The kobyashi marus of our lives are where He demonstrates His power and His faithfulness . . .

     Death has been on my mind a great deal the last couple weeks.  Prior to my grandmother, Kitty, passing, I had been reflecting on the Eucharists I had celebrated at the time of death of some parishioners.  The stonemason, as many of you know from Facebook, showed up to etch the names of our deceased interred in the Prayer Garden into the granite memorial bench.  Polly, Vern, and I had not been able to catch him working both times he worked at church since I had come to St. Alban’s.  The weather over the last few years had also complicated matters.  He needs the weather cool, but not too cold.  We have been skipping from summer to winter to summer so quickly the last few years that he had very little time to do his jobs in fourteen states.  Upon his arrival here, he had some questions.  Chiefly, he wanted to know about this Norm Roby.  Specifically, he wanted to know how Norm had gotten his phone number and why Norm was so insistent on getting Thelma’s name etched into the bench.  We got to talking about Norm and his cancer and his devotion to his wife.  That got us talking a bit about Thelma.  That got us talking about the other names he had etched or was here to etch.  We might call it a stroll down memory lane.  I shared some stories, shared a secret “real” middle name, and generally reveled him as he worked and asked questions about us and our garden.

     I don’t know if it was my attitude or the stories or the collar (this was after LutherCrest so I had one on!), but that got him talking about other observations.  I will not claim that he had any particular insights that would surprise you, but he deals often with those dealing with death.  He has noticed that the hope of a Resurrected Christ sure does make his job much easier.  Christians mourn, but they mourn with hope.  Christians experience the sadness of loss, but their loss is tempered with the belief that the grave is not the end.  For those without that hope, though, the monuments he inscribes really become the sum of their existence, both their past and their future.  It’s really kind of sad.  As much as an artist as this mason is, I can’t claim to be too surprised by his observations.  He is keenly aware of the human condition, and the pride with which he approaches his work tells us he has more than a bit of a poet in him.

     Of course, as he finished up, my grandmother fell and died some 60 hours later.  There are no real good deaths.  The world might like to try and convince us that dying in one’s sleep after a long life is pretty good.  But, as I write this a couple weeks after her death, I am very cognizant of her absence.  Death still sucks.  There is no getting around it.  Death, and all that surrounds it, the pain, the emotion, the feelings of loss, the guilt of feeling good about release—all of it was not supposed to happen.  I remind you all every time at funerals that this was not what our Lord intended when He created us.  As we are sojourners in this land, however, death becomes a constant companion.  Sure, the elderly feel it more, but all of know lives taken by untimely death, as if saying it that way implies a timely death.

     It was with that background noise in my life and in our collective that I approached the readings this week.  Specifically, it was that background noise in our life, and the planning of yet another funeral, that caused me to pay closer attention to the letter to the Romans rather than the other three.  It makes sense, of course.  Chapters 5-8 are sometimes called the biblical definition of pastoral theology.  That falls within the first 8 chapters of Romans, which some refer to as the Gospel according to Paul.  When we understand what the author, traditionally thought to be St. Paul, is trying to accomplish, those accolades and titles make sense.  The Church in Rome is getting ready to experience a great tribulation, a great persecution, under Nero.  This upcoming persecution will include the gladiatorial games where Christians will be fed to wild animals and will include what you and I would call human torches.  Nero, in an attempt to scare people from following this new “Way” will let convicted followers truly become the light of Christ.  It will be a gruesome scene.  Family members will turn on one another.  The powerful will take the lives of the weak.  It will be a time that will serve as the background when the Holy Spirit inspires John to write his Revelation.  It will be a time full of death, full of suffering, full of pain, full of mourning, full of fear for any who would call upon Christ as Lord and Savior.  It will be a time that looks like the very opposite of the reign of Christ and the Kingdom of God.  And Paul is trying to comfort his brothers and sisters in Rome in the midst of this terrible ordeal.

     Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.  As I read those words with my conversation with the stonemason in the back of my mind, I was reminded how many times we find ourselves silent before God.  Our Intercessors experience that deep sigh, that deep sense of not knowing what to pray as they faithfully, day in and day out, lift the concerns of those in the parish and those who seek their intercession to God.  It is that same silence that we experience at the loss of a loved one.  As I read those names on the bench last week in light of this passage, I saw husbands, wives, children, grandchildren, friends, and other loved ones left speechless before God.  Time and time again I have witnessed that deep sigh.  Time and time again I have reminded those among you that not knowing what to pray is ok, especially in the times of loss and grief.  Time and time again I have experienced that silent sigh myself.  What should I be praying for this individual?  What? Why?  Paul answers that question for us.  Because God, who searches the heart and knows the mind of the Spirit, knows the Spirit will intercede on behalf of the saints according to the will of God.  It is a deep consolation to realize that the Spirit is interceding behalf of all those who call upon Christ as Lord.

