Bumper Sticker Religion

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Chapter 13 of Hebrews is very different from much of the rest of the book. It contains a list of short doctrinal and ethical statements.

It is the kind of scripture that works well with bumper sticker religion – those deep truths that are short enough for the bumper of your Subaru. You know the kind of short pithy stickers I’m talking about. Like these: [PP1b] You all laugh because I’m different. I laugh because You’re all the same. Retired, I was tired yesterday and I’m tired again today. A real gentleman wouldn’t stare at my stickers. Some days you’re the pigeon and some days you’re the statue. I found these at www.bumpertalk.com.

You could do the same thing with this section of Hebrews 13. “Got Angels? Help a Stranger” “God is my Helper. I Am Not Afraid” “Pray for our Leaders” “Jesus is the Same, Yesterday, Today, Forever”. Those are just some of the slogans you could get from this section. All of these could easily make it as a bumper sticker somewhere. I’ve even seen a few these on the road.

Slogans are good for what they do – catch your attention, make you think, propel you toward an action. “Would Jesus Discriminate?” would fit on a bumper. It is provocative, thoughtful, even disturbing. That is our goal – to encourage more thought, study and insight. The bumper sticker along would not accomplish this. It takes going a little deeper. And that’s where bumper sticker religion gets in trouble. By making truth simple there is a grave danger of making it simplistic. There is always more to the story. There are things about the message that need to “un-packing” and elaboration. There is a great danger that the bumper sticker theology will become the “truth” instead of pointing towards a deeper truth.

We see this kind of thing in other areas of life. A woman who had just given birth to triplets was explaining to a friend that triplets happened once in 15,000 times. “My Lord, how did you find time to do your housework?” Bumper sticker theology works well for jokes and provocation, but it leaves so much more information out. We are called as Christians to plumb the depths of that truth – wherever we can find evidence of truth.

As I have pondered the next phase of where I see us going with the “Would Jesus Discriminate?” campaign, I have a couple of ideas that I believe will be important for us as a congregation. Our text covers a lot of directives but I want to focus us on one portion that I believe will give us some insight for moving to phase two.

This is a perfect example of how living out the principles of “Would Jesus Discriminate?” could look. It is also a perfect example of how bumper sticker thinking in general is not only unhelpful but creates a bigger quagmire. This past week I was invited to become part of the Resident Advisory Council at the St. Peter facility. Most of you are probably aware that there are two facilities in our state which house sex offenders – St. Peter and Moose Lake. After the Dru Sjoden murder several years ago there was a public outcry against releasing sex offenders into the community – particularly level 3 offenders – not that the general public always got the distinction between various levels of offense. A sex offense of any kind was roundly condemned as disgusting. As a result to this outcry our political leaders put a halt to releasing all persons convicted of sexual offenses. The public breathed a sigh of relief that our streets would be safe from sexual predators – something all of us want. But the result is that hundreds of persons have now finished their sentences and are stacking up in the detention facilities with no release plan and no process for earning their return to society. So, our bumper sticker fix – remove sexual predators – has created a huge institutional crisis.

Well, some would say, let them stay in jail forever. They all deserve it. The problem is that they don’t all deserve it. Every case is unique. Some of these people made terrible choices and some made regrettable mistakes but they are all stuck in an institutional stalemate caused by a political process – no matter the specifics or seriousness of the offense. Most people would think it strange that a church would come to the aid of sex offenders. Yet, Jesus came to redeem sinners not the saints and called the church to be about helping “the least of these.” The fullness of our WJD message includes more than making the world better for GLBTQ folks. We shouldn’t let our revulsion over heinous acts created by a few color how we provide justice to an entire system. Keep in mind, it was not too many years ago that most of us sitting in this sanctuary right now would be considered sex offenders simply for the way we love our partners. A blanket political knee-jerk has not solved the real problem of preventing sexual exploitation, plus it has created a whole new legal and institutional mess about what we do with anyone whose sexuality has run into our legal system. Is the only choice we have as a society to completely cut these people off from the world? It is not the choice we have made as a church. We have former sex offenders who are part of this congregation. We take them with open eyes and look at the specific situation of the offense. For example, if the offense involved children then the Children’s Ministry leadership is made aware of the presence of the offender and clear and appropriate boundaries are established. But that is rare. The greater likelihood is that someone made a regrettable and often stupid mistake in their coming out process and ended up in the judicial system. Consistent with the values of this community of faith, we offer grace to people who want a chance to restore their lives, contribute to the greater good and find a way to rejoin healthy community. We offer grace to those whose lives have been devastated by sexual exploitation. Giving people a healthy and appropriate support network to rebuild their lives is what Jesus was about. But it doesn’t fit well on a bumper sticker.

