“Where Else Would We Go?”

13^th Sunday after Pentecost

August 23, 2015

John 6:56-69

            When my Grandma passed away, almost six years ago, it was on a Thursday in late October and the very next day my husband, my sister, and I drove up to Pennsylvania to be with my Grandpa and the rest of our family.  Grandpa was surprised, because we took off from work and school to go, and because he didn’t schedule Grandma’s memorial service right away that weekend.  He waited until the next weekend, which included All Saints’ Sunday, and we celebrated her life on All Saints’ Day, which was pretty cool.  And so Grandpa was surprised that we all came up that first weekend, when there wasn’t anything going on, nothing planned, just to be with family.  We told him, “Of course we came.  Where else would we go?”  And we drove home on Sunday and then back again the next weekend for her service.  It was a time to be with family.  Where else would we go, but to be with family?  It didn’t matter that nothing was planned, that wasn’t the purpose of being there.  We weren’t there to be entertained, or to do or have a list of events; we were there to be, and we hung out together.  When Grandma dies, where else do you go, but to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house? 

            It’s a similar rhetorical question that we hear at the end of our Gospel reading this morning.  Today’s conversation comes at the end of a long two days for Jesus and the twelve disciples.  At the beginning of this chapter in John, a large crowd is following Jesus around, everywhere he goes.  Around to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, up a mountain, they keep following him, and not just a few people, but thousands of people.  So the first thing Jesus does for them is feed them.  They’re hungry, both physically and spiritually, so he starts by satisfying the physical hunger.  This is the story often called the feeding of the five thousand, where Jesus feeds all these people with just five loaves of bread and two fish, and the disciples collect twelve baskets of leftovers afterward.  Then Jesus withdraws by himself again, until night.  The disciples had set out on the sea in a boat and a storm came up.  In the middle of the storm, Jesus walks across the water to them.  That’s the night.  Now the next day, the crowd notices that Jesus isn’t there anymore, he’s not where he left them the night before, and so they go looking for Jesus again.  They find him back on the other side of the sea and this time he begins to teach them about food, instead of feeding them.  It’s reminiscent of the saying, give a person a fish and you feed them for a day, teach a person to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.  However, there’s one more line I learned to that when I served with a mission agency, and that is to teach a person to think about fishing and then you’ve transformed their life, and that’s what Jesus is trying to do here.  

The conversation starts with Jesus telling the crowd, “Do not work for food that spoils; instead, work for the food that lasts for eternal life. This is the food which the Son of Man will give you.”[1]  And the crowd asks what they can do to get this spiritual food, and Jesus tells them, “This is what God requires, that you believe in him whom God sent,”[2] meaning, believe in Jesus.  Then they have more of a conversation about bread, and the crowd brings up the bread, or manna, their ancestors ate in the wilderness that Moses gave them, which is a curious comparison, because that bread didn’t last.  Manna only lasted for the day and whatever was left at the end of the day spoiled overnight.  You couldn’t keep it or save it.  Jesus tells them, “The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”[3] The crowd says, “Sir, give us this bread all the time!”[4] and that’s when Jesus reveals himself, in case they hadn’t already guessed, and he says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”[5]  And at this point the crowd begins to lose it, and they say, “Wait a minute.  We know you.  We know your parents, Mary and Joseph.  We know your family, we know where you’re from; how can you now say that you’re from heaven and expect anyone to believe you?”[6]  And Jesus kinda clear things up… and he kinda doesn’t.  He tells them not to grumble and complain, he explains how the prophets wrote that “everyone will be taught by God,” and then he says again that “I am the bread of life… The bread that I will give you is my flesh, which I give so that the world may live.”[7]  Aaaand now we’ve got cannibalism going on.  Wait, what, Jesus?  Whoever eats your flesh and drinks your blood has eternal life?  Keep in mind, this is long before the last supper.  We’re only in chapter six of John.  This is a teaching that’s not explained, really ever in the Gospel of John.  John’s Gospel doesn’t include the last supper.  Instead, the last act Jesus does before he is betrayed is to wash his disciples’ feet.  So, now we’ve got this teaching that “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them,”[8] and no point of reference whatsoever for communion.  Yeah, this is a hard teaching.  How are we supposed to understand it?  It’s no wonder many people in the crowd now go away, saying that this message is too hard to hear.  It’s not what they came to hear Jesus preach, not what they expected; it’s not what they want Jesus to preach, so, they’re just going to leave.  When the going gets tough, they leave. 

