On the Brow of the Hill

January 30, 2022
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Luke 4:21-30[1]

Jesus had been baptized. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he had been in the wilderness forty days, tempted by the devil. He began to preach in the synagogues around Galilee and his fame began to spread. When he came to Nazareth, word of his activities had come ahead of him. In the local synagogue that Sabbath day, he was given the scroll of Isaiah to read.

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me;

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the broken-hearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners; 

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.[2]

The people were amazed at how eloquent he was. The hometown boy here to make us proud. Who knew Joseph’s son was so wise? Yes, such a nice boy. As their eyes turned toward him, he said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Suddenly, they were troubled. Bold words. Presumptive. Who does he think he is? Isn’t this Joseph’s son?

What would it be like if Jesus was from Union, and came here to preach that first sermon? Imagine, his pants loose from 6 weeks without eating, his face thin, but bright. He stands strong, confident, ready to take on the world. He speaks in a way that is common yet melodic. A voice that is familiar yet draws us out into a larger world. He begins to talk about that passage from Isaiah. Maybe he would say:[3]

The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to bring good, fresh food to those who exist only on fast food, because the grocery store is a thirty-minute drive both ways.

The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me to forgive all your student loans; to bring living water to the people of Flint, Michigan, and Syria, and Haiti; to tell the janitors that the Board of Directors is giving all the stock options to them; to dismantle our system of profits at the expense of people; because the Spirit of the Lord had sent me to bring good news to the poor.

I imagine Jesus standing here and saying:

The Spirit of the Lord has sent me to release the captives, to free the addicts from the needle and the bottle and the laptop, to remove the feeling of worthlessness from the depressed, to bring rest to the sleep-deprived parents of babies, to free those wrongly imprisoned by a justice system so often lacking in actual justice, to bring an end to the slave-labor of the prison system, to welcome the alienated, to forgive the sinner, to break us from the bonds of a troubled past, because the Spirit of the Lord has sent me to bring release to the captives.

Imagine him saying:

I have come to bring recovery of sight to the blind, to forever change the way we see those whose abilities differ from our own, to illuminate the ways that human sin tears at the fabric of our common humanity, to allow us to see who we really are–beloved children of God, to show us that the Kingdom of God is at hand, to allow us to see ourselves as God see us, to help us understand that there really is no longer a “them,” there is only an “us,” because the Spirit of the Lord has sent me to bring recovery of sight to the blind.

The Spirit of the Lord has sent me to bring freedom to the oppressed, the overworked, the under-appreciated, the last chosen, the unlovely, the despised, the unseen, the overly-proud, the parts of ourselves that are so small. “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”[4]

If the sermon ends there, we’re all good. Wow, what a good sermon. But Jesus knew that if he hadn’t made them uncomfortable yet, he soon would. Because his message wasn’t only for them. The truth is, they were no different than their ancestors who mistreated the prophets God sent to them. Even if they hadn’t demanded signs yet, they soon would. People in your hometown know you a little too well; you’re no better than they are. They might have expected the hometown hero to put on a big show only to tear it down and pick it apart. If Jesus wouldn’t perform then they would reject him. Jesus knew this from the very beginning.

Jesus tells the people in Nazareth that the Gospel must go elsewhere, to the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Jesus references Elijah and Elisha, the well-known Israelite prophets, yet cites stories that show them helping the outsiders more than the Israelites.

In the first example, Elijah seeks refuge from a famine with a poor widow at Zarephath in Sidon. Why did Elijah go to this foreign woman to seek refuge? The king of Israel was Ahab, who worshipped Baal. Elijah, as a prophet of the Lord fled, seeking refuge in the land of the enemy, bringing blessing to a Gentile.

In the second example, Naaman the Syrian general came to Elisha to seek healing from his leprosy. Why was this foreigner cleansed when the lepers of Israel were not? Again, it was a time when God’s judgement fell on Israel for turning away from the worship of the Lord. Naaman, having been healed, became devoted to the Lord.

“When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.”[5] How dare he insult them like this! Preaching God’s judgement against us? We’ll show him our judgement. And they drove him to the brow of the hill to throw him off the cliff.

How did they go so quickly from admiring the wise boy from home to wanting to kill him? They felt provoked. Jesus had attacked their sincerity and questioned their motives. They didn’t appreciate the criticism. If I preached too often about Black Lives Matter, gay people, or against guns, you might run me out of town too. Someone like me has to strike a balance between comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. There is the priestly task of maintaining things the way they are, and the prophetic one of turning over the tables. Jesus leaned heavily on the prophetic side of that scale, and folk didn’t always appreciate being criticized. Most of the time, I prefer to keep my job.

