Posts – Page 133 – Lakewood United Church of Christ

Rev. Wells Supports the ‘Whispering Pines’ Housing Project at the St. Petersburg City Council Meeting

The plot of land next to the church was purchased by Boley for use as the site of a housing development for those who are vulnerable and in need of shelter. There will be 20 units in the community. In light of delays related to covid and increased costs, Boley approached the City Council asking for an additional $760,000 to fully fund the project. Rev. Wells was asked by Boley to speak to the City Council at their meeting on Thursday Feb. 17 in favor of the funding. This is what she said:

Good afternoon. I am Rev. Kim Wells, pastor of Lakewood United Church of Christ which is next door to the property acquired by Boley for Whispering Pines.

We are a Christian church. A consistent message in our faith tradition is the dictate to work to eliminate poverty, need, and want in society. We are committed to ministering to ‘the least of these.’

Our church has responded to this call in various ways. We support Operation Attack providing assistance to families in need. We have been involved in Family Promise helping families secure housing. We had about 30 houseless people stay at our church for a month several years ago. We have a partnership with Maximo Elementary School to assist their unhoused students. And we routinely have people in need come to the church for help and we provide assistance as we are able.

So, when we heard about the Boley initiative, we were thrilled.

But we don’t expect the City Council of St. Petersburg to follow the teachings of our faith tradition. You are the government not a faith-based organization.

So, having personally worked with people without housing, here’s what I feel you need to consider.

The struggles associated with home insecurity divert and distract people from being constructively involved in the community. Housing issues impact the capacity to work in a reliable and consistent manner. Housing instability impacts children getting to school and succeeding academically. Housing insecurity contributes to health problems that stress the healthcare system. There are many negative consequences to the community when people don’t have stable, secure housing. A person with a safe place to live then has the capacity to be a responsible, constructive, contributing member of the community.

The Whispering Pines community will have a significant positive impact not only on the new residents but it will have an important positive impact on the community as a whole and it will benefit us all.

When Boley leaders met with our church to introduce the Whispering Pines development, we were told that there would be a substantial fence erected on the property line between the church and the housing development. We made one request: Please put a big gate in that fence.

We implore you, the City Council, to vote to fully fund the Whispering Pines community. It is a much needed improvement not only for those who will reside there but for the community and the city as a whole. Thank you!

The City Council voted unanimously to fully fund Whispering Pines.

Sermon 2/20/2022

Date: Feb. 20, 2022
Scripture Lessons: Genesis 45:1-15, Luke 6:27-38
Sermon: Set back. Set right.
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

Earlier this month I read about a man in Oregon who accidentally shot his brother while loading a gun to try to defend himself against a bear in his yard. After killing his brother, he called 911 and reported what had happened. When the police arrived they found the brother, dead. They also found the other brother dead from a self- inflicted gunshot wound. Evidently when the man saw that he had killed his brother, he turned the gun on himself and took his own life as well. It seems he simply could not see how he could go on living after what had happened.
[ https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-man-confronting-bear-accidentally-kills-brother-82806693 ].
What a heart-breaking tragedy.

And what about those brothers in the story of Joseph? Yes, he was the annoying younger brother. Daddy’s pet. They were determined to do away with him. So they put him in a pit. Then they sold him into slavery. And told the father he was dead. Eaten by a wild animal. That was the end of that. Until many years later, in their desperation during a time of famine, they unexpectedly find their brother, and he has the power that controls their survival. Of course they have nothing to say, at first. They are asking the brother they wanted to kill to save their lives. What can be said? How to go on after something so heinous?

And then there is slavery in this country and what it has done to the people who were directly involved and their descendants, and to the country as a whole, and to all of us still today. One person owning another person. A system in which people have no freedom and are completely controlled by other people who own them. Who see them as property, to be used, like a tool or a machine. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gives a moving description of the ravages of slavery: “For years the Negro has been taught that he is nobody, that his color is a sign of his biological depravity, that his being has been stamped with an indelible imprint of inferiority, that his whole history has been soiled with the filth of worthlessness. All too few people realize how slavery and racial segregation have scarred the soul and wounded the spirit of the black man. The whole dirty business of slavery was based on the premise that the Negro was a thing to be used, not a person to be respected.” [The Radical King: Martin Luther King, Jr., edited and introduced by Cornel West, p.194.]

