Category: Sermon Texts

Date: 24 February 2019
Scripture Lessons:  Psalm 37:1-11, Luke 6:27-38
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

Since there are only two Shakers left, living at Sabbathday Lake in Maine, we could see the Shakers as anachronistic; dying out because they are old-fashioned and living in the past.  But when we look at the witness of the Shakers, what we see is that they very much embrace change and some of their ideas are radical and very forward thinking. Mother Ann Lee who came to this country in 1774 with her husband and 6 others seeking religious freedom after being persecuted in Europe, was very much in support of change.  She is really considered the founder of Shakerism in the US and she believed in change. She believed that the Shakers were compelled to always be listening to God, following the way of God, and living in obedience to God. And this involved the expectation that God would do new things among them. So they were always to be open to change and new ways of living and expressing their faith.  

The early Shakers had a rule, an understanding that they were to live by, certain guidelines.  Some Shaker leaders wanted to write this rule down, codify it, standardize it. Mother Ann was against this.  She felt that by writing it down, it would become like a creed. It would be set in stone. It would no longer be pliable and she believed that the Shakers were always to remain open and adaptive to change.  

To me, as a 21st century Christian, this openly stated attitude is very refreshing.  So often these days, the church seems unwilling to adapt or change. Sure, the church will bring in drums and electric guitars, but that is the packaging.  The underlying content is still the same as it has been for years, even though it no longer fits with today’s context. The contemporary church would do well to listen to antiquated Mother Ann who believed the church needed to be adaptive and to change according to the dictates of God given the nature of the times.  

We see this commitment to change in the many different chapters of the unfolding history of the Shakers.  

The Shakers began in Europe as part of the Quaker fellowship in the early 1700’s.  A group of exiled Quakers and Camisard Protestants in France joined together and fled to England to escape persecution.  There they continued their association with the Quakers. In 1747 James and Jane Wardley started a separate community known as the Shaking Quakers or the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Coming.  They were known for shaking, shouting, dancing, whirling, and speaking in tongues in a form of ecstatic worship. Yes, we can see why they broke away from the quiet Quakers. This break off group was also persecuted in England, mobbed, imprisoned, and stoned, so they decided to send a small group to North America seeking religious freedom in 1774. This group was led by Ann Lee.  She had visions of the female nature of God and the second coming of Christ as a woman. She was later thought to be that embodiment. There are hymns that equate her with Jesus Christ, and attributing salvation to Mother Ann, just as it was attributed to Jesus Christ. Within five years of coming to America, the Shakers had grown to a community with several thousand members. Mother Ann Lee died ten years after the arrival in America.  After her, there were new leaders, a man and a woman. And they changed things in Shakerism. They established communities in New England, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and even one in Florida so that Shakers could live in safety and security, both physical and economic. By 1826 there were over 20 Shaker villages in 8 states including one in Narcoossee, Florida, east of Kissimmee. By the time of the Civil War, the Shakers numbered between 5,000 and 6,000 members.  They had long given up ecstatic dancing, but they still offered choreographed dancing in worship. They expected God to give them revelations and these were received as gift drawings and gift songs. Their numbers fell off after the Civil War in part due to the emergence of industrialization.

All of these different phases of Shaker history involved adaptation and change.  And the Shakers continue to change and adapt with the times. Today there are just two Shakers left.   Two elderly people living at Sabbathday Lake in rural Maine, but they have a website and a presence on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.  They have worship services on Sundays and welcome the public. They have lands and buildings and their farm is operational. They have an online school.  They are hardly living in the past.

In the midst of all the changes that have marked the history of the Shakers, there have been certain guiding principles, rooted in Scripture, that have been the foundation of their church through its many phases.  

Central to the Shaker expression of Christianity is the desire to live according to God’s will.  To please God. One way to say this is, “Shaker faith has been and always will be an unending search for heaven on earth.”  [“Faith in Music,” Sarah Knights, in A Collection of Essays By The Shaker Studies Class of 2006, p. 16]  The Shakers are seeking a great life, the abundant, glorious life that God intends for humanity.    They are looking for the fulfillment of the praises of the Psalms, as we heard this morning:

“Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.
Take delight in the Lord,
    and you will receive the desires of your heart. [edited]
But the meek shall inherit the land,
    and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.”  [Psalm 37:3-4, 11]

The Shakers are bent on upholding their side of things – trusting God, taking delight in God and Creation, doing good.  And they believe that this will lead to a good life, security, fulfillment, joy, and an abundant life. As they worship daily, they have this outlook of faith reinforced day in and day out.  Not only is there the reading of the word, but there is a time of witness where people in the community share how they see these promises being fulfilled in their midst.

