Authenticity

A Sermon given by Youth Director Eric Ockrin

on our Youth Sunday October 30, 2005

As I reflected on the lectionary readings for this Sunday, I prayerfully sought out a common thread or theme from the selections. The more time I spent reading and meditating on the passages the greater my awareness of the glaring contrast between authentic and fake spirituality. It became very personal to me because these passages appear to specifically address those in positions of leadership. I sensed God saying that is important to see how dangerous it is for me to be “poser” or a “fake” when I have the great responsibility to kids, to families, and ultimately to God. His call for me is to be authentic in all I do. He wants the same from all of us.

It is my prayer that as I share what God has given to me this morning that His spirit would indeed stir your heart as He has mine. So listen with your heart, not with your intellect. The Spirit of Almighty God wants to speak into our community this morning. Will you let him?

The problem should have been obvious to the temple priests. The context of the OT passage from Malachi is basically that the priests were offering crippled and diseased animals as sin offerings for the people of Israel. God’s response is a drastic one in that He threatens to bring a curse against them in verse 2 “Listen to me and take it to heart. Honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “or I will bring a terrible curse against you. I will curse even the blessings you receive.” He is not talking about natural consequences for sinful behavior. God is literally pronouncing destruction as a consequence of their sin.

I believe God’s message for us in this text is to be cautious of going through the spiritual motions while neglecting authentic spiritual existence and practice. When we short change God by giving him second best, it not only breaks His heart but it distances us from His blessings. The consequences were real for the temple priests and they are real for us. In verse nine, God says “I have made you despised and humiliated in the eyes of the people. For you have not obeyed me but have shown partiality in your interpretation of the law.”

The world’s perception of the 21^st Century Church may be an indicator of our collective authenticity. Sadly, sometimes this is defined most heavily by just a few. For example, recent priest scandals have distorted how people view the Church. And, it is indeed troubling that physical and sexual abuse was conducted by the same hands that had the privilege to consecrate sacred elements.

However, more personally, it may be my voice that sings praise to God on Sunday morning and then on Monday utters a coarse joke, a critical word, or enters into gossip.

The trouble for the Church is that there is not always a glaring contrast between authentic and hypocritical spirituality? After all, we are sinners working through our conversion. But we must never forget the very real and profound truth that how we act is how Christians are perceived, assuming that people around us know we are Christians in the first place. Let me say this again. This assumes that people around us know that we are Christians in the fist place.

My intention is not to be harsh here. This word speaks as much to me, if not more, that to anyone else. I am simply trying to create a bridge that will bring the word of God recorded some 2500 years ago by the Prophet Malachi into our sanctuary. Look . . . the consequences of hypocrisy are real. The battle for the souls of humanity is raging.

I came across an appropriate illustration for this that involved Theodore Roosevelt. During one of his political campaigns, a delegation called on him at his home in Oyster Bay, Long Island. The President met them with his coat off and his sleeves rolled up.

"Ah, gentlemen," he said, "come down to the barn and we will talk while I do some work."

At the barn, Roosevelt picked up a pitchfork and looked around for the hay. Then he called out, "John, where's all the hay?"

"Sorry, sir," John called down from the hayloft. "I ain't had time to toss it back down again after you pitched it up while the Iowa folks were here."

The gig was up. What a joke!!! What Hypocrisy!! Because the story does not continue, we can only imagine the other fallacies that Roosevelt must have committed to cover his deceit.

Let’s take a minute to define Hypocrisy. The English word “hypocrite” comes from the Greek word, “hypocresis” which is the Greek word for “actor.” A good “hyposcresis” is a good actor.

One commentator said that hypocrisy or a lack of authenticity is what today’s Gospel reading from Matthew is all about. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were the symbol of hypocrisy, the symbol of phoniness, the symbol of pretence and duplicity. The author goes on to say that if anyone was a religious fake, it was the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. They pretended to be genuinely religious but it was all a sham, a charade. It was a deceit, a deception. Like any good actor they were all “make believe”

Like Malachi’s direct confrontation of the temple priests of His day, Jesus’ word to the Pharisees in our Gospel reading is also very confrontational. It was so because the Pharisees wandered from the very truth of what God wanted from His people - the love, mercy, and justice found in the Torah.

Listen to Jesus’ words in the first three verses of our Gospel selection as he speaks to the crowds and his disciples. “The Teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the scriptures (he is talking about the Torah or first 5 books of the OT). Practice and obey whatever they say to you, but don’t follow their example, for they don’t practice what they teach.”

