Early this week, after I’d spent time clearing ice dams from our roof and attempted to snow-blow in a vicious wind, I came upon this reel which encapsulates my feeling about winter pretty succinctly. 

(I tried to embed the video here, but it keeps messing everything else up... just go to this link and then come back to the sermon:
​ https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGBXI8uR_JO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link)​

Luke 6:17-26 Jesus Teaches and Heals

He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

Blessings and Woes
Then he looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. ‘Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

‘But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. ‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. ‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

     The GI Bill was an extraordinary piece of legislation. After World War 1, many veterans had a hard time making ends meet. Some of this was because of a lack of decent jobs. Some of this was also due to service-related injuries. With those struggles in mind, President Roosevelt set himself to figuring out how to make things better for those serving in World War II, working with many members of Congress to come up with some kind benefits that veterans could access. Harry W. Colmery, former American Legion National Commander and Republican National Chairman, who wanted to extend benefits to all World War II veterans, male or female, would write a proposal that would become the first draft of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, what we usually call the GI Bill.

     The GI Bill established hospitals, made low-interest mortgages available, and granted stipends covering tuition and expenses for veterans attending college or trade schools. A lot of people I care about benefited from the GI Bill. I imagine that is true for many of you, too. But, I’ve learned that not everyone who should have had access to these benefits was able to access them. While the bill contained no language explicitly stating that Black veterans were excluded from the supports offered, racist people in places of power made sure that Black people would have a harder time making use of benefits promised them.

     A Congress member named John Rankin made sure that individual states would administer the funds. That meant that states with racist laws would be allowed to implement the GI Bill in racist ways. Other institutional roadblocks outside of Congress were put in place, too. Erin Blakemore details some of the issues in an article I’ll share when I share my sermon. Black GIs were far more likely to be given dishonorable discharges, making them ineligible for benefits. Also, because so many training and educational institutions were segregated, Black veterans who were eligible for benefits were unable to receive the same training and education as white veterans. Blackmore shares this quote from historian Hilary Herbold: “Though Congress granted all soldiers the same benefits theoretically, the segregationist principles of almost every institution of higher learning effectively disbarred a huge proportion of Black veterans from earning a college degree.”

     Many of the new neighborhoods being constructed after World War II were either officially segregated or banks would refuse to give mortgages to Black veterans or to provide mortgages in historically Black communities. Sometimes, when a veteran and their family could get the mortgage and move to their new home, their white neighbors would violently harass them. Black veterans also were held to much different standards than their white counterparts when they applied for a kind of unemployment available to veterans. They were far more likely to be denied coverage. Some postmasters wouldn’t even deliver the paperwork to apply to unemployment to Black veterans so that they could apply in the first place.

     On this Sunday when I am reading about Jesus’ sermon on a level place, these stories about unequal access to veterans’ benefits immediately came to mind. The Jesus we encounter in the book of Luke is one who is honest about the harm done to the poor and the hungry. And, he is clear that it is part of his mission to bring healing and love to those who had been abandoned in his time. He didn’t come to make nice with the richest guys in town, to secure their favor, and make his own life more comfortable. Instead, as Mary Hinkle Shore points out in her commentary on this text, he put himself on a level field with the sick, the troubled, and the desperate, and he tended to them.

     Our scripture for the day says that the power went out of him and he healed the people gathered around him.  And, then he preached to them. He offered a word that took into account their material needs. He said that the poor will inherit the kingdom of God. This idea runs counter to all theology that asserts that wealth is a sign of God’s blessing. Jesus asserted that God’s ultimate care was for the folks who need it the most: those who are poor now, those who are hungry now, those who mourn now. He spoke to the people who lived under Roman terror, who had neighbors gossip about their poverty, about their illness, about the spirits that lived in them and made it hard for them to survive in the world, and told those people that the persecution they were facing was not a sign that God had abandoned them. In fact, it was quite the opposite. And, ultimately God would relieve them from this suffering, too.

     If we think back to the reason why the GI Bill was created in the first place, it was to help one particular group of people who were suffering. Good leaders pay attention to people’s material conditions and, if a whole group of people is struggling, as veterans were after World War 1, a good leader will work to address that suffering. When we address the suffering of one group, it can have a ripple affect far beyond the initial interventions. The GI Bill helped to create the American middle class. For so many American families, the ability to buy a home and get a well-paying job meant that people could build wealth to pass along to their kids. This generational wealth would help their children and grandchildren have more stable lives. It took government action to even come close to levelling the playing field for most people.

     While Jesus stood level with those who suffered, he also had a word for those who weren’t. While the poor would find themselves blessed by God, woe to the rich. Sarah Heinrich argues in her commentary that this scripture contains an undercurrent of suspicion with wealth. Wealth is a distraction from the pursuit of God’s ways. There might even be an assumption that the only way to get rich is to exploit people. As I watch wealthy people in our current era work to gut consumer protection bureaus, undercut labor unions, dismantle child labor laws and worker safety laws, I’m pretty tempted to agree. Here and in multiple other places in Luke (chapters 16 and 31), Jesus will argue that wealth is a barrier to righteousness rather than a sign of it. I’m inclined to agree with Shore’s reading that these “woes”- woe to you who are rich, woe to you who are full, woe to you who laugh, woe to you who have a good reputation- are warnings. If what you have built is based on exploitation and keeping on the good side of wicked people in power, it will not last. Better to fight alongside those who struggle now than laugh while ignoring their pain.

     Giving white veterans government support to buy land and train for good-paying jobs while at the same time not ensuring that Black veterans had equal access to the same supports not only was deeply unfair, but it has also contributed to on-going inequality to this day. The shortcomings of this program are directly related to a group of people who wanted to maintain the right to exploit another group of people. Had one politician not been so invested in his own ill-gotten power and reputation, we could have had a veterans’ system designed as a level field for all veterans. Had we not had commanding officers, bankers, and educational institutions so invested in keeping the power white supremacy afforded them, we could have had a system that supported everyone who served to create a more stable future. Jesus healed all the people who came to see him. We left many of the veterans who were struggling behind.

