1 Timothy 6:6-19 NRSVUE

6 Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it, 8 but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. 16 It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

17 As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches but rather on God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, 19 thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

This month I’ve been preaching a sort of loose sermon series catching you all up on the things Spirit has been up to in my life over the summer.

The first Sunday,  September 7th, I shared about my experiences doing Clergy Accompaniment at the Federal Courthouse and the ICE Facility, and talked about the origin of the term Woke, from passages like Romans 13.

September 14,  I talked about Paul’s instructions in Romans 14 to not judge one another on how we each live out our calling from God.  Remember friends,  Boundaries are Holy!

Last week, I talked about how the word we translate as salvation, sothe, has a much larger meaning of holistic wellness and how salvation is something we participate in here on earth as it is in heaven.  And I shared the hilarious story of my Great Aunt Alice’s funeral. O Jerusalem!

All of these sermons are available on the church website if you’d like to take another look, or missed church that morning.

In July, I traveled to South Dakota to begin the Practical Church Leadership program at Dakota Wesleyan University.  Practical Church Leadership is basically ?’s of an MBA in Nonprofit Leadership designed for Pastors actively serving a congregation.  I signed up for this because it has a year long Applied Project where we learn how to use Project Management tools in our church setting, and they did not teach us how to  manage a Housing Project in Seminary!

So I applied for some scholarships and the program is very reasonably priced, and if I keep going next year, I’ll have a Masters in Business Administration in Nonprofit Leadership in July 2027, and more importantly, I’ll have access to experts from the College of Business to help us navigate this whole Housing Process!

I always have 2 classes, the year long Applied Project and another 7 week topical class.  My current topical Class is Financial Resource Development.  And it’s really pushing all of my money issues buttons!

First of all,  I want to issue a “Not A Trigger Warning,” because this is NOT a Stewardship Sermon.  I will NOT be asking you to give more, or to fill out a pledge card, or to consider moving towards tithing.

One of my money issues, as a Pastor, is that it genuinely makes me sad when I hear people say that they think their church only cares about their money.  I have also been in churches where I felt like I was just a “giving unit,” to them, not a beloved child of God, and I just don’t want to do that to anybody.  So I very rarely do a direct ask for money.

For me, Stewardship really is my favorite spiritual practice.  Tom and I have tithed our entire 32 years of marriage, not out of a legalistic or fundamentalist reading of the Bible, but because giving away 10% of our income is so delightfully, radically, countercultural.  It’s so countercultural that we have, in fact, been audited by the IRS twice for, and I quote, “excessive charitable giving.”  I find it deeply ironic that a nation that prints, In God We Trust, on our currency, finds tithing suspicious!

When we give, whether to the church, to charities that serve the poor, or to political campaigns that are seeking justice, it makes me happy that we are pulling money out of the systems of consumerism, capitalism, and patriarchy that reduce beloved children of God into units of labor, units of consumption, and units of dependants.  

Believe it or not, Tom and I are not members of the Socialist Party!  We enjoy giving our hard earned money away to causes that support the belovedness of all people, because we find joy in following the teachings of Jesus.

We’re not socialists, we’re Christians who actually read the Bible!

Today’s Bible reading is from First Timothy.

It’s important to realize that First Timothy, Second Timothy and Titus are “Fan Fiction.”  Paul did not write these letters, because Paul was dead at the time they were written, sometime around 100-120 AD.  We know it was written before 125 AD, because Polycarp alludes to 1 Timothy in his book, Letter to the Philippians, which was published sometime between 125-135 AD.  There’s a lot of inaccuracies in the first and early second century timelines because the Romans literally lost track of time in the midst of a series of military coops.

At any rate,  First Timothy is fan fiction, which explains some of the blatant sexism found in other portions of the letter.  The authentic Paul wrote letters to the women he placed in church leadership, so clearly he wasn’t sexist, but Roman culture was extremely sexist, and we are all influenced by our culture!

However, there’s still some good stuff in First Timothy especially about our relationship with money.  The early second Century Church had grown enough that there were rich people in the church.  The Jesus movement very much started out as a group of people who were at the bottom of the economic ladder.  The first disciples were primarily working class, poor people, disabled people, women, and slaves.  So the Second Century Church didn’t quite know how to deal with success.

So the author of First Timothy is writing fan fiction for fellow Pastors, as if Paul was writing a letter to Timothy as a young leader.

In our reading for today, the author is trying to help us understand that money is not evil.  Money is just a tool that should be used for food and clothing and the basics of life.  But the lust for money and the love of money can plunge people into ruin and destruction.

I feel like the misunderstanding of this good teaching has caused a lot of money issues both within the church and in people’s everyday lives.

Too many people forget that verse 10 reads, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”  Verse 10 does NOT read “money is the root of all evil.”

This inaccurate reading combined with the also inaccurate idea that being content means that being content with poverty and suffering is somehow godly is exactly what Karl Marx was complaining about when he called religion, “the opiate of the masses.” 

Unfortunately Marx doesn’t seem to have read the Bible to find out that it doesn’t actually say that!

But when people think that being content with poverty and suffering is somehow holy, and that money is evil, that belief can be used to shame them into not asking for fair wages, not asking for safe working conditions, not joining a union, and even not taking a promotion because they have been taught to view bettering themselves as a sin.

What is actually written in First Timothy chapter 6 is that as followers of God, we are to shun wandering away from the faith in our pursuit of wealth.

The other problem with this bad interpretation where money is considered evil is that then we don’t want to talk about something evil in Church, right?

Which puts us as believers in a little bit of a pickle, because the secular world is dominated by money.

I absolutely believe in the pursuit of righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.  But my mortgage company does not accept them as valid forms of payment.

We live in a world where we need money.

And where money and our relationship to money massively impacts our lives!  But somehow we’re not supposed to talk about this very important part of our lives at church?

And then outside of church, we’re not supposed to talk about money either.

You’re not supposed to talk about how much you make with your coworkers.

You’re not supposed to talk about how much things cost.

You’re not supposed to comment on how rich people use their money…. although it seems perfectly acceptable to criticize how the poor use their money.

We’re not supposed to talk about money, and yet, in our culture, we are expected to admire those who have the most money, and despise those who have the least.

One of the guest speakers in my Financial Resource Development class posited a theory about the meaning of this cult of silence around money.

He said that people are typically silent before their God.

That just as Job and Elijah were silent when God appeared before them, this culture is silent before money.

We are afraid to question the evil that is done for the sake of money, because:

Money is the God of our culture.

So many of us have been left feeling divided by the silence of the Church when what we need is a healthy conversation about money.

We need to have money to survive – just physically survive in this economic system.

But we want to be good followers of God.

And Matthew 6:24 says that we cannot serve both God and money.

So how do we live as Christians in this money worshiping economic system? 

Look at verse 17 and following.

Money isn’t evil, it’s just not something to put your trust in.

We need to keep our focus on God’s abundance and be rich in what really matters.

• Doing good, 
• loving our neighbors, 
• And, going back to verse 8, IF we have more than enough to cover the basics, sharing what we have.

But if we don’t have enough to be content, then asking for more and working for more, in order to get the basics covered, is not worshiping money.  It’s just the daily grind of trying to keep body and soul on speaking terms!

So let’s not be silent about money.

Let’s be honest about money.

Money is not our God.

Money is not evil.

Money is just a tool.

A tool that we can choose to do good with.

Good for our own lives and good for the lives of others.

John 3:13-17 NRSVUE

13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Trigger warning.  This sermon mentions child abuse.  I won’t be going into any details, so it’s still suitable for all ages.

It’s kind of an odd thing for a Pastor to say, but I am the Black Sheep of my family of origin.  As in, when I entered the church for my Great Aunt’s funeral, the whole room went silent and all eyes were on me.  As if I was going to grow a second head, or breathe fire, or say something really uncomfortable.  Probably the last one… I mean, if I was going to grow an extra body part, I’d choose to grow another arm, wouldn’t you?

I didn’t… say or do anything uncomfortable, that is.  I also didn’t grow any body parts or breathe fire.  

It was still a weird day.

The center aisle of St John’s Lutheran Church in Salem, Oregon, is very narrow.  

Too narrow for the rolling cart that is usually used to transport the casket to the front of the church after the viewing.

So the male members of my family took on the job of pall bearers.  Three short men on each side of the casket, shuffled sideways down the narrow aisle, but the aisle was so narrow that they didn’t really fit.  So each time they shuffled past a pew, each of these short men would rise up onto their toes to shift their behinds over the backs of the pews.  

Shuffle, shuffle, lift.  

Shuffle, shuffle, lift.

Shuffle, shuffle, lift.

We’re all standing as the casket slowly processes. 

Shuffle, shuffle, lift. 

Shuffle, shuffle, lift.

And I’m thinking… If Aunt Alice was next to me, she would have been making the most inappropriate comments!  It was all I could do to keep a straight face.

By that time in my life, I had already been a Church musician for many years and been a part of many services, so I knew that something going sideways is very normal for services.

But then, it went further sideways.

Do you remember those old preprinted funeral bulletins that would leave a blank space for you to type in the person’s name and pronouns?  They used one of those, that’s fine, it was the mid 2000’s, but many churches were slow to adopt computers.   But I didn’t know you could actually do that verbally…

So this Pastor who sounds Rev Lovejoy from the Simpsons, gets up to welcome the mourners and says,

“Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the life of, Alice Christine Dahlen.  We come together in grief, acknowledging our our loss of, Alice.

