Sunday, June 30, 2019
2 Kings 2:1-2,6-14; Galatians 5:1,13-25; Luke 9:51-62
Luke 9:62 “Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’"
Galatians 5:14 “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’"
Second Kings 2:14 “…He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, ‘Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?’ When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.”
The lessons for Sunday are a preacher’s smorgasbord. The Gospel offers a stern warning: “Don’t look back.” Paul offers all of those who live by the law a single command: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And in Second Kings we find the prophet’s mantle passed from Elijah to Elisha. To meditate on that text one needs the music from “Chariots of Fire” playing in the background.
In the Iowa Conference, June 30 is a time to say farewell to pastors who are moving. And we are close to the Fourth of July, a time to celebrate love for country and so on. So what is the preacher to do?
Recently Jan gave me the book Songs of America, written by John Meacham and Tim McGraw. The subtitle is Patriotism, Protest, and the Music that Made a Nation. The writers make the case for music that gives courage to a nation. Ken Burns reminds us that we hear the history of America, right and wrong, in song. Songs of America make it possible to find truth. And certainly the genius of the Christian faith rides on the words of the hymns great and small. It occurs to me that we the church are saved by our music. Music softens and justifies, and makes it possible for us to endure and overcome. The writers ask, “What indeed would the civil rights movement have been without the promise that we shall overcome?” Such music led us to what Martin Luther King, Jr., would call the beloved community. It is said that King wept as he listened to Lyndon Johnson speak the words “we shall overcome” to Congress in his speech to justify the passing of the voting rights bill. The song of a movement had become the mantra of a president.
In recent times we the Church have been rather hard on ourselves. And part of our problem is that we have moved away from the great hymns of the faith. The theology of Methodism was taught in those wonderful hymns of Charles Wesley. I thought about this as I listened to a praise band at our recent Annual Conference. The young people were full of energy and doing their best. But one thing was lacking: they needed to connect with our traditions, our past, to make it work.
I still remember attending the first jazz worship service in the stately Perkins Chapel at SMU in the 1960s. Its reception got mixed reviews. But that day, “Love divine, all loves excelling” put to jazz took on a whole new meaning for me.
I have always thought that God must have sung the world into being. Job reminds us that the very vaults of heaven ring. And Psalm 150 would have us turn with unspeakable praise—to include all of the instruments of sound. We are not there yet with our music, but it can happen.
June 30 is also the day to bid farewell to pastors who are moving on. What I learned in more than 50 years as a pastor is that in this business, we make more friends than we can keep. Moving is always an interruption, there are things left undone. But, we see old Elijah moving on in a chariot of fire, leaving behind the young turk Elisha. The torch is passed to the next generation. And that is our call, to trust the system and let the new pastor do her/his thing.
As I age I think more about America. What does it mean to this theologian, who sometimes argued about where or if the flag belonged in the sanctuary? Then I remembered some words about a school bus driver:
“Staring at the faces in a rear view mirror,
looking at the promise of the promised land,
one kid dreams of fame and fortune
one kid helps to pay the rent
One could end up going to prison
One just might be president
Only in America
Dreaming in red, white, and blue
Only in America
Where we dream as big as we want to
We all get a chance
Everybody gets to dance
Only in America!”
– Words by Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn
These dreams can be true, especially if we take seriously Paul’s command in Galatians to “love the neighbor as we love ourselves.” Anyhow, whether you stay or move, let’s take Saint Francis’ advice to “keep on preaching and when necessary use words.”
Dear God, Creator of heaven and earth, giver of life and breath, maker of color and beauty, empower us to sing your praise, care for your earth, protect the weak, and celebrate the gift of life. We pray in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
The Rev. Bill Cotton of Des Moines, Iowa is a retired clergy member of the Iowa Annual Conference. This post is republished from his blog, MEMO for Those Who Preach, which he distributes by email.