rishi
Stewie Griffin & Finding Our Centre
Posted on: 05/07/2009 16:55
This is a sermon inspired by Family Guy's Stewie Griffin, Matthew 22:15-22, and a conversation that I had here at Wondercafe a while ago about whether or not the UCC still has a viable centre. That conversation was an important one I thought. Maybe this will spark interest in continuing it.
All the Best,
Rishi
Finding Our Centre
“Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians [who were Roman officials], saying, 'teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not? But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, 'Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.' And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, 'Whose head isthis, and whose title?' They answered, 'The emperor's.' Then he said to them, 'Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's.' When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away. (Matthew 22:15-22)
There is some important historical background that we need to keep in mind to appreciate what Jesus is saying in today's text.
It was a time of radical change in ancient Palestine. The entire region was under Roman rule. Rome's agenda was to dominate the entire world, as they knew it, and to have their emperor, Caesar, rule over that world as its god. ... Because of all this, Jesus and his followers grew up in a world where simple village cultures, like Galillee, were being systematically destroyed by Imperial Rome. Times were brutal, as villagers like the Galilleans were forcefully exploited, impoverished, and turned into little more than slave labor to feed Caesar's ambitions for world domination.
The common people were being beaten both down physically and psychologically. Rome had taken over their economy, and even the pocket change that Jesus and his followers would have had to use in the marketplace bore the head of Caesar. It was a constant reminder to the people that their lives were not their own: Caesar was the power center of their world. Some coins not only had the head of Caesar stamped onto them, but, on the flip-side, bore images of Israel, depicted as a peasant woman, held captive under the foot of Rome.
So, you can imagine the impact of being continually bombarded with such images of the centrality of Caesar, and his seemingly unstoppable will to dominate their entire world. The common people were losing their grip spiritually… the propaganda of their oppressors was getting into their hearts and minds. They were becoming convinced that despair was their lot in life, for surely there could be no power greater than Rome.
A sign of just how bad things had become was that even some among the Pharisees – one of the most devout groups in the Jewish faith – were becoming corrupt. They were falling more and more out of touch with the spiritual centre of their lives... and succumbing to the political temptations of Caesar's Rome. Although they were typically sincere spiritual people, the Pharisees at this point in history were seen in the Christian scriptures as “sell-outs” to Rome, hypocrites, who cared more about money and power than the spiritual life. And this was also part of Rome's strategy. Rome knew very well that if they could control the religious leaders, they would be able to use the Jewish religion itself as a tool to dominate the minds of the common people.
I
So, what is Jesus up to here? When he says, “Show me the coin used to pay taxes to Rome” and they bring him a silver Denarius, and he looks at it, and asks them, “Whose head and whose title are on it?” It's notthat he had never seen a Denarius before. It's not that he doesn't recognize Caesar's image and its meaning. He knew the ways of Caesar and the Empire, he knew the suffering that he and his family and friends and neighbors were all experiencing as a result of this violent domination. When he gives his famous response, “Give to the Emperor what is the Emperor's and to God what is God's,” it's probably not simple advice on how to avoid conflicts between religion and politics... even though it kind of sounds like that on the surface.
Jesus is following a pattern here that is very typical of his teaching style. He takes up the surface issue that the Pharisees are talking about, the question about paying taxes, but he also sees the deeper issue in their hearts, (the issue which they should really be asking him about, but they don't have enough self-awareness to see it.) And so, when Jesus responds, he responds in a way that tries to raise their consciousness of what's really going on in their lives. He responds to that deeper, undisclosed problem in their hearts, which is actually the root cause of this dangerous political alliance they've gotten themselves into with Rome.
He's teaching them the same message that he taught over and over again to the religious leaders of his day:
...that their real problem is that they have lost touch with the spiritual center of their lives. The stress of living in the Empire had so affected them that they were no longer conscious of the spiritual nature of life.
It's like they had gradually become spiritually hollow inside. In fact, in another place, Jesus tells these religious leaders that their lives have become like “white-washed tombs” – really nice to look at from the outside, gleaming in the sunlight ... but within... there is no real life.... Sure, they still had all of the outer trappings of religion (the prayers, the rituals, the observances), but what good are the outer trappings if there's no living spiritual reality at the heart of it all?
Jesus is also giving a political commentary here, though. Because this “lack of spiritual centeredness” in people's lives is just what the Caesars of the world work night and day to create and sustain, because they depend on that lack of centeredness for their success.
