First Presbyterian Church
Seats and Service
Sermon for October 30, 2005
by Pastor Susan Barnes

Children's time

Joshua 2: Rahab and the spies

The book of Joshua was probably recorded during the time of Hezekiah's monarchy. Hezekiah promoted history where Joshua is a hero, like King David. In our old testament reading, Yahweh has given Moses' assistant Joshua instructions to lead the Israelites to the promised land. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Joshua 3:7-17

7 The LORD said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses. 8 You are the one who shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, 'When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'"

9 Joshua then said to the Israelites, "Draw near and hear the words of the LORD your God." 10 Joshua said, "By this you shall know that among you is the living God who without fail will drive out from before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites: 11 the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going to pass before you into the Jordan. 12 So now select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe.

13 When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the LORD , the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above shall be cut off; they shall stand in a single heap."

14 When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were in front of the people. 15 Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. So when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the water, 16 the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while those flowing toward the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people crossed over opposite Jericho.

17 While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the L ORD stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan.

This ends our reading from Joshua.

We hear the beginning words, and shudder a little bit. Isn't there enough war going on, using these sorts of texts as justification: God gave us that land, and now we get to kill everyone who is on the land. The book of Joshua was used to promote the reforms of King Josiah, who was eager to show his was the only true and faithful way to worship God. When Joshua speaks of the Canaanites and the others, he isn't talking about ordinary people, but the elite landowners, who are going to leave their lands behind so the Israelites will have a place to live.

That doesn't really help us deal with the conquests in Joshua. Nothing really does. But there is something of interest in this text for us. The priests held the ark of the covenant in the Jordan until everyone was safely across. That was the priests' job. The priests were not just religious leaders, but political leaders also. Because of their work, the people could find a place to hold and call their own.

Anthem “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken”

It was a common practice for Jews to criticize their leaders in the first century. The Mishnah, the oral law, is full of the words of rabbis arguing with each other about the best way to follow the law. Jesus speaks in that tradition, using an exaggerated polemical style that sounds harsh to our ears, but was fairly typical. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Matthew 23:1-12.

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,

2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; 3 therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.

5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.

6 They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi.

8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. 9 And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father-- the one in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.

11 The greatest among you will be your servant.

12 All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

This ends our reading from Matthew. I'm not sure what it means to not call anyone rabbi, father, or instructor. Surely those are all useful words. Scholars describe this kind of talk as ancient hyperbole. I still find it confusing. I wish it said something like ‘don't title anyone father.' Don't give the authority that is due to God to another human being instead. No matter how important one human being is, no matter how much power that person holds, only God is God. I think that's what this text means.

I'm more sure about the last line, about all who humble themselves will be exalted. That means not to worry about your own honor, and don't honor anyone but God. Don't work to be great; work to serve. Remember you are all students.

Even so, early Christians taught one another. In our epistle lesson, Paul writes to the Christians in Thessalonica, wanting them to learn from his example. He's still a little defensive, saying that he didn't get paid for his work with them, but supported himself. Earlier in chapter two, Paul describes his behavior as gentle, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. In this lesson, he speaks of being like a father. Listen for the word of God as it is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13.

9 You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

10 You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers.

11 As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, 12 urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

13 We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God's word, which is also at work in you believers.

This ends our reading from Thessalonians.

Paul said he was like a father among them. Listen to what fathers did in those days: urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. Fathers urge and encourage, love and help their children. Some of us think that having fathers involved in the life of their children is a new custom; it isn't, it's an old tradition. We expect those who teach us, those who lead us, to show us the right way.

This week I heard the press conference that followed the indictment of Scooter Libby. He was indicted for obstruction of justice. I heard one commentator say that he suspects Libby is covering for the vice president, because Libby is too smart to tell such obvious lies in front of a grand jury. I have no idea if that's true. I have heard people say that obstruction of justice isn't so bad; it's not as if he did anything really wrong.