But who’s still with Jesus?  They don’t understand, either.  They’re grumbling and complaining, too.  But they don’t leave.  They stay put to see it through.  They are committed.  And that would be the twelve disciples.  Jesus asks them, “Does this offend you? What if you were to see the Son of Man going up where he was before? The Spirit is the one who gives life and the flesh doesn’t help at all. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.  Yet some of you don’t believe.”[9]  These guys are committed, in spite of not understanding.  They’re staying with Jesus, even though things have just gotten really tough.  Thousands of people have just left.  There’s been a mass exodus.  Yet they’re staying put, even in spite of not believing, because there is room for doubt in the church.  And these guys are staying, even though they’ve just been really offended and thrown for a complete loop.  They don’t know which way is up anymore.  And why?  Why are they staying with Jesus?  Good old Simon Peter again, says, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We believe and we know that you are the Holy One of God.”[10]  Where else would we go?  Yeah, this teaching is harsh, yet only Jesus has the words of eternal life.  They aren’t found anywhere else. 

So, on the one hand, this question, where else would we go, is simply rhetorical, because there is no other answer.  There is nowhere else to go to find words of eternal life.  Other places have words of death, and some may have words that are disguised as words of life, and the words of some places may not necessarily kill, but they don’t give life, either.  Jesus’ words are life-giving and he is the only one who gives eternal life.  There is no one else.  So, where else would we go?  We’re stuck.  We don’t have a choice.  It borders on fatalism.  There is no other God.  There is nowhere else to go.  There is no one else who gives life.  What choice do we have?  None.  It doesn’t matter.  We’re here, because there’s nowhere to go.  The problem with fatalism is that then you just give up.  You say it’s all out of your control, so why even try, why put forth any effort, when it’s not going to make a difference, anyway.  God’s gonna do what God wants to do, he’s gonna let happen what he’s decided is going to happen.  Why bother?  Nothing I do makes a difference.  That’s fatalism.  Why try?  I’m with Jesus because there’s nowhere else to be. 

            So, on the one hand, that is true.  Only Jesus has the words of eternal life.  There is no other option.  At the same time, though, we have to keep in mind that we’re not hanging out with Jesus for our own sake.  We don’t hear his words of eternal life and keep them to ourselves.  Jesus’ words are not meant to end with us.  It’s not Jesus, to us, end of story.  No, Jesus’ words of eternal life are meant to be shared with the world, need to be shared with the world, otherwise, how else is the world going to hear them?  We are not followers of Christ for our own sake, we follow the One who gives eternal life for the sake of the world.  He didn’t just come to save us; he came to save the entire world, and so we must be out in the world sharing his good news and offer of eternal life.  That’s how we make a difference, not in our own lives but in the lives of others.  There is nowhere else to go to find eternal life and we must make sure the world knows this, our friends, our family, our neighbors, our colleagues at work, people we meet at the store!  We don’t follow Christ for our own sake.  We are not here worshiping God for ourselves.  We’re not here to get something out of it.  We’re here for God.  God calls us to worship and then God sends us out into the world. 

            One thing I learned recently is that many churches place the American flag in the back of the sanctuary so that the congregation sees it as they leave worship and are reminded of where they’re going and where they’re to take God’s Word.  We worship God, the focus is on God while we’re here, and when we leave, we go out into the world, only we go to a specific part of the world, we go to our country, we go to our community, and the flag is a reminder of where we’re going and why we’re in church.  We’re not here just for ourselves.  We’re also here for others, that others might come to know Jesus’ words of eternal life and might come to believe that he is the Holy One of God, the only through whom salvation is offered.  That’s Good News to share, not to keep to ourselves!  So, as you go forth this morning, remember that you take that message with you to make a difference in others’ lives.  Sometimes it means giving out fish, which is relief work.  Sometimes it means teaching people how to fish, which is development work.  And then sometimes you can get someone to think about fishing, which is eternal life in this analogy, and then you’ve transformed their life.  Yeah, sometimes it is hard.  Sometimes it is confusing.  Sometimes it is offensive.  But Jesus is the only one who has the words of eternal life.  It’s a promise.  Eternal life for those who believe.  On that promise we can stand, on that promise we can rely.  These are God’s wonderful words of life.  So take them, believe them, and share them.  We are not here for ourselves.  We are blessed to be a blessing to others.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