One aspect of pursing this life of pleasing God is the practice of repentance.  Daily repentance for the forgiveness of sins and the pursuit of reconciliation is very important to the Shaker vision of heaven on earth.  They want to be in right relationship with God, with each other, and with the world at large. Interestingly, being in right relationship with the world to the Shakers includes the paying of taxes even though they are technically tax exempt as a religious community.  They believe they should pay taxes to support the community and the common good, so they do. For the property in Sabbathday Lake, the tax bill comes to some $27,000 a year. But it is very important to the Shakers to practice repentance every day. This frees the flow of God’s love and grace in their lives so that they receive the abundant blessings of God.  It was a form of spiritual regeneration. It is something like a daily cleansing so that life can be unburdened and joyful.

The Shakers also hold fast to a belief in the dual nature of God.  They belief that God is spirit and has a feminine aspect as well as a male aspect, though God is also much more than our human gender constructs can describe.  This belief that God has a feminine nature has been the foundation of gender equality in the Shaker church. To the Shakers, women and men are equal in the eyes of God, and therefore should be treated equally on Earth.   The church has a hierarchical structure but there are men and women at every level of the hierarchy. Women and men both hold leadership roles. Women are considered equal to men. During one period of Shaker life, Mother Ann Lee was considered equal with Christ.  They believed that the second coming of Christ would be in female form and that Mother Ann was the embodiment of that expectation. Later those associations with Mother Ann were no longer as important or emphasized. Again, an example of the Shaker willingness to change and adapt though they have held fast to a commitment to gender equality in their community.  

Another core aspect of Shaker belief is separation from the world.  After their experience of persecution in Europe, which led to their coming to America, the Shakers began to establish communities separate from the world to help keep themselves rooted in devotion God and apart from the many temptations presented by living amidst the general population. They believe that in the pursuit of heaven on earth, they can be more faithful in separate communities than living in contemporary American society, so they live separately to pursue that ideal.  Being apart is a way to reinforce their beliefs, minimize temptation, and create a better world as they seek the fulfillment of God’s promises.

Along with separation from the world, Shakers practice communal living.  There is no private ownership of wealth, land, money, etc. All is held in common by the community.  It is a practical application of the example of a faith community in the book of Acts. Communal living implies a utopian vision and that applies to the Shakers. They see the dangers presented by private ownership.  People with more wealth wanting more power, being treated differently, etc. They believe that everyone is equal in God’s eyes and one way to embody that is through communal living and ownership.

Another part of Shaker commitment is celibacy.  This became part of Shaker identity when the Shakers came to America.  Ann Lee and her husband were among that first small group that came to these shores.  Shortly after their arrival, Ann’s husband left her for another woman and was no longer part of the Shaker community.  It was after that that the commitment to celibacy was incorporated into Shaker life. Who knows, maybe if Ann Lee had had a happy marriage, the Shakers may never have taken on celibacy!

The commitment to celibacy did not come from a view of sex being dirty or sinful or evil, but it came from the idea that romantic relationships, marriage partnerships, could be a distraction from devoting oneself fully to God, God’s purposes, and the good of the community.  By avoiding marriage, a person is fully free to live in union with God. In describing life in the Shaker community, one leader says, “here all of your energies can be God-directed.” [“Humble Servants of the Lord: The Works of Brother Ted,” by Kathy Mooney, in A Collection of Essays, p. 9]  In another description of the commitment to celibacy it is said, celibacy is “also about throwing off one’s identity and becoming part of something bigger.”  [Quoted in “Faith in Music,” by Sarah Knights, in A Collection of Essays, p. 17]

These aims are well and good, but today we are also seeing the dark side of celibacy in the clergy abuse scandals.  In light of the Shaker openness to change, perhaps today the Shakers, if their church were more robust, would be open to reconsidering the issue of celibacy.  

