Tag: love

Let’s Get Physical

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Sermons Year BLeave a comment
Poor People’s Campaign June 29, 2024 in Washington DC to Support Poor and Low-Income People

Mark 5:21-43 NRSV

Yesterday, I had the privilege of escorting Betty Anne and Nancy to Washington DC for a rally of the Poor People’s Campaign. As we were crossing a street on the way back to the Metro Station, I heard Nancy say: “Betty Anne, watch your step on this curb.”

I responded, “Yes, Betty Anne! I forgot to go over the rules with the both of you for this trip. Rule number one is no falling. Nobody is allowed to fall on this trip!” And I admit I said it because both of them are not as young as they used to be.

Then, you know what happened next. I tripped over a loose brick in the sidewalk all 6’4” of my old self ended up laying, bruised and scraped up in some bushes.

As I was trying to reorient myself, I felt the hands of Betty Anne and Nancy on my shoulder and I felt this other hand touch my arm, and heard a strange voice with a foreign accent asking me to take her arm. As I did, this stranger pulled me back to my feet and, in a kind voice, asked me if I was ok.

It is hard to explain it, but something very hopeful, even spiritual happened in that physical encounter.

Thus, it is no surprise to me to learn that our God is a God who uses the physical as a means of grace. Today’s scripture lesson, with its repeated theme of physical touching, is a perfect example.

Through the act of touching, a woman is made whole, and God’s healing power is released.

Through the power of the physical touch, barriers of society and tradition are crossed. Rules and laws are broken. The woman in the story is unnamed and ceremonially unclean. It is against the rules to touch her, and it is against the rules for her to touch another. Then, notice what happens after the woman breaks the law by reaching out and touching Jesus.

Jesus asks, “Who touched me?” And desiring to connect with the woman who touched him, he reaches out and touches her. He commends her faith and calls her “daughter.” Through the grace of physical touch, the woman who was once unclean has been made whole. And the woman who was once unnamed has become a child of God.

In the second part of the story, like the woman with the hemorrhage, this the corpse of the girl is ritually unclean. Touching a corpse is against the rules. Yet, Jesus reaches out and touches the girl’s body nevertheless. In taking the girl’s hand, in touching the girl, Jesus reaches across the boundaries of society, but also boundaries of death. And her life is restored.

About twenty years ago, I attended a conference for pastors at Princeton University in New Jersey with two good friends of mine who were both serving as pastors at the time in North and South Carolina. During our free time one day, we Carolina boys thought it would be exciting to board a train and visit the Big Apple. Before we left, several frequent travelers New York City who were also attending the conference, gave us some advice.

“When you are in the city, don’t look anyone in the eyes,” they said.  “Don’t speak to anyone. Don’t point, at anyone or anything. If you point at a building, someone may think you are pointing at them, and there may be trouble. And whatever you do, don’t touch anyone. Don’t get close to anyone!”

As we were standing at one intersection in Times Square, waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green so we could cross, I noticed everyone in front of me, looking back over their shoulders. I turned around to see what they were looking at and saw a very elderly man with a long white beard who appeared to be homeless. With one hand on his grocery cart, he was bending down and picking up a slice of pizza off sidewalk. As he walked down the road pushing the grocery cart, he lifted the pizza to his mouth.

“Look, he’s going to eat it,” someone jeered.  But before he could get it to his mouth, he accidently dropped it. The crowd laughed at the poor man as we watched him a second time, pick up the pizza, put it to his mouth only to drop it again. The light turned green, the and off we went.

Later, we were walking up several flights of stairs as we exited the subway.  My friend, Cary was in front of me and my friend, Steve was behind me.

Up ahead, I noticed a frail-looking man struggling to pull a large suitcase up the stairs. As Cary and I walked past the man who grunted with each step dragging the suitcase behind him I thought: “Should I help him?”  “No, he might get the wrong idea, think I’m trying to steal it or something.”  So, I kept walking.

Steve, however, who was a few steps behind us, took a risk. Not knowing if the man even spoke English, he asked, “Do you need some help?” As Steve reached out and touched the end of the suitcase, the man immediately gave Steve a fearful, mean glance. But then, seeing that Steve intended no harm, he smiled. I watched as he smiled most hopeful kind of smile, and said, “thank you.” Steve, picked up the suitcase and helped the man out of the subway. At the top of the stairs, the man reached out his arm, looking like he wanted to hug Steve. He stopped just short of a hug and patted Steve on the back, saying, “Thank you. God bless you.”

Once again, God used the physical as a means of grace.  Steve reached out and touched and the power of God, the amazing grace of Jesus Christ was released.

As long as I live, I’ll always wonder what might have happened if I had purchased that homeless man a fresh slice of pizza.  I’ll always dream of the possibilities of what might have transpired if I ate a slice of pizza with him. I’ll always think of the grace that might of come, the salvation that might have happened, through the simple act of reaching out my hand to that poor man who was struggling to survive.

The critique I heard most about the new expression of church we planted in New Orleans that we called “Just Love” is that we lacked a spiritual emphasis. People would say: “I love your feeding ministry and all of your service projects, but it sounds like you are only interested in meeting people’s physical needs. What about the spiritual?”

During the summer of 2020, I was out on my route delivering hot meals one evening to people who are food-insecure in Abita Springs, Louisiana. I pulled into the driveway of a gentleman to whom I have been delivering meals since the start of the pandemic in March.

As usual, he was sitting on a chair in front of his house waiting for me. I look forward to seeing him each week, and he always looks forward to seeing me. Every time I pull up in front of his house, I hear: “Rev, am I glad to see you!”

As I was handing him a bag containing two meals, a woman approached us on a bicycle. She asked me: “Sir, do you have any extra? I am so hungry.” I replied, “No, but if you give me your name and address, I can add you to my list for the next time I am out here delivering meals.” She responded: “Sir, I don’t have an address.” Then, she started to ride off.

Having just learned she was homeless, I stood there, speechless. That is when the gentlemen who had been sitting out in the heat waiting for me to deliver his food shouted, “Hey! you can have mine!”

I said: “There are two plates in the bag. You both can have one!”

He looked at the bag, and then he held it up to the woman who had stopped her bicycle, and said: “No, I have a can of beans that I can warm up. I will be alright. You take both of these.”

The woman took the bag, thanked the man, and rode away.

The man looked at me and said, “Like you say Rev, just love.” He turned and went inside.

It was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. It was a Holy God moment if there ever was one.

And this, my friends, is what our world needs. We need to reach past all of the barriers that we erect between ourselves and our neighbors— political, religious, racial, ethnic, economic. We need to go out, reach out, and touch them. We need to allow them to touch us. We need to join hands, link arms, rub elbows, and see that we have more things in common than the things that separate us.

And when we do that, something that can only be described as “spiritual” happens. When we touch and connect with others, we touch and connect with God, for we are soon able to see the very image of God in others.

Every Sunday morning, we gather around this table and affirm the grace of the physical. When we consume physical elements of grain and grape, representing the body and blood of Christ, we affirm that we have been touched by God through Christ. We affirm that through his touch, we have been made whole. Through his touch, we have all become children of God.

But more than that, in consuming the body and blood of Christ, affirm that we are the physical body of Christ in this world. Our hands are the hands of Christ. Our hands are holy. Our hands are a means of God’s grace. They have the power to heal this broken world. They have the power to accept, to welcome, to love, and to make this world a better place.

Thus, the simple act of touching—reaching out, connecting, sharing—is profoundly and powerfully spiritual.  It is sacred, and it is holy, perhaps more so if that touch reaches across the barriers of society and tradition.

