Jesus the Unstoppable, Unkillable, Ultimate Weapon of Doom?

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
May 17, 2026
7 Easter, A
1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
Psalm 66:7-18
John 14:15-21

So, in the Legend of Zelda video games, when you finally get to fight the big, bad, boss guy, Gannon, you get to fight him twice. You defeat him the first time, and then he immediately comes back from the dead, bigger and badder, and you get to defeat him all over again. It’s fun, some lovely extra play time, and I’m pretty sure that’s what Jesus’ disciples thought was going to happen when Jesus was resurrected, that he had come back bigger and badder, and ready to destroy the Roman Empire.

When Jesus told the disciples they would be baptized by the Holy Spirit, in Acts 1:1-8, they asked if he would be destroying the Romans and establishing his kingdom over Israel. That’s exactly what they thought he was going to do prior to his death, and after his resurrection, it seems like they thought he was even more powerful and would then take care of it, but his answer was still “no”. Jesus wasn’t going to kill a bunch of people to force his way in the world.  

Instead, he told his disciples to continue his mission of healing and reconciliation in the world. 

Unlike for the evil bad guy in the Legend of Zelda games, the point of Jesus’ resurrection was not that he would return as an unstoppable, unkillable, ultimate weapon of doom for his enemies. The point of Jesus’ resurrection was to show us that not only did God share in a death like ours, but that we will then share with him in a resurrection like his. 

Life continues on after death. Healing and reconciliation continue on after death. Our unity with God and one another continues on after death, and even during death.

Even in death, God is with us. We often feel God is with us when life is going well. Some of us feel God’s presence in beautiful worship. Some feel the Spirit moving in times of great joy or purpose. Some know God is with us when we experience blessing in our lives. 

Jesus’ suffering on the cross, his death, and resurrection assure us that God is with us even in our suffering. Peter says as much in the reading we heard today, 1 Peter 5:6-7. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” God is with us and for us even in the dark times, so Peter tells his readers to give their anxieties and fears over to God. That’s the kinda stuff the bigger and badder resurrected Jesus is going to take on. 

He already took on our sin, and that killed him, but it couldn’t keep him down. Jesus proved more powerful than our sin, so what does he ask to take on now? All the stuff that causes us to sin. Give all that stuff over to Jesus, and let him fight it out for you, and know that you are not alone.  

“Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour,” Peter wrote. “Resist him, steadfast in your faith, [cast all your anxieties on Jesus], for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.”

Folks in Peter’s time were going through what he called “a fiery ordeal,” and Peter told them to rejoice since they were sharing in Christ’s sufferings. Ok, truthfully, rejoicing that we are suffering seems a bit much to me, but accepting the suffering and finding joy that Jesus joins us in that, that makes sense to me. When we suffer, Jesus is with us and has suffered with us. That means too that Jesus is with us and we will join with him in healing, joy, a resurrection like his. 

Now, the fiery ordeal that Peter was addressing seems to be that other folks weren’t too keen on that church being followers of Jesus. It seems like the church Peter was writing to was deeply disliked and even persecuted for their faith. ‘Remember guys,’ Peter was saying, ‘remember that folks did the same thing to Jesus when they didn’t like what he had to say, and they even killed him for it. So, Jesus is with you in your suffering.’

Notice that he didn’t tell them to take on an “us against the world” kind of stance. Cast your anxieties on God, Peter said. Give them over to God so that God can deal with your fears, rather than you living with them all alone. Don’t take on the world, thinking that unstoppable, unkillable, ultimate weapon of doom, Jesus, is going to fight against and kill all the bad people for you. Give all your anxieties to God, realizing that suffering indeed happens. 

There are Christians today who do seem to feel that unstoppable, unkillable, ultimate weapon of doom, Jesus is going to kill all of the people they think are bad, and they talk like Jesus’ disciples did in Acts 1, when they asked Jesus if he was going to kill the Romans and establish his kingdom in Israel. “Not gonna happen, guys.” That was Jesus’ answer to his disciples back then, and that is Jesus’ answer to the ultra-nationalist Christians nowadays who think they should be able to force their faith and way of life on others.

Forcing one’s faith and way of life on others may seem faithful to those who do it, but it isn’t loving, and it isn’t focused on eternal life. Those folks may think they are focused on eternal life, but really, they’re focused on avoiding punishment when they die. That’s not eternal life.

Jesus told his disciples what eternal life is, that we may know God and Jesus Christ whom God sent. That goes beyond faith, beyond belief. Knowing God goes beyond proclaiming certain doctrine as true. Knowing God comes not just through faith, but through love, as John tells us in 1 John 4:7, “Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” 

Eternal life is knowing God, and those who love, know God. So, those who love have eternal life. Do you love? Then fear not, for you have eternal life. Do you love? Then fear not. Cast all your anxieties upon God because God cares for you. Do you love? Then give to God all of the worries and fears that cause you to sin, and ask the unstoppable, unkillable, ultimate weapon of doom, Jesus to fight those worries and anxieties for you. That is the battle Jesus wages in his resurrection, not against our physical enemies, but against our spiritual enemies. Jesus’ battle is against the fears, the hates, and the hurts that lead us to harm. 

So fear not, and trust that Jesus is with us in our pain and in our suffering. Jesus shares with us in our suffering, and we share with him in his resurrection. Trusting in Jesus, then cast all your anxieties on the unstoppable, unkillable, ultimate weapon of doom, Jesus, who loves and cares for us. Then, love others as he has loved us, for God is love. To love is to know God, and to know God is eternal life.

Then Stop Following Thieves and Bandits

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
April 26, 2026
4 Easter
Acts 2:42-47
Psalm 23
John 10:1-10

In our reading from Acts, we heard today that in the early church, those who believed were together in joy with one another. What occurred to me was, we’ve got a lot of talk about belief within the church, and a lot of the belief people talk about is belief in punishment for those who don’t believe. Well, I say poopiedoo to that. Anyone can believe in punishment and fear, which is not exactly life. Those who were in that first church believed in life, not death. Let’s see what happens when we believe not just in punishment and death, but when we believe in life. 

Jesus is the gatekeeper and the gate for the sheep, he said. Just after the passage we read today from John 10, Jesus also said he is the good shepherd. Jesus is the one leading the sheep, leading his people, guiding us, keeping us safe. Others, he said, are thieves and bandits who try to harm the sheep

He was talking at the time about religious and political leaders. He was talking about people of empire, people who made very clear claims of who was in and who was out, people who often led by fear. Among the religious leaders, there were those who told people, “You’re no good.” Rather than seeing people as lost and in need of guidance, some of these religious leaders saw folks as no good sinners. Instead of bringing life, they just brought fear of punishment and death. Then you had the king and Roman emperor and governors who truly viewed other people as beneath them. Such is the way of empire, the way of thieves and bandits, the way of those who harm and destroy life.

Unlike them, Jesus is the gate and the gatekeeper. He actually cares about the sheep. He came that we may have life abundantly. Jesus leads us in ways that lead to life, love, peace, health for our bodies and souls. 

Now, he also said that as his sheep, we will not follow the voice of others. Well, he was saying this to some of those thieves and bandits, letting them know that the people he had healed, the people he had shown grace and love to, were not going to follow them any longer. They weren’t going to go back to being beaten down by religious leaders telling them, “You’re a sinner; you’re a sinner; you’re a sinner.” They weren’t going back to the in-group out-group way of empire. They weren’t going back to the way of being told to be afraid. They were going to continue to follow Jesus and live the kingdom of God. 

So, what about us? We hear Jesus’ voice leading us to live the ways of God’s kingdom, and I dare say we also go down harmful paths, following the voices of others. We’re still Jesus’ sheep. As he talked about in another parable in Matthew 18, sheep who wander away are still Jesus’ sheep, and he will leave 99 other sheep just to go find one of us who is lost.

