An appropriate Piety John MeCormick Buchanan
Matthew 5:14-16; 6:1-18 Broad Street Presbyterian Church
January 26, 1975 Columbus, Ohio

George Santayana once remarked that to try to be religious "in generai"
is like trying to speak janguage in generat se cannot be sone \ie speak one

language or another and we are religious in this way or that wey, not in

ol

consent [see Harvey Cox, The Seduction of the Spirit, P. 317)

We have been religious in a particular way this mornin :| the Presbyterian

way, to be precise.|\ We have participated in a rite that is peculiar and that

s
defines this as a Presbyterian Church, and as a Presbyterian peopte | the
_——— a ie ll
is wlqyely, Presvyterteus s-Rnecr are Sew syslbole or
tite of ordination dwegemetesbnescstinndichindekye nine tenpe rr erE ern
se 5 e.bar e Seen other Bevo weiuatiten — cad “thle 1s fine we am,

ges’ § +s

And for those very reasons it is somewhat of an agaghronism for many
people [within the context of public worship it is inconvenient :\it involves
ae

a certain degree of confusion, what with rather large numbers of people
EN nel

milling about, some of them standing, others ‘neghing \ tt is time consuming,
i pour [ibs ye ¥

absorbing a major portion of our worshi TI confess that I am

always deeply woved by the coremooy | would illustrate by way of a story.

In his recent book, The Seduction of the Spirit, Harvey Cox describes

a World Council of Churches conference on the ethical problems posed by
scientific technology. For five days the conferees were deluged with papers,
reports, and eloquent pleas for the church to become relevant. Throughout the
conference Cox sat near to a Bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, "vested
in flowing robe and long beard, trying manfully to listen to the thousands of
words pouring into his headphone from the simultaneous interpreter in the
glass booth at the side of the hall, He never said a word throughout the

whole five days.

At the end of the conference, when all our heads were buzzing with

ideas, arguments, charts and graphs, someone apparently thought it would

be a nice idea to ask him to pronounce the benediction, When he had listened
to the translation of the request and was sure he knew what was expected,

he rose to his full height, smoothed his robe, beard and flowing Locks and
strode to the front of the hall, his bishop's miter in hand, He stood facing
the assembly and blessed us all with a sweepingly expanspud Cf the Cross, Then,
holding his hand high, he began to pray in a language IE had never heard,
Apparently few others had ever heard it either, because the simultaneously
translating receivers went dead. People at first switched from channel ta
channel, then stopped. The interpreters in the glass booths looked at one
another in panic, shook their heads, then sat silently. The Bishop's prayer
swelled and receded like ocean waves. After several minutes it stopped."

Gox discovered later that the language in which the Bishop prayed was 01d

Slavonic, the archaic liturgical language of his Church,

Cox summarizes,"The well-known irrelevancy of the Hastern Orthodox
Church and the equally notorious irrelevancy of prayer had once again been

irrefutably documented fn our midst,

"Or had they? E felt, on the contrary, that we had just witnessed the
most significant episode of the conference...Though he was probably unaware
of it, the Bishop had reminded us that there are areas of the human Life which

are simply not reducible to technological or even political relevancy." (P.326,7,8)

pF story, in part, illustrates my feeling about what we have done this
——. We understand, of course, the installing of Trustees: \cne necessity

of someone to manage the corporate affairs of this organization,
ecagepeema,

a

But Why all the PE aying,. the piow 5 yous; “the-kneeling and sus on of

and be Bak

s And gnfess Week 1
= wth

Tam moved by the ceremony precisely because it is a bit curious

| because 4 soommeprercteeree id uniquely Pres bybrien ;

and anachronistic:\|precisely because it d
Crewy turing Sees fet Wawa “enn gevturrs or symlen\s heh are porstese

