Author: Rev. Wells

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2601 54th Avenue South  St. Petersburg, FL  33712 on the Gulf of Mexico
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga
727-867-7961

lakewooducc.org

lakewooducc@gmail.com

Date: May 18, 2025   
Scripture Lesson:  Acts 9: 36-43
Sermon:  Arise!

Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

Just to be clear, like Peter in the story we heard from Acts, I have been in a room alone with a dead body.  On numerous occasions, actually.  And with a nearly dead body.  Yes, it is sacred space.  But the last thing I can imagine is praying, “So and so, arise,” and then helping what was the corpse, out of the bed.  Many of you have been with dead bodies, too.  In your work with hospice.  Or in the presence of loved ones.  In a hospital or care home, they give you time with your loved one.  Some of you worked in the funeral home business and were with many dead bodies.  And no one has ever told me that they prayed and the person came back to life.  

But there are many ways to die.  Many deaths, happening all the time.  The death of loss of dignity.  The death of loss of rights.  The death of loss of freedom.  Ask someone in prison.  Or someone made poor.  There is the death of the loss of certain abilities, mental or physical.  There are relationships that essentially die.  Some so dead that it is easier to imagine a resuscitated corpse than reconciliation between two living, breathing people, in this life.  There are the deaths when we struggle to find a job.  And get no reply.  To inquiry after inquiry after inquiry after inquiry.  The death of the ability to imagine a future.  Especially in a place like Gaza.  There is the dying of hope, all around us, every day, as people see their food, and medical care, and transportation, and activities, and income, being taken away.  Away.  Away.  There is the death of a common culture.  And the death of common values.  And the death of commitment to the common good.  And one can make a case that we are witnessing the death of democracy in our country.  One blow after another.  

When you look at the numbers, we could also say that we are witnessing the death of the church.  The numbers of believers, let alone those who actually participate in a faith community, are going down, down, down.  At least in the US.  It is projected that the country with the most Christians in the years to come will be – brace yourself – China.  We heard this from a presenter this past week at the Festival of Homiletics in Atlanta, Georgia.  China.  Oh our dear Chairman Mao must be turning over in his grave.  

So, let’s turn to Tabitha.  The one in the story we heard today.  The name Tabitha, Dorcas, actually means Gazelle.  Maybe she was lean and lanky when she was born.  We are told that she is a leader of a circle of friends, one of exemplary faith and compassion.  Devoted to good works.  Helping others.  The guild of widows presents a pageant of the tunics and clothes she has made for these otherwise poor, abandoned women.  And with two words, “Tabitha, arise,” she is back at it.  No conjuring or pleading or elaboration.  No arm waving or posturing.  No flash and dash.  No wand or cape.  Just two words.  Oh, yes, and the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead.  And Tabitha is restored to her community.  And Peter stays with a tanner, someone considered unclean according to Jewish law because the tanner does unclean work involving blood.  But Peter has been taken over by the love of God revealed to him in Jesus.  Love for everyone, no exclusions, no exceptions – despite what religious authorities may say about it.  

But God’s power is not limited by our lack of imagination.

So let me tell you about another Tabitha.  She was a young girl with a sister.  And her family situation was precarious.  Her parents weren’t able to properly care for and provide for their children.  So, every summer, someone in her church took care of her and her sister for the summer.  This woman was a teacher and so she did not have to work over the summer.  She was not married.  But she knew these girls and their family.  And all agreed that the girls were better off with the teacher.  So, when she was out of school for the summer, she took care of the girls.  One summer.  Another summer.  And then, by the time Tabitha was in kindergarten, this teacher had adopted the two sisters.  They lived with her full time.  She was their parent.  Their mother.  We know about this because Tabitha was a best friend of our son, Sterling, in elementary and middle school.  These two girls were essentially rescued from death.  They were given a new life.  A life with a loving, capable, responsible parent who could see that the girls thrived.  This kindergarten teacher, Miss Peaseley, saved these girls from hardship and misery, maybe worse than death.  Oh, and Miss Peasley’s first name is Grace.  “Oh to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be,” we sing in the hymn.   Grace essentially saved the lives of those two little girls.  

