Freedom or Freedoom?

[Manuscript]

America the beautiful: land of the free. Freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom to peaceably assemble in protest, freedom of religion. Freedom. Or is it? Is it freedom of speech? I can tell you a quick way to find out is to walk into any US airport and at the top of your lungs yell bomb. You let me know how that works out for you; and I promise I’ll accept the charges at least once when you call collect to explain. Freedom, of press; or is it when ESPN journalist Bill Simmons is suspended for publicly criticizing the NFL for its handling of domestic violence, granted it’s his job as a member of the press to report such things except when it’s not in the best interest of ESPN and its relationship with the #1 sport’s league in America. Freedom, to peaceably assemble in protest; although our brothers and sisters in Ferguson, MO might warn you that such freedom gets you arrested, tear gassed, and shot with rubber bullets. Freedom, of religion; only when it’s the right religion. Just ask, NFL player Husain Abdullah who was penalized for praying to Allah after scoring a touchdown, when Christian footballers pray to God in the endzone all the time without reproach. America the beautiful; land of freedom, or is it free-doom?

As descendants of slaves we’ve seen slavery play out and supposedly die out in history, and we’ve been told go get over it! Because we haven’t been slaves for years. That’s interesting when 29 million people are currently living in slavery worldwide; 15,000 of them being trafficked each year right here in the United States. So you might say, “well that’s not me I’m not a victim of human trafficking, and therefore I’m not a slave.” And at least half of that statement would probably be true. But Kanye West says that many of us are “New Slaves” in his song of the same name. Now while I almost never quote scripture from the book of Yeezus, especially new Yeezus, Kanye might be on to something with this New Slaves thing. You see he says that we were set free only to be re-enslaved by money, designer labels, fast cars, and shiny things. New slaves to addiction, and drama, and fear. And not so new slaves to sin. However we still deny that we are enslaved, after all this is America the beautiful; land of the free! You know Harriet Tubman freed a thousand slaves, and she said she would have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.

But she wasn’t the first to attempt free slaves who didn’t think they were slaves. The Gospel text for this Reformation Sunday reads,

31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

You see Jesus knows something about trying to free slaves from free-doom, what he says to them is a challenge. If they “continue” or have a firm relationship with Jesus’ word, they will know the truth and will be set free. But much like we would if someone called you or me a slave, the Jews take offense at this, claiming that as descendants of Abraham, they have never been slaves and therefore don’t need to be freed. Ironically they say this, in spite of the fact that it was the descendants of Abraham who lived in bondage in Egypt, and were made captives to several neighboring states throughout their history, and were currently in a form of bondage under the Roman regime.

Jesus corrects their literal understanding of his statement. They may not be in slavery, themselves, but are certainly bound to, enslaved to sin. That he begins with a solemn preamble (“Very truly, I say to you . . .”) indicates the sincerity with which Jesus utters the truth: they are in bondage to sin, but he (“the Son”) can set them free.

One of the abiding themes of Reformation Day is that Martin Luther and the other Reformers discovered freedom in the gospel. Young Luther was particularly caught up in the problem of Jesus’ auditors. Though not strictly enslaved in a literal sense, like them, Luther was trapped in his own sinfulness. Through reading the gospels with fresh understanding, Martin Luther began to grasp its truth; the truth that Christ was not merely the Judge eagerly waiting to exact punishment on hapless sinners. Christ, through his victory on the cross, overcame sin so that those who live in it have the opportunity to be freed from it through the covering of His amazing grace. These were the principles upon which the Lutheran Church was built.

Any church or denomination celebrating Reformation Day can use this opportunity to consider the significance of the theology of the cross. The cross is the greatest irony in history. If you recall, the cross was nothing specific to Jesus; the cross was specific to criminals. And because you’re good bible readers I know that you’ll remember that 2 others joined Jesus on that Friday, hanging from a cross; criminals. The cross was an instrument of condemnation and death; yet it becomes the vehicle for triumph over evil and death. The word of Jesus is the word of the cross and it sets humankind free from our bondage to sin.

People are aware, however, that in one sense, we are not completely free from sin. Do you know that you are not completely free from sin? Do you know that you’ll continue in sin, just as before? Perhaps as believers, we sin less than before we learned to live in close relationship to Jesus’ words. Perhaps. Nonetheless, sin is ever present in life. The difference is Jesus’ act on the cross changes the game entirely. Before it, sin meant the just sentence of death. After the cross, sin brings the possibility of forgiveness. Death is replaced by forgiveness of sins. That is a striking reversal, one that affirms that sinners are free from the terrible fate we deserve.

[Drink from your own cup retreat] I attended a Men’s retreat where the theme for the weekend was, “Drink from your own cup.” But you see, in order to drink from your own cup, you’ve got to first know what’s in it. So we went around the room identifying what was in our cups; infidelity, brokenness, trauma, fear, finances, addiction, incarceration, family drama. You name it and we were carrying it around at the bottom of our cups. And as I listened to where these men had been and where they are now, and even as I reflected on my own cup, I recalled a time where I approached a homeless man who had a sign that read, “I’m not a bad person…I’ve just made some bad decisions.”

Have you ever made a bad decision? Some of us will make some bad decisions as soon as we leave church this morning! Maybe those decisions didn’t leave you homeless, but we’ve all made some poor decisions. We’ve all done somethings that we regret and probably wouldn’t be proud to share with others. We all used to be somebody else…and some of us are still fighting that person within us today. We all used to be somebody else…

I used to be somebody else even; a slightly entitled kid who felt like he had agency in this world simply because of his intellect or academic achievements. You see I felt like I deserved certain treatment not because of who I was but because of what I had done. Upon graduating from college, I thought I deserved a trip to celebrate my accomplishments (again, privilege). So I asked my family if they would all chip in to send me on a trip to London, Amsterdam, and Paris. They agreed. So I went and had a wonderful time, and on my last full day in London I’d decided I was going to go on a shopping spree. Being the dapper gentleman that I am, I spent almost $1000 on fine European haberdashery: suits, ties, French cuff shirts, wingtip shoes. I thought I was balling!

The next day I got to the airport to head back home and when I went to pay for my checked baggage, my credit card was declined. In an entitled tone I said, “Well that’s not possible, try it again please.” But in my mind what I was really saying was, “Uh I just graduated from Morehouse College, I’m headed to Northwestern School of Medicine, and I was JUST balling out of control yesterday. What do you mean it’s declined!?” And again it came back declined. That was my only form of payment. I had no cash, no checks, just this credit card that was now useless. I began to panic.