May God  grant us grace, that in pain we may find comfort, and sorrow hope, and in death resurrection…

And on and on he went. Every dang time her name came up in the liturgy, it was the verbal equivalent of “insert name here.”

I could practically hear the Times typewriter font.

By this time, I am trying so hard not to laugh out loud that I’m shaking with repressed laughter.         

Fortunately I sat in the front so my family couldn’t see my face.

Then the organist began to play.

Something you may not realize is that being a musician is a very physical job.

I play flute, guitar, auxiliary percussion, and piano – very badly.

I have carpal tunnel, so bad that my hands go numb while playing guitar, and I’m only 53.

Alice planned her own funeral, decades beforehand, and she asked that the old organist be brought back to play for her funeral.

The old organist was in her 90’s and, as many organists do, she had severe arthritis in her hands and feet.  Playing a pipe organ is a whole body workout.  The base notes are played with your feet and there is no sustain pedal, so you have to hold down the keys to keep the notes sounding.

Combining arthritis, age and the full body workout of playing a pipe organ meant that she played very, very, very slowly.  Which was understandable.

But then, Alice had also requested the old soloist be recalled from retirement.  As a singer,  I can tell you from personal experience that as we age, we lose range and we lose control of our pitch and vibrato. 

Alice had chosen that old chestnut, “Oh Jerusalem,” and friends, those old musicians did their very best.  I mean, they gave it everything they had left.

The soloist warbled, “Jer-uuuuuuuu – sa -lem.  Jer-uuuuuuuu – sa -lem.”

And I just could not hold it in any longer.  I covered my face with my hands and I laughed so hard under the cover of the booming organ that that whole pew shook.  I heard someone say,  “look, she’s crying so hard that she’s shaking!”

I’m glad they assumed that.

By the time the service was done, I was laughing so hard that I actually did cry from laughing so hard, so quietly.  Alice had a great sense of humor. She would have loved her funeral!

Fortunately, after that pew shaking performance, my family left me alone.

You see, the reason that I am the black sheep of my family is because I and my cousins are survivors of child abuse.  I did grieve very hard for my Great Aunt Alice, because she took me in when I moved out of my parents house at age 14.

I became the black sheep when my daughter was born.  I told my family that I would not allow my uncle, the pedophile, around my children, so either he could come to family gatherings or I and my children could… well, they chose him.

In their eyes, you either towed the family line… that line being, all families have their problems, so get over it.  Or you were out.  So because I would not accept child abuse as normal, I was out.

This idea of dualism –

People are either right or wrong.

People are in or out.

People are bad or good.

People are saved or unsaved.

Dualism is problematic.

Because it doesn’t make space for the complexity — the nuances of life.

Or the nuances of faith.

Our reading today is from the gospel of John.  The gospel of John was not written by the Beloved Apostle, but it was written in Syria, around the year 90 AD in a community founded by John the Beloved.  

The gospel of John is full of metaphorical and allegorical language, as the authors, we think there were at least 2 authors, seek to “give flesh” to deeply spiritual ideas.

And poetic language is really, really hard to translate.

Today’s reading contains two of the most problematic translations in the book of John.

If you look at verses 15 and 16 you will see the phrase, “eternal life.”

The Greek phrase that is often translated “eternal life,” actually reads something closer to, “the life of the age to come.” (Borg, Evolution of the Word, p307)

That Greek phrase, “the life of the age to come,” means basically the same thing as, “God’s Kingdom Come.”  It represents the hope that God will transform our lives through faith and that our faith will transform the world.

Our United Methodist Mission statement expresses a very similar idea.

“To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

Basically, to know God, that is, to be a disciple which means “student” of Jesus, is to enter into the life of the age to come.  To live according to God’s Reign here on earth as it is in heaven, like we say in the Lord’s Prayer.

That changes how we read John 3:16 doesn’t it. Makes it sound more like this:

16 “For God so loved the world that They gave Their only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but enter into the lifestyle of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.

Also the word that we usually translate as Believes  ???????? (pisteu?n), has a little bit more meaning to it.  It does mean to believe, but also to put your faith in, or put your trust in.

So we might more accurately read John 3:16 as:

God loved the world so much that God sent Their only Son, so that everyone who puts their faith in him will not be a part of this death-dealing way of life, but enter into the lifestyle of the Kingdom of Heaven here on this earth.

The essentials are still there — God loves everyone so much that anyone who is willing to be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven is welcome.  But the definition of believe is expanded and the concept of “the life of the age to come,” is put into more modern language.  We’re still talking about Heaven, but also this life too.

The second problematic translation in this reading is in verse 17.

17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

???? (s?th?) — healed, well, cured, saved, wholistic wellness)

The word in question is saved, or ???? (s?th?) in Greek.

So the is a word that is pregnant with meaning.

It is often translated as healed, well, and cured, as well as saved.

The concept of sothe is wholistic wellness.  Being well in mind, body and spirit.

Being spiritually, socially, physically, and mentally healthy.

So these verses aren’t just talking about the afterlife.

John 3:13-17 are talking about All of Life.

Life here on earth becoming like life in Heaven.

Which doesn’t mean that all of our problems are supposed to go away when we put our trust in God.

I wish, but no.

It means that we change when we put our faith in God.

Our values change.

Our words change.

Our behaviors change.

And when we change, we change the world around us, for everyone.

It was only by putting my trust in God that I found the courage to hold boundaries with my family of origin.  And those boundaries were costly.

I never spent another holiday with my family of origin again.  And my grandmother took all my pictures down off her walls.

But multiple generations of child abuse ended with me.

My children grew up safe.

Because safety for children is a part of the values of the Kingdom of Heaven.

But they grew up with only Tom’s side of the family as their extended family.

And I became the Black Sheep of the family, because in their minds, the only option was to either accept that abuse was normal, or reject the abuse which they defined as rejecting them.

They couldn’t see the third way that the Kingdom of Heaven offers, even though they believe in God.

They couldn’t see that I could both love and protect my children and not want my uncle around them.  That I did love my uncle, who was actually a really good uncle to me, and know that he couldn’t be trusted around my children.

Life is complex.  It’s nuanced.

Multiple things can be true at the same time.

We can love people and still hold boundaries.

People can not be ready to put their faith in God and still be welcome in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus didn’t come to condemn anyone, but to save everyone.

And sometimes we just don’t get it.

We just can’t hold that much complexity.

We can’t escape the dualism of in groups and out-groups until we come face to face with God.

On the day that my grandmother died, I was at home with my children and I smelled my grandmother’s perfume.  She always wore Oscar de La Renta perfume.

My husband Tom, is allergic to perfume, so I was hunting all over the house, trying to find where this smell was coming from.  

Did one of my kids get into my box of perfumes?

Where is that smell coming from???

Finally I ceased searching and came to a stop in front of the living room window. 

I could feel my grandmother’s presence so strongly.

I could feel, without words, that she loved me and that now she understood my choices.

There was no sense of judgement or apology.  No right or wrong.

Just love and understanding.

She could see clearly now, and everyone was loved and understood, including me.

Then the smell of her perfume was gone, and so was she.

I found out the next day that she had died at that time.

God did not come to condemn anyone.

God came that everyone might find wholeness…healing…wellness…salvation.

Even the people we don’t understand in this life.

Romans 14:1-12 NRSVUE

1 Welcome those who are weak in faith but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. 2 Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 3 Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat, for God has welcomed them. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on slaves of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

5 Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6 Those who observe the day, observe it for the Lord. Also those who eat, eat for the Lord, since they give thanks to God, while those who abstain, abstain for the Lord and give thanks to God.

7 For we do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

    and every tongue shall give praise to God.”

12 So then, each one of us will be held accountable.

 

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon hosts a monthly gathering called Common Table.  It’s an opportunity for nonprofit and faith leaders to meet one another and share about various ministries that we are up to.

The August meeting was held, just down the street, at PDX Saints Love, so I figured, why not, pop over.

Ron was sharing about the opportunity for clergy to accompany immigrants at ICE.

I talked about my experience with that last week – the sermon is on our website, if you’re curious.

Kristle shared about PDX Saints Love’s $50,000 funding hole because the Mayor gave all 3.2 million dollars for Day services to Join… then told Rahab’s and PDX Saints that Join could share that money with them.  

Some community members shared about the Peaceful Interfaith Protest, scheduled for August 23 – that’s how that made it into our all Church email.

Then we chatted.

I met a very passionate young man whose goal was to recruit White Clergy to show up to public anti-racism events.  

I thought, OK, that’s interesting, tell me more.

So then he starts to basically shame white clergy, and me, by extension for not doing anything to work for justice.

I took a deep breath.  Remembered Rev Dr. King’s letter from a Birmingham Jail, and tried to open my heart to listen.

He kept going on and on about how it’s every Pastor’s job to show up in public spaces and be on the news standing up for racial justice.

And when I dared to gently suggest that public appearances wasn’t the only, or even the most effective way to work for justice, he declared the conversation “unproductive,” and walked away from me.

Honestly, I was kinda relieved that he moved on.

This isn’t the first time that someone has tried to tell me how to be a Pastor “the right way.”

I doubt it will be the last.

In times like these when there are soooo many good, and important, and worthy things to be a part of, discerning what I am called to do, and therefore what I am not called to do, is essential.

There are only 24 hours in each day and we should only be laboring 5 days a week – as John Wesley, the founder of Methodism wrote, workers should take 2 days off per week.  One day for God, and one day for our own business. 

And even if we were to work and volunteer 7 days a week, no one person, and no one church, can do all the Good that there is to be done.

