(This article appeared in The Aegis newspaper today and was written by my daughter, Kristen Hunt. As a product of the Lamond-Riggs Boys Club in Washington, DC, I am very thankful and proud of Kristen's advocacy of Boys & Girls Clubs)
Editor:
Seat belts. Safety vests. The Clubs. What do these things all have in common? They are proven to save lives. While the third life-saving measure may seem like an unlikely counterpart, Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford County continue to prove that an investment in a child’s future can be life changing, and in certain instances, even life saving.
It is a pivotal time for American children. With high school graduation rates plummeting, drug use on the rise, and teen pregnancy skyrocketing, teaching our youth strong life skills from the beginning is crucial to their success. The support and encouragement we provide to our kids is a direct investment in our nation’s future.
Every year, Boys & Girls Clubs keep hundreds of Harford County youth on the right track. Having a safe place to develop academically, artistically and socially has given countless children a chance to beat the odds. By pairing innovative programming with compassionate staff, Clubs have been able to instill strong values in each of its members.
While households all over the county prepare their children for the return to school, Boys & Girls Clubs have programs designed to help youth achieve academic success. After-school tutoring, designated homework time and career counseling are only a few of the activities that the organization employs to advance its mission of helping youth reach their full potential.
You can make a difference in the life of a Harford County child. Our Clubs prosper thanks to partnerships with neighboring organizations and local companies, as well as donations from dedicated community members. For more information on becoming involved with Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford County, please visit www.bgcharfordco.org.
Kristen Hunt
Intern, Harford County Boys & Girls Clubs
(Submitted for Ms. Hunt by Tim Wills, associate executive director, Boys and Girls Clubs of Harford County.)
This article also can be found at wwww.baltimoresun.com/explore/harford/opinion-talk.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
ROAD RULES - LESSONS FROM THE JERICHO ROAD
(This is an abridged version of the sermon preached at Epworth Chapel, Baltimore on Sunday, 8/21/11.)
"But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29)
We note (in Luke 10:25-37) that Jesus is being asked to address the matter of neighborliness against the backdrop of his teaching persons to love God and to love each other. Neighborliness is to be understood within the context of love – ultimately the love that God has for each of us.
Jesus uses the story of what has come to be known as the Good Samaritan to teach those of his day and those who would hear this story even today, some “road rules.” The Jericho road was known to be a dangerous road – a winding and dark road - where it was not unusual for people to experience the type of violence that Jesus points to in the story of the Good Samaritan. Thus, we need to be reminded of road rules.
It seems that the times of Jesus were not much unlike ours. We are reminded of the arduous nature of the proverbial “roads of life” today.
It seems that we live in a time when “road etiquette” among us continues to deteriorate. Let’s take a look at the highways around us. For those of us who have the occasion to travel the roads of today, we know that roads can be dangerous and mean places. People seem to drive with a sense of heightened rage and angst, where it’s not unusual today, to turn on the news, and hear of another case of “road rage,” and violence on our highways.
Perhaps this type of rage is emblematic of our society in general, where a certain sense of meanness, and anger, and angst seems to have permeated much of our life together. I read in the newspaper not long ago, where violent crime in America is increasing for the second consecutive year. I also read where new prisons are being built in this region, and the prisons are at capacity even before construction on them is completed.
In the city of Baltimore, several communities have come to be known as “Blue Light” neighborhoods. These are some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city, and at night one can see the constant blinking of blue lights overhead. These lights are a reminder of the crime and violence that has affected and often afflicted many of these communities, and the people who live in them and travel through them. These blue light neighborhoods are not unlike the Jericho road that Jesus was speaking about in scripture.
In talking about road rules, and what it means to be neighborly, Jesus offers the example of this certain unnamed man who was beaten, stripped and robbed, and left on the road to die. We are told that a priest and a Levite chose to pass this beaten man by on the road. We don’t know for sure, but perhaps they were late for important religious gatherings, and knew that to stop and care for this man would have made them late for their church gatherings.