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[1] John 6:27

[2] John 6:29

[3] John 6:33

[4] John 6:34

[5] John 6:36

[6] John 6:41-42, my paraphrase

[7] John 6:48, 51

[8] John 6:56

[9] John 6:61-64

[10] John 6:68-69

Wisdom

12^th Sunday after Pentecost

August 16, 2015

Cowenton UMC only

1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14; Ephesians 5:15-20

(You can also watch me preach it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBMJQOUKAww)

            There are a few pieces of wisdom I am slowly picking up over the past five years that I have been a pastor.  For example, I know I should always make sure I have fire in the pulpit, so I can light the candles if I need to.  Another thing I’ve learned is to discern if it’s a hill worth dyin’ on, or, in other words, to pick my battles.  Finally, I learned that I shouldn’t preach the Sunday morning following a weekend youth event.  The lesson I learned this week is to not preach the Sunday following a week of Vacation Bible School when you’ve been heavily involved in it, as I have this past week at Piney Grove, the other church I serve over in Middle River.  If I seem a little tired this morning, it’s because they’ve had three great nights of sharing God’s love with children and will be celebrating at their worship service this morning.  However, and maybe I’m wrong, I felt like I needed to preach here this morning.  Part of it, I’ll admit, is the text.  I’ve always been drawn to this story of Solomon asking for wisdom, and to the story that follows in 1 Kings 3 where Solomon has to use that wisdom to judge which mother the baby belongs to.  Wisdom was the theme one night at Vacation Bible School, too, and we read about Deborah in the book of Judges.  God gave Deborah wisdom to judge his people, similar to God giving Solomon wisdom to rule his people. 

            However, the background story is a little different.  It doesn’t say that Deborah asked for wisdom, just that she used God’s wisdom to judge his people and to free them from the evil king who ruled them at the time.  In contrast, Solomon is the king, and he specifically asks for wisdom.  Solomon has just been crowned king, after his father, King David, dies, and he goes up to a high holy place, Gibeon.  Gibeon is an interesting choice because the main holy place for Israel was Jerusalem, where the ark of the covenant was.  Anyway, he goes to Gibeon and gave a thousand burnt offerings to God on the altar there.[1]  And then God comes to him in a dream and says, “Ask whatever you wish, and I’ll give it to you.”[2]  Talk about how you know you’re dreaming right?!  God’s presenting himself almost like a genie in a lamp, except a genie will grant you three wishes!  Can you imagine God saying, “Ask for whatever you want, and I’ll give it to you”?  And then you start think, and wonder, what would you ask for?  If God were to say this to you, what would you ask God to give you? 

            One popular answer, I’m sure, would be to ask for riches and wealth.  God, let me win the lottery!  Or, I’ll just take an unlimited supply of money.  Having money makes everything better, right?  I could easily pay all my bills, move to a nicer neighborhood, buy a newer car, and never have to work again!  Well, Solomon’s king.  He knows he’s going to have to do some work to stay king and do work as king, ruling his people.  He can’t forget about his subjects, or he wouldn’t be a good king.  Asking for riches solves some problems, but not others.

            So, perhaps instead you’d ask God for good health and a long life.  Lord, take away all these chronic diseases, the chronic pain, take away the need for medicine and surgery, let me be germ-free so I don’t even need to get the flu shot each year.  And let me live a long time, at least to my life expectancy, or maybe longer.  100 sounds good.  God, let me live til I’m 100 years old and be in great health the whole time.  Well, some people do stay in good health and live well into their nineties.  The world’s oldest living person whose age can be documented is 116!  And some of us do have better immune systems than others.  But to have perfect health… it’s just unrealistic.  Even baseball’s Iron Man, Cal Ripken, Jr., didn’t have perfect health during his streak.  He just kept playing and persevered.  So, Solomon doesn’t ask for long life, which would ensure he’d be king for the better part of a century, given that he was only 20 years old when he became king. 

            A third popular answer to God’s offer to give you anything might be for all your problems to go away.  Victory over your enemies as a king, victory over the turmoil in your life for those of us who aren’t rulers.  And that sounds really nice, too, doesn’t it?  No more drama, no more conflict, no more problems, just easy-peasy life, like when you’re on vacation.  Except, just like perfect health, that’s not realistic, either.  And, just like germs, a little conflict is okay and even healthy.  Germs and bacteria, to an extent, help improve our immune system.  We naturally have bacteria in our bodies, it’s normal.  And some conflict is normal.  Those rough edges are where we grow and how we learn.  No problems would mean no change and no change means we stay stagnant, and eventually things that stay stagnant actually wither and die.  Staying the same isn’t an option, that’s not life.  And we learn and grow through the opportunities that come our way, opportunities that may often look like problems.

