Completed Dissonance.

Completed Dissonance

A Sermon by Rev. Mark R. Thomson

Harundale Presbyterian Church

April 27, 2003

2^nd Sunday in Easter

Scripture: Acts 4:32-35, 1 John 1:1-2:2, John 20:19-31

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.^{^[1]} Amen.

o believe is to live with dissonance.^{^[2]}

The dictionary defines Dissonance as "a simultaneous combination of tones conventionally accepted as being in a state of unrest and needing completion."^{^[3]}

I can perhaps better illustrate this definition by asking our organist to play a Dissonant Chord. < dissonant chord >^{^[4]}

Not a pleasant musical experience.

It is collision...a cacophony...in short, a mess.

It is, as the dictionary states,

a sound that is not at all restful,

but rather brings tension,

making us wince in near pain.

It is a sound that is not complete,

but rather yearns to be transformed

into something more agreeable to the ear.

To believe is to live with dissonance.

he disciples witnessed the one they called Lord and Messiah brutally rejected, mocked, and murdered on a cross. They were now holed up in a dark room afraid for their lives.

< dissonant chord! > Dissonance.

The author of the first letter of John reminds his congregation that

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth.^{^[5]}

< dissonant chord! > Dissonance.

The world situation today certainly feels dissonant.

The war in Iraq is over, but the future is uncertain. Can we do what the British couldn't in the 1920s and bring a true democracy to the region or will we find ourselves becoming the oppressive empire we rebelled against in 1776?

The very people we liberated are protesting against us. Why do so many in the world hate us?

We feel more insecure now than when the Soviet Union had five-thousand nuclear warheads pointed at us! The world is supposed to be getting better not worse. Now our terrorist angst is tied to a color coded system that may never return to green but leave us forever in shades of yellow and red.

There is injustice and poverty. Why does the way of the wicked prosper?^{^[6]} Its unfair. Why is life so easy for some and so hard for others?

< dissonant chord! > Dissonance.

Each of us struggle with our own sense of dissonance when our life experience collides with our faith. Dissonance is a collision; the collision of two things that interfere with one-another: the way the world is and the way we think the world should be because we believe in a just and loving God.

Without a belief, there is no dissonance, because there is nothing to collide with the way the world is. Its just the way it is. But the more your life differs from the way you think it should be, the more dissonance there is. ( Is it any wonder that the poor and the oppressed cry out more than the rich and comfortable? )

Our belief in a just and loving God creates a restlessness with the world.

It is in tension with the way things are.

There is a yearning for completeness.

To believe is to live with dissonance.

he obvious question that now faces us as believers in a just and loving God is:

How do we live with dissonance?

Dissonance is not a pleasant experience. As my music teacher says, "The ear longs to hear something more." So too our soul longs for something more. The unfinished restlessness yearns for completion.

< dissonant chord -----> resolves to a rich major chord >

Ahhh, much better. The question is How do we get there?

here are some who think the world is so broken, so dissonant, that the only hope of getting to that beautiful major chord is when Jesus comes again - the Second Coming.

In our communion service printed on the back of the hymnal we declare the mystery of faith:

Christ has died.

Christ has risen.

Christ will come again.

Paul writes in Romans:

We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons [and daughters], the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.^{^[7]}

What is disturbing to me is that lately I have been doing some research on radical fundamentalist groups that have given up on patience and are actively seeking ways of hurrying God up.^{^[8]} I would like to take a moment to share with your some of what I have learned. Each of you will be exposed to this in various degrees through the media, or other churches even in our area.

There have always been those who have tried to calculate the date of the Second Coming. In Paul's early writing in our own Bible, its is clear that Paul thought Jesus would return in his lifetime. As more time passed, Paul softened his stance and prepared for the long haul.^{^[9]}

Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew, "...of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."^{^[10]}

But it hasn't stopped people from trying. The Seventh Day Adventists started life as a group called the Millerites who followed William Miller. Mr. Miller predicted, through intricate numerological analysis of the numbers in Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation, that the Second Coming would occur March 21, 1844.

He and his followers waited together as the date passed. Felling some tiny mistake had been made, they tried October 22. The passing of that date was called the Great Disappointment. The remnants of that group gave up on calculating dates and eventually became the Seventh Day Adventists we know today.

When Israel came back into existence as a nation in 1948, many people began to think that the stage was set for Christ to return. Prophecy seemed to be fulfilled. Since that period some fundamentalist churches have focused more and more on the Second Coming as something that must happen soon.

Its not only the Christians who share this fervor. Conservative Jews look toward rebuilding the temple -- the so called Third Temple – as a part of their religious and national identity. Of course to do this, they have to deal with the Muslim Dome of the Rock which sits where the temple once stood. Some of these groups advocate extreme violence to destroy the Dome of the Rock, and many attempts have been made and stopped.

