what a whale of a pickle

what a spell we're all pinned under

A reading from 1 Kings; chapter 12, verses 1-17 and 25-29:

A central tenet of the reformation is “simul justus et peccator.” That’s latin for, “simultaneously saint and sinner.” 

What this nifty little phrase means is that to be a human is to be both a sinners and a saint! At the same time. All of the time!

That rings true to life. Doesn’t it? I know it does for me.

And not in some theoretical way, either. But in a real life kind of way. Daily I experience the tug of war of being caught between sinner and saint. Of wanting to do the right thing, and failing to. And, of experiencing the disorienting encounter of having done the right thing, but NOT when I were trying to!

…We are, if nothing else, a confusing mixture of good and evil…

And this description is one you can see playing itself out over and over again. 

Not least of all, in scripture…

Today’s scripture begins with King Rehoboam acting the way we expect kings to; selfish, self-absorbed and self-centered…

As King Rehoboam is about to be crowned; the people, led by Jeroboam, come to Rehoboam and make a request. The last king, Rehoboam’s dad, Solomon, had a policy of forced labor. And the people would like their soon to be king to rescind the policy before he takes office…

A reasonable enough sounding request. 

But, before he answers the king requests time to think about it. 

And in the meantime, he goes around asking everyone what they think. Until he finds someone who tells him exactly what he wants to hear.

He finds that answer in the folks he grew up with. They tell him, “say to those people, ‘If you thought my dad was rough, just wait.’” 

Which is just what King says.

Given that response by the king is it any great surprise the people respond unfavorably?

Jeroboam and the people tell Rehoboam, if that’s how he’s going to rule, they’re going to leave. And that’s just what they do!

…Now, at this point, everyone is acting the way we expect. Wicked King Rehoboam is obsessing over his power. And the oppressed people are rising up for their freedom.

But these clear lines between good and evil don’t last long. Before long that confusing mixture of good and evil starts blurring our convenient little lines… 

As Jeroboam and the people prepare to leave, King Rehoboam sends in an official to try and stop them. 

But they stone him to death…

…And from there, things only escalate. 

King Rehoboam has to flee. But the king’s not so easily defeated. Marshaling his army, he decides if the people won’t willingly subject themselves to his rule, he’ll force them…

But, on the night before the soldiers go to battle, the word of the Lord comes to one of the prophets. The Lord tells the prophet to tell go and King Rehoboam that he cannot go to war against his kin.

…And just like that, King Rehoboam stops! He withdraws his troops!

How’s that for confounding? Not what we were expecting. Was it?

King Rehoboam can be obviously evil. Subjecting his citizens to slavery. But, he can also be obviously obedient! Heeding the word of the Lord. Letting the people he just threatened to enslave, go free.

A confusing mixture of good and evil…

And I hate to tell you, but King Rehoboam isn’t the only one who’s a mixed bag, either… 

Left in peace, Jeroboam and the people stake out a little claim in the northern end of the kingdom. 

…But, before long Jeroboam starts worrying.

He worries if the people keep worshipping in together in Jerusalem, they’ll overcome their differences and before long reunite.

So, to make sure this doesn’t happen, Jeroboam builds two alternate temples. One on each end of the territory. That way the people will have no reason to worship together anymore…

How’s that for confounding? Now the good guy is acting like the bad guy!

Jeroboam can be obviously good. Standing up to the king for the people. But, he can also be obviously evil, too! Establishing separate temples to keep the people apart!

Another confusing mixture of good and evil.

And Jeroboam and Rehoboam aren’t the only ones. Are they? 

We are, too.

We’re going to be having a town hall today to talk about our collaboration. And the biggest sticking point is the one that’s always been the sticking point, the temples. Just like in scripture!

But when you get to the heart of the matter, you come to realize there’s more to this passage that has lessons for us… 

Like the fact that Jeroboam builds the alternate temples despite the fact that King Rehoboam isn’t harassing him anymore! 

You see? Jeroboam undid himself! He was his own worst enemy!

His hand wasn’t forced. The people weren’t planning any rebellion. The king wasn’t planning any coup.

And yet, Jeroboam still felt the need to take matters into his own hands!

…And all he did in the process was undo himself.

How’s that for relatable?

Yes, we’re going to talk about our unification. And yes, the sticking point is the one that’s been the sticking point all along. But, many of us have come to see those material issues are immaterial! They’re not the issue. Not the real one, anyway!

The real issue is how easily we fool ourselves! How self-interests clouds our best judgment. How we’re our own worst enemies, too!

We too are, if nothing else, a confusing mixture of good and evil. And that makes mission hard! No matter the circumstances…

…Luther was right all those years ago. Wasn’t he?

But, if that’s got you down. It shouldn’t!

Today is Reformation day, and the heart of the reformation isn’t a realistic anthropology, it’s a grace-filled theology! The reformation is ultimately about the insistence that it’s not about us and what we do! It’s about God, and what God has done in Jesus Christ!

And in Jesus Christ God has determined to really save us. Real people like us! People really caught between good and evil, between sinner and saint.

So if that describes you today, or all of us  here together, for that matter; that just means we’re right where we need to be!

The truth is, what we’re facing is hard. And I don’t just mean this unification stuff. Although there have been hard moments. No, I mean mission. But, the truth is, we. US! We make it harder than we needs to. Don’t we? We’re our own worst enemies! 

We know what it’s like to walk in Jeroboam’s shoes…

Which is why we do well to dwell on Rehoboam’s example. As off-putting as that may be. 

You see, there’s plenty to this passage that relates to us!

What’s Rehoboam’s big redeeming move? 

…It wasn’t anything great or heroic. Was it?

It was just that he stopped!

When the word of the Lord came to him, he stopped. He didn’t do anything else. He stopped. He called off the troops. He put down his plans. He stopped.

And that was all it took for God to redeem the path Rehoboam was ruining! 

And it’s no different for us, either! 

The way forward is by stopping! Stopping so completely that we, like Paul, can say, “it is no longer I who live, but CHRIST who lives in me!” (Gal 2:20)

And in the church we have a particular way of stopping. Doing like Rehoboam and listening to God’s Word. 

Or, folding our hands, so as not to do anything with them, and praying.

This stopping is hard for us. But, mixed bags that we are, it’s the best thing we can do. And, it’s where mission, true mission begins! God’s mission. God’s mission of giving to us and thereby the world, Jesus Christ!

And the ground zero for this mission is worship.

Now, sometimes it seems like nothing is happening in worship. And that’s true, in a way. We’re not doing anything! But, when when we stop in worship, God gets to work!

And that’s what Reformation, what today’s scripture and our town hall meeting today are all about!

One of the best ways we stop is by singing!

And we’re going to sing that great reformation hymn! And in this hymn we’ll sing about those times and places we have to stop; “We’re they to take our house, good, honor, child or spouse!”

“Though life be wretched away!”

And what else is having our life wrenched away but stopping. Even then, though, we trust the ultimate victory is still in God’s hands!

“They cannot win the day! The kingdom’s ours, forever!”