            In our Epistle lesson this morning Paul encourages us to “take advantage of every opportunity.”[3]  How many of us take advantage of every opportunity that comes our way? I know I try to.  That’s why I spent a semester abroad in Spain when I was in college.  I didn’t go to college planning to or expecting to, although I was interested in it.  My college has a campus in Spain, and so I spent a semester in Spain.  I met other students there who had always wanted to go to Spain or who had dreamt of it their whole lives.  Me?  I was taking advantage of the opportunity my school gave me.  What opportunities have you had and have you made the most of them?  What opportunities do you have now?  There’s often some risk involved, such as a trans-Atlantic trip where you stay for four months (a semester) without coming home and you start off only knowing one person.  What opportunities do you have now and what is the risk in taking advantage of them?  Paul’s advice is to take it.

            Yet Paul is not one to live recklessly, the first piece of wisdom he offers in today’s lesson is to “be careful to live your life wisely, not foolishly.”[4]  “Be careful how you live, not as unwise people, but as wise people.”[5]  Be careful how you live.  Be intentional in how you live.  Be purposeful in how you live.  Pay attention.  Take note.  You want to live your life well, and unless you’re James Bond, you only get one.  Be careful in how you live.  Make the most of what’s been given to you.  Don’t be that servant who buries his talent in the ground, but the ones who take calculated, careful risks, who invest in what’s been given to them, who make the most of it, who turn what they’ve been given into something beautiful and pleasing to God.  Don’t bury what he’s given you, and don’t squander it, either.  Be careful, be intentional, make the most of what God has given you: your health, your life, your family, your property, your wealth, your job, and the opportunities in front of you.  Don’t wish them away. 

            Instead, Paul writes, “Don’t be foolish, but try to find out what the Lord wants you to do.”[6]  Try to understand what God’s will is.  God, you’ve given me this inheritance; what would you have me do with it?  God, there’s this argument going on between two people I love; what would you have me say?  God, I’ve gotten really sick; what is your will in this disease?  How will you use it to make me more like you?  Respond to events and opportunities wisely, not foolishly.  Seek God in all things, and most likely, he will show you what to do, whether through a friend’s voice, or in journaling, or an answer during prayer, or some other nudge.  It may be a pull at your heart, it may be an actual, physical pain getting your attention, telling you, like God told the prophet Isaiah, “This is the way; walk in it.”[7]

            If God were to ask you, “What would you like me to give you?” would you really ask for long life or riches or no problems?  Or, do you know deep down, that while some of those things might be nice, and might be a nice change of pace from your current life, what you really need is God’s help with what’s going on now?  What you really need is a sign telling you what you should do?  There is a comic strip that runs in Southern newspapers called “Kudzu.”  It’s about the Rev. Will B. Dunn and the folks in his town.  In one strip, the first panel showed the good Reverend on his knees, praying, “God, send me a sign!”  The second panel shows Rev. Dunn, still on his knees, next to a large flashing neon sign with the word “sign” on it.  God sent a sign!  It wasn’t a very helpful sign, but God did answer his prayer!  I think a little more helpful, usually, is that small, still voice, saying “This is the way; walk in it.” 

Just like Deborah and Solomon, we need God’s wisdom, not to rule, but to live well.  Solomon chose wisely, when he asked God for wisdom.  He essentially told God, “Look, you made me king.  Now help me be a good king.”  It sounds like a good prayer for anyone trying to become what God is calling you to become.  God made Solomon king, and so Solomon asked God’s help to be the best at what God made him.  Whatever your calling, whatever your vocation, wherever you feel God leading you or nudging you to do, you will need God’s help to do it and to do it well.  Because whatever we do, we do for God and we want to do our best for him.  God goes first.  God gets the best.  Putting anything else first, before God, is idolatry, which means there’s something else that is more important than God.  And we want to do our best for God.  In order to do our best, we need God’s help.  We cannot be the best we can be on our own.  We need help.  And that’s part of where the community of faith comes in, that’s part of why we belong to a church, so that we can help each other be our best, so that we can help each other draw closer to God, so that we can share with each other the wisdom we’ve learned along the way.  Perhaps I’m assuming too much in assuming that you want to live well.  Maybe you’re okay with just getting by and surviving.  But if you really would rather thrive, if you really would rather learn and grow and not stagnate, wither, and die, then we need God and we need each other. 

