The Politics of Accommodation

Lectionary Reflections for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

By David Selzer

Readings for Pentecost 12, Proper 16, Year C, Aug. 22, 2004

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Psalm 71:1-6

Hebrews 12:18-29

Luke 13:10-17

John Kerry wants to be elected president. In his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, he made the strong appeal that he could be a better commander-in-chief of the United States. He cited his service in Viet Nam, willingness to increase the military budget and force, and fearlessness of using force when necessary. There was none of the rhetoric of protesting the war (as he did with Viet Nam after he served), and no mention of any of the issues that divide American society (and the church). Kerry wants the votes of the American people; his interest (at this point, at least) is in being liked, not in being proclaimed the prophet.

Jesus in the synagogue does not seek to please his opponents or the larger crowd. He heals a woman crippled for 18 years on a Sabbath, a deliberate point of the violation of the Law as understood by the leaders of the synagogue. They could argue: why not heal her tomorrow, or the next day – instead of on Shabbat? What different to you does a day make given that this woman has lived with her condition for 18 years? Couldn't you just go along with the Law as we understand it, and be a little accommodating, and promise to do something positive and pro-woman on Sunday or Monday (and NOT Shabbat?)

In the church we find accommodation to be the most comfortable option: people do not withhold money; they go from worship relatively happy; they like you. To be prophetic is to invite a response, both negative and positive, with the clear option of refusing to go along, and the prophet not having high ratings.

Accommodation – this is the choice to win votes or popularity or fame. Prophetic witness – this is the choice, or, better yet, response, to an understanding of a vocation. In the church we find accommodation to be the most comfortable option: people do not withhold money; they go from worship relatively happy; they like you. To be prophetic is to invite a response, both negative and positive, with the clear option of refusing to go along, and the prophet not having high ratings.

God comes to the prophet in Jeremiah and announces that Jeremiah is not a candidate for public office – he is to be a prophet to the nations, “to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” The prophet is called to speak on difficult issues, and not necessarily with accommodating words. Speak – not silence – on the difficult issues of our lives today – the imbalance of wealth and poverty, Israel and Palestine, imperialism and the corporate world, the militarization of our society, the lack of empowerment of women in our society and the world, racism, sexual orientation, etc. These are not the topics of a politician who seeks to be elected by an American public! These are not the concerns of a preacher who wants to be liked, or wants parish income to rise!

In the synagogue on Shabbat, Jesus notices not the leaders, not the art deco, but the woman suffering from 18 years of being crippled. Jesus touches her (a violation of the prohibition of touching women not related to you), and heals her. This “public” display of compassion for women, of compassion for those who are disabled, in addition to healing on the Sabbath, infuriates those who have the power and the control, who believe it is necessary for some to remain in a lower status as part of God's “plan” or design for the world. The woman is proclaimed as a daughter of Abraham, and Jesus sets her free to be equal among the others.  

So we, if we are not seeking accommodation, are called as prophetic people, to proclaim the equality of God's people – Jew and Greek, slave and free, female and male, Christian and Muslim and Jew, gay and lesbian and straight and transgendered, black and white and native and Asian, disabled and able, etc. We can assure ourselves that we will not be elected, but such is the price of prophetic discipleship.

The Rev. David O. Selzer is the rector of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Buffalo, N.Y. He is currently an adjunct faculty at Bexley Hall (an Episcopal seminary in Rochester, N.Y.), a trainer in the Congregational Development Institute , and a police chaplain for the Buffalo Police Department. David may be reached by email at dos403@aol.com .