Well, if you are asking what to do if thy neighbor is about to do unto you what you do not what him to do, then knock his block off.
If you are asking what to do if he doesn't want to be pestered by freaky long haired satan worshippers selling dog doo doo at his door, I would recommend you leave him alone.
But actually, one need not look to far for an answer. Kant's Categorical Imperative exhausts the topic.
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Sermon of the Week: Jackals and Ostriches
By THE REV. WALTER SHROPSHIRE
Published 1/20/2002 0:06 AM
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- (In this 42nd installment of the UPI series of sermons, the Rev. Dr. Walter Shropshire, a physicist and parish pastor of Foundry Methodist Church in Washington, reflects on the sacrament of baptism).
This sermon is based on Isaiah 43:19-21.
Jesus as a mature young man visits John the Baptist in the desert. John is an eccentric. He lives on locusts and honey, tells the world that a savior is coming, and baptizes people, including Jesus.
We read, "And just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased'" (Mark 1:10-11).
This fulfills John's prophecy. "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. ... for I have testified that this is the Son of God" (Mark 1:7-8).
Thus in the early church baptism became one of the sacraments. It celebrates the entrance into a new relationship. It is the assurance of being a child of God.
What does this have to do with my sermon title, Jackals and Ostriches? It has something to do with the purpose of creation.
Bear with me. The idea came to me when I read David Toolan's new book, "At Home in The Cosmos."
Toolan argues that we need a new myth for our time, a new story to live by. He says the principal purpose of human beings, in whom consciousness has evolved, is to assist the creation, the entire cosmos, in being aware of itself.
Twice Toolan quotes this prophecy from Isaiah:
"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise." (Isaiah 43:19-21).
This text anticipates a deeply Christian perspective that grew out of the Israelite experience of the Exodus. Water is a necessity of life and the water given to the people in the wilderness gives them the chance to live and to praise and glorify God.
Even the animals in the wild will praise and glorify God for the gift of flowing streams of water, even jackals and ostriches.
In our contemporary world, with its scientific discoveries about the physical and natural order, the interconnectedness of all creation has been emphasized in the theology of the Cosmic Christ.
God is at work in the entire cosmos and all of the cosmos is a whole, which is interconnected in ways that are necessary for life as we know it.
The apostle Paul points to these connections when he wrote about Christ's supremacy:
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible ... all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:15-17).
This is what we celebrate with the baptism of the Lord. Christ is God present with us and holds all things together.
Let me give you two small examples of the wonder and interconnectedness of creation.
First, the very atoms and molecules making up our bodies and the earth were created in the explosions of stars in distant galaxies eons ago.
Made of stardust, all of us are directly linked to the cosmos. God made these distant galaxies that have eventually formed us as thinking and rational beings, who have the task of worshipping and praising our creator.
Second, there is a strong anthropic principle, another curious discovery of contemporary science: Many physical constants of our cosmos are so finely tuned that if they were even slightly different our existence would not be possible.
Take water. Life depends upon it. But while most things when they get cold become more dense, water doesn't. When it freezes it becomes less dense and ice floats.
Think what that means for life here on earth. If ice became more dense as it freezes, the oceans would have frozen from the bottom up. It would have been very unlikely that life could have developed in such a solid, frozen world.
Now back to jackals and ostriches. Why did Isaiah mention these animals that seem quite unattractive? Jackals feed on decaying meat and are defiled. Ostriches are stupid birds that cover their heads under the sand.
Since Isaiah tends to give concrete examples to make a theological point, Old Testament scholars believe that the prophet mentions these two species to alert us that all of creation is to praise and glorify God.
All of creation is good, and no part is to be excluded as unclean.
We Christians read this as a poetical, rhetorical statement of the supremacy of Christ over all creation, and with this supreme ruler we are in a special relationship -- in baptism.
Therefore, when we remember our baptism, we also remember that we have been welcomed into the body of Christ, the community of those who profess to be followers of Christ.
We are called to live for good and to avoid evil through faith in Christ, through whom God has reconciled to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven.
As the apostle Paul wrote to church at Rome, "The whole creation is eagerly waiting to reveal the children of God, who are to ascribe to the Lord the Glory of his name; and to worship the Lord in Holy splendor."
Copyright © 2002 United Press International
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