with God. After each daily episode God affirms that what is created is good:
light, water, earth, stars, fish, birds, mammals, vegetation, trees and finally humans.
That was the Divine intention that everything be in order. We are the
pinnacle of God’s created order. As such, we are caretakers and stewards
of this balance of relationships that God so carefully constructed to be in harmony.
Obviously things have gotten seriously out of whack as
life does not exactly mirror the image in the Garden of Eden – even here in paradise!
Now it seems that Creation, too, is groaning in travail as humanity and the natural world seek to find harmony and
balance again. The serious natural disasters in China
and Myanmar (Burma)
are perhaps outward signs of our troubled human relationships. Other lands and
countries struggle mightily to be at peace – another indication of our less than perfect world.
Once again I can borrow from models such as the International
Exchange program that bring such fine students from overseas – and where we in turn, send representatives out to other
lands. These are attempts to try and restore a right balance where humans can
understand one another better. One of the most basic and important things we
learn from these kinds of exchanges is just what Paul advises at the start of his farewell:
LISTEN! Listen to one another,
respect each other, have equal regard towards everyone, come to common understandings, put things in order and seek peace. It echoes completely Jesus’ message of how we are to present ourselves throughout
the world. Many years ago when I studied Mission Theology, the stress was on
the need for Reverse Missionaries. In
other words, Americans need to hear how we are perceived abroad and listen for common understandings rather than taking on
the need to convert others to our way of thinking and believing at the outset. That
represented a new approach that is still needed as a foundation to respecting people different from ourselves. Showing hospitality to others means that we are truly listening to their contributions to our culture and
well-being. These are qualities that the current exchange programs emphasize
so well.
Last week Tony and I were invited to take part in a panel
on Religious Diversity that the exchange students throughout the state were asked to attend.
Representatives from Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian and Unitarian faiths were participants. Students from Eastern Orthodox and Hindu faiths also spoke about their religions. It was a time for us to listen and understand one another in a more intimate way. To start out, we asked if the students practiced their religion in their homeland on any kind of a regular
basis (once a month or more). About two-thirds said they participated. Then we asked how many of them were in host families where the hosts practiced their faith on a regular
basis. Only about half responded this time.
So it was interesting to receive their questions after we spoke about Christianity 101.
I think it is important for you to hear some of their thoughtful/perceptive questions for us as Christian Americans:
1)
Why is there no practice of Christianity? Either families are too
religious or not religious at all. Why?
2)
How was Christ a Jew if he did many things that were wrong from the Jewish perspective?
3)
How would you describe Christianity in one word or phrase?
4)
Have you ever seen Jesus or Mary? How do you picture them?
5)
Muslims have faith in Moses and the Holy Book. We respect all prophets
as much as our own prophet Muhammed. What do Christians think about our prophet?
And referring back to the Creation story:
6)
How did human beings start reproducing after Adam and Eve since they only had sons? Where did the other two girls come from?
7)
How was God born?
You can tell that this was a gathering of very thoughtful
young adults who are and will continue to be remarkable leaders.
All three of the young adults living in Waimea this year
from Lebanon, Tunisia
and Bangladesh have added enormously to
the well-being of Waimea and St. James’ in particular. They took seriously
their mission to do community service and be useful volunteers. Zohra, Jinane
and Saikat all worked faithfully in our After School program benefitting some of Hawaii’s
newest immigrants. They also were involved in supporting school activities, Hospice
and the Thrift Shop. Casey, Sydney, Peter, Lauren, Makela and Joni have all done
their part to contribute to the betterment of our communities as well. We owe
a debt of gratitude to each and every one of them for making a positive difference in the lives of others. I am grateful for this time to say farewell to them in a meaningful fashion.
Going back to the Creation story, you will note that evil
was not part of God’s plan for creation. Everything was just as God intended: right relationships, beauty, affirmations and all that we needed to be in right relationship
with God and every living thing. Pay attention to your own attitudes and behaviors. Are they in tune with God’s intention for Creation? God knows enough violence, war, destruction and devastation exist that were not part of God’s original
blueprint. Could our partings and farewells benefit from some positive influence? Sure, there are times and places for shaking the dust from our sandals and moving
on – in part to restrain ourselves from further violence. But by and large
Christians and people of other faiths are to greet and love one another in harmony with what God intends.
Last Sunday we celebrated the Feast of Pentecost when Jesus
gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. It was his final earthly farewell
and a most generous parting. In giving the Spirit, Jesus promises to be with
us always to the close of the age. We are not left comfortless. Today we celebrate the Feast of the Trinity when we worship the fullness of God as Creator, Redeemer and
Sustainer or more traditionally: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is well for us to take into account how we relate to God in these manifestations. All are given to us for our continued gratification, growth and strength in faith.
As a shameless plug for our upcoming Community Chorus Concert
(The Fabulous Fifties), I want you to
know that the title of this sermon is: “Goodbye and Here’s Hopin’
We’ll Meet Again”: Sh-Boom, Sh-Boom!
To our graduates, we wish you well in all of your life adventures whether they are near or far away from us. May we greet one another with a holy kiss and wish the blessings of God’s presence upon you. Go in peace. Amen.
Rev. Jana L. Johnsen
May 18, 2008