And lest you and I hold these religious leaders of the Lord’s day in too much disdain, let us remind ourselves of the way people in need today are passed by in our churches and society. Racism and classism (and other “isms”) continue to afflict the church and society. AIDS and Malaria are killing many in the two thirds world. Crime and violence continues to permeate our streets. Poverty, hunger and the lack of adequate health-care continue to afflict many among us (despite "healthcare reform," over 40 million persons remain uninsured in America). If the truth is told, people are too often passed by on the roadsides of life today.
And so what are the road rules that we need to attend to today?
Martin Luther King helped us in a sermon preached at Riverside Church in New York in April 1967 (40 years ago):
"On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s road side; but that is only the initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."
Philosopher Michael Eric Dyson points out that King believed that charity was a poor substitute for justice. Charity is a hit-or- miss proposition; people who tire of giving stop doing so when they think they’ve done enough. Justice seeks to take the distracting and fleeting emotions out of giving. Justice does not depend on felling to do the right thing. It depends on right action and sound thinking about the most helpful route to the best and most virtuous outcome. King understood, and embodied, this noble distinction. People who give money to the poor deserve praise; people who give their lives to the poor deserve honor.
For Christians, our road rules must be rooted in true compassion. True compassion is always coupled with justice, and challenges each of us in the church and society towards what Martin Luther King called forms of “creative altruism.” This is altruism that makes concern for others the first law of life.
King indicated that Jesus revealed the meaning of this altruism in his parable here about the Good Samaritan who was moved by compassion to care for “a certain man” who had been robbed and beaten on the Jericho road.
King asserted that the altruism of the Samaritan was universal, dangerous and excessive. His altruism was universal since he did not seek to inquire into the nationality of the wounded man to determine whether he was a Samaritan or a Jew. He saw that he was “a certain man” in need, and that was sufficient for him to intervene.
The Samaritan was a good neighbor who demonstrated dangerous and excessive altruism because, unlike the priest and the Levite who passed by the wounded man, the Samaritan was willing to help any person in distress under any conditions, and he was able to look beyond external accidents to regard the stranger in need as his brother.
When we have true compassion we not only offer a handout, but we ask why people need a handout in the first place. True compassion not only offers help to the beggar, to the stripped and robbed among us, but questions the conditions that lead to poverty and violence on our streets.
Jesus here gave the command to love one’s neighbor, and through this parable Jesus disclosed his definition of neighbor. A neighbor is neither Jew nor Gentile; he is neither Russian nor American; he is neither black nor white nor Hispanic nor Asian. He or she is “a certain man or woman” – any needy person – on any of the numerous Jericho roads of life.
Perhaps, we can learn something from the Good Samaritan. Perhaps as he lent a helping hand, he sang as Mahalia Jackson once sang:
If I can help somebody as a travel along
If I can cheer somebody with a word or a song.
If I can help somebody as they’re living wrong
Then my living will not be in vain…
"But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29)
We note (in Luke 10:25-37) that Jesus is being asked to address the matter of neighborliness against the backdrop of his teaching persons to love God and to love each other. Neighborliness is to be understood within the context of love – ultimately the love that God has for each of us.
Jesus uses the story of what has come to be known as the Good Samaritan to teach those of his day and those who would hear this story even today, some “road rules.” The Jericho road was known to be a dangerous road – a winding and dark road - where it was not unusual for people to experience the type of violence that Jesus points to in the story of the Good Samaritan. Thus, we need to be reminded of road rules.
It seems that the times of Jesus were not much unlike ours. We are reminded of the arduous nature of the proverbial “roads of life” today.
It seems that we live in a time when “road etiquette” among us continues to deteriorate. Let’s take a look at the highways around us. For those of us who have the occasion to travel the roads of today, we know that roads can be dangerous and mean places. People seem to drive with a sense of heightened rage and angst, where it’s not unusual today, to turn on the news, and hear of another case of “road rage,” and violence on our highways.
Perhaps this type of rage is emblematic of our society in general, where a certain sense of meanness, and anger, and angst seems to have permeated much of our life together. I read in the newspaper not long ago, where violent crime in America is increasing for the second consecutive year. I also read where new prisons are being built in this region, and the prisons are at capacity even before construction on them is completed.
