Raise Up the Foundations

February 5, 2023
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Isaiah 58:1-12; Matthew 5:13-20[1]

I used to read science fiction comedy by Douglas Adams, about this average guy from a town in England who discovers his best friend is actually from another planet. In one of the novels, they have to park their spaceship in a town on Earth near a sporting event. In order to keep the spaceship from being seen, they have to use an invisibility shield. They wrap the ship in an energy field called “Somebody Else’s Problem.”[2] You see, when it’s somebody else’s problem, you don’t really notice what’s going on and you can ignore it.

Now, as Americans, we enjoy certain inalienable rights; and individual freedom and opportunity are protected in our laws. The value that our society places on the individual enables us to achieve incredible things, allows us to do and be our best, and promises that every person has value – no one is expendable.

Those who serve our country and protect those rights, particularly those in uniform, know what it means to “Be all you can be.” And they deserve our thanks for their service. Several years ago, I read an article by General Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Army, retired, former Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan. The article, “Step Up for Your Country,” was published in the January 31^st, 2011 copy of Newsweek. McChrystal raised an important point about our rights and freedoms. He says, “As important as those inalienable rights are, there are also inalienable responsibilities that we must accept and fulfill.”[3]

A soldier knows a great deal about responsibility. If the unit doesn’t perform as a team, or if any member of the unit fails to do their job, someone is going to die, and it won’t be the enemy. There can be life or death consequences if anyone thinks something is somebody else’s problem. And the tremendous responsibility that comes with command in the armed forces has given McChrystal an important perspective on what many of us might dismiss as somebody else’s problem. He wrote, “We have let the concept of service become dangerously narrow, often associated only with the military.”[4] He continued, “This allows most Americans to avoid the sense of responsibility essential for us to care for our nation – and for each other.”[5]

Are there any Boy or Girl Scouts here today? You know something about responsibility as well. “‘Do a Good Turn Daily’ is a core Scouting precept. Scouting encourages young people to recognize the needs of others and take action accordingly. Scouting works through neighborhoods, volunteer organizations, and faith-based organizations to help young people appreciate and respond to the needs of others.”[6]

Shared responsibility for the well-being of our neighbors, our community, and our world is not as clearly defined in our laws. It is, however, quite clearly defined in our scriptures.

Isaiah’s people are trying to figure out what led to their exile in Babylon. They believe that they must have angered God, who punished them, and so they focus with zeal on worshiping God and over-observance of religious ritual. “Isaiah’s people appear to be very religious. They not only go to worship daily; they also fast frequently. The people complain that they have observed the fasts, but God has not answered their prayers. Isaiah has to point out that the wealthy are fasting on the holy days, but their employees still have to work.”[7] “Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day, and oppress all your workers.”[8] Their energy is misdirected, they are missing the point, and their fasting serves no purpose. “Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself?”[9]

Isaiah suggests that observing the letter of the law misses the spirit of the law. Worship is supposed to fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit, and charge us to go forth to bring the “Day of the Lord” or the “Kingdom of God” to fruition. Worship should remind us of our responsibility to our fellow family members, the children of God. Fasting is supposed to free up resources that could be used to serve others in the community. “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”[10]

Both Isaiah and Jesus make the point that worship of God is about more than faithful observance of ritual. When Jesus says “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,”[11] he means that there is something more important than obsessive observance of the letter of the law. What God desires, offering food to the hungry, satisfying the needs of the afflicted, is what gets missed when our focus is on ourselves rather than on our responsibility to our neighbors.

In that Newsweek article,[12] General McChrystal described a situation he saw in Afghanistan. In that harsh environment, agriculture was sustained by a complex and extensive irrigation system using underground tunnels. This system was essential, and required labor-intensive maintenance. The members of the community understood their responsibility to do the work necessary to keep the system flowing. It was a shared task.

When the Soviet Union invaded in 1979, the system was damaged. Ironically, this resulted in private individuals digging their own wells and setting up their own systems, disrupting the community dynamic. What had been a unifying responsibility for all was now a source of wealth for a few – and yet another source of frustration for the rest.