The Shakers are also committed to pacifism.  No use of violence. They do not support hitting people, spanking children, war, or any kind of violence.  This is a commitment they share with the Quakers from whence they came. It is part of their commitment to treat others as you want to be treated.  It is also part of repentance and seeking the highest good for others, even your enemies.

During the Civil War, the Shaker communities would provide care to soldiers from the Union and the Confederacy even though they were adamantly against slavery.  They believed in equality of the races just as they believed in equality of the sexes. But they held true to the commitment to follow the golden rule. They did not discriminate.  But the Shakers did not fight in the war even if it was to end slavery. President Lincoln exempted Shaker men from military service which is noteworthy since the Shakers had been persecuted for their pacifism in the past.  The Shakers were the first conscientious objectors in the US.

One last thing that characterizes Shaker identity is the commitment to simplicity borne out in practicality, technological innovation, and design.  Shakers are known for their crafts and for their distinctive style of furniture and architecture. They are less well known for technological innovation, but the Shakers were very interested in developing labor saving devices and pursuing technological efficiency.  They developed many patented devices and processes that led to greater efficiency including – for the engineers among us, the screw propeller, babbitt metal, rotary harrow, automatic spring, turbine waterwheel, circular saw (invented by a woman), and a threshing machine. They also developed the clothes pin, metal pen nibs, the flat broom, waterproof clothing, and a washing machine.  Their crafts and home products, their seeds and herbal remedies were highly sought after. The Shakers were known for fair dealing and well made products. They were known for being industrious and for their ingenuity. Their communities were prosperous through the mid 1800’s but industrialization after the Civil War led to the decline in demand for Shaker goods and services.

As we think about the character of the Shaker expression of Christianity, we see that it is characterized by devotion to a God of love, daily repentance, belief in the dual nature of God – male and female and gender equality, separation from the world, communal living, celibacy, pacifism, and simplicity and practicality in design and work.  Interwoven into all of this is an openness and willingness to adapt and change as directed by God. So why are the Shakers dying out? Why are there only 2 left, living in a community designed for 100’s at Sabbathday Lake in rural Maine? The first explanation we may look to is celibacy. But the Shakers took in many orphans who had the choice at the age of 21 whether to stay in the community or leave.  And even to this day, the Sabbathday Lake Shakers receive about 2 inquiries a week about joining the community. So, in terms of maintaining the community, celibacy can be overcome by welcoming new recruits.

Are they dying out because of their strong devotion to a God of love?  Most churches think they subscribe to that. Is it the practice of daily repentance?  Again, that is a common Christian practice. Is it their belief in the dual nature of God and gender equality?  That makes the Shakers outliers. That is not something that is accepted in many other expressions of Christianity.  Is it the separation from the world? Wasn’t the Judeo/Christian community called to be a model for others to follow?  Being separate was a strong part of Jewish identity. And the New Testament teaches believers to “be in the world but not of it.”  Is it the communal living, so popular in the 1800’s and then again in the 1960’s, and still practiced by some today in the environmental movement, but still not common in Western culture?  Does that turn people away from Shakerism? The commitment to private ownership? There could be comfort in communal living as many of you know who live in senior life care communities. Is it the commitment to pacifism that keeps people away from Shakerism?  That is definitely not a common belief among Christians, even those who claim to follow the Bible, though it should be because Jesus was known to be a pacifist. Or is Shakerism dying because of their “hands to work, hearts to God” philosophy of honest work and innovation living in harmony with neighbors and Creation?  

It sounds like the Shaker expression of Christianity actually has much to offer, including its adaptability and willingness to embrace change.  As the well-known Shaker hymn, “Simple Gifts,” mentions, “to bow, and to bend. . . to turn. . . t’will be our delight.” It seems to me that Shakerism is sidelined not because it is antiquated but because it is radical.  

In the description of the Sabbathday Lake community, the Shakers tell us that Shakerism “teaches above all else that God is Love and that our most solemn duty is to show forth that God who is love in the World.”  [https://www.maineshakers.com/beliefs/]  While the Shakers may die out, may we be committed to carrying on their core teaching – to show forth the God who is love in the world.  If we do this, the pacifism, equality, and simplicity will follow! Amen.

