Quarantined, Set Apart, Sacred

Maybe you have been thinking about the idea of "being set apart" these days.

In religious terms, being "set apart" is another way of thinking about what is "sacred" or what is "holy." The sacred or the holy is that which is set apart. For some reason, I forget that being set apart does not mean it is better, but it is reserved for a certain purpose. Thus, we do not have tailgates in the Sanctuary, not because the Sanctuary is better than other places and cannot be “tainted by a party”, but because that place is set apart for certain purposes. 

What might it look like to consider this time where we are all set apart from one another as a sacred time? Many sacred moments in the Bible are scary. Maybe you can recall stories of humans encountering the sacred and holy and the words come to the human, "do not be afraid." This current set apart time is uniquely scary, for many of us and we are trying to not be afraid.

So to recap, we are set apart. We are a little fearful. We have voices reminding us to no be afraid. We are forced to listen more closely and gracefully than ever before. We are being called to do things in a new way. 

This may not be the ideal or dreamy picture we imagine, but is it possible that this time (like all time) is still sacred? 

May our time be sacred - even at 6 feet apart or digitally. 

How Can We Fulfill a Law We Break?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says,

‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Then, if you know the rest of the story, Jesus goes on to break all sorts of laws (healing on the Sabbath, claiming to be divine, turning tables over in the Temple, ignoring his mother’s requests, etc.). How can someone say they came to fulfill the law while simultaneously break it?

To obey the law means actions are directed by an outside or external things that forces compliance. For instance, if I do not pay my taxes the government will fine me. There is force that is outside or external to me that I am really responding to. If the external force was not present, then there is a likelihood that I would not obey the law. This is also why I all slow down when I drive by a police officer, but will speed up once I feel I am “at a safe distance.”

Fulfilling the law is different. Fulfilling the law comes by indirectly obeying the law.

Take the above examples, if I were to pay my taxes out of my internal delight, I am not paying them out of fear that I will be punished by some outside force. Rather, when I pay my taxes out of a personal choice, I am fulfilling the law, but not considering (thinking about the consequences) the law. If I were a person who loves to go the speed limit because I think don’t want to rush or if I think that driving slower is just more pleasurable, then I will not go over the speed limit. I am indirectly following the law.

Sometimes what looks like obeying the law, is really fulfillment of the law. And sometimes what looks like breaking the law is also fulfilling the law.

Jesus fulfilled the law, even as he breaks them.

For instance, not working on the Sabbath was a law. There was punishment if you did not obey the law. But this law was put into place in order to keep people from being abused and overworked. It was a law meant to protect people from being treated as objects. So when Jesus healed on the sabbath, yes he broke the law but in doing so the law was fulfilled. The law was intended to humanize people but was used to objectify people. As Jesus humanizes those he healed on the Sabbath, he broke the popular interpretation of the law, but fulfilled the law in full.

As you can see, It is much easier to obey than it is to fulfill the law. Because sometimes obeying the law means breaking it, and breaking the law often comes with consequences. The question Jesus poses to us is do we desire to fulfill the law or only obey it?

Praying the UMC is Broken Into

The UMC is facing a break up in the coming months. There is a Protocol of Reconciliation Through Separation which outlines a way the UMC might separate (break up). There are a number of groups and people who are hopeful this protocol might provide a way for us to split rather than splinter. It reads something like a “controlled break” a doctor might do to reset an previously broken arm that has healed incorrectly.

There are some who find the Protocol less than ideal and even unjust, I am not one of these persons. I am aware that anything generated will be unjust in someway(s). I am aware that the Protocol is not my desire, but it is the best option that is before us. I am aware that all the options we believe we have are all insufficient. I support this Protocol.

That being said, it is clear to me that in all the talk of the break up there is not much talk about being broken into.

Inward/Outward shared a line from Gordon Cosby

Prayer is learning the art of the connection… We believe, if we continue to be faithful, the time will come when our lives will be broken into by another order and we will be transformed and as transformed, will become transformers.

The Protocol is helpful to get us to break up, but it does more than that. We have arrived at that moment “when our lives will be broken into by another order”. May we learn the connection we have with one another and how it is we need one another, even in the break up.

My prayer is that the UMC will be broken into. Because if we just break up, we will never be broken like Christ who for the sake of the world broke into the world for the salvation of all.

So, let us pray.