I remember during Watergate, hearing my mom complaining that the president lied. I was a child, and I though telling a lie wasn't so bad. There are worse things to do than lie. But last week I heard special counsel Fitzgerald say that truth was important to the American system of justice, and I believe him. We need to trust our leaders to tell the truth, especially under oath in front of a justice department grand jury. The justice department has to tell the truth.

Every time I hear a president lie, I lose my respect for him. I remain surprised that Presidents Nixon and Clinton command the respect they do from so many people. I know there are lots of different ways to shade the truth and spin the facts, especially if you are a politician, and that the same event can be interpreted differently, but I also know there are out and out lies.

I think of the priests holding the ark of the covenant in the Jordan water, so that the people could pass through safely. That's what we want our leaders to do. And according to Jesus, Christians have to be servant leaders.

I heard Jesus' words about the Pharisees wanting the best seats in the synagogues, and it reminded me of Rosa Parks. She served others and ended up being a leader.

Rosa Parks died last week. I read her autobiography years ago. She lived in Alabama and volunteered as secretary with the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, an organization working to end segregation. Rosa Parks was an experienced activist, and agreed to let the NAACP use her arrest as a test case to challenge segregation policies and laws. When she was arrested, her white employers, Virginia and Clifford Durr, paid her $100 bond. I know not every one has heard the story of Rosa Parks, so I'm going to tell it again. It is a story worth repeating.

By the time Rosa Parks was born, much of the United States was segregated by race and by Jim Crow laws. Those laws restricted the stores where blacks were allowed to shop, and the days they could shop, and where they could sit on the bus. The Montgomery bus boycott was part of the civil rights movement, and the beginning of the end of Jim Crow laws. The civil rights movement didn't just spring up overnight. People, and I'm proud to say, church people and pastors, had been preaching and organizing to end segregation for many years.

Rosa Parks writes about that one day.

“Some drivers made black passengers step in the front door and pay their fare, and then we had to get off and go around to the back door and get on. Often, by the time the black passengers got around to the back door, the bus would take off without them. There were thirty-six seats on a Montgomery bus. The first ten were reserved for whites even if there were no white passengers on the bus. There was no law about the ten seats in the back of the bus, but it was sort of understood that they were for black people. Blacks were required to sit in the back of the bus, and even if there were empty seats in the front, we couldn't sit in them. Once the seats in the back were filled, then all the other black passengers had to stand. If whites filled up the front section, some drivers would demand that blacks give up their seats in the back section. It was up to the bus drivers, if they chose, to adjust the seating in the middle sixteen seats. They carried guns and had what they called police power to rearrange the seating and enforce all the other rules of segregation on the buses. Some bus drivers were meaner than others. Not all of them were hateful, but segregation itself is vicious, and to my mind there was no way you could make segregation decent or nice or acceptable.

As time has gone by, people have made my place in the history of the civil-right movement bigger and bigger. They call me the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement and the Patron Saint of the Civil Rights movement. I have more honorary degrees and plaques and awards than I can count, and I appreciate and cherish every single one of them. Interviewers still only want to talk about that one evening in 1955 when I refused to give up my seat on the bus. Organizations still want to give me awards for that one act more than thirty years ago. I am happy to go wherever I am invited and to accept whatever honors are given me. I understand that I am a symbol.

But I have never gotten used to being a public person. I don't especially care for my health to be too much of a public thing. When you get older, it is just natural to decline somewhat. Nowadays when I go into the hospital, the papers report [all the details of my health]….It's nice though, when people all across the country send me cards and flowers and get well wishes.”

"People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired but that wasn't true I was not tired physically I was not old. I was 42. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in."

Rosa Parks held onto her place on the bus, although it was not a seat of honor. It was just a seat. She knew her place, her true place as a child of God. She was thrust into the position of celebrity and accepted it without exploiting it.

Jesus did not care about getting the best seat at the banquet table; he didn't need to have a place of honor. He came as a servant, and he became exalted. Paul writes that God calls us too, to God's own kingdom and glory. We serve by following Paul's example, being like fathers, tenderly exhorting and encouraging those Christians, without burdening them. If we seek the service, not the honor, we will be better served, and so will God.