Al Capone, Sea Turtles, and the Shemah.

David Dubay+
St. Philip’s Church, Charleston, SC
Proper 22A
Al Capone, Sea Turtles, and the Shemah.

What do: Al Capone, The Loggerhead Sea Turtle, and the book of Deuteronomy all have in common?
I know that this question has been weighing on your minds all week… And so I have come to relieve you of that struggle.
Let me begin by taking you back to 1986.
At that time I was a senior at the College of Charleston. My friends and I had gathered around our television to watch what we thought would be an amazing event.
"In April 1986 the WGN TV station got a scoop. With much fan fare they announced they were going to unseal Al Capone's secret vault beneath the Lexington Hotel, Chicago. It was said to contain hoards of missing money, diamonds, whisky and the bones of those who had 'upset' him…. "Entitled, 'The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults,' the two-hour live show was hosted by an excited reporter who wore an excavation helmet and a large fighter pilot's moustache. as the show began we heard: 'I am Geraldo Rivera and you're about to witness a live television event,' … 'Now for the first time that vault is going to be opened live. This is an adventure you and I will take together.'
"The show was syndicated across the whole of America and there was a carnival-like atmosphere with hundreds celebrating at an 'Al Capone Safe-Cracking Charity Ball.' Also in attendance was a small army of law enforcement officials, reporters, Internal Revenue {IRS} agents, members of the federal treasury, claiming that Capone still owed them $800,000 and criminal technicians who were there gathering evidence.
"To add an air of authenticy to the production, Rivera demonstrated the use of a prohibition-era Thompson sub-machine gun and detonated a dynamite blast using a Capone-style plunger.
"Tension mounted as an explosives team arrived. After an hour and a half blasting through walls the dust settled and the cameras went in accompanied by Dr Robert Stein, the County Medical Examiner, who was on hand in case bones or mummified bodies were found.
"The vault contained two empty gin bottles and Geraldo filled in the time by singing 'Chicago'."[1]
At the door of that vault there was great promise and allure…inside it there was nothing of value…

