Sermons from Park Hill Congregational UCC Denver, Colorado Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] June 2, 2019 “Memo to Franklin Graham” 1st Timothy 2: 1-3 – Common English Bible First of all, then, I ask that requests, prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving be made for all people. 2 Pray for kings and everyone who is in authority so that we can live a quiet and peaceful life in complete godliness and dignity. 3 This is right and it pleases God our savior. Franklin Graham called for a nationwide observance of prayer for the president today, Sunday, June 2. So, in response, on Facebook I declared today a day to pray that the country be saved from the President. Or as someone else said better, to pray for the victims of the president. A woman who follows me on Facebook sent an angry text accusing me of asking people to pray against the president. So, let me be clear. I believe we should pray for the president. That’s a clear instruction in the Book of First Timothy. The question is for what are we praying? For that, we’ll also look at First Timothy. But first, here is what Graham wrote: “President Trump’s enemies continue to try everything to destroy him, his family, and the presidency. I believe the only hope for him, and this nation, is God. This is a critical time for America. We’re on the edge of a precipice. Time is short. We need to pray for God to intervene. We need to ask God to protect, strengthen, encourage, and guide the President.”[1] There are things in that statement with which I agree. God’s intervention. God’s guidance. But the not-so-subtle subtext of the declaration is for God to intervene against the president’s “enemies.” To strengthen him against his enemies, who in other settings his supporters have called “demonic.”[2] To use the word “demonic” and “enemies” about fellow citizens is to invite people who are unstable to carry out a righteous crusade for God that includes bloodshed.[3] In my first sermon after the election I also prayed for intervention.[4] The intervention of the Holy Spirit. Prayer that the “matches of the arsonists won’t light; that the paint of the spray cans malfunction. So that the tongues of bullies are tamed and the spirits of the victims are lifted.” As I said then, my prayer is not for the failure of the president but that our country be saved from the apocalyptic nightmare candidate Donald Trump promised. Promises made. Promises kept.[5] When the president was first elected, some Episcopalians faced a dilemma.[6] In the Book of Common Prayer, followed by Anglicans around the globe, among the prayers of intercession is a line to pray for the president by name every week, or the leader of the country in which a congregation is praying. That took on new meaning when I worshiped in a church in Thailand that follows the Book of Common Prayer. We prayed for the King of Thailand by name, adding a word of gratitude for the freedom to worship. But among the responses to the 2016 election was a parish in California that refused to say the name Donald because, the priest explained, his name is “literally a trauma trigger to some people.”[7] Debate ensued. Michael Curry is the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in America. He made history as the first African American presiding bishop. But Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made him famous with his powerful sermon on love at their wedding. About this controversy over prayer he wrote: “I grew up in a historically black congregation in the Episcopal Church. We prayed for leaders who were often lukewarm or even opposed to our very civil rights. We got on our knees in church and prayed for them. And then we got up off our knees and we Marched on Washington. Following the way of Jesus, we prayed and protested at the same time. We prayed for our leaders who were fighting for our civil rights, we prayed for those with whom we disagreed, and we even prayed for those who hated us. And we did so following in the way of Jesus whose way is of unselfish, sacrificial love. And that way is the way that can set us all free.”[8] He added, “Prayer is not a simplistic cheer or declaration of support. Prayers of lament [,for example,] cry out in pain and cry for justice.” When we pray for the president, we are actually praying for our nation. As another person said, “Prayer is not endorsement. It is a plea to God for change.” And yet, the question remained, must we use his name? People have argued that we should say “45” instead of Trump. Or simply say the “Occupant of the White House.” Or, following in the form of Voldemort in the Harry Potter novels, “You-Know-Who” or “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.” But the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, also written by Luke, refer to the ruling authorities by name all the time. The Roman Emperors Augustus, Tiberius, and Claudius. Quirinius, the governor of Syria. Herod the Great – who was really awful. Herod Antipas – who was even worse. Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea. One commentator observed that without grounding prayer in that kind of specific reality, it is just vague piety. Names represent reality.[9] Whether we speak the name or not, the author of First Timothy is certainly clear: “I ask that requests, prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving be made for all people. Pray for kings and everyone who is in authority.” Another translation ups the word “ask” and says “I urge you to pray” for them. Please note, however, the prayer is not for God to intervene on behalf of the king, emperor, or president to prevail over his enemies. So maybe in the Old Testament when religion and the governing authorities were the same thing, prayers might have included the vanquishing of one’s enemies, but we are reminded that there were also times when religion and state were not the same thing, such as when the Israelites were in Babylon and the prophet Jeremiah told the exiles to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile, because if it prospers, you will prosper too.” Which is certainly one reason we shouldn’t pray against any one. But for what does this text ask us to pray? “That we may live a quiet and peaceful life in complete godliness and dignity.” Sounds nice. I’d like some peace and quiet out of Washington. But what does that mean? Or perhaps a better question is to ask first: what did it mean then? Because it’s important to know a little something about the rest of the first letter to Timothy.