     Better still, Paul goes on to note, we know that all the mournings, all these deeply sad events, and even all the joyful events in our lives work together for good for those who love God.  That seems a ridiculous statement to make, does it not?  I know it causes some to be pollyannish in some Christian circles.  It’s ok, God wanted that to happen for me.  It’s ok, God never gives us more than we can handle.  Worse, it causes some who are new to the faith to allow their circumstances to be the basis of their relationship with God.  If things are going well, God must be pleased with them.  If things are going horribly wrong, God must be angry or indifferent to their plight.  Such attitudes are easy for the Enemy to use to seduce people from the Christian faith.  Understand, though, what Paul is saying.  God is making sure that all things in the end work for our good.  All things, even death, are used by God for His people’s good and His glory.

     As the mason and I were sharing a couple weeks ago, we chatted a bit about this passage in Romans.  Well, I was chatting with this passage and the OT passages that focused on the next generation to decide whether to follow God in mind.  He was more concerned about what you and I would call legacies.  Part of the reason he does not give his number out is that people are so concerned about the way the name or inscription looks.  Sometimes, when the person has passed, they become intensely focused on the carvings.  Too focused, sometimes, from his perspective.  He has been yelled at because the letters weren’t crisp enough or too crisp, because the carvings were too deep or too shallow, and, understandably, because the names have been misspelled.  He mentioned that Norm’s repeated efforts to speed up his visit was all too reminiscent of that kind of focus.  Death, he said, sometimes brings out the worst in us.  I agreed heartily and shared how funerals and weddings are tough for clergy.  After laughing a bit, though, he asked why I thought death becomes such a toughie for Christians.

     I answered that it is in the face of death where our faith is really tested.  To some extent, we all create God in our own images—that’s part of why Scripture exists to correct and educate us.  It is easy to claim to be a Christian, though, in many places in western culture.  Yes, I know, sometimes our friends or coworkers or families mock us for believing in God, but few of us in America have ever really felt threatened for our lives for calling Christ Lord.  Certainly, our poor are better off than the poor in other countries.  Our sick have access to better medical care than is available to the sick in other countries.  In many ways, death is the hardship we face in life.  It is also the place where we have no answers.  There is a limit to our doctors’ skill.  Once they have gone so far, that is it.  But God is not bound by those limits.  Part of Christ’s coming was to demonstrate God’s power over death.  And if He used His Son’s death to demonstrate His power to redeem all things, we can expect that He will use ours as well.  But it is tough path to walk when we have created God in our image, when we have lived our life the way we see fit, when we have picked and chose what part of God’s revelation is important and what parts can be discarded.

     The mason commented that we ought to expect for our most effective ministries and witness to be in the shadow of death.  After all, He redeemed by dying for us.  I agreed, but I also recognized that death truly challenges us.  One of my primary roles is to remind those near death of God’s promises.  Everyone, everyone is attacked by the Enemy near their death.  One of the reasons we clergy visit parishioners and others on deathbeds is to remind them of God’s unfailing love and power.  I do it, I find, not just for the benefit of the dying, but also for the benefit of those in their life.  There is a criticism in the Star Trek movies of Captain Kirk and his “solution” to the Kobyashi Maru.  In the Wrath of Khan it is his son rebuking and in the reboot movie it is Spock, but both make the observation that how we face death is every bit as important as how we face life.  Kirk, naturally, rejects that understanding.  To him, there is no such thing as a no-win scenario.  We know as Christians, though, that, unless our Lord returns before He calls us home, all of us will face that no-win scenario we call death.  As it is an experience that transcends culture, economics, race, and every other trait that divides humanity, we ought not be too surprised that people pay attention to us when we face death.

     I told the mason that we just have to trust that, even though God did not create us with the intention that he would engrave any names on benches in such gardens, He would use those deaths for good and to His glory.  Do you believe it?  I told him of course I did.  I had seen it too many times not to believe it.  I look for it, but I never get to see the dead raised like Lazarus.  I reminded that all things work for good and to His glory, not the way we want to see things work out.  What do you mean?  We love the flashy miracles.  I get it.  I have prayed over a dying man and seen God answer that prayer with an emphatic yes, but I also understand my ways are not His ways.  I asked him how many churches he works at during the course of the year.  His answer was that it depended on the year.  So I challenged him a bit and asked why he thought he and I were having this particular conversation at that particular time.  In the past, he has managed to get in and out without Polly or Vern or me spotting him.  He couldn’t think of anything specific in his life.  So then I pointed to the intersection.  As he and I chatted, car after car kept coming through the intersection.  I asked if he thought it possible if any drivers or any passengers might simply have needed to see a priest and someone else speaking easily in the Prayer Garden.  That, he said, was entirely possible.  So I reminded him that while God had not intended for any of those names on the bench to have died when He first conceived them in His mind, He was able potentially to use their deaths to reach others.  The mason agreed and commented it was such a waste.  I asked why He thought Jesus wept at the death of His friend.

