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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: June 11, 2023
Scripture Lesson: Jeremiah 32:1-15, 42-44
Sermon: History and Hope
Pastor:  Rev. Kim P. Wells

This is a season for graduations and weddings and other celebrations.  We attended a baby shower recently.  It is wonderful to celebrate these events that point to the future with hope.

We might send a card with a message like, ‘Congratulations!  May all your hopes and dreams come true.’  Or ‘With all hope and good wishes for a wonderful future together.’  These celebrations call for excitement about what is ahead.

We don’t sent a card to a college grad saying something like, ‘We hope you enjoyed your last 4 years at school.’  No.  We say something about hope for the future, not looking back to the past.

So how do we maintain hope in dark times?  As we look around today, much of what we see does not point to a better future but seems like more of an erosion of the gains that were being made toward peace and security and well-being for all.  We seem to be backsliding.  On voting rights.  On gay rights.  On trans rights.  On reproductive rights.  On freedom of speech.   On economic justice.  And so much more. 

So how do we hold on to hope?

Our faith has much to say about hope.  Yes, hope is about a better future.  It has a future orientation.  But our faith tradition teaches us that hope is rooted in the past.  Our faith teaches us that hope is about looking back and seeing what has happened, how far we have come, seeing the workings of Divine Love in the past, which then gives us the courage and faith to face the future with hope.

Again and again and again in the Hebrew scriptures there are references to the Exodus.  This is the story of the Hebrew people being brought out of slavery in Egypt into the Promised Land.  This is the story that involves Moses confronting the Egyptian Pharaoh.  The plagues.  The river of blood.  The angel of death passing over the houses with lamb’s blood on the lintel.  Going through the Red Sea.  Wandering in the wilderness.  And then finally being brought into the land of milk and honey. 

That story is referenced again and again in the Bible because it is a source of hope; especially when people are going through hard times.   People look back and see what God has done, what they have come through.  And they know that the perils and pains they are experiencing are not the end of the story.  There is a brighter future awaiting them.  As God brought the people out of Egypt, so God will bring us out of whatever hardship we are currently facing. 

The Psalms, especially, which are regularly repeated in worship, are full of heartfelt pleas to God and affirmations of trust in God’s saving power, including specific references to the Exodus.  In worship, on a regular basis, people recount past experiences and this gives them hope in the power of God to see them through current travails to a more promising future.  People have hope in the future because of what they believe has happened in the past.  Rooted in that history, they face the future with hope. 

So, how do we maintain hope in dark times?  We look back.  We take a long view.  Even back to Exodus. 

Just in our country, let’s look back.   Despite intentional efforts to eliminate indigenous peoples and cultures, there are still native peoples and cultures in this land.  That is a reason for hope.  Slavery is over. That is a reason for hope.  The centuries old vendetta against the Jews has not resulted in their eradication.    Even with the recent rise in incidents of antisemitism in this country, there is still reason for hope.  Assault weapons were banned for 10 years in the US.  If we did it before, we can do it again.  That is reason for hope.  There was safe, legal access to abortion for decades.  It can be that way again.  That is reason for hope.  There was a moratorium on the death penalty for decades.  It can happen again.  Again, reason for hope.  We have had a Black president.  And a Black vice president.  That is reason for hope.  Look back.

My spouse Jeff was listening to an audio book about Teddy Roosevelt and Howard Taft.  Roosevelt was an adamant trust buster.  He fought the power of big money in American society.  He wanted a fair shot for the average worker.   He called it a square deal.  And he was a millionaire.  And a Republican.  Look back. 

Just a side bar.  This looking back is not encouraged in our country.  We like to stay oriented to the future.   We are trained to look ahead.  We don’t think we need the past.  We only like to remember the past when it serves our purposes as we pursue something in the future.   Gore Vidal has said that we are the United States of Amnesia.

But our faith teaches us that to maintain hope, especially in dark times, we must look back and remember and recite the ways that Divine Love has been made manifest in our history and in our lives.  Take a long view.
This is also the case not only with society, and the human community, and cosmic history, but also in our personal lives.  To maintain hope, we must remember.  Think of the health crisis that you have come through.  Or the grief that knocked you down, but you are standing, if shakily, once again.  Think of how you or someone you are close to has faced addiction with courage and has come through.  Think of the tragedy you have experienced, or someone close to you, something beyond horrific.  And somehow, life is still going on.  And there can still be joy.  Think of what you and your loved ones have come through.  That, too, fosters our hope in the future.  Because of what we have come through, we do not give up. 