So, we’re still Jesus’ sheep when we follow the voices of others, but we need to admit that we’re following the voices of others as if they were our shepherds. We need to admit that sometimes we follow thieves and bandits.

Now, I don’t necessarily mean others religious folk when I talk about following thieves and bandits. Today particularly, I’m talking about following after drugs, alcohol, and other addictions. When we’re addicted to drugs, we’re still Jesus’ sheep, and we need to admit that we’ve started following the drug dealers and the drugs themselves as our shepherds, rather than fleeing from them as the thieves and bandits that they are.

See, Jesus came that we may have life and have it abundantly. The drug dealers and the drugs themselves are thieves and bandits, taking life bit by bit, while getting wealthy off of it. 

I bring this up because last week, there was a man overdosed on the sidewalk just outside of here. He got NARCANned by EMS and taken to the hospital, and on the sidewalk where he had been, there was trash everywhere, empty beer bottles and beer cans, as well as four other men, stoned out, sitting on a wall, just like he had been, but slightly less near death. They were escaping life, like he had been, and I get that, the desire to escape. I think we all in some sense get that desire to escape when life is overwhelming. I spent a lot of time trying to escape life through alcohol, myself. It didn’t work. It wasn’t life abundant. It was barely living. 

Trying to escape life didn’t really work for the man who overdosed or the men on the wall last week either. Life still hit them, but it hit with them while dependent on the drug dealer’s poison. That’s not life abundant. That’s barely life at all. Such is life when we follow thieves and bandits as though they were our shepherd.

Full confession, I didn’t handle the situation well last week after the man was brought to the hospital. I had the other guys leave, and I cleaned up all the trash, which was fine, but I was pissed off and cussing at the guys as well, which was not fine. I was pissed off at the drugs and dealers leaching away at life, without the slightest thought or care as to how much damage they’re causing. I was pissed off at the trash lying around. I was pissed off that people are scared to come to church because of it. 

Telling the guys to go, clean up your trash and leave, well that was the right thing to do. Shouting and cussing at them wasn’t. They’re still part of Jesus’ flock, and they still deserve for people to honor their dignity, even if they’re not honoring their own dignity. 

The church is a hospital for people in need of spiritual healing, so it is the right place for people who are struggling with addiction. The church also has to be a safe place for anyone to come, and when people are stoned out of their minds, fighting, shouting, and leaving trash everywhere, that’s no longer a safe place for people to come. The church as spiritual hospital is no longer a place where people can come for spiritual healing when there is fighting, shouting, trash, and rampant drug use everywhere around it. 

To those who have been hooked on drugs, those whose lives are being taken from them bit by bit by thieves and bandits, keep coming to church, and give respect to others who are coming here as well. Come to church seeking the Good Shepherd. 

One thing the good shepherd does is drive away the thieves and bandits to protect the sheep. So, to the sheep whose lives have been stolen by the poison of drugs, keep coming to church. To the thieves and bandits who keep selling that crap, stay away until you stop selling that crap. To the thieves and bandits who are selling drugs, you are welcome once you stop selling the drugs, once you stop poisoning people for profit.

Now wait a minute, Pastor Sullivan, you said last week that the way of Jesus is to love your enemies, to bless those who curse you. You said to try having a meal together and to seek peace, for blessed are the peacemakers. How does that square with telling drug dealers only to come back once you stop selling your poison? Well, to any here who are selling drugs, let’s have a meal together. Come talk to me, and we’ll go have lunch, for you, too, are children of God, beloved sheep of Jesus’ pasture. 

Saying, “Come back once you’ve stopped selling drugs,” and at the same time saying, “Let’s have a meal together,” may seem contradictory, but remember, we aren’t people of empire. Empire says in absolute terms, you are either with us or against us. A gospel that believes in fear says you are either with us or against us. We aren’t people of empire. We are not people of a gospel of fear and threats. We’re people of a gospel of resurrection, a gospel of life. We’re people of peace. We’re people of meals together, meals of love and hope, meals of justice and peace, meals of reconciliation and forgiveness. 

That’s the way of Jesus as both our shepherd and as the gate and the gatekeeper. Jesus’ way is to keep the thieves and bandits out, so they no longer harm sheep, and Jesus’ way is to seek out those same thieves and bandits because they are also lost sheep. 

So, if you’re tired of life that is barely life, try staying away from thieves and bandits, in all of their many forms. If you are tired of hearing from others a gospel of threats, division, and fear, then stay away from thieves and bandits. They too are lost sheep, but so long as they follow the ways of destruction, they come only to steel, and kill, and destroy life. We are not meant to follow thieves and bandits. We are not meant to have our lives sucked away from us bit by bit.

Jesus is our gate and our gatekeeper to keep thieves and bandits from sucking away our lives. Jesus is our good shepherd, so that following him, we may have life and may have life abundantly. 

Just Deserts

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
March 8, 2026
3 Lent
Exodus 17:1-7
Psalm 95
John 4:5-42

Don’t you just love it when your enemies get what’s coming to them? It’s like a delicious meal of deserved justice served with vengeance pie topped with self-righteous ice cream. It’s great. I love it when the bad guys fall and the really terrible people get exactly what they deserve. Enemies getting their comeuppance makes my little black heart sing. 

Then, the rest of me starts feeling pretty rotten, actually. That part of me that sings at other people’s misfortune ends up making the rest of me rather sick. Rejoicing at my enemies’ downfall may feed my cold little black heart, but it feeds my heart poison and grows in me like a cancer.  

It’s said that we are what we eat, and that is true of our spiritual food as well. Junk food and desert taste great, and when that’s all we eat, our bodies suffer. They stop working well. We end up with diabetes, and cancer, and heart disease, and even depression and anxiety can get worse from a bad diet. 

When we feed our hearts and souls with junk food, our hearts and souls become unhealthy as well. Vengeance, delighting when our enemies are hurt, that’s like really bad junk food for our souls. Think about what that diet really looks like: anger; rage; happiness that others are hurting, that’s cruelty. We can’t really be healthy and happy people when we feed ourselves on cruelty. We can’t be healthy and happy people when we delight in people’s suffering, even the suffering of our enemies.

See, the more we eat of people’s suffering, the more we want that food, which means we end up wanting people to suffer. So, even though our enemies might deserve suffering, when we delight in their suffering, we end up becoming cruel people.

Another problem with delighting in our enemies’ suffering is that we let ourselves focus on them, rather than ourselves. If they are bad and are getting what’s coming to them, I don’t need to look at ways I harm people. It’s still there, though, festering and eating us up from the inside. So, it grows in the dark, like mold, like fungus, rotting us from the inside. 

So, Jesus offers us different food. When he met the woman at the well, he told her he would give her water welling up within her to eternal life. Then Jesus talked to his disciples, telling them that the food he has to eat is doing the will of God. 

Well, what was the will of God that Jesus kept doing throughout his ministry? Healing people. Healing communities. Showing people a better way than the way of vengeance, a better way than the way of fighting and being against one another.

When the woman at the well asked Jesus which mountain was the correct one to worship God, he told her, neither was the correct mountain. The time is coming, Jesus said, when people will worship God neither on one mountain or the other, but they will worship God in spirit and in truth. 

So, what’s with the two mountains? They were the mountain on which the temple was built in Jerusalem and mount Gerizim in Samaria. The people of Israel and the people of Samaria were bitter enemies, so the argument over which mountain was the correct place to worship God was really an argument about which people God loved and which people God didn’t love.

