Sermons
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 Scripture Reflections
Pastor: With whom did Jesus eat? Reader One: He ate with Tax Collectors and sinners: “And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples.” Matthew 9: 10-11. Reader Two: He ate with Pharisees, those in the prominent Jewish religious and political group who often separated themselves from those who they saw as impure, “One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table.” Luke 7: 37. Reader Three: He ate with lepers and women: “While he was in Bethany at the house of Simon the Leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head.” Mark 14:3. Reader Four: He even invited himself into sinners’ houses such as the chief tax collector. “Zaccheus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today. So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him.” Luke 19:5-6 Pastor: How did the people react to Jesus sharing a table with all of these different people? Reader Five: “All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest to one who is a sinner.” Luke 19:7 Reader Six: “When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ But when Jesus heard this he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice for I have come to call not the righteous but the sinners.” Matthew 9:11-13 Reader Linda: They judged the woman who anointed him at the table. “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three-hundred denari and given to the poor.’ And they scolded her. But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone; why do you trouble her, she has done a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me.” Mark 14: 4-7. First Table Group Discussion - If Jesus were here today, whom would he invite to this table? Why? Whom would he exclude? Sharing from a spokesperson for each table “Hope Makes Room for Love” by Retired Episcopal bishop and Choctaw citizen Steven Charleston (Laura) Retired Episcopal bishop and Choctaw citizen Steven Charleston draws on his Native American experience to navigate collective crisis. We inhabit a period in history that seems to be filled with conflict. The world has become an uncertain place, a dark place, where we cannot see what may happen next. All we know, based on our recent experience, is that things could—and probably will—get worse.… For millennia, my ancestors followed a spiritual path that was respectful of the earth, inclusive of all humanity, and visionary in its transformative power. That tradition has survived. It is one of the oldest continuous spiritual paths on earth. My ancestors’ faith continues to this day despite every hardship and persecution it has been forced to endure.... I was asked to write a brief commentary about the Christian theology of the apocalypse: the final, terrible vision of the end of the world. I said my Native American culture was in a unique position to speak of this kind of vision, because we were among the few cultures that have already experienced it. In historic memory, we have seen our reality come crashing down as invaders destroyed our homeland. We have lived through genocide, concentration camps, religious persecution, and every human rights abuse imaginable. Yet we are still here. No darkness—not even the end of the world as we knew it—had the power to overcome us. So our message is powerful not because it is only for us, but because it speaks to and for every human heart that longs for light over darkness. [1] Charleston takes inspiration from the hope embodied by his ancestors during crisis and displacement. My ancestors did not survive the Trail of Tears because they were set apart from the rest of humanity. Their exodus was not a sign of their exclusivity, but rather their inclusivity. In their suffering, they embodied the finite and vulnerable condition of all humanity. They experienced what the whole tribe of human beings has experienced at one time or another throughout history: the struggle of life, the pain of oppression, and the fear of the unknown. Their long walk was the walk of every person who has known what it means to be alone and afraid. But they walked with courage and dignity because they had the hope of the Spirit within them.… Hope makes room for love in the world. We can all share it, we can all believe in it, even if we are radically different in every other way. We no longer need to fear our differences because we have common ground. We can hope together—therefore, hope liberates us. It frees us from our fear of the other. It opens our eyes to see love all around us. It unites us and breaks our isolation. When we decide to embrace hope—when we choose to make that our goal and our message—we release a flow of energy that cannot be overcome. Hope is a light that darkness can never contain. [2] [1] Steven Charleston, Ladder to the Light: An Indigenous Elder's Meditations on Hope and Courage (Minneapolis, MN: Broadleaf Books, 2021), 14–15. [2] Charleston, Ladder to the Light, 62, 67–68. Second Table Group Discussion - What gives you hope, and how do you act upon that hope?
