Aliens and Exiles Seeking A Homeland

NOTE: Kurt introduced this theme first thing during the weekend in a skit, asking someone if he had seen Gershom, and, if so, to tell him that "Jesus is looking for him."

We've been looking for Gershom all weekend. And there's been only one sighting. Has anyone found Gershom yet?

Who is Gershom? Gershom is the grandson of Jocabed,
  the brother of Eliezer,
    the nephew of Aaron and Miriam,
        the son of Zipporah.
            The oldest son of Moses.

When Gershom was born Moses was an exile in Midian and he named him Gershom, because he was a stranger and an alien in a strange land.

Gershom: It means, a stranger in a strange land. An alien.

And what does Gershom have to do with our theme, Bring forth the Kingdom of God?

Before I try to answer, I need to give a sort of disclaimer, sort of an excuse for a fractured sermon. Steve Kriss told me this week that too often when he hasn't spent enough time preparing a sermon he discovers that there are two sermons trying to fit into one. I know that's true of this sermon because there are two Gershom's. Two "alien identities" that deserve to be talked about if we are to understand our life and mission in the world.

The first "Gershom" is our self as alien and stranger. We are the aliens and strangers that Peter talks to when he says, (1 Peter 2:11-12) Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul….

As a follower of Jesus, living in a world of selfish and godless values, I am an alien and a stranger.

I am "Gershom."

The second "Gershom" is anyone estranged from God because of sin. They are the "Aliens and Exiles" who are seeking a homeland and don't know where to find it. They are the "strangers" whom we are called to befriend so that they can learn about the love of God in Jesus. They are the people who feel the alienation in the world but need someone to invite them into the Kingdom of God, to introduce them to Jesus. They are the people who need a home in your church. They may be the "aliens and strangers seeking a homeland" but that are not to be "aliens and strangers" to us.

The Immigration Statement, adopted by the delegates at Atlanta 2003, quotes from Leviticus and Matthew:

Leviticus 19:33-34, says; "When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do [the stranger] wrong. The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love [the stranger] as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt…" It also refers to Jesus' teaching in &verses Matthew 25');, the parable of the sheep and the goats, when it says, "We believe that when we welcome strangers, we welcome Jesus."

In their book Resident Aliens Hauerwas and Willimon write, "The church knows why it continues to gather once it understands that it is a "colony of refugees." The church is to be a "refugee camp" in the midst of the nations of the world.

WHICH SERMON
So, I've struggled to decide which "Gershom" carries the most important message for Allegheny Conference this morning--And I only get to address the Allegheny Conference, gathered like this, once a year. I want you to know that for a Missional church both perspectives on Gershom are important. But I've decided that it is of first importance that we see ourselves as aliens, as Gershoms. Only then will our churches be places where those estranged by the world can find the home they are seeking. If we fail to live as aliens and strangers we will forget our true homeland and have no message for those other "Aliens and Strangers in search of a homeland."

So, let's bring forth the Kingdom of God. To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God? The Kingdom of God is like…. The Kingdom of God is like aliens and exiles seeking a homeland. The Kingdom of God is like…Gershom.

CONFESSION OF FAITH
Article 23 in the Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (1995), entitled, "The Church's Relation to Government and Society" states:

The church knows no geographical boundaries and needs no violence for its protection. The only Christian nation is the church of Jesus Christ, made up of people from every tribe and nation, called to witness to God's glory….

So, Gershom has been found. We, the followers of Jesus, are Gershom. Say it after me,

"I am Gershom."

"I am a stranger in a strange land."

Every God-follower is a Gershom - We, followers of Jesus, are Aliens and Strangers. Jesus has been looking for you this weekend. Has he found you? Do you want to be found?

Have you ever "found" a person who didn't know they were lost? I remember one summer when I worked as a lifeguard; it was so boring that one day I decided to save a person who wasn't drowning. They weren't particularly pleased, or cooperative or thankful.

Have you ever tried to suggest to a person that they were lost when they weren't willing admit that they were lost? Men, you're driving around in an unfamiliar place and you've just passed the same billboard for the second time and your wife suggests that you're lost and need to ask for direction?

I hope that isn't what it feels like for me to call you Gershom this morning.

SCRIPTURES
More than once God reminds his people of their "alien identity." Recall how the Ten Commandments begin. Not with "you shall have no other God's before me," but with,

"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery…( Exodus 20:2);"

Without me you have no homeland and you must remember what it's like to be aliens and you must share your homeland.

The Deuteronomist's copy (that means it's in Deuteronomy) has an even longer prologue or introduction to the Ten Commandments.

¹⁰ When the LORD your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you-a land with fine, large cities that you did not build,

¹¹houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant-and when you have eaten your fill,

¹²take care that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Deuteronomy 6:10-12)

Moses knows what can happen when we begin to believe we are rulers instead of travelers. [An honest study of history might reveal that nations are more often positively transformed by allowing immigrants across their borders than they are by warring to protect their borders.]

Jesus didn't leave us without warning us that we will live as "aliens and strangers" in the world. In John 15, verses 18-20 we have Jesus words, ¹⁸ "If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world-therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, 'Servants are not greater than their master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.

I remember an "email" conversation (before it was called email--a few of you may remember BBS systems). It was a bit of an off-the-wall conversation group and someone asked whether we believed that aliens had ever visited earth. I said I was convinced of one "alien visitation." And, true to the way most science fiction writers treat alien visitations, the "earthlings" found the alien too threatening, even though the alien came in peace and taught forgiving love, and they killed him. Of course you've already figured out that I was talking about Jesus. And, when we become followers of Jesus, God places His Holy Spirit in us. In a spiritually dead world, the Holy Spirit creates an "alien" presence-an "other world" presence.

