Fight the Power

Our son David just finished boot camp for the Coast Guard. Came home clean shaven, crew cut, and very tired. Regaled us with stories. Some funny, some hard.

I was worried for Dave. I was. My worry was due to the sort of parenting I gave him. Thought it might not help him.  Some parents tell kids to have fun at school, behave, or learn. I was most likely to tell my children, "fight the power." Such advice and counsel might delay, derail a young recruit in the armed services.

My fears came to the surface when Dave recounted how a direction I gave to him was a big part of his time at boot camp.  He explained, "you always said, 'discipline is the key; you have to have discipline.' Every day they shouted at us, 'you have no discipline.  We will give you discipline.' And every time they shouted, I saw your face."

              I was a bit nervous.  Every time they shouted I saw your face is not a pleasant image.  But then I could sense and see amidst the shouting and the hazing, he found it.  In his calm and assurance I could see he found the freedom of discipline, experienced the joy, euphoria that comes to you when discipline gives you power and this power is freedom to live well, live with purpose, live at peace with yourself.

              Discipline is not a positive term today.  Often associated with punishment or guilt.  A disciplinary panel is not something you look forward to. Discipline can mean the negative consequences you face for poor choices, for bad acting.  Discipline can be punitive.  Yet, at its root discipline means to be a student, to follow, to obey a rule.  Discipline is needed: this is what I said to Dave and to all my children.  Fight the power, of course. But to fight the power you must have discipline.  You need to develop the habits, achieve an order, make your bed. 

              Ten years ago, Marie Kondo had a best-selling book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying-up.  Great book.  Easy to read, easy to follow.  The true greatness of her work is found in the single discipline of place.  Marie Kondo teaches an ancient lesson, everything has a place, there is a place for everything.  The power of her little book is to call the reader to practice this truth. 

              If you follow her method in its fullness, you first declutter your house, give away all things not necessary to happiness.  In the possibility of a decluttered space, you can find a place for what remains.  Socks go where socks go; books go were books go; glasses and dishes go where glasses and dishes go.  Everything that is important to you has a place, and there is a place for every important thing.

              Sounds simple. 

              It is. 

              This is very simple. 

              But if you lack discipline, you will soon see socks are just about everywhere; books are left just about any place flat, and glasses and dishes seem to belong on kitchen counters or a sink.    

              If you apply her method, the method of tidying-up, what you will find is discipline, and with this discipline the freedom to live with clarity and order.  I love when I put a dish in the sink and hear her voice: this lovely dish is almost home.  Perhaps this lovely dish would be happier if it were in the dish washer. Put this where it belongs.  I am not sure Marie Kondo would make a good drill sergeant for the armed services, but she does create discipline.

              The most beautiful image of discipline I have ever encountered was something I witnessed in a nursing home.  Every evening a husband would come to dine with his wife who was a resident in memory care.  They would eat dinner together each night and then before he left he would ask his wife to dance.  I witnessed this because when he made this invitation all the staff, each night, stopped what they were doing.  This is what caught my attention.  All the aids and nurses just stopped what they were doing to watch him extend his hand and watch her rise to his arms and then dance.  At the end of the dance he kissed her cheek and bid her good night.

              A nurse turned to me as the husband left and said, "every night.  They dance every night." That is a discipline, a habit, a method.  It was also one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed.  He came each day is lovely and devoted.  That they dinned together each evening is a ritual, a habit.  But the dance was the freedom you find, the potential joy, in order, in a rule. 

              The Rabbi Abram Heschel described the Sabbath like this.  Before I read his short work, The Sabbath, I thought keeping the Sabbath was a rule, a discipline, an order of time.  Six days work, one day rest, keep the sabbath holy.  Before I encountered Heschel, the sabbath was a ritual, a routine, a habit.  As I read his description I realized all this was true, but my understanding was also completely false.  I could see the power of order, but I didn't realize the freedom of the power.

              For Heschel the sabbath was much like the husband extending a hand to dance.  Each week the presence of the living of God extends a hand inviting you to dance, to embrace, to be wrapped in the glorious presence of joy.  The rules, the restrictions, the dietary codes all of this is not the point at all.  The discipline is not an attempt to control life, the discipline of the sabbath, to keep it, is to find freedom, to dance. 

              If you read Heschel's little book what you will find is a whole new way of looking at time.  Sabbath is not a day of the week, it is the way life is lived anticipating hope and happiness, the way life finds its true purpose in freedom.  The sabbath is not a thing; she is a person, a living presence.  Time becomes a loving spouse inviting you to dance.