We can only do all the good that we can do.

In the places and times that we can do it.

With the people we can do it with.

The Kingdom of God is like a choir.

Each singer sings their part.

And to sustain the long notes, we take turns breathing, resting and rejoining the choir as God gives us breath.

Today’s Bible reading is from Paul’s Letter to the Christian Community in Rome.  And we do think that Romans was written by the authentic Paul.  Some of the later letters ascribed to Paul, were not written by Paul, because he was kinda dead at the time.  But writing in the style of a famous leader and signing the letter as if the leader had written it was very common at the time.  So you can think of some of Pauline letters, like first and second Timothy and Titus, which were written after Paul was dead, as “Fan Fiction,” if you will.  They have some great content, but Paul didn’t write them!

Paul’s letter to the Romans was a letter of introduction.

Paul had never been to visit the Christian Community in Rome, so Paul was introducing himself for a planned visit.

Part of Paul’s introduction was an explanation of Paul’s beliefs.

So the book of Romans is Paul’s most theological letter – explaining Paul’s theology of Grace to try to convince the Romans to donate to a proposed mission trip to Spain, that unfortunately got cancelled by Paul’s arrest and execution in Rome.

So Paul is speaking generally about his vision of how the church should be, and in the process addressing some of the typical issues that most churches had.

In verses 1-4 the translators chose to use the word, “weak,” but what Paul was really talking about was the Newbies.

This translation reads:

“1 Welcome those who are weak in faith but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions.”

In today’s language Paul might have said,

“Welcome the newbies, and don’t argue with them about opinions.”

The eating issue in verse 2 that Paul is referring to was a big controversy in the early church.  This takes some explaining, so here’s my modern interpretation.

You know how some restaurants are part of a larger corporation?

Like this McDonalds may be nicer than that McDonalds but they’re all McDonalds?

Back in the first century, Temples sold the meat that was sacrificed at them, like fast food.  Also, business owners, like restaurant owners, belonged to religious business associations, so that restaurant might not be a McAthena’s, but it’s part of the McAthena’s association.  Kind of like, Olive Garden and Longhorn Steak House are both owned by Darden Brands.  

Only the very rich had kitchens, so most people ate out or got take out!  

Which was a problem for newbie Christians who used to worship Athena, so now they didn’t feel comfortable eating at McAthena’s.

And, there were Jewish Christians who were still keeping Kosher, so they would not eat meat prepared by a non-Jew.

So some people ate only vegetables because they didn’t have a kitchen or didn’t trust others to cook kosher.  While other people, like Paul, ate anywhere because McAthena’s was what was handy and they didn’t believe in Athena, so it didn’t matter to them.

So Paul is saying – God has welcomed all these people, with all their opinions about food, into the community of believers, so don’t judge each other!  If God can accept them, so should you!  Or as my children like to say,  “You do you!”

In verse 5 Paul is addressing the controversy about Sabbath.  Jewish Christians observed the Sabbath on Saturday, as is still Jewish custom.  Some Christians had taken to observing Sabbath on Sundays, because that’s the day Jesus rose from the dead.  Still others just aren’t concerned about what day it is, as long as everyone gets a day of rest.

Paul is saying – for goodness sake Sabbath should be a source of rest, not a source of stress – this is not worth arguing about!

There have been arguments about matters of opinion in the Church since before there were buildings to choose carpet colors for!  This is nothing new.

I think it’s just human to have opinions.

It’s also human to debate whose opinions are better.

But let’s not major in the minors.

That young man who tried to tell me how he thought I should be a Pastor.

That was his opinion.

And it’s a valid opinion.

I agree that we do need more Progressive Christians in the public eye, so that people are not only hearing from the Clergy who espouse White Christian Nationalism that the press seems to love covering so much!

But… is being a public figure my calling?

Maybe at some point, but I don’t feel God calling me to do that now.

I work for Jesus.  Seriously.  The United Methodist Book of Discipline specifically states in  ¶ 143 that “clergy appointed to local churches are not employees of the local church, the district, or the annual conference.” because our ministry, “is derived from the ministry of Christ (¶ 301).”

I work for Jesus, not any of the people who like to tell me how to be a pastor.

And you work for Jesus, not any of the people who try to tell you what is your calling in this moment.

We are accountable to one another.  

Let me be clear, having our calling be defined by God is not an excuse for bad behavior!

And If I ever behave in a way that you feel is wrong, please do report it to my supervisor – District Superintendent Karen.  You can look up her contact info on the Oregon-Idaho UMC website.

But when it comes to our calling — the ministry we are meant to be a part of.

Every person, every church… we can only do what God is calling us to do.

We cannot do everything.

The Kingdom of God is like a choir.

Each singer sings their part.

No one can sing all the parts at the same time.

And to sustain the long notes, we take turns breathing, resting and rejoining the choir as God gives us breath.

Look at verse 10 and 11.

Why pass judgement on our siblings in Christ?

They don’t need to despise us for following our calling — for singing our part, anymore than we should despise them for following their calling and singing their part.

We are all God’s children, whether we know it or not.

So let’s leave the judgement to God!

If you ever feel pressured by me to do something that you don’t feel called to do, please say no to me!

Boundaries are holy!

Our callings are holy!

Too holy to spend our precious time doing things that are not ours to do.

And I will try to do the same.

I met a new community member for tea the week after the EMO meeting.

She was wondering what more she could do in these difficult times.

I shared the groups we are involved with.

Family Promise.

The Sewists Group

Montavilla Neighborhood Association

Rahab’s Sisters

Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice, 

who train the legal observers that I do Clergy accompaniment alongside.  Because she speaks multiple languages, Legal Observing was what she felt called to do, so I helped her connect with them.

Would I have preferred that she do something more involved in our church?  Yup!

But, that’s between her and God.

11 For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

    and every tongue shall give praise to God.”

12 So then, each one of us will be held accountable.

Romans 13:8-14 NRSVUE

8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12 the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13 let us walk decently as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in illicit sex and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Friends, it’s so good to be back with you!

 I hope you enjoyed meeting my fellow EPIC Clergy as much as I enjoyed getting to be with our other EPIC Churches!

But it’s good to be home.

Spirit was busy in my life this August, so I want to share with you a little mini-series for these first 3 weeks in September because, I think, maybe you can relate.

I was feeling kind of helpless, like there was nothing I could do about all the horrible things going on in our country, so when I got an email asking Pastors to volunteer twice a month to accompany immigrants to their Immigration Appointments, I decided to give it a try.  I attended a training.  I signed up for a shift at the ICE Building at Macadam one week and a shift at the Federal Courthouse, downtown the next.

On the day of my first shift I was sooo nervous!

I’m taking deep breaths.  I’m praying in traffic.

And I get to the bottom of the hill, at the intersection of 92nd and Flavel.

And right there in front of me.  

In my neighborhood! 

Is a Big Black Armoured vehicle, and a squad of people in camo fatigues with serious guns.  

And a big, unmarked, black pickup truck is blocking the road where the military looking action is taking place.

Unmarked vehicles and wrong for purpose uniforms are a hallmark of ICE right now.  In case you didn’t know.

So, I’m on my way to try to do something about the way immigrants are being treated in our city and our country and… “this” is unfolding in front of me?

Seriously, God???!!!

Is this a test?

I mean, the Good Samaritan came upon the mugged man after the attack, not during it!!!!

I’m sitting there in my car with my clergy collar on and wondering, am I seriously going to play the part of the Priest who doesn’t stop to help, because I’m on my way to perform my clergy duties???!!!

Seriously, God???!!!

I looked at the situation and saw that several people were already there videoing the incident.

And I realized that I was not brave enough, or maybe stupid enough, to try to interfere with a squad carrying semi-automatic military rifles with nothing but my clergy collar to protect me.

I take some more deep breaths and continue to Macadam Avenue.

I couldn’t find anything on  the news about what that was when I got home at the end of the day.

When I got there, things were in process.  

What happens at the ICE building, is that immigrants who are trying to do things legally, show up for their check in.  

Some people have yearly check ins – these are folks who have permission to be here legally, but have not been issued a Green Card or other official residency.

Some people have monthly check-ins – these are often the people who are seeking asylum, or are relatively new in their process.

As Clergy, my role is to support the Legal Observers.

The Legal Observers are a legally sanctioned role who do just what their name implies.  They observe who goes in and who comes out.  

They ask people if they would like to sign in with them, so that the Legal Observers can call their lawyer or family, or whomever their contact is, if they don’t come out within 2 hours.

Let me be clear: If you’re trying to sneak into the country illegally, you are not showing up at the ICE facility!  So these people are not criminals!

As Clergy, my role was to walk people to the front door, to prevent ICE officers from snatching them on the street.  That was simple enough, until, apparently, I was sooo threatening that it took 2 ICE officers to tell me that I can’t come on the property anymore.  So then I could only walk people to the sidewalk, not the door.

I also sat with family members as they waited outside.

Sometimes the ICE officers will try to bait people.

They shout the names of people on their arrest list at the family members of those going inside for their appointment.  If the person outside responds to the sound of their name, that might constitute grounds to arrest them, so most of them know not to respond in any way.

A young mother was there for her check in, with her baby and her husband.

Not even family is allowed to come in with you, so the husband was sitting outside on the high cement curb and holding their little girl.

ICE agents kept calling out different names at the father, so I sat with him.

That little girl was soooo cute!