When I saw this sermon topic request, Hope in dark times, I immediately thought of the story of Jeremiah and buying the field at Anathoth.  Here is Jeremiah.  In the worst of times.  He is in prison for delivering the word of God, that was not to the liking of the king.  His country is being ravaged by the Babylonians and Chaldeans.  Their land is being devastated.  They will be taken away as the spoils of war.  So, in jail, about to be overrun and deported or worse, Jeremiah buys a piece of land.  It is a prophetic symbolic gesture.  He makes sure everything is done legally and in good order.  Then, the deeds are put in an earthenware jar where they can be preserved for decades?  Centuries?  Millenia?  Who knows?  But Jeremiah is declaring his trust in the promise of God that they will once again inhabit the land and be a flourishing community though everything else at the moment is pointing in a different direction.

The most important part of any real estate transaction is location, location, location.  And the prophet Jeremiah wants everyone to know that he is buying a piece of utterly worthless land, putting good money down, making a public display so that everyone knows what he is doing, preserving the documents related to the sale – because this location, location, location will once again be a place where the community of the faithful will flourish and thrive.  He is making a scene.  Based on the faithfulness of God in the past, Jeremiah buys the field.  And puts everyone on notice that change is gonna come.  Based on the past, the Exodus, for example, this prophet is making a down payment on a bright future.  He is demonstrating hope.

We can look around us and see that things are pretty bleak.  There is global warming and the horrific weather, fires, and floods that are happening.  There is an impending presidential election with the continuous barrage of lies and blame and rancor.  There will be more Supreme Court decisions that curtail our liberties.  There is the continuing rise in racism, jingoism.  There are the backward strides in education.  There is the continuing escalation of violence.  A gun has more rights than a person it seems.  There is the continued erosion of voting rights. 

But there are prophets in our midst who tell us that these are the last, desperate, fearful gasps of those who are threatened by a more open, compassionate, egalitarian society.  They are scaling up because they see the way things have been going.  They see the progress that has been made.  And they are rising up. 

But we are looking back.  In a speech delivered  before the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Convention on January 29, 1858, Theodore Parker, a Unitarian minister, declared:  “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight, I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”   We are familiar with this from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:  The moral arc of the universe is long but it bends towards justice. 

How do we maintain hope?  Our faith teaches us to look back.  For the Jews, this involves continually revisiting the story of the Exodus and other stories.  For Christians, this also involves revisiting the story of the crucifixion and resurrection.  We are told that from the cross Jesus is remembered quoting Psalm 22:  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  This is a plea uttered at a very dark moment.  And if Jesus knew the first verse of the Psalm, surely it is implied that the knew the 4th and 5th verses.  He would know them from reciting them in worship settings.  They are:

“In you our ancestors trusted;
         they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried, and were saved;
         in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.” 

This is a direct reference to the Exodus event.

Just as we are describing, Jesus, too, looked back to the Jewish experience of the saving power of God in his darkest hour and that sustained his hope.

How do we maintain hope in dark times?  Look back and see the wider reality of the purposes of God.  Look back a decade.  A century.  A millennia.  Eons.  Look back.  Take a long view.  See what has been done.  See the progress that has been made.  Trust in the power of Divine Love.  And what love can do. 

And then, like Jeremiah, invest in the future.   Invest all you can, all you have, in a future of justice and peace and well-being for all, especially for our dear mother Earth.  Invest in a future that you may never see.  Look back.  Then invest.  And that investment will give your life, right here and right now, meaning and purpose so that you will not only survive but thrive.  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: May 28 2023  Pentecost
Scripture Lesson: Acts 2:1-21
Sermon: Powered Up!
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

Many of you know that I seldom watch TV.  And I rarely watch movies.  My spouse loves movies.  At least once a week he asks me, Wanna watch a movie?  I politely suggest he to go ahead — without me.  There’s the crossword to do.  And maybe a jigsaw puzzle.  And other stuff to take care of.  Even on an airplane that has movies, I’d rather listen to an audio book or read a book.  A movie, well, if I have to.  Once in a while someone suggests a movie and I make it a point to watch it.  And I usually like it.  But generally speaking movies are not on my menu.