You see if I couldn’t pay to check my baggage, I couldn’t get on the plane, because airlines don’t allow passengers to travel separate from their luggage in an attempt to thwart terrorist who might check a bomb that makes it onto a plane that he or she does not end up on. Also, international flights generally fly just once a day. So if I missed this flight I’d be stranded in London at least until the next day, still with no money. At this point I’m petitioning to strangers, asking if they would pay for my bag based on promises that because I’d graduated from Morehouse College, was on my way to Northwestern University, and JUST balled out of control the day before, I was good for it once I got back to the states.

But no one cared about the merits of what I had done without knowing who I was and whose I was. It was in that moment that I remembered Paul’s letter to the Philippians where he wrote, “Don’t worry about anything instead pray about everything.” And so I closed my eyes and right there at the baggage counter I started to Pray if forward like Paul. By the time I had opened my eyes, a British Airways manager was standing with my ticket in his hand. He handed it to me and said, “We’ve decided to check your bags anyway. Have a nice flight.” And I had a silent internal praise session, and I prayed on the flight all the way back home thanking Jesus.

When I landed I learned that my little shopping spree was identified as suspicious behavior, uncharacteristic of my normal spending patterns, so they put a hold on my card preventing further fraudulent activity, until I was able to verify that all the charges were authentic. You see I took advantage of this material freedom I thought I was entitled to because of what I’d accomplished, when in fact my new enslavement to these things and possessions almost resulted in free-doom in London. Freedom, you see is not granted for who we think we are and what we’ve done. That’s not freedom.

Freedom is the fact that while we’re worrying about how we’re going to pay for our baggage, God has already checked it at the cross. While we’re worrying about what’s in our cup, Jesus has already filled it with living water and our cup runneth over with His amazing grace. Freedom is not in our ability to separate ourselves from our baggage; freedom is traveling with our baggage, knowing that it’s been checked by God.

Freedom, then, is the good news of this text. But, the word has two distinct prepositional directions. We can be freed from something, but we can also be freed for something. Clearly, by following the word of Jesus, we are set free from sin. But what are we freed for? To remain in Jesus’ word is not merely passive, as in to remain, to stay, or to wait. No one gets to the Promised Land by standing still. The word pushes also toward the active: to abide, to live, to continue. It is used this way repeatedly in John. How shall the disciple abide? In what shall the disciple continue? How shall he or she live? We are to live, my brothers and sisters and Christ, forward. That’s why live spelled backwards is evil and lived spelled backwards is devil. Living was not intended to be done in the past. Living is intended to be a motion of forward progress and to walk in the way of Jesus is to run a forward race. St. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians 3:12,

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

When Paul was in Corinth he also wrote in his 1^st letter to the Corinthians 9:24,

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

You see the prize that Apostle Paul speaks of is Jesus’ word. Those released from sin are freed to live an engaged life in the word. This is an active life of staying near the word by performing it in the world. To live in the word is to live a life of justice, of faithful devotion and study, and a life of commitment to the things that Jesus is committed to. The resounding call of Reformation Day is both to celebrate the good news that we are free from sin and to move from celebration to action as Jesus’ agents in the world, never looking back in this race; always looking forward to the finish line.

If you believe that by continuing in Jesus’ word, Jesus will set you free, why are you still allowing your past or present transgressions to enslave you? My brothers and sisters in Christ, stop running from what’s behind you, and instead start running towards what’s in front of you, and when you run, run to win the ultimate prize in Jesus Christ. In doing so, Jesus promises you his eternal freedom in place of the free-doom offered by this world. So what will you choose Freedom? Or Free-doom? Amen.

Soul Food for Thought

Transcript:

Soul food. You know the kind of food that doesn’t just touch the depths of your stomach but the kind that touches your soul. Soul food. Candied yams. Dirty rice. Greens! And it doesn’t really matter if it’s collards or mustards, just add a lil bacon to it and it’s all good. Soul food. That honey glazed ham garnished in pineapple slices or that baked mac and cheese with the crust at the surface. That deep fried Cajun turkey; have you ever had a deep fried Cajun Turkey? If you haven’t you don’t know what you’re missing. What about that pot roast that’s so tender you can cut through it with a butter knife? Yeees now I’ve got your attention; I’m talking about soul food ya’ll! That home cooking that’s so good it brings a tear to your eye; but even more than tears of joy, soul food brings families together. It brings communities together. Soul food.

But just when did our food inherit soul? For black folks in particular, food has been an integral part of our culture. The sharing of food is an intimate experience for us. Sometimes food is the only thing we have to share, and even that can be very little. Whenever I go home to Houston I never intend to spend money on food. My aunt always says, “I might not have much money to give you but I’ll always make sure you eat,” and I haven’t left Houston hungry yet; because someway somehow we find ways to turn nothing into something. When did our food inherit soul? Was it when we were brought to this country to slave in the field and in the kitchen; black women preparing lavish meals for master’s family only to be given scraps to feed themselves, their children, and their men. Bread pudding didn’t happen on purpose ya’ll, bread pudding was a result of only having bread crumbs, a lil brown sugar, and a lot of brown love to feed the multitudes. Yet and still, black folk were not the first folk to turn a little into a lot to feed the multitudes. Likewise, Black folk were not the first folk to give food soul. I’m here to tell you that my main man Jesus did that!

Our gospel (Matthew 14: 13-21) this morning tells the story that when Jesus heard of the beheading of John the Baptist,

“He withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

Now if that doesn’t sound like a good old fashioned fish fry I don’t know what does?! Black folk might not have been the first folk to give food soul, but Jesus was surely exhibiting Black-ish tendencies when he pulled off the greatest fish fry of all time, on the spot. All jokes aside, this story of feeding the five thousand draws many parallels to our present day context. You see just as our food inherited its soul out of necessity, so was the case in this gospel text. Jesus didn’t go around performing miracles to show off or impress people. Jesus performed miracles out of need. So then we must ask why were there so many hungry and sick people in the wilderness?

