Some Mercy Now

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston

January 26, 2025
3 Epiphany, C
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Psalm 19
Luke 4:14-21

“Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.” That’s Psalm 123:3, and I can imagine people in the church in Corinth praying those words as others within their church viewed them with contempt. “I belong to Paul,” some said, while others said, “I belong to Apollos.” Some said “I belong to Peter,” and still others said, “I belong to Christ.” 

That last group seems to have at least had part of it right, saying they belonged to Jesus, but it sounds like they were probably also saying, “and you don’t belong to Jesus.” The Corinthian church was a mess, divided among themselves, claiming different leaders, to be part of different churches, some apparently being told they don’t even belong to Jesus. 

Thank God nothing like that ever happens in the church anymore. 

Yeah, I guess the Corinthian problem sounds all too familiar to us today. We have different denominations, which is a good thing because we human people are a diverse lot and need different ways of practicing our faith in Jesus. Unfortunately, with our different denominations, we often hear claims that others aren’t the real followers of Jesus or aren’t the true Christians. 

Now, in our political climate, we also have people claiming others aren’t real Christians because of which politician they support, or which policy they champion, or which latest soundbite they are either angered by or not. 

So, many view others with contempt. Some are seen as merciful, some as stupid. Some are hateful. Some are compassionate. Some are inappropriate in what they say, where, and to whom; others are too, but it doesn’t matter cause they’re on “our side.” Some want to follow the teachings of Jesus. Some think those teachings are weak. I could go on and on, and all of these different groups seem to have contempt for one another, or at least there is so much talking about each other with contempt.

“Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had

more than enough of contempt.”

Jesus found contempt toward him often in his ministry. Just after the portion of the Gospel we heard today, people ended up with violent contempt toward Jesus. In today’s passage, Luke 4:14-21, Jesus stood in the temple and read from the prophet Isaiah, saying, 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

After that, he told the people that passage had been fulfilled in their hearing. They were amazed and seemed very pleased with Jesus. He was speaking graciously to them, and they loved it.

Then, he said something rather less gracious to the people, calling them out for some of their faults. Well, the people didn’t like that at all, and immediately, they tried to kill him. In one sitting, the people went from, “We like you, Jesus,” to “You have offended us, Jesus, and the only solution is for us to kill you now.” 

Thank God nothing like that ever happens anymore...except that it does. Early last week, Bishop Mariann Budde gave a sermon at the Episcopal Cathedral in Washington D.C., and she preached on unity and the need for unity in our nation. There wasn’t much controversial or displeasing in that part of her sermon. 

Then, she preached to President Trump, asking him to have mercy, noting that there were people who were in fear for their lives due to some of his policies and especially his rhetoric. She asked for mercy for folks who would be impacted, ending her remarks with, “May God grant us all the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with one another and our God, for the good of all the people of this nation and the world.”

Immediately there was anger toward her by many who disagree with her, some even calling for her death. She said something that some people didn’t like, and as a result, many called for her to leave the church, leave the country, or even leave her body and just die. Even for those who don’t want her dead or deported, there have been folks leave the church because of her words, folks consider joining the church because of her words, and many who saw this as a clear marker of choosing sides. Contempt of one another has been flowing freely ever since. 

It may have been inappropriate for her to speak directly to President Trump in a sermon, maybe so, maybe not. Calling people out for some of their harmful behavior is certainly not out line with something Jesus would do…that’s what he did just after the passage we heard today. 

In President Trump’s case, having nothing to do with his policy, the way he talks about people is often dangerously harmful. His word choice and way of talking tends to inflame people’s fear and anger, and that has led and will continue to lead to violence and calls for murder. As James pointed out in James 3:6-8, “The tongue is a fire…full of deadly poison.” President Trump has some good things he hopes to achieve, and at the same time, when he speaks without mercy, regardless of his policies, when he speaks with so much contempt and without mercy, he is setting fire to people around him, with deadly poison. 

We found that a Bishop couldn’t even point that out without people calling for her death. “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.”

As a society, as a body of people, we have got to learn to be ok with hearing things we don’t love to hear. When our responses are so full of anger and contempt that for a week and more after a Bishop preached the teachings of Jesus, our national conversation is full of attacks on each other as unchristian, or un-American, or kinda Christian but definitely the really bad kind, we find ourselves much like the Corinthian church. “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos.” “I belong to Peter,” or “I belong to Christ.” I belong to Trump, or I belong to don’t. I belong to this group or that group, and you are, therefore, enemy. 