So, now we see that in different ways death is all around us. And in this resurrection season, we remember that the power of death, it cannot hold a candle to the power of God, the power of Love, the power of grace, for good.  And Peter, oh Peter, who was always trying to set Jesus straight:  Remember, Get thee behind me, Satan.  Peter, who denied Jesus three times.  Peter, feed my lambs.  Tend my sheep.  Feed my sheep.  Oh Peter, he has surrendered.  He allows himself to be a conduit, a vessel for the power of God.  Tabitha, arise.  And she does!

The power is there.  Love reigns supreme.  It is always looking for a crack, an opening, a circumstance, a person, to let it in.  To work.  To overcome even death.  

Huey Newton was a founder of the Black Panther Party in 1966.  The platform of the Panthers was a demand for freedom, land, bread, housing, education, clothes, justice and peace.  Basic needs.  Newton knew the importance of these basic needs because he grew up in circumstances of deprivation.  In the book A More Perfect Party:  The Night Shirley Chisholm and Diahann Carroll Reshaped Policies, author Juanita Tolliver tells us about Huey Newton’s childhood:  “A Louisiana native and the youngest of seven children, Newton’s struggling family moved to Oakland, California, when he was three years old.  The family bounced from apartment to apartment during the next ten years, barely able to keep food on the table.  The local public school system failed Newton; he was functionally illiterate while still being passed through each grade of school.  In his memoir, Revolutionary Suicide, Newton wrote, ‘Not one instructor ever awoke in me a desire to learn more or question or explore the world of literature, science, and history.  All they did was try to rob me of the sense of my own worth, and in the process they nearly killed my urge to inquire.’” [Tolliver, p. 44.]

Yes, death is still all around us.  And we are here because we want to surrender.  We want to bring life.  We want to save those around us.  Save ourselves.  From languishing.  From despair.  From being overcome by death which prevents us from seeing the beauty, the joy, and the delight in this life.  We hear the invitation. Arise.  

We, too, can be bearers of life: 

To a dying democracy, we can say, arise.

To a despairing immigrant, we can say, arise.

To a failing student, we can say, arise.

To a grieving friend, we can say, arise.

To an unemployed neighbor, we can say, arise.

To a drug dependent loved one, we can say, arise.  

To our deeply wounded, despairing planet, we can say, arise.  

To the white supremicist, we can say, arise.

To those addicted to war and violence, we can say, arise.  

To the arrogant and ignorant, we can say, arise.

To those obsessed with self-importance, we can say, arise. 

To those degraded and defeated and demeaned, we can say, arise! 

There are so many deaths around us, and we can embody the power of Divine Love, when we say, arise!

In closing, I invite you to listen to this poem by Lucille Clifton called won’t you celebrate with me:

won’t you celebrate with me

what i have shaped into

a kind of life? i had no model.

born in babylon

both nonwhite and woman

what did i see to be except myself?

i made it up

here on this bridge between

starshine and clay,

my one hand holding tight

my other hand; come celebrate

with me that everyday

something has tried to kill me

and has failed.

Here that once again, 

come celebrate 

with me that everyday

something has tried to kill me 

and has failed.  

Death, where is your power?  Where is your sting?  Friends in Christ, arise!

Amen.

A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
2601 54th Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33712
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga
727-867-7961
lakewooducc.org
lakewooducc@gmail.com

Date: March 30, 2025
Scripture Lesson: Luke 6:46-49
Sermon: Connections: Grounded
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

Why do you call out, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi,’ but don’t put into practice what I teach you?  Those who come to me and hear my words and put them into practice — I’ll show you who they’re like:  they are like the person who, in building a house, dug deeply and laid the foundation on a rock.  When a flood arose, the torrent rushed against the house, but failed to shake it because of its solid foundation.  On the other hand, anyone who has heard my words, but has not put them in to practice, is like the person who built a house on sand, without any foundation. When the torrent rushed upon it, the house immediately collapsed and was completely destroyed.” 