In the end, Jesus wasn’t pushed off a cliff, “but he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.”[6] Jesus—who brought a message of freedom for the oppressed, good news for the poor, and release to the captives—moves through the crowd and goes in search of other ears to hear. The gospel is good news, but not to those who have no need of saving. The fulfillment of scripture is a challenge to those who aren’t ready to leave everything behind to follow the way of self-sacrifice. Yet, for those who keep their eyes fixed on Jesus, the paths are straight and the hills and valleys become but bumps in the road.

Imagine Jesus walking out of Union, heading for Marengo, Belvedere, Rockford, and beyond. We can stand here and grumble about how we like the way things are and nothing needs to change. Or, we can accept that today the scripture has been fulfilled in our hearing, allow it to change us for the better, and seek for hope, healing, and justice in the name of the One who loves us all.  Amen.

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[1] The scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

[2] Isaiah 61:1-2a.

[3] This imagining of a sermon on Isaiah adapted from the Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, “If Jesus Was Your Preacher: a Sermon,” January 27, 2016, on https://www.patheos.com/.

[4] Luke 4:21.

[5] Luke 4:28.

[6] Luke 4:30.

Members of the Body of Christ

January 23, 2022
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Luke 4:14-21[1]

Our bodies are amazing. We’re composed of 206 bones, 639 muscles, ligaments, arteries, veins, skin, and more. Every move we make takes hundreds of different parts working together. Feet, hands, ears, eyes – each member important, each needed for our functioning. We are both complex, and one, at the same time.

We each have our role, our part to play. Denny shovels snow and spreads salt to make our paths safe. Cindy and Sue place flowers and displays in front of the church to show our welcome. Carolyne tracks our finances and pays our bills. T.C. and Tetyana stir our hearts with music. Shirley sets up the coffee and cleans up afterwards. And there are many more parts to this body.

What makes us one, what brought us into unity as one body, was our baptism. We approached the water, the font, the river, as an individual. We came out of the water as part of something much more. We became part of a new family, the family of Jesus, disciples of Christ, members of one body, the Church.

As part of that family, we belong to one another. We pray for one another. We bring food to each other. We break bread together. When one of us is hurting, we all feel the pain. When one of us celebrates, we all feel the joy. We may not be as large, as beautiful, or as capable as another body, but we have our place, our history together, and we are a beloved member of the family of God.

Part of keeping a body healthy is caring for it. It helps to know that somebody out there knows you, knows what is going on with you, and cares. It helps to know that somebody out there is praying for you. That is what we have the church for, and that is part of the reason we are here together today. We need care from one another, and we need to care for one another. It is in that caring that we keep our whole body healthy.

We each have our role, the gifts and talents that we share which contribute to the functioning of the whole. If we were all in the choir, where would the congregation be? If we were all in the congregation, where would the preacher be? Each of us matters, from the home-bound to the newborn, the generous givers and those who receive our support. As one body, it is only with all of our members and friends that we can be whole.

“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’” (1 Cor. 12:21). We need each other, in order to be a healthy church, a healthy community, and even a healthy democracy. We need women and men, because we think differently and have different experiences. We need the hopes and prayers of people of color, LGBT+ folk, people struggling to get by, as well as those of straight, white, male, property-owners, because all of us are in this life together and none of us knows the needs of everyone everywhere. We need the leadership and ideas of Republicans and Democrats, holding one another accountable as we seek together to form a more perfect union.

As a congregation that welcomes everyone, no matter where they are on life’s journey, we won’t always agree on what to do or where to go. But we will share the journey, suffering and rejoicing with one another, loving one another, “striv[ing] to share our love of Christ and Christ’s message with our community through our words and deeds, inviting all who search for God’s will on earth to join us in worship.”[2]

Many of our relationships in life are functional or transactional. They exist in order to work together, fulfill our needs, to accomplish something. Those types of relationships are also temporary. The church is different. Our relationship as part of this fellowship exists in order to be an expression of the love of God. Love is not temporary, just as family is not temporary. Love never ends. As part of this family, this body, we share each other’s lives, the good and the bad. We know the love of God which holds us together in a community of grace. We are the church, not a building, but a body, bound together and empowered by the Holy Spirit who works in and through all of us.

As Christians we are challenged to see all people as members of one Body. All of us are members of the body, and we need one another in order to live. As we go about our daily lives, let us strive to include others in our community, to reach out to those who are different from us, and welcome them as members of one human family, one body with many members.  Amen.

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[1] The scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

[2] From the Mission Statement of St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois, Constitution, Part 1, Section II.

Abundance of Talents

January 16, 2022
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11[1]

“So, what do you do?” That is the question that often begins a conversation with someone new. What we usually mean by that is “What do you do for a living?” or “How do you make money?” or “What little box can I put you in?”