A little bit of physical exertion to help a neighbor can bring hope. A simple handshake or embrace can bring a peace that is beyond all understanding. Reaching out a hand to an old man lying scaped and bruised in the bushes become a spiritual exercise. Sharing a meal with someone can start a powerful chain reaction of selfless love that changes the world!

When we reach out, touch, connect and share with our neighbors, we can’t and we won’t stay silent when the Supreme Court makes it illegal for a homeless person to sleep on a park bench, when it takes away the healthcare rights of women, or makes it more difficult for anyone to vote.

We can’t and we won’t vote for politicians that hurt LBGTQ people and support policies that marginalize people of other faiths.

And we can’t and we won’t accept poverty as the fourth leading cause of death in this, the richest country in the world.

We must recognize togther that there are dark forces working in our world that do not want us to come together. They use fear to divide us and lies to separate us. Because when we come together, when we touch our neighbors, when we allow our neighbors to touch us, they know that something powerful happens, because love happens. And when love happens, change happens. Grace happens. Empathy happens. Compassion happens.

And votes happen. The general welfare of all the people happens. Solidarity with low wage workers happens. Hospitality to the foreigner happens. A call for a ceasefire and all wars to cease happens. A demand for wealthy corporations to pay their fair share to secure a safety net for the poor and disabled happens. Free fully funded public education happens. Access to quality healthcare happens.

Healing happens. Life happens. Liberty and justice for all finally happens.

Answering the Call to Love – Honoring the Rev. Ken Burger

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Sermons Year BLeave a comment

1 Samuel 3:1-10 NRSV

Oh, how the Church needs more days like today! Days when we turn our attention to the peculiar way that the Kingdom of God comes to this world—to be reminded how Jesus began his ministry on this earth ushering in the reign of God creating a new world where the poor are blessed, those who hunger and thirst for justice are filled, the lowly are lifted up, and the mighty are cast down from their thrones.

As the Lord and Savior of the world, the Son of the Most High, the Alpha and the Omega, the eternal Word who became flesh, the One through all things came into being, did Jesus do it all by himself?

I suppose an argument could be made that he certainly could have. But instead, Jesus gets the kingdom started by going out, finding, and calling people like me and you, people who were just minding their business one day, mending their nets or sitting in a tax booth, or on a camping trip with friends (I’ll talk more about that a little later), calling people who had very little idea of who Jesus was and where Jesus was taking them. Yet, this is how God works in our world. It is the way God has always worked. God works in the world by calling others to do the work.

In Genesis, we read that God creates the world: the mountains and the seas; the valleys and streams; every animal, every living thing in the water, in the air and on the land; the sun, moon, stars and all that lies beyond. Then, God creates human beings, gives them a garden that has enough to feed the world, and calls them, all of them, male and female, to look after it, protect it, tend to it, and share it.

It is as if God says: “You know, I have really enjoyed creating all the beauty and order in this world. Of course, I could take care of it all myself. I could work to make sure all are able not to just survive but to thrive from the bounty of this creation, but I want to see you do it.”

Likewise, Jesus comes into the world making all things new, creating, recreating, reordering, ushering in the Kingdom of God. He touches and heals, welcomes, includes, advocates, and forgives. He turns water into a whole lot of wine and a small basket of food into a great feast that feeds everyone with leftovers, all as a sign of that Kingdom of God is here and there is grace enough and mercy enough and nourishment enough for all. He redeems and restores the lives of the lost, the poor and the marginalized. He chastises judgmental religion, challenges systems of oppression, and exorcises demonic forces that exclude, devalue, and dehumanize.

And then it is as if he says: “You know, I’ve enjoyed doing the holy work of God, demonstrating the reality of God’s reign in this world, but now, it’s your turn. I am calling you to do my work in the world.”

Just as God called people like Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, Ruth and Jeremiah, Samuel and Deborah, Mary Magdalene and John the Baptizer, Paul and Pricilla, God called a young man living in Huntsville, Alabama who liked to blaze trails as a Boy Scout and as a member of the youth group of First Christian Church. On a camping trip with his friends, it was his friends who first told Ken Burger he should go into the ministry. Like Samuel who soon learned it was not Eli calling, but it was actually God calling him, Ken learned that it wasn’t just his friends calling that day, as he later announced to a surprised family that he was called by God to vocational ministry.

After graduating from the University of Alabama, Ken attended the Lexington Theological Seminary and was ordained into the ministry, 50 years ago this August.

After seminary, Ken says he was surprised when he was called to serve as a pastor of a church in Girard, Illinois. But that is how the call of God usually comes– as a surprise. We are awakened from sleep in the middle of the night like Samuel, or we’re busy at work like the Twelve, or we’re camping in the woods, sitting on the porch, or driving in our car, and out of nowhere, the call come. It’s inexplicable, yet real; incredulous, yet convincing. And no matter how hard we might try, there is no shaking it, and certainly no ignoring it.

After serving that church for 3 years, Ken accepted a call to serve as Associate Minister, 40 miles away in Jacksonville. Then 2 years later he resigned and returned to Girard to start a new ministry, one that lasted 8 years.

Ken says that he remained on the “mission field” of the Midwest for 12 years before moving to Virginia in 1986 where he accepted a call to serve with Bedford Christian Church, a ministry which lasted 8 ½ years.

During those years, he, Marilyn Taylor, and David Herrick sensed a call minister to Senior Adults. One day, they met on the campus of Lynchburg College to explore possibilities together. This is when Ken learned that when God calls, God often calls us to do some pretty big things.

I think we sometimes overlook Jesus’ call of the disciples. For what did he call them to do? Sit on a pew every Sunday? Sing, pray, listen to a sermon, try to be a good person? Maybe attend a ministry team meeting every now and again or join a book study?

No, they were called to do what Jesus did. Nothing too big mind you. Just your ordinary raising of the dead. Just your routine healing of a disease. Just your typical demon exorcism sort-of-thing. They were called by Jesus to do big things that change the world.

Ken understood this, that God calls us to dream and to dream big. And bringing big dreams to life takes time and a lot of patience, for that one meeting at the University of Lynchburg led to a task force that met for 7 years.

Then, in 1995, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Virginia called Ken to serve on the Regional staff as Project Director for the new ministry.  Ken says: “Our own Herb Moore and my second-best friend Johnny Loughridge, were a big part of that call, but that’s a story for another time.”

In November 1996, Ken married his first-best friend, Linda. Her children April and Adam became what  Ken calls his “bonus” daughter and son, along with 3 grandchildren and a great-grandchild. Ken is also a proud Dad to two daughters, Melinda and Stephanie, with whom he enjoys regular Father-Daughter retreats. I believe Ken would say that his role as husband, father and grandfather is his highest calling.

His first Sunday in his new position was when he and Linda were called to joined the First Christian Church of Lynchburg. That was the day he told David Edwards, the senior minister at the time: “I’ve watched this congregation for over 8 years. I want to be part of this.”

Ken’s visionary work with the region led to establishing a joint venture project with Centra and the development of The Summit, where Ken served as Executive Director for 13 years, retiring 8 years ago.

But here’s the thing. Ken never retired from ministry, because Ken understands that the call of God upon people is never silenced. As member of this congregation, Ken continues to say “yes” to the call of God as he faithfully uses his gifts to serve this church, his family and community.

Ken writes: “I love what we are doing here at FCC, for which I am both humbled and proud to be a part.”

Ken Burger, we are grateful that God has called you here. And that you answered that call. And we trust, that wherever you are, even if it is not with us here, that you are there because you are still answering a divine call to love.

Last week, I quoted CS Lewis who described God: “not as a static thing, not even as a person, but as a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama.”

Perhaps one way to describe God is as “a call.”  God is a prodding, pulling, provoking, universal force—a beckoning, compelling energy that transcends denominations, religions, and any human construct that tries to define or limit it– calling people to love.