In our own country, it is often more efficient and cost-effective to hire professionals to complete a project, but not if our objective is to shape our society with a sense of shared responsibility.[13]

Snow removal is a perfect example of this type of shared responsibility. Clearing the sidewalks so children can safely walk to school is the responsibility of all of us. And it’s more than just the sidewalk in front of my house – if the path ends in a snow-bank where it meets my property line, that’s a dead-end, not a safe and clear passage. Now, I have a deal with my neighbor, who has a bad back and a snow-blower, that I can use the machine and clear the snow from both properties. But ultimately our responsibility goes all the way to both corners. When it snows, if my neighbors and I work together, there will be a clear path by the next morning.

There are other examples, things that members of this congregation are already involved in. Serving at the MORE Food Pantry, or the Food Pantry in Huntley. Raking leaves and shoveling show for our neighbor with a bad back is one way our family takes responsibility for others. Loosing the bonds of injustice and letting the oppressed go free are more difficult duties, but not beyond the ability of people in this room, particularly if we work together.

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.”[14] Worship of God means to bring salt to the world. Salt is that spice that brings out the flavor of food. A life lived in worship of God can enhance our experience of the world, and help us bring out the best in others. Salt also preserves food. A worshipful life helps us hold onto our heritage and all that has made us who we are. Salt makes us thirsty. Worship of God can give us a thirst for justice and the desire to end oppression.

“You are the light of the world.”[15] To be told we are the light of the world encourages us to share our gifts and talents with others. “However, there is another reason for light to shine. There is darkness in life – external and internal.”[16] “The light is not given for our own personal enjoyment.”[17] We are given the light in order to go into the darkness, “to engage and walk through it, so that, in time, the light can overcome it.”[18]

To be the light of the world is to take on the responsibility to rebuild the ancient ruins, to raise up the foundations of many generations. To be the light of the world means that we repair the breach, we restore the streets to live in. To be the light of the world means that we recognize our shared responsibility for the well-being of our world in the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. To be the light of the world means that we see through what seems to be somebody else’s problem, and understand that we have a responsibility to serve one another in the name of Jesus Christ.

When we bring salt and light to the world, we raise up the foundations of something better. We bring glory to God and raise up the foundations of the City of God![19]  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] Douglas Adam, Life, the Universe and Everything (Harmony Books, 1982).

[3] Stanley McChrystal, “Step Up for Your Country,” Newsweek, 31 January, 2011, 36.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Boy Scouts of America, from http://www.scouting.org/Visitor/WhyScouting/ServingOthers.aspx (accessed 2/7/2011).

[7] Brett Younger, “Homiletical Perspective” on Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12), in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year A, Volume 1 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 319.

[8] Isaiah 58:3b.

[9] Isaiah 58:5a.

[10] Isaiah 58:6-7.

[11] Matthew 5:20.

[12] McChrystal, 36, 38.

[13] Ibid., 38.

[14] Matthew 5:13.

[15] Matthew 5:14.

[16] Charles James Cook, “Pastoral Perspective” on Matthew 5:13-20, in Feasting, 336.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid.

[19] The worship service concluded with the singing of the hymn “You Are Salt for the Earth, O People,” paraphrase by Marty Haugen, 1986, alt.; in The New Century Hymnal (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 1995), 181.

Lost Ones

September 11, 2022
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Luke 15:1-7[1]

The crowds press in, coming near to listen. Tax collectors, sinners, all manner of people have come to hear the teacher. Outsiders, those with a bad reputation, people who don’t really belong anywhere are coming near to the disciples, the Pharisees, and the scribes. The community, the group of insiders, begins to mumble: “Who invited them? What are they doing here? Does he not know who these people are? Look, he welcomes sinners and eats with them!”

Jesus, hearing the grumbling, tells a story. He talks about the nature of God and God’s kin-dom, using terms they can understand. The shepherd, caring for the flock, seeks out a lost one. The shepherd values each sheep; they are the source of income after all. The shepherd is responsible for their health and safety, and must account for every one of them. What is of great value to you, and what would it be like to lose it?

God is like the shepherd who values each sheep in the flock. The flock is incomplete without every sheep. When one goes missing, God goes searching. It is the nature of God to love, and love searches tirelessly for the lost loved one. God is the one who will search long and far, clear a path through the thicket to pull you out, reach down into the hold you have dug for yourself in order to lift you up. And God searches not only to save, but also to return the lost to the community.

There is a difference between saving and restoring. Religious insiders are often more comfortable with saving the lost than welcoming into the community those whom they perceive to be lost. Saving is about power, restoring is about intimacy. Saving is focused on the individual, the lost sheep. Restoring is focused on the community, the flock which welcomes the lost one.

Jesus also presents them with the nature of the one who is lost. The lost one has wandered, losing its way, getting more and more fearful and isolated. The lost sheep could bleat out in distress, but doesn’t out of fear. Instead, it will hide from predators, alone in the wild. It is too risky to cry for help. There is safety in hiding the fact that you are lost and alone, vulnerable. Besides, who can undo the mistakes that have been done? Who can walk back in time making different choices?

The grumbling scribes and Pharisees judge Jesus by the company he keeps. This fellow who welcomes sinners and eats with them must be himself a sinner. The sinners and tax collectors see things differently. Jesus understands what it means to be lost and alone, isolated, empty, and unable to return. Jesus doesn’t turn away from the sinners, but toward them, seeking them out like lost sheep in order to make a place for them, to restore their relationship to the community.

In restoring the lost, the community becomes whole again, the flock is no longer ninety-nine and one, but one hundred. Sinners and tax collectors join the Pharisees and scribes at the table? Rejoice and be glad! They have been forgiven and now sit in the presence of the Lord. The sheep that has wandered away, lost in the wild, trapped in the thickets, is returned safe and sound. Be glad and celebrate!

We may think of ourselves as the lost one, the wanderer who needs God to seek us out. Rest in the assurance that God will search for you, far and wide, even at great cost. Even if you are too afraid to cry out, the shepherd will search until you are found.

We may think of ourselves as the flock, safe in our community, yet fearful of outsiders. Remember, the community is not whole when some are lost, excluded, or unwelcome. The shepherd left the ninety-nine in the wilderness to search for the lost one. God cannot forget even the least member of the family who has gone missing. Our community will not be whole until all are included and none are lost.

We may think of ourselves as the shepherd. We know that there are lost ones out there. Are we compelled to seek them out, to restore them to the community? Will we search diligently and not give up until the flock is whole again? And will we rejoice over even one sinner who repents and is reunited with the family of God?

There is one last thought I want to leave with you. It is the anniversary of 9/11. I want you to remember that there are hijackers out there, though I’m not talking about the kind that crash airplanes. There are people out there who want to hijack the truth and replace it with fear and lies. There are wolves in sheep’s clothing who want to hijack your faith, and cause you to hate your neighbor, to suspect people who are different from you, to treat others with anger, hatred, and violence. But true discipleship means loving others as they are, not how you want them to be. True discipleship means trusting God, even when everything is going wrong. True discipleship means loving our neighbor, even if they are an enemy. True discipleship means that wherever we go, our Shepherd, the Lord Jesus, will lead us, will search for us when we are lost, and will rejoice in each one who is restored to community.  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.

Abide in Love

May 8, 2022 – Mothers’ Day
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

John 15:1-8[1]

Who is the gardener in your family? For me, it is my mother. I have memories of her working away in the back yard, digging weeds, pruning the bushes, planting flowers. Gardening kept her moving and brought her joy. When my parents moved into the mountains away from lawns and gardens, she still found a way to garden. There was a patch of meadow by their house where my mother diligently weeded out the invasive species. It was hard work – on her knees most of the time – and never-ending, but she loved it. She now lives in an apartment, but still finds ways to tend to and nurture the world around her.

Even though most of us have never tended a vineyard, anyone who has gardened or seen a grapevine can understand the symbolism in this passage. The branches wind around one another, support one another, and – if they are not well tended – can get rather unruly. Too many stray branches will reduce the fruitfulness of the entire vine, so the vine-grower must prune regularly. Branches that break off from the vine wither, and cannot bear fruit. They must be gathered and tossed in the fire. A vineyard is a long-term, labor-intensive investment. Tending a vineyard can be almost as much work as raising children.

My mother tended another garden – our home, where my sister and I were the branches. Just as the vine needs sunlight, water, and good soil, so we needed fresh air and shelter, nourishment, and a loving community. Mom provided a home for us in which we lived, grew, and ultimately became fruitful. I can’t think of home without thinking of mom.

The word abide means “to live in” or “to make a home in.” In THE MESSAGE translation of the Bible, by Eugene Peterson, verse 4 of John 15 reads, “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you.”[2] Jesus takes this motherly image of home and applies it to himself; he is to be a home for the disciples. For the early Christians, many of whom had been uprooted from their homes, villages, and families, and who faced oppression and persecution, this image is meant as a comfort. Wherever you go, no matter what happens, you always have a home in Christ. And if you abide in Christ, you remain attached to the vine, connected to the nourishment of God’s love.

It is the relationship with God, the one who tends the vine, which is emphasized here. Bearing fruit is not a prerequisite to being a branch. The branch bears fruit because of its relationship with the vine, and the care of the vine-grower. My mother raised us to make a difference in the world, and because of her tender care, and necessary pruning, my sister became a teacher and I became a pastor. Christ abides in all of us, and when we live close to the vine, we bear much fruit. As Barbara Essex wrote in a commentary on this passage, “When God is doing the maintenance, we are assured that new life and new growth will result.”[3] Fruitful Christians live out the love of God, and love of neighbor, and we do so together as branches of the one vine.

Of course, just like my mother tending the garden, the maintenance work is ongoing. The weeds need to be dug up. The branches that fail to produce fruit need to be pruned. My mother was diligent to weed out my misbehaviors, and prune my unproductive endeavors. Jesus warns the disciples that God, too, is engaged in weeding and pruning. As another scholar, Stephen Cooper wrote, “The imperative to bear fruit in works of love is reinforced by the image of the branch that fails to respond positively to God’s pruning and providential care. That branch ‘withers’; cut off from its source of life and fruitfulness, its usefulness is reduced to wood for the fire.”[4] When we cut ourselves off from the love of God, when we focus our energy on destructive behaviors and fail to act with love, we are cut off from the vine and we wither.

But there is a big difference between being pruned and being cut off from the vine. When we are cut off, we abide no longer with the source of life. Those who go it alone find failure more often than success. And even success is bitter when it cannot be shared and enjoyed with a loving community. When we abide in the community of God’s love, however, we find joy that can be shared, and we also find the grace and strength to support us in tragedy and failure. It has been said that we are stronger together that we could ever be on our own. Alone, we are just individuals, in danger of withering like branches. But as members of the family of God, we are part of the vine itself.

As branches of the vine, we must be pruned in order to bear more fruit. We must put aside all that gets in the way of living out the commandments of Christ to love God and our neighbor. Nancy Blakely gives a wonderful explanation of what can happen when we remain close to the vine, to Christ, to the source of life:

As in nature, the pruning and the abiding are held together. When we remain that close to Jesus, we attuned to him and he to us, the remarkable result is that what we want will be what God wants, and it will surely come to pass. “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (v. 7). All that is extraneous is carefully and lovingly removed. What remains is centered and focused in God’s word.[5]

As we seek to center ourselves in God’s word, to live out the commandments of Christ, and to nurture one another as with a mother’s love, what is the fruit that we hope to bear? What difference can we make in this community and in our world? St. John’s has deep roots in this community. Our branches have brought the love of God to Union, Marengo, and beyond. We have touched people’s lives across this country and around the world. We can continue to do so. Because of our relationship with God, because Christ abides in us, because the Holy Spirit empowers us to live in love, we can bring glory to God by the living of our lives. Amen.

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[1] Unless otherwise noted, 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] John 15:4. Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

[3] Barbara J. Essex, Homiletical Perspective on John 15:1-8 in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, year B, volume 2, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, General Editors (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008), pp. 472-477.

[4] Stephen A. Cooper, Theological Perspective on John 15:1-8 in Ibid.

[5] Nancy R. Blakely, Pastoral Perspective on John 15:1-8 in Ibid.

The Waiting is Over

December 26, 2021
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 2:41-52 [1]

Whew! Finally! The waiting is over. The big day has come and gone and we can all let out a big sigh of relief. Hopefully your festival went as usual, all the houseguests have left, no one was left behind, and it’s time to relax, recover, and rest up for the New Year. Unless, that is, you have children to take care of. The angels left, the shepherds went back to work, and Mary and Joseph are faced with the challenges that come with raising a teenager. No, I don’t think they did much relaxing.

I imagine they were scared, hoping they’ll do a good job as parents. If what we have heard is to be believed, God has big plans for this kid. We haven’t heard much about the childhood of Jesus. Luke has this one brief tale of the twelve-year-old Jesus ditching his parents and visiting the temple in Jerusalem to ask questions of the teachers. And then we jump ahead to adulthood. Jesus has increased in wisdom and in years and is ready now to begin the work, to answer the call.

When we see this adolescent Jesus, he is quite precocious. Sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, he demonstrates amazing understanding and wisdom. When his parents finally find him, to take him home, he’s a little snarky when he says “Why were you searching for me?” Gosh, mom, didn’t you KNOW where I was? OF COURSE I would be in God’s house. But then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. What a nice boy, so well behaved. At least for this quite short segment about Jesus as a child.

My children are not quite so well behaved. I would not describe them as disobedient, though probably snarky would fit. They don’t show a lot of understanding when we tell them it’s time to get of their phones, or how silly behavior might not be appropriate for a given situation. And so, it helps me to think that a more authentic description of Jesus as a child would be a little less perfect. Did Jesus talk back to his mother? Did he ruin his nice clothes by playing in the mud? Did he have a party in the house when his parents were gone, spill the wine on the carpet, then try to clean it up with dish soap?

We only get this one glimpse at the young Jesus. And perhaps that’s all we need. After all, Jesus was a real person just like us, and so probably had an upbringing that was fairly typical, though maybe just a little exceptional. And his parents did their best with what they had.

Fortunately, Mary and Joseph raised Jesus as a member of a community. When they travelled to Jerusalem for the festival, they went with a caravan, and assumed Jesus would be safe with the group. It was a community committed to the covenants, the promises between God and Israel through Abraham, Moses, and the Prophets.

We also raise our children as members of a covenant community, this church community, committed to the new covenant in Jesus Christ. And as our children increase in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor, we will set them free to face their destiny. We hope and pray that that destiny will be filled with light and peace. They are not outsiders, but members of the community committed to Christ. As Jesus was welcomed into the group listening to the teachers in the temple, we welcome our younger members to ask questions and seek answers in the safety of this group of travelers. And if we have prepared them well, our young folk will continue the work and the calling of this congregation seeking to fulfill God’s Word.

It is a lot of responsibility. None of our children will grow up to be Jesus Christ. And yet, each of them, and each of us, contains the Spirit of God in our hearts. We are all children of God. We are all capable of bringing some measure of redemption, some of the light of God’s glory to the world around us.

Sometimes we don’t. When the waiting is over, the Christ has come, we are supposed to be changed – and change is scary. The moment comes and we let it pass us by. The big day arrives and we’re afraid to move, to act, to change, to stop waiting.

Waiting is comfortable. We know what to expect. But when what we’ve been waiting for happens, everything gets upended and we have to get moving.

When Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to be blessed at the Temple in Jerusalem, they met some people who had been waiting, unchanging, for a long time. The prophet Anna had been waiting there in the temple for eighty-four years. She probably had a routine of fasting and prayers, the same each day and night, a comfortable rhythm. She never left the temple and perhaps feared the dangerous and troubled world outside its walls. But Jesus came to the temple. The waiting was over. “At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” Anna got moving.

Simeon had been waiting, we don’t know how long, to see the Messiah, knowing that he would not die until he did. The end of waiting means a very big change for him. But the Messiah came. The waiting was over. “Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus… Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, ‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace.’” Simeon moved on.

After college I took a job at a bank. Just something to pay the bills while I waited to figure out what I really wanted to do with my life. It was nine years before my waiting was over, and by then I had grown pretty comfortable with my routine. But I got moving. I applied to seminary and accepted the call to serve God in ministry. Change for me meant leaving my hometown, moving to a tiny apartment in Chicago, and starting school again. It was very hard to leave that old life behind. I left my family, my friends, and many things I loved. I fell to a low point of loneliness and sadness in that time. But with the help of my new community, the strength and wisdom I had gained as I waited, and with some faith in the calling I had received, I began to rise from that low point and in my new life I began to shine.

The change that comes at the end of the waiting is usually hard. There is loss. Moving in a new direction takes a lot of energy. There are those who will oppose the change, and will reveal their inner thoughts. You may feel as though a sword has pierced your soul. It did mine. I remember thinking, “What have I done?” and I cried out to God. But with the help of those around you, with faith in the strength of God to see you through, and with the knowledge that the light of the world has come into your heart, you can face the end of waiting and the beginning of something new.

When the waiting is over, a decision must be made. Which way shall I go, which choice shall I choose? Maybe it is facing a decision, choosing one thing and losing another, that causes us to keep waiting. We fear making the wrong choice, or losing out on one thing because we have chosen something else. My favorite songwriter, David Wilcox, puts it succinctly:[2]

I was dead with deciding - afraid to choose,
I was mourning the loss of the choices I'd lose,
But there's no choice at all if I don't make my move,
And trust that the timing is right,
Yes, and hold it up to the light.

When the waiting is over, start moving. If you hold your choice up to the light, you’ll be moving in the direction that leads toward God. The change may mean that you fall, but don’t despair, for after the fall comes a rising. Jesus was destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel. We are a resurrection people, and though we fall, we rise again to new life, and to the fulfillment of our calling to seek the realm of God.

Jesus, the child of Mary, has come to us. Rejoice! Emmanuel has come to thee, O Israel. God is with us, residing in our hearts. He died, but see: He has risen! Alleluia! The waiting is over. The light has come. Our eyes have seen the salvation of God, prepared in the presence of all peoples. We are ready, as children of God, to face the changes that are before us. We are ready, as people of God, to answer the challenges of our time. We are ready, as beloved of God, to arise and seek the redemption of our community and our 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.

[2] David Wilcox, “Hold It Up To The Light” on Big Horizon copyright © 1994 A&M Records.

Stronger Together

September 12, 2021
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Proverbs 1:20-23, 29-33; James3:1-6a, 9-10[1]

From the top of the towers, you could see past the narrows,
Past Our Lady of the Harbor, to the broad, open sea;
See the curve of the earth on the vast, blue horizon,
From the world's greatest city, in the land of the free.

All the brave men and women that you never would notice,
From the precincts and fire halls, were first on the scene
Storming into the buildings on the side of the angels,
They were gone in an instant in the belly of the beast.

We are children of slavery, children of immigrants
Remnants of tribes and of tired refugees.
As the walls tumble down, we are stronger together
Stronger than we ever knew we could be
Strong as that statue that stands for the promise
Of liberty here in this city of dreams.[2]

These words, written by David Wilcox shortly after 9/11, capture for me the essence of that day.

I was working in check processing for Wells Fargo Bank in downtown Denver. Shortly after the morning shift started, our manager called us all together to break the news. We were assured that upper management was monitoring the situation, our building – one of the tallest in Denver – was not a likely target, and we were to continue working the full shift. I remember watching footage of the second plane and the collapse of the towers on a computer in the manager’s office and, with a ball of ice in my stomach, thinking “we’re going to nuke somebody.” It was a strange and lonely bus ride home that day.

You each have your own memories of that day. You may have known someone working in the towers, in the Pentagon, or even on Flight 93. Today we honor the nearly 3,000 people who died on September 11, 2001, and even more who lost their lives in service to our country in the twenty years since. What stands out for me, what fills me with hope from the days and years following those events, is the courage shown by those who, when terrible things happen, seek to help.

Fred Rodgers offered this advice to children, said by his mother when something awful was in the news: “Look for the helpers.” That advice, meant to help young people process tragedy, can be a call to adults to be the helpers.

In his address the evening of September 11, then-President George W. Bush framed it this way: “Today, our nation saw evil -- the very worst of human nature -- and we responded with the best of America. With the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.”[3] The best of human nature is in our desire to help others, to offer care and compassion, to save and to serve.

Another former President, Barack Obama, remembers it this way: “America has always been home to heroes who run towards danger in order to do what is right.” He wrote these words yesterday:

For Michelle and me, the enduring image of that day is not simply falling towers or smoldering wreckage. It’s the firefighters running up the stairs as others were running down. The passengers deciding to storm a cockpit, knowing it could be their final act. The volunteers showing up at recruiters’ offices across the country in the days that followed, willing to put their lives on the line.[4]

It's not just Americans, either. I recall in the days following 9/11 seeing photos of embassies all around the world piled high with flowers, candles, and handwritten prayers and notes of solidarity. The Rev. John Thomas, then General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ, was in Germany meeting church partners in Europe. In a reflection written last month, Thomas recalls: “From the members of the news media who invited us to their studio to watch the unfolding events, from those who joined in the vigils and memorial services we attended, and from the hundreds of young people who gathered in central Berlin that night to sing, we experienced a global solidarity the world desperately needs today.”[5]

That solidarity, that desire to help, was soon overpowered by desire for revenge, the demand for a response that would show the strength and power of the United States. Twenty years on we have only now ended our longest war, our unity is frayed, and we are facing new threats to our society with division and hostility.

