Becoming God-Enthralled People
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
September 24, 2023
Good morning, Friends, and welcome to Light Reflections. This is our third week looking at the biblical prophets. Again, I am basing my messages on Howard Macy’s book, “Befriending the Prophets” from Barclay Press. The scripture I chose for this week is Jeremiah 9:23-24 from the Common English Bible.
The Lord proclaims:
the learned should not boast of their knowledge,
nor warriors boast of their might,
nor the rich boast of their wealth.
No, those who boast should boast in this:
that they understand and know me.
I am the Lord who acts with kindness,
justice, and righteousness in the world,
and I delight in these things,
declares the Lord.
Last week, as I came to the end of my message, I talked about the word, “know.” I said that the meaning is not just a knowing about God, a kind of abstract head-knowledge. But rather it is knowing God by heart, a complete whole-hearted, relational knowing as in the Great Shema of Deuteronomy 6:5. And as Howard stated, “It is a knowing that forms, guides, and compels us.”
In our scripture for today, you heard the prophet Jeremiah warn, that those who boast should not boast in knowledge, might, or wealth (the most common things that humankind boasts about), but rather God says that if you boast, boast in that you understand and know me (God).”
And that means you are boasting in a God who acts with kindness, justice, and righteousness in the world and delights in these things.
These days, I think many Christians have this scripture turned completely upside down. Often Christians in our world today are boasting, even manipulating through boasting of their understanding of correct knowledge, might, and wealth, and they are using them to keep people in line and grow their ministries (or maybe more appropriately we should say their businesses).
Actually, many Christians, today, utilize the teachings of the prophets to boast and boldly proclaim a faith that is based on knowing and believing correctly, utilizing power structures to keep people feeling guilty and controlled, and even to accrue great wealth.
You can see all three of these being utilized, just by turning on your T.V. and watching a Television Evangelist (ironically, who often labels themselves modern-day prophets).
Or you can see it with churches that wholly merge their faith with a political party. It doesn’t take but a moment to notice that correct knowledge, might, and wealth are boasted by many politicians throughout the world, while kindness, justice, and moral living are neglected.
It was the Prophet Jeremiah who juxtaposed this correct knowledge, might and wealth with these three very different topics of kindness, justice, and righteousness.
He is saying that instead of boasting about correct knowledge, might and wealth – our boasting should be seen through being kind to one another, seeking and promoting justice, that ALL people are treated fairly and equitably, and personally living a right or moral life with our neighbors.
Jeremiah says these are what we are to know and delight in because these are who and what God is all about. I love how Howard puts it in his book,
What God delights in offers an enticing vision in itself. God longs for people to act justly, to show unrelenting mercy, and to live with each other, day to day, responsibly and generously. It’s no accident that this sounds so much like Micah’s description of what God requires:
“Act justly, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
The first two words in Hebrew are the same, justice (mishpat) and kindness (hesed). Walking humbly with God comes near the sense of knowing God.
Knowing God is something like knowing dear friends, except we discover that it goes well beyond just knowing what delights God. As we come to know God ever more fully, our hearts begin to be shaped more and more toward God’s heart. We are steadily transformed until we share God’s heart, until we ourselves delight in what God delights in.
Just take a moment and think of someone who you consider kind, just, or moral. Maybe it’s a relative, a neighbor or friend, a person from history. We find ourselves draw to learn from and be around these types of people and often they are the prophets speaking into our lives, probably because they have come to delight in what God delights in.
Immediately, I thought of my grandfather, Bob Barker. Yes, that was his name, but he was not the one of the Price is Right fame. My grandfather was a simple man who I would definitely describe as kind, just, and moral.
He worked on the railroad and painted houses for a living, before being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Cancer the same year my mom found out she was pregnant with me. His life was greatly altered by the cancer diagnoses, but due to choosing chemotherapy his cancer went into remission for the first 18 years of my life.