God is a continual call to love in small and big ways that change the world!

The Call to Love is a call to affirm that every person is created in Love’s image to care for, tend to, and share in the diversity and extravagant bounty of creation.

Thus, the Call to Love is a call to favor democracy over dictatorship, a generosity over greed, truth over talking points, and love over fear.

The Call to Love bends the moral arc of the universe towards justice and brings wholeness and peace to a fragmented world.

The Call to Love leads churches to be Open and Affirming of all people, regarding and embracing the wondrous diversity of the human family as a portrait of divinity.

Ken says he “loves being a part of what we are doing here.” I believe Ken is saying that he loves the way he is witnessing people here answering The Call to Love.

Several of you answer The Call to Love every day in your jobs and through volunteerism in your community.

Many of you are answering The Call to Love as you care for members of your family who need you.

Ann Boynton is answering the call to vocational ministry. Several of you are answering the call to serve as elders, deacons, officers and on various ministry teams.

The One Home – One Future Team is answering the call to transform our grounds to model ecological justice.

The Outreach Team is answering a call to serve children, feed the hungry, fight for democracy, and provide equitable access to housing.

The Education Team led by Maria is answering the call to teach and train our children how to answer The Call to Love.

These are serious times. We are living in dangerous days. But the good news is that Love is calling. Love is calling people like you and me and Love is still calling Ken Burger, for the Call to Love can never be silenced. Love is calling us every day to do what we can to make this world more just, equitable and peaceful.

How is Love calling you today?

There is perhaps no more important question. For it is simply the way our God works in this world. Amen.

Righteous Rage

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Lent, Sermons Year BLeave a comment
Shirt can be ordered at https://pavlovitzdesign.com

John 2:13-22 NRSV

Psychologists have identified four stages of anger.[i] The first stage is when we are “annoyed.” Studies have shown that most people become annoyed a few times per day when someone or some situation becomes bothersome or irritating to us.

I am sure Jesus was annoyed as often as we are, if not more often. I believe we can read one example in Mark, chapter 2, when Jesus enters the synagogue on a sabbath and encounters a man with a withered hand. Although the Pharisees believed it was unlawful to heal on the sabbath, Jesus compassionately heals the man and then looks at the Pharisees “with anger” says Mark; for he was “grieved,” or I believe one could say, “he was very annoyed,” by their “hardness of heart.”

When we are annoyed and feel our stress levels begin to rise, we’ve moved into the second stage of anger: “frustration.” In this stage, we’re still able to think rationally, but because of our dissatisfaction with what’s happening, it might not be as easy to stay calm and clearheaded.

 A few weeks ago, we read an account of Jesus being frustrated when he encounters a leper, and according to Mark, is “moved with pity.” I pointed out that scholars agree that the Greek text is best translated, “moved with anger,” and I said it was not so much the disease of leprosy that angered or frustrated Jesus, but it was what the disease did to a person socially, excluding them from community.

The third stage of anger is “hostility.” We get to this stage when there’s been a large build-up of stress, pain, or anxiety. Things become so frustrating, we find it difficult to stay calm or to speak politely.  Have you ever heard the saying: “That’s enough to make a preacher cuss?” I could tell you some stories, but this is not the time nor the place. Maybe down in the fellowship hall Wednesday night, or better yet, downtown at the brewery Thursday evening. An example of Jesus becoming hostile may be last week’s gospel lesson when Jesus, calls Peter “Satan.”

Then we have the fourth stage: rage. This is the stage where we lose control. We lash out physically, like throwing an object, like silver coins, or turning over a piece of furniture, like a table in the temple, or we may threaten violence, like making a whip of cords and chasing everyone out of the room, even the sheep and the cattle.

 I don’t believe there’s better example of Jesus demonstrating rage than this temple scene in today’s gospel lesson. And a good question for those of us who are seeking to emulate Jesus is: What moved Jesus from simply being annoyed to a fit of rage?

To interpret this text, it is important to note why this is our lectionary text in the season of Lent. Our text begins: “The Passover of the Jews was near.” To commemorate the story of the Israelites’ protection from the Angel of Death and their Exodus from Egyptian slavery, Jewish people were coming from all over to purchase animals in the temple to make religious sacrifices to God so they could get right with God, experience some love and favor from God. To get right with God, people with means had enough money to purchase cattle or sheep, whereas people who were poor scaped up the little money they had and settled for the doves.

That the religious leaders were making a profit by leading people to believe they could not experience Divine favor unless certain conditions were met, enraged Jesus so that he made a whip and chased them out of the temple, pouring out their coins and turning over their tables, while specifically instructing those who were selling doves to the poor, “Take these things out of here!”

The Jews, who are now unable to purchase sacrifices to observe Passover, become fearful that they would be unable to get right with God. So, they confront Jesus: “You better be able to come up with a pretty good sign to prove to us that we don’t need to make sacrifices to experience God’s love!”

And it is then that Jesus responds, “Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up.” John tells us that Jesus was speaking not of the building in which they stood, but the temple of his own body.

I believe John is emphasizing that in the incarnation of Jesus, the good news of God’s unconditional love is enfleshed or embodied. In the words of Revelation 21, “God’s dwelling place is now among the people” with Jesus modeling the way.

This should not lead anyone to believe that the presence of God has departed from the Jewish faith or that Christianity supersedes any other religious tradition. Rather, from a Christian perspective, the good news that every person is loved by God just as they are, is enfleshed in anyone who follows the way of love that Jesus embodied.

Mahatma Gandhi was annoyed and frustrated when he famously said:

I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.

This, of course, is the main problem of the church today. While there are many faith communities loving others selflessly and unconditionally, too many Christians have succumbed to their thirst for power and control.

Today, this is demonstrated whenever the church seems more concerned about the survival of the institution than the needs of people; whenever service in the community is performed in hope of gaining new members, rather than out of compassionate concern for neighbors in need; and whenever gatekeepers are appointed to determine who belongs in the family of God and the hoops through one must jump to be in community.

Instead of embodying the good news of God’s love for all people through acts of grace and mercy, the church today looks more like a set of rules designed by the powerful and the privileged to keep people in line and the marginalized in their place.

Christianity looks like a religion based more on nationalism than on following the way of love that Jesus modeled. It looks like a religion built on guilt, obligation, and fear, a religion whose purpose is to keep people out of an eternal hell while ignoring the hell humanity has created in God’s good creation.[ii]

A religion. This is what really enraged Jesus, that people took something as pure and wonderful and holy as the unconditional love of God and made it into a religion.

While I was pastoring a church right out of seminary back in 1993, a deacon in our church asked me where I saw myself in twenty-five years. I told him that I believed that I would still be pastoring a church somewhere.

He laughed out loud.

“What’s so funny?”   I asked.

“I see you more as the type who might be teaching in some college somewhere or directing a non-profit. I don’t think you are going to be a pastor.”

“Why do you say that?”

He said, “For one thing, pastors are generally religious people. And you, my friend, are not very religious!”

What this deacon failed to realize was that the church is not a religious organization. And the last thing a Christian pastor should be is religious.

Let me share with you what I think is a good definition of religion.  It comes from the late Episcopal Priest Robert Capon: “Religion is the attempt by human beings to establish a right relationship between themselves and something beyond themselves which they think to be of life-giving significance.”

This is what enraged Jesus so, that people have been made to feel that they must be religious, jump through some religious hoops, to get right with God. They believe if they make the right sacrifice, say the right prayers, believe in the right creed, behave the right way, avoid the right sins, then they can earn some Divine favor.

This is why we call the unconditional love of God Jesus taught and embodied “the gospel.” This is why we call it good news. If we called it religion, it would be bad news. Religion would mean that there was still some secret to be unlocked, some ritual to be gotten right, some law to obey, some theology to grasp, or some little sin to be purged.

