Let Me See Your Papers

This is a sermon that I wrote for my "Preaching as Pastoral Care" class in response to a situation where the church was casting out others based on the simple fact that the congregation was made uncomfortable by them, due to something they could not control.  Since this happens all too often and is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately, I wanted to post this for people to ponder over. Enjoy!

¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

John 2: 15-17

 

           

         

            The opening scenes of the recent film adaption of the classic, “Les Miserable” by Victor Hugo show a man, Jean Valjean, being “released” from slavery into a life where he will always be on parole and must check in with the authorities every 30 days.  As he travels the French countryside in search of a new life, Valjean stops and asks for work from a man who immediately asks for his papers, and upon seeing the terms of his “release” tells him there is no work for him.  Valjean continues his journey, stopping to warm his hands and body by a fire pit but is turned away by the others because of his papers- mind you, these people do not appear to be of any wealthy status and are likely freed slaves as well.  Finally, a priest takes him into the convent and gives him a warm meal and place to sleep.  In the middle of the night, Valjean fills his bag with all of the silver that he can and flees the convent only to be caught by the authorities, beat up, and returned to the convent.  “He says you gave him this,” the authorities tell the priest as they open the bag to reveal all of the silver. 

            Most of us can probably think of a time when we were shunned and cast out by those who we were sure would accept us or maybe we have even done the shunning. It happens in our schools as children who might not dress the same or play the same games are left out of the circle.  It happens in the workplace when someone may not be on the same track as the others- working either above or below standard.  It happens in families when a family member messes up one time too many and the rest of the family is tired of dealing with it.  It even happens in churches when someone doesn’t fit in with the rest of the congregation- maybe it is because of their job, their economic status, where they live, what they believe or how they think.  What it all boils down to is that when someone makes us uncomfortable, we turn them away- sometimes telling them that there is another place to go that could be better for them.

            What I find most interesting about all of this is the similarity to those who Jesus walked among and ministered to.  His community had its own social groups and pinned other groups as “good” and “bad” doing all that they could to keep their distance from them.  The Pharisees and Sadducees agreed on a few things, but not most, while he Herodians would collaborate with the Pharisees to establish grounds for Jesus to be destroyed.  Jews and Samarians were taught that it was wrong to have any contact with the opposite group.  Jews couldn’t decide how they felt about the Gentiles but the overall feeling was generally negative while some Gentiles openly hated the Jews and others were actually attracted to the Jewish religion.  Like I said- we are not too different with our own divisions.

Do you remember the woman at the well? John 4 recounts Jesus’ journey through the Samaritan city called Sychar where he stopped to rest at a well.  While he was resting there, a Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus, a Jew, asked her for a drink.  During their discussion about living water, it is revealed that this woman has had not one, but five husbands and the man she is now with is in fact not her husband.  Even today this situation is one that would likely be frowned upon, however they continue talking and Jesus reveals himself to her as the Messiah just before the Disciples arrive.

            Maybe you remember this parable that Jesus told the lawyers in the Gospel of Luke- A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them.  Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  The next day he took out two denarii (a denarii is equivalent to about a day’s wage), gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”

            If those don’t spark a memory, maybe this last one will- “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.  He climbed up in a sycamore tree For the Lord he wanted to see.  And when the Savior passed that way He looked up in the tree.  And said, 'Zacchaeus, you come down! For I'm going to your house today! For I'm going to your house today!”  This song is one that many of us might remember singing as children learning about the way in which Jesus reached out to this tax collector, a man who no one else in town would have paid any attention to if they could help it.

            What do these three stories have to do with anything? The Samaritan woman, the injured man, and Zacchaeus are all three people who according to society should have never been approached by the one who did approach them.  The Samaritan woman was seen as unclean at best, not to mention the traditions of separation between Samaritans and Jews.  We aren’t told which social class the injured man belongs to, but it is probably a safe guess that the Samaritan should have never approached him.  Zacchaeus was a tax collector- if we can’t stand them now, how can we fault people for wanting to get rid of them then?  However, in all three situations Jesus was the one approaching the unapproachable or teaching this unheard of action.

            Jesus lived his life in a way that reached out to “the least of these,” living among the shunned and eating with them.  Jesus’ life was in no way conventional.  The Disciples had a hard time understanding this, probably wondering if this man they were following was even sane.  In fact, we find this in this morning’s reading when Jesus called Levi to follow him; he sat for dinner at Levi’s house where he ate with tax collectors and sinners.  When the scribes and the Pharisees asked why he ate with these sinners, Jesus responded “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

           

            There we have it- Jesus sat and talked with the unclean Samaritan woman, called on Zacchaeus, and taught the lawyers about neighbors through the story of the Good Samaritan because these three people, cast out by everyone else, were the most in need.  Jesus did not come to teach the taught, heal the well, or save the saved.  If that were the point of Jesus’ life here on earth, there would be no point.  Jesus came to eat with the sinners, sit with the shunned, and reach out to the ignored.