It reminds me always of the occasion when I too knelt and felt the
=r tied EE

weight of hands on my head. neyond that it reminds me of growing up in a
-—_—e
Presbyterian Congregation when a group of venerable elderly men always sat
a bead ial

in the front pews on Communion gunday\\ that was at the end of the era when
rt. tr

election to the Session of a Presbyterian Church was for life and elders
a: Be

were, inevitably, elderly men,
ta

Beyond that, the ceremony reminds me that it has been done in much
iro baa natal

=

the same way for more than four hundred years:Jin Ganeva, Switzerland, as

John Calvin laid his hands on the heads of the Elders of the congistory:| in

il

Scotland, when it was the Presbyterian Kirk and those ordained often signed
a ree

a covenant with their own bloed to defend the purity of the faith and the
_— _—_! —

peace of the Kirk,
—_—

And beyond that, even, to those earliest days of Christian history, when

struggling communities of faith met in catacombs and darkened_houses. and
— —_— ee Cd

elected people from their own number to bear responsibility for the life of
aE. — —

the Church. | they were called "Presbyteros" in Greek, which translates "Elders",
‘cee NOENIC! — aerial

and they ware set aside for their respousbility by prayer and the laying

on of hands.
=

All that is behind us as we set aside men and women from among
en rma MAHL EMA

our number to bear responsibility for the life of this Church as Elders
Dal

re
Ve hon, sand Some A atu’ wines ' on Yass hy
and Deacons and Trustees, Wee 18 re . rtoeeie S heir

lied TA ave cWtehe ! vot a ‘tn cleryn, - wat erkal a Me eres ‘ete Wer -

a. And on this occasion I thought it might be good to

raise the question of what, beyond the rituals and liturgies that transpire
mt. fhem- fic US. aus

in this building, is an appropriate piety for Cea annie aren TRIEe

What is the unique life-style of the christian?\\mat does a Christian do?
eT,

Sometimes people decline to be officers in the Church because they don't
ene

feel "religious" cnough.| Sonetines people attend but don't join the church
weer ATT ETE

for the same reason: |they don't feel "religious". That. is to to say, they have

an idea about what constitutes the Christian Life: \they have some standard,
a i

some List of things a Christian is supposed to do, some definition of piety:

re, ee 7 =

and the simple fact is that they are neither conforming to that definition nor
Bi ad Dead

el

are they very excited about the prospect of conforming -\sna so they back away.
eumrsrwncanincion

And it is at this point that the question of an appropriate piety becomes
=_iiT,

rather important, and the matter of who will do the defining even more

important \r believe it was Mark Twain's trenchant observation of piety that
ewe basta ULEAD ennai

if heaven was anything like some of the Church services he had attended, he
Lae ead beimaad

was glad he was going to hell.
eaenn saa nena

Let us begin with two soundings.|The first is that motives -
On erernd hemi

the reasous we do what we do - are never very sinpte.| Sometimes they are
—

hidden, unconscious and with a ned in the direction of our traditional
a Ee

Calvinism we might even submit that no motive is entirely pure.

— —
; extrewrly Conpley ;
Motivationally, we are Awe do good things,
re Le |

sometimes for the wrong reason: |sometimes we have all the right yeasons and
‘a

what we do turns out terribly wrong:| inside each of us is a labyrinth of
motives and needs and desires that no one comprehends totally, least of
a ae a] eer

all ourselves.

Consider love, for rnavance, romans love between a man and woman,
ei PEE

What creates ter|vnat motivates it to happen \what causes us to feel it?
el SER Se a iad

Is it just there, lying dormant in ovr psyche, waiting for that magic moment
—_owe ene ae Fa

when the right person happens along?|Is it a pristine, pure emotion that flows
Senrmncmciaicis, a Seema mead

from the heart ?\is it simply a prudish rationalization for Lust?\poes love
—_ RAPT CCAS —t neni

exist in a vacuum or is it dependent on someone to return sc7\bange Loved
ene eT

Beatrice from a distance: {he worshipped er | but he never met per.|And realisu
Eee]

Lene ry os
VMAS Were
demands that we recognize the mythology of pure, wane@amedsl Love. \je love,
nin, er semana ainied —

partly because we feel it, but also ~ at least in part - because we are interested
aa ba] iret

in being loved,| Take that avay:\take away the possibility of our receiving
ICE.

fonpenerecnee con
something and our feelings of love area likely to diminish and evaporate,
=a, aw, SECS

The practice of religion + piety ~ may be substituted for love in that
L maanienmmel _ Seamed

analysis.\We are religious because we feel it, but there are side benefits as
a eT eo TEATS

weit \iho is to say which are more important? |e is an act_of piety to get up
Sal Cl ie | biti |

out of bed on a damp, cold January morning and come to church :\ and we do it
: [eo er

Sey eeeeee
because we feel we ought to or need fe, put it doasn't hurt to kuow that cur

neighbors will see us and perhaps think highly of us.
=o, Ee

Ys ger wary of fhe suggests phd chunk Pope a Apri —
gy A be dean oT knw beter — prose ingertauta ZF aww
th paivek et ha esoumpt iv fhad mrtives au simple -. 6.