How do you come back from that? As a person? As a society? How do you go on after something like that? How do we heal? Recoup? Make a path?

The familiar words that we heard this morning from the gospel of Luke are core teachings of Christianity. They are intended to give us a way back after we have gotten into trouble. They offer signposts on the path of reconciliation when there is disruption in a relationship. And these teachings not only address personal relationships that involve disruption and betrayal but also the ravages of societal institutions and arrangements that create divisions and rifts. So these teachings are about more than just how to get along with your actual neighbor. They are also about how to set things right when they have gone wrong in the world.

Now we want to keep in mind that we know we have problems, differences, and conflicts. We are living in a time of extreme polarization. And before we cast aside the teachings of Jesus as impractical, theoretical instructions for resolving conflict and pursuing reconciliation, let’s reflect on some of the things that we do to supposedly resolve conflicts and address problems. When there is disruption in a relationship, we may back out, disappear, cut off the relationship. End contact. Rather than doing the work of resolving the differences and making a way forward. This happens so often in families as well as in other settings. Is that practical and healthy?

In other situations, we address problems and conflict through violence. Maybe verbal violence, words of hatred, words that are hurtful and harmful. And also through actual deeds of violence to property as well as to people. This happens in interpersonal relationships as well as on a societal scale. Is this practical and healthy? These methods are used in conflicts between individuals, groups, countries, and peoples. Look at Russia and Ukraine. These are some of the ways that society teaches us to respond to differences, to conflict, to problems, to disputes. Are they so practical? Do they get the desired results? Are these methods constructive and sustainable? I don’t think so.

What Jesus is offering is an alternative path for addressing differences and conflict. It is a path with efforts made toward reconciliation and peace; extreme efforts because that is what is needed when there is extreme conflict, an extreme breach. Sometimes you can simply apologize to a friend. But sometimes you have to actually love an enemy. We see this actualized in the story of Jesus forgiving those who were responsible for his death from the cross. And in the public forgiveness issued by Dexter King, Dr. King’s son, to James Earl Ray who assassinated Dr. King. [Taylor Branch, At Canaan’s Edge, epilogue.]

Love is a misunderstood term. To love your enemy is not weakness. It is not cowardice. It is not passive. To actively love, to seek the good of someone who has harmed you, this take courage, bravery, and risk. It is not for the fainthearted.

In the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King promoted love and the use of non-violent means to confront evil. He did not promote ignoring evil and thus being complicit in evil. He did not promote doing nothing and just suffering in silence. King promoted the use of love and nonviolence to confront the evils of racism and to move the country and the world closer to freedom and dignity for each and every person. King put the emphasis on the evil of segregation not on the people who were defending it. He sought to separate the person and the issue so that he could always see each and every person as a child of God. He was not willing to sacrifice his commitment to the way of Jesus and the core teachings of his faith. So he remained committed to nonviolence even when it became very unpopular. Many people saw nonviolence as weak. But actually nonviolent resistance requires vulnerability, creativity, and risk. It is not easy or pain free. We have seen the images of the violence and death inflicted upon those who sought social transformation through nonviolence. The way of Jesus
takes courage.

In the readings we heard this morning we are reminded that we are human. There will be misunderstandings. We will have problems in our relationships. We will make mistakes. We will hurt others with our words and behavior. We are human and imperfection is a core trait of our humanity. Given this reality, the only way to promote the health and well being of the soul is to address issues and problems with love.

Dr. Kings defends the teaching ‘Love your enemies’ when he says: “. . .hate scars the soul and distorts the personality.

“ . . . Hate is just as injurious to the person who hates. Like an unchecked cancer hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity.

“. . . love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate; we get rid of an enemy by getting rid of enmity. By its very nature, hate destroys and tears down; by its very nature, love creates and builds up. Love transforms with redemptive power.” [The Radical King: Martin Luther King, Jr., edited and introduced by Cornel West, pp.59-60.]

