Author: Rev. Wells

Pastor of Lakewood United Church of Christ since 1991. Graduate of Wellesley College and Union Theological Seminary of New York.

Sermon text: “Connections: Heart Health” 3.23.25

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 23, 2025
Scripture Lesson: Luke 6:43-45
Sermon: Connections: Heart Health
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

I want to tell you about something that happened to Jeff, my husband, in April of 2020.  Take a moment to remember back to that time.  We had a church service on March 15.  After church we had a meeting.  We sat in a circle and we discussed what was going on with the corona virus.  We shared our knowledge and tried to figure out what was best for the church in light of the unfolding health crisis.  We decided to stay on top of things and respond accordingly.  We fully expected to gather for church the next Sunday.  Later in the week, it was clear that we could no longer hold church services safely.  And we did not have church again until the first Sunday of November, All Saints Day.  We had that first in person service in 8 months outside by the Memorial Garden.  None of us could have predicted what we would be going through.  

In the midst of this, in the last week of April, Jeff had 3 health episodes within a few days.  He didn’t mention this to me until Wednesday.  He had been talking to his sister about it, she is a doctor in Cincinnati.  She was managing the Covid situation for the University of Cincinatti.  She told Jeff to get an oximeter and measure his oxygen level to determine if he had covid.  There were no vaccines yet.  He told me about his episodes and I asked if he had looked up the symptoms of a heart attack.  He had never had one but he was taking medication for high blood pressure.  The next day, Thursday, I asked him again about the heart attack symptoms.  He was still on the covid trail.  I looked up the symptoms and I told him about it.  This sounded like what he had experienced several times that week.  That Thursday he finally called his doctor.  And left a message.  By Friday morning, there was no call back.  He said, How long should I wait to hear before trying to call the doctor again.  I said, 10:00.  Just before 10, the doctor called.  She listened as Jeff described his situation.  She told him that he was to go to St. Anthony’s Hospital immediately.  And if cost wasn’t a factor, she would recommend calling an ambulance.  Well, with Jeff, cost is always a factor, so I took him to St. Anthony’s.  He thought he was going in for some tests.  A checkup.  I suggested maybe he should take his phone charging cord, a toothbrush, something to read.  His pills.  Some clean underwear.  Maybe they would be keeping him overnight.  This had not occurred to him.  So, he packed a few things and off we went.  When we got to the hospital, I had to drop him off at the door.  I could not go in – because of covid.  So, we said our good byes.  Later that day, he called me to say it was determined that he had had at least 2 heart attacks that week.  Maybe more.  And they were going to do emergency surgery and put in a stint.  He would be in the hospital for several days.  After the surgery, the doctor called me to report that all had gone well.  The idea that Jeff had several heart attacks floored us both.  Heart attacks?  Where did that come from?  To us it was completely unexpected.  Out of the blue.  Shocking.  Clearly, we did not know the state of Jeff’s [physical] heart health.

And this speaks to the teaching we heard today associated with Jesus.  Good people have good stored up in their hearts.  People who do evil have evil stored up in their hearts.  So, what do we have going on in our hearts?  They are the source of our identity, our character, our actions and behavior.  What is going on in our hearts?   What are we storing?  Do we even know???

It is hard to say.  It seems that many around us are completely unaware of what they are doing and how it effects others.  Consumer capitalism keeps us obsessed with getting the newest, the fastest, the sleekest, the latest.  Ads continually popping up in our news feeds and our email and our internet searches.  Always trying to sell us something; something we probably don’t need.  And reminding us of what we don’t have.  All the while many are just trying to stay afloat working several jobs and still there is “too much month at the end of the money.”  [Toby Keith]

Tangled in all of this debris, do we even know the state of our hearts?  What are we filled with?  What moves us?  

Some of us heard Matthew Fox speak on Friday evening.  He said, “There are two kinds of people.  There are people who are grieving.  And people who don’t know they are grieving.”  What do we know about the state of our hearts?

Jeff didn’t know he was headed for a heart attack.  Sometimes we just don’t know.  Then something traumatic, dramatic, or cataclysmic happens, and we are lurched awake.  We become aware.  