     A number of us in this parish have had the, what the world calls misfortune, to experience those deep, sighing moments.  Most of us have been touched by one or more of those names on the bench.  Perhaps, as I was sharing my story of reflection, you were engaged in your own.  Some of us, though, have experienced those dark moments recently.  Some of us have had to face death.  Some of us have had to face serious disease.  Some of us have had to face serious questions of provision.  Some of us have simply been given compassion by the Holy Spirit to intercede with sighs on the behalf of rampant evil and destruction in the world.  Some of us have simply been given the responsibility of shepherding a friend or family member through their own grieving process.  If forced to depend upon ourselves, we would be hopeless indeed.  How we will solve Middle East peace?  How will we solve the problem of children entering our country?  How will we solve the Russia-Ukrainian problem?  What will we do with Iran’s nuclear ambition?  As Paul reminds us here, though, that you and I are never dependent upon ourselves.  In fact, you and I know, as St. Paul reminds us, that we can be left utterly speechless, silent before certain tragedies and events in our lives and in the world.  Even then, God does not expect us to figure out His plan.  He asks us simply to trust Him and allow Him to work, going so far as to even intercede in such moments Himself.

      Brothers and sisters, do you believe this promise?  Do you have this hope?  Do you understand that whatever you face in life, He will redeem?  Just as importantly, do you live your life reflective of that belief?  If you are, fantastic!  Well done good and faithful servant.  But what if you have forgotten He whom you serve?  What if, in the face of certain challenges, you forgot that you followed a Lord who was crucified, died, and was buried?  What if you found yourself overwhelmed by circumstances and, instead of trusting God, tried to force your own solution to the circumstances?  What if you found yourself mocking those witnessing that kind of faith?  What if you, like Paul, found yourself fighting God rather than working with Him?  Paul reminds us that our Lord is as merciful as He is powerful.  The same God who promises to usher us through those moments of deep sighing has also made it possible for us to be restored to a right relationship with Him, and inheritors of all those promises He has made.  All He asks is that we repent, repent of our failures and try again.  Better still, there is no limit to our failure.  There is no “you must get it right in ___ tries.”  All He demands is that we sincerely repent and ask for the grace to succeed in the future.  The rest, as well as the question of what to pray, is up to Him.

Peace,

Brian†

Wheat and tares, addicts and those freed, sinners and the redeemed . . . .

     Every so often, the lectionary forces us as a congregation and as individuals to examine our attitudes in light of God’s revelation.  This week was one of those weeks.  As many of you know, we have had a difficult relationship with one of the AA groups that meet at the church a couple times each week.  I know some of us shared with the bishop our thoughts and feelings about our ministry to them.  It has been an ongoing concern with the Vestry for some months now.  And, if you happen to drop into the office on the right time, you might hear Robin or Vern or me using some earthy words in reference to them.  The group has cost us valuable resources, has cost some of us sleep, and they have cost a number of us some significant time.  To be fair, some in that group do not want to be here.  In some cases, family members or judges have forced them to come.  Some of those who come do not yet want to admit they have a problem, let alone that they need to be freed from addiction.  Some, as I shared a couple weeks ago, even try to control their alcohol addiction through the use of other substances such as narcotics.  In those moments when I defend our ministry to them among us, I sometimes compare them to children.  Part of the reason that some show no respect to us or to our facilities is that no one ever taught them appropriate behavior.  So, I remind us and myself that we need to show some patience.  The question, of course, is how much patience is enough?

     This week, I stayed after Eucharist and Bible study to make sure no one was trashing the church and no one controlling their addiction through the use of other drugs.  I also wanted to make sure someone was going to be responsible for the church.  Somebody needed to be responsible for making sure the lights were off, the water was shut off, the coffee makers were turned off, the doors were locked, and all that kind of stuff.  One of those parts of AA meetings that is fun for those on the outside is the celebration of sobriety.  During each meeting, there is a call for anniversaries.  I will say that my attitude towards the celebrations was probably jaundiced a bit by the Marquette Group.  Marquette Group really only celebrates years.  They make a big deal about it, but it is almost always years they are celebrating.  This particular group considers weekly and monthly anniversaries to be tremendous accomplishments.  Announce there that you have been sober a week, and you will hear a bigger cheer than the Marquette gives for twentieth or thirtieth anniversaries.  Ask Sue or Bev or Bernice or Polly about those celebrations.  It’s not that Marquette is not happy for those who reach significant milestones; this group simply realizes how heavy the monkey is on everyone’s back at the start.  And when they escape that addiction even for a short time, they really appreciate the accomplishment.

     Anyway, this past week they were celebrating anniversaries.  Most everybody was expressing their successes in terms of days, week, and months.  But as they went around the room, one of the members gave bit of a speech.  I will spare you the personal nature of his struggles, but he was thankful to the group for their support, to AA for teaching people like him how to struggle, to his family for supporting him through everything he did to them, and even for this church for providing him and others like him the space to find and be found by God and be freed from their addiction. . . . . Hear that again, he was thanking us for giving him and others the space to find and be found by God and to be set free from their addiction.