[10] The letter itself claims to have been written by Paul, but that is highly unlikely. Scholars date it to approximately the year 125, long after the death of Paul and other first-generation followers of Jesus. By that time, the concerns of the early Christians changed from being a radical movement to an institution. First Timothy is full of concerns for the institutionalization of the church – describing the qualifications of bishops and deacons and regulating the conduct and even dress of the congregations. It is also here that we get such problematic texts as “women must keep silence in the church” and how only “worthy” widows should receive assistance from the church. Women here are told their salvation is found in child-bearing. The author also commands the obedience of slaves to their masters. If your master is a Christian, you should want to be an even better slave. Within this context of six short chapters, we start to get a better idea of what the author means to pray for kings and other authorities. It’s a radical departure from the early Christians who practiced an unusual form of equality among “Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free,” as written in the letter to the Galatians.[11] Paul describes women as equals in spreading the gospel and leading the church. Women like Tabitha were disciples. Paul commended Phoebe, describing her as a leader of the church. Priscilla. Junia, an apostle. Junia landed in jail for her role as a church leader. Paul celebrated these and other women whose names I don’t want to try to pronounce in front of you.[12] But it seems like the farther the church got from Jesus and Paul, the more it adopted the culture around it. Or, rather, accommodated itself to patriarchal culture around it. So that men wouldn’t have to explain any more why they weren’t like “real men.” Throughout First Timothy, the quiet and peaceful and dignified context of the church was described as a “household.” Household sounds nice, except when what that really means is that the man is back at the top of the order. Quietness through repression. Peace through hierarchical order. The way the emperors ruled the Roman Empire. Could Jesus have really wanted that to happen among his followers? Or the “real” Paul? First Timothy speaks nothing of grace, another clue that this isn’t Paul. The word love is almost completely missing. I had previously understood the instruction for women to keep silent in the church as simply the description of a problem that women kept yelling over at their husbands during worship to explain what was being said. I bought into the explanation that they should talk later. But the real “problem” was that men were tired of women exercising leadership and wanted it to stop.[13] To bring about peace and quiet. Franklin Graham cites the First Timothy text we read today in his call to pray for the president. What is the quiet and peaceful life in complete godliness and dignity that he seeks? A world of:
I totally agree with Franklin Graham on one point: “I believe the only hope for the president, and this nation, is God. This is a critical time for America. We’re on the edge of a precipice. Time is short. We need to pray for God to intervene.” In Fiddler on the Roof, the rabbi was asked whether there was a proper blessing for the Czar. The rabbi answered, “A blessing for the Czar? Of course! May God bless and keep the Czar … far away from us!” But seriously, for what should we pray? The Book of Common Prayer includes this Prayer for the President: “Grant to the President of the United States, the Governor of this State, and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and do your will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in your fear.” And so as I believe we should, for our president, Donald Trump, we pray. That’s prayer #19. Prayer #18, a prayer for our country, comes first. Dear God, “Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home…” These words were not written yesterday, though they could have been. Although if it were written yesterday they would have hopefully clarified the words “multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues.” That’s about as clear as Robert Mueller press conference. The prayer is closer to the quote by Emma Lazarus on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Many kindreds and tongues? Many nations, races, and languages. Bishop Curry said, “We got on our knees in church and prayed for [our leaders]. And then we got up off our knees and we Marched on Washington. Following the way of Jesus, we prayed and protested at the same time. We prayed for our leaders who were fighting for our civil rights, we prayed for those with whom we disagreed, and we even prayed for those who hated us. And we did so following in the way of Jesus whose way is of unselfish, sacrificial love. And that way is the way that can set us all free.” That’s my prayer. Can I get an Amen? [1] https://www.newsweek.com/evangelist-franklin-graham-calls-christians-pray-god-intervene-strengthening-1436861 [2] https://qz.com/1610930/a-national-day-of-prayer-guest-drove-the-demons-out-of-trumps-white-house/ [3] Pizzagate? [4] https://davidbahr.weebly.com/blog/may-the-intervention-of-the-holy-spirit-save-us-from-an-apocalyptic-nightmare [5]https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2019/01/21/trump039s_two_years_of_promises_made_promises_kept_463926.html [6] https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2017/01/23/after-presidential-power-shifts-episcopalians-ask-how-should-we-pray/ [7] https://juicyecumenism.com/2017/01/09/donald-trump-prayer/ [8] http://time.com/4635116/pray-donald-trump-inauguration/ [9] https://smith975.com/ [10] An excellent source of information is from The Women’s Bible Commentary, section written by Joanna Dewey. Also see Marcus J. Borg, Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books Were Written [11] 3:28 [12] https://sojo.net/articles/women-leaders-early-church [13] The Women’s Bible Commentary
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI love being a Archives
March 2024
|