SERMONS
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.
Waiting for Figs
Our gospel today provides rich imagery for the happenings in the world; When I look around, I do see nations distressed and confused; seas roaring, and rising; folx scared of what is coming upon the world; sometimes it really does feel like heaven itself is shaking. What does that mean? The text suggests that these are signs that Jesus is coming, to redeem us, to bring about the reign of God.
Manifesting the reign of God
Whether or not you believe in the power of manifestation, manifest has come to symbolize the pursuit of turning dreams into reality. What are your dreams? What do you seek to manifest in your life, in your communities…in the world?
The End Is Still To Come
The disciples admire the stones in the large buildings as they leave the temple. They are amazed at the scale of the place, but Jesus shuts them down immediately. I find myself being that person in conversations often. I try not to say it out loud, but when my friends get excited about McDonald’s new deals or when they gossip about the latest Tesla model – all I can think of are the atrocities that are fueled by those companies. I’m aware that it kills the mood when I mention colonialism or the evils of capitalism during a night out with friends, so I hold back.
Beyond Coping
Why does it seem so much harder these days to cope with the problems in our country and world? Throughout history there have always been hard times. What’s different, some say, is the screen in front of our face. All day long. Getting constant updates. One commentator said we should read or watch the news once a day, and then turn it off. Get on with your day. Do you work. Love your family. Say your prayers.
Today’s apocalyptic readings reveal that humanity continues to face daunting times. Empires rise and fall. There are wars and earthquakes. Fear and unrest. It’s part of life, then and now. The question is: how do we cope?
Storing Up Reserves
Even before Election Day, I was spent and exhausted. Like many of you, carrying worry and stress. Hearing hateful, divisive speech that you think can’t ratchet any higher. Or lower. Sexism and racism and transphobia and xenophobia.
I woke up Wednesday depleted. Dispirited. Dejected. Quite emotional, I preached at the seminary that morning, not feeling in my midsection much good news to proclaim.
Speaking Truth to Power
When times of hopelessness arise, just like the summer when George Floyd was murdered, or the week when the genocide in Palestine became a prominent news story, I turn to my mentors, my elders, and my ancestors in search of practical wisdom. I turn to God and my community, to express my rage and anger in prayer. To be held in love, and to find a way to cope.