Software Upgrade Required Preached at Wollaston Congregational Church On November 17th, 2019 Scripture: Isaiah 65:17-25 Have you ever had the message “System software upgrade required” pop up on your computer and you sighed inwardly, or even sighed outwardly? The last time you did a software upgrade your old apps stopped working and you had to learn new ways to do everything. It was disruptive. Today we heard a scripture passage from the prophet Isaiah that talks about God’s vision of a new heaven and a new earth. The prophet says that in this great vision the former things will be forgotten. You might say that God’s vision is for a system software upgrade for the universe. And today we also look at step 11 of the 12 steps of spirituality, which says that we “sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood [God], praying only for knowledge of [God’s] will for us and the power to carry that out.” In the book “Breathing Under Water” Richard Rohr describes step 11 as adopting “an alternative mind.” He compares the change of approach to prayer and meditation in this step as a complete upgrade of our spiritual software. I would not be surprised if you are sighing inwardly now and worrying that if you tackle this step it will cause your old apps to stop working and you’ll have to learn new ways of doing things. It is disruptive … and that is the idea. Our reading from the book of Isaiah today is written at a time when the Jerusalem temple has been destroyed. This section of Isaiah is known as third Isaiah. The prophet writes poetically to residents of Jerusalem during this difficult time. They are the exiles, or rather the children and grandchildren of exiles, who have returned from Babylon to find their city and place of worship in ruins. Perhaps they are discouraged by the state of things, but these Israelites have returned to evil ways. The experience of exile and the joy of return has not changed them. The wealthy and powerful live it up, while the poor are forgotten. They fail to observe the Sabbath, they commit miscarriages of justice, and they have become greedy and drunk on wine. At first the Isaiah’s oracles rail against their wickedness. But then, as so often happens, the language turns tender. The passage we heard today comes straight from the mouth of YHWH, the God of Israel. It is a vision beyond anything the Israelites could ask or imagine, a vision of a new heaven and a new earth. It is God’s vision for them and for the world. A vision of peace and security for the most vulnerable … housing, healthcare and food for the very young and the aged … a vision of God’s peaceable kingdom. God’s vision is not set upon what can be easily accomplished. God’s vision is set upon what seems impossible, even beyond the wildest dreams of the people of Israel. And God’s vision is set upon what is beyond our wildest dreams. Alongside this vision we consider step 11 of the 12 step process. In this step we completely rethink our approach to prayer. We let go of our childhood “laundry list” approach to prayer. That is the old app and it is not going to work anymore. And so we are to take on a new kind of prayer in which we open ourselves to God’s will and God’s desires for our lives. Essentially we are opening ourselves to the things we could never imagine on our own. Rather than seeking to change God and God’s actions in the world, we ask God to change us. Author Richard Rohr says that to pray in this way means taking off one “thinking cap” and putting on another. The new thinking cap will move us “from an egocentric perspective to a soul-centric perspective.” Rohr says that when our thinking changes our heart and body will then come along. And this change means moving beyond “all or nothing” thinking. [1] All or nothing thinking means thinking in extremes or polarities. Perhaps you know a small child who alternates between “the best day ever” and “the worst day ever.” Perhaps the day of a birthday party is going to be the best ever. But then one small detail is amiss, the wrong color balloon, or a candle on the cake falls over, and then everything is ruined. Of course small children are just developing. Eventually, if all goes well, they will mature out of “all or nothing” thinking. All or nothing thinking can be destructive for those addicted to substances. You hear it in statements like: · I have never been successful. · Everyone is against me. · No one wants me to succeed. · I will never be as good as people want me to be. [2] And on a cultural level, all or nothing thinking is infecting our political conversation. We have retreated to partisan silos. We tend to think that our political party is all right and the other is all wrong. We have forgotten how to be in conversation with one another. In order to heal our democracy, we need to get over our all or nothing thinking. All or nothing thinking in religion is particularly toxic, as I experienced in my younger years. I loved my home church and was sad to leave when I moved away from home to college. And still, my home church felt sleepy and behind the times. The graduating class consisted of myself and only one other student, with very few others following behind. I was hoping for something more. I had heard about college campus-based ministries, in which young people were full of enthusiasm. At the first opportunity I joined an evangelical group on campus. Without realizing it, I’d let myself in for an addictive religious culture and “all or nothing” thinking. You might say that I was operating on a “gullible app.” I’d sooner believe what I was told than take the time to seek a deeper wisdom. This evangelical group talked about confessing Jesus Christ as personal Lord and savior. This was the only thing that could save you from sin. And sin included just about everything a college student would want to do, in particular sex, alcohol, drugs and rock’n’roll. I’m just kidding … they didn’t care about rock’n’roll. Not surprisingly people found it hard to stay on the “straight and narrow.” Every member was strongly encouraged to attend mid-week evangelical worship and also a weekly Bible study, not to mention one of the various prayer groups. I joined what I thought would be a fun Bible study group led by two guys. They were nice and welcoming but the Bible study confused me. Their approach was nothing like that in my home church and I began to feel more and more homesick. In our meetings we poured over the letters of Peter, chosen because Peter was down to earth. I could relate to that choice. But then bizarre ideas began to surface. There was a lot of talk about things that were considered “bad and wrong.” I realized that I must be much more sinful than I had thought before. And so I struggled to get myself in line with the group thinking. I withdrew from many of my friends. I began to feel shame about my body and I lost quite a lot of weight. I finally saw a red flag one day at the Bible study when an older, authoritarian group member proclaimed “let’s just admit it, all movies are bad.” There was an uncomfortable silence. We had just been to see a movie as a group activity. I was even more confused as I walked back to my dorm room. Was I now expected to stop watching movies? Fortunately, there were people looking out for me at this time. I had friends who knew who I was and cared about me as a whole person. These were the friends who brought me back to a place of reason. They reminded me that I had the ability to make my own decisions and stop using the gullible app. I needed to learn to think for myself. And so I could finally say “no, not all movies are bad” … and “yes, it is ridiculous to say that they are.” Perhaps most important of all, I could also say “I am acceptable to God, living as a happy healthy young adult. There is no need to strive to live a holy life in order to please God.” I am so grateful for my friends’ prodding. The change in perspective made me aware of the toxicity of the “all or nothing” group. And it set me on the lengthy journey that brought me to be here with you. I mark that time as the beginning of a very long download of the new software Richard Rohr talks about. It’s still in process … and the time remaining is measured in years, not minutes, that little timer icon is turning very slowly. One other place I have noticed all or nothing thinking is in our church life. It looks like this: either we hold church, here in the place, the way we always have done, or we close. This certainly simplifies the situation and yet it fails to take in a whole range of possibilities. For instance:
The software download of step 11, Rohr says, switches us from trying to please God through our prayers, to becoming a receiver station. We can receive God’s wonderful vision of a new heaven and a new earth with this software. Yes, it will be disruptive. Our old apps will stop working, the former things will be forgotten. We will have to do things in new ways. But, my friends, it will be wonderful. What better affirmation of step 11 than that it will lead us to God’s vision for us, here in this place, and for our world? All we need is the courage to become something new, the courage to download the new software. May all God’s courageous people say, Amen [1] Rohr, Richard. Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps (p. 94). Franciscan Media. Kindle Edition. [2] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/addiction-and-recovery/201906/all-or-nothing-thinking-in-addiction
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