That question can sometimes give a good impression of who a person is, at least on the surface. But it usually doesn’t go deeper than that. What do I do? I’m a minister. Right there we have a potential problem, because what you think a minister is and does may bear little resemblance to what I actually do. There is the can of worms of explaining what the United Church of Christ is, and how we compare with whatever expression of Christianity you have previous experience with. Questions come up, like how I can be a “priest” and be married with kids, etc. But even if we get through all that, you have really only scratched the surface of who I am.

I asked a different opening question once. “What would you be doing if you could do anything?” And the first person to whom I posed this question startled me with her answer. “What I do right now. I’m an archaeologist. I am helping to excavate ruins in Mexico.” Wow, right? She didn’t even have to think about it.

Maybe we should ask “What are you good at?” Except there we run into problems too, because most of us don’t consider ourselves to be very good at much of anything, at least not anything important. The thing is there are many things that we are good at, many talents that we have that may seem unimportant to the big, bad, hyper-competitive, over-glamorized world out there; yet, they are vitally important to the person who is standing in front of me, or sitting across the table from me.

I’m good at listening, and helping people know that they are loved and that they are not alone in their struggles. I have a talent for taking the ancient scriptures and making them relevant to people today. I can play guitar and sing a song that will transport you to another time and place. I have a talent for making computers and machines do my bidding.

“Now there are varieties of gifts… services… activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone” (1 Cor. 12: 4-6). Each of us is touched by the Spirit of God who knows us in the depths of our being, who gives us our talents, our gifts, and nurtures our abilities. We are disciples of the one who said to the fishermen, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people” (Mk. 1:17).

We have each been given gifts from God, talents and skills that we can use to help one another and to shape this world into something better. Perhaps you have a talent for building things. There is someone who needs you who has lost their home to a tornado, who needs a wheelchair ramp added to their deck, or who needs a new bookshelf for the family room. Perhaps you have a talent for caring for people who are sick. There are certainly plenty of people who need you, right now, if that is your gift. Perhaps you have the ability to empathize with those in prison. Perhaps you are able to listen without judgment, keep a confidence, and be the kind of companion that a person in crisis needs.

We are part of the Body of Christ, members of the household of God. We are all in this together – our friends, our neighbors, our classmates, our co-workers, and even our enemies, our homeless and hungry fellow humans, and all the living beings that cover the face of the globe. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7). Our talents may not bring us fame and fortune, but they can help bring the members of God’s household closer into the community and closer in relationship with God.

As John’s gospel tells the story, Jesus hadn’t really done much before that wedding in Cana. Yet there he was at this wedding with his mother. She notices that the host is out of wine. This is a big problem. When the wine runs out, the guests leave, and that will embarrass the host family, possibly making them an object of ridicule in the town. Mary has a talent for recognizing a crisis of social credit, and, knowing Jesus has some special abilities, asks him to save the day.

Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, had a talent for extravagant expressions of love. They were having dinner at her home, shortly after Lazarus had been raised from the dead. I imagine there was conversation around the table that night about death. They knew the chief priests and Pharisees planned to put Jesus to death, and that they were looking for him. The writing was on the wall, and Mary knew that her time with the Lord was running short. So, in an extravagant act of love and devotion, she anointed the feet of Jesus.

Jonas Salk had a talent for chemistry. In 1953 he invented and tested a vaccine for poliomyelitis, the virus which had killed 3,000 Americans the year before. Out of an abundance of generosity, Salk never patented the vaccine or earned any money from his discovery, preferring it be distributed as widely as possible.

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a talent for organizing people. As one of the leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King organized events and marches to bring attention to the disenfranchisement of African-Americans in places like Selma, Alabama. In Selma and other southern towns, black folk were intimidated, harassed, and assaulted when they sought to register to vote. The Civil Rights movement brought national attention to the issue, resulting in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

A friend of mine, Kate Murphy, has a talent for teaching. For twenty years at Smoky Hill High School in Aurora, Colorado, she has taught English. The characters of Shakespeare came alive, the poetry of Angelou illuminated young minds, and the novels of Steinbeck, Salinger, and Hawthorn challenged her students to think and write their best. Mostly, though, Kate has a real talent for caring, and her students know that she is rooting for them, dreaming big dreams for them, and sending them out into the world prepared and ready.

As the disciples matured, they were given power and authority, and sent out. But their new talents didn’t suddenly turn them into Jesus. They sometimes failed to cast out demons, and couldn’t always heal the sick. But when they remembered that they were given their talents for a reason, to do what God was calling them to do, they had much more success.

What made them, and makes us, capable of doing what God is calling us to do is found in Paul’s letter, “All these are activated by one and the same Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:11), the Spirit of God which is manifest in us for the common good. We have talents and abilities in abundance, given to us by God’s Holy Spirit, to help one another, to heal each other’s wounds, and to keep hope alive in the hearts of those who walk in shadows.