That doesn’t work. The hand cannot say to the foot, you are not part of the body because you are not a hand. The eye cannot call the ear enemy because it is not an eye. People who support President Trump and people who do no support President Trump cannot call one another enemy or say the other doesn’t belong. 

Like it or not, we are one body within the Church, and like it or not, we are even one body of humanity. We cannot continue as a church or as humanity telling parts of our body that they don’t belong. We need, as Paul wrote in Galatians 5, to learn to tame our flesh, and the flesh I mean is our emotions and violent, angry responses to one another. 

We are being driven mad by the passions of our flesh, the passions of, “I am right, and you are terrible.” We are being driven mad by our desires to say various parts of the body, “You do not belong; because I find you objectionable, you do not belong.” Our body, our body of humanity cannot continue like this. We must ask Jesus to help us tame the passions of our flesh, the passions of our violent and angry emotions. 

If we don’t, then like the people of Nazareth, we will continue to try to kill Jesus every time he says something we don’t like. Even if killing Jesus just means we have even more contempt for the other, even more looking at the other as some awful part of the body that needs to be removed, we need to tame our passions and live no longer guided by the adversary, whose name is Satan, but to live guided by the Advocate, who is the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught us to follow the way of the Advocate, striving for those we care about, and rather than hating our enemies, loving our enemies. 

So, grant us your Holy Spirit, Lord, that we may love even our enemies. Grant us your Holy Spirit that we may tame the passions of our flesh, the passions of our violent and angry emotions. Grant us your Holy Spirit to have mercy one another. Grant us your Holy Spirit that we may be one body without contempt for one another. “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt."

Some Mercy Now

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
January 26, 2025
3 Epiphany, C
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Psalm 19
Luke 4:14-21

“Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.” That’s Psalm 123:3, and I can imagine people in the church in Corinth praying those words as others within their church viewed them with contempt. “I belong to Paul,” some said, while others said, “I belong to Apollos.” Some said “I belong to Peter,” and still others said, “I belong to Christ.” 

That last group seems to have at least had part of it right, saying they belonged to Jesus, but it sounds like they were probably also saying, “and you don’t belong to Jesus.” The Corinthian church was a mess, divided among themselves, claiming different leaders, to be part of different churches, some apparently being told they don’t even belong to Jesus. 

Thank God nothing like that ever happens in the church anymore. 

Yeah, I guess the Corinthian problem sounds all too familiar to us today. We have different denominations, which is a good thing because we human people are a diverse lot and need different ways of practicing our faith in Jesus. Unfortunately, with our different denominations, we often hear claims that others aren’t the real followers of Jesus or aren’t the true Christians. 

Now, in our political climate, we also have people claiming others aren’t real Christians because of which politician they support, or which policy they champion, or which latest soundbite they are either angered by or not. 

So, many view others with contempt. Some are seen as merciful, some as stupid. Some are hateful. Some are compassionate. Some are inappropriate in what they say, where, and to whom; others are too, but it doesn’t matter cause they’re on “our side.” Some want to follow the teachings of Jesus. Some think those teachings are weak. I could go on and on, and all of these different groups seem to have contempt for one another, or at least there is so much talking about each other with contempt.

“Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had

more than enough of contempt.”

Jesus found contempt toward him often in his ministry. Just after the portion of the Gospel we heard today, people ended up with violent contempt toward Jesus. In today’s passage, Luke 4:14-21, Jesus stood in the temple and read from the prophet Isaiah, saying, 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

After that, he told the people that passage had been fulfilled in their hearing. They were amazed and seemed very pleased with Jesus. He was speaking graciously to them, and they loved it.

Then, he said something rather less gracious to the people, calling them out for some of their faults. Well, the people didn’t like that at all, and immediately, they tried to kill him. In one sitting, the people went from, “We like you, Jesus,” to “You have offended us, Jesus, and the only solution is for us to kill you now.” 

Thank God nothing like that ever happens anymore...except that it does. Early last week, Bishop Mariann Budde gave a sermon at the Episcopal Cathedral in Washington D.C., and she preached on unity and the need for unity in our nation. There wasn’t much controversial or displeasing in that part of her sermon. 

