Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] January 30, 2022 “Pick Someone Else” Jeremiah 1: 4-10 - The Message This is what God said to Jeremiah: 5 “Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you even saw your first light of day, I had holy plans for you: To be a prophet to the nations-- that’s what I had in mind for you.” 6 But I said, “Hold it, God! Look at me. I don’t know anything. I’m only a boy!” 7-8 And God told me back, “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a boy.’ I’ll tell you where to go and you’ll go there. I’ll tell you what to say and you’ll say it. I’ll be right there, looking after you.” Don’t be afraid of a soul. That’s God’s Decree. 9-10 Then God reached out, touched my mouth, and said, “Look! I’ve just put my words in your mouth! Do you see what I’ve done? I’ve given you a job to do: To pull up and tear down, To take apart and demolish, And then to start over, building and planting.” When I work with people who want to go into the ordained ministry, I ask them, how many times have you told God no. If they say none, I’m immediately skeptical of their calling. It’s a huge red flag. Callings involve push and pull, saying yes, but especially no. Yes, I know there are times when we jump right up because we know it’s right. We have an epiphany; one of those “I never knew it was exactly what I’ve always wanted to do” moments of recognition. For example, perhaps that’s what some of the disciples thought. Jesus said to Simon and Andrew, James and John, “Come follow me,” and they jumped right up and left their things behind and followed Jesus. They had just been waiting for someone to ask. Little did know how difficult it would be! But more often, it’s like Moses. He said no because, “I’m not eloquent.” Jonah not only said no, he ran in the opposite direction. He finally changed his mind while sitting in the gooey guts of a fish, but only with very childish reluctance. Sarah laughed at the absurdity. The Bible is full of people who had excuses to say no. Or maybe not exactly no, but who asked, “How can this be?” Elizabeth was too old. Mary was too young. Just like Jeremiah who said: I’m just a boy. How old was Jeremiah? Various sources suggest he was between 13 and 17 years old. But he was still older than when Josiah became the king. The first three verses of the Book of Jeremiah list the names and dates of kings and priests. “The call to Jeremiah came in the 13th year of the reign of King Josiah.” You want to hear the rest? No! It’s boring. And that’s why those verses aren’t included in the assigned reading. And yet, historical context is always important. Interestingly, the timing means Josiah became king at age 8. So, Jeremiah already had at least double the life experience of the king. But, though context is important, it’s not really the point. The point is: Like many people called to some role in the world, Jeremiah had an excuse for why God should pick someone else. But God doesn’t care about excuses – Jeremiah’s or ours. God simply said, I’ve given you a job to do: To pull up and tear down, to take apart and demolish, And then to start over, building and planting. Congressman John Lewis knew about that. He said, when I was growing up, my mother and my father and my grandparents would tell us, don’t try to change things. "Don't get in trouble! That's the way it is!" They feared retribution by white supremacists for his activism and he actually was estranged from his family for quite a long time. But, he said, “I didn't like the way it was, so I had to do something about it. Through sit-ins, the freedom rides, marches, I got arrested 40 times during the '60s and arrested five times while serving in Congress. I've been beaten and left bloody and unconscious here and there. On the march from Selma to Montgomery on that bridge, I was prepared to die for what I believed in. When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have an obligation to do something, to get in trouble — good trouble.” Did you know that Congressman Lewis was actually ordained in his church? He was 15 years old. His Baptist church didn’t operate in the same way as ours with ordination. But Lewis was not called to preach. God called him to get in good trouble. And if there was ever anyone who knew exactly what God called him to do, it was him: “to pull up and tear down white supremacy to take apart and demolish” it. And then to “build and plant” the Beloved Community of all ages, tongues, and races. Jeremiah and John Lewis. The Congressman shows that having a calling is much more than some form of ministry in the church. We all have a calling; a way God is asking us to change the world. It might be through our choice of a professional life or a volunteer commitment. It might be with financial contributions. It might be as a parent or a guardian to raise a confident loving child or as an aunt or uncle of a troubled teenager. It could be a kind word to our neighbor or helping a stranger we see on the street. When have you felt called? One of the best definitions of a calling was from Frederick Buechner: “The place God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”[1] To ask, what is your deepest joy? To ask, what is the world’s deepest need. Where do they meet? That’s your calling. Have you ever felt called? Were you afraid it? Did you try to give God an excuse? Pick someone