What it means to be Presbyterian

There was a movie in 2002 called 8 mile. In it, Eminem was making his acting debut. So, if you haven’t seen it, I am about to spoil it but it has been 20 some odd years since it came out. B-Rabbit, Eminem’s character, liked to compete in rap battles, where they hurl witty insults that harmonize. Except he would get stage fright and freeze on stage. The movie then goes through the ups and downs of his life. Then at the end, he goes to the rap battles and gets to the finals where he is rapping against the champion. But, what he does is amazing. He starts insulting himself. He says I know everything you can say about me and here it is and lists it. Then he concludes by saying, “tell them something they don’t know about me.” Then the champion did not have a response. He froze! Well, good news, no rap battles at presbytery but I would like to answer at least one question you might have for me. What does it mean to be presbyterian? I admit I like David Palmer’s answer a few presbytery’s ago when he said that it means you can drink and have sex. Luckily, that is not my answer.

Some of you know that I used to work at a Thrift Store. Some really cool stuff has come through there. One such cool thing was a signed Mickey Mantle baseball. It was pretty amazing but I first thought, well it is likely a fake. So, I went to a card shop nearby hoping someone would authenticate it and buy it. Well, neither of those things happened. However, he did tell me where to send it to get a certificate of authenticity. The certificate tells us that it is authentic. But, he also warned me that Mickey Mantle’s signature is one of the biggest forgeries available and when I called the company he referred to me, they confirmed his response.

Now, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to authenticate people’s sincerity and call? Like how great would it be if we could mail something off, pay a fee and know if it is real or not. But, not just ministry. How great would it be to really know if the apology was sincere or if someone really believed what they said. Wouldn’t it be nice? However, we don’t so how do we know who is the real deal?

It appears that Jesus is teaching a way to do just that. There are two characters in the story and they are juxtaposed against each other. First, you have a pharisee. Pharisees, in Luke, get a bad name. Exploring Biblical background says, “The Pharisees are those who are considered to interpret the laws strictly and to be the leading sect. They attribute everything to fate and to God. It would seem like they are at least trying to do the right thing. They say all is in God’s sovereignty. It sounds like at least some of them were Presbyterians. I know I probably will get questioned about that too. The ancient Jewish historian and priest Josephus described the actual Pharisees as living meagerly and shunning excess. In addition, within the broader Jewish tradition, the Pharisees are not understood as legalistic, rigid, and elitist. Yet, in Luke, they are not good guys. John the Baptist calls them a brood of vipers. For good reason, they accuse Jesus of blasphemy (Luke 5:21); they accuse Jesus and his disciples of violating the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-11); Luke calls them “lovers of money” (Luke 16:14), and Jesus calls them “hypocrites” (Luke 12:1). It would seem they are a more self righteous bunch. Sure enough, Jesus' story helps confirm this. He says this guy stands in prayer, saying God thank you that I am not like other people, the thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even this tax collector. I mean really? What a terrible prayer. God thank you that I am not like…..

However, we have to be careful here. Tax collectors were awful people. They bilked people and built wealth off the backs of regular people. So, these guys were not good guys by any means. On top of that, the Roman government had control over the Jews. They ruled them with an iron fist. Tax collectors were Jews who worked for the Roman government, giving them money and making them stronger. They were considered traitors. So here you have a bad guy on his knees beating his chest saying forgive me a sinner. Then Jesus says the tax collector was justified. So there it is. Be like a Tax Collector! That is the message Jesus was teaching. Well, maybe not. The tax collector was justified, but do we want to be like him? On top of that, we have to be careful not to say, Thank you God I am not like the Pharisee…. We can assume that the tax collector’s powerful demonstration of repentance and humility was prompted by some egregious feeling of wrongdoing—perhaps it had to do with his job. However, we also have to consider that he was a tax collector i.e. bad guy. According to Jewish practice, the Pharisee was righteous, going above and beyond what the customs required in fasting and giving. Yet, Jesus said he was not justified in his prayer.

Does this mean he wasn’t forgiven? Did God even hear his prayer? What does it mean that he wasn’t justified? Our text in Jeremiah gives some insight to these questions. On the surface, it appears that the people are truly repentant. They confess their sins. The text says, “Our iniquities testify against us, act, O LORD, for your name's sake; our apostasies indeed are many, and we have sinned against you.” They know they have been just as bad as the tax collector before. So, they ask God to deliver them. They call God the hope of Israel. They call God savior. They compare God to a warrior asking God not to abandon them. Do not forsake us!

However, God’s answer is very troubling! God says no. Pictured here is a God who will not change God’s mind.God’s judgment for the injustice and unfaithfulness of God’s people is inescapable. He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins. But, there is a bit more. God quotes the people’s prayers. This may seem miniscule but it is a witness that God had indeed heard them. Sadly, the answer is not one they wanted. Unfortunately, there are real consequences of sin. Yes, God has the ability to deliver them. God could have done whatever God wanted to do but God didn’t. Instead, God compares them to wanderers and talks about their sin. Even if the prayers are sincere, sin has consequences. Therefore, maybe these people were sincere but really they just wanted a get out of jail free card. I know that feeling. It seems all they wanted was to live however they wanted and pray that God delivered them from the consequences. Jeremiah even intercedes on their behalf. In the face of God’s command not to pray for the people, Jeremiah doesn’t listen. Instead, he makes excuses for them. He claims that the false prophets are really to blame for the people’s apostasy. The reason the people have been wanderers is because the false prophets gave them wrong information. They got the fake Mickey Mantle signature.

Sadly, this story is a story of judgment. However, God is not sitting around happy to judge. Instead, God weeps over people’s sinfulness. Jeremiah 14:17-22 explains that God not only weeps over what has happened to the people, but weeps day and night.

There are some commentators who believe that the prayers of the people in Jeremiah were not sincere. This is why God answered in judgment. However, I would disagree with them. Both times they admit to their wrong doings and ask God for forgiveness and deliverance. Terrence Fretheim says they were just too late. Sin had already taken its toll. Does this mean that God doesn’t answer sinful prayers? If so, I am in a mess. What do I need to do? This seems too much. And, WHAT DOES OF THIS HAVE TO DO WITH BEING PRESBYTERIAN? What gives? What is the point of this awful sermon?

These are two terrible stories about prayers. One has a tax collector being justified. The other has sincere prayers that are unanswered or at least answered in a negative way. If there is any faintest vestige of divine grace to be found in these passages, it is simply that God is still dialoguing with God’s people even after they have repeatedly messed up with God.

Just so you know, I had to send that baseball off and pay $100 dollars to get it authenticated. I expected it would be a fake. The turnaround time was around a month. A week later the ball was returned to me. Sure enough, it was REAL. It was a real autograph. Unfortunately, there are parts of my past that would cause someone to question my ministry. These range from my background to my education. But, something I love about being presbyterian is the phrase “reformed, but always being reformed.” See, I didn’t always get things right, but God is still reforming me.

Maybe, that is what it means to be Presbyterian? Maybe, it isn’t the people praying thanking God that they aren’t like others. Maybe, it isn’t the sinning tax collector, or even the people of Israel and their sincere prayers. Instead, maybe it is all of the above. What it means to be Presbyterian is continual conversation with God, even if we don’t like the answer. Conversations with God, through the good and the bad. Conversations with God, even when we are more self righteous than we should be. Conversations with God, even when we feel like the worst sinner in the world. The cool thing about all these conversations is every conversation ends with God's grace. That's something I've found from being Presbyterian and believe me I am thankful.

Grace and Peace