The heart connects us to ourselves, to each other, to what is beyond us, to God, the sacred.  Our hearts tell us who we are.  They determine our choices and behavior and what fruit we bear, whether we know it or not.  One way to tune into what is in our hearts is to pay attention to what makes us cry. What brings tears to our eyes. And what makes us laugh?  What fills us with delight.  Lent is a season to pay attention and to become more aware of the state of our hearts.  

One of Frida Kahlo’s most famous paintings is Two Fridas.  In the painting by the Mexican artist of the 20th century, there are two images of the artist, Frida Kahlo.  The one on the left portrays a Frida dressed in a white lace blouse with a high neck.  This is something that would be worn by a fiancée of her station in Mexico.  Status was conveyed by emulating European style.  Frida’s father was from Germany.

The Frida on the right is wearing traditional Tehuana dress.  It is the clothing of indigenous Mexicans.  Frida was known for identifying with the indigenous people.  Her mother was Mexican.

Each Frida in the painting has half of a heart and the two hearts are attached by a blood vessel.  The two Fridas are holding hands.  They represent two parts of Frida’s identity.  They are both part of her heart.  Who she is.  They are both important to her identity.  

There is another blood vessel in the painting that circles a picture one Frida holds in her hand.  It is a picture of her beloved Diego Rivera as a child.  A picture she actually owned.  Through the blood vessel her heart extends to Diego and encompasses him.  Her friend.  Her lover.  Her husband.  Her life.   There is also a blood vessel that is severed, dripping onto the white dress of one Frida, the bleeding staunched by clamps.  The heart is also a source of pain.  

And in the background, there is a stormy sky.  It conveys turbulence.  Distress.  Sadness. Emotional anguish.  Yes, when Frida did this painting, she was extremely distressed.  She had come to know that her husband, Diego, was having a long term, intense affair with her sister, Cristina.  And Diego had asked Frida for a divorce.  They were divorced.  And later remarried.  In a letter to Diego during this time, she declared, “. . . at bottom you and I love each other very much, and even if we go through countless affaires, splintered doors, insults and international claims, we shall always love each other. . . . All these things have happened and happened again for the seven years we’ve lived together and all of the rages I’ve gone into have only led me to understand better that I love you more than my own skin. . .”  [Frida Kahlo 1907.2007, p. 202.]   Yes, Frida knew her heart.  She portrays the intensity and reality of her heart in Two Fridas with glaring, gorgeous honesty.  

So how well do we know our hearts?  If we are to follow Jesus, our hearts are to be filled with goodness and love.  This is what is needed to bear good fruit.  To live in a way that is pleasing to God and helpful to others.  The implication from Jesus is that God seeks to fill our hearts with good.  We are to be like Jesus.  With hearts fulled with compassion and goodness and love.  Are our hearts filled with good?  Or have we let evil creep in?  While most of the time we are not people of evil intent, maybe we should say, are our hearts filled with good or not good?  Is there dissipation?  Apathy?  Selfishness?  Greed?  Misunderstanding?

Do we know our hearts?  It isn’t easy with the distractions of TV, social media, alarmist news, and scraping to get by day to day.  

If our heart is good, we will bear good fruit.  That can help us to assess the situation with our hearts.  Are we letting all the good in from God?  And then letting it out as good fruit?  Like blood going into the heart and back out again to serve the needs of the body.   

It turns out there is a fruit that is good for the heart.  The strawberry; a fruit that looks like a heart and is actually good for your physical heart.   Eating two servings of strawberries a day can reduce the risk of heart attacks.  It can lower blood pressure.  It can improve cholesterol.  And reduce inflammation.  The strawberry is also good for the gut and for cognition.  So, this delicious fruit, grown right here in Florida, is good for the heart.  

Are our hearts in good shape?  We can think about the food we eat.  Are we eating strawberries?  But as Jesus suggests, we must look not only at the fruit we are eating but also at the fruit we are bearing.  Is it good fruit?  Lent is a time to pay attention.  To be aware.  To be in touch with our hearts.  And to come to know our hearts by the fruit that we are producing.  

Now, speaking of fruit, we are going to turn to a beautiful prayer about the strawberry that comes from the Seneca, native people of this land.  They lived south of Lake Ontario in what we now call New York state.   

