Reconciling Sunday

This sermon manuscript is from Trinity las Americas United Methodist Church's Reconciling Sunday worship service.  The congregation worships bilingually, so the manuscript is bilingual with Spanish in bold and English in italics.  The sermon came from the queeries I did this week.

Mateo 5:21-37

²¹ »Ustedes han oído que a sus antepasados se les dijo: “No mates, pues el que mate será condenado.” ²² Pero yo les digo que cualquiera que se enoje con su hermano, será condenado. Al que insulte a su hermano, lo juzgará la Junta Suprema; y el que injurie gravemente a su hermano, se hará merecedor del fuego del infierno.

²³ »Así que, si al llevar tu ofrenda al altar te acuerdas de que tu hermano tiene algo contra ti, ²⁴ deja tu ofrenda allí mismo delante del altar y ve primero a ponerte en paz con tu hermano. Entonces podrás volver al altar y presentar tu ofrenda.

²⁵ »Si alguien te lleva a juicio, ponte de acuerdo con él mientras todavía estés a tiempo, para que no te entregue al juez; porque si no, el juez te entregará a los guardias y te meterán en la cárcel. ²⁶ Te aseguro que no saldrás de allí hasta que pagues el último centavo.

²⁷ »Ustedes han oído que se dijo: “No cometas adulterio.” ²⁸ Pero yo les digo que cualquiera que mira con deseo a una mujer, ya cometió adulterio con ella en su corazón.

²⁹ »Así pues, si tu ojo derecho te hace caer en pecado, sácatelo y échalo lejos de ti; es mejor que pierdas una sola parte de tu cuerpo, y no que todo tu cuerpo sea arrojado al infierno. ³⁰ Y si tu mano derecha te hace caer en pecado, córtatela y échala lejos de ti; es mejor que pierdas una sola parte de tu cuerpo, y no que todo tu cuerpo vaya a parar al infierno.

³¹ »También se dijo: “Cualquiera que se divorcia de su esposa, debe darle un certificado de divorcio.” ³² Pero yo les digo que si un hombre se divorcia de su esposa, a no ser en el caso de una unión ilegal, la pone en peligro de cometer adulterio. Y el que se casa con una divorciada, comete adulterio.

³³ »También han oído ustedes que se dijo a los antepasados: “No dejes de cumplir lo que hayas ofrecido al Señor bajo juramento.” ³⁴ Pero yo les digo: simplemente, no juren. No juren por el cielo, porque es el trono de Dios; ³⁵ ni por la tierra, porque es el estrado de sus pies; ni por Jerusalén, porque es la ciudad del gran Rey. ³⁶ Ni juren ustedes tampoco por su propia cabeza, porque no pueden hacer blanco o negro ni un solo cabello. ³⁷ Baste con decir claramente “sí” o “no”. Pues lo que se aparta de esto, es malo.

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Matthew 5:21-37
²¹“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ ²²But I say to you that if you are angry with a sibling, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. ²³So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your sibling has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your sibling, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. ²⁶Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

²⁷“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell. ³¹“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³²But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

³³“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Becoming One.’ ³⁴But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵or by the earth, for it is her footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great Queen. ³⁶And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

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La lectura de hoy es un poco difícil de oír.  Jesús tiene palabras fuertes para las personas con quien habla, pero no suena lo mismo por cada uno de nosotres.  Esta hablando en el sermón del monte a sus discípulos y a la multitud, pero la manera en que habla en esta parte significa que está hablando con personas con poder en su comunidad.  Está hablando sobre el poder—en la sociedad y,        sobre otras personas—y cómo restringirlo.

Today's reading is a little hard to hear. Jesus has strong words for the people he’s talking to, but they don’t resonate the same for each of us. He’s speaking in the sermon on the mount to his disciples among a growing crowd, but the way he speaks in this part means that he’s talking to people with power in his community. He is talking about power — in society and over other people — and how to restrict it.