So, when she asked which mountain was the best mountain, Jesus told her that folks would worship God neither on the mountain in Samaria, nor the mountain in Jerusalem. Instead, people would worship God in spirit and in truth. That sounds to me like all people get to worship God, regardless of which nation you belong to. That sounds to me like no more quarreling over whose mountain is correct, and if they stopped fighting over which mountain was correct, then they’d no longer be enemies. They’d no longer delight in one another’s suffering 

The food that Jesus offers is for each of us as individual people, and the food that Jesus offers goes far beyond individual healing. Jesus offers food that grows into healing among communities and even healing among nations. A community and a nation full of peaceful, loving, compassionate people is a community and a nation that will spread that same peace, love, and compassion to others.

Now, this is not about turning a nation into a Christian nation. Jesus wasn’t preaching to kings and rulers. Jesus wasn’t calling for a religious conversion of governments. Jesus wasn’t talking about forcing his way on others. Jesus was speaking to a woman at a well and to his disciples. Jesus spoke to the masses, to the people. Jesus met with religious leaders. Jesus wasn’t taking over a nation’s government to force change from the top town. Jesus healed and taught people the way of love to change lives and communities from the ground up. That’s things grow after all, from the ground up.

The food that Jesus offers feeds us in ways that lead away from bitterness, anger, and cruelty and into peace, love, and compassion. The food of taking delight in our enemies’ suffering, decays our bodies and souls, making us bitter, angry, and cruel. The food Jesus offers feeds our bodies and souls with eternal life, making us peaceful, loving, and compassionate. 

A community and a nation full of peaceful, loving, compassionate people is a community and a nation that will spread that same peace, love, and compassion to others. That peace, love, and compassion doesn’t spread through force feeding it, but by offering it and living it. When Jesus offered this food & water to the woman at the well, she wanted it. 

She ran to tell others to come and see a man who, “who told me everything I’ve ever done.” All Jesus actually said was that she’d had five husbands and the man she was with wasn’t her husband. Rather than dismissing this woman as sinful for having five husbands, let’s ask ourselves, “Why?” Only men could sue for divorce, so she hadn’t left her husbands; they had dismissed her. Why? 

Well, we don’t really know why five husbands had all sent her away, but we can guess that it left her feeling hurt and ashamed, probably bitter and resentful too. It could be a shameful thing to be dismissed by one husband, others wondering, “What’s wrong with her?” She’d been dismissed by five, so it’s a good bet she felt deep shame, like she was no good and unlovable. 

Then, Jesus talked to her, not like damaged goods but like a fully important, beloved human. “If he only knew,” she probably thought. Then, she found out that he did know, and he wasn’t shaming her or treating her like a lesser human. That was healing for her. That was the food and water Jesus offered, welling up in her to eternal life.   

The woman went from eating the bread of shame, bitterness, and resentment, to eating and drinking the love of God, the eternal life given by Jesus. Peace, love, and compassion was the food Jesus gave her, revealing the truth of her life, so she was no longer bound by it. There she was, fully exposed, and God was still calling her beloved. That’s being naked and unashamed, as we were created to be in Eden, in the beginning.

From there, the woman spread his message to others, bringing them to Jesus so he could feed them as well, the food Jesus offers growing from the ground up. That what Jesus calls us to do, to offer the same bread and water of peace, love, and compassion, to offer the same healing and eternal life we have be given to others. We’re reminded again and again to stick to this diet as well. 

As much as delighting in our enemies’ downfall is juicy and delicious (and it is delicious), it is also cancerous, harmful food which rots us from the inside out. Set aside that food. Offer it to God. “Here, Lord, accept my offering to you of my anger, fear, resentment, desires for vengeance. Accept my offering to you of the cruelty in my heart. Then, please feed me with your peace. Feed me with your love. Feed me with your compassion. Amen.”

Giving Up the Power of Anger and Receiving the Power of Forgiveness

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Lord of the Streets, Houston

January 11, 2026

1 Epiphany, Baptism of Jesus

Isaiah 42:1-9

Psalm 29

Matthew 3:13-17

I have been struggling with sadness over the last several days. A 37-year-old woman was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis while in her car, apparently trying to drive away from the agents. In response, our government has called her a terrorist and said she brought the killing on herself. There’s been the now usual clash of responses to her killing, folks on the right claiming that it was her fault and that she should have been killed, and folks on the left saying it was an ICE Agent murdering an innocent woman. Fear and anger. Fear and anger. 

Closer to home, a young woman was shot and killed on a METRO bus by a couple of teenagers here in Houston. They weren’t even trying to kill her, they’d gone on the bus to kill someone else, like that’s any better. Fear and anger. Fear and anger. 

Hearing about these things last week, along with everything else that’s…the crud of the world, I’ve had to deal with my anger quite a lot. I’ve been snapping at my family a bit, brooding, and working to keep my anger in check

What has helped me keep my anger in check is many things. Prayer. Medicine. Writing a song to get the anger out in a constructive way. Talking about how angry I am with a couple of people I know I can trust to hear me without sharing my anger, spreading my anger, or using it against me.

The reason for all that work is the knowledge that if left unchecked, my anger will take over, and I will harm others, probably just with words, but I’ll be looking for a fight, looking for any way to lash out at someone. That’s me. No work required. Scared, angry, and wanting to lash out at anyone and everyone. 

I do the work required not to lash out at everyone because I firmly believe that lashing out like that is not the right way to live. Anger feels good, feels powerful, till it overpowers us. Then, when we lash out at people in anger, people tend to get hurt, and people tend to die. When we lash out at people in anger, a young woman gets shot and killed on a METRO bus. When we lash out at people in anger, a 37-year-old woman gets shot and killed in her car. Such is the world when we lash out in anger, when we don’t do the work to be healed of our anger, and when we instead take the power of our anger out on others.

Jesus showed us a better way. Jesus showed us to use our power for justice and peace. 

Today, we’re remembering the day when Jesus was baptized. He walked into the River Jordan to be baptized by John for the forgiveness of sins. Presumably he didn’t particularly need to be baptized. Jesus was the Son of God, God himself who had become human. So, as far as sins which separate us from God and one another, Jesus didn’t have that sinfulness. Jesus didn’t and couldn’t separate himself from himself. Jesus didn’t need baptism and he chose to be baptized anyway. Even though he was God, Jesus emptied himself of that power. Jesus didn’t raise himself up above everyone else. He chose to serve others, instead. In that service of humanity, Jesus chose to join with us even in baptism for turning our lives around, not because Jesus needed it but because we do. 

Jesus had power, and like all people with power, he could have chosen to use his power either to help or to harm others. There have always been people with power, and those with power have used their power to help promote justice and peace for others or to improve their own lives at the expense of others, forcing the world to be like they want it, hurting and killing the powerless in order to get their way. We see in Jesus which of those two ways is the way of the one who has all power, the way of God.

Jesus had all the power of the universe and more, and Jesus chose to serve humanity, rather than rule it. Jesus had all the power of the universe and more, and Jesus chose to teach and guide others. Rather than use his power to force people to follow his desires, Jesus used his power to heal, to help, and to guide.

Such is the way of God. You want to know who God is and what God’s ways are? Look at Jesus.

God chooses to be with us as a fellow human being. God chooses love and relationship over forcing us to be right all the time. God is here with us in tragedy. God forgives us and invites us to forgive others. God teaches us to let go of our anger and our fear, to give them over to him so that we may be healed. In these and so many other ways, God strengthens us for recovery and healing. God offers us that healing and love.

God doesn’t force us, and God doesn’t bribe us with wealth and riches. A little side bar here, but let no other preachers mislead you. Jesus does not promise wealth. Jesus does not promise riches. If you’re expecting Jesus or your faith in Jesus to bring you wealth and riches, then you are praying to something other than God. I mean, you can pray to God for riches, but if you expect that because you believe in Jesus, God will make you rich, that’s not God. Jesus doesn’t teach that our salvation comes from wealth. In fact, Jesus tells us the truth, that our wealth ends up consuming us. Wealth may feel powerful, but as we see in the world today, a lot of people end up using that power to further enrich themselves, rather than giving away that power to serve justice and peace.

