A Reminder

A sermon preached at St. Francis by the Lake Episcopal Church, Canyon Lake, Texas.
The lectionary readings for Christ the King Sunday are here.

The seven-year-old-fairy-tale-believing little girl in me has always been enamored with the British Royal family. So, I must admit that in my time in Canada, I enjoyed participating in the royal customs and traditions of a country in the Commonwealth, well except for a particular pub game called Save the Queen (I guess it’s Save the King now). In this game, your supposed friends would plunk a coin in your beverage and, because the image of the queen was on the coin, you had to chug what was left of your beverage to save her from drowning while everyone else sang “God save the Queen”. I made the mistake once of trying to get out of chugging a full pint by saying, “she’s not my queen” and was booed and threatened with expulsion from the pub. Both in the pub and in my classes, I learned a lot about how serious they take their allegiance to the Monarch while remaining faithful to our confession that Jesus is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

Since much of our identity as Americans stems from the fact that we booted the Monarchy out of our country so very long ago, we struggle to fully grasp the concept of pledging allegiance and loyalty to a King or Queen and especially how our faith in Jesus as King of Kings informs our allegiance to any leader. Our form of government in this country came about because we wanted out from under the total authority of a monarchy. And to be clear, Great Britain is not a true monarchy as their monarchs no longer have any executive or political power. The role of the monarch, in Great Britain and the Commonwealth at least, is a symbol of a unifying national identity, not political power.

As we talk about the Kingship of Jesus, we have to be careful in our understanding and the words we use. We have to understand it through the stories of our faith ancestors in the Old Testament and with the words and actions of Jesus in Roman occupied, first century Palestine.

On Christ the King Sunday we close out the church year with the story of Jesus’ condemnation by the powers of this world before we turn our attention to preparing for God to step into history as a vulnerable baby. We can’t separate these events because they paint the full picture of what God is up to in this world.

God chose to step into history not in privileged wealth or status or power, not with physical force or military might but as the most vulnerable among us to show us how powerful love really is. And God chose to give himself over to the oppressive authorities to be executed to show that love as God loves is more powerful than any oppressive governmental system and even more powerful than our greatest human fear, death.

When we claim to follow Jesus, our ideas of leadership, regardless of the century we may be in, should reflect God’s Way and God’s Kingdom, not the world’s way. Jesus refused to be made King by humans and said that his kingdom is NOT of this world. We cannot label our human derived, might-makes-right driven governments with Jesus’ name. Putting a label of “Jesus” or “God” on hatred, bigotry, oppression, or fear, does not make it God’s Way. This is using God’s name in vain; it is our modern idolatry.

When God agreed to give the Israelites a King, it wasn’t a reward, it was a concession. God said to the Israelites, “I will be your God and you will be my people” and the Israelites said they’d rather be like all the other nations. So, God let them have their way, giving them over to the consequences that would come from choosing to be like other earthly kingdoms rather than living as God’s people on earth as in heaven. And then God appointed prophets to hold the Kings accountable for being the leader of God’s chosen people, because God’s anointed are to rule with justice, mercy, and grace while walking humbly with God, to serve as a role model of the image bearers we are created to be.

And many thousands of years later, we haven’t done any better. When we choose to follow our own way instead of following Jesus, God lets us. And there are consequences. When we choose to lead or rule by fear and oppression or follow a leader who does, we can never feel the security and safety we pretend we are offering others.

Regardless of who our leaders and elected officials might be, when we make the choice to follow Jesus, Jesus becomes our primary teacher and guide, our Lord of Lord and King of Kings, the one who shows us in flesh and blood what it is to love as God loves, even when it’s hard. Even when it costs us everything. Even when the world promises us riches in exchange for our true identity. Even when the world says Jesus’ Way is weak and out of date.

The throne room imagery we have in our readings today is the majesty of God on the throne, not any human and the one like a human is Jesus who has the title Son of Man, the one who can rule without letting the power corrupt his motivation.

So, like Pilate, we have to ask ourselves, what is truth? Do we claim the world’s truth that says power is physical and military might that bullies others to conform to our will, that constantly defines “us” as against “them” and that seeks revenge and retaliation in the place of justice?

Or do we claim the truth of Jesus, that the power of God’s Kingdom is the love, mercy, and justice that both enables and requires us to see the image of God in all people.

Next Sunday we step into the season of Advent, the time in which we prepare for the coming of Jesus not just as a baby at Christmas or to restore all things to God’s original intent in some future time, but in this now and not yet season of our everyday lives. How do we expect Jesus to show up every day? As a bully to vanquish those who disagree with us, as a dictator demanding perfect loyalty, as a self-serving master who sucks the life from us, or as a humble servant teacher who says the greatest commandment is to Love, offering us and everyone peace and grace and mercy and the renewed life we are created for?

