Sermon June 21 2015

1 Samuel 17:32-49

Psalm 133

2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Mark 4:35-41

“What We Know”

We thank you, mighty God, that the even the least among us can trust in you to be our champion and protector. We pray that you would continue to build our trust in your strength and vision so that we may join your pursuit for justice and peace for all. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, God, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen.

A few years ago, a “Master Class in Public Ministry” was led by a Rev. Dr. Donna Schaper of Judson Memorial Church, Greenwich Village, NYC. The class was for “anyone interested in developing the spiritual capacity to make a difference in the world.” The attendees were promised it would be “fun, informative, and invigorat­ing!” and it was.

One of Donna’s concerns is to liberate public ministry from a motivation of obligation – should and ought – to ministry that comes as a response to experienced grace. Public ministry, Donna suggests, is entering the difficulties of the world with hope – without judgment, blame, and shame. (From Seasons of the Spirit, P1 2015)

Public ministry, standing up as Christians in wider society, isn’t about judging others, but about promoting and acting on the principles and tenets of the kingdom of God as Jesus preached them. 

That might mean lifting up how the injustice of our legal system unfairly punishes more harshly people of color (black people, brown people, red people) for similar crimes—because Jesus taught to minister to those who are imprisoned. That might mean advocating for health care and food support for those who are poor and especially those who are the working poor. But even more so, it means advocating for wages that allow people to buy what they need because they are employed. And because Jesus taught that people who work deserve to be paid enough to live, no matter what kind of work they do.

That might mean advocating for programs in which young people, like David, have their eyes opened to the world and have their passion for causes encouraged to act courageously on behalf of those who need that kind of passion.

In 2014, the National Benevolence Association within our denomination created NBA XPLOR to partner young adults with Disciples congregations and the communities in which those congregations serve – impacting neighborhoods, congregations, and young adults.

The purpose of the program is to nurture “a heart for service” with young adult leaders of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), who will work to address the social justice issues and concerns including the health and well-being of various communities across the country. Through NBA XPLOR, we intend for our Residents to explore lives of faith and justice while living in community:

•          Under one roof as a small, diverse community of Residents
•          In wider neighborhoods where systems of oppression and injustice work against human potential
•          In connection with congregations where faith journeys are nurtured with great intention
•          In discerning how and where their relationship with God calls them into their best potential

The groups of young people will live together—with their basic room and board provided—while working through a community program and with 1 or more congregation within our denomination to learn, to serve, to work for others, and to lead with support.

There are two explore houses right now, one in Los Angeles and one in Hiram, Ohio. The next one will be in the Quad cities—I believe the house is in Davenport Iowa, while the churches are in both Illinois and in Iowa. They will be working with at risk populations, with food programs, with housing people, with literacy and working with an awareness of how systemic racism plays a part in all of these issues.

In the story told in 1 Samuel 17, David shows up, risks, and unapologetically stands in the confidence of his relationship with God. David is not motivated to act be­cause he “should,” or because he desires glory or rich reward, or to blame and shame. Rather, he seeks the welfare of the community, and to honor the God of Israel.

The Israelite army is unable to act – paralyzed by the enormity of the task. In the class described earlier, one young man who expressed feeling overwhelmed by the giants that threat­en and oppress society today; he was worried about making a wrong choice about where to put his energies. Donna’s encouragement was to take three steps only and let the third step tell what the fourth step will be.

Like David, we have to step out into public view and public arenas so that we can stand where it is that we have passion for others, passion for God’s love and liberation. We may have to explore our passions—do they circle only around our own needs—and find how what we have or can do connects with what people need. Perhaps we need the same things—perhaps we don’t.

And we are called upon by this story to see where it is that real power lies. When most people described in this situation saw the giant Goliath walk onto the battlefield and begin to boast of his kills, his accomplishments and to curse his enemies, they believed in his power. They could see it. They knew he was right—right away.

All they could see—from Saul the king of Israel, to the officers and soldiers of Israel’s army, to the giant and the Philistine army where he was champion—was that Goliath, the giant, was big and the rest were not. Saul saw power and armor and strength, so did the soldiers. They just knew it was impossible to defeat the Philistine champion.

