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Date: May 22, 2011
Scripture Lessons: John 14:1-14 and Acts 7:55-60
Sermon: Anxiety Antidote
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

A couple of months ago, the electronic keyboard from the church sanctuary was stolen. It was eventually located at a pawn shop by the police and we have it back. In this process, the police showed me a picture of the woman who they believe is responsible for the theft. Evidently, she has an 8 year old child, and told the police that she stole the keyboard to get money to support her child. Mind you, we got the keyboard from the pawn shop for $100. That was enough to motivate her to steal from a church and risk a jail sentence. She must have been really anxious and desperate about how she was going to care for her child.

People are experiencing anxiety in all different kinds of ways today. This woman had economic anxiety about how to provide for her child. People have anxiety about money. About growing old. About health. About the future of the planet. People have social anxieties about dealing with others and anxieties about relationships. People have anxiety about violence and war and crime. People have anxiety about the well-being of their families. And about drugs and drinking and addiction. People have anxiety over the influence of technology on the human species. People have anxiety about jobs and lay offs and cuts in government spending. Just ask a teacher or someone who works for the state or federal government. People have anxiety about personal safety, going out at night, going to school, traveling at home and abroad. There was a letter to the editor after the killing of Osama bin Laden wondering if we were going to go back to pre-9/11 security procedures at the airports now. Ha! And our anxiety level is jacked up by media and TV and entertainment that is filled with violence. There is anxiety about rejection, failure, and the big one, DEATH. Our society is churning with anxiety. You may have come to church feeling peaceful and secure, but now you may be starting to feel anxious and unsure!

So what does our faith tradition have to say to us about all of this anxiety? The two scripture lessons that we heard this morning address this very matter. The verses we heard from John are from the beginning of what is called John’s farewell discourse. Jesus has told his disciples that he will be leaving them. That he will soon be killed. They are overwrought with anxiety. They have followed him, left home and family, risked the ire and ridicule of religious authorities, and banked on him. He’s leaving them? To suffer and die a humiliating death? That’s not what they signed on for. They are worried and anxious about their future.

We can imagine their horror. Think of someone who has worked a lifetime for a corporation that goes bankrupt, and there will be no pensions or health insurance or any benefits for career employees. Consider someone investing all of their money in a business and the partner absconds with the funds and leaves the country. What about someone who has eaten right and exercised for years only to find out they are dying of a rare form of cancer. Or the family whose child is killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. Or the spouse, who after decades of marriage announces that she/he is leaving the relationship and the family. We know what it is to face the fear and anxiety of the bottom dropping out of our lives. That’s how it was for the disciples when Jesus tells them that he is going to be killed. What will they do? How will they go on?

To address this anxiety, the writer of John’s gospel has Jesus give the disciples a long farewell speech to calm their fears and reassure them. He basically tells them, “Don’t worry, trust God.” Jesus tells his friends to stay true to all they have experienced with him. Continue to believe in the goodness and love of God and love one another. Serve others. Invest yourself in something beyond yourself – in God’s hopes and dreams. These are the basic themes of his ministry. They need only stay on the path that they are
on and everything will be fine. God can be trusted. God is faithful.

In the case of Stephen, again, we hear of a situation fraught with anxiety. Stephen has given a long speech to the religious leaders and basically highlighted God’s faithfulness and the disobedience of God’s people. These leaders are filled with fury. And they stone Stephen to death for heresy.

The people who kill Stephen are anxious. They perceive a threat to their power and authority. They feel attacked. They are afraid. Those who stone Stephen are filled with malice and fury. They are blood thirty and poisoned with hatred. They lash out in vitriolic violence. They close their ears and their hearts and open their hands to throw stones. This is basically a lynching. They deal with their anxiety by engaging in reactive violence and destruction.

So here we see a stark contrast in the response to anxiety and fear. Jesus, Stephen, and the disciples are faced with threatening situations. And Jesus advises, follow the Way. Stay true to God and to love. And Stephen is a beautiful example of following Jesus. He dies like Jesus did. He commends his spirit to God and forgives his killers. He comes across peaceful. Serene. Steady. Calm. Loving. Trusting.