Now, don’t get me wrong. We don’t need religion, but I believe we still need church. However, we do not need church to get right with God. We need church to discover ways we can get right with our neighbor. We need church to discover ways we can get right with the planet. Because what this world needs more than anything else today is not more religious people who believe they possess the keys to salvation, but more people to come together to love their neighbors, their communities, their cities, the entire creation, with the unconditional, unreserved, unbounded love of God that Jesus embodied.

Or maybe, in the words of Ziggy Marley, we need more people who simply make love their religion. Not for the sake of getting right with God, but for the sake of love and only love.

Because when love, just love, is our religion, we are free to volunteer at Park View Mission and truly love our neighbors purely, unconditionally, authentically, without any thought of persuading them to worship or believe like us.

When love is our religion, we are free to serve selflessly and sacrificially in our community without any temptation to ever say anything like: “Look at us. Look how good we are. Don’t you want to join our church?”

When love is our religion, we are free to purchase learning kits to help children living in poverty prepare for kindergarten with no strings attached, with no hidden agenda whatsoever, just love.

When love is our religion, we are free to pray earnestly for Palestinians in Gaza, give to organizations like Week of Compassion to support humanitarian aid for those who are suffering with no other intention but to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

When love is our religion (just love, for the sake of love), when we love freely, unconditionally, unreservedly, fully, and purely, I believe we look like the enfleshed presence of God in the world.

And that, I believe, is what makes Jesus very happy.

And that, I believe, is what makes Jesus very happy.

[i] https://reallifecounseling.us/blog/stages-of-anger

[ii] https://www.ucc.org/sermon-seeds/sermon-seeds-transactionalism/

Going Fishing

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Sermons Year BLeave a comment
Fishing net parament adorning the communion table of the First Christian Church in Lynchburg, Virginia

As we celebrate 150 years of being church, I think it is good to highlight something that is central to who we are as the First Christian Church in Lynchburg, VA. And that is fishing. You knew that right? Why else would we adorn our communion table with a giant, very colorful, diverse mosaic of a giant fishing net. There’s a great description of our fishing net parament hanging on the wall in the back of the sanctuary that I encourage you to read when you have a chance.

Our fishing net is appropriate as the gospels are full of great fishing stories. Like the story of Jesus is having church on the beach. Luke tells us that the congregation gathered that day is so large, they keep “pressing in on him to hear the word of God,” almost pushing Jesus into the water!

It is then that Jesus sees two boats belonging to some fishermen who are out washing their nets. He climbs into one of the boats belonging to a fella named Simon and asks him to put it out a little way from the shore so he could teach the crowds on the beach from the boat, setting up a little pulpit on the water.

After the Benediction is pronounced and church is over, Jesus says to Simon, “Let’s move the boat to some deeper waters and go fishing.” And this is the moment, for Simon and all of us, that church really begins.

Simon says, “Jesus, we’ve been fishing all night long and haven’t caught a thing. But, if you say so, I’ll cast my net one more time.”

It is then that Luke tells us that they catch so many fish that they had to call in re-enforcements and a second boat. Filled with so many fish, the nets almost break.

Do you remember Simon’s reaction to this glorious catch? “Praise God from whom all blessings flow for this miraculous catch of fish!”

Nope, not even close.

Scared to death, Simon says the almost unthinkable: “Go away from me Lord!”

Then, as it usually is with the stories of Jesus, we learn there is much more going on here than a few folks going fishing. As our scripture lesson in Mark reminds us, this story in Luke is not a story about catching fish at all. It is a story about catching people. It is a story about inclusion. It is a story about bringing new people aboard.

And like Simon, this can scare us sto death.

Growing up in Northeastern North Carolina surrounded by water, I quickly learned that there are basically two types of fishermen.[i] First, there’s the fisherman who really doesn’t care if they catch anything at all. They are perfectly content sitting in their boat with a line in the water. It doesn’t bother them in the least if they do not get a nibble all day long. Enjoying the sunshine and the fresh air, the brim of their hat pulled down over their eyes, they are so comfortable, so at peace, so at home, they might even doze off and take a little nap. They are just happy to be in the boat. They’ve got a bag lunch, some snacks and a few cold beverages, and a bumper sticker on their truck that reads: “A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.”

And besides, if they did catch anything, which by the way would be by sheer accident or dumb luck since they’re not paying any attention whatsoever to their pole, that would just mean for some work for them to do when they get back to the shore. And the one thing that fishing is not supposed to be is work!

I am afraid I have just painted a portrait of many in the church today. We’re perfectly content just to have one line in the water, not really caring if we ever bring anyone else aboard. Because bringing aboard others always involves work. It involves sacrifice. Because you know about others? They are just so “other.”

So, the purpose of church is reduced to making sure that everyone who is already in the boat is happy, peaceful, and comfortable. If we catch something, that’s well and good. But if we don’t catch anything, well, that is probably for the best.

Then, we have the second kind of fisherman. These are the ones who are really intentional about catching fish. This was my Nana and Granddaddy.

On the water with Nana and Granddaddy, I didn’t know whether to call what we were doing out there in the boat “fishing” or “moving.” Because oftentimes, as soon as I could get some bait on my hooks and drop it in the water, I’d hear Granddaddy say, “Alright, let’s reel ‘em in. We’re going to find another place where the fish are more hungry.” I remember spending as much time watching the bait and tackle on the end of my line fly in the wind as we moved from place to place as I did watching it in the water. But guess what? With Nana and Granddaddy, we moved a lot, but we always caught a lot of fish!

To be the church that God is calling us to be, we must be a people on the move, willing to change, go to other places, and we must be intentional.

We must constantly reel in our lines to go outside of these walls to meet people exactly where they are, not where we might want them to be, but where they are, especially in those deep, dark places where people are hungry for love and starving for grace; where they are famished for liberty, and thirsty justice and equality.

And we must be willing to express our intentionality, publicly, out loud.

Many churches today are happy to say: “All are welcome.” But what does that truly mean? Welcome by whom?  For all can’t be welcome unless someone is doing the welcoming. Right? That’s why we need to be explicit saying, “The First Christian Church of Lynchburg, Virginia welcomes all.”

And who is “all”? Sadly, today saying “all” not saying enough. “All” who want to look like us, believe like us and behave like us?

That’s why we have to say it, and say it explicitly, intentionally, out loud. Especially today, we need to keep saying that this church welcomes people who identify as LGBTQIA+. We need to say out loud that we do not believe being queer is any more sinful than being cisgendered and heterosexual can be. We need to keep saying publicly that we affirm all people are created in the image of God. We are not afraid to say out loud that this church believes black lives matter and black and brown people are always welcome here. To sit in our pews, be on our boards, lead our worship and preach from our pulpits.

We need to keep saying that our church welcomes women and believes women can teach a Bible study class that is of full men. We believe women, as well as people who identify as LGBTQIA+, can be teachers, preachers, pastors and even President of the Denomination. We believe women have power in the church’s boardroom, and that they always have power over their own bodies.

And when you are welcomed here, we need to keep reminding you that you become a part of our body; thus, when you suffer, we all suffer. So, you can count on us to be there for you, to care for you, to pray with you, and to fight for you when the world treats you unjustly.

The problem is that too many churches today are sitting back, half asleep, with one pole in the water. They are not moving, not changing, and not going out. And they are not intentionally saying anything, at least anything out loud. They could care less if anyone new comes to them, but if by sheer accident or dumb luck someone new does happen to come aboard, churches expect them to come aboard in a manner that measures up to their own expectations.

I will never forget that Nana used to go fishing with this special red pocketbook. It was leather or maybe vinyl and must have been lined with plastic. Nana always went fishing with this pocketbook, because when Nana was about the business of catching flounder, Nana did not discriminate.