     As Shore points out in her commentary, today’s reading is the final bookend of the portion of Luke that began with Jesus preaching in his home synagogue “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” We go from the sermon at the synagogue that made everyone mad to his hard word to the wealthy. I think it is clear that Jesus had a particular concern for the well-being of those in need and a particular suspicion that pursuit of riches distracted people from God. We who would follow him ought to take these concerns to heart, not because suffering is good, but because Jesus cares deeply about those who suffer. In her commentary on this test, Heinrich says, “God is creating a realm, bringing it to life among us by that same power that emanated from Jesus, in which no one is hungry or mourning or poor or disregarded at the very same time that others are abundantly well-fed, rich, laughing, and respected.” We are not living in this realm just yet. But, we can come closer to it by tending to those whom Christ particularly loved, and by not being seduced into protecting our money and power. When we do that, as the example of the GI Bill shows, justice is incomplete at best, and unrealized at worst. May we Christians never forget the promises of Christ. May we build a level place where all can see him and be healed.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:

​About the GI Bill:

• Background on the bill: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/gi-bill
• Erin Blakemore's article: https://www.history.com/news/gi-bill-black-wwii-veterans-benefits

Mary Hinkle Shore: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/sixth-sunday-after-epiphany-3/commentary-on-luke-617-26-3

Sarah Heinrich: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/sixth-sunday-after-epiphany-3/commentary-on-luke-617-26-2
​

     Paul Munsky wants to write his crush, preacher’s daughter and painter Aster Flores, a love letter. Paul Munsky also feels utterly incapable of doing so. He’s good at football and at cooking, but, less so at writing. Ellie Chu, on the other hand, is quite capable of writing. In fact, for a little extra cash, six to seven of her classmates regularly hire her to write their essays in school for them. Her keen high school English teacher even knows about it, but, when asked why she never turns Ellie in, the teacher says “And have to read the actual essays they'd write?” Ellie, who doesn’t fit in well in her rural Washington school and whose family needs the money, agrees to write a letter to Aster for Paul. So begins the 2020 film The Half of It, written and directed by Alice Wu.

     One letter becomes a correspondence, where Ellie, in Cyrano-de-Bergerac-fashion is able to have real and good conversations with Aster about music, art, and literature under Paul’s name. It turns out that Ellie is also interested in Aster, but, given Aster father’s homophobic religious stance, has never considered approaching her, especially given that Aster has also been dating a truly terrible popular boy. The film, which is coming of age film about dating, class, religion, living in small towns, and family relationships, unwinds in interesting ways that fit both the size of the town, the complexity of understanding your own identity in relationship to your parents’ hopes and expectations, the religious commitments of the characters, and the emotional weight that decisions made at the end of high school often carry.

     The revelatory moment when Aster realizes that Ellie has been her conversation partner and not Paul is a well-written surprise that I won’t totally spoil. I hope you’ll watch the film. But, I will share a few lines of it, because I imagine that they will be familiar. Aster is right in the middle of a very public, very uncomfortable encounter with her foolish boyfriend. Ellie and Paul both interrupt the encounter. Ellie speaks up from the back of the crowd with these words: “Love isn’t patient and kind and humble... love is... love is.... love is messy and horrible and selfish and... bold.” That’s quite a take on our scripture for the day, isn’t it?

     Ellie didn’t come up with the scripture out of nowhere. Even though she wasn’t a Christian, she played piano in Aster’s father’s church, so she heard sermons every week. And, another character had used this scripture mere moments before Ellie did. In fact, Ellie’s words are a response to how that character was using it. That character was far more interested in using scripture to bolster his reputation in town than actually using it to guide his behavior. In fact, he usually uses scripture to constrain other people’s futures, never his own actions. Ellie, in hopes of helping Aster make a choice about her future that feels authentic to her aspirations, turns the scripture on its head. The results are messy and heartfelt and likely not something the Apostle Paul would have wanted to have much to do with.

     To be fair, Paul the Apostle was much more wary of romantic entanglements than any teenager in this movie. Back in 1 Corinthians 7, Paul states that essentially, he thinks marriage is a distraction from faith in Christ, who is coming back very soon, and wishes everyone could remain celibate, as he was. But, he also says that those who aren’t spiritually strong enough for celibacy can get married without making Jesus sad. He describes marriages among Christians with the word “concession, not command.” It is good to remember that anyone who tells you it’s your Christian duty to get married and have children has probably forgotten this part of 1 Corinthians. Paul had all kinds of things he thought Christians had to do. Being married was not one of them.

     Paul does, however, believe that Christians are required to love. It’s just that Paul isn’t only concerned with romantic love. To be fair, the movie wasn’t either. It is also a wonderful portrait of familial love and love among friends. Paul was trying to help Christians develop an ethical center to guide their actions. The church in Corinth was a church in the midst of intense conflict. In times of conflict, Paul understood that you have to respond not simply out of the whims and passions of the moment. In order to not be buffeted about in rage and mistrust, a Christian must develop a faithful core and respond from that core. For Paul, that core is love.

     While Paul the teenager in the movie isn’t much of a writer, the Apostle Paul took great care in his writings for the various churches that he founded and ministered with. In her commentary on this text, Dr. Shively Smith notes that the discourse on love is set right between two parts of the letter where he talks about the kinds of spiritual gifts people might have within the Body of Christ. She says, “This body boasts many gifts and many stations unified under one banner. Yet, these many giftings and functions are not enough to sustain the community.” You can have all kinds of people who know how to do all kinds of things together. But, they can only survive and thrive as a community if they have an ethical foundation connecting them to each other when they eventually find themselves in conflict.

     The church in Corinth was a pretty diverse community in a vital city in the empire. Smith describes the members of the church in her commentary. Within one congregation, people who were currently married, people who had never married, and people who were widowed worshiped together. People of all genders and ages were part of the community. Most were converted Gentiles, but some people were Jewish and had been leaders in traditional synagogues. Most people were poor and some were enslaved. There were a few rich and powerful Romans in the church, too. These kinds of differences can make a community stronger. That’s what Paul was saying about “the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you.’”

     Having this many people with this many differences in life experiences can bring challenges, too. We know that. The church in Corinth had been having trouble finding usefulness and goodness in their differences. Paul wrote this letter to help them figure out how. First, he affirmed that having a community full of different kinds of people is good and makes a community stronger. Then, he said that they’d need to love each other enough to affirm the ways that they were different. The love would be the connective tissue in their Body of Christ.

     Christians shouldn’t try to get around loving each other by building communities that aren’t diverse, by the way. Christians in our country and around the world have a nasty habit of trying that again and again, usually when we have aligned the church too closely with governmental power. Remember, Paul was not a Roman politician in good standing with the local government. He was an annoyance who got arrested all the time. What carried him through the times when he was targeted by powerful people as well as the times when the people he called friends were fighting fiercely among each other and with him was his ethic of love.