The Six Days war of 1967 saw Israel conquer Jerusalem and for the first time step onto the temple mount. Some thought it an opportunity to destroy the Dome of the Rock, but an astute Israeli Minister of Defense, Moshe Dayan, knew the diplomatic fall-out from such an act would lead to all out war and incredible suffering. He gave the temple mount back to the Muslim authorities. Some view Dayan as a hero, others as a devil who let God down by not taking the opportunity.

A young man named Dennis Rohan thought he could bring the Second Coming by burning down Al Aqsa Mosque, which sits near the Dome of the Rock on the temple mount. Once the fire was put out, the Second Coming didn't happen, but it set back peace for quite a while.

Some predicted a Second Coming in 1988, 40 years, or a generation, after Israel came back into being. It didn't happen.

When the Gulf War started in 1991, there was religious fervor that this would become the battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming was near. It didn't happen.

In 1996 a red heifer named Melody was born in Israel. She created quite a stir. You see, Numbers 19 says that the ashes of a red heifer are needed to be used in a purification ritual to wash away sin.

A pure red heifer is a very rare cow, and in Israel's long history before the second temple was destroyed it is said there were only nine such animals. Many thought Melody was the tenth, and would be a necessary condition to building a third temple. It didn't go unnoticed that when Melody would be of the proper age for sacrifice (3 years), it would be 1999 and the eve of the millennium which seemed too perfect a time for the beginning of the end. However, as Melody aged, white hairs began to grow making her imperfect and an unsuitable candidate.

There are Christian groups which help fund these radical Jewish groups because it serves their end. They believe if the Jews blow up the Dome of the Rock and build a temple, it will lead to a Holy war between the Jews and the Muslims, which begins the terrible tribulation where countless are killed.

Of course these Christians don't care about that because they believe that before the Tribulation they will be "raptured" or taken up into heaven out of harms ways. Those who remain will fight it out. The Jews will either be killed or converted to Christianity. Then Jesus will come and establish a thousand year reign of peace. Some radical Christian groups are helping breed red heifers for the Jews to use.

Its a very convoluted vision based on sketchy and uncritical readings of various books of the Bible from Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelations.

Today, a quick scan of religious TV networks like Trinity Broadcast Network find people like John Hagee, Jack Van Impe, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and a host of others who believe the end times are upon us. Prophecy is being fulfilled and we are the generation to witness it. Its all very exciting and quite intoxicating.

The very popular "Left Behind" book series begins with the Rapture and details the stories of those who have been left behind". It is a fictional story based upon this same type of theology referred to as Dispensational Premillennialism (say that three times fast).

Basically it is the idea that the history of the world can be divided into "dispensations" or chapters each having a beginning and an end. So in broad terms we have the first dispensation of the Jews (or Old Testament), the second dispensation of the Church (or new Testament), and the third dispensation is the thousand year reign of Christ that follows Christ's second coming.

It is difficult to be a successful critic of these theological movements because the proponents will argue that anyone who clearly doesn't see these signs that the end is upon us is a non-believer, or worse yet, inspired by Satan. They will be left behind" as the book’s say while the true believers will be swept up into heaven. I'll let you judge whether I am inspired by Satan.

It seems counter to everything I believe about Christ that Christians should take any joy in the suffering of anyone. Yet in both the Jewish and Christian radical views, there is a glee when they talk about how the Valley Jezreel will run deep with the blood of non-believers in the battle of Armageddon. I've seen the Valley of Jezreel and that's a lot of blood.

More diabolical than that is the notion that those who work for peace in Israel are working counter to God's purposes. The sign of the Anti-Christ is that he will bring peace! Blessed are the peacemakers? Not when peace runs counter to getting to the big war we need to bring Jesus back. It is a twisted logic that turns religion on its head and justifies violence as a means to God’s ends.

Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli Prime Minister who was working for peace with the Palestinians and willing to give up the West Bank was assassinated at a peace rally in 1995 by a right-wing Jewish law student who though God had given Israel all of the land and none should be given away.

Those radical Christians who felt God did give Israel all the land were sympathetic with the assassination. They support anything that will hasten conflict and bloodshed. These Christians get excited when people are suffering and dying because they think the end is near.

But scripture shows over and over again that God is more interested in justice and mercy than in temples and land.

Hosea 6:6 - For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.

Amos 5:24 - But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Micah 6:8 - He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Matthew 5:44 - But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Roman 12:21 - Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

It is preposterous to think that God can be manipulated by our human efforts to return as though the Second Coming required us to pull the handles of the religious machinery in the right order: Red Heifer, Third Temple, Big War; lots of suffering, Second Coming....

The Bible is not some secret code book whose purpose is to reveal the events of the future. John writes in his letter:

...that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing this that our joy may be complete.^{^[11]}

The Bible is a witness to bring us into fellowship with God and one-another.