else. How did you work your way through it? Or maybe you haven’t. Yet. Is there something standing in the way of your calling? Let me ask: What has been your greatest accomplishment? That’s not the question. What is the highest degree you have attained? That’s not the question. If you reached your dream salary or acquired your dream home, would you finally be happy? The question asked of us is not about our greatest accomplishments or achievements but what is your deepest joy. And where does it meet the world’s deepest need? Amanda Gorman has one of the most brilliant gifted minds of our times. The joy of her words sooth the despair of our times. It was just a year ago that she came blazing onto the scene as the youngest poet ever at a presidential inauguration. But did you know she almost said no? She told the New York Times that, among other things, she was “scared of failing my people.” Covid was still raging. Just days before, domestic terrorists had stormed the very Capitol steps where she would deliver her poem. They wouldn’t take kindly to, as she described herself, “a skinny black girl” speaking from “their house.” She knew she would now be a very visible symbol to white supremacists. Friends “joked” to her that she should buy a bullet-proof vest. Her mom practiced drills with her crouching behind the furniture to shield her body from bullets. She was torn. Should she do it? She struggled because she got texts from some people praising the Lord and from others that she was pathologically insane. No wonder she almost said no.[2] But she concluded, “Maybe being brave enough doesn’t mean lessening my fear but listening to it. I closed my eyes in bed and let myself utter all the leviathans that scared me, both monstrous and miniscule.” She concluded, “I’m a firm believer that often terror is trying to tell us [that there is] a force greater than despair.” She added, “maybe fear is just love trying its best in the dark.”[3] “In this way, I look at fear not as cowardice but as a call forward, a summons to fight for what we hold dear.” The brilliance of Amanda Gorman’s words are that she is as equally inspiring as she is truthful. Listen to this: “If you’re alive, you’re afraid. If you’re not afraid, then you’re not paying attention. The only thing we have to fear is having no fear itself.” That’s an interesting juxtaposition to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. At his inauguration, he famously said, “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.” The Bible says “perfect love casts out all fear.” Angels repeatedly proclaim: “Do not fear. Don’t be afraid.” But Gorman said, “The only thing we have to fear is having no fear.” But she’s not talking about being fearless, of knowingly taking risks. Willing, as John Lewis was, to die for the cause. No, she’s talking about choosing to be blind to the world. Ignorance may be bliss, but such bliss ignores God’s command: To pull up and tear down, to take apart and demolish, And then to start over, building and planting.” You know, I love the Buechner quote about our calling as the meeting of our deep gladness with the world’s deepest hunger. And yes, that’s true. But then I think of John Lewis’ words about obligation. If we see wrong then we are obligated to get in some good trouble, joyful or not. Justice work is often hard and the progress is incremental, even beyond our seeing. That’s faith. Plus, can I say, sometimes things just need to get done and someone has to do them. Perhaps we can find satisfaction in a job well done, but not necessarily gladness. I don’t know, I’m starting to question the privilege behind the idea of deepest joy and need. Perhaps it is too rooted in a comfortable life. Do we all have such luxury? How about simply recognizing that when we have the gifts and skills needed wherever they are most needed at just the right time, that's not the time to say pick someone else. That's the time to say, "Here I am, Lord. Send me." What greater joy could we have than being an instrument of God on earth? God gave Jeremiah a job to do. Like many, Jeremiah wanted God to pick someone else. Maybe that’s how we feel at times too. So, what should we do? As Julie said before reading Jeremiah today: We should listen for God’s Word- The words of call, The words of promise, The words of faith, The words of hope, and especially the words of love. Then make them the words of your life. [1] Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, HarperSan Francisco, 1972, page 95 [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/20/opinion/amanda-gorman-poem-inauguration.html [3] The order of the words is slightly altered