There is much anger and hate in this world and it is very, very loud. Jesus shows us in flesh and blood that Love is more powerful than anything else and yet we tend to whisper love. We need to shout LOVE from the rooftops, make our love actions louder and more visible so that the world knows the Good News of God’s Love. This is how we remain faithful to our King of Kings Jesus.

Jesus is the one who unifies us in our identity as God’s beloved and we are to show the world the power of Love not because we believe in some fairy tale but because we stand in the truth of who God is and Whose we are: God’s beloved children, created in the image of the loving, life-giving, liberating God of all Creation, regardless of what country or century we live in. We are citizens of God’s Kingdom-not-of-this-world and it is God’s will that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and with our works of love and mercy and justice as we follow him, all of creation will be restored to God’s original intent.

As folks who know we are God’s beloved, we must show the world that everyone is God’s beloved, because so many in the world have forgotten it. If you’ve forgotten that God loves you, let me remind you, let our time of worship and sacrament today remind you, so that knowing you are loved you can shout love loudly with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. If it’s not about love, it’s not about God. Amen.

Held Together

The day after Jim died, my friend Carrie came by to visit and we talked about Jim’s funeral. As we talked through what Jim wanted for readings and music she said she’d get it all together and send me a draft bulletin to review. I said, ‘oh, it’s already done.’ Carrie laughed and said, ‘of course you have that done’ and then after a pause ‘now send it to me and remember that you are not the priest right now, you are the wife.’

These roles haven’t always been intertwined for me even though Jim and I met and began dating shortly after my ordination. We had only been going out for a couple of months when he first brought up the topic of us getting married. I responded, as kindly as possible because I didn’t want to shoo him away that I was still trying to figure out what being a priest was all about and I couldn’t do that and figure out how to be husband and wife together at the same time. I told him I wasn’t saying no just not ready to talk about it yet. Apparently in my efforts to explain myself I said something along the lines of ‘give me 6 months’ because 6 months later to the day, he asked again. He even showed me where he wrote on his calendar. (I said yes.)

As we began having conversations with the other priest at the church where I was serving we decided to keep the wedding date a secret and that we would get married as part of a regular Sunday morning service just like a baptism is done. For the first part of the service, Jim and I sat in the congregation. After the reading of scripture, Fr. Jim (FYI – dating someone with the same first name as a priest in the parish is tricky) called us forward and we said our vows and he blessed our marriage. After the Passing of the Peace, we moved into the place where I sat as a priest as I put on a stole and assisted with Holy Communion. It was an intentional bringing together of my roles of wife and priest.

Carrie’s words brought me to the realization that I must now untether these roles. It will take time and intentionality and there’s no hurry. In these past weeks, as my church has generously given me time to grieve, I’ve thought about how comforting – and often awkward feeling – it has been to let them minister to me. One of my grounding ideals as a priest is that it is my role to equip and enable others to do their ministry as together we all follow Jesus. They are an amazing group of people who truly have hospitality in their collective DNA. They show up and do life together, and I can say with much love and comfort that I’m doing life with them and I am so very grateful.

I have one more week before stepping back into regular routines and obligations and the joy of being their priest. My first ‘event’ will be a pre-Advent retreat day that we had scheduled months ago and I’m excited that is what’s first in this new chapter that we will write together as we walk it. Leading retreats is my favorite thing to do and it was really how I began my relationship with this amazing congregation. In the spring of 2021, they asked me to lead them on a day of listening and discernment to discover how the Holy Spirit was leading them. They knew there wasn’t ‘going back’ after the COVID pandemic and they wanted to follow Jesus as faithfully as possible moving forward. It was a wonderful day. So in a week I’ll lead them in a conversation about orienting ourselves in all ways to the coming of Jesus, into history as God incarnate, into the ordinary and extraordinary moments of our lives each day of the now and not yet, and into the someday fully realized Kingdom on earth as in Heaven.

I am held together by love: God’s love, Jim’s love for me and mine for him, the loving acts of prayer and food and conversation with the good people of St. Francis by the Lake Episcopal Church and our bishop and diocese and my fellow clergy, and of course by my family and friends. Kingdom Love is the strongest force I know. God is good and I’m ok.

And just in case you need to hear this – you are held together by love, too. You are loved and worthy of love.

Identity

Some pondering over early morning coffee.

Throughout the whole political season (I’m concerned it isn’t a season but the way of being of this country), I have seen over and over, people professing to be Christian dishing out hate and fear in apparent attempts to ‘win’ people to a particular side. And, yet, Jesus makes it abundantly clear that hate and fear are not a part of God’s Kingdom on earth. It is clear that professing to be Christian and actually following Jesus are two different things. Jesus knew many would do this and warned against it.