We are many light-beams reflecting the light of Jesus to the world. We are branches of the one tree, reaching out to offer our gifts, our talents, and our love in service to God’s people. What do you do? You use your spiritual gifts for the common good. What are you good at? You are good at being the body of Christ in the world.  Amen.

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[1] The scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

With the People

January 9, 2022
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22[1]

Luke doesn’t tell us much about the baptism of Jesus. We have two chapters with great material for Advent and Christmas stories, but just two verses about the moment that marked the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. There is still, in this short description, an important image for us to consider. “Now, when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized…” (Luke 3:21). Where was Jesus? With the people.

When Jesus came to be baptized by John, he didn’t sweep in on a storm and take over. Jesus simply got in line with everyone else, all the people, to be healed and made new. In an act of solidarity with the sinners, the lost and the broken, the sin-sick souls, Jesus joined them. The people who needed God, who had come to the river to renew their relationship with their creator, find Jesus in their midst, already identifying with their experience.

There is a stop-motion film released in 2001 as a sequel to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer about the Island of Misfit Toys. After being told he could not play in any Reindeer Games due to his glowing nose, Rudolph sets out on a fantastic journey where he meets Hermey the elf, Yukon Cornelius the prospector, and a host of Misfit Toys, all while trying to escape from the Abominable Snow Monster. I love this idea of a place for all the broken, dirty, unwanted toys to belong. When I think about the crowd of people gathered to be baptized by John, it reminds me of the misfit toys. The misfit people have come to John seeking repair, renewal, and a place where they belong.

Is that what the church is? We say that all are welcome here. White and Black, rich and poor, gay and straight, female and male, cis and trans, young and old, able and challenged, we declare that we are all family in Christ. Some churches claim to be hospitals for sinners and a refuge for those who have lost their way. I wonder, however, if we don’t spend more time trying to shape people into our own ideal Christians than walking with one another in our brokenness seeking God together. Do we send a subliminal message that it is really the respectable, well-off, normal-seeming folk who are important in our churches?

We all have difficulties to face, challenges to overcome, barriers to becoming our best selves. Some have more difficulties, challenges, and barriers than others. Often what we see is that people who really need help, for whom everything is not alright and things are falling apart, the church is not a comfortable place to be. Too many people drift away from churches, seeking help elsewhere, only returning when they feel like they can put on the appearance of being respectable, upright, or worthy. How many folks would turn away from our doors because they don’t look or feel their “Sunday best”? I think it is important for us to remember that Jesus didn’t tell people to get washed and dressed up and come to the temple to find God. Jesus got in line with the sinners and was baptized with them.

When “the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him” (Luke 3:21-22), where was Jesus? With the people. And he was praying. Jesus won’t begin teaching, preaching, and healing before reaching out to God for what only God can provide. Just as we cannot rely only on our own power and abilities, Jesus receives the Holy Spirit to empower and encourage him in all that he will do. It is in prayer that the disciples will seek the guidance and strength of the Spirit of God. It is through prayer that Christians through the ages will find the presence of the Holy Spirit on which they can depend. It is prayer that brings us into connection with God, giving us the spiritual stamina to go into the world to make a difference in people’s lives.

Do we depend on our connection to the Holy Spirit as we live our lives? Do we come to God in prayer seeking the love and courage to do what must be done? The Holy Spirit came to Jesus as he prayed, surrounded by those who also needed that Holy Spirit in their lives. It was in that intensely spiritual moment, with and among the people, not high on a mountain top alone, that Jesus connected with God and was blessed as the Beloved Son.

That is why, I think, it is important for us to gather. Yes, it is difficult in the midst of a global pandemic which is filling our hospitals with the sick and dying, for us to come together safely. We can take steps to reduce our risk, and technology allows us to be present even if we cannot physically enter the building. But it important for us to seek the connection with God together. And it is important for us to remember that even people who make us uncomfortable, whom we deem unworthy, or who may not fit in, should be included in our community of Holy Spirit seekers.

It was in the midst of the people that Jesus heard the words, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). The text doesn’t say if the people heard it too, but I believe they did. I believe that they heard that God claims us as beloved children, and is proud of the work we do to bring love, peace, and hope to the world. I also believe that we can hear those words as well, that we can receive that affirmation from God, and know that we also are pleasing in the sight of God.

We need to remember these words. We need to hear them from one another and say them to each other. You are loved. You make me happy. Those words, in whatever way they are spoken, can change lives. To know that in all our brokenness, through all our struggles, that God loves us, God is with us, and we are pleasing to God, that can make all the difference in our lives and in all the lives around us.

Luke gives us only a short description of the baptism of Jesus. In those two verses, however, we discover that God identifies with us and with all people, that we can depend on God through prayer for the strength and power to live, and that God loves us, blesses us, and we bring joy to God. May God’s Holy Spirit be with each of you and with everyone you meet.  Amen.

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[1] The scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.