The theme for this In-gathering Sunday is “This is Crazy!”  The texts are, from the Gospel of Matthew:  Jesus said to his disciples, ‘When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family.  There is a great irony here—proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate!  But don’t quit. Don’t cave in.  It is all well worth it in the end!’  And, from the prophet Isaiah:  “The lover of emptiness, of nothing, is so out of touch with reality, so far gone, that he can’t even look at what he is doing, can’t even look at the no-god stick of wood in his hand and say, ‘This is crazy!’”  Let us pray . . .

The prophet Isaiah was a strict monotheist—a believer in one God alone.  For Isaiah, the well-crafted idols of his day were nothing more than sticks and stones—lifeless in their form and useless in their nature.  There was a “stuck-ness”, an “empty-ness” in such idol-making, Isaiah proclaimed—for the wooden-carving or the stone-etched symbol couldn’t “God” or guide! But this didn’t keep folk from bowing down to their own personally designed deities—handy, convenient, life-less, unchallenging   no-gods that they could worship whenever they were so inclined.  “These lovers of emptiness, of nothing, are so out of touch with reality” Isaiah observed, “that they can’t even sense what they are doing!  They can’t even look at the no-god sticks of wood in their hands and say, ‘This is crazy!’”

“Crazy indeed!” was Isaiah’s cry way back then and “Crazy indeed” is his cry to us as well today—for on this ingathering Sunday he offers up to us a searing indictment!  How easy it is to worship the “created” instead of the “Creator”, the “delineated procedure or policy” instead of the “Divine Presence”, a “rigid ideology” or “theology” instead of the “re-newing,  and re-forming, and re-imagining  Spirit of God!”  “Look at all of the no-god sticks of wood in your hands,” Isaiah cries out! “Look at all of the well-crafted idols you cling to so tightly!  Do you realize that they cannot “God” or “guide?”

So heeding Isaiah’s prophetic words, let me share with you the easy part of my prompting this morning—easy for me to speak from this pulpit, and easy for you to hear as a people, because of our tradition of being a non-traditional church that cherishes and expects a non-traditional message. 

For you see, the no-god idols around us are many:

·        Today,  as the richest nation in the world , we passionately cling to the no-god idol of “self-indulgent consumption” while the plight of the poor, and the economically marginalized, is continually ignored or exacerbated!    Can we not sense what this idol worship is doing?  This is crazy stuff—and it must come to an end!

·        In a country where our leaders—both Republicans and Democrats— have bowed down to the no-god idol of “preemptive war”, we have killed and maimed not only our own cherished sons and daughters but the innocent sons and daughters of the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan.  Can we not sense what this idol worship is causing?  This is crazy stuff—and it must come to an end!

·        In a land where far too many of our citizens worship the no-god idol of “personal weaponry”, it is estimated that over 250,000 guns attend school every single day carried in the pockets of mere children—and if that news was not bad enough,  it now seems certain that the assault weapons ban will not be renewed and reinstated for lack of enough congressional votes! Can we not sense what this idol worship is perpetuating?  This is crazy stuff—and it must come to an end!

·        In a country where we hold tightly to the no-god idol of “American good-will”, we have all but turned our backs on the decimated lands of  sub-Saharan Africa—where over 22 million people have died of AIDS and another 25 million are currently infected, where the role of our nation in peoples lives has not only been one of disappointment and incompetence but also one of insult, condescendence, and racism, and where far too many struggling people have been burdened and broken by the debt of imposed capitalism!  Can we not sense what this idol worship is reaping?  This is crazy stuff—and it must come to an end!

·        In a nation where far too many religious leaders openly worship the no-god idol of “American supremacy”, there is a deafening silence among Christians about U.S. actions abroad and at home; there is a deafening silence among so-called followers of Christ in reaction to policies that concentrate wealth in an ever smaller elite; and most damning of all, there is a deafening silence among far too many people of faith that leaves unchallenged the concluding line of every current political speech:  “May God bless America!”  Can we not sense what this idol worship is creating?  This is crazy stuff—and it has to end!

But now my prompting becomes more difficult—harder for me to speak from this pulpit, and harder for many of us to hear—again because of our tradition of being a non-traditional church!  For you see, as difficult as it may be to grasp,  if we are to confront and criticize the crazy idolatry that is rampant in the world around us, if we are to walk our walk and talk our talk, then we must also be willing to carefully look at those idols we cling to so tightly as a community of faith meant to be at worship.  So what I now want to raise up is difficult for me to give voice to—and I can imagine how difficult it will be for some of you to hear.

