Texts used: Isaiah 65:17-25 and Matthew 13:31-33, 44-50

• JOKE: An 85 year old couple, who had been in good health for the last ten years mainly due to the wife’s interest in health food and exercise, died one day.When they reached the pearly gates, St. Peter took them to their mansion which was decked out with a beautiful kitchen, master bath suite, and Jacuzzi. As they “oohed and aahed,” the old man asked Peter how much all this was going to cost. “It’s free,” Peter replied. “This is Heaven.” Next they went to survey the championship golf course. St. Peter explained that they would have golfing privileges every day and that each week the course changed to a new one representing the greatest golf courses on earth. The old man asked, “What are the green fees?” Peter said again, “It’s free. This is Heaven.” Next they went to the club house and saw the lavish buffet lunch with the cuisines of the world laid out. Again, the old man inquired about the price. “Don’t you understand yet? This is heaven, it is free!” Peter responded with some exasperation. The old man looked around furtively.“Okay,” he asked resignedly, “where are the low fat and low cholesterol tables?” Peter replied, “That’s the best part … you can eat as much as you like of whatever you like, and you never get fat, and you never get sick. This is Heaven!” With that the old man went into a fit of anger, throwing down his hat and stomping on it, and shrieking wildly. Taken aback, Peter and his wife both tried to calm the old man down, asking him what was wrong. The old man looked at his wife and said, “This is all your fault. If it weren’t for your blasted bran muffins, I could have been here ten years ago!”
  • Okay, I have to admit that narrowing down the list of “heaven” jokes for this morning was difficult. There are a lot of jokes about heaven out there! And it’s not just jokes, either.
    • Amazon search “heaven” = literally hundreds of thousands of hits – books, movies, music … even apparel and home décor! → “Heaven,” as it turns out, is quite a popular topic! And I think part of the reason behind this popularity is our curiosity.
      • Can’t see/feel/touch/hear heaven, so we wonder about it – captures our imagination in every way possible, through …
        • Art
        • Music
        • Literature
  • “Heaven” in our lives of faith – lots of different names for the same concept (heaven, New Jerusalem, Kingdom of God) → There are a number of references to heaven scattered throughout both the Old and New Testament.
    • Visions presented in Revelation: He took me away in the Spirit to an enormous, high mountain and showed me Holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God, resplendent in the bright glory of God. She had a wall majestic and high with twelve gates. At each gate stood an Angel, and on the gates were inscribed the names of the Twelve Tribes of the sons of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west. The wall was set on twelve foundations, the names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb inscribed on them.[1]
    • Jesus’ words in Jn: There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you?[2]
  • But what about the passages that we read today? Isaiah speaks of a new heaven and a new earth – of God’s new creation. And in Matthew, Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God using a number of short similes – “the Kingdom of God is like …” So our challenge for today is to dig into these passages and uncover what they might reveal to us about heaven.
• Isaiah paints a beautiful picture for us, not so much in terms of what heaven will look like, but of what heaven will be
  • No more …
    • Weeping
    • Cries of distress
    • Premature death – text: No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime[3]
    • Homelessness
    • Hunger
    • Pain
    • Conflict
    • Being taken advantage of – text: They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; … they shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity[4]
    • Separation from God – text: Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.[5]
  • This is what we strive for in our world, isn’t it? Peace. And end to terminal diseases that take people from us too soon. An end to crises of humanity like homelessness and world hunger and war – social justice issues that we as a country and as the human race have been struggling with since the beginning of time.
    • Scholar called heaven: … a transformed environment: peoples, habitations, and nature all woven into a complex relationship of wholeness. This indeed is a new creation, where the heavens and the earth are no longer alienated from one another. … This is what God intends for all things and all relationships to be. According to this prophet’s vision, the very stuff of life as we know it needs to be changed for good.[6]
  • Through the prophet Isaiah, God is saying, “You see this beautiful realm – a realm of equality and peace and rejoicing? Do you see this realm in your mind’s eye? Do you feel it resonate deep within your heart and soul? This is what I’m creating. This is what I’m doing. This is my desire for you. ‘I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. … They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.’[7] This, my children, my beloveds, this is my desire for you.”
• A truly beautiful picture that’s echoed in Jesus’ words in Matthew
  • Compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed – teeny tiny seed that grows and flourishes into something big enough to be a home for many
  • Compares the Kingdom of God to yeast – element that brings about incredible activity and change to simple flour à bread
  • Compares the Kingdom of God to treasure so greatly sought after that the those seeking are willing to devote everything they have in order to possess it
    • Treasure in a field
    • Pearl of great value
  • Compares the Kingdom of God to a net full of fish
  • Now, in hearing all of these comparisons that Jesus made, you may be wondering where Isaiah’s beautiful vision of wholeness and equality might be hiding in all of those parables. We have a bush … some yeast … some precious commodities … and a whole lot of fish. Sure, maybe that sounds like somebody’s heaven (“one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and all that), but where is the inclusion, the safety, the peace and the protection that Isaiah spoke of? → 2 answers to this question
• First = hidden in context in a couple of different ways
  • Mustard seed = first e.g. of this → We probably don’t see anything wrong with planting a mustard seed and growing the bush that Jesus speaks of in the parable. We grow gardens full of tomatoes and cucumbers, rosemary and sage. Why is growing mustard such a big deal?
    • HISTORICAL CONTEXT: mustard was a weed – the kind of seed that you didn’t want mixed in with the rest of your intended crop because once it started growing, it sort of took over → In terms of ancient agricultural plant life, the mustard plant was Undesirable #1. And yet it is to this disparaged nuisance of a plant that Jesus compares the Kingdom of God.
  • Yeast = another unlikely e.g. → I’d be willing to bet that a number of us have simple yeast in our pantries at home. And I’d also be willing to bet that if I asked people 50 years ago … 100 years ago … even thousands of years ago if they had yeast at home, the overwhelming majority would say, “Yes.” Yeast is simple. It’s common. It isn’t special or flashy or spectacular in any way.
    • Found across borders, cultures, ethnicities, religions
    • And yet Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to this every day item.
      • Parable of fish in the net is similar – HISTORICAL CONTEXT: We know just how common fishing was as an occupation during Jesus’ time because at least seven of his twleve disciples were fishermen themselves before they started following Jesus! So comparing the Kingdom of God to fish in a net wasn’t exactly a stretch for the disciples to imagine either. → that’s the point!
        • Scholar: [The majority of these parables] envision God in every nook and cranny of daily life, from kneading dough to plowing fields. Jesus transforms human life not by scaring the hell out of people, but by helping them see the heaven close at hand.[8]
• This leads us to the second way we answer the question of where we find Isaiah’s utopic vision of wholeness and inclusion and peace in Jesus’ words about the Kingdom of God: We find it in ourselves and in each other. That is what Jesus was getting at by relating something as expansive and majestic as the Kingdom of God to things that are so commonplace and familiar to us. Jesus was trying to make this concept understandable, to make it accessible because if we can understand it, then we can enact it. Friends, this is where the rubber meets the road! Jesus wasn’t just tossing these words and ideas out there because he was feeling philosophical that day. This was and continues to be a call to action!
  • Scholar: We may not know how God means to transform the universe, but we can confess that we know it is in God’s power to do this. What remains possible for the single believer, the single congregation, is to do the work involved in such transformation by following the patterns of mercy that Christ has laid out for us.[9]
  • In Isaiah, God makes it clear that this new heaven – the Kingdom of God – is a place where all are cared for and all are comforted, a place where all are free and all are fulfilled, a place where struggles like homelessness and hunger and poverty and pain no longer exist. And when Jesus speaks about this self-same Kingdom of God, he makes it clear that it’s not some pie-in-the-sky netherworld that we can dream about and reach for but never touch.
    • Kingdom of God breaks into the world around us little by little every time we act on our faith – every time we …
      • Extend a hand to help someone
      • Extend a hand to work for peace or justice
      • Extend a hand to share the good news of the Gospel
      • Bring light of God’s love into a dark place – place of anger, fear, loneliness, pain, desperation
      • Jesus puts words to it a little later in Mt: For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. … Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.[10]
    • Friends, each and every day, we encounter all sorts of chances to be that glimpse of God’s everlasting love and grace in the world.
      • More than just words to hear on Sun. morning and forget about by Sun. afternoon
      • More than just feel-good, kumbaya message about how God loves you à God does love you, and because of that love, God is calling you and me and every one of us to action.
        • Mahatma Gandhi: Be the change you wish to see in the world.
        • Pope Francis (picture going around social media lately): You pray for the hunger. Then you feed them. This is how prayer works.
        • So this morning I ask you: How can we enable God’s vision and be that glimpse of God’s new heaven – that glimpse of wholeness and compassion – in our lives and in our world? Amen.

[1] Rev 21:10-14.

[2] Jn 14:2.

[3] Is 65:20a.

[4] Is 65:22, 23.

[5] Is 65:24.

[6] Nelson Rivera. “Proper 28 (Sunday between November 13 and November 19 inclusive) – Isaiah 65:17-25, Theological Perspective” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary – Year C, vol. 4. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 290.

