Changemakers

My topic today will be changemakers and my first changemaker will be William Penn. He was born in England in 1644. When he was in his twenties he challenged the government’s mandate that everyone had to belong to the Church of England.

The more that he studied the Scriptures, the more William became convinced that religious freedom was necessary for religion to prosper. He also believed that faith that was coerced was not faith at all. People should be free to think, believe, and practice their faith without government intervention.

He became an outspoken critic of the king’s policies on religion. He wrote a series of essays on the freedom of conscience and that led to time spent in prison, where he kept on writing. His writings said that brotherly love and religious freedom could work together to create a better society.

In 1681 the King said, “You will have to prove to me that a society founded on religious freedom will work.” The king sent Penn to the New World and placed him in charge of a new colony called Pennsylvania. He created a constitution based on religious freedom and a democratic system of government. The word spread and soon the colony was home to Quakers, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, Brethren, Mennonites, Jews and many others. The majority chose to live in “Philadelphia” the city of brotherly love.

Penn also made friends with the Lenape Indian tribe. The Lenape people were protected under the colony’s government and Penn insisted that they be treated as equals.

William Penn was a changemaker in that he created a colony with more religious and ethnic diversity than the other colonies.

My second changemaker is King Josiah. He became the leader of God’s People in 639 BC. “Good King Josiah” they called him. He was only 8 years old at the time; but he had to serve as king because his father had been killed by his own servants. In practice, Josiah’s uncles ran the government until he was 16 and able to take over the reins of power.

The good thing about Josiah is the fact that he did not follow in his father’s footsteps. His father had promoted the building of shrines and altars to pagan gods. These pagan altars were built in the country side as well as inside the Temple in Jerusalem. In fact, he placed pagan altars on top of the high altar in Jerusalem. His father thought that kingship is basically political leadership. All he cared about was politics. He made many political alliances and each political alliance brought another pagan religion into the country.

Josiah saw leadership quite differently. Josiah firmly believed that kingship includes spiritual and moral leadership. When he took over he called for a religious reform. He removed all traces of pagan worship and destroyed all the altars of the foreign gods. He said, “There is only one God and only one altar - and that altar will be in the Temple in Jerusalem. It’s time to get back to worshipping the only true God.” He called for repairs to the Temple and lo and behold the workers found the “Book of the Law” buried in one of the walls.

Before entering the Promised Land, Moses had given “The Book of the Law” to his people and it commanded them to worship only one God. It contained the famous Shema Prayer which says: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” The Book of the Law also commanded the people to respect and honor their parents and foreigners and people who are homeless.

Why did they call Josiah Good King Josiah? Because he was a changemaker. He led his people away from pagan gods and demanded that they worship the one true God. He gave praise to God and he honored and respected all of the people.

My third changemaker is Jesus of Nazareth. By his behaviors and by his words he went against the grain. He went against the trends that were popular in his day. When Jesus visited a town he went directly to the homes of those who were sick. He knew that they were homebound and could not participate in the local festivals and celebrations and community activities. And their neighbors were too busy to stop by and see them. But Jesus went directly to their homes to be with them.

Jesus also went against the local traditions and customs when he had dinner with sinners and tax collectors. And he shocked them and really blew their minds when he went to the leper colony to heal the ten lepers. Going to the leper colony was forbidden and totally total unheard of.

Jesus also challenged his followers to change their attitudes because they were quick to label people as sinners. They were prone to saying that certain people are not part of God’s faith community. They are the weeds growing in the wheat field and they should be removed immediately.

Meanwhile God is saying, “I will do the judging around here and I am slow to judge. I will do the judging at the end of time. I will give people time to repent. Judge not lest you be judged.” Thus, in today’s parable, Jesus made it clear that we have to let go of our desire to judge others and let God do the judging.

Jesus also called for a change of attitude regarding the question of getting even with those who have hurt us. He said that we have to set aside the Law of Talon which said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” He told his followers to turn the other cheek after they have been injured. He rejected the Law of Talon, the law of retaliation.

I will close with a short summary. We have before us three changemakers to inspire us to make changes. William Penn calls us to welcome everyone into our community. King Josiah calls us to stay away from idolizing false gods and commit ourselves to worshipping the one true God. And Jesus calls us to discontinue the practice of judging others and let God be the judge.