In the city of Baltimore, several communities have come to be known as “Blue Light” neighborhoods. These are some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city, and at night one can see the constant blinking of blue lights overhead. These lights are a reminder of the crime and violence that has affected and often afflicted many of these communities, and the people who live in them and travel through them. These blue light neighborhoods are not unlike the Jericho road that Jesus was speaking about in scripture.
In talking about road rules, and what it means to be neighborly, Jesus offers the example of this certain unnamed man who was beaten, stripped and robbed, and left on the road to die. We are told that a priest and a Levite chose to pass this beaten man by on the road. We don’t know for sure, but perhaps they were late for important religious gatherings, and knew that to stop and care for this man would have made them late for their church gatherings.
And lest you and I hold these religious leaders of the Lord’s day in too much disdain, let us remind ourselves of the way people in need today are passed by in our churches and society. Racism and classism (and other “isms”) continue to afflict the church and society. AIDS and Malaria are killing many in the two thirds world. Crime and violence continues to permeate our streets. Poverty, hunger and the lack of adequate health-care continue to afflict many among us (despite "healthcare reform," over 40 million persons remain uninsured in America). If the truth is told, people are too often passed by on the roadsides of life today.
And so what are the road rules that we need to attend to today?
Martin Luther King helped us in a sermon preached at Riverside Church in New York in April 1967 (40 years ago):
"On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s road side; but that is only the initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."
Philosopher Michael Eric Dyson points out that King believed that charity was a poor substitute for justice. Charity is a hit-or- miss proposition; people who tire of giving stop doing so when they think they’ve done enough. Justice seeks to take the distracting and fleeting emotions out of giving. Justice does not depend on felling to do the right thing. It depends on right action and sound thinking about the most helpful route to the best and most virtuous outcome. King understood, and embodied, this noble distinction. People who give money to the poor deserve praise; people who give their lives to the poor deserve honor.
For Christians, our road rules must be rooted in true compassion. True compassion is always coupled with justice, and challenges each of us in the church and society towards what Martin Luther King called forms of “creative altruism.” This is altruism that makes concern for others the first law of life.
King indicated that Jesus revealed the meaning of this altruism in his parable here about the Good Samaritan who was moved by compassion to care for “a certain man” who had been robbed and beaten on the Jericho road.
King asserted that the altruism of the Samaritan was universal, dangerous and excessive. His altruism was universal since he did not seek to inquire into the nationality of the wounded man to determine whether he was a Samaritan or a Jew. He saw that he was “a certain man” in need, and that was sufficient for him to intervene.
The Samaritan was a good neighbor who demonstrated dangerous and excessive altruism because, unlike the priest and the Levite who passed by the wounded man, the Samaritan was willing to help any person in distress under any conditions, and he was able to look beyond external accidents to regard the stranger in need as his brother.
When we have true compassion we not only offer a handout, but we ask why people need a handout in the first place. True compassion not only offers help to the beggar, to the stripped and robbed among us, but questions the conditions that lead to poverty and violence on our streets.
Jesus here gave the command to love one’s neighbor, and through this parable Jesus disclosed his definition of neighbor. A neighbor is neither Jew nor Gentile; he is neither Russian nor American; he is neither black nor white nor Hispanic nor Asian. He or she is “a certain man or woman” – any needy person – on any of the numerous Jericho roads of life.
Perhaps, we can learn something from the Good Samaritan. Perhaps as he lent a helping hand, he sang as Mahalia Jackson once sang:
If I can help somebody as a travel along
If I can cheer somebody with a word or a song.
If I can help somebody as they’re living wrong
Then my living will not be in vain…
Monday, August 15, 2011
MLK Memorial
August, 28, 2011 marks the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and will also mark the unveiling of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The tribute to Dr. King will be the first African-American monument on the mall, and perhaps it is fitting that the unveiling will occur during the administration of the first African-American president of the country. This is also an opportunity for us to reflect on Dr. King’s life as an advocate for nonviolence, anti-racism, economic justice and global peace, especially at a time when our county is currently involved in several wars and is in significant debate as to the course that the economy should take. Indeed, this is time of great pride for those of us who advocate peace with justice. Hopefully, the King Memorial will serve as a perpetual reminder of Dr. King’s dream for our nation and world, and as a reminder of our call to recommit ourselves to living the dream for which he died. For more information on the unveiling, go to www.MLKmemorial.org.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Do Something for Others
"I choose to identify with the underptivileged. I choose to identify with the poor. I choose to give my life for the hungry. I choose to give my life for those who have been left out of the sunlight of opportunity... This is the way I'm going. If it means suffering a little bit, I'm going that way. If it means sacrificing, I'm going that way. If it means dying for them, I'm going that way, because I heard a voice saying, "Do something for others."" (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Obey Your Thirst!
