Be not afraid, little flock...

Sermon for August 11, 2019 – St. Matthew’s Sacramento

Proper 14C – RCL – Track 1 

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Psalm 50:1-8, 23-24

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Luke 12:32-40
 

Jesus said to his disciples, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

"But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

Jesus said, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  Do not be afraid.  With all that is going on in our world it is hard to not be afraid.  With multiple mass shootings, at least one of which was racially motivated, the young man told investigators purposefully targeted Hispanics shopping in a Walmart at the border town of El Paso.  A town that the gunman had to drive for 10 hours to reach.  Shootings in Ohio in a popular, and officials said, “safe” entertainment district.  Shootings at the Gilroy garlic festival. A festival my parents attended for years.

With heightened racial rhetoric including a request from a group in Stockton to produce a “Straight Pride event” which during a hearing the organizer of the event described the group as “peaceful racists”.  An oxymoron if I ever heard it – being a racist is not by definition peaceful.  Denigrating any of God’s beloved children due to their racial identity, their gender identifications, their sexuality, is an act of violence – if not directly acted upon in overt violence to any particular person or persons, is an act of violence in the eyes of our loving God. 

It is not just humankinds’ unjust actions to the other that is happening.  We live in a world that is increasingly suffering from environmental destruction.  Nicotinoid pesticides are wiping out bee colonies.  Climate change is impacting where multiple species are able to live. In my recent trip to the Midwest I was astonished, driving through swaths of corn and soybean fields at the almost complete lack of insects.  Years ago, I remember driving through agricultural fields in the central valley ending with a car windshield so impacted by bugs that we could not see through it.  Where have all the insects gone? The command of our loving God to be good stewards of creation is being violated all over the world – both to the detriment of the environment but also to the detriment of God’s beloved children. 

With all that is going on in the world today it is hard to not afraid.  Today I feel more resonance with God’s lament from the prophet Isaiah that we read today:

What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;

I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fed beasts;

I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.

When you come to appear before me,
who asked this from your hand?
Trample my courts no more;

bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me.

New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation--
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.

Your new moons and your appointed festivals
my soul hates;

they have become a burden to me,
I am weary of bearing them.

When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;

even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.

Indeed our hands are full of blood.  The thoughts and prayers offered up by leaders after every tragedy ring hollow in the absence of action.  On Friday night I joined our Bishop Megan, along with other faith leaders, and civic leaders, for a Vigil of Lament at Trinity Cathedral.  Lament for the ways we humans have fallen short of the command to Love our God with our entire beings and to love all of our neighbors – a command that does not have a footnote that says our neighbors are only those who look, act, or pray like us.  A command to love all of our neighbors.

During the service DeaconKaren and I gathered with an interdenominational group of faith leaders to read the litany against gun violence.  In that litany we prayed for those who have died.  We did not have time to read the names of the individuals who have died, as unfortunately we would have been there all night, but we named the places and the number killed.  Even at that the litany was long – the number of mass shootings just in our country was staggering.  People killed.  Children killed.  People killed because of the color of their skin.  People killed because of being Jewish.  People killed in churches.  People killed because they were dancing at a gay nightclub.  People killed while they were enjoying concerts, watching movies, enjoying a night out with friends.

During the service we were all invited to write on pieces of paper the names of those we know who have been a victim of gun violence.  Or how we have been impacted by gun violence.  One young boy, Raihan Said , who was featured in news footage from the service on channel 10 wrote on his paper:  “life is so prescioies [sic]. Life a gift that can be there one second and be gone the next. Peace and Love.”  In the interview He said he can’t really explain it.  He asked “how many times is this going to happen? When will it end?”  Wise words from such a young man.

In her opening remarks at the Vigil Bishop Megan said, “Tonight, we pause as sorrow and hope hold hands across the pain of this moment. But we must also move and push forward, rounding the corner toward answers; solutions that provide the assurance of safety we need in our communities. Let us take action, joining our civic leaders in asking for the change that is necessary to make our city, our state and our country safe from gun violence.”

The service was, like the reading from the prophet Isaiah a lament.  But it was also one that opened our hearts to God’s cleansing healing.  It was a time when we could come forward and offer our hurts to God.  It was a times we could hear the voices of our leaders say that enough is enough.  It was a time we could call to wash ourselves as Isaiah said in God’s lament:

“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes;

cease to do evil,
learn to do good;

seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,

defend the orphan,
plead for the widow.

Come now, let us argue it out,
says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be like snow;

though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.”

At the service Bishop Megan called us to prayer, “Tonight, I invite you, again, to join me in unceasing prayer as we bear witness to the continued suffering of our children, siblings and parents: families together. I pray that we might recognize and begin the right actions to address this scourge of anger and sorrow. As Jesus commanded us to pray for others, we pray also for those who have used violence against others, that God’s grace may transform all of our lives.”

Jesus reminds us in our Gospel lesson to not be afraid.  A tall order both then – at a time of occupation in Israel, and now in a world that seems filled with violence and hate.   It is a tall order, but Jesus said to his disciples – and to us that “for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  This is an incredible promise, an incredible gift if we will only take it.  God wants to give us God’s peaceful kingdom.  God want to give us the kingdom of Love. 