[7] Is 65:19, 21.

[8] Talitha J. Arnold. “Proper 12 (Sunday between July 24 and July 30 inclusive) – Matthew 13:31-33, 44-50, Pastoral Perspective” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary – Year A, vol. 3. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011), 286.

[9] Mary Eleanor Johns. “Proper 28 (Sunday between November 13 and November 19 inclusive) – Isaiah 65:17-25, Pastoral Perspective” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary – Year C, vol. 4. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 292.

[10] Mt 25:35-36, 40.

Find the full service for this sermon here.

Tests used for this sermon: Jeremiah 7:1-7 and Mark 6:1-13

• This weekend, we’ve been celebrating, right?
  • Picnics resulting in paper plates piled high with hot dogs, potato salad, chips, watermelon, and red-white-and-blue cake
  • Maybe the excitement and fun of watching parade
  • Maybe enjoying an outdoor concert
  • Lots of conversations and laughs with people we love
  • Culmination: beautiful fireworks display (Oronoco, Rochester, Stewartville, or even in your own backyard)
  • We’ve been celebrating the birthday of our nation – of the United States of America. We’ve been honoring and celebrating the freedoms that we all enjoy.
    • Freedoms guaranteed by our constitution
    • Freedoms that were hard-won almost 240 yrs. ago in Revolutionary War and that are still protected by the hard work and sacrifice of men and women in uniform today
    • Freedoms extended to each and every citizen
      • Freedom to safely speak out in favor of or against anything
      • Freedom to worship when/where/how we choose without fear
      • Freedom to help form the governing of our lives – locally, statewide, and nationally – by participating in a fair and honest voting process
      • Freedom to learn – to expand our knowledge and our horizon of understanding without censorship or oppression
      • And so many more. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, right?
  • I must admit that I find it a little bit ironic that the PC(USA) planning calendar, which designates nearly every Sunday on the calendar as a special Sunday for one group or another, has dedicated the Sunday after the 4^th of July as Immigration Sunday. Ironic … and yet appropriate. As we celebrate this country that we love despite all of its challenges and struggles and imperfections, as we celebrate the freedoms and opportunities that we enjoy here in this beautiful country, as we celebrate the birth of this nation that has become so prominent and powerful on the world stage, we do so with the knowledge that in one way or another, we are a country of immigrants.
    • Our own ancestral immigrants that had the strength and the guts and the curiosity to leave whatever native countries we hail from and settle in this strange and unfamiliar land
    • But also the immigrants who even today are trying to make this country that we celebrate their home – those who are fleeing persecution; those who are escaping war-ravaged homelands; those who are desperately seeking a better wage, a better chance, a better life for themselves and their families.
  • As we enjoy and celebrate our freedoms this weekend, let us also hold in our hearts and minds those who are still anxiously and eagerly striving to be included in those freedoms. In the land of the free and the home of the brave, how do we treat our neighbors? In the land of the free and the home of the brave, how do we welcome those who come seeking? In the land of the free and the home of the brave, how do we respond to those among us who are strangers, foreigners, aliens?
    • Scriptures this morning – shed great deal of light on immigrants/immigration
• Gospel story = story of a stranger’s travels on a few different fronts
  • First encounter: Jesus as stranger – an alien – in his own hometown
    • Text says he “returned to his hometown” with disciples and preached in the synagogue on the Sabbath – totally blew people away: He made a real hit, impressing everyone. “We had no idea he was this good!” they said. “How did he get so wise all of a sudden, set such ability?”[1] → Speaking in front of people can be nerve-wrecking, especially when it’s people you know. They know all the mistakes you made as a kid. They know all your family history and how that influences what you’re saying and how you say it. They hold in their head preconceived notion of you based on an incomplete picture – based on who you were, not who you are today.
    • Not so different for Jesus – turns out he had every reason to worry: In the next breath, they were cutting him down: “He’s just a carpenter – Mary’s boy. We’ve known him since he was a kid. … Who does he think he is?” They tripped over what little they knew about him and fell, sprawling. And they never got any further.[2] → thought they knew everything they needed to know about this Jesus guy
      • Knew his stories
      • Knew his mistakes
      • Knew his family/family history
      • And in their knowing – incomplete though it most certainly was – they wrote him off. “They tripped over what little they knew about him and fell, sprawling. And they never got any further.” They dismissed Jesus without learning about him. → judgment/prejudice = so detrimental that it limits Jesus’ ability – text: Jesus wasn’t able to do much of anything there … He couldn’t get over their stubbornness.[3]
    • Think about it. These people knew Jesus, and still they let their preconceived notions and biases get in the way of letting him do his thing.
      • Could have healed people
      • Could have driven out demons
      • Could have taught/preached more awe-inspiring lessons in synagogue
      • Could have opened their eyes to his identity as Son of God
      • But the villagers let themselves be blinded simply by what they thought they knew … what they thought they saw. Friends, how often do we let that happen in our society today? We stereotype people into their little boxes – boxes based on race, on ethnicity, on gender, on socio-economic status, on all sorts of things – and we get all offended and bent out of shape when they try to break out of that box. → becomes 100x worse when we discover someone wasn’t “born here” like there’s some God-given privilege to being an American that makes us inherently better, smarter, worthier simply because we are Americans
        • Could be turning away doctor capable of curing cancer
        • Could be turning away professor with incredible teaching skills to engage students
        • Could be turning away brilliantly gifted architect or engineers
        • Or we could be turning away someone with the kind of compassion, strength, and grace that can touch someone else’s life – really touch someone else’s heart and soul and encourage them to make a powerful change for the better. You know … kind of like that Jesus guy.
  • Second “strangers traveling” encounter in NT = Jesus sending the disciples out → I find this part of the story to be incredibly powerful and incredibly prophetic.
    • Jesus sends disciples out in pairs → He knew the journey wouldn’t be easy. He knew how difficult it was to travel to a new place and be unwelcomed. So he sent them out into uncertainty and adversity with another person by their side to cling to when times got tough.
      • And yet … how many immigrants come into this country alone? (MAYBE: rest of the family couldn’t afford it, too dangerous to flee with so large a group, rest of family turned their back on decision to leave, rest of the family was dead)
    • Jesus sent his disciples out with bare minimum – Jesus to disciples: Don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this. You are the equipment. No special appeals for funds. Keep it simple.[4]
      • Even more specific in pew Bibles: He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.[5] → Jesus is particular about how little the disciples are to take with them for one simple and specific reason: They are to rely on the hospitality of others. They won’t need money or food or extra clothes because those things will be provided for them by those whom they encounter along the way.
      • And yet … how many immigrants come to America in much the same condition as the disciples – no money in their pockets, no food in their bellies, nothing but the clothes on their backs – and how often do we welcome them in?
    • Jesus recognizes that there are times when they will be turned away – text: If you’re not welcomed, not listened to, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way.[6] → passage may not be as tame as Eugene Peterson (Message translator) makes it appear
      • Gr. includes phrase “shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony”
      • Scholar: When they leave a place where they have been rejected, [the disciples] are to “shake off the dust that is on your feet,” a strong symbolic action recalling the tradition that Jews returning to Israel would shake off the defiling dust of the Gentile lands from whence they traveled.[7]
        • Bit of an insult
        • Bit of a theological “so there” (I never wanted your crummy dirt on my feet anyway!)
        • But it’s also a testament to the non-welcome that the disciples receive. You see, the roads in this part of the country were all dirt at the time, and the dust in that part of the world is an insidious, clinging sort of dust – the kind of stuff you find in your food and your hair and your clothing long after you’re sick of finding it. And yet Jesus instructs the disciples to shake this dirt off – to rid themselves of the taint of it.
          • How often have we treated the immigrants of this country so poorly – with such prejudice and exclusion and inferiority – that they cannot wait to rid themselves of the taint that we have left on them
            • Taint of pain
            • Taint of rejection
            • Taint of hate
• And so, with this in mind, we turn to the prophet Jeremiah for God’s Word of instruction.
  • Jeremiah = prophet of very strong words (doesn’t pull any punches): Only if you clean up your act (the way you live, the things you do), only if you do a total spring cleaning on the way you live and treat your neighbors, only if you quit exploiting the street people and orphans and widows, no longer taking advantage of innocent people … Only then will I move into your neighborhood.[8] → This is God’s throw-down for the people of Israel, God’s way of saying, “If you’re going to talk the talk, then you had better walk the walk.”
    • Comes down to the age-old question that was asked of Jesus – question we’ve asked time and time again: Who is my neighbor? → When we ask this question, do we respond with sameness or diversity? Do we respond with apathy or with action? Do we respond with closed doors or open arms?
• Friends, it doesn’t matter what color people are or where they come from. It doesn’t matter whether the people that we’re talking about speak this language or don’t. It doesn’t even matter whether they are documented or undocumented. The legal side of immigration is an incredibly immense and complex issue that would take an entire sermon series to truly tackle. And I know that there are people that fall on both sides of those arguments here. We’re not talking about the legality of immigration today (though if you’re interested, there are some great denominational resources available on the [UCC/PC(USA)] website – personal stories, prayers, statistics, and plans of action.) What we’re talking about today is our response when we encounter immigrants in our day-to-day lives. In the land of the free and the home of the brave, how do we treat our neighbors? In the land of the free and the home of the brave, how do we welcome those who come seeking? In the land of the free and the home of the brave, how do we respond to those among us who are strangers, foreigners, aliens? How do we take our love for this nation and share it with those who have come here seeking a different and hopefully better life? Amen.

