8 Pentecost 2007 Zion, Washington

I have to say that today's Second Reading is one of the prime examples of St. Paul at his very worst. I can't imagine what he was thinking when he wrote to the Colossian Christians, "...in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, ..." The very idea of even seriously entertaining the idea that anything whatsoever is lacking in Christ's afflictions is incomprehensible; and that he would actually write it down is unbelievable and proof-positive that, if God actually did dictate the Bible, as Billy Graham says, then God has an undeniable sense of mischievous, if not dark, humor. It's one thing for St. Paul to announce, in his outside voice inside, that he is "the Least of all the Apostles" and to brag about his colossal modesty and boast about his immense humility. It's another thing completely to even hint that he, St. Paul, in any way finishes up the salvation for the sins of the world that Christ accomplished on Good Friday.

This is exactly what Madeleine L'Engel meant when she said that "St. Paul would have been a lot more careful if he'd known he was writing Holy Scripture." This is exactly why Episcopalians do not take a simple view of the Bible. We understand that, yes, it is "inspired by God and contains all things necessary for salvation"; but we do not attribute to the Bible those attributes that are appropriate only to God. God inspired the Bible, but men wrote the Bible and copied its books by hand until Mr. Johann Gutenberg invented the western printing press around AD 1450. Mistakes happen: sometimes in the copying, sometimes in the writing, sometimes in the response to God's inspiration. That's not to say that all of St. Paul's writings are suspect or defective. Some are, most are not. But St. Paul's writing are not perfect, as only God is perfect. It's a handy thing to remember as we read the Bible.

I had a revelation, week-before-last. For some reason, I read one of the editorials in the Washington Daily News... which I'm not prone to do, especially for spiritual insight, since I realize that virtually all editorials and opinion columns are there to stir people up and sell more newspapers... and nothing more. At best, all the energy that they put into those editorials and columns only tend to generate more heat than light - or to confirm stereotypes so that people who don't want to think very deeply can feel self-satisfied and justified in their safe, little worlds.

So anyway, I was reading an editorial rant about how some American Muslim women were having to go to court to exercise their right to wear hijab, head scarves, in their driver's license photos. But the editorial position was that, since Christians' rights are curbed in Saudi Arabia, why should we be so nice to American Muslims; forgetting, of course, that the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights starts off with the right of religious freedom, and those Ohio women really are Americans, and Saudi Arabia, being an absolute monarchy, extends fewer rights to its citizens. (That's the way it is with absolute monarchies.)

But what caught my attention was that the government of Saudi Arabia was described in The Mullet Wrap editorial as "a dictator". "Hmm", I thought, "I guess you could call the absolute monarchy of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia a dictatorship, but it certainly gives it a negative twist in most peoples' minds." And then it dawned on me that the Lordship of our Savior Jesus Christ rightly could be called a dictatorship and that would catch peoples' attention in new and more compelling ways, that really do, more dramatically, describe what we believe about God (He is Lord of all).

Think of how uneasy it makes you feel, to hear the nice, safe phrase, "Jesus is Lord" recast as "Jesus is our Dictator". Powerful, eh? I think we start taking God a lot more seriously when we entertain the idea that God is a dictator, to whom we can pray, and who is not necessarily a bad

dictator; and who can be stunningly generous and, at other times God can be stunningly cruel; and who does not issue any Exit Visas from creation, so we can't escape. (It adds a whole new dimension to the old phrase "No hidin' place down there".) I like it. It catches my attention as to our true relationship with God; "from whom all blessings flow", to whom we will all be held accountable on Judgment Day.

"Jesus is Dictator" offends our sense of American independence and the illusion of our God-given, constitutional rights to chart our own course and "do our own thing" (to coin a phrase). "God as Dictator" certainly puts our aches and pains in perspective; whether they are physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, professional or social.

I remember a story about another absolute monarch. The Russian Tsar, Peter the Great, was asked by his engineers (the builders, not the drivers) what route that His Imperial and Absolute Majesty would like the train track to be laid from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Taking out a straight edge, the Absolute Monarch of all the Russias drew a straight line from one city to the other.

Well there. Ask a question, get an answer. My experience with God, from time to time, seems to be something like that; so I'm grateful to the anonymous editor who wrote that dreary column. I have a whole new perspective on God that makes stories like today's First Reading a lot more powerful and makes me pay a lot more attention to the teachings and expectations of our holy Christian faith.