The other facility I mentioned earlier is up in Moose Lake. As you might know, it is very difficult to be a gay/bi/trans man in a correctional facility. I know there are lots of fantasy ideas of men in prison but we know fantasy is not reality. If you don’t know that, you’re in for a rude awakening! First of all, gay/bi/trans men in an all male facility have a different experience than heterosexual men in the same facility. To “come out” means possible victimization, rape or exploitation. Secondly, administrators claim that no sexual activity is allowed or happening – right! And there is nowhere for these guys to go to process, talk about, receive counsel without fear or administrative repercussions. All requests by Outfront Minnesota for a gay/bi/trans support group have been rebuffed. The residents don’t need it, we are told. There are no relationships forming or sexual activity so the authorities just pretend there are no gay residents.

The institution does allow religious services however. My goal is that we All God’s Children will be approved to provide a worship experience inside the facility that will give the gay/bi/trans men an opportunity to come together in a healthy spiritual environment and reclaim their place in God’s family. This is an example of how I see our next step to “Would Jesus Discriminate?” unfolding. It is to take our message of hope to places of hopelessness that few others feel are worth paying attention to. It will be important that we communicate well because this kind of ministry doesn’t fit well on a bumper sticker.

For us to be effective at endeavors like this and future phases of “Would Jesus Discriminate?” it is important that we as a congregation are as grounded as possible in our understanding of who we are as a people of faith. For a while now you have been hearing about CLM.

II.      Creating a Life that Matters (CLM)

I know that many of us have been to Bible studies or Sunday School or Christian Education courses in past years in different churches. Let me tell you that this course is nothing like anything you have ever taken. I have reviewed the curriculum. It is deep. It is theologically sound. It is thought-provoking. It is enjoyable, not boring. It will stretch your faith. And it will help you put words to the things you believe or sense. It’s nice to have knowledge and know some new facts. That is what most educational courses give you. CLM is designed to actually create in you not just a smarter person, but a life that matters.

It is very important that we are ready for whatever responses we receive as our message of hope and grace reaches out into the world. You never know what will happen. Shauna and I watched this past week from the chapel windows as an older gentleman slowly and methodically gathered all of the WJD signs around the church. He was being so casual that it took us a little bit to realize he was a thief. When I went out to ask him what he was doing with our signs, he jumped in his car and sped down Oakland. You don’t expect thieves to be elderly, pudgy and driving a green Honda CRV. My hunch is that a person who would steal signs off a church lawn is operating out of a bumper sticker mentality. Bumper sticker religion is the easiest way to make people conform, to reinforce unspoken prejudice and to perpetuate oppressive systems. It is shallow, it is destructive and it misses the point of who God is.

Jesus healed lepers, ate with Gentiles, made women disciples, welcomed the Centurian and his partner all the while knowing that the religious establishment of his day were horrified at every one of those choices. They were giving people simplistic pious-sounding answers to complex issues and Jesus called them on it every time. What we learn from those biblical stories is that the presence of God is both the motivation and the guarantee of right living.

It is not easy speaking to a bumper sticker world about complex social and systemic issues. We are following the ways of Jesus when we refuse to be seduced by bumper sticker religion. We’re going to live our faith a better way.

Sources:
www.homileticsonline.com D1NT, September 2007.
www.bumpertalk.com/bt/images/items/

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