“Deep down dark”
Sermon on Sunday, February 12, 2017
Based on Matthew 5: 21-38
About six and a half years ago, on Aug. 5, 2010, something happened that made news and headlines around the world. A chunk of rock, 550 feet tall and twice the weight of the Empire State Building collapsed within an old copper mine in Chile and sealed the escape route for anyone who had gone to work there on that fateful morning. As news spread about this horrible disaster, people were not sure whether any of the miners were still alive or, if so, whether their lives could possibly be saved. In fact, the records and operations of the company were in such sorry state that nobody could tell how many miners were down there.
Today we know that the Chilean miners were evacuated two months later, all thirty-three of them, in a rescue operation every bit as monumental as the chunk of mountain that had thundered down into the abyss of the dilapidated mine. A piece of equipment from around here was instrumental in that effort. The Schramm T685 mounted drill, produced in West Chester, PA, bored a 5.5 inches wide hole that confirmed 17 days later that the trapped men had survived the accident. Another piece of equipment from the same company helped drill a bigger hole that led to their escape in October. In between, for 69 days or 1656 hours they were deep down dark, 2,300 feet under the surface of the mountain, dealing with fears of death, hunger and despair. Would the drills find them? Would the rescuers win the race against time? Would the rock formations hold?
It was a miraculous resurrection from a grave that usually doesn’t release prisoners. I was reminded of this incredible true story by an unlikely association of thought: the challenging and poignant words of Christ in today’s lesson from the Sermon on the Mount. Now you probably want to ask me: “Pastor, how in the world did you get from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to a mining disaster in the driest desert on earth?”
Well, I hope you can follow me here. In his speech, Jesus goes deep down dark, just like these miners, only Jesus goes into the abyss of the human soul. He is boring a hole into our surface “goodness” because he knows that underneath the beautiful veneer there is something in every person that needs rescuing. We are not talking about so-called criminals, people dealing with addiction, desperate people. We are talking about any and every one of us, without exception. Jesus really had this conviction that even the nicest person on earth – and we all have someone in mind who is the “nicest person” in our opinion, even the nicest, most wonderful person that you have ever met, has something inside that needs the rescuing touch of Christ. Psychologists established a hundred years back that there is something deep down dark in every person. It is called the unconscious, and it is filled with all sorts of images and emotions that reveal clues about our soul at its deepest level – our needs, our fears, our questions.
In the Sermon on the Mount, in his instructions to disciples and to anyone who was willing to listen, Jesus took on some tired assumptions of religion as he had experienced it. The religion he had learned was all focused on the surface of a person’s life: whether you were a law-abiding citizen, whether you followed the Ten Commandments, whether you went to synagogue regularly or followed a thousand rules for the observance of Sabbath. And now Jesus says, “This is all a very impressive stuff, but it is ultimately rubbish! It only scratches the surface! It doesn’t go nearly deep enough!” He is arguing that, trying to correct certain behaviors or tendencies only superficially, doesn’t do the trick. In order to be rescued, in order to fully enjoy the freedom of the children of God, we must go down and confront our own fears, shortcomings, sins, – deep down dark – and gradually become a new person! – What he called being born again in a night conversation with Nicodemus.
I will be the first to say that Jesus is mightily annoying in the passages that we heard today, of which I cut a few sentences out, because they are offensive. And these words can be easily misunderstood and turn people off. The problem is: Jesus seems to be stricter than the strictest religious sects of the time. Is he overdoing it??? – He says, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’” And that seems like common sense, does it not? Yet, our Lord goes a step further: “I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.” And I bet you a thousand bucks, even though I’m not supposed to bet as per the Sermon on the Mount, that’s the point where Jesus loses 90% of his audience, both then and now. I mean, who is not angry with a family member from time to time? Who hasn’t said, “You fool!” in those or other words, perhaps in an outburst of anger and with expressions too insulting and offensive to be repeated here? Have not many or rather most of us experienced difficult times with a family member – maddening, anger-provoking experiences, tough stuff?
So, what are we to make of these passages? Only this: none of us are perfect of course. And even those who seem to be nice and wonderful on the surface, the people who seem to have it all together, are not perfect. And the way to go for us as Christians is to not even try to be perfect, not even pretending to be “better,” but to be genuine, honest and own up to our shortcomings. The way for us to go as Christians is to make that frightening journey into our own soul, knowing that deep down dark there are things that Christ needs to touch, save, exorcise, so that we can become truly liberated people.
The miners in Chile were down there for 69 days – a lot of time to think about their lives. In those days, some of the men learned to pray with their hearts for the first time; some of them learned the importance of community support. In time, many would learn how much their family, gathering up above to watch the rescue mission unfold, loved them. That is perhaps the most touching part of this modern rescue story: the people above being able to relate to their loved ones, trapped 2,400 feet below, their loving support – and it reached their hearts. In the same way, whenever we dare to be vulnerable, whenever we allow God to touch things that we may have been hiding from ourselves, whenever we dare to go deep, God is there to cheer us on, to show us his love, to bring us new life. And if we fail? Well great! It’s no big deal at all! Failing never is the problem. Not trying to go deep is the problem, because deep down is where God finds us! In fact, as Christians we are all explorers of our souls. And we do this exploring, knowing that there is no place so deep, so far down, so dark that the light of God can’t find a way there to improve, save or reinvent a human being. That’s the gospel: deep down light! Amen.