|
Scripture - Mark 6:1-13
Mark 6:1-13 (New Revised Standard Version) He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them. Sermon I remember the first time I disagreed with my parents. I’m not talking about the kinds of disagreements most adolescents and young adults have with their parents around what’s for dinner or how late you can stay out with your friends. This was a disagreement rooted in something deeper - a shift in worldview. I was in my junior year of college home on a short break. I had brought home school work since I had some problem sets to finish and a paper to write for my sociology class. When I had signed up for the class at the beginning of the semester, I really wasn’t interested in sociology at all - I was a math and physics girl -- give me facts and figures and proofs instead of this reading and writing stuff. I took it because it filled a graduation requirement. To my surprise, I was actually enjoying the course, and while I was home writing up my final paper for the class, I shared with my parents a bit about the book and other research my papers was based on - prepared to engage in conversation and dialogue about how interesting it was. I wasn’t prepared for the feedback I received. I remember being bewildered by their absolute dismissal - there wasn’t any real conversation, and I was so caught off guard that I couldn’t even ask where their ideas and statements were coming from. It made me realized how much I had changed and how much my experiences and learnings and conversations with others had put me in a different place than the one I grew up in. It was a bit disorienting for me - and I’m sure it was for them as well - as we had to renegotiate the changing assumptions and perceptions and differing value systems that are a part of growing up and differentiating from one’s family. I also think about Martin Luther King Jr….a Newsweek article from early this year noted that in the years leading up to his assassination, he was very unpopular in the United States. A Gallup poll in 1966 found that almost two-thirds of Americans had an unfavorable opinion on him and only third had a positive impression -- and that unfavorable two thirds was an increase of 26 points from 1963. His popularity began to decrease after he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, particularly after he began to shift the conversation around civil rights in the south to segregation and poverty among black Americans in Chicago. When he took a stand against the Vietnam War in 1967, he started drawing even more criticism, especially from those in the black community. Finally, his tackling the larger issue of poverty in this country - the Poor People’s Campaign of 1968, calling for a march on Washington itself - was his final unpopular decision. These moments are some of what came to mind for me when I read this passage about Jesus being back in his hometown of Nazareth, teaching in the local synagogue….it’s the tension of being in a different place than the rest of your community, of drawing criticism or critique from those who you had hoped would understand and know you, and wrestling with reality being ideologically and spiritually different than what was expected of you, particularly from those who know you - or think they know you - the best. The people who came to hear Jesus speak were those with whom he had spent most of his life - they knew him as Jesus the carpenter, as Mary and Joseph’s boy, knew stories of what he was like as a child, perhaps they even had tables or benches that he had made. Presumably, word about what Jesus could do had made its way to their ears - casting out demons, healing lepers and paralytics those with all manner of diseases. The news about his wise teachings, too, had spread to them. So when he rolls into Nazareth with his disciples, he draws a crowd in the synagogue on the Sabbath. Initially, they are amazed and astounded at his words and by what he was able to do...but praise quickly turns to scorn. It was almost as if they still saw Jesus as the Jesus they had always known - not any kind of miracle worker or wise teacher, but just one of them. I can imagine them saying, How dare he think of himself as more than us, as better than us?” They didn’t understand the source of his wisdom and power. Jesus, at their offense, perhaps gets a bit rankled himself, and responds with that famous proverb: Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown,...which goes on to say and among their own kin, and in their own house. Instead of pausing to lick his wounds or to high-tail it out of town with this less-than-stellar reception, Jesus forges ahead and offers deeds of power, except to find that nothing could be done, but for a few healings...and he is amazed at their unbelief. In rejecting Jesus, they are also rejecting the power of God that was at work in him - and so his inability to work miracles among his own community has less to do with him and more to do with the people who couldn’t see past the Jesus they knew and understood - the Jesus that seemed no different than them. Finally Jesus leaves, and goes to teach in neighboring villages. And then all of a sudden in Mark’s Gospel we switch gears, and see Jesus sending out the twelve disciples two by two, giving them bizarre instructions for the journey - he tells them not to take a bag or bread or money or extra clothes - just a staff, sandals, and a tunic. He tells them to stay where they are welcome and shake the dust off their feet of the places they’re not. They went out on the road with “joyful urgency that life can be radically different” as the Message paraphrase puts it - healing the sick, exorcising demons, and proclaiming the kingdom as they went. A beautiful success story following a story of Jesus’ failure. We have to chalk this one up to the disciples - who really seemed clued in this time, after all the times in the gospels where they don’t get it, where Jesus rebukes them and corrects their mistakes, this time - they actually pull it off. Jesus takes off the training wheels a bit, sends them out and they make it happen! So I have to wonder if Jesus taking his disciples to his hometown of Nazareth wasn’t a bit of hands-on modeling for his followers of what to do when resistance comes...what to do when they receive a less-than-warm reception...how to persist in the work Jesus set out before them. Watching Jesus handle rejection and offense among the people who knew him the best prepared the disciples for what they might face among the towns and villages where they would be preaching and healing. Because the truth of the matter is, Jesus and his disciples were about this radically different way of life, this new message of God’s Kingdom being at hand, and it wasn’t exactly a popular idea among many people during his time - especially those who were good, observant Jews, those who connected with the Temple or who were religious scholars or who had an in with the Roman government or those who wanted to keep their heads down and not rock the boat, those who wanted to keep things the way that they were for fear of what those in power might do. This life of repentance, of lifting up the lowly and shattering the proud, of lavish grace and inclusion of the outcast and forgotten, of restoration for the broken and bloodied, of redemption for the sinners and tax collectors - it broke all the conventions of his time and threatened the very fabric of the society in which Jesus and his disciples lived. And it remains a dangerous way of life. As followers of Jesus we should be finding ourselves a bit out of sync with the world. There will be times when people - sometimes people we love and care about - will look at us like we’re crazy when we talk about having compassion on the poor and treating them like human beings, or when we forgive the friend who betrayed us, or when we take time for the person no one gives the time of day to, or when we give generously not out of our extra, but sacrificially so that another person’s needs can be met. Christians operate off of a different script, seeing the world differently, taking cues from Jesus and how he lived and operated in the world...and Jesus continually invites us to pattern our lives and our hearts after his own. And as we are sent out into the world each week, each day, we find a world where we have to negotiate alternative messages to this life of love and peace - sometimes dealing with flat out rejection of the love that we’ve found in God, sometimes dealing with openness and excitement - and everything in-between. In all of this, Jesus shows us how to persist in the work he gives us the power and authority to do - to heal, to attack the demons that plague our society and the world that God loves, and to share the good news….and shows us how to shake the dust from our feet and continue on when faced with opposition. For if we are following his lead, the resistance we face has more to do with where others are on the journey - their own worldview, their own assumptions about God and Jesus and faith - and less about who God really is and how Jesus lives and breathes in us. We are not held responsible for their response - but only for our own faithfulness as we are sent out in Christ’s name. To close, I want to reread the second portion of the scripture passage from Eugene Peterson’s The Message - because as people who have found life in Christ, and as people who go back to our homes or workplaces trying to be faithful signs of God’s love with all the challenges that brings, I believe the way he frames this passage will help remind us of our calling as a people who are to build God’s kingdom in this world. 7-8 Jesus called the Twelve to him -- perhaps it should read “Jesus calls us to him”, and sent them out in pairs. He gave them authority and power to deal with the evil opposition. He sent them off with these instructions: 8-9 “Don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this. You are the equipment. No special appeals for funds. Keep it simple. 10 “And no luxury inns. Get a modest place and be content there until you leave. 11 “If you’re not welcomed, not listened to, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way.” 12-13 Then they were on the road. They preached with joyful urgency that life can be radically different; right and left they sent the demons packing; they brought wellness to the sick, anointing their bodies, healing their spirits. Go forth this day to share this truth with the world. Amen.
0 Comments
Scripture - Mark 5:21-43
Mark 5:21-43 (NRSV) 21When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. 22Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet 23and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” 24So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. 25Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. 26She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. 27She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” 29Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.30Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” 31And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32He looked all around to see who had done it.33But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” 35While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?”36But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. 38When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!” 42And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. 43He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. Sermon For twelve years this nameless woman in our passage from this morning had suffered. Twelve years with a ceaseless flow of blood that rendered her unclean - which made her unable to touch anyone, unable to participate in the life of the Temple, unable to be in community with anyone lest they, too, become unclean and impure. Twelve years of perpetual doctor’s visits, spending every last penny she owned trying to find an answer, only to discover her condition was getting worse. Twelve years of constant, unending sickness and isolation - twelve years of being put to the side by everyone she encountered - twelve years of alienation and loneliness and desperation...until Jesus comes along….and instead of following the religious rules of her day, she pursues and encounter with Jesus. She reaches out to touch him, even though she knew she shouldn’t be defiling the crowds with her presence, even though she knew she was forbidden to touch any man in her condition, even though she knew her touch would render him unclean. She crosses all social norms to touch the hem of his cloak to be made whole again. Jesus stops at her touch, knowing that power had gone out of him. He’s in the middle of a crowd - anyone could have jostled him by accident - but he knows something happened, and at his question “Who touched me,” she comes forward, fearful and trembling, after all she’s done wrong, perhaps she expected to publicly shame her or rebuke her, but she approaches yet again and told him the whole truth - her whole story comes spilling forth at the feet of Jesus. He listens to her, giving back her dignity and humanity after twelve years as this woman negotiated her body around others, dealt with other’s perceptions and prejudices and assumptions, kept back her full self from connection and relationship because of her condition. Jesus, instead of dismissing her, instead of casting her aside and admonishing her, calls her daughter, restoring not only her body but her whole being to community. This story of this rebellious, transgressive healing is sandwiched between the healing of another nameless girl, known to us only by the relationship she has with her father - Jairus’s daughter. Jairus is a leader in the synagogue - wealthy in comparison to the destitute woman in the crowd - powerful enough to directly petition Jesus on behalf of his dying little girl. On his way to this man’s house, after this encounter with hemorrhaging woman, Jesus learns that the child has died, the messengers claiming that there is no need for Jairus to bother Jesus anymore. Would the girl still have been alive had Jesus not stopped to talk to the ailing woman? We don’t know. Regardless, Jesus is undeterred and enters the house to find mourners around the bedside of this little girl. When they mock Jesus for his pronouncement that the girl is “sleeping” - a common euphemism for death - he kicks everyone out except for the child’s mother and father and disciples - takes the girls hand and commands her to get up. In this case, it is Jesus who extends his hand to the girl - himself risking being made unclean by touching a dead body. This healing - resurrection, really - is a private miracle as opposed to the public spectacle just witnessed on the way, and Jesus orders secrecy around this event….as if anyone can keep quiet about a child proclaimed dead, whose funeral rites had already begun, coming back to life and eating and drinking. What strikes me in both of these encounters is Jesus’s wholehearted presence with each of the people in this story - with the desperate father searching for healing for his little girl and Jesus’s ability to be with the family in the midst of the mourners who laughed at Jesus’s proclamation of life where they saw only death. Jesus unwavering commitment to this woman who had been covered in shame and who needed someone to hear her story and heal her. In both, Jesus not only performs physical healing, but restores each - the twelve year old girl and the woman who bled for twelve years - to community and fellowship. In each case, Jesus moves past the constructed boundaries of what is “impure” - this menstruating woman and the dead body - to practice compassion. In each story, a hopeless daughter can live and go in peace again because Jesus treats each one as a member of his family - finding value in each of them where no one else will. I can’t help but connect this story to what’s been happening along the southern border of this country - and the ways that many Americans have made assumptions about their stories, about why they’ve come here and about their character because of the way they chose to enter the United States. Those in power have constructed narratives that make many in our country unable to listen to the stories of violence, pain, terror, that individuals and families are fleeing - often at great personal cost. Stories of gangs terrorizing and abusing single mothers and children, of domestic violence and high crime rates, unstable communities and violence that oftentimes came about due to previous United States involvement in their governments. These are the truths that immigrants carry with them into our country, but few are able to listen; instead, our government equates them to animals, criminals - fit for cages, with children continued to be held separate from their families. It’s clear how the principalities and powers are working to devalue the life of people crossing into our country - taking away their humanity, isolating them from community, treating them as less than and other. Compassion and empathy have been lost in the enforcement of law and order. Where there should be life and hope, our political system has been pronouncing death and despair. In response to these and other horrors, Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, reminds us that “if it doesn’t look like love, if it doesn’t look like Jesus of Nazareth, it cannot be claimed to be Christian.” If it doesn’t look like love, it isn’t Christian. Period. Jesus valued compassion and mercy over the rigid religious law of the day. Jesus took the time to affirm the humanity of those his society considered less than and other - bleeding women, children, tax collectors and prostitutes, lepers and beggars and those whose very existence his culture sought to ignore and dismiss, whose very laws dehumanized and erased. Jesus instead lived by love. What does that love look like? It looks like one whose heart went out to the cries of a grieving father, who touched the hand of a sick child. It looks like one who risks defilement to touch the bloody and the broken. The one who insists on the whole truth, however falteringly told. The one who listens for as long as it takes. The one who brings life to dead places. The one who restores hope. The one who turns mourning into dancing. The one who renames the outcast, “Daughter,” and bids her go in peace. It’s the same love that calls us into one family - that makes us all brothers and sisters - no matter who we are and where we come from, whether we live on this side of the border or the other. We may live far away from the atrocities committed by our government at the border, we may feel powerless in the face of such devastation. But we can be love - in the conversations we have with friends and neighbors, reminding others of the common humanity of those our government has sought to dehumanize, strengthening and encouraging each other when we get tired or burdened by the weight of the news we hear day after day. Love looks like us - the followers of Jesus in the world - reaching out to touch the untouchable, listening to the stories of the dismissed, and choosing to act with love even and especially beyond the bounds of social construction. Jesus’s love is subversive and transgressive and radical, breaking boundaries and barriers. It is not always a safe and comforting love - but a love that demands action - a love that cries out for us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us - it’s a radically different way of being with one another in our world. It’s a love that heals and restores those whom everybody thinks are worthless. It’s a love that doesn’t conform to the rules and regulations of this world. It’s a love that shows us the way forward to a kingdom of peace and justice, of undeserving grace and mercy, of wholeness and redemption. Later in our time of worship today, we’ll be taking Communion - a meal that binds us as a family, where we take the body and blood of Christ. It’s a meal that unites us in our common humanity, a meal where we believe all are welcome to be fed. But also, it’s a meal that is more than just bread and juice. You know the saying “you are what you eat?” well, in this meal we are taking in Jesus. In this meal, Jesus is becoming a part of us….and in response is this call to let Jesus flow through us - to be that love - to be Christ in the world today. As we come forward to receive - let it be your commitment to live this life of love. To be the hands and feet and eyes and ears of Jesus. To be a witness to this radical, boundary breaking love. To stand together as the body of Christ, to be a people who point the way to the one who brought life to dead places...and to be a people working and serving and shouting and singing our way toward greater compassion, mercy, justice and peace in the world. This is my prayer for us, the church, the people of God this day. Amen. Scripture - 1 Samuel 17:32-49
The lectionary continues the story of David from last week - where we read about David’s anointing to be the next king over Israel. This week we read about another famous David story - the encounter between him and the Philistine Goliath. Saul is still king over Israel at this time, and overseeing this stalemate - Goliath, the Philistine’s champion, who was large and scary and armored to the max, demanded Israel to send their best warrior to fight him. Every day for 40 days he challenged the Israelites to a battle of champions...until one day, David overheard him and accepted. This is where the story picks up. Instead of hearing the text and then listening to a sermon preached on it, we’re going to experience the passage a bit differently together. We’ll hear the passage read a couple times - first to familiarize ourselves with what happens in the story and to take note of any particular part that draws our attention. The second, we’ll read more slowly, and I’ll pause every so often to ask a question for you to reflect personally on that may help you engage with this text with where you are in your life right now. I invite you to get into a comfortable position, note the position of your body, feel the pew carrying your weight, notice the pattern of your breathing, you may wish to have your hands resting on your legs with your palms up in a position of openness...you may wish to have your eyes open with a soft focus or your eyes closed...let’s take a few moments to breathe to prepare our hearts for the hearing of these words from 1 Samuel……. I invite you hear the story and take note of any particular part of the passage - a word or phrase or concept - that draws your attention. 1 Samuel 17:32-49 (The Message) 32 “Master,” said David, “don’t give up hope. I’m ready to go and fight this Philistine.” 33 Saul answered David, “You can’t go and fight this Philistine. You’re too young and inexperienced—and he’s been at this fighting business since before you were born.” 34-37 David said, “I’ve been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I’d go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I’d grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I’ll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine.” Saul said, “Go. And God help you!” 38-39 Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David tried to walk but he could hardly budge. David told Saul, “I can’t even move with all this stuff on me. I’m not used to this.” And he took it all off. 40 Then David took his shepherd’s staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath. 41-42 As the Philistine paced back and forth, his shield bearer in front of him, he noticed David. He took one look down on him and sneered—a mere youngster, apple-cheeked and peach-fuzzed. 43 The Philistine ridiculed David. “Am I a dog that you come after me with a stick?” And he cursed him by his gods. 44 “Come on,” said the Philistine. “I’ll make roadkill of you for the buzzards. I’ll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice.” 45-47 David answered, “You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel’s troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I’m about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there’s an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn’t save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he’s handing you to us on a platter!” 48-49 That roused the Philistine, and he started toward David. David took off from the front line, running toward the Philistine. David reached into his pocket for a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine hard in the forehead, embedding the stone deeply. The Philistine crashed, facedown in the dirt. Ignatian Exercise We’ll hear the passage read again more slowly; pausing from time to time for opportunities for deeper reflection….and closing with prayer together. 32 “Master,” said David, “don’t give up hope. I’m ready to go and fight this Philistine.” 33 Saul answered David, “You can’t go and fight this Philistine. You’re too young and inexperienced—and he’s been at this fighting business since before you were born.” Imagine yourself in the Israelite war camp, the sounds of armor and metal, the buzz of conversation, the movement of the soldiers, the sights and the smells - what emotions do you sense around you as you observe the scene? What emotions are you feeling as you watch this conversation between David and Saul? [silence] 34-37 David said, “I’ve been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I’d go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I’d grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I’ll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine.” Saul said, “Go. And God help you!” What do you resonate with in David’s response to Saul? His experience? Youthful exuberance? His confidence in God? In himself? Where have you felt similarly in your life? What comes to mind as you recall that moment? [silence] 38-39 Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David tried to walk but he could hardly budge. David told Saul, “I can’t even move with all this stuff on me. I’m not used to this.” And he took it all off. 40 Then David took his shepherd’s staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath. What are you feeling as David takes off the armor and approaches Goliath unprotected? What do you imagine is going on with the Israelites at this moment? With the Philistines? What do you see on their faces? Hear them say? 41-42 As the Philistine paced back and forth, his shield bearer in front of him, he noticed David. He took one look down on him and sneered—a mere youngster, apple-cheeked and peach-fuzzed. 43 The Philistine ridiculed David. “Am I a dog that you come after me with a stick?” And he cursed him by his gods. 44 “Come on,” said the Philistine. “I’ll make roadkill of you for the buzzards. I’ll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice.” 45-47 David answered, “You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel’s troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I’m about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there’s an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn’t save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he’s handing you to us on a platter!” As this exchange happens, What is happening around you? What do pay attention to more; Goliath’s taunts or David’s challenge? What stirs within you as you watch the conversation unfold? What do you imagine David might be feeling? 48-49 That roused the Philistine, and he started toward David. David took off from the front line, running toward the Philistine. David reached into his pocket for a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine hard in the forehead, embedding the stone deeply. The Philistine crashed, facedown in the dirt. What do you imagine is the reaction to this encounter? What does this say to you about God’s presence with David? With you? What giants are you facing right now in your life? Where does this give you confidence to face your own battles? It feels like madness to stand before the giant with nothing but faith and a few small stones. It seems insane to believe that anything but brute force can match the challenge of the powerful. But, in the stillness a different voice whispers, speaking of crosses and empty tombs, of justice and God’s concern for the weak; In the stillness fear and insecurity can be heard in the bellowing of the bullies; And in the stillness the temptation in each of us to cling to our power at all costs becomes clear and transparent. And so we find ourselves in prayer, Jesus, that the gentle persuasion of your love may change how we do power in our world; that the strong and wealthy may find life in sharing and empowering; and that we each, in our own small way, may remember that the giants we wrestle with only fall when we allow your authority to lead us, and your justice to teach us how to live. Amen. As we come out of the silence and the stillness with our reflections and our prayers -- what did you notice about the passage or about your own experience with reading the text in this way that you’d like to share with others here? [Get Feedback] Reading the text in this way engages ourselves with the story in a different way that allows us to experience new insights, different emotions - and perhaps make the story more concretely our own as we recognize more acutely the fear and insecurities of the characters and our own resonance with their emotions. Perhaps we connected with Saul’s reluctance and hesitation and saw the places where we aren’t ready to cede control or trust in what God might be doing. Perhaps we were able to identify the places where we need the confidence in God that David has as we face our own giants. In all these things, however, we know our God calls us forward - that God is present in our doubts and darkness, in our battles and struggles, and God continually invites us to place our trust in God’s promises of life and peace - that God can do the seemingly impossible, that God uses the weak to confound the strong, that God brings light to our darkness and songs to our soul. In all things, God is with us. As we stand to sing our next hymn, let what you heard and experienced in our time of reflection be a prayer, praising God for the strength to face giants, for love overcoming fear, for power made perfect in weakness. Let us stand and sing together our next hymn My Life Flows On - number 2212 in the black hymnals. *Hymn - My Life Flows On (FWS 2212) Scripture - 1 Samuel 15:34 - 16:13
1 Samuel 15:34 - 16:13 (NRSV) 34Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord was sorry that he had made Saul king over Israel. 16The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” 4Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” 7But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 12He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah. Sermon Well, I read this passage one way a couple weeks ago when I was looking ahead to see the lectionary texts appointed for this Sunday - and by the time I sat down to craft this message for today the world looked different, with global summits and peace talks, primary elections and continued family separation at the US-Mexico border, now with biblical justification. The complex web of our political reality intersects our moral sensibilities as people of faith, and I don’t know about you, but this past week I have felt overwhelmed by the weight of the news, wondering where is God in the midst of everything that’s happening in our world right now - not just in the stories that get filtered onto our television screens and Facebook feeds, but also in the private struggles and griefs that it’s so easy to lose sight of in the midst of the bigger political picture. But what we have in our text this morning is a bigger political picture. King Saul’s reign, while it started out peaceably, did not go well. You can read a bit more about the specifics in earlier chapters of 1 Samuel, but things really started going downhill when King Saul started disobeying God and lying to Samuel about it. It’s a pretty brutal story - but in essence, King Saul continually edited God’s commands for his own purposes and as a result, we read that God was sorry that God had made Saul king over Israel and sets out with Samuel to anoint a new king over Israel. Such an anointing, however, has to be done under the radar, for fear of King Saul. So a plan is laid by which Jesse of Bethlehem is invited to a sacrifice, and God tells Samuel that one of the sons of Jesse will be the next king. Jesse presumably knows what’s going on as he makes seven of his sons pass before Samuel, for each time one goes by, Samuel says “The Lord has not chosen this one.” I’ve always imagined this passage being where the boys are lined up one by one by age and height and brawn, and there’s a growing look of confusion on Jesse’s face as each one is passed over for kingship. God’s standards, however, aren’t based on appearance or height any outward display of power -- God does not see as morals see; God looks on the heart. When they get to the end of the line, Samuel asks - “are these all your sons?” to which Jesse acknowledges, “well...there is the youngest...out with the sheep…” as if it didn’t even occur to Jesse that the littlest one might actually be The One. When David is brought out before Samuel, it is noted that he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome -- which was always a bit ironic to me, that there had been a point made about not looking at the outward appearance and instead seeing the heart and the first thing we know about David is how he looks. But this is the one - God gives the word, Samuel anoints him, and the spirit of the Lord comes upon David, though he would not be king in actuality for many years yet. We have in this text a collision of private lives and public events - a twisting turn where Jesse and his family are swept up in the unfolding narrative of divine leadership over Israel. God’s anointing of one leader and rejection of another, the people wondering what place they may find themselves (after all, when Samuel comes to Bethlehem, he isn’t greeted with sounds of rejoicing, they were trembling, wondering if Samuel came in peace or not). With all this uncertainty - what is Samuel here to do, what will change with David as king, what is God doing among us - two things stand out - God is surely present and God’s spirit is at work. God’s presence and active knowledge of the hearts of the people led God to move in new directions, opening up opportunities from the least likely of places - a small shepherd boy whose own father didn’t even think was worthy for consideration for kingship. As I think about our world today, and consider the ways that our political landscape has created fear and division among people and how our collective moral compass has strayed, and as I read this text about shifting power from the outwardly strong to the one who is the the least, I believe God is at work. I’m not suggesting that God is appointing world leaders and moving people about as if on some divine chess-board, but consistently - throughout scripture - we find God’s presence in the poor, the weak, the underdog, the lonely, the least, and forgotten - and we find God choosing people in those places as agents of God’s greater work of redemption and restoration of our entire world. If we read further on in the story, we know even David wasn’t the best of kings when it came to personal and family relationships and the impact that had on others - that even he was vulnerable to corrupt uses of his power and didn’t always make wise choices...and yet scripture remembers King David as a man after God’s own heart. God chose Moses - an escaped fugitive and stutterer to be the one to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt. God chose Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute, to be the one to offer shelter as the Israelites were scouting out the promised land - and she even gets a mention in the Gospel of Matthew’s lineage of Jesus. God chose Jeremiah, a young boy, to be a prophet - speaking God’s truth to power - in the midst of a tumultuous period in the history of Israel and Judah, including the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile to Babylon. God chose Mary, a young girl from the backwater town of Nazareth in a minor province of a people oppressed by the Roman Empire, to be the one to bring God’s own son Jesus into the world. And Jesus chose 12 unlikely men - fishermen and tax collectors - those who weren’t considered important or worthy - and some who were even despised - to be the ones closest to him, loving them, discipling them, and entrusting them to be vessels of the Holy Spirit in carrying out the good news of God’s Kingdom. And God also chooses us. Our text reminds us, God looks beyond the outward appearance - and looks on the heart. And on seeing our hearts, invites us to participate in the work of building God’s kingdom - a kingdom of peace, of justice, of compassion and forgiveness, of mercy and love, of hope and healing and wholeness - a kingdom that we pray is established here on earth as it is in heaven. While we’re far from it, and while events in the world around us or even events in our own communities and relationships can cause us to feel disheartened about the gap that exists between where we are and where God yearns for us to be, the invitation is always there for us to be the ones to together step into that gap and live as kingdom people, creating that peace and hope and healing for those around us. But it takes an open and receptive heart, a willingness to surrender to Jesus and God’s deep love for us, and a commitment to building the practices of peace, hospitality, forgiveness, compassion, and love that are at the foundation of life in God’s kingdom. God is present with us in this day and age and God’s spirit is still at work, in the places where people have stepped up to protect the world’s most vulnerable populations, in the places where people have loving conversations with those with whom we disagree, in the places where people engage with those who are different than they are, in the places where voices are raised to offer a different way forward, and in the places where people choose to live a life rooted in the Gospel. God sees our hearts - and God chooses each of us to bear that message of hope and peace, to weave it into the fabric of our daily lives, to offer it as light when the world around us gets dark. It is our calling as followers of Jesus - as those who are trying to live God’s love for the world - to do so in all areas of our life -- and to join with others who are trying to do the same. This is something we do together - we cannot do this alone - and so in closing I would invite us to turn in our black hymnals to page 2242 - Walk With Me - this call join together to build the land that God has planned where love shines through. I invite us to stand and sing as a way of committing ourselves once again to living as God’s people, bound together, to be a living sign of that message of hope and new life. Let us sing together. *Hymn - Walk With Me (FWS 2242) Scripture - 1 Samuel 8:4-20