I’ve seen many folks make their political party their primary identity. But this is not who God created us to be. When we let our political party views shape how we present christianity to the world, we’ve gotten ourselves all discombobulated and forgotten that Jesus came to bring Good News to all people. Our identity as Jesus’ Followers should shape and transform our political views, our worldview, how we see everyone and everything, through the lens of God’s love for us.

We are first and foremost beloved children of God, created in God’s loving image. Our purpose is to be image bearers shining in the darkness of this world. Our obligation is to remember that all human beings are created by the same loving God. All human beings. ALL. It is not our job to sort through who is worthy of love and who isn’t. God makes all people worthy through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We can work diligently to show them just how worthy they are because so many people in this world don’t know that or have forgotten. There will be a lot of folks who don’t want to know it either and it isn’t our job to force them to see who and Whose they really are. Because love is never forced or demanded.

I am also a mother, sister, aunt, grandma (aka Gamby or Mimi), and friend. My purpose is to love the people in my circle in such a way that they know they too are beloved children of God. My responsibility is to help equip them to be the best image bearers they can be, with the unique gifts and skills and talents they possess. It takes all of us working together, working WITH each other and with God’s help to build up God’s Kingdom on earth as in Heaven. It is not my job to control those around me, to coerce them, or manipulate them. Because love does not control or coerce or manipulate.

I am also a priest in the Episcopal Church. My purpose is to lead others in the Way of Love, through the administration of the sacraments, spiritual formation in worship and study, and in pastoral care so that we are all better equipped to be image bearers shining in the darkness of this world. It is not my job to save souls or to fix others. It is not my job to point out other people’s sins or incite fear in anyone. Because love isn’t fearful nor does love incite fear.

I am also an American and this does not in any way change my purpose nor any of my responsibilities in life. It is simply the setting in which I live into who God created me to be. Regardless of which county I may be in, regardless of any particular political party I may align with, I am still a beloved child of God created to be an image bearer, gifted with the love of others who I journey with, and called to lead others as we follow Jesus in the Way of Love. In whatever circumstance we find ourselves, we follow Jesus. We love. We tend to each other and equip each other to love better and better each day with God’s help.

Let God’s Love be our compass

In whom do you ground your identity? If you are one of many who ave you forgotten that you are a beloved child of God, hear me say, you are loved. Let God’s love shape and transform you. Choose to follow Jesus into the Kingdom on earth as in Heaven where love is stronger than fear and hate, where the light of God’s image shines into the darkness.

A Good Grief, Part 2

When I wrote this piece in early summer, I didn’t plan on a part 2. When my dad died in July, we didn’t yet know the seriousness of Jim’s cancer. We didn’t even know for sure he had cancer. He had so many symptoms that could be related or could not be related, that could be one thing or another. We thought we’d solved two of the biggest symptoms and he was feeling better than he had in a while. Three months later, a week ago today, pancreatic cancer took Jim’s physical life from us. I’m sad. I’m angry. I’m scared. I’m hopeful. I’m glad he isn’t sick any more. I know I’m not alone and that I’m loved and supported by many. And I still have laundry to do, meals to fix and eat, dogs to tend to, a home to manage, bills to pay, stuff to learn, people to love.

Grief, good grief, doesn’t mean life stops even as we set some things aside for a while. Good grief doesn’t mean we pretend all is well when it isn’t. Good grief is allowing ourselves to be sad/angry/scared and to be hopeful and grateful and to love and be loved.

I don’t know why God created us to have limited life spans on this earth. I don’t know why, when humans decided to choose for themselves how to define good and evil rather than accept God’s way, that human action somehow enabled disease and corrupted cells that grow in ways that cause our physical bodies to die not of old age. I don’t need to know these things to appreciate this life God has given me. What I do know, in the very depths of my soul, is that the Loving and Life-giving God I know and love and who loves me and every single human being ever, did not ‘take’ Jim’s life, or cause him to be sick and suffer and die for some “reason I don’t understand”. I don’t hear this as often in the Episcopal Church as I did/do in the denomination of my childhood but I had some folks say it about my dad and I’m sure at some point someone will say it about Jim. The idea that God somehow needed Jim more than I and his kids and grandkids need him here is, my friends, simply bad theology.

Yes, we have the opportunity to learn in our suffering in this life, but the God who loves and values our humanness enough to become like us, born of a woman, fully human/fully God, to live as we live, isn’t some chess master style god who cruelly makes one of his beloved children sick to somehow ‘teach us something.’ What I can learn from the struggles and deaths I’ve experienced these past months is how to live and love better, not because God thought I needed to learn a hard lesson but because God always calls us to continuously learn to be more and more like Jesus in every moment of our lives.

Jesus showed us in flesh and blood what it is to live as God created us to live – in loving relationship with our Creator and with each other and this amazing planet we live on. All created things – humans, animals, plants – die a physical death. This isn’t something to be avoided because we don’t understand it or are afraid of it. Death is a part of the life God gave us. And we know that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we have life after this physical one. Jim and I speculated a lot about what this might be like. And, the best we came up with is that we don’t know the details but we do know that it is a life without cancer, and without suffering, and pain, and sorrow.

