Roger J. Gench, Oct. 16, 2011

John 1:1–14; Psalm 22:23–31

Among my memories of growing up in the Gench household of the 1950s and 60s is that my parents sought to set of a delicate balance for us children and for us as a household between the perennial twin dangers of tyranny and anarchy. Now, I’m sure these terms -- tyranny and anarchy-- may sound way over the top and too political for use in a home environment, but as every good parent must know, a household is a political entity. A household is a social arrangement that involves a not-so-egalitarian Congress wherein laws are enacted, decisions are made and contracts are hammered out, peace treaties are negotiated, and budget crises are averted. A household is also place that demands the occasional Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a very strong Executive branch (albeit unelected) and, of course, a Supreme Court -- the rulings of which always seemed to the children to be hopelessly biased and arbitrary. Our household had all of the above. And in the Gench household, tyranny and anarchy were a constant presence. On the one hand, my brother and I sometimes felt that our parents were ruthless dictators and, therefore, at strategic times we entered the public square – i.e., often dinner time – and picketed for our cause. And when that didn’t work we plotted insurrection and revolt. My parents, on the other hand, looked at us and instinctively feared anarchy and negotiated, from their perspective, imposed from ours, rules to govern our unruly behavior. Among the rules negotiated or imposed were: don’t lie, cheat or steal and don’t bop your brother on the head. Of course, my brother and I had differing understandings of the rules or lets say we interpreted the rules to fit our individual needs. In ethics its what you call hedonistic utilitarianism -- the preferred ethic of anarchist. I sometime felt my brother deserve a bop on the head, and he, of course, seldom agreed. So as to avoid complete dog-eat-dog anarchy, my parent would have call a high level Summit and settle the matter – often not to my liking. But I must admit that it was out of these kinds of primary educational experiences that I learned the truth of the old adage – “Peacemaking begins at Home.” And now that I look back on it, my parents did a pretty good job balancing the unruly powers of the household.

In my wedding homilies, I often focus on how, in our Presbyterian heritage, the home is a little commonwealth, i.e., a laboratory for how to live in the larger world, and how to negotiate the dangers therein. So how we break bread together, manage our household economics, and how we fight in our home environments is a micro-educational experiment for how will manage and work on the larger stage of the world and how we will manage the twin dangers of anarchy and tyranny in our world. Now, to be sure, these twin dangers are more deadly on the larger scale. The painful learning of the “Arab Spring” is that dictators die hard and leave a tragic trail in their wake; and absent a cohesive governing structure, vacuums of power can threaten further tyranny or anarchy, thus bringing despair, cynicism and apathy about real change. In fact, these twin dangers prompted Reinhold Niebuhr to agree with Winston Churchill’s dictum that “democracy is the worst from of government, except for all the other forms.” So what we teach our children at home is critical, not just for their future, but for the future of the world. And among the first items on the lesson plan should be unpacking the words of the Apostle’s Creed when it affirms God as: “Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.”
As with all ancient traditions, whether creeds or scripture, it is important to first clear away the debris or modern misconceptions about what these words mean. First of all, “almighty” is not a synonym for “omnipotence.” Omnipotence has to do with power in the abstract and when used of God has lead to inane questions like: “Can God make a rock that is so big and even God can’t lift it?” That may be an interesting conundrum to some, but such questions are not relevant to what the Apostle’s Creed has to say about “almighty,” nor is it relevant to the biblical use of “almighty.” In the bible (the primary point of departure for the Creed), the term “almighty” is a political term – it’s about how God manages the household of the world. And, as such, the term almost always refers to an alternative rule vis-a-vis the politics of tyrants -- and because God’s rule has order, it contrasts with an absence thereof or anarchy. Just to take two examples from the beginning and the end of the bible: Moses calls God “almighty” because of the power to deliver the people from slavery in Egypt; and the book of Revelation designates God as “almighty” because God has the power to deliver the church from the exploitations of Caesar. God is almighty because God has the power of deliverance.

Second, the phrase “maker of heave and earth” not, as is often supposed simply about a past when God created, rather these descriptors are about the present and future governance of both the unseen and seen, heaven and earth. The reason for this twofold affirmation is that there were early Christians who taught a contrasting notion -- that the earth was evil and that God was only involved in heavenly, and thus sought to deliver people from the evil earth, and from their evil bodies into the spiritual realm of heaven. These folk were called Gnostics coming from the Greek word gnosis, which means “to know” -- and it was through right knowledge that one is liberated from the world. The 2nd- 3rd century Gospel of Judas is an example of this kind of teaching. Gnosticism is, of course, still alive and well. Just to take one example, a modern version of Gnosticism can be seen when people claim that politics and religion don’t mix – that God is about the salvation of the individual soul, so let’s stay out of politics. By marked contrast, the Apostle’s Creed (following he bible) affirms that God is about the politics of both heaven and earth, seeking liberation from all manner of tyranny and anarchy -- that which deforms and debilitates God’s good creation. God’s rule is about the politics of states and nations as well as of how each of us manages our households. God’s liberating rule of heaven and earth is why we call our world a “universe” (that is, a unified world).

Moreover, according the Creed and the Bible, there is one more critical definition of how God manages the household of the universe. The primary affirmation Christians make of the pattern of God in the world is that it is cross-shaped or cruciform. “God the almighty, maker of heaven and earth,” is not separated but rather is deeply connected to the one who was crucified by worldly powers. Indeed, God the Almighty is especially present in crucifixion and resurrection. And this invites two questions about God’s household management and our own: Where are the crosses that litter the landscape of our lives and world? And where is God bringing life out of the death-tending ways of the world? The heart of the Jewish affirmation about God can be found Ps 22 where there is an echo of God of the Exodus who rules the earth by special attention to the afflicted and poor. This affirmation is even more cosmic, universal, and inclusive in the prologue to John’s gospel wherein the Word (the pattern of God in the world) is always bringing light out of darkness of the world.

What this means for us is that when democratic activists in Egypt are worried that armed forces in that country are growing too attached to power and these activist are calling for elections so that Egypt can have the politics they deserve, this is relevant to each of us because there is a sense in which its happening in our household in that its happening where the rule of God is universal and always bring life out of our death-tending ways. It also means is that when demonstrators in Syria put their lives on the line to end the ruthless tyranny of their country, this is not happening in some distance country of little concern to us, its happening in our house where the almighty God is creator of heaven AND earth and will not rest until light is brought out of darkness. It also means though we live in the richest country in the world, there are immigrants in this country who are denied basic rights, there are unemployed and underemployed and folk slipping into to quicksand of poverty while CEO of companies make as much as 500 time the average employee, and health is denied to million of people, this is not happening to someone else, its happening in our house where the God of the universe is especially attentive to the needs of the afflicted and whose trajectory is always and already moving before us and calling to ask critical question about our world and to jump in where we see God bring life out of death-tending politics. It is God’s house before it is our house, and that’s why we affirm the words of this ancient creed, “Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” Amen