As in many marginalized communities, the queer community knows a lot about power. In the sixties and seventies, when Marsha P. Johnson and Silvia Rivera led the resistance at Stonewall, they knew that the police and immoral laws against trans and queer people had the power in society. Today, while we hear of the laws appearing in Iowa and other states against trans youth in particular, we know where the power is.

Como en muchas comunidades marginalizadas, la comunidad queer conoce mucho sobre el poder.  En los años sesenta y setenta, cuando Marsha P. Johnson y Silvia Rivera dirigieron la resistencia de Stonewall, sabían que la policía y las leyes inmorales contra personas trans y queer tenían el poder en la sociedad.  Hoy en día, mientras que oímos de las leyes apareciendo en Iowa y otros estados contra jóvenes trans, sabemos dónde está el poder. 

Cada año cuando leemos los nombres y reconocemos las vidas tomadas de las personas trans, la mayoría de quienes son mujeres trans de minoría, sabemos dónde está el poder.  Este poder de matar y sacar derechos es poder individual y aun más es poder corporal.  Ese poder, en el sentido estructural, reside con personas que no son marginalizadas y se colocan en instituciones y organizaciones que ayudan a ciertas personas y oprimen a otras.

Every year when we read the names and recognize the lives taken of trans people, who are mostly trans women of color, we know where the power is. This power to kill and take away rights is individual power and moreso communal power.  That power, in the structural sense, resides not with people who are marginalized, but in institutions and organizations that help people with privilege and oppress others.

But power is not only a societal concern, but it also affects how we relate to each other.  In this part of the sermon on the mount, Jesus is speaking to people with more power on how to better relate to people with less power.

Pero el poder no solo es una cosa de la sociedad, sino también afecta como nos relacionamos unes a otres y en esta parte del sermón de la monte, Jesús está hablando a las personas con mas poder sobre cómo relacionarse mejor con personas con menos poder.

Cuando Jesús habla del homicidio y el enojo, está hablando a las personas quienes han ofendido a otra persona.  No es la responsabilidad de la víctima iniciar la resolución o reconciliación.  Es la responsabilidad de la persona que es perpetrador a pedir perdón y cambiar como actúa.  De esta manera, Jesús requiere algo de la persona con más poder en vez de añadir al peso que lleva la persona con menos poder.

When Jesus speaks of murder and anger, he is talking to people who have harmed another person. It is not the responsibility of the victim to initiate resolution or reconciliation. It’s the responsibility of the person who is the perpetrator to apologize and to change how he acts. In this way, Jesus requires something of the person with the most power rather than adding to the burden of the person with less power.

When Jesus speaks of divorce, he is telling men in a patriarchal society that they cannot divorce their wives for any old reason. Because the divorce will leave the woman without resources. When Jesus speaks of adultery, he is talking to men, who objectify gender minorities. Today Jesus would be talking about all the rules in schools about how young women can dress, about anyone who says she "was asking for it" or deserved the harm, abuse, or harassment she experienced because of how she dressed. Jesus is talking about each time someone tries to figure out the gender of a stranger or calls a trans woman a “man in a dress.”

Cuando Jesús habla del divorcio, está diciéndoles a los hombres en una sociedad patriarcal que no se puede divorciarse de su esposa por cualquier razón.  Cuando divorcia a una mujer, le deja sin recursos.  Cuando Jesús habla del adulterio, está hablando a los hombres, quienes objetivan a personas que son minores de género.  Hoy en día es que Jesús está hablando sobre todas las reglas en las escuelas sobre como pueden vestirse las jóvenes, sobre cada persona que dice que ella “estaba pidiendo” o mereció el daño que experimentó por como se vistió.  Está hablando sobre cada vez que se trata de averiguar cual género pertenece a una persona o le llama a una mujer trans que es un “hombre en vestido.”

