June 18, 2017
Pentecost 2
Genesis 18:9-16, 21:1-7
Matthew 9:35-38, 10:1,7-8
(prayer)
Following the first Great War of the 20th century (which resulted in ~18
million military and civilian deaths), the main world powers established The League of Nations with the goal of
“preventing wars through collective security and disarmament and settling
international disputes through negotiation and arbitration”.
Central and Eastern European empires were broken up and new nations with
new borders were created in the wake of World War I. Just because new maps were drawn up did not
mean that the new boundaries were accepted and respected right away.
Even a very basic knowledge of the history of the first half of the
1900s tells us that the League of Nations
was less than successful.
Nationalistic movements and desires to expand territory and
(effectively) create new empires dominated much of the 20s and 30s in
Europe. By mid-1939, war with Nazi
Germany seemed inevitable.
//
//
In late August of 1939, the British Ministry
of Information created three motivational posters to strengthen morale in
anticipation of potential wartime attacks.
The posters had the following slogans:
1.
Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your
Resolution Will Bring Us Victory
2.
Freedom Is in
Peril. Defend It With All Your Might
3.
Keep Calm and
Carry On
//
Do any of those ring a bell? - show of hands
//
The first two posters went out in to circulation shortly after Great
Britain entered the war on September 3, 1939, but, like me, you may be
surprised to learn that the Keep Calm and
Carry On posters were not really used.
About 2.5 million were printed, but they were not sanctioned for public
display right away (only a very few were put out); the thinking was to save
them for after a significant attack.
The whole propaganda poster program was cancelled about a month after
the war began, and after about eight months in cold storage, most of the
KC&CO posters were re-pulped as part of a paper salvage program.
In fact, it is likely that none of us would have heard of this slogan if
it were not for the fact that an original copy of the poster was found in a box of old books bought by the owners of a second hand bookstore in northeastern
England… in the year 2000!
Mary and Stuart Manley framed it and hung it by the till in Barter Book
Shop. It was so popular with customers
that they began selling copies about a year later.
//
It is easy to understand why this pre-WW2 slogan resonated with people
in the wake of 9/11. The phrase Keep Calm and Carry On has become part
of the lexicon of 21st century culture.
//
Over the last 17 years, varied images of this poster and slogan have
been shared millions and millions of times.
And it has given rise to countless serious and humourous adaptations.
//
//
//
There is a funny scene in the 1988 film, The Naked Gun, where a
fireworks store explodes and Lt Drebin (played by Leslie Nielsen) tries to
convince people to disperse because there is “nothing to see here”.
This scene is an ironic situation where there is actually something to see, but the officer
is telling the crowd to ignore it.
Pretend you aren’t seeing what you are seeing.
//
Sometimes when people are told to calmly carry on, it is because nothing
is really happening; there is nothing to see.
//
But the intent of the 1939 poster (and its modern variations) is to hear
the message to calmly carry on in
times when the context does raise challenges.
Unlike Leslie Neilsen, the posters are not a call to ignore the
situation around them - the opposite, in fact; it is an encouragement to
understand the seriousness of what is going on; then move forward in spite of
the acknowledged circumstances.
Keep Calm and Carry On is a message for times when we might otherwise be tempted to be
paralyzed by fear or loss.
//
//
There are times when pausing and reflecting is valuable and necessary to
enable a healthy future, but I am sure that we can all think of examples of
people ‘getting stuck’ unsure or unable or unwilling to move on in a healthy
way.
Times of traumatic change are often the sources of these times. Hard, strong emotions can stop us in our
tracks. Sadly, sometimes, we get so used
to those places that we become closed to any other possible ways of being.
//
//
Different personality types
rely on varying proportions of logical thinking and emotional feeling when
making decisions. Some of us are
governed more by the heart than the head and others are head over heart people.
Even so, virtually all of us try to move through life in ways that make
sense to us - whether that determination is made by the heart or the head.
