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Sunday, January 03, 2010

I’ve changed my mind…and other changes

By Rev. Jerry Herships

Genesis 18:20-33

²⁰Then the Lord said, “How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! ²¹I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.” ²²So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord.

²³Then Abraham came near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” ²⁶And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.” ²⁷Abraham answered, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. ²⁸Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” ²⁹Again he spoke to him, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” ³⁰Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” ³¹He said, “Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” ³²Then he said, “Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” ³³And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

This is one of my all time favorite passages.  It sounds to me a bit like a scene from Guys and Dolls.  It is almost like Abraham is playing the part of Nathan Detroit.  He isn’t exactly conning God but there is quite a bit of smooth talking going on. It is Abraham, the father of three faiths as used car salesman, “What would it take for me to get you to drop your anger?”

GOD’S STORY

While I like the almost comic tone of this scene, it is not what I notice most about this scenario. It is the fact that we see, from the earliest book of the Bible, that GOD CHANGES GOD’S MIND. This is amazing and speaks directly to the idea of change.

We see God changing God’s mind again later in Exodus in the part, “And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.” This is hard for many people who hold the belief that God doesn’t change. In many ways I would agree with them: I don’t believe that God’s love for us changes. I don’t believe that God’s fundamental nature changes. Things like God’s love, mercy, compassion, justice and forgiveness. I think those remain constant.  

But as we see in the scriptures today, God does change as more information is revealed to God. Now you might say, “wait a second, doesn’t God know all?”  I believe God does know all that is possible to know. I also believe that God works in partnership with us. God always longs for the best possible outcome. I believe God takes all the information that is in the universe and uses that for good. What God doesn’t have is us….completely.  That is because God gave us free will.  It is through this free will that we are in partnership with God.

The universe is always changing and in motion and in process. We are part of that process as well as God. This is at the center of what is called Process theology. It shows us that we work with God in our lives. It shows us that our God is not a God of ego and unchanging control. God will work with us…even if it means changing, as we see in the two scripture examples.  

This does not mean that God was wrong the first time. The Hebrew word for “change his mind” is the word "nacham" (pronounced nawkam). It simply means change direction. The world has moved and shifted, and with it new information has risen to the surface…like how people made decisions. God took this information and worked towards the best possible outcome.

This means that even God changes.  And yet, we are afraid of change.

We are in a new year and with that comes the opportunity to make changes. Health Clubs will be packed even though sixty percent of the folks that join this month will never go back to the gym three months from now. We have an opportunity to change in a way that goes deeper than just treadmills and Pilates.  

This time of year is a great time to ask ourselves, “Are we living our best lives?” God wants us to have life and have it abundantly. We see this in John 10:10. Now I don’t think this means abundance of “stuff.” It means living as full a life as you can, full of joy and love and kindness and forgiveness. I truly believe it is all inside of every one of us. We just need to get rid of the junk that gets in the way of that fuller life. So what is getting in the way for you to have the fullest life possible?

We are all trying to become a better version of ourselves. Life is about trying everyday to be more truly who you are, changing to become closer and closer to your authentic self.  The self God created you to be.

DAVID’S STORY

Many times people might think it is too late for me. I know someone named David. For 35 years he felt like he was trapped. When people looked at him, they saw nothing special. Twice others tried to help him, but nothing really came of it. For 35 years, David was nothing special. But then someone else stepped in and helped show the world how special David was. His name was Michelangelo. See, Michelangelo wasn’t the first artist who tried to work on David. There were two that came before him. The work on David began in 1464. Two different artists tried but the project was halted in 1466 and not picked up again until 1501 when Michelangelo took over. He worked on it for three years before he was finished. He didn’t add to the piece, he chipped away at that which was not needed. He worked under the premise that the image of David was already in the block of stone on which he was working. It is the same way with the human soul found within the physical body. Michelangelo was quoted as saying, “I saw an angel in the block of marble and I just chiseled 'til I set him free. When they asked him how he made his statue of David, he is reported to have said, "It is easy. You just chip away the stone that doesn't look like David.”

YOUR STORY

What do you need to chip away at that isn’t a part of you? What are the things that you are carrying around that you need to chisel off? Anger? Resentment? Lost potential? You can let it go. Maybe it is a few pounds, it is with me. I know I can be a better physical self than I am now. I’m going to change that. I know I like the fact that I am thinking about God more throughout the day now that it is in my blackberry. I will keep at that.  I want to be better with my money and saving and learn to spend less. I will change that. I want to put more love and compassion and less judgment in my life. Going down to the park to hand out food and clothes does that.  I’ll keep at that as well.  It is about keeping what is working in your life and discarding the rest, and having a belief that you can do it.  Michelangelo said once, “Faith in oneself ... is the best and safest course.”

Have faith in yourself, knowing that God is rooting for you and will work with you to give you the most abundant life you can live.  Like David’s story, it probably won’t happen overnight.  It took Michelangelo three years to create his masterpiece.  How long will it take to create the masterpiece that is your life?  Nikos Kazantzakis (cousin-za-kiss) was one of the most translated Greek writers and philosophers of the 20^th century and author of Zorba the Greek.  He said, “You have your brush, you have your colors, you paint paradise, then in you go.” We are not looking for perfection.  We are looking for our best possible selves.

Here is to a 2010 when we chip away at what is useless in our lives, those things that are holding back our souls, and when we reveal the masterpiece that God created in each and every one of us.