The first century Roman Empire was one of oppressive rule. Famine and inequity was rampant in the land and the economic gap was one of very few “haves” and a surplus of “have not’s.” Power and elitism were often reflected through access to food and resources, therefore lack of food was one of the ways Israelites experienced the injustice of this disparity of power. Doesn’t that sound much like the South and West Sides of Chicago where 60% of the city’s grocers are located on the north side of the city, creating food deserts in or communities?  For example, in the West Side neighborhoods of West Garfield Park, North Lawndale and Austin, one in three people is food insecure. Auburn Gresham, West Englewood, South Shore and Roseland on Chicago’s South Side each have more than 15,000 individuals who are food insecure. In the south suburbs, food insecurity rates include 34 percent in Harvey, 39 percent in Robbins and 48 percent in Ford Heights. So there’s this reality reflected in our present day context that parallels the scripture, as to why the crowds were hungry.

But the scripture also says that when Jesus went ashore he saw a great crowd and had compassion for them and cured their sick. So not only were they famished but many of them were also ill. We know that nutrition and health outcomes are directly linked. If most of the population was living below subsistence level with inadequate caloric and nutritional intake, then most of the population would likely be unhealthy and subsequently sick. That’s why we see so much sickness in the gospels and that’s why Jesus couldn’t even take a walk out in the wilderness to clear his head, without having to heal somebody; the need was that great. It reminds me of the 5 million out of 11 million child deaths annually that are attributed to malnutrition worldwide. This biblical narrative resembles the 160 sick days a child who is poorly nourished will suffer per year versus a child that is food secure. This harkens back to the commercials we see pleading for our help to feed the millions of children around the world in poor health because they do not have enough to eat; you know the tagline: just one dollar a day can feed a hungry child in Africa, or India, or Haiti.

So we hear from Matthew this morning of this tremendous miracle performed by Jesus and now we have some context for which the miracle was carried out. It’s important to note that this miracle was so significant that Matthew isn’t the only evangelist to tell the story; in fact the miracle of multiplication is the only miracle mentioned in all 4 of the gospels. So allow me to do it justice by spending the next few minutes preaching on the subject: “Jesus’ Soul Food for Thought – How to know your food has got soul;” and I want to do so using the 3 key role players in this story: the Roman Empire, the disciples, and the crowd, with Jesus in the center. Three key messages between Jesus and the 3 key characters, and then I’ll take my seat.

Message 1 is from Jesus and the Roman Empire: In order for your food to have soul, your food has to be life-giving. In the verses that preceded our gospel text this morning, beginning at verse 1 of chapter 14, the gospel according to Matthew tells of a story where King Herod ordered the beheading of John the Baptist per a vow he made to his brother’s wife’s daughter as a reward for the pleasing performance she put on during Herod’s birthday feast. You see John the Baptist had condemned Herod from marrying his brother Phillip’s former wife, Herodias, saying it was not of God’s law for him to do so. Well Herodias didn’t appreciate John messing up her game so she asked Herod to kill John. Herod imprisoned John instead, fearing if he killed him, the people would riot because they believed John was a prophet, however John would go on to be beheaded by Herod anyway, and his head was brought to him on a platter during the feast. So here we have this faction of power celebrating its superiority over a lavish meal that quickly becomes a repass for John the Baptist, with his head being brought forth to Herod on a platter, the same way in which the feast has been presented. Jesus knows the circumstances under which John has been killed, and understands that Herod associates Jesus with John the Baptist as another prophet who can potentially disrupt the balance of power through the will of the poor. Yet, Jesus still chooses to heal and feed the multitudes of poor without fear of the consequences of reprimand by Roman-allied rule that had just murdered his disciple. The contrast of Herod within the comfort of his kingdom, celebrating death over an abundance of food while just a few miles away in the desert, thousands are sick and without nourishment, are collisions of the ruler and the prophet; the rich and the poor; the power of imperial rule and the power of God. Jesus hosts not a death-bringing meal contextualized by tyranny, but a life-giving feast embodying the gracious abundance of God.  Is your food death-bringing or life-giving?

[Obesity is America’s #1 public health issue mainly because it leads to so many other issues like heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke. 2 out of 3 Americans are either overweight or obese, and Blacks have the highest rates of obesity at almost 50%. We all could probably stand to exercise a bit more, but the truth is our physical is only defined by about 20% of what we do, but 80% of what we eat. You are what you eat, and in some cases we are eating ourselves to death. Gluttony is one of the 7 deadly sins for a reason; we’ve ceased to eat for nourishment and instead eat for comfort, and quite frankly it’s killing us. So before you set your next table ask yourself: this feast I’ve prepared – does invite death? Or is it life-giving; celebrating the gracious abundance of God as the feeding of the 5000 did?] Then and only then will you know if your food’s got soul. That’s message 1 from Jesus and the Roman Empire.

Message 2 comes from Jesus and his disciples: In order for your food to have soul, it’s got to be creatively prepared with service and discipleship in mind. The disciples were reasoning with Jesus that it was getting late out there in the desert and He needed to send the crowd back to their villages to buy their own food, because all they had with them were 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. But Jesus resists saying not to send them away and to feed them. You can’t really fault the disciples here because they were operating on logic, much like I do. I imagine the conversation went something like: “Listen Jesus…we’re in the desert, it’s getting dark out here, and we ain’t got enough for them. Let them fend for themselves. We need to go on and send them back before the village McDonald’s closes so they can eat. As a matter of fact…we need to get out of here too because I don’t even think these 5 loaves and 2 fish are enough for us!” And Jesus says “nah I’m not sending them anywhere, in fact, you feed’em. Go’on just do it!…Here I’ll even give you a hand.” And then Jesus performs a miracle. See the disciples lacked creativity. They had no imagination. Instead of focusing on what they had in Jesus, they were caught up in what they didn’t have in bread and fish. But sometimes you’ve got to just do it, trusting God will make a way out of no way as long as you are living out your call to service and discipleship as a follower of Christ. God likes to see an effort on your part before he intercedes, as an exercise of your faith that if He brings you to it He’ll see you through it, as long as you are willing to believe and put forth initiative. Just do it! And when you do it, use your imagination. Be creative in your discipleship.

[Don’t just host the same soup kitchen everyone else is hosting…instead plant a church community garden where all can be fed from the fruits of the earth for the next 5 harvest seasons. Don’t just send your kids to the village McDonalds when they can already identify the golden arches before they’re old enough to even read; send them out into that garden that you just planted a sentence ago and teach them to identify broccoli and carrots and cabbage. Use your imagination.] How do you know your food’s got soul? Your food has got soul if it’s creatively prepared with service and discipleship in mind. That’s message 2.