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 Epistle Reading: Romans 5: 1-5
The Gospel: John 16: 12-15 There are so many ways to read scripture. In the modern world that we live in, if we want to find Jesus’ words on a particular subject or the context for an Old Testament story, a quick Google Search will give us a list of things to consider and probably a dozen bumper stickers we could order as well. We can ask ChatGPT to compare the Hebrew vs. the Greek translations of scripture to see the nuanced differences in word choice or ask it to give the most popular interpretations of a text. We can look at 63 different versions of any scripture from King James to the Message, Orthodox Jewish, Tree of Life etc. on BibleGateway.com. There are thousands of books that offer ways to translate, interpret and apply scripture to our lives. Even with or maybe because of all of that “help” it can feel very overwhelming at times. I get why Jesus told the disciples, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” He knew they were saturated with his teachings and overwhelmed with this idea that he would be leaving and just plain frightened and confused. That does not exactly make for teachable moments. The thing is, he knew they still needed teaching and that is where the Holy Spirit comes in. As Jesus says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. “ That Holy Spirit of Truth didn’t just come to the disciples, it is still here with us sharing God’s gifts of wisdom, peace, and love but we have to take the time to listen for them. I know I have been sometimes guilty of searching for scripture to justify what I am thinking or feeling rather than listening for what God is saying to me through the scriptures today. But I know that is not the way I am supposed to approach scripture. If you think about it, it is pretty amazing that scriptures which were first spoken and later written down thousands of years ago are still being referenced and used as guides for living today. But the reality is that scripture has not always been used for good. It was used to justify enslavement and to deplete the environment. It is still used by some to justify discrimination and hatred. It has been used to create an us and them environment with one group of people better or more righteous than another. That is not what Jesus would want. There are better ways to approach scripture and they begin with listening for God’s message for us as we read them. As Father Richard Rohr from the Center for Action and Contemplation reminds us, “More than telling us exactly what to see in the Scriptures, Jesus taught us how to see, what to emphasize, and also what could be de-emphasized or ignored. Beyond fundamentalism or literalism, Jesus practiced a form of Jewish commentary called midrash, consistently using questions to keep spiritual meanings open, often reflecting on a text or returning people’s questions with more questions. It’s a shame we didn’t imitate Jesus in this approach. It could have saved us from so many centuries of righteousness, religious violence, and even single-issue voting.” We can all practice midrash when it comes to the scriptures. It is a way of putting ourselves in the subject’s shoes to try to understand their perspective and build empathy. It is what I practice when I have taken on the persona of a person in the Bible like Mary or Joseph to try to share the scriptures, their stories, from their perspectives. Midrash acknowledges there are multiple faith-filled perspectives and messages in a single piece of scripture and it challenges us to consider how to apply it to our lives and to our views of others and the world. Rohr reminds us, “If the interpretation leads our true self to experience any or several of the fruits of the Spirit, as they are listed in Galatians 5:22–23—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness, and self-control—I think we can trust this interpretation is from the Spirit, from the deeper stream of wisdom. (But)If any negative or punitive emotions arise from our interpretation—such as feelings of superiority, self-satisfaction, arrogant dualistic certitude, desire for revenge, need for victory, or any spirit of dismissal or exclusion—this is not the Spirit at work, but our own ego still steering the ship.” So when I practice midrash - I am doing research - not just reading the scriptures but trying to understand the times they come from, the way the people lived, and to look for overarching themes, messages given to the people at the time and to us today. I still begin this in prayer asking for the Holy Spirit’s guidance because I know I could quickly jump to my own conclusions if I go too fast. Instead I need to do my homework, ask questions of the scriptures and make time to hear or feel the answer coming to me through the Holy Spirit. This often comes a few days into reflecting on the scriptures when an interpretation or a way to apply the scripture to today just comes to me, maybe while I am walking the dog or weeding a flower bed. The Holy Spirit will come, if we are open to it and make the time. There are, of course, other ways to approach the scriptures. Contemplative theologian Beverly Lanzetta describes a monastic practice of reading scripture called lectio divina or divine reading in a way that we can all relate to: Step One is a slow reading of the scripture, in fact the best approach is likely several slow readings of the scripture. Here we are not reading it like I would have my students do at school - trying to interpret the context and figurative language and find the theme, but instead, to see what words or phrases stick out to us. As I go through this process over the