Wealth often ends up consuming us, kind of like our anger does. If feels powerful, but then it ends up overpowering us.

Now, back to God and what Jesus shows us about God. I’m really tired of the ultra-rich harming people through their wealth, and I’m really tired of people killing other people out of their anger. What we have seen of Jesus makes me think that perhaps God is tired of those things, too. In fact, from what Jesus taught and did, it’s a good bet that God is frightfully tired of people harming others through their wealth and God is frightfully tired of people harming and killing others out of their anger. 

Frightfully tired of it. What that means is, we can trust God to deal with those people as God sees fit. If people need punishment, God’s gonna give it to them. So, we can pray all of the anger we have towards people and ask God to do all of the things we want to do to those people. 

God may or may not do it, but that’s not the point of the prayer. This prayer is to be honest with God. The prayer that God will do all of the things we want to do to the people we are angry with is a prayer of trust that God will do whatever is right and that we, then, don’t have to take our anger out on the world.

Praying all of our anger to God has another point as well. Remember that Jesus was baptized with a baptism for the forgiveness of sins. God was baptized with a baptism for the forgiveness of sins, joining with us in forgiveness of sins. God joined God’s own forgiveness with us. 

So, in praying our anger to God, we’re also praying for forgiveness. We may not pray for forgiveness right away, but that’s the goal. We pray our anger over to God to give over the power of our anger and to receive instead the power of forgiveness. 

Those who killed the young woman on the METRO bus and who killed the 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis chose to use their power of anger to force their way on the world, and death followed. 

When we pray our anger over to God to give over the power of our anger and to receive instead the power of forgiveness, life follows. In Jesus’ baptism, God showed us that forgiveness is who is how God is. Jesus taught over and over how people could turn their lives around and be healed by loving others and by loving God. On the cross, as he was being killed, Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” 

Baptism, forgiveness. Life and teaching, forgiveness. Death and resurrection, forgiveness. God would so much rather forgive than punish, and that is where we find our way when we are lost in and consumed by anger. Give that anger to God so that death will not be your way, and receive instead the power of forgiveness, so that life may follow.

Remember Who You Are: God's Beloved People

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
December 14, 2025
3 Advent, A
James 5:7-10
The Song of Mary Magnificat - Luke 1:46-55
Matthew 11:2-11

So, John the Baptist doesn’t seem to have been overly happy when he had his disciples go to Jesus and ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jahn was in prison because Israel’s tiny, authoritarian, narcissistic king, Herod, had put John in prison for telling him the truth. Herod had married someone whom it was against the Jewish law for him to marry. When John told him that, Herod found John treasonous, and he wanted to have John killed immediately, but he chickened out and simply had him imprisoned instead. John was a political prisoner of a small and morally bankrupt king who even wanted to have sex with his stepdaughter, we find out later. 

John was understandably pretty upset at this point. It was hard times for Israel under Roman occupation. There was trauma, constant stress and fear, and it seemed like the whole world was against them. In that time of trauma, stress, and fear, John had given everything, his whole life to the idea that Israel’s messiah was coming and that Jesus was this savior who would rescue Israel from Rome, who would rescue Israel from their terrible and corrupt king. Then, as it turned out, John was imprisoned by this terrible and corrupt king, Rome still ruled over Israel, and Jesus didn’t seem to be doing anything about it. 

So, John wondered, “Have I been backing the wrong horse?” Is Jesus really the Messiah I have been claiming him to be? Have I been a fool, and am I here in prison for nothing? “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” John had his disciples ask Jesus. Behind that question was another question. “Are you gonna get me out of jail or not?” 

Jesus answered by telling John’s disciples to tell John what they saw. In short, people were being healed, and behind Jesus’ answer was, “No, John. I am not going to break you out of prison.” The messiah has come, and you are not going to see some world altering, monumental shift in the balance of power and world order. In fact, if you’re not concerned with the lives of the people around you, you may not notice much at all that the messiah has come.

Jesus helped, he served, he saved people, but he didn’t rule over the earth as a good-natured tyrant. He didn’t kill. He didn’t destroy. He didn’t force others follow his way and his will. That wasn’t the way of the people of Israel. God didn’t force the people to follow his way and his will. God offered his way and his will to Israel and told them that things would be better for them if they followed.

Sometimes they did, and things were generally better. Sometimes they didn’t, and things tended to be worse. In the dark times, those who stayed true to who they were as God’s people were the ones who found the light. 

So, when Jesus assured John that he wasn’t going to break him out of prison, and when Jesus told John that he was the messiah because people were being healed and the poor had good news brought to them, he was also telling John, remember who you are. 

John didn’t spend his life training people to become merciless killers so they could destroy Rome and kill king Herod. John spent his life reminding people of who they were: God’s people. John ministered to people in the desert, reminding them to follow God’s will and God’s way. That was how he prepared for the messiah to come, helping the people of Israel walk faithfully with God. John prepared for the messiah to come by guiding people to love God, to love others, and to let all of their actions flow from those two great loves. 

It should not have been a terribly great surprise then, that when the messiah did come, the way that he saved people was pretty darn similar. Love God. Love people. “What do you see, John? You see me loving God and loving people. With all the mighty power of God within me, you see me loving God and loving people. That’s how you know I’m the messiah.” 

So, I can imagine John being disappointed. Perhaps he was expecting something different: fires and earthquakes, floods and wars, and other apocalyptic craziness. Jesus didn’t bring that. Instead, he assured John that he was the messiah because he was healing people and giving them the good news that God is with them, even in the bad times, and that was Jesus’ message for John as well. “God is still with you, John. So do not despair, and do not lose sight of who you are.”

When we are in the midst of despair, we can lose sight of who we are. During hard times, with trauma, constant stress and fear, during times when it seems like everything is going wrong in the world, like everything is against us, Jesus is reminding us not to lose sight of who we are. We are beloved. We are God’s beloved, and we are made to be loved by God and one another, and we are made to love God and to love one another. We are made to join together in healing the hurts of the world. That’s who the people of Israel are.

When Jesus told John’s disciples that he was healing people and bringing them the good news that they are God’s beloved, he was reminding John of exactly what John had been reminding others of when he baptized them in the wilderness. We are God’s people made to heal the hurts of the world. So no, John, don’t wait for another. Remember who you are. 

Like the people of Israel, we too, as Jesus’ disciples, have been formed to help heal the hurts of the world. That’s hard to do in times of trauma, stress, and fear, feeling like everything is going wrong in the world or that the world is against us, and during those dark times, Jesus reminds us even more strongly to remember who we are: God’s beloved, made to love, made to heal the hurts of the world. During those dark times, we are reminded to seek help from Jesus, to stay true to who we are, trusting that we will find the light.

Even in the current darkness, our way is lit by love God and love people. That’s how we know where we’re going. That’s how we know Jesus is the messiah. We don’t need fires, earthquakes, wars, floods, or other apocalyptic craziness; we have quite enough craziness right now, thank you very much. 

So no, we don’t need to wait for another. We can follow Jesus and do what he did.

We may not get what we’re hoping for. John died in prison, but he died being the light. He died remembering who he was, God’s beloved, formed to help heal the hurts of the world. Whenever and wherever that healing happens, the messiah is here, and the savior reigns. Even in the darkness, whenever and wherever healing happens, the messiah is here, and the savior reigns.