Then there are those doing the stoning. We are told they are loud, they rush against Stephen, and drag him away. They are hate-filled. Violent. Hostile. Rabid. So different from Stephen and from Jesus.

In the farewell discourse when Jesus tells his followers that he is the Way, he is reminding a small group of faithful people from a specific religious tradition that the way he has shown them will indeed lead them to the fulfillment of their spiritual longings. Jesus is assuring his anxious friends that they need to continue to trust all that they have experienced of the love, generosity, compassion, and mercy of God while they have been with him. He wants them to remember that through loving and serving others they have found joy and peace. And as the anxiety escalates, the threat grows, and their fears increase, they need to stay grounded in all they have learned from him.

“I am the Way, the truth and the life,” was not directed to a situation involving the threat of other religions. This was spoken to people dealing with a threat from within their own religion. Jesus was addressing anxiety related to a threat from within, he was not making a statement about Christianity or Judaism relative to other religions. Jesus was reminding his friends to stay true to anti-violence, love, forgiveness, service, and compassion. Don’t get swept away in the frenzy of reactive violence. Don’t lash out in hatred. Don’t abandon love. Don’t get taken in by an eye for an eye. Make a witness to the truth of love as the way to full and abundant life. Don’t let your anxiety and fear lead you to abandon your trust in the God you have come to know through me.

Several months ago, our church sponsored Neighbor to Neighbor dialogues at the local library which was an opportunity for people of different faiths to come together to discuss their beliefs and religious commitments. It was done to help diffuse hostility and tension and fear among people of differing faiths. We reached out in this way showing our trust in God’s universal love as we have learned of it from Jesus Christ.

In the first century, following Jesus was about a lifestyle. It was about embodying generosity and community. It was about healing and serving others. It was about celebrating a God of love, mercy, and generosity. It was not about following rules or ascribing to doctrine and dogma about God or Jesus. Christianity began as a way of living that eschewed violence, hatred, and life centered on self interest. The Way was about relationships that crossed class and social and religious barriers. It was about helping the poor. It was about living for others and for the common good.

Today, Christianity is known predominantly for its theological truth claims rather than for the behavior of its adherents. In our society as a whole, can you identify the Christians by their behavior? Do they/we act differently enough that they stand out from others? Does our lifestyle give us away? For the most part, Christians are known for believing that Jesus is God, that he came back from the dead in the body, and his followers are going to heaven. Christians are also known for expecting Jesus to return, even if they can’t get the date right! These identifying characteristics involve theoretical beliefs. That’s how Christians are identified today for the most part. For beliefs. Not primarily for behavior. Back in the day, when Stephen was stoned, Christians were known for their behavior. For their love, forgiveness, and generosity toward others. They were known for serving the poor.

When we took in the homeless here at our church some years ago that was our motivation – to show God’s love and care in our actions. Little did we know that we were going to receive significant hostility even from other Christians. Today, Christianity is mainly about beliefs about God and Jesus, rather than the ethical imperatives in the teachings of Jesus.

This past week, there was an article in the paper about a church in West Palm Beach where the congregation is in an uproar over a prayer request. After seeing the way people gleefully celebrated the killing of Osama bin Laden, Henry Borga paid $10, just as others do, to have a person put on the prayer list at his church. Borga, taking his Christian faith to heart, wanted the church to pray for the soul of bin Laden. Borga says he believes bin Laden “needs forgiveness and compassion from God.” He feels that praying for our enemies is “what God has taught us to do.” But evidently, the congregants of the Holy Name of Jesus Church do not agree. The church secretary thought the prayer request was a joke. Reacting to the prayer request for bin Laden, one church member declares: “I think it’s totally wrong, he doesn’t belong in the Catholic religion. For what he did to Americans, he doesn’t belong anywhere. It’s unconscionable, it’s sacrilegious.” The priest of the church has shown understanding and compassion for the congregation, while noting that the church has never turned down a prayer request. He concludes, “Jesus tells us, love and forgive.” [St. Petersburg Times, 5/19/11, “Church split over bin Laden prayers”]

This story reminds me of the service we had here in this sanctuary on Sept. 11,
2001, where we gathered to pray and one of the first prayer requests lifted up from
someone in the group was prayers for our enemy, Osama bin Laden.

