In the story of the “Shattering of the Vessels,” sixteenth century Jewish Rabbi Isaac Luria offered an intriguing expansion on the creation stories. In his version, God created a number of vessels that were filled with light and sent these vessels out into the darkened world. But those vessels proved to be too fragile, and inevitably, they would shatter. As they did, this primordial light would scatter into the world. Humanity’s task is to gather up all of these sparks, and complete the task of tikkun olam, which means to “repair the world.”
Most religions have stories, sometimes multiple stories, that explain what has gone wrong in the world, and how to seek to make it right. In Christian faith, that has included the confession of sin, both on an individual as well as on a more communal basis. And while it would be easy to demonstrate the many ways confession has been badly used in the church, it remains the case that disciples of Jesus are called to name their hard truths. That confession has, when done well, always involved some element of penance…making amends. As Barbara Brown Taylor has it, “…penance was not punishment. Penance was repair.”
We live in a time in which it has become highly fashionable to point out the failing of others. And to be sure, the prophetic task remains one of the great callings of the Church. But in a culture that celebrates “mic drops”, the saying of words intended to put others in their place, is it possible that we have neglected the great power of confession to create a more sensitive public willingness to embrace hard truths? As Baptist theologian Susan Shaw says it, “Do I want to repair the word, or do I want to burn it down?”
We’ll chat about this in our Sunday worship, as the sermon is titled, “The Church that Honors Difficult Truths”, arising from James 5: 13-20. The scripture reading will be read by Cheryl Bainbridge. The Sanctuary Singers, accompanied by Matthew Wachtman, will present an anthem. We’ll have a moment for children, prayers and hymns.
If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with those of you here in-person or on the live stream at www.smumc.church at 10:30am this Sunday!