1 Samuel 8:4-20 (The Message) 4-5 Fed up, all the elders of Israel got together and confronted Samuel at Ramah. They presented their case: “Look, you’re an old man, and your sons aren’t following in your footsteps. Here’s what we want you to do: Appoint a king to rule us, just like everybody else.” 6 When Samuel heard their demand—“Give us a king to rule us!”—he was crushed. How awful! Samuel prayed to God. 7-9 God answered Samuel, “Go ahead and do what they’re asking. They are not rejecting you. They’ve rejected me as their King. From the day I brought them out of Egypt until this very day they’ve been behaving like this, leaving me for other gods. And now they’re doing it to you. So let them have their own way. But warn them of what they’re in for. Tell them the way kings operate, just what they’re likely to get from a king.” 10-18 So Samuel told them, delivered God’s warning to the people who were asking him to give them a king. He said, “This is the way the kind of king you’re talking about operates. He’ll take your sons and make soldiers of them—chariotry, cavalry, infantry, regimented in battalions and squadrons. He’ll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and harvesting, and others to making either weapons of war or chariots in which he can ride in luxury. He’ll put your daughters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks. He’ll conscript your best fields, vineyards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends. He’ll tax your harvests and vintage to support his extensive bureaucracy. Your prize workers and best animals he’ll take for his own use. He’ll lay a tax on your flocks and you’ll end up no better than slaves. The day will come when you will cry in desperation because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don’t expect God to answer.” 19-20 But the people wouldn’t listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We will have a king to rule us! Then we’ll be just like all the other nations. Our king will rule us and lead us and fight our battles.” Sermon I’m going to show you a couple of different television commercials, and I want you to tell me what they are trying to sell. [Insurance Ad] - Peace of mind [Phone Ad] - This phone will make you creative, your everyday life will be exciting. On one level, they’re selling us a product or service, but on another level, they are speaking to a deep place within our souls, touching that place that makes us think, “oh yeah, if I buy into that exercise program, I’ll get the happiness that I want.” Or, “Oh yeah, if I go with those financial planners, I’ll have the security I need.” Or “Right, if I drink that kind of beer, I’ll suddenly have all the friends and community I want.” These are rarely conscious thoughts that we have, but they are enmeshed with our desires to seek fulfillment and happiness in external things, in outside validation. They’re not just selling us a product, they’re selling us stories about who we are and who we should want to be. We’re surrounded by these stories everyday on our TVs, Facebook feeds, magazines - everywhere you look, from the seemingly innocuous ad for a cleaning product to larger items like computers and cars - and there’s a cumulative effect when these stories begin to take shape in our spirits and we begin to attach ourselves - our identity, our security, our happiness, our values, our beliefs - to this narrative - and we begin to realize that we don’t measure up to what we’re being sold. To quote a former mentor of mine, “There’s a whole cottage industry out there, friends, that’s designed to tell you that you’re not good enough – and so, you need to buy their product, or their service, or their program so that you can find that elusive happiness that they have you convinced, you so desperately need.” However, seeking our security or happiness or identity in external things is not purely a modern problem. Take, for instance, our scripture reading from 1 Samuel this morning. The elders of Israel came to Samuel because they wanted to be like other nations and have a king. It wasn’t enough for them to have God as their sovereign, they wanted a human king just like everybody else. When I read that passage for the first time years ago, that idea is what jumped out at me, and it continues to be the part of this story that strikes me the most. The people of Israel - from the time they had entered and settled the Promised Land and received the laws dictating how they were to live together in that land - from that time to when this story takes place, about 300 - 400 years - they had been ruled by divinely appointed judges; individuals chosen by God to bring the people back into faithfulness with God, some of whom also led great military campaigns against Israel’s enemies. Samuel functioned as both prophet and judge for the people of Israel - so when Samuel heard the people’s desire for a king, God had to remind him that it wasn’t Samuel they were rejecting...but God. Israel chose to seek their safety and security - and their identity as a people - in having a king instead of relying upon God for their provision. They coveted the system of government held by their neighbors, wanted to adopt their way of thinking and being, they wanted to be like them and thought that a king would solve all their problems for them - be able to fight their battles, make wise decisions, rule them and lead them. What God had given to them in the judges and in their elders and priests wasn’t good enough for them. They chose to believe the story that being like all the other nations would make everything right in their world, and a king was their ticket to success. Instead of living differently, they wanted to blend in - they wanted to seek validation and happiness in externals in being just like everybody else. And God, instead of forcing the issue, instead of making the people see reason - lets them make that choice, reminding them, though, that there will be consequences to that choice - and Samuel proceeds to list exactly what those will be, with slave labor on farms, conscripts into the military, taxes on harvests, imminent domain over the choicest fields and vineyards, just to name a few. Last of all is the reminder that when all this happens, when they cry out because of these dire circumstances, that God will not answer them in their distress. Harsh words - but words that are ignored and we see later in the story that Samuel anoints Saul king over Israel and the people rejoice. All this because the Israelites believed it would be better to be like the other nations around them, they believed the story that they’d be better off buying into the king program as it was advertised, and that doing so would be better for them instead of what God had offered them in how they were to live together as God’s people. There continues to be a strong temptation to buy into the stories the world tells us; the stories rooted in individualism and consumerism, the stories that our identity comes from those things that are outside of us. Perhaps we’re not setting up kings and queens to rule us, but we do set up a way of thinking and being that rules our lives that runs antithetical to God’s unconditional love for us and for the world. We see this in the drive for happiness and success being associated with what I own or consume. We see this in the drive to make something of ourselves, that our whole self-image is based on what we do and whether people like us or not. We see this in the idea that the world is all about me and my own story and my own satisfaction - and that everyone else is there to play a supporting role, everyone else is there as stepping stones or obstacles to the achievement of whatever it is I want to be. All external realities that motivate us to buy in, to want more, that prey upon our insecurities around not being good enough, attempt to discredit the true reality of our identity and security -- that we are beloved children of God and nothing that we could ever do or not do can change that. It’s a daily choice to hold fast to that truth, to let the story of God’s grace and love reign in our hearts instead of looking for salvation in governments and fashions and technology and diets, in self-help programs or the self-improvement plans. It’s a choice that requires community to strengthen and reinforce it - with corporate worship and prayer, with study around scripture together, journeying with others who are also looking to ground themselves in God’s great story with humankind as opposed to the temptation to fit in with the world around us. It’s a choice that requires confession and honesty...and an awareness of the ways the world still has claim on us...and the ability to yet again turn our souls toward God’s fresh, transforming spirit. It is a collective choice, as well, to be God’s people - not conformed to the values of this world but shaped and formed by the life of Christ and the way he lived and loved and pointed the way to God’s kingdom. In our daily living this week, be mindful of the stories you are surrounded with - are they ones full of God’s love and grace, or are they ones that lead you to seek happiness in external things? Do they point to life in God’s kingdom, or do they point to playing by the world’s rules? Be mindful of the opportunities to steep yourself again and again in the story of grace and mercy, of the hope and promise that Jesus brings, of the spirit’s movement opening our hearts to that love once more. May we continue to learn to ground our spirits in God’s great love for us and for the world, that we may hold true that we are all children of God. Amen. Scripture - 1 Samuel 3:1-20
1 Samuel 3:1-20 (NRSV) Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. 2At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 5and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 11Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. 12On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.” 15Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” 17Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.” 19As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. Responsive Psalm Reading - Psalm 139:1-6; 13-18 (UMH 854) Sermon I have immense sympathy for Samuel in this passage - and I suspect that anyone who is a caregiver for a small child or, perhaps, an elderly parent, can relate a bit to the middle of the night wake-up calls. Just replace the words “Samuel, Samuel” with cries of “Mommy, Mommy!” and you have a pretty good picture of how my last night went...except Michael wasn’t nearly so accommodating in sending me back to bed, as Eli did in this passage from 1 Samuel. No, Michael’s cries in the middle of the night demand a response - and so I roll out of bed, generally sleepily, sometimes begrudgingly, to soothe Michael back to sleep after he’s had a bad dream, or after he’s woken up feeling uncomfortable, or just because he doesn’t have the skills to put himself back to sleep all the time. Samuel, in our story, mistakes these midnight messages as being from Eli, and we see his readiness to respond to these calls, be they from his mentor or from God. To understand why that might be the case, we need to know a bit about how Samuel came to be serving the Lord, a bit about Eli and his family, and this moment in Israel’s history. You can find all of this in your Bibles in the first two chapters of 1 Samuel, but here’s the snapshot version. Samuel was a boy who had been dedicated to the Lord’s service since before he had even been conceived. Hannah, his mother, was desperate for a child, and so on her yearly pilgrimage to worship God at Shiloh - the place where the ark of the covenant lay, which symbolized God’s presence with the people of Israel, she prayed for God to bless her with a son and in return, she promised to give the child back to God in service. Eli, the priest who attended the Lord with his two sons, saw her, thought was drunk because of the manner of her prayer, confronted her but softened when she explained that she had been pouring out her soul to God in prayer. Eli blessed her and assured her that God would grant her petition. Sure enough, she found herself with child and one he was weaned, presented him to Eli for service to God and left him there. Each year thereafter, she brought him a little robe for him to wear as he went about his duties. Samuel came into God’s service as a three year-old boy in the midst of corruption. For while Eli had been attending to his spiritual duties, he had clearly neglected his parental ones. His two sons, both of whom were also priests at Shiloh, cared little for others or for the obligations of their position. They dealt unfairly with those who came to worship, disrespected the offerings, took advantage of the women who came to serve at the tent of meeting. Eli’s reprimands to his sons had no effect; in fact, the story tells us that God gave a prophetic message to Eli outlining the Lord’s plans regarding his family; both his sons would be killed on the same day and the whole family would be rendered penniless. If we read on in the story, we discover Israel at war with the Philistines, the ark of the covenant captured, and people serving foreign gods. Samuel is born into this world of war, corruption, and turmoil. God’s voice had rarely been heard, visions and revelations from God were rare, and Samuel - despite having served God under Eli for most of his life - had not yet known the Lord, God had not yet been revealed to him. But Samuel had also been born being known by God, dedicated to God’s service….and it’s at this moment when he hears this voice calling his name in the middle of the night that we see Samuel step into the full mantle of that calling. Three times he thinks it’s Eli and it isn’t until that third time that Eli realized that it was God who was seeking out the boy Samuel. When God’s voice calls out for a fourth time, Samuel presents himself as being ready to listen, and God entrusts to him this message of judgement against his mentor Eli, a weighty word for a boy to carry. In all this, we read that as the boy Samuel grew, the Lord was with him and that everyone knew that he was a trustworthy prophet of God. God’s presence surrounded Samuel - the Lord sought him out - and walked with him in the midst of a troubled world to be the bearer of God’s messages and a witness to God’s hope and desire for Israel’s faithfulness. We certainly live in no less troubled times - with the complexity of our family relationships, the uncovering of systems of racism and prejudice, the dismantling of abuses of power with the #metoo movement, the threat of violence in our schools and the fragility of relations between nations, the harm being done to our environment with plastics and chemicals - and it is so easy to wonder where God is in the midst of it all. It can feel like, perhaps like Samuel, we, too, live in a time where the voice of God is rarely heard, where visions and revelations are rare, with this kind of apocalyptic uncovering of reality happening all around us. Yet it is into these moments that God most desperately seeks us out, when God most fervently calls our names, when God reaches toward us to turn our attention back to our God - the one who seeks us and knows us, who - as Psalm 139 beautifully describes it - who forms us and shapes our inward being, the God whose presence surrounds us even before we are aware of it. This is the God who yearns for us to pay attention, to notice the movement of God’s spirit in the world - who calls our name in hopes that we might be ready to respond “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” This is the God who wants so desperately to be in relationship with us that Jesus came into the world so that we may be signs of God’s living presence in the world, messengers of God’s hope and healing, to be the people willing to sit in the dark and hurting places of our world to be salt and light and emblems of God’s love. Samuel heard God calling in the middle of the night, literally hearing a voice speak his name - but God calls out to us in so many ways; in the news story you hear that breaks your heart, in that rare moment of peace in the morning before the day has started, in the midst of a difficult loss or pain, or in watching children at play...in moments that cause us to react, with joy or sorrow or anger -- moments that, if we stop and listen, if pay attention and seek to learn more and gain greater clarity, we discover God’s presence waiting with us...waiting to draw us to the place where we can put ourselves at God’s disposal so that God’s love can flow in us….and through us….and bring us all into a greater awareness of God’s kingdom at work among us. Sometimes what we discover isn’t an easy truth - it wasn’t for Samuel, who was charged with reminding his mentor Eli with the reality of God’s prophetic word against his family. Sometimes, God asks us to face difficult realities, to love difficult people, to forgive unforgivable people, to speak up when we’d rather be silent, to kneel when we’d rather stand. But God’s promise is to be with us, God knows our strengths and weaknesses, and God equips us in the places where we can’t do it on our own. God knows our hearts, knows our hopes and dreams, knows the places we feel we don’t measure up, knows our rough edges and our thoughts - and because of these things - not in spite of them - God calls out to us, waiting for our response, to be signs of God’s redeeming work in the world. This week, when you hear God calling out to you - what will your response be? I pray that for each of us, we - along with Samuel - might say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Amen. Scripture - John 3:1-18
The scripture passage that we’ll be hearing today is one appointed for Trinity Sunday - the day we pay particular attention to the doctrine of the Trinity - God in three persons, three in one and one in three (as I shared with the kids). Interestingly enough, the word Trinity never appears in the Bible. The doctrine of the Trinity evolved over centuries of conflict and controversy as an attempt to understand how Jesus was fully 100% God and the Holy Spirit was fully 100% God and yet there is only one God and how can Jesus be God’s Son and still 100% God and have co-created the world and how can God send the Holy Spirit into the world and so on and so on. It’s often pointed to as one of the deep mysteries of the Christian faith - and many passages in the New Testament mention all three aspects of this Trinue God without going into detail explaining how they all work together. This passage we’ll be hearing from the Gospel of John is one of those places in Scripture where we see God, Jesus, and the Spirit all at play. The text contains some verses that I suspect are familiar to many of us here - that of John 3:16 - and we’ve all got a lot of thoughts about what that verse means to us. So to allow a fresh perspective, I’ve chosen to read these verses from a different translation, which may open us to other meanings of the text. As we hear these words, I invite you to take a moment, to breathe, to perhaps close your eyes, and to notice what catches your attention as we hear about this encounter that Jesus has with Nicodemus - one who has sought out Jesus - for this conversation. John 3:1-18 (The Message) 3 1-2 There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, “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.” 3 Jesus said, “You’re absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to—to God’s kingdom.” 4 “How can anyone,” said Nicodemus, “be born who has already been born and grown up? You can’t re-enter your mother’s womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above’ talk?” 5-6 Jesus said, “You’re not listening. Let me say it again. 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. 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. 7-8 “So don’t be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above’—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling 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.” 9 Nicodemus asked, “What do you mean by this? How does this happen?” 10-12 Jesus said, “You’re a respected teacher of Israel and you don’t know these basics? Listen carefully. I’m speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God? 13-15 “No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. 16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. *Hymn - He Came Down (FWS 2085) Sermon Water and rebirth. God’s love of the world. Salvation. Eternal life (as many translations would note it). This story of Nicodemus’s encounter with Jesus is rich with metaphors and symbols and ideas that are central to our understanding of the Christian faith - from the movement of God’s Holy Spirit to the impact of God’s kingdom to what it means to have a whole and lasting life in Christ. We see the dance between Nicodemus and Jesus - one a prominent religious leader within an established religious sect, and one a virtual nobody from Nazareth… one who speaks literally and concretely, and one who speaks in parables and metaphors… one who can’t seem to move beyond the tangible, material world, and one who sees the stuff of the Spirit, who points to the reality of God’s kingdom. In this conversation we have one of Christianity’s most beloved verses - some of us may be able to recite it by heart. “For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” I learned it in Sunday School - King James Version - with that beautiful poetic cadence that sticks in your memory. It’s a verse appears to state fairly plainly and straightforwardly what God sent Jesus out to do and what our response should be - believe in Jesus and in return you get everlasting life. Simple, right? Everlasting life - meaning your ticket to heaven - based on a personal acceptance that Jesus is who he says he is - the son of God - sent here to save sinners one by one from eternal punishment. Yet it’s a bit more complicated than that. I remember the first time I learned that verse 16 was followed by a verse 17. It wasn’t due to negligence on the part of my early childhood Sunday School teachers - I mean, John 3:16 is pretty memorable on its own. I was in high school and part of the adult choir at my home church, and the anthem was John Stainer’s “God So Loved the World” - which gorgeously sets these two verses to music. “16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” And then came the realization that these two verses - two verses that we place so much weight and meaning upon - are part of a whole conversation that Jesus is having, and that you can’t fully appreciate the complexity of these statements without taking into consideration the context out of which these famous lines come. Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cover of night. He is struggling to fit Jesus into his worldview and can’t do so publicly because of his prominent social standing within the Jewish community. He clearly understands that God’s presence is uniquely with Jesus and that Jesus himself reveals and points to God in his teaching, in his acts, and in his very being. But there’s one key component missing - this nature of rebirth -- a process that Nicodemus can’t help but think literally about even as Jesus spells it out in spiritual terms - being born from above, submission to the life of the spirit, being reformed and reshaped from within into a life that we live in the present moment...into the reality of God’s Kingdom all around us, not just for an afterlife removed from this world, but for the sake a world in the process of redemption. But to see it and be a part of it? Rebirth is part of the package. This spiritual rebirth - it’s not something that you can get right, or earn, or work yourself into, probably much to Nicodemus’s dismay. After all, he’s the model religious figure - a devout man, who knew the right prayers and could say the right things and perform the right rituals - and even recognized many right things about Jesus - but couldn’t quite make the leap with what Jesus was saying. This all leads up to the moment where Jesus declares: “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed...that those who believe are not condemned….that anyone can have a whole and lasting life.” Walter Bruggeman has this to say about that moment: “Nicodemus - and his whole people - are invited into a second birth where they are not condemned, but beloved, redeemed, reconciled, made whole. Being born again is to learn to live with the staggering freedom of being fully the beloved. That birth in turn entails love of the light, to be pulled out of the world of calculation into utter gospel-given, peaceable freedom and well-being. The birth is a shock because Nicodemus never dreamed of who he could yet be.” This….this is the invitation for the whole world. For the cosmos. For the whole universe which God created. For God so loved the world. This is why we can’t assume that 3:16 only refers to a person’s individual quest to gain this everlasting, eternal life -- which, by the way, the hearers of John’s gospel would have taken eternal life to mean a full life in the present. Belief isn’t about intellectual assent to a set of statements, it isn’t about ascribing to a rigid set of rules or even about confidence in God’s promises. It’s about relationship - about rebirth in the spirit - about that inward transformation of the heart that comes from God’s radical love incarnate through Jesus Christ. Nicodemus draws near to Jesus only to discover that in the cosmic scheme of things, Jesus is the one who draws near to him...to all of humankind...to all of creation, to offer the knowledge and assurance of being fully loved by God - not because of right statements or correct beliefs or good acts...and not despite the uglier parts of our reality like violence, hatred, apathy, fear and sin. God draws near to us in Jesus out of love for our actual world...for our actual lives…broken and messy and beautiful and wonderful as they are. God draws near to us in Jesus and embraces us in love not for anything we do or don’t do...or for anything we aspire to be...but simply because we exist. What good news that is for all of us Nicodemuses of the world - and we good religious people are like that….wanting to do the right things, say the right things, show our devotion to God in the proper way. What freedom there is in knowing that we can’t work our way into greater favor with God, that we can’t earn God’s love, that we can’t checkmark our good Christian to-do list and think that it makes any bit of difference for our place in God’s great kingdom. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Movement, had this to say about being born again, from his sermon The New Birth. He says, “Be you baptized or unbaptized, "you must be born again;" otherwise it is not possible you should be inwardly holy; and without inward as well as outward holiness, you cannot be happy, even in this world, much less in the world to come….Go to church twice a day; go to the Lord's table every week; say ever so many prayers in private; hear ever so many good sermons; read ever so many good books; still, "you must be born again:" None of these things will stand in the place of the new birth; no, nor any thing under heaven.” God loves the world so much to offer this birth into new life - to each and every one of us - to offer us this birth into restoration and wholeness, into creation as it was intended, into life transformed by the Holy Spirit so that we become those who are fully alive - fully ourselves - fully the people God created each of us to be. Is this new birth true for you? Some of you may be able to point to a moment in time as to when you decided to claim God’s love for yourselves...for some of you it was more of a journey of slow, incremental change...and perhaps even for some of you, you aren’t there yet...you may not even be fully aware of the path ahead...or may not know you want to be on the path all together. But God’s love for you is unchangeable - it’s constant and abundant and will never waver or falter. This week, lean into God’s love for you. Take time to sit and remind yourself that the creator of the cosmos loves and cares for you. Take time to remember Jesus who came so that all may know and experience that love for themselves. Take time to invite the Holy Spirit to lead you to the heart of that love, and let it transform your spirit and make you more whole - so that the world may know more fully of God’s great deep and abiding love. Amen. Acts 10:44-48 (The Message)
44-46 No sooner were these words out of Peter’s mouth than the Holy Spirit came on the listeners. The believing Jews who had come with Peter couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on “outsider” non-Jews, but there it was—they heard them speaking in tongues, heard them praising God. 46-48 Then Peter said, “Do I hear any objections to baptizing these friends with water? They’ve received the Holy Spirit exactly as we did.” Hearing no objections, he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay on for a few days. Sermon What happens when the Holy Spirit’s agenda is not the same as our agenda? When we lived in Haverhill, Ben and I did a lot of small group ministry out of our home. Often two or three nights a week, we had people gather around our dining room table to share a meal before diving into some activity together in the living room - studying a passage of scripture, talking about ways to serve our community, praying for one another, or some other faith formation experience. One favorite of ours was a question Bible Study, where we read a passage together, and then everyone would write down questions they had about the passage on strips of paper and then we’d organize the questions and talk about the text from there. One particular evening, we had gathered in our living room with a mix of folks; there was Ken, the middle-aged, middle class business man, there was Patrick, the chronically anxious guy with severe depression who sweated bullets every time he mustered up enough courage to speak, there was Jennifer, a woman in recovery who also suffered short-term memory loss due to a brain injury and who worked overnights at a group home, there was Adam and his fiance Sarah, both of whom wrestled with health and weight issues and struggled to keep consistent employment. We had Bob - another guy in recovery who had just gotten out of jail and was working at the Salvation Army, and his friend John, another ex-felon in recovery who was struggling to find his way. We also had Jared and Cameron, friends who were baristas, in their twenties, trying to figure out life and taking their first steps into adulthood. We were doing our question Bible study. I don’t remember the passage. I don’t remember if it was Ben or me who was leading that night. But we had gathered all the strips of paper with the questions on them and started reading them aloud, one after the other. And one question was clearly not like the others, so much so that it was tempting to ignore it -- because this was a Bible Study night, and this was not a Bible Study question. But whoever had put the question in would know that their question hadn’t been read aloud, and so the words came out. The question was this: Why does my life suck so much? Given the life circumstances of the people in that room, with everything they were dealing with in their lives, that question could have belonged to anybody. But as if on cue, all the heads in the room, at the same time, turned toward Adam, who was sitting on the couch, his head hanging low. It was Adam’s second or third time with us, but in that moment, he shared with his depression, his strained relationship with his daughter’s mother, and a whole host of other issues he was dealing with. So instead of proceeding with what we had planned, instead of running off of that “good Bible study script” that we were trained how to do, we stopped - as a group - to be with Adam -- to listen to him, to pray for and with him - to honor his struggling and wrestling… to offer him the group’s support and love. The Holy Spirit had a different plan for that evening - and in that moment, we were able to notice enough of what was going to follow the Spirit’s lead and to put aside what we thought was supposed to happen. When the Spirit acts, we pay attention, and that’s what we have in this passage from the book of Acts this morning. To give you the context of what is going on, we have to back up the story a bit. It starts with a man named Cornelius, a Gentile - a Roman centurion - who lives in Caesarea, who is a God-fearer. One day he sees an angel of the Lord, who tells him to call for Simon Peter, and so he sends some men to fetch Peter from Joppa which is about 30 miles away from Caesarea. While the men are on their way, the scene shifts and we have Peter going up to the roof to pray around lunchtime and he sees this sheet descend from heaven with all kinds of four-footed creatures and birds and reptiles on it. He hears a voice saying, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat.” Peter protests, and the voice insists, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” This happens three times and Peter is pretty bewildered by what has happened. In the meantime, these messengers arrive from Cornelius, and Peter goes with them, along with some of the faithful from Joppa. When they get to Cornelius’s house, Peter starts to put two and two together - the sheet, the unclean animals, the Gentile household, and realizes that something bigger than himself is going on here; that God might be trying to tell him that the Gentiles - who were considered by Jews to be unclean - were not actually profane or unclean...and, in fact, God might actually be including them in this new way of life in Christ. He launches into a sermon to that effect, about how God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power -- and right in the middle of his speech, the Holy Spirit descends and we have these Gentiles speaking in tongues, praising God. The Jewish believers who came with Peter can’t believe it, but neither do they have any problem when Peter asked “Do I hear any objections to baptizing these friends with water? They’ve received the Holy Spirit exactly as we did.” The Holy Spirit cannot be contained or controlled, and has a tendency to move in ways we haven’t thought possible….and even move out in the world, out beyond the bounds of the church. We got an inkling of that last week - where the Holy Spirit was working in an Ethiopian eunuch, a man who was clearly an outsider because of his status as a eunuch, and the spirit connected him with Philip and led him to desire the waters of baptism and inclusion into the fold. This week, we see how the Holy Spirit erased the distinction Jews had set up between themselves and the Gentiles, to the shock and surprise and - perhaps even discomfort - of the good, observant Jews who had come with Peter to Caesarea. We see the Holy Spirit moving out in the wider world, not confined to the Apostles and their followers, but working in hearts and communities to bring them into relationship with God... breaking the traditions of these early Jewish Jesus followers wide open as it did so. Peter was able to see what was happening; God had been working in him to bring him to the point of being able to follow when the winds of the Spirit descended; he had been listening and paying attention, pondering the vision he had, and trusting that somehow it would all come together when the moment was right. So when the Holy Spirit showed up, he was able to name what was happening for those around him, put the pieces together, and be about the work of extending God’s kingdom. It makes me think - where might the Holy Spirit be moving in this congregation today? Where might the Holy Spirit be working out in our community that we as a church need to get in on? What is God trying to say to us through the Holy Spirit that we need to pay attention to? I’ve only lived here for not even three years yet, so what I see and what I hear about life on our island may be different or incomplete as some of you who have grown up here or who have summered here or who have had a longer connection to this place. But what I do know is that Chebeague is changing. The older generation is passing away, and with them leaves much of the island’s history, its stories and its identity. There is so much grief - both in missing those loved ones in our community and in the way of life that seems to be slipping away with each passing. There is worry and anxiety around who will fill the shoes of these matriarchs and patriarchs and carry on the traditions of this place...there’s worry and anxiety that change is happening too fast; that people are burning out because they are tapped for too many committees with too many organizations, that the way we are doing things is unsustainable. In and amongst all this, we face the same issues that many communities face all over - with neighbors who live in poverty, wrestle with food insecurity, addiction, or mental illness. At the same time, new families are moving to the island, wanting to build a life here, looking for year-round housing and for a caring community. There’s something here in this place that draws people to its shores. People are looking for a community that reminds them of a simpler time, a less hurried and frantic pace, that invites you to slow down and to get to know your neighbors. Now - we aren’t like that all the time - especially as we head into the summer season - but so many people who come to this place - to this island - want to come back. Such an influx of people brings mixed blessings - new ideas and new energies...and new ideas and new energies that aren’t the same as what we’re used to. The church - our church - seems to be caught between these two realities….between reliving what has been and is no more, and the energy of the new and possibile; between the desire to cling fast to what seems to be slipping through our fingers and the desire to open our hands and let go to receive new dreams and visions, between memorializing our ancestors in a mausoleum and standing on their shoulders to step boldly into what our church - and our community - can be together. Church historian Rosemary Radford Reuther has this to say about the church - that it must be organized to do two things:
The tradition that Reuther speaks of is a living tradition - it’s the tradition of being faithful to Jesus, of following the risen Christ, of spreading the work of God’s kingdom and making that kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven...and our task is to see how that faith comes alive with each new group of people it takes root in; and it may look similar to ours...and it may look very different. Incidentally, passing along this tradition is something that we as a church believe is important as well - one of the core values of our life together is Rootedness - We believe that new shoots come from strong roots. The winds of change may blow, but our roots sustain us and enable us to grow and flourish. Our traditions, faith, and connection to this island give us strength to pass on the seeds of love to the next generation. Peter’s rootedness - in the rich tradition of the Jewish faith, in his dedication to Christ, in his listening to the Holy Spirit - enabled him to see this new thing that God was doing. In that moment, Peter chose not to run off of the established scripts of his tradition to try and manage the work of God; he didn’t make them take membership classes or memorize doctrine or convert to Judaism, as would have been the tradition at the time. Peter chose the work of the kingdom, the new opportunities and possibilities God was opening up with the inclusion of the Gentiles into this new faith community. Like Peter, we are challenged not to run off old scripts, but instead we are invited to chose the work of the kingdom, to see what God is doing, to be open to the winds of the Holy Spirit to see where new energies, new possibilities - where the kingdom is sprouting forth in our community. We’re invited to tend our rootedness in faith - through prayer and study - and continually be seeking what the spirit might be saying to the church in our present time and place. I invite us this week to prayerfully consider as we think about where we are as a congregation and where our island community is right now: what might God be saying to us through the Holy Spirit about who we’re called to be as a church? What old scripts might we need to ignore in favor of the living tradition of faith? Where do we need to give up our agenda in favor of that of the Holy Spirit’s? I don’t have answers as to the challenges we face or the opportunities that might present themselves - maybe none of us do right now - but we have the Holy Spirit, and the ability to prayerfully listen - and to respond to our community out of that place of openness and discernment rather than out of fear or pain, and to choose God’s kingdom work for our community. May we seek to follow that Spirit this week, in all that we do. Amen. Acts 8:26-40
26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32 Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34 The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. Sermon Have you ever felt the urge to call someone - perhaps someone you haven’t spoken to in years - only to find out that your voice was the one they needed to hear the most? Or felt compelled to go up to a stranger to pay for their groceries or offer a word of encouragement? Or done something for someone where you didn’t really know why at the time, but felt like you had to do it? This week I gathered a few such stories from some friends. A friend in Derry NH recounted a time from his teenage years where he was cutting through a McDonald’s parking lot and he saw a girl from his neighborhood. He didn’t know her well and she was talking with an older guy. He remembers that something made him go back and say “hello” to this girl and when he did that, the guy left. She told my friend that this guy had wanted her to go with him and that he would make her into a model. My friend made the decision to walk her home and upon looking back on that event, believes that in that moment, God used him to save her life. Or another story from Nancy, who with her husband Jonathan came here a few months ago to talk about Greater Portland Family Promise. She recounts this story from when she and Jonathan led a mission trip in the Dominican Republic. This woman named Mary, who was part of the medical team and oversaw the pharmacy, would check every morning to see that all the medications were packed for the day. She would then go back to the shelves and see if anything attracted her attention - additional medical supplies to bring along. On that particular trip, there were pain patches from a Hospice patient who had passed - and in the middle of the week, something prompted Mary to take the pain patches. That afternoon, as Nancy tells it, a middle aged man rode in on his moped with an elderly man behind him, draped over his shoulders. When the men came in the team was told that the older man had only weeks to live and was in terrible pain. It was the only time in years that they had anyone in such desperate pain and they had pain patches to last a couple of weeks. The whole team felt that they had been God-led on that day. Or consider the story of Muslims in Arkansas, who paid $1700 - funds set aside for renovations of their mosque - to keep a vandal who defaced their mosque with a swastika out of jail. According to a Newsweek article, Abraham Davis scrawled swastikas and spray-painted the words “go home” on the windows and doors of a mosque in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 2016. He was caught on a security camera and ordered by a judge to perform community service and pay a fine. But Davis couldn’t find the money and faced a six-year jail term. And upon hearing that Davis had financial difficulties, something prompted the members of that faith community to cover the cost of the fine. The president of the mosque said, "We thought this was the right thing to do. We thought if someone does something bad and came and apologized, you just forgive them. That should be the natural thing.” These are all stories of people or communities acting on these holy hunches - sometimes unknowingly, sometimes with intention - and our scripture passage for this morning is yet another incident of Philip following this holy hunch - the prompting of the holy spirit - to go south this wilderness road from Jerusalem to Gaza only to find a Ethiopian eunuch traveling home by chariot, reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah. This man, as the book of Acts recounts it, is clearly influential - traveling by chariot and in charge of a royal treasury, as well as wealthy, having possession of a scroll. He’s coming home from worshipping in Jerusalem, which would have put him as a Jew or as a God-fearer...someone interested in the Jewish religion. But he’s also a eunuch, a fact that is pointed out several times in this passage, and it would have meant that he would not have been able to get into the Temple….and if he was a God-fearer, he wouldn’t have been even able to go beyond the court of the Gentiles. So this important man who is clearly an “insider” in his own world appears to be an “outsider” when it comes to drawing close to the Jewish faith. The Holy Spirit then prods Philip to go over to the chariot and join it. He does so and finds him reading from Isaiah. Philip, still paying attention to the Holy Spirit, asks him a question - “Do you understand what you are reading?” And it opens up this conversation about the text and the good news of Jesus.” The man then asks to be baptized - he sees water along this desert road and asks - “is there anything to prevent me from being baptized” - perhaps said with a bit of emotion, as his status as a eunuch does prevent him from being a full participant in the Jewish faith. Would there be anything about him that would prohibit him from experiencing the fullness of God’s kingdom in light of the good news about Jesus Christ? There is nothing, and so the two men go into the water, Philip baptizes the man, and then the Holy Spirit sends Philip on his next appointed mission. We might be tempted to simply focus on the interaction between Philip and the Ethiopian man, and to be sure there is a richness to this interaction that we could explore - the inclusion and extension of the church into the “ends of the world”, the breaking of barriers around who is in and out, the wholeheartedness with which the Ethiopian embraces the good news of Jesus. However, there are three characters here in this story - Philip, the Ethiopian, and the Holy Spirit and interacts both with Philip and this newly-baptized man. The whole book of Acts is all about God’s action and initiative through the Holy Spirit and so the stories that we read here are best understood when we think about the ways the Spirit moved through the early church, how people responded to God’s spirit, and what was accomplished through the Holy Spirit’s power and prompting. What stands out to me in this passage was how both Philip and the Ethiopian listened to what the spirit was saying - and we see this in particular from Philip’s perspective as to how he payed attention to the movement of the spirit. Philip was a man full of the Spirit, one of the seven chosen to serve when a conflict arose in the early church about the distribution of food to the widows in the community. According to Acts chapter 6, the whole community of the disciples were gathered together to choose for themselves those of good standing, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, to oversee this task. When persecution of the church from within the Temple began, Christians were scattered from Jerusalem. Philip was one of these people who fled and began spreading the good news of Jesus around to the surrounding area, particularly to Samaria, a place that had long been despised by the Jews. What he finds there are people ready to receive the message of Jesus, much like we find in the Ethiopian man who is already seeking God. The Ethiopian man didn’t know about Jesus or salvation and didn’t understand much about what it would mean to become a follower of Jesus. But there was a hunger for God present in this man’s life - a hunger placed there, too, by the Holy Spirit working in the man’s heart, surfacing these questions about what he was reading, drawing him to worship, and ultimately leading him to the waters of new life. Philip listened to where the spirit was leading him, trusting that the Holy Spirit would guide him to where he needed to be - listening to the Spirit’s leading to the desert road, listening the Spirit’s nudge to get into the chariot with the eunuch, listening to the prompting of the Spirit to ask the man about what he’s reading...and then listening both to what the Ethiopian shared and to the Holy Spirit in Philip’s response to his questions. There’s a whole lot of listening and paying attention to the work of the Holy Spirit, which led Philip to act on these nudges - these holy hunches, which is what led the eunuch to be further drawn in to the work of God’s kingdom in the world - to the acceptance, love, grace, mercy, and wholeness that lies at the heart of a life in Jesus Christ. Before the action, however, is the invitation to listen and pay attention. To notice what the spirit draws forward, where God is already present and working, to see with God’s eyes -- and to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit’s voice. I’m reminded of last week’s reading from the Gospel of John, where Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd...and later on in chapter 10, he talks about his sheep knowing his voice. They know him, and he knows them...and they know his voice. The way we know his voice is through scripture - in our study of it, in our conversations about it, in our meditations upon it... and through prayer -- not, incidentally, in the kind of prayer where we continuously talk to God, presenting God with our requests and needs….but in the kind of prayer where we sit and be still in God’s presence...in the kind of prayer that quiets our thoughts and hearts that are always so full of the distractions and to-do lists and the preoccupations of our lives, in the kind of prayer that invites us - in the silence - to see the way the Spirit moves in and through us...and in and through the world. It’s the kind of prayer that attunes our spirits with that of God’s Holy Spirit, that allows us to better notice those nudges that come our way, that creates in us a wellspring that we can tap into when we step out to respond to the Spirit’s leadings...that we can lean on when the spirit draws us into the presence of others, to sit beside them, to listen to their stories and their questions and their spiritual hunger, and to be a sign of God’s love and light in the world. The incredible gift that lies in this work of prayer is that it is all in response to what God is already doing out in the world. The Spirit leads us forward, draws our attention, provides the heavy lifting - all we have to do is follow and trust - trust that as long as we are faithful to those nudge from the Holy Spirit, God will take care of the rest. In our passage from Scripture this morning, after the Ethiopian man is baptized, Philip doesn’t stick around to ensure that the Ethiopian gets everything right or becomes a member of the Jerusalem church. Philip doesn’t give him additional teachings or instructions as to how to follow Jesus -- no, the Spirit, in fact, whisks Philip away to another region to another people to continue sharing about Jesus. We trust that in listening and following the Holy Spirit, that there are others who are doing the same - remembering that the Spirit is the one who began the work - that it is all God’s initiative - and that the Spirit will be the one to continue the job. All we are needed to do is to faithfully play our part. And so as we go about our lives this week - make room to listen to the Holy Spirit. Spend time familiarizing yourself with the voice of the Good Shepherd through the words of Scripture. Be drawn in prayer to the place of inviting God to speak to you, listening for the call of the Holy Spirit as you go about your day. Be available to follow the leading of God’s Spirit to be a sign of God’s love, hope, healing, forgiveness, and wholeness, to meet the needs of our friends and neighbors far and near, and to point to the coming of the kingdom that Jesus proclaims. Pay attention for those holy hunches - and follow to be servants of God - and trust that God is at work in your life...in our life together...and in the world around us. Amen. The lectionary - which is a three year rotation of scripture passages that many churches across the United States and Canada use - have some rich texts appointed for this day, and where normally one is chosen to explore in depth, I couldn’t resist picking three for us to hear this morning. The first continues the story that we heard from last week from the book of Acts. Hear these words from chapter 4:
Acts 4:1-12 (NRSV) While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, 2 much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. 3 So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand. 5 The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. 11 This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ 12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” The second scripture this morning is one much beloved and often one we turn to in times of grief or struggle, but it’s one that also offers insight into the human condition. It’s one that many of us have memorized. With this Sunday being Earth Day - this passage spoke to me as we think about the way God and the earth care for our needs. Instead of reading this passage, we’ll be singing it together: number 138, The King of Love My Shepherd Is. *Hymn - The King of Love My Shepherd Is, UMH 138 Lastly, this passage from the Gospel of John reinterprets the 23rd Psalm in light of who Jesus is and one way Jesus offered an understanding of his ministry - that of the Good Shepherd. Incidentally, “good” falls far short of what the original word is in the greek - it’s much closer to the word “model” “ideal” “beautiful” -- paragon. Hear these words from chapter 10. John 10:11-18 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” Sermon - Now how on earth do all these things tie together? Hopefully, we’ll get there. :-) We’ve all heard the famous line “What’s in a name?” - penned by William Shakespeare in the famous play Romeo and Juliet - a scene where Juliet is wrestling with the fact that Romeo - her true love - has a problematic name as he belongs to the Montague family, a rival of her family the Capulets. We have this wonderfully poetic monologue that Romeo overhears as she is lamenting at her balcony: O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father, and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I’ll no longer be a Capulet. 40 Jul. ’Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself though, not a Montague. What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part 45 Belonging to a man. O! be some other name: What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet; Names, however, are powerful and have meaning - as we see in the Acts story, which centers on the name of Jesus and what happens by the power of the Holy Spirit through his name -- as well as the salvation found by those who claim his name. Last week we learned about the beggar who sat by the Beautiful Gate, healed not through Peter or John’s power or piety - but made whole in the name of Jesus Christ. This event amassed a crowd, and Peter couldn’t resist launching into a sermon, sharing about not only what happened to the beggar, but about Jesus’s death and God raising him up from the dead and offering the people the opportunity to be a part of the new thing God was about in the world - that the healing and salvation in Jesus’ name that had come to the beggar was also available for them. Such a demonstration and such a speech, even though five thousand people believed their message, caused trouble for Peter and John - the high priests and Sadducees didn’t like what they were teaching in the Temple and had them arrested. The priests got right to the heart of the issue by asking them a specific question: “By what power or by what name did you do this?” There’s power in a name. We know this, right? Names are significant - they are how we understand our world, they designate important people and places and things -- and lack of a name can signify unimportance - at least on the part of who is speaking. For instance, in the Bible, there are many people who remain nameless, or many women who are not known by their name, but by that of their father or husband, like Lot’s wife, Pharaoh's daughter, or The Samaritan Woman. The beggar here in our story doesn’t have a name, known only by his association with the Beautiful Gate - a sign of his unimportant status - while the priests here in Acts are clearly named. Others in the Bible are named - the twelve disciples each have a name, there are even prominent women leaders in the early church who are thought to have been additional disciples of Jesus also have names. The dear friends of Jesus - Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, are also named -- and Jesus’s lineage is full of prominent figures in Jewish history. Names have power - and we see this in the world when wealthy or influential individuals or families mark buildings or have foundations named after them, as a sign of gratitude or philanthropy - as is the case with the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital - or via some other honor. Bridges and highways are named for famous people or prominent individuals from the community. Companies are named for their founders. Names also have the power to denegrate - to take away. I remember the old rhyme “sticks and stones may break my bones but names can never hurt me.” Well, that’s not true. Disparaging nicknames can hurt because they take away our humanity and are meant to embarrass, to hurt, to erase our identity. Sometimes, people change their names in order to mark a new start - in the Bible we have Abram becoming Abraham as a result of his covenant with God - or Saul changing his name to Paul. I had a friend in school who went back and forth from Katie to Kathryn and Katie again, and even though those names were related, changing that name can mean trying to live as the person they want to be, or a means of commemorating a transition. And then we also say names to ensure people aren’t forgotten or overlooked. In this way, we remember and honor their personhood - particularly when we do this with people who are unimportant, oppressed, or the victims of injustice. This is part of what is behind the #saytheirname movement, the initiative to say the names of black men and women who have lost their lives because of racial injustice. In all three lessons this morning, but particularly that of Acts and John, there is a great deal of importance placed upon the name of Jesus -- the importance and power that that name has in Acts, and the name Jesus gives himself of the Good Shepherd in John. Both instances aren’t just about the name as it relates to Jesus’s personhood, but about his relationship to God as the promised one...and about his relationship to us as Shepherd...and the salvation that comes through that relationship. Peter claims in this passage that there is no other name under heaven, given by mortals, by which we must be saved. Salvation is a broad word used in many ways throughout the New Testament, and can mean anything from physical healing - as it is used here in this passage - to rescue from bondage, to spiritual wholeness. All of this comes through the name of Jesus - Peter and those early church followers believed the name Jesus contained power beyond any other earthly name anyone could say. So often this passage is used to divide - that there is salvation in no one other than Jesus - you are either for Jesus and or you aren’t, you are either in or you are out. However, when taken with these other passages, we have a more complete picture of what Jesus came to do. Certainly the author of Acts believes God acted decisively in the person of Jesus Christ -- and there is no way that any other human can make a claim on what God has done, no person can control the Holy Spirit. In Jesus, God acted on behalf of the whole of humankind - John’s gospel has Jesus describing himself as the Good Shepherd sent to reclaim all of the sheep -- even the ones not belonging to the fold - for the sake of being one flock...one shepherd guarding and protecting us all. When we talk about salvation, then, and salvation in the name of Jesus, this image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd can help us picture what that looks like. Shepherding in Jesus’ day wasn’t an easy life -- it wasn’t a serene, pastoral image with nice, clean, fluffy sheep. Shepherding was a matter of survival - for the sheep, the shepherd, and those who depended upon the flock for their livelihood. Shepherds had to roam far from home to make sure their sheep had enough food and water. They were exposed to the elements - heat during the day and cold at night, during which they stayed awake to guard the flock from thieves and predators. Their families were also more vulnerable to predators - and this was a major reason that shepherds were generally thought of as dishonorable characters because they left their families exposed. And too many sheep lost to illness, injury, or starvation meant that the whole family would suffer. The welfare of the flock was really tied to the welfare of the shepherd. So to have a Good Shepherd who would abandon the whole flock to seek after one lost animal was unheard of (people would have considered that a bad shepherd, because you were risking the safety of the whole flock). Salvation, then, comes in the form of a shepherd who knew full well the risks of keeping the flock from ruin, who goes to seek the lost - even at the expense of the whole flock - and even went to the grave to protect the ones he came to save...and even death could not keep him away from us. Salvation is something then of God’s initiative - God’s action in raising Jesus from the dead - the act of the Good Shepherd loving the sheep of his fold and providing for their every need - as we hear in Psalm 23. And as members of the flock, it is for us to trust in God’s continuing saving work in our lives and in the world. It is to - like Peter and John in the passage in acts - trust that the power Jesus displayed on earth now comes through the work of the Holy Spirit - the spirit that is poured out on all of us as followers of Jesus….and that the same power that resided in him is now embodied in the church - body of Christ in the world….and that there is no other earthly power that can make that same claim of power...and that there can be salvation in no other power or entity, despite how much the world tries to offer salvation through other names. So for us as followers of Jesus, it isn’t enough for us to simply rest in the green pastures and still waters offered to us by our Good Shepherd - it isn’t enough for us to be grateful for the healing and wholeness that we’ve found in the name of Jesus as his disciples. As followers of the risen Christ, it is not enough for us to say his name, it is also for us to claim that power for ourselves and use it -- not for our sake -- but to offer healing and hope in his name -- in the name of the Good Shepherd who cares for all the sheep -- in the name of the one who is the cornerstone of our lives. We use that power to transform the world and make it a better place for all God’s people. We use that power to point to God’s saving power in our lives and in our world. And so the invitation and challenge here is this: do we really believe that the same power - the power given by the Holy Spirit that enabled Peter to heal the beggar, the power that granted him the strength to stand up to the religious and political authority of his day to speak the truth given to him, the power that expanded the flock by five thousand more people that day -- do we really believe that power now resides in us? That it’s not just about saying the name of Jesus and our identity as Christians, but also about claiming the same power to live as people transformed - to live as he lived and taught? The good news is that the power of Jesus Christ is with us. His spirit resides within us as the body of Christ. His spirit goes before us. His spirit gives us the power to bring hope, healing, and wholeness to those around us...and also the power to be transformed by the power of that love as we proclaim the care and provision we found in the shelter of the Good Shepherd. May we have the boldness of the spirit this week as we go forth this week in the name of Jesus, offering that salvation - the wholeness of life lived in God’s love - to those we encounter this week. Amen. |
AuthorPastor Melissa Yosua-Davis has been serving the community of Chebeague and its church since July 2015. She currently lives on the island with her husband and two year old son, along with their yellow lab. Read here recent sermon excerpts, thoughts on life and faith, and current announcements for the church community. She also blogs at Going on to Perfection. Archives
July 2018
Categories |
RSS Feed