Third Sunday After Pentecost

Series: Time After Pentecost

Is important for preachers to stay relevant and not to ignore the time.  Today is one of those days where it can be quite a challenge to pick a theme and stay on message since there is so much going one.  Today is Father’s Day.  Friday we celebrated Juneteenth, the day we mark as the end of legal slavery in America. This Month is Gay Pride month and in normal times last week many of us would have participated in the pride parade.  Wednesday of this past week was the fifth anniversary of the massacre at Mother Emanuel Church, to which some of us patriated in a service of Lament and Healing.  In our own small Lutheran Faith community the 2 pastors of Emmanuel 9 and the killer Dillion Roof were our own.  Rev. Daniel Lee Simmons St., and Rev Cleminta Pickney graduated from the ELCA Southern Seminary in Columbia, SC and the killer Dylann Roof was a member of a local Lutheran church where he was raised and confirmed. Police killings have spiked protests around the country and the vicious pandemic is still claiming lives or make people very ill.  And there was some good news this past week with the Supreme Court ruling the our DOCA children, immigrant children who were born in the US,  can stay in this country, work, go to school, and live peacefully at least for a while. The court also affirmed that people no matter what their sexual orientation have a right to a job without discrimination.   That seemed like a no brainer to most of us but the highest court in our land has affirmed this into law. And finally today is World Refugee Day.   So what should I preach on? 

            Fear deep down we are all afraid.  Could fear be behind the sin if racism and the hate of others who are different from us. From the moment we are born, we learn to fear the world around us, certainly to fear the stranger, sometimes to fear even those who are closest to us.  Political leaders have long recognized the power of fear in ensuring our conformity to the structures this world.  Fear is the driving force behind vast segments of our economy, as well as, increasingly, our political priorities.  In today’s reading from Matthew Jesus recognizes that fear will also cause the failure of discipleship.  Jesus’ disciples courageously leave the security of their homes and families to follow him as they proclaim the advent of God’s reign, but they, too, will know and ultimately bow before the power of fear. Faithful proclamation and practice of the gospel inevitably puts disciples on a collision course with the powers of this world. So, as Jesus prepares his disciples for their mission he is starkly realistic about the threats they will face, at the same time he builds the case for why they should not let this fear master them or hinder their witness.

Jesus’ mission discourse is a “get-out-the-volunteers” campaign like no other. On the one hand, the disciples are granted remarkable powers to heal, exorcise demons, cleanse lepers, even to raise the dead. But what does he do he also denies them money, pay, extra clothes, a staff for protection, even sandals. They are to undertake their mission in complete vulnerability and dependence on God, even knowing that they go as “sheep in the midst of wolves,” face arrests and beatings, opposition even from family members, and hatred and persecution.

The claim that whatever is covered up will be uncovered and secrets made known arises from the inclusive power of the gospel, in which the disciples participate through the means of their mission. Their simplicity, vulnerability, and dependence on God demonstrate the reality of God’s presence and character in the face the world’s claims to possess real power. Even though doing so will bring suffering, the gospel must now be proclaimed, for the gospel proclaimed and lived is the most powerful tool at the disciples’ disposal against the powers of this world.  Some have said that racism is getting worse.   Actor Will Smith racism is not getting worse it’s just being filmed.  Who could have imagined how true these words would become? Things are not worse; they are getting uncovered and the truth is almost unbearable to watch and to speak. For far too long, we have denied our racism.  Jesus in Matthew knows that is human nature to remain comfortable in our denial so as to avoid exposure. And that we are also quite adept at dodging disclosure, making up excuses for sidestepping the truth. What is getting exposed, of course, is not just racism, but our complicity. Not just how deeply systemic racism is, but how the church as an institution expertly harbors racism. Not just how the church has relied on white privilege, but how it has kept silent in preaching the truth of the Gospel.

I have heard it and you have heard it said that sermons about racism and LGBQIA rights, justice and equality, are political messages and do not belong in the pulpit.  In my own family people have left the ELCA because last summer when the ELCA held their National Assembly in Milwaukee they marched to the local ICE office to protest the policies and treatment of immigrants who are living in this country without legal status.  Why, because they simply want a better life for themselves and their families.   Two weeks ago you heard it right hear from Bishop Eaton when she preached on Holy Trinity Sunday.  In her sermon she linked the murder of George Floyd with the crucifixion of Jesus.  This was denounced by some because it did not aligned with the teachings of the Lutheran church.  Those who have said this need to go back learn again the reason why Jesus died.   The meaning of the cross is not only about the forgiveness of sins—and our own personal depravities, but our corporate or systemic sins.  The cross is also a symbol of an indictment of empire. We cannot reduce the cross to the means of salvation only but it also stands to rebuke tyrannical power.

 “For nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.   Before the Gospel was good news–good news for the poor in spirit, good news for the marginalized, good news for those overlooked, good news for the vulnerable and the discriminated, good news for those who mourn, for the meek, for those persecuted for standing up for righteousness and justice–it was and is very bad news for those whose power banks on chokeholds; whose power takes advantage of anyone it can; whose power is hell-bent on keeping power any way it can–and will threaten with force and commit murder to do so.

Ibram X. Kendi argues that the heartbeat of racism is denial; the heartbeat of antiracism is confession and being an antiracist, says Kendi, and requires persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination. If the church cannot be the model for confession, then we have no right to claim that we are living out the great commission.

At this time and in this moment we must hear Jesus’ words and do them: “What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.” No wonder three times in this passage we hear Jesus’ injunction, “do not be afraid.” There is a lot of which to be afraid these days, but it is not just the spread of COVID-19. It’s the insidious inability of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ to tell truth to powers that know not love.  That which has been covered up will be uncovered and exposed for the evil that it is.   

            Jesus encourages the disciples to remain firm in their commitment to Jesus and their mission, even when that mission generates inevitable conflicts, even within their families. Although Jesus has called his disciples to be peacemakers, his mission does not bring peace, but a sword, so long as the powers resist God’s rule and will.

 

Finally Jesus talks about taking up the cross.  What does this mean?  It implies identification with the marginal people, slaves and rebels,  who were subject to Roman crucifixion, and all those who are persecuted and unjustly treated.  In our society that means indigenous people, immigrant people,  and people of color. Jesus promises that those who “lose their life” for him will in fact “find it,” while those who “find their lives” in the world will lose them.  

            No matter what happens to us in this fight for justice God’s power will remain supreme and his steadfast love endues forever.  How do we know this because as God cares for the little sparrows so much more does God care for us, even our very hairs on are head, or lack of hair,  is known by God.   No longer is the threat of death the determining force in life but it is God who has ultimate power and exercises it with love and mercy.  On this Father s Day that’s the best example we can give to our children biological or otherwise.    Treat everyone with love and mercy.  Amen

Speaker: Tom Knoll

June 21, 2020
Matthew 10:24-39

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