Transitional Living

“Transitional Living”, A Sermon preached by the Rev. Canon Dr. C. Denise Yarbrough on Sunday, October 23, 2011 at NPEM, New York

4The Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.” (Deuteronomy 34:4)

37He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matt. 22:27-29)

We live in a world that seems perpetually to be in the midst of cataclysmic transition. From natural disasters like the flooding that devastated parts of our own country earlier this summer, and hit Thailand this week, and earthquakes that shook parts of the eastern seaboard several weeks ago, and tornadoes that devastated southern towns in the early months of the summer and fires that raged in Texas, nature seems to be rearranging the natural landscape with alarming frequency. Then world politics continues its tumultuous trajectory as the Arab Spring gives way to the Occupy Wall Street movement, and as despotic leaders are toppled one by one in the wake of the grass roots movements towards democracy in various troubled places throughout the world. This past week saw the death of a particularly hated and despotic leader, as Moammar Gadhafi was finally gunned down by rebel forces in Libya, the result of which was much jubilation as yet another tyrannical leader met a violent end. I never rejoice in the death of a human being, even as I may breathe a sigh of relief when a cruel and despotic leader like Gadhafi finally falls from power. Gadhafi ruled for 40+ years in Libya and that country is now in the throes of the transition anxiety and chaos that often comes along when there is a change in power, particularly one as violent and contentious as this one was.

Today we read in our biblical text of the death of another Middle Eastern leader who’s tenure lasted 40 years, and what a different story it is. The reading from Deuteronomy chronicles the death of Moses, who is also eulogized as the greatest prophet Israel had ever seen. “1He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, 12and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.” While the story of the death of Gadhafi is full of violence, bloodshed, retribution and revenge, the story of Moses’ death is poignant, dignified and ultimately peaceful, even though we learn that Moses was not permitted to enter the Promised Land with his flock.

How sad it seems that Moses, who worked so diligently and faithfully leading the Israelites across the Red Sea out of Egypt into freedom, who wandered with them for 40 years in the wilderness, who saw God face to face on Mt. Sinai and received the Ten Commandments, who argued and bartered and negotiated with God on behalf of his people, even when they were mumbling and murmuring and complaining against him, how sad that he never sees the Promised Land. He gets right to the brink and then dies. It doesn’t seem fair somehow, that after all that work and all that faithfulness in the midst of harsh conditions and complaining constituents, after years of eating manna and the occasional quail and having to contend with the capriciousness of his followers, Moses doesn’t get to reap the rewards of the wilderness wanderings.

Moses’ story is powerful because it resonates so fully with the realities of all of our earthly lives. The life each of us lives on this earth for however long it lasts, is a transitional moment in the long span of history. We are each called into being by our loving God and given our vocations and callings by God. We enter into covenant with God at baptism and then spend the rest of our days living into that covenant, being faithful even when we can’t seem to see the end results we thought were awaiting us for all our efforts. And like Moses, all that we do while we wander our earthly wilderness is preparation for a future that seems always just beyond our reach. We raise our children and grandchildren to carry on after we are gone, and we try to be good stewards of our resources so that they will be there for the benefit of those who will come after us. If we are being true to our call from God, we make decisions in our lifetime that will bear fruit not only for us but for those who will follow us. Jesus summarizes God’s commandments in the simple maxim – Love God and Love your neighbor as yourself. Loving neighbor as self assumes that we will act for the benefit of others, not for our own self interest and greed.

That many people in power in our culture, both in politics and in corporate life, here and abroad do not understand this biblical wisdom about the transitional nature of earthly life is obvious. The Occupy Wall Street movement has spread not only across our country but also overseas as people take to the streets to protest political and economic leadership that has preferenced the present day comforts of the elite and wealthy at the expense of the poor and the middle class. Thousands are protesting as our modern day expectations of life in the Promised Land are dashed by corporate greed, government bailouts, political posturing and stalemates, and an ever widening gap between the wealthy and everyone else. Our biblical texts are unequivocally clear that God expects us to live in such a way as to protect the common good, to create a world in which all are fed, all are safe, and where the resources which God has made available to all of God’s children are distributed fairly among all of God’s children. Loving neighbor means caring about the welfare of the neighbor, whether that neighbor looks like you or not. In our modern day, the whole world in all its diversity are our neighbors and we are called to the kind of faithfulness and integrity that Moses exhibited as he endured years of hardship and challenge in the wilderness.

Moses and Jesus model for us how we are to live in this world and serve it in God’s name. Both of them understood what it is to live in a world that is perpetually in transition. Everything is always changing, nothing ever stays the same and the spiritual life is about finding God in the midst of all the uncertainties and upheavals of earthly life. Moses received the covenant on Mt. Sinai and Jesus continued that covenant in his life and ministry and in the sacred mystery he established in his name on the night before he died. God demanded of Moses and of Jesus and his followers that we live our lives in this world, this transitional, always changing world, on the basis of the commandments to love – love God and love neighbor. And loving neighbor carries with it some pretty concrete expectations about respecting human dignity, feeding the poor, housing the homeless and being a voice for the voiceless.

Yes, it seems unfair that Moses worked so hard and so faithfully and yet was never permitted to enter the Promised Land. Perhaps that is because for Moses the wilderness was his Promised Land. Certainly the biblical story indicates that when Joshua and the Israelites entered Canaan life was far from rosy there. War, violence, conflict and more struggles followed them into that Promised Land a place which turned out to be just as transitional as the wilderness had been. Moses served God and the Israelites faithfully and enjoyed the privilege of his intimate relationship with God during his entire ministry with them. God rewarded him with a vision of what the future might look like, but he was not destined to be part of that future vision. His role was to shepherd the Israelites during that wilderness time, which had its own set of challenges and its own peculiar rewards.

We have a lot in common with Moses. Everything we do in the course of our lives as faithful Christians, we do in the midst of difficult, challenging and sometimes overwhelming present realities often unable to see how what we are doing will work out in the end. Whether our challenges come in the form of raising children, or coping with physical illness or disability in ourselves or our loved ones, or working in our towns, villages, cities and neighborhoods to try to address pressing issues like hunger or homelessness or lack of medical care, or violence, or addiction, or any of the many social problems that beset our society, we may often feel as though we are making little difference. We may get frustrated when we don’t seem to arrive at some hoped for destination as quickly as we’d like to. Most of life is actually an exercise in transitional living, as we juggle present realities in the hopes of a better future. It’s important to have a vision of that hoped for future, but equally important to cultivate Moses’ ability to live in the present moment, doing what is right and good for that moment. Loving God and loving neighbor is how we stay centered and grounded in the midst of the perpetual transitions and changes of earthly life. No matter what else changes in life, and virtually everything does, what does not change, ever, is the love of God for us and our obligation to live into that love in concrete ways by pouring that love back out into our world. As the psalmist prayed to God, so we pray – “Lord you have been our dwelling place in all generations….Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands – O prosper the work of our hands.” (Psalm 90)