There is a series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith, of Number One Ladies’ Detective Agency fame, that takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland.  It is the 44 Scotland Street series.  In the book The Importance of Being Seven, one of the characters is in the process of buying a new flat; Scot’s speak for apartment.  Matthew has married Elspeth and they are expecting triplets and they decide to buy a bigger apartment on the ground floor instead of their current third floor walk up.  After having his offer accepted on a large apartment in the chic complex, Moray Place, Matthew must have the dwelling assessed by a surveyor.  The person who turns up to do the job is someone Matthew knows and does not like.  Here’s how the inspection goes.  

Matthew and Bruce meet outside the building.  They greet each other.  And then:

“Let’s go in,” said Bruce.  “Let’s go in and see what’s wrong.”  . . . “Let’s ` take a look at this place.”. . .  “Let’s go through here. . . . Hold on, hold on.”

Matthew watched as Bruce looked up at the ceiling.

“Odd space,” said Bruce.  “Usually you find . . .”  

“I think they did some alterations,” said Matthew.  “The lawyer said something about not having had permission.  I thought that it wouldn’t matter too much as we weren’t planning to sell it again in the short term.”

Bruce frowned.  “Hold on. . . Look, you see up there?  There?  Yes.  That’s where a wall used to join the roof.  That’s what they took away.  And it went all the way to where that Chinese thingy is — that cabinet.”

Bruce pointed to the far side of the room where a large Chinese display cabinet reached all the way up from floor to ceiling.

“Yes,” said Matthew.  

Bruce turned to look at him.  He lowered his voice.  “That wall, Matthew, was a supporting wall.  You see — look up there.  You see that bulge in the ceiling?  That’s your proof.”

“A supporting wall?”

“Yes,” said Bruce.  “And you know what a supporting wall does?  It supports.  And you know what happens when you take away a supporting wall?  You have no support.”

“But if that were the case,” said Matthew, “then wouldn’t the ceiling have come down?”  Bruce nodded.  “It should have.  But you see that cabinet over there?  That, I think is holding up the ceiling.  Move that and the whole thing comes down.”  

Matthew stared at Bruce in horror.

“And here’s something else,” said Bruce.  “If the ceiling comes down, then that could bring down the ceiling above it, and so on — all the way to the top flat and the roof.  And if that happened, then the flats next door could lose vital support and come down as well.  So the whole of Moray Place could fall over like a house of cards.”  

“Oh,” said Matthew.

“So the fact of the matter,” Bruce said, relishing his newly found Jeremiah role, “the fact of the matter is that all of Moray Place is probably being supported by one Chinese cabinet.  Quite a thought, that!”

“So what do we do?”  asked Matthew.

Bruce smiled.  ”Don’t move the Chinese cabinet.”  

[Alexander McCall Smith, The Importance of Being Seven, large print, pp. 363, 365-367.]

Ah, an unstable situation caused by the bad judgment of people choosing expedience and expense over wisdom.   We know about that.  And they did in Jesus’ day as well.

Jesus saw this again and again.  The teaching we heard this morning comes at the end of the Sermon on the Plain in Luke.  Jesus has offered his most important teachings.  Laid them out.  Given a direct account of the Word and ways of God.  Shared with people the basics for a good life.  For a community that is intended to thrive and flourish.  And his followers are still chasing after him, pleading, Rabbi, Rabbi!  Like, what do we do?  Like, we’re having trouble.  Like, we need your help.  Like, the sky is falling.  

We know this reality.  We, too, have been given all we need to live lives of purpose, meaning, peace, and compassion.  And yet, look at the state of things in our country and our world.  

If there is anyone that can relate to the image used in the gospel of a house built on the sand versus a house built on the rock, it is we the people of Florida.  We live in a state that is essentially a sandbar atop porous limestone.  Not a very firm foundation for building.  In Luke, there is reference to the threat of flood waters.  We KNOW about that.  In Matthew, the same image includes mention of not only flooding but wind and rain as well.  Oh, yes.  This teaching was meant for Floridians.  We know the risks of unstable building practices.  What about Surfside in Miami?  And we know the perilous power of wind, and rain, and floods.  We know how things can be washed away in a storm.  Our homes.  Our belongings.  Our dreams?  

And we know first hand how rights can be washed away in a political storm.  And how healthcare can be swept away.  And how sound educational practices and books can be whisked away in a bluster of fear.  