Before you listen to this prayer, we will give you a strawberry to help focus your reflection.  And at the appropriate time, you are encouraged to eat the strawberry.  

[Strawberries are distributed.]

The Sacred Berry                                   Seneca oral tradition, recorded by Jose Hobday

Oh sweet gift to the Seneca, I admire you.  You are shaped like the heart to remind us that we are to live by the heart.

Your flesh is red, to tell us our hearts should be moist with blood,

never dry and brown and crackly.

We study the seeds on the outside.  They are many, to teach us that there are many ways in the world to believe, to understand life.  All are worthy of respect.

We finger the leaves, so we keep in mind that you must always stay connected to Mother Earth and appreciate her gifts.

Now, we eat this beautiful strawberry from the bottom up, 

relishing the sweet taste.  For the last bite we eat berry and leaf together to help us remember life holds bitter tastes with sweet.  For all, we keep a thankful heart. 

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

Sermon text: “Connections:  Following Our Leader” 3.16.25

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 16, 2025   
Scripture Lesson: Luke 6:39-42
Sermon:  Connections:  Following Our Leader
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

Jeff and I like to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain.  And people wonder how we know where we are going.  Walking through unfamiliar territory for hundreds of miles. Well, we follow the signs.  Scallop shells posted everywhere. But when the way seems ambiguous for some reason, which does happen, I wait to see where someone else is going.  Then I follow.  One time my brother, Mark, and husband, Jeff, left ahead of me in the morning.  When I left, I went down the correct road.  Then I knew I needed to make a right turn.  I came to the place I thought I should turn.  But I wasn’t sure.  Some people were coming toward me on the main road.  I waited to see if they would turn.  Then I looked closer.  It was Jeff and Mark. Why were they coming from the opposite direction?  And they were closely followed by two Canadian women we had met the day before.  Well, apparently Jeff and Mark missed the turn, where I was waiting to see if others turned.  They walked on.  When they met up with the Canadians, they got things straightened out.  When the Canadian women saw me, they said, “We fetched them for you.”  And I said, “Many thanks!”

We really need to be aware of where we are going and who we are following and where that will lead.  And this extends in our world of connection from people in the flesh to social media.  Who are you following on your social media accounts?  Are the people or organizations you are following  leading you to somewhere you want to go?  Is the information being disseminated accurate?  Helpful?  What kind of influence are you letting those you follow have over you?  Yes, this can be media, but it can also be mentors, friends, historical figures.  Our son had an obsession with Stalin for several years.  Stalin?  Is that someone you want to follow?  A tyrant responsible for the deaths of thousands or was it millions?  

This may seem benign but people can be highly influenced and get into the clutches of those who do not have the best intentions.  This could be some kind of financial scam.  Investing in something that promises great dividends but turns out to be only taking your money and not giving anything in return. This could be involvement with an organization that seems to be doing good but is really involved in something like human trafficking.  This could involve a relationship online that turns into an in person relationship that is abusive or worse.  

Maybe now more than ever, we need to be careful about who we are following and what influence we are giving them in our lives. 

Many years ago someone from the church got involved in a group on line that was about male identity and family responsibility.   It seemed like it was about building strong families.  But there was a subversive agenda.  It turned out to be about male superiority and domination of women.  The man involved started getting dictatorial toward his wife and trying to limit her freedom.  The marriage ended in divorce.  Because of who the husband started following online.  

It is very important to be aware of who we are following.  Who we are giving power to in our lives.  Are we letting ourselves be led by someone who is blind?  OR worse, someone devious and deceptive?  Someone with ill intentions who is devoted to doing harm but making it look like good?

Who are we following?  What are we connected to?  This is a question that Jesus addressed.  Make sure you choose a teacher worthy of your devotion.  A teacher in sync with the purposes of God.  A teacher devoted to love.  Other-centered love.  Not someone who is self aggrandizing or sycophantic.  A self promoter.  A user.  

And let’s be honest, people in the religion business are infamous for abusing power and trust.  It was no different in Jesus’ day.  Religion is a prime domain for people getting other people to do what they want.  There are so many aspects of religion that lend themselves to manipulation – the threat of hell, the promise of heaven, retribution, connection to otherworldly power, the promise of miracles or the threat of cataclysms.  Oh, yes, religion is rife with tools that can be used for manipulation.