It is quite interesting that it is not the teaching that he takes offense with. Christ embraced the Torah and its teaching, but he distained the life example of the Pharisees which was devoid of God’s universal laws of love, mercy, humility, and justice. Not only were these paramount features of God’s character not stressed, the application of the 613 minor laws and observances, or “hedge laws”, became impractical and burdensome to the common Jew.

Interestingly, the Pharisees would have been well versed in the rebuke that Malachi gave to the temple priests. Yet, still they failed to see the connection between their hypocritical behavior and Christ’s rebuke.

This is one of the reasons I love the movie of the Passion of Christ as much as I do. There is one scene in particular . . . it is the interaction between Pontus Pilate and Christ when Pilate is privately questioning him. The picture frame shifts back and forth during the short dialogue that ends with Pilate asking Christ “what is truth”? There isn’t an audible response from Christ, but the picture focuses directly on His face. It floors me every time I watch the film. The very essence of truth is looking Pilate in the eye and he misses it!!

Perhaps it is easier for us to look at the Church at large and see what we think is great hypocrisy, the real modern day Pharisees. Perhaps it is the sexual abuse from priests, or the infidelity of the televangelist, or the Christian couple living together out of wedlock. But the truth is we are all sinners and have the potential to be among the greatest hypocrites at any given moment.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes “the pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. So we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is that we are all sinners.”

This morning, I feel God is challenging us to examine ourselves to see if our lives lack authenticity. Perhaps it is the pornography on our computers, maybe the horror movies we watch, maybe it is the fantasies we have as we read romance novels. Maybe it is our relationships with our spouse, or our kids, or our mothers and fathers. If we hold to the teachings of sacramental theology, then it is the very relationships with one another that have the potential to either draw us into greater intimacy with God, or to push us farther away. Howard Thurman says that sincerity in human relationships is equal to, and the same as, sincerity to God”.

Like Pilate standing with the Christ and missing the truth before him, so it is when unauthentic holy pretense blocks the Christ, the truth, which is in us?

Now let’s Shift gears a bit.

What does authentic faith look like? Our epistle readings suggest it is the way of life that Paul and Timothy exemplified. The standard is portrayed by action and life example. It was not forced, but a natural display of the transformation by the grace of God. The question for me is, how am I, a perpetual sinner, simultaneously an agent used of God to show His way to those who exist without Him.

The answer is not in an exaggerated presentation that becomes legalistic . . .The I must do this and can’t do that”. This is exactly what the Pharisees got hung up on. In trying to master the principles they missed the potential. The answer is profoundly simple, but so very hard for me to grasp personally. It requires cultivating an atmosphere of grace among one another. We have to really live it before we can give it. Again, we have to really live it before we can give it.

Let’s look at Paul and Timothy’s example in 1 Thessalonians.

The first image that Paul gives us of authentic faith and evangelism is of a mother and her child. In verse 7 we read “we were gentle among you as a mother feeding and caring for her own. We loved you so much that we gave you not only Gods’ good news, but our own lives, too.” Paul and the others were sharing the complete gospel message. They were not just using persuasive words, but living with infectious actions. The evangelism that took place was personal. Our challenge today is to allow these principles to get a hold of us so powerfully that they literally transform us and our evangelism.

Later on in verses 11 and 12 Paul uses the image of a father with His children. He writes, “And you know that we treated you as a father treats his own children. We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way God would consider worthy.” The authentic father or discipler does not criticize failures that are a part of growth. Instead, he faithfully points out the truth in love and without compromise.

The parental elements of authenticity sown among the Thessalonians reaped a new community of believers. Authentic Christian example was lived out in relationship with the people.

I will tell you that this equation of “actions speaking louder than words” is as attractive now as it was then. It will work in a culture like ours that is devoid of genuine relationship, hope, and purpose, elements that are embodied by God’s grace. Human words combined with action reflect God’s love, God’s word, God’s Sprit, God’s tangible sacramental touch, His embrace, His gentleness, His encouragement and urging.

When we are in authentic community, we project God’s realities to those around us. We see each other’s actions not as human action but as God’s action. We hear words spoken to one another not as human words but as God’s direct word and revelation. This reality, if we can get a hold of it and actually live it, holds an infectious potential.