So, several months ago, the young adults in our life, our son Malcolm and partner, Samantha, mentioned there was a movie they wanted to watch with us.  We scheduled it.  I don’t say no to them!  They told us the name but not much else.  I looked into it a bit so that I would have some context that might help me to appreciate it more. Instead of being illuminated I was confused by what I read.  So I thought I’ll just watch politely and see what’s what. 

So, we watched the movie.  And I found myself thinking about it.  Like every day.  And thinking about why they wanted us to watch it.  And then I would think about it some more.  I felt like there was more there than I was ‘getting.’  And I thought I would like to see it again.  Maybe on the big screen so that I could see better what was going on.  

Then, months later, lo and behold, the movie was in the theaters and I went to see it  —  three times.  And I still don’t get it all.  But I get a little more of it.  By now you’re probably wondering what the heck the movie was!  Well, here goes.  Everything Everywhere All At Once.  How many of you have seen it?  Now in our family, there seem to be very strong feelings about this movie.  Love it.  Or hate it.  Not much in between.  And that seems to be the case in the wider culture.  Either you think it is great or you think it’s garbage, a waste of time.  

If you have any opinions about this movie, don’t look to me to change your mind.  But there’s something I noticed in the movie.  And it has to do with the main character, the mother, the wife, Evelyn.  To give you a bit of background, the story involves a Chinese American family that owns a laundromat.  The owners, a couple, are being audited by the IRS.  They go to the IRS office to meet with an auditor.  In the course of things, the husband and wife find themselves in a utility closet, think brooms, etc. and he tells her a ludicrous story about an evil villain trying to take over the worlds, and how he has come from another metaverse to tell her that after searching the universes, they landed on her as the one who needs to defeat the evil villain.  She is having none of this story.  She thinks the man, who appears to be her husband, is crazy.  She is worrying about the IRS.  And the Chinese new year party that night at the laundromat.  And her father who is visiting from China.  And her daughter who has a girlfriend, and making sure the Chinese grandfather does not find out about that.  And she is thinking about the laundry of the woman with the little dog in a stroller.  An evil villain threatening the metaverses and she is to vanquish this evil character, who, by the way, turns out to be her daughter?  This woman, wife, mother, business owner, daughter, she is having none of this.  

But then in the course of things, she gets transported to another reality and she learns martial arts.  Then she is back in the IRS office.  And they are after her, so she decides to try out these new powers.  And they work!

As the movie goes on, she puts her powers to use.  Powers of violence as well as powers of kindness, love, and persuasion and, well, things happen.  She gets things done.  She makes a difference.  She starts to trust her powers.  And she assumes her role in this great drama of vanquishing evil.  The more she tries out her powers and uses them, the more she trusts them and sees the potential for efficacy.  I won’t tell you how the movie ends, in case you see it.  But we learn that she starts out chosen for this important role in the multiverse, vanquishing the evil enemy, because she is not good at anything.  And she is given the powers needed and she puts them to use.

And maybe one of the things that hooks me in this movie are the resonances with our Christians stories.  We have a Bible full of stories of common, unremarkable people being chosen for monumental missions.  Like Samuel choosing David as King.  Like David serving as King.  Like Mary birthing Jesus.  And like the story we heard this morning about the empowerment of the disciples.  

Think about it.  We are here thing morning, in this metaverse in this sanctuary for this church service.  And we are here because we are part of the Christian movement that began over 2,000 years ago in a remote, inconsequential province of the great Roman Empire.  There was this little fringe religious sect, the Jews.  And they expected a messiah to be sent by God to rescue them from the forces that were squelching them, their autonomy, their freedom.  And there was this Jesus guy who seemed to fit the bill.  But he got crucified; the most ignominious, heinous, humiliating death imaginable.  He was killed as a traitor in an excruciating manner.  And there were some of these Jews who had given their lives to this crucified Jesus.  What will happen?  Will the Roman authorities, or the Temple authorities, come for them?  Jesus was killed during a festival.  Hoards of people were in Jerusalem for the Passover Festival.  Fifty days later and it is time for the Pentecost festival.  A celebration of the first harvest of the season.  Another festival.  Will this be another opportunity for the authorities to clamp down on the Jesus community?  Will there be more attacks?  Are they next?  The followers of Jesus are dazed and reeling from his death  —  even 50 days later.  Yes, there are stories of resurrection.  But what is going to happen to them????  They are scared.  They are hiding.  They are afraid to go out.  They are watching their backs.  