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[1] 1 Kings 3:4

[2] 1 Kings 3:5

[3] Ephesians 5:16

[4] Ephesians 5:15

[5] Ibid., NRSV

[6] Ephesians 5:17

[7] Isaiah 30:21

"I Know My Value"

11^th Sunday after Pentecost

4^th Sunday in “Behind the Mask: Our Christian Identity”

Agent Carter and Christian Identity

August 9, 2015

Isaiah 29:13-16; Canticle of Mary; Acts 19:11-15; Mark 1:21-24

(You can also watch it here: https://youtu.be/J2XfDZrqz1A)

            Today is the end of our superhero summer sermon series, so if they haven’t been your cup of tea, you can now breathe a sigh of relief that next week will be back to normal.  Personally, as a preacher, it’s been fun to have something different to organize my sermon around.  And today is my favorite of the four superheroes we’re looking to learn from this summer.  Technically, though, Agent Carter is not a superhero.  We first meet her in the “Captain America” movie, where she is an officer with the SSR, the Strategic Scientific Reserve, a top secret government agency, and among those involved in turning Steve Rogers into Captain America.  By the end of the Captain America movie, Agent Carter and Steve are planning to go dancing, a date that never happens because Steve crashes the enemy’s weaponized plane into the Arctic and is presumed dead.  This past spring, the ABC television network picked back up with Agent Carter’s story, moving it ahead a year to 1946, after World War II is over.  She is still mourning Steve’s death and, now that the men who survived the war have returned home, she is relegated to secretarial duties with the SSR, in spite of being a great agent and the equal of any of the male agents. 

Agent Carter struggles with knowing her gifts and graces and not being called on to use them in the workplace.  She knows what she can do, but her boss just keeps asking her to file papers and get the coffee.  Being underestimated is what many people have said is Agent Carter’s superpower.  While others dismiss her as “just another pretty face,” Agent Carter knows she is far more than that and uses that misjudgment to her advantage.  At the beginning of the season, she was frustrated and angry at being dismissed out of hand.  She was looking for her identity and validation from others, wanting the respect of her colleagues.  By the end of the season, she’s accepted who she is and knowing herself what she can do is enough, even if it’s not recognized by others, including her boss.  Agent Carter has enough self-respect and self-confidence that it doesn’t matter if anyone else knows her value; she knows who she is and she knows her value.  She doesn’t wear a mask, or try to be anyone else, or seek to justify her existence from anyone else.  Agent Carter is herself, whether others recognized her or not. 

Knowing who she was and having confidence in that was also a lesson that Mary, the mother of Jesus, must have learned.  We responsively read her canticle this morning, a poem often called the Magnificat, from the first word in Latin.  Mary magnified the Lord, she proclaimed the greatness of the Lord, because God had noticed her and looked on her with favor.  Mary knew she was carrying God’s son, she knew God loved her, and she knew God had chosen her to be Jesus’ mother.  She also knew that wasn’t obvious just by looking at her.  She knew she looked like an unwed pregnant teenager, who had either cheated on her fiancé, or the two of them had gotten together before the wedding night.  That was what others thought, and Mary knew that and she knew that wasn’t the truth.  Her identity rested in God and God’s Word.  She knew who she was, and she knew not many other people would recognize it or accept it, much like Agent Carter. 

            Knowing who you are, accepting who you are, and accepting that others may not recognize or accept who you are, are key to a mature Christian identity.  As people who follow Jesus, just like Mary, our identity and validation come from him.  If we ask the questions that Isaiah asks in our Old Testament lesson this morning, “Who sees us?  Who knows us?”, the answer is God.[1]  The example Isaiah gives is someone who tries to hide their plans from the Lord, who carries out their schemes in secret, thinking no one sees them or knows what they’re doing, and Isaiah essentially calls them a fool.  Nothing is hidden from the Lord.  God knows the number of hairs on your head, the number of days in your life, and what you’re thinking.  Just like Mary, God has noticed you as well.  The standard opening prayer in the Anglican/Episcopal church recognizes this and starts each worship service with the prayer, “Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid.”[2]  There is nothing God doesn’t know, he knows your secrets, he knows the deep desires of your heart, he knows who you are.  He knows who you are because he created you.  We are not self-made people.  We are the created, part of creation; we are creatures, not the creator.  “Can something you have made say, ‘You didn't make me’? Or can it say, ‘You don't understand’?”[3]  “Does a book say to its author, ‘She didn’t write a word of me’?  Does a meal say to the person who cooked it, ‘He had nothing to do with this’?”[4]  No!  Beloved, you are wonderfully and fearfully made, by God[5].  And God says you are loved.  God says you are loved unconditionally.  God says he created you to be you.  He didn’t create you to be someone else, he created you you, with your own gifts and graces to offer a hurting world.  Whether other people recognize and accept those gifts and graces is up to them, not up to you.  Like Agent Carter, your skills and abilities may be underestimated or underutilized, and that’s ok.  You can rest easy, knowing who you are and what you can do, without either seeking validation from someone else or carrying a chip on your shoulder.  God says, “you are enough.”

