Category: Sermon Texts

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.

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.

Sermon text 2.2.25 “Do Whatever He Tells You”

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: February 2, 2025  
Scripture Lessons:  1 Corinthians 13:1-13 and John 2:1-11
Sermon:  “Do Whatever He Tells You”Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

We begin with a poem from Walt Whitman, quintessential American poet of the 19th century:

            . . . I know nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in bed at night
        with anyone I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring.
These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with miracles,
Every foot of the interior swarms with miracles.

This is the reality of Divine Love.   Seeing the miracles of Divine Love in all of Creation and all of our human experience – exquisite and excruciating.  Life is a sacred gift and we are here to relish it all!

This morning we heard the story of Jesus changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana.  This is Jesus’ first splashy public act of ministry in the gospel of John.  As we heard last week, in the gospel of Luke Jesus begins his ministry with a prophetic sermon that ends with the people trying to chase him over a cliff.  (National Cathedral Bishop Budde is in good company.)   But in the gospel of John, Jesus’ ministry begins with the wedding in Cana.  A celebration of love that involves the whole community and goes on for up to 7 days.  A scene where Jesus’ mother sees the need and encourages her son, as she has been doing, no doubt, for his whole life.  A story that tells of wine flowing in abundance beyond all expectations.  Wine that is finer than anyone has tasted in the past. 

All of this points to the immeasurable love of God, which God is continuously trying to bestow upon us.  This story shows us the intentions of God.  God wants more for us than we could ask for or imagine.  Our highest good.  Our best interests.  Fully experiencing the wonder, awe, intensity, inanity, richness, and delight of this life.  And this all stems from the power of love that is at the heart of reality. 

Have you seen the yard sign in the median between Publix and Walgreens here on 54th Avenue South?  The yellow sign declares:  Love is my main ingredient.  God.  The New Testament Bible.  That says it all:  Love is my main ingredient.

We are so loved, God wants more for us than we could ever conceive.  And Jesus shows us how to tap into that love.  Love that is more powerful than solar energy, or atomic energy, or wind energy.  More powerful than the human intellect and the wisdom of animals and plants and Creation.  More powerful certainly than hatred, apathy, or death.  More powerful than all of that, is LOVE.  Jesus shows us how to live from that love; how to unleash that power in our lives and the life of the world.   He shows us how not only to see the miracle but to be the miracle.  To live from that core of love, that image of Godness, that is within each of us. 

The best wine fills the stone jars to overflowing.

Romano Guardini, 20th century priest and philosopher, says this about the imagery of wine:  “The purpose of wine is not only to quench thirst, but also to give pleasure and satisfaction and exhilaration.  . . . This wine bestows courage, joy out of all earthly measure, sweetness, beauty, limitless enlargement and perception.  It brings life in intoxicating excess, both to possess and to impart.” 

This is the life that is being offered to us. This morning we also heard the beautiful hymn to love from Corinthians.  What love is and what love is not. 

But let’s take a step back.  This hymn of praise to love, this beautiful exposition on the nature of love – why is it included here in this letter to the faith community at Corinth?  Well, because they are quarreling.  They are divided and competing. They are trying to impose hierarchy in the community.  They are giving more status to some rather than others.  They are enmeshed in lust for power, egotism, and desire for dominance.  This is undermining the beloved community that is to be realized by those who follow Jesus.  So they are given careful instruction about the nature of love because they have lost their way.

Yes, love is this amazing gift, this power, that we are being given all the time, to help us navigate the twisted paths of life with joy and authenticity.  But do we tap into this power?  Do we partake of this wine freely given?  Divine Love is showering us, drenching us, but do we avoid it, ignore it, suppress it?  To tap into love involves choosing love.  It involves intentionality and discipline. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke frankly about the rigors of love:

Then the Greek language has another word for love, and that is the word “agape.”  Agape is more than romantic love, it is more than friendship.  Agape is understanding, creative, redemptive good will toward all men [sic].  Agape is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return.  Theologians would say that it is the love of God, operating in the human heart.  When you rise to love on this level, you love all men [sic] not because you like them, not because their ways appeal to you, but you love them because God loves them.  This is what Jesus meant when he said, “Love your enemies.”  And I’m happy that he didn’t’ say, “Like your enemies,” because there are some people that I find it pretty difficult to like.  Liking is an affectionate emotion, and I can’t like anybody who would bomb my home.  I can’t like anybody who would exploit me.  I can’t like anybody who would trample over me with injustices.  I can’t like them.  I can’t like anybody who threatens to kill me day in and day out.  But Jesus reminds us that love is greater than liking.  Love is understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill toward all men [sic].  . . .  

