meditation on Long Distance #5

Ann Lamott, a writer who is openly religious, came to Omaha to speak about writing and faith. Outside the Holland Performing Arts Center, a number of Pro birth protesters set up shop, complete with graphic representations of aborted fetuses. People were shouting: “The devil is in that place. If you go in, you’ll go to hell.” In order to get to the Holland and Anna Lamott’s story telling, it was hard to avoid this nasty adventure. I heard it was like the wandering Hebrews passing through this River Jordan to get to the Promised Land.

The apocryphal story is of State Senator Rev. Lowen Kruse (United Methodist). Apparently he was not at a loss for words for these protesters. He is reported to have wittily retorted: “I’m not sure what all this fuss is, I don’t believe there will be any abortions in the Holland Center tonight.”

In the Holland Center, at the beginning of her talk, Ms. Lamott declared she was a member of the ACLU and proudly proclaimed the protesters had a protected right to state their case. In fact, she invited, “I’m told there may be some dissenters in this hall. So I want to give you an opportunity to enjoy your dissent, so if you’re going to dissent, would you please do me a favor and do it right now?” The crowd fell silent for several moments, then laughed, then applauded. She had called out the devil, and the devil was silent.

This story reminds us of a fifth path to the land of the weary: avoid telling the truth about ourselves and the truth about our culture. Lamott later commented, “The opposite of faith is not doubt, the opposite of faith is certainty.” This, I think, was about cockiness. Walter Brueggemann says it this way: “Tell hope that does not depend on our conservative certitude or on our liberal self-assuredness, but only on the God who has given the Easter verdict over a new world and called it “very good”.” Call out the devil and the devil will be silent in the face of truth stories.

You are invited to tell the truth: about arrogant military policy; about slaves ancient and modern; about exile and displacement; about our sensing God’s absence; about how poverty crushes in our land; about how buying sweatshop made t-shirts and clothing fosters lives of depravation; about how using up our planet may not kill us, but it may leave a wasteland for the next generation. You can fill in the blanks and you can call out the devil in our world. You can tell the truth. You can be strong. You can be firm. You can demand healthy boundaries.

We are God’s people in this time. Recognizing and claiming that will put us in places where hope can be heard and the truth can be told. And the devil will be powerless.

Matthew 4
1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4But he answered, “It is written,
‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
7Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’”
11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.