And who are these people?  They are in Jerusalem, the capital.  The cultic center.  But they are from the hinterland where there is little sophistication.  Little education.  These people probably can’t read or write.  They aren’t schooled in marketing.  They don’t know anything about spreadsheets.  They are not social media whizzes.  They are down home hard working, solid simple people.  Salt of the Earth. 

But we are here today in this room, right now, centuries later, with all of our technology and communication advances, we are here, at this moment because of that little band of misfits and dreamers who lived long ago and far away.  People who were not expected to amount to much of anything.  

And we have this story that we heard today of how they were given power – power from God, the power of Love.  And they were able to communicate in different languages.  Preach and teach in ways that drew others in to this vortex of Love.  

And in the Pentecost story we are told that over 3,000 people were baptized that day.  And then each day, as time went on, there were more.  And these disciples go further afield in the Roman empire and beyond with their message of Love.  Empowered by the Holy Spirit of the God of Love, they put the power to work.  They test it out. They see the results.  And they learn to trust it.  And put it to work even more.  And more.  Taking greater risks.  And making a greater witness.  

And because of what they did, we are here at Lakewood United Church of Christ today.  Because of these people who weren’t of consequence.  Or status.  Who weren’t expected to amount to anything.  But who were given the power of forgiveness and love.  And who tried it out.  Put it to work.  And made a difference.  And it is because of them that we are here today, that the church is here today, that the story of Jesus is known today, that the way of Jesus is transforming lives in the world today.  I think those followers of Jesus in the Pentecost story would be beyond shocked at our being here because of them.  

In the movie, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Evelyn, this character of no note, being audited by the IRS, a clear manifestation of her powerlessness, ends up doing amazing things.  We might even say, in spite of herself.  

Now here we are, facing a multiplicity of challenges in the world around us and in our lives.  Yes, there is violence, war, greed, global warming, prejudice, small-minded myopia, and so much more.  People are suffering.  Rights are being taken away.  Lives are being demeaned and diminished.   We could construe all of this as a manifestation of evil that needs to be eradicated.  

And our faith story is about a God that gives ordinary, unremarkable people the power of love to confront all that diminishes and degrades the sacredness of life.  Our faith story is about a God who takes risks on lackluster people.  A God that gives dreams and visions and infuses people with the power of love so that earth becomes as it is in heaven – the reality of God made manifest in the life and ministry and relationships of Jesus.  

Pentecost reminds us that we are like EV’s plugged in to a power source.  A little, scared group of marginalized people got us here.  Today.  Because they accepted the power, they tried it out, the dared, they risked.  And here we are from another metaverse, centuries away, and they are saving our lives.  

In Everything Everywhere All At Once, Evelyn wants nothing to do with conquering evil and saving the world.  But when she is given the power and she starts to put it to use, she becomes less resistant.

We are the little people who are being given the power of Love to transform our lives, the lives of those around us, and the very life of the world.  

As a sign of our willingness to embrace the power of love and to test it out, put it to work, we have candles representing the light and power of love; the light of Jesus Christ, who is identified as the light of the world.  We have candles that remind us of the teaching, you are the light of the world.  And the admonition not to hide your light under a bushel but to put it on a stand for all to see.  This light, this power, is seeking to be present in us.  

As a sign of your willingness to receive the the power of love and to put it to work, you are invited to come forward and light the candle on the altar that you brought.  If you did not bring a candle, there are some additional candles provided that your are welcome to use.  

In lighting our candles, we affirm the presence of the Divine within us and among us and we consecrate ourselves as vessels for the power of Love.  We express our desire to be lit up, on fire, bearing witness to the transforming power of Love.

Please, come as you wish, and light your candle. 

Let us join the unison reading in the bulletin and affirm the healing power of the light of Divine Love.  

Reading: Blessed are you who bear the light                             Jan Richardson b. 1967

Blessed are you
who bear the light
in unbearable times,
who testify
to its endurance
amid the unendurable,
who bear witness
to its persistence
when everything seems
in shadow
and grief.
Blessed are you
in whom
the light lives,
in whom
the brightness blazes—
your heart
a chapel,
an altar where
in the deepest night
can be seen
the fire that
shines forth in you
in unaccountable faith,
in stubborn hope,
in love that illumines
every broken thing

it finds.

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