En realidad, Jesús dice que el perpetrador tiene la culpa por un ataque.  La responsabilidad por no mirar con lujuria o meterse en sus asuntos cuando trata del género de otra persona es, en la sociedad heteronormativa, la del hombre, y si es difícil, Jesús dice “si tu ojo derecho te hace caer en pecado, sácatelo y échalo lejos de ti; es mejor que pierdas una sola parte de tu cuerpo, y no que todo tu cuerpo sea arrojado al infierno.” 

Instead, Jesus says that the perpetrator is to blame for an attack. The responsibility for not looking with lust or for minding your own business about another person´s gender is, in heteronormative society, that of the man, and if it’s difficult, Jesus says “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

In the queer community, we navigate a lot the ins and outs of consent and power, because not everyone has the same power or the same safety. While a cis white gay man can run for president, more and more trans people, especially trans women of color, are killed every year. More and more in this country people feel comfortable insulting and harassing queer people as well as all marginalized people. And every time, people in the community who are already the most vulnerable, receive the greatest harm from the abuse.

En la comunidad queer, navegamos mucho las entradas y las salidas del consentimiento y del poder, porque no todos tenemos el mismo poder o la misma seguridad.  Mientras que un hombre blanco y gay puede tratar de ser presidente, más y más personas trans, especialmente mujeres trans de minoría, están matadas cada año.  Más y más en este país personas sienten cómodas echar insultos y acosar a personas queer, como todas las personas marginalizadas.  Y cada ves, las personas en la comunidad que ya son las mas vulnerables, reciben el impacto más grande del abuso. 

Por eso, cuando Jesús está hablando a las personas con poder y sobre su poder, es importante para nosotres hoy.  Jesús está hablando a una comunidad sobre cómo funcionar en un sistema que refuerza la desigualdad y los abusos del poder.  Está hablando sobre cómo mitigar las diferencias de poder en las relaciones interpersonales. 

So, when Jesus is speaking to people with power and about their power, it’s important for us today. Jesus is talking to a community about how to function in a system that reinforces inequality and abuse of power. He is talking about how to mitigate power differences in interpersonal relationships.

In this conversation, Jesus isn’t talking about how to correct or change the unjust system, although we know that it is part of our work as followers of Christ. He’s talking about how to interact, how to survive in the midst of injustice. How to limit abuses of power. How to create space so that people with less power can use their power.

En esta conversación, Jesús no está hablando de cómo corregir o cambiar el sistema injusta, aunque sabemos que es parte de nuestro trabajo como seguidores de Cristo.  Está hablando de cómo interactuar, cómo sobrevivir en el medio de la injusticia.  Cómo restringir los abusos del poder.  Cómo crear espacio para que las personas con menos poder pueden usar su poder. 

Esto es parte de una cultura de consentimiento.  El consentimiento mitiga un poco la desigualdad dentro de una comunidad.  Cuando compartimos la paz, si preguntamos antes de abrazar o dar la mano, damos a cada persona la oportunidad de decir “no.”  Si alguien tiene dolor en la mano de artritis, si alguien tiene una experiencia de trauma que afecta a sus interacciones con otras personas, la oportunidad de decir no o decir sí, es muy importante.

This is part of a culture of consent. Consent works to mitigate inequality within a community. During the sharing of the peace, when we ask before hugging or shaking hands, we give each person the opportunity to say "no." If someone has hand pain from arthritis, if someone has a trauma experience that affects their interactions with other people, the opportunity to say no or say yes is very important.

When we teach kids that their bodies are theirs and they don't need to give a hug to a person if they don't want to, we teach them that if someone tries to do something bad that they don’t like, they don't need to accept it. We teach them that if another person says they don't want a hug, they need to respect that person’s desires. We support them in having autonomy over their own body and respecting the bodies of others.

Cuando enseñamos a niñes que sus cuerpos son suyos y no necesitan dar un abrazo a una persona si no quiere, les enseñamos que si alguien trata de hacer algo muy malo, no necesitan aceptarlo.  Les enseñamos que si otra persona dice que no quiere o sí quiere un abrazo, necesitan respetarle a la persona.  Les apoyamos en tener autonomía sobre su propio cuerpo y respetar a los cuerpos de otras personas. 