course of several days, I find that different words or phrases stick out to me. This is sometimes why my E-message and sermon title that I write by Wednesday morning to allow our administrative assistant Karey time to create the bulletins, is different from my sermon, which is typically written on Saturday. Those extra days exploring the scripture sometimes bring a spirit-led change in focus. Let’s practice this now with the Roman’s scripture Laura read earlier and which you should have a copy of. I will read the scripture again and I will then give you a minute to contemplate it and choose a word or phrase from the reading that sticks out to you. Epistle Reading: Romans 5: 1-5 5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Take just a moment to consider that scripture and choose a word or phrase that sticks out to you for any reason. Would anyone like to share the word or phrase that stuck out to you? Step Two - meditation. We just need to think about the scripture. Maybe we think about the whole portion or primarily focus on the phrase that stuck out to us. As we walk and work, and go about our lives, we just come back to the text periodically. What might it remind us of in relation to our lives, our family, our community or world? How is God speaking to us through the scripture in a way we can relate to? Step Three - prayer. We might pray from the scripture such as “God, help me endure suffering with hope guided by faith, sustained by the love you pour into me.” We can also ask God to give us understanding of what we have read and what we should do. We pray to be led to God’s truth and we give thanks for any guidance we receive. Step Four - the final stage is quiet contemplation. In this stage, we are not thinking so much as being open to receive whatever message or feeling God wants to send us. Of course, we may dwell in one of these steps more than others or approach them in a different order but living or walking with the word and then sitting with it, lends space and time for God to speak to us whether in a whisper, a feeling or an idea that comes to us based on our contemplation of the scripture. But we can also sometimes reach a greater understanding of scripture by connecting with others around a passage. This can be done by reading others’ perspectives on scripture or sharing together through a Bible Study or class. As a teacher, I often see my students lead each other to greater understanding of literature, history and even contemporary events by asking questions and building upon one another’s answers. When we do this with scripture we also have the Holy Spirit as a teacher guiding both our questions and our answers. Sometimes we grow the most when we hear the scripture interpreted from a perspective that is very different from our own. This gives us a kind of midrash experience where we can practice empathy by relating to how someone else’s life experience helps them interpret and connect to the scripture. Let’s consider the experience of Father Ernesto Cardenal In the Solentiname Islands of Nicaragua, Father Cardenal reflected on the Gospels each week with communities of campesinos [2] living in poverty. Commenting on the Beatitude “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Luke 6:20), Cardenal shares their conversation: ÓSCAR’S MOTHER: “It seems to me that the kingdom is love. Love in this life. And heaven is for those who love here, because God is love.” FELIPE: “Jesus said that because he knows the poor are able to put love into practice better, right?—which is the kingdom that God brings us. Then he blesses the poor because they’re the ones who are going to make this new society of love.”… ÓSCAR: “Ernesto, I also think that the poor person can practice love more sincerely, without being afraid, and fight for it, without being afraid of the word of God. But the rich person can’t because it doesn’t suit him. Even though he may know what’s good, he doesn’t practice it, because he is always ready to [exploit] people…. God sees the poor person’s sincerity and promises him the kingdom of God.”… ALEJANDRO: “What we see here is that there are two things. One is the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of love, of equality, where we must all be like brothers and sisters; and the other thing is the system we have, which isn’t brand new, it’s centuries old, the system of rich and poor, where business is business. And so we see that they’re very different things. Then we have to change society so that the kingdom of God can exist. And we’re sure that the kingdom will have to be established with the poor, right?” PANCHO: “With everybody that shares the love, because if there are rich people that share the love, they too can enter the kingdom.” MARIÍTA: “But a rich person that shares love has to share his goods too. That’s how he shows that he shares love. Because if he says he has love and doesn’t share his goods, how are we going to believe him?” [3] I hear the Holy Spirit working with and through these impoverished Nicaraguans as they see the hope of the Kingdom of Heaven even when they do not always experience it in their daily lives. They reveal that they can feel the blessings promised them but also that they can see the possibility of others, even the rich, receiving that blessing as well. God’s love has indeed been poured into their hearts through the Holy Spirit. How is God pouring love into your heart? Take some time to read scripture, meditate, pray and contemplate and you will feel the Holy Spirit of the Still Speaking God pouring words of love and understanding into your heart as well. Amen. Pastor Michelle Fountain |
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