PREACHING THE LECTIONARY: THE McGREGOR PAGE
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Pentecost 4
July 6, 2003
2 Samuel 5:1-10
Psalm 48
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13
The account of David's taking Jerusalem from the Jebusites is a national celebration in the same sense that the story of the defeat of the British by the Colonists is a national celebration. Some are embarrassed by the stories. "David had said on that day, 'Whoever would strike down the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack the lame and the blind, those whom David hates.' Therefore it is said, 'The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.'" (2 Samuel 5:8)
Apparently there was no Jews With Disabilities Act then. Although the reference to lame and blind was a play on the Jebusite taunt, who knows what the sensitivity was to persons with disabilities? It is clear what their sensitivity was to Jebusites -- none. In 1776 our sensitivity to the human needs of "Red Coats" was low, to say nothing of the "Red Skins." So, shall we be too embarrassed to celebrate these points in history that turned so dramatically to our favor and redound to our glory and prosperity? Shall we shrink from celebrating before the Lord and giving God the credit because of the moral ambiguity of human history?
For God to endorse, even promote, human events is for God to participate in our sinfulness. When God promised Abraham the possession of a land, God had entered the realm of our sinfulness. The Canaanites thought it was their land. Native Americans thought this was their land. Our ancestors were sure that God had given the land to them. Were they right? If we say they were wrong, if we say God is above such land grabbing, then do we not also deny that our country has any special responsibility to God for the gift of the land. We are not, then, a chosen nation commissioned by God to bless the world. We are free to embrace the self-righteous position that follows:
We decry the self-centered brutality of the birth and expansion of this nation, but we claim all the wealth and power that accrues to us because of it. We deny any league with God that led this nation to preeminence in the world and therefore deny any responsibility to God for our behavior.
That is just great, very enlightened, the kind of "enlightened" position that a future generation will view just as this position views preceding generations.
I hear some preachers reclaiming the self-righteousness of the past as they interpret our history and our present theologically. They talk as if the transition to secularism had never happened, or having happened can be undone by ranting. If we are to link God and country in a way that glorifies God, it will have to mold the future, not mimic the past. We can be sure that it will not be a popular message, the Word of God to the United States about the United States. It will be like the scroll that Ezekiel had to eat and would rather have just eaten than have proclaimed to "a rebellious people." Preachers will be like Paul, straining to maintain credibility with a finicky church. Jesus brought a theological interpretation of the present that his hometown could not abide; therefore, he could do no "deed of power" among them. God will do no mighty work with America again unless the preacher interprets the history and present of the country as a part of God's call and God's work -- unless the people respond with faith.
Roland McGregor, Pastor
Asbury United Methodist Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
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