Although these Pharisees were still technically clergy, the real centre of their lives, the one to whom they belonged, had, in effect, become Caesar. And Jesus was letting them know, in a way that would have been like splashing cold water in their faces, that their awareness of God had died. Their lives were not consecrated to the source of all life, but centered on being well-esteemed, being persons of power in the Empire. And that false centre couldn't nourish their growth as human beings; on the contrary they were becoming less and less human, more and more monstrous, just like their oppressors.
II
Of course, we live in very different times. But just imagine how it would effect spiritual life in our world today if we had political leaders who were committed to world domination no matter what the cost... In North America, it's hard to imagine that our politicians, or even their corporate sponsors, would actually come out and declare, “I will dominate the world!”. It's actually hard to imagine our leaders saying anything at all that would jeopardize their chances of being elected or remaining in office. In our society, whether in families, or religion, or politics, agendas of domination tend to be carefully hidden from public view. It seems that, for us, it's only in the humor of satire that we actually hear such intentions being publicly broadcast.
For example:
The book “Family Guy: Stewie's Guide to World Domination” is a humorous story about the popular American cartoon for adults, called “Family Guy.” Written by the show's producer Steve Callaghan, the book follows 1-year-old Stewie Griffin's plans to dominate the world as he knows it.
The product of a ridiculously dysfunctional family and society, Stewie is a fictional one-year-old, who stores everything from machine guns to weapons of mass destruction in his little bedroom, preparing for that fateful day when he will achieve his dream of world domination.
Stewie does, however, have a soft side for those he likes, for example, his teddy bear, whom he promises a quick and painless death on the day he comes to power.
And Stewie's life also has it's frustrating moments, like when he can't escape from his high chair, which is clearly a terrible predicament... for one bent on dominating the world...
Hmmmmm.......
What's wrong with this picture... where the voice of reason and wisdom, usually come from the mouth of Brian, the family's dog? The problem with little Stewie Griffin and his family is actually the same thing that makes them so funny. That's the beauty of satire, I guess. ...that when serious problems in a culture are not getting attended to, our more prophetic artists can sometimes grab our attention by showing us, through humor, just how twisted things have become.
Episode after episode, the Griffins show us that they have no LIFE CENTRE other than the superficial likes and dislikes that get implanted into them by the TV programs and the advertising that they watch. And they don't even realize that they're in this predicament, because in their particular cartoon world, no one's life has a CENTRE that is larger than their most superficial appetites.
If you've seen the show, you know that the writers give the Griffins just enough sentimental feeling for one other to keep them from completely destroying themselves by the end of the show. (Actually, once the whole family did assassinate one another, with some of Stewie's automatic weapons, but because it's a cartoon world, they were able to make up with one another afterwards.)
So the moral of the show is not too complicated...but it's actually quite chilling if we have ears to hear...
The satirical subtext seems to be that this lack of a sound spiritual centre in our lives, in our family relationships, in our culture, is what is churning out the Stewie Griffin's of our world... those bizarre cases that we hear about more and more in the news...that make us question how human beings could ever become so incredibly destructive.
III
Looking back at our text...
How did Jesus respond to this degenerating condition of the Pharisees, where they had lost their consciousness of the Divine Presence at the centre of their lives? How did he respond to the fact that they were living their lives, in effect, as though Caesar was what mattered most?
He says to them: “Give to the Emperor the things that are the Emperor's and to God the things that are God's.” He understood, and he was trying to make them understand... that even if the Emperor wants to be the center of our lives, that doesn't change the spiritual reality that the centre doesn't belong to the Emperor...
And if the Emperor tries to occupy the centre, the centre will not hold... lives will fall apart. As Jesus saw it, the centre cannot hold anything but the Divine Mystery we call “God”.
Over and over again in the gospels Jesus teaches that the center of our lives just won't hold anything that is not eternal. Maybe it's because whatever occupies that centre receives the full force of our greatest human power – the power to worship, to power to surrender our very selves, unconditionally, in devotion. And so, whether it's Caesar, wealth, power, family members, or just our own ego.... no created thing seems to be able to take the heat of being in the centre... without breaking down.
The more conscious we become of the true Spiritual Centre of our lives, the more that awareness colors all of the peripheral details that make up our days and nights. But what is a true spiritual centre?
There is a beat, a rhythm, that can always be heard in Jesus' teachings. It's a rhythm that is always resounding out of that Divine centre that he was so profoundly consciousness of. It's the rhythm of dying and rising, dying and rising. Dying to the empty life that has no true centre. Rising to a new life of surrender, in tune with the Spirit.