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Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] January 23, 2022 “Thank You” First Corinthians 12:12-31 - New Revised Standard Version 12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; 24 whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. One day I was perusing the new book section at Borders – remember when we had actual book stores in which to peruse new titles! Anyway, I saw one I thought was intriguing. A memoir by John Kralik called 365 Thank-Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Gratitude Changed My Life. He wrote that he had “found his life at a terrible, frightening low: his small law firm was failing; he was struggling through a painful second divorce; he had grown distant from his two older children and was afraid he would lose contact with his young daughter; he was living in a tiny apartment where he froze in the winter and baked in the summer; he was 40 pounds overweight; his girlfriend had just broken up with him; and overall, his life dreams seemed to have slipped beyond his reach.”[1] On New Years Day he took a hike and took stock of his life. He had just received a lovely note from his ex-girlfriend thanking him for his Christmas gift. He decided that maybe if he spent less time thinking about his messed-up life and began instead thanking people for their positive contributions to it, he might develop a new attitude. He took on the task of writing one thank you every day for a year. It started out easy. But he found it harder to do than he thought. Once the obvious ones were done – family, friends, neighbors – he struggled to think of who to thank next. Imagine trying to think of 365 people. Do we even know 365 people?! He wrote notes to thank clients who paid their bills on time. He wrote notes to his building manager, store clerks, and the guy who served him at Starbucks; anyone he could think of. He reached back to college roommates, past business associates… He began each day thinking, “Who can I thank today?” It started to make a difference in his life. He began paying attention to people who showed him small acts of kindness. Then, one day while jogging, he kneeled down and stopped for a breath. He found himself literally in front of a church door and decided to go in. Soon, he was going in regularly – and began adding God to his list every day. His life didn’t magically turn around. The thank you to his building manager didn’t get him a new air conditioner; the barista at Starbucks didn’t add an extra shot of espresso. He still struggled to pay his bills. And yet, he had, in fact, become a different man. More confident; more patient. He found truer friendships. He actually lost weight and felt more inner peace. It took him longer than a year to complete the assignment, but he did complete his goal of 365 thank you notes. In so doing, he discovered he could in fact achieve a dream. Now, just one of many. Do you find yourself anywhere in this story? Remember how John Kralik struggled to think of people beyond the obvious? What was it like for you to engage in our exercise of writing thank yous the last couple of weeks? How many thank yous did you end up writing? You may have wished you had more time. But of course you do! Every day you wake up with breath in your lungs is a day you can thank someone. Every year when their terms end, we thank the Moderator, members of Church Council, and members of ministries. Of course we would do that. When do we thank everyone else? For their important contributions to the life of the church – not money but their love and prayers and showing up for people? Putting in a positive attitude. Not everyone’s contributions are quite as noticeable. That’s part of what I think Paul is telling the Corinthians today. I hear him say, a congregation, the Body of Christ, is only a complete when the combined talents, skills, and hardly ever noticed acts of hospitality and generosity combine together to create, as Paul calls it, the New Creation. The One Body. He explains, the Body is not, cannot, be whole without equality among every member. Imagine if the body were just a head? How grotesque that would be. And useless. Or just a foot? Paul speaks this in easy to understand terms of the literal body – eyes, head, feet. But that’s easy compared to the more challenging idea that the more prominent parts of the body are lesser in importance. In fact, the “lesser” are to be valued more. This isn’t big news. None of it sounds very radical, right? Maybe in practice, yes, but as an idea, no. But to the Christ community in Corinth, it absolutely was radical. That’s not how the world worked. Corinth was a seaport, a major metropolis more important than Athens. It was a center of business and commerce at the crossroads of the Roman Empire and everyone played their roles. The church, too, was a crossroads that included all sorts of people. Naturally, as in the world, the rich would be more highly valued than the poor. But, Paul said, not in the church. In the world, the male is considered superior to the female. But not in the church. And of course, it only makes sense that people who are enslaved are inferior. But not in the church. I wish Paul had gone further and declared the whole idea of slavery evil, against the will of God and certainly never acceptable as a practice by people claiming to be Christian. And yet, despite this objectionable absence, Paul did call into question everything about how the world related to one another, which, as you know, is a hierarchy. But according to this text, the way it is outside the church is not how it is to be inside the church. As Marcus Borg said, Paul is saying here, “Hierarchical distinctions from the outside are invalid inside.” Yes, that’s Paul! It may not be the Paul that comes to mind, but it is at least the first Paul. Borg and John Dominic Crossan wrote a book entitled The First Paul. They argue that there were actually “three Pauls in the New Testament:” There is the “radical” Paul of the seven letters Paul genuinely wrote.[2] Radically egalitarian. Including this letter to the Corinthians. And what Paul told the Galatians: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Then there is what they call the “conservative” Paul of the three disputed letters.[3] I think they could have used a different word, a better descriptor that is less politically charged in our day. But in this case, people speaking in Paul’s name begin to dilute the earlier equality practiced in the church. They increasingly establish the very inequalities Paul had previously denounced. And then there is the “reactionary” Paul of the three inauthentic letters.[4] Reacting against equality. Those are the “women be silent” and “slaves be obedient” letters. That’s not genuinely or authentically Paul. And certainly nothing at all like Jesus would have said. Essentially, Borg and Crossan argue, the more institutionalized the early church became, the less it looked like the radically egalitarian Christ communities Paul founded. This tendency toward hierarchy, however, actually started to happen almost immediately. You can hear Paul’s frustration in this letter and others. In fact, it’s in the very next chapter that he has to talk about noisy gongs and clanging cymbals and how love is the greatest of these, the highest ideal, not one spiritual gift over another. But as Borg and Crossan state, “The church slowly but steadily deradicalized to fit Roman social norms regarding slavery, patriarchy, and wealth.” And the hierarchical distinctions outside the church were the same as inside. And once the church gained power under Emperor Constantine, all of these ideals were so reversed, the church actually became the instrument of an oppressive hierarchy, and in many places, it still is. But how it is isn’t how it always must be. Paul ends today’s reading with “strive for the greater gifts.” Keep striving. And so, that’s the idea of Thank You Sunday, to include literally everyone, the greater community – no one more important than another. A time to intentionally notice the small acts that make a big difference as well as those whose service to the church is front and center. We can never say thank you enough. Someone asked whether “Thank You Sunday” would become an annual tradition. Not necessarily. It could, but it doesn’t need to if we use today as simply the encouragement to continue to practice the art of saying thank you on a regular basis. It doesn’t have to be written down and sent in the mail. To my mother, yes, absolutely!, but a text or an email does say the same thing. John Kralik said, once he became more intentional about saying thank you, his life didn’t magically change. He didn’t get him a new air conditioner or an extra shot of espresso. But he had, in fact, become a different person. More confident; more patient. He found truer friendships. He actually lost weight and felt more inner peace. Gratitude literally improves mental health. We can start our journey this way: Turn to the persons sitting all around you and say, “Thank you!” [1] John Kralik, 365 Thank Yous, New York: Hyperion, 2010, from the introduction [2] Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon [3] Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians [4] 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] January 16, 2022 "Let Us Be Dissatisfied” Luke 4: 14-21 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Listen to this clip first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz6d-BdUPZs&t=76s This excerpt you just heard was from a speech Dr. King gave to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in August, 1967. The speech was entitled “Where Do We Go from Here,” which was also the title of a book he wrote in 1967 which asks of his question where do we go from here: Chaos or Community? It’s a question we are still asking today. Especially the last few years. 1967 was a bleak and difficult time for Dr. King. The Civil Rights Act of 1965 was a distant memory. Other than the right to vote and to drink from any water fountain, very little had fundamentally changed in the lives of individual people. Poverty was inextricable. Because it was and is inextricably linked to unrepaired systemic injustice resulting from centuries of slavery and decades of Jim Crow, including such things as redlining – literally red lines on a map where banks wouldn’t lend to those people. Wealth is often transferred from generation to generation by the increasing value of a home. Did you know that the original covenant in Mission Hills forbid People of Color from living in this very neighborhood? The words “Caucasian only” are actually on paper. In 1967, Dr. King had few friends left. And he lost even more when he got “too political.” Stay in the your lane, preacher. Stick to racism, he was told. Preach salvation, not liberation. But he couldn’t help but tie racism, economic exploitation, and war together as triple evils. They’re all interrelated. Dr. King called for nothing less than the restructuring of the whole of American society. He said poverty would never change without systemic disruption. But people in power never want to hear that. Their place on the hierarchy and wealth is threatened. But pressed from the other side, young African Americans had had it with the idea of non-violence and gave voice to Black Power. Cities were in turmoil. That further frightened white people and gave