When it came to flounders, you could say, Nana was Open and Affirming. Nana very graciously welcomed all flounders aboard the boat, even if they did not measure up to the expectations of the North Carolina Wildlife Commission.

I remember measuring a flounder: “Oh no! This flounder is an inch too short, I guess I need to throw him back.”

“Oh, you will do no such thing!” Nana would say, “He’s ‘pocket-book size!’”

 

Here’s what you don’t know, Nana’s son, my uncle, at the time, was a North Carolina Game Warden. Nana risked getting into trouble not only with the state, but with her own family.

I have heard it said, “If following Jesus does not get you into some trouble, then you’re probably not doing right.”

Pastors are constantly getting into trouble, for it is impossible to please everyone. But what’s crazy to me is that I have gotten into the most trouble when I have preached sermons on loving our neighbors, when I preach against hate and discrimination and for unconditionally loving and fully including people who may not measure up to our cultural, societal, or religious expectations.

I have had family members actually tell me that they are ashamed of me and that I embarrass them by preaching such inclusivity.

Some believe the sole purpose of the church is about making sure that everyone who is already in the boat is contented, comfortable and happy. They are unaware that Jesus calls us all to fish for people, to cast a large net bringing others aboard without discrimination, leading them to make the life-giving, world-changing decision to join a movement following the way of love that Jesus taught his disciples.

And God help us when the church is embarrassed to stand up to our friends and family and shout with the Apostle Paul: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation!”  What’s the rest of that verse? “For everyone…Jew and Gentile. (Romans 1:16). Everyone.

I am afraid that many churches today are like fearful ol’ Simon, who upon looking at all those different fish in the boat, responded to Jesus with those unthinkable words, “Lord, go away from me.” They say it today through their exclusive membership policies, through their by-laws, creeds and confessions and in their sermons. And it is the main reason why so many churches today look nothing like Jesus.

Late Disciples of Christ pastor Fred Craddock loved to tell the story of one local church. Although their sign out front read, “A church that serves all people,” when all people would show up to be served, the exclusive spirit of the congregation continually drove the newcomers away.

About ten years went by. When, one day, Craddock was driving down the road where that church was located when he saw that the building that once housed that church had been converted into a restaurant.

Curious, he stopped and went inside. In the place where they used to be pews, there were now tables and chairs. The choir loft and baptistery was now the kitchen. And the area which once contained the pulpit and communion table now had an all-you-can-eat salad bar. And the restaurant was full of patrons—every age, color and creed.

Upon seeing the sad, but very intriguing transformation, Craddock thought to himself, “At last, God finally got that church to serve all people.”

[i] I heard Rev. Jesse Jackson allude to these “2 types of fishermen” at the Oklahoma Regional Men’s Retreat at Camp Christian, Guthrie, Oklahoma in 2016.

Trick or Treat or Truth

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Sermons Year A1 Comment

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 NRSV

I will never forget the first Halloween I heard about the so-called “Hell Houses” or “Judgment Houses” that churches host during this time of the year. Have you heard of these things? It’s like a Haunted House, but instead of walking through rooms where people jump out and scare you dressed in spooky costumes, you walk through rooms staged to depict scenes of people being tormented for all of eternity for the poor decisions they made while they were living.

The first one I heard about had teenagers in one room who were being punished after they were killed in a car accident after drinking alcohol. Another room featured an atheist or maybe a Taoist or Buddhist. One room featured someone who had completed suicide. Another room had a woman begin tormented for choosing to have an abortion. Another had members of the LGBTQ community. And another room was filled with, I don’t know, I suppose the most popular hell-bound suspects: your fornicators, liberal preachers, democrats.

I first heard of the “Hell House” or “Judgment House” in October of 1999, which just so happened to be a very hellish period in my life. We had just purchased our first home that August. Six weeks later, it was flooded by Hurricane Floyd. Our children, who were 4 and 2 years old at the time and Lori were rescued by a boat, while I stayed behind cramming everything I could into the attic as the house filled up with water. We spent the next 6 months living (“surviving” would be a better word describe it) in a very small, very cramped and very cluttered FEMA camper which was parked our driveway. I had never been more stressed-out in my life.

Of course, upon hearing of a neighboring church hosting a Hell House, I preached a sermon against it. I said something like a colleague, Robert Lowery, recently said, and that is: “If the scariest thing you can come up with to frighten people this Halloween is your own theology, then you might want to rethink your theology.”

And at the conclusion of the sermon, I said something like this: “Now after hearing this sermon, if you still feel inclined to visit a Hell House, please don’t go to that church down the road that is hosting one. Just come on over to my house, and I will gladly let you walk through my Hell camper. And if you really want the fright your life, come next Sunday morning before church, when we are all crammed in there trying to get dressed to make to Sunday School on time!

I believe trying to scare people into joining a church or a religion with bad theology may be part of what Paul meant when he talked about his appeal not “springing from deceit or impure motives or trickery.”

Paul may also be referring to the type of trickery that some churches use to bait and switch and deceive; like churches who say all are welcome, but when some show up, they quickly discover that the grace they first experienced as a treat was only a trick.

Churches say: “come just as you are,” but after you come just as you are, you soon learn you are expected to become just as they are!

Churches host events like the one we are having this afternoon. They entice people in the community with candy, chili and a good time. However, they soon make it clear that if you’re not buying what they’re selling, you’re not truly welcome.

There is a video that went viral a few years ago of a homeless man who walked into to a Chick-fil-a in Tennessee asking if they had any extra food. The manager meets the beggar and says: “I will give you a hot meal, if you will pray with me.” The man agrees. The manager lays his hands on him and prays. And then gives him a sandwich.

Christians loved this video and shared it all over social media. [i]

But it is important to remember that Jesus never said: “Feed the hungry, if they will pray with you,” or “Welcome the stranger, if they will believe like you or learn your language” or “Give drink to the thirsty, if they will dress like you” or “Free the oppressed, if they will make a pledge and contribute to your budget.”

You may be surprised at the number of faith-based social service agencies whose promised assistance comes with some sort of string or trickery attached. “We will give you a hot meal and warm bed, but first, you need to sit and listen to a sermon.” “We will help you if we think that you are helping yourself, and that means believing the way we believe and worshiping the way we worship.”

I knew of one ministry to the homeless that would kick folks out of their program if they failed to turn in four consecutive worship bulletins from an pre-approved “Bible-believing church” they attended on Sunday. One day, I asked the director, “what if they are Muslim, Jewish, or an atheist?” He responded, and I quote: “We only help people who want to better themselves. So, we only help those who want to be Christian.”

The gospel truth is that Jesus said we are to love our neighbors as ourselves—period! No “if’s,” no “buts,” no strings, no tricks, no treats. Just love.  Paul writes we are to love others “as a nurse tenderly cares for her own children.” We are to care for others because they are God’s children who need care, not for any other reason.

In two weeks, we are going to have a Congregational Café to discuss ways we can be the church outside of these four walls, how we can go out into our city and our region to love our neighbors. I believe such discussion is important and necessary, as we must make certain our outreach is not some sneaky, tricky, deceitful church growth tactic. For one of the most disappointing things I’ve heard from church member after we participated in a service or mission project in the community is: “Well, preacher, we didn’t get any new members out of that.” Or “Well preacher, since we have started giving so much in our community, our offerings have not increased.”

This is why you will always hear me insist that we love our neighbors with our ecumenical and interfaith partners. Because, when we love our neighbors, we don’t do it to gain new members or to gain anything for ourselves. Our motive should only be love, just love. It can never be about our church. “Look at us.” “Don’t you want to come join us.” “Don’t you want to give to us.” It always has to be about love, and just love.