     In a way, he and Ellie are both being quite honest about the messiness of human relationships. In a movie where she and teenager Paul had done a lot of wild and ill-advised things, it is fair to point out that seeking out romantic love does not mean you will never lie to people, act selfishly, or behave in ways that otherwise embarrass you. The impulse to connect with other people is messy. As is clear from the church in Corinth, someone can declare themselves to love Christ and go ahead and behave hatefully. It is not enough to say you love. It is necessary to behave lovingly. I think today’s reading is the Apostle Paul’s attempt to capture a full range of loving behaviors so that the Corinthians have some instructions to lean on when their love of Christ isn’t enough to guide them to treating each other well.

      What does it mean to love? Those who are patient, kind, not envious or rude are loving. Those who are not resentful or vengeful are loving. Those who aren’t delighted by getting away with something they shouldn’t be doing in the first place are loving. The gifts and skills we cultivate will not be enough on their own to keep us together. Love is what will complete our faith, allowing us to be one body. And, yes, we may still be in conflict sometimes. In fact, I guarantee that any group of humans will. But, any of us who call ourselves Christians must look to this ethic of love to guide us. Otherwise, we are noisy gongs. Let us act in the Love that will help us bear all things.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
The Half of It, written and directed by Alice Wu: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9683478/
Shively Smith: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/faith-hope-and-love/commentary-on-1-corinthians-131-13

     I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I am delighted to read our church’s annual report each year. Look at all this great stuff we’ve done together! An average of 38 of us gather each week, some on-line and some in-person, to pray, learn, sing, and eat together. People who live in Winthrop and people who live part of the year in Arizona and people who live in Germany and people who live in Lisbon, Monmouth, Sidney, Augusta, and Readfield (among other places) commit week in and week out to being the Body of Christ together. This body does not consist of one member, but of many.

     Those who choose to be a part of this community by worshiping and serving with us regularly allow us to follow the lead of the Spirit to serve this world. Within this body are teachers, pray-ers lawn mow-ers, garden planters, wall-patchers, window fixers, readers, singers, instrumentalists, writers, bakers, phone-call makers, and drivers. Some of you are good at counting things, so you make sure that our finances are in order and that we have clearly written reports stating how we use the money entrusted to us. This body of Christ includes creative minds who find new ways to raise funds and new curricula for the youngest ministers among us. Within this body of Christ are the diligent, who call the oil company over and over again to make sure they clean up their messes, who work to makes sure all of our board slots are as filled as they can be, and who know where are the Christmas decorations and table cloths are stored away until we need them.

     We have some glorious organizers who have found their way to our doors. You gather up our band members for practice, volunteers for our church fairs, community members for singing, and figure out fun fellowship outings to theaters and museums. You have paid close attention to our commitments to be good neighbors and found ways for us to support people who need help. And, you make sure that our denomination’s summer camp has our support, both through donations and in allowing our youth, for the second year in a row, to attend a conference-wide confirmation retreat there.

     When people in this community have a hard time paying for heating and housing, you make sure we have funds set aside to help. At the risk of stealing Lacey’s thunder later in the service, I want to make sure to lift up that we gave away $5, 450 and 16 cents to programs and people who needed it. The Deacons’ Love Fund is 3,530 of those dollars. The Winthrop Center Friends even chipped in to our deacons’ fund this last year. That’s a lot of money for a church that is made up of about 90 active parish and covenant members, and the small congregation we host. I am consistently heartened by the ways you care for each other and care for strangers. When I read Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, and see him helping that community learn to appreciate each other’s gifts, I am grateful to see our part of the Body of Christ living his hopes out.

     This last year has been full of rich worship, good music, sincere prayers, and hard work.  It’s important that we set aside time to give thanks for the ways we have been church, in hard times and in good times, over the last year.  It is also wise to remember that the annual meeting is intended to be a time of forward thinking as well. A question Christians must continually ask ourselves in “What are we called to do?” Here in the United Church of Christ, where we understand that Jesus Christ as the sole head of the church, it is wise to return to his mission and ministry as we look for guidance on how to shape our own.

     Our reading from Luke starts in Galilee, and will eventually get to Nazareth. As we read about his actions in Nazareth, we should remember that the story just before this one is important. It’s Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. As Mitzi Smith notes in her commentary on this text, Jesus’ time in the wilderness confirms that he is the Son of God who had the opportunity to accept  “unbridled power, authority, wealth, and risk (4:1–12).” But, he didn’t. In the texts just before today’s reading, we see that Jesus refused, repeatedly, to take power that is offered to him in exchange for loyalty to Satan. An allegiance with evil will be worth nothing to him. We who would follow him must similarly resist access to power that comes wrapped up in a deal with the devil.

     Having clarified his commitment to God, he went home to declare his commitment to his community. Bolstered by his good reputation as a teacher, Dr. Smith notes that Jesus’ actions (reading the scroll and offering an interpretation and response) are very much in line with what is described as common practice for respected speakers in Luke and Acts. Dr. Smith also notes that all kinds of people could be present in the synagogue. Most people in attendance would be Jewish, though Gentiles could be there as well. Regular old lay people, leaders within the synagogue, including Pharisees and scribes, adults of all genders and kids might all be there. Most people were quite poor, but there might be some wealthy people. There were would be people who were healthy and people who were ill, either with diseases or those considered possessed, as well as enslavers and the currently and formerly enslaved. And, importantly, Smith notes that the synagogue might also be a place with leaders were asked to render judgement on a conflict. I am grateful for the reminder that synagogues could be full of diverse kinds of people and also sites of struggle.
Jesus picked out the scripture he wanted to read: “The Spirit of God is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of site to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” He looked right at the people listening and they looked at him, and said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Had he stopped there, he might not have made them mad.

     He didn’t stop, though. He knew that when you are granted the right to speak, you better make good use of it, another lesson we who follow him should learn. The people in the synagogue said “Is this not Joseph’s son?” I’m not sure if it’s better to understand them saying this in joyful amazement at the hometown boy all grown up or with disdain, as though they thought he was getting too big for his britches. Smith indicates in her commentary that she reads in the first way. And, she reads his response to that statement as, as something like “since you know me so well, you might ask why I don’t use my power for my own good, and also do the good works here that I’ve done elsewhere.” Then, he goes on to say that a prophet is never accepted in their hometown, pointing to examples of Elijah and Elisha. God didn’t have them fix every problem in the places where they lived.

     The people in the synagogue didn’t want to hear this at all. They didn’t want to imagine that Jesus wouldn’t prioritize them or that God might have something else in mind for Jesus to do. Turns out, lots of folks get mad when you tell them they are wrong about God. This group of people who had known Jesus his whole life grew so enraged with what he said that they drove him out of town and tried to throw him off a cliff.

