"Resident Aliens"

This sermon generated as much positive feedback as any sermon I have preached in Troy. Not sure if it means the topic was timely, or if the use of several stories means people really like stories.

It was a sermon I enjoyed preaching because the topic seems critical to me at this juncture in the world (and I suppose, my life). Perhaps a strength of the sermon (and storytelling) is that it lets the listener find her or his own meaning, as opposed to sermons that are less open-ended. But, of course, for some the open-ended sermons are weaker, because they do not share a specific response the listener should do or feel.

Here is the text of the sermon (or at least the notes):

“Resident or Aliens” Sept. 26, 2010; 21st Century Christians series

Move 1: By calling ourselves Christians, we lay claim to being followers of Christ.
We know that Christ came and became human – not merely pretending to be human, or wearing the mask of humanity, but living as one of us.

Now, here is the question for the day – does the incarnation mean that Christ is immersed in the world, taking on our values and living like we do, a resident of the world, if you will; or, did Christ come and like among us for the purpose of show how differently he lived than the rest of humanity and how we are called to join him in that separateness, to live as aliens in the world, if you will?

We are not the first of God's people to ask this question.
a. When we read about the Israelites,w e see that they seemed to go back and forth on this issue.

1.At times, they accentuated their separateness. They were different than others, so they literally separated themselves from the rest of the world.

2.At other times, they seemed immersed in the world During David's time and Solomon's time for instance, Israel lived as another world power with the exception being their worship of God. But the distinctiveness of lifestyle was lost.

b. Early church

1.We see how they seemed to separate themselves to live in community with other Christians.

2.But, we also read their letters and hear the debate about dietary restrictions. That's what's at stake in those arguments – should they be like everyone else, or should they be distinctive.

c. This may have always been a question of Christians, but this question takes on greater meaning in the 21st century, particularly for we who live in places where Christianity has historically been accepted.

1.IN fact, in the Western world, not only has Christianity been tolerated, but it has been a dominant part of our societies since the time Constantine ruled the Roman Empire in the 4th century.

2. Now, we no longer operate with the basic assumption that everyone is Christian and we no longer live in a world that default into accommodating Christians.

3.Think about non-profit status with the government – no longer the purview of just churches or even Christian groups.

d. so the question becomes for us: Do we understand our calling as a disciple of Christ is to blend in with the world around us – at school, at work, in the neighborhood – never really mention you are a Christian, but live your life, to be a resident, if you will?
or do you see ourselves as living our discipleship by separating ourselves from the world and modeling for the world what it means to be a distinctly Christian?

Move 2: Some stories for you to ponder.

a. Trinity University – Sundays; cafeteria; Christians separated themselves; they were different; they prided themselves on their differences. Resident – living as any other college student or alien – living in a separate world.

b. Chaplain in a prison –a colleague served as a chaplain in a prison during seminary; as he prepared for the first worship service, he was going to do the Call to Worship and opening prayer.

Sunday afternoon; prisoners arrive; he looks at them as isn't sure if they are Christians who want to worship or prisoners who like the freedom of being out of their cell in in the worship space.

The hour arrives for worship to begin; prisoners loud and paying him no attention; he tentatively pounds on the makeshift pulpit to get their attention; not ones stops talking; he beings the call to worship once or twice, but no one is listening. He helplessly looks at the the chaplain supervisor, who kind of shakes his head.

The chaplain supervisor then comes to the pulpit and shouts out above the din “Shut the expletive up” "Let us expletive, worship God."

Resident – immersed in the culture and language of prison; or alien – leading worship and speaking of God

c.Priest: (Excerpted from an article in the Boston Globe,
1/18/2002)

For priest, blackjack was means to an end

By Tom Long, Globe Staff, 1/18/2002

The Rev. Joseph R. Fahey was an ace fund-raiser.

As president of Boston College High School, he boosted
the school's endowment by 500 percent and financed an
athletic center, library, and computer laboratory. He
also donated tens of thousands of dollars to the
Society of Jesus.

His means were not always sacred.

''Many Jesuit missions owe a great debt to him and his
abilities at the card table,'' said John Dunn, who
worked for Father Fahey at BC High.

Rev. Fahey, 65, who died Wednesday at
Deaconess-Waltham Hospital, apparently of a heart
attack, was a card counter.

Dressed in his one blue suit, Father Fahey played
blackjack tables from Atlantic City to Las Vegas -
''all for the greater glory of God,'' as he once said
- until the casinos blacklisted him.

A ''mathematical genius,'' Rev. Fahey donated all his
winnings to the Society of Jesus to uphold his vow of
poverty, said Dunn, director of development and public relations at BC High.

Resident – immersed in the culture of gambling and Vegas, or alien – taking a vow of poverty and living a life of financial stewardship?

d.Baptist pastor in Southern town during 1960s. It had been declared that the school would integrate. White community leaders gathered to discuss how to fight the decree or work around it. Angry, loud words spoken. Baptist minister who had served in the community 20+ years sat and listened. Then, he stood and asked to speak. He said, “I'm embarrassed and ashamed. If you have heard me preach and teach the gospel for 20+ years and this is what you are now saying about integration, I am ashamed and embarrassed to be your minister.” He walks out. Soon, others follow. The schools integrated the next week as they were supposed to do.

Resident – immersed in the life and ministry of the community; Alien – able to proclaim the distinctive gospel in a time of crisis. (Resident Aliens, Hauerwas and Willimon)

Move 3: 21st century

a. Being a Christian will not matter, relative to being a Muslim or Jew or spiritual but not religious person or atheist, if being a Christian comes down to a series of propositions or beliefs.

1.Most people won't care.

2.Or they won't be able or willing to make the distinctions between what one group believes over against what another group believes.

b. Being a Christian will matter, it will be of ultimate importance, when we live as transformed people of hope who offer others that transforming power and how we have discovered in Christ.

1.The question will not be, “What do I believe as a Christian,” but “what does it matter.”

2.And the answer will be lived out in our lives.

3. As we live as residents of this world, who also recognize that our distinctiveness as Christians comes from the power of Christ to transform and bring hope.
Conclusion: Soccer referee; no one knows, and probably no one cares; in fact, part of the appeal for me, I suppose, is that when some coach or parent is yelling at me, they may call me lots of names, but Reverend isn't one of them.
Over time, some of the people I work with come to know I'm a minister. I even overheard a parent one time trying to convince an angry parent that I wouldn't be cheating them because I was a Presbyterian minister (I don't think the person found that argument convincing).
One of the referees often kids me about being a minister – he invariably begins our conversations with 'Praise the Lord.” We've never talked about his religious beliefs, but I'm pretty sure he does not actively practice whatever faith he might have.

Recently, he was talking to me and he said, “I need to tell you something.” Thus began a conversation about his wife, who was going to have to have triple by-pass surgery. As he spoke, I was wondering, why is he telling me this? As he finished telling me about her surgery and so on, I asked him, “do you want me to pray for your wife and add her to our prayer list at church?”

a long pause. Not sure what to make of it. Then, he said, “Sure, that would be great.”

I don't know if his response was the easy way out for him at an awkward moment in the conversation, or if he could feel what it meant to have others people commit to praying for his wife and seeking God's healing power.
Still trying to figure that one out.

Christians in the 21st century: residents, immersed in the world around us – yes.

Aliens – offering that distinctiveness that knows the transforming power of Christ and the hope Christ offer – yes.