This morning I want to talk about three of the most important words in the Bible, in worship, in our families, and in the way we live in community. And what might these words be? Something from the big four Advent words, hope, peace, joy and love? Kindness? Compassion? Courage? Accountability? Honesty? Equity or equality?
Those are all big, important
words, but the three words I have in mind are way more common than any of
those, and in many ways, words that can be dangerous if misused or
misunderstood. The words are WE, US and
OUR.
At their best, these little
words imply a sense of belonging. We know how devastating it is when individuals
do not have a sense of belonging, either because they feel so different from
those around them that they could not even imagine being welcomed, or because
it has been made abundantly clear to them, by their parents, culture,
neighbourhood, or even government, that they are NOT welcome. News reports are full of situations where
someone described as a “loner” did unspeakable things, or where someone was
adrift and found a sense of belonging for the first time in a cult, a gang, or
a group of religious extremists. Two of
our adult children are trained social workers, with experience on the front
lines, and we hear from them that so many of the clients they deal with had
absolutely awful childhood experiences, devoid of love and stability but with
the message that they weren’t good enough coming through loud and clear. Among
other factors, that sense from their days of childhood of not belonging to a
safe, loving “we” made for a really shaky foundation.
It is so important to have places
you feel you belong. In a small way, I
think we saw some of that belonging when the Blue Jays were having their
inspiring run toward the World Series, and Canada proudly claimed them as “OUR”
team. In the early 1990s a sociologist named Ray Oldenburg coined the term
“third place” to describe a place beyond home and work, which he described as
“a familiar public spot where you regularly connect with others known and
unknown, over a shared interest or activity”. These are places of belonging,
places, he wrote, for “people to gather easily, inexpensively, regularly, and
pleasurably; a ‘place on the corner,’ real life alternatives to television,
easy escapes from the cabin fever of marriage and family life that do not
necessitate getting into an automobile.”
He named pubs, doughnut shops, pool halls, bingo halls, lodges, and
youth recreation centers as the kinds of places that would fit this role, and I
would add that volunteering at places that serve a common need – like the
Thrift Shop – also fits the bill. And to
state the obvious, a Church should be a place where people from a wide variety
of ages and backgrounds feel that they really “belong.”
But what happens when the
words WE, US and OUR are meant to build walls, when a sense of belonging
is used by a town, or a Church, or by people of the dominant culture, not in an
invitational way, but in a possessive, defensive, superior way, to define
insiders and keep outsiders away? When
Shannon and I were on our “settlement charge” in eastern Saskatchewan in the
late 1980s, I remember a village about 45 minutes south of us which had a gas
station with a small convenience store and a couple of big round tables where
the locals would sit and chat. Once or
twice we had the occasion to stop for gas and when I walked in the door to pay,
the sense of “we” in that room clearly did not include me. The message of non-belonging and un-welcome was
clearly articulated by the sudden silence at the table and an intense glare
that said “pay for your fuel, and hit the road”. And that’s just on the small scale; imagine
what it’s like in to live your life knowing that there is an approved WE or US,
you need to think a certain way, believe a certain way, and be of an approved
sexual orientation, citizenship status and ethnic background, “or else.”
The importance of having
healthy connections where the words “we” “us” and “our” are broad, invitational
words for the good of everyone was well known to Jesus. When teaching his disciples how to pray
(Matthew 6: 9-13), Jesus started with a word of togetherness and common connection,
the word OUR: “Our Father, who art in heaven”. When asked which commandment was
the greatest, Jesus answered not with one commandment, but two: one that made
clear a sense of belonging with God, “You must love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind”; and a second one, calling
on his followers to create a broad sense of belonging that goes beyond family
and friends, “You must love your neighbour as yourself”. (Matthew 22:
37-39) Here, I recall the memorable teachings of Cynthia Bourgeault, who notes
that Jesus is not directing us merely to love our neighbour as much as we love
ourselves, but to love one’s neighbour AS “oneself”, to expand our whole sense
of personhood so that your neighbour is considered an extension of you. That is as strong a sense of “we”, “us” and
“our” as one could possibly have.