     Brothers and sisters, he had no idea I was standing in the kitchen eavesdropping.  Even if he knew my face without a collar, neither we nor this place were not his focus.  His tears of joy were over the distance he had traveled and the support of his family.  He had done enough to warrant their abandonment in his own eyes, and he was certain when this voyage began he was beyond the help and attention of God.  As I listened to his story, it dawned on me that he might be the very first one in that group to have made it through a year of sobriety since they started meeting here.  So often that group is changing.  Some come for a few months or a few weeks, but very few stay for very long.  Compared to those fighting addictions long term, they are almost transient.  Perhaps that it why, when he said he had finished his first year of sobriety, the room erupted.  The room absolutely exploded with emotion.  Lots of them cheered.  Some covered their o-shaped mouths.  A few stared in stunned belief.  Not a few tried to get to him and pat him on the back or shake his hands, no doubt wanting a piece of his luck.  It was a celebration to see.  I know the guy in the kitchen could do nothing more than thank God for the privilege of hearing his testimony and witnessing the joy and amazement in the room.  My eyes flittered over dozens of faces.

     You see, Monday saw Robin giving me the readings for this week.  Glancing at them, I knew the parable on the wheat and the tares would not be sermon fodder this week.  What needs to be explained?  How could it impact our lives other than by causing us to pray that we are the wheat and not the tares at the end of the age?  And then I got my living illustration.

     In much of what we do around here, we are very linear, very cause and effect.  We feed people in His name and hope and pray for the opportunity to remind them that God loves them.  We care and provide for battered women and the children and hope and pray for the opportunity to remind them that their Father in heaven is nothing like the jerk who beat them or their mother.  We look for and seek to offer freedom to those we believe or who tell us they are enslaved.  We raise money to buy water purificators for those who thirst, hoping we provide an illustration for other preachers about living water.  We host events like Water Wars or picnics or potlucks or other gatherings hopeful that others will be drawn into His heavenly embrace either by our fun or our good food.  Heck, we offer space to three different AA groups who meet here some fifteen or sixteen times hoping that they will be freed from their addiction and maybe, just maybe, find a church home in our parish.

     Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on our individual perspectives, God does not always work in what you and I know to be a linear progression.  God does not always have to follow the cause and effect that you and I perceive.  Our reading from Matthew is a great reminder of that.  The sower has sown the seed and an enemy has come along behind and sown weeds.  The slaves are understandably frustrated.  More weeds means less wheat yield.  Should they start over?  Should they seek out the enemy?  Should they just pull the weeds?  The sower says to leave it alone for now, lest the pulling of the weeds kill the wheat as well.  When it is time for the harvest, the sower will send other workers to bind the weeds and burn them and then gather the wheat into the barn.  It must be a difficult position for the sower.  He has spent time and energy and money sowing the seeds.  

     We can relate, can’t we?  We have an incredibly tight budget around here.  We are always careful to make sure the lights are off, the water is off, and the doors are locked.  Waste not, want not is almost a way of life around here.  We are aware that left-on coffee makers can catch fire and burn down churches.  We understand that we are supposed to clean up our messes because our mom’s do not live in the kitchen.  We understand that drug paraphernalia can’t be flushed down the commodes without clogging them, and that unclogging the sewer lines costs money.  We know that when we walk into a room and others are speaking, it is rude to interrupt.  We know that when we spill, we clean up.  We know that when we go into rooms and use them, we should take care not to break things; and, if we do break them, own up to it and apologize.  We work and work, and we try to treat those who use the church as adults, and we feel like we are taken advantage of or mocked.  Sounds like the sower in our story today, does it not?   Just like that, after his hard work, someone has made much of his work a waste.  Or has he?

     The sower shows incredible patience and perspective despite the frustration he must feel.  Could he plow the field under and start over?  Yes.  Could he risk pulling up the wheat and have the weeds pulled up?  Assuredly.  But he chooses to wait and see.  He chooses to give the wheat the full opportunity to bear fruit.  He understands that some of the wheat will grow and will produce that which he can use.  And so the sower instructs his slaves to wait and watch.

     It is a difficult thing to wait and watch.  Patience is no longer a virtue in our lexicon.  And yet we are called to emulate the Sower in all that we do.  Yes, we may like our neat cause and effect, but we follow a Lord who pays attention to others causes and other effects.  We may at times feel ill-used and taken advantage of.  We may at times be mocked and scorned.  Yet He showed us that path, that Cross, some 2000 years ago.  When we deserved to be mocked, He took our place.  When we deserved to be ridiculed, He stood in for us.  When we deserved to be punished, He allowed Himself to suffer in our stead.