//
We may see the logic of moving on
and deeply desire a sense of calm to
envelop our lives, but the means to that end can be difficult to
understand.
Being stuck is a common experience.
//
//
//
Abraham and Sarah were living in Haran (SE Turkey on a modern map) when
Abraham’s father died after a long life.
Sometime after that, Abraham was told by God (Gen12) to uproot his
entire household and move to the land of Canaan (modern Israel/Palestine). This was a wholescale resettlement: spouse,
nephew, other relatives, slaves, livestock, posessions. Part of this move was a promise that
Abraham’s offspring will live in that land… in fact, eventually, they would
dominate Canaan.
The obvious problem with that promise was that Sarah had not been able
to have children.
Abraham was not going to let this bilogical reality hold him back. To avoid having to pass on his estate to one
of his slaves, Abraham had a child with Hagar (Sarah’s maidservant): apparently
with Sarah’s blessing.
//
Abraham and Sarah thought this creative family planning would put the
future on the right track. The covenant
with God could carry on.
As we heard this morning, the story got a little bit more complicated.
//
Against all logic, Sarah did give birth to Abraham’s son. So, strange was this turn of events, she
insisted that the child be named laughter
- Isaac.
//
//
Over the last couple of Sundays, here at St. David's, we heard bible
readings of how Jesus’ followers carried on his ministry after his death.
//
Today, we heard about a similar situation that occured while Jesus was
with them. As Jesus and his disciples
went from town to town, the wonder of the words and actions began to build a
reputation for Jesus’ ministry.
To impact more people in more places, it was decided that the large
group would break up into smaller groups.
Jesus assured his followers that they would be up to the task - they
would be able to teach, heal and care with the same effectiveness as Jesus
himself… even actions that might be described as miraculous.
The text doesn't give us any details, but I do wonder how confident the
disciples might have been when Jesus told them that they would share - in a
very direct way - in Jesus’ ministry.
And even if the disciples warmed up to the idea - as you can read further
into Matthew, chapter ten - Jesus also warned them that they should not expect
to be greeted warmly by everyone they encounter: be as innocent as doves, but also wise as
serpents.
It had to be (on some level, at least) an uneasy time for the disciples…
to be sent out on their own with the
awesome responsibility of Jesus’ ministry.
//
//
When Isaac was born, Abraham and Sarah started a new phase of their life
that was going to be filled with unexpected events. They were going to have to approach each new
moment with a needed flexibility that could adjust to changes as they occurred.
//
As the disciples headed into the backwater towns of Judea and Galilee,
they carried no ‘certainty’ with them.
Jesus instructed them to rely on the generosity of strangers along they
way, with no guarantee whether people would welcome them or not.
//
Jesus had been at this game for a while and had learned through
experience that when people in a town welcomed what they offered, it was a very
warm welcome. But when they met resistance, there was
little value in sticking around.
As they went out on their own, the disciples could expect more of the
same.
Jesus’ advice to his followers must have been based his own
experience. Jesus found an enthusiastic
audience for his ministry in some places and rejection in others.
No one likes to be rejected - especially when it relates to something
they are passionate about. Jesus
encouraged his surrogates to not dwell on the rejection, but to set their
sights on the next town.
//
Years ago, I remember hearing an interview with comedian Jerry Lewis in
relation for his work with the Labour Day Muscular Dystrophy telethon that he
hosted for decades. He spoke about how
he got thousands of supportive letters every year complimenting the charitable
work he was doing. But when he got a
rare piece of hate mail, that is the one that stuck in his mind.
//
We all want to be liked and appreciated.
People who are enveloped in the support and compassion of others usually
have happier, more fulfilling, lives than those who surrounded by negativity.
Unfortunately, like Jerry Lewis, some of us give a disproportionate
amount of weight to the negative.
It might not be very logical, but sometimes it can be hard to let go of
the negativity of the rejection… it can even get in the way of something
positive that might be before us if we would be able to will ourselves to carry on.