Here’s one of my litmus tests when it comes to those who profess to being leaders in the Christian church.  Do they seem rich?  Are they driving a fancy car?  Wearing expensive clothes?  Eating at pricey restaurants?  Living in a big house? That kind of thing.  If they are, I am suspect.  Because Jesus was poor.  If you are following Jesus, if he is your teacher, you are not headed to an opulent lifestyle.  And where is all that money coming from?  Parishioners?  If so, it should be used to help people in need.  

Jesus warns us to pay attention to who we are following, especially when it comes to religion.  He had plenty to say about the religious leaders of his day.  In fact, the only scathing remarks that are associated with Jesus are about religious authorities  because they are supposed to be working to implement the realm of God not using their position for personal gain.  

So, who are we following?  Who are we connected to?  Who do we give authority in our lives?  Celebrities?  Sports figures?  Politicians?  While I am likely to look at the money side of things to assess integrity and purpose, there are other gauges to pay attention to.  We heard of another integrity factor in the lesson read today:  judgement.  Those who follow Jesus are to be nonjudgmental.  Worry about the log in your own eye not the speck in someone else’s. 

Now, ask a random person on the street and the general impression is that Christians are known for being judgmental.  And this is not just fallout from the Salem witch trials.  This comes from current behavior.  Christians are known for holding up a high moral standard and condemning those who do not live up to that.  Even when they themselves do not live up to that standard.  Oh, but they are forgiven because they have been washed in the blood of Jesus.

But what do we hear from Jesus about judgment?  The teaching is clear.  Do not judge.  Do not judge people.  Do not condemn people.  Judge the evil or morality of behavior, but do not judge the person.  Do not look for fault in another.  Instead, look for the fault in yourself and resolve that.  Worry about yourself and your behavior.  Look at how you are following your teacher and living up to the call of the gospel.  Don’t impose judgment on others.

Again and again in the gospels, we see Jesus extending the unconditional, universal love of God.  He doesn’t condemn people.  Rail at them.  Decry and abuse them verbally for their transgressions.  Even those responsible for his crucifixion.  Even those who betray and desert him.  He forgives.  He heals.  He comforts.  He restores.  He has compassion.  He invites people to follow him.  Not to be punished.  But to follow him on the path of life – full, abundant, free.  Not controlled and manipulated by others.  But a path of Love not condemnation.

Yes, we must assess our own actions.  And judge their conformity with the gospel of Love.  We must judge ourselves by a high standard of morality.  We are to judge our own behavior.   But we are to renounce judging, condemnation, resentment, and especially violence and hostility toward others, whoever they are, whatever they have done. This is what our teacher, Jesus, shows us.  Compassion and understanding toward others.  As God has for us.  This is what Jesus models to those who are following him. 

So often in the world around us we see judgment.  Criticism.  And condemnation.  Scathing, in the political realm, at least.  It is horrible.  Who are they following?  Certainly not Jesus.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  We actually can treat each other with dignity and respect.  We can conduct ourselves in ways that honor our deeply held commitments without condemning those who may not agree with us.  

I recently heard a story on the radio last week about a woman in the Boston area who was concerned about global warming.  She decided that she wanted to heat her house with geothermal energy instead of the commonly available natural gas to help reduce her energy footprint.  When she looked into the particulars she found out that geothermal heating for her house would cost upwards of $40,000 which was prohibitive for her.   She ended up working with a a group of women, Mothers Out Front, who are concerned about climate change.  They studied the geothermal issue and decided that they wanted to get the local natural gas company to offer geothermal energy to homes in the Framingham, Massachusetts area. 

The Mothers Out Front group arranged a meeting with the gas company. The gas company had no idea what to expect.  They not only had lawyers at the meeting but bodyguards as well. They were ready to be attacked – verbally and literally.

The Christian Science Monitor tells us of the beginning of the meeting:

But as the meeting started, Zeyneb Magavi and each of the other mothers calmly explained their passion to Mr. Akley, the president of gas operations at Eversource Energy: “I have three kids,” Ms. Magavi said.   “I’m worried about climate change.   And I’m worried about their future.”   When the women finished, there was a pause.  Mr. Akley broke the silence.  “I have three kids, too. I’m worried about climate change. And I am also worried about their future.”