     Are there many tares in those field where we serve?  Absolutely.  But every now and again, when we exhibit patience and look at those fields with His eyes, we can be privileged to see what He sees when one enslaved seeks freedom, when one who sins seeks repentance.  I realized as I stood there Wednesday night, listening to the song of the redeemed, that I had been given an interesting perspective of the harvest He seeks.  For all our feelings of ill-use, He used our faithfulness to His glory.  An addict was set free; a group of addicts now has seen and heard the hope of freedom from one of their own.  The results of his testimony, I think, will be some time in unfolding.

     Am I less angry about their waste?  Am I less upset at their childish behavior?  Perhaps.  But in other ways, I know I am not.  You see, we have been given an incredible opportunity to serve those whom He seeks out all the time.  Better still, we know the freedom He offers and still cannot understand at times why those enslaved choose slavery over freedom.  I am certain that we still need to promote leadership in their leaders.  I am certain that we must teach them that actions do have consequences.  But maybe, maybe, as we are crafting those behavioral expectations we will remember: once we, too, were weeds, until His grace transformed our hearts and turned us into fruit bearing plants.  Maybe, just maybe, as we gripe and grumble we will remember we follow a Lord who unapologetically and ungrumbling bore all our shame that we might live to His glory.  Perhaps, just perhaps, if we continue in our faithful labors, He will continue to give us such glimpses of His harvest, and so inspire us in our faith!

Peace,

Brian†

Hobby Lobby . . .

     By now, the world seems to have read the Hobby Lobby ruling issued by the Supreme Court and fallen into one of two camps.  There is the side that thinks the court invaded the reproductive rights of women everywhere and needs to be castrated, and there is the side that is convinced it is about time that the President’s healthcare plan get some brakes applied to it.  Republican and Democratic talking heads on television seem to be convinced this will be the defining issue of the 2014 election.  Truthfully, I had not even been aware of the ruling until a phone call from the local press late Monday afternoon.  I had encouraged Robin to leave, and was making ready to bike home before the arrival of the storms, when the phone rang.  One of those who has reported on our efforts to free survivors of human trafficking wanted to know if I had an opinion about the day’s Supreme Court ruling.  When I asked her what ruling, she was a bit surprised I was unaware.  The problem with working in a church sometimes is that we end up cut off from the rest of the world.  As the internet was its typically spotty self, I had not yet logged onto Facebook or Yahoo or really checked my inboxes.  She told me that the Supreme Court had just declared that employers could not be forced to provide contraception to their employees.  Better yet, as a religious leader in this community, she wanted to know if I had anything to say about the ruling and its impact on society and working women, in particular (And I thought the severe weather was the impending derecho!)

     I laughed a bit at her flattery, but then I asked if that is really what the court had decided.  I learned it was all over the newswires, blowing up Twitter and Facebook, and that it would be a lead story on many evening newscasts.  Thankfully, I had recently been forced to organize my thoughts about gun control, so, as I tried to look up the ruling on the internet, I commented that decisions where our rights infringe upon one another sure do produce a lot of passion and hyperbole.  Only important ones like gun control and contraception, she pointed out.  I agreed, but noted that my thoughts on something like this would not be easy to fit in an article.  Why?  There are rights as citizens in conflict and even obligations as Christians in conflict in this discussion.  Each side wants to declare the other an enemy of humanity, and neither really seems to want to talk.  What would you say to both sides then?

     What would I say, if I had the bully pulpit of the local press?  One, slow down and pause.  A quick glance at my Facebook feed made me wonder if people had taken the time to understand the issues at play in the ruling.  Why is that?  Some of my FB friends were declaring that we had returned to the age and understanding of cavemen; others were excited that the satanic baby killers were finally being reigned in.  The name-calling was out of control, and I had invested a whole minute, maybe two while speaking with her.  So, you don’t have a quote?  Yes, I had a quote.  I had several, but none would likely appeal to her and help her deadline.  Like what?  Like, I wish people would at least make an attempt at reading about the case.  Hobby Lobby asked for an exemption from four specific items they deemed abortifacients.  The company was not opting out of contraception; the company wanted not to kill any fertilized eggs, a position held by many Christians around the world.  Like, I wish people understood that companies sometimes get a pass on certain activities because those who write the laws have not figured out the right balance to the conflicting rights of people.  Like how companies can depend on public access on the one hand but limit it on the other? I caught her inference and agreed wholeheartedly.  But I continued, like, a decrease in access to abortifacients will necessarily mean that women will choose abortions over other types of birth control.  Like, Hobby Lobby needs to be careful if it wants to claim the mantle of a so-called Christian company.  Like is there a difference in the way we treat closely held and publicly held companies.  Like is contraception a right that companies need to meet on the part of their employees, or is it a benefit which can cause employees to seek employment elsewhere.  Like maybe something negotiated by unions or employees but not necessarily a “Bill of Rights” issue?  Maybe it is a Bill of Rights issue in the minds of some, but is it not also a Bill of Rights issue for those who own the business?