El mundo a que nos invita Jesús es un mundo donde las estructuras de desigualdad no existen.  Y, Jesús nos invita en este mundo en que todavía vivimos que todavía tiene las estructuras de desigualdad a portarnos diferentemente.  Nos invita a encontrar y construir maneras de interactuar que respeta a cada persona y que apoderar a personas más vulnerables.  Cuando preguntamos si podemos abrazarse, o darse la mano, practicamos un mundo diferente aun en el medio del mundo como es.

The world Jesus ultimately invites us to is a world where structural inequality doesn’t exist. And, Jesus invites us, in the midst of this world that still has structural inequality and oppression, to behave differently. Jesus invites us to find and build ways to interact that respect each person and empower the most vulnerable people. When we ask if we can hug, or shake hands, we practice a different world even in the middle of the world as it is.

God frames resistance: 7th after epiphany

The holy gospel according to Matthew (5:38-48)

Jesus said:

³⁸“You have heard that it was said,

       ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 

       ³⁹But I say to you,

              Do not resist an evildoer.

                     But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek,

                            turn the other also;

                     ⁴⁰and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat,

                            give your cloak as well;

                     ⁴¹and if anyone forces you to go one mile,

                            go also the second mile.

                     ⁴²Give to everyone who begs from you,

                            and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³“You have heard that it was said,

       ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

       ⁴⁴But I say to you,

              Love your enemies

              and pray for those who persecute you,

                     ⁴⁵so that you may be children of your Father in heaven;

                            for God makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good,

                            and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

                     ⁴⁶For if you love those who love you,

                            what reward do you have?

                                   Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

                     ⁴⁷And if you greet only your siblings,

                            what more are you doing than others?

                                   Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

              ⁴⁸Be perfect, therefore,

                     as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The gospel of the Lord.

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“Do not resist an evildoer.”  Or, translated differently, “Do not repay evil for evil—do not violently resist violence.”  Do not let evil frame your actions.

Jesus lived as a Jew in 1^st century Palestine, which was under the military occupation of the Roman Empire.  Because of this, the Roman Empire could make laws about what anyone in Palestine was allowed to do—Jew or Roman.

Cultures over the millennia have relied heavily on honor and shame to enforce rules and prescribe actions and interactions.  Honor and shame work differently in our context, where wealth and fame can buy and create honor, than they did in first century Palestine.

In Jesus’ day, honor and shame had very clear causes and people’s daily interactions were guided by avoiding shame.  For example, if a slaveowner, or a Roman wanted to put a slave or a Jew “in their place.” They could hit them.  Not just any old hit, though.  They couldn’t use their left hand, because it was reserved for certain unclean tasks—and you could get kicked out of meetings just for gesturing with a left hand, let alone using it. 

So, with the right hand, there were two options: backhanding someone or punching them.  Punching was an interaction between equals, so if your purpose was to put someone—like a slave or a Jew—in their place, then backhanding them was the way to do it—it wouldn’t cause physical injury so much as it would insult or humiliate the recipient, marking them clearly as your inferior.  So, when you backhand someone with the right hand, which cheek is the recipient?

The right cheek.

“if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.”

So, if I was hit with the right cheek, it would be disgraceful, but if I turned to offer my left, and that person wanted to hit me again—with the right hand, of course—how would they have to do it?

With a fist, just as they would if they were hitting an equal.

As theologian Walter Wink puts it, “By turning the cheek, then, the ‘inferior’ is saying: ‘I'm a human being, just like you. I refuse to be humiliated any longer. I am your equal. I am a child of God. I won't take it anymore.’”[1]  This doesn’t mean that the “inferior” won’t be further harmed, but they are no longer acquiescing to their oppression and the master or Roman can no longer “put them in their place.” 