When I first settled on the
145th Psalm as the scripture that I’d be focusing on this morning,
what drew me was that it was a song of praise, an outflowing our unreserved love
for God. Amidst the general bleakness of
November, the solemnity of Remembrance Day, and the ongoing worries perpetuated
by agents of Empire in our world, this scripture re-grounds us in the awesome
glory of God. Something we don’t see in
our English translations of this Psalm, is that in its original Hebrew version,
Psalm 145 takes the form of an alphabetical acrostic, where the first word of
the first verse starts with the first Hebrew letter, alef, the first
word of the second verse starts with the second Hebrew letter, bet, the
first word of the third verse starts with the third Hebrew letter, gimel,
and so on to the end of the alphabet. Within this clever structure, the Psalmist
basically finds as many nice things to say about God as there are letters in
the alphabet, implying, in English terms, everything from A to Z is all about
the goodness and glories of God. We
heard just a snippet of this Psalm but if we carry through the whole thing, God
is described as great beyond understanding, glorious and majestic, kind and
good and wonderful. God is
compassionate, loving, patient and faithful, God is glorious and eternal, the
one who reigns for ever. And in case all
of these superlatives make God seem a bit distant, we also hear of God’s
concern for those who are in trouble, those who have fallen, those who hunger,
and all who sincerely call on God for help.
At times, I get so busy with small
but pressing tasks, and weighed down with big worries about the world we live
in, that I lose sight of these magnificent qualities of God, the author of all
creativity and goodness. Psalm 145 speaks of God, the Holy One, the One who
calls us together in service and in praise, the one who focuses our sense of
WE, US and OUR in all people, all of creation being loved by this one,
wonderful God. And the United Church
Creed begins with the words, “WE are not alone, WE live in God’s world” and
concludes, “In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with US. WE are not
alone. Thanks be to God” which once more uses the words WE and US in ways that
are broad and inviting. “We” to me is
everyone who, in any way, recognizes the power of God’s love in their lives,
and the “us” is all of us who share this planet. God implores us to not get
lured into a small sense of WE and a mean-spirited sense of US and OUR. This Psalm is not only designed to praise every
aspect of God’s goodness, but to name all the good qualities and potentials
that God has placed in our hearts. In
this, Psalm 145 bridges those two parts of Christ’s great commandment, for when
we love God wholeheartedly, we in turn find ourselves empowered to truly
embrace our neighbours as self, and to take it personally when any are being
targeted, demeaned, or made to feel unsafe. Not just the neighbours that look familiar and
sound familiar, not just those we’ve known forever and are comfortable with,
but all the beloved ones of God with whom we share this planet.
In all of this, I am well
aware that none of this is as simple as words on a page. Most of the Bible was written at a time when the
author’s people were overrun by their militarized neighbours, Egypt or Assyria
or Babylonia or Rome, and that would not be lost on the poet who wrote the 145th
Psalm. The sharply divided world of
today, defined by ideologies, ethnicities and religious differences, fuelled by
the need to obliterate those who don’t fit the narrower definitions of WE, US
and OUR is such a mess that it’s hard to even know where to start. And as we prepare for Remembrance Day this
Tuesday, honouring all aspects of peace-making as we wear red poppies of
remembrance and white poppies of peace, we cannot help but recall the grim decision
to take up arms that reshaped so many lives, and ended others. Living as we do, in a broken world, creates
dilemmas that have no good solutions.
And yet… and yet… we are called, in the midst of all that, to choose a
life in which WE, US and OUR find their footing in a broad-based commitment to
hope, and love, and peacemaking. WE and
US are words of reconciliation and harmony as OUR common goals. And knowing how
hard it is to actually reach beyond our usual circles of comfort, we rely on
God’s infinite grace, to help us learn how to be to the greatest benefit of
all, as people who strive to love the God of all creation, and to love all
manner of neighbours in this beautifully diverse world.
We are reminded this morning,
of who we are and whose we are, in the biggest, broadest ways, children of the
living God. May our sense of WE and US
continue to grow, may OUR yearnings be God’s yearnings, may we help to usher in
a world of encouragement, compassion, lovingkindness, and peace. Amen.
References cited and/or consulted:
Bartel, LeRoy. “Hymns of Praise.” https://www.facebook.com/groups/coffeewithlord/posts/24298862573058120/
Bourgeault, Cynthia. The Wisdom Jesus:
Transforming Heart and Mind—A New Perspective on Christ and His Message (Shambhala: 2008), 31-32. Accessed via the 17 January 2019 daily email
of www.centerforactionandcontemplation.com
deClaisse-Walford, Nancy. https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-25/commentary-on-psalm-1451-8-4
Jewish Virtual Library. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-hebrew-alphabet-aleph-bet
McCormack, Gavin. https://www.montessori.org/what-happens-when-are-children-know-they-are-truly-loved/
McGowan, Emily. https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/third-place-community-spaces/
Project for Public Spaces,
“Ray Oldenburg”. https://www.pps.org/article/roldenburg
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