Sources used in preparation for this sermon:

Website of the Sabbathday Lake Community, maineshakers.com
A booklet, A Collection of Essays By The Shaker Studies Class of 2006.
The Wikipedia entry about “Shakers.”
The website shakerpedia.com   

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

Date:  Feb. 17, 2019
Scripture Lesson: Jeremiah 17:5-10
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

While we know Ray Charles as a famous successful entertainer, musician, and celebrity, he had a very rough start in life.  Ray Charles Robinson was born Sept. 23, 1930. Yes, it was the Depression. He was born in Albany, Georgia but raised in Greenville, FL, the son of a sharecropping family.  He later changed his name, dropping the Robinson, to avoid confusion with the boxer, Sugar Ray Robinson. Charles’ mother was virtually penniless, young, uneducated, and sickly.  They were abandoned by the father. When Ray was 5 and his brother was about three, he watched his brother drown in a laundry tub full of water. Weeks later, his eyes started to ooze.  His mother sought medical treatment only to find out that her only remaining child was going blind and there was nothing that could be done about it. Ray was blind within two years.

Ray’s mother took matters in hand and made sure that Ray knew how to do things; how to get around, how to take care of himself, in spite of his visual impairment.  She taught him resilience, self sufficiency, independence, and pride. When people questioned her approach, she told them that he was blind but he was not stupid.

Once Ray was totally blind, he was sent to a school for the blind in St. Augustine.  While he was there, his beloved mother died. He couldn’t imagine how he would go on without her.  But with community support, he came out of his depression and began to live again.

Ray Charles began his musical career playing on what was known as the chittlin’ circuit – playing at dances and clubs all across the south for black audiences.  This is what brought him to the Manhattan Casino here in St. Petersburg. Touring in the south in the days of Jim Crow came with its share of challenges. This is how Charles tells it:  “We could be driving for hours and never find a gas station which would let us use the bathroom. If we stopped by the side of the road, we stood a chance of getting busted, so we’d open both doors of the car and piss between them.  We could be hungry as bears and go half a day before we’d find a joint that would serve us. The race thing hit us where it hurt – in the stomach and in the balls.” [Brother Ray: Ray Charles’ Own Story, Ray Charles and David Ritz, 1978, 2004,  p. 164]

It’s easy to see that Charles had a very hard time starting out.  Throughout his life and his career, Charles faced the multiplicity of problems that go with being black in America.  He had first hand experience with the institutions and attitudes that keep people down. He saw America at its worst.  And this is what he had to say: “Being blind was easy compared to being black in America. . . ‘The greatest handicap I’ve had – and still have – is my color.’”   [Ray Charles:  Man and Music, Michael Lydon, 1998, p. 288]

Charles left the school for the blind to pursue a career as a musician.  On the road. Playing with different bands then forming his own band. And it went on from there.  Charles’ interest in music began when he was a tot. He heard the piano at the Red Wing Cafe in Greenville, and he wanted to play.  Instead of shooing him away, the owner, Mr. Wiley Pitman, taught him how to play. Charles tells us:

“I was born with music inside me. . . music was one of my parts.  Like my ribs, my liver, my kidneys, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene.  It was a necessity for me – like food or water. And from the moment I learned that there were piano keys to be mashed, I started mashing ‘em, trying to make sounds out of feelings.”  [Brother Ray, p. 8]  Charles continued playing, also mastering alto saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, and organ.  

Charles loved music; all kinds.  He was trained in classical music.  He went on to play country, jazz, blues, soul, rock, rhythm and blues, gospel, all of it, and all of it mixed together.  His career branched out beyond recording and concerts to TV appearances, movies, commercials – including Coke and Pepsi. Things may go better with Coca Cola but Pepsi is the right one baby, uh-huh.  Charles recorded a song that was exclusively released in Japan. He was a very hard-working and dedicated musician and savvy at the business side of music.

