Sunday, July 27, 2014

The Kingdom of Heaven is Like....

The Kingdom of Heaven is Like…

Sermon for Proper 12-RCL

July 27, 2014

Psalm 105:1-11, 45b

Jesus put before the crowds another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."
He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
"Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."

Today's gospel lesson explores a question that I bet each and everyone of us has asked – at least one time – What is the kingdom of heaven like? It certainly is one that comes up in times of crises. I comes up when someone close to us dies. What is heaven like? What is the kingdom like? I frequently preach about the kingdom coming and dwelling amongst us now and not just at some future time. That certainly is the view of one of my favorite authors, Verna Dozier who expresses it quite wonderfully in her book “The Dream of God.” She contends that it is our love of the worldly possessions and of powers that prevents us from seeing the kingdom breaking into our lives and letting it spread.

For Paul – in our reading from his letter to the church in Rome – a church that has been persecuted and is living under a powerful Roman government – he asks “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” And the answer is none of these things has the power – in and of themselves to separate us from the love of God. What are the powers in our lives that separate us from the love of Christ and keep us from seeing God’s reign of love all around us? Is it reading about the wars in the Ukraine that leads us to doubt God’s love? Is it the killing of innocent lives in the conflict in Gaza that we hear about all to often these days that keeps us from seeing God? Is it our love of material things and the desire for order in all things that keeps us from seeing the love of God? These things certainly don’t stop God from loving us but if we focus entirely on the bad and fallen nature of the evil that is very real in this world it perhaps can stop us from feeling the love. And from being partners with God in the subversive act of living out what Verna Dozier calls “The Dream of God”. The dream that we – as partners with God – will show the world that Christ came not to prepare us for some eschatological – end of the world – time of love and peace but that Christ came to prepare us to help bring that reign of love and peace to our world now. To spread the kingdom of heaven in this evil world and watch as love overpowers evil. The parables help tell us how to be agents of God.

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. We like to make this parable into a wonderful children’s story about small things becoming big things. We like to take comfort – as a relatively small church – in the notion that great things come out of small beginnings. But there is also a subversive nature and a call to radical living even in the story of the mustard seed. One of the preachers that I listen to on a podcast called Sermon Brainwave[i] pointed out that Jesus in this case did not pick wheat or some other crop but a plant that acts as a weed and spreads into the countryside, like an invasive species, and grows large enough for the birds to nest in it. These small seeds can spread and take over and if we are one of those small seeds we better be careful because birds might come and nest – and perhaps not the birds that we expect! If we plant the small seeds of love and justice in St. Paul’s and in our lives we may get all kinds of people showing up that will nest and not leave. We just might get people who are hungry to hear and feel the love of God showing up. And they may take the seeds and plant them elsewhere. That is one of the things that birds are good at – eating the seeds and planting them all over the countryside in lovely packets of fertilizer!

The kingdom of heaven is like leaven hidden in a whole bunch of flour. A small amount of leaven in a ridiculous amount of flour. Three measures would be about 2 gallons of flour and would make about 11 loaves of bread according to one source I found.[ii] That is a lot of bread made out of a small about of leaven. The kingdom of heaven is like a substance that transforms ordinary flour into bread. That radically transforms flour into a staple of life. If we let this leaven into our lives we might be radically transformed and more we might spread that transformation out into the world. Are we leaven in our world? Are we given the power to transform powers and systems that oppress into systems that feed? Beware of letting the Holy Spirit into your lives! A small dose is enough to make us co-workers in transforming a seemingly large and unreceptive society into one that mirrors Christ’s love for all of creation. Letting God’s leaven into our lives might just bring God’s Dream of love into our world instead of us waiting for some future time in “heaven”.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure found in a field and we go sell everything and buy the field. Or it is like a pearl of great value that we find and sell everything to acquire it. On face value these two parables tell us that the kingdom of God is valuable and once we find it we will do everything in our power to get it. But wait a minute. Lets look at these again. There is a subversive angle here too. We are finding the treasure that belongs to someone else and we deceptively go and buy the underlying land or the pearl from someone who is unaware of their value.