As I see it there are two important variables tied up in authentic living:

1) The first variable is to be courageous/willing to risk. This means I may have to release the safe or comfortable image I want to preserve. Believe me; Paul knew what it was to be rejected. He had just come from Philippi where he had been treated badly. But, he also knew the power of God’s transforming grace, so he continued to step out in faith and take risks.

Mahatma Gandhi said “Speak the truth, without fear and without exception . . . you are in God’s work, so you need not fear man’s scorn. If they listen to your requests and grant them, you will be satisfied. If they reject them, then you must make their rejection your strength.”

God needs disciples today who are willing to take risks and be courageous.

2) The second variable of authenticity is A position of dependence. When Peter mustered up the faith to step out of the boat and into a raging storm, it not only was a courageous risk, but it was the ultimate act of dependence. Peter’s faith kept him afloat as he depended on Christ with His life. It is in such a position of dependence that we see God most clearly at work in our lives.

I want to end with a story-- a story of authenticity.

-It comes from Ernest Gordon's true account of life in a World War II Japanese prison camp, Through the Valley of the Kwai. It is about a man who through giving it all away literally transformed a whole camp of soldiers. The man's name was Angus McGillivray. Angus was a Scottish prisoner in one of the camps filled with Americans, Australians, and Britons who had helped build the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai. The camp had become an ugly situation. A dog-eat-dog mentality had set in. Allies would literally steal from each other and cheat each other; men would sleep on their packs and yet have them stolen from under their heads. Survival was everything. The law of the jungle prevailed...until the news of Angus McGillivray's death spread throughout the camp. Rumors spread in the wake of his death. No one could believe big Angus had succumbed. He was strong, one of those whom they had expected to be the last to die. Actually, it wasn't the fact of his death that shocked the men, but the reason he died. Finally they pieced together the true story.

The Argylls (Scottish soldiers) took their buddy system very seriously. Their buddy was called their "mucker," and these Argylls believed that is was literally up to each of them to make sure their "mucker" survived. Angus's mucker, though, was dying, and everyone had given up on him, everyone, of course, but Angus. He had made up his mind that his friend would not die. Someone had stolen his mucker's blanket. So Angus gave him his own, telling his mucker that he had "just come across an extra one." Likewise, every mealtime, Angus would get his rations and take them to his friend, stand over him and force him to eat them, again stating that he was able to get "extra food." Angus was going to do anything and everything to see that his buddy got what he needed to recover.

But as Angus's mucker began to recover, Angus collapsed, slumped over, and died. The doctors discovered that he had died of starvation complicated by exhaustion. He had been giving of his own food and shelter. He had given everything he had -- even his very life. The ramifications of his acts of love and unselfishness had a startling impact on the compound.

"Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:12).

As word circulated of the reason for Angus McGillivray's death, the feel of the camp began to change. Suddenly, men began to focus on their mates, their friends, and humanity of living beyond survival, of giving oneself away. They began to pool their talents -- one was a violin maker, another an orchestra leader, another a cabinet maker, another a professor. Soon the camp had an orchestra full of homemade instruments and a church called the "Church Without Walls" that was so powerful, so compelling, that even the Japanese guards attended. The men began a university, a hospital, and a library system. The place was transformed; an all but smothered love revived, all because one man named Angus gave all he had for his friend. For many of those men this turnaround meant survival. What happened is an awesome illustration of the potential unleashed when one person actually gives it all away.

An authentic disciple gives it all away. Like Angus, it is not the words or the show. It is our quite and consistent example before God and man. When we do this, we literally become channels of grace that unlock the divine potential for spiritual restoration in a world that has lost its way.

Last week Father Robert gave us a profound analogy of Alexander the Great conquering the known world with military power and then drew a parallel of Paul conquering the world with the gospel message of Christ. Paul was a warrior!!! -Not only by his words but by his example!! His example of service and authenticity among the Thessalonian people proved to be 1) crippling to evil forces and 2) a catalyst for evangelism and spiritual depth among new converts.

Paul knew it was not him alone when in verse 13 of the Thessalonian passage he writes “And we will never stop thanking God that when we preached his message to you, you did not think of the words we spoke as being just our own. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which of course, it was. And this word continues to work in you who believe.”

Remember . . . it should always be about God and not you. We are only the means to the end. Authenticity in our lives merely allows us to be the channel of grace that will ultimately unlock the divine purpose and potential in each of us.