All of the emotions we experience when someone dies are part of being who God created us to be. The emotional pain is challenging and we want to feel better. Perhaps this is why some have come up with the idea that God ‘takes’ people for reasons beyond our understanding. Is it easier to say we can’t understand than it is to face the pain? Suppressing pain or denying it doesn’t make us better. Bringing our most difficult emotions into God’s presence and letting God’s love hold us does. Talking with others we can trust to let us express our pain without platitudes or toxic positivity or attempts to ‘fix it’ helps the pain heal and in healing we become better.

I’m sad. I’m angry. I’m scared. I’m hopeful. I’m not alone and I’m loved by many and I have many people to love. I’m a beloved child of God and so are you. The best we can be is to let suffering, ours and others, teach us to love more and more like Jesus. God’s peace be with you, my friends.

Accompaniment

A sermon preached at St. Francis by the Lake Episcopal Church, Canyon Lake, TX.
The lectionary readings for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost are here.

So, the most challenging thing about today’s lesson in the midst of our fall ministry support campaign is pronouncing today’s theme: Accompaniment. Take out the insert in your bulletin and say it with me: Accompaniment. This word is a musical term that means to support or complete the melody.

As we use it in God’s Kingdom it means to walk with each other, supporting and completing each other in the melody of God’s Love – working together with God for the transformation and well-being of all of us and our community.

The man in our gospel reading today had an issue with accompaniment. He wanted to follow a checklist of dos and don’ts as a transaction to pay for his own solo entry into God’s Kingdom. He wanted to be self-sufficient, to gain the benefits of God without being in relationship with God. Either he didn’t realize, or he chose to ignore because he was only concerned about himself, that God’s Kingdom is about relationship and community and being with each other as we continually grow into who God created us to be. Our relationship with God and each other IS the kingdom on earth as in heaven

God’s Kingdom is about walking with each other as we follow Jesus, trusting God’s Way of journeying through this world. We can’t earn our way into it. We can’t buy our way into it. We can’t make ourselves important enough to get in. We enter into God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven through the gift of God’s love and grace and mercy. And we enter as a community of believers. I can’t be in God’s Kingdom on earth without you and you can’t be a part of it without me. We all need each other to support and complement the melody of God’s love in this place. When one of us doesn’t show up, the chord isn’t complete. When one or a few of us are doing too much, the chord sounds off. When some aren’t doing their part, we are all a little less harmonious.

All of the blessings God has given us – every part of our life, our wisdom, our work, our wealth – are to be offered back into the economy of God’s Kingdom, not hoarded in our own individual storehouses. God’s law is given to us to help us learn to love with Kingdom love, accompanying each other on this journey, working with each other to ensure we all have what we need, using our collective wisdom for the benefit of all, and sharing our wealth so that every beloved child of God has food and shelter and clothes and safety and knows they are loved. What we do with our resources, our God given resources, reveals our level of trust in God and God’s Way.

When we are transformed by God’s Love we do our work for the glory of God and God’s Kingdom, we speak and live in the wisdom of God’s Love, and we share our wealth in ways that’s reveal people and relationships are truly valuable as we participate with God in the transforming of this world. We are a part of this church because we choose to be transformed by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus so that we can reveal God’s Way as the alternative to a world consumed by self-sufficiency. Together, we are called to live a life worthy of God’s love for us, proclaiming God’s transformative love with all that we have and all that we do and all that we are.

Accompaniment is knowing that together we are the Body of Christ and we support and complement the melody of God’s Love in this world, with the whole of our lives oriented toward God as we support and participate in all that happens in this place we call St. Francis by the Lake Episcopal Church. Amen.

*We are using the Walk in Love materials from The Episcopal Network for Stewardship.

I’m Ok

Some of you know that my husband and I have received the news that he has stage IV pancreatic cancer. As my granddad would have said, “it’s a hard row to hoe.” We are doing our best to be open with each other about what we are feeling and experiencing and I’m so grateful for those who are walking with us. It warms my heart each time someone sincerely asks, “how are you” or “what do you need?” Simply asking the questions often gives me what I need: knowing we are not alone or on our own. I hear myself saying “I’m OK” often and some of you – thank you – double check to make sure I’m not just putting up a false front because it’s the polite thing to do and so I’ve been reflecting on what I really do mean when I say it.

When I say “I’m OK,” it doesn’t mean I’m trying to ignore or hide my problems. It is a statement of trust in the Goodness and Faithfulness of our Creator God. In the midst of struggles God is with me, guiding me, loving me, comforting me. Anchored by God’s love I am not aimlessly tossed about in the storm. In the pain and sorrow, God holds me safe. I know that God is always on the side of the sufferer.

