Meet in the Middle

​Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood, Virginia
Last Epiphany
February 14, 2021
 
 
"We just have to remember the very soil we stand on is common ground, so we can get there. We can make it to the mountaintop through the desert, and we will cross this divide. Our light has always found its way through the darkness. And there's hope on the road up ahead.”
 
Those are powerful and poetic words.  They call us to common humanity.  They echo the words of Martin Luther King Junior’s “I have a dream” speech, which draws heavily on Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery and toward the Promised Land.  They echo John’s Gospel prologue as he draws on the Creation story, where it says: “the light shines in darkness and the did not overcome it.” (John 1:5).  Then the words look to a future in hope: a strong evocation of love and life overcoming death and despair.  Those are powerful and poetic words and as we know, words have power.
 
These powerful and poetic words are not those of a prayer, though they could be.  These powerful and poetic words are not those of a preacher, though they could be.  If you were among the 96.4 million viewers of the Super Bowl last Sunday, you may recognize them from an advertisement featuring Bruce Springsteen, the iconic singer, songwriter, and musician.  Jeep paid 5.5 million dollars for the two-minute ad, entitled “Meet in the Middle.  It did not seem to be about convincing us to purchase a particular automobile, beyond linking the brand to a warm and conciliatory cool factor. 
 
As the game was not close and the half-time show was particularly odd, this ad has been among the most talked about and criticized, non-football aspects of this yearly spectacle.  It was big news because the 71-year-old Springsteen never, ever, not even in his starving artist Jersey Shore bar band days, has endorsed anything.  This prompted cries of Bruce being a sell-out.  It is not clear how much, or even if Springsteen got paid.  With a net worth of half a billion dollars, he has no need for money, no need advance his career, and no need to make some sort of comeback.  His energy is legendary and he has never gone away.  The impetus to do this ad comes from something else.
 
The visual images for “Meet in the Middle” are set in the geographical dead center of the lower 48 states, somewhere in Kansa.  On that site, there is a small, clearly Christian chapel with a cross hanging on the backdrop of the stars and stripes.  Without enumerating all of the arguments, the ad inflamed folks who have now lit up the internet with critical dismissal of the message, the medium, and the man.  Extreme opinionates do not cotton to calls for middle ground, as they water down their particular point of view, cultural agenda, and their intense moral and political fervor.  Critics have run the whole thing down crying “follow the money,” insinuating that the message is all about sales.   Of course, those self-styled purists will not own the fact that their one-sided fervor, with its visceral outrage and mistrust of all others, is great for their own causal attention and fundraising.  “Follow the money,” indeed.
 
As a person of faith, one who has grown up with the Boss’s music in the background, and even, seen the Springsteen live, I choose not to share in the cynicism.  Sure, I get it, the advertising space can be manipulative in attempted culture shaping, but not all messages are bad simply because of the form in which they are delivered.  Advertisements can be effective mirrors, messengers, and thought provokers.  The Jeep ad with Bruce Springsteen has a brilliant text.  True enough, the images may not speak to everyone, but they speak to some.  And in these times, any message of unity, light, and hope is a step in the right direction.  There is gospel in those good words, and we lose out if we throw away the message because the envelope is not to our liking.
 
Today’s gospel is an old chestnut of the Church’s proclamation. If you come to church any kind of often, you have heard this story of the Transfiguration.  It is fantastical as Jesus goes up the mountain with three of the disciples and suddenly, turns brighter than Clorox white, then he is joined by Moses and Elijah, and Peter.  It turns comical as good old lunkhead, Peter, asks if he should build them some little huts so they can all hang out.  As is often the case, he gets it all wrong.  This is not a stopping place; this is a furthering place.  The transfiguration is not just for them, it is for Jesus too.  The thundering voice of God says: “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”  It is an echo from Jesus’ baptism.  It is a sign pointing forward, and lighting the way.
 
Instead of hanging out in all of the glory, Jesus lights out, heading back into a contentious world that does not understand his Way.  From this point on, Jesus is going to Jerusalem.  This is the journey we make with him in the Lenten season that begins on Wednesday.  We will see that Jesus is not hailed, he is reviled and suspected.  His Way is that of subversive love, superseding petty religious regulations, putting people before power, and forgiveness instead of fighting.  The mission is not perfected in a mountain top moment.  The mission is perfected in one encounter after another, leading to the cross where an instrument of torture that transfigures into a sign of resurrection life.  But that is jumping way ahead.  To get there requires a journey.  And it will not be easily experienced or understood as it unfolds.
 
This takes us back to Springsteen, and his encouragement for folks in this time and place to do the hard work of seeking hope on the road ahead.  Does he speak everyone’s language?  Hardly.  Does the post production work of focus group minded marketers say it all, and do it all, for every person, or even, every American?  Obviously, not.  There is no one shot deal in the work of transformation.  Martin Luther King, Jr. did not eradicate racism.  Mother Theresa did not bring about world peac.  But they set us on a path and gave us language and examples to follow.  Neither of those giants were perfect.  And while he is hardly in their league, Springsteen is not going to be perfect either. 
 
And yet, as a performer, he knows the of substantial stage that two minutes provides.  From his long and successful songwriting career, he also knows that well-crafted words stick to human consciousness, shape human thought and action, and help being about positive change.  We can throw away the letter because of the envelope, or we can accept it as a passionate offering, continuing in the ongoing struggle to move us beyond petty and cynical bickering.
 
If we are to come together as God intends, it will require a journey like that of Jesus going to the cross.  The work will be contentious at times, and sublime at others.  It will ask us to mine our souls for generosity and sacrifice.  It will push us to cast off the old ways in which we have missed the mark, and urge us to see, be, and believe differently. 
 
"We just have to remember the very soil we stand on is common ground, so we can get there. We can make it to the mountaintop through the desert, and we will cross this divide. Our light has always found its way through the darkness. And there's hope on the road up ahead.”
 
Those are some gospel words.  Let’s take them where we can get them, and leave the rest behind.  Amen.