Charles also had a family – wife and kids.  He was actually married twice. He had 12 children with 10 different women, that he knew of.  He liked gambling. He was a drug addict; a heroin junkie for 16 years. He decided to give up heroin and went in to treatment to avoid going to jail.  But he only gave up heroin, not drinking or weed. He played chess. He started a foundation to assist people with hearing impairment because he felt that loss of hearing was much more debilitating than loss of sight.  This man led a hard driving life in the fast lane and he died of acute liver disease at the age of 73. [Wikipedia]

At one point, as he began to be successful, he reflected, “My life was what it was.  Whatever it become, I made it so. Now I had a wife. I had a child. I was the leader of a little band.  I was a blues singer, a rhythm-and-blues singer. . . a recording artist of modest stature. I was also a man who still loved women and who enjoyed getting high.”  [Brother Ray, p. 161]  That didn’t change.  

Ray Charles was a many sided man.  Not easily pinned down – musically or otherwise.  In terms of religion, he liked going to church and all of the music and dancing though he did not share all of the beliefs.  He once visited a Jewish service. It was much calmer and quieter. He said that he really liked that, too. [Brother Ray, 323]  When it came to civil rights, he still was willing to play in segregated settings. But he supported the approach of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. though he did not feel he was up to personally making the commitment to non-violence.  [Brother Ray, 271-276]  Charles played for 3 presidents – Nixon, Clinton, and Bush.  He sang “America the Beautiful” at the Republican National Convention in 1984.  

About his politics, he says, “My politics are a little strange.  I’ve never figured out whether I’m a liberal or a conservative. I think I’m both.  I have trouble understanding the simple shit. Why we give billions of foreign aid and then can’t make sure that everyone in trouble has a decent lawyer.  Why we subsidize the tobacco companies and then can’t make sure that everyone who’s sick has a decent doctor.” [Brother Ray, p. 286]

In Ray Charles we see the many contradictions and complexities that come from the human heart.  He was fully alive and fully aware of the differing feelings and experiences of his humanity. He saw no need to integrate everything into a neat, tidy, seamless whole.  He took the mix as it was. And was honest about it. He sang love songs full of heartfelt devotion like “I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” and with just as much passion, he sang songs about cheating, and lying, and leaving.  He was the victim of the most devastating social ill of the modern world, racism, and then sang “America the Beautiful” about the country that had abused and betrayed him and his people for centuries.

Maybe this is why Charles was so beloved and honored: He was authentic.  He was real. He showed us the breadth of human experience which we evidently needed to see, and, surprisingly, we appreciated him for it.  Charles was the recipient of: 17 Grammy Awards, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the President’s Merit Award, Kennedy Center honors, the Playboy award, the National Medal of the Arts, and the Polar Music Award from Sweden.  He is #10 on the Rolling Stone list of “The Greatest Artists of All Time” and #2 on their list of “The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.” And in 2013, 9 years after his death of liver disease in 2004, he appeared on a US postage stamp.

In a tribute to Charles, President Obama had this to say:  “No matter the feeling—whether it was love, longing or loss—Ray Charles had the rare ability to collapse our weightiest emotions into a single note. And from the tiny clubs in which he started out to the arenas that he eventually filled, Ray was an electrifying performer. He couldn’t see us, but we couldn’t take our eyes off of him.”  [http://raycharles.com/legacy/2000s/]

All of these honors were bestowed on a man who shamelessly expressed the many vagaries of the human spirit in his music and in his life.  And we need that. And here we see an echo of the verses that we listened to from the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah is addressing his people in a time of geopolitical upheaval.  One empire is in decline. Another is rising. Alliances are in flux. There is conflict. Vast reforms are short-lived. We know about these kinds of conditions. The Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, the center of cultic life for the Hebrew people, is destroyed.  The people are driven into exile. Everything is topsy turvy. In a time of communal, social, national, religious, and personal upheaval and disruption what does the prophet tell the people? Don’t put your ultimate trust in humans. Don’t trust physical strength and human might.  And there is that precious line: “The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse – who can understand it?” Don’t trust in human power and strength or you’ll end up dead, dried up, and withered away like a plant in the desert.

So what is left?  Trust in God. In the ways of God.  In the goodness and love of God. That is the way to full, flourishing life.  Follow the wisdom teachings of justice and right relationship. Put devotion to the well-being of the community over personal gain.  Trust in the validity of the power of Love.

