Poem and Reflection for XXII Pentecost (proper 27C) St. Andrew’s Church Nags Head, N.C. November 11, 2019 Thomas E Wilson, Supply Clergy
Times,
I Wish I’m As Clever As A Sadducee
In the Gospel lesson for today Jesus has an encounter with a group of Sadducees. The Sadducees were a party that had its roots in the Temple Hierarchy of the 2nd Temple after the return from the Babylonian Captivity. This is the Temple that Haggai is referring to in the Hebrew Testament lesson. The Sadducees tended to be members of the aristocracy. They believed that the Temple was the pathway to a relationship with God through worship ceremony led by the Priests on Holy Days. They had all the answers. They were different from the Pharisees who were centered in the Synagogue worship experience, gatherings of people centered on the study of scripture, led by a Rabbi who would do daily and weekly prayers They believed that the Temple was corrupt and it was only in leading a pure life that led to a relationship with God. They also knew all the answers. Two groups knowing all the answers, but the answers were different.
Isn’t it great to have all the answers? Especially if you can surround yourself with people who have the same answers. I remember when I was in college and there was a group of us Dramas majors who would gather in the cafeteria or a restaurant around a big table and act as if we the modern equivalent of the Algonquin Round Table with fabulously witty and sophisticated people passing judgment on all those less enlightened peasants who didn’t have the clue about the right answers. We thought we were wonderful, but we were insufferable. We would see a play or movie and rip it apart with criticism and suggest that we would have done it better. There is an old poem: “You can tell a freshman by his silly, eager look / You can tell a sophomore ’cause he carries one less book / You can tell a junior by his fancy airs and such / You can tell a senior, but you can’t tell him much.” We were ahead of the curve; sophomores who had all the answers and you could not tell us a thing. I sure miss being so sure of myself. We acted as if we had all the answers because, deep down, we feared appearing as if didn’t have it all together. Behind arrogance is always fear.
Years ago, when I was working for a living, part of my time was counseling with addicts; and at the start of the session a client was asked what was going on with them. If they would respond that they were “fine”; either the co-leader or I would say; “Oh yes, you are FINE, that is why you are here. F for all FUSSED UP (or a variation of that), I for INSECURE, N for NEUROTIC, and E for EGOTISTICAL. FINE!
The Sadducees believed that God was in heaven and we were not to even consider that we were pure enough to enter into heaven, where God lived and ruled. We could however, plead through the proper channels in the Temple to the far-off God. This life was all there was and if you were a faithful worshipper then you could expect rewards from God in this life. If you messed up; there was a service and sacrifice for that. The afterlife was sort of a muddy existence; you are in the dirt and dead is dead. The closest they had to an afterlife is to have sons who would keep their names alive, generation after generation until the end of time.
The Pharisees, on the other hand. believed it was possible to be pure enough to enter into God’s presence. One had to lead a blameless life following the law, staying away from unclean persons and foreigners in order to get into heaven after you were dead, where you would be given the rewards you may have missed while on the earth. Jesus was distrusted by both sides, he seemed to think that a relationship with God was not dependent of correct worship, or perfect behavior but a loving grace from God.
In today’s lesson, the Sadducees ask Jesus a clever question about the afterlife while taking a side swipe to the Pharisees. The Levirate Law, followed by the Pharisees, said that a family member had to marry a brother’s widow to have children who would inherit the dead brother’s estate. It kept the property in the clan. The Sadducees place the dilemma in the afterlife on whose husband still owns the widow.
Marriage was not a question of love but a clan cementing its wealth. You usually married someone who was within the clan structure. The Bride was purchased from her father, she was his property and by the “brideswealth” given, the husband’s property after the banquet and the proof of the purity of the goods on the wedding night, after all you didn’t want to be sold a bill of goods. A Husband could have more than one wife, just like today a man could have more than one car, more than one house; it depends on what you could afford. The wife would refer to her husband as her lord and he was the one through whom they could know God.
For Jesus the eternal life doesn’t begin after we die, rather it begins by living in the eternal right here and right now while we are still alive; on earth as it is in heaven. In this life we are free from acknowledging all the petty lords that claim to own us, for there is only one Lord. Living in the eternal means that marriages are not about people being property, or the all importance of clans, but the equality of all people under one Lord. Jesus saw the old kind of marriage as as part of the dying old age that is passing away. No longer would we be taken or given in marriage, but, in this new age, we are joined as part of a larger family who care for one another. Resurrection begins now, when we walk away from the tomb of the past and walk in the loving grace of God.
The older I get the more I realize that there is a lot I don’t have the answers to. I still have moments when I want to say, “I know it all!” But one advantage of marriage is I have a wife and daughter, and living in a community I have friends, who can remind that I am far from knowing it all. As for the afterlife; I don’t have all the answers about what will happen after my body wears out by accident or design. All I know is that I am loved today, and, a bit like Pascal’s Wager, I make the assumption that God’s love does not end. In every moment living in eternal life in God’s love now, I have everything to gain.
Times, I Wish I’m As Clever As A Sadducee
Times, I wish I’m as clever as a Sadducee
being able to string together arguments,
that can look like they’ll make real sense,
observers will stand and yell “Whoopee!”
Trouble was, then I was an undergraduate,
full of fear of being taught something new,
that might take my ignorance beyond a clue,
then I’d just stand, gape into wonder’s gate.
I am now too used to being daily in awe,
content in limited ignorance as chosen due,
living a life of hope for future beyond view,
faithfully trusting in what isn’t settled law.
I know I will die, entering the undiscovered
Country; guessing in all Divine Love covered.
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