"That's All" - Locking Jesus Out (and letting him back in)

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston

May 25, 2025
6 Easter, C
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
Psalm 67
John 14:23-29

So, I’m gonna talk today a little bit about demons, which is always tons of fun, and it may seem kinda weird because there weren’t any demons in our Gospel reading today. It was really all about Jesus making his home with us, and I’m gonna get to that, but thinking about Jesus making his home with us make me also think about other things that make their homes with us.

Anger can make its home with us. Violence can make its home with us. Fear and resentment can make their homes with us. We have all sorts of things that can make their homes with us, and that got me thinking about what Jesus said in Luke 11:24-26.

When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its return, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the final plight of that man is worse than the first.

A demon leaves someone, comes back, finds the place looking swell and figures it’ll invite some friends and really have a party in there.

Ok, so let me clarify what I mean about demons making their homes in us. I’m not talking about full on Exorcist kind of demon possession. I think Jesus was, and what he said also works with lesser demony-type things. I’m talking about some of our desires or emotions, ways of life which really harm us, and we just can’t quit. Get what I’m saying? I don’t want everyone leaving here saying, “The priest said I’ve got demons in me.”

When Jesus talked about demons making their homes with us, again, think about us choosing ways of life that harm us. Let’s say you wake up in the morning, you’re in a foul mood for whatever reason, and you choose just to stay in a foul mood, if you even think about it at all. So, now you’re grouchy, and you’re angry, and you’re taking it out on everyone around you. Let’s call that grouchy anger a demon. You keep nursing it; you keep feeding it, and eventually it just becomes part of who you are. Sure, you’re occasionally happy sometimes, but basically, you’re just a pissed off, bitter, angry person. I’d call that something like a demon that has taken up residence. 

At some point, you decide to kick the demon out. “I’m tired of being grouchy and angry all the time,” you say. So you decide to put on a cheery disposition. You smile, you have some optimistic thoughts, and for a couple of days, you’re feeling better. Then one bad thing happens, and now not only are you pissed off and grouchy because of the bad thing that happened, but you’re also pissed off and grouchy because being cheerful didn’t work. In fact, it made everything worse because you’re just as pissed off and grouchy as you were before, but you were also hoodwinked by all that damn smiling optimism. 

That sounds like what Jesus was talking about, with the demon leaving, then coming back with a bunch of his buddies to make things even worse than before. We hear people talking about fighting our inner demons. That’s what I mean, and boy howdy, we can have a lot of those. I’ve mentioned anger, grouchiness, violence. What about addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex? What about thinking the world is against you, what my dad called, “having a chip on your shoulder”? God, I hated it when he said that. He was right. I did have a chip on my shoulder, and it was based in fear and insecurity. Again, we’ve all got our inner demons that we struggle with.

Jesus said in our Gospel lesson today, “Those who love me will keep my word, and I will come and make my home with them.” “Those who love me will keep my word, and I will come and make my home with them.” That sounds a whole lot better than angry, lusty, fearful, spiteful demons making their home in me. “Keep my word,” Jesus said, “and I will come and make my home with [you].”

Here's where the altar call happens, right? Come up here, proclaim that you want to keep Jesus’ word, and all will be well from here on out, right? Nah, see keeping Jesus’ word is not a one-time deal. Jesus said he’d make his home with us. That’s an everyday kinda deal. We’re following in Jesus’ ways as best we can, not perfectly, but we’re trying, and Jesus is with us, staying in our house, in our selves. Then we see something we want to do that we know Jesus is going to say “no” to, so we ask Jesus if he’d like to just take a walk for a little while, stretch his legs, and when he gets around the block, we lock him out. 

Now, when we do that, and we all do that, Jesus ain’t gonna force his way back in. The demons will. They don’t knock. They just force their way in and say, “Piss off, this is my house now” Jesus doesn’t do that. Jesus knocks and says, “What’s going on? You wanna let me back in.” 

Well, we’ve kicked Jesus out, we’ve followed ways that we know are harmful for us, so at this point, the house is already a wreck. Even without any major terrible demons coming in, it’s pretty messy. We’re not sure we wanna let Jesus in. We’re kind of ashamed. At the same time, things have been kinda fun. We’re not sure we wanna give things back over to Jesus just yet. Tell you what, Jesus, let me have my way for a while, and you come one back whenever I want you here. Thanks so much.

I’m not saying Jesus won’t come back when we treat him like that. Rumor has it he will, but when we kick him out and lock him out, we do tend to let in a lot of demons. We do tend to hurt ourselves. We do tend to hurt others.  

So, the suggestion Jesus has instead is that we keep his word, we keep his ways, we seek his guidance and follow his teachings, and he will come and make his home with us. In God’s kingdom, Jesus has many dwelling places, and we are those dwelling places. 

Jesus is resurrection and life, and Jesus offers to dwell within us. Jesus is love and peace, and Jesus offers to dwell within us. Jesus is way, and truth, and life, and Jesus offers to dwell within us.

Way, truth, life, love, peace, resurrection: those all sound pretty good, a far cry from the various demons we often invite in. So, rather than give an altar call and ask people to come here and commit to keeping Jesus’ word and ways, let me offer this. Make the altar call every morning. Every day we decide to trust Jesus enough to follow his ways. Every day we chose Jesus’ way, truth, and life. Every day we choose Jesus’ love, peace, and resurrection. 

Every day we do well; every day we mess up; and every day we return again to that altar call and invite Jesus in, committing to keep his word as best we are able. Some days we’ll be more able than others, and Jesus will reward our efforts by making his home with us. 

Some days, we may kick Jesus out, and even then, Jesus will be outside, ready to come back in when we’re ready to unlock the doors and welcome him back in. So, “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus says, “and do not let them be afraid.” “Peace I leave with you; my peace own I give to you.” For, “those who love me,” Jesus says, “will keep my word, and I will come and make my home with them.”

"That's All" - Locking Jesus Out (and letting him back in)

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
May 25, 2025
6 Easter, C
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
Psalm 67
John 14:23-29

So, I’m gonna talk today a little bit about demons, which is always tons of fun, and it may seem kinda weird because there weren’t any demons in our Gospel reading today. It was really all about Jesus making his home with us, and I’m gonna get to that, but thinking about Jesus making his home with us make me also think about other things that make their homes with us.

Anger can make its home with us. Violence can make its home with us. Fear and resentment can make their homes with us. We have all sorts of things that can make their homes with us, and that got me thinking about what Jesus said in Luke 11:24-26.

When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its return, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the final plight of that man is worse than the first.

A demon leaves someone, comes back, finds the place looking swell and figures it’ll invite some friends and really have a party in there.

Ok, so let me clarify what I mean about demons making their homes in us. I’m not talking about full on Exorcist kind of demon possession. I think Jesus was, and what he said also works with lesser demony-type things. I’m talking about some of our desires or emotions, ways of life which really harm us, and we just can’t quit. Get what I’m saying? I don’t want everyone leaving here saying, “The priest said I’ve got demons in me.”

When Jesus talked about demons making their homes with us, again, think about us choosing ways of life that harm us. Let’s say you wake up in the morning, you’re in a foul mood for whatever reason, and you choose just to stay in a foul mood, if you even think about it at all. So, now you’re grouchy, and you’re angry, and you’re taking it out on everyone around you. Let’s call that grouchy anger a demon. You keep nursing it; you keep feeding it, and eventually it just becomes part of who you are. Sure, you’re occasionally happy sometimes, but basically, you’re just a pissed off, bitter, angry person. I’d call that something like a demon that has taken up residence. 