what many thought was the higher moral ground. Still today, the destruction of property for many people is more problematic than the issues of suffering and injustice they illuminate. So, Dr. King asked, where do we go from here? Among a decades worth of brilliant speeches and sermons, to me, this is one of his best and still relevant. Chaos or community? First, he said, “we must massively assert our dignity and worth. We must stand up amid a system that still oppresses us and develop an unassailable and majestic sense of value. We must no longer be ashamed of being Black.” Then, he said, we must “discover how to organize our strength into economic and political power. From the old plantations of the South to the newer ghettos of the North, the Negro has been confined to a life of voiceless-ness and powerless-ness. Stripped of the right to make decisions concerning his life and destiny he has been subject to the authoritarian and sometimes whimsical decisions of the white power structure. The plantation and the ghetto were created by those who had power, both to confine those who had no power and to perpetuate their powerlessness.” Dr. King acknowledged that the word power makes some people uncomfortable. But, he said, “there is nothing wrong with power if power is used correctly. One of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites, polar opposites, so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love. Now, we’ve got to get this thing right. What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, (repeat: power without love is reckless and abusive), and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” Third, Dr. King said, “we must develop progress, or rather, a program that will drive the nation to a guaranteed annual income. We must create full employment, or we must create incomes.” He cited John Kenneth Galbraith, the acclaimed economist, who said that “a guaranteed annual income could be done for about twenty billion dollars a year. And I say to you today, that if our nation can spend thirty-five billion dollars a year to fight an unjust, evil war in Vietnam, and twenty billion dollars to put a man on the moon, it can spend billions of dollars to put God's children on their own two feet right here on earth.” This a long and central part of his speech. Then he went on the respond to unrest in cities and calls for Black Power and separatism, as Malcolm X and others advocated. He continued to argue for non-violence and integration. And his speech goes into this extensively. He said, “without recognizing this we will end up with answers that don't answer, explanations that don't explain, and solutions that don't solve.” “This is no time for romantic illusions and empty philosophical debates about freedom. This is a time for action. What is needed is a strategy for change, a tactical program… So far, this has only been offered by the nonviolent movement.” He concluded this long section by saying, “I'm concerned about a better world. I'm concerned about justice; I'm concerned about brotherhood; I'm concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about that, he can never advocate violence. Because through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that.” Therefore, Dr. King said, “I have decided to stick with love, because I know that love is ultimately the only answer to [hu]mankind's problems. And I'm not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love; I'm talking about a strong, demanding love. For I have seen too much hate. I've seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South. I've seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen and too many White Citizens Councilors in the South to want to hate… because every time I see it, I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities, and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love.” I want to insert here that these words are not about telling others what they should do. People with power should never tell people without what their strategy should be. This is about people who have been victims of virulent violent hate, as Dr. King described, coming to this conclusion for themselves. Otherwise it’s just paternalistic patronization. That’s why people who love the “I Have a Dream” speech sometimes don’t like this one. The Dream, or at least selective quotes, doesn’t require anyone or anything to change. Dr. King concluded, “As we talk about ‘Where do we go from here,’ we must honestly face the fact that the movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society. There are forty million poor people here and we must ask the question, ‘Why are there forty million poor people in America?’ And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising a question about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. And when you ask that question, you begin to question the [entire] capitalistic economy.” He had already discussed at length that Marxism and communism were not better solutions. And that’s where the part of the speech we heard today starts. That’s the whole point behind his words that follow: “Let us be dissatisfied until America will no longer have a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds” “Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort from the inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice.” I’m not going to read all of them. You already heard his soaring oratory. I encourage you to go back and read or listen to the whole speech.