I'm suggesting, today, that to carry out the mission God intends, we are going to need to accept an "alien/Gershom" identity.

One more scripture text:

Matthew 5:10

¹⁰ "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.

Heaven! That's right, we are aliens here because we are citizens of the Kingdom of heaven. That's what Jesus said.

In the book Resident Aliens, Hauerwas & Willimon propose that, "Christianity is more than a matter of a new understanding. Christianity is an invitation to be part of an alien people who make a difference because they see something that cannot otherwise be seen without Christ." And that the challenge of right living is not an intellectual challenge but a political one. Political, because it is not about the creation of a new religion or a new school of philosophy but it's about, "the creation of a new people who have aligned themselves with the seismic shift that has occurred in the world (because of) Christ." To use Peter's metaphor, it is not joining a new belief but it is joining a new NATION, a Holy Nation -- the Nation of God, the NATION of Heaven.

I think NATION is what the contemporary English translators of the New Testament should use instead of "Kingdom." Try it. Start reading through the gospels and read "Nation" every time it says "Kingdom."

"Repent, for the Nation of God is at hand." "Put first the Nation of God and its righteousness and all these things will be yours as well."

Even the parables, "To what shall we compare the NATION of God…?"

I think we find it easy to live in a nation and be part of God's "kingdom" and feel no conflict. If we think of ourselves as belonging to one nation while living in another, we are more likely to understand ourselves as "aliens and strangers;" to understand the radical nature of what Jesus did by coming as "King of Kings" and "Lord of Lords."

IDENTITY ISSUES FOR ALIENS
Let's look at this identity as aliens just a bit deeper.

George Weber says that, if we, Christians, do not choose to live as strangers and aliens, as we should, then we have four alternatives in responding to "the world:"

1. Try to escape. That can take three forms: (1) go back to where you came from, which for a Christian means return to not being a Christian and a return to slavery, to sin. (2) try to set up a "Christian Nation on Earth" a "City of God" if you will. Create a government that has Christian rules so that only Christian things are done and only Christians have power and so that no "non-Christian" can get in or stay in. That was tried from Constantine to the present and it doesn't bring in the Kingdom. It is against just such thinking that our Anabaptist ancestors reacted. Governments that decide to enforce Christianity on their citizens are as bad or worse than any other earthly government that tries to be a theocracy. It is the temptation of Jesus to bow down to Satan when he showed him all the kingdoms of the earth. (3) The third form of escape is to try to set up little Christian communities. Little "holy fortresses" where we can just be safe and feel secure around good people like us. First, that place can't exist on earth, and, if it did, and you joined it, you would ruin it. Second, that is contrary to the teaching of Jesus who said, "Go ye into all the world." And, "For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son..." That's the first alternative to an alien identity, try to escape.
2. Rebel, Fight against the world. Make it your life's work to expose and destroy the evil world around us. The problem with that is that we soon identify ourselves by what we are against rather than by what Jesus is for.
3. Give Up, Just quit trying. Just lay down and let the world run over you. I can't fight it so I'll just let it run over me. Do nothing except take care of yourself.
4. Capitulate (Join the enemy). Adopt the values of the world around you. Try to get along, don't stand out.

Michelle Hershberger in the book, A Christian View of Hospitality, makes three observations about aliens. These are more positive for the way Christians are called to live.

1. Aliens are less demanding and harder workers. They don't get upset when they don't get everything they want. And with lowered expectations aliens are happier and more thankful, when they do get something.
2. Aliens look ahead, they don't look back. They know why they left where they were and either can't go back or would never want to go back. As a result Aliens are about building a new and better future, they aren't about holding on to a dying past
3. Aliens don't get too comfortable where they are. Aliens know that their goods could be taken from them at any time. Or that they could be taken from their possessions at any time. They can be deported. Imprisoned. Even killed. An alien always has a bag packed. Maybe we should stop lamenting that our children, our youth always move away. Maybe that's a sign they've got the message. Maybe that helps us get the message. We are "Gershom." Never quite at home in this world.

4. Aliens work together. They see themselves as a team, not as individuals.

WHEN WE FORGET WE ARE ALIENS
When we forget that we are aliens, citizens of another nation, we begin to hold things of this world as "ours" or "mine." When we treat things and places as "ours" we begin to feel threatened by strangers and aliens (who are different than us). Soon we start putting up barriers to protect what is "ours." We begin to justify treating others as aliens. And then it isn't a very big step to justifying violence against those who threaten us. We begin to use "us" and "them" language.

SALVATION
All of this begins to effect our salvation as we begin to hold onto personal peace and prosperity above faithfulness to the ways of God. We lose our identification with the one who became a refugee in Egypt right after his birth and whose life ended with rejection and death on a cross. And when we no longer identify with the innocent one killed on the cross, we can no longer claim to identify with the one resurrected from the dead. Without the assurance of the resurrected one we will begin to put our faith in material things and violate Jesus' teachings to, "Love your enemies." And, "When someone demands your coat, give him your shirt too." The ways of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, are no longer embraced as the ways of the Nation of God but begin to seem scandalous.

HEAVEN
Without the resurrection there is no promised land, no homeland to be seeking, no heaven. When we feel the full weight of sin's alienation and try to make this our "homeland," well, you've just heard the sermon. And then we no longer have a hope to offer others who feel the alienation of sin.

I hear, on occasion, a lament that preachers don't preach about hell anymore. I don't know that I long for sermons about hell very often, but I do think, for us "Gershoms," we could stand a little more mention of heaven. Hebrews 11:13-16

¹³ ll of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, ¹⁴ for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.
    Love the Journey
         Love the Homeland
             Bring forth the City, the Nation, of God.