·        For as a community of faith, we have for too long embraced the no-god idol of “inclusive exclusivity”—the belief that we should all be of one mind on difficult and demanding issues.  Yet when alternative views are openly shared, many of us are not as tolerant and as inclusive as we would like to believe.  We label, and dismiss—and people around us are left hurt and wounded. Can we not sense what kind of pain this idol worship creates?  This is crazy stuff—and it has to come to an end!

·        As a community of faith, we have for too long bowed down to the no-god idol of  “stark efficiency”—saying that we are hungering for a vibrant family ministries program, asking for a variety of educational opportunities for adults,  yearning for the expansion of our small -group ministries, longing to grow and further develop our music program,   hoping to integrate a hands-on community service component into all areas of our ministry,  and expecting  the pastors to be present at an overwhelming number of committee and task force meetings, both within the church and the larger community. And yet we continue to allow this church to be woefully under-staffed, applying a part-time patch here or a temporary interim fix there--unable to fulfill our deepest dreams or  to meet our most diligent demands. Can we not see how this kind of idol worship is holding us back and wearing us down?  This is crazy stuff—and it has to come to an end!

·        As a community of faith, we have for too long upheld the no-god idol of “outward appearance”, proclaiming that we walk lovingly, and humbly and hopefully with each other and our God,.  And yet behind the scenes we crucify each other over budget items, and critique each other in heated e-mails, and criticize the decisions of our elected leadership, and demand that our own way and wants be enacted  over the needs of the whole.  Can we not see how this kind of idol worship can destroy any semblance of true community—breeding mistrust and causing rampant dis-ease?  This is crazy stuff—and it has to come to an end!

So now maybe you understand some of my fear on this ingathering Sunday, as we begin our new year together—for it is far easier and far safer for me  to talk about the destruction of those  idols that are somewhere “out there” rather than the destruction of those idols that are “right here”—close to home.   But you also need to know as I end my first year of ministry in your midst that I desperately struggle with my own well-crafted idol. God knows that I hold it tightly in my hand!   For throughout my 13 years of ordained ministry,  I have clung too persistently  to the no-god idol of  “needing to be loved.” over and above a necessity for me to prophetically lead!   I have warmed myself by this idol’s fire, and I have accommodated myself too often to its safe demands.  Is it any wonder, then, that over the years I have been incredibly resistive to Jesus’ demanding charge to those who would follow him—to take on hazardous work, to run faithfully through rampant wolf packs, to be cunning as a snake while being inoffensive as a dove, to present the living God day in and day out and not the idols that so many folk worship to feel good, or to be at ease in their stuck-ness, or to be satisfied with their dedication to status quo!  People will turn on you, Jesus says, if you raise these issues up or attempt to destroy these idols in their midst—friends and colleagues, partners and companions, even members of your faith community or your very own family.  But I am also reminded this day of the words of William Sloane Coffin who writes, “The reason that most pastors avoid controversial issues close to home is their deep desire to be loved and cherished.   But it is my deep feeling that most people in the pew are far more prepared for the painful truth than we give them credit for.  What they want their preacher to do,”  Sloane goes on to say, “ is to raise to a conscious level the knowledge in their experience. And the majority of them realize that the idols known and spoken aloud sour and subvert life far less than those idols known to be true but left unspoken.  So let pastors risk being prophetic!  Let them not be hesitant to speak up, to preach with clarity and compassion, remembering always that a pastor’s true calling is to serve the Creator and not the created.”

The prophet Isaiah challenged the old ways of being in community by announcing new ways of being together—healthy, healing ways of interacting.  Isaiah named the idols that had lead the people astray and he unmasked their destructive reality. But most importantly, I think, Isaiah called the people to return to their true selves and purpose, he asked them fervently and faithfully to allow all of the false no-nothing gods to fall from their hands, and he challenged them to remember, once again, who they truly were, and what they should truly be about, as in-gathered people of God.

Was it crazy for Isaiah to offer up such a challenge to the people way back then?  I dare say it was not!   As a community of faith, should WE respond to his call of challenge and of change this day?  I dare say we must.  For to do otherwise would simply be crazy!

Thanks be to God!  AMEN