And so it was, until someone showed up on the battlefield who didn’t know that or knew something different in addition. I’m sure David saw Goliath’s size—but like many young people and he was likely to have been an adolescent, he just knew his own experience. So he stood on the power he knew he had. He stood on the power he attributed to God’s power in his life.

Saul’s power rested on the size and professionalism of his army. Goliath’s power rested in his muscles and size. David’s power came from his willingness to trust that God had saved him from lions and bears, so God would protect him even here. He knew how to fight and to win against opponents who were truly more powerful and had more strength than he did. He didn’t wrestle bears and lions. He fought them at a distance. He defeated them, not for the sake of himself. He could have just left the sheep to them, but he fought the predators for their sake. So David fought the giant—not for himself—but for the flock of Israelites who hid from him.

Power can be used for good or for evil. Power isn’t all bad. Sometimes, though, we have power and think we know how to use it for the sake of others.

After David insisted that he would fight the giant, Saul decided he would lend David the power he knew. So he gave him a helmet for his head and chain mail to protect his body. He gave him a sword to fight with. He was clothed like the soldiers—like a warrior king of the day. But David’s strength didn’t match the kind of power that Saul wanted to give him. So he took off the armor and picked up his shepherd’s staff and sling, then he filled his pouch with stones, ammunition for the sling.

David armed himself, prepared himself for facing the giant, but he did it by knowing his own strength and his own power. Sometimes we are like Saul and we think we know what people need to right their own lives instead of listening to what they really need from us—from support systems and structures and programs designed to help.

People usually understand their own needs better than we do. They understand their own strengths and powers and where they need support. David wanted to rely more on what he knew than he wanted to rely on Saul’s kind of battle.

David saw a problem and had the passion of youth he needed to respond. And in preparation for his response, for fighting the giant he saw, he rejected Saul’s kind of power for the power he knew he already had.

This doesn’t mean that all problems can be solved by the use of a sling and stone—or weapons—what it means is that we don’t always realize the power we already have.

This story, placed within the biblical story of Saul’s downfall and God’s choice of David, tells us that David is the kind of power God wants. This story also opens our eyes to the realization that giants aren’t undefeatable no matter what we think we know. Instead, we can know differently.

We can know that while a white man with a gun can take the lives of 9 black people studying scripture, we can stand up and say that black lives matter as much as anyone else’s lives. We can know that while police shootings of black men and women were in the news, the end of 2014 was a bloody time for Native Americans with 6 in the last two months of last year. We can know that from 1999 to 2013, Native Americans were killed by law enforcement at nearly identical rates as black Americans, tying them for the most at-risk populations in this respect. We can’t ignore either set of numbers—and both should be a motivation for change.

And while this change happens, and it will, white people in particular will struggle with how to use their power and influence, and especially how to give up privilege, so that others can simply have life. The shooting this week reveals how some have and will respond to a rising consciousness of systemic racism and the changes we have to make. I hope that with Jesus Christ’s example in our lives, we understand that sometimes we don’t know what we think we know—and that we do know that God stands with those who are hurt and dying, with those who are burdened with prejudice, hate, and fear.

Sometimes it’s hard to work out what it is that we know. One the one hand, we hear about David defeating the giant and Jesus calming the wind and waves. On the other hand, Paul describes how people like him—believers who stand up against the injustice of persecution will continue to be persecuted and afflicted by horrible situations and systems that are so entrenched they feel almost impossible to change.

And yet, while we’re thinking about what we know and what we think we know. Let’s consider that while racism and injustice have not been eradicated—some things have changed for the better. But that doesn’t mean that acting against racism can end or that the protests will stop any time soon. What the changes simply mean is that we have more power, more hope, and more motivation as we move into the world—that kingdom Jesus preaches about—that God is preparing for us.

Changing the world isn’t easy, even for God, because God calls us to change it. God calls us to know and understand where it is that God calls. And God calls to follow Jesus’ teachings about love, grace, justice, and hope as we do so.