At some point, you decide to kick the demon out. “I’m tired of being grouchy and angry all the time,” you say. So you decide to put on a cheery disposition. You smile, you have some optimistic thoughts, and for a couple of days, you’re feeling better. Then one bad thing happens, and now not only are you pissed off and grouchy because of the bad thing that happened, but you’re also pissed off and grouchy because being cheerful didn’t work. In fact, it made everything worse because you’re just as pissed off and grouchy as you were before, but you were also hoodwinked by all that damn smiling optimism. 

That sounds like what Jesus was talking about, with the demon leaving, then coming back with a bunch of his buddies to make things even worse than before. We hear people talking about fighting our inner demons. That’s what I mean, and boy howdy, we can have a lot of those. I’ve mentioned anger, grouchiness, violence. What about addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex? What about thinking the world is against you, what my dad called, “having a chip on your shoulder”? God, I hated it when he said that. He was right. I did have a chip on my shoulder, and it was based in fear and insecurity. Again, we’ve all got our inner demons that we struggle with.

Jesus said in our Gospel lesson today, “Those who love me will keep my word, and I will come and make my home with them.” “Those who love me will keep my word, and I will come and make my home with them.” That sounds a whole lot better than angry, lusty, fearful, spiteful demons making their home in me. “Keep my word,” Jesus said, “and I will come and make my home with [you].”

Here's where the altar call happens, right? Come up here, proclaim that you want to keep Jesus’ word, and all will be well from here on out, right? Nah, see keeping Jesus’ word is not a one-time deal. Jesus said he’d make his home with us. That’s an everyday kinda deal. We’re following in Jesus’ ways as best we can, not perfectly, but we’re trying, and Jesus is with us, staying in our house, in our selves. Then we see something we want to do that we know Jesus is going to say “no” to, so we ask Jesus if he’d like to just take a walk for a little while, stretch his legs, and when he gets around the block, we lock him out. 

Now, when we do that, and we all do that, Jesus ain’t gonna force his way back in. The demons will. They don’t knock. They just force their way in and say, “Piss off, this is my house now” Jesus doesn’t do that. Jesus knocks and says, “What’s going on? You wanna let me back in.” 

Well, we’ve kicked Jesus out, we’ve followed ways that we know are harmful for us, so at this point, the house is already a wreck. Even without any major terrible demons coming in, it’s pretty messy. We’re not sure we wanna let Jesus in. We’re kind of ashamed. At the same time, things have been kinda fun. We’re not sure we wanna give things back over to Jesus just yet. Tell you what, Jesus, let me have my way for a while, and you come one back whenever I want you here. Thanks so much.

I’m not saying Jesus won’t come back when we treat him like that. Rumor has it he will, but when we kick him out and lock him out, we do tend to let in a lot of demons. We do tend to hurt ourselves. We do tend to hurt others.  

So, the suggestion Jesus has instead is that we keep his word, we keep his ways, we seek his guidance and follow his teachings, and he will come and make his home with us. In God’s kingdom, Jesus has many dwelling places, and we are those dwelling places. 

Jesus is resurrection and life, and Jesus offers to dwell within us. Jesus is love and peace, and Jesus offers to dwell within us. Jesus is way, and truth, and life, and Jesus offers to dwell within us.

Way, truth, life, love, peace, resurrection: those all sound pretty good, a far cry from the various demons we often invite in. So, rather than give an altar call and ask people to come here and commit to keeping Jesus’ word and ways, let me offer this. Make the altar call every morning. Every day we decide to trust Jesus enough to follow his ways. Every day we chose Jesus’ way, truth, and life. Every day we choose Jesus’ love, peace, and resurrection. 

Every day we do well; every day we mess up; and every day we return again to that altar call and invite Jesus in, committing to keep his word as best we are able. Some days we’ll be more able than others, and Jesus will reward our efforts by making his home with us. 

Some days, we may kick Jesus out, and even then, Jesus will be outside, ready to come back in when we’re ready to unlock the doors and welcome him back in. So, “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus says, “and do not let them be afraid.” “Peace I leave with you; my peace own I give to you.” For, “those who love me,” Jesus says, “will keep my word, and I will come and make my home with them.”

Mercy, Judgment, and Grace

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
February 2, 2025
4 Epiphany, C
Hebrews 2:14-18
Psalm 84
Luke 2:22-40

To free those who are held in slavery by the fear of death, that’s why we are told in Hebrews today that God became human. Jesus, who is God living among us as a human being, shared all parts of our lives with us, including death, so that death itself has been joined to God. “Do not be afraid,” we hear God telling us. Do not be afraid even of death, because when we die, we continue to be joined together with God, our lives changed from one form of life to another. 

Do not be afraid God became human as an act of mercy for us all. Hebrews states that Jesus is the sacrifice of atonement for our sins. Our sins are ways of disconnection, ways we harm one another, ways we harm ourselves. As we attack, and harm, and hurt one another, we put up barriers and become more and more isolated, more and more disconnected from one another, and more disconnected from God. So, Jesus is the sacrifice of atonement for our sins, our ways of harm and disconnection. Atonement means “to make one.” 

Jesus makes us one with God and each other in his sacrifice of atonement for our sins. Jesus does this on the cross by uniting not only our death to God, but by uniting even our sins to God. All of our disconnection from one another has been united to God in Jesus’ sacrifice of atonement. 

Why did God do this? Because we are God’s children, and God loves us and offers us mercy, rather than what we necessarily deserve.

There’re a couple of ways I can look at what we deserve for the harm we do to others. 

We tend to hurt other people because we have also been hurt. We hurt others our of stress, isolation, and fear. As we hurt others, they hurt others, and they cycle continues on and on, forever. 

So, on the one hand, we hurt others because we are first victims of being hurt. We need mercy. On the other hand, we’re still responsible for the hurt we inflict on others. We deserve judgment.

There’s a singer-songwriter named Mary Gautheir, and she wrote a song called, Mercy Now. She was asked about this song in an interview with Sarah Silverman, and she said the song began during a time when she was feeling pretty sorry for herself. She was having trouble in her music career and feeling she wasn’t getting what she deserved. When she talked about it with a friend, who said, “Well Mary, considering all your past behaviors, I’m not sure you really want what you truly deserve, do you?” She thought about it and realized, “Nope I don’t particularly want what I deserve; I’m good thanks.”

Then she thought about others. What if everyone got what they deserved based on the worst days of their lives? What if churches got what they deserved based on the worst days of their life? What if America got what it deserved based the worst days of its life.

She thought, rather than all of us getting what we deserve, what we really need is a little mercy. That’s what God offers in Jesus’ sacrifice of atonement for our sins. God offers mercy by joining all of our beauty and all of our crud with God.

Now we can, of course, spit in the face of God’s mercy, say we deserve it, that God has to give it to us, and with contempt, demand what we think is ours, and I’d say, “Good luck with that.” 

God’s mercy is a gift offered, a gift which we receive, not demand. God’s mercy is given freely because we need it, because we do harm others out of our own harm. God’s mercy is also tied to God’s judgment, because as much as we are victims of sin, and harm, and hurt, we are also perpetrators of sin, and harm, and hurt. God’s mercy comes as we recognize that, as we realize the hurt we’ve caused and actually care about those we’ve harmed. 

God knows, we do deserve judgment for our sins, the hurt we’ve cause, and God knows we need mercy. 

So, I’m going to finish by singing Mary Gauthier’s song, Mercy Now.

Mercy Now
Mary Gauthier

My father could use a little mercy now.
The fruits of his labor, fall and rot slowly on the ground.
His work is almost over, it won’t be long, he won’t be around.
I love my father, and he could use some mercy now.

My brother could use a little mercy now.
He’s a stranger to freedom; he’s shackled to his fear and his doubt.
The pain that he lives in, it’s almost more than living will allow.
I love my brother; he could use some mercy now.

