February 12 - A Revolutionary Community

February 12, 2012               A Revolutionary Community

Anchor: We are a community of Artistic, Evolutionary, Revolutionary Christians

Frame: How are we a community helping change the world?

Thread: Deep in Our Hearts, Never Place a Period

Amos 5:21-24

 I hate, I despise your festivals,

   and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

 Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings,

   I will not accept them;

and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals

   I will not look upon.

 Take away from me the noise of your songs;

   I will not listen to the melody of your harps.

 But let justice roll down like waters,

   and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

The current campaign season makes it evident that something is out of whack with the world. The politicians of any and/or every party have their own take on what is wrong and how to fix it. As followers of Christ, it is the biblical perspective and the teachings of Jesus that inform both our diagnosis of the world and our approach to changing the world for the better. As the quote from Stephen Colbert says above, Jesus commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition. Jesus’ way of changing the world was bottom up. He did not call Caesar or even Herod to be a follower. Jesus began his movement by calling laborers, foreigners, and outcasts. And as followers of Jesus even 2000 years later, we are still called to work to make the world a place that values the poor and the needy, and welcomes the outcast.

Some Christians want to change the world by making some brand of Christianity the ruling political authority in the world. We look at problems like world hunger, war, disease, and prejudice and it seems like it will take the force of an atomic bomb to change anything (and there are those who propose that methodology!). Yet the foundation of Jesus’ teaching is that no force can change the world. Rather, it is love that changes hearts, lives, and the world.

The image that speaks to me about this is one of those fountains made of a large stone sphere. The water of the fountain suspends the sphere, making it spin. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-wF6m_Tj_8) A four foot granite sphere can weigh up to 23,000 pounds, which would be impossible for a person to move in a dry socket. But in this fountain even a child can turn the sphere, stop it, and spin it in a new direction. One site selling these fountains says that the water lifts the sphere by only 1/4000^th of an inch, but that is all it takes. My image in this is that as followers of Christ, as Revolutionary Christians, we are the water that enables the world to change direction.

The prophet Amos speaks in God’s voice and lambasts the people for focusing on pietism instead of caring for the needs of people. We in Arizona live in an environment that brings Amos’ vision to life. Because of the people’s neglect of God’s covenant, Amos sees the situation as a desert dry and desolate. Justice and righteousness (the same word in Hebrew) come down like monsoon rains, filling the washes and wadis. But unlike the rains that roll over the washes and flow away, righteousness and justice become an ever-flowing stream. According the Amos, God expects justice and righteousness to always flow from us into the world.

A few thoughts about the Studio: 1. We could present a “Weekend News Update” where current events items highlight the ills of the world. The Stephen Colbert quote points out that most of the problems in the world are actually rooted in apathy, not inability. Maybe we could find the video clip where Colbert speaks the quote above. 2. Videos of Arizona flash floods as the waters comes rolling through the washes would be a dynamic visual of Amos’ call. 3. We could set up a fountain in the sanctuary, and at some point turn it on so the waters begin to flow, then invite the people to come forward and feel the flowing water as an act of commitment. 4. The video of the children spinning the stone sphere is good image of being literally “revolutionary.” I wish we could find one of those to bring in but they are both incredibly heavy and prohibitively expensive. 5. Finally, Ray shared with us a video of the latest images of our world from NASA (http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201202034). Becoming a Revolutionary community means among other things to learn to see our world in a new and different way. We need to learn to see beyond our borders and concerns and see the world as God sees it. 6. One of the most overt ways that SCUCC is a Revolutionary community is through our Open and Affirming affirmation. We are working to change a world rife with prejudice, fear and hatred of sexual diversity into a place where every person is valued and treasured.