Tt is perhaps a gesture of even deeper piety to get out of bed every

i i ivate tod o rayer, t even in
morning and engage in a totally private peri £ pray es i
private we can serve as both actor and audience | we like what we have done:

wee ed —etrtue MEERUT

it has made us feel good:|we have reason to congratulate ourselves, rn fact,
ATER

re al the self is often a more congenial and generous audience than any of the
in,

eh

Tee people we will encounter during the B\ mae is the first sounding | Human
_— _—-

ee ky
ae motives are very complex and we need to exercise great caution whenever we

=—_

my think we know why people do the things they do.
ee

The second sounding has to do with the going cultural definition of
nc, bd
spvs
piety.|[Webster defines pagar as(Yoanifesting devotion: | zealous in prayer and

Damen

acts of worship’) and piety as (autituiness in religion: devotedness"',
— Be | eT

Now, our culture assumes that it knows what that means for the Christian and
fener Lene] Lami be a

expects certain behavior Love culture assumes, for instance, that it is
(EO eee

@ appropriate piety to have prayer at PTA. meetings, football games and

pes gle service club banquets.] Our eulture assumes that piety means a certain limitatio
cave f? — ‘aeRO

bs in vocabulary.
pase

=e

w
pee ; a Harbor on December 7, 1941 jr the course of the interview he referred to the
i —— ay

vi s —
attackers by combining the Lord's name and a racist stereotype of the crudest

&
Aol We

ge dehy variety.\ the next day the office was flooded with calls and letters protesting
pe a
we > the use of the Lord's name in vain, but nary 4 word about the crude racism
&. ” 4 ad —_ ? [ann eneeaial
yest yest
T don't k it God zn laughs in his h - but ly h tb

" or’ _ on now i ever laughs in his heaven ut surely he mus e
Ww yet : es¢ amused at the superficiality of some of our piety.

Aye! arene

wr Lay’
er ee
:

%
er elt

Jesus had quite a bit to say on the cub jece.| 1 fact, he lived
baneeeenemnitine P nimecad ed

in a culture that thought it knew all there was to know about the practice

of relt ion. {and He seemed to have a running conflict with the pfoponents
a,

of that piety throughout His ministry,
a el

To the first century Jew plety was a way of ize. devout man
eS wan seem iaiatensntn)

practiced his religion in three basic ways \ First, alms giving | good Jew
=o A ooo

gave a tithe, one tenth of all he had, and on top of that he gave aims for
werent AnD. oo smeaemanenianl

charity and the support of the poor,.|The tithe was expegted:| alas were the
eae aisieninteenl bcaiimand Dy

extra amount which the ve righteous gave. At certain times a trumpet was
: ry & & PE Aa

sounded to signal a special alms offering || and Jesus suggested that some men

A EEE -
were using that occasion for a public demonstration of their generous piety.
Cd Ee cine
2 th h h Soneenies ie, dt iil 1d
He suggested that the man who was interested in doing God's w wou
at. rE,

be so inconspicuous about it that the left hand would not even know what the
ee,

right hand was doing,
ert

Second, prayer Three times daily, a good Jew stopped what he was doing,

turned toward Jerusalem and prayed | resus suggested that some men were arranging
bl EER be

to be on the busiest street corner or in the middie of the market place at
SE, SEOUL AIRE
the appointed time \ and that their praying was done for the benefit of the
-eeRREIERs eC,

audience,}He suggested that appropriate piety was finding a secret place
a oe, EOCENE S|

for prayer,

Third, fasting.f[As an act of penance and devotion fasting was prescribed
eke iio be

three times yearly \sut the really pious fasted twice a week, on Monday and
again on Thursday.|It was the custom to be very visible about its| eo dawn a
nnnecee — ECE one

sack cloth, smear mud and ashes on one's face and walk about the crowded streets
=e. ey bt

noaning.\ Jesus" flat suggestion was that it was all for show:\that these
a Ja _——oe, es

fasters were actually supremely enjoying their self-imposed suffering,
eee iY 7

and that the goal of this piety was clearly public recognition,
a De

Appropriate fasting, He told them, was invisibie. (mash your faces - no
be a tal —_o

one ought to know what you are about but God,"

