Here is the sermon preached by our seminarian, Damen Heitman, on Feb. 17 2008.

Damen Heitman

The only reason it was dark was because the sun has a habit of setting in the evening. There was no symbolic reason. It just turned out that 9pm was the best time for the gathering. So we assembled ourselves. Students, Professors, Staff, Band Members, Cheerleaders, Athletes, and there were even a few general Waverly citizens in attendance. The event I am referring to was a pep rally at Wartburg College. Normally I didn’t attend those types of things, but somehow that year I got roped into being a part of the featured skit.

For those that don’t know, Wartburg College and Luther College don’t get along. It’s one of those private Lutheran College rivalries that no one outside of the institutions knows about or quite frankly even cares about. From the outside the two schools look the same. Both espouse liberal arts education values. Both schools place a high appreciation on academics and the arts. For all intents and purposes the colleges are the same.

But that ain’t gonna fly at the pre-homecoming pep rally. It’s tough to get a crowd excited by saying that really we have no reason to quarrel with Luther College because both of our fine and well respected institutions of higher education embrace the same core ideals. Oh no, no, no. Our skit went the opposite direction. We hurled as many insults as possible during our 10 minute extravaganza. The crowd cheered, the band played, and I’m sure we all went back to our rooms and studied diligently.

Turns out, pep rallies have been around for a long time. In the third chapter of John we find some material that would make for an excellent pep rally skit.

The author whom tradition has named John wrote in a small isolated community during the 1^st Century of the Common Era. His was a generation two or three removed from the life of Jesus but clearly still profoundly affected by the life and ministry of Jesus. Scholars agree that John lived during a time when the case for Jesus was still being made. Most likely he lived within a community that held Jesus in high regard. His community was probably in the minority where he lived. And debate rang between John and other, fellow Jews as to the significance of Jesus. His community was small probably struggling to gain and retain members. And what do you do when you are trying to convince a group of people how unique and ultimately right you are? You hold a pep rally.

Just imagine an evening gathering at John’s community. Everyone gather together at dusk for the evening prayer. John starts with a reading from the Hebrew Scriptures then he transfers to a story about Jesus. He reads what is essentially his third chapter. The story depicts Nicodemus (who functions as a stereotype of John’s opponents) coming to Jesus in darkness to learn from him. But of course, Nicodemus doesn’t understand. Jesus talks about a being born from above. He questions the authority of Nicodemus saying “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?” and “If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?” And then Jesus finishes with what John sees as the party line, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” And then the community would stand and maybe even cheer.

The story reminds the community gathered of who they are, of what they believe, and of what makes them unique. John has to lead the pep rally; the health of his community depends on it. The health of Wartburg depends on pep rallies as well. Because if students leave there without thinking that Wartburg is the single best place in the world to go to college, then they won’t come back for homecoming year after year, they won’t give the alumni donations, and they won’t encourage their kids to go there. The college will die. The small isolated community depends on creating a strong self identity.

However, in our post-modern, pluralistic world, the religious pep rally doesn’t make a lot of sense. It is far too exclusionary and seems to limit God to one particular religious perspective. In fact, this is a text that the liberal/progressive church struggles with. We can’t help but wonder, if perhaps John hasn’t taken this a bit too far. It wasn’t in the reading for today but verse 18 of chapter 3 continues by saying, “those who believe in Jesus are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” That is harsh language. And I can understand why it doesn’t make the lectionary. When taken out of context, that verse becomes exclusive and oppressive. It becomes a proof text writ large. For years upon years this passage has been used as justification for forced conversion and a variety of other abuses.

But, when left in context we can see how John is wrestling with many of the same questions with which we continue to wrestle. ‘Who was Jesus?’ ‘What was Jesus?’ ‘How do I understand Jesus?’ Certainly John has his answers to these questions, but do we agree? These types of questions are often the ones that don’t get mentioned publicly. Like Nicodemus we keep them hidden under darkness. Afraid of what other might think if we ask, afraid of what conclusions we might come to for ourselves, afraid of what might happed if we share what we really think, these questions remain in the shadows. These are questions that we wrestle with personally, but the liberal church struggles with them as a whole. Within the UCC we talk a lot about God, but not all that much about Jesus. We often try to hold on to what, on the surface seem to be two oppositional values. That is radical hospitality and faith in Jesus.

In the name of radical hospitality, the liberal church has at times neglected to discuss what it means to have faith in Jesus. Sometimes it seems better to limit Jesus so that he doesn’t scare anyone away. Sometimes that is the best choice, but, a commitment to Christ doesn’t have to be exclusive. During the Lenten season we follow the path of Jesus. We will watch as Jesus drinks with the Samaritan woman, we will listen while he heals the blind man. Along the path he will raise the dead, eat with his friends, and speak out against Roman oppression. And as we watch we will begin to realize that yes, we do believe in Jesus. We believe in the hospitality of Jesus. We believe in the love revealed through Jesus. We trust in the covenant established with Abram and Sarai. We hope that through following in the example of Jesus we can be saved from ourselves. Saved from only being concerned with our own well being. And in so doing we might be free to become a part of something much bigger and grander than ourselves. But this faith in Jesus is not exclusive. It is what identifies us but it does not preclude other possibilities. It does not limit God to only being able to work through Jesus. Such an idea would be a little silly, if not arrogant and demeaning.

We don’t like John’s pep rally theology and for good reason. It’s harsh and polemic in nature. After all, it would be sad and tragic to loose the wisdom of Nicodemus. But the evangelist does challenge us. He challenges us to pause and think about who we are. If First UCC were to have its own pep rally what would the signs say? What would the slogan be? Among other things, I think the signs would say that we are open to anyone and anything. We are committed to seeking justice and peace not only for humans but for the entire natural world. We hope to learn from everyone. We understand that the world is full of new possibilities. We are so because that is the example Jesus gave us and it is that to which Jesus call us.

And so we gather here on Sunday mornings, or Wednesday evenings, or Sunday afternoons, or Tuesdays, or whenever it might be to remind ourselves not only of who we are but to also think about what we might become. We gather to think, to rest, to question, and to be renewed. And the choir sings, and the people pray, and the congregation stands and says “Amen, it is good”, and then we depart not to forget who we are, but to live that out in the world. So I guess maybe we do have just a little bit of pep rally in us after all.