Regardless of our feeling about bin Laden, the Way of Jesus, the ethical imperative of the one we follow, is love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. We have the example of Jesus from the cross. And Stephen as he is being stoned. In the face of hatred, anxiety, violence and fear, are we going to lash out or love? Jesus made the way clear. Love. As Mahatma Gandhi put it, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”

While we may not feel that our lives are being directly threatened at this very moment, we have our share of reasons to feel anxious and fearful and worried. The teachings of Jesus still speak to us today with reassurance. Trust love, forgiveness, and compassion. Invest in generosity and service to others. Pray for your enemies and forgive them. If you can’t think of emulating Jesus because he is the divine son of God, think of Stephen. One of the multitude of followers of Jesus. A regular guy, who chose to follow the Way of Jesus because it is a path to serenity and peace. To a calm heart and a joyful life.

Earlier I mentioned the woman who was involved with stealing the keyboard from the church. She was motivated by fear and anxiety about how she was going to provide for her child. The irony is, if she had come to church, explained her situation, and asked for help, we may very well have given her the $100 she needed from the Special Needs fund. By stealing from the church, she ends up with more anxiety, not less.

In the face of fear, dread, and violence, may we not close our eyes to the power of love, compassion, generosity, and forgiveness. It is the security and serenity system that cannot be breached. As we confront the anxiety of our days, may we hold fast to the way of Jesus; the antidote to anxiety. 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.

Date: May 15, 2011
Scripture Lesson: Acts 8:26-40
Sermon: Ready or Not
Pastor: Rev. Kim P. Wells

In 1996, a group of three people from this congregation approached me and asked to meet with me. They wanted to initiate a process of discussion and discernment about the congregation becoming Open and Affirming. In the United Church of Christ, Open and Affirming refers to an extravagant welcome to all to be part of the church, specifically including people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered. While Open and Affirming was adopted by the national UCC in 1985, individual churches make their own choice about endorsing this commitment.

Back in 1996, this was really a hot button topic as it still is in some churches today. And this church was small and frail and financially precarious. Survival issues were the elephant in the room back in 1996. Were we going to make it as a church? Were we viable? While I personally supported Open and Affirming at a theological level, practically speaking, it was another matter. I had to ask myself and these three people, given the precarious situation of the church, is it the right moment to bring up the most controversial, inflammatory, and incendiary issue being discussed in the church at the time? Hmmm.

As far as Open and Affirming is concerned, one of the people who approached me about it had this perspective: If we are not bold about what we stand for, then maybe it doesn’t matter if we close as a church. That swayed me. If we weren’t here for the gospel of Jesus Christ, then maybe we didn’t need to be here. Yes, some people left the church over this, but new people came, gay and
straight, which is why we are still here today.

On the one hand: What is a good time to talk about something controversial in the church? When is it a good time in the church to confront difficult issues? On the other hand: When is it a good time to share the love, joy, and peace of God with all people?

In the story we heard this morning about the encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian official, there are several controversial matters that come to play in the story. The action takes place on the road to Gaza, a wilderness road. It was, and still is, a dangerous place: Tensions and hostilities between peoples creating friction. The Ethiopian is a foreigner. Not fully welcome in Judaism. He may come to the Temple for high holy days, but he is not allowed inside.

When we think of Gaza today, we still see tension between those of different backgrounds. Animosity between Israelis and Palestinians erupts regularly over settlements and the boycott of goods and services virtually starving those who live on the Gaza strip. We are still facing the difficult issues of conflict rooted in ethnic and religious identity. When is it a good time to talk about that, in or out of the church? When is it a good time to talk about the universal love of God?

