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From The First Baptist Church in America pulpit – Providence, Rhode Island

“A King Who Knew Not Joseph” (Exodus 1:8-14) – August 30, 2009

Dr. Dan Ivins, preaching

            Xenophobia=the fear of that which is different, appears all through the Bible, because it’s infected every society on earth. It’s a persistent virus, as we so quickly note how other people are not like us in appearance, belief, custom, language, nationality, race, class or gender. It takes time to get to know people. You have to “winter & summer” with some folks before you get the whole picture. That is rational.  What’s irrational is assuming anybody you don’t know is bad.

            Life moves at such a gradual pace that it’s easy to overlook the past as the present accumulates.“...A new king arose who knew not Joseph...”  For all his contributions to save the Egyptians from starvation, Pharaoh’s close relationship and trust...it was all forgotten through the course of the years. One more victim to the “what-have-you-done-for-me-lately?” syndrome. This was “a new king” for whom the name “Joseph” meant nothing. But he feared Joseph’s ancestors, who outnumbered the Egyptians and were perceived as a threat. Genocide becomes a method of dealing with it, but that only led to the birth of Moses (V. 10).

             In the Book of Esther, you may remember the evil Haman tried to maneuver King Xerxes toward a murderous plot to get rid of the Jews: “There’s a certain people scattered among the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different...” Esther 3:8. Even missionaries are not exempt. Paul and Silas were in Philippi, preaching and healing. And all it did was upset the business community: “These men are turning our city upside down, for they advocate customs that are not lawful, us being Romans” Acts 16:21. 

             The Gospel of John tells a story of a “woman caught in the act of adultery.”  The man got off, but she didn’t.  The religious snoops dragged her before Jesus as a prop to get at him. But Jesus turned their intolerance back on ‘em: “Let the him who is without sin cast the first stone!” Sexual behavior really rankles religious folks.  But rather than deal with what it is that bothers them, they project their discomfort onto the sinner, intending to stone her, to get rid of their problem.  It’s the nature of the up-tights, trying to look good by making somebody else look bad.

            What is it about us that makes us want to waste somebody because they’re not like us? But the most ancient and modern lessons of history continue to bear witness.  It makes no difference if you’re highly educated or high-born, there is no immunity from bigotry, prejudice, and hate. There were more Ph.D’s per square inch in Berlin than any city in Europe in the 30's. Yet these were the intelligentsia that overlooked centuries of enlightenment to mindlessly follow the lead of a vindictive maniac, spreading untold suffering throughout the entire world.

            The record of history from Pharaoh to modern times reflects repeated instances of the extermination of people by other religious groups.  From the fires of Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition to the fabled witch burnings of Salem, not far from here, this fact about us is one of the few things that still qualifies as a “fact,” no matter how you spin it.

            But the same Bible that records such blatant injustice to outsiders, also graciously opens its arms to those who are “No longer strangers and sojourners, fellow citizens with the saints and household of God” (Eph. 2:19). Jesus’ own inner circle embodied that, including not only fishermen, but a zealot and a tax collector. So he taught, “If you love those who love you, that is expected.  Let your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.” “Go the 2nd mile. Turn the other cheek.  Forgive 70x7.  If someone asks for your shirt, offer him your coat also.” 

            I’ve been a pastor of Baptist churches in Tennessee, Indiana, Alabama, Maryland, Arizona, Oregon and New England. I have preached in Cuba and Russia where I discovered that the mix of people is pretty much the same wherever you go. We’re much more alike than we are different. It’s just that our differences are more susceptible to definition than our similarities. Good religion calls us to rise above that, to appreciate and embrace our similarities, in spite of our differences.

            Discourse is getting more coarse, especially on the Internet, where people can say anything they like, while hiding behind a keyboard. We’re quicker to embrace prejudicial language and derogatory epithets in referring to people of other nationalities, religions, and sexual preferences.  It’s even on cable television.  I was stunned at how Hillary Clinton was treated by her own party and blatantly mocked by news anchors. And it crosses party lines as Sarah Palin, who has a compelling story, is snickered at for being a conservative female. Even her handicapped kid is not immune. Folks, I don’t care how you voted, that’s getting pretty low. Hate doesn’t come naturally. We have to be taught it, and other relational viruses that we catch from others. Civility and broad-mindedness are in deep freeze, not only on the streets and in the homes of America, but also on Capitol Hill. And we wonder why we can’t get anything productive done.

            We seem incapable of framing the beliefs and ideas that differ from our own in language that allows for opposing views. In its place we have inserted vindictiveness and violence. Jesus advised: “Take the log out of your own eye.  Then you can see clearly the splinter in somebody else’s.”  The Bible, again takes a common-sense approach to relationships. 

            Winston Churchill said, “If your not liberal when you’re young, you don’t have a heart. And if you’re not conservative when you’re old, you don’t have a brain.” Well I did it backwards, and started out as a young preacher on the conservative side and opposed the views of the left. Then I went to college and changed, only I was on the liberal side and then opposed the views of the right. Then after 20 years as a pastor of churches full of both, I moved to the middle of the road, where most people are, opposing neither. Now after 40 years at this, I don’t care what you are -- whether conservative or liberal; democrat or republican; or independent or Whig. What matters more to me is if you’re mean or kind. Humorous or humorless. And both sides can be either.