In the context of the prophet Jeremiah, the concept of God was a something above and beyond humanity, yet also within humanity.  So the prophet is telling us to have faith in the noblest impulses that serve the common good. Rise above and beyond petty interests and selfishness.  Approach life from a universal perspective with respect and reverence. See beyond individualism and tribalism. Know that there is a power at work, among, within, and beyond that is seeking the highest good.  Submit to that and live as Jeremiah says it, “like a tree planted beside the water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.” [17:8]  Jeremiah’s message – put your trust it the source of that life and love. But don’t put your ultimate trust in the human heart. It is subject to contradictions and betrayal as well as nobility but you can never be sure. With God, with Divine Love, with the Source, you can be sure.  

Early in his career, Ray Charles sang, “Take these chains from my heart and set me free.” Years later in a song he tells us:

None of us are free
None of us are free, one of us are chained
None of us are free
It’s a simple truth we all need, just to hear and to see

None of us are free, one of us is chained
None of us are free, now I swear your salvation isn’t too hard too find
None of us can find it on our own
We’ve got to join together in spirit, heart and mind
So that every soul who’s suffering will know they’re not alone

None of us are free
None of us are free, one of us are chained

If you just look around you
You’re gonna see what I say
‘Cause the world is getting smaller each passing day

The prophet Jeremiah and the prophets after him including Jesus remind us that we will find our freedom and our highest good not in the ways of the devious human heart, but in the heart of Divine Love, God, above, beyond, and within us.  Amen.

Much of the material in this sermon about Ray Charles comes from the two books cited:

Brother Ray:  Ray Charles’ Own Story by Ray Charles and David Ritz

Ray Charles:  Man and Music by Michael Lydon

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

Date:  February 3, 2019
Scripture Lesson: Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Luke 4:14-30
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

When Jesus visits his hometown synagogue and reads the assigned scripture for the day, the people are pleased and complimentary.  The scripture speaks of economic justice. radical redistribution of property and wealth. These people are largely poor and struggling.  The Romans are bleeding them dry with taxes to support big building projects that honor the Empire. So, radical economic liberation and inspiration are safe territory.  The people like hearing what their Bible has to say about that because it is to their advantage.

But Jesus does not stop there.  After reading that scripture, he goes on to reference several other Bible stories.  He is not making up something new. He is simply referencing two stories that the people know well.  The stories involve two top tier prophets. And both stories tell of the goodness and blessing of God being extended intentionally beyond the bounds of the Hebrew community to outsiders, others, foreigners, strangers.  It’s then that the hometown synagogue crowd gets riled up. Maybe living under occupation, economically strapped by the Romans, all they had left to hang on to was their favored nation status with God. They were trash to the Romans, but at least to their God they were still the chosen people, set apart for special blessing.  Maybe they were desperately clinging to that little shred of perceived privilege. We know what that is like. We see it in our context today. And when Jesus challenges that, with words from their own scripture, which could not be discounted, that was just too much.

The congregation attempts to stone Jesus and drive him off the edge of a cliff.  Yes, think lynching.

Many people see the way of Jesus as a path to being a decent person.  To being nice. I read a sermon online about Christianity and the way of Jesus being summed up by the phrase, Just Be Nice.  There is a Just Be Nice campaign. You can get t-shirts and bumper stickers and coffee mugs embellished with the phrase Just Be Nice.  

I have no problem with the concept of being nice.  Especially when you get cut off in traffic. Or someone is trying to break into your house.  But we’re told that some slave owners were nice to their slaves, but they were still slaves. In the lesson we heard today from Luke, Jesus is not only citing radical economic upheaval, he is calling for the dismantling of privilege, special status, and exceptionalism.  Jesus is drawing upon scripture to remind us that God is the God of everyone. No exceptions. And Jesus is intentionally hitting a raw nerve because that is what faith should do – meet us where we are, and confront what is blocking us from the full, true, goodness and power of Divine Love.  It wasn’t enough for Jesus to decry the Romans and the occupation. To be true to his faith, he had to offer an image of the highest good for the Romans as well as for the Jews. Even the Romans were not beyond the scope of God’s blessing.

That is what got him into trouble.  That is what got people going. That is why the people want to kill Jesus.  Right then and there – no court, no trial, no jury of his peers, no due process.  