     Jesus’ mission came with priorities: care for the poor, release for the imprisoned, healing for the sick, and freedom for the people ground down by Empires. He is reading this in the synagogue just after his cousin has been imprisoned by the terrible king. Jesus knew clearly that there was a cost in holding powerful people accountable. He had been offered immeasurable power and declined it, knowing it came at too high a cost. God did not call him to torment of the sick and poor. God did not call him to imprison people. Jesus shows us clearly that Divine Power is for mercy and healing, not terrorizing. And, it is to be used for the people who need it, not just the people who have known us the longest or lived the closest proximity to us. Jesus doesn’t work through cronyism. He works through justice and love. And, so should we.

     Our mission is to follow Christ’s lead. And, this will prove daunting, as is already clear to those with eyes to see it and ears to hear it. I can think of at least one pastor and church currently fielding threats of violence for preaching much more gently than Jesus did in today’s scripture. Jesus never said following him was without risk. There will be much to do in the coming year. May we not be overwhelmed by the enormity of the work ahead. Our annual report shows us what amazing things the Spirit can empower us to do. I am certain that Spirit is with us right now as we discern how best to use the gifts that are inside us. May we be confident that God will show us a still more excellent way .
​
Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
Our church’s annual report, which can be found here, under the “How We Live Out Our Mission” section: http://www.wccucc.org/our-mission-and-what-we-do.html
Mitzi Smith: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/third-sunday-after-epiphany-3/commentary-on-luke-414-21-6
​

     Once, I saw a llama inside of a nursing home. Yes, inside the nursing home. Not outside in the yard where you might imagine running into livestock. Inside, in the dining hall that looked a lot like an elementary school cafeteria. I’m not sure if the nursing home accrediting bodies would have loved having farm animals in the dining hall, but the person who ran the petting zoo that provided them kept them as clean as possible and the residents seemed to love it... or at least be delighted by the novelty of it. You never know what you’re going to see in a nursing home. Sometimes, it might even be a llama.

     This same nursing home is the one where I heard “Roll Out the Barrel” live for the first time. Though some of my ancestors were Bohemian and German-speaking Midwesterners, I didn’t grow up in the region and missed out on learning the most beloved polka in the area. While I grew up singing “Rocky Top” at ball games, the people who lived in this facility in Illinois learned “Roll Out the Barrel” (also called “The Beer Barrel Polka”). When the lady who volunteered to play piano came every other week, the residents and staff would gather in the same dining room as where they brought the llamas, and rock out to all the standards in a homemade songbook. Just about every time I managed to be there when she was, she’d finish with “Roll Out the Barrel” and everyone would sing along.

     It wasn’t always easy for the people who lived in that facility to be there. Some were quite ill. Some would have much rather been home. And yet, in the midst of what wasn’t always the most desirable living situation, the lady who played piano brought them some joy and helped them feel a little celebratory. When they had the opportunity to sing, they sang out! The first time I heard this glorious ruckus, I learned that there’s no party like a piano lady nursing home polka party.

     We are in the church season that follows Epiphany. If a preacher opts to preach on the suggested Gospel readings on these first couple Sundays after the arrival of the Magi, as I will, we’ll have multiple opportunities to explore the earliest epiphanies people had about the nature of Christ as he began his ministry. Last week, we saw a teacher unafraid to go to someone else for a blessing, who is empowered in the course of that act to do what God is calling him to. This week, we see how people beyond his disciples first encountered his power. It is interesting that they encountered it at a party.

     The party that Jesus is attending is a wedding. He’s there with his newly minted disciples and his mom. In her book on John, Karoline Lewis notes that, across religious cultures in ancient Palestine, you can expect a wedding to take three whole days. There would be lots of food and lots to drink, all provided by the families of those who were getting married. They wouldn’t have had barrels, but they would keep the wine in giant jars that held twenty to thirty gallons of liquid. We should remember that water often wasn’t safe to drink, so wine was the primary beverage for both practical and celebratory reasons.

     Also, as Eliseo Pérez-Álvarez notes in his commentary on this text, not everyone who attended the three-day festivities got the same food and drink. People of high status got better food and better wine. The people of the lowest status might even be offered the same kind of bitter wine Jesus was offered on the cross. It was a mixture of wine, vinegar, and water. Still relatively safe to drink, but not delicious. And, the hosts would often try to save a little money by serving the best wine they had at the beginning of the party, and then, once people had over-indulged and grown less picky, serve lower quality wine to everyone. It is not easy to host a bunch of people for multiple days, especially if you don’t have a lot of money. People did what they felt like they had to do to meet the expectations of their community.

    Imagine what would happen, then, if you ran out of wine? People might gossip about you being a bad host. Irritable drunks might get mad and cause a scene because they’ve been cut off. You might be embarrassed because running out of anything could mean that you didn’t have enough money to do what was expected of you. Then, as now, too many people decided if someone is poor that they must be immoral or foolish. No one wants to be the people who have a party that they can’t properly host. No one wants to be embarrassed and not provide for their friends and family.

     I love that Jesus’ mom has to force him into his first miraculous sign in John. Karoline Lewis points out that he’s going to do seven great signs in this book, six by his own volition. This first one, though, his momma makes him do it. Lewis also notes that Mary only appears twice in the whole book of John and they actually never use her name. She is simply called Jesus’ mom and shows up here, at the wedding, and at the foot of the cross when Jesus is killed. His mother will be both witness and catalyst, helping him start his public ministry, and, as Lewis notes, abiding with him as he dies. The one who offered him his first sustenance at her breast will be the one who encourages him to provide sustenance to the people at this wedding.

     As an elder to Jesus and one who might have been called to host family gatherings, it makes sense that Mary would feel a measure of empathy for the family that has run out of wine. Lewis wonders in her commentary, what about this moment inspired Mary to push her son to use his power? And, what did she even know yet about who he was that led her to be confident that he could help? Neither of those questions is clearly answered in the text. Mostly what we have is an empathetic woman confident that her son can help, who is willing to boss him around a bit so he will. When he says, “Mom, this is both not the right time and not my problem,” she promptly ignores him, telling the head waiter to “do whatever he tells you.”