Sue Coleman sent me a wonderful quote this week to spark some thoughts for our Congregational Café that underscores this truth. In his book Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship, Gregory Boyle asserts:

“There is nothing more essential, vital, and important than love and its carrier – tenderness – practiced in the present moment. By keeping it close, just right now, we are reminded to choose connection over alienation, kinship over self-absorption.”

Boyle sounds a little like the Apostle Paul to me:

“But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.”

We love others for the same reason that God loves us, because others are dear to us.

In William Young’s book, The Shack, Papa, conveys the love of God when she says of every human she meets or recollects: “I am very fond of them.” Don’t you love that?

So, this afternoon, when we greet members from our community with chili and candy and a good time, we are not out looking to make some new converts or to get a new pledge to our stewardship campaign. We go out selflessly offering others the gift of our very selves. Why?  Because we are very fond of them, and they are very dear to us. We go out to meet some new friends, friends who may never visit one of our worship services, not even on Christmas Eve or Easter. We go to love the ones we will meet this day honestly, courageously, unconditionally and tenderly. And let’s hope we make a Jewish friend, a Muslim friend, a Buddhist friend, an agnostic or an atheist friend.

So today, although it’s almost Halloween, we are not about “tricks” or “treats.” We are about having the courage to be about “truth.” We are about honesty and integrity and authenticity. We are about sharing the good news of God’s grace and love and sharing ourselves simply because that is what Love calls and compels us to do.

Now, because we are being truthful and because we truly care, let’s always make it clear to those who may be interested in becoming a part of our church, that although they are invited to come “just as they are,” and although they are never expected to become “just as we are,” if they come, we really do hope that they don’t stay “just as they are.”

Let us set the record straight that the reason we are a part of this church, including the pastor, is because we are all hoping to change, to transform into people who love God, love others and love the planet more justly, more honestly and more boldly.

But it’s never our job to judge or change anyone. That’s always God’s job. And we pray God is currently judging and changing all of us. We are praying for a radical repentance that takes away all our prejudices, greed, apathy and selfishness, while filling us with more kindness, more mercy, more grace and more love to share with others.

We pray that if others choose to join our mission, God will bring us together in love, unite us by grace, change us with the truth, and then give us the courage to change the world. Amen.

[i] http://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/most-popular/chick-fil-a-manager-prays-with-homeless-man-gives-him-warm-meal

Living in Amazement

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Sermons Year A2 Comments

 

Matthew 22:15-22 NRSV

The religious privileged of Jesus’ day were much like the religious privileged of our day. They believed they had somehow earned their high position at God’s table. They deserved the blessings of God. They were so devout, so pious, so “bible-believing,” they convinced themselves that they had God and the world all figured out and believed they possessed the keys to the Divine. They believed they were God’s gatekeepers and judges.

They looked at the rich, the powerful and the strong with favor. After all, like themselves, they were obviously blessed by God. And they looked down their noses with disdain at the poor, the disenfranchised and the weak. After all, they were obviously cursed by God. A curse they undoubtedly deserved. Probably because of their own sin, or because the sin of their parents. For whatever reason, the least of those in society deserved to be least.

They looked up at those who accepted their biblical worldview with respect. And they looked down upon those who disagreed with their views with contempt.

Because they believed they had somehow earned the right to be the judge, they were more than willing to stone adulterers, crucify heretics, mistreat tax collectors, banish lepers, oppress women, restrain the mentally ill, hinder children, ignore the bullied, even if the poor victim had been robbed, beaten and left for dead on the side of the road.

After all, these who are  least in our society are least for a reason. For whatever reason, it was very evident to them that God had not blessed them. And if God would not bless them, neither would they.

Then from Nazareth, a place from which no one good ever comes, comes this liberal, a radical rabbi named Jesus turning the religious leaders’ worldview upside down by identifying with the least—

         By traveling all over embracing lepers,[i] touching the unclean,[ii] welcoming children,[iii] eating with sinners,[iv] empowering minorities,[v] learning from someone of another faith,[vi] loving the foreigner,[vii] respecting sex workers,[viii] giving dignity to Eunuchs,[ix]defending an adulterer,[x] protecting the rights of women,[xi] bringing peace to the mentally ill,[xii] advocating for the poor,[xiii] feeding the hungry,[xiv] offering drink to the thirsty,[xv]blessing the meek,[xvi] and advocating for prisoners,[xvii] excluding no one, offering his body, his blood, his life to all.

The religious powers-that-be had about all that they could possibly stand.

“He’s destroying the very fabric of society. He’s making a mockery out of our religion. He’s hurting our traditional, conservative family values. He’s what is wrong with our country. And someone needs to put a stop to it.”

So, they plotted and they conspired, and they rallied their people, and sent them to entrap Jesus.

They were sly, and they were sneaky. They said to themselves, “We will soften him up first by showering him with a few compliments. And then we will get him.”

“Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. You eat with tax collectors, sinners and harlots. You love the good and the bad equally.”

But then, here it comes.

“Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?”

But Jesus doesn’t fall for it. Aware of the malice in their hearts, Jesus said:

Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. 20Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ 21They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God, the things that are God’s.’22When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

The question for us this morning is this: “Why were they so amazed?” What made them walk away astounded?

First, it’s important to understand why Jesus called them “hypocrites” right before he asked them to show him the coin them they used to pay taxes.

The image on the coin was Tiberius Caesar. And the title imprinted on the coin was “son of God,” as the Romans considered Caesar to be divine.

So, the Pharisees would have regarded these Roman coins to be idolatrous. So, simply by producing the coin, they show themselves to be hypocrites, breaking the first of the ten commandments.

Here they were, holier-than-thou judges, judging Jesus, and Jesus drives home the point that he made in his very first sermon: “Why do you seek to judge one with a speck in his eye, when you have a log in your own eye.”

I can imagine the faces of the religious leaders turning red as they realized that this one whom they were sent to entrap has now entrapped them.

But Jesus is not finished with them yet.

With one of the most well-known, yet most misunderstood quotes attributed to him, Jesus responds:

Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God.

I like to think that this is the moment when a light bulb came on for these religious leaders. This was the moment when the scales from their eyes fell. You could say “when they became woke”—wide awake to the amazing grace of it all.  For it was like Jesus asking them:

“Give to Zeus what belongs to Zeus and give to God, the creator of all that is, what belongs to God.”

And what would any good Jew say belongs to the Greek god, Zeus?

Nothing, of course. It all belongs to God. All that is, all that they had, all that they were, and all that they would ever have and ever be is but a gift of God’s amazing grace.

Suddenly, it occurred to them: All is gift. Therefore, all is grace. They didn’t do anything to earn the gift of life. Their life was an unearned gift of grace God, the world, and others did not owe them anything. The amazing grace of it all became amazingly clear.

It all belongs to God; thus, God alone is the judge of it all. They were in no position whatsoever to ever judge anyone. They did not own their faith, their synagogue, not even their own lives.

And, if just for a moment, they got it.

“Of course Jesus, that is why you do not show deference to anyone or treat anyone with partiality. We are all the same. We are all gifts of God’s amazing grace, rich and poor, Jew and Palestinian and even Samaritan, all beloved children of God. And recognizing this grace, we now have this holy compulsion to share grace with others, especially with those who need grace the most, especially with those whom society has deemed to be the least, those who have been erroneously taught their entire lives that that God doesn’t just disapprove of them but is actually against them, believes they are abominations.”

Matthew tells us that they walked away from Jesus in amazement. When they awoke to realize that all belongs to God, that all grace, that all is miracle, that all is gift, they left amazed by it, humbled by it, changed by it, and very grateful for it.

