June 07th, 2024

Cheryl and I had just arrived back from Florida, where we spent time with Cheryl's family for the Christmas holiday. While we were in Florida, Cheryl and her sister, along with some of the children, went to see the movie Dreamgirls. They invited me to join them, but I declined. Cheryl and her sister tend to talk during movies, but I prefer to focus on the dialogue on the screen. They say the inspiration for the film Dreamgirls is Diana Ross and the Supremes. If you know anything about Diana Ross and the Supremes, you know they came out of Detroit, Michigan, where I grew up. Detroit, in its heyday, was known throughout the movie industry for a company called Motown Records, and they produced wonderful songs like "People Get Ready." "Aint Too Proud to Beg." "My Girl." Motown artists included groups like the Supremes, Temptations, Highlights, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross…
One of the songs I recall the words to from Motown was "Something's Got a Hold on Me" I remember when I was young just walking around and singing this song, "Something's Got a Hold on Me," Something's a Whole on Me…" Jesus could have been singing the words to this song when his parents found him in the temple. Jesus' parents, Mary and Joseph, had been missing Jesus for three days. The family had traveled to Jerusalem to attend worship for the Passover, and they must have traveled with a big group, much like we did at Redeemer when we all packed up and went to Westwood for worship on Pentecost. The family must have assumed that Jesus, at twelve years old, had hooked up with his cousin John and his family. When they discovered that Jesus was gone, they began looking for him, and he was nowhere to be found.   They backtracked and thought, "Where was he last seen?" This led them to the temple where, sure enough, Jesus was still hanging out in the temple, sitting at the feet of the teachers, asking deep questions about the Scriptures. Mary and Joseph asked Jesus, "What were you thinking?" Jesus then began singing the song, "Something's Got a Hold of Me."    

When I was in Florida with Cheryl and her family, I returned with a new image to help me describe what I think the gap between God and us looks like. It is the image that came to me in the form of a ten-year-old girl named Taja. Last week, I was with Cheryl in her family home in Daytona Beach, Florida. This is Cheryl's annual journey to be with her family for the Christmas holiday. I joined Cheryl for a couple of days after Christmas Eve. As you can imagine, Cheryl is the popular aunt her nieces and nephews look forward to seeing come home. She entertains the children, treats them to movies, gives gifts, and shares advice.    All the children are excited when Auntie Cheryl comes home. My role is to pick up the pieces and stay in my lane. This was all good until the first night when I was in bed with Cheryl, and out of my dead sleep, I woke up, and standing in the doorway, there stood my ten-year-old niece, Taja.  Taja is tall, and I was surprised to wake up at night and see her silently standing in the doorway, watching us.   This is a frightening picture!   I had no idea what was going on in this ten-year-old's mind. Why was she standing in the middle of the doorway at three o'clock in the morning?   Whatever was going on for her at three o'clock in the morning, I knew there was a considerable gap between this ten-year-old's world and my %+#@.  
In today's gospel, twelve-year-old Jesus visited the temple with his family, and after his parents returned to their home, they realized Jesus was not with them. They searched for Jesus only to find out three days later that Jesus was still in Jerusalem at the temple. Mary and Joseph had been worried about Jesus, but when they found Jesus still in the temple, they could not believe their ears; when Jesus said, "Dah," "where did you think I would be?   Did you not know I would be in my father's house?" For Mary and Joseph, after realizing Jesus had been missing for three days and discovering that he had stayed at the temple, thinking it made perfect sense, there was a gap. Jesus came to bridge the gap between humanity and God, between our reality and the kingdom of God. Jesus is the Son of God standing in the doorway. At age twelve, Jesus stayed in the temple with biblical scholars, choosing to ask questions about Scripture rather than return with his family.   

There is a significant gap in our world this morning, and it is the Gap that continues to exist between God's love for the world and how we choose to live our lives as sinful human beings. The Gap appears to be widening. We live our lives seeking to make more money, being busier and busier, so we can have more stuff, so we get more attention, and where does it get us?   

Saddam Hussein was publicly hanged, and the whole Iraqi situation became a tragic reminder of the terrible situation we are in. Saddam was a leader who did awful things; he accumulated immense wealth and power, and where did it get him? Even worse is the fact that they hung him, and he received so much attention for his fate. I cannot understand the attraction of watching or publicizing Saddam's hanging. Saddam Hussein's hanging is a reminder to us, on this last Sunday of the year, that there is a Gap between the ways we live and the lives God intended for us to live. The Gap is cavernous! 