            I stand amazed that through all that bouncing around, my good wife stayed the same! Though one of the things I love about her is, we’re different.  Most days.  Sometimes the difference gets to me, but I get over it the moment she walks into the room, my heart lights up. Most days. Likewise, our kids are different. That’s not bad. If everybody was alike, how boring!  Acceptance in spite of differences is what makes us family, and overrides the color of our skin or our world view, or even more importantly, that greatest divider of all, our methods.

            I’m proud that this church is a place where we celebrate diversity.  When everybody thinks alike, nobody thinks much! At the Meeting House, we see things differently and yet are able to see the face of Christ in one another. And that’s good, not a cause for suspicion or rejection.  We bless our differences because we all come together to sit around the feet of Jesus.

            Can’t you just see Jesus when somebody begged him for healing?  “I’d like to hep y’son, but you’re too young to vote!” “God so loved the world...” Yet the Bible argues with itself, also pointing out that even Jesus “came only for the house of Israel.” That was before he got converted to universalism by an uppity Gentile woman! Even Jesus had to learn kindness for gentiles. But I don’t recall him checking out anybody’s theology before he ministered to them. Wait a minute, are you conservative or liberal? Rather he said, “Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what is God’s.”  It’s called common sense.

We don’t ignore the differences, they’re part of who we are. I can look at ya’ll and tell whether you’re a man or woman (most of the time)! But we’re called to be bigger than that, to transcend our differences and that each of us has the power over how we behave toward one another.  That’s what it comes down to.  How do we treat the outsider?  What is our attitude toward those who’re not like us? Everything stands or falls on that.

            In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus was speaking to his followers for the last time, before going up to Jerusalem and live out his fate. One thing to say. One time to say it. It was their “final exam,” and he gave ‘em the answer ahead of time! The bottom line is our attitude toward the little people. “Inasmuch as ye did it to the least of these my brothers and sisters...ye did it unto me!” 

            Maybe someday we’ll quit blaming somebody for the way they’re born. There is no place in civilized society for demonizing and brutalizing any human being because of the “luck of the draw” from the genetic pool. Nevertheless, faith and hate are irreconcilable.  And yet, how often in our painful past and how tragically common it is still in our world today--that these two: faith and hate keep getting linked in an unholy union.

            I’ve been told this story about my infancy since as far back as I can remember.  In 1943, I was still in diapers. Several of my Mom’s friends had gathered at our house with their new war-babies. A half dozen of us crawling around the floor. Suddenly my Dad walked in from the back door to the carpeted living room, with Percy Carter, his lifelong friend, who was a black man, before leaving to Europe.  He was wearing his Army uniform. But unbeknownst to me my Dad made a good-ol’-boy proposition “I betcha a dollar you can’t pick out which baby is an Ivins.” As soon as this towering, dark-skinned stranger entered the living room, all the babies went scurrying back to the safety of their mammas skirt tails. 

            All but me, I’m told. Instead I went crawling straight up to Percy, and started tapping on his spit-shined shoe with my hand. Tap. Tap. Tap. It wasn’t defensive, it was making a connection. A white hand on a black shoe. “Which one’s mine, Percy?” my Daddy wanted to know. I mean there’s money in it! And Percy never hesitated. He said “That’s easy. The one hitting me on the foot!” And Dad said, “How’d you know?” And Percy said, “’Cause he’s the only one that ain’t scared of a black man.”

            So at the tender age of six months, I cost Daddy a dollar that day! Yeah I’m a “child of the south,” who’s had to tear down some wallpaper off of my mind’s eye when it comes to race and difference. But I believe there’s something inherent about me from my earliest days that made it easier for me to do that than most of my peers.

            Every generation has to renew the battle with our inability to make peace with difference. And this church stands in the finest inclusive tradition as it should.  In so doing, it’s not just like its founder, but also like its Lord, who bet his reputation on our ability to summon the sanity and discipline to embrace our fellow men and women with kindness and respect.

“Now a new king arose over Egypt, who knew not Joseph.”

Wouldn’t it have been great if somebody there had whispered, “You might try to get to know him!”

Providence Prayers: (8/30/09)

            Heavenly Father, who’s never nearer to Thy children than when our systems quake and our idols fall. For too long, we’ve lived with a sense of -- all we once prized now being inexorably diminished. We’re fatigued of being sapped by problems that keep coming at us, for which we have no answers. 

            We acknowledge our juvenile preferences for quick and easy answers. We like our instant microwaves, instant credit, instant news, and instant resolution to the perplexing ills that plague our world. And our hearts are heavy. Give us sight to see our sins, the grace to confess them, the will to forsake them, and the wisdom to learn from them. Help us to be more like Thee, who seems never in a hurry and yet never late.

            We remember those among us suffering physically, having had surgery or facing a difficult time of healing, those who are hard-pressed financially, and those for whom hope is a dim possibility. Minister to them out of Thy infinite power to bless. Melt our indifference toward each other; help us to see Thy countenance in our neighbor’s face. lest our church be little more than a prayed-over version of the rigid right and the raucous left.

            We pray for all who are joined in this experience of worship. May this hour lift our spirits in gratitude, that our ways are known to Thee, that faith outlasts the night. Thy judgments are redemptive, Thy mercies sure. Give us confidence that the love we’ve met in Jesus, will one day rule the world. And for these mercies, Thy name shall be upon our lips in ceaseless praise, through Christ our Lord.  Selah!