“That was our little sliver of common ground that we started to grow,” recalls Ms. Magavi. 

[https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2024/0828/geothermal-energy-renewable-power-utilities]

The gas company has since installed an experimental geothermal service in Framingham and it is being explored for use in other areas as well.

Notice, the mothers did not attack the gas company.  They did not condemn the executives.  They did not judge and vilify them for continuing to use natural gas despite the high methane content involved and the severe contribution that makes to global warming.  Instead, they shared their concerns for their children and the future.  And they found common ground.

Jesus is our teacher.  And instead of condemning other people, he teaches us to LOVE others.  To treat people with dignity and respect.  To find our connection and our common ground instead of creating division and rancor through judgment that is often hypocritical.  

May we open our eyes, our own eyes, and may we see who we are really following.  And the path of abundant life that Jesus offers.  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.

Sermon text 2.23.25 “Faith Is Absurd” (resend)

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: February 23, 2025  
Scripture Lesson:  Luke 6:27-36
Sermon:  Faith Is Absurd
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

Love your enemies.
Do good to those who hate you. 
Bless those who curse you.
Pray for those who abuse you.
Turn the other cheek.
If someone takes your coat give them your shirt also.
Give to everyone who begs from you.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting NOTHING in return. 

Do not judge or condemn.  Forgive.     [See Luke 6: 27-36]

Do we hear this?  This is a radical shift from the common wisdom of the society and culture around us – it was in Jesus’ day and it may be even more so today.  This is a call to ending complicity with a culture of violence and injustice and intolerance, economic and social.  The gospel is a call to engaging in a completely different kind of living in which you let go of resentments and grudges and you don’t seek revenge.  Where you seek to understand and help those who harm you.  You, as an individual.  You, as a community.  You, as a country and a people.  The form of the word ‘you’ in the verses we heard today is plural.  So, this admonition is not just for the individual but for the community, the society.  This is a call to ending self-obsession and narcissism and greed.  It is a call to other-centered living.  This is a call to wild compassion, generosity, and love expressed in community.

These are core teachings of Jesus.  Perhaps among the best known. The foundation of the gospel. The basis for morality in the reality of God.  Yet, let’s be honest.  These teachings are, well, absurd. 

Other spiritual paths have the moral dictate ‘do no harm.’   Well, that in and of itself is a challenge.  But Jesus does not stop at the already almost inconceivable declamation, do no harm.  No.  Jesus goes even further.  Do good.  And do good to those who hate and revile you.  And let’s remember that in the first century there were plenty of people, Roman and Jewish alike, who reviled the followers of Jesus; who were persecuting the followers of Jesus; who were doing physical, social, and economic harm to the followers of Jesus.  So these words that we heard from Luke are not ‘theoretical.’  They are given to people who were actually very much experiencing harm at the hands of those around them for their devotion to Jesus. 

And Jesus does not just say, do no harm.  Don’t hit back.  No.  He says, turn the other cheek.  Let them hit you again, if they will.  Help these people.  Give to them.  More than they ask for.  Forgive them.  Don’t judge them.  Don’t become consumed with hatred or fear of those who hate you.  And for heaven’s sake, don’t use violence, force, to solve your problems or take revenge.

Jesus teaches us to do not just the easy good.  Like a buck to the guy panhandling at the end of the exit ramp.  But give to those who have wronged us.  And not just giving away something ‘extra.’  Remember John the Baptizer saying, if you have two coats, give one away.  Jesus says, if someone takes your coat, give them your shirt, too.  Give away your own necessities.  In our time, that may not be clothes.  It may not even be money.  It may be time.  Take the time to help others despite all you think you have to do and should be doing.  If someone asks for an hour, give them a day.  

With Jesus, it is not just about do no harm, difficult as that is.  But it is do the good.  Do more.  Go further. 