This does not—and let me be very clear about this—does NOT mean that someone who is in an abusive relationship should stay in that abusive relationship.  This does NOT condone the violence being perpetrated.  Instead, it is the beginning of resisting violence on God’s terms.

Another tricky use of honor and shame comes into play with clothing as well.  In first century Palestine, debt was a big problem.  Because of the Roman Empire’s policy of heavy taxing to fund wars, combined with high interest rates—think credit card or payday lending rates, but not quite that high—landowners, who had inherited their land for generations, were facing insurmountable debt and losing their land—their livelihood.

The creditors, by Deutoronomistic law, could sue a person in their debt for their coat, or outer robe, as collateral on the loan.  After gouging the debtors with high interest rates to take their land and make it part of a large estate, owned by an absentee landlord, and taking their coat, giving the cloak as well—the literal shirt off their back—exposes the economy of the day for what it is: a system that forces people into situations of utmost destitution. 

And, the brilliance here is not only that this shock, like turning the other cheek, gives the creditor, the one with the power, the chance to truly see and recognize the harm the system they are perpetuating does to people, but it also brings shame onto the creditor.  You see, when someone in first century Palestine was naked, the shame is on those around them—on the creditor more than on the one who is naked.

One of the other laws of the time allowed Roman soldiers to force Palestinians, like Jesus and the crowds he was talking to, to carry their luggage or do whatever they wanted for one mile—no more.  If the person were to walk more than one mile, it would be an infraction of military code for the soldier.  The centurion, or commander, would then dole out an appropriate disciplinary action—a fine, a flogging, or whatever he felt like.

So the sight of a Jew, forced to carry a soldier’s bag, reaching the milemarker and continuing, throws off the balance of power between the occupying Roman soldier and the Jewish Palestinian.  All of a sudden, the soldier is wondering if the Jew is insulting his strength, implying that the soldier is incapable of carrying his own bag, or if he’ll be spotted and disciplined for this infraction.  Either way, it is not hard to imagine the comedic spectacle of a Roman soldier trailing a Palestinian Jew laden with Roman military equipment, begging to be given his bag back.

Throughout today’s gospel, Jesus, a poor first century Palestinian Jew, is talking to his people with whom he shares the oppression of the Roman Empire by laws and customs that exploit the marginalized and dehumanize in their oppression.  Jesus is giving people ways to resist, ways to not give in to the evil being enacted and legalized against them, ways to follow God’s ways, God’s valuing of each human life, God’s ways of exposing the injustice at work.

This week, in a beautiful and courageous demonstration of God’s economy, God’s values, immigrants throughout this country put Jesus’ words into our context for us.  When Executive Orders seek to ban many immigrants, build a wall against others, and terrorize communities with Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, the message is clear: immigrants are unwanted here.

But Thursday, immigrants said, “You don’t want us here?  Let’s see how you do for just one day without us.” The Davis Art Museum at Wellesley College in Massachusetts went so far as to take down or cover all of the artwork done by immigrants, putting up labels instead that say “Created by an immigrant.” Not everyone participated in the #DayWithoutImmigrants, but enough did that businesses closed for the day.  We know that dairies and farms cannot function without immigrants—now others do as well.  This is how we #resist—on God’s terms.

March 8^th there is a call for women to strike as well.  What will that look like, if half the country doesn’t come to work?  What will be the next way that we resist systems that work to divide us?  How will we creatively resist an economy that spends billions on wars and weekend trips and yet wants to cut funding for those most in need? 

Will we see Burt and Ernie, Big Bird and Elmo panhandling on the streets because of cuts in public television?  Will the copper coins of the widow’s mite be stacked in front of government buildings because health care costs take every last penny?  What if Mexico and other countries decided to impose the restrictions on us that we are imposing on citizens of their countries, making it harder for us to travel there?

How do we follow God’s way?  How do we not repay evil for evil—not violently resist violence?  How do we keep evil from framing our actions—framing them in the way of God instead?  How do we follow Jesus today?