            Knowing who you are is also important because there may come a time when someone who asks you.  Paul prays in Colossians, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”[6]  This comes up in our New Testament reading this morning from Acts.  Some of the Jewish high priests are copying Paul, using the name of Jesus Christ, like Paul, to heal people.  And one of the evil spirits argues back, asking, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”[7]  If you were to be asked that, how would you answer?  Jesus I know, but who are you?  Just like with Captain America, I thought about using integrity with Agent Carter, but again, I couldn’t do it.  You see, part of the Agent Carter storyline is her friend, Howard Stark, a weapons-maker who is being investigated by the SSR for selling his arms to the enemy.  Stark is actually being framed and asks Agent Carter to find out who’s behind it.  In her investigation, Agent Carter thwarts and betrays the SSR’s investigation.  She knows she’s doing the right thing, but she’s not always going about it the most honorable way.  It’s that age-old question of ‘do the ends justify the means?’  She knows Stark is being framed, she knows the SSR has the wrong guy, and because they won’t believe her, from their point of view, she turns traitor in order to find out the truth.  Sometimes the answer to ‘who are you?’ depends on the situation in which you find yourself.  You are always beloved and claimed as Christ’s own forever; yet we may wear many different hats during the course of our lives.  However, the hats don’t change the core of who you are.  Stay true to who you are, who God created you to be, even as you move through the different phases. 

            Finally, who you are has to do with whose you are.  You are God’s.  Who do you say that God is?  During Jesus’ ministry he was often taken as one of the prophets, instead of as the Son of God, and there’s a conversation he has with the disciples.[8]  He asks them, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they say, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Jesus asks them a little closer, “But who do you say that I am?” And good old Simon Peter answers, “You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Who do you say that Jesus is?  Since your identity is bound up in his, it’s important to know who he is, as well.  If you belong to Jesus, and follow Jesus, who is Jesus?  In our Gospel reading this morning, the evil spirit identifies Jesus as “the Holy One of God,” or “God’s holy messenger.”[9]  Our opening hymn used all kinds of names to describe God, from almighty King to Ancient of Days to incarnate Word, to holy Comforter.[10]  And I’m not saying that you have to have a complete, comprehensive, lengthy description of God.  It’s enough to say that God is God and I am not.  God is the creator, and I am the created.  I know who I am and I know who I belong to, “I know the one in whom I have put my trust,”[11] and it’s not me, it’s not you, it’s not work, it’s not a church, it’s not a country.  The one in whom I have put my trust is God and God is the primary source of my identity. 

            The theme verse I chose for this sermon series was from 1 John, “See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God's children, and that is what we are! Because the world didn’t recognize him, it doesn’t recognize us.”[12]  The world didn’t recognize Agent Carter, it didn’t recognize Steve Rogers until he became Captain America, and Spiderman and Superman both hid who they were so that they wouldn’t be recognized.  We don’t hide.  We don’t flaunt who we are, but we don’t keep it a secret, either.  We may not be recognized and accepted, but that’s ok, because God knows us.  God created each one of us and our name is written in his book of life.  It’s ours to accept or not, but I can tell you, being you is enough.  And so whatever may come, recognition or obscurity, praise or criticism, activity or silence, we can say with our last hymn, “it is well with my soul.”  We come as we are, to quote our middle hymn, and our Lord says, “Hey you, I know you.  You are my beloved child.” 

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[1] Isaiah 29:15

[2] Book of Common Prayer, p. 355

[3] Isaiah 29:16

[4] Ibid., MSG

[5] Psalm 139:14

[6] Colossians 4:6

[7] Acts 19:15

[8] Matthew 16:13-16

[9] Mark 1:24

[10] “Come, Thou Almighty King,” UMH 61

[11] 2 Timothy 1:12

[12] 1 John 3:1

P.U.S.H.