Why?  Why would Jesus ask this of his followers?  We are told in the verses we heard this morning.  Because you are ‘children of the most High:  For God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.  Be merciful, just as God is merciful.”  There it is.   This is the nature of God.  To do good for all.  No matter what we have done.  This is what God is like – giving us more than we could ask for or imagine.  Providing for us.  Loving us unconditionally.  Showing us infinite mercy.  So this is to be the character of our nature as well because we are created in the Divine image. 

The teachings of Jesus completely shatter other images of God as a God that is violent, hateful, mean, angry, punishing, and war-like.  These are images of God that are used to justify human behavior mirroring these traits.  Jesus presents us with a template for a God that is merciful, kind, generous, forgiving, non violent, and compassionate.

 And we are created in the image of that God.  So, to be fully ourselves, to be true to ourselves, to experience our highest freedom without constraint, we are to emulate the character of God.  Jesus is calling us to our highest good.  Our deepest joy. 

There was a very beautiful story in the New York Times last week about an evangelical pastor whose brother and then son come out as gay.  This upends the pastor’s faith, life, job.  Everything that has made him who he is.  In 2013 before he knows that his son is gay, he writes in his journal,  “I think down deep, I hate homosexuality.  I hate it more than just about anything else in the world.  I hate it because it seems sometimes to be stronger than you, God.  Yes, that’s what I said.  It seems that way.  I am sure there is plenty of good in the gay community, but my experience tells me otherwise — I see the isolation, the craving, the insecurity.  Father, you have to spare Timothy [his son] from that.  You have to.”  [This quote and the ones to come are from “How My Dad Reconciled His God and His Gay Son,” by Timothy White, The New York Times, 2/16/25.]

The son, Timothy comes out 2 years later in 2015. The pastor starts to explore his theology and faith around inclusion.  He considers the authority of the Bible and the church as he knows it.  He questions the foundation he has built his faith and his life on.  And as his foundation begins to crumble, he notes in his journal, “Life and morality and God and religion were a lot clearer then than it is now.  And yet the strange thing is that I’ve never felt closer to Jesus — more intimate, more interested, more willing to sacrifice for him, and more free to be a Christian.” 

There is it.  The freedom.  Jesus wants us to be free to fully express the good that is within us with no restrictions or constraints. 

The pastor writes a letter to the governing body of his denomination telling about what his church is going through and their exploration of welcoming and including LGBTQ people into the church.  He says:  “Let me put it very plainly; I don’t think City Church Long Beach will be here in a year if we don’t live into the mission God has called us to.  If we turn away the people he is bringing to us, our Sunday service will shrink and die.  On top of that, if we can’t live into our convictions, our very souls will shrink and die.  We will close our doors and shut down our hearts.” 

This is what Jesus is trying to stop when he teaches:  Love your enemy.  Do good to those who hate you.  Give and give and forgive.  Asking nothing in return.  Do not condemn.  Do not judge.  It seems too much.  Scary.  Beyond our capacity.

Certainly Timothy’s father found the journey to acceptance of his son and a transformation of his theology and world view threatening and scary.  And yet as things resolve, he comments in his journal, “I entered this journey unwillingly, but as it draws to a close for me I find myself flooded with gratitude.  I’m grateful to God loving me along the way, changing me along the way.  And although it’s uncomfortable, I am grateful for the call to become radically welcoming — not just of those with whom I agree but welcoming of those with whom I disagree.” 

Let’s be honest, our country, our communities, our families are fraught with disagreement at this time.  There is severe polarization.  Last night we went to another high brow event with our friends that administer an endowment for the arts.  We were part of a table of eight at a gala.  Our friends let us know, ahead of time, that one couple at the table did not share our political views.  We were being warned so that we could behave accordingly.  I told our friends, don’t worry, we’re ok with that.  We’re Christians after all.  We’re the ones who are supposed to be understanding and kind in our dealings with others, whoever those others may be. 

I saw this same generosity of spirit from a neighbor recently.  Her political leanings are different than mine.  I was talking with another neighbor who shares my views.  The other neighbor came up to join in the conversation.  We told her we were discussing politics.  She responded, “Then I’ll listen.”  She is a devoted church goer.  Again, she is being very Christian about the whole thing.  And we need more of that.

True freedom.  To be good.  To be nonjudgmental.  To be loving and kind.  Because that is who we fundamentally are as creatures created in the image of God.  We are free to be generous and loving.  To everyone.  Not just the people like us.  This is true freedom.