It reminds me a little bit of the story of how Los Angeles acquired water from the Owens Valley. The Chandler Corporation bought the farmland not for its value in growing crops but for the accompanying water rights and then turned the Owens Valley into a dust bowl by shipping the water south.

Is that what Jesus is advocating here? Or is he saying that once we get a taste of the love of God we will be willing to do strange and wonderful things to spread the word? Are we willing to let go of the things that keep us from the love of God? Are we willing to share that treasure with the world? Again once we find the love of God and let the Holy Spirit into our lives we will do crazy things. We will find ourselves writing checks to support wonderful charities. We will find our selves welcoming all of our neighbors into our church and our hearts. We might even find ourselves going to seminary in our 50s!

The kingdom of Heaven in like a net thrown into the sea and catching fish of every kind! But perhaps we don’t want every kind of fish. We only want the good tasting fish. We don’t want the bony mud-eating suckers. But the kingdom accepts all kinds of fish. And it is not our jobs to decide which kinds of fish belong. We are called to throw out the net of God’s love and let whatever we find in the net into the kingdom. That is God’s dream. That we will spread a wide net and not be picky about what we catch. We will love whoever shows up, as God loves us. That is how we build the kingdom of heaven here. We throw open our doors and invite everyone who passes into our club. Because is really isn’t our church. This is not a club for like-minded individuals. It is supposed to be a place where we mirror Christ’s love for us when we interact with our neighbors – even – and perhaps especially those who are not like us – for those we find challenging.

And as for the sorting of the fish – the sorting of the good from the evil. Simply put that is not our job. That is God’s job at some future end of time. We are not to worry if the person we encounter is evil – we are to work on the assumption that the person is not. We are – however – called to point out institutions and powers that are contrary to the love of God. We are called to pull down the barricades of injustice that keep people from having food to eat and adequate shelter. We are called to find ways to eradicate the powers that would keep anyone oppressed. And to leave some future sorting to God.

What is the kingdom of heaven like for you? How would you describe the seemingly indescribable? Does this set of rapid fire parables do it for you? Are you like the disciples who answered the question of "Have you understood all this?" with a resounding yes? If you are – great!

But it is ok to answer with “No” I don’t completely understand all of this. It is ok to take the parables into our hearts and to let them take root. To let the radical love of God show us first hand what heaven is like. To see around us the modern expression of the kingdom. Perhaps the kingdom of God is like the invitation we make to everyone who comes through these doors to share with us in communion. To share with us in food and fellowship. To provide food to those who are hungry by offering sack lunches.

Where do you see the Kingdom of Heaven in your life? I invite you to take just one of these parables and live with it this week. To wrestle with it and see if it opens any insights into what God is calling each of us to do as individuals and what it is calling St. Paul’s to do to bring God’s Dream to fruition now. To bring the reign of love and justice into our lives and into the lives of everyone we touch.

Amen.

[i] http://www.workingpreacher.org/brainwave.aspx?podcast_id=527

[ii] http://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/3589/Three-Measures-of-Meal-.htm

AIDS Lifecyce Sermon 2014

AIDS Ride Sermon 2014

Proper 10A RCL – Track 1

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!"

"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Today’s gospel lesson is a strange story about how to farm! Who throws good seed indiscriminately around the countryside when farming? This parable is certainly not a treatise on how to farm – or is it? It depends on the type of farming one is doing. One thing for sure this is a story about God’s economy of abundance rather than an economy of scarcity. This gospel lesson reminds us that as a church we are to operate out of a sense of abundance rather than scarcity. We are to throw open our doors and our hearts and plant the message of love that Jesus taught to everyone we meet and everyone that walks through these doors. We are not to worry about how “fertile” the soil might be. We may judge someone to have rocky soil that would not be receptive to God’s love only to find out that in God’s economy that person has deep soil where the message of love and care for all creation will sprout and bring forth an abundance that we cannot fathom.