Sitting on my shelf in my library is the twenty-two volume set of John Calvin's Commentaries. John Calvin, one of the founding father's of the Protestant Movement to which we are indebted, wrote a commentary on every book of the Bible, except one: Revelation. He argued that it lent itself to too much wild speculation.

We live in dissonance. But simply thinking that it will be solved by the Second Coming is like a religious diet pill - an easy solution to the dissonance that seeks to avoid the real work and disciple of being faithful and seeking to do God's will.

I don't know when Jesus is going to return. I don't know how Jesus is going to return. Its not my business to know. We live in hope that God will return and there will be no more dissonance, only beautiful music.

In the mean time...

o believe is to live in dissonance.

Yet it is more proper for us, as Post Easter Christians

to view it as Completed Dissonance.

Easter was the major chord that completed the dissonance. The unrest and tension has already been resolved. The Risen Christ, not the Second Coming, is the completion our souls long for.

For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.^{^[12]}

Thomas doubted this could be true, but when he saw the Risen Lord, he fell on his knees and he worshipped. The dissonance of his doubt transformed into the major chord of faith.

< dissonant chord -----> resolves to a rich major chord >

The disciples who met Christ gathered together; they shared what they had and took care of the needy. In the midst of dissonance, they were living the major chord.

< dissonant chord -----> resolves to a rich major chord >

We Christians are called to live in the major chord. That major chord does not come through force and bloodshed. It comes through love.

If you want to talk about religious extremism, then look at Jesus. On the night of his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Roman troops and officials were led by Judas Iscariot to find Jesus. Judas was a zealot. The zealots wanted war and vindication for the Jewish people. They were the terrorists of the day, ambushing and killing Roman soldiers. It was the terrorist mentality that sold out Jesus hoping to force Jesus into a confrontation so the great battle to rid Israel of the Romans could begin! He betrayed him with a kiss.

As the soldiers came forward to arrest Jesus, Peter drew his sword and in a wild swing sliced off the ear of the high priests slave.

It was the swing of one whose intention was to defend his Lord,

to save Him from the infidels,

to kill those who don't understand.

But Jesus cried out, "No more of this!", and Luke records that he reached out and healed the ear of the slave.^{^[13]} This is religious extremism! Not bloodshed and war, but extreme love and healing.

It is easy for us to feel frustrated at the world.

Frustrated at people who are rude,

people who are self-absorbed,

people who don't want to believe,

people who believe differently than us.

A sense of frustration is perhaps one of the surest signs of the dissonance in which we live.

Easter is our sign that the dissonance of the world can not drown out the major chord of God's love.

When you are frustrated and feel that dissonance:

Think of the disciples huddled together in the darkness experiencing the Risen Christ.

Think of the disciples working together to live the major chord through sharing and caring for the needy.

Think of Jesus healing the ear of the slave while he was being bound and carried off like a common criminal.

Know that Christ is Risen and nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Experience the major chord of Easter in the love you show toward others.

hope you will take away two things from this rather long winded sermon:

1^st - There are a lot of wild ideas out there about the Second Coming. Stay informed. Don't be beguiled by them. Our God, the one who died for us, can not be a God who wishes death and destruction on anyone. Our God cares less for temples and dirt, and more about justice, mercy, and love.

2^nd - Yes, there is dissonance. Completed Dissonance. Don’t let the frustrations of life overcome you. Live in the major chord of Easter and God’s love. Be extreme in your love.

< dissonant chord -----> resolves to a rich major chord >

To him who loves us

and has freed us from our sins by his blood

and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father,

to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.

Amen.^{^[14]}

^{^[2]} Gorenberg, Gershom. 2000. The End of Days. Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount (Paper back Edition). Page 46. Oxford University Press. Oxford, NY.

^{^[4]} The reader of this sermon will unfortunately miss the musical illustrations that accompanied its preaching. For those who are unfamiliar with a dissonant chord, imagine someone pounding their fist randomly on the keys of a piano. It is not a pleasant sound.

^{^[8]} Much of this material for this section is taken from my reading of Gershom Gorenberg's book The End of Days. Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount. I also confirmed his material by checking out the websites of various Jewish and Christian groups that support these views. Doing a web search on "Red Heifer" or "Third Temple" can produce some interesting points of view.

^{^[9]} Compare Paul's earlier work of 1 Thessalonians 4:13 - 18 to Romans 8:18-25. In Thessalonians Paul expects that "...we who are alive" will be taken up -- the only reference in scripture to what is today referred to as the "Rapture". In Romans, Paul talks less personally and more about creation and "patient" waiting.

^{^[13]} Luke 22:49-51 RSV. What always intrigues me about this passage is that only Luke records the healing of the slave's ear. (compare Matthew 26:51-52, Mark 14:47, and John 18:10-11). But what is also interesting is that only in Luke does Jesus tell his disciples, prior to his arrest, to sell their mantles and buy a sword (Luke 22:36-38). The two passages seem incongruous, yet Jesus' action indicates that the sword is not ultimately the way.