James McTyre
Lake Hills Presbyterian Church (USA)
September 27, 2009
I love the names in today's scriptures. Eldad, Medad, and the Unknown Exorcist. Sounds like an an act on Israel's Got Talent. If they were on Israel's Got Talent, they would have gotten buzzes from Piers, Sharon, and The Hoff. Sorry guys. You may be able to prophesy, you may be able to cast out demons, but you're just not the kind of act we're looking for. Good luck, and thanks for playing.
Eldad and Medad get no mention anywhere else in the Bible. Although in Jewish literature Eldad and Medad are credited with predicting a war with Gog and Magog. I think the ancient rabbis - who were known for their wordplay - just wanted an excuse to say Eldad, Medad, Gog and Magog all in the same sentence. All the strangest names in the Bible in one place. The Bible remembers Eldad and Medad because they were doing good works for God, but the elders of Israel wanted them to stop. Literally, they wanted Eldad and Medad to stop because they didn't have the right credentials. He wasn't one of them.
And then the Unknown Exorcist. Tried to do some good works by casting out demons, but he still got gonged. The disciples come running to Jesus, asking, "Do you want us to stop him?" Why do they want to stop him? Literally, they wanted to stop him because he didn't have the right credentials. He wasn't one of them.
This unnamed guy and Eldad and Medad are centuries apart in the Bible, but related just the same. And all of them are related to anyone who tries to do good works, but gets booed because he or she missed a meeting. Because he or she doesn't have the right credentials. Because he or she isn't "one of us."
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A friend of mine, a Baptist minister, told me this happened to him. He said:
I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off.
So I ran over and said "Stop! don't do it!"
"Why shouldn't I?" he said.
I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"
He said, "Like what?"
I said, "Well...are you religious or atheist?"
He said, "Religious."
I said, "Me too! Are you Christian or Buddhist?"
He said, "Christian."
I said, "Me too! Are you Catholic or Potestant?"
He said, "Protestant."
I said, "Me too! Are you Presbyterian or Baptist?"
He said, "Baptist!"
I said,"Wow! Me too! Are you baptist church of god or baptist church of the lord?"
He said, "Baptist church of god!"
I said, "Me too! Are you original baptist church of god, or are you reformed baptist church of god?"
He said,"Reformed Baptist church of god!"
I said, "Me too! Are you reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1879, or reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915?"
He said, "Reformed baptist church of god, reformation of 1915!"
I said, "Die, heretic scum", and pushed him off.
OK. I just made that last part up.
You could do the joke with Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian Church in America, and Evangelical Presbyterians of the New School Calvinism. But somehow it's just funnier when it's Baptists. There's more of them.
In the United States, there are more than 20 flavors of Presbyterian. Most of us don't realize that. In Knoxville alone there are 4 or 5 kinds. PCUSA, PCA, EPC, CPC. We're the PCUSA, Presbyterians in the USA. Which is totally different than those other Presbyterians. We're the biggest. We're #1. We have the most members and an excellent pension plan. We have women preachers. Back in the Civil War we split into the Northern Presbyterians (UPCUSA) and the Southern Presbyterians (PCUS). It took us until 1983 to decide the war was over and we could reunite. But we're back and we're bad. We're 1.15% of the total US population.
And you think the Baptists are good at splitting? Ha. So many different kinds of Presbyterians have split off from our "mainline" that according to Wikipedia, Presbyterians are sometimes called the "Split P's". Which is better than our other name, the "Frozen Peas." It's doubtful we'll ever be mistaken for the Black Eyed Peas.
The problem with both peas and Presbyterians is that to the untrained eye, they all look pretty much alike. Those PCA-ers and EPC-ers look amazingly similar to us PCUSA-ers. We all have a higher than average number of teachers in the pews and Lexuses in the parking lot. We all believe steadfastly in the sovereignty of God, think John Calvin is the cat's pajamas, and descend theologically, if not genetically, from men wearing kilts. We're not afraid of a good fight, which is why so many of us populated Appalachia. So, yes, to the untrained eye, we do look alike. But as I've said before, woe to any PCA preacher-boy who wants to date one of our daughters. I just don't think that kind of interfaith relationship's going to work out.