It is not the freedom to stand your ground and kill someone.  It is not the freedom to own a gun.  Or to lower the taxes on guns so that more people can buy them.  That is not freedom.  Christian freedom is not the freedom to kill a killer, even if it is legal. 


Jesus challenges his followers, the church, to embody the true ways and spirit of Divine Love.  To seek peace.  And reconciliation.  To give more than we are being asked for especially to those who are regarded as less than.  We are to conduct ourselves with grace and generosity and good will toward all. 

This description of the nature of the way of Jesus is so far from much of what we see in the church in this country.  So much of Christianity today is self-centered, not other-centered.  It is focussed on receiving blessings not giving blessings to others.  It promotes amassing wealth and comfort instead of meeting the needs of others.  Much of the church in America today is about giving a God-veneer to consumer capitalism, sexism, racism, and ethnocentrism.  Jesus invites us to be free of all of that.  To live unencumbered by hatred or malice or greed.

And, the church also readily accepts and promotes violence – encouraging armed conflict, military service, promoting gun ownership, even hiring armed guards as security for church services, supporting the death penalty.  This is all completely contrary to the way of Jesus.  We are to love all of our enemies, all those who consider us enemy, all those who would do us harm.  Love them not just in our hearts, but by helping them, listening to their stories, honoring their experience and their humanity.  Certainly we are not to mistreat or inflict violence upon another.  I love the story about the church in California where a shooter appeared on Sunday morning and some church members tackled him and tied him up with an extension cord.  They restrained him.  For safety reasons.  Someone did not whip out a gun and shoot him. 

The way of Jesus puts us completely out of step with the society around us.  Jesus tells his listeners that if they follow him they will be hated, reviled, excluded and defamed.  This goes for Christians today.  If we were really taking the Sermon on the Plain seriously, there’d be fallout.

Oh, we can’t invite her to the Met Gala.  She’s a Christian.  She won’t wear an obscenely expensive designer outfit.  Oh, he’s a Christian.  We can’t accept him in the police academy because he won’t fire a gun at a criminal and that might put the lives of colleagues in danger.  Oh, she’s Christian, we can’t have her as a diplomat because she will try to help all the countries even those that hate us instead of just helping our allies.  We can’t hire him to work on this political campaign because he’s a Christian.  He won’t design ads that smear the other candidate. 

I mean there are all kinds of ramifications that go with actually following the teachings of Jesus that we heard today.  You could lose your job, for instance, even if you are a pastor. 

Some 6 years after his decrying of homosexuality, Bill White, the pastor whose son was gay, entered this in his journal: “As Katy [his wife] prayed last night she thanked you for the remarkable gift of Timothy coming out — and how we thought it was the end, but it was only the beginning of a full, true, vibrant life in Christ.  Father, thank you that you created our son gay.  Forgive me for how poorly I received that gift.”  Maybe next Pastor Bill White will be led to examine patriarchy and male imagery for God!

The teachings of Jesus were absurd in the first century.  And they may be seen as even more absurd now.  But they are life-giving.  And when we water them down, we negate our reason for being as a church.  And we deny the gift we are being given and that the church has to give the world.

We close with a story from a monk of the 13th century and how he navigated the waters of the extreme teachings of Jesus and the watered down version endorsed by his monastery.  Apparently, Brother Juniper, a companion of Francis of Assisi, was notorious for constantly giving his possessions away, including his clothes.  Remember the verse, if someone asks for your coat, give them your shirt as well?  Well, Brother Juniper took Jesus at his word.  But his superior in the monastery was not happy about all the clothes and other things that were being given away.  At one point Brother Juniper was ordered by his superior not to give away his coat to beggars anymore.  Shortly after that order, he met someone in need who asked for some clothing.  Apparently, Brother Juniper is remembered for responding:  “My superior has told me under obedience not to give my clothing to anyone.  But if you pull it off my back, I certainly will not prevent you.”  Francis is said to have joked that he wished for a forest of Junipers!  [This story is in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Enuma Okoro, p. 278.]

May we not be afraid or selfish when it comes to the power of love within us.  May we be open to being transformed.  May we transform the world.  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.