Captain America and his new shield - the dog's food bowl

10^th Sunday after Pentecost

3^rd Sunday in “Behind the Mask: Our Christian Identity”

Captain America and Perseverance

August 2, 2015

Isaiah 40:26-31; Psalm 105; Romans 12:9-21; Luke 18:1-8

            Today is week 3 out of 4 of our superhero summer sermon series and this week’s superhero is Captain America.  The beginning of Captain America’s story is about Steve Rogers, which is his given name.  Steve was born in New York in the 1920’s.  His parents were poor Irish immigrants who both passed away before Steve reaches adulthood.  When he’s in his early 20’s, World War II breaks out and Steve desperately wants to serve his country and tries to enlist in the U.S. Army.  Unfortunately, he’s something like 5 feet tall, 90 pounds, has asthma, and his medical record reads like a 90 year old, so he is rejected.  And rejected and rejected and rejected.  Steve goes to 5 different recruiting station, each time lying about who he is, because he is so badly wants to serve his country.  All of his buddies have enlisted; he wants to, too.  When I was thinking of different Christian themes to go with the superheroes, at first I wanted to say integrity for Captain America, because he sticks to his principles and he’s loyal and he does what he says he’s going to do.  However, in his desperation to enlist in the army, he keeps lying on the form, a fake name, fake hometown, fake birthday, anything to make the army willing to enlist him.  And that persistence, instead, won out over integrity. 

Steve Rogers is not too different from the widow in our Gospel lesson today.  This widow keeps going to the judge, seeking justice for her case, but the judge keeps refusing to hear her case.  It says the judge “neither feared God nor had respect for people”[1]; he was an “unjust judge.”  In the end, however, the widow wears him down because she persists, she keeps bugging him about it, she keeps pestering and nagging him, seeking justice, and, eventually, the judge grants it.  He says, “Even though I don't fear God or respect people, yet because of all the trouble this widow is giving me, I will see to it that she gets her rights. If I don't, she will keep on coming and finally wear me out!”[2]  The widow persevered, and, eventually, the judge granted her justice.  Steve Rogers persevered in trying to enlist in the army to fight in World War II, and, at that fifth recruiting station, a scientist overhears Steve and his friend talk about how Steve is going to forge his application again.  This scientist, Dr. Erskine, has invented a super-soldier serum and thinks that Steve is an ideal candidate to try it out on.  He approves Steve’s fifth application to enlist in the army.  Steve goes into basic training with a small group of young men, all of whom are candidates to receive this experimental super-soldier serum.  What distinguishes Steve from the rest of his class is his tenacity as well as his selflessness.  The instructor tosses what appears to be a live grenade into the group, and while everyone else runs away, Steve leaps on top of it, willing to sacrifice himself to save the others.  As a result, Steve is chosen to be injected with the super-soldier serum and receive vita radiation that will enhance the serum.  He emerges a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier, solid muscle.  Because of his perseverance, Steve finally becomes a soldier.  Because of her perseverance, the widow is finally granted justice in her case. 

Now, the author of Luke writes that the story of the widow and the unjust judge is a parable that Jesus tells to his disciples “to teach them that they should pray always and never become discouraged.”[3]  Anyone need to hear that word today?  Pray always, and do not lose heart.  It’s similar to our Epistle lesson this morning, too.  “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.”[4]  Another translation says, “Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you’re in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer.”[5]  Devote yourselves to prayer.  What would happen if we did that?  We’re used to being told to be happy, we’re used to being told to be patient, but to pray all the time?  That always seems like a bit much, or better left to the “professionals.”  Other people are better at praying, other people seem to have their prayers answered more often, I don’t need to pray.  What difference does it make?  Well, beloved, there are several people among us this morning who can tell you that prayers do work, that your prayers are needed and appreciated, that God does answer prayer.  So, keep praying!  Persevere!  There’s an acronym about prayer called P.U.S.H., anyone know what it stands for?  Pray Until Something Happens.  Pray Until Something Happens.  Keep praying, keep trying, keep submitting that recruitment application form, until something happens. 