(This is an abridged version of my sermon preached on Sunday, 8/7/11 at Epworth Chapel in Baltimore)
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? (Psalm 42:2)
In the Scripture text, we find that the writer in the Psalm is one who is obviously yearning for a closer relationship with God. He is seeking and searching for something more, something deeper in his spiritual walk. And so he begins abruptly with the metaphor of a thirsty, panting deer. The deer is frantically searching the desert for a stream of water.
With the same intensity as the deer seeks water, the psalmist seeks after God. He is speaking to a need that is common among all of us. An integral part of the human plight is a need to know God and to experience God. This is what St. Augustine spoke of in his prayer, “Lord you have created us for yourself, and our souls are restless until they find their rest in thee.” All of us in some way have souls that are restless.
Here, the psalmist offers the image of a deer that is thirsty. Though the psalmist points to the deer’s longing in the midst of physical thirst and danger, this metaphor offers a profound spiritual image- our relationship with God is as essential to our spiritual well-being as water is to our physical well-being.
I would venture to suggest that all of us have found ourselves at the point of being thirsty. Being thirsty places us at the point of needing to address one of the basic needs of life. The fact is that we can’t survive without water. Without water we would die. To be thirsty is to experience the most basic and profound of human needs. It has been suggested that thirst is such a powerful longing that it displaces all other human desires.
This image of being thirsty may be lost on some of us in a day when there is so much that substitutes for the basic elements of life. Even knowing what we thirst for – what we need most essentially in our lives - is often lost amidst the things that grasp our attention.
Growing up, my paternal grandparents lived across the road from a well. I can remember playing outside in the hot summer sun, and there would come a point when we knew that it was time to stop playing, for we were thirsty.
We knew that it was time to go to the well, and pump it until water came out. We’d pump and pump, and there was nothing like the sight of seeing water begin to flow out of the well, and knowing that our thirst would then be quenched.
We reflect upon this matter of being thirsty today because in this day and age, we thirst for many things. Some of us have schedules that are so full that it leaves us thirsty for time with God. Some of us have religion in our lives, and yet our relationship with the Lord yearns for intimacy.
Some of us thirst for recognition from others as a way of masking our deeper need for self-esteem. Some of us thirst for relationships – only to find ourselves being exploited and abused and unable to deal with our profound loneliness. We thirst for material things and find ourselves mired in a form of “affluenza” which Marion Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defense Fund defines as our possessing too much that is worth too little. We thirst.
What are you thirsty for? What are the things that you most desire in life? What are your heart’s desires? What are the things that you seek after?
Over the course of history, there have been persons who have thirsted after the things that would make our world better, the things of God:
• Martin Luther King, Jr. thirsted for racial equality.
• Mohandas Gandhi thirsted for peace and justice.
• Mother Theresa thirsted for truth and fairness.
• Dietrich Bonheoffer thirsted for true discipleship.
• Rosa Parks thirsted for her dignity.
Christ beckons each of us to obey our thirst. This should be good news for us today. In the midst of failing economies, political disappointment, violence and wars, broken homes, lost jobs, and diminished stock portfolios – Jesus is the living water. In the midst of fears, doubts, despair, dread, disillusionment, disappointment – Jesus is the living water.
What are you thirsty for? Are you thirsting after God? Our response to the presence and power of God should be to obey our thirst, and seek God where he can be found.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? (Psalm 42:2)
In the Scripture text, we find that the writer in the Psalm is one who is obviously yearning for a closer relationship with God. He is seeking and searching for something more, something deeper in his spiritual walk. And so he begins abruptly with the metaphor of a thirsty, panting deer. The deer is frantically searching the desert for a stream of water.