She wasn’t walking yet, and she had big brown eyes, and glossy, black curls that floated around her little head.  She didn’t cry.  She just kept patting her father’s face and pulling on his hands, trying to get at the keys safely clutched in his working man’s hands.  She reached out to me, so I leaned in.  I let her pat my face and grab my hand.  She pulled at my ring and patted my watch.  She pushed my hand one direction and the other to turn it over.

And in between patting my face and her father’s face, ICE agents would periodically come out and look at her father and call out different names at him.  Her father never looked up. Never spoke.  Never gave any indication that they had anything to do with him.  Evidently he was used to this kind of harassment.

About 40 minutes later, her mother came out and the ICE agents tried to bait her husband one more time, so I walked them off the property towards their car.

I heard the ICE agents call in and report me for soliciting.

But as my 3 hour shift turned into 4 hours, because it was an overfull day of check ins, I felt a calm come over me.

They could accuse me of whatever they wanted.

Heck, they had the power to arrest me, according to the current administration.

Even though my actions were constitutionally protected.

But I was not afraid, because as Romans 13:10 reads:

10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

Today’s Bible reading is from Paul’s Letter to the Christian Community in Rome.  And we do think that Romans was written by the authentic Paul.  Some of the later letters ascribed to Paul, were not written by Paul, because he was kinda dead at the time, but writing in the style of a famous leader and signing the letter as if the leader had written it was very common at the time.  So you can think of some of the Pauline letters, like first and second Timothy and Titus, which were written after Paul was dead, as “Fan Fiction,” if you will.  They have some great content, but Paul didn’t write them!

Paul’s letter to the Romans was a letter of introduction.

Paul had never been to visit the Christian Community in Rome, so Paul was introducing himself for a planned visit.

Part of Paul’s introduction was an explanation of Paul’s beliefs.

So the book of Romans is Paul’s most theological letter – explaining Paul’s theology of Grace to try to convince the Romans to donate to a proposed mission trip to Spain, that unfortunately got cancelled by Paul’s arrest and execution in Rome.

So Paul is writing in volatile political times.

Writing about how to live as a Christian under the rule of a non-Christian, and sometimes even anti-Christian government.

Paul is also navigating the tensions between Jewish Christians, Gentile Christians and non-Christian Jews.  Trying to get all the worshipers of the same God on the same page by summarizing the Law and the Prophets as Love — Love your neighbor as yourself — Love fulfills the Law.

Paul, as a Roman citizen, honestly believed, at this point in his life, before he got arrested and executed for preaching and living the Rule of Love — Paul honestly believed that practicing neighbor-love would keep everyone in compliance with all the Laws.

Jewish Law and Roman Law.

Paul is witnessing the end of the Pax Romana – the Roman Peace.

Paul is witnessing armed rebellion in Judea.

Paul is witnessing the Roman Empire struggling to maintain its extensive colonized borders.

And Paul is thinking… Maybe this is it?

Maybe Jesus is coming really soon.

Many of the first generation disciples believed that Jesus would return in their lifetime and still believed that Jesus would restore the kingdom of Israel.

There are Christians today who support the genocide in Palestine because they think that the restoration of the borders of the Davidic Kingdom of Isreal will cause Jesus to return.

But Jesus himself said in Matthew 24:6-13

6 You will hear about wars and reports of wars. Don’t be alarmed. These things must happen, but this isn’t the end yet. 7 Nations and kingdoms will fight against each other, and there will be famines and earthquakes in all sorts of places. 8 But all these things are just the beginning of the sufferings associated with the end. 9 They will arrest you, abuse you, and they will kill you. All nations will hate you on account of my name. 10 At that time many will fall away. They will betray each other and hate each other. 11 Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because disobedience will expand, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be delivered.

The destruction of the Temple in 69 AD was not the end times.

The Great Schism of the Holy Roman Empire in 1054 was not the end times.

World War 1 and World War 2 were not the end times.

I don’t think that Trump is “THE Anti-Christ,” although his actions and policies are certainly not in alignment with Christian teaching.

 And I don’t believe that these are the end times.

And yet, Paul’s advice is still good.

Love your neighbor as yourself (vs 10)

And Wake Up!

Anybody who has eyes can see what’s going on around us.

The hour has come for the church to rise from her slumber.  

Look at verses 11-14 in today’s reading.

11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers;12 the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13 let us walk decently as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in illicit sex and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

I don’t think that Paul is talking about purity culture in verses 13-14. 

I don’t think Paul was opposed to joyful gatherings and sharing some wine and laughter.  

I think that Paul was talking about Epstein style parties.  

The kind of parties that nobody who calls themselves a Christian should be at.

I think that Paul was saying that in times like these. 

Times when it feels like the world has gone crazy. 

This is when we need to arm ourselves with faith instead of violence.

Arm ourselves with Love, and put aside whatever petty disagreements we may have with our fellow Christians.

Put aside our preferences about the stuff that doesn’t really matter 

and focus on the mission of neighbor-love

It is from scriptures like this one that the term “woke” comes from.

“Woke” is a term borrowed from the Black Church.

A shorthand for waking up to see what is going on around us.

Woke is a call to justice and a reminder of the hope we have in Christ.

A reminder, as it says in verse 11, of:

how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 

The God who delivered the Hebrew people from Egypt.

The God who hears the cries of the poor.

The God who came to the earth and rose from the dead.

Will hear the cries of the oppressed and invites us to be a part of God’s salvation.

Ezekiel 16:49-50 CEB

49 This is the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were proud, had plenty to eat, and enjoyed peace and prosperity; but she didn’t help the poor and the needy. 50 They became haughty and did detestable things in front of me, and I turned away from them as soon as I saw it.

Genesis 18:20-32 CEB

20 Then the Lord said, “The cries of injustice from Sodom and Gomorrah are countless, and their sin is very serious! 21 I will go down now to examine the cries of injustice that have reached me. Have they really done all this? If not, I want to know.”

22 The men turned away and walked toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing in front of the Lord. 23 Abraham approached and said, “Will you really sweep away the innocent with the guilty? 24 What if there are fifty innocent people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not save the place for the sake of the fifty innocent people in it? 25 It’s not like you to do this, killing the innocent with the guilty as if there were no difference. It’s not like you! Will the judge of all the earth not act justly?”

26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom, I will save it because of them.”

27 Abraham responded, “Since I’ve already decided to speak with my Lord, even though I’m just soil and ash, 28 what if there are five fewer innocent people than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city over just five?”

The Lord said, “If I find forty-five there, I won’t destroy it.”

29 Once again Abraham spoke, “What if forty are there?”

The Lord said, “For the sake of forty, I will do nothing.”

30 He said, “Don’t be angry with me, my Lord, but let me speak. What if thirty are there?”

The Lord said, “I won’t do it if I find thirty there.”

31 Abraham said, “Since I’ve already decided to speak with my Lord, what if twenty are there?”

The Lord said, “I won’t do it, for the sake of twenty.”

32 Abraham said, “Don’t be angry with me, my Lord, but let me speak just once more. What if there are ten?”

Luke 11:5-10 CEB

”5 He also said to them, “Imagine that one of you has a friend and you go to that friend in the middle of the night. Imagine saying, ‘Friend, loan me three loaves of bread 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has arrived and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7 Imagine further that he answers from within the house, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8 I assure you, even if he wouldn’t get up and help because of his friendship, he will get up and give his friend whatever he needs because of his friend’s brashness. 9 And I tell you: Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 Everyone who asks, receives. Whoever seeks, finds. To everyone who knocks, the door is opened.

What I want to talk about today is persistence in the face of injustice, but because of how the story of Sodom and Gomorrah has been misused to villanize and criminalize gay men, I’ve got to address that injustice first.

You’re going to need the scripture, so keep your bulletins handy!

I chose to have us start with the Ezekiel scripture because Ezekiel, who was a Levite – that is, a person of the Priestly family, as well as a prophet, offers us the definitive interpretation of the story of Sodom and Gamorrah, as a message from God, written down as the duty of a prophet.

The English word, sodomy, is wrongly derived from this story, because at one point the people of Sodom and Gamorrah, threatened to rape Lot’s male guests.  Threatening rape, is bad.  Period.  The gender of the victim is not the important part here!  And gay marriage and consentual gay sex are not the same thing as rape!

Also, rape was not the only sin, for which God was planning to punish the Twin Cities.  Look at that Ezekial passage:

• They were proud in the bad way.
• They had plenty to eat, and enjoyed peace and prosperity; but didn’t help the poor and the needy.  
• They became haughty and did detestable things in front of God, and God turned away from them as soon as God saw it.

When you read the story of Sodom and Gamorrah, please read it in light of Ezekiel’s prophetic interpretation.  This story has NOTHING to do with condemning Gay love.  Nothing!

Having addressed that particular injustice, let’s move on to the topic of persistence.

I read a hopeful post on facebook the other day, insisting that the average dictatorship only lasts 3-5 years, but like so much that is posted on social media this little snippet of hope, was not exactly true.  Like so many things in life, the truth is much more nuanced.

What I was hoping for, was some clear, historically vetted timeline, to give me hope that it will only be a little longer before this season of ICE raids, defunding medical care for the most vulnerable, and Christo-facism defaming the name of God by praying over actions that Ezekiel would call detestable, will soon be over.

I cry out to God like a Psalmist, How Long, Oh God!

How Long, Oh God!

Will the taxes of the middle class be given to Billionaires while they raise the cost of living and pay their workers starvation wages?

How Long, Oh God?

Do you not hear the cries of hungry children?