Amen.

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[1] The Powers that Be: Theology for a New Millennium, Walter Wink, 1998.  Much of the information for this sermon comes from Walter Wink.

God makes the Table every table: 5th after epiphany

The first reading is Isaiah 58:1-12.

The holy gospel according to Matthew (5:13-20)

Jesus said:

¹³“You are the salt of the earth;

       but if salt has lost its taste,

              how can its saltiness be restored?

                     It is no longer good for anything,

                            but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

¹⁴“You are the light of the world.

       A city built on a hill cannot be hid.

              ¹⁵No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket,

                     but on the lampstand,

                     and it gives light to all in the house.

                            ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others,

                                   so that they may see your good works

                                   and give glory to your Father in heaven.

¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets;

       I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

              ¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away,

                     not one letter,

                            not one stroke of a letter,

                                   will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

       ¹⁹Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments,

              and teaches others to do the same,

                     will be called least in the dominion of heaven;

       but whoever does them

              and teaches them

                     will be called great in the dominion of heaven.

       ²⁰For I tell you,

              unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees,

                     you will never enter the dominion of heaven.

The gospel of the Lord.

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In today’s readings, we catch a glimpse of Lent on the horizon.  While Lent is still several weeks away, we hear in Isaiah a call to reflect on our own piety.  When we fast, why are we fasting? Today we might ask, when we pray, why are we praying? What do we hope for? When we tithe or give offerings, why do we do it?  Do we hope that God will cure us? Provide for us? Save us? Protect us?  Be at our every beck and call?

Or, following Jesus’ exhortation in the gospel, are we living into Isaiah’s and the gospel of Matthew’s conviction that faith comes with action?  Are we salt for the whole earth?  Are we a city on a hill?  Are with the light of the world?  Are we loosing the bonds of injustice?  Are we praying for the refugees who, like Jesus and the holy family shortly after his birth, are fleeing violence in their own countries?  For the refugees who have been waiting through screening after screening, years of waiting and being vetted, to get into this country. 

Is our prayer, our fast, our offering, our piety “to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? ⁷…to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”

I don’t have to tell you that a lot has been going on in this country lately.  It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all that is happening so quickly and so confusingly.  And it can be easy to think of the executive orders and nominations coming out of Washington DC as far away and disconnected to what is going on here in Rushford and Peterson, Minnesota.

But Minnesota is known for and takes pride in its welcome of refugees and immigrants, which means that travel bans harm Minnesotans.

Even if this weren’t the case, in this second part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount, Jesus tells us, “You are the salt of the earth; … ¹⁴You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.”  As followers of Christ, our concerns are not just for ourselves or our businesses or our immediate circles. 

Salt actually doesn’t taste that good when you eat it by the spoonful—it’s disgusting, really.  Salt is best when it’s sprinkled throughout a dish, bringing out the natural flavor of the other foods in the dish, or spread evenly over ice, to melt it into walkability.  And light shines best when it isn’t hidden or blocked, so that it can reach to the farthest corners.

Perhaps the most poignant of the three, is you are a city on a hill.  Salt and light tend to have inherently positive connotations (as long as we’re not talking about blood pressure), but being a city on a hill is not inherently good.  It comes with its own vulnerabilities.  It is easy to see people approaching, yes, but it also means people can see what’s going on from many different angles—the good examples and the bad ones.

We as Trinity and First and we as individual followers of Christ, are a city on a hill.  This is especially true since we are the only Reconciling in Christ congregation in the area—the only one to explicitly welcome people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.  And we are the ones in relationship with our neighbors who work locally on the farms. 

People notice what we do and say and what we don’t do and don’t say.  When someone makes a disparaging comment about Muslims or immigrants or loving the sinner and hating the sin, do we speak up?  Do we tell them about the immigrants we know?  Sharing our stories of friendship?  Will we invite them to come learn about Islam with us in our My Neighbor Is a Muslim study?  Do we admit when we mess up, apologize, and try to do better?

