24PentecostProper27, Sullivan
Park Care Center, November 11, 2012 by Annette Fricke
Friday's numerical date, two years ago was written out as 11/11/11. And for
some people, that number sequence was more than a coincidence or inevitability
— it was a spiritual signal linked to 2012 Mayan prophecies of both doom and
spiritual renewal.
Nov. 11, 2011 mythologies were pervasive on New Age corners of the internet,
with believers suggesting that 11/11 numerical sequences were signals from
angels or numbers with hidden meanings. Even people who think little of
numerology were finding meaning in the day: The Orlando
Sentinel reported that Walt Disney World was to host 11 weddings on
11/11/11.
But perhaps the most intriguing 11/11/11 mythology to pop up was the
number's link with the supposed 2012 Mayan Apocalypse. The ancient Mayan
long-count calendar ended on Dec. 21, 2012, and some people believed that this
date would usher in a new spiritual era, or even doomsday.
Nov. 11, 2011 most likely became linked with Dec. 21, 2012 when believers
noticed that the U.S. Naval Observatory had set the exact time of the 2012
winter solstice for 11:11 Universal Time on Dec. 21, according to John Hoopes,
a scholar of Maya history at the University of Kansas. According to Hoopes,
"It's essentially based on the notion of synchronicities." Does it have any significance because of the
numbers? Probably not and it certainly
did not have the significance yet that was predicted unless in retrospect, we
see the ushering in of a doomsday or a new era of spiritual renewal when
December 21of this year arrives.
So what else is November 11th?
Well, it is the day that Martin Luther was baptized and the day after
his birth. He was baptized on St. Martin
of Tours day and given the baptismal name of Martin. But you say you don’t know who St Martin of
Tours was? Most people don’t. I didn’t until I looked it up in a liturgical
calendar book I have at home. Martin of
Tours was a bishop who died in the year 397 of natural causes on November 8,
but was buried on the 11th in Tours, France in the Cemetery of the
Poor. He was born about the year of
316. We don’t even know for sure when
his birthday was. We know that his
father was a Roman legionary. And with me, you are probably saying to
yourselves, what is a Roman legionary?
The Roman legionary was a professional soldier of
the Roman
army. Legionaries had to be Roman
citizens under the age of 45. They enlisted in a legion
for twenty-five years of service, a change from the early practice of enlisting
only for a campaign. The last five years were on veteran lighter
duties. But Martin, his son, decided on
his own at the age of ten to become a catechumen. That meant that he decided on his own to
receive instruction in the Christian faith.
But at the age of fifteen, because he was the son of a soldier, he was
drafted to serve in the army. He was apparently a good soldier and was popular
with his fellow soldier buddies.
According to popular legend, while stationed at Amiens, Martin saw a vision
of Christ after giving half of his army issued cloak, sliced in half by his own
sword, to a poor old beggar to wrap him in and protect him from the cold of a particular winter night. In that vision of Christ, he heard, “Martin,
still a catechumen, has covered me with his cloak.” If you know this story from another source,
there is more and varied detail, one of the details that the cloak reappeared
onto Martin and the next day Martin was baptized and thereby became a
Christian.
But regardless of the timeline as to just when Martin was baptized, as a
result of the vision, Martin became a conscientious objector and asked to leave
the army. I would like to add a little
context here. In the early days of
Christianity, Christians could not be soldiers along with other occupations;
which, of course, leads to that concept of conscience. Martin was faced with the question of, “Can
I, in good conscience, one who is studying to join the Christian faith,
continue to be a soldier?” It is a
question that some ponder today as well. Like many of his modern counterparts,
this fourth century conscientious objector had difficulty proving that he was
not a coward, but finally was released, now about twenty years old. Martin became a hermit, staying in a hut for
about ten years until being joined by others and formed what was probably the
first French monastery. He was a source
of inspiration and help to many people who came from the surrounding
countryside. In the year 371, the people
around him pleaded that he would become their bishop. He finally agreed, but continued to live a
life unlike most bishops of the time. He travelled all over the diocese,
preaching and teaching the gospel to the peasants and tribes people, fighting
against paganism, and setting up centers of Christian life and faith. He was a strong opponent of the mixture of
Church and state and thought that Christians ought to discipline their own, not
the state. The state, in fact, at that
time executed Priscillian, a bishop who was charged with practicing magic and
six of his companions. Pricillian was among the first to be executed for
heresy.
I am sure that it is purely coincidental that Martin’s death and burial
happened at the same time of the month as the remembrance for veterans. People who do chose to be conscientious
objectors in this day and age are probably not very numerous and have taken a
not so popular attitude and way of life.
The same may be said for Ruth and Naomi.
They followed their own hearts, probably what we would see today as the
Holy Spirit. They did not take the usual
path of being female for that time period.
Yet, some of the Jewish community thought well enough of this story to
include it in the books of what we, as Christians, call the Old Testament.
It is a story also of death and loss which is what Veteran’s Day is
partially about. The flip side of
honoring the service of the soldier, whether living or killed in a war or
conflict is that of the widows and widowers, girlfriends and boyfriends,
children and various other friends and relatives. The flip side is those who are left behind,
grieving, wondering how to continue their lives without their loved ones. The
ravages of war are bittersweet. Although there may be a feeling of triumph in
squelching the so called enemy, there is also the cost. Every US president in office must ponder
before declaring war, “At what cost?”
Naomi and Ruth are widows. There is
no family to care for them. Naomi loses
her husband as well as her two sons.
Ruth is a daughter-in-law who does not share her mother-in-law’s
faith. Naomi is Jewish, but Ruth is not. Naomi urges Ruth to go back to her kin, but
she refuses and clings to Naomi. She
says some of the most beautiful words in the Bible: “Do not press me to leave
you or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people
shall be my people, and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die---there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more
as well, if even death parts me from you!”
And then Naomi has an idea. She
had kin on her husband’s side of the family: a man named Boaz. She is blessed by Boaz for taking care of
Naomi. She is to watch over the other
women in the field also. Ruth is
thankful for the blessing and the comfort that Boaz brings, even though she is
a stranger and foreigner, a non-Jew. He
provides food for her. Then Naomi tells Ruth how to connect with Boaz. And this is where the lesson I read today
begins. Ruth wins security by seeking
out Boaz to be her husband. Ruth took
her chances by turning away from her gods to become a follower of the God of
Israel. Hospitality is central to this
story. It permeates the story for
stranger, guest, and host. This story is
really about God and how God operates in the world. God is the stranger—the one who is different
from us, God is our guest when we take a stranger in, and God is the host. God is the presider at every encounter we
have with God and in each worship setting.
God blesses us to be a blessing to others, to all others. We are to bless everyone, even those who
aren’t Christians or don’t act the way we think a Christian should. If we were
to display a bumper sticker on our wheelchairs, walkers, or cars, it should say
something like, “Christianity welcomes you.” Amen.
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