And conflicts over ethnicity are an issue not just in Israel but here in American society as well. Immigration is a hot button topic. There is routine exclusion and discrimination practiced against immigrants. The church custodians are legal immigrants from Bulgaria. They have been here well over five years, since before the economic slump. Vladimir has a master’s degree in international finance and Slava has a master’s degree in math and they have jobs cooking, cleaning, and delivering pizza. There is nothing wrong with those jobs, but they can’t get hired in anything related to their fields of expertise because their foreign educational credentials are dismissed. When is it a good time to talk about ethnocentrism and discrimination in or out of the church? When is it a good time
to talk about all people as children of God?

Then there is the matter of the Ethiopian official’s sexual identity. This, too, makes him an outsider. Not fully welcome. Not fully included. Because of his physical condition. Again, a difficult issue still being confronted today. There is still significant tension and hostility related to sexual identity in church and society. There are still barriers related to physical condition. When is it a good time to talk about that? When is it a good time to talk about the image of God in every human being?

Related to sexual identity, gender still accounts for significant inequity in society and the church, in terms of jobs, pay, access to power, and leadership. While the UCC is better than most, there are still issues. Apparently most of the leaders being nominated for staff positions in the national UCC, to be elected at the General Synod in Tampa, are men. We just got the ballot for new trustees for our UCC Pension Boards. All men. On the ballot they give you three choices: Vote for all. Vote for none. Or vote for some and add a write-in candidate. I added another square on my ballot: Abstain. In the write-in space, I
wrote: Where are the women?

Father Roy Bourgeois who founded the School of the Americas Watch and spoke here at our church last year, has been threatened with being defrocked as a Catholic priest because he supports the ordination of women. He says, “I see this with such clarity that rather than recant, I’d rather eat at a soup kitchen and live under a bridge, and do that with deep inner peace and a clear conscience.” [The Christian Century, 5/3/11, p. 9] When is it a good time to talk about gender equality in the church and beyond? When is it a good time to talk about the creation story: Male and female, God created them? When is it a good time to talk about all people equally loved by God?

Then we see that the Ethiopian official is in charge of the entire treasury of
Queen Candace. This can also be seen as a matter of controversy. He has access
to wealth and with it, power. You know people are going to be constantly trying to influence him and gain favor from him. That is a difficult position to be in and maintain trust and integrity.

To say we have issues over public money in this country would be a gross understatement. We hear every day about what is and isn’t being funded, about taxes, about cuts, about pork, about loss of services, about the debt ceiling, etc. You can’t turn on the news, open a news webpage, or look at a newspaper without seeing issues about public money and the values involved. And the decisions about these issues are being made by people. What are their motivations and perspectives and values? US Uncut is an organization committed to eliminating loopholes and tax havens in the corporate tax code. Carl Gibson, a leader in this movement tells us, “The $3 in my wallet is more than ExxonMobil, GE, and Bank of America paid in taxes last year, combined.” [The Christian Century, 5/17/11, p. 9] I paid over $62 to fill my gas tank this week and some of it was taxes. I pay taxes, why doesn’t ExxonMobil? There’s something wrong with this picture. Public finance is clearly a controversial topic in and out of the church. When is it a good time to talk about the wellbeing of the society as a whole? When is it a good time to talk about greed? When is it a good time to talk about economic justice? When is it a good time to talk about the earth intended to sustain all people, not just some people?

The Ethiopian official is studying the words of the prophet Isaiah. Philip illuminates those teachings for him. What is the right time for the church to illuminate the words of the prophets from our cherished Bible? Prophets who rile against usury (charging exorbitant interest). Prophets who decry exploitation of the poor, ill treatment of foreigners, of the elderly, children, and widows. When is it a good time to talk about the prophets who lambast the abuse of religion to serve the interests of its leaders instead of promoting justice, compassion, and generosity? When is it a good time to talk about such things?