With the same intensity as the deer seeks water, the psalmist seeks after God. He is speaking to a need that is common among all of us. An integral part of the human plight is a need to know God and to experience God. This is what St. Augustine spoke of in his prayer, “Lord you have created us for yourself, and our souls are restless until they find their rest in thee.” All of us in some way have souls that are restless.
Here, the psalmist offers the image of a deer that is thirsty. Though the psalmist points to the deer’s longing in the midst of physical thirst and danger, this metaphor offers a profound spiritual image- our relationship with God is as essential to our spiritual well-being as water is to our physical well-being.
I would venture to suggest that all of us have found ourselves at the point of being thirsty. Being thirsty places us at the point of needing to address one of the basic needs of life. The fact is that we can’t survive without water. Without water we would die. To be thirsty is to experience the most basic and profound of human needs. It has been suggested that thirst is such a powerful longing that it displaces all other human desires.
This image of being thirsty may be lost on some of us in a day when there is so much that substitutes for the basic elements of life. Even knowing what we thirst for – what we need most essentially in our lives - is often lost amidst the things that grasp our attention.
Growing up, my paternal grandparents lived across the road from a well. I can remember playing outside in the hot summer sun, and there would come a point when we knew that it was time to stop playing, for we were thirsty.
We knew that it was time to go to the well, and pump it until water came out. We’d pump and pump, and there was nothing like the sight of seeing water begin to flow out of the well, and knowing that our thirst would then be quenched.
We reflect upon this matter of being thirsty today because in this day and age, we thirst for many things. Some of us have schedules that are so full that it leaves us thirsty for time with God. Some of us have religion in our lives, and yet our relationship with the Lord yearns for intimacy.
Some of us thirst for recognition from others as a way of masking our deeper need for self-esteem. Some of us thirst for relationships – only to find ourselves being exploited and abused and unable to deal with our profound loneliness. We thirst for material things and find ourselves mired in a form of “affluenza” which Marion Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defense Fund defines as our possessing too much that is worth too little. We thirst.
What are you thirsty for? What are the things that you most desire in life? What are your heart’s desires? What are the things that you seek after?
Over the course of history, there have been persons who have thirsted after the things that would make our world better, the things of God:
• Martin Luther King, Jr. thirsted for racial equality.
• Mohandas Gandhi thirsted for peace and justice.
• Mother Theresa thirsted for truth and fairness.
• Dietrich Bonheoffer thirsted for true discipleship.
• Rosa Parks thirsted for her dignity.
Christ beckons each of us to obey our thirst. This should be good news for us today. In the midst of failing economies, political disappointment, violence and wars, broken homes, lost jobs, and diminished stock portfolios – Jesus is the living water. In the midst of fears, doubts, despair, dread, disillusionment, disappointment – Jesus is the living water.
What are you thirsty for? Are you thirsting after God? Our response to the presence and power of God should be to obey our thirst, and seek God where he can be found.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Break the Mold!
(This is an abridged version of the sermon preeched at Epworth Chapel, Baltimore on 7/31/11.)
"In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River." (Matthew 3:1-6)
In the Gospel of Matthew, we are introduced to the life of John the Baptist. Some of us might remember John the Baptist. He was born into a world of religious and social conformity. He was born to Jewish parents – Elizabeth and Zechariah who were devout in their faith. In fact, John’s father – Zechariah was not only religious - but he was a priest. So by all rights, John the Baptist had it made.
All John had to do is behave himself, not rock the boat, stay out of trouble, watch his mouth, fit in, and he would not have a care in the world.
It was supposed to be John’s lot in life to fit the mold, to dress right, and act right (he was a preachers kid), and all he had to do was fit into the mold. All he had to do was behave himself, conform to his orderly, elite religious roots, and he would be a priest in the line of his father. This was his birthright.
And yet, John the Baptist just couldn’t act like he was supposed to act. Here, we find John the Baptist, not in the synagogue, but in the wilderness. He’s not dressed in the fine garbs of the priesthood, but in camel’s hair. He’s not trying to maintain religious order but preaching a radical, prophetic word - a word of preparation for the coming of the Lord - a word that God was ready to shake things up, and make straight the crooked places and things in our midst.
