Tuesday, September 20, 2011

"Scapegoat"

Well boys and girls, how about another history lesson with maybe a moral point?  Scapegoat has its beginning in Judaism, the roots of Christianity.  This referred to a goat upon whose head were symbolically placed the sins of the people after which he was sent into the wilderness as part of Yom Kippur (also known as Day of Atonement).  With that background you may want to think more about the 'atonement' of Jesus.  Is it such a big step in imagery when a faith community is defining for itself the death of Jesus-seems like I recall a bible verse about it 'being better that one man should die than a nation suffer.'  Indeed, one definition of scapegoat is "one bears the blame for others."  I wonder if we had only the Gospel of Mark if we would have this atonement view today (but that discussion is for another time).
"One that bears the blame for others." 'Jimmy, if you had made your free throws we would have won the game.' 'It is the European debt crisis that is the problem with the stock market.' 'The politicians in Washington are the problem with this country.' 'If we just got rid of the illegal aliens more Americans would have jobs.' 'Gay rights are the threat to the sanctity of marriage and morality in America.'  And a big one-how about those Muslims-which goes back at least to the 11th century.  A pope stirred the troops for the Crusades by naming all Muslims as infidels who were the threat.  Still threatened, mosques are burned in America.
You get the picture-blame others.  Two other definitions for scapegoat are: "one that is the object of irrational hostility" (picture some of the political landscape as we prepare for 2012 elections) and "move responsibility away from ourselves and towards a target person or group." Now it comes into focus.  Whether it is a basketball game, stock market plunge, jobs, morality, government, or even the church we seem to need to find a scapegoat-someone to take the blame for us.
Now if it was simply taking the blame it might not be too bad.  We find our scapegoats in the stormy sea of hurtful words and hateful actions and someone is always willing to take action to have the scapegoat pay for our sins.  All it takes is for someone to point out who is to blame for my life, societies ills, governments failure.  I wonder if it time to take back shared responsibility for what is happening in our society, our government, our moral climate, world affairs and stop looking for a scapegoat.  Then again, I think our troubles come from 'head-in-the-clouds' retired preachers-let's seize their computers!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

"Dead as a Doornail"

I first heard this phrase as a young boy watching my dad and my uncles standing around a car that wouldn't start.  The hood was up and the 'hoods' were peering into the engine.  When someone turned the key the engine sounded like an old man clearing his throat first thing in the morning.  This was followed by stares, a moment of silence, and then cursing (I had to learn the words somewhere).  Finally, one of my uncles stabbed his finger at the battery and said "It's dead as a doornail."  While the adults all seemed to understand I was confused.  I really wasn't clear yet on what it meant for something to be dead (except for the worm I had recently pressed into the sidewalk).  Was the worm also dead as a doornail?

We were talking one Sunday morning before worship and she mentioned that she had had the talk with their adult children.  "I told them when I die they can do whatever they want with my body.  They can bury it or dump me in the river.  I'm done with it and I know where I am going."  She believes death is a doorway and the soul moves on.  But what if we are dead as a doornail?  And what about that creedal statement where we say we believe in "the resurrection of the body?"  What other adults seem to understand about death still leaves me confused.

I understand the need for comfort and reassurance when our loved ones die (wouldn't be much of a pastor if I didn't).  I appreciate the power of believing our loved ones are watching over us or that, upon our death, we will be reunited with them.  While I was officiating at funerals I cannot recall one time where I looked at the family and said-"Well, it looks like your loved one is dead as a doornail."

But I believe that is what the Bible teaches and what radical faith asks of us.  Dead is dead no matter how many books are written by people who have been to or seen others in heaven.  That doornail reference, as I understand it, is saying a doornail is no longer useful once it was nailed to the door.  They recycled nails back then but not the doornail.  One and done.

We tend to talk about believing in the resurrection of the dead but believe more like the ancient Greeks.  Many of them looked at the body and soul as two separate pieces of us and death was where the soul left the now unneeded body.  I don't know what is on the other side of death so please don't take my thoughts as inspired wisdom or truth.  I do believe the Bible is a more radical book than we choose to see most of the time.  It takes a lot of faith to believe in a God who will not abandon or let go of those who are dead as a doornail.  I hold to the belief that God will not let the dead stay dead.  Until the resurrection I believe the dead wait in the presence of God.  I don't know or really care what this looks like.  I don't expect some kind of doorway at my death.  I'm just going to be dead as a doornail UNTIL a loving God recycles me to a new life.  If it turns out I am wrong I will try to send word back to you all.