And the 3^rd and final message comes from Jesus and the crowd and that is: in order for your food to have soul, all must be welcomed to the table and all must feel welcomed at the table. Before Jesus performed the miracle he insisted the thousands make themselves comfortable on the grass as if they were honored guests in His home. Not to mention, he went on to “bless the bread, break it, and give thanks” in the same manner in which He would during the last supper with his disciples, making this moment; this meal, feel even more special and significant. Perhaps as a result of the intimate setting of fellowship created by Jesus’ blessing, no one in the crowd feared there wouldn’t be enough, thus not thinking about their own needs but rather the needs of those around them.

[Have you ever been to a restaurant that you heard had the best steak in town…but when you got there you didn’t feel welcomed? Maybe you were underdressed and patrons let you know by staring. Or maybe you just happen to leave home with the wrong color skin on and it was evident in the horrible service you received. That steak is no longer as appetizing now is it? Don’t get me wrong, we’re not always victims of poor hospitality either. Sometimes we as church folk extend the same kind of poor treatment and don’t even know it. We see it in our original text Matthew 22 starting at verse 9 where the king commands his servants to:

“9 Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12 and he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

We stand at the alter and say “The doors of the church are open!” That is until homeless Harry comes in not having showered in a few days and sits next to you on your favorite pew, only for you to turn your nose up. When we proclaim, “The doors of the church are open” we usually do so with good intentions, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. My brothers and sisters in Christ, don’t just intend to be inclusive, be intentionally inclusive.] How do you know your food’s got soul? Your food’s got soul if all are welcomed to the table and all feel welcomed at the table.

In January I stood in the church of the Multiplication, the site believed to be where Jesus fed the 5000, and I could envision the miracle taking place around me as it had 2000 years ago. Just being there was a miracle; to walk where Jesus walked. But I didn’t have to go all the way to the Galilee to be a part of a miracle. There are miracles happening right here, all around us. It’s a miracle that he woke us up this morning, because some He didn’t. It’s a miracle that I’m standing in this pulpit, because I surely didn’t plan to stand in anyone’s pulpit; I don’t deserve to. There’s a miracle happening right here on the corner of 91^st and S. Jeffrey at Bethany Lutheran church where your doors continue to be open despite all of the devil’s attempts to lock you out. I didn’t have to go all the way to the Holy Land to be served Soul food, because “when I was hungry you gave me something to eat. You fed me food that’s life giving, right here; food that’s creatively prepared with service and discipleship in mind, right here; food that all are welcomed to, served at a table that all feel welcomed at, right here. The miracle is right here, right now. The dinner has been prepared, the oxen and fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; so come to the banquet and let’s eat; just know that THIS church is serving Soul food. Amen.

Conflict Resolution

Partial Transcript:

…With so much confrontation in my daily life it was clear that I’d need to take a different approach than I had been, and it just so happens that Jesus offers one in last week’s text. Starting at the 15^th verse of the 18^th chapter of Matthew Jesus explains to Peter:

15 “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

Matthew seems to be employing the thought that there is a traditional plan for dealing with conflict, particularly within the church; and whatever the church decides is a binding decision, and Jesus’ presence in the true church reinforces the decisions the church makes.

Given the many things that tempt the church toward division today, this word is timely. While Jesus is regularly preaching and performing wonders in this gospel, in this section of Matthew, he provides instruction on how to be a community of believers. He shows concern for children and weak members, and for those who might wander off. In this reading, he is giving what almost appears to be legal advice to the church that will follow in his name. Such advice is prudent, though it does not ensure resolution of difficulties. If it did, we would have a full-proof fool-proof formula for dealing with church conflict and controversy.

Now we might say that this instruction is about general disagreement, but that’s not entirely true. This instruction is specifically about sin. Who’s sinned against whom? We know that in a dispute, there’s usually your version and their version, and the truth lies somewhere in the middle. In the midst of the spat, our defensiveness and subjectivity keep us from seeing how much we might hurt others. Our self-interests only allow us to see how greatly we have been offended. We often feel wronged, but fail to admit that we have wronged another.

It is tempting to go about self-righteously judging, condemning, and binding the sins of our opponents. But, this is not what it means to be the church Jesus calls for. Where is the humility in this? Where is the concern for the weaker brother or sister? Ultimately, the only rule that appears fool-proof here is the final promise: If we gather as the church, Jesus is with us. Shall we not, then, dispute with one another in kindness? If Jesus is with us, on our side, in our caucus, do we not then need to approach the other side as he did when he spoke from the cross, “Father, forgive them,” even when his offenders did not repent.

Last Sunday, Matthew’s Gospel offered us instructions for addressing conflict. But those instructions were incomplete as is. Our gospel this week however gives us a complete plan for Conflict Resolution, with a lesson in forgiveness.

21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. 23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.’ 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

“Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive?”  The immediate narrative context of Peter’s question is last week’s discussion around confronting disagreements in community. The exhortation to unending forgiveness is a counter-balance to the confrontations dictated in the previous verses. Confrontation without forgiveness does not reflect the good news, and neither can forgiveness that eschews the confrontations that made forgiveness necessary in the first place speak truthfully about reconciliation and healing.

Jesus teaches us humility, and asking for forgiveness is an act of humility. And yet perhaps as challenging as asking for forgiveness, is the granting of forgiveness. After all, forgiveness heals relationships by requiring us to let go, to turn the page, to refuse the right to hold on to bitterness and anger. Forgiveness, in short, sets things right again. Forgiveness is a powerfully healing force but also an incredibly difficult gift to receive or share.

Peter here asks about the limits of the granting of forgiveness even as Jesus brings our attention back to the grace under which God has healed us. Peter wonders aloud how far our forgiveness should expand. And in classic fashion, Jesus turns Peter’s question around to the deep grace God has shared.

Peter thus asks how wide our forgiveness should be; how many times must I be slighted before I say enough, how long, O Lord, before our reservoir of grace can be exhausted. This is a natural question, of course. We know too well both the small and large ways that others can tread upon us. We know too well that others can take advantage of our generosity. We know too well the sting of consistent affront. At what point do we say, “Enough?”

Peter begins by establishing what he and we might consider a rather high bar of forgiveness, a significant concession to those who might hurt us. Should I forgive someone as many as seven times? That seems generous if not excessive. We claim to be a society of 2^nd chances not 7 chances. But Jesus, as he often does, poses a radical suggestion: not seven but 77 times are we to forgive. Of course, what Jesus is suggesting is not a larger ledger upon which we can keep track of offenses. He’s not merely requiring an additional number of gracious acts. Instead, he is suggesting there is no need for a ledger whatsoever. This isn’t about keeping score ya’ll. Forgiveness is a deep reservoir of grace that ought never to run dry.

