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A Hidden Wholeness A sermon
preached by Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli at Capitol Hill United Methodist
Church April 8, 2007, Easter Sunday. Text: Luke 24:1-12 --------------- What is the human condition? A couple of years ago, I wrote a paper that wrestled, in part, with that question; and as part of my research, I conducted interviews with a variety of folks who are connected in some way with this congregation. One of the most striking answers when I asked the question, "What is the human condition" was simply: "to be inhuman." Humans have a horrifying capacity for cruelty-a capacity to be inhuman. I don't often watch movies that I know ahead of time are going to be full of violence, but felt compelled recently to watch the movie Blood Diamond, a story set in the midst of the brutal civil war in 1990's Sierra Leone. Sometimes it is bitter, but necessary medicine to be reminded in the way that only Hollywood can do (other than actually being there) of the reality in our world of human greed, violence, cruelty, inhumanity… Human beings treating one another as nothing more than moving targets for their guns and grenades, children being forced to do horrific, violent things, families torn apart, women and girls violated, bodies maimed-this is not just the movies. We see it in the news and front pages of our papers, playing out in Zimbabwe and Darfur and Iraq and countless other places we've never even heard of. We know, if we're paying attention, that there are more slaves in the world today than at other times in history through the sex trade and forced child labor. We know, if we're paying attention, that people are dying of diseases and hunger when there is medicine and food available. We know the terrifying truth of mob violence, the ways that it is so easy for us as human beings to get caught up in a wave of thoughtless destruction, to lose any perspective, to lose our humanity. And we know, too, the ways that the slavery and violence and death-dealing that we see playing out on the world stage manifest in human life-our own lives-on a different scale. Addiction. Selfishness. Fear. Apathy. Lack of compassion. Resentment. Greed. Cruelty. We know our own capacity for hatred and prejudice and vengeance. We know our capacity for searing judgment and violence that we inflict not only on others, but that we turn back on ourselves. When we allow ourselves to stop the incessant movement and activity of our lives long enough to really look at these things, the temptation is to despair. Everything appears so broken and hopelessly jagged. And the truth is that things are broken in the world. Suffering is real and deep and so often untold. It was into this broken world that Jesus of Nazareth was born. It was in the midst of this bruised world that Jesus walked and taught and healed and loved. It was the same fear, greed, confusion, and mob violence that turned even those closest to Jesus away from him, leaving him alone, mocked, treated as a pawn in someone else's game. It was into this world of tears that Jesus came and gave himself-all of his life and energy and gifts and spirit and faith and friendship. It was to this jagged reality of human forgetfulness and cruel capacity that Jesus surrendered and was finally killed. Just another victim. Just another headline buried on page 14. We are tempted to despair, to believe that to be human is to be-to one degree or another- "inhuman." Is this all there is to us? Jesus clearly didn't think so; his actions and words betray another reality. Again and again Jesus called those around him to greater compassion and faithfulness and generosity and care. Again and again, Jesus challenged those who were in power to use their power for good and not for harm. Again and again, Jesus brought healing to the suffering and downtrodden. Jesus looked at people and saw their beauty, their potential, their strength. Jesus looks at us and sees who we really are, who we are created to be. Jesus sees and suffers all the brokenness of humanity, but recognizes in the midst of it all our capacity for gentleness and humility and forgiveness and love. Jesus knows that our human dignity is found in our ability to rise above the horror and evil of the world. We are not made for cruelty and callousness and brokenness. We are made-designed-for loving connection and care. I recently became aware of a discovery that has the scientific world all abuzz. The discovery is of cells in the brain dubbed "mirror neurons." Evidently, these "mirror neurons" respond or "fire" not only when we perform a certain action or experience a certain feeling, but also when we see or watch someone else performing the action or expressing the feeling. For example, if you were to look at a succession of images of human faces expressing an emotion, "mirror neurons" in your brain get busy "mirroring" the emotion that is expressed. It is posited that these "mirror neurons" account for why we get so excited, involved, worked up when we watch sports or a dance performance or a good movie-because the neurons function such that, in our brain, we are not only watching the action, but also doing the action. We know that babies learn by imitation, by watching and then "mirroring" the things they see. The "mirror system" helps us to harness or "tap into" our own abilities-seen in the other-and then to project that ability out into the world (1). A baby learns to smile by looking into the face of his mother. A baby learns of her ability to walk, to talk, to share by watching those around her. But the learning about "mirror neurons" is not only connected to learned behaviors and emotions. It is also suggested that, in essence, the mirror neuron is part of a network that allows you to see the world "from the other person's point of view." Researchers have found that cells which normally fire when you poke the patient with a needle, will also fire when the patient watches another patient being poked. The mirror neurons, it would seem, dissolve the barrier between self and others. (2) The research seems to say that we are designed with a built-in unifying mechanism, that we are made to be together, to connect, to be empathetic (some have called these cells "empathy neurons"). We are not made for callousness and cruelty. We are made for loving connection and care. The
more we learn about how we are created, the more we begin to see that,
while things appear to be-and often are!-disconnected and broken, that
is not the way we are made. There is a hidden wholeness, an oft-hidden
capacity for deep connection and empathy that is built right into the
human creature. Of course, this same "mirror system" that provides
the way for us to learn new behaviors, to share empathy, and to recognize
deep connections is also a mechanism by which we can "mirror"
negative, destructive things. We've been given by the God who created
us the biological capacity to grow and develop and change through "mirroring."