     She started laughing at me.  You are absolutely right.  None of your quotes are going to be pithy enough for me.  Good, I responded.  That means I won’t be quoting you in the article I’m doing for tomorrow.  I told her I could live with that.  That doesn’t mean, though, I’m not interested in your thoughts.  I really want to know what you mean by a so-called Christian company.  I just have a job to do.  Maybe you could take some time to explain that?  We parted ways, with me warning her to be safe in the coming storm.  Little did I know that the ruling would dominate the next few hours of my life.  Can I shop at Hobby Lobby, or should all women, and men who love women, boycott it?    How can you not condemn the ruling?  Did you read Justice Ginsburg’s dissent?  Did you hear Boehner hopes to use the ruling to get ObamaCare repealed?  Where does our church stand on contraception?  On abortion?

     If we are going to decide what is best in the Hobby Lobby case, we should probably familiarize ourselves with the facts of the case.  The owners of Hobby Lobby objected to the requirement that their healthcare plan had to cover two forms of IUDs and two drugs that are considered to be possible abortifacients.  By abortifacients, scientists simply mean drugs that can cause a fertilized egg not implant or to miscarry.  The so-called “Plan-B” drug might be the most famous nowadays.  IUDs can also cause a fertilized egg not to implant in the woman’s uterus.  For those who hold that life begins at conception, such drugs and devices are an anathema.  I am not a lawyer, I do not play one on television, and I did not sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but the ruling seems to say that Hobby Lobby, and other closely held companies, cannot be forced to provide access to what they perceive to be an immoral form of contraception.  What is a moral form of contraception?  In Hobby Lobby’s case, any drug or device which keeps the sperm from reaching the egg seems to be acceptable.  Not widely published on my Facebook feed or any article or interview I have seen on the matter, Hobby Lobby seems to offer coverage for the such drugs as the pill and other implants.  Accordingly, coverage for those drugs and devices will still be offered to those employees of Hobby Lobby on their healthcare plan.

      Is this a silly distinction?  For any who love Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, the answer would be yes.  One of the big discussions in the Christian faith has been the question of when life begins and whether faithful Christians can use contraception.  Over time, Roman Catholics have tended to focus on the purpose of sex primarily as a procreative act and therefore consider any attempt to prevent conception as a sin against God’s intent; Protestants, on the other hand, have tried more nuanced positions.  Some would agree with Hobby Lobby’s distinction.  Others would argue that Hobby Lobby’s distinctions are unnecessary.  Claiming the mantle of fully Catholic and fully Protestant, it is not surprising that we have such a range of opinions within our  own church.  Within our parish, there are a number of opinions; and as we include the diocese and other larger bodies in the discussions, the opinions increase correspondingly.

     Who is right?  God only knows.  I say that sincerely and with no hint of sarcasm.  Is one of the purposes of sex procreation?  Of course.  Is it the primary purpose?  I am not sure that it is necessarily the primary purpose.  I am certain that it creates a unique bond between a husband and a wife, a bond that ought not be entered into with others as cavalierly or as lightly as we seem wont to do in modern times.  Scripture often describes sex between a husband and wife as “knowing.”  Part of that knowing is the shared intimacy that should come from the cleaving described by Genesis and by our Lord in His commentary on that passage in the Gospel.  It can lead to procreation, but is procreation the primary purpose?  Perhaps we should consider sex as having two or more primary purposes, and leave it at that for the purposes of the Hobby Lobby decision.

     The case, as it was determined by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), had merit.  Hobby Lobby was being asked to provide something for its employees for which it had a moral objection.  Interestingly, the case seems to have been more a referendum on the so-called 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act than on the Bill of Rights.  In 1993, Congress passed a law near-unanimously that was signed by then-President Clinton which tried to implement a rather complex formula for balancing religious claims against certain policies (The impetus for the law was the denial of benefits of two Native Americans who had been terminated from their jobs for using peyote).  SCOTUS, in its decision rendered this week, basically affirmed that certain companies are exempted from what the companies deem to be immoral policies.  The certain companies are those that are tightly held.  By that, the court held that those companies with a small ownership group could not be forced to act against their conscience.  Presumably, publicly held companies and companies that are jointly owned by a number of different investors do not enjoy such a protection.

     What happens next?  My guess is that the decision will linger until the next big event.  Some politicians will try and use the rhetoric around the decision to get elected to office.  I have already heard a number of politicians talking about SCOTUS joining the war on women in this decision.  There will be many talking heads and pundits describing what this means for the Affordable Care Act, for women, and for companies.  There may even be discussions regarding other exemptions for tightly held companies whose faith is not of Christian origin.  I do think, after listening to some talking heads on the left-leaning channels, one of the unintended consequences of this decision will be the walking back of requirements for a number of companies and their employees.  Much praise has been heaped on Justice Ginsburg for her scathing dissent.  The problem with her dissent, as smarter heads have already pointed out, is that her dissent gives certain judges cover to enlarge the number of companies given religious exemptions for any number of public policies.    Put another way, just as Justice Alito’s dissent on Same-Sex Marriage has allowed left-leaning judges to rule various states’ laws against SSM unconstitutional, Justice Ginsburg’s dissent will give right-leaning judges the cover they need to grant more and more exemptions to companies, essentially gutting some of the Affordable Care Act’s reforms from within.  Time will tell.