And then there was the debtor: knowing his whole life was about to be crushed, he begs for more time, more patience but receives something unexpected instead: a wholesale remission of his debts. The now liberated servant leaves with a whole new life available to him. However, in short order, he shifts from servant to lord, debtor to creditor. Encountering one of his fellow slaves, he demands that a relatively smaller debt be fulfilled immediately. Unable to pay, the slave is thrown in jail. Once the king hears of his erstwhile slave’s callous reaction, the king demands that the (former) slave be tortured “until he would pay his entire debt” (verse 34).

Jesus concludes by noting the seriousness of our forgiveness of others. Just as the faithful hold the ability to bind and loose, our unwillingness to forgive will redound on us. Forgiveness is neither optional nor contingent. Why? Because God’s forgiveness knows no end and so also should our relationships be governed by a grace that has no bounds.

Like last week’s invocation to confront a disruptive person in the community, Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness could well be abused. Forgiveness does not mean the embrace of violence perpetrated against us. It does not mean giving free reign to those who would do us harm. It does not mean a ready acquiescence to those who are stronger than us. No, no, forgiveness is a gift of grace, a reflection of God’s love, not the curse of abuse or a reflection of our worst tendencies as humans.

In a day of great debates about our life together, the disputes are complex and not easily solved. If it were such a simple matter as identifying the sin of one person or group, we could deal with this and bring it to an end. But, there is plenty of sin to go around; the good news is there is plenty of grace to cover it. In class or at work or in worship, Jesus is with us, and he comes with judgment of our sin and love with his covering of grace.

As a young boy, I was non-confrontational, passive aggressive some might say. I didn’t like conflict so I avoided it at all cost. But then I grew up. No longer can I assume my childhood posture of passivity, because conflict is around every corner in my adult life. In fact I’ve made a complete 180 in my approach. Now I quickly identify the issue, address it rationally and peaceably, then I forgive it. I’ve recognized that the older I get, the shorter life gets; I’ve lost 4 classmates just in the last year to either accident or cancer and I’m only 31, so you’ll have to excuse me if I choose not to waste any of my precious finite days on earth being mad at somebody. Just forgive for goodness sake. So forgive us our debts so we might forgive our debtors lord. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, lord. Forgive us our sin as we forgive those who sin against us. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

#NeverForget

It was a grey day in the Atlanta University Center. I was a freshman at Morehouse College headed back to my LLC dorm room between my morning and afternoon classes. As I made my way, there was chatter on the yard of an airplane crashing into the World Trade Center in New York City. I said to myself, “man that’s awful” writing it off as one of the rare occasions something goes terribly wrong on a plane causing the pilot to lose control and accidentally crash. It wasn’t until I returned to my dorm to learn that what had gone terribly wrong was not an accident at all, but quite an intentional act of terror against our country. We were under attack on our own soil.

I didn’t have a TV in my room, but one of my dorm-mates did, so I went down the hall to find him glued to the news of yet another plane crashing into the other tower or the World Trade Center, as well as a plane into the Pentagon. He was speechless; his hand strangling the life out of his cell phone. He looked over his shoulder at me and said solemnly, “My mother works in the Pentagon.” *He was from Maryland and was unable to reach his mom because all the phone lines were down.

While all of this was very horrible to me, I was more concerned about the embarrassing haircut I’d given myself the night before that was forcing me to wear a hat everywhere. You see once I came up with nothing, after doing a quick assessment of whom within my circle of family and friends could have been affected by this World Trade tragedy, I had permission to be desensitized. That nothingness allowed me to be empathetic for those affected while preserving my own personal comfort. Back then, being vulnerable was synonymous with being weak to me, so my defense mechanism against vulnerability was to completely detach from things personally. I know, stupid.

However, seeing my brother sitting on his knees in front of the TV like a helpless child nervously trying to reach his mother, made this personal for me. A plane might as well have crashed into our dorm room. But even while this was happening hundreds of miles away, on the campus of Morehouse College, we still had class to attend. There’s a saying that “rain can’t stop The House…Nobody stops The House!” This time was no different. As schools were closing all over the country for fear of where the next potential attack might be, we were business as usual at Morehouse.

I made my way to my 1 o’clock Calculus II class with Dr. McGlocklin, a cheeky white fellow with glasses who always wore bowties with penny loafers. Even more so than his dress, Dr. McGlocklin was known for his sarcastic, rigid, unsympathetic attitude. This act of terrorism however had altered his natural state just as it had affected me. It was personal. Needless to say no Calculus was taught or learned that day and Dr. McGlocklin dismissed class for those who wanted to leave, allowing those who wanted to stay and talk about what was happening, the option to do so. No one left. Here was a middle-aged white Calculus professor and a classroom full of young black men at an HBCU, in solidarity with one another. It didn’t matter what our race, age, or background was in that moment, it only mattered that we were American.

September 11, 2001 American security was breached. American sovereignty was fractured. But American citizens were united. More than 3000 lives were lost, and even more lives changed – some for the better. But America, America was united. As we find ourselves divided over so many things today be it race, gender, faith, sexuality, or class; let us never forget that in all of its loss and sacrifice, the greatest act of terror on American soil united us as one people. Let us honor those who made such great sacrifices on that day, by never forgetting that we still have a reason to unite as one on this day, and days to come. Never forget.

*My dorm-mate eventually was able to reach his mother to learn that she was not harmed in the attack.

 

Have No Fear! Jesus…

Transcript:

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself;” that may be the most popular quote ever about fear spoken by the 32^nd President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Fear: an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Fear. Is there any more pervasive or powerful motivating force in human experience? Many of us would argue that Love is, but Tupac said, “Fear is stronger than love.” Was he right? Marianne Williamson said that, “Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we learned here.” I think I’d have to agree with Marianne the same way I believe that we are not born of many races but of the human race, and racism is what we learn here. Whether you agree with Tupac or Marrianne about the status of fear; I think we can all agree that fear is real and it’s used against us in our daily lives in politics, economics, and even religion.