I believe there are basically two types of people in this world: the grateful and the ungrateful. I know that it’s not that simple, but I believe there is some truth to it.

I admire anyone who can go on a silent retreat for a few days. You may have heard of the monk who joined a silent monastery. The monks were to be silent 24-7, but at the end of each year the monks were able to go to the abbot and voice just two words. Two words a year. That’s all. At the end of the first year, the monk went to the abbot and said, “Bed hard.” At the end of the second year, the monk went again to the abbot and said, “food bad.” At the end of the third year, the monk said to the abbot, “I quit.”

To which the abbot responded, “I am not surprised. Ever since you’ve been here, all you’ve done is complain.”

Ungrateful people are most often the complainers. Ungrateful people believe that there is always something more owed to them. The world owes them. Others owe them. God owes them. If they have good health and great wealth, a nice home, they somehow earned it. And they have this tendency to judge others who have not achieved what they have achieved, do not believe what they believe, and do not live like they live. Ungrateful people are seldom content. No amount of money, no number of possessions is ever enough. Because of this, they are the least generous people we know.

They are the ones who feel entitled to take and use what is not theirs, whether it be money, land, or even another person. Furthermore, they become bitter when things do not go their way. When bad things happen, they bemoan, “Why me?” because they know they deserve so much better. And because they believe this, they are never surprised or amazed by anything good that comes their way.

On the other hand, grateful people understand that no one, not even God, owes them anything. They understand that they have done absolutely nothing to earn this gift we call life. And they certainly understand that they have not earned the right to marginalize anyone, for all people are God’s children.

Grateful people are content. They are fulfilled. If their cup is half empty, they live like it is running over. When someone asks them: “How are you?” they respond that they are doing better than they deserve. If they only have a few years on this earth, a few friends and a few dollars, that is ok, because that is a few more than they truly earned. Therefore, grateful people the most generous people we know.

Like the ungrateful, they also cry out: “Why me?” But they do so with amazement when the good things come their way. Because they know that none of it is deserved. They walk, live, eat, drink and breathe holy amazement, astounded by the mysterious, amazing grace of it all.

Thus, they have a passion, a sense of call, a divine desire to share grace with others, especially with those in this world who need grace. Because they have received grace freely, they share it freely. Grateful people are the first to forgive the sinner, give drink to the thirsty, share bread with the hungry, care for the sick, visit the lonely, offer friendship to a stranger, stand up for the marginalized and freely give their tithes and offerings to help make this world more just for all people. Grateful people embrace the grace of it all, and in response, grateful people just love. They just love the entire creation, every creature, every life. They live their lives doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly.

Matthew says when Jesus pointed out that it all belongs to God, that all is grace, all is gift, they walked away amazed. And this morning, as we begin to think about our financial stewardship as a church, may we do the same.

[i] Luke 17:11-19

[ii] Luke 8:43-48

[iii] Matthew 19:13-15

[iv] Matthew 10:13-17

[v] Luke 10:25-37

[vi] Mark 7:25-30

[vii] Luke 19:34

[viii] Luke 7:36-50

[ix] Matthew 19:12

[x] John 8:1-11

[xi] Matthew 19:3-12,  Luke 10:38-42

[xii] Mark 5:1-17

[xiii] Luke 16:19-31

[xiv] Matthew 14:13-21

[xv] John 4:11

[xvi] Matthew 5:5

[xvii] Matthew 25:36

Wake Up and Love

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Sermons Year A2 Comments

Romans 13:8-14 NRSV

The song “Fruitcakes,” from Jimmy Buffett’s album of the same name, has a verse to which many of us can relate:

 

 

Religion is in the hands of some crazy-ass people

Television preachers with bad hair and dimples

The god’s honest truth is: it’s not that simple!

Right?

That’s why I find it interesting that a local pastor is preparing a Bible Study series entitled: “Answers to Your Toughest Faith Questions.”  The Facebook post then listed a small sampling of the theological questions that he would be giving answers to:

Who is God?

Why do bad things happen to good people?

What is salvation?

Now, I was raised going to church every Sunday. I hardly ever missed Sunday School class. I attended every Vacation Bible School and went to church camp every summer. I studied religion and philosophy in college, and I went on to get a Master of Divinity Degree, and then, a Doctorate in ministry. I did some math and deduced that I have written and preached over 1,500 sermons. So, you would think, that when it comes to theology, I would know a thing or two; however, the truth is that I really don’t know that much.

The only thing that I really know about theology is that the more I know, the less I seem to know.

Some of you are probably thinking about right now: “Well, if there’s a local pastor who giving answers to some tough theological questions, maybe our new pastor, bless his heart, should show up for a class, or at least Zoom in, and learn something!”

But here’s the thing:

I know just enough about theology to know that there many ways one can answer those types of questions. In our seminary theology classes, we studied several answers to those tough questions from several different theologians, and then we worked to form our own opinion.

This may surprise you, but when it comes to God and God’s relationship to this mystery we call life, with both the holy and the horrible parts of it, that’s about all I’ve got: opinions.

This is part of the reason I could not be happier today to be counted as part of Disciples of Christ. With the late, wonderfully honest and thoughtful Rachel Held Evans, I have always “longed for a church to be a safe place of doubt, to ask questions, and to [always] tell the truth, even when it is uncomfortable.”

I believe First Christian Church has a long history of being that type of church. We call ourselves “disciples” because we have decided to follow the way of love Jesus taught and emulated, not because we have figured out God. With the Harry Emerson Fosdick, most of us “would rather live in a world where our lives are surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that our minds could comprehend it.”

If you keep coming to worship here while I am the pastor, you may begin noticing a few words that I use more than other words when I am preaching. Besides “God” and “Jesus” and “good news” and “all means all”, the two words that I use more than any other are: “I believe.”  “I believe this to be true…I believe that God works this way…I believe that God desires this…I believe that God wants us to do that…“I believe God is calling us to go, be or act…”

One day, a parishioner in one of my previous churches made an appointment with me to complain about my preaching. Which, by the way, was very common. He sat down in my office and began telling me how frustrated I made him by saying “I believe” so much, and if I didn’t stop saying it, he might have to find another church!

I asked him, “What would you rather me say?”

“I need my pastor to be more authoritative,” he said.

He wanted me to say: “I know,” “I’m certain,” “I’m confident,” “I’m convinced,” “I conclude…”; not “I believe.”

But when it comes to theology, that’s all I’ve got. I believe. I theorize. When it comes to this being or Spirit, or force, or power in, behind and over the universe we call “God,” I think. I consider, I ponder, and I wonder.  I “lean more towards.” I surmise, guess, deduce, speculate, estimate and contemplate. I hope, which, by the way, infers that I also doubt.

And if that bothers some of you who come to this place Sunday after Sunday in search of concrete, black and white authoritative answers about God, all I can say is, I am sorry. You won’t find that here. At least, not from me.

When I was in my twenties, still fresh out of seminary, and still naïve enough to think I knew some stuff about God, I had the amazing opportunity to gather each Wednesday for lunch with a group of highly esteemed and seasoned clergy in Winston-Salem. Among those who attended the group was the Rev. Dr. Warren Carr, a retired pastor and renowned Civil Rights hero while serving Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham. What an honor and privilege was it for me to sit at a table each week this man who was a sought-after lecturer on college campuses for his wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise.

For a few years, a group of clergy, religion and philosophy professors in North Carolina gathered for a retreat at the Caraway Conference Center in Asheboro. I was absolutely giddy one year when I checked into the retreat center and was told that I would be sharing a room with Dr. Carr.

After an extensive and very academic group discussion that evening, much of which was over my head, we all retired to our rooms. As we settled in our twin beds like we were in youth camp and turned off the lights, Dr. Carr asked me: “Did you enjoy tonight’s conversation?”