[1] [2] So, you many ask, what does this have to do with the gospel reading from Luke today? Well, after Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah he sat down and everyone praised him. We’re so proud because he’s a hometown boy made big. If Jesus had just stayed in his seat and kept his mouth shut, the people would have loved it. And loved him. He talked about people who are poor, prisoners, people who are blind, or rather, who act blindly. But then, in the section you’ll hear in two weeks, he talked about “those other people” in ways they didn’t want to hear. He “got political.” And he riled them up so much that they dragged him out of the synagogue and out to the edge of town so they could throw him off a cliff. He should stayed in his own lane, preach salvation, not liberation. Save souls, not societies. The words in today’s reading mark the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. We know how it ends. Religion and state conspired to have him executed on a cross and send a message to other would be “messiahs.” That will shut him up and scare away his followers. It didn’t work. And that’s why we’re here as Christians today. Dr. King gave this speech in August 1967 and in April 1968 he was assassinated. He should have stuck with the more palatable message about the color of the skin and the content of character. His literally fatal mistake was to talk not only of racism but to change their economic exploitation tied to war. Triple evils. By doing so, he lost the admiration of both friends and many moderates. As we honor the life and legacy of Dr. King tomorrow, remember the challenges he named and callings we still have. The question remains today: Where do we go from here? Chaos or community. PRAYER OF HONESTY All: God of Justice, whenever we settle for the way things are instead of the way you would have them to be, forgive us. Whenever we are paralyzed by fear or limited in vision, increase our trust in you. Whenever we offer charity, but fail to work for justice, show us the more excellent way that your love requires. Whenever we tire of our struggles and tomorrow feels overwhelming, restore our hope. Whenever we forget those who have gone before us or act is if we were the first to struggle, allow us to recognize our arrogance. May the witness of our brother Martin encourage us to be dreamers for Jesus. ASSURANCE OF GRACE One: If, by reflection, analysis, and prayer, we are freed to acknowledge the wrongs around us, the pain among us, the selfishness within us, and the work before us, be assured that God’s call is constantly being revealed in us. Always remember and never forget: The liberating love of God is already at work within you! [1] https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/where-do-we-go-here [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whkvt3uLblA whole speech or excerpt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHJQCzv3dko&t=421s Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] January 9, 2021 “Waiting with God” Isaiah 43: 1-7 But now thus says the Lord, The One who created you, O Jacob, who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. 5 Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; 6 I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth-- 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Would you like to hear a baptism joke? A little five-year-old was being baptized. Midway through, he broke down in tears. His mother looked down and asked what was the matter. He cried, “The minister said I would be raised in a Christian home, but I want to live with you!” Maybe that’s kind of mean. Here’s something better: A little girl was standing on her tippy toes to see her baby sister get baptized. She watched intently as the minister sprinkled water onto the baby’s face three times. The girl, who dearly loved her new sister, was delighted and said, “Give her some more!” Give her some more. Did she understand the abundant possibilities in that water? Did she know that, as Isaiah said, God promised, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.” Why? “You are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.” Yeah, give her some more! We could all use some more, right?! Isaiah’s words are beautiful and hopeful. Without context, though, they’re just beautiful and hopeful words. Lovely, soothing. But for the people for whom this message was first meant, maybe, maybe not. Maybe those words felt empty. Instead of hopeful, they might have felt angry. So yeah, God, tell me, if we’re so precious in your sight, why were we captured and driven from our homeland in the first place? Why didn’t you stop our enemies from kidnapping us, destroying our homes, and our Temple… What good is your love and ‘honor’ when everything we loved was ripped away?” They might have felt about as comforted as when someone says to you, “Well, I guess it was his time.” Or, “She lived a full life.” Or, “At least he’s not suffering anymore.” Such words are not wrong. It’s hard to know what to say. And those words truly attempt to show sincere support and love. It’s just that, often times, those words don’t have a comforting effect, except for the one saying it. How would the exiles in Babylon have felt? For