What we know. We know God is with us. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Sermon May 3 2015

Acts 8:26-40

Psalm 22:25-31

1 John 4:7-21

John 15:1-8

“Nourished by Love”

The past several days, couple of weeks have been trying ones in this world where we live. We see, in the midst of natural disaster and the pain of national protest over racial injustice, that we are connected to one another in ways we cannot deny. We bear one another’s pain because we are one human family: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and people of many other faiths large and small. We are all connected to one another every day and at times, when large disaster and painful situations arises we realize what that connection means--and how deeply we are connected. We are reminded that at rock bottom we are made in the image of God, all of us, everywhere.

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4)

On April 19, a young black man named Freddy Gray in Baltimore, Maryland died 7 days after his spinal cord was severed while he was in police custody. The 6 police officers involved have been charged in connection with his death. People, many clergy, have been in the streets calling for justice because of this and other incidents of injustice and police violence, but also because of the extreme levels of unemployment among the black population there and extreme poverty among the black community in Baltimore. The recent examples of police violence are not and cannot be separated from the desperate situations in which some folks, especially people of color, find themselves living.

And last Saturday, an enormous earthquake hit Nepal. As of Thursday, when I checked, More than 7,000 people are dead. Many more are injured and homeless. Eight million are affected across Nepal. One million children are urgently in need of help. Most of those who are known to be dead are in Katmandu, but there are still extremely isolated villages closer to the epicenter of the quake where rescuers have not yet been able to go. There are bright, isolated moments. A four month old baby boy was rescued after 22 hours lost in debris. But many are homeless refugees of the disaster or are afraid to enter their homes because of the continuing quakes and landslides caused by the quakes.

²¹The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (1 John 4)

In both of these situations, and in many situations all kinds of people have come together to work for good for those involved.

Besides the story about the rescued infant, I read one brief story of Turkish and Chinese rescue workers who freed a 21 year old man from a crushed bus after 13 hours of work. Rescue workers from around the world are traveling there because after an earthquake there is not shelter, no water, and often no roads to travel to get resources to places in need. But people are working together to help, people who probably can’t agree on anything else agree to rescue the injured, feed the hungry, house the refugees, and provide whatever is needed as the earth itself is unstable right. Often these situations bring out the best in humanity because we know our priorities in these moments.

In spite of  the stories on many network news shows, there are thousands in Baltimore protecting police officers, protecting places where people are receiving help, while protesting against the injustices they have witness or experienced. A small fraction of people are violent—and all are justifiably angry—but thousands more are just desperate for change in their city and the wider culture. They are asking us—Americans everywhere—there and in places like Ferguson, Missouri to listen to the stories and really hear them. One “protester laid into [one notorious correspondent] about the national media's obsession with black rioting and criticized him for ignoring stories about Baltimore's poverty, and nonviolent protests which had also taken place in the city. ‘You're here for the black riots that happened,’ said the man. ‘You're not here for the death of Freddie Gray.’” He continued, "Why does it take a catastrophe like this in order for America to hear our cry? I mean, enough is enough. We've had too many lives lost at the hands of police officers. Enough is enough."[1]

“The protester's blunt analysis of the situation mirrored what others have said about a media obsessed with covering rioters and ignoring the city's largely peaceful demonstrators. [One Baltimore councilman] urged reporters . . .  to focus on larger issues plaguing the city as the underlying causes which led to the death of Freddie Gray and the riots.” He specified, “This is about the social economics of poor, urban America.” This is “a symptom of something that’s going on here . . . look at communities like this in urban America, lack of education, lack of commercial development lack of opportunities. . . . This can erupt anywhere in socially economically deprived America.” 

The thousands who came out to protest were not the ones destroying the city—the protesters were the ones standing together, praying together, protecting one another from the police, if necessary, and protecting the police from the ones who were violent. Many African Americans were handing out water and other necessities to police as well as the people gathered in protest. This is their home. They don’t want to destroy it.