“Yes,” I responded. “But to be honest, being in a room of full of wisdom with people like you reminds me that I still have much to learn.”

 Dr. Carr laughed and then spoke words that I will never forget:

I have been a pastor and a serious scholar of scripture for sixty-five years, but all that I really know about God is that God is love. And God loves me. Therefore, I ought to love. And to be honest, everything else is fuzzy.

I was taken back by his honesty and didn’t know quite how to respond.

Then, after a moment of silence, he said, “But love is all I need to know.”

I wonder if that was what Paul was trying to infer in his letter to the Romans:

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. [The entire law code] …is summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

To the Galatians, again Paul writes:

For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ (Gal 5:14).

And we’ve heard this before. Matthew records Jesus saying that the greatest commandment is to love God, [which means to literally love Love] and to love our neighbors as ourselves, and on this commandment hangs all of scripture (Matthew 22:34-40).

Mark remembers Jesus saying we are not far from the kingdom of God if we understand loving our neighbor as ourselves is more important than any act of worship (Mark 12:28-34).

Luke recounts Jesus telling a lawyer that loving our neighbors as ourselves is the key to inheriting eternal life. “Do this, and you will live,” says Jesus (Luke 10:25-28).

Not only is love all we need to know, all we need to understand about the scriptures, worship, and eternal life, Paul describes it as a debt we owe. Owe no one anything, except to love one another. John put it this way: “Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).

And in our Epistle lesson this morning, Paul expresses an urgency to love. “Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep.” It’s time to wake up and love.

Lori and I experienced this urgency when we lost our first child in the 23rd week of pregnancy in 1993. A week or so after we left the hospital, a colleague and pastor immediately offered a pastoral visit. But instead of offering his love like it was a debt he owed me, with a confident, rather authoritative voice, he said:“Jarrett, I believe God knew that you were not ready to be a father.”

But, you know, I didn’t need his theology. I didn’t need his belief, his contemplation or his speculation.

As you know, Erin, our Christian education intern is in Illinois today after receiving a call this week that her grandfather, who she adored, and who adored her, had passed away. Although Erin is a seminary student studying theology, right now she doesn’t need our theological theories. She doesn’t need our ponderings or our wonderings. What Erin needs and needs urgently is our love.

Tripp, the seven-year-old grandson of Jim and Verna who has been on our prayer list for several years, will soon undergo treatments again to fight leukemia. Tripp and his family do not need our theology, our deductions or our estimations. What they urgently need is our love.

Having learned this week that their premature baby has suffered brain damage, Miles and Emily do not need our guesses or our opinions about God. What they need, and need urgently, is our love. In fact, the following words are from a text I received from Emily on Friday:

Send lots of love and prayers his way so we can have some clarity in the days, weeks, and months to come. We are in for a long journey with Henry, and we are just pouring all our love and energy into him by spending lots of time together reading, talking and loving.

Emily’s urgent plea was: “Send lots of love.”

A line from of one of Jimmy Buffett’s newest songs, released after his death, goes:

…when the journey gets long, just know that you are loved. There is light up above, and the joy is always enough.

The good news for people like you and me who do not have all the answers, who accept and even embrace the mystery of it all, who do more pondering than knowing and more wondering than concluding, is that we have experienced love— holy, sacred, divine, mysterious, incredulous but certain love. And although we cannot fully comprehend the power of love or the Source of love, we know with confidence that it is love that has brought us to this place we call church. And, with all our misgivings and misunderstandings, with all our doubts and unanswered questions, we somehow, some miraculous way, know that it is love that keeps us here.

And here is some more good news.  I KNOW– even this one who doesn’t KNOW much about theology— who some say might not know much about anything, from a science book or from three years of the French I took— But I KNOW, without a doubt, with absolute certainty and with utmost confidence, and on good authority, that Love is present here in this church, and Love is calling us with an urgency to be love and to share love. And if we wake up and answer this call, what a wonderful world this would be.

Standing on Opposite Sides of a Cultural War

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Just a Thought, Short ArticlesLeave a comment

 

Self-professing Christians find themselves standing today on the opposite sides of our nation’s cultural war, and those on both sides claim to be standing on the side of Jesus. But standing on opposite sides, both cannot be right, can they? Yet, here we are, in a country that has not been more divided since the Civil War.

So, a good question that I believe all Christians must ask of themselves is this: “When we take a stand that divides us from others, that may alienate us from some of our friends, even from members of our family, how do we know if we are truly on the side of Jesus?”

This is an important question for us to ask, because throughout history, there have been Christians who, although they claimed to be on the side of Jesus, were actually standing on the opposite side of Jesus.

In the name of Jesus, Christians fought in the Crusades against Muslims. In the name of Jesus, Christians supported the genocide of Native Americans and the slavery of Africans, which literally led to a Civil War. In the name of Jesus, Christians supported the Jewish Holocaust, the subjugation of women and Jim Crow laws. With the wisdom of hindsight, Christians since have apologized for standing on the wrong side.

However, the good news is that there have always been Christians who have stood firm on the right side of history, even if it meant separating them from friends and family. I have always been proud to know that one of the founders of our denomination, Barton Stone, was willing to leave behind friends and family, moving from Kentucky to Illinois to free the slaves that he inherited.

So, if being on the wrong side, the opposite side of Jesus, is a real possibility, how do we know if we are on the right side? How do we know that we are standing with Jesus?

Could it be that it really is not that complicated? Is it possible that this failure to be on the wrong side is so much a part of human history, that Jesus addressed it in a very simple, direct, and uncomplicated way.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, [in other words this is how you will know that you are standing on the right side with me] if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35 NRSV).

Thus, when we are taking a stand for Jesus, and we become aware that we are upsetting, or alienating our family or friends, I believe it is imperative to ask: “Am I standing on the side love?” “Am I on the outs with my family and friends, because I am loving others like Jesus loved others, selflessly and sacrificially?  Am I in this fight, because I love my neighbors as myself—all of my neighbors?”

Or am I standing firm and alienating my friends and family because of something else? Is it pride? Is it power and privilege? If it is not about grace, is it about being superior to another, more holy, more righteous? If it is not about love, is it about fear? Is it about greed? A good question to always ask is: “Does my stand actually hurt my neighbors?”

In Acts, chapter 11, we read that when Barnabas arrived in Antioch to visit one of the first churches, the first thing that he witnessed was “grace.” In verse 22 we read:

…and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast devotion… and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians’.

When Barnabus saw Christians, he saw the grace of God.

What do people see when they see us?

Let us pray they always see grace. May they always see love. Even for those standing on the opposite side.

It’s Not Complicated: Don’t Be Terrible

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Short Articles1 Comment

love it or leave it

People asked the prophet, “What is the one thing the Lord requires?” He responded: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

Is that all? Really?

People asked Jesus, “What is the one thing, the one commandment that is above all other commandments?” He responded: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

Seriously? That’s it?

Micah and Jesus say: “Yes!”

Could it be that they understood when we make life more complicated than justice, kindness, humility and love, then terrible things tend happen?

When we make it more complicated than kindness, then we might excuse racist chants of “send her back.”

When we make it more complicated than justice, then we may ignore the harm done to the brown children of asylum-seekers who have been separated from their parents.

When we make it more complicated than humility, then we could overlook and perpetuate racial privilege.

When we make it more complicated than love, then we might defend hate, bigotry and discrimination.

When we make it more complicated that the main things that the prophet and Jesus said that it was all about, then we may be apathetic and silent when the President imitates the Ku Klux Klan by saying: “Love it or leave it.”

So, let’s stop making it so complicated.

Let’s be just. Let’s be kind. Let’s be humble. And let’s love all our neighbors.

And then, maybe, we will stop being so terrible.