My church and my country could use a little mercy now.
As they sink into a poisoned pit that’s going to take forever to climb out.
They carry the weight of the faithful who follow them down.
I love my church and country; they could use some mercy now.

Every living thing could use a little mercy now.
Only the hand of grace can end the race towards another mushroom cloud.

People in power, they’ll do anything to keep their crown.
I love life, and life itself could use some mercy now.

Yea, we all could use a little mercy now.
I know we don’t deserve it, but we need it anyhow.
We hang in the balance, dangle ‘tween hell and hallowed ground,
And every single one of us could use some mercy now.
Every single one of us could use some mercy now.
Every single one of us could use some mercy now.

The Only Threat We Face from Jesus: Greater Peace and Love

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Lord of the Streets, Houston

January 5, 2025

2 Christmas, C

Isaiah 61:10-62:3

Psalm 84

Matthew 2:1-12

King Herod feared that his power was going to be taken from him. He was king over Israel, but he was not accepted as much of a king by many because his Jewishness was in doubt by some. His family had been forcibly converted decades before, so there were questions. Was he truly Jewish in his heart, or was he just claiming to be Jewish because by doing so he got to remain as king. We don’t really know his heart, but we do know that his kingship was in question by some and his kingdom was under Roman rule, so his hold on power was not as strong as he would have liked. 

With this challenging political atmosphere, there suddenly arrived these foreign, mystic, astrologer type folks, these magi from the east, who came to Herod claiming the birth of a new Jewish king. Ok, it’s one thing if some of Herod’s subject claim a new king was born. He could just imprison them or kill them, but for people from another country to come to him claiming a new Jewish king has been born, well that means that potentially an entire other nation believes that Herod is no longer king of Israel, but that this new baby is now the Jewish king instead of Herod. 

Now, Herod was at least Jewish enough to know that the prophets had foretold the birth of a Messiah, one who would be the forever king to replace all other kings. Herod knew that this baby, whom foreigners were claiming to be King of the Jews, might have been this God-anointed forever-king, and rather than figure, “Cool, that’s God’s will; let’s go with this,” Herod wanted to keep his power and therefore wanted to kill Jesus. 

He lied to the Magi, telling them he wanted to pay homage to Jesus, and as we find just after the portion of the Gospel we heard today, Herod indeed tried to kill Jesus. Fear had a tight grip on Herod.

“Keep my power,” Herod thought. Even if it goes against God’s will. Even if I have to kill a baby to do it. “Keep my power.” 

Herod is, of course, not the only person to live in fear and do terrible things to try to keep his power. On new year’s day, a man killed at least 14 people in New Orleans, and he was trying to kill a whole lot more. We’re not sure what power he wanted to keep, but we can bet there was some kind of power he felt he or others no longer had. Terrorists kill to try to get power back from those they feel have taken it from them.

Look at our political elections where people routinely lie and intentionally just make stuff up in order to win elections and keep power. People in business spend countless millions of dollars to influence laws and regulations so that their businesses get to keep their power, their market share, their profit. People who are angry at another will fight, steal from, and even kill to keep or reclaim their power. 

Like Herod, when it comes to keeping our power, there seems no limit to what we humans are willing to do. “We wouldn’t kill babies, of course,” we tell ourselves, “not like Herod.” Well, if we lived in Herod’s day, raised by Herod’s parents, and in that precarious kingship like Herod, we may well have tried to kill Jesus just like Herod did.

For those who are still sure that they wouldn’t have done that, the point is not whose sin is worse than whose. The point is, all of us are in the grip of fear, and all of us fight against God’s will in order to keep our power. Every single person in this world fights against God’s will in order to keep their power, and even more importantly, this is the world, and we are the people God chose to save. 

There must be something pretty darn fantastic about us if God chose to save us in this world, as this world is, and as we are, constantly fighting God’s will to keep our power, God chose to save us, and to do so, God became one of us. 

Amidst all of our crud, and we’ve got a lot of crud, we must, at our core, be pretty fantastic indeed if God chose to become one of us. We lie, we cheat, we steal, and yet God sees something in us that is astoundingly beautiful. God sees something in us far more beautiful than we can know or see. I daresay, if we saw what God sees, then we might wouldn’t be so terrible to one another. 

Perhaps, if we saw what God sees in one another, then we wouldn’t be so keen to hold onto power or to wrest power away from others. We might forgive a little easier, be a little slower to anger, assume something better than the worst in others, if we could see just how wonderful God sees us all being. 

I have a feeling that if we could see what God sees, we’d be blown away by how much bigger and more beautiful this world is, how much bigger and more beautiful this life is than we can know and see. Our hearts would be filled with the love and peace of God, and we would no longer be afraid. Seeing this world and this life as God sees it, we would no longer be afraid of losing our power, because we’d see that all of our power is contained within God’s power. We would no longer be afraid even of losing our lives, because we would see that our lives are all contained within God’s life. 

That is the love and peace Jesus had as he lost all earthly power and as he lost his life on the cross. Jesus could see his power and his life bound up together within God’s power and life, and so Jesus was at peace. He wasn’t happy about being killed; he didn’t love it, but he was at peace. 

The times when we find Jesus seemingly not at peace are not the times when people tried to take his power, but the times when Jesus saw us taking one another’s power, treating one another terribly. That’s when Jesus wasn’t at peace, when he saw people harming one another. That’s because he sees us as we truly are. He sees the life and beauty within us that we are so often too blinded by fear to see. Where Jesus sees a beautiful and beloved brother or sister, we often see a threat, like Herod did.

A beautiful baby was born, the beauty of scripture was fulfilled, and a life of hope and promise was brought into this wonderful world, and all Herod saw was a threat. 

Jesus, of course, wasn’t a threat. He wasn’t a threat to Herod, to his rule, or to his power. Jesus wasn’t trying take any of that way from Herod. No, the only threat Jesus posed to Herod was that if he had still been alive when Jesus began his ministry, Herod might have heard Jesus’ teachings, seen Jesus’ miracles, believed in Jesus’ and changed his ways to follow the way, the truth, and the life of Jesus. I daresay, Herod would have found a great deal of peace and love if he had done that. 

Finding greater peace and love, that’s the only threat we face from Jesus as well. If we choose to believe in him, if we choose to follow him as the way, the truth, and the life, then we just might find greater peace and love within ourselves. Doing so will change our lives, change our ways. We may give up or give away some of our power for the sake of others. We may find peace enough not to constantly try to wrest power from others. 

Our lives do indeed change when we choose to believe in Jesus and follow Jesus. We begin to see others as he sees us. We begin to see the world as he sees it. Fear begins to lose its hold on us, and we fall instead into the arms of peace and love. That’s the threat that Jesus poses to us. No taking our place, no taking our power, just falling into the arms of peace and love.

Our Enemies' Sin Placed on Our Own Crosses

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
April 7, 2024
2 Easter, Year B
Acts 4:32-35
Psalm 133
John 20:19-31

 Our Enemies' Sin Placed on Our Own Crosses

Did you notice that when Jesus revealed himself to his disciples after his resurrection, they didn’t recognize his face? Jesus was standing there among them, “Peace be with you,” he said, and then he showed them is scars. That’s when they rejoiced at seeing him. The disciples didn’t recognize Jesus until he showed them his scars. 

That tells me, not only did God chose to be wounded to join us in our woundedness. God also chose to keep those wounds. God chose to keep those scars.

See, the whole idea with the incarnation, the whole idea with God becoming human, is that God joins with us fully in our humanity. So, even after Jesus was raised from the dead, he was still human. God chose to remain human in Jesus because we remain human. God chose to keep the scars inflicted by humanity because we still have the scars inflicted by one another. 