The G.W. Bush Administration’s agenda was fueled by a politics of fear stemming from the attacks of 911 where the American people were scared straight into 2 wars that left us in debt as a country and in death as a military. Until 2011 you may notice when you travel that the alert level for imminent threat in our airports was perpetually at “orange;” the 2^nd highest level of threat of terrorist attacks. It had remained there since the 911 aftermath until they realized that the alerts did nothing for citizens other than make them afraid. Ironically, more American citizens have since been killed by law enforcement officers than by terrorists, but I digress. Fear. The stock market fluctuates up and down as a result of conflict in different markets around the world, causing us to franticly shift our financial assets here or there. Fear. Even we as people of faith use the fear of Hell as our personal jail to condemn “ungodly” behavior as if somebody made us judge. Fear. Fear is prominent in our psychology, so much so that an entire branch of clinical medicine is dedicated to the study, diagnosis, and treatment of fear; we call them phobias. There’s a phobia for everything ya’ll. There are very common phobia’s like acrophobia- the fear of heights. And there are very uncommon phobia’s like Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia – fear of the number 666: The number of the Beast, associated with the Revelation of the Beast in the 13^th Chapter of the Book of Revelations. There’s my greatest fear: maniaphobia- the fear of losing my mind. You see I believe that my mind is the greatest gift God gave me and when I no longer have control over my mind I no longer have anything to contribute. Then there’s one of my least favorite phobia’s: Gamophobia – fear of marriage, commitment; I’ve probably been diagnosed more than once with this one by a young lady or two but that’s another sermon. Fact is, fear is present in a wide variety ways.

Based on a 1977 study from “the book of lists” a survey was taken among 3000 Americans asking them to name their greatest fear. 44% named glossophobia – fear of speaking in public or of trying to speak as their #1 fear. Glossophobia. And to this day the #1 named fear among Americans is still the fear of public speaking; ahead of the fear of heights, and deep water, and even the fear of death, or thanatophobia. Now this study doesn’t necessarily suggest that a person would really rather die than give a speech, but it does suggest that when asked to identify our fears in our immediate consciousness, we worry about things like public speaking and heights and finances and sickness, more than we worry about dying. Perhaps it’s because these are all things we can expect to encounter in our daily lives more so than death; although those of us in Chicago could probably argue otherwise. The irony is however, death is the most definite of them all. You can go about life avoiding public speaking although that would be difficult. You can navigate life intentionally evading heights, but that would be a challenge as well. You can even earn billions of dollars in your lifetime, never having to worry about finances, but that too is easier said than done. One thing’s for certain though: you can’t beat death. Death is inevitable. I only know of one Person who beat death and even He was dead for 3 days. Bottom line: we all got to get out of here one day ya’ll. So why is it that we fear these false idols over the truth of our earthly mortality? I suppose it makes sense to not worry about that which we can neither control nor avoid. But the truth is…the human condition doesn’t allow us to ignore that which we cannot control. If it did we’d be a whole lot less stressed out, Amen? So no matter how much we name or prioritize these other fears over death, we greatly fear it. We fear the mystery in how we’ll die. We fear the uncertainty of when we’ll die. We fear dying.

Not Jesus though. In our text this morning Jesus predicted his own death as He “began to tell His disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that He would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.” Jesus wasn’t afraid to die.

His disciples on the other hand – Peter in particular, rejects Jesus’ forecast and rebukes Him for His words saying, “Heaven forbid, Lord. This will never happen to you!” Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” You see unlike Jesus, and much like you and me, the disciples feared death; they didn’t want to talk about death; they didn’t want to give death much thought, let alone entertain predictions of when death might come. The disciples feared death because their humanity wouldn’t allow otherwise.

Jesus understands this about the human condition. But He also knows that that very fear has the potential to block discipleship in its entirety, so Jesus reminds his disciples that, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”

In this morning’s gospel, Jesus issues an important reminder: “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. An important reminder. How do I know it’s important? I know it because it’s a reminder that’s not only found here, but in Mark 8:35. I know it because it’s a reminder that’s not only found there but in Luke 9:24 and later again in Luke 17:33. It’s an important reiteration from the first time it appears 6 chapters earlier in Matthew 10 when the disciples are just beginning their call to discipleship and Jesus explains the dangers of following him beginning at verse 24:

²⁶ “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. ²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.^{[a] 30} And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

³² “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

³⁴ “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
³⁶     a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’^[b]

³⁷ “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Jesus understood fear. The fear of death. The fear of man. The fear of God. He understood the fear of death in his disciples as he sent them forth into eminent danger with no money, shoes or clothes and more importantly no staff for protection. Jesus recognized that fear had the potential to throw a monkey wrench in his entire mission. But instead of keeping his disciples in darkness about the dangers of the mission they were to embark upon, he’s very honest and forthright about the threats of this call to discipleship which include even death; yet and still, after missions and miracles and the realization of Jesus as Messiah, we find Jesus needing to remind his disciples of the conditions under which they have chosen to follow Him.

My brother and sisters in Christ on this 16^th Sunday after Pentecost Jesus reminds you, reminds us, as 21^st century disciples that, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. So I ask you Saints, who or what are you willing to give up your life for? What are you willing to die for? And if it’s Jesus as the scripture says it should be, are you willing to overcome your fears of the threats and dangers that come with following Him? Now I noticed some of you sat up in your seat like, “Now who said anything about me dying? Jesus died for my sins but He didn’t mention anything about me dying for Him?” But I’m not talking about a literal death and neither is Jesus; rather death in the metaphorical sense: to die unto one’s self so that we might live for Christ. Death to your old archaic beliefs. Death to your antiquated ways of thinking. Death to your fear of change. Death to darkness. Death to selfishness. Death to jealousy and envy. Death to hate. If we are to pick up our crosses and follow Jesus we’ve got to overcome our fear of dying. A fear of death to our old ways; our old selves.

You know, the fear that keeps us from standing on every corner where the police are not in order to thwart gun violence in our own neighborhoods; the fear that keeps us from standing on every corner where the police are not because we are too afraid of the personal sacrifice it might cost us to possibly save God’s children? Imagine if we would just let that mentality die.

Or the fear that prevents us from tithing the way we should because “I’m barely making it as is and I’ve got bills;” as if any of what we earn is ours and all of it isn’t God’s anyway. As if God hadn’t been faithful in paying your bills every other time we didn’t have it. Oh imagine if we would just be willing to let that state of mind wither away.

Or the fear that precludes our outreach to youth and young adults because “we’ve always done it this way” and any other way that might be appealing to youngsters is a threat to the old establishment and therefore a threat to me. Imagine if we would just allow that attitude die a horrible death.