As we look around, we can clearly see that conformity is the order of our day. People like to appear as though they fit in. It seems that we have this inherent need to conform. If the truth is told, none of us wants to be too far outside of the mainstream, too far outside what is considered to be normal. We want to fit in.
Conformity insinuates that we find ourselves in alignment with the status quo. To conform means that we are fitting in with what already exists, and that we are in accord with that which has already been formed. Thus, to conform is to find ourselves in the same shape as that which has already been shaped.
I’m always amazed at how much we seem to be in conformity, and often don’t seem to realize it. People seem to be attracted to those things and places which are most like how we perceive ourselves. We seek to live in the places, purchase the things, and even wear the clothes of those who we perceive as being the most successful and beautiful.
A few years ago, it seemed that every young boy sought to imitate Michael Jordan. Every young boy wanted to “be like Mike.” Well, the Nike Corporation capitalized on this yearning to conform, and created the Air Jordan Shoe. It appears that there was this notion among many young people that if they were just able to buy a pair of Air Jordans they would somehow find themselves being able to fly through the air and dunk a basketball like Mike. (If the truth is told, even some of us who are older thought that we could “be like Mike.”)
And so why is it that we seek to conform? Perhaps our propensity towards conformity is rooted in our fear of what would happen to us if we chose to stand alone. Maybe we tend to conform because of jealousy and covetousness. We want too much of what others have. We want to keep up with the “Jones.” Maybe we conform because our imagination - or lack thereof – does not allow us to see beyond what presently is in our lives – to what God wants us to become.
I believe that this matter of conformity has serious implications and applications for the church today. It was the Apostle Paul who warned us in Scripture against this proclivity. Paul cautioned the Roman Church and cautions us to “Be not conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” (Romans 12:2)
Still many Christians and many churches find themselves moving towards the tendency to conform. Many churches find themselves mired and trapped in the rut of "same-old-ness." We find ourselves doing the same-old-thing…the same-old-way... and getting the same old results. We’re too often mired in “same-old-ness.”
We sing the same-old-song. We pray the same-old-prayer. We preach the same-old-sermon. And we get the same-old results. We’re stuck in a rut…stuck in a mold.
I believe that John the Baptist, in mant ways, serves as the anti-type for today’s Christian, and can teach us a few things about what it means for us to be holy and bold for Jesus. John broke the mold.
And it is incumbent on the church today to break the mold - to move out of our comfort zones - to move our message outside the walls of the church – into the (proverbial) wilderness (out into the streets). If we’re like John the Baptist, we might have to change our appearance and methods to reach some folk who may be very unfamiliar with the songs we sing and the sermons we preach. We need to break the mold.
This week, it was reported that 11 religious leaders were arrested in Washington, DC for refusing to move while praying on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The group included at least two United Methodists – Jim Winkler and Bob Edgar – and was praying that the U.S. congress would act morally and justly in light of decisions around the current budget crisis and economic upheaval – especially in light of the millions of poor and moderate income people that will be affected by these decisions.
In John the Baptist, we find one who in his day broke the mold. John broke from religious and societal conformity. He dared to be different. He chose to move outside his comfort zone – outside the comfortable confines of religious establishment. John the Baptist was filled with faith in God which allowed him to prophetically and boldly proclaim the coming of the Lord and call people to repentance.
It’s time for us to break the mold! In what places in your life is God calling you to break the mold? How is God calling us as a church to break out of the molds that we may find ourselves in? The good news is that if we allow God in Christ to lead us, God will guide us every step of the way. “I want Jesus to walk with me…”
"In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River." (Matthew 3:1-6)
In the Gospel of Matthew, we are introduced to the life of John the Baptist. Some of us might remember John the Baptist. He was born into a world of religious and social conformity. He was born to Jewish parents – Elizabeth and Zechariah who were devout in their faith. In fact, John’s father – Zechariah was not only religious - but he was a priest. So by all rights, John the Baptist had it made.
All John had to do is behave himself, not rock the boat, stay out of trouble, watch his mouth, fit in, and he would not have a care in the world.