              Of all the teachings of Jesus, his claim about the sabbath is perhaps his most provocative and at the same time least understood.  To say the sabbath was made for us, and we are the lord of the sabbath, this was blasphemy, a dangerous claim to the Pharisees.  Jesus was fighting their power here.  Not just with a sense of calling out people who abuse power, he was also offering a different discipline. 

              For the Pharisees seeking to police who picks grain and when, who deviates from the rules, who doesn't follow their code, for the Pharisees Jesus was a nightmare.  It is as if he says we make the rules we follow, we are not made to follow rules.  The potential for chaos here is high.  It is as if Jesus says, follow your conscience; follow your heart.  Which sounds great but doesn't lead to peace in the land. 

              And it's true.  I didn't say to my children: follow your heart and pursue all your dreams.  No.  That is a recipe for disaster.  Learn discipline and pursue what is possible.  As they are quick to quote, I gave my children the advice of Emerson, Aim as high as you possibly can for you will surely fail.  No. I am a student of Sheryl Crow: it's not getting what you want; it's wanting you got.

              When Jesus says, the son of man is the lord of the sabbath, when he made this claim, I am sure this sounded like chaos to the Pharisees.  This sounds like license to do what you please.  It is as if the rules are whatever you find appealing.  But this is not what Jesus is teaching.  That the sabbath was made for us is to say, we are made to find freedom and so we find freedom in the sabbath made for us.  In keeping the sabbath we are set free; it is for us.  Freedom to live in the presence of God, a hand inviting us to dance.  For the pharisees this was not so.  For them, the point of life was not freedom, it became control.  Life was measured, defined by what we can control.  The Pharisees are a pure image of life reduced to what we determine.  The purpose of power for them was control, not freedom. 

              In our reading today Jesus gives a warning to the Pharisees which may not make a lot of sense.  He makes a cryptic comment about bread of presence, priests, and David.  It's a coded message, a metaphorical warning.  And the warning is this: life is dangerous, and people in power are ruthless and cruel.  Be careful to remember what you seek, whom you serve, and why. 

              David was a rebel, with rebel troops who were hungry. The priests fed his men with bread meant for religious practice, for ritual.  They broke the rules.  They also aided Saul's enemy and for this they died.  They fed David and his men and so they fed the enemy. For this they were put to death, save one, Abithar.  Saul kills the priests for helping David.  When Jesus says, don't forget David and the priests, this is a harsh word, a hard message about rules and freedom and purpose and power.  It is as if Jesus says, power and discipline and order are the pursuit of freedom and freedom doesn't come without sacrifice. 

              I want to offer a direction this morning.  I want to offer it with care and with caution.  The direction is this: fight the power seeking control.  Fight the power seeking control.  We are immersed in voices seeking to take away freedom for the possibility of control. Fight the power seeking control.

              You fight this power by seeking freedom.  Freedom to vote.  Freedom to determine your own body.  Freedom to love who you love.  Freedom from bias and prejudice.  Freedom to be seen as one with equal rights and liberty, and the freedom to exercise those rights. This is a direction I offer with care.  For I care that we ended one form of slavery and offered another.  I care that we extend freedom to women and then take it away.  I care that we say there is marriage equality without knowing for how long and where. 

              That is the direction of care; here is the caution.  Remember David and the priests.  If you fight the power of those who seek control, it is dangerous. Jesus says we are the lord of the sabbath and like the priests who fed David he was put to death. The power of control is easily provoked to violence; the power of control is not relinquished without a fight. 

              Christians today need to gain a sense of devotion, a discipline of worship and reflection, service and sacrifice.  It is not having your heart in the right place that will overcome the power of control.  Jesus calls his disciples to follow his discipline, the path of meekness and humility overcoming the darkness with courage.  Not with a prayer, but a discipline seeking freedom. 

              Last week the Southern Baptist Convention, second largest Christian organization in the United States, considered excluding women from any form of leadership, restricting them, controlling them.  The vote failed.  They needed 66% to approve; there was only 61% in favor.  The vote did not fail as a matter of principle; the vote failed because people were afraid such an attempt to control would be met with resistance. 

              It is good the vote failed, but we should remember the largest Christian organization, the Roman Catholic Church, is not having a vote; they have a clear rule, women are to be controlled, not empowered. 

              Fight the power seeking control.  Celebrate Juneteenth, celebrate Pride month.  By all means.  But then, fight the power seeking control.  Find truth in freedom.  Amen.