And keep in mind, what we want to happen may not be what happens.  God doesn’t always answer how we want him to.  Steve Rogers persevered, and got what he wanted, kind of.  Instead of being sent to the European Theater to fight, though, he’s enlisted in the United Service Organizations and performs with showgirls, playing a soldier, Captain America.  Steve doesn’t see any action until he’s sent to Europe and, on his own, goes looking for some prisoners-of-war, including his friend from the beginning of the movie.  He is successful, and now that he has proven himself as a soldier, he is finally sent on a mission, with the division he just freed.  It’s not the path Steve had in mind to serve his country.  He just wanted to be a regular enlisted soldier.  But in his perseverance to serve his country, being willing to do it in any way that was open to him, he became not just any soldier, but a super-soldier, Captain America.  And because of his tenacity and his loyalty, he became a very good soldier, one ready to obey orders and one good at planning and carrying out strategy.  Much later down the road, Captain America joins the Avengers and ends up the leader of that group of superheroes, precisely because he is good and trained at tactical strategies.  He was just trying to serve, and because of his persistence and willingness, he became a superhero. 

There’s one more thing about that super-soldier serum, which is that it doesn’t wear off.  Somehow, Captain America’s body, which is at the peak of natural human potential in terms of strength, endurance, agility, speed, reflexes, durability, and healing, can also regularly replenish the super-soldier serum.  It becomes part of his blood, and just like we naturally make more blood, he makes more of the serum in his blood.  As a result, he heals really quickly when he’s wounded, he can run a mile in 73 seconds, he can bench press 1200 pounds, and his stamina just keeps him going far after a normal person, or even an athlete, would get tired.[6]  Makes you a little jealous, huh?  You’d have more energy than a two year old!  As Christians, we know that our strength is renewed and replenished by God.  Our Old Testament lesson this morning tells us that “those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak.”[7]  Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?  And it happens by intentionally spending time with God.  Praying every day.  Reading the Bible every day.  Listening to what God says by being still and silent.  You know, these are all spiritual disciplines.  Not the ones you often hear about more, like fasting or taking a day of rest, but they still are ways, that when done on a regular basis, which is what makes them a discipline, because you need self-discipline to do them regularly, they draw you closer to God. 

To persevere in prayer means to also persevere in your relationship with God.  It means you want to grow closer to him, it means you want to know more about him and about what he wants for your life.  It means you want to have a close friendship with him, and not just someone you say hi to once a week.  Those who trust in God, those who hope in God, those who wait for God, those who persist and keep doing these things, they shall renew their strength.  They shall run and not get tired.  They shall walk and not lag behind.  You keep doing these spiritual practices, these things that draw you closer to God, because otherwise you’re going to wear out.  What happens to someone who’s not a runner when they run a marathon without training for it?  They’re absolutely exhausted, dehydrated, and out of breath.  Your spiritual life is important to your overall health.  Persevere in keeping it up, and I can’t promise that you’ll have the same effects as the super-soldier serum, but God will give you new energy and fresh strength for each day.  In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says that “each day has enough trouble of its own.”[8]  God will see you through each day, as well, when you persevere in your relationship with him.  He will give you enough energy to deal with the enough trouble of each day. 

There’s a Christian song I’ve been playing on repeat in my car the past couple weeks.  It’s called “10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)” by Matt Redman and the first verse goes “The sun comes up. It's a new day dawning. It's time to sing Your song again. Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes.”[9]  However the day goes, may I still be singing God’s praise when the evening comes.  May I have the perseverance, and the energy, to get through the day, to keep praying, in spite of whatever may happen, that at the end of the day I am still praising God.  At the end of the day, Captain America is still standing.  He hasn’t gotten tired.  Where are you at the end of the day?  Are you still blessing the Lord?  Did you spend enough time with him?  Did you pray all day long, praying until something happened?  Or are you dead on your feet and about to lose your faith?  Persevere, persist, keep at it; your faith, your relationship with God, is one area where you really do want to be stubborn.  After all, stubbornness is the word we use when we don’t want people to be persistent.  Persevere in seeking God.  Keep at it.  He may not answer how you want him to or how you expect him to.  My prayer for you is that “all who seek God, or a deeper knowledge of him… may find and be found by him.”[10]  Amen.

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[1] Luke 18:2

[2] Luke 18:4b-5

[3] Luke 18:1

[4] Romans 12:12, NRSV

[5] Ibid, CEB

[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_America

[7] Isaiah 40:31, GNT

[8] Matthew 6:34

[9] http://www.metrolyrics.com/10000-reasons-bless-the-lord-lyrics-matt-redman.html

[10] Book of Common Prayer, p. 386