Jesus is living out of, bringing forth, embodying, envisioning the realm of God, the commonwealth of Divine Love, Eden, the way of God on Earth as it is in heaven, in the fullest designs of God’s imagination.  It’s a huge paradigm shift. An alternative reality. It is a restructuring of society, economics, religion, power, and relationships. In the text from Jeremiah, we heard about destroying, overthrowing, plucking up, and then replanting, sowing, and building.  Jesus is talking about just such a major overhaul. And he is messing with what people are holding on to, clinging to, desperate to protect – privilege.

This past Friday and Saturday I attended the annual gathering of the Florida Interfaith Climate Actions Network sponsored by the Florida Council of Churches.  The topic was “Climate Impact and Environmental Inequity: Toward Justice for All.” During the course of the program, we heard from 6 people in Florida who are working on specific environmental problems that are directly affecting low income communities.  People are dying because of these environmentally polluted sites. Babies, children, young adults, mothers, fathers, elders. Are. Dying. Because of pollution right here in Florida. The community leaders that we heard from have done extensive research about the situations they are dealing with.  They have mobilized the communities involved. They have met with officials. They have written letters. They have gone to zoning meetings and council meetings and hearings. They have circulated petitions. They have enlisted attorneys. They are asking for the laws of the land to be implemented. That’s all.  And they are getting nowhere. Public officials ignore them. Deny them. Put them off. And the corporate interests involved continue to pursue their projects with no checks and balances.

And here is something you need to know about these 6 brave tireless social justice advocates who are devoting every fiber of their beings to their communities.  They are black. African American. And that is at the root of why these detrimental conditions exist in their communities and why they are not heard and their grievances are not resolved.  The presenting symptom is an environmental issue but the cause is racism. And what is the cause of racism? It is a mash-up of privilege, politics, exceptionalism, and economics.

One of the first things we did at the beginning of the training was to write down what we had to offer – to the group, to the event, to the efforts at hand.  Other than a willingness to listen and learn, I didn’t really feel I had anything in particular to contribute. At the end of the gathering, I spoke with one of the advocates.  And I told her, that sick as it is, the only thing I feel I have to offer, is my whiteness. She said, “Thank you so much. That is exactly what we need!” And she engulfed me in a warm embrace.   

Friends, dear ones, that is horrifying.  It’s sickening. And just being nice is not going to create a new reality that is anti-racist; that is completely and fully free of every kind of oppression, where life can flourish, full and sweet for ALL.   

We need a total makeover, a complete overhaul.  The plucking up and overthrowing that God lays on Jeremiah.  And we have our ancient documents to lead and guide us. Our Constitution declares that we are to have a government of the people, by the people, for the people, and that all men are created equal, which should include women, too, and that everyone in this country is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  We are not even talking about something new. We are talking about something yet to be realized. Still undone. Still waiting to be brought to life.

Friends, Jesus is about much more than Just Be Nice.  You don’t need the church to be nice. You can be nice and not embezzle money at work, not have an affair, and donate some money to a charity, without the inspiration of the church.  We don’t need the church or Jesus for that. If that is all that the church is about, then it doesn’t really matter if it fades away. People will manage to be nice without the church.  

But the scriptures today remind us that Jesus is about so much more than Just Be Nice.  Jesus wasn’t just nice to people – saying please and thank you and holding the door. Jesus was about healing and wholeness and honesty and reconciliation.  And sometimes that is not nice. Sometimes people try to drive you over a cliff to get rid of you. Jesus was about confronting whatever structures, attitudes, and behaviors we cling to that prevent us from knowing and experiencing the full joyous awesome realm of God right here and right now.  Jesus is not about just a new political party, or a new presidential administration, or a new government, and the good that can bring. Jesus is talking about full and complete transformation of our world – as individuals and as social groups. Jesus is about taking everything down to its essence and creating a new reality that naturally incorporates dignity for each and every person.  A reality that is based on the inalienable sacredness of Earth and all life. Jesus is talking about sustainable community that serves all and in which no one is taken advantage of. Jesus is not talking about tweaking things, he is talking about a fundamental, radical shift in which the beauty of the reality we but dare to dream unfolds in our midst. It is glorious. It is universal. And it takes a community working together and supporting each other.   The church. But Just Be Nice is not enough. 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.