The Ethiopian official reads the phrases from the prophet Isaiah, “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,” “a lamb silent before its shearer,” “in his humiliation justice was denied him.” Imagine how those words resonated to him given his experience? One who has been cut, humiliated, denied. When he hears that Jesus willingly endured suffering, humiliation, and injustice by choice, out of love, imagine how he was moved. Imagine his feeling of astounding joy. It is Jesus’ expansive, self sacrificing love that drew people to his way, to his movement, to the community of his followers. When is it the right time to talk about Jesus’ love and solidarity with those who are on the fringe, the margin, outsiders, second class, suffering, demeaned, degraded, and devalued? When is it a good time to proclaim Jesus’ expansive love for all people? When is it a good time to declare our devotion to a God of universal love?

This Ethiopian official was a man of high rank and importance with significant responsibilities. Yet he leaves his post to make a perilous journey to carry out his religious devotion. He goes to Jerusalem for the Jewish high holy days. He makes this effort to practice a religion that will not even fully accept him because of his ethnicity and his sexual identity. Yet he goes, prays, and studies, with earnest devotion. When is it the right time to show our commitment to our spiritual path? Sure, we have other concerns, we can always make excuses. But when is it a good time to really practice what we preach as Christians?

Philip was in the middle of growing a new movement. Getting people to join up. And God tells him to go to this wilderness road, to this Ethiopian official. It may not have been safe. He was already doing God’s work. This official presented inclusion problems for the early Jesus movement because he was not a Jew, he was a Gentile. There was the water. What about baptism? What would they say at ‘headquarters’? This was controversial. Philip could have made excuses about how this is not the right time to involve himself with the official. When is it the right time to deal with controversial issues? When is it the right time to show the universal love of God in Jesus Christ?

We can always find excuses and explanations for what we are or aren’t doing. It’s not the right time. We are busy with something else. It will cause too many problems. We don’t want to rock the boat. We don’t have the power to change things anyway. It’s not our problem. There always excuses. We need to be on the lookout, constantly, for what is holding us back, what is standing in our way, what is preventing us from full expression of our Christian discipleship. We need to remove the obstacles and distractions that are diverting us.

Though the gospel is an inclusive message of universal love, the true core values of Christianity, the teachings of Jesus, are always going to offend someone. Given the world as it is, they should make us all at least squirm a little. They should remind us of our commitment and what we still can do to be true to our calling. It will never be the right time to deal with the controversial matters raised by the gospel. It is always the right time to demonstrate the love, joy, and peace of God.
When I was a teenager, we went to a UCC church in Minneapolis that sponsored a family camp every year. It was always one of the best weeks of the summer. So, one year we went off to camp and one of the first activities of the week was tie dying t-shirts. This was back in the first incarnation of tie dye. We all had shirts and were busy with big vats of die of many colors and rubber bands, and we used a technique to make letters and words. It was a lengthy process – soaking and rinsing and wrapping and drying. After several days, the shirts were done and we all put them on.

Our senior minister, not only the top authority at the church, but also
approaching retirement, had put letters on his shirt, words, evidently. He proudly put on his t-shirt surrounded by a group of us teenagers. We looked at his shirt. We looked at him. We were puzzled. We tried to restrain our giggling and laughter. On his shirt, we saw a capital D, a lower case o, then a straight vertical line, and a cross or a t, we weren’t sure which, all evenly spaced. It looked like this: D o I t. “Dolt?” We really could not suppress our laughter. Who would put “dolt” across a t-shirt? Bless him, poor Phil Sarles could not figure out what we were laughing about. Your shirt. It says, “dolt.” He looked at us confused. What he saw on his shirt was Do It. (And this was in the olden days way before the Nike motto.) Do it! Don’t hold back. Seize the opportunity. Do it.

The time will never be right to be bold about gospel values that are controversial and threatening to some. The time is always right to spread the universal, extravagant love of God. God is calling . The gospel of love is waiting. The love, joy, and peace are ripe. Do it. To some, you may seem like a dolt. Don’t worry about that. Like Philip and the Ethiopian official – ready or not. Do it! 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.