SERMONS
Our Freedom is Intertwined
Have you ever heard the phrase, “skinfolk ain't always kinfolk,”? The first time I heard this phrase I was in college trying to create a Campus Ministry that would feel comfortable and safe for Black students. I had a few informal conversations with leaders from other student organizations like our Black Student Union and United Women of Color to ask for their guidance. They told me to be careful - “not all skinfolk are kinfolk.” They warned me that some of our administrators might choose their paycheck or their reputation with the school over the wellbeing of students of color even if they are people of color themselves.
Lent as a Resistance Movement
Think of Lent as a resistance movement. Jesus resists the devil and says, “get lost, buddy.” In baptism we renounce the powers of evil, and tell them, in essence, to get away from us. For some, not only in Lent—but always—we try to resist the lure of our personal addictions.
Lent is also a journey, a lifetime one at that. And an arduous journey is a trek. Which brings me to Star Trek. And to the well-known catchphrase that Star Trek fans, and maybe others, will know. Resistance is futile.
Nothing to Prove
I never understood the point of tests or exams. I remember arguing about this with my mum, who was the principal of a school for children with special needs. Feeling the pressure to do well on a test or exam, I’d ask why kids even needed to take tests.
“Help me”
It was about a year ago when I walked into her room at Belmont Village down in Lincoln Park. Her children had gotten a hold of us at church, letting us know things had taken a turn. Dementia had transformed May’s mind in the handful of years leading up to that day and the beloved child of God lying there looked very different than most of us might remember her. In that bed was a woman with sunken cheeks and disheveled hair, wearing a simple nightgown.
Transformation
My heart has been aching for many reasons recently, but especially so for my colleague, my brother’s children, and many friends who identify as “trans.” And then, we come to “Transfiguration Sunday” and I can’t help but make the connection.
Trans comes from the Greek word metemorpho, as in metamorphosis, meaning change. Jesus was transformed on that mountain—changed somehow—though it’s not exactly clear what was changed, besides his dazzling white clothing,
The Unimaginable
Hamilton, the musical, opened ten years ago this month. What a different world that was! I have seen Hamilton live twice but have wanted to see the movie version. The movie is a recording of a live performance from 2020, with Lin-Manuel Miranda playing Hamilton. Since it is only on Disney Plus, waited until I was in staying in someone’s home who had the Disney subscription. That happened last month.
Access
Today's gospel is about access. Access to Jesus. Who has it, and who doesn’t have it. Access is a currency we deal in all the time, consciously or unconsciously. Consciously is when we pay extra at an Airbnb to get beach access. Unconscious examples include things like a zip code, an education level, or a network of friends. These types of things give us access to all sorts of things we take for granted: libraries, parks, social stability, and information.
Faithful Action
Last night for a Valentine’s Day date, Pierrette and I did what we often do—we went out to hear live music. Last night’s show was nearby—at the Jazz Showcase in the old Dearborn Station. The Alexander McLean Project, a collaboration of vocalist Dee Alexander and band leader, composer, and guitarist John McLean, was just what we wanted for a delightful evening. They played old standards like My Funny Valentine (of course) and new tunes they are working on for their next record. Their gesture to the larger political winds were subdued but not subtle—they signaled in no uncertain terms that the so-called “Love Day” shouldn’t be just one day in mid-February but every day. Ms. Alexander couldn’t have said it better had she been in a pulpit.
Anecdote to the Overwhelm
Our gospel reading this week is a familiar one: Jesus tells fishermen to cast their nets again, and they miraculously catch more fish than their boats could hold! Jesus tells them to follow him and become "fishers of people." This story is often interpreted to mean that Jesus' disciples have the role of bringing people to Jesus or to "the faith." While sharing our faith with the people around us is important - I don't think that the idea of trapping people and dragging them into our faith sounds like something Jesus would endorse. In fact, it sounds a lot like the forced conversions that were common during the colonization of many lands across the world - an evil twisting of our religion to empower bloodthirsty empires.
Groundhog Day in Church
February can be a brutal month. Will winter ever end? We look for any sign of spring that we can. And in these dark , chaotic times, any sign of hope, any sign of new life. No wonder Groundhog Day captures our imagination.