Members of notorious gangs, the names of which bring fear and hatreds to many hearts and minds, came together in a truce to protect stores from being looted. Well, not a truce, they said, but men respecting one another as men to protect their communities from further destruction. The gang members took water to the police as they guarded stores and homes. The police officer brought food and water to them, too, as they worked for their communities. (The Nightly Show, April 30 2015) http://www.cc.com/full-episodes/0tkj27/the-nightly-show-april-30--2015---baltimore-gang-truce---gay-marriage-fears-season-1-ep-01051 

⁵I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (John 15)

The gang members spoke of people being pushed into corners until they finally had to push back for their very lives. And when they pushed back, with shouts and marches for justice, with protests against so many deaths at the hands of authorities, people outside their situation began to wonder at the extent of their anger. But their anger, and our anger, if we have understanding, is at a system that values one kind of community over others. In this case, white affluence over black poverty. Or white affluence and success over the despair within many communities of color. 

^21bthose who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. 

(1 John 4)

Different human communities do not exist in isolation from one another, no matter how hard we’ve tried to do this, say this, and enforce this in our history. What happens to one group of people has tremendous influence on all other groups of people—we know it because we talk about it from various perspectives every day. When we’re feeling drained by the needs of others, we sometimes wonder why they (whoever they are today) don’t take better care of themselves, their needs, wants and desires—so I or don’t have to. Or, if we’re feeling the pinch ourselves, we think or feel that the real or perceived abundance of another and lack of generosity or caring contributes to what we don’t have. And both of those situation contain pieces of truth—but almost nothing is worse than an incomplete truth. Because we stand and defend some incomplete truths with our lives and the lives of those we call enemy.

¹I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. (John 15)

The truth is—as Jesus said in John’s gospel that all of us are part of the vine that is one body of Christ. And any of us who do not bear fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) need pruning. We need correction and connection to the one who nourishes us. As Christians, we have found that we cannot love without the strength we find connected to the vine—to one another, to Christ, to God. When we aren't bearing fruit, we are isolated, unconnected, rejecting what we are offered. We are dry, barren and might as well burn for all the good we are doing. We are branches with a choice to make—are we connected to the one who teaches us love or to what are we connected? By what are we nourished? Do we listen to the reasons the news media give us for the anger of the black community or do we listen to the black community, to all communities of color and hear about the anger, the pain, the sorrow, the terror directly and authentically? Do we listen to our brothers and sisters in Christ with love in our hearts? By what are we nourished, inclusion and connection or isolation and exclusion?

It’s not only Christians who are connected, who are loved, because we can also hear the words this morning’s epistle lesson, “because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God,” and “¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us.” And “²¹The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”

In the stories from Nepal, it is sometimes easier to see and express the love, the mercy and compassion that people have for one another in the ways that we respond to people who are victims of natural disaster. When the situations become complicated, like in Ferguson, like in Baltimore with human fallibility and the complications of historical and communal sins like racism, we struggle to respond graciously and with love. We struggle to understand the economic history in places like Baltimore where the city council purposefully segregated their city by race after the Civil War and those historical practices still effect the generations of black men, women and children who live there. Not that Baltimore is alone, but they are a fresh example. We struggle to understand, because police officers are often put into situations where health care professionals, social workers, councilors, and others would be more appropriate, but the burden has been placed on law enforcement because there isn’t enough money in budgets for what is needed.

And though not every person in these situations claims Christian faith, Christians are still called upon to work in love, to respond in love, to reach out in love because we are connected to the vine—the body of Christ—and because God fist loved us, all of us, all of them, everywhere. As part of the vine of Jesus Christ, we may need to be pruned of that which keeps us from bear the fruit the Spirit gives us—that fruit characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—so that we can exist in this world surrounded by love rather than fear. We can live, as we are connected to the true vine, nourished by loving community in Christ and bearing fruit as his followers. We may not be big branches—that’s not what Jesus says—but we are all to bear the fruit of our connection to him. To love even when we don’t completely know how—because who really does. To do justice and stand for justice—when people are treated as subservient to systems and other groups of people. To see what is within us that does not bear fruit and allow God to prune it from our lives.

⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. (John 15)

In this life, may we be nourished by love for God is love, so let us love God, remembering that if we are loving God we must love one another. Amen.

[1] Protester Schools TV Anchor On Media Coverage Of Baltimore Riots