I take you now to our shoreline… to any of our beaches…
And this information would probably be more profound if given in Montana or Arizona…but to all of us here the problem is not a foreign one. We have all seen the bumper stickers and the news articles and the commercials that beg us to turn off our outside lights during sea turtle breeding season…about June 1 to early September.
And why do we do this?.. simple. baby sea turtles follow this summer moon into the water after they hatch. Bright lights confuse their instinct mechanism. They are drawn to the lights seeking a luner beacon and they meet certain death by starvation, dehydration, traffic, pets.. the list goes on. On a moonless night, during my days on turtle patrol, we would use a powerful flashlight and stand in the water so that the little critters would make no mistake and head towards the more appropriate challenge…that of the open ocean. In the worst case scenario for the sea turtle babies they are attracted to the promise of a light that points the way to deliverance but it can be a false light that leads them to their doom…
And now to the Holy Scriptures…
Deuteronomy 6 we find what is called by the Hebrew people the Shemah
4“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD;£ 5and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; 7and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Now when you and I hear this verse, as good Anglicans we probably understand that Moses was telling his people (which includes us) to read, mark and inwardly digest the word of God, the Holy Scriptures…to make them a part of who we are and how we react, behave, and worship and love others.
But to many believers in Jesus’ time and even today… this verse is taken so literally that some Jewish men tie small Phylacteries or small leather or parchment boxes to their forheads or forearms… each box contains a piece of paper or vellum inscribed with four texts from the law (Exod 13:2-10, 11-16; Deut 6:4-9; 11:13-21).
Now we might think this odd behavior…. but in defense of these faithful worshippers I must admit to you that I have, attached to my belt at almost all times… this small computer, …in this computer are 6 different versions of the entire Holy Bible….but if I wore this on my forehead…I’d be unable to see and I’d look so odd that the Bishop would ask me to go and visit with Bill Rhett again…and since he’s already determined that I’m psychologically stable …I don’t want to give him the chance to find out the truth….
We can gather from today’s Gospel that there were people in Jesus’ day… leaders of the temple worship, keepers of the law, and learned men who were really putting a lot of effort and money into having the most elaborate little head boxes that they could afford… gosh I’m glad that men have stopped behaving like that….I’m sure that my desire for a 48 inch plasma tv has no correlation to this shameful male behavior….
But Jesus took special care not only to point out that they were flaunting their piety for all to see and that it was disgraceful to God…
but that when it did serve to attract people to them….there was nothing inside their inside their hearts of use… there was no transforming faith …by the Pharisee’s practice of self adornment and desire for high social status…even within the temple walls….Jesus points out to them… in no gentle way …that they may be attracting people…but they are attracting them to their doom….like a fish lure…like a false light…to a wayward sea turtle…
In fact Jesus is so fired up about this pomposity….this sinful inflation of self by the clergy and people who claimed to have faith in God….that he goes on to call them amazing things….
“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
Mt 23:17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
Mt 23:18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’
Mt 23:19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
Mt 23:20 Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
Mt 23:21 And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.
Mt 23:22 And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
Mt 23:23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
Mt 23:24 You blind guides. You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
Mt 23:25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
This now is the sweet baby Jesus from the manger….come alive!
Blind Guides…Blind fools…Hypocrites…..Woe to them indeed…Woe to us…indeed….He’s sounds like John the Baptist here….
And I have to admit…there are times when I’d like to stand outside of this church and yell this to the people on the streets…. Like the warrior that Marc Boutan is becoming….this side of the faith…this confrontational side of the Jesus has….I admit….always been my favorite…. The Jesus who could survive 40 days in the desert… the Jesus who could walk for miles everyday in the hot sun and then preach an amazing sermon that would change lives….the Jesus who thought that it was fine to tear through someone’s roof to lower down a friend for healing or who… raised the dead..to make a point…. I love the warrior Jesus…until I realize…most profoundly…that his words…as I read them… are said to me directly.
For I have chosen….as a deacon and soon priest…to wear clergy shirts made by hand…in Britain…I wear a cross of silver given to me by my seminary as a sign of my devotion. One of my cassocks that I own…if sold….could send a person to college in Honduras for 3 years…
And it is without doubt that my adornment calls attention to me…I’ve noticed that in restaurants people chastise their friends for cursing in front of a priest… the other day on the street someone said…Hello Father..to me… I looked around for someone old enough to be his father….
And what about when I’m in regular clothes and my life somehow points to my faith…. If I’m caught talking about our church, or a Bible study or a book I’m reading or singing a hymn to myself…people notice those things… So what if at those moments someone comes to me seeking the light and finds and empty vault….or a light that leads to no where good or safe or …Godly…
To this Jesus says clearly….Woe to me…. Woe to us if this is the case….
I believe the burden of it should keep us up at night….it should fill our quiet times….it should cause us to seek after God like we seek after air.
It should be our prayer as we rise and as we end our day…
St. Paul says these words in today’s Epistle reading…
we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
Because the life of faith is not just another means of getting ahead….it is a means of getting to God!
The word of God is not meant to be worn outside but to be broadcast from our very soul to the world …it is to be taken in ….to transform us at the cellular level and be incorporated into who we are…and not just what people see.
It seems obsessive now…but after rereading this verse I’ve been evaluating my time with people… was God glorified… rarely I find…
But thank God for God…thank God for God because by His word and Holy spirit we are being transformed so that daily…little by little we become blessings to people instead of blind guides….little by little…We bless God with our lives. that is we give back to Him what he gives freely to us!
With every prayer said by us and for us…with every moment we open our hearts , even a crack to the leading and meddling of the Holy Spirit. with every Godly interpersonal experience…with every time at the altar….every second in the word….Jesus is at work in our lives…
So I’ll leave you with this….it’s quite alright to wear the bracelet….You know, the famous bracelet…It’s alright to wear the Christian Tshirt…It’s fine to wear a cross around your neck….but before you do….why not ask yourself….What would Jesus do? And what has Jesus done? So that we may show forth our praise to God no only with our lips..
Not only with the amazing beauty and historic importance of our church.
Not only with our lips…but with our lives today.
Because when we do that…we give back to God what he has given freely to us…His love
Jesus tell us that We are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
Be ready at all times… to tell anyone who might ask…the good news of who Jesus is…and who Jesus is to you.

[1] Stephen Pile, "Capone's Vaults," [online] "Anecdotage", 1990, cited October 30, 2005, available from .