When interviewed in Germany twenty years ago, Rev. Thomas said, “The violence so many in the world experience on a daily basis has now come to the United States. I hope that our response is to be drawn into a deeper sympathy and solidarity with the vulnerable ones around the world, that we will not retaliate by simply inflicting our own violence on others.”[6] Sadly, we have in many ways turned away from sympathy and solidarity. We have too often turned away from the gospel.

When our Muslim, Sikh, Arab, Indian, and Pakistani neighbors are attacked because they look like the twenty men who took over the planes that day, that is not the gospel. When people in the store are speaking Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, or Arabic are told “this is America; speak English” or “go back where you came from,” that is not the gospel. When people in our communities who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender are blamed for offending God or destroying families, that is not the gospel. “The tongue is a fire. With it we bless the Lord, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God” (James 3:6a, 9).

God is love. God loves everyone. That is the gospel. Jesus said, “Love one another” (John 13:34). That is the gospel. It is not too late for us to turn back to love, to community, to recognize that we are all in this together. It is not too late for us to remember that we are stronger together, if we listen when wisdom cries out in the street.

Today, as we face another wave of coronavirus infections, the helpers are still there. Doctors and nurses are exhausted, but they are still doing what they can to save lives. Soldiers, some of whom weren’t yet born 20 years ago, stayed in Afghanistan as long as they could to save Americans and help refugees find a better life. Firefighters are battling forest fires in the west, and first responders are defying flood waters in Louisiana, New Jersey, and New York to bring families to safety. The best of human nature is still within us, and that is what can and should bring us together.

On this 20^th anniversary of 9/11, let us consider how we can still reach across barriers and find common cause with those who, in the words of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, seek to “break down the dividing wall of hostility” (Ephesians 2:14). Let us undertake the journey that leads to a new understanding of how we live in peace as a human, global community. Let us find our unity again, not only as Americans, not only as Christians, but as one human family.

The leadership of our denomination, the Elected Officers of the United Church of Christ, have this challenge for the Church:

We… call for and invite a turning towards the ways that make for peace between all peoples. Let us unlearn the ways of war. Let us no longer cultivate fear for the purchase of political power. Let us be eager to know both the conditions that make for suffering, and the requisite empathy needed to alleviate it. …We embrace the hope that people of faith will unite in a common love for all. That love is the only pathway we see to the vision we have of a just world for all.[7]

In conclusion, I offer these words of prayer written by The Rev. Ann Kansfield, a UCC minister and New York City Fire Department chaplain, for a remembrance of 9/11 yesterday:

We pray for the fallen. They are the ones we love so dearly and miss so deeply. We have entrusted them to you and ask you to continue to embrace them in your love. We don’t really have to tell you, God, since you already know. But we’ll say it again: the ones who have died and whom we entrust to your care are some of the best people — wise, brave, compassionate, joyful, whip-smart and really humorous. They are family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. They are your beloved children.

We also pray for the crestfallen. This day marks a time of so much sadness and grief for so many. We ask for your care and comfort for the living. Remind us again and again that you are with us and you always have been.[8]

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] “City of Dreams” by David Wilcox and Pierce Pettis on Into the Mystery © 2003 BMG Rights Management, Soroka Music Ltd.

[3] George W. Bush, “9/11 Address to the Nation” delivered September 11, 2001. https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911addresstothenation.htm.

[4] Barack H. Obama, posted on Facebook September 11, 2021. https://www.facebook.com/barackobama/posts/10158872265961749.

[5] John H. Thomas, “Are We Still of Any Use? Reflections on September, 2001 After Twenty Years,” August, 2021.

[6] Ibid.

[7] The Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer, General Minister and President; The Rev. Traci Blackmon, Associate General Minister, Justice and Local Church Ministries; and The Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, Associate General Minister, Wider Church Ministries and Operations; Co-Executive, Global Ministries; “UCC officers pray for healing, understanding, unity in love on 9/11 anniversary” September 7, 2021. https://www.ucc.org/ucc-officers-pray-for-healing-understanding-unity-in-love-on-9-11-anniversary/.

[8] The Rev. Ann Kansfield, FDNY Chaplain, “A Prayer for the Fallen” September 11, 2021. https://www.uccfiles.com/pdf/APrayerfortheFallen-AnnKansfield.pdf.