Believing in God and following Jesus doesn’t mean life will be easy*. Believing in God means that this wonderful, amazing life that God has given is lived in relationship with God. It means that my relationship with God is the guide for all of my human relationships and that together we walk in love, following Jesus, each carrying our responsibilities toward God’s Kingdom, and sharing each other’s struggles and celebrations and ordinary days along The Way.

Saying I’m OK means I know that I’m not alone or on my own in this life. I share life with God and all of you. And that fills my heart to overflowing so that I can show you that you are not alone or on your own either when I ask ‘how are you’.

So don’t hear my “I’m OK” as I want you to think I’m perfect; it means I know none of us are. God made us good so that we could know life as a companionable journey of learning and growing. Saying “I’m OK” isn’t an attempt to deceive but a way to test the waters with you: is this an appropriate time to go deeper, am I safe to go deeper with you and are you safe to go deeper with me? We’ll know the answer in each others eyes.

I’m so grateful for all who are walking with us. Thanks for listening.

*And just to be clear, I do NOT believe that God causes suffering to teach or punish although we have the choice to take the opportunity to learn and grow from our suffering to become more compassionate and better human beings. An appropriate response to suffering lies in between toxic positivity and wallowing in victimhood. We can save this conversation for another day, because I’m feeling a bit to ‘soap boxy’ about it right now and I don’t want to rant.

Kingdom Greatness

A sermon preached at St. Francis by the Lake Episcopal Church, Canyon Lake, TX.
The lectionary readings for the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost are here.

In today’s reading we have the second time Jesus tells his disciples that he will be killed and rise again and again they do not understand.

Last week, Jesus and the disciples were in Caesarea Philippi and Jesus asked the disciples Who do you say that I am and began to teach them what being Messiah in God’s Kingdom is really about. Peter attempted to correct Jesus and Jesus reminded everyone who is supposed to be following whom.

In between last week’s reading and today’s Jesus continues to show the disciples what it is to be a citizen of God’s Kingdom on earth: we have the story of the Transfiguration in which Peter, James, and John witness Jesus having a conversation with Moses and Elijah and Jesus’ clothes are turned a dazzling white. And from this mountain top experience, Jesus leads them back into town where they encounter the rest of the disciples in a kerfuffle with some folks. A man had brought his son for healing and the disciples were unable to do it. After a brief conversation with the boy’s father, Jesus heals the boy.

Jesus then leads the disciples through Galilee to Capernaum and continues to teach them what being Messiah in God’s Kingdom is: “the Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands and they will kill him and three days altering being killed, he will rise again.” This time, no one argues with Jesus but they still struggle with the reality of what Jesus is saying and they argue amongst themselves. We can’t fault them for this – what Jesus is telling them is difficult. He is their leader, the one they think will set them free from Roman Oppression. What he’s telling them doesn’t fit their world view. If we were in their place, it wouldn’t fit most of ours.

In our current political climate, we are in their place – arguing amongst ourselves about who is the greatest and struggling to understand how love and mercy are more powerful than our enemies.

Greatness in God’s Kingdom on Earth isn’t about who has the bigger sword or who gets the most votes. Greatness in God’s Kingdom on Earth is about loving God and each other well. Jesus says to be first you must serve others and he picks up a child and says whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me. Why a child?

We often read this as a reference to being innocent or teachable and that’s part of it, for sure, but to sharpen our focus on all that Jesus means, we need to remember that in first century Palestine, who you were and what you were allowed or forced to do had everything to do with your well defined social status based on your heritage and your wealth or lack thereof. Children were the lowest on the social status ladder, utterly dependent on others without being able to contribute much if anything to the good of the society. And yet, paradoxically, children are more valuable to a family, to a society, than anyone else. Jesus says how we see children is how we should see each other regardless of what someone may or may not contribute to what our society says is great or valuable.

We are to see everyone as beloved children of God and when we do, we aren’t turning the status ladder upside down, we are doing away with status and rank all together. In God’s Kingdom economy we are all equal. We are each uniquely a part of the greater whole in which we live in the understanding that we need God and each other to be fully human. What makes me most fully who God created me to be is that I work with all of you to ensure that everyone has what we need.

The God who created us and the entire universe chooses to bring about God’s Kingdom purposes with us, the very humans who regularly try to lead Jesus because we think our way is more efficient and effective. God chooses to save the world through vulnerability and love not domination. Genuine greatness in God’s Kingdom is generosity and love and faith.

And we have the choice to let God shape our worldview to be a Kingdom View of the world or to keep trying to prove that somehow electing the right person will solve all the world’s problems instead of continuing to create more of them.

All that Jesus did, all that the writers of the Good News Stories wrote down for us, shows us what it looks like in flesh and blood to live the Kingdom View in this world. The Kingdom View of the world is love, not domination, not coercion, not military or political might, not bullying or wealth or lies. A Kingdom view knows that Love is the most powerful force in all of creation.

In one of my podcasts this week, I heard the best definition of love in God’s Kingdom on earth I’ve ever heard: Love “is a commitment to action for the well-being of another, regardless of my personal feelings towards them.”* Listen to it again, Love “is a commitment to action for the well-being of another, regardless of my personal feelings toward them.”

Imagine a world we we truly and authentically seek the well-being of all of God’s beloved children, regardless of where they come from, regardless of their political leanings, regardless of their wealth or social status. Imagine a world where we see all people as God’s beloved children, invaluable and precious. Imagine a world where we all know our true identity as God’s beloved and all of our relationships flow from this knowledge of who and Whose we are.

When I begin to understand who I am created in God’s image, then who I am as daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, colleague, and priest will flourish. I can let go of the need to be right and walk in God’s righteousness. I can let go of the need to compete and be a companion to all who walk with me. I can let go of the expectations and definitions of success that the world tries to sell me and grow in God’s wisdom.

Only when we let go of our need to defend God’s Kingdom on Earth can we live in the peace of the Kingdom. Anger, defensiveness, hate, and greed only bring about more anger, defensiveness, hate, and greed. Love brings about peace and compassion and justice and mercy. We get to choose which we want more of by the way we see others – as our enemy or obstacle or the means to our own end, or as God’s beloved children. God’s Kingdom on earth is the reality we live in here and now as we follow Jesus in the Way of Love. Amen.

*From Voxology: 473 – Politics & Potlucks: The Church’s Place in American Culture, Sep 16, 2024

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/voxology/id1049250910?i=1000669694579

Loving Relationship

A sermon preached at St. Francis by the Lake Episcopal Church. The Lectionary readings for the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost are here.

When I started working on the sermon for today, I struggled to choose whether to talk about James’ words that not many should become teachers because teachers are held to higher standards or Jesus’ words to Peter, “get behind me Satan.” Neither on the surface sound like feel-good topics about the God of Love, do they? In fact, when Jim asked me what I would be preaching about and I described to him which lessons were being read, he said, “that doesn’t sound like loving relationships at all.” So, let’s see what we can uncover as we dig into them both.

What we call the book of James is written by Jesus’ half-brother Jacob about 30 years or so after Jesus resurrection and ascension. Jacob was a leader in the Jerusalem church and he writes to the Jews living outside of Jerusalem to teach and encourage them to live in the wisdom of Jesus’ summary of the Torah: loving God and their neighbors as Jesus showed them in flesh and blood. Jacob knew the weight his words would carry; he accepted the accountability that came with being a leader in the early church. He teaches the wisdom that the words we use can either build up or destroy, bless or curse and so we must always work with God’s help at controlling our words. His metaphors leave us with the question: if our words are causing harm, can we really claim to be following Jesus? Jacob believed that Jesus came to build up the Kingdom of God by teaching that love is action guided by God’s justice and generosity. And he prompts us to ask if we truly believe it, too.

With (Jacob)James’ guiding wisdom of what it means to teach the Good News ringing in our ears, we step into Mark’s narrative of Jesus and Peter in one of their better known exchanges. Mark would have penned his telling of the Good News around the same time that Jacob’s writing was circulating among the early Christian communities. I have no idea who’s came first or if they ever read each other’s writings but I do applaud the lectionary folks who paired these pieces together for us today.

Jesus, the teacher, the radical Jewish Rabbi, asks his disciples who others say that he is, followed by the question, “who do you say that I am?” And Peter answers confidently, “you are the Messiah.” And then Jesus does this curious thing and sternly orders them not to tell anyone. Why on earth would he do that? Because he knew they weren’t ready to be teachers yet, they only have the beginning of the wisdom Jesus is leading them toward. They can speak the words, “you are the Messiah” but they aren’t yet ready to live these words.

And so Jesus continues the lesson to counter Peter’s idea of what the Messiah is to be. Messiah is an ancient title that means anointed one and and carried royal implications. The long awaited Messiah was to come and deliver God’s people from the oppressive nature of the Caesars of the world. And of course this meant big armies and lots of weapons and military and political power bigger and more dangerous than Caesar’s, right?

Wrong. Jesus says that the Messiah will suffer, he won’t rise to political or military power but will actually be killed by the powers he’s come to save God’s people from. And the zinger of the lesson is that the Messiah, after being killed, will rise again, that death won’t be the end but only the beginning of the new life the Messiah is bringing to the world!