Dr. King does not simply expect white people to suddenly embrace the concept of loving Black people. That is not how he uses this teaching. He uses this teaching to encourage Black people to love their oppressors, white people. He says:

“There will be no permanent solution to the race problem until oppressed men develop the capacity to love their enemies. The darkness of racial injustice will be dispelled only by the light of forgiving love. . .

“Of course, this is not practical. . . .

“My friends, we have followed the so-called practical way for too long a time now, and it has led inexorably to deeper confusion and chaos. Time is cluttered with the wreckage of communities which surrendered to hatred and violence. For the salvation of our nation and the salvation of mankind, we must follow another way. . . While abhorring segregation, we shall love the segregationist. This is the only way to create the beloved community.

“To our most bitter opponents we say: ‘We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you. . . . Throw us in jail, and we shall still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community at the midnight hour and beat us and leave us half dead, and we shall still love you. But be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day we shall win freedom, but only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process and our victory will be a double victory.

“Love is the most durable power in the world.” [The Radical King: Martin Luther King, Jr., edited and introduced by Cornel West, pp. 61-63.]

Here we see a reflection of the teachings of Jesus. Love your enemy. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who mistreat you. Turn the other cheek. These are the methods for healing and reconciliation in interpersonal relationships as well as societal rifts. Yet they remain largely untried.

Let us remember that the teachings of Jesus are not a litmus test for Kindom entrance. They are a set of directions, a road map, for how to live this life with love and morality and dignity and joy. We are fallible, flawed creatures as individuals and as a society. These teachings are a gift to help us navigate our way out of trouble. Solve our problems. They show us how to set things right. They show us how to go on when we have messed up our relationships, from personal to international. Jesus gives us a way forward.

While some strides have been made in improving race relations in America, we still have that and many other divisions and tensions and conflicts that require attention. And as we live out the way of Jesus, we will see the dreams of Dr. King realized: “. . . in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.” [The Radical King: Martin Luther King, Jr., edited and introduced by Cornel West, p.45.] 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.

LUCC Budget for 2022

Bulletin 2/20/2022

WELCOME and ANNOUNCEMENTS

LIGHTING THE PEACE CANDLE Sally Purvis, liturgist

I’m concerned about a better world. I’m concerned about justice; I’m concerned about brotherhood; I’m concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about that, he can never advocate violence. For through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can’t establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968

PRELUDE Lullaby (from Preludes in African Rhythm)

Isak Roux (South Africa b.1959)^†

OPENING RESPONSIVE READING Padraig O Tuama, adapted

We begin our day as one,
honoring this life, with all its potentials and possibilities.
We begin our day with trust,
knowing that we are created for loving encounter.
We begin our day with hope,
knowing the day can hold
love, kindness,
forgiveness and justice.

MUSIC Dusk (from African Sketches)

Nkeiru Okoye (Nigeria/USA b.1972)^†

SCRIPTURE LESSONS

Let us prepare ourselves for the word of God as it comes to us in the reading of Holy Scripture. Our hearts and minds are open.

Genesis 45:1-15, Luke 6:27-38

For the word of God in scripture, for the word of God among us, for the word of God within us. Thanks be to God.

CONTEMPORARY READING Carter Heyward

SERMON Set Back Set Right Rev. Kim P. Wells

CONTEMPORARY RESPONSIVE READING Iona Community

We believe that God is present
In the darkness before dawn;
In the waiting and uncertainty
where fear and courage join hands,
conflict and caring link arms,
and the sun rises over barbed wire.
We believe in a with-us God
Who sits down in our midst
To share our humanity.
We affirm a faith
That takes us beyond the safe place:
Into action, into vulnerability
And into the streets.
We commit ourselves to work for change
And put ourselves on the line;
To bear responsibility, take risks,
Live powerfully and face humiliation;
To stand with those on the edge;
To choose life
And be used by the Spirit
For God’s new community of hope. Amen.