[1] Mk 6:2b.

[2] Mk 6:3.

[3] Mk 6:5, 6.

[4] Mk 6:8-9 (The Message).

[5] Mk 6:8-9 (NRSV).

[6] Mk 6:11.

[7] Michael L. Lindvall. “Proper 9 (Sunday between July 3 and July 9 inclusive) – Mark 6:1-13, Pastoral Perspective” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary – Year B, vol. 3. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 212.

[8] Jer 7:5-6, 7a.

According to the Presbyterian Church (USA) planning calendar, this past Sunday was Immigration Sunday, so that was the theme of our worship. I’m the kind of pastor that likes to run the theme of the sermon throughout the worship service, and when it’s as important and central a topic as immigration, I’m including the rest of the service material this morning as well. So welcome to our worship …

GATHERING IN GOD’S WORD

Letting God In

During this time, we invite you to prepare your heart and your mind for worship. We want you to be able to use this quiet time to settle your thoughts, set aside any distractions that may be troubling you, and focus your whole self on God. Open your heart, your mind, and your spirit, and let God into your life.

Centering Prayer: Love thy neighbor.
As you breathe in and out, pray God’s command
to “Love thy neighbor.”
Consider this phrase.
What does “love” mean? Who does “neighbor” encompass?

* Gathering Hymn – God Welcomes All (insert) (sing through 3 times)

* Opening Praise (from the Oct. 2009 stated meeting of the Tres Rios Presbytery)
One: At God’s table of justice,
Many: Everyone has a place and none are turned away.
ALL: Here strangers are welcomed as friends, the poor sit alongside the rich, and the upside-down kingdom of God is revealed.
One: At God’s table of abundance,
Many: A banquet of righteousness and liberation is set for all.
ALL: Here the powerless are heard; the outcasts are showered with honor, and the inside-out kingdom of God is revealed.
One: At God’s table of life,
Many: All peoples know peace, and creation flourishes.
ALL: Here the hopeless are nourished with possibility, and the complacent are transformed into advocates for change. Here in our very midst, the kingdom of God is revealed.

* Opening Hymn #11 (NCH) – Bring Many Names

* Joining in Prayer (from the Oct. 2009 stated meeting of the Tres Rios Presbytery)
Creating and sustaining God, your great commandment in Christ is that we love one another as Christ has loved us. We confess that we fail to embrace your liberating love. We divide where you would have us unite. We exclude where you would have us embrace. We choke the breath from your Word when its truth does not accommodate our fears. Forgive our hardness of heart. Mend our broken human family. Breathe into us the living Word of all-inclusive love. (Please take a moment for personal confession and reflection.)
In the name of Jesus, the healer of our souls, we pray.
          Amen.

* God’s Promise of Grace

Passing of the Peace

* Song of Peace: Let There Be Peace on Earth (back of the NCH)

HEARING GOD’S WORD

Old Testament reading – Jeremiah 7:1-7

New Testament reading – Mark 6:1-13

Sermon: If You’re Not Welcomed

Hymn #394 (NCH) – In Christ There Is No East or West

Prayers of the People
Sharing our lives in prayer
Sung response (printed on bulletin)
Silent Prayer
Pastoral Prayer

RESPONDING TO GOD’S WORD

Celebrating the Lord’s Supper – Our tradition in this congregation is to partake of the bread whenever you feel prepared to do so and to hold the wine/juice until all have been served so that we can all partake together. This gives us the chance to participate in this holy mystery as we participate in our faith – both as individuals and as a community.

Invitation to the Table (based on communion liturgy written by Cláudio Carvalhaes): Friends, Abraham was a border crosser. Isaac was a border crosser. Jacob and Joseph and Moses were border crossers. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were border crossers in the midst of a genocide. The Holy Spirit crossed borders to start the church and is still crossing borders today. Churches are border crossing places. We are border crossing people, all of us with no exception. This country and every country are made of border crossers. We are heirs of border crossing people – people who journey, people who seek, people who strive for freedom and safety, peace and home. And in the midst of every border crossing, straddling lines and breaking down barriers, is this table … Jesus’ table. Brothers and sisters, this is a table prepared for you and for me by loving human hands and by the grace of God alone. No matter who you are … no matter where you come from this morning … no matter what you bring with you … you are welcome here, at this table and in this community.
Affirmation of Faith – The Immigrant’s Creed by Jose Luis Casal (insert)
Great Thanksgiving
One: God be with you.
     Many: And also with you.
     One: Lift up your hearts.
     Many: We lift them up to God.
     One: Let us give thanks to God Most High.
     Many: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Communion Prayer: Holy God, Father and Mother of us all, we raise our thanks, our praise, and our love to you. The Grand Story of Life is made up of wandering threads – the stories and struggles, the tales and triumphs of those who crossed borders for you and for the preservation of their faith. When you called to Abraham and Moses, they crossed borders of cities and countries, cultures and faith traditions to testify to your good name. And your people followed them. When the people turned away again, you called to your prophets, and they crossed borders of the people’s apathy, complacency, and greed to renew your Spirit and the power of your holy Word within their hearts and minds. In Jesus Christ, you crossed even the borders of humanity and death itself to remind your people of the immenseness and unconditional nature of your love. Jesus sat with sinners and outcasts – those who were suffering in body, mind, and soul – to prove to us all just how powerful crossing borders could be. And by your great power and love, Christ’s resurrection shattered the barriers between life and death forevermore, making each and every person a natural citizen of your everlasting Kingdom. Each time we turn away from you, Holy One – each time we wander and stray, each time we sojourn and find ourselves lost – you cross the borders and barriers that surround us to reveal your love to us again – to shower us with your grace and open our hearts and minds to your forgiveness. As we gather at this table that straddles the borders and brings even the most powerful to their knees in supplication, God, we pray that you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts of bread and [wine/juice], that the bread we break and the cup we bless may be the communion of the body and blood of Christ. By your Spirit, make us one with Christ, that we may be one with all who share this feast, united in ministry in every place. As this bread is Christ’s body for us, send us out to be the body of Christ in the world. In union with your church in heaven and on earth, we pray, O God, as Jesus taught us to pray, saying:
Lord’s Prayer: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Words of Institution
Sharing the Bread and the Cup
Prayer of Thanksgiving (from the Oct. 2009 stated meeting of the Tres Rios Presbytery): Thanks be to you, O God, for your presence and your purpose. At this table of life, nourished with possibility, may we leave here renewed and transformed, your living sanctuaries of love and justice. Amen.

Offering
* Hymn of Response #591 (PH) – Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow
* Prayer of Dedication

Announcements

* Hymn #2177 (Sing the Faith) – Wounded World That Cries for Healing

BEING SENT OUT IN GOD’S WORD

* Charge & Benediction

* Sending Hymn #499 (NCH) – Pues si vivimos (In All Our Living)

We will sing verse 1 in Spanish, then verse 1 again in English.

* indicates please rise in body or spirit as you are able

I sat down to write my July article about a topic I had chosen a few months ago:

Finding your own peace.

The original intent was to write about finding an activity that brings you a sense of peace and calm and centeredness in the midst of the chaos of summer schedules, and while I’ll certainly write that article someday, the topic struck a different chord in light of the recent tragedy at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.

Instead of focusing on finding what brings us our own sense of inner peace, I want to talk about sharing and perpetuating Christ’s peace in this world – a world, as I often say, that is so desperately in need.

When I ask people about what they love about the OZ churches and, more specifically, what they love about OZ worship, many times, people tell me they love the way we pass the peace of Christ. People love that we move around. They love that we interact with each other – shaking hands, giving hugs, even giving fist bumps or some other sort of acknowledgment when we’re trying not to share germs.

And people love that we take the time. It’s not rushed. It’s not forced. We share greetings of “good morning” and “peace” with each other because we’re genuinely happy to see one another! I love explaining to visitors that this part of our service is going to take a while, and I love seeing the looks on visitors’ faces as person after person greets and welcomes them.

Connected with this treasured ritual, of course, is the song that we sing: Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me …

I grew up in a congregation that does something similar. They actively pass the peace on Sunday morning, everyone greeting one another with fondness and love before returning to their pews in the midst of a familiar song. In fact, because of the inspiration of the OZ congregations, my home congregation now uses the same song to conclude their time of passing the peace as well.

And as much as we love and cherish this ritual, it always astounds me to encounter people – pastors and parishioners alike – from other congregations who refuse to participate in this beautiful and theologically rich tradition. I find it baffling and a little bit sad that there are brothers and sisters in the body of Christ who are missing out on this meaningful opportunity.

After his resurrection but before he ascended back to heaven, Jesus passed the peace with the disciples:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
~ John 14:27

Jesus knew that there would be troubled times ahead for the disciples – times of pain, fear, frustration, anger, confusion, and all those other things that we continue to struggle with in our own society and in our own hearts. And in the face of all that darkness and scariness, Jesus said, “Peace.” We remind each other of this every Sunday morning when we share this special and sacred time with one another.

And the placement of the passing of the peace in the order of the worship service is no accident, friends. We take time to pray and to confess our struggles and our sins together, both silently and aloud. We are reminded of the grace and forgiveness afforded to us by God through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. And then, in the awareness of that grace and in recognition of God’s precious forgiveness found in each of us, we share the peace of Christ with each other.

But it doesn’t stop there. We are also charged to take that peace out into the world – to share it with the people that we know and love, the people that we meet, and even the people that we find challenging. In the face of the terrible shooting at Emanuel AME Church, the need for that peace in the face of hatred, injustice, fear, and prejudice is all the more critical. So, my friends, may the peace of Christ be with you …

Texts used: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43

• As the parent of two 2-yr-olds, I feel like I’m constantly telling someone to “Be careful.”
  • Playing at the park – climbing, sliding, swinging (worse yet, walking near swings)
  • Riding tricycles around in the garage/driveway
  • Hauling themselves up onto changing table
  • Engaging in one of their favorite activities: “big jump!” → jumping off anything and everything they possibly can
  • And I know I’m not alone in this. Anyone who’s ever spent more than 10 minutes around kids – be they their own children, nieces/nephews, kids that you babysat, or even just standing and waiting for the bus next to some little girl or boy – you know that there seems to be something built into children that causes them to wildly abandon all caution and take whatever crazy risks pop into their minds from one minute to the next.
    • “Be careful!”
    • “Be safe!”
    • “Watch out!”
    • “Make good choices!”
    • All of these well-meaning admonitions often fall on deaf ears as we listen to squeals and giggles and triumphant ‘whoops’ as well as tumbles and crashes and wails of distress. → 2 amazing things about this reckless riskiness
      • One: the incredible heart that children put into every risk they take – It’s all or nothing!
      • Two: children’s amazing ability to bounce back, to keep trying, to get up and brush themselves off
  • So I’m going to propose that we take our inspiration from the children in our lives this morning because sometimes, friends, our faith straight out calls us to take risks.
    • 2 different kinds of risks that we find in our Scriptures this morning
      • Risks in our choices
      • Risks in our actions
• Jesus presents us with our first risk in our gospel text this morning.
  • UP TO NOW: Jesus has been traveling and teaching and healing
  • TODAY’S PASSAGE: gets out of boat after crossing yet another large body of water designated as a ‘sea’ and met by large crowd → interrupted in the middle of teaching by Jairus – begs Jesus: “My dear daughter is at death’s door. Come and lay hands on her so she will get well and live.” And Jesus went with him.[1]
    • Jesus’ first risky choice = going with Jairus
      • Jesus’ first risky choice in this passage is actually deciding to go with Jairus in the first place. Remember how Jairus is introduced? “One of the meeting-place leaders named Jairus.” You see, even this early in his ministry, Jesus has already been hassled and challenged by just such “meeting-place leaders.” So for all he knew, Jairus could’ve been angling for even more trouble. There could’ve been some hidden agenda involved here. But still, Jesus made the choice to go with Jairus because of the strength of his faith.
        • How do we know about that strength? – Jairus: “My dear daughter is at death’s door. Come and lay hands on her so she will get well and live.”[2] → NOTICE: no qualifiers in this sentence
          • No “if it’s possible”
          • No “Can you?”
          • No “Are you able?”
          • Jairus believed, so Jesus made the choice to go.
  • Jesus 2^nd risky choice = pausing in that journey – traveling to Jairus’ house with him and the whole entourage (Jesus’ disciples, Jairus and whatever servants/guards are with him, the crowd) when he’s suddenly interrupted by the hemorrhagic woman → Now, we’ll talk about this woman in a minute, but even though he knew that Jairus’ daughter was close to death and time was of the essence, Jesus chose to stop and have an interaction with this woman. He chose to spend precious time with this woman who was poor and alone and suffering.
    • Chose to pause in his critical journey to save Jairus’ daughter → led to child’s death: While he was still talking, some people came from the leader’s house and told him, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?”[3]
    • Despite this naysaying – chose to continue on and not just heal Jairus’ daughter but bring her back to life: [Jesus] clasped the little girl’s hand and said, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up.” At that, she was up and walking around![4]
  • Can you grasp what incredible risks of choice these were for Jesus? He chose to go with a man who could have been out to get him. He chose to associate with a woman who was a social stigma. He chose to continue on to the bedside of the now-deceased little girl and raise her from the dead! → amazing power in taking risks of choice = give us the ability to take responsibility, to forge our own path, to own our decisions and the consequences that come with them
    • Powerful and empowering → There’s a reason Frank Sinatra sang “I did it my way!” instead of “I did it whatever way someone else told me to!” When we are allowed to make those choices, to take those risks, and to follow through with whatever comes next, we find a strength and a conviction that we may not have known we possessed before that moment. And taking those risks of choice allow us to test our own belief as well as enact the power of our faith for others.
      • Part of the beauty and blessing as well as the challenge and burden of free will that God gave us – power to choose
• Also risks of actions → Here we return to the story of the hemorrhagic woman.
  • Not clear what condition this woman was suffering from but Gr. implies it’s something along the lines of continuous menstrual bleeding → all sorts of severe ramifications in her life
    • Physical: One cannot continuously lose blood like that for 12 straight years and not appear pale, drawn, and sickly. This is the sort of condition that saps you of your strength, your energy, your vitality. And she’d been living with it for 12 years.
    • Spiritiual: Because of the continual bleeding, the woman would have been continually regarded in Jewish law as … ceremonially unclean. In order to be regarded as clean, the flow of blood would need to stop for at least 7 days. Because of the constant bleeding, this woman lived in a continual state of uncleanness which would have brought upon her social and religious isolation.[5] → No one could touch this woman or interact with her without becoming ritually unclean themselves, forcing them to go to the mikveh (the consecrated cleansing pool) for re-purification. This condition combined with her gender and her poverty (Scripture: she had spent all her money on doctors to no avail) made this woman virtually untouchable, completely and utterly marginalized.
  • Kind of woman people probably didn’t even see in the crowd anymore – ignored for so long, social pariah for so long, marginalized for so long → The crowd probably didn’t even see her edging closer and closer to Jesus. But that’s exactly what she did. Imagine how overwhelming that seemingly simple action must have been for her.
    • Emotionally: inching ever closer to Jesus as he and the disciples as they passed by – caught up in the awe and reverence and excitement and fragile hope of the moment, being so close to the one that she believed with all of her heart could truly heal her
    • Mentally/spiritually: weight of all that had been (pain, rejection, loneliness, shame) and weight of all could be (healing? wholeness? acceptance? inclusion?) equally suspended in the same moment
    • And, of course, physically: visual = basically a rugby scrum around Jesus – shuffling and chaotic mass of humanity packed in tightly against each other → This is the kind of crowd that the woman had to make it through to get to Jesus. She literally dove into that risk of action by physically reaching out to Jesus, believing with every fiber of her being that just brushing the fringe of his clothing would be enough to heal her of her terrible affliction and isolation.
      • Result: She slipped in from behind and touched his robe. … The moment she did it, the flow of blood dried up. She could feel the change and knew her plague was over and done with.[6]
  • Other risk she took = speaking up!: At the same moment, Jesus felt energy discharging from him. He turned around to the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” …The woman, knowing what had happened, knowing she was the one, stepped up in fear and trembling, knelt before him, and gave him the whole story. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague.”[7] → For all this woman knew, Jesus could’ve been angry with her or disgusted by her like everyone else. Maybe the disciples would’ve had her punished. Maybe the people in the crowd would take it upon themselves to punish her for such a brazen disregard of the social conventions. But still, after reaching out, she stepped out, claiming her action and her faith before Jesus.
    • Jesus’ response: “Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed!”
  • Incredible power of risks of action.
    • POINT OUT: difference between risky actions and risks of action à (my own distinction) risks of action include element of forethought and purpose and character-building that are distinctly lacking in plain old risky actions
      • g. – risk of action = trust fall (learn about yourself, build group dynamic, nurture trust among those in a group) à risky action = stacking 4 picnic tables on top of each other and jumping off because it’ll make an interesting YouTube video
    • Actions are definite
    • Actions are visible
    • Actions are irretrievable (can’t be undone once it’s been done)
    • Require commitment, self-assurance, courage, strength
• And through it all, in the face of all the choices and actions that we are presented with that seem to be risks – those choices and actions that scare us, the worry us, that challenge us – we have Paul cheering us on from our other Scripture reading this morning: You do so well in so many things – you trust God, you’re articulate, you’re insightful, you’re passionate, you love us – now, do your best in this, too. … So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands. [8]
  • Original context: encouraging the Corinthian Christians to continue in their mission giving
  • Words of encouragement that could easily apply to all of those risks that we mull over
    • Remind us of God working in and through us
    • Remind us of our gifts
    • Remind us of need for our conviction to be strong in the face of risks
    • Reminds us we are in this together: This isn’t so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you’re shoulder to shoulder with them all the way.[9]
• Friends, nothing in the entirety of Scripture tells us that our faith is supposed to be safe and comfortable and carefree. Jesus wasn’t safe. Jesus wasn’t comfortable. Jesus wasn’t content to “dial it back” for the sake of those around him. In fact, he took the risks that he did exactly for the people around him and the people after them … and the people after them … and the people after them … all the way down to us. And as those who proclaim to be followers of this radical Savior, we are called to follow in those risky footsteps in order to bring God’s love, peace, and justice to this world. Amen.

[1] Mk 5:23-24.

[2] Mk 5:23.

[3] Mk 5:35.

[4] Mk 5:41-42a.

[5] Dr. John McArthur cited in “Jesus healing the bleeding woman,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_healing_the_bleeding_woman, edited 9 June 2015, accessed 27 June 2015.

[6] Mk 5:27, 29.

[7] Mk 5:30, 33-34.

[8] 2 Cor 8:7, 10-12.

[9] 2 Cor 8:13.

For a little more explanation and insight into what went into this sermon and the service that went with it, see my previous post.

Texts used: Luke 11:29-36 and 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Sharonda Coleman-Singleton
Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Cynthia Hurd
Tywanza Sanders
Myra Thompson
Ethel Lee Lance
Rev. Daniel L. Simmons
Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor
Susie Jackson

Nine lives.
Nine beloved, treasured children of God.
Nine brothers and sisters in Christ who had gathered on a Wed. evening for a prayer meeting. A prayer meeting.
Nine men and women.
Nine black men and women.

Friends, I have to tell you that when I sat down at my desk this past Mon. morning, I sat down with the intention to write a happy sermon … an invigorating sermon … a sermon that would (hopefully) make you leave this place this morning inspired to boldly and boisterously take your faith out into the world with renewed spirits. I envisioned us leaving this sanctuary this morning with heads held high, with hearts full and spirits lifted, with blessings and praise for God’s greatness on our lips.

And then the news stories started coming in late Wed. night and throughout the day on Thursday.

Sharonda Coleman-Singleton
Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Cynthia Hurd
Tywanza Sanders
Myra Thompson
Ethel Lee Lance
Rev. Daniel L. Simmons
Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor
Susie Jackson

Nine lives.
Nine beloved, treasured children of God.
Nine brothers and sisters in Christ who had gathered on a Wed. evening for a prayer meeting. A prayer meeting.
Nine men and women.
Nine black men and women.

And suddenly, instead of wanting to sing loud hosannas and songs of triumphant praise, I tasted words of lament and even frustration and anger on my tongue. With the psalmist, I wanted to cry out, “God, don’t shut me out; don’t give me the silent treatment, O God. Your enemies are out there whooping it up, the God-haters are living it up; They’re plotting to do your people in, conspiring to rob you of your precious ones.”[1] Suddenly the words of the Scripture passages that I had already chosen for today were cast in an entirely new light: the horrible, glaring, painful light of a nation still battling the hatred and injustice of racism.

Sharonda Coleman-Singleton
Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Cynthia Hurd
Tywanza Sanders
Myra Thompson
Ethel Lee Lance
Rev. Daniel L. Simmons
Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor
Susie Jackson

Nine lives.
Nine beloved, treasured children of God.
Nine brothers and sisters in Christ who had gathered on a Wed. evening for a prayer meeting. A prayer meeting.
Nine men and women.
Nine black men and women.

I spent last weekend at the MN Conference annual meeting, the theme of which feels disturbingly prophetic at this point. It was “Going Deeper: Trusting in Sacred Conversation.” It was a theme centered around the pervasiveness and startling reality of racism that continues to plague this country 150 years after the end of the Civil War and 50 years after the Civil Rights Movement – two large-scale events that we like to hold up as steps that we have taken as a nation in the direction of equality and freedom and justice. And yet …

Sharonda Coleman-Singleton
Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Cynthia Hurd
Tywanza Sanders
Myra Thompson
Ethel Lee Lance
Rev. Daniel L. Simmons
Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor
Susie Jackson

Nine lives.
Nine beloved, treasured children of God.
Nine brothers and sisters in Christ who had gathered on a Wed. evening for a prayer meeting. A prayer meeting.
Nine men and women.
Nine black men and women. 

At the annual meeting, our keynote speaker was Dr. Jennifer Harvey[2], an associate professor of religion at Drake University in Des Moines, IA. Dr. Harvey told us about an interesting conversation starter that she uses with her students. It goes something like this: “What would you say if you saw a group of African-American students out on the quad holding signs that said, ‘Black is beautiful’? What if it was a group of Hispanic students holding a sign that said, ‘Latino/Latina pride’? What if it was a group of Native American students out on the quad holding signs that said, ‘Native power’? What would you say?” And after a brief pause for a few comments and short discussion, she’d ask this: “Okay, what if it was a group of white students holding a sign that said, ‘White is beautiful … White pride … White power’? What would you say then?” Her point in asking these questions is to highlight just how squeamish we continue to feel where race is concerned. And frankly, in the wake of the unthinkable violence perpetrated at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. this week, I must admit that it feels almost obscene to voice such question, to even put words like “white” and “pride” or “white” and “power” next to each other in the same sentence. But the deep-down, uncomfortable truth, friends, is that we still find the topic of race uncomfortable. We still find our preconceived notions of race uncomfortable. We still find the reality of race and racism in this country uncomfortable. … And well we should.

Sharonda Coleman-Singleton
Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Cynthia Hurd
Tywanza Sanders
Myra Thompson
Ethel Lee Lance
Rev. Daniel L. Simmons
Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor
Susie Jackson

Nine lives.
Nine beloved, treasured children of God.
Nine brothers and sisters in Christ who had gathered on a Wed. evening for a prayer meeting. A prayer meeting.
Nine men and women.
Nine black men and women.

In the first part of our gospel text this morning, Jesus is speaking once again to the crowds – the teeming masses that included those who loved him (his disciples, possibly some of his family, probably his fans) as well as those who despised him (the Pharisees and the Sadducees), and probably a good portion of people that hadn’t made up their minds yet – the curious on-lookers, the “looky-loos.” And in true prophetic fashion, Jesus is giving the crowd a dose of words that are hard to hear: “The mood of this age is all wrong. Everybody’s looking for proof, but you’re looking for the wrong kind. All you’re looking for is something to titillate your curiosity, satisfy your lust for miracles.”[3] He goes on to give them two examples from Israel’s history of people who had gone to great lengths to find God. He speaks first of the Ninevites – the people who were visited by the prophet Jonah (after he rode around for a couple of days in the belly of the whale) – people who, after hearing the difficult and convicting word of God that Jonah had for them, repented in sackcloth and ashes. “They proclaimed a citywide fast and dressed in burlap to show their repentance. Everyone did it – rich and poor, famous and obscure, leaders and followers.”[4] And Jesus speaks of the Queen of Sheba who traveled hundreds of miles just to avail herself of Solomon’s wisdom – a wisdom that was widely known and acknowledged by Solomon himself to have come from God Most High. These are the examples that Jesus lays before the crowd, making it clear to them that while the entire city of Nineveh repented solely based on Jonah’s word – on a stranger’s word – and while the Queen of Sheba traveled far and wide to seek out God’s wisdom, the people in the crowd, though they had more proof than the Ninevites and far less travel time than the Queen of Sheba – the people in the crowd did not believe … did not understand … did not see. They were blinded by things that didn’t matter – things that distracted them from the power of the truth that was literally staring them right in the faces.

The One. The Messiah. The Savior who had come to set all the world free.

Sharonda Coleman-Singleton
Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Cynthia Hurd
Tywanza Sanders
Myra Thompson
Ethel Lee Lance
Rev. Daniel L. Simmons
Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor
Susie Jackson

Nine lives.
Nine beloved, treasured children of God.
Nine brothers and sisters in Christ who had gathered on a Wed. evening for a prayer meeting. A prayer meeting.
Nine men and women.
Nine black men and women.

I have to be honest with you, the text from 2 Corinthians is what initially grabbed my attention as I was planning sermons a while back. There is so much audacity in Paul’s words here. There is so much honesty. There is so much life! “Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us. … Don’t put it off; don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we’re doing.”[5] You can hear Paul’s drive – the power of his faith and his deepest, heart-felt desire for all those he encountered to feel the transformative power of God in their lives, too. He spends a good portion of the passage talking about all of the ways that having faith is hard, all of the ways that having faith doesn’t pay off, all of the struggles and the pain and the sometimes-paralyzing uncertainty, but he always does so in the light of the grace and the glory of God: “when we’re praised, and when we’re blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.”[6] Brothers and sisters, the fact remains that the most segregated time of the week in the United States is still Sunday morning. We celebrate the glory of God, the grace of God, the forgiveness and the wholeness and the acceptance that we find in God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, and yet the fact remains that often, we cannot overcome those most basic barriers that divide us: race, ethnicity, gender, class, and so on. And this past week, we have witnessed the horrible aftermath of this division – the darkness and explosiveness of hatred in its most violent form: mass murder.