But Peter is so discombobulated by the idea of the Messiah being killed that he doesn’t seem to hear the conclusion of the lesson. He stopped listening when Jesus’ teaching went against his own ideas of what the Messiah would do. And so Peter tries to take things into his own hands, making himself the teacher of Jesus to correct Jesus. Imagine the audacity?!
Jesus isn’t gentle in his correction of Peter, there’s too much at stake here, it’s ‘life-and-death’ serious – like teaching our children not to run into traffic serious. And where Peter speaks to Jesus privately, Jesus scolds Peter in front of all of the disciples and then calls in the crowds so as many as possible can hear. This isn’t private information to be hoarded by a select few, but wisdom for the life of the whole world.

And yet, Jesus doesn’t condemn Peter or expel him from Jesus University. Peter, in all of his humanness, sometimes gets it right and sometimes gets it wrong. He isn’t perfect; he’s human. Like the rest of us he has a lot of growth potential. But Jesus wants to convey the weight of understanding what God means by sending God’s anointed one, the long promised and long awaited Messiah, and so he uses another title that lets Peter and the others know that Peter is standing on the wrong side of the Good News.

Satan means adversary or accuser, it is a title given to one who opposes an idea or teaching. So when Jesus says get behind me, he isn’t calling Peter a bad name and he doesn’t think Peter has just become possessed by a demon, he’s reminding Peter who is supposed to be following whom.

Following Jesus isn’t just a Sunday morning thing. Following Jesus is a way of living life on earth as it is in Heaven. We can’t take our ideas of what the good life is and force fit the Good News of God’s love into them. The Good News of Jesus isn’t about going to heaven but heaven coming to earth. God chooses to come to us in Jesus to show us how to the life we are created for – a life grounded in love and justice and compassion for all people and all of creation. If our behaviors Monday through Saturday don’t match what we profess in here on Sunday, we are, to put it in James’ words, trying to be a tree producing two different kinds of fruit.

To follow Jesus, we have to let go of those ideas which are counter to this Good News. Gaining political power in this world is not the way of Jesus. Leading with fear and division is not the way of Jesus. Teaching hate and dehumanizing groups of God’s beloved children is not the way of Jesus. Dominating others is not the way of Jesus.

To take up our cross means we must give up that which causes us to try and lead Jesus rather than follow him.

The way of Jesus is to love as God loves – not some simplistic sentimental emotion that makes us feel better about ourselves but to love actively seeking the greater good of all of God’s beloved children. The way of Jesus is wanting for all people what we want for ourselves and being willing to do all that we can together to bring heaven on earth.

When we claim to follow Jesus and then attempt to distort Jesus’ teachings for our own power and gain, we are not following and our words cause great harm to others and ourselves. Remember when Jesus said that it isn’t what goes in but what comes out of our mouths that corrupts?

When we let God’s Spirit direct our hearts, we live in the wisdom of the Word of God. We can hear the whole of Jesus’ teaching, following him in this new life here and now, walking each day in the presence of God in the land of the living, growing in God’s love so that we can learn to love more and more each day. Amen.

Loving Kindness

What does it mean to be kind? When someone harms you by their behaviors and words, is it kind or nice to ignore it?

I have recently been navigating a challenging relationship in which one person has lied about what I’ve said and another person chooses to believe their lies and aggressively confront me with orders to “give them grace.” When I say “they lied” and when I’ve tried to discuss the other person’s regular patterns of harmful and self-centered behavior, I’m told to stop being mean and hateful.

And so I’ve been spending some time with the idea of being kind and what does Jesus show us about kindness. In some theological circles it has been taught that Jesus wants us to be doormats who never stand up for ourselves. But my study of scripture tells me this is not true.

In Matthew’s telling of the Good News Story, Jesus says, “do not resist an evil doer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also (Matthew 5:39, NRSV). When we understand this statement in the appropriate cultural context (1st Century Palestine, not 21st Century North America) it becomes a statement about standing up for equal justice, not being a doormat. Here is an excellent video commentary from the BibleProject on this section of Matthew.

As Jesus sends the disciples out to carry to the Good News of God’s Love to others he says, “I’m sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:18, NRSV). Serpents were understood as a symbol of cunning and wisdom. In other words, use the wisdom of God’s love to navigate each situation you find yourself in; don’t seek retaliation against those who attempt to bring you harm.

Let me offer two more quick examples of Jesus modeling for us how to be in healthy human relationships. Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Matthew 19:16-0, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-30) all offer a story about Jesus and a rich man who lived transactionally rather than relationally. God’s law was a checklist to earn God’s due favor. Jesus tells him he must live God’s law of love by using what he has to love his neighbor as himself, to want for his neighbor what he desires for himself. And the man walks away because his wealth was more important to him than God or any person. And Jesus let him walk away. Jesus didn’t chase him or scold him or belittle him or threaten him. Jesus didn’t say to the man, ‘you just behave however you choose and I’ll pretend all is good’ because that is not what grace is.