But we have a choice to make in how we use that capacity. That choice
is: Where do you look? "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" The question for us, is-again- "Where do we look for life?" Where we look will make all the difference. Because what you see is what you will mirror. Do we look for life among death? Do we look for worth in places that only offer us the shallow lessons of the market economy-marketplaces in which our lives have meaning only insofar as we have something to trade (good looks, smarts, wealth, status)? This is looking for life among death. Do we look for meaning in the transitory fads and fevered philosophies of self-styled gurus? This is looking for life among death. Do we look for a sense of what's real only through the lens of our own subjectivity? This is looking for life among death. If these are the places we look for life, for real life, for what it means to be human, we will have no recourse in the end but despair. Because none of these things lasts, none of these things transcend the human limitations that lead to brokenness, to cruelty, to death. Who do we choose to watch as examples of true life? Sports "heroes," movie stars, celebrities, models with six-pack abs or pencil-thin frames, business tycoons, and scheming "survivors"…these are the images that we see all around us, flashed up on television screens and splashed across magazines. We can choose who we spend time watching. Who do you watch? What do you watch? It makes a difference. Because who you watch is who you will mirror. What you watch is what you will mirror. It's how we're made. Well, you might say I'm overstating the case. Perhaps. We are, after all, free creatures who can reason, discern, and choose. But the question is still before us, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" With a little prodding the women, when faced with this question, remembered Jesus' words of dying and rising. They remembered Jesus. And in that remembering the story began to be told-the real "Secret" was out! And nothing has been the same ever since. Once the word got out that Jesus had gotten out of the tomb, that Jesus had left the building, that Jesus was alive and on the move, lives that had despaired and hopes that had been dashed were brought back to life too. And people began to see Jesus when and where they least expected him-in locked rooms of fear and anxiety and along the highways and byways of their daily lives and around their breakfast and dinner tables and at their fishy places of work-Jesus wants to be seen!. And people began to look for Jesus, to turn their eyes upon Jesus, to look into Jesus' face to mirror his countenance, to look into Jesus' heart to mirror his love and compassion. People began to see that Jesus was far from being just another teacher, just another hero, just another martyr; Jesus shows us the power of love and life-a divine power that is stronger than all the cruelty and destruction of death; Jesus lives! As we turn our gaze to Christ, we begin to see that, in the person of Jesus, we see what it really means to be human. Jesus is connected to God, connected to other humans, giving of self, compassionate, strong, creative, healing, wise, courageous, steadfast, merciful, loving. Jesus, in his earthly life, looked to God the Father and "mirrored" God's Being, God's way, God's heart. That is what it means to be fully human, to be whole. And we see it, in the flesh, in Jesus. This is our own potential! This is the wholeness to which we are called! To look into the heart of Jesus and mirror it and live it. And, by God's grace we are designed to do this; and by God's grace, we are empowered to do this. But we must choose. If these claims are true, then why would we look anywhere else but to Christ for meaning, for hope, for a sense of worth, for the strength to go on in the face of all the trials of this world? For some here today, the so-called "realities" of this world-its brokenness, cruelty, betrayal, inhumanity-weigh too heavily on their shoulders-for deeply personal reasons-to be able to believe in anything resembling resurrection. For some who can't pull their eyes away from looking at death, new life and resurrection, the possibility for hope, is no more than an idle tale, a dream, wishful thinking. But, let's remember, we are free creatures who can reason and choose. We can choose where to look. We must choose where to look. We must choose to whom we look. We must choose who we will mirror. And today we are beckoned to look up from the tombs and pits of despair and see a living Christ who invites us to mirror divine love and generosity of spirit and the gracious movements of embrace and gentleness; we are beckoned to mirror the brave steps of compassion and creativity, to mirror the arms flung wide, the kneeling gesture of servanthood, to dance the "useless dance of love for its own sake…the dance of all who work with the hopeless, the incurable, the dying, the wretched." (3) As we follow, as we dance, as we mirror the living Jesus, the Christ makes us alive. And the human condition becomes a bit more human, the world takes one step toward gentleness, our connection-designed lives begin to reflect the hidden wholeness that has been there all along. And if we're alive (you might check your pulse to see!) we will shout "Alleluia! Thanks be to God!" (1)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/video/3204/i01.html
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Sermons from other years:
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Capitol Hill United Methodist
Church is a Reconciling Congregation. |
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