I have been lucky enough to experience God’s abundance and see God’s hand at work in wildly diverse groups of people. And sometimes those people are wearing red-tutus – or some other wild, wacky creative red outfit – that is if it is Red Dress day on the AIDS Lifecycle!

Those of you who have been around may have already guessed that today is my nearly annual AIDS Ride sermon. This year was my 14^th year participating in the AIDS Lifecycle Event (although for 3 of those times it had a different name!) and therefore this is my 14^th AIDS Ride sermon. This is time when I reflect on a fundraiser that does more than raise money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center for AIDS prevention and the care of those with AIDS. An event where God’s abundance is in full display in the most unlikely places as we wind our way down California riding or supporting bicycle riders as they ride from San Francisco to Los Angles in seven days.

This year the Riders and Roadies (as the volunteer crew members are called) raised an astonishing amount of money. We raised over $15 million. This is the most every raised for AIDS services and prevention in a single fundraiser. We had 2340 riders – a motley group of people. We had very fit individuals who had no physical problems riding 545 miles and we had people who if you took them at face value should not have made it out of San Francisco on day one – but they all did. We also had about 600 Roadies who do everything from marking the route and running the rest stops to medical services and the ever popular message, sport medicine and chiropractic team that help get the knots out after a day of cycling or a day of lifting heavy supplies and equipment needed to create a mobile city.

This year our oldest participant was 84 and the youngest was 18. We had people from 46 states and 14 countries. We consumed more than 44,000 eggs and drank more than 18,000 gallons of water! The event is a wonder in organization and efficiency that is more than the sum product of all its many moving pieces.

While this fundraiser is for a fabulous cause and the statistics are amazing that is not what makes me sign up with my husband to do this year after year. It is the amazing community that forms every year. It is the human stories that draw me back every year.

With the advances in drug treatment AIDS has entered into a stage very different that when this event started 20 plus years ago. Today for many first world people AIDS is no longer the death sentence it was. But it still has a stigma attached to it that kills people – if not physically certainly emotionally.

One morning at breakfast I sat next to a gentleman who was way too perky at 4:30 in the morning – and especially before I had consumed any coffee! He wanted to share his story with everyone. He has been HIV positive for over 17 years. And he told almost no one. He was afraid that it would cost him his career in the entertainment business. He got so sick after loosing his insurance that he was near death and spent months in bed unable to even walk. He finally was able to get health services through the Jeffery Goodman clinic ant the LGBT Center – one of the beneficiaries of the ride – and relearned to walk and reenter society. But he still kept his HIV status a secret. It was not until a friend asked him to contribute to the ride that the dam burst and he decided not only to share his status with his friend but to sign up to ride. He was – for the first time in 17 years – able to share with people what he has been through and why. It was so liberating that he was, well… way too perky at 4:30 in the morning!

One of the roadies I met told me that she was there to remember her brother who died of AIDS. She was still very much grieving his death and the physical work and the accepting nature of the people around her let her process some of that grief. She is still in a tender place. It is so tender that she could not face the candle light vigil on the beach in Ventura. Instead she found a spot on the beach to remember her brother silently. To recall the memories that are all too raw for a larger group. She did find a community where she could share with others about her brother. She found a community that openly allows her to grieve the death of one close to her. She will be back next year.

The community that gathers is one that is openly appreciative of each other and what we do for each other. One community - the New Bear Republic – created buttons to give to roadies as physical tokens to thank roadies for doing things for them. I got two of them – they are here on my hat. When I got them I also got a huge hug and a smile that would light up a small city. Another group – the cycle twerks – gave out thank you tokens.