It was the opposite of the rhythm of the empire that everyone was getting used to. Caesar's rhythm... was all about more for me and mine....and less for everyone else.... In Caesar's rhythm, what is for me and mine must be bigger, it must be higher, it must last longer, move faster, go farther: it must dominate all others. The way of the empire was: You must be last, so that Caesar can be first. You must be poor, so that Caesar can be rich. You must be weak, so that Caesar can be strong. None of this dying and rising and surrendering stuff.
But Jesus hears the beat of a different drummer, calling people to a different kind of peace and happiness, a different way, a way found in dying to that life of conquest and domination, and rising to a new life that finds its true center in God, in knowing and loving and serving one another. It's no wonder he became an enemy in the eyes of the Empire...
“Give to the Emperor the things that are the Emperor's and to God the things that are God's.” In these few words, he tells these Pharisees that their lives were in trouble because they could no longer hear that divine beat ... over all that bullying noise that Caesar was making.... They hadn't even realized that they couldn't hear God anymore, until they encountered Jesus... He was sending out that divine beat so loud and clear that it penetrated their consciousness, and “they were amazed....” the text says
This was just the beginning of Jesus' response to the problems of people who had lost touch with their spiritual centre. Just his way of getting their attention. Once his listeners caught on that something crucial was missing, they needed a practical way in to a new, spiritually centered life... they needed real solutions that could function in the midst of an extremely stressful society, dominated by Rome. So Jesus developed a practical solution – a living spiritual community – a group of people that shared the same basic goal of wanting to grow spiritually, wanting to become more consciousness of that Divine Presence at the centre of all life. He brought them together, cared for them, and taught them his way of life. And it worked. That community became like an island in the midst of a raging sea. A place where people could find the space and the resources that they needed to recover their spiritual centre and learn how to live so that they could stay in tune with it.
IV
That was the early church... But what about us? How can we develop our awareness of that Divine Center in our lives, in our day? How can we learn to hear that unusual, spiritual rhythm of dying and rising in our daily lives?
No less than the people of the ancient world, we need a real live community where we can find the friendships and the other resources we need... to keep discovering and staying in tune with our spiritual centre.
Does anyone here today have any suggestions on how we might go about developing such a community in this congregation?
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Comments
Arminius
Posted on: 05/07/2009 23:29
Hi rishi:
How can we develop our awareness of that Divine Center in our lives, in our day?
By turning inward in quiet contemplation, meditation, meditative prayer or practice. And, once we have reached that awareness, by doing our best to foster it in others. Apart from that, we can always love others with the same divine love that we feel.
rishi
Posted on: 05/08/2009 07:37
Hi Arminius,
That works for me! Let's start training congregations to do just that. I wonder how many already are... or wish they were. I can't say for sure, of course, but I imagine that if someone like John Wesley, one of our 'founding fathers,' were still around, that is just what he would be doing. This is an important piece of it for me -- rediscovering together the spiritual riches of the UCC's own unique roots, in our place and time.
Thanks for being here!
Rishi
Arminius
Posted on: 05/08/2009 23:56
Hi rishi:
If I were the Pope of all of Christendom, I would make some kind of meditational practice compulsory for all Christians.
But, thank God, the days of religious dicatorship are long gone. All we can do now is everything in our power to persuade our sisters and brothers to engage in some meditational or contemplative practice.
Meditation is not a strong Christian tradition, but "centering prayer," which is meditational prayer, is a time-honoured Christian monastic practice. And, of course, music, which can be meditative if we immerse ourselves in it to the extent that we shut off the incessant chatter of our thoughts.
Many practices that are not ordinarily thought of as meditative can become meditative, like any artistic pursuit, or contemplating art, nature walks, even daily work can be meditative if we immerse ourselves in it to the extent that we shut off the internal chatter. I am spending a lot of time working in my garden now, and often immerse myself in that feeling of at-one-ment with the soil and the plants, the sun, the birds, and the air. But then I am a "born daydreamer," and slipping into a meditative state comes easy to me. For other people it is not as easy. But, in meditation as in everything else, practice makes perfect (or as near perfect as humanly possible :-) The more we do it, the better we become at it. And, once we have experienced the ultimate reality which is God in the meditative state, then this carries over into everyday consciousness, and we see God wherever we look and experience God as the divine omnipresence in everyday experience.
In Cosmic Unity,
Arminius