How do we live into our identity as a city on a hill?  How do we give in to our saltiness and our light?  How does God work through us to bring out the flavors—the uniqueness of those around us?  How does God shine through us so that we can see the ones who are different from us more clearly?  To see them as beloved children of God?  How do we let people see who we are and whose we are in our daily actions and conversations?

Today is a communion Sunday.  In a little bit, we will each receive bread and wine or juice, the body and blood of Christ.  We will receive The Light of the World who makes us lights of the world when he shines through us.

We will receive the Lord’s Supper, God’s enactment of community that does, as Isaiah says, “loose the bonds of injustice, undo the thongs of the yoke, let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke … share bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into a house; cover [the naked], and not hide from kin” or stranger. 

Communion does this because each person is fed.  Every person has a place at God’s Table.  Every person deserves a place at God’s Table.  Every person deserves a place safe from violence.  Every person deserves justice, freedom from oppression, bread, clothes, shelter, recognition. Because Jesus comes to every person out of immense love.

It is in God’s gathering of our broken bodies—bodies broken by life, by the pain of the world, by sins—our own or others’.                        All the bodies.  God gathers us together and nourishes us and this Table becomes every table.  This Table becomes the tables downstairs where we will share soup, feeding each other and supporting the food shelf, which ensures that everyone has enough to eat.   

And this Table becomes every table we gather around—at home and in the community, whether we’re sharing a meal, holding a business meeting, or gathering to support each other in sobriety. This Table becomes every table, where we ask, “Does everyone have a place? Can everyone make it?  How do we break down the walls that keep some people away?  Can we bring the table to them?” 

God makes this Table every table.  And God makes this city on a hill into a Table in the bluffs where each person shines.

Thanks be to God.

Jesus' love brings the Table to the margins: 4th after epiphany

The first reading is Jeremiah 1:4-10.

The second reading is 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.

The holy gospel according to Luke (4:21-30).

²¹Then Jesus began to say to all in the synagogue in Nazareth,

      “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

²²All spoke well of him

      and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.

They said,

      “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

²³Jesus said to them,

      “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb,

            ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’

      And you will say,

            ‘Do here also in your hometown

                  the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’”

²⁴And he said,

      “Truly I tell you,

            no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.

      ²⁵But the truth is,

            there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah,

                  when the heaven was shut up three years and six months,

                  and there was a severe famine over all the land;

                        ²⁶yet Elijah was sent to none of them

                              except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.

            ²⁷There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha,

                  and none of them was cleansed

                        except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸When they heard this,

      all in the synagogue were filled with rage.

      ²⁹They got up,

            drove Jesus out of the town,

                  and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built,

                        so that they might hurl him off the cliff.

                              ³⁰But Jesus passed through the midst of them

                                    and went on his way.

The gospel of the Lord.

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Today we celebrate God’s love.  Specifically we celebrate God’s love for people and communities that churches have not always loved.  We celebrate God’s claim on our lives as God tells Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”  God knows each of us intimately and has known us even before we’ve known ourselves.

While our culture is changing, it still has a ways to go.  It takes many of us in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community years and even decades to come out to ourselves and to others, to accept the love that God has for all of us.  It takes time because the assumption is that we are straight, not gay or bi, cisgender—that is, people whose deepest sense of self matches society’s expectations of them from birth, not transgender or queer.  It takes time because communities of faith and groups in our culture still say that we are not welcome, we are not loved.  But those messages are not the messages of God.  God’s message is love.

What a comfort that for all of us in our lives as sinners and saints, in our brokenness and the ways that we fall short, in the ways society declares us not good enough, God knows us all and loves us completely.  And precisely in the ways we are different—our diversity of sexual orientation, our diversity of gender identity and expression, our diversity in immigration status.  The ways that we are different from the norm, excluded, ignored, or pushed down       are ways that God is uniquely at work in and through us.