We see in our state, our country, and the world, the sweeping power of greed for money.  We see the damage caused by greed for power.  We see the devastation wrought by lies.  Our happiness ranking is falling in the world.  We who are promised life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in our Constitution.  We see division and discord each day.  We know that things are not right.  And lives are at stake.

And there are still people, in this very state, after all of the weather cataclysms recently and the billions of dollars in damages, who say, it was a one hundred year anomaly.  That will never happen again.  Ah, no.  It’s actually human induced climate change.  And if you think pursuing sustainability is expensive and inconvenient, look at the bills for the storms, floods, and fires.  There is NO comparison.  There is only intractability.  And blindness.  And greed.  We are not standing on solid ground.  We are not building a future on solid ground.  Our cities and communities along the coast of Florida are like sandcastles on the beach.   And we just keep building more.  If only it were as easy as – Don’t move the Chinese cabinet.  It’s all falling down.  Around us.  Literally.  Add to climate destruction the devastation to society and culture.  

 We can well image those followers of Jesus, pleading, Rabbi, Rabbi.  Save us!  Help us!  It’s all going down.  And what does he say?  I have saved you.  I have helped you.  I have given you all the teachings you need to thrive.  The Sermon on the Plain, like the Sermon on the Mount, basically says it all.  Who is your model?  Jesus.  Follow him.  Emulate him.  Tend to your own faults before worrying about the faults of others.  Have a good heart.  A good heart bears good fruit.  Bless the poor.  Warn the rich.  Love your enemies.  Love generously.  Be nonjudgmental with others.  There is no place for smug superiority.  Dig deeply.  Lay the foundation of your life in the word of God, the teachings of Love.  

You see, it has been all laid out for us.  We have been told all that we need to know to build our lives on a stable foundation.  A foundation that nothing can shake.  All it takes is hearing Jesus’ words and PUTTING THEM INTO PRACTICE. 

The putting them into practice part must be the challenge because there are numerous places in the writings of the New Testament where there is an emphasis on doing not just hearing Jesus’ teachings.  So, already, the people who actually heard the first century Jesus were struggling with this.  Jesus is aware of the inherent nature of humanity, and still we are called into relationship with God.  Maybe because of our inherent nature, Jesus makes the plea to us to listen to and follow the word of God.  

Here is a story of someone who did choose to follow the word of God; the teachings of Jesus:

During World War II a German widow hid Jewish refugees in her home.  As her friends discovered the situation, they became extremely alarmed.

“You are risking your own well-being,” they told her. 

“I know that,” she said.

“Then why,” they demanded, “do you persist in this foolishness?”

Her answer was stark and to the point:  “I am doing it,” she said, “because the time is now and I am here.”

[This story is in 25 Windows into the Soul:  Praying with the Psalms, from the writings of Joan Chittister, p. 338.]

It is not always easy to follow Jesus.  It can require boldness and courage.  Yes, times are challenging for us, and we know the teachings of Jesus.  So, we can take encouragement from the wisdom of the 16th century saint, Ignatius of Loyola, who said, “In times of desolation you should never make a change, but stand firm in the resolutions and decisions that guided you the day before the desolation.”  Our deep foundation, laid upon the rock of the word of God spoken through Jesus will see us through.  We are facing so many challenges and desolations today.  Yes, we have been given all that we need to be agents of good, of love, of compassion, of justice.  We have been given all that we need to create a society with engaging education, a fair and just economy, a culture of compassion, with thriving arts and recreation, and readily available healthcare for all.  And, we have been given all that we need to tend to the health of our dear mother, Earth.  

Our spiritual teachings tell us to have reverence for all life.  We are told of the earth as a precious gift given to us that we must cherish and care for so that it can continue to sustain us.  We have been given the knowledge to stop global warming with its increasing storms, rains, winds, and fires.  We know what we need to know.  It has all been given to us.  Including the wisdom to see what the consequences are of ignoring the teachings we have been given.  The basis of the word of God is reverence for God, creation, and each other.  All sacred.  Let us not be afraid to dig deep.  To build on the rock of the gospel of Jesus.  To live grounded in the ways of Divine Love.  Amen.

A reasonable effort has been made to appropriately cite materials referenced in this sermon. For additional information, please contact Lakewood United Church of Christ.