It was supposed to be John’s lot in life to fit the mold, to dress right, and act right (he was a preachers kid), and all he had to do was fit into the mold. All he had to do was behave himself, conform to his orderly, elite religious roots, and he would be a priest in the line of his father. This was his birthright.
And yet, John the Baptist just couldn’t act like he was supposed to act. Here, we find John the Baptist, not in the synagogue, but in the wilderness. He’s not dressed in the fine garbs of the priesthood, but in camel’s hair. He’s not trying to maintain religious order but preaching a radical, prophetic word - a word of preparation for the coming of the Lord - a word that God was ready to shake things up, and make straight the crooked places and things in our midst.
As we look around, we can clearly see that conformity is the order of our day. People like to appear as though they fit in. It seems that we have this inherent need to conform. If the truth is told, none of us wants to be too far outside of the mainstream, too far outside what is considered to be normal. We want to fit in.
Conformity insinuates that we find ourselves in alignment with the status quo. To conform means that we are fitting in with what already exists, and that we are in accord with that which has already been formed. Thus, to conform is to find ourselves in the same shape as that which has already been shaped.
I’m always amazed at how much we seem to be in conformity, and often don’t seem to realize it. People seem to be attracted to those things and places which are most like how we perceive ourselves. We seek to live in the places, purchase the things, and even wear the clothes of those who we perceive as being the most successful and beautiful.
A few years ago, it seemed that every young boy sought to imitate Michael Jordan. Every young boy wanted to “be like Mike.” Well, the Nike Corporation capitalized on this yearning to conform, and created the Air Jordan Shoe. It appears that there was this notion among many young people that if they were just able to buy a pair of Air Jordans they would somehow find themselves being able to fly through the air and dunk a basketball like Mike. (If the truth is told, even some of us who are older thought that we could “be like Mike.”)
And so why is it that we seek to conform? Perhaps our propensity towards conformity is rooted in our fear of what would happen to us if we chose to stand alone. Maybe we tend to conform because of jealousy and covetousness. We want too much of what others have. We want to keep up with the “Jones.” Maybe we conform because our imagination - or lack thereof – does not allow us to see beyond what presently is in our lives – to what God wants us to become.
I believe that this matter of conformity has serious implications and applications for the church today. It was the Apostle Paul who warned us in Scripture against this proclivity. Paul cautioned the Roman Church and cautions us to “Be not conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” (Romans 12:2)
Still many Christians and many churches find themselves moving towards the tendency to conform. Many churches find themselves mired and trapped in the rut of "same-old-ness." We find ourselves doing the same-old-thing…the same-old-way... and getting the same old results. We’re too often mired in “same-old-ness.”
We sing the same-old-song. We pray the same-old-prayer. We preach the same-old-sermon. And we get the same-old results. We’re stuck in a rut…stuck in a mold.
I believe that John the Baptist, in mant ways, serves as the anti-type for today’s Christian, and can teach us a few things about what it means for us to be holy and bold for Jesus. John broke the mold.
And it is incumbent on the church today to break the mold - to move out of our comfort zones - to move our message outside the walls of the church – into the (proverbial) wilderness (out into the streets). If we’re like John the Baptist, we might have to change our appearance and methods to reach some folk who may be very unfamiliar with the songs we sing and the sermons we preach. We need to break the mold.
This week, it was reported that 11 religious leaders were arrested in Washington, DC for refusing to move while praying on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The group included at least two United Methodists – Jim Winkler and Bob Edgar – and was praying that the U.S. congress would act morally and justly in light of decisions around the current budget crisis and economic upheaval – especially in light of the millions of poor and moderate income people that will be affected by these decisions.
In John the Baptist, we find one who in his day broke the mold. John broke from religious and societal conformity. He dared to be different. He chose to move outside his comfort zone – outside the comfortable confines of religious establishment. John the Baptist was filled with faith in God which allowed him to prophetically and boldly proclaim the coming of the Lord and call people to repentance.
It’s time for us to break the mold! In what places in your life is God calling you to break the mold? How is God calling us as a church to break out of the molds that we may find ourselves in? The good news is that if we allow God in Christ to lead us, God will guide us every step of the way. “I want Jesus to walk with me…”
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