Bomb our homes and threaten ourchildren, and, as difficult as it is, we will still love you.  Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our communities at the midnight hour and drag us out on some wayside road and leave us half-dead as you beat us, and we will still love you.  Send your propaganda agents around the country, and make it appear that we are not fit, culturally and otherwise, for integration, and we’ll still love you.  But be assured that we’ll wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day we will win our freedom.  We will not only win freedom for ourselves; we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory. 

           [Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from “A Christmas Sermon on Peace”                       delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta.]

Yes, the power of love is available to us; it is being given to us.  And we are given the church to help us appreciate the gift, celebrate the power, and cultivate the inclination to choose love, even for our enemies.  We have each other for encouragement and support and celebration. 

In the story of the wedding at Cana, Jesus’ mother tells the servants, Do whatever he tells you.  We see Mary bestowing confidence and support upon Jesus so that he can share God’s expansive, abundant, profligate love with the world.

We are here to share that confidence and support and encouragement with one another.  We are here to tell each other: Do whatever Jesus tells you to do.  Choose love.  Of yourself.  Others.  Neighbors near and far.  And enemies.  Love.  In word and deed.  Take extraordinary action.  Defy expectations.  For the good of the world and for our own good. 

Frederick Buechner, 20th century theologian and writer has this to say about engaging with Divine Love:

Who knows how the awareness of God’s love first hits people?  Every person has his own tale to tell, including the person who would not believe in God if you paid him.  Some moment happens in your life that makes you say Yes right up to the roots of your hair, that makes it worth having been born just to have happen.  Laughing with somebody till the tears run down your cheeks.  Waking up to the first snow.  Being in bed with somebody you love.  Whether you thank God for such a moment or thank your lucky stars, it is a moment that is trying to open up your whole life.  If you try to turn your back on such a moment and hurry along to Business as Usual, it may lose you the whole ball game.  If you throw your arms around such a moment and hug it like crazy, it may save your soul.  How about the person you know who as far as you can possibly tell has never had such a moment?  Maybe for that person the moment that has to happen is you. 

In a world beset with jealousy, greed, prejudice and hate.  In a world that turns a blind eye to suffering, to injustice, to poverty, to climate change.  In a world where leaders are more concerned with their own image than with the well being of the populace or the planet.  In a world cultivating billionaires and seeding poverty – the power of Divine Love is desperately needed.  Love is the source of our joy and wonder and delight in life.  It is the source of our power for good and for healing.  We know this love.  This is what has drawn us to Jesus and to his church and to each other.  This is the love we are to encourage in one another. 

May we listen to Mary and do what Jesus tells us to do.  Love!  The results will astound. 

Amen.

Sermon text 1.5.25 “Another Way”

LAKEWOOD/TRINITY 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: January 5, 2025    Epiphany! 
Scripture Lesson:Matthew 2:1-12
Sermon:  Another Way
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

This morning we heard about astrologers from the east, maybe Persia, following a star to the province of Judea.  They are looking for a king.  A newborn king.  So, they consult the current king about the whereabouts of the newborn king.  Sounds reasonable.  Unless the king is Herod, or another monarch or authoritarian ruler, who is power hungry and corrupt. 

The magi consulted Herod son of Antipater, procurator of Judea under Julius Caesar.  King under Augustus Caesar.  Also known as Herod the Great.  He ruled from 37 BCE to 4 BCE.  We don’t want to confuse him with Herod Antipas, his son, tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea, who was involved with the beheading of John the Baptizer and the conviction of Jesus leading to the crucifixion.  No, the gospel of Matthew starts with Herod the Great.  And he was great.  Great at being a menace.  A threatening, violent, insecure terror.   Everyone was deathly afraid of him.  He was great at building projects including rebuilding the Second Temple in Jerusalem at twice its original size and building 5 fortresses for refuge for himself and his family.  He had a great secret police and a personal guard of 2000 soldiers.  He was great at extorting money from his poor subjects, his own Jewish people, whom he impoverished with his building projects.  He was great in that he had 3 of his sons killed.  And he may be considered great in that he was eventually executed by members of his own family including his wife.  Oh he was great in many ways, but he was not good.   In the story we heard today, when those astrologers appear at Herod’s court and he consults his advisors, you can bet those advisors are quaking in their boots. They had to say just the right thing or they would be done for, and maybe the astrologers, too.  This was rule by intimidation, fear, and violence. 

