Hallelujah Anyhow

February 26, 2012 1 Peter 3:18-22 Mark 1:9-15 “Hallelujah Anyhow” First Sunday of Lent Year B Hiding the Hallelujah Many of the white churches have a tradition, that for lent, you are supposed to hide the alleluia for lent. Alleluia is just the Greek version of hallelujah, since they don’t pronounce an H at the beginning of a word, and there is no y, so Jah is spelled with an I. Alleluia is a victory cry- when we cry alleluia or hallelujah – we are saying that Jesus Christ is our victory over sin and death. The thought is, that in lent, there is no victory, and there is no triumphant Christ. So we are supposed to hide the alleluias until Easter, and then fervently bring them back again on Easter morning. Lenten music is naturally slow and sad, and liturgical music – music that is intentionally written for the season – has no alleluia’s in it, and churches go through this elaborate rituals on the first Sunday of lent in order to put the alleluia in a box and bury them so that they won’t be said in church. Interestingly, I have never been in a church that formally hid their alleluias. In my last church, my church musician and I used to fight constantly every lent, being that she was raised in the Catholic Church she would insist that I had to hide the alleluia’s. And I would tell her that during a recession, we can’t take hallelujah from people. What is the use of asking people who are already suffering, to suffer more by suppressing their alleluias? The Difference between a lent hallelujah and a easter hallelujah Besides, there is a big difference between a lent hallelujah and a Easter hallelujah. There is a big difference between a Jewish hallelujah and an Easter alleluia. (I ended up firing my musician, but that was because she was the church accountant- not because of our differences, we fought about everything). Hallelujah – I just think that is a wonderful song, all by itself. What a beautiful word. But why did the Israelites say that word – hallelu jah – praise God? The Jehovah names of God Lately, we have been talking about the names of God. Your English bible will intentionally make it easy for you, and anywhere God’s name is mentioned – they will refer to God as God. But in the original Hebrew bible, God had many names, coming from many traditions. The name I have focused on is Jehovah. Jehovah is a Christian pronunciation of the sacred 4 letters of God’s name. A Jewish person would never say Jehovah, because they believe that it is not man’s place to call God by name. But I am using Jehovah because there is a tradition of using the names of Jehovah. I counted about 50 different Jehovah names for God in the Old Testament. Examples of some: in Gen. 22 – Jehovah Jireh – God my provider – psalm 3:3 Jehovah kabodhi – The Lord is my glory, in 1 Chronicles 29 – Jehovah Nissi – the lord is my banner; in psalm 19 – Jehovah Tsori – the lord is my strength. Isaiah 5:3 Jehovah Rophe – God is a healer, Isaiah 9:6 – Jehovah shalom – the lord is my peace. God is all of those things to us. But here is the thing, the reality is that in a world of sin there are no provisions, people are hungry. There is no glory- people are struggle, there is no strength, no healing, and no peace. So you can’t use those names. All that you have is jah – just plain God. No attributes, no names. Just God in his most basic plain form. And yet still worthy to be praised. When life has stripped you of everything, when you have lost your peace, your strength, your shield, your armor – the one thing that no one can take away from you, not even the devil – is your praise God, your hallelujah. Hallelujah is your battle cry in times of despair. A Muslim would say – allahu Akbar – God is greater! They say it for many reasons, but we hear it when they are protesting – or killing someone on behalf of God. It is as if they have given up all hope of peace in a sinful world – and they praise God as they give up the ghost. Except our god says that thou salt not kill, and that there is never a reason to kill yourself if indeed God is greater. Hallelujah is your cry – which I may be defeated, that in a sinful world I may pass away – but God will never fail. And as a child of God – my life, my victory, my well being is centered around God – and not me. If you look at the Methodist hymnal – there is a song Jaya Ho – from India. Even the Hindus use praise God as a victory cry. Even the rocks will cry out You see, my thing is, even if the Catholics, and the Lutherans, the Methodist and the Presbyterians refuse to say hallelujah, it really doesn’t matter – because my Pentecostal cousins are always going to say praise the Lord. They may not say it to me, but every time they great one another they say praise the lord – so that is every day – even in lent. And it really doesn’t matter, because if the Pentecostal forget one day to day praise the lord – the bible says that God doesn’t need man to say hallelujah, because if we forget, that even the rocks will cry out – and say hallelujah. God is the creator of all things – and worthy to be praised. Even in a sinful world. But for Christians – our great victory cry comes on Easter morning – When Christ rose from the dead – he conquered all of our enemies – the devil, sin, death, sickness, disease, hunger, hatred. On Easter morning, we won’t have to cry hallelujah in a time of despair – but in a time of joy and celebration. When Jesus wins, if my life, my hope, my faith is centered in God – I win. We win. 1 Peter – Christ died for our sins once and for all But in the meantime – it is lent; we still live in a world of sin. Our lives are still affected by our sin and by the sin of others. This is the time to reflect on our sin, and how it drove Jesus to go to the cross – because he realized that somebody had to do something to change the system, to change the situation. I want us to look at the words of 1 Peter. “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” And then we read one of the most difficult verses in the bible – it says he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison. – Who are the spirits in prison? Some say that they are the spirits who live in Hades – the place of the dead. Those who had died before they knew Christ. But I would say to you that in a world of sin, our lives can be a living hell. Living in a world with racism, with hatred, with hunger, with lack of respect can be hell. Living with sickness, and worrying about others in our life can be hell. Living with drugs, with addictions can be hell. Living in fear of your life, of your belongings, can be hell. Worrying about how to take care of children, how to make ends meet can be hell. All a part of living in a world, with people who lives are not centered around God. An example of a living hell In thinking about this sermon, I came across the story of James Byrd. A young black man coming home in the middle of the night in 1998. He was picked up by three white men – we heard this story on the news. They beat him, and then attached him to the back of the truck and dragged him alive, until he died. That is a story which angers me, disgust me – I looked hoping to find another example – but indeed his ordeal is an example of a living hell. Something so horrendous, so inhumane, and so inexcusable, something much worse than any suffering that we have experienced. But the point is, Jesus came into the world, took on our flesh, experienced our suffering, and went through a similar torture on the cross – in order to free us all from the effects of a sinful world. Whatever it is that you are going through, whatever it is that you are suffering over – God understands, Christ knows what it feels like. And by dying on the cross – he made a way out of no way. Christ entered into this world – so that he could understand what it means to be in a living hell. Whatever it is, his death made a doorway. His resurrection gave you permission to go through. Don’t let your suffering be in vain Living in a sinful world – Jesus chose to endure unjust suffering rather than be unfaithful to God. The message of 1 Peter to us – is that life in a sinful world can be tough – but don’t give up. Don’t let your suffering be in vain. Stay committed to Christ in the tough times and Christ will stay committed to you. Lent is your time to stay committed. To look at your relationship with God – does your suffering bring you closer to God or further away? Are you working to clear sin out of the world? Or do you accept it as just the way things are? In the resurrection, will you claim the victory or continue you life as it is? Will hallelujah be a cry of despair? Or a celebration? Let your defeat be your victory I want to end this sermon on sin, on suffering, on claiming the victory, on why we this lent we are on a hallelujah journey to healing and wholeness with this lighthearted story of an old dog who fell into a farmer’s well. Looking into the well, the farmer decided that it was too much trouble, and the dog was too old for him to waste his time in getting the dog out. So he decided to just bury the dog alive. Of course once the dirt started to fall on his back, he realized what was happening. But every time the dirt fell, he would just shake it off and let if fall under its feet. Until all of the dirt intended to go on top of him, ended up up under him. Until the ground was high enough for him to get out of the well himself. Living life in a world of sin –can get the best of us. Living life in a world of sin can sometimes bury us alive and make our world a living hell. But the good news is that we worship a God that is worthy to be praised. In good times and bad. In lent and in Easter. The time to claim God’s victory – is now in the midst of the pain, so that we can feel it that much more in the resurrection. Hallelujah! Invitation to christ I want to pass out these nails for us to keep with us during lent. The nail is a reminder that we still live in a world of sin. But it is also a reminder that the Jesus went to the cross for us once and for all – so that sin, our sin and others does not have to bury us alive. God is always with us, and whatever stands in the way can be nailed to the cross. The rest of scripture reminds us that in baptism we die with Christ, in baptism we rise with Christ. In our commitment to Christ- we share in Christ victory. This is your chance to claim the victory.