Or the fear that prohibits us from extending God’s amazing grace to all no matter their race, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or religion. Oh imagine if we would just be agreeable to burying that mindset.

What if we could overcome our fear of death, enabling us to die unto ourselves so that Christ might live within us? What if? What If you try to hang on to your life? The bible says you will lose it. But if you give up your life for Jesus’ sake, you will save it. So take up your cross, and follow Him.

Take up your cross and take our neighborhoods back instead of relying on a law enforcement system that has killed as many black men as it’s been called to serve and protect.

Take up your cross and take up collection not just for your home Church but for those without a home, understanding that God has given us more than enough, and we can’t take any of it with us when we go to glory.

Take up your cross and take in a young person to mentor in life and in Christ, inviting not only their presence but their ideals.

Take up your cross and take a page out of Jesus’ manual for ministry to the least of these especially those marginalized and discriminated against who don’t enjoy the same social privilege as you.

God’s sovereignty is revealed not in the walks through porticos of power, but through the grimy alleys of weakness and misery. That’s where Jesus walked, and that’s where he leads us to walk. That is where he strengthens us to bear the burdens of discipleship. It is His burden we take upon our shoulders. It is His strength that bears the weight. We do nothing on our own, but He can do much through us. Without Jesus, Peter was no rock, but a stumbling block. With Jesus, Peter was the rock upon which Jesus would build His Church. With Him we are not powerless to deny ourselves, but able to bear all He may give us, if we can just manage to overcome our fear of dying. My brothers and sisters of the way, I encourage you this morning to have no fear! Take up your cross and follow Jesus. Amen.

“Justice for Gentiles” #JusticeforMikeBrown

Transcript:

Insiders vs. outsiders. Natives vs. foreigners. Rich vs. poor. Saved and unsaved. Clean and unclean. White vs. Black. Status, class, and caste have been used since the beginning of time to categorize us; to segregate us; to divide us. We’ve even managed to make divisions within divisions. Even right here in Chicago where Black Americans settled on the West Side of the city following the Great Migration; those who reached some level of economic prosperity relocated to the South Side of Chicago, leaving behind a lesser class of Black citizen, creating a rift between West Side Blacks and South Side Blacks that has existed since. Now I’m from Houston so ya’ll will have to excuse me when I say that as an outsider looking in ain’t much difference between the South and the West Sides of Chicago, but boy do ya’ll get defensive when I mention the two as one in the same. Let White folks tell it – they could careless which is better as long as we stay south and west don’t come north.

You see it’s all a part of this idea of social order: Status, class, and caste have been used since the beginning of time to categorize us; to segregate us; to divide us. We even see this play out in our faith traditions. Christians vs Muslims. Catholics vs. Protestants. And then we separate it out eveeeeeen further into denominations. Lutheran, Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, and I can do this all morning ya’ll. Needless to say for a faith founded on the unification of the Holy Trinity: the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit, we sure do have a lot of divisions among us, and all of us think we’re better than the others.

Where did this propensity to differentiate ourselves into this social order, come from? Why do we feel the need to rank one another into a hierarchical pyramid? And what happens when you find yourself at the bottom of it? This pariah? This outsider? This foreigner? Unsaved and unclean? What happens? Are you any less eligible for justice? Are you any less entitled to the right to live? More importantly, is God’s mercy available to you even at the bottom of the totem pole?

Our gospel this morning tells of a similar situation of how status, class, and caste sometimes play a role in our access to God’s mercy. The text again reads:

“Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.” But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep – the people of Israel.” But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!” Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.” She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table.” “Dear woman,” Jesus said to her, “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.

Now there’s a lot going on in this passage, but in order to interpret any of it you’ve got to understand the context in which this interaction between Jesus and this Gentile woman is based. Jesus and his disciples have ventured outside of Jewish territory into this border region of Tyre and Sidon, and they’ve encountered this woman that’s identified as a Gentile in this New Living Translation. But the ancient Hebrew text names her to be a Canaanite woman in the Gospel of Matthew and a Syro-Phoenician woman in the same account in Mark’s Gospel. Both designations incite historical prejudice by 1^st century Jews against Gentiles, but not just any Gentile: a Syro-Phoenician which is a step up in disgust from just a Gentile, or a Canaanite which conveys an even more deeply seated historical bias than the former two identifications do. This encounter evokes an overall sense of apathy by Jews for non-Jews, but this Canaanite woman, specifically, is at the bottom of the bottom of bottom Gentiles; A pariah. An outsider. A foreigner. Unsaved and unclean; and she has the nerve to solicit the healing power of the King of the Jews. The disciples aren’t thrilled about it, and even Jesus seems a little bothered and inconvenienced by the whole situation. In fact, everyone’s having a bad day. The disciples are running low on patience, Jesus completely ignores the woman and in the process disrespects her, meanwhile the woman’s daughter is demon possessed. Which leads me to preach this morning on the subject: Justice for Gentiles – Even on our worst day, everyone deserves access to God’s mercy.

Even on our worst day, everyone deserves access to God’s mercy, even the Son of Man, Jesus Christ himself. Jesus was having a bad day ya’ll. And I’m not talking about the being nailed to the Cross kind of bad day; that was unfortunate but necessary for the forgiveness of sins and our eternal life. I’m not even talking about a flipping tables over in the temple kind of bad day; no, Jesus had to cleanse the temple from its defilement by merchants and tax collectors who’d turned a house of worship into a flea market. I’m not talking about those kinds of bad days. I’m talking about Jesus woke up on the wrong side of the manger kind of bad day. A bad attitude day. Have you ever woken up on the wrong side of the manger? The wrong side of the bed? With a bad attitude? It happens to the best of us, yea? That one person at work come’s knocking on your office door asking you for something before you’ve had your coffee and let em have it! Deep down inside you know they didn’t deserve it, and they know you probably didn’t mean it, you’re just having a bad day. Well, that’s the kind of day Jesus was having.