You know the fastest-growing church-related group in the United States? "None of the Above." Actually, they're not church-related at all. They're church-unrelated. Among religious people in America, about 78% are Christian, with the remainder divided between Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and others. But all together, those religious people are only half the population. Around 1/2 of the U.S. population identify themselves as being alienated from organized religion.
Around 1/2 of the American population say they're alienated from organized religion.
I'll bet organized religion helped them.
And why do people get turned off from the church? The answers are pretty predictable. Because the churches are always fighting. Because these people are "different" and the church doesn't seem to have a place for them. Because the church has standards - written or unwritten, spoken or unspoken - we have standards... that are more important to us than the people we exclude.
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You could say it's just human nature. It's just human nature to divide into tribes or denominations. That's why God invented 31 flavors. Baptists like water, Episcopalians like wine, and Presbyterians like... meetings.
It's just human nature. You look at neighborhoods and there's always somebody who doesn't quite fit in. Someone who wants to paint their house purple and put the sofa on the lawn. I grew up in West Virginia. There were neighborhoods where if you didn't have a Trans Am up on blocks in your driveway you were viewed with great suspicion.
Maybe it's group dynamics, but there's always one person in an office who might truly be from another planet. There's always one kid in the classroom who's the butt of all the jokes. All it takes is a little organization by the people on the inside to put in writing what keeps them on the inside, and there you go.
"Teacher, there's a man casting out demons in your name, but he's not one of us. Should we stop him?"
"Moses, Eldad and Medad are prophesying about God again. Should we stop them?"
It's not because they're doing anything wrong. It's because... they're not one of us. How do we know they're not one of us? Because we know who we are. And they're clearly not... one of us.
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So the question is, does our definition of who we are exclude who they are? Whoever "they" might be?
Our church lost a good member this past week, Sam Frame. Most of you probably never met Sam. He sang in the choir. He was very, very quiet. He kept to himself. He was in many ways a sad and broken outsider. Sam died the week before last.
One of the times I was most proud of this church was when Sam was first visiting this church last year. He had visited a few times. He had spoken with a few of you. Handshakes, hello, introductions. Nothing fancy, just smiles and a few, "Good to see you again's." Sam was shaking my hand on the way out of the sanctuary one Sunday morning and he told me he wanted to join the church. With tears in his eyes, he told me, "I think I've found a home."
The way we break down the walls between "us" and "them" is through simple kindness. The way we break down the walls between any "us" and any "them" is to not stop them from being who they are. The way we break down the walls between us and them is to welcome them with a hand or a hug. The way we break down the walls is to confess to God and to ourselves that in our hearts, we're as much them as they are.
I was proud of you, but I was also proud of Sam. We're so used to being here that we forget how much courage it takes to walk through the doors of a church you've never entered before. We forget how much courage it takes to say "Yes" when the Choir Director invites you to come join the choir. We forget that whatever other inspiration they might have had, Eldad, Medad, and the Unknown Exorcist were brave. They were brave to take on the message of God without a community to support them. They were brave to do what they did in the name of God.
Maybe that man in the gospels who was casting out demons has a name after all. Maybe his name is Sam. Maybe right now he's taking his place at that heavenly table, sitting next to Eldad and Medad and countless others who weren't afraid to do the work of God with no sides, no walls, no credentials except the work they were doing in God's name.
About 50% of the American population are outsiders. Most of them aren't as brave as Sam Frame. They need your help. They need to know that organized religion isn't nearly as organized as they think. In fact, some of us are downright dis-organized. Some of us proudly practice Disorganized Religion, and I think Jesus is OK with that. It could be that Jesus, and Moses, and God like us that way. It could be God prefers us just disorganized enough that we lose track of what makes us "us" and what makes them "them" to the point that we have trouble distinguishing between the two.
God bless the Eldads and Medads who don't fit in. God bless the ones brave enough to set aside their demons and do the work of Jesus Christ. God bless us when we're brave enough to open our hearts and doors and join the outsiders, whether they join us or we join them in the No Side of the God who created us all.
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