Then, she preached to President Trump, asking him to have mercy, noting that there were people who were in fear for their lives due to some of his policies and especially his rhetoric. She asked for mercy for folks who would be impacted, ending her remarks with, “May God grant us all the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with one another and our God, for the good of all the people of this nation and the world.”

Immediately there was anger toward her by many who disagree with her, some even calling for her death. She said something that some people didn’t like, and as a result, many called for her to leave the church, leave the country, or even leave her body and just die. Even for those who don’t want her dead or deported, there have been folks leave the church because of her words, folks consider joining the church because of her words, and many who saw this as a clear marker of choosing sides. Contempt of one another has been flowing freely ever since. 

It may have been inappropriate for her to speak directly to President Trump in a sermon, maybe so, maybe not. Calling people out for some of their harmful behavior is certainly not out line with something Jesus would do…that’s what he did just after the passage we heard today. 

In President Trump’s case, having nothing to do with his policy, the way he talks about people is often dangerously harmful. His word choice and way of talking tends to inflame people’s fear and anger, and that has led and will continue to lead to violence and calls for murder. As James pointed out in James 3:6-8, “The tongue is a fire…full of deadly poison.” President Trump has good things he hopes to achieve, and at the same time, when he speaks without mercy, regardless of his policies, when he speaks with so much contempt and without mercy, he is setting fire to people around him, with deadly poison. 

We found that a Bishop couldn’t even point that out without people calling for her death. “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.”

Again, she may have been wrong to give those comments in her sermon, but as a society, as a body of people, we have got to learn to be ok with hearing things we don’t love to hear. When our responses are so full of anger and contempt that for a week and more afterwards, our national conversation is full of attacks on each other as unchristian, or unamerican, or kinda Christian but definitely the really bad kind, we find ourselves much like the Corinthian church. “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos.” “I belong to Peter,” or “I belong to Christ.” I belong to Trump, or I belong to don’t. I belong to this group or that group, and you are, therefore, enemy. 

That doesn’t work. The hand cannot say to the foot, you are not part of the body because you are not a hand. The eye cannot call the ear enemy because it is not an eye. People who support President Trump and people who do no support President Trump cannot call one another enemy or say the other doesn’t belong. 

Like it or not, we are one body within the Church, and like it or not, we are even one body of humanity. We cannot continue as a church or as humanity telling parts of our body that they don’t belong. We need, as Paul wrote in Galatians 5, to learn to tame our flesh, and the flesh I mean is our emotions and violent, angry responses to one another. 

We are being driven mad by the passions of our flesh, the passions of, “I am right, and you are terrible.” We are being driven mad by our desires to say various parts of the body, “You do not belong; because I find you objectionable, you do not belong.” Our body, our body of humanity cannot continue like this. We must ask Jesus to help us tame the passions of our flesh, the passions of our violent and angry emotions. 

If we don’t, then like the people of Nazareth, we will continue to try to kill Jesus every time he says something we don’t like. Even if killing Jesus just means we have even more contempt for the other, even more looking at the other as some awful part of the body that needs to be removed, we need to tame our passions and live no longer guided by the adversary, whose name is Satan, but to live guided by the Advocate, who is the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught us to follow the way of the Advocate, striving for those we care about, and rather than hating our enemies, loving our enemies. 

So, grant us your Holy Spirit, Lord, that we may love even our enemies. Grant us your Holy Spirit that we may tame the passions of our flesh, the passions of our violent and angry emotions. Grant us your Holy Spirit to have mercy one another. Grant us your Holy Spirit that we may be one body without contempt for one another. “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt."

Removing the Marketplaces from Our Bodies

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
March 3, 2024
3 Lent, Year B
Exodus 20:1-17
Psalm 19
John 2:13-22 

Removing the Marketplaces from Our Bodies

So, what was the deal with the animals and the moneychangers in the temple, and why did Jesus drive them out? Animals were supposed to be there as people brought them for sacrifices. Animal sacrifice was part of the religion of Israel since the time of Moses; people would offer many different kinds of sacrifices to God, many of which involved animals. Of course, originally, the animals were ones which you brought yourself, but, it seems that not everyone had animals. Society had changed in the centuries since Moses and the priests had first established animal sacrifice, so if people didn’t have animals of their own, they were available for purchase.

The moneychangers as well, were kind of a good thing. Israel was under Roman occupation, and people had to use Roman coins, but they couldn’t use those coins in the Temple. So, the people could change out their Roman coins for Jewish coins.

That all sounds pretty legit, so what was Jesus so upset about?