In John’s telling of the Good News, he offers a story of a woman brought to Jesus with accusations of adultery (John 7:53 – 8:11). Jesus tells the people who are witnessing this unjust spectacle that the one who has never done anything wrong should be the one who administers the punishment. Jesus is confronting the unjust law that says a woman is the one who should be punished in crimes involving sexual exploitation. Again, understanding this scenario in the context of first century Palestine, a woman had no identity except in relation to the men around her, no rights, no worth, no agency. So, Jesus looks at the men and says do better than what the law requires, go a step further and apply God’s justice to the situation. Apply the same standards of behavior to yourself that you hold others accountable to.

Being kind is part of loving well, yes, but loving as Jesus shows us means always wanting the best for another. Enabling others in their harmful self-centered behaviors by turning a blind eye isn’t love. Love has the wisdom and courage to attempt to correct without the motivation of revenge or retaliation and love as Jesus shows us allows us to hold healthy boundaries as a model for the mutual accountability necessary for all healthy relationships.

Love does not require us to continuously place ourselves in the path of another’s harmful behaviors. Love requires that we do not seek revenge or retaliation when we are harmed but instead work diligently for justice in all situations. Justice involves accountability and right action and appropriate consequences. Love means holding boundaries for those who choose not to have any. Love means standing up for ourselves and each other without being blind to our own or others harmful behaviors. Love isn’t easy and love doesn’t always feel like joy. Sometimes the best way to love is to say “I will not let you harm me or others because your harmful behaviors also damage your soul and interfere with everyone’s ability to have a healthy relationship.”

And sometimes to be our best, we have to put some distance between ourself and the one who is harming us so that we aren’t triggered into behaving badly. It may appear we are holding a grudge in our distance and silence but what we are really doing is holding up a boundary so we can be our best selves and heal from the hurt.

I’ve learned that being a good person does not mean I have to bear another’s bad behavior in silence, that I can say hard things in a kind way. And I know that in my hurt I’m not always the best at saying hard things in a kind way; I’m working on it. This is grace – that I know that people hurt others because they too are wounded. Grace doesn’t excuse bad behavior or make it acceptable. Grace gives us the wisdom to navigate the harmful behaviors of others with compassion and boundaries.

Nuance

I didn’t preach today, but I wanted to share some pondering thoughts related to the Gospel reading for today (you can see the lectionary readings here.)

Y’all know that rarely do I get “political” and I put that word in quotes because what we mostly mean when we say that is “I speak as loudly as possible about how my political tribe is always right and yours is always wrong”. If we were to take the word “political” with it’s actual meaning, it would mean we are “interested or active in the government or social affairs of our country” which we all should be. As we trudge through this election season, I get quite frustrated at the ads that tell me how terrible another candidate is rather than tell me how the candidate who paid for the ads will work to make life good for all people in this country. In our current culture, people pay millions of donated dollars to tell the world how terrible someone else is. They pay our donated dollars to tell us how afraid we should be if the other tribe wins. Think about that for a minute. And think some more.

It seems that the goal of most political ads is not to inform us but to make us afraid of how bad the other side is. But pointing out how terrible another person is does not make me good. Wanting the best for everyone, even those I disagree with, does. Pay attention to when you are pointing out the faults of the other side of any issue. Change your words to state clearly and as specifically as possible what is good about your side. Define yourself by what you are for rather than what you are against. Ask yourself why do you support the political tribe you do. And be curious about what is good in the other. Live in the nuance of life; every human situation has layers and layers of understanding and meaning. Rarely is life a clear cut checklist of right/wrong, good/bad, even if on the surface it may seem so. There is always nuance.

In the gospel story for today, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” And then Jesus explains, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.’” (Mark 7:6-7, 8).

Jesus makes it clear it matters that our words of worship and our regular patterns of behavior must be in sync. If I spend an hour or so worshiping God on Sunday morning and then spend the rest of the day and week trashing another political tribe, belittling and mocking people groups, looking our for my own gains, refusing to take accountability for my harmful behaviors, I am not working for the good of the Kingdom of God. Wanting the best for everyone fulfills the command Jesus says is equal to the command to love God: to love our neighbor as ourselves. When we love our neighbor as ourself, we want for our neighbor what we want for ourselves. When we look for the nuance of each situation instead of saying stuck in the certainty that we are right we come to know how much there is to discover about our neighbors, and ourselves. And the greatest wisdom we can gain is knowing we can only change our own behaviors and thoughts so instead of expending our energy on what we think others get wrong, let’s work on our own growth in God’s love.

So, back to not being political: we should, absolutely, participate in the governance of our society and country. We should do so in the knowledge and wisdom of the good news that Jesus brings to every human being – that we are all equally beloved children of our Creator God. We should work together to build up the Kingdom of God on earth as in heaven. Who we choose to vote for should not be based blindly on a particular party but guided by God’s love for all and who will help all of us best love our neighbor as ourselves. This is how we honor and worship God with our lives.