Sharonda Coleman-Singleton
Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Cynthia Hurd
Tywanza Sanders
Myra Thompson
Ethel Lee Lance
Rev. Daniel L. Simmons
Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor
Susie Jackson

Nine lives.
Nine beloved, treasured children of God.
Nine brothers and sisters in Christ who had gathered on a Wed. evening for a prayer meeting. A prayer meeting.
Nine men and women.
Nine black men and women.

But Paul reminds us … and Jesus reminds us … and even the family members of those who were killed this week remind us that fear and division and hate do not have to have the last word. Jesus says to the crowd (and to us), “No one lights a lamp, then hides it in a drawer. It’s put on a lamp stand so those entering the room have light to see where they’re going. Your eye is a lamp, lighting up your whole body. If you live wide-eyed in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. Keep your eyes open, your lamp burning, so you don’t get musty and murky. Keep your life as well-lighted as your best-lighted room.”[7]

Paul tells us, “The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!”[8]

And as some of the family members of those murdered in Emanuel AME Church confronted the alleged gunman in court later this week, many of them spoke of forgiveness and God’s everlasting mercy.[9] Forgiveness and God’s everlasting mercy.

Friends, for too long, we have opened our eyes to the things that separate and divide us, the things that exclude others from within our midst, the things that feed the smallness within our hearts and minds and lives. It is that same smallness that led that young man to bring a loaded gun into a prayer meeting and kill so many innocent people. It is that same smallness that makes us lock our car doors when we’re in “the wrong part of town” or cross to the other side of the street when we see someone not like us walking toward us. It is that same smallness that makes us turn a blind eye to the racism that continues to plague this nation. When we participate in the inappropriate jokes, we become smaller. When we look at others with a sense of entitlement – we’ve earned our lot in life, but they deserve theirs – we become smaller. When we pass judgment before hearing the whole story (or even any of the story), before opening our eyes and hearts to the truth, before walking a mile in the other person’s shoes, we become smaller.

But by the grace of God and God alone, we do not have to stay small. We do not have to stay divided. We do not have to allow the racism, sexism, ageism, and every other fracturing ‘ism’ in this nation to stand. Paul said, “Our work as God’s servants gets validated – or not – in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly … in hard time, tough times, bad times. … Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!”[10] People are watching us. Friends, we have the responsibility to be the example – to do the hard and uncomfortable work of tearing down those walls in our own hearts and our own lives that separate us from other people, to let the light in and banish the darkness, the smallness, the pain and prejudice and fear. We can and we must choose to stand with our brothers and sisters around this nation and indeed around the world – brothers and sisters in faith, yes, but more importantly, brothers and sisters in the human race. We can stand beside them and say to the nay-sayers, to the fear-mongers, to the plain old haters, “No. Stop. Enough.” Amen.

[1] Ps 83:1-3.

[2] Dr. Jennifer Harvey, http://www.drake.edu/philrel/faculty/jenniferharvey/.

[3] Lk 11:29.

[4] Jonah 3:5.

[5] 2 Cor 6:1, 3.

[6] 2 Cor 6:8-10.

[7] Lk 11:33-36.

[8] 2 Cor 6:12-13.

[9] Jeremy Borden, Sari Horwitz, and Jerry Markon. “From victims’ families, forgiveness for accused gunman Dylann Roof” in The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/south-carolina-governor-urges-death-penalty-charges-in-church-slayings/2015/06/19/3c039722-1678-11e5-9ddc-e3353542100c_story.html. Posted 19 June 2015, accessed 20 June 2015.

[10] 2 Cor 6:4, 13b.

This was a difficult Sunday. In the depth of my very being, I couldn’t ignore the tragic mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. on Wed. night. As I sat working on my sermon on Sat. night, I stared at the screen – at the words that I had already written before Wed. night. And I couldn’t continue. So late on Sat. night, I rewrote everything – my sermon and our worship service. So instead of just posting my sermon this week, I’m including the rest of our worship as well – liturgy, hymns, prayers. (For the sake of length, the sermon will be in a separate post.)

Welcome

GATHERING IN GOD’S WORD

Letting God In – During this time, we invite you to prepare your heart and your mind for worship. We want you to be able to use this quiet time to settle your thoughts, set aside any distractions that may be troubling you, and focus your whole self on God. Open your heart, your mind, and your spirit, and let God into your life.

 Centering Prayer: Open up our lives, Expansive God!
As you breathe in, pray, “Open up our lives.”
As you breathe out, pray, “Expansive God!”

* Gathering Hymn #2271 (Sing the Faith) – Come! Come! Everybody Worship (refrain only twice through)

* Opening Praise
One: With pure hearts, clear heads, and steady hands,
Many: We come, Holy God, to worship.
One: In gentleness, holiness, and honest love,
Many: We come, Holy Christ, to worship.
One: Immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy,
Many: Having nothing,
One: Having it all,
Many: We come, Holy Spirit, to worship.
ALL: We come. We come. We come!

* Opening Hymn #294 (NCH) – There’s a Spirit in the Air

* Joining in Prayer (prayer written by Patrick Marshall)
One: In the covenant of baptism, we are called to renounce evil and its power in the world. And that is very easy to do in theory. But in weeks like this, we are confronted with specifics; with the reality of evil and its power in the world. So we confess the brokenness of this world and of our own lives, and accordingly:

ALL: We renounce the evil of violence and the false belief that it can ever be used to truly solve our problems. We renounce the evil of racism and the false belief that some people are superior to others because of the color of their skin. We renounce the evil of sexism and the false belief that some people are superior to others because of their gender. We renounce the evil of greed and unjust systems that exploit the poor and the false belief that our material worth defines our self-worth. We renounce the evil of addiction and the false belief that any thing can truly satisfy us. And we ask forgiveness for the ways that we have participated, wittingly or unwittingly, in these evils. Lord, heal our world, our nation, and our lives of the evils that plague us, and help us to continue renouncing them, not just with our words, but with our lives. (Please take a moment for personal confession and reflection.)

In the name of Christ, we pray.

Amen.

* God’s Promise of Grace

Passing of the Peace

* Song of Peace: Let There Be Peace on Earth (back of the NCH)

HEARING GOD’S WORD

Gospel reading – Luke 11:29-36

New Testament reading – 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Sermon: Livin’ Large!

Hymn – They Met to Read the Bible (insert)

Prayers of the People
Sharing our lives in prayer
Sung response (printed on bulletin)
Silent Prayer
Pastoral Prayer (put out by the PCUSA): God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, God who has brought us thus far on our way, only you know why someone would enter into your house of worship and open fire on your children. Only you know why hate would run so deep that it would cause one of your creations to kill others you have formed. In our confusion over this senseless act, we appeal to you for understanding and courage to continue to fight for justice. We pray right now for the families of those who lost lives at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. on June 17, and ask that you would wrap your loving arms around them and the entire community. Likewise, we pray for an end to the continued racial unrest and violence that permeates the United States and the world, and ask you to guide us to work earnestly for change. … (specific congregational prayers were used after this)
Lord’s Prayer: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

RESPONDING TO GOD’S WORD

Offering
* Hymn of Response #370 (NCH) – What Gift Can We Bring? (verse 4)
* Prayer of Dedication

Announcements

* Hymn – Canticle of the Turning (insert)

BEING SENT OUT IN GOD’S WORD

* Charge & Benediction

* Sending Hymn #570 (NCH) – We Shall Overcome (verse 1)