Jeremiah thinks he is unable to do what God is calling him to do because he is “only a child.”  What is God’s response? “Do not say, ‘I am only a child’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you, ⁸Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.”  Because it’s about more than what the world and even some churches see and say. 

It’s about God’s love, which comes before and will last long after everything else.  It is God’s love that gathers us here for worship.  It is God’s love that nourishes us at the Table with bread, wine, and Word.  It is God’s love that sends us out, following Jesus into the needs and messy-ness in the world.

It is God’s love that comes to us in Jesus.  And no matter what else we might do, it is, as Paul points out, only with God’s love that any of it has meaning.  Knowledge, faith, generosity…none of it holds meaning without love, and, love transforms all of it. 

This transformative love can only be known in community.  The love Paul talks about is a love in community, love that is bigger and deeper than the many things that have been dividing the people in Corinth and the people in our own country.  In the community in Corinth, each person and group wants to be best and in striving for that, they lose the love that grounds them and guides them; they lose the love that brings them together to listen and learn from each other.

This love is what Jesus is talking about in the gospel as well.  It is this love that pushes Jesus into the world.  That guides his claim not to be sent to the people already within his community, but to those outside, to the widows in the Zeraphaths of the world and the Namaans in the Syrias of the world.  And it is that love that also pushes us out the doors into the world—into ESL classes and backpack programs, witnessing to God’s love through our actions and through our relationships.

It doesn’t come without risk; the crowd in the synagogue gets so consumed with rage that Jesus is not there to support and affirm their own personal faith, righteousness, or agenda, that it’s like a switch flicks and they lose all of the wonder and love they had just moments ago been expressing for Jesus.

When they realize that Jesus is there for the others that they aren’t concerned about, they don’t just leave him and look for another who might focus solely on them, the way they want; they are so offended that they are consumed with rage!  They drive Jesus to the edge of the cliff to hurl him off!

Too frequently that is what happens when people, especially those with power or privilege, are confronted with the reality that we are not actually at the center.  That God’s love might also center on others.  This is clear in reactions to the #BlackLivesMatter movement and in reactions to increasing rights and protections for LGBTQ folks.  Neither of these groups put themselves against white or straight and cisgender people. 

Like Jesus, they lift up those who have been left out; and in reaction, those “on the inside” are filled with rage—inspired by a fear of losing their power and privilege, losing their special place. 

The reaction is clear today in increased violence against LGBTQ people, especially those who are transgender and especially people of color, who are the most vulnerable in the community.  Just this week a transgender Latina named Monica was shot and killed in Austin, TX, the first reported death in this country of a transgender person this year; and it is clear in threats and violence against people and communities of color struggling for rights and for safety. 

These attacks and threats and continued degradation and dismissal happen, quite frequently, from people who profess themselves to be Christians, followers of Christ.

But in doing these things, they miss Jesus’ point.  He has not come to replace the folks in Nazareth, and he has not come to replace white people or folks who are straight.  Jesus comes in love for the love and dignity of all people and when some are denied that love, that dignity, that respect by society or by the church, then Jesus’ love is poured out all that much more on them.

That is what we celebrate today.  Jesus, out of God’s immense love, not only makes a space, an opening, at the Table for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions, for people of all immigration statuses and all cultures, but that Jesus also brings the Table to those who are oppressed and marginalized. 

That God’s love shows up especially at the margins and especially in the people it is so easy for us to disrespect, ignore, and exclude.  But that’s where Jesus goes, oftentimes unnoticed by the ones inside, the ones filled with rage, blood pumping in their ears, rushing to the cliff’s edge. 

…And Jesus goes on his way.  Jesus goes to those who are overlooked.  Jesus goes to the ones we tell him not to bother with.  Jesus goes to the margins.  And creates the space there so that we can follow him.  So that we can find his love outpoured, the community he creates, the relationships and love that transform us all.

Thanks be to God.