So God sent his very own son, Jesus, into the world so that we might live the kind of lives God intended for us.   God sent the angels to a woman named Mary and a man named Joseph. The angel told Mary, "You are going to have a child, and all the world will call you blessed." Mary said, "But I am just a child, and I am poor, and I am not married." God said, "I got you." Mary and Joseph had the baby Jesus, and when Herod tried to kill their baby, they escaped to Egypt and lay low. When the time was right, they returned to Bethlehem and raised Jesus as their son. Then, on that Passover, when they went to the temple and returned home, and Jesus was missing, they went back to discover that Jesus had been at the temple, all Jesus had to say was, "Something's got a hold of me."
The Old Testament lesson addresses the gap with another story, sharing how a childless woman named Rahab prayed to have a child. When God granted her wish for a child, she dedicated her child to the service of God.   God blessed childless Rahab to have a son who would grow up to provide a significant witness to our faith. This Old Testament story is from 1 Samuel. Samuel was born to a woman named Rahab, who was childless and not able to bear children. Having children was a sign of value and worth. Rahab prayed for a child and vowed that if God granted her one, she would raise him to serve God. She raised the child to become a priest, carefully watching his diet and nurturing his love for God and righteousness. She dedicated Samuel to a life of serving God. God blessed Rahab, and she went on to have six children.  

Another part of the story is that under Eli's tutelage, Samuel worked in the temple assisting the priest Eli. Scripture tells us Eli had two sons who were also priests. In some detail, it describes how Eli's sons were scoundrels. When people brought their sacrificial offerings to Elie's, his sons sent their servants to take the best meat out of the offerings. The text describes how the servants of Eli's sons would take the meat before it was boiling, and they took the best parts and kept them for themselves. The people asked Elie's servants to at least wait until the fat had burned off the meat to offer a sacrifice to God, but then Eli's son's servants would threaten to become violent. Because these were Eli's sons, even though Eli knew they were corrupt, Eli did not stop them. It was into such corruption that Samuel was raised to become a priest who would be righteous and strong in the Lord.

What does it mean to take the best part of the sacrifice and keep it for ourselves?
We grew up in a large family, living with my mother and father and twelve sisters and brothers. It was always a challenge to ensure there was enough for everyone to get what they wanted. I recall watching as somebody passed the chicken around the dinner table at a young age, wondering if I would get the piece of the chicken I wanted. Somebody here ought to know what I am talking about. I remember watching and waiting to see if I would get a thigh, leg, or wing. Most often, by the time the chicken got to me, I wound up with the back. Now, I know the back is not an option to many of us today, but when I was growing up, the back was a very real option. I know because I got it, and sometimes the neck! Not everyone can have the best part.  
 Eli's sons wanted the best part for themselves. It did not matter that the point of the offering was that the sacrifice was intended to be for God; Levi's sons wanted to have the best part of the sacrifice for themselves. They wanted the best part of the means, and they wouldn't allow the fat to burn to God. They wanted the best part for themselves, and the Scriptures tell us this was an offense to God. The complaint against Eli's sons was not just that they took what was not theirs, but they took the best for themselves.  

As we end this year and prepare to begin the New Year, we want to remember not to be like Eli's sons. As faithful people of God, we want to make a sacrifice, but we do not want to keep the best parts for ourselves. When we look at our budgets and what we will offer to God, let's not keep the best parts for ourselves. When we look at our time and what we will or will not give to the church, let's not keep the best parts for ourselves. When we look at the hymns, we choose which ones to sing; let's not pick the best ones for ourselves. How we will use our buildings and which ones are worthy of our use, so that they take the best part of the sacrifice for themselves, I thought about how this Scripture provides a warning for us today.   The Scripture says the problem was that Eli's sons kept the best part of the sacrifice for themselves. At the same time, the text brings to mind the corruption of priests and pastors who have been exposed for abuse of children and abuse of church finances. I think the story also speaks to us when we don't tithe and give back to God. I think about how we take the better part for ourselves when we choose only to sing the hymns we like or that remind us of and reinforce our traditions. I think about how we select the parts of the sacrifice we often want for ourselves.      
  
While working on my sermon, I conjured up this image that the Redeemer is a plate of my mother's fried chicken. As I considered this plate of fried chicken, I reflected on how the table symbolizes our community and the way people come together and engage.   I imagined how we were limited in size, leadership, and financial resources, and yet God has blessed us to have this great plate of chicken to share with those around us. I pictured the plate as a symbol passed among NA, union meetings, neighborhood associations, and children's after-school programs.   I imagined another piece is Redeemer Center for Life with the Peace Palace, affordable housing, Christmas parties, and block parties. Another piece is represented in how we worship as a diverse, multicultural community, Yolanda and Cheryl's invitation to students and mission partners, intentionally reaching into our neighborhood, children and youth, hip hop, traditional, and contemporary.  

We don't just look for the parts of serving God that satisfy us; the purpose for which we are here is to serve God and to ask God to take hold of US!  
This morning, two leaders, Samuel and Jesus, are lifted up as children. They were shaped by parents, people who loved God. Rahab was willing to give the only child she was able to have as a sacrifice to God. Mary and Joseph sacrificed so that Jesus might save the world.