I'm a lot less comfortable about treating God casually. When I thought of Jesus as "Lord", frankly, it didn't mean much that I could really sink my teeth into; but Jesus as "Dictator" leaves a lot less room for negotiation. God may not resort to the traditional dictatorial tactics of "goon squads" or "storm troopers" or "firing squads", but, as Dictator, the idea of Judgment Day really does catch my attention with a new... "freshness". Perhaps it'll do the same thing for you.

Notice how much clearer the story of Abraham and the three angels is, when you substitute the word "dictator" for "lord". No wonder Abraham "bowed himself to the earth". No wonder Abraham was so insistent to wash his guest's feet and provide a place to rest and a meal cooked from that tender calf. My word, the Dictator had just stopped by.

The story of the Visit by the Lord, the Dictator, to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamre provides three lessons - even without the shift from Lord to Dictator. The first lesson is that this is a second picture of the Trinity of God in the Old Testament; the first picture being the first three verses of the Book of Genesis, that mentions God's Spirit and God's Word, along with God.

In this case, there is some confusion as to whether there is the one Lord or the three men or angels. The proper answer, of course, is simply, "Yes. One in three, three in one." In Eastern Orthodox Christian iconography, the image of the Holy Trinity is a picture of three angels sitting around a table with a chalice and a plate of bread on it. So what was revealed explicitly when Jesus was baptized and the heavens opened and the voice of the Father said, "This is my beloved Son" as the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove, we see in Genesis at the time of creation and when these three angels - which is to say the Lord - came to the Oaks of Mamre and visited Abraham and Sarah.

The second lesson from this episode is "How Isaac Got His Name". The last four verses are the first part of a longer part of the story where Sarah's laughter is challenged by the Lord and the word "laugh" appears, prominently, several more times. So, of course, Isaac is named Isaac because, in Hebrew, the word "Isaac" means "He laughs". It's what Rudyard Kipling called a "Just So" story; what we'd call a "How Come" story. It answers the musical question, "Why".

The third lesson from this episode is that this is the beginning of God's fulfillment of His promise to Abraham, that Abraham would have more descendants than there are stars in the heavens. God may be a Dictator, but God is also faithful to His promises and God is faithful to His covenants; whether they are with Abraham, Noah, Moses, or with you and me at our Baptism.

Yes, God is to be approached with the abject humility of Abraham bowing to the ground, but God is also benevolent, merciful - more than we deserve, powerful beyond our imagination, and more loving than we could ever endure. So what I've said today is aimed at making our own personal gratitude to God a lot more enthusiastic; a lot more humble; and most certainly, a lot more profound.

And, as important and worthy and inspiring as St. Martha's work was, as she attended to all the details of making Jesus' visit to her house a good one, while He was with them, it was more important to sit at His feet, as St. Mary did, and learn from Him, so that when He was no longer visible to them, they could remember His wisdom and His teachings and the powerful presence of His love.

The same goes for us. Yes. It is essentially important to our relationship with God that we serve God, at least Sunday by Sunday at church. But the only way that our service takes on any real depth and holiness and sincerity is when we have devoted ourselves to loitering with God in ways that open our eyes to God's true power and mercy and majesty and love.

Consider the work of the altar guild here at Zion. If we consider it just another chore to dash in and do, and check off our list, the chances are that we'll mess it up or neglect to pay attention to the brass and silver that needs to be polished or make sure that all of the linens are placed just right or the chalice and paten are facing the right direction. But if we understand the work of the altar guild to be in the service of God, our Lord and our Dictator, then the work takes on a lot more importance and demands a lot more attention and commitment and focus and humility and time. As a rule, dictators and other absolute monarchs are not used to being taken lightly.

Why, then, should we expect God to be long-suffering and happy to endure our negligences and our carelessness? And this isn't just about the altar guild, or reading the lessons or serving as acolyte, chalice bearer or celebrant at the Holy Eucharist; this is about the totality of our lives that we have bound to God in the vows of our Baptism, which we reaffirm from time to time, at every other baptism, and, on occasion, during Holy Week.

And the harsh truth is that God doesn't care if we like it or not, or even if we believe it or not, that God really is more of a Dictator than anything else. The Truth is the truth, independent of whether we like it or want to believe it. The Good News is, that when we do take God's absolute and true sovereignty to heart, it changes our lives for the better and compels us to be more holy and better people, filled with faith and hope and