_—

Go tachiaed 4 lud
. : .
Now, Li you arc ot—me@mkeie, you can take this data and conclude

ion and all the acts

that Jesus was an opponent of all institutional relig

of piety which express corporate religion,
Le eae a

But that is too simple.\ The Biblical evidence is that Jesus assumed
——Es eee ‘Ci

that Hig di id gi d y and Vi t of
at His disciples would give alms and pray an cast. @ Was no opponent o

organized, institutionalized religion.\What He opposed, with a frightening
- =e

a
degrea of honesty, was ph iety.\ fhe h ites, as He called them, wer
& Ys phony p y\ ypocri ac a , were

religious ~ or pious ~ in order to be seen and recognized,|And they got their
Bn ene 2s Et ee

reward.\They were applauded by the gallery \ the account was closed and He

wanted no part of it.\Yet He refrained from attacking piety. appropriatedly
Bn] Di ee

practiced,

In fact, He said, \rict your light so shine before men that they will
Seale | enna

sea your good works and give glory to your father whe is in heaven." |
ee, el

There is a paradox -|"Beware-.of practicing your piety before men" pond

ba
[et your light so shine"{ What He meant, I would suggest, ia that Christian
ee aro

Discipleship is to be practiced in the world and will be, inevitably, highly
RA

visible.\But acts of devotion, religious acts that could be the cause of
Ce Lettie eel

admiration are not to be done for the sak £ displa A ‘he rather rivat
mL L eo isplay.\They are, rprivate

matters of the heart.| One New Testament interpreter puts it this way, }''Show
De

when tempted to hides \hide when tempted to show",}|(Expositors' Greek testament)

—

Jesus Christ called His men to a life of discipleship, a disciplined
bested See

life of tollowing Him in the world,
LY

$.

At the beginning of His ministry He revealed the concerns that would
rr, Dn tie

influence him: (‘200d news to the poor, \relgage ta the. captives, |sight to
Fd

the blind, liberty for the oppressed". JThese were the thine

nattered.\ReconciLiation, peace, love, standing with the poor - these counted
ees banner = 06UCUE reer

for more than how many times a day & man prayed.

hs

He warned them that this life of discipleship would be risky business.
ar ce

People would misunderstand - just as they still misunderstand when a Christian
or

person does not conform to the going cultural definition of picty)| te warned
nn —— —

them that if they followed Him they would be conspicuous - and they would be
ad a

persecuted,| But He never said that about praying or fasting \ rrgditional
_- IIE — Daa

piety offends no one: \chvistian discipleship may offend a lot of people.
‘ meen renee seneaeiti mores

The world expects Chréstians ta be visible, but within certain prescribed

ismite \me world expects the church to condemn rampant immorality, gambling,
=_—rh erect Se: wet

drinking: \the world expects the Church to have something to say about religious
ee

observances, obscenity and pornography \ those are safe:|they fit the pattern of
Sd Ol —e SR

piety which our culture expects from religious people, And it is a very
—_—u be a

tempting game to play \me rewards are success and popularity and the applause

of the gallery,

But when the church corporate or Christians individually break out of
[Ee

that mold and begin to follow Jesus Christ into those areas of life that were ~
— bal

for Him « the appropriate arena of piety, the going will become tough.\ Faithful

ChristianDiscipleship may not be any more popular today than it was at the

time of our Lord's life,
erate

so, we have ordained and installed and recognized.|We have said, in a
eee b amienitinitiedl Seed —ae

particular way, that we are a char ch: \enat we are committed, together, to
bn | De eT be

follow Jesus Christ,
ee

diday- &s every Cn 10.

And the issue for all of us - now maori the form our piety will take
Ey Ba
in the worta:| the challenge g@mw is to discover courage to take
weet ba eri |
the safety of these walls to make our statement and live our commitment in
a =e bd Ed
the world,

Jesus called His disciples to follow Him and paid very little

ious behavior (they were comnon men;

attention to the niceties of the reli

Peter was known to utter a curse on gccasion.\sesus accepted them as they
ell i ocorCE OE.

were, and asked them only to be themselves, to be honest and to follow Him
Le i ee

ina life of loving and serving.
be |

He calls us too - Ministers, Elders, Deacons, Trustees, people - to

SRA
that same life,JAnd that, I would submit, is a very appropriate piety.

Father, forgive us when we practice our piety for the gallery, And give

the
us, courage to be honest disciples in ways that may be applauded by no one ~
but You: Through Jesus Christ our Lord,

AMER. »