Before I was even old enough to know him, he would take an early retirement from the railroad and take up some new hobbies. He and my mom decided to take oil painting classes (this is one of his painting that hangs in our homes), and he transformed his entire backyard into a rose garden with hundreds of different roses from around the world. His art studio and gardens became my classroom and proving grounds for what it meant to be kind, just, and moral.
On Saturdays, I would ride my bike to my grandparent’s house, help grandpa cut bouquets of roses (much like this one right here) and then we would get in his little blue Chevette (which would one day be my first car) and travel to the places he frequented in our little town of New Haven, Indiana.
There he had placed flower vases everywhere from the counter at the post office or bank to next to the cash register at Rax Roast Beef. He would go in and switch out the roses every couple of days, strike up conversations with whoever was at the counter. And he always treated each person equally no matter their life situation. To him, there was no difference between the banker and the person who made his sandwich.
By sharing what he delighted in he would bring a smile on the faces of complete strangers. He also became prolific in his oil painting. Each year, I would go spend several days with him at the Grabil Fair where he would sell his paintings. Those days were not filled with business interactions as much as life conversations. As I listened, I realized that my grandfather was getting to know the people, their lives, their struggles. He may talk of his battle with cancer or the challenge of keeping the bugs out of his roses, or where he was inspired to paint the scene on the painting which they were purchasing.
Even though my grandfather lost his battle with cancer when I was in high school, he did not miss the opportunity to be a prophet in my life and many, many others. He embodied what Howard described - people who act justly, show unrelenting mercy, and live with each other, day to day, responsibly and generously.
Anyone who knew Bob Barker, still today, can tell you a story of his kindness, his treating all people fairly, and his right living. I was blessed to learn as his apprentice, but more than anything when I look back now, I realize that what I was experiencing was that of God in my grandfather.
Whether it was his challenging life on the railroad or his cancer diagnoses, he learned to boast in the things that delight God. And that is because I believe my grandfather knew God deep down in his being.
In the book, Befriending the Prophets, Howard reminds his readers of the talk, “Have You Ever Seen A Miracle?” by the late Quaker and mystic Thomas Kelley. In the talk, Kelly describes people who have become “wholly God-enthralled.” He says,
They have moved beyond devout practice or religious belief. They are folks who have had “moments of blinding vision” as they encounter God’s holiness, splendor, and ‘the sheer beauty of [God’s] persuading, all embracing Love. They come to know God as “a living internal dynamic deep within us.” And they come to live with the “royal-blindness of Eternity.” This comes both from God’s persistent initiative and from the human willingness to yield to it and be transformed by it. The prophets were God enthralled people who were wholly gathered into God’s active presence in the world. They saw it, collaborated in it, spoke and acted out of it. They were captured by God, and their faithfulness helps us see God more clearly ourselves.
My grandfather was just that…a God-enthralled person and his faithfulness helps me continue to see the God in me more clearly.
I wonder how often our ventures in this world are not prophetic because we have simply bought into boasting about correct knowledge, might, and wealth instead of becoming God-enthralled and delighting in kindness, justice, and moral living?
I wonder how our politics would change if we elected people who sought out kindness, justice, and moral living instead of correct knowledge, might, and wealth?
I wonder how our communities would benefit, our schools, our libraries, our city councils, if we chose and elected leaders who delighted in kindness, justice, and moral living?
I wonder how our families would change, if we were parents, grandparents, guardians, and relatives, who delighted in kindness, justice, and moral living?
I think the prophets were trying to tell us something about our future, folks.
Well, let’s stop there this week and center down into waiting worship. And as you enter waiting worship, take a moment to ponder the following queries.
· Who is someone who has been kind, just, and moral in your life? Have you ever thought of them as a prophet speaking into your life?
· How might I be more kind, just, and moral in my circles of influence?
· What do I need to do to become a more God-enthralled person, so others may see the God in me more clearly?