     Jesus has apparently either learned not to argue with his mother or been convinced that this is the moment to use his power publicly in the service of others. In the grand scheme of things, this would seem like a lower-stakes miracle. He’s not healing the sick or raising the dead. And yet, this sign is a great symbol of generosity and communal care. Pérez-Álvarez points out that in making only very good wine, Jesus renders moot the hierarchy that says the high-status guests are the only ones who get the good stuff. Every person there will have access to the same unexpected and wonderful gift. And, everyone will have something safe to drink. It is particularly gracious to go above and beyond for a family that may not have had the money to throw the kind of wedding the community expected. They really needed the help in a way that a wealthier family wouldn’t have.

     Lewis also argues that in this first sign, John reveals to us that the nature of Jesus is abundance. Jesus’ will not dole out grace as a miser pinches pennies. Jesus will have grace that is practically overflowing into the hands of those who need it. Both of the scholars that I’ve mentioned today did some math to show just how much wine Jesus made in those six jars. Pérez-Álvarez says, in today’s money, this could be 120 gallons of expensive wine, which could total $135,000. Karoline Lewis calculated it to be about a thousand bottles of wine. She said the opulence of this gift at a wedding of two everyday people would have been unheard-of. Regular people don’t have this much good wine, and they don’t serve it at the end of the three-day party.
The epiphany of this story is that austerity is not a key feature of the divine. Celebration, surprise, and generosity are. Jesus won’t be handing out the good stuff to the rich and the bitterest stuff to the poor. Jesus will provide amply for those who need it the most, while also assuring grace is available to everyone, without hierarchy. As we consider how we will follow his example in this world, may we remember the generosity offered to us when we were in greatest need. And, may we turn around and offer it someone else. Let us roll out the barrel. The gang’s all here!
​
Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
Eliseo Pérez-Álvarez: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/second-sunday-after-epiphany-3/commentary-on-john-21-11-5
Karoline Lewis, John: Fortress Biblical Preaching Commentaries (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014)
Some history and current context about the belovedness of "Roll Out the Barrel": https://americansongwriter.com/how-a-drinking-song-the-beer-barrel-polka-became-a-wisconsin-sports-anthem/
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​Today is the last Sunday of the Christmas season and tomorrow is the celebration of Epiphany, so we have some important business to finish. First, I think we should make sure that the creche is finished. Will someone come and look? Who all is in there now (baby Jesus, his parents, shepherds, animals, an angel)? Is there anyone missing who you think should be there? Yes! The Magi and their camels. Will someone go get them in the back of the church for me? It might take two people.

OK, you all can go back and sit down. Does anyone remember what Magi means? Yes! It is a Greek word that means “wise men” or even “wise ones” because we don’t actually know many details about the group that came. How many Magi do we have in our creche? Three! Christian tradition talks about three, but the Bible never says that there are three. Because we understand God as three-in-one, Christians like threes, so we decided there were three at some point. The Wise Ones weren’t just regular smart people. In his notes on today’s readings, Andrew Overman describes the Magi as scholars and political advisors to the royalty in the area that we now call Iran, or maybe Armenia. It’s not totally clear. But, what the Bible is clear about is that they were experts in astrology, which is paying attention to the stars to learn more about what is happening all around you.

Does anyone remember why they came to see Jesus, who was probably a toddler by the time they got there? He wasn’t a rich and fancy toddler. People who work for kings and queens don’t usually show up at poor people’s homes for a visit. Do you remember what they saw? Using all of what they learned about the stars, they were paying attention to the stars on the night that he was born. The stars showed them that he was special, a leader even! And, these scholars did what they would do to celebrate the birth of any new leader: they showed up with presents! 

They went to the current king, a mean-spirited and weak-willed man named Herod. Herod cared more about protecting his power than leading his people. He would always make the choice that protected his power rather than what would help others. When representatives of another country showed up talking about a new king, he knew immediately that he wanted to hurt the child so the child could never replace him as king. Remember: some grown-ups will hurt kids on purpose. It isn’t right and it’s our responsibility when we know that could happen to protect the kids. The Magi make the choice to protect the toddler.

In 2019, two days before Christmas, I finished this cross-stitch. Does anyone know who this is? 

It’s a baby... well, a toddler named Grogu. Before people knew his name, they called him “Baby Yoda.” He was a character in a tv show called The Mandalorian. The Mandalorian is a man who so committed to his spiritual community that he wears a special mask and helmet so that people can tell he is a member of that community. He never takes his face-covering off. On the other hand, he has a job where people hire him to do things that are kind of sketchy sometimes. In season 1 of the show, he takes a job where he ends up taking care of a baby and is supposed to take the baby to a powerful man. The Mandalorian realizes that the man who hired him will harm the baby. Rather than give the powerful man the baby, the Mandalorian chooses to save him. That choice will have repercussions across the whole empire.

Sometimes stories that aren’t in the Bible can help us learn more about stories that are in the Bible. I don’t know if the people who wrote The Mandalorian were thinking about the Magi when they wrote their tv show. To be fair, the Mandalorian and the Magi aren’t very much alike other than that they are people with a measure of power, who, inspired by their faith, opt to take care of a child who has an adult who wants to hurt them. When we remember the bravery, wisdom, and kindness of the Magi, it helps to have another example to hold up beside them that reminds us that we can be brave like that, too. We don’t have to be scholars in a queen’s court to take care a child that needs it. We can just be a faithful guy with a job who realizes that the job isn’t more important that the child that is right in front of him.
​   
The Magi do make it to Jesus’ family home and pay him homage. They give him three gifts. Do you remember what they are? Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Some people make jokes that the frankincense and myrrh, which are perfumed spices and sticky sap from trees that are used as incense, aren’t very good gifts for toddlers, though Jesus’ family could definitely use the gold. Dr. Overman reminds us in his notes on this story that expensive perfumes and gold are the kind of fancy gifts that you give a king or queen. These gifts show us that the Magi were serious about believing that Jesus was a leader. And, I wonder if they came in handy in the next part of the story.

First, the Magi learned through a dream that Herod planned to hurt the child. So, they went home a different way so has not to alert him to the little family’s whereabouts. Then, an angel showed up to talk to Joseph, saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him.” That’s in the verse immediately after today’s reading. Joseph, Mary, and the toddler left. If you’ve ever heard the testimony of modern refugees, you know that they often need cash or things they can sell to survive, and they often need them quickly. The Magi may have ended up financially sponsoring Jesus’ family as they became refugees in Egypt.

While I don’t want to give away more details about the toddler named Grogu, I will note that his is a story of escape, as well. Sometimes you have to leave a place to find safety and family. Jesus and his family would return home eventually when God lets them know that Herod has died is no longer a threat, though Herod’s son was in power. God would lead the family to settle in Galilee, in Nazareth. Important things will happen in Nazareth. They can only happen wisdom of the Magi, who chose to stand with the vulnerable one who was full of promise. May we follow them, first to Jesus, and then in protecting those who need it the most. 
​
Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
J. Andrew Overman's notes on Matthew in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001)

​Matthew 1:18-25 The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.  Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 

But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ 

All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ 

When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Luke 1:46-55 Mary’s Song of Praise

And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

     Today is the Sunday in Advent when traditionally we are invited to consider love: what it means to love and be loved; how this season of waiting is inspired by love and fueled by love; how the Incarnation is Divine Love come alive and made flesh; and how God has been, is, and will be with us because of love. Love is a risky business. Loving opens us up to the potential for great growth and great pain. Being loved well can help us to learn to trust and to be trustworthy. Love gone awry or withheld or manipulated can break our conviction, warp our confidence, and even put us in danger. Love is a risky business. Fortunately, it is also Jesus’ family business.

     The first chapter of Matthew is Jesus’ genealogy, and within that genealogy are five women whose stories are shaped by the risks of love:

• Tamar, who a series of husbands die in quick succession and was functionally abandoned by her father-in-law until she tricked him into doing right by her
• Rahab, who, in a bout desperate love, saved two soldiers from certain death by hiding them in her place of business, thereby saving her own family in the coming battle
•  Ruth (another widow) who loved Naomi so powerfully that she followed her to Bethlehem
• Bathsheba (whose first husband is killed by David, who then takes her for his own) who will fight with fierce mother-love for her son Solomon to become king.

     The fifth woman is Jesus’ mother, Mary, who we learn more about in the book of Luke. Mary loves God so passionately as to risk both a public scandal by carrying a pregnancy that began before she was married and private scorn by telling her fiancé that he was not the child’s father. Between the risks of pregnancy in a teenage body and the potential for violence from an angry partner and angry family, what danger she could have been in. And, yet, we that her love of God and of her people helped her decide that God’s calling was worth the risk.

     Only two of the Gospels, Matthew and Luke, tell us the stories surrounding Jesus’ birth. Both Gospels make clear, even before we meet the Christ-child, that we know that his is a family marked by all the complexities of love. In fact, his very life is a testament to the risks of love. Let us return to Matthew and to Joseph’s call story. Most of the Bible does not speak of romance in way that reflects modern American sensibilities around building relationships and building families. Duty and obligation shape stories of marriages and parenting as much, and sometimes more, than love as we might understand it in the modern sense. And, yet, how can we not describe Joseph’s bravery in Matthew as love? How can we not look at the risk he took in staying with Mary, in raising her child, and not call it loving?

     As Dr. Wil Gafney notes in a commentary on this text, there is a part of Torah that says people caught in adultery should be stoned (even though there are few stories of that happening in the Bible). Even if that violence was unlikely, a pregnancy before marriage and from someone other than her betrothed, according to Gafney, would have made it challenging for Mary to marry someone else later. Her ability to sustain relationships in her community and even have enough money to survive would have been sorely tested.

     Joseph’s trust in God allowed him to take the risk of treating Mary in the most loving way possible. By continuing with plans to marry, Joseph offered Mary great care in a time she needed it. I do think it’s a little funny that Joseph trusted God enough to marry her, but also made sure a baby boy was born before taking the next steps in the relationship. This is a little bit of “trust but verify” from Joseph that I can appreciate. His love of God was guided by wisdom. I’m sure that would come in handy has he helped raise the child who would come to be known as “God is with us.”

     In looking over our Advent devotional readings for this week, I saw that the authors invited us to consider the idea that “hope is worth the risk.” Upon reading this phrase, I thought this poem by Emily Dickinson:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

     This poem is well-known for a reason. The first line is so lovely, evoking the pretty and tough little birds we all share space with. I think of the chickadees that fuss at me from the red pines next to our house as I boil maple sap outdoors in March. May my hope ever be as tenacious as an annoyed chickadee, frustrated by smoke and disruption, undaunted by the large stature of the irritant, and unceasing in its willingness to shout the truth of its exasperation for all creatures to hear.

     That being said, the last line of the poem pulls me up a little short. Hope, the tough little thing, even in the hardest situations, “never- in Extremity,/ It asked a crumb- of me.” Far be it from me to take issue with the great Emily Dickinson, but my first impulse is to think of hope as something like a fuel that keeps us going.  Kayla Craig, in our devotional, calls hope “a force that propels us toward God’s presence and redemptive plan for all creation, for all time.” Why would hope, a force within us, ask something of us, the ones who would be hopeful?

     Then, I thought about it a little more. I realized that I often think of hope in a similar way to how I think about love: it is something that both exists but also is something I do with intent. Hope and love may arise unbidden, but also, usually must be cultivated to truly thrive. Our scriptures for the day show us a hope cultivated right alongside love, like how my great-grandfather taught me to grow green beans up a stalk of corn. Joseph and Mary’s sense faithful obligation to, and trust in, God gave rise to deeply loving actions. That same faith and trust was the foundation for the hope that allowed them to accept their calls from God. Maybe they had a potential for hope that was pre-existent within their souls. But, they actually had to feed that hope to make it concrete in this world. Hope didn’t simply float around in their brains. It came alive in their faithful and loving actions. Hope was a risk. And, they took that risk on purpose.

     I follow a lobsterman named Jacob Knowles on Instagram. A few months ago, he found a thing with feathers, in this case, a migrating pine warbler, that had gotten lost at sea. Between the fog and the northerly wind, the tiny bird ended up a 30-minute boat ride from shore, on the verge of either drowning or becoming seagull food. Because these little birds are brave and want to survive, they are often willing to take the risk of landing on a boat if one comes near. Fortunately, this one landed on one helmed by two loving men. They’ve rescued many a tiny bird as they work and have developed a whole system for managing them.

     Jacob’s coworker Cody snags the warbler with a net. The humans then stick it under trash can that makes a surprisingly good bird cage. They give it some crumbs to eat and water, and go about their day, eventually heading to land. During this rescue, once they arrived on land, Jacob took hold of the little bird to release it. The bird, a spunky and brave little creature, bit the fire out of his thumb to make sure he remembered that it was a wild thing not to be messed around with. I bet it knows the chickadees at my house. With a respectful laugh and a comment about “biting the hand that feeds you,” Jacob let the bird go, and it flew towards the land and trees where it was supposed to be.

     We are in a season where we tell, once again, the stories of hopeful risks and loving actions that are the foundations of our faith. My prayer today is that even if you find that your hope is thirty minutes out to sea and stuck in a trash can, you can still find the love you need to sustain it. When powerful forces push you off course, may you find a safe place to land and rest while you figure out what comes next. This Advent, may all those strong enough to do harm to those who are smaller and more desperate, choose to do love instead, even if it means getting their hands a little dirty. And, may the beaks of the small and brave remind the powerful that they can’t do whatever they want without consequence. Hope and love are risks. May we remember these stories of our faith and know that the risks are worth it.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
​The video of the bird rescue: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA3vxMKxtnf/?igsh=MWw3MjJheTcyd295bA==
Wil Gafney, "Advent IV, " A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W (New York, Church Publishing Incorporated, 2021)
You can find the text of the poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers-314
​Kayla Craig, "Hope is Worth the Risk," Words for the Beginning: An Advent Devotional (A Sanctified Art, 2024)

​Luke 1:26-29 The Birth of Jesus Foretold

     In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

Isaiah 43:1-7 Restoration and Protection Promised

     But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’, and to the south, ‘Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth-- everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.’

     Promises have been made. Do not be afraid. This is how we begin Advent this year, with these two assurances: Promises have been made; do not be afraid. With Advent, the church worship calendar has begun anew. Our predecessors in the faith mirrored the cyclical nature of creation when developing our pattern of worship. Fall shifts to winter. Winter into spring. Spring into summer. Summer into fall. Fall, again, into winter. We shift from a reminder that Christ’s Kindom is just and loving into a season of waiting... waiting for redemption, waiting for protection, waiting to be gathered up from all the places we’ve been scatter into the arms of the One who formed us and knows us by name. We are given gifts to make the waiting manageable. This year, the first among them are these reminders: Promises have been made; do not be afraid.

     I learned in a book called All Through the Day, All Through the Year that Advent was first celebrated in Spain and France. The word “advent” has roots in in the Latin word “to come.” What are some things we might do to prepare for someone to come to our home? (responses: clean up, prepare where they will stay, make some food, snowplow) Over the course of the next four weeks, we as a church will be preparing for someone to come. We’ve begun our preparations. Our colors have shifted from green to purple. We have extra lights, on the tree and in our Advent wreath, to lead the way. Our musicians are polishing up music for the season. The kids are busily practicing the play that they wrote. We’re going to share a simple meal together to fortify us for this journey. In Advent, we are waiting on something important, but we can’t forget that the waiting is made easier by working and being together.

     Scholar Joseph Evans calls the biblical prophets “storytellers and holistic commentators on human conditions.” Prophets do not observe this world in disconnected, disinterested way. God has empowered them to see how we are a part of this place and a part of each other. God has tasked them with bringing reminders to humanity. In Isaiah, the prophet reminds people of the covenant... the promises the people made to God and the promises God made to the people. The prophecies recorded in Isaiah were shared under both the memory and threat of war. Chapter 43 is in the portion of the book, as Joseph Blenkinsopp points out in his notes on the text, that hopes to inspire the descendants of those kidnapped into exile in Babylon to return to Judah to rebuild.

     For those who yearn for a land they’ve never seen and for those who have made a home in a place that was never intended for them, the message is the same. God remembers you and is invested in your well-being. God has made promises to you and will keep them. It is possible to return to the land from which your ancestors were taken. Do not be afraid. The journey will be hard. Rebuilding will not be easy. But I will be with you.

     Dr. Wil Gafney describes the God we hear in Isaiah as one who, upon gathering her children from the whole earth, will “protect them in such a way as to violate the laws of nature to ensure their safety.” I bet Mary, Jesus’ mom, could tell us something about God and the laws of nature. Because, she clearly is meeting that God in our reading from Luke... or meeting God’s emissary. Notice that she is called “favored one.” This kind of language assumes a measure of intimacy with the Divine. God is invested in her well-being, as God was invested in the well-being of the exiled. Just as God offered them assurance for a hard journey, God is going to offer Mary assurance in the hard journey she will soon face.

     Mary... engaged but not yet married... teenager, but not yet adult... needs to know that she is not in this alone. Like the prophets who came to Isaiah to bring a reminder of God’s promise, the angel will assure Mary that God is with her. I do appreciate that Mary is described as being “perplexed.” I, too, would be perplexed if an angel showed up and called me favored one.

     Because I know that no one gets called “favored” in the Bible unless God is getting ready to ask them to do something hard. You know how in families that treat children unfairly, sometimes they will pick a favorite and that kid never has to do anything? That’s the opposite of what favored means in the Bible. To be beloved by God is to be invited to work alongside God for the good of the world. The first Sunday of Advent is a Sunday where we talk about Hope. Perhaps this is the hope we need today: to be reminded that we are beloved, that we can count on God to keep promises, and that we don’t have to be afraid. God loves us and that love comes with responsibilities. Thank goodness God is with us in all this. Scripture tells us that we’re going to need her.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:

David B. Batchelder, All Through the Day, All Through the Year: Family Prayers and Celebrations (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 2000)

Joseph Evans, "First Sunday after the Epiphany (Baptism of Jesus)," Preaching God's Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year C, Ronald J. Allen, Dale P. Andrews, and Dawn Ottoni- Wilhelm, eds. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012)

Joseph Blenkinsopp's notes on Isaiah in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001)
​
Wilda C. Gafney, "Third Sunday of Easter, " A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church: Year B (New York: Church Publishing, 2023)

     Friends, I want to thank you for welcoming me back to your congregation again. It makes a bit of a change from my usual Sunday after Easter, but I have to say, we are gathered together at a similarly important point in our liturgical year. You see, Advent starts next Sunday. We are on the cusp of beginning our journey towards the manger and towards welcoming the birth of Christ. Advent marks the beginning of the church calendar, so next Sunday you can all say “Happy New Year” to one another! This closeness to Advent being the case, you may wonder why the gospel reading for this week, which is in the Revised Common Lectionary, is one that is typically a part of the Passion narrative leading up to Easter. Why spend time reflecting on Jesus’ trial before Pilate when we’re just about getting ready to celebrate God’s incarnation in the form of the small, vulnerable infant Jesus?

     Well, I have to say that when I read this morning’s scripture, I couldn’t help but read it in light of where we find ourselves, not only in the liturgical calendar, but in our nation’s calendar. We are getting ready for a time of change and an uncertain future. Now I know that this may have been a theme that Pastor Chrissy has been reflecting on with you all over the last few weeks, but you have to forgive me for continuing to see so many parallels between the gospels and how we are called to live as Christians today, specifically Christians in this country.

     One name for this particular Sunday in some church calendars is “Christ the King Sunday” and sometimes in more modern calendars as “Reign of Christ Sunday”. We are invited to reflect on what the kingdom of Christ is all about and how we might live as faithful stewards to that kingdom. I think the first thing that’s important in that consideration is understanding what the kingdom is not.

     Number one: The kingdom of Christ is not, as Jesus says, “of this world”. To quote the lead into the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, “It’s not a place you can get to by a boat or a train far, far away.” But it is also within all of us, just waiting for our eyes, ears, and hearts to open to its reality. Perhaps this was comforting for Pilate to hear. Someone who says that their kingdom is not of this world is markedly less of a threat to the stability of the Roman Empire than someone who is flagrantly declaring themselves the king of some new nation.

     Number one b: It’s increasingly important to stress the fact that this is not some temporary inconvenience that Christ is not the literal king of a literal nation on the Earth. It’s not some goal that Jesus has for the future of his ministry that one day he will create an enclave, or perhaps even conquer the world with his teachings. As much as it may dismay some Christian nationalists, particularly in this country, Jesus is remarkably clear in this section that an empire on earth is not the goal. The kingdom of God is at hand, but it is in our hands. Hands we can use to work for justice and peace. It is incredibly human and divine and all of the messy things in between and that’s what makes it so great. That’s what gives it its strength. The kingdom that Jesus is proclaiming is one that testifies to a way of life that sees beyond the need for some global superpower that can impose its specific way of life onto other people.

     Number two (and I think you’ll see how these continue to add on each other): The kingdom is not one that incorporates violence. We hear Jesus say that if his kingdom was of this world, surely his followers would be doing everything they could to fight for him to be released from his captivity. “Let’s storm the Praetorium!” It’s important to remember that this portion of the Passion narrative comes after Jesus has just scolded one of his disciples for pulling a sword on a guard and cutting off the guard’s ear as they tried to arrest Jesus. Jesus then heals the man’s ear. It is patently obvious to me that the kingdom that Jesus is trying to testify to is not one that incorporates violence towards other people at all. It is a kingdom that calls us to beat our swords into plowshares and to work together for the betterment of all people. It is a kingdom in which weapons of war have no place in the hands of those seeking to follow in Christ’s footsteps. John’s gospel as a whole is pointed in how it tells us that the real power of this kingdom is found in the way that divine love enters into our human story in a way unlike anything people had ever seen. Perhaps we can begin to see why this reading actually makes perfect sense to lead us into Advent. Into the story of love entering the world in the person of the infant Christ.

     Having spent some time looking at what this kingdom is not, I would like us to shift into thinking about what we have observed in our life as testifying to the capital-T Truth that Jesus mentions in his response to Pilate.  Where have we noticed evidence in our lives of the power of the reign of Christ? I’m going give you a hint, it’s probably not featured on CNN or Fox News or MSNBC. I would like you to take a moment and think about what Truths have been revealed to you on your journey as a follower of Christ or someone seeking to follow Christ. What have you realized is capital-T True in walking that journey?

     I invite us now to take some silence and open our hearts, listening, as Christ says his followers do, for the Truth that is in these words: “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this, I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth, listens to my voice.”

     When you hold space for this truth, what do you find rising to the surface? Is there a word or an image or phrase that emerges in your eye?

     For me, I think the clearest image of the Truth that Jesus says he is here to testify to is the Truth that love is woven into every single one of us by virtue of God’s gracious creation of the Earth. As you no doubt know, there are many “truths” there are facts that are true and then there are underlying Truths that breathe meaning into those facts. It may not be a literal fact that our Earth was created in seven days, but it is True that in that creation God blessed it all and saw that it was good. That is true. It may not be a true fact that the exact words in our scripture reading were said between Pilate and Jesus, but it is True that, through those words, so much love and compassion has been birthed by those who seek this type of kingdom. A kingdom based not on a strong leader with a mighty army, willing to cut down all of his foes, but a meek and humble Messiah, who is put to death by the powers of the earth for challenging those structures.

     This is not an easy truth to just convince somebody of around a Thanksgiving table. In fact, I strongly discourage you from trying to engage someone in this kind of dialogue when you know that their heart is set on a very different sort of kingdom. Instead, I would do what Jesus would do, I would bless them, and I would endeavor to show them the reality of the kingdom that you know exists thanks to Christ. Do so through your actions, through your love, and through the way that you stand up for those who are being oppressed.
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     There are so many people that are convinced that the kingdom of God looks a certain way, worships a certain way, speaks a certain language, and can only exist within the framework of that narrow understanding. Jesus asks Pilate “Do you think I’m the king of the Jews or is that just what someone’s told you?” Do we really think that one denomination or one worship leader could possibly have all of the answers? Do we really think that one group of people has cornered the market on Christ’s Truth? Or is that just what the loudest voices among us say? Those are human words, not divine truth. “Those are your words, not mine,” Jesus would say. So how can we better amplify the words of Christ? How can we fight back against the common understanding that to be Christian in this country means a certain thing?

     Well, my friends, the proof is in the pudding. Let us start by remembering what Saint Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” We need to be the hands and feet of Christ in the streets of our towns and cities. At the same time, we ought to spend time in community with each other, grappling with the tough questions of how to respond to the world around us in a way that is enriched by the Truth witnessed to us through the person of Jesus. And there are going to be many challenges we will face in the not-to-distant future! This grappling is very hard to do alone, so we should all feel blessed that we have a community of fellow journeyers along with us. We don’t have to, like Pilate in the very next very of this reading, ask ourselves rhetorically “What is truth?” and then sit in the silence that follows. Parenthetically, I always wish Pilate would have engaged Jesus with this question and maybe, together, they could have had a conversation that might have opened Pilate’s eyes, ears, and heart to the capital-T Truth. But alas, that was not the case. However, unlike Pilate, we here can bounce our ideas off one another. We get to see our beliefs and definitions develop and change as we grow in our understanding of our faith and our shared membership in Christ’s kingdom.

     I’m grateful that in times of national insecurity and challenges to a progressive view of the Truth testified to by Christ, that I have those around me that I can reach out to; folks that can help me temper my desire to respond with anger and cruelty. Instead, we can share in our pain and our frustration, and we can do the organizing and advocacy that we saw in the person of Christ and the kingdom that he testified to. And what a blessing that is, what a gift we’ve been given, a what a capital-t Truth we get to live into. Amen.