            Every week we spend time talking and thinking about the ways that we do and can live our lives in a way that most reflects the life of Jesus.  We would be making a very large mis-step if we were to ignore this very prominent factor of his life.  In a world that is divided based on faith, politics, economy, education, race, sex, and age among countless other divisions, we are given countless opportunities to reflect Jesus’ actions in our lives.  Or not.

            Take a moment to think.  When have you been cast out or ignored because you thought differently or acted differently from those around you? How did you feel? How do you wish the situation had been handled? Now, think about a time when you were the one that cast out or ignored someone because they thought or acted differently from you? Why did you do it? Did it solve any problems? Were they helped by your actions?

            This is a hard thing for all of us to think about, likely because we have all experienced this in one way or another.  It is a fact of life.  We want to be comfortable and when someone or something comes into our bubble that makes us uncomfortable, something must be done about it.  What we need to pay attention to is the way that we respond when this happens.  Our church continually tries to pop our own bubble as we go down the street to the Mayview retirement community and nursing home to worship with the residents every few months; our members drive the van to pick up the elderly and help them to run errands every week; and we work along side a variety of people when we go to the food bank.  However, occasionally the mold is broken.  I have sat in these pews and watched the homeless find a place to sit apart from everyone and I have stood here at the pulpit and watched the unsure slip in and out of the balcony before anyone even knows they were here.  Our response to these people and even our own family and neighbors who might “break the mold” on occasion is what is most important.  We can do one of two things- we can get rid of the change that makes us uncomfortable, or we can find a way to accommodate and most importantly welcome it into our lives as we make adjustments in our own actions and thoughts that may not necessarily reform our lives, but transform them in a way that we can be ourselves as we allow the same freedom for those around us.

            Jesus never cast out or ignored those who might have made him uncomfortable.  Instead, Jesus welcomed them into his life with open arms and an open heart.  Jesus sat with them and spoke with them, learning from them as they learned from him.  I don’t remember any part of the Bible that tells us that Jesus forced his opinion on them or turned them away because he just couldn’t figure out what to do with them.

            Being Christian doesn’t mean that life is made any easier- if anything, it makes it harder.  As Christians, we are called to live a life that reflects that model life of Christ.  At times this might be relatively easy- typically the times and situations when we are most comfortable with the decisions that we have to make.  However, I would venture to say that many times, our call to live a life reflective of Christ is quite difficult- the times when we are pushed out of our comfort zone. 

When I was in elementary school it was very easy to identify most of the Christian students because it was fashionable to wear bracelets with the letters “WWJD” woven into them.  WWJD- What would Jesus do?  These bracelets were traded and collected- some kids would have up to ten on their arm at one time.  Occasionally, they were even just given away to someone who didn’t have one but wanted one.  That was how I got my first one.  If someone had this bracelet that was supposed to make them think twice about their actions, they were accepted with excitement into the world or trading and collecting- if someone happened to have a rainbow or tie-dye bracelet it trumped the multiple bracelets that others wore.  That was the problem though- the bracelet was supposed to make a person think twice about their actions, yet it was the center of a new clique that formed with rules about who was in and who was out, a very ironic situation considering Jesus wouldn’t have any of these rules.  These bracelets served as our “papers” in a way. 

As we look at our own lives- personal, family, work, social, and even church- who are we asking for papers? What do we require those papers to say? Are we turning people away to help them or are we turning them away to help ourselves? What could we learn if we simply poked a hole in the walls of our comfort zone before we took the even harder step to tear down the walls? 

I bet we would see that we have just as many problems as those around us, our different thoughts and beliefs might just be different approaches to the same solution, and maybe- just maybe, we are all looking for the same thing in this crazy journey called life- a way to see the love of God more clearly in our own life.  That person across the street isn’t that different from us and neither is the person down the pew.  Once we are able to recognize this, maybe then we can take a step forward in a way that reflects Christ’s actions and begin to learn from one another.

When the authorities returned Jean Valjean and the stolen silver to the convent in Les Miserables, the response from the priest was not at all what they expected to hear.  “He says you gave him this,” the authorities tell the priest as they open the bag to reveal all of the silver.  “He tells the truth- however, I can’t believe you forgot what I told you last night… these are yours as well.  How can you forget the most precious pieces?” replies the priest, handing Valjean two silver candlesticks.  The authorities release Valjean and leave him with the priest who tells Valjean to take the silver and use it to turn his life around.

In a world that stops everyone in their tracks, asking to see papers that say that what they do and think and feel fits in the pre-defined mold for the day, people look toward the church for acceptance.  If we don’t live as Christ did and break the mold to offer acceptance to those who are different from us in our own personal life and family life as well as here in God’s house, just as the priest in Les Miserable did, how can we live it out in the world beyond these four walls and how can we expect others to extend the same openness to us?