Well, perhaps it’s that they had all the trappings of Temple worship, but the Temple worship was kinda corrupted. For centuries, God had had problems with Israel’s worship. Their sacrifices were always before God, and yet true love and compassion for one another was often missing in those sacrifices. Dot every “I” and cross every “T” with your Temple worship, but if it doesn’t change your heart, then who cares. Just like when the Word of God spoke through the prophets, Jesus saw worship that was an end in and of itself, rather than a means to life of greater unity and love. Jesus wanted the Temple to be a house of prayer for all, a place of life and community. Jesus wanted the Temple to be a place like Eden, where people could walk together with God in the cool of the evening breeze.

Instead, the Temple had become a place where money that could have gone to help those in need was going to purchase animals to kill on an altar to supposedly make God happy. As the prophets wrote time and time again, sacrifices don’t make God happy. Supporting and caring for one another as we were created to do, as we did in Eden, that’s what makes God happy.

God becoming human as Jesus is meant to grant us a life more like Eden, where we walk together with God in the cool of the evening breeze. Healing and unity with God and one another is the Gospel. At various times and in various ways, has that Gospel of healing and unity with God and one another been corrupted, like Temple worship was? I’m gonna go with yes.

Last week I talked about name it and claim it preaching, a Christianity which promises power and riches through belief in Jesus. That turns God into a giant ATM. Insert faith here; receive power and riches here. That’s not real life. That’s not the Gospel; it’s a gospel corrupted.

Additionally, the Gospel of Jesus, who heales us and restores us to unity with God and one another, that Gospel of healing has often become known as a gospel of sin management. Do right, or else. Of course, we’re all gonna do wrong, but don’t do too wrong. Jesus loves you, but you better not mess up too much, or after you die, you’re going to be tortured, forever. Jesus loves you, but if you’re not quite sure and don’t quite put your faith in Jesus enough, then you’re going to be tortured, forever.

Yes, that is a gospel that has been corrupted. Believe in Jesus or be tortured forever is a faith that has gone radically off the rails and is full of money changers and animals that need to be driven out of the Temple. Never don’t be afraid, and be judgmental of people around you is a faith corrupted, full of money changers and animals which need to be driven out of the Temple.

Of course, the Temple we’re talking about here is the faith itself and the Temple of our bodies. Life is hard, and we carry all of those hardships in our bodies. Why do you think healing was such a part of Jesus’ ministry? Our bodies carry all of our hurts. Our minds carry every scar. Our hearts beat with every pain we’ve ever felt. Our bodies are temples of God’s presence, and for us fully to love and live God’s presence within our bodies and among one another, our bodies need healing. Our temples need cleansing.

That healing and that cleansing comes from love. Love drives out the moneychangers and the animals from our bodies so that we may walk with God and one another in the cool of the evening breeze.

And yet, our bodies are often a marketplace, aren’t they. Things are sold to us, increasingly marketed to our specific bodies. There’s plenty of good stuff out there, don’t get me wrong, but our bodies are more than places for people to hock their wares. Our bodies are sacred and beautiful even without those body enhancing whatevers are out there.

Our bodies also become marketplaces when we become transactional in one another’s eyes. What can you do for me? How can you, your body, serve my needs?

What about when we get into religion. My god doesn’t want this thing happening. Your body is doing that thing. Somehow, I need to control your body to make my god less angry.

Our bodies become marketplaces, ways for us to get what we want out of others.

Does this transactional approach to one another’s bodies displease God? Yes! Zeal for God’s temple will consume Jesus. Zeal for how we treat one another’s bodies will consume Jesus.

So, what needs to be driven out of our lives so that we no longer treat one another’s bodies like marketplaces? What needs to be driven out of our bodies to bring about healing for us? What needs to be driven out of our bodies so that we may help others heal?

To find out, we can ask, where do we cause hurt? Where do we cause harm? What hurt and harm within ourselves are we trying to soothe? Then we can seek healing for ourselves. That usually means help from others. Healing our hurts, healing our scars, healing the pain within. That also means seeking help from God. As Psalm 51:17 tells us, “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Seeking God’s help and healing of our hurting bodies and broken spirits, that is our bodies’ temple worship.

What needs to be driven out of the temples of our bodies so that our temple worship will be the worship that God desires? What hurt and brokenness do we need to offer to God so that we may find healing and walk with God and one another in the cool of the evening breeze?