     Will there be boycotts of Hobby Lobby?  I would be shocked if there were not.  Some consumers no doubt believe that the rights of workers supersede the rights of companies.  I also imagine that there will be people who shop at Hobby Lobby because of this decision.  They will agree with the company’s stand that they should not be forced to provide abortifacients and continue to shop.  In other words, consumers will be voting with their dollars.  In the end, that is the capitalistic economic system by which we govern ourselves.

     As a pastor, and as I shared with the reporter earlier this week, I am more concerned about a company that proclaims itself “Christian.”  Hobby Lobby will no doubt come under further scrutiny for its practices in the weeks and months ahead.  If they are truly trying to be a Christian company, I applaud them.  But if they are simply wrapping their company in the mantle of Christendom, we will hear the charges of hypocrisy and our Lord misrepresented yet again in the public sphere.  Living as a Christian is hard enough as an individual; living as a Christian company must be infinitely harder.  The decision is barely hours old, and already people have pointed out that Hobby Lobby’s 401K allows employees to invest in the companies that manufacture the drugs in question.  Is that not a case of hypocrisy?  As a former investment representative and a member of our Diocesan Board of Directors, I can say that it is challenging to invest morally.  It is challenging not because it is harder to make money, but because companies are nimble.  Acquisitions happen all the time.  Companies that are able to be held today under so-called “morality clause” investing, may not be six months from now or a year from now.  Policing such policies requires greater attention which means, in the end, higher management fees which reduce overall returns.

     While I am willing to give the company the benefit of the doubt with respect to its 401K options for its employees, I wonder about other issues.  Part of that wonder caused me to pause and consider before responding in writing.  Does Hobby Lobby pay its employees a living wage?  A Christian company would.  Does Hobby Lobby purchase its goods knowing that its supply chain could be tainted by the stain of slave labor?  A Christian company would not.  Is Hobby Lobby generous in benefits regarding childbirth (maternity and/or paternity leave and/or adoption leave)?  A Christian company should be.  Does Hobby Lobby force its employees to work Thanksgiving and Sundays?  A Christian would not.  Other Christians could probably think of other aspects of the faith which should govern Hobby Lobby business practices and operations.

     After just a couple days of looking for the answers to such questions, I am bit more comfortable with the idea that the company tries to govern itself according to many Christian principles than I was while on the phone with the reporter.  Hobby Lobby is famously closed on Sundays in an effort to allow their employees an opportunity to go to church and spend time with their families.  But they seem to do some other things well, even if much less publicized.  The company has pledged to continue to offer the other 16 forms of contraception that were not included in the appeal heard before SCOTUS (yes, they offer 16 of the 20 contraceptions demanded by the Affordable Care Act).  While the country needs to have a serious discussion about “livable” wages, Hobby Lobby does pay its employees, even its part-time employees, above the current minimum wage.  Part-time employees receive $9.50/hour; full-time employees receive $14.00/hr.  Compared to the current minimum wage of $7.25, Hobby Lobby is not doing too badly by its employees in terms of hourly wage.  There is no way to know whether salaried employees are being compensated fairly for their hours worked other than anecdotally.  If managers are jumping ship all the time, then that would be a sign they feel their compensation was not good compared to other companies.  If managers stay with the company for long tenures, then their compensation may be competitive.  Another negative sign would be the poor participation in its 401K plan, as noted by Brightscope.  Are people making enough to be in a position to save, or do the employees of Hobby Lobby simply have bad saving habits?  On another positive note, Hobby Lobby does not seem to be practicing overtly the current business practice of reducing all employees’ hours to make them “part-time.”  Many companies, as a result of the Affordable Care Act, have simply reduced the “hours worked” to reduce those to whom they must offer healthcare plans.  According to NPR, Hobby Lobby would be far better off financially by simply refusing to offer any healthcare plan to its employees, another common practice by many companies today.  The fine to the company would only be in the neighborhood of only $26 million dollars, a huge savings compared to their healthcare plan costs.

     Of course, one can make the allegation that there are supply chain issues in its current model.  The company, as most, seems to try and buy goods at the cheapest possible prices and pass some of that savings onto its consumers.  The greatest cost for many of the goods sold is the labor cost.  Unfortunately, that means many owners of businesses in the supply chain decide to use slave labor to increase their profits and decrease the labor cost.  As a result of California’s Supply Chain law, many companies have begun to pay attention to their supply chains.  Some pay attention in words only; others, recognizing the negative PR and negative Goodwill should it come to light they were using companies that used slaves, have hired inspectors and tried to implement policies which give consumers some confidence that the items purchased are not tainted by slavery.  In a cursory glance, I cannot state one way or another whether the company undertakes reasonable efforts to ensure that workers in its supply chain are not forced labor.

