Last Wednesday night, the ABC television program 20/20, highlighted how Randy Pausch is facing the last few months of his life. Dying of pancreatic cancer, he is facing it with courage and energy and working to leave a legacy of his love and his best qualities for his family and friends. That same night, a mile down the road to the west, Norman Langelier shot his wife and committed suicide by burning his house down with himself inside. There was obvious premeditation to his action, but I have no idea why he chose to do what he did.
These are pretty drastic differences in the way people have chosen to deal with the circumstances of their lives. One gave up living, in bitter despair; and the other has chosen to live every moment he has left as fully as possible as long as possible. I know nothing about either man’s religion, but every religion advocates certain choices about how to live your life.
In today’s lection, Peter reminds slaves who are suffering because of their faith that, "Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example. When he was abused, he did not return abuse; he did not return insult for insult.” Maybe the way Jesus acted, when bad things happened, is why he made the news, “good news,” two thousand years ago and why Randy Pausch is making it today. That is just not the way people usually act.
I was surprised to realize that the kids in my confirmation class were too young to be in school when nine years ago next Sunday, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado and shot 38 people, killing 15 of them including themselves. Since then, most schools have created workshops on shunning and cracked down on the abusive behavior that provokes such violence; as well as making it more difficult to bring a gun to school. I realize that a gun is an inert thing, but it is hardly surprising that Norman Langelier used one of his forty guns to kill his wife. The victims of shootings are far more likely to be oneself or family and friends, than anyone else.
Of course, the church is hardly of one mind about anything; not rugs or guns or violence. The year of the Columbine massacre, Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton signed an amendment to the state's weapons law to allow priests and ministers to carry guns in church. Until then, all Kentuckians could carry concealed weapons, except members of the clergy. Some ministers lobbied for the amendment, arguing that if they couldn't carry guns beneath their robes, they couldn’t protect their collection money. 1
I would like to dismiss it by saying it was Kentucky, but then there was a man in Texas, who pulled out a gun and shot his wife when she tried to walk out of a marriage counseling session with their pastor. The woman promptly pulled her gun out of her purse and fired back.2 At least the minister didn’t pull his gun, though it was Texas. I would have been okay there too. The general mindset of today’s culture is reflected in the fact that now only three states do not issue permits to carry concealed weapons.3
We should all have listened to Funk Rock singer, Rick James, who in the song "Hey Young World," sings, “A man never wins a fight in God's sight." [That] is a great line, says Comedian Chris Rock. “Too bad he didn't remember it before he shot his cousin.4 It is still a good line, though.
No matter who or what you defeat or destroy, you never win a fight in God’s sight; whether it is a fight, with guns or bombs, or words. God is simply not in the business of destruction and defeat. God’s business is creating and building bridges or we could say, community. The ideal religious community described in the book of Acts, the first church of Jerusalem was faithful to the teaching of Jesus, the breaking of bread (sharing meals in their homes), the prayers (by Mosaic law, three times a day) and the brotherhood, that is the community. They shared everything in common, distributing their collective resources according to what each needed.
God expects us to be building community; to be taking people in and never shutting them out. If we wish to live in the house of the Lord, we must live by Jesus’ standards instead of the standards of our society, played with the usual gamesmanship and gunmanship of the world.
Years ago, comedian George Carlin years ago did a sketch comparing baseball and football, which has overtaken baseball as America’s game, but it was really a commentary on the kind of people we have become:
Baseball is played on a diamond in a park. Football is played in a stadium – [like] Soldier's Field.
In football, you receive a penalty. In baseball, you make an error.
In football, the specialist comes in to kick something.
In baseball, the specialist comes in to relieve someone.
Football has hitting, clipping, piling on, personal fouls and unnecessary roughness.
Baseball has the sacrifice.
In football the quarterback, sometimes called the field general, may launch an aerial
assault, riddling the defense, in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use the
shotgun, short bullet passes or long bombs. He marches his troops into enemy
territory, balancing this aerial attack with a sustained ground attack, which
punches holes in the front line of the defense. In baseball the objective is to go home and be safe. 5
Of course, football is not all violence, nor is baseball just a gentle game. In the late sixties, the Los Angeles Rams had a defensive line known as the Fearsome Foursome. The Rams scale only went to 300 pounds and Roosevelt “Rosey” Grier maxed it out every time. Grier, who counted needlepoint as one of his hobbies, preferred to tackle in a way not to hurt.6 Merlin Olsen did a few movie roles and then some commercials where he told us to "Say it with flowers" through a "pick-me-up" bouquet. Deacon Jones, who coined the term, “sack,” wrote poetry. He later described six foot seven inch, Lamar Lundy as “very concerned about others.” Lundy started a foundation to help the less fortunate.
7
We like to think of people as a particular kind. The warrior and the poet cannot occupy the same ground. The classical pianist doesn't understand wrestling. The linebacker can't comprehend a Renoir. Surely the terrorist and the patriot have nothing in common. Randy Pausch and Norman Langelier must be opposites. It is like trying to keep all the foods on the plate from touching.
I suppose that we do this out of a kind of self-defense. We don’t want to believe that we have anything in common with the kid who walks into a school with a gun, wanting to teach someone a lesson; or with the rage and hopelessness of one who kills others and themselves. The truth is that we have almost everything in common with them. We just have better options for dealing with life than others. We have Jesus who was always a bridge to members of the occupying army, to the sinful tax collectors and unclean lepers, to the unacceptable women and inconsequential children. Jesus let no barriers stand between him and another human being. There was no one that he shunned and none that he wouldn’t forgive. Jesus is the gate of the sheepfold. He wants all of his sheep in where they will be safe and live life to the full. But there is a Turkish folktale that illustrates how things go awry when people try to assume gatekeeping duties; excluding people rather than welcoming them.
The Teacher was rushing home from the fields when a friend cried, “The banquet at the home of Halil has already begun. You are late.”
The Teacher thought. If I take the time to change clothes, I could miss the entire dinner. So he went in his work clothes to the home of Halil, the rich man. When he arrived the servants at the door refused to allow him to enter because he was not dressed properly. He protested, but the servants stood firm.
So, the Teacher walked to the home of a friend who lived nearby. He borrowed a nice coat and returned to the party, where he was immediately welcomed and seated at the table. When the food was served, the Teacher began to put it on his coat. He smeared his jacked with hummus and put the appetizer in his pocket. All the time he said loudly, “Eat, dear dinner jacket. I hope you are enjoying the meal.”
All the guest were shocked by the Teacher’s strange behavior. Finally, Halil asked, “Why are you putting food on your jacket and telling it to enjoy the meal?”
“When I arrived in my work clothes,” the Teacher explained, “I was refused entrance. It was only when I was accompanied by this fine coat that I was allowed to sit at the table. Naturally I assume that it was the jacket, not me, that was invited to your banquet.” 8
1. "Stranger Than Fiction," The Fairfax Journal, April 26, 1998.
2. "Tidbits and Outrages," The Washington Monthly, June 1998, 31.
3. http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/pubs/wb/06wb6.pdf.
4. Comedian Chris Rock, Rolling Stone, September 17, 1998, 35.
5. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/humor7.shtml.
6. http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/ce/feature/0,1518,2769771_59,00.html
7. http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/ce/feature/0,1518,1597758_59,00.html
8. William R. White, Stories for the Journey, Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, 1988, pp. 67-68.