Oh and the amazing thing is the community of riders and roadies gives back to the communities through which we pass. The small community of Bradley is one example. We have been passing through that community for many years and stopping there for lunch. It is a small town with one school, a post office and one tree. They have been holding a fundraising barbecue every year that allows the cyclists to have another options – a hot hamburger – instead of the chicken-du-jour sandwich for lunch. This year the school raised over $29,000 in one day. That is money that pays for activities – like trips to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and for music in the school. Over the years the money raised has also upgraded the technology and computers in the classrooms. It is one of the stops that the riders look forward to every year.

After seven days on the road it all culminates on the last day as we gather one last morning in Ventura. That last morning as we gather there is magic in the air – and there is God. Every bike has a plastic egg on the seat – placed there by a fellow rider – Ken – also known as the Chicken Lady. Inside each egg is a lifesaver and a note. This year the note read “We began the journey without looking back. We rode because we believe in a world of love, compassion and mutual respect. A world free from fear, discontent, and prejudice. Love, Chicken Lady, ALC 2014”

On some bikes one of the teams also had handkerchiefs waiting for them with the H.E.R.O.E.S. Creed on them that reads: “I have risen before dawn in the fight against AIDS. I’ve rallied family, friends and strangers to support me in this fight. I’ve spent mornings, afternoons, and week-ends training for those who can’t. I have spent hundreds of dollars on equipment, clothing and energy bars. I have learned hand signals, how to clip in, and the importance of stopping at every stop sign. I have yelled “Car Up!” “Car Back!” and “On Your Left” approximately one million times. I’ve raises thousands of dollars to support the well being of someone else’s life. I have learned that if I don’t talk about HIV to prevent it from spreading who will? I will standing line with my closest friends for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and to use the bathroom. I will ride side by side with them for the same cause. I will spend a week sleeping in a tent, eating in a tent, and showering in a truck. I will make over two thousand new and interesting friends while raising public awareness of HIV/AIDS. I will laugh out loud and cry with them. I will dedicate a week of my live to improve someone else’s. I will do things with my body I did not think I could do. I will boldly show the world how strongly I believe in this cause. I will ride my bicycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles to rains awareness and money in the fight against HIV/AIDS. I am a California AIDS/Lifecyclist. I am a HERO.

This year also ended on a sad note. One of our riders – Edna – suffered a cardiac event on the Wednesday of the ride. Edna was a BIG presence in a small package on the ride for many years. She had a smile that was too big for her little body and a laugh that lit up the room – even at 4:00 in the morning. She rode in tutu’s that she made including an iconic white tutu with red aids ribbons sewn into it to remember friends lost to the disease. Everyone knew Edna.

Edna was riding with her husband Richard at the time of her cardiac event. In addition to the cardiac event she suffered brain damage and went into a coma. By the last day it was clear that she was not going to live and, per her instructions, she was going to be removed from life-support as soon as her organs could be donated. The crew printed out labels with her rider number and showed up in bike parking at 5:00 in the morning. They wanted to make sure that Edna could get across the finish line one more time. So most of the roadies and riders rode or worked that last day with Edna’s number on our hats and helmets. Edna did get across the finish line in Los Angeles and died later that day with her beloved husband Richard at her side. Many of the riders and readies gathered a week later in San Francisco for her funeral. The church was packed with those remembering a bundle of energy who gave more than most.

Edna was one of Gods own with deep soil. A woman of faith who shared God’s love with anyone she came on contact with. Edna is one of God’s servants who helped spread grain everywhere with reckless disregard as to the depth of the soil.

The AIDS ride is full of just such people. People who are willing to let down barriers. People willing to listen to stories and to show love in return. People willing to laugh and cry together. People who have deep roots that will bear great fruit. People who come together every year and show that God’s dream of love can come to fruition now.

We, here at St. Paul’s are the seeds that God has sown. Our soil is deep and rich! We will be able to nurture the seeds God plants and bring to harvest a bountiful harvest. A harvest that is none other that God’s dream of Love for all of Gods creation.

Amen.