The BIG Event, Stewardship Sunday

Scripture Lessons:  Isaiah 25:  6-9 and Matthew 6:25-33

The Namib Desert is a vast expanse of, well, dry sand, in south western Africa.  This long narrow coastal desert stretches about 1200 miles from Angola through Namibia and into South Africa.  The name, Namib, comes from the Nama word which means “vast place” and indeed the Namib Desert is a vast place covering over 31,000 square miles.  That’s about half the size of the state of Florida.  The Namib Desert is one of the oldest on the planet.  It may be between 55 and 80 million years old!  The landscape includes sand seas with dunes rising up to 1000 feet, gravel plains, and scattered mountain outcroppings.  In some places, the average yearly precipitation is 2 millimeters per year!  The temperature ranges from 140 degrees F to freezing.  Not surprisingly, there is very little human habitation or activity in this desert, though there is mining of diamonds and tungsten. 

Despite the harsh conditions, there is prolific life in the Namib Desert.  It is home to some 3,500 plant species half of which are endemic.  That means they can be found only in this region of the Earth.  One of these plants is the Welwishcia mirabilis.  It has only two long, narrow leaves and it can live for over 1,000 years!

There are also a variety of animal species that live in the Namib Desert including birds, shrews, moles and snakes as well as zebra and even elephants.  There are also lots of beetles and bugs including the amazing darkling beetle.

This beetle is endemic to the Namib Desert.  That means it cannot be found living anywhere else on Earth.  It’s a little beetle about the size of a thumb nail.  And it gets up every morning and climbs up a sand dune which may be up to 1000 feet high.  That’s like twice the height of Mount Everest to a human being.  Then, when this beetle gets to the top of the dune, does it lay down and rest?  No!  It stands still, facing the wind, and does a head stand.  In this position, here’s what happens scientifically – the bumpy elytrons with a pattern of hydrophilic bumps and hydrophobic troughs cause humidity from the morning fog to condense into droplets and roll down the beetle’s back into its mouth.  OK.  That means that the beetle does this head stand and moisture from the fog forms drops on its body which has special bumps and grooves to channel the water down the body right into the beetle’s mouth.  What a design!  In this way, the beetle takes in up to 40% of its body weight in water.  That’s like an adult drinking about 30 liters of water!  (Calculated for a 160 pound adult.)  So, the beetle doesn’t rest at the top of the dune but it sure has a big drink of water!  Then it heads down the dune to conduct the rest of the days activities!  This seemingly crazy water capture procedure keeps the beetle alive even in the harshest conditions.  

Well, I’m going to suggest that coming to church for us is something like heading up the dune for the darkling beetle.  We get up on Sunday morning and get dressed, eat something, drink something, and then we head to church.  Here we find what we need to live.  We find community.  We find love.  We find spiritual sustenance.  We find teachings and values that promise life.  We find a concept of reality to not only sustain us but to help us flourish.  All that we need to live is offered here.  We just have to show up and take it in like the beetle heading up the dune.  Sometimes it may seem like a taxing trek up that dune but the beetle is not disappointed.  It does its headstand and gathers the water it needs to make it through another day.  Some Sundays, it seems like hard work to get to church.  How are we going to fit it in with all that we have to get done?  Maybe we feel weak.  Maybe there are other reasons the effort seems like a stumbling block.  Maybe it’s not as bad as climbing a mountain twice the height of Everest, but it could be as taxing as doing a head stand!  But we make the effort and we get here, and we find just what we need to make it through the day, or through the challenge we are facing, or through the difficult circumstance that has us stressed.  Here, at church, we find that what we need comes pouring in.  We just have to show up.  And then we leave to proceed with the rest of life, prepared, supported, and fortified, even for the harshest conditions.  

So as you make your pledge this morning, offering time, talent, and treasure, think of all that we are receiving from the church and all that the church is offering.  It’s all here.  Everything we need to live with meaning, purpose, joy, and delight.  Let us share the harvest that is being so generously given to us.  Amen.  

Information on the darkling beetle and the Namib Desert is from:

http://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/namib_desert/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namib

Planet Earth, “Deserts”

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