Do you not see the sleepless nights of gay couples who wonder if they will still be legally married in the morning?

Do you not hear the cries of the asylum seekers snatched as they showed up for court?

How Long, Oh God!

Are you not a God of Justice anymore?

Will you let our entire country suffer for the sins of the 1%??!

OK, maybe more than 1% of us have supported these detestable actions.

Will you let the whole country suffer for the sins of 30% of the US?

What if only 50% of us are innocent?

What if only the children are innocent?

Abraham argued for the lives of the innocent minority in Sodom and Gamorrah because Lot was family.

Maybe Lot wasn’t the most innocent person, because, later in the story, Lot offers the crowd his daughters to assault in place of the guests, but Lot was family.

Have you ever had a relative like that?

Maybe they’re not smart.  

Maybe they don’t make the best choices.

Maybe you can’t agree with their values or their politics.

But they’re family, so you don’t want them to suffer.

Not even suffer the consequences of their own actions.

So Abraham, having heard that his nephew of questionable values and choices, is in the path of God’s wrath, is persistent in bargaining with God.

Now, personally, I think that Abraham questioning Lot’s life choices is pretty much the pot calling the kettle black.  After all,  Abraham was willing to pimp out his wife Sarah to protect himself, even after God demonstrated God’s protection.  Abraham kicked out his firstborn son, Ishmael and his baby-momma Hagar, straight into the desert to die with no child support or anything.  And Abraham got it into his head that God wanted him to sacrifice his second son, Issac… probably because sacrificing your children was a common religious practice in the area at the time, and God had to put a stop to that child-sacrificing nonsense by tangling a ram into a nearby bush, which is generally agreed on as the beginning of animal sacrifice as a replacement for child sacrifice – one of the greatest religious innovations of the time.

All of that is to say that, Abraham was no angel, because sometimes we think that we need to be worthy to pray.  

That we need to be extra holy to dare to question God, like Abraham or the Psalmists.  That it’s somehow dangerous for us to ask, How Long, Oh God? Because that is questioning God.

But persistence is Biblical.

Persistence is Biblical.

And not just Hebrew Bible Biblical.

Although, those who try to claim that the New Testament is somehow more valid than the Old Testament are ignoring the fact that Jesus himself said, in Matthew 5:17,  that he did not come to abolish Torah, but to fulfill it.

Jesus often referenced these Biblical concepts in new ways.

I’m going to have our Worship Leader come up here and read/

5 He also said to them, “Imagine that one of you has a friend and you go to that friend in the middle of the night. Imagine saying, ‘Friend, loan me three loaves of bread 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has arrived and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7 Imagine further that he answers from within the house, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8 I assure you, even if he wouldn’t get up and help because of his friendship, he will get up and give his friend whatever he needs because of his friend’s brashness. 9 And I tell you: Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 Everyone who asks, receives. Whoever seeks, finds. To everyone who knocks, the door is opened.

This passage comes right after Luke’s version of Jesus teaching the disciples how to pray – what we often call, The Lord’s Prayer.  So the topic is prayer.  

Jesus is telling them, telling us, to imagine that God is like a friend who has the means to help us with whatever unexpected visitor life has brought us, but might not feel like helping us in the moment.  

But because we kept asking…  

Because we kept praying…

God answered.

And as with so many things that Jesus taught, they apply on both a spiritual and an earthly level.

Yes, we must keep knocking on heaven’s door and asking for God’s reign to come and God’s will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven.

And, we must be persistent in accepting the freedom and power that God has given us to resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves, as it says in our Baptismal Vows on page 35 of the hymnal.

Friends, one of the healthcare providers who donates his time at the free clinic that Rahab’s Sisters is doing a pilot program with this summer didn’t show up last week, because he was detained by ICE while dropping his child off at care.

They have asked us to pray.

So every Sunday, from now on, we will be praying Micah 6:8 – for our leaders to do Justice, act with Mercy and walk Humbly with God, and I ask you to join me in persistently praying throughout the week.

And we are also called to leverage whatever freedom, power, or privilege, we might have, to resist the evil, injustice and oppression that presents itself in our city, our country and our world.  

This can look like a lot of things. 

From being persistent in emailing your legislators.

To more direct actions such as protest, and boycotts.

I can’t tell you how long these evil times will last, but I can tell you that they will not last forever.

God will eventually inspire enough people and change enough hearts, to change the course of history.

Until then, we will persist in prayer and action.

We will persist in hope.

Matthew 11:28-30; 12:1-8  CEB

28 “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. 29 Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. 30 My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.”

1 At that time Jesus went through the wheat fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry so they were picking heads of wheat and eating them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are breaking the Sabbath law.”

3 But he said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? 4 He went into God’s house and broke the law by eating the bread of the presence, which only the priests were allowed to eat. 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple treat the Sabbath as any other day and are still innocent? 6 But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what this means, I want mercy and not sacrifice, you wouldn’t have condemned the innocent. 8 The Human One is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Happy Portland Pride Church!

I love Portland Pride.

I love that so many people take public transit to watch the parade and attend the Pride Festival.

I love that so many different people show up, from Farmers to Drag Queens, to Bankers, showing the world that being LGBTQIA+ isn’t a just kinky lifestyle, it’s just life.

Every day, Queer folks: get up, go to work, pay their bills, kiss their spouses, pick their kids up from school, watch sports, go to the theater, pay taxes, and live with the existential dread that some politician on his or her 4th marriage will make same gender marriage illegal.

Or they wonder if the gender affirming healthcare that makes their life worth living will still be available and legal next time they turn on the news.  Or if their next doctor or dentist will treat them with basic courtesy.  Or will insist on mis-gendering and deadnaming them, “because we don’t do different names or pronouns here,” as the dentist’s office said to my foster young adult, who is Trans.  That happened here in Portland.  2 years ago.  It took us 2 more dentist’s offices to find one that would treat Them with the basic courtesy of using their correct name.

Sometimes people wonder why Pride?

Why call it pride?

Why celebrate who people love and how they identify?

Why Pride?

Because the opposite of pride is shame.  LGBTQIA+ folks have historically been shamed just for existing.  Shamed for just being who God made them to be.  

Sometimes people were shamed to death – brutally murdered, like Matthew Shepherd, or gunned down at the Pulse nightclub.  Murdered by the shame of angry young men who could not handle gay people existing.

During the first Trump administration, between 2017 and 2021, murders of Trans people nearly doubled, and while only 13% of the trans community is Black, Black Trans women accounted for nearly ¾’s of the known victims.

“In 2019, the American Medical Association recognized “an epidemic of violence against the transgender community,” who are over 2.5 times more likely than cisgender people — those whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were designated at birth — to experience violence, according to the Everytown report. 

Shame also causes suicide.  

“According to the National Center for Transgender Equality’s U.S. trans survey — the largest survey of transgender people to date, which was published in 2015 — 40% of trans youth reported attempting suicide in their lifetime. That’s nearly nine times the national average,” of all youth suicide.

(HMKP-118-JU00-20240321-SD011  PDF (www.congress.gov))

We call it pride because Pride is the opposite of shame and shame kills.

We mean Pride in the way parents are proud of their kids, or grandparents are proud of their grandkids, or when we are proud of ourselves for successfully adulting.

We mean Pride as in being proud of your friend who is celebrating 1 year of sobriety, or being so proud of you for still being here 1 year after a suicide attempt.

LGBTQ+ Pride does not mean arrogance, or haughtiness, or a lack of consideration of others.

LGBTQ+ Pride means celebrating that you’re Queer, you’re here and you’re finding ways to thrive with joy.

Today we also celebrate that we are a Reconciling United Methodist Congregation.

Reconciling, because we are a member of the Reconciling Ministries network, a coalition of United Methodists, and former United Methodists, who have worked for decades to help our Denomination and local congregations move from rejecting LGBTQIA+ folks, to affirming their belovedness and calls to ministry.

And we are still a United Methodist Congregation because of the tireless work of people like Rev Dr. Jeanne Knepper who persisted in standing up for inclusion long past the point where she lost the use of her legs, and thankfully lived to see the day that those who sought to exclude her left in frustration.

And even though the horrible exclusive language has been removed from the United Methodist Book of Discipline, it still matters that we are a Reconciling church.  It matters because even though last May, General Conference voted to “remove mandated discrimination, the option to discriminate is still available.” https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f-bQNSE2U9ykwdTJWhLJnuM2Zr7RBSQTjwv1Sy2sh_I/edit?tab=t.0 

Last week, while I was at Dakota Wesleyan University, doing some continuing education, I met the Pastor of the United Methodist Congregation where Rush Limbaugh’s family attends.  We had a civil conversation over breakfast, where she insisted that the focus of her church is about being welcoming to everyone.  I responded to her that while I agree that all people are welcome in Church, not all behaviors are welcome.  Behaviors, including speech, that threatens, demeans, and excludes others, is “incompatible with Christian teaching” in my humble opinion.

I believe that speech matters because the Centers for Disease Control have collected multiple peer reviewed research studies that demonstrate that LGBTQ+ youth have higher rates of depression, and suicide, as a result of “increased experiences of discrimination and rejection.”

The Good news is that “LGBTQ youth who report having at least one accepting adult were 40% less likely to report a suicide attempt in the past year.” https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/accepting-adults-reduce-suicide-attempts-among-lgbtq-youth/ 

I don’t know if the positive effect of multiple supportive people is cumulative, because I couldn’t find that research, but I do know from my personal Pastoral experience that churches and clergy who not only “welcome,” LGBTQ+ youth and adults, but affirm and celebrate their gifts and graces, create positive outcomes in Queer people’s lives.