//
Jesus knows this and wants his disciples to be able to shake off the
dust of rejection and carry on in hope and promise.
//
//
//
Anyone who has paid attention to political discourse over the years
knows that negative attacks have a broad history of effectiveness.
Although it might be tempting to think that this is a relatively new
aspect to political discourse, the truth is that negativity has always grabbed
more attention than positivity.
Even so, it does seem that people who peddle in extreme negativity have
been freshly emboldened lately … negative rhetoric has always used militaristic
language in relation to areas of disagreement, referring to situations as battles with a need to defeat or destroy the other side. The
extreme edge of this often includes the demonizing and dehumanizing of the
opposition, calling them enemy or evil.
In this era of social media, hateful, targeted violent rhetoric is
easily expressed in violent images:
●
parodying the iconic Barack Obama hope poster with a visual of the former
present being hanged (underscored with the word rope).
●
parodying a terrorist beheading photo by holding
up a bloody mask of Donald Trump.
//
Militaristic phrases are commonly used as metaphic language when
describing competitive or challenging situations, often with a goal of being
motivating and keeping positive:
●
fighting hard on a sports field, or
●
beating cancer…
//
And yet… when violent language and imagry begins to refer to specific
people rather than the movement or ideas they represent, society runs the risk
of inciting violent actions. We saw that
lived out in Virginia this past Wednesday, when a gunman opened fire at a
politician baseball practice.
The only positive impact is this past week’s events is that (in the
short term, at least) more people are becoming aware of the power of language
and how thin the line between words and
actions can be… especially when passions are heighted.
Normalizing hateful language and violent actions serve no good purpose.
//
Personally, I remain convinced
(of something I have believed for a long time and even try to practice as often as possible) that circumstances
are made worse when negative language and violent imagry is responded to with
more negativity and violence.
Even the most ardent free speech advocate has to admit that this
tit-for-tat rhetoric paves the path for violent and hateful actions.
We can't - if we have any measure of care for others - ignore that
language and actions are easily connected.
And so, with the great power of language comes great responsibility.
//
//
When I think about how Jesus instructed his disciples, I find the two
parts of the slogan Keep Calm and Carry
On helpful.
They were not only to move toward the potential of the next town but
also to move away from the negativity of the current town.
It not just about carrying on,
it is also about the calm.
It is not just being calm, but keeping calm. That implies intentional effort for calm to
emerge.
Keeping calm is not a call to ignore what we have been through, but
Jesus seems to be saying that we should choose to leave the grudges in the
past.
Carry with you only that which is helpful to where you are going. This might include lessons we gleaned from
those experiences, but only in so far as they improve our lives moving forward.
//
//
I know that it can be hard to let bygones be bygones. The fact that Jesus raises the issue with his
disciples tells me that he undrstood it as well.
My sense of all this is a recognition that part of our ability to carry
on is to break the cycles of reactionary negativity. Brushing off the negativity is not admitting
defeat, but proclaiming that we want a deserve more compassion in our lives.
As more and more of us are able to do this, I have to believe that
compassion will begin to weaken the control that negativity and violence has in
the world.
For the disciples, Keeping Calm
and Carrying On meant focusing on the mission of proclaiming the nearness
of the Kingdom of God through words and actions.
They were living out what the gospel of John would later have Jesus
telling his followers that the ‘world would know that they are [his] disciples
because they have love’.
An active and authentic compassion is the greatest evangelicalist tool
modern followers of Jesus have.
//
God calls the church and its people to carry on Jesus’ work of bringing
God’s love into the world: living out compassion and care. On the way, we may encounter challenges but
we can trust in the holy promise of God’s faithfulness to sustain us.
//
//
Let us
pray:
Loving
God, we will follow the example of Jesus as we live out holy compassion.
Amen.
652VU
“Be Still My Soul”