It’s behavior like none we’ve ever seen before from Jesus. First Jesus ignores the woman’s plea for her demon-possessed daughter, and as she persists, Jesus finally responds, in effect, by saying her needs are not any concern of his. Sounds like personal problem, Jesus says. And that ain’t none of my business. Jesus is throwing major shade towards a woman who is requesting the healing power that He has been so generous with so many throughout the Gospels. But it gets worse: he then insults her with a derogatory term that displays ancient hostilities toward one of Israel’s ancient enemies, the Canaanites; He likens her to a dog begging for scraps from the table. Dang Jesus! That’s cold blooded. But look at the grace and mercy that she extends to Jesus in response? “Call me a dog,” she says, “but even dog’s get the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table.” So here you have this woman that Jesus is clearly dissing, but she doesn’t respond in kind, she goes with it, maintains respect and still acknowledges Jesus as Master, even though he just referred to her as a dog. You see she had heard the stories of the Messiah, and she knew of his healing power and of his willingness to use it to restore the least of these, so she understood that she caught Jesus on a bad day, but that didn’t mean she had to get down in the mud with Him; instead she took the higher road, granting Jesus mercy, and in turn he recognized her faithfulness and conceded to her request to heal her daughter. Even on our worse day everyone deserves access to God’s mercy, including Jesus Christ himself.

But let’s not forgot about the Gentile woman in all of this. Remember it took some persistence and sometime for Jesus to come around to the woman, but up until then she was having a bad day as well. Frankly she was having a bad life. She was a pariah, an outsider, a foreigner; unclean and uncouth. She was an unemployed single mother with no medical insurance seeking free healthcare for her demon-possessed daughter, and the only Man who could help her, is prejudiced against her. This gentle gentile woman, was having a bad day. And yet, instead of Jesus being the one in the story who displays wisdom, compassion, and godly virtues, it’s this woman. It’s the Canaanite woman models the most admirable human behavior, not Jesus. She shows her alacrity to be vulnerable by seeking help from a venerable foe whom she knows derides her because of national and racial divides. She asks for aid for her daughter, not for herself. She’s selfless. She’s insistent in the face of insults and rejection for her daughter’s sake. She is the lower class, under-caste, underdog who for her faithfulness, wins the prize of highest value for any mother – her child’s health and well-being. See even on our worse day, everyone deserves access to God’s mercy, even poor subjugated people who’ve been chronically oppressed and maligned.

A week ago from yesterday, a young man by the name of Michael Brown, was having a bad day. A police officer by the name of Darren Wilson would probably say Mike Brown was having a bad life, because Mike Brown was born into a skin that Darren Wilson was taught to fear; Black skin that’s been defiled by society as unclean and less than that of the White majority, just like the Canaanite woman to the Jews. Mike Brown was having a bad day, and when it was all said and done, it would be his last day. The unarmed teenager died to the tune of 6 bullets by the gun of Officer Darren Wilson, and now you can imagine, Officer Wilson was having a bad day too. His life had changed forever in the taking of another life. Protesters flocked to the street in outrage, mostly peaceful demonstrations, but not all; after all tempers were high, frustration abound. Black America was having a bad day.

As I reflect on our text this morning I liken the frustration of the protesters in Ferguson, MO to that of the disciples; just tired of being bothered, tired of being chased, tired of being pursued. As I reflect on our text this morning I liken Mike Brown to the Gentile woman who was discriminated against by her Protector because of historical prejudice and racial divide. I even think about the reference to her as a dog eating fallen crumbs from Master’s table, and I’m forced to recollect on slavery where my and Mike Brown’s ancestors were relegated to eating the leftovers from Master’s plate. Only in this day in age, even dogs are more valued than black bodies. Take NFL player Mike Vick: 2yrs in prison for fighting dogs. In contrast NFL player Ray Rice gets a 2 game suspension for knocking his Black fiancée unconscious on an elevator. If that isn’t a clear enough message, just 3 weeks ago a cop shoots and kills a dog on a Friday, and by that Monday the officer had been fired, with no appeal available. Kill an unarmed black man and essentially receive paid vacation while the killing is “investigated.” I believe Mike Brown would be willing to trade places with the Canaanite woman in this case as there is more consequence for killing dogs in this country than there is for abusing black bodies. And then there’s Officer Wilson. Now as I reflect on our text this morning I wouldn’t dare compare him to Jesus, but a case can be made for the God complex interwoven with White male privilege, particularly White male privilege with a badge and a license to kill; the ability to take a life with little to no judgment. And yet and still, even on our worse day, everyone deserves access to God’s mercy; the peaceful and not so peaceful protestors; even Officer Darren Wilson; and yes, Mike Brown. I just wish he’d been shown a little mercy, before it was forfeited by his death on last weekend.

Where did this propensity to differentiate ourselves into this social order, come from? Why do we feel the need to rank one another into a hierarchical pyramid? And what happens when you find yourself at the bottom of it? This pariah? This outsider? This foreigner? Unsaved and unclean? What happens? Are you any less eligible for justice? Are you any less entitled to the right to live? More importantly, is God’s mercy available to you even at the bottom of the totem pole?

The story this morning is about Jesus, and in Jesus we see the very best of human potential in relationships with others when everyone is granted access to God’s mercy; even those we avoid, fear, and deem as threats. We see Jesus in the possibility of perceiving common humanity where we could see only difference. And when we encounter the “other” as one who shares our humanity, we can never see them as “other” again. The Gentile woman has the best lines in this story, but Jesus has the last word: “your faith is great. Your request is granted.” She will never be defined by national or racial or religious prejudice again, and for this mother’s sake, Jesus heals her daughter and perhaps heals us in the process, from the temptation to hang onto old typecasts and bigotries that prevent us from embracing our common humanity. I look forward to the day when people of color, and all marginalized peoples of the world, are no longer defined by national or racial, or religious prejudice again. For now, I simply say, Justice for Gentiles and Justice for Mike Brown. May he rest in peace. Amen.

The Good the Bad and the Ugly: AIDS 2014

ELCA Young Adult Cohort AIDS2014

As with most things in life, the 20^th International AIDS Conference (IAC) and its associated events, were full of “highs,” but neither void of the “lows,” nor the “really lows” for that matter. Here I’ll recap the good, the bad, and the ugly of the 2014 Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA) Interfaith Preconference and International AIDS Conference based solely on my opinion as a three time participant of both events.

The Good

The Interfaith Preconference brought together the world’s foremost faith leaders in HIV and AIDS to address what most faith groups are reluctant to discuss: faith, stigma, sex, and HIV. The preconference had representation from the Jewish, Buddhist, Christian and Hindu communities but also offered a high level panel discussion in conjunction with the Catholic Preconference, which included the likes of Dr. Luiz Loures and Dr. Deborah Birx. To conclude the Interfaith Preconference, the EAA highlighted the voices of…

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