As a Pastor.  

As a mother of a lesbian daughter and a Trans/Genderfluid adult child.

As an ally.

I’m simultaneously  afraid to watch the news, and afraid to not watch the news.  

I feel like keeping up to date with the fresh horrors that each day brings is part of my pastoral responsibility.

I also feel like tuning out and taking a break is necessary for my sanity. 

And I’m straight, and middle class, and educated, and white.

I can’t even imagine the levels of exhaustion and fear and stress, that Queer and Trans, and brown, and hispanic, and poor, and unstably employed and unstably housed, and people on Medicare, are feeling.

In moments like this when we feel like we’re doing everything we can and nothing’s working, we cry out to God.

What in the Kentucky-fried-Crisis, Jesus!

We just can’t take this anymore!

And Jesus responds to us in much the same way that God responded to Elijah and Isaiah and Jonah when they got so sad and mad that they just sat down under a bush waiting for their doom.

28 “Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. 29 Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. 30 My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.”

Come to me, all you who are struggling under the weight of the world.

Set that ish down because it is not ours to carry.

A yoke is a good thing because it redistributes the weight from the bags that cut off the circulation to your fingers, and puts it on your sturdy shoulders.  A yoke also increases and limits how much weight you can carry because the yoke will break if you overload it.

Setting down all the everything we are trying to be responsible for and taking up the better balanced and lighter yoke load that is our calling makes life manageable.

It’s not our job to save the world, Jesus is already doing that!

It’s our job to carry the lighter, better balanced load of our calling, which includes space for Sabbath rest.

I don’t think that it’s accidental that the next story after this passage is Jesus teaching about Sabbath.

For an editor, trying to stitch together a collection of second hand memories about Jesus, the transition from, “I will give you rest,” to teaching about the Sabbath seems like a nice segway.  

Because, just in case you didn’t know, nobody followed Jesus around and took notes while he was alive.  The gospels were written after the original disciples had all died, so everything we know about Jesus was passed down orally, then collected and edited into a semi-chronological order.  Which is to say, did Jesus actually go straight from offering a lighter load and rest to teaching about Sabbath?  Ummmm…. We have no idea.

What I can tell you is that part of the religious trauma of second Temple Judaism was that when they rebuilt Jerusalem and the Temple, in Nehemiah chapter 13, Nehemiah enforced Sabbath by closing the city gates and posting armed guards to prevent any traders or sellers from entering the city during the Sabbath, and threatened the traders with violence for camping outside the wall.  Nehemiah took the gentle gift of rest and turned it into a threat of violence.

At the same time the “prophet” Nehemiah demanded that all Jewish men who were married to foreign women, divorce their wives and reject their children.  And if they refused, Nehemiah chased them out of the city.   Here’s Nehemiah in his own words:

Nehemiah 13:25-27

So I scolded them and cursed them, and beat some of them, and pulled out their hair. I also made them swear a solemn pledge in the name of God, saying, “You won’t give your daughters to their sons in marriage, or take their daughters in marriage for your sons or yourselves. 26 Didn’t Israel’s King Solomon sin on account of such women?… 27 Should we then listen to you and do all this great evil, acting unfaithfully toward our God by marrying foreign women?”

From the beginning of the second Temple era Sabbath was linked with violence, threats, and families divided by deportation.

A lot of people, especially LGBTQ+ people, suffer from religious trauma, because leaders like Nehemiah were so focused on enforcing the law of love that they missed that the point of the law is love.

Rest.  Sabbath rest and the rest that we find by accepting the lighter and more balanced load of our calling are meant to increase the love and thriving in our lives, not decrease it.

People should not be excluded for who they love.

People should not be excluded for practicing their faith a little differently, or bending the rules while maintaining the intent of love.

People should not be shamed for feeling overwhelmed or overburdened – they are not lacking faith, you are not lacking in faith, I am not lacking in faith!  Mostly, we are surviving in a world that is experiencing a severe shortage of justice and compassion.

People should not be shamed or excluded, period.

We should all be able to find inclusion, affirmation, celebration, Grace, and people who are proud of us for just being who God made us to be.

Be gentle with yourself out there.

Be gentle with each other.

Most Merciful God,

We confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. 

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We have not heard the cries of the needy, 

and we have not responsibly stewarded your creation. 

We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, 

by what we have done and by what we have left undone. 

Have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, 

so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, 

to the glory of your holy name. Amen.

Hear the good news: 

Christ came not to condemn, but that the whole world might be saved through him. (John 3:17)

In the name of Jesus the Christ we are forgiven!

In the name of Jesus the Christ, we are forgiven! Amen.

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 CEB

Doesn’t Wisdom cry out

    and Understanding shout?

2 Atop the heights along the path,

    at the crossroads she takes her stand.

3 By the gate before the city,

    at the entrances she shouts:

4 I cry out to you, people;

    my voice goes out to all of humanity.

22 The Lord created me at the beginning of their way,

    before their deeds long in the past.

23 I was formed in ancient times,

    at the beginning, before the earth was.

24 When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth,

    when there were no springs flowing with water.

25 Before the mountains were settled,

    before the hills, I was brought forth;

26     before God made the earth and the fields

    or the first of the dry land.

27 I was there when they established the heavens,

    when God marked out the horizon on the deep sea,

28     when they thickened the clouds above,

    when God secured the fountains of the deep,

29     when God set a limit for the sea,

        so the water couldn’t go beyond their command,

    when God marked out the earth’s foundations.

30 I was beside God as a master of crafts.

    I was having fun,

    smiling before God all the time,

31     frolicking with God’s inhabited earth

    and delighting in the human race.

Wendell Berry wrote,

“As I have read the Gospels over the years, the belief has grown in me that Christ did not come to found an organized religion but came instead to found an unorganized one. He seems to have come to carry religion out of the temples into the fields and sheep pastures, onto the roadsides and the banks of the rivers, into the houses of sinners and publicans, into the town and the wilderness, toward the membership of all that is here,”

Hmmm. Did Jesus found an organized religion?

Or was Jesus more into

31     frolicking with God’s inhabited earth

    and delighting in the human race.

As we just read in Proverbs 8:31.

The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, certainly felt that we needed to share the gospel in “the fields and sheep pastures, onto the roadsides and the banks of the rivers, into the houses of sinners and publicans, into the town and the wilderness.”  Wesley wrote in his journal in 1739 that he had submitted himself to be more vile, after the first time that he preached in a field to a bunch of workers.

Wesley continued to be more and more vile over the years, preaching to factory workers on the street after work let out.  Preaching in fields to farm workers.  Even preaching on his fathers tombstone when he was not allowed to preach inside his father’s former church.

Wesley was an Oxford educated Anglican Priest, who very much believed in high church and ancient rituals, but while he was at Oxford, he made the mistake and actually read the Bible.

What happens when you actually read the Bible, especially the gospels, you start to notice that Jesus did spend time in the Temple and Synegoges, but Jesus spent most of his time hanging out with ordinary people, in ordinary places.  

Jesus didn’t sit in the Temple or the Synagogue and wait for people to come to  him.

Jesus didn’t assume that if they didn’t come to church, they weren’t interested in God or spirituality.

Jesus didn’t limit his interactions to people who dressed like him, spoke like him, or worshiped like him.  

Church, can I just say how proud I am of you?

The other day, Joanne commented to me that as she interacts more with the different people whom we have started engaging with…folks who wouldn’t normally come to church, like our Haven Dinner folks and our Rahab’s Sisters friends… the more she interacts with them, the more she feels comfortable.  Like we’re not us and them anymore, we’re just all of us.

All of us just trying to get through the day without watching too much news.

All of us trying to find some joy amidst the struggle.

All of us doing our small part to do all the good we can, do no harm, and practice love for God and our neighbors.

But people aren’t always easy to love.

I mean, have you met people?

Just try to drive across town and I guarantee that you will encounter many drivers who have not answered Wisdom’s call!

The Lectionary Committee decided to leave out verses 5-21, but when we’re talking about those who have not answered wisdom’s call, it’s kind of relevant.  I’m going to ask our Liturgist to come up and read verses 5-21.

5 Understand skill, you who are naive.

Take this to heart, you fools.

6 Listen, for I speak things that are correct;

from my lips comes what is right.

7 My mouth utters the truth;

my lips despise wickedness.

8 All the words of my mouth are righteous;

nothing in them is twisted or crooked.

9 All of them are straightforward to those who understand,

and upright for the knowledgeable.

10 Take my instruction rather than silver,

knowledge rather than choice gold.

11 Wisdom is better than pearls;

nothing is more delightful than she.

12 I, Wisdom, dwell with prudence;

I have found knowledge and discretion.

13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil.

I hate pride and arrogance,

the path of evil and corrupt speech.

14 I have advice and ability,

as well as understanding and strength.

15 By me kings rule,

and princes issue righteous decrees.

16 By me rulers govern,

and officials judge righteously.[a]

17 I love those who love me;

those who seek me will find me.

18 Riches and honor are with me,

as well as enduring wealth and righteousness.

19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold;

my crops are better than choice silver.

20 I walk on the way of righteousness,

on the paths of justice,

21     to provide for those who love me

and to fill up their treasuries.

I think we all have those moments when it’s just hard to watch somebody else’s choices.