* indicates please rise in body or spirit as you are able

Texts used: 1 Samuel 8:1-10, 19-22 and Mark 3:20-35

• [Read 1^st part of You Are Special by Max Lucado[1]] → Grey dots. So many grey dots. Flaws. Snubs. Mistakes. Humiliations. Labels. Misunderstandings. Failures. Unfortunately, friends it’s not hard to find rejection in this world. The Wemmicks may be fictional characters, but there are far too many ways that we give each other grey dots today.
  • News media = full of stories about people hurting, excluding, or retaliating
  • Congress can’t seem to get much done – too busy digging their heels in and pointing fingers at each other across the aisle
  • Society = full of ways that we try to separate ourselves from each other – socially, economically, politically, racially, etc. → separation = exclusion = rejection
• So imagine how the characters in our Scripture readings this morning would look if they had been in the habit of assigning grey dots. – texts full of rebukes and rejections
  • 1 Sam
    • Samuel’s sons rejected role of judges – text: [Samuel’s] sons didn’t take after him; they were out for what they could get for themselves, taking bribes, corrupting justice.[2]
      • BACKGROUND – role of judges[3]:
        • Local leaders – authority recognized by local groups/tribes beyond their own
        • As title suggests: arbiters – officials with authority to administer justice
        • Acted as military leaders in times of war
      • In the reading – people do more than just reject Samuel’s sons as judges → reject the idea of judges all together – to Samuel: Here’s what we want you to do: Appoint a king to rule us, just like everybody else.[4]
        • Samuel’s response: He was crushed.[5] → But why was this such a big deal to Samuel? The people sought the security and strength and power of a king – someone who could overturn unjust decisions like the ones Samuel’s sons had been making, someone who could be a leader and a protector. This desire for a king instead of the judges just sounds like a political shift – something hundreds of societies have done time and time again throughout the centuries. No big deal, right?
    • Wrong. You see, in this seemingly-slight rejection, we find the people’s most detrimental rejection: the rejection of God Most High.
      • God = supposed to be people’s leader and protector, sources of their strength and security and power – sort of links back to that pesky 1^st commandment: No other gods, only me. … Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God[6] → Remember, for a very, very long time in a lot of cultures (including all of those that surrounded the ancient Israelites during the time of our story this morning), royalty was regarded as divine. Pharaohs and kings were treated like gods, praised and worshiped and revered. And here in our Old Testament story this morning, we find the people of God begging God’s own messenger, Samuel, to boot God out of that place of exclusive divinity and select a king to take God’s place.
        • Scholar clarifies further: To seek an earthly king was a rejection of God’s rule as divine king. It was a challenge to divine sovereignty, and at root it was idolatrous. God equated the desire for a king with Israel’s forsaking of the Lord in favor of serving other gods.[7]
        • Hear God’s perception of this in Heb. – God’s describes situation to Samuel: people are “leaving me for other gods” – “leaving” = abandoning, deserting, neglecting → There is a feeling of finality in this. When you abandon something, you leave it without any definite plan or intention to return. That is serious rejection.
  • Rejection in NT passage = rejection of Jesus for who he was
    • By the Pharisees – text: The religious scholars from Jerusalem came down spreading rumors that [Jesus] was working black magic, using devil tricks to impress them with spiritual power.[8] → This is obvious rejection. Blatant rejection. And it’s not a surprising rejection. We know that the Pharisees were constantly pestering Jesus about who he was and who he said he was and who others said he was, just waiting for him to slip up so they could arrest him and get rid of this religious rabble-rouser.
    • Less obvious rejection – text: His friends heard what was going on and went to rescue him, by force if necessary. They suspected he was getting carried away with himself.[9] → more than just a fear that Jesus was going to get tired or hungry or the he was overexerting himself
      • Gr. “getting carried away with himself” = amazed, astounded confused → They seem to be worried that Jesus is going too far with his words and actions … that while he may have been able to talk the talk, Jesus wouldn’t be able to walk the walk.
      • And who is it that rejects Jesus like this?
        • Text: His friends heard what was going on and went to rescue him.
        • Pew Bibles: When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”[10]
        • Gr. is ambiguous – phrase = literally “those from/with him” → The point is, this dismissal and criticism and rejection came from “those with him,” those who are supposed to be on his side – his friends, his family, his supporters. And in all honestly, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who hadn’t felt the sting of that kind of rejection, the kind you feel when a friend or family member – those who are supposed to be “with you” – are suddenly against you instead.
          • Pain of rejection layered with confusion, anger, desperation, uncertainty
• But the incredible thing about faith is that it brings us the exact opposite of rejection. Faith brings us welcome. Faith brings us acceptance. Faith brings us acknowledgment not for who we could be or what we might do but as one of God’s beloved creations. Period. Faith brings us unconditional love.
  • Doesn’t mean our lives are going to be all sunshine, rainbows, and gold star stickers all the time → scholar: The qualities of our faith communities include love, justice, peace, compassion, and worship. This is not an easy calling. The pressures toward cultural conformity are great, and we live in a culture that often elevates a different set of qualities from those of the covenant model.[11]
    • Jesus response to his own family = perfect e.g. of this – text: [Jesus] was surrounded by the crowd when he was given the message, “Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside looking for you.” Jesus responded, “Who do you think are my mother and brothers?” Looking around, taking in everyone seated with him, he said, “Right here, right in front of you – my mother and my brothers. Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”[12] → You may have noticed that I didn’t mention this particular rejection earlier. It wasn’t because I was avoiding Jesus’ seemingly harsh and difficult words. It’s true that this passage is often viewed negatively, like Jesus is turning his back on his family – kicking them to the curb, leaving them behind, rejecting them. But did you hear it say anywhere in our passage this morning that Jesus’ family wasn’t granted entrance? Did you hear it say that they were turned away? Did you hear it say that Jesus rejected his family? … I didn’t.
      • Difference between rejection and redirection
        • In hunt for new leader, Israel rejected God by cutting God out of the picture
        • In NT story, Jesus redirected notion of family and acceptance and love to include more than just those linked by blood and lineage → elevated all those who had been marginalized by the culture – those who had found nothing but rejection throughout the rest of their lives simply by including them
          • Scholar (poignantly): Looking around him at the crowd of misfits, crazies, and his relentlessly undiscerning disciples, [Jesus] says, “This is my family.”[13]
          • Rob’s quote (extends this responsibility to us): We are called to stand on the margins, and if we were to live this way, the margins would expand until one day we would all stand together.
          • Ever-familiar Scripture quote (read just last week): For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.[14]
      • This is exactly why I use the words I do in the invitation to the Lord’s Supper: When the world tells you they don’t have a place for you, you can find a place here. When the world tells you that you are lacking, you can find wholeness here. When the world insists on taking everything you have to give and more, you can find renewal here. No matter who you are … no matter where you come from this morning … no matter what you bring with you … you are welcome here, at this table and in this community. → Friends, our faith is not about rejection. Faith is about God reaching down into our days, into our lives, into our hearts and saying, “You are mine. I created you. I love you.” Amen.

[1] Max Lucado. You Are Special. (Wheaton, IL: Good News Publishers, 1997), 7-15.

[2] 1 Sam 8:3.

[3] “Biblical judges.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_judges. Last edited 18 Feb. 2015, accessed 4 June 2015.

[4] 1 Sam 8:5.

[5] 1 Sam 8:6.

[6] Ex 17:3, 5a.

[7] Bruch C. Birch. “The First and Second Books of Samuel: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections” in The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary series, vol. 2. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1998), 1027.

[8] Mk 3:22.

[9] Mk 3:21 (The Message – emphasis added).

[10] Mk 3:21 (NRSV – emphasis added).

[11] Birch, 1030.

[12] Mk 3:32-35.

[13] Wendy Farley. “Proper 5 (Sunday between June 5 and June 11 inclusive) – Mark 3:20-35, Theological Perspective” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary – Year B, vol. 3. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 116.

[14] Jn 3:16-17 (NRSV).

