Thursday, November 24th, 2005

Plimmoth as an Object Lesson

I began reading a book put out by the Library of America titled American Sermons. This book has an endowment to keep in permanently in print. It is a collection of sermons from the colonial era to the present. The first sermon was given at Plimmoth by Robert Cushman in 1621. ('Plimmoth' is Cushman's spelling.)

This sermon had as its text 1 Corinthians 10:24 "Let no man seek his owne, But every man anothers wealth." The verse was not set in the context of 1 Corinthians 10, where the broader context was on the Lord's Supper and idolatry. Cushman instead proceeded to ransack the rest of Scripture for proofs for his own point about pursuing wealth. To my Lutheran ears (Yes, I was reading, but my 'spirit man' was listening.), the sermon topic was moralistic. This was not a matter so much of drawing the lines too severely, but of focusing on human behavior. Generally moralism draws the line at some very strenuous but attainable level, but offers no good news to those who fail. It is man-centered, even when God is mentioned a lot.

What was particularly interesting about this sermon, however, was its civil side. Cushman railed against those who wanted the property at Plimmoth divided so that each man could work his own share for his own good. This would be giving in to selfishness, according to the Cushman.

In the midst of reading this, in Huntington Beach's Central Park, outside the library, and next to a pond full of ducks, I remembered Vince Suprynowicz's classic Thanksgiving column which outlined how the early colonists starved to death until communism was rescinded and every man could work for his own good.

I am cautiously optimistic that William Bradford will prove a better preacher in the next sermon in the collection. In the meantime, I leave you with Psalm 112. (Hint: It's about Jesus. He is the righteous Man. You are His offspring by faith.)

3:40 pm Pacific Standard Time

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