Especially when it’s somebody you care about, 

and they won’t listen to good advice, 

and they keep making unhealthy choices, 

and you can see so clearly the consequences of their actions barreling towards them like a freight train of doom,

and you just want to yell at them, “that’s not the light at the end of the tunnel!!!”

Or as the author of this Proverb wrote:

5 Understand skill, you who are naive.

    Take this to heart, you fools.

And normally I would say that it’s the worst when it’s your kids or grandkids who are not answering Wisdom’s call.

But right now, I’m thinking that maybe it’s worse when the Leaders of Nations don’t answer Wisdom’s call.

And yet these people who seem not to be on speaking terms with Wisdom are also Beloved Children of God.

Which leaves us with important questions like: 

• “How do we love people while not getting hit by the train that is the consequences of their actions?”
• “How do we love people who are embracing hate, while also loving those who are being targeted by that hate?”
• “How do we resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves, without being filled with rage by those who have been deceived into participating in injustice?”
• “How do I accept grace for myself when I realize that I’m the one who has not been listening to Wisdom?”

The truth is that life is complicated.

That many issues have more than one right answer.

And if we are so worried about doing everything correctly, then we will end up doing nothing at all!

So we’re going to make mistakes.

We’re going to make mistakes.

Sometimes we’re going to make mistakes with the best of intentions.

And sometimes we’re going to choose to do horrible things because hurt people hurt people.

And sometimes people choose to do horrible things because they believe that the ends justify the means.

But God is still

 31     frolicking with God’s inhabited earth

    and delighting in the human race.

God still loves us, just as Jesus loved Judas.

So before we come to the Table of Grace, please join me in the spiritual practice of Confession and Forgiveness.

Most Merciful God,

We confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. 

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We have not heard the cries of the needy, 

and we have not responsibly stewarded your creation. 

We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, 

by what we have done and by what we have left undone. 

Have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, 

so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, 

to the glory of your holy name. Amen.

Hear the good news: 

Christ came not to condemn, but that the whole world might be saved through him. (John 3:17)

In the name of Jesus the Christ we are forgiven!

In the name of Jesus the Christ, we are forgiven! Amen.

Acts 2:1-21 CEB

2 When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. 4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

5 There were pious Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered. They were mystified because everyone heard them speaking in their native languages. 7 They were surprised and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all the people who are speaking Galileans, every one of them? 8 How then can each of us hear them speaking in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; as well as residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the regions of Libya bordering Cyrene; and visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the mighty works of God in our own languages!” 12 They were all surprised and bewildered. Some asked each other, “What does this mean?” 13 Others jeered at them, saying, “They’re full of new wine!”

14 Peter stood with the other eleven apostles. He raised his voice and declared, “Judeans and everyone living in Jerusalem! Know this! Listen carefully to my words! 15 These people aren’t drunk, as you suspect; after all, it’s only nine o’clock in the morning! 16 Rather, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

17 In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

    Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

    Your young will see visions.

    Your elders will dream dreams.

18     Even upon my servants, men and women,

        I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

        and they will prophesy.

19 I will cause wonders to occur in the heavens above

    and signs on the earth below,

        blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.

20 The sun will be changed into darkness,

    and the moon will be changed into blood,

        before the great and spectacular day of the Lord comes.

21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Today we celebrate the birthday of the church on the Jewish holiday of Pentecost.  Pentecost is the Greek name for Shavuot, the Jewish celebration of the giving of the Torah.  Pente – means 5, for the 5 books of the Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Pentecost is a joyful celebration in Jewish tradition.  The Biblical story that Pentecost is connected to is the story of the giving of the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai.   It’s also a harvest festival, for the summer grain harvest, when the Jewish farmers would go to Jerusalem to bring the first fruits of their harvest as an offering to God.  https://www.jewishagency.org/what-is-shavuot-traditions-dairy-food-learning/ 

Although because Pentecost is a really fun holiday, with men dancing with Torah scrolls, families staying up all night to study Torah to make up for the people having been asleep when Moses came down the mountain with the 10 commandments, and the consumption of dairy treats,  more than just farmers would show up in Jerusalem for the party!

Jewish people from EVERYWHERE, farmers or not, would flood into the city to enjoy the party!

But the disciples didn’t feel like partying.

The disciples had followed Jesus around for 3 years,

They had done supervised mission experiences,

heard Jesus’ every teaching,

witnessed every miracle Jesus performed,

And had even performed some miracles themselves

So now that Jesus had ascended to heaven they were ready to lead the church, right?

Ummm, no.  

When the day of Pentecost – came they were hiding in the upper room together in Jerusalem.

They were afraid, confused, uncertain, clueless, argumentative, and didn’t know where to start.

They had lost their sense of direction when Jesus ascended into heaven.

They felt leaderless without Jesus,

 and I’m sure Peter felt like he was wholly inadequate to lead the church.

After all that time of having Jesus right there, 

telling them what to do, 

answering their questions,

drawing the crowds, 

healing people in mind, body and spirit, 

always doing the right thing at the right time. 

None of them felt ready to lead the church.

All they knew how to do was follow Jesus.

All they knew how to do was follow Jesus.

All I know how to do is follow Jesus!

Life feels strange right now, doesn’t it?

I mean, first of all, why does it feel like it’s the 1600s outside?  I mean, the kinds of daily questions we’re dealing with are so 1600s!  Like:

• Am I going to get the plague?
• Can I afford eggs at the market?

Or the 1930’s?

• Are masked men going to show up in my neighborhood and carry my neighbors away?
• Are we really going to have a military parade next weekend with tanks rolling through the streets?
• And we’re already 3 lines into Martin Neimoller’s poem, except for this time they’re coming for the immigrants and the government workers instead of the Jews and the trade unionists.

And what’s up with Costco changing the packaging on their rotisserie chicken!??!!!

The old clamshell design was so good!

You could pop the top and carve it right on the bottom part, no muss no fuss!

Those plastic bags are so easy to puncture with a knife and then I’ve got chicken goo all over my fridge!

Come on, Costco!  Life is hard enough right now! Give us back the clamshell!

But there are good things too.

I just spent the weekend at Camp Magruder with our Haven Dinner folks.  Spirit is always at work at Camp!

The sun is shining.  It’s funny how much the sunshine makes my day better.

We’re here, together, loving one another, as Jesus told us to.

Oak Street Pod Village, down the road is already helping people move into housing.

And y’all decided to move forward with Hacienda CDC to see if we can build some affordable housing!

And I feel just as scared and unprepared to lead y’all through this process as Peter felt on the day of Pentecost!

Because I’m not Jesus, I just work for Him, and I sure wish He was here to tell us all what to do right now!

Because all I know how to do is follow Jesus.

Jesus told us again and again to not be afraid, and He told us that in times that were just as politically volatile and violent as they are now.

— So I just do my best to choose to believe that God’s got this!

Jesus told us that whatever we do to the least of these, whom he considers members of his family — whatever we do to the hungry, the thirsty, those in need of the basics of life;  how we treat immigrants and prisoners and sick people, is how we are treating Jesus godself.

–so we try to care for the most vulnerable people as if Jesus, Mary and Joseph showed up at our door.  We try, and with our partners at Rahab’s Sisters, Family Promise, Leaven Land and Housing Coalition, and the Red Cross.  I think we’re following Jesus by showing hospitality to those whom God loves.

Jesus told us to love one another as God loves us.

Even when we’re annoying.

Even when we disagree.

Especially when love is a labor of love.

Jesus taught us to pray.

To pray for God’s will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven.

To pray that God would provide for our daily needs.

To pray for forgiveness for ourselves and to find within ourselves forgiveness for others.

To pray that we won’t be deceived by the temptations of this world.

To pray that God will save us from all kinds of evil.

All I know how to do is follow Jesus.

To remember the things Jesus taught and did and when I can’t think of something that applies to a particular situation to spend some time in the Bible looking for something that applies until Spirit speaks.

So the Disciples were sitting in that same upper room they’d been staying in since they shared their last Passover dinner with Jesus and it was the day of Pentecost.

So they did what they always did with Jesus.  They went to the temple to celebrate Moses coming down the mountain with the law.

And God showed up.

The wind of the Spirit blew the fear and indecision from their minds.

The fire of the Spirit melted their frozen hearts and frozen limbs.

The tongues of flames loosened their tongues to speak the story of what it was like to follow Jesus in every language to every person…not just to those who were gathered in Jerusalem on that day of Pentecost, but to all the people on all the days that came after.

This same Spirit is still pouring out upon us!

Giving us a way to respond when we have no words!

Causing our elders to dream dreams of things that they may not live to see.

Inspiring our youth to catch a vision of what the future could be if we try to live as if God’s reign is happening here on earth.

Calling sons, daughters, and siblings to prophecy: 

• Thus sayeth the Lord who hears the cries of the needy!
• And, let everyone who is weary and heavy laden come and find rest.

The real miracle of Pentecost is not that the sound like a rushing wind blew the Disciples out of hiding, nor that the brightness came over them like tongues of flame, or even that the gospel was proclaimed in many languages.  The real miracle of Pentecost is that the Spirit of God is still at work.

Still whispering through all the noise of life.

Still blowing us out of hiding and into ministry!

Still bringing us light in our darkest nights. 

Spirit is still moving us to love our neighbors — Jews and Gentiles – immigrants and native sons, rich and poor, men, women, and genderfluid, gay and straight. 

Spirit is still moving us to love our enemies, to turn the other cheek and accept the freedom and power God gives us to resist evil, injustice and oppression.

Spirit is still speaking.

Just follow Jesus.