In the aftermath of the magi’s visit to Herod, we are told the story of the slaughter of the innocents.  The babies in the vicinity of Bethlehem are killed to prevent the encroachment of this newborn king upon Herod’s power.  Herod is going to nip that in the bud.  This leads to the flight of the holy family to Egypt for safety.  Some of these stories are reminiscent of the stories of Moses.  This is because the writer of the gospel of Matthew wants to portray Jesus as a prophet in the line of Moses only greater. 

Herod represents the ways of the world.  Wielding power by fear and force.  Imposing rule by threat and intimidation.  We still see this today in many countries, including, sometimes, our own.

We are coming upon the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection which was an attempt to thwart the workings of the US Congress.  This mob attack was right in keeping with initiatives throughout the ages to unseat those who are in power and to impose new rulers.  This happens again and again in history.  People seek to impose their way on others through violence, intimidation, and fear.  It can be a one on one situation or a societal power play. 

Now, let’s notice something about the story we heard today.  The astrologers visit Jerusalem.  Doubtless in the camel barn or at the inn or in a cafe, they were told about Herod.  His evil violent nature.  His lust for power.  His oppression of the populace as well as his advisors and minions.  So these astrologers have been warned about Herod.  They know he is a bad guy. 

So, do the astrologers foment a rebellion against Herod?  Do they pull together a militia to take Herod down?  Do they return to their countries and amass an army to come to the defense of the Judeans being extorted and intimidated by Herod.  No. 

We are told that after their encounter with Herod and then Jesus and the Holy Family, they go home another way.  By another route.  To encounter Jesus is to be changed.  To be redirected.  To be rewired.  Re-oriented.  They are no longer the same.  While they may have had the inclination to confront the violence of Herod with further violence, this is no longer the case after their encounter with Jesus.  This newborn king inspires peace on earth, goodwill to all.  Transformation and change, liberation and justice are on the horizon, but they will not come to fruition through more violence and death.  It will have to happen another way.

As we head into this New Year, there are many challenges that will confront us.  Some of us are scared.  Some feel betrayed.  Some feel threatened.  Some of us are numb from all the trauma. 

The message of Christmas is that there is another way.  Love and peace can prevail.  Through commitment and creativity, new methods and strategies and tactics can emerge to alter reality.  The story of the magi tells us that there is another way.  We can encounter the Christ and be changed.  We do not have to keep losing the same losing game.  We, too, can go home another way.  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 9.15.24 Charter Sunday

LAKEWOOD/TRINITY 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: September 15, 2024    Charter Sunday
Scripture Lesson: James 2:1-10, 14-17
Sermon: Leaving a Legacy
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

Mary Byrd was the moderator of Lakewood United Church of Christ from 1982-1985.   She was the second woman to be moderator of the church.  The first was Evelyn Kaspar, Ed Kaspar’s mom, from 1977 to 1979.  And Mary was African American.  The church put its faith in the leadership of a Black woman decades ago.  And it wasn’t popular or common then either. 

And for those who did not know her, Mary was a person of supreme competence and compassion.  She was a teacher and a curriculum specialist in Manatee County, working with the most challenging students.  I remember her telling me that she would not have any device in her home that she could not personally operate.  She did the crossword puzzles in the paper every day.  She watched Jeopardy every day.  She and her husband, James, played Scrabble every day.  She read the Bible front to back, a different version, each year.  This woman was supremely smart, capable, and caring. 

