Cynicism—no matter what you listen to on the radio today—no matter
what you watch on television—no matter what you read in magazines and
newspaper—you can't escape it!
Yes, I suspect it's worse because of the election campaigns right now,
but it pervades most of the information we receive much of the time.
I don't use the word “hell” very often in my sermons, but today I
want to offer a phrase that I first heard from someone who rarely swore. This phrase was “going to hell in a
handbasket.” It provides a
fascinating image, so I wondered where it came from. Although its origins are murky, it appears to arise from an
18th century problem.
Handbaskets were the woven baskets for passengers to ride in, suspended
below a hot air balloon. When the
first untethered hot air balloon flight took place in 1783 in France, some
people worried that the balloon might disappear, floating away to heaven or
hell. Cynicism about modern
inventions is nothing new!
What attitudes lead to cynicism that people or situations are going
“to hell in a handbasket?” Our scriptures this morning offer some glimpses into
this issue. But they also offer hope for a different outcome. Let's look at them more closely.
Our first concern should be that God looks at human sinfulness with
a cynical eye. When Ezekiel hears God's voice, he understood God as describing
the people of Israel as: “. . . a nation of rebels who have rebelled against
me, they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very
day.” Then God speculates that
Israel may well refuse to listen to Ezekiel's speaking God's prophetic
word. Were God to examine our
lives today, would God hold that same cynical attitude?
Our second concern should be that communities of faith can be
troubled by leadership issues. The
rather confusing passage from St. Paul's second letter to the Corinthians we
heard this morning contains Paul's cynical take on how the Christian community
in Corinth understood leadership.
Paul appears to be arguing that their leaders' boasting about their
ideas and their qualifications will lead the community astray. At this time when our General
Convention is meeting in Indianapolis, do we feel cynical or hopeful about the
outcome of its deliberations?
Perhaps we are beyond cynicism.
More locally, here at St. Nicholas', do we trust our
leadership—particularly the Vestry—or do we feel cynical about the way they do
their work?
Finally, we need to be concerned about whether our own cynicism
about how the world works prevents us from seeing and experiencing the Holy One
in our lives. Cynicism certainly
clouded the minds of the people who attended the synagogue in Nazareth that
sabbath when Jesus came to teach:
“How could this hometown boy we knew be a great teacher or healer or
prophet? We knew him when he . .
.” You can fill in the blank.
Mark also reports a rather cynical response on Jesus' part:
“Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own
kin, and in their own house.” Rejection
tends to bring out cynicism, doesn't it?
Since most likely we will not encounter Jesus in person, we should
ask ourselves whether our cynicism about a certain situation or a certain
person will prevent us from experiencing Christ in that situation or in that
person? Especially when that
situation may make us uncomfortable or that person may confront us or disagree
with us. Do we believe so strongly
that they are “going to hell in handbasket” that we cannot see beyond our own
feelings to what God may be trying to teach us through them?
So where do we find ourselves now? Concerned about how our sinfulness looks to God? Mistrustful of our leaders in the
church? Experiencing barriers in
relating to others who disagree with us or make us uncomfortable? Yes, indeed, our human nature tends
toward cynicism. It can even lead
us to reject God!
But I said at the beginning we could find hope in the scripture we
heard this morning. Of course, hope can be an antidote to our cynicism; it can
help us encounter the Holy One in our daily lives. I believe hope will arise in our hearts when we allow
ourselves to believe that St. Paul heard Christ correctly. Paul wrote: “Three times I appealed to the Lord about this [thorn in his
flesh] that it would leave me, but he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for
you, for power is made perfect in weakness.' ”
Our cynicism can be seen as a thorn in our flesh that prevents us
from seeing the goodness in the world around us. It can also prevent us from taking action to correct things
in our lives and in our world that need to change. But God's grace, freely given to us, can empower us, despite
whatever weakness or helplessness we feel. It can keep us from turning to cynicism, or it can help us
turn away from cynicism. And we can affirm with Paul that through God's grace
“whenever I am weak, then I am strong.”
The character, Sonny Kapoor, in the film “The Best Exotic Marigold
Hotel” put it beautifully, “Every will be o.k. in the end—and if it's not o.k.,
it's not the end.” As Christians
we can have confidence that God has begun to redeem creation and, in the end,
all human beings will experience reconciliation to God and to each other. The end will not only be o.k., it will
be all that we could ever hope for!
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