10th Sunday after Pentecost
August 13, 2017
Matthew 14:22-33
First, I would encourage you
to read the statement by my Bishop, LaTrelle Easterling:
Also, the one by Bishop Leonard
Fairley, formerly my mom’s pastor and who baptized my youngest:
Words are not enough, yet
they are the preacher’s tool. Here is my outline that was the basis for
Sunday’s sermon:
What happens after the storm?
Beaten,
battered, weathered, bruised, wind knocked out of you, after we come face to
face with hatred, evil, prejudice, and discrimination?
Tubthumping
by British rock band Chumbawamba in 1997 – “I get knocked down, but I get up
again”
2016
“Trolls” movie – Poppy sets off on a journey to rescue her friends – “Hey! I’m
not giving up today. There’s nothing getting in my way. And if you knock knock
me over, I will get back up again. If something goes a little wrong, well you
can go ahead and bring it on. ‘Cause if you knock knock me over, I will get
back up again.”
Most
of us get back up again. Most of us get back in the saddle. Or back behind the
wheel of a car. Or back wherever it was that knocked us down. A few don’t. Hold
them in prayer. Most of us do get back up again. Changed, marked, like Jacob
from last week. Like the 19 counter-protesters who were intentionally hit by a
car.
What happened to Peter?
Matt
15 – asks Jesus to explain a parable – wants to learn, wants to be taught
Matt
16 – when Jesus asks disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” Disciples
answer, “Some say Elijah, others John the Baptist, or one of the prophets, like
Jeremiah.”
Jesus
asks, “And you, who do you say that I am?” Peter answers, “You are the Messiah,
the Son of the Living God.”
Jesus
replies, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you
by flesh and blood but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are
Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not
overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you
bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven.”
Peter had new insight, new
malleability, new desire to learn, new name, and had grown closer to God
Richard Rohr, “Falling
Upward”
My
mom gave me this book after she read it with her Sunday school class. She said
it was fantastic, and also that I had already moved into the second half of my
life due to the disappointment and struggled related to my RA and leaving
Nicaragua. That comment made me wonder why read it, if I’m already there.
Lately, Bishop Easterling has been sharing quotes from it on Facebook,
reminding me of him.
Two
“halves” of our lives – not equally in half, 50%. There’s the first part,
establishing your identity, who you are, creating boundaries for yourself,
seeking security. These things are good and necessary. Some people never move
beyond them.
The
crossover to the second “half” of life is some sort of suffering, stumbling,
storm, mistakes, challenges, loss of control, that move us out of our comfort
zone and our usual way of operating. This time of uncertainty makes us see
ourselves differently and in a more life-giving way. It’s about how we grow and
learn from our failings. It’s about growing spiritually more through struggle
and mistakes than we do by doing everything right.
Children’s book “Rosie
Revere, Engineer” by Andrea Beaty
Rosie likes to tinker and make gizmos, but she got
laughed at, so she stops. Her great-great aunt Rosie (the Riveter) encourages
her to try again, so she does. She makes a flying machine that flies for a few
seconds and then crashes. Aunt Rosie calls it “the perfect first try.” Now that
she had failed, she could keep going!
Here’s what I think.
My understanding is that the
mismatch between the congregation and a previous pastor was the biggest drama
and tension this church has had. That is great! Because now we can get down to
work. By struggling through that, and arguing with God (and probably with each
other) during that difficult time, you’ve come to see yourselves differently. And
that’s ok. Remember, we grow more spiritually through struggle than we do by
doing everything right. So, as far as I’m concerned, this is a GREAT time to be
at Lisbon! We are falling upward. We are experimenting, trying things out,
which may or may not work, and that’s ok. The point is, it has made us more like
Peter, in turn more like Jesus, as we seek to learn more, as we want to learn and
grow closer to God.
That’s the church level. The
reason we do this isn’t for our own sake. The reason we do this hard work is
for the sake of the world. As was made evident again by yesterday’s events in
Charlottesville, we live in a hurting world that is in desperate need of hope
and love and truth. That’s why we’re here. Our world is hurting. God’s world is
hurting and needs to hear words of hope and love and truth. So, pray. Pray for all in
Charlottesville. Pray for those who have been marked. Stand in solidarity with
those who live in fear. Actively call out evil and racism. Find the tools in
front of us, like hand sanitizer, that we can use to silence messages of hate.
Let us pray…
For more actions, see https://www.splcenter.org/20170814/ten-ways-fight-hate-community-response-guide
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