Backwards!

There was a period of time in our children’s lives when the only books they wanted read at bedtime were those of Shel Silverstein. You know Shel Silverstein; he is the author of “The Giving Tree” and a host of other short stories. But in his poetry book Where the Sidewalk Ends, he has compiled more than a hundred poems that make children laugh…and think…and want to read over and over again. We had our top ten list in those years so long ago, and I hadn’t thought of this in years, but one of the top ten was a poem entitled Backward Bill. Here it is;

BACKWARD BILL
Backward Bill
He lives way up on a backwards hill
Which is really a hole in the sandy ground
But that’s a hill turned upside down
Backward Bill’s got a backward shack
With a big front porch that’s built out back
You walk through the window and look out the door
And the cellar is up on the very top floor
Backward Bill, he rides like the wind
Don’t know where he’s going, but sees where he’s been
His spurs they go “neigh” and his horse it goes “clang”
And his six-gun goes “gnab” it never goes “bang”
Backward bill wears his hat on his toes
And puts on his underwear over his clothes
And come every payday, he pays his boss
And rides off a-smilin, a-carryin his hoss [1]

It’s an odd poem, isn’t it? And of course it makes children laugh because everything ol’ Bill does is exactly opposite of what we do. And what we do is right, of course…and so what Bill does is wrong. What if I told you that Bill was right…and that you are wrong? What if I told you that:

Front porches really do belong on the back of the house
And a hill is really a hole that’s upside down
And hats belong on our feet
And underwear goes over our blue jeans

First, you’d think I’m nuts. But if you got to know me well, if you respected me and came to trust me, then you just might consider the possibility that up is down, and down is up. And if you can imagine that possibility, then you have just understood what First Century Christianity was like. Because much of what Jesus told the early Church made Backward Bill look normal. Jesus said that:

The poor are to be valued and the rich are to be suspect
The weak are the blessed ones, and the strong will be disappointed
The ones who follow strict rules will fail, and the ones who live by mercy will ultimately succeed

I know it sounds radical; I know it sounds upside down. But that was the message of Jesus, and it was the message passed down through the early Church. I didn’t fully understand this until I was privileged one evening 20 years ago to have dinner with Dr. Martin Marty, the most well known Lutheran theologian in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. I was still a young pastor, and Dr. Marty said “Steve, I will give you the same advice I recently gave my son who is just beginning his ministry career.” And the advice was this: “When you stand up before the people on Sunday morning, figure out what the people expect you to say in your sermon, and say something else.” And I realized that night that this is exactly what Jesus did. He turned the tables on religious convention, and it shocked religious people. He didn’t do this simply to be controversial; he did it because in a world where laws reign supreme, grace is a radical message indeed.

In this Letter of James that we just read, we discover the radical nature of grace. Apparently the author – who is the brother of Jesus, by the way – apparently James has been to a wedding, or a worship service, or some other formal gathering, and he and witnessed something that troubled him. When wealthy people entered the temple, these well dressed guests were shown to their seats; premium seats, deluxe seats. I suppose in this church, it would be the premium back row seats, but in that day, I expect it was right in the very front row; a place where they could see and be seen by others. But when the poor people arrived, they were told in no uncertain terms, “You sit over there in the peanut gallery”, or “you sit on the floor and leave the chairs for the beautiful people.”

James is upset. He must have hurried home and written this letter to the whole church. He pointed out to his readers that God has chosen the poor of this world as heirs to his Kingdom. God has lifted up the powerless, and the meek, and the unimportant of this world; he has lifted them up to prominence. And furthermore, James says, so should we in the church.

I expect this letter was upside down thinking when it was first read publically. Perhaps the people were aghast that poor, unclean, uneducated, uncouth people should to sit in the good pews, when it was the rich people who paid for those pews in the first place. And I think that sort of attitude has followed the church through the ages. Reach out to the lowly; give them bread, give them pity, but that doesn’t mean that they should be given a place at our table, or a place in our worship. Does it? Does it? James seems to say that it does.

I am reminded of a story that a pastor from Seattle told at our synod gathering when I lived in the Pacific Northwest. His congregation had built a new education wing, and was beginning a preschool for the children of the neighborhood…and the church was in a very poor neighborhood. One Saturday morning, the most affluent member of the church walked into the pastor’s office and handed the pastor a check for $20,000 and said he was so pleased that the church was birthing a preschool. And as the man left the pastor’s office, he turned back and said “Oh, and pastor, I don’t think it’s a good idea to have colored children in our preschool.” I was amazed at what the pastor told us next. He said he reached into his drawer, withdrew the $20,000 check, and as he handed it to the church member, said “Don’t ever try to hold this church hostage again.”

When we show favoritism in the church, we send a message that God favors the same people we do. People look at our actions and conclude “God must love the wealthy, the white, the educated, the pretty, the successful, the popular, the righteous, and the upstanding people of this world.” But when the church shows mercy, and tolerance, and grace toward all people, then the message we send is something vastly different. The message of mercy says “God also loves the poor, the unemployed, the lost, the rebellious, the outsider, the broken, the obnoxious, and even the uninvited.” It’s backwards thinking to a lot of religious people in this world, but it is truth.

Now, you need to know that Martin Luther hated this Letter of James. He thought it too rigid, too focused on good works…especially where James writes “Faith without works is dead.” Luther would say “If you are lacking in good works, don’t increase your works, increase your faith and good works will be the fruit of your faith.” I suppose Luther was correct. But I also suspect that he would applaud The Royal Law that James advances in his letter; namely “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And who is our neighbor? Who is our neighbor? (Everyone!). This, Jesus taught us in the parable of the Good Samaritan, and it still rings true.

This church does that; we love our neighbor…even the neighbor we’ve never met. Only a few of us have travelled to Tanzania, and yet more than 30 children are able to attend school this fall because you have shown your mercy and supported them by your gifts…even though you’ve never met these kids. You’ve never met some of the people at the Salvation Army in St. Paul, either…or the Teen Moms at Young Life…or the people who receive food and clothing from Valley Outreach…or those who benefit from the Union Gospel Mission. But this week I signed checks totaling $25,000 on your behalf so that mercy could be sent beyond the walls of this church to a dozen different ministries.

For people outside the church, all of this may seems like a silly thing to do; we ought to help people who can return the favor, who can assist us in our work; people who can scratch our backs after we have scratched their’s. But once again, the Kingdom of God is a backwards and upside down community. And it started with the grace that Jesus showed you and me on the cross. Love, not earned but given. Eternal life, not gained by my good living, but gained by his good dying for our sins. And that, my friends is backwards…and that, my friends, is mercy. Thanks be to God. Amen.

[1] “Backward Bill” reprinted from Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, 1974, HarperCollins