example, I’ll never forget what Kate Bowlin said. (Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I've Been Told) She was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. A neighbor stopped by with a casserole. Her husband opened the door and as the neighbor offered her gift, she said, “Everything happens for a reason.” Her husband replied, “OK, what is it?” The neighbor sheepishly stepped back and left. One of my nephews shared a post one time that said: • Moses could have walked from Egypt to the Promised Land in less than 40 days but God made him wait for 40 years. • God could have given a child to Abraham and Sarah at any time, but waited until they were nearly 100 years old. • Jesus could have healed Lazarus before he died, but waited until after he was dead. According to this author, God made them, makes us, wait. Why? • To build you up • To strengthen your faith • To develop your trust • To make you appreciate it when what you’ve been waiting for happens. God bless him, my nephew loved it. I read it and it made me cringe. It sounded a little too much like “You’re suffering because God thinks it’ll be good for you.” How do you suppose poor Lazarus felt? “Gee, thanks…? I could have used you about 4 days ago.” How about when what you were waiting for doesn’t happen? Faith is a confusing dual at times. Because there are times we can appreciate Paul’s words in Romans chapter 5: “We boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.” I love that scripture. It’s been true in my life. But, sometimes suffering doesn’t produce endurance, character or hope. Sometimes suffering kills. Sometimes suffering is simply the hatred and violence of racists, xenophobes and demagogues. Or the greed of those who take more than their fair share. Would you say to someone who is hungry, “Just think how much better your life will be now?” To be clear: God isn’t saying, “Let me make you suffer so you’ll grow from it. Build you up, strengthen your faith… You’ll be grateful later.” Although, maybe you will. After all, we believe in a God who can redeem anything. Pastor Juanita Rasmus was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2009, but, she said, she wasn’t afraid. Instead she waited to see what lesson the disease would bring. During her battle, Juanita rediscovered her love and identity as an artist. So, in August 2010, she launched The Art Project Houston. She wanted to share with others how art became such a vital part of her healing journey. The Art Project is a therapeutic art program for the poorest and sometimes homeless citizens of Houston. Her hope and desire for the project is to help people express their creativity and thus empowering them through artistic endeavors. Maybe that kind of thing has happened for you too. It’s beautiful. The fault is in the idea that God causes suffering and “makes” people wait because it’s good for them. The promise of Isaiah, and throughout scripture, is that God waits with us. Once you get through a marathon of suffering, endurance, and character building, God is not waiting at the end to hand out a prize. God promises to be with us. “When you walk through fire. When you pass through the waters, I’ll be with you.” All the way from the water of our mother’s womb to the waters of baptism to all that threatens to pull us down in the undertow or push us back by the waves. All because, as Isaiah speaks for God, “You are precious in my sight, you are honored, and I love you.” Just to be clear, • God doesn’t “make us” alcoholics to prove we can get through it. God is with us when we hit bottom. And at the AA meeting. In our sponsor. At the Alanon meeting. • God doesn’t “give us” Covid to make us better persons. God is with us in our caregivers. God is with us in the science that develops medicines and vaccines. • God doesn’t “take away” our job so we could become more trusting in God. God is with us in the unemployment line. • God doesn’t cause our spouse to stop loving us, or us to fall out of love with them, so that we could love God more. God is with us in both marriage and in divorce. • God doesn’t cause someone’s life to end so we could better appreciate the value of life. God is with us at the bedside when our loved one takes their last breath. Even though, ironically, we can get through it and become stronger.
But not because God forced these things upon us. God doesn’t make us wait. God waits with us. Alongside us. And through us with others. Ah, that’s key, isn’t it. God works through us. And if we’re open and receptive, we do become more kind and compassionate people.
All of which is infinitely more possible when we are not afraid. When we know deep within that we are not alone. Thus, says the Lord, “Do not fear. I am with you.” That was the message to Jesus too. At his baptism, a voice from heaven proclaimed – “you are my child, my beloved, and with you, I am well pleased.” Today is the Baptism of Christ Sunday, one of my favorite annual traditions on the liturgical calendar. It is often the custom to remember our baptism, especially the vows made either by ourselves or by our parents, and recommit to them. And so today, we will. And, if you’ve never been baptized, you might begin to consider whether this is a path you would like to explore. |
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March 2024
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