     One last note to consider is whether Hobby Lobby is a blessing to those communities in which it does business.  After all, part of God’s promises to His people is that He will be their God, they will be His people, and they will be a blessing to those around them.  Are Hobby Lobby’s business practices generating similar SG&A as those companies that operate in a traditional manner?  If so, perhaps other companies will look to model themselves a bit more like Hobby Lobby.  If not, then companies will ignore them and God’s teachings on fair pay and sabbaths.  Is Hobby Lobby a good neighbor or a revitalizer in the communities in which it operates?  Does the fact that Hobby Lobby does business in a community cause an increase in employment and an increase in employee wages?  Again, I cannot answer such questions myself.  Those are questions best answered by city and community leaders around the country.  If their stores are not well-maintained, if their stores appear uninviting, if the stores are not attractive, if they are helping to increase the job pool, if their taxes paid support the community, perhaps the company is not really embracing Christian principles in all things, just in certain things.  Would it make them the first or worst hypocrites in Christian history?  No.  But it would do harm to the witness of Christians in the various communities in which Hobby Lobby operates.  

     Where do we go from here?  Unlike those out trying to score points for their various perspectives or games, I do not know that the country needs to get excited or to panic.  SCOTUS seems to have tried to apply the exemption of the RFRA narrowly.  Will subsequent judges try to narrow the exemptions or widen the exemptions?  I would bet on it.  Will companies come forward and claim religious exemptions?  Most likely.  But many more companies will continue to view healthcare plans as a benefit used to attract and retain valued employees.  In the end, the women affected by this decision will be our best source of information.  If women and men (yes, employed men with spouses are impacted by this decision, too) who work for Hobby Lobby seek employment elsewhere, the job force will have spoken.  By the same token, if the affected women and men continue to work for Hobby Lobby, then those of us on the outside may begin to get a glimpse that, perhaps, the employees were not as uncomfortable with this decision as those who do not work there.

     In the bigger picture, the country needs to have some serious, but likely uncomfortable discussions.  Is healthcare a right?  Who provides it?  Who pays for it?  How can it be reformed?  What is a living wage now?  Do we continue, as a matter of public policy, to foot the bill for some companies to operate in our country by supplementing their employee pay or benefits?  Or do we expect them to pay for their own employees and keep them off the public dole?  Similarly, there needs to be a continuing discussion about the role of abortion in our country, a discussion wrapped in compassion rather than accusation and condemnation and fear.  It is a discussion I think in which our church could lead, as we have a number of voices from both sides within our various dioceses and congregations who claim the same Savior as Lord.  I wonder whether the strident voices on television have ever spent significant time with women and men impacted by the decision of whether to have or not have a child.  Many in our churches have.  I agree wholeheartedly that we are acting irrationally when we expect our hospitals to use heroic measures to save some babies and then use procedures to end the lives of others of the same age.  Similarly, though, I think the Christian right does our Lord a disservice in its efforts to eliminate abortion entirely while seemingly working hard to eliminate support for those very babies it would see born.  Perhaps, we should put down our megaphones and listen for a change.  Maybe we should listen to the testimonies of those adopted, of those raped or abused, of those who faced dire health consequences and come up with a policy that tries to balance, as best as we can as human beings, the competing interests.  And, much more controversial, there needs to be a serious discussion about sex in our country?  We often seem to treat pregnancy as a failure, when, in fact, it is the natural outcome of sex.  In many ways, the Hobby Lobby case reflects the need for that discussion.  As a country, we seem to have bought into the idea that casual sex is fine between consenting adults.  Put differently, as long as no one is getting hurt or degraded, whose business is it?  The problem is that lots of people are getting hurt by the newfound casualness which society now demands.  Sometimes the cost is emotional; sometimes the cost is financial.  Sometimes, though, there are costs which do not rear their heads until later.  As one of those engaged in the cleanup of some of those messes, I think society would do well to consider its views before it attempts to solve problems that flow naturally from its assumptions.  In that, though, I recognize we are in the minority.

     I also hope that individual Christians will begin to re-examine how they live their life as Christians.  Part of my worry with the reporter was that Hobby Lobby claimed to be Christian in its appeal of the abortifacients.  As a result of its claim, a natural spotlight on its actions was manifested.  The questions about its 401K are just the first, in what I suspect will be several attempts, to call them on the sincerity of their belief.  As individuals, when we claim Him as Lord, smaller spotlights are shone on us.  Rather than the eyes of the nation’s press being upon us, we are under the examination of those in our daily life and work.  How often do we realize this?  How often do we live a life in front of them that is off-putting, hypocritical, false?  Maybe, just maybe, as we as Christian individuals consider whether Hobby Lobby really tries to govern itself by Christian principles, we can take a closer look at our own lives and evaluate our own witness.  Who knows?  Maybe we will begin to take seriously in our own lives that being claimed by some, mocked by others, and called for by our Lord.

Peace,

Brian†