MUSIC Builsa Work Song (from Twelve Pedagogical Pieces)

J. H. Kwabena Nketia (Ghana b.1921)^†

RECEPTION OF NEW MEMBERS and BAPTISM

Introduction
*Affirmation of Faith

United Church of Christ Statement of Faith in the Form of a Doxology

Vows for New Members and Sponsors
Baptism
Signing the Church Registry
Prayer
Welcome

*Congregational Response

We welcome you with joy as partners in the common life of this church. We promise you our continuing friendship and prayers as we share the hopes and labors of the church of Jesus Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit, together may we continue to grow in the knowledge of God and of God’s love and be witnesses of Jesus Christ.

MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of Lakewood United Church of Christ, as part of the Church Universal is to:

Celebrate the presence and power of God in our lives & in our world.
Offer the hospitality and inclusive love of Christ to all people.
Work for God’s peace and justice throughout creation.

MORNING OFFERING

Morning offerings may be brought forward and placed in the plates on the altar. If you would like assistance, please turn to someone seated near you.

Offertory Kwela No. 1 Isak Roux (South Africa b.1959)^†

Words of Dedication Luke 6:38

Give, and it will be given to you: a full measure — packed down, shaken together and running over — will be poured into your lap. For the amount you measure out is the amount you’ll be given back. Amen.

PREPARATION FOR PRAYER Just a Closer Walk with Thee anonymous (USA)^‡

You are invited to write your prayer requests on the sheets provided in the bulletin and bring them forward and place them in the basket on the altar. Please observe physical distancing.

MORNING PRAYERS – SAVIOR’S PRAYER

Eternal Spirit, Earth Maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that ever shall be,
Father and Mother of all people, Loving God in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by all peoples of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and
come on earth!
With the bread that we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and testing, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.

* BENEDICTION Thomas Berry, 1914-2009

May we all
“learn to live graciously together on this unique, beautiful, blue planet.”

*POSTLUDE The Entertainer Joplin (USA)

^†from the Oxford Press collection: Piano Music of Africa and the African Diaspora

^‡ from The African American Heritage Hymnal

Circle of Concern: Earl Waters, Ron Huff, Christopher and Dana, Ann Quinn who is under Hospice Care, William Owen-Cowan, Jen Degroot, Carolyn Moore, Maggie Brizendine, Janet Hall, All those suffering from COVID-19 and all healthcare workers, Schools: Students, families, teachers, and staff

Announcements

Facebook Live The 10:30 a.m. service is being streamed on Facebook Live.

Ash Wednesday Service on March 2 at 7:00 p.m. The Lenten season of preparation for Easter begins with Ash Wednesday. This beautiful service involves a re-commitment to the way of Jesus, re-turning our lives to God. The service is held around a fire reminding us of the healing, renewing, purifying power of Divine Love. Communion will be served. This year the service will be held at the waterfront home of Emily and Bob Bell. You may bring a chair if you wish. You may also bring a stick to add to the fire

New Members This morning Michelle Cloutier and Sherry Santana are being received as new members of the congregation. They are welcomed with joy!

Congregational Meeting Ahead There will be a congregational meeting after church today to take action on the budget for 2022. Everyone from the church family is encouraged to participate!

Operation Attack OA needs donations of cereal, peanut butter, canned meat, fruit, vegetables and soup, dried beans, and mac/cheese. Donations may be placed on the shelf in the hallway at church.

Hymnals LUCC has been given 60 used New Century Hymnals. If you would like a hymnal for home use, they are available on the bookshelf in the main hallway. Please help yourself!

Guided Labyrinth Walks The guided walk is held weekly on Wednesdays at 9:00 a.m. This provides an opportunity to be aware and deepen your spiritual journey. If it is raining, the walk is held on Thursday at 9:00 a.m.

Date Change for Monthly Book Talk This month Book Talk will be held on Wednesday February 23 at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom. This is a wonderful time of sharing about books. Everyone is welcome to listen in and to share about what you have been reading. It’s a very inspiring time! Join in! Here’s the link: Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2700683648Meeting ID: 270 068 3648

For the safety and comfort of all, please wear a mask. Thank you!

Lakewood United Church of Christ 2601 54th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33712
727-867-7961 lakewooducc@gmail.comLakewooducc.org
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga