I have been reading a lot about the Jian Ghomeshi over the last couple of days and I have been surprised over and over again. I do want to share my opinion, but to be honest I am not ready yet. But I have been inspired to share a sermon a preached on October 13th of last year on Luke 18:9-14. I have been inspired by my cousin Teffer Ruth in her blog post she calls out religious leaders to start speaking out, so here is my start. As already stated I wrote and preached this sermon last year, so it is in no way connected directly to the current bad situation (which ever way you look at it, its bad). It came from a reflection on the Parable about the Pharisee and the Tax-Collector, or as I like to say the Parable of those in power and those caught up in their mess. This sermon was original shared at the United Theological College in Montreal. Thanks for the Challenge Teffer :)
The deepest stories of truth can only be told in story. Some truths are so real and important that boiling them down to one sentence in unfair, and leads to serious misunderstandings and repercussions. Like rape is wrong… it’s a true statement but boiling it down to this one small sentence as left society unsure of how to react when the wrong act occurs, just because it is wrong does not mean that that we know how to fix it.
In Luke we find the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax collector, Jesus is telling a story to show people that when they think too highly of themselves, in the process they put other people down. It is possible that this parable holds a catch-22, for if we try and create modern categories of who is in this full of yourself Pharisee group, we might be building ourselves up creating in ourselves the very problem Jesus is speaking of. Today instead of placing ourselves into this story I ask for us to remain viewers, allowing the story to demonstrate a real truth that our world is facing today.
Now I will proceed with caution and please know that I have no desire to offend anyone or be too graphic, but as I read the prayer of the Pharisee words that I heard a few weeks ago out of the mouth of a teenage boy came back to haunt me. Last year a picture started going around a high school in North Carolina of two high school students engaged in sex, when the girl who was in the picture saw it she went to police with her father. She had been invited by a boy she liked to a party, but when she got there realized she was the only girl, with 4 boys. Not having a way home she stayed, and after a couple of stupid comments from the boy that invited her, she began drinking. After enough shots to get her drunk two of the boys began trying to take off her clothes, she resisted, left the room and passed out on a couch in the basement. She woke up and one of the boys was on top of her, but the picture brought back some of the fuzzy memory she had. One of the boys’ parents was a police officer and the boys and their parents were quick to hit the news, saying that the 3 of the boys had had consensual sex with the girl that night, one of the boy’s mother even said that the only thing her son was guilty of was pre-marital sex. The ring leader within the boys group said: “I'm not a rapist. I had consensual sex with a girl and she wanted to. I've never apologized to the girl because I haven't done anything wrong. In the Bible it says to forgive, but it's hard because she isn't telling the truth.” We have a similar story on our side of the boarder; Rehtaeh Parsons committed suicide last April after 17 months of harassment from both the 4 boys who had raped her at a party and their parents. The boys were convicted of nothing and were allowed to taunt her for months, at her funeral the boys’ parents were seen putting up “support the boys” posters, still claiming that she had wanted and asked for the sexual exchange.
Jesus told this parable to people who were sure of their own goodness and despised everybody else. Lk 18:9. Now I know I am on a slippery slope, because my metaphor means placing the victim in the place of the tax collector which might insinuate blame, but the sad part is that this is exactly what our society does. We read headlines Ann was raped by Joe, or Ann was raped, or Ann is a rape victim, so quickly our society drops the actual subject in the situation, making sure we seldom hear the words Joe is a rapist. Our world turns these victims into the tax collector, forcing them to put their head down in shame. ‘she asked for it, she shouldnt have had alcohol, she should not have even gone to the party, just look at what she is wearing, my boy shouldnt be blamed because she is a flirt.’ (Julia Penelope). And for our Pharisees we have high school boys and their parents saying, He is a good boy, he is a good student, he gives back to the community, he has universities who want to give him scholarships, he goes to church, he is not a liar like her. So sure of their own goodness they despised everyone else. This case of building self-up at the expense of another is an extreme example, and it is to you I give the task to balance it back out. Looking at an extreme can give us a new perspective. Things are changing, new laws are being created, we to can make a change.
“I tell you” said Jesus “For those who makes themselves great will be humiliated, and those who are humiliated will be made great.”
The deepest stories of truth can only be told in story. Some truths are so real and important that boiling them down to one sentence in unfair, and leads to serious misunderstandings and repercussions. Like rape is wrong… it’s a true statement but boiling it down to this one small sentence as left society unsure of how to react when the wrong act occurs, just because it is wrong does not mean that that we know how to fix it.
In Luke we find the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax collector, Jesus is telling a story to show people that when they think too highly of themselves, in the process they put other people down. It is possible that this parable holds a catch-22, for if we try and create modern categories of who is in this full of yourself Pharisee group, we might be building ourselves up creating in ourselves the very problem Jesus is speaking of. Today instead of placing ourselves into this story I ask for us to remain viewers, allowing the story to demonstrate a real truth that our world is facing today.
Now I will proceed with caution and please know that I have no desire to offend anyone or be too graphic, but as I read the prayer of the Pharisee words that I heard a few weeks ago out of the mouth of a teenage boy came back to haunt me. Last year a picture started going around a high school in North Carolina of two high school students engaged in sex, when the girl who was in the picture saw it she went to police with her father. She had been invited by a boy she liked to a party, but when she got there realized she was the only girl, with 4 boys. Not having a way home she stayed, and after a couple of stupid comments from the boy that invited her, she began drinking. After enough shots to get her drunk two of the boys began trying to take off her clothes, she resisted, left the room and passed out on a couch in the basement. She woke up and one of the boys was on top of her, but the picture brought back some of the fuzzy memory she had. One of the boys’ parents was a police officer and the boys and their parents were quick to hit the news, saying that the 3 of the boys had had consensual sex with the girl that night, one of the boy’s mother even said that the only thing her son was guilty of was pre-marital sex. The ring leader within the boys group said: “I'm not a rapist. I had consensual sex with a girl and she wanted to. I've never apologized to the girl because I haven't done anything wrong. In the Bible it says to forgive, but it's hard because she isn't telling the truth.” We have a similar story on our side of the boarder; Rehtaeh Parsons committed suicide last April after 17 months of harassment from both the 4 boys who had raped her at a party and their parents. The boys were convicted of nothing and were allowed to taunt her for months, at her funeral the boys’ parents were seen putting up “support the boys” posters, still claiming that she had wanted and asked for the sexual exchange.
Jesus told this parable to people who were sure of their own goodness and despised everybody else. Lk 18:9. Now I know I am on a slippery slope, because my metaphor means placing the victim in the place of the tax collector which might insinuate blame, but the sad part is that this is exactly what our society does. We read headlines Ann was raped by Joe, or Ann was raped, or Ann is a rape victim, so quickly our society drops the actual subject in the situation, making sure we seldom hear the words Joe is a rapist. Our world turns these victims into the tax collector, forcing them to put their head down in shame. ‘she asked for it, she shouldnt have had alcohol, she should not have even gone to the party, just look at what she is wearing, my boy shouldnt be blamed because she is a flirt.’ (Julia Penelope). And for our Pharisees we have high school boys and their parents saying, He is a good boy, he is a good student, he gives back to the community, he has universities who want to give him scholarships, he goes to church, he is not a liar like her. So sure of their own goodness they despised everyone else. This case of building self-up at the expense of another is an extreme example, and it is to you I give the task to balance it back out. Looking at an extreme can give us a new perspective. Things are changing, new laws are being created, we to can make a change.
“I tell you” said Jesus “For those who makes themselves great will be humiliated, and those who are humiliated will be made great.”
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