Ephesians 1:15-23 NRSVUE
15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Paul didn’t write what we just read.  Bible scholars know this because Paul was kinda dead at the time it was written.  Also, the earliest known copies of this letter are not addressed to the Ephesians.  They aren’t addressed to any particular community of faith.  The oldest copies of this letter are addressed, “to the saints who are faithful.”

So in a way this letter was a creative writing project by some unknown second generation Christian.  As if the author of this letter sat down, around the year 90 (we think), to write a sermon based on the question: if Paul was alive today, what would he write to the “saints who are faithful?”

If Paul was alive today, what would he write to us?

What would Paul say to us, the faithful saints of Montavilla UMC who have continued to show up and be the church in a time when being a part of a church isn’t a popular choice?

And let’s be honest.  This lack of popularity is intimidating.

Many of us can remember a time when this sanctuary was full on Sunday mornings.  When the basement classrooms were crowded with children.  When the church was the center of family life and a good influence on the community at large.

There are some who remember those times with joy and gratitude.

And there are others who remember those times with hurt because they were excluded from the in-group.

Our Bishop, in his Episcopal Address — there’s a link to the whole thing in the All church email and it’s on the Greater Northwest Website if you want more–

Our Bishop, in his Episcopal Address, wrote to us:

This season demands courage—not just from leaders, but from every United Methodist. We need courage to release what no longer serves, to embrace new models of ministry, and to stand firmly for justice and compassion in every aspect of our common life.

The reason this season demands courage is because we’re all a little afraid of the future right now.

We’re afraid about the future of the church.

The future of this country.

The future of the economy.

Our own personal futures.

All sides of All the arguments are afraid of the future.

• The people who want to turn back time to some idealized version of past greatness are afraid of the future.
• The people who want to preserve hard fought gains in civil rights are afraid of the future.
• The people who benefit from the way the economy works now are afraid of the future.
• The people who are being crushed by the current economic system are afraid that the future will only be worse!

We have experienced so much change, so quickly, over the past few decades and even the past few years that even people who like change are tired of all the change!

It takes real courage to look at the future with hope instead of fear.

It takes courage to give thanks for what used to work really well.  To honor the courage of those who came before us and did their best to adapt to the challenges of their times.  And it takes courage for us to admit that some of our ancestors’ choices no longer serve us.

It takes courage to honor the hurts of those who were excluded and harmed by what worked for many, but not for all, and to choose to stand firmly for justice and compassion in the ways we move forward together.

It takes courage to make intentional choices about how we feel called to approach the future.  It takes courage to recognize that the choices we make now define the future we give to the next generation.  

And it takes courage to recognize that not making a choice is a choice.

We can, we absolutely can, choose to do nothing, to change nothing, to wait until it is once again 1956 outside.  But I’m pretty sure that it will never be 1956 again….

But I think this letter to the Saints who are faithful, written as if Paul was here to talk to you today, instead of just me, is for us.

You can open up your bulletin and follow along, because I’m just going to join in on this exercise on what Paul might write to us if he was here today.

Having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, wouldn’t Paul give thanks for you?

I believe that Paul absolutely would give thanks for you, the faithful saints who are still here practicing the teachings of Jesus more than 2000 years later!

I think that it would bring Paul to tears to know that we are still here and we are still faithful to Christ Jesus.

Paul would not cease to give thanks for you and remember you in his prayers, that God would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation, because we definitely need God’s wisdom and revelation now!

So that…with the eyes of our hearts enlightened we may see past the fear, see past the past, see past our own comforts and preferences…

And perceive what is the hope to which God has called us.

What is the hope to which God has called us?

Because, Beloveds, we are called to hope.

We are called to hope.

We are called to hope.

What are the riches of Christ’s glorious inheritance that we are called to leave to the next generation of saints?

And what is the immeasurable greatness of God’s power for us who believe?

Don’t we share in Paul’s courageous hope that the God who got us this far, can carry us into the future according to the working of God’s great power???!!!

Isn’t the power that raised Christ from the dead enough to give us hope?

Isn’t the power of Christ seated in the heavenly places, far above all rules and rulers, all authority figures and all earthly powers and nations, and above *every* name, not only today, but yesterday, today and tomorrow…

Isn’t God’s well demonstrated power enough for us to listen to Jesus telling us again and again, “do not be afraid?”

God has put all things under his feet, so can’t we trust in God’s power?

God is the head over all the things for the church!

So can’t we place our hope, our trust, our faith in the fact that we are still the Body of Christ?

That God has made us the embodiment of the fullness of Christ who fills all in all?

And because we are in God and God is in us, we don’t have to be afraid of the future.

I believe beyond believing that God has already given us a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may perceive what is the hope to which we have been called.

I believe that Paul trusts us to make choices about the future of the church.

That Paul trusts us to listen to Spirit.

That Paul trusts God to still be God, 2000 years later.

And I trust you.  The good people of Montavilla UMC, to listen to Spirit as we consider the future of the church today.

Because it’s not about me.  

Pastor’s come and go.

It’s about hope.

Acts 16:9-15
9 A vision of a man from Macedonia came to Paul during the night. He stood urging Paul, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 Immediately after he saw the vision, we prepared to leave for the province of Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

11 We sailed from Troas straight for Samothrace and came to Neapolis the following day. 12 From there we went to Philippi, a city of Macedonia’s first district and a Roman colony. We stayed in that city several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the riverbank, where we thought there might be a place for prayer. We sat down and began to talk with the women who had gathered. 14 One of those women was Lydia, a Gentile God-worshipper from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth. As she listened, the Lord enabled her to embrace Paul’s message. 15 Once she and her household were baptized, she urged, “Now that you have decided that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded us.

I’m going to start at the end of the story.

The second half of the very last verse of today’s reading.

Where Lydia says,

“Now that you have decided that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house.” 

I wonder *how* she said that sentence. 

 I mean,  just how salty was her delivery? 

Are we talking a little gentle snark, or audible eye rolling? 

“Now that you have decided that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house.” 

What do you think?

Bring up our online folks please.  So everybody can vote.

On a scale of 1-5,  1 being zero snark and 5 being a spicy burn, hold up your fingers for how snarky you think Lydia’s delivery of this line was?

In most study bibles this passage is labeled “the conversion of Lydia,” but verse 14 describes Lydia as a “Gentile God-worshiper.”  A Gentile God-worshiper was what they called people who were not ethnically Jewish, but who practiced Judaism.  

This may feel a little odd to us today, because today, we think of religion and ethnicity as seperate things, but in the first century, most people still believed that each nation or ethnic group had their own god.  And in Greek culture, most trade associations named a particular deity as their patron.

So as a dealer in purple cloth, which was very rare and very expensive.  Paul would have assumed that Lydia was a member of the guild of Aphrodite, as Aphrodite was the Greek goddess of love, beauty and pleasure, so would be one of the correct patrons for a dealer in expensive purple cloth.  

But Lydia was a God – worshiper, as it says in verse 14.

That’s why Lydia had come down to the river to pray on the Sabbath.

On the Jewish Sabbath, when other cloth dealers would have been hard at work doing business. 

Had Lydia heard about Jesus?  Maybe.  He was kind of a big deal by the end.

So Paul, convinced that God had called him to proclaim the good news to the Greeks – A Macedonian man would have been symbolically  like the Uncle Sam of Greek culture — so Paul being convinced that he was there to proclaim the good news, proclaimed it at Lydia and her household who had gathered down at the river to pray. 

And Lydia is like, yup.  Good.  Great.  Sure, we’ll get baptized.

And, “Now that you have decided that I am a believer in the Lord, why don’t you come and stay in my house.” 

Because, of course, Paul had just arrived and had nowhere to stay.

Now it’s important to note in the first half of verse 15, that Lydia and *her* household were baptized.  Which is a huge clue that Lydia was a woman of independent means.  It’s her house.  It’s her purple cloth dealership.  It’s her household full of people. It sounds kind of like she’s the leader of the God-worshiping community who meets down by the river to pray.

Did Paul convert Lydia?

Or did a Jewish God-worshiper encounter a Greek God-worshiper down by the river to discover that Spirit was already at work among them?

When I was 18, I was invited to youth group in a Pentecostal church.  During an altar call, one summer evening, I raised my hand.  But I wasn’t raising my head to accept Jesus into my heart.  Jesus was already in my heart and my head arguing with me that I should commit my life to following God.

The good, well meaning, loving, people of that church rejoiced in my “conversation,”  but by their, rather narrow, definition of conversion, I was already converted.  Spirit was already at work within me.

God was inviting me. 

But not to be a believer (I already believed.)

God was inviting me to be a doer.   

I think too often in the church, we relate to Paul.

Look at verse 10.  Paul and his buddies “concluded” that they needed to bring the good news to the Greeks.

But in verse 9, what the vision actually said was, “come help us.”

Come help your fellow God-worshipers in Macedonia.

And honestly,  Paul and Silas seem to have been more trouble than help, at least in the short term!  In the second half of this chapter they get thrown in prison and are invited to leave the city.

But, Paul does connect them with the growing network of house churches, so there’s that.

And perhaps that is the lesson from Paul and Lydia that the church needs to hear today.

Spirit is already at work.

God is the one with the power to change people’s hearts and minds.

So perhaps our work is not to convert the Lydia’s that we encounter, but to build community with all the Lydia’s we encounter.

Perhaps our calling for a time such as this is to find our people, practice hospitality, witness to the truth, gather to pray on the Sabbath, and access the power that only comes by coming together.