Respond to the Call
I wonder how you would answer this question: What role does scripture play in your life? That’s the question I asked the Wednesday study group… What role does scripture play in your life? The answers were varied, of course. Some read the bible every day, or have read the whole thing. And others relate to scripture primarily on Sundays, and appreciate the lectionary that gives us a variety of scripture texts in a three-year cycle. We discussed memories of confirmation requirements long ago to memorize verses. Shared bible stories that are important to our faith and verses that have been used to harm or condemn.
A Sign
But I wonder why she chose that moment to push Jesus. Wine at a banquet? Jesus has the power to heal the sick and open the eyes of the blind! Why is it so important that Jesus’ first sign be this one? Jesus seemed to think that this problem was trivial as well - he refers to his death and resurrection when he mentions that “his time has not yet come.” There are more important things on his mind. Things with eternal ramifications. And his mom has him creating more wine for a banquet?! Why did this need to be Jesus’ first sign?
Immeasurable Worth
But the chaff is not some separate entity from the wheat. They are one plant. So the image becomes one of a careful gentle God, peeling back the layers of chaff to reveal grain of immeasurable worth.
A Complete Unknown
Some people like being in the spotlight. They like the attention. Some live to receive the praise and accolades of adoring fans. Others would prefer to stay out of the spotlight. It is stressful to have too much attention on them.
Each gospel spotlights Jesus’s premiere in a different way—his entrance into public life. For John it will be Jesus’ first miracle at Cana, the text for next week. Two weeks from today, we will hear Luke’s version of Jesus’ first sermon in which he reads from a synagogue scroll and proclaims that the words are being fulfilled then and there. But all four gospels spotlight Jesus’ baptism as a defining event as Jesus begins his public ministry. Jesus comes on the scene as a complete unknown. With a divine voice from heaven, Jesus is proclaimed God’s beloved son and anointed for ministry.
What They Left Out
What was left out? When I see a movie after reading the novel of the same story, I am often frustrated by what they left out. I get it. It’s hard to compress a novel-length story into a couple of hours of movie.
On the day after Christmas we went to see the movie Wicked. And loved it. Since the movie was two hours and forty minutes and part two is still to come out later this year, it made me wonder. If the Broadway musical is about three hours and the two movies together will be nearly six hours, what is being added? What was left out from the 1995 novel Wicked? Same with the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. What was left out?
Ponder Anew
We don’t have photographs from Jesus’ life, though wouldn’t it be cool if we did? But imagine if we could. We would have lots of pregnancy and baby photos, from the infancy stories in Matthew and Luke—ones we have heard the past week in church. There would be photos of Elizabeth and Mary together. Pictures of the birth in a stable. Pictures of shepherds and the Magi. Pictures of Simeon and Anna forty days after the birth. Then skip ahead a long way to Jesus’ last three years of his life. Gobs of photos. And even more of the last week of his life. There would be photos from only one event between his birth and his public ministry. One event in approximately thirty years: the gospel today, of the twelve-year Jesus being left behind in the temple. There would be a lot of lost years in the photo album we are imagining. That’s worth pondering.
God’s Address
Just exactly where does God reside now? What is God’s address? It sounds like a children’s question. Or the beginning of a children’s sermon. Or a good title of a children’s book.
Where does God live? On Heavenly Lane? Beyond the clouds? In churches and temples? In nature? In the human heart? Is it someplace or is it everywhere?
Birth Stories
The creation story in Genesis is a birth story and we read it each year at the Easter Vigil. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And tonight’s gospel sounds similar. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God.” Jesus is the Word made flesh. And that Word—that God-energy—was from there from the beginning of time.
What’s Taking Up Space In You?
You’re at a store. Or you encounter someone you haven’t met before. And their greeting is: hey, how are you? Without thinking you respond: fine, how are you? You are not going to tell them that you are having a bad day. Or that your heart is breaking. Or that you’re totally stressed. Maybe you comment on the weather. Or how busy you are. Do they want to know how you really are?
Prepare the way of the Lord
When I first moved to the US, it felt like we had entered the wilderness. We were surrounded by people who lived in a different way. I felt alone, I missed home. But I knew God had called us here for a reason. After a year in the US, we visited home. I sat on the flight expecting to return to the same streets, the same food, the same family. But, when I arrived, everything was not the same. My cousins had grown, their home had changed. The stores we would visit to rent movies, or buy candy had closed or moved. We drove past our old house and saw that the new owners had renovated, and the huge mango trees had been cut down. Even the slang that we grew up knowing, that my brother and I had held onto in an effort to preserve our Africanness – it had changed.