Texts used: Romans 8:12-17 and John 3:1-17

• I love the story of Nicodemus. I think that this might actually be one of the most approachable stories in the Bible.
  • Today’s passage = 1^st appearance in John à What do we learn about Nicodemus?
    • Pharisee and “prominent leader among the Jews”[1] → This means he was part of the Sanhedrin – the council of leaders that eventually conspired to have Jesus arrested, convicted, and crucified. Members of this inner circle had power and status and prestige. They had an incredible amount of control in ancient Jewish society.
      • This is why Nicodemus came to Jesus in secret → snuck in to see Jesus “late one night” because he didn’t want other Jewish leaders to see him with this radical, subversive, teacher who was stirring everything up
    • First few sentences of gospel story also reveal that Nicodemus is more than just a curious onlooker – Nicodemus is a believer: “Rabbi, we all know you’re a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren’t in on it.”[2] → Because of his position, this is an extremely crucial pronouncement of faith. In truth, they didn’t “all know” that Jesus came from God. At this point in the overall story of John’s gospel, not much has actually happened yet.
      • Jesus’ baptism
      • Called a few disciples
      • Wedding in Cana à water to wine
      • Jesus driving the merchants and money changers out of the temple
      • Surely, there were whispers about Jesus going around at this point – whispers about what he was doing and about who he might be – but I have no doubt that they were a far cry from everyone knowing that Jesus came straight from God as Nicodemus proclaimed. That’s why his introduction in this story is so powerful and so important. It lays a baseline for just how truly dedicated and faithful Nicodemus is.
• After this introduction, we encounter my favorite part about this story and about Nicodemus’ faith: his questions.
  • Questions born out of uncertainty – Nicodemus has just said, “No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren’t in on it,” and Jesus’ response to this declaration of faith: “Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to – to God’s kingdom.”[3] → …… Does anyone else feel like Jesus is answering a question that no one asked?
    • Obviously not the response Nicodemus was expecting because Nicodemus’ own response was all questions and logical objections: You can’t re-enter your mother’s womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above’ talk?[4] → Suddenly and unexpectedly, Nicodemus encountered a part of his faith that wasn’t so certain. Wasn’t so easy to understand. Wasn’t so cut-and-dried. And when it came to faith, this was not what Nicodemus was used to. Remember, he was a Pharisee – one of the scholars, the educated ones, the ones who knew the Jewish law so thoroughly that they interpreted the law for everyone else. Not knowing and understanding something about faith was not in his wheelhouse. But when Jesus started talking about “being born again,” Nicodemus was baffled.
      • Jesus:
        • Unless a person submits to this original creation – the ‘wind hovering over the water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life – it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom.[5]
        • You hear [the wind] whistling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it’s headed next. That’s the way it is with everyone ‘born from above’ by the wind of God, the Spirit of God.[6]
  • You know, I think we can sympathize with Nicodemus’ confusion – concept of “being born again/born from above” = a challenging concept even after more than a millennia of theological scholarship and debate
    • Doctrines and treatises
    • Textbooks and “armchair theologian” books (break it down as plainly as possible)
    • Christian self-help books and conferences across the country
    • More than 2000 years later, we’re still struggling with what it means to be “born of the Spirit” and how that can and does and might and should affect our lives as Christians today. And we have the benefit of being informed by some of the greatest theological minds ever born. It’s no wonder Nicodemus was a little confounded when he heard Jesus say it for the first time.
  • Even after Jesus tries to explain, Nicodemus still doesn’t understand and asks Jesus again: “What do you mean by this? How does this happen?”[7]
• Gets to the heart of what I love so much about this story: All these questions make it clear that Nicodemus is still a work-in-progress … just like the rest of us! Nicodemus was still learning, and so are we. Nicodemus was still growing, and so are we. Nicodemus’s faith was still being formed and informed by his relationship with Christ, and so is our faith. → always being created and recreated by God through the work of the Holy Spirit
  • Made me think about the process of creating a work of art – talked to my cousin who’s an artist about her creative process: how she chooses a subject, how she knows where a particular piece is going, etc.
    • Sadie: Once I get going, I’ll realize the way I wanted something doesn’t fit, or something I didn’t originally think of fits perfectly. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I end up scraping and restarting. A LOT.
  • You see, sometimes that process of creating and being created is a fuzzy one. It can be unclear – vexingly, bafflingly, and sometimes even disappointingly unclear. But that’s why it’s called a “work-in-progress,” not a “work completed.”
    • [Z: Church/denomination with a foot in the reformed tradition – ringing phrases for the reformed tradition = the church reformed, always reforming] → speaks to importance of submitting and continuing to submit to that creation/recreation
    • [O: Church/denomination born out of the reformed tradition – ringing phrases for the reformed tradition = the church reformed, always reforming] → speaks to importance of submitting and continuing to submit to that creation/recreation
      • Paul speaks to this in Rom: Don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. … This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike, “What’s next, Papa?”[8] → Now, I don’t know about you, but I actually hear Paul encouraging us to be continually created and recreated in this text.
        • Can’t be adventurous without uncertainty
        • Can’t be expectant without an element of the unknown
        • Can’t ask God “What’s next?” if we already know the answer
        • “Get on with your new life!”
      • Scholar: To be in tune with God’s presence we all need a transformative overhaul of our traditional ways of seeing and being. We need a transformation of our whole way of knowing and experiencing the world. When this happens, it is as if we have begun life all over again.[9]
• But friends, the often-discouraging reality is that somewhere along the line, society’s expectation of having everything all figured out somehow seeped into the church. We seem to have adopted the notion that we’re supposed to be totally secure in every aspect of our faith 100% of the time. If we’re not, that means we’re a bad Christian or that our faith is somehow insufficient and inferior. But what I’m telling you this morning is that that is just not true!
  • Greatest faith leaders throughout the centuries haven’t had things “all figured out”
    • Martin Luther King, Jr. – constantly struggled with self-doubts
    • Mother Theresa’s letters with her own spiritual mentors/directors – voice her own doubts, struggles, questions, uncertainties in her faith
    • Pope Francis – expressed belief that the places where we find and meet God must include areas of uncertainty[10]
  • Our faith was not mean to be easy and finite. It wasn’t meant to have neat edges and fit perfectly in a box. Faith is supposed to have growing edges, to have places of discomfort where we brush up against the unknown. Think of the parable of the mustard seed.
    • Mt: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field;it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”[11] → Faith may start out with smooth, easily-definable edges, but once God begins to nurture that faith through the work of the Holy Spirit, it begins to grow and branch out, always stretching further up and further out into the world.
      • Growth that Paul encourages: God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go![12]
      • Creative process that Jesus hints at in conversation with Nicodemus: When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch – the Spirit – and becomes a living spirit.[13]
• Yes, my friends, we are touched by the Holy Spirit of God. We are molded by that Holy Spirit. We are called and confirmed by that Holy Spirit. And we are constantly beckoned by that Holy Spirit.
  • Beckoned into God’s presence – continue to grow and strengthen our faith → This is us not just recognizing but embracing our “work-in-progress” identity with all its imperfections and hiccups and foibles because it means that we are constantly being created and recreated by the firm yet tender touch of God’s hand and God’s heart.
  • Also beckoned out into the world – continue to grow and strengthen our faith → again embracing our “work-in-progress-ness” as God working not just in us but through us, constantly creating and recreating us to be God’s hands and heart in the world
    • Scholar ties inner and outer together: The self-giving love of God in Christ cannot be accepted without illuminating our lives from the inside out.[14] → again, similar to an artist with their works of art
      • Every piece of artwork begins with an inner spark – a thought, a dream, a hope, an emotion – and flows outward to become the artist’s beautiful creation
    • Sadie’s words about finishing a piece: I always see parts I should have done differently or should change, but we are our own worst critics. It’s important that I make myself take a step back a separate myself from my work. Even if it didn’t turn out exactly the way I wanted, I can still find things I like about it; whether it’s something visual or just the lessons I learned during the process, I know that I’m walking away from it a better artist. → Even what can seem like the end – the completion of a piece – spurs other thoughts, other ideas, other growth. And the work begins again … Amen.

[1] Jn 3:1.

[2] Jn 3:2.

[3] Jn 3:3.

[4] Jn 3:4.

[5] Jn 3:5.

[6] Jn 3:8.

[7] Jn 3:9.

[8] Rom 8:12-13, 15 (emphasis added).

[9] Emmanuel Y. Lartey. “Trinity Sunday – John 3:1-17: Pastoral Perspective” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary – Year B, vol. 3. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 46.

[10] Kyle Cupp. “Pope Francis wants Catholics to doubt the Church. He’s right” in The Week, http://theweek.com/articles/446850/pope-francis-wants-catholics-doubt-church-hes-right. Written 26 May 2014, accessed 30 May 2015.

[11] Mt 13:31-32 (NRSV).

[12] Rom 8:14.

[13] Jn 3:6.

[14] Randall C. Zachman. “Trinity Sunday – John 3:1-17: Theological Perspective” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary – Year B, vol. 3. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 46.

A little over a week ago, posters, fliers, and banners like the one above began showing up at a number of churches around Fountain Hills, Arizona, a city roughly the size of Hastings and located about 25 miles northeast of Phoenix. An article, various OpEd pieces, and a half-page ad also showed up in the local newspaper. Starting May 17, eight of the local churches began a round-robin preaching circuit with the self-stated goal of pointing out “the vast differences between true, Biblical Christianity and so-called ‘progressive’ Christianity”[1] and only slightly more abstractly at the pastor of the local “progressive” United Methodist church, Rev. David Felten, is the author of a book entitled Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity.[2]

Not surprisingly, in this excessively digital age in which we live, this story has exploded across the country through any number of blogs, online news sites, etc.

Now, you may be wondering why I’m talking about a sermon series in a town more than 1700 miles away. I have to admit that when I sat down to write this June 2015 newsletter article, I had at least 3-4 ideas that I started before settling on what’s coming out of my fingers right now. (Don’t worry … you’ll see those 3-4 ideas later. J) However, when I was searching for background information for those other articles, I stumbled across yet another posting concerning this story. It was probably the 9^th or 10^th posting I’d seen in the last week alone, and I decided I just couldn’t ignore it anymore.

For some reason, this country has found itself in a deep, ugly, and uncomfortable rut. We’re becoming more and more partisan, and we’re becoming more and more argumentative. Instead of extending a hand of peace and cooperation and compromise, our default has become a pointing finger or even a fist. This happens in politics, and, even more disappointing, this happens in our churches. The rhetoric flying back and forth between the Christian left and the Christian right has become more vitriolic, more accusatory, more hateful.

Hateful. Hateful.

When did we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, become so bent on seeing what’s wrong in “the other”? When did we become so intent on proving our version of faith as the “right” version, the “only” version? 1 John 4:19-21 says, “We, though, are going to love – love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first. If anyone boasts, ‘I love God,’ and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.”

You’ve got to love both.

Both those who understand you and those who don’t … Both those who agree with you and those who don’t … Both those who believe you and those who don’t … Both those who love you and those who don’t.

And as those who choose to bear the name of Christ – the name of the One who came to seek and save the lost – we sometimes needs to be reminded that we’ve all been lost at one time or another. We’ve all been misunderstood. We’ve all been excluded. We’ve all been wrong. We’ve all been hurt. In the face of all that, it’s our calling to see the good and the friendly and the valuable above anything else, even when we don’t necessarily see eye-to-eye. We need to be the light in the world for the sake of the light itself, not for the sake of throwing shadows on everyone else.

[1] Referenced in article posted at http://www.thefountainsumc.org/2015/05/16/campaign-against-progressive-christianity/.

[2] David M. Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy. Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity. (New York, NY: HarperOne), 2012.