And she very honestly conveys the challenges of church life.  Mary had this to say in her annual report to the congregation at the end of her first year as moderator:

“I accepted the responsibilities of Moderator after many prayers and consultations.  I’ve never felt more inadequate.  The first three months went by so smoothly, until I told myself there had to be more to the position.  Then I began to receive phone calls prefaced with, ‘Since you are Moderator, I thought you should know……’  I knew the honeymoon was over.” 

Mary goes on to tell of attending many activities including state and local UCC events.  She mentions projects undertaken at the church:   A new church sign.  Drainage issues. 

Then she concludes:  “There were problems.  (I expected some, but of a different kind.)

“For me, this had been a learning year.  Thanks for your faith and continued support.”

Well, that to me is a frank description of life in the church.  At its best.  Authentic.  Sincere.  A later Lakewood Church moderator, Kristin Andes, notes:  “In places where we really commit our hearts and overtime, where we are known beyond the superficialities, our differences become evident.  We are all different, and working through difference is what conflict is.” 

As we heard this morning, the book of James encourages people of faith basically to put their money where their mouth is.  The writer is addressing people who are living in the diaspora, scattered, and being persecuted for their faith.  They are living in hostile surroundings.  In such circumstances, it would be easy to limit your faith to the verbal expression of beliefs.  To theoretical theology.  But the writer of James says, no.  Faith, if it is real, if it is to have power, must be expressed in action.  In deeds.  So we have the story of a rich person and a poor person coming to church.  They are to be treated the same.  The same consideration, deference, hospitality, to both.  That is the what makes faith real. 

Our faith should be evident first in our life together as a church.  And then in our witness to the world.  I love Mary’s and Kristin’s comments about being moderator because they are honest.  They address the challenges of trying to live together in community and to serve the world. 

It is a challenge to try to fully live the gospel here at church; in our relationships, in our decisions, and in our behavior toward one another.  It takes a lot of humility, forgiveness, vulnerability, and love to try to get along and get something done for Jesus.   And living the gospel usually puts us at odds with the societal context around us, just as it did for those first readers of the book of James.  Phil Smith, my predecessor as pastor of this church, noted in his final pastor’s report in 1991:  “The church is to be a community, not a corporation: it is to be more like a family than a factory.  The church always has to operate primarily on the basis of faith.  It always has to respond to God’s will, not to human’s customs and ways.”   We are constantly bucking a system that is trying to hold us captive.  Our world is not set up for egalitarian community.  It is not set up to treat everyone as equals.  It is not set up to expect conflict and to learn how to grow through resolving differences.  The world is set up to worship wealth and the wealthy.  To bow and scrape to those with status and fame and money.  We do not live in a world set up to dignify those made poor.  We do not live in times in which those who are of little financial means are elevated and respected.  Oh no.  This is why we see such hatred and hostility in our land.  So many people feel disrespected, left behind, and ignored. 

This is not the way of Jesus.  And we start by living out that alternative reality here in the church.  And then we carry that gospel message out into the community.  We can see that happening in the life of this church through its 57 years of ministry.

This morning, we will hear from three people who have been part of the congregation since its formation.  They will share what has been impactful to them about the ministry of the church.  They will tell us about how the church has practiced what it has professed, as James says. 

            First, we will hear from Christy Martin. 

            And then Ed Kaspar. 

            And then Bill Parsons. 

What a beautiful testimony to the legacy of the church, practicing what it professes.  And I expect that the folks of Trinity Church have similar stories to tell, because in our time together we have come to know that we share the same sincere desire to not just profess our faith but to practice it, in our internal affairs, yes.  But especially as it relates to the equality and dignity of all people whatever their circumstances.  Just an aside:  This faith commitment, this desire to fully profess and practice the gospel, it is not present in all churches, not even all UCC churches. 

We heard how Mary Byrd began her three year term as moderator a bit unsettled at how things began to unfold.  At the end of her term as moderator, having lived through some of the inevitable ups and downs of church life, Mary Byrd had this to say:

“This is my third annual report.  . . . I am happy to have been a participant in the activities of this church in a leadership position; to have gotten to know you and to be a member of this friendly church.

“Thanks to all of you for your friendship and support during the past three years as Moderator.  It made the job a lot easier.  I know you will continue to give the same support to our new Moderator, William Parsons.

May God be with you always,

Mary Byrd”

May we continue to always and ever be a true church of Jesus Christ in word and deed.  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.