It is a gift that we cannot earn.  It is by God’s unbelievable love for God’s creation that we are offered this gift.  When we accept that gift, we will discover that we act differently.  We will find it easy to  give alms.  We will find that we are prepared to shine a light on the light of goodness and love of creation when the evil tries to snuff out that light.  We will be ready to call out the evil that infects the hearts and souls of our world.  We will gather, as we do today and as we did at Trinity Cathedral, to show that evil will not snuff out the light of a loving God.  Evil will try but we must be vigilant.  We must call out evil when we see it.

This community of faith gives me hope in the darkness.  When I see the welcome that this congregation provides to the community, when I see the work of River City Food bank, when I see this community hosting a health clinic on a Sunday for members of the community who are in need I have hope.  I wonder how many faith communities would be willing to disrupt its worship time by hosting a health clinic during their worship time!  I tell you by doing so you are being the heart of Jesus.  You are being the hands and feet of our living God.  You are indeed following Jesus’ command when he said, “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour." 

When we call out the evil that infects our world.  When we offer a place of healing for those who are hurting.  When we provide a place that feeds God’s beloved children – both spiritually and physically.  When we welcome all of God’s beloved children into our midst – then we are ready for the coming of the Son of Man.  Indeed, we are already seeing the coming of God’s kingdom at this very corner of Edison and Bell. 

Homily for the Repose of the Soul of Karen Jones

Homily for the Repose of the Soul of Karen Jones

[Note:  the Scripture readings chosen by Karen are in italic font the homily begins after the readings] 

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Matthew 5:1-10

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

 ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

 ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

We are a peculiar people in the church.  The focus on this service is not one of grief and despair but of hope and love.  We do not wear the black of Good Friday but the white of Easter.  This is an Easter service.  A service of resurrection. A service that recognizes the promise of eternal life.  We remember that even at the grave our song is one of Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.  A service that celebrates the promise of resurrection and of new life.  A service where we remember that Karen has gone to the place “where sorrow and pain are now more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.”  This does not mean that you are not mourning Karen’s departure from this mortal life.  It does not mean that you will not grieve her leaving.  But as the peculiar people that we are the mourning and grief can be tempered with the knowledge that Karen has escaped this mortal life in the promise of her savior that resurrection into eternal life is real. 

All one has to do is look at this service to see what Karen believed.  She designed this service knowing that cancer was taking over and that she would be departing those she loved.  Karen did not want any lessons about grief.  She wanted only lessons that talk about the love of God. 

The first lesson – from First Corinthians is one that is commonly used at weddings.  In it we are reminded that God is love.  And that when we speak and act if we do not do so in love then we are a clanging cymbal.  A loud raucous noise.  It is when we are able to embrace the great Commandment and to Love God and Love our neighbors that we speak in the tongues of angles.  It is the promise that when our work is done on this earth that we will be taken up into the eternal love that is God.  Karen’s choice to focus on God’s love speaks volumes about her beliefs and her life.  The love of God that is supreme.

The second lesson – commonly known as the beatitudes shows us how God works.  It describes an economy that is so different from our own economy.  It turns our understanding of how the economy of the world is supposed to work right side up.  In the transliteration of the bible by Eugene Patterson – called the Message he translates the beatitude this way:

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

 “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

 “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

“You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family

 “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

When I read this version of the beatitudes I see how countercultural they are.  They point us to the economy that is created from love and points to Love.  They remind us that our focus should be on the radical acceptance of God and the radical gift of God’s love to us. 

Karen’s love of creation – her involvement with Native American spirituality – as evidenced by Deacon Powell’s smudging with sweet grass today even goes into Karen’s choice for the prayer that we will say at the Great Thanksgiving.  Karen choose to use Eucharistic Prayer C – which some Episcopalians call the Star Trek prayer, which has at its focus on God’s Good creation and our job as stewards of that creation – this Island Home or Fragile Earth.

While I have known Karen for only a short time – first as an intern at St. Matthew’s several years ago and more recently at the end of her life and in both instances I saw the Love of God in her.  Karen talked about her journey into the arms of the church – as she put it - and how it became more meaningful to her.  At St. Matthew’s over the years she became involved in various roles including Sunday school, hospitality, and involvement with varied cultural groups.  Including with the ongoing Hispanic ministry program at St. Matthew’s as well as the Native American ministry group that used to meet at St. Matthew’s.  I see that Love Karen has for all in her son Adam and daughter in law Jasmine as they gathered to be with Karen as she prepared to say good bye.

We gather today to remember the life of Karen Jones.  We are here to grieve that she will no longer we with us on this side of the veil.  We are her to mourn that she will no longer be there to call or to visit with.  But we can take heart that Karen believed that she was going to that place where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.  Karen knew that her body was failing her and that her time was coming to an end -so she designed this service to remind us that God is all about Love.  And that Love she shared for her family, friends, and God’s creation is a wonderful thing. 

Take time to mourn.  Take time to grieve.  I read a wonderful thing that said that grief is not about stages, or about reaching certain milestones.  Grief is a journey.  A journey down a river of love.  A journey where you will be caught up short in your love for Karen by something you hear, read, or even some distinctive smell.  A journey that will bring a tear to your eye, a smile to your face and a warmth in your heart – sometimes all at the same time.  Welcome those moments.  And remember that Karen believed in the Love that is never ending and wishes nothing more than for us to bask in that Love just has she is basking in the eternal embrace of her savior.  For even at the grave Karen made her song – alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!