Just as the disciples didn’t recognize Jesus’ face, we encounter people every day whom we don’t know, people whom we don’t recognize, but if we were to hear their stories, their brokenness and their hurt, we’d recognize their scars. Different situations, different factors, different lives, but we all have scars, and we know each other and have compassion on one another because of our scars.

Jesus, raised among us, could be any one of us. The crucified God, raised to new life, living in each of us. The crucified God joining in our scars, joining in our hurts, joining in our suffering and our doubts. The fact of our suffering is why God chose to suffer. The fact of our suffering is why Jesus’ final command to his disciples was that they should love one another. 

Then, Jesus’ first command upon being raised was “Forgive the sins of any.” Now, his command was given in the form of this conditional statement, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Jesus was not, of course, conferring power upon a few to begin a religion of sin management. Jesus was telling his disciples the truth about forgiveness. 

If we retain one another’s sins, they are retained. If we hold on to one another’s sins, we continue to wound one another. The scars deepen, with anger and resentment, and the damage is made worse. Notice that Jesus gave his disciples the command to forgive just after showing them the scars in his hands and side. Jesus was showing them the cost of a lack of forgiveness, the cost of holding on to one another’s sins. The cost of unforgiveness was Jesus’ life. The cost of unforgiveness is all of our lives.

A profound lack of forgiveness, and the anger, fear, and violence that goes along with not forgiving, is why humanity decided to kill God, to kill love, when love became human. A lack of forgiveness kills love.
So, Jesus showed them his scars and commanded them to forgive. 

Jesus was showing them and us true life, eternal life, God’s own life dwelling within us. Life continues on even after death, so we need not fear. We need not fear death for there is new life after death.

Forgiveness can feel like death. How can we live without our anger? How can we live without holding on to the pain? How can we live without holding on to our desires for vengeance against those who have hurt us? The truth is, there is a kind of death in forgiveness, and that death looks like crucifixion. 

When Jesus was crucified, he took the sin of the world with him on the cross to forgive all of us. Following his example, Jesus taught us to take up our own crosses. Take up our own crosses and bring upon them the sins of others against us. Take upon our crosses our anger, our fear, and our desires for vengeance so that we might be able to forgive as God has forgiven us.

Yes, there is death in forgiveness, and as Jesus showed us, there is new life after forgiveness. Of course, that new life can also scare us. The new life scares us because we can’t imagine living without our anger, our fear, and our desires for vengeance. Who will we be without them? Who will we be if we let go of our hurt and our desires for vengeance? 

Jesus’ scars show us that we will still be ourselves. That’s how the disciples recognized Jesus. When we put to death on a cross our anger, fear, and desire for vengeance, we are able to forgive, we find new life in forgiveness, and we find ourselves changed. We find ourselves healed. We find that appear different than we were, and we find that we are still ourselves, and we bear the scars to prove it. 

It's ok to forgive. It’s ok to let go. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” Jesus said. Let God’s spirit breathe new life into you. Be a new Adam. Be a new Eve. Let God’s new life heal you, and fear not. You will still be you. Accepting God’s Spirit, being healed and having new life, does not erase the past. Accepting God’s Spirit and placing the sins of others against us on a cross brings new life into the world. This new life is the life of love. The life of love is life that is changed, healed, and bears the scars to prove it. 

I’d like to end with a poem written by our bishop, Andy Doyle, about Jesus’ resurrection and his scars.

I am the nonbeliever,
the skeptic 
even a deceiver

I am the two faced Christian 
the Sunday morning faithful
and the weekday scornful

No,
Jesus
You 
Touch my wounds
seen and unseen
feel the broken skin of my hands
worked to the bone

see my broken legs
tired of the weight of the world
my pierced side 
from the back stabbers knife

I am the man 
the woman 
the child
who calls in the night
silently cries out
and weeps for loss

Give me faith
because I cannot touch

Give me faith
because I cannot feel

Give me faith 
because I cannot see

Give me faith

I am not the blessed
but the damned
the lost
and the weak

You are the one I seek
help me hear your words
your invitation
your grace

help me Lord Jesus
see my reflection 
in your wounds
my hope in your death
my life in your resurrection
~ C. Andrew Doyle

Give to God the Things that Are God’s: Our Hurt, Pain, Anger, and Fear

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
October 22, 2023
Proper 24, Year A
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13)
Matthew 22:15-22

Give to God the Things that Are God’s: Our Hurt, Pain, Anger, and Fear

So, the Pharisees had a neat little trick they were trying to pull on Jesus. See, Israel was under Roman occupation. The power-hungry and blood-thirsty empire had taken over Israel, like so many other places, because they believed they were the only truly good civilization, and all other places in the known world needed to be ruled by them. They’d all be so much better off if they all just followed and did whatever Rome forced them to do.

Rome still allowed Israel to worship God, follow their own religion, and Rome also had soldiers in Israel, keeping the peace, meaning oppressing those whom Rome felt got out of line. Rome also made Israel pay them taxes so that Rome could afford their occupation and oppression of Israel. Rome’s message was, “We’re going to take over your country and oppress your people, and you’re going to pay us for it.”

So, taxes to Rome were not exactly popular. When the Pharisees, therefore, asked Jesus if it was lawful to pay taxes to Rome, they were trying either to get him arrested by Rome for saying, “No” or to be hated by the people for saying “Yes.”

So, Jesus stymied them in their efforts. “Hmmm, the coin had Caesar’s image on it, so it’s meant to be given to him.” So, yes, paying taxes to Rome was legit under Roman occupations. If Caesar wants to rule over you and control your life, fine. Pay him what is due. That way he doesn’t just come and burn your home and take the taxes anyway. Yes, give Caesar his damn tax money…  

…but don’t play his game. Dominance over others, proving loyalty. Outward sign after outward sign that you are one of us, that you belong, that you aren’t going against the powers that are. That’s the game the Pharisees were playing. That’s the game Rome played.

Jesus wasn’t interested in playing those domination games, proving loyalty, proving somehow that you really are a part of the acceptable group of people. Jesus wasn’t interested in dominating or coercing his followers or anyone else. That’s the way of Rome, the way of Empire, the way of signs and assurances that you are still part of the in-group and don’t need to be punished or banished.

The coin had an image of Caesar on it, an obvious sign of whose it was. You carried the coin; in his mind, your life was his.

Notice, however, that the things that were God’s, that Jesus said to give to God, had no image associated with them. There was no visual to put on display to show you were giving to God the things that were God’s. Jesus offered no proof of loyalty, no faithfulness test, no signs given to assure you weren’t backsliding.

That’s because none of those things exist. Jesus’ message was never, “believe or else,” and yet, we’ve taken the Gospel and turned it into a “get out of Hell free card,” written by God saying, “Believe in Jesus, and I won’t torture you forever. P.S. I love you.”

That was never the Gospel, and all of our various churches’ fearful methods of controlling people’s lives in order to “get them saved” are taking God’s Gospel of love and healing for humanity and turning it into a gospel of fear and coercion. 

What does that fearful, controlling gospel tell so many people? That they’re destined for Hell unless they happen to believe in Jesus. What, then is the god of that gospel saying to humanity? That god is saying “I love you, and I really want you to love me back, and if you don’t, I’m going to hurt you. I’m going to hurt you and torture you forever. Oh! You love me too? Well, that’s great! Now, we can be besties!”

That’s not love or healing. That’s coercion and abuse. “Believe in me or else” was never the Gospel Jesus taught. There are passages which, when misunderstood and read out of context, seem to say that, but “Believe in Jesus, and I won’t torture you forever. P.S. I love you,” is not the Gospel.

Jesus didn’t give a test to the religious leaders like they gave to him to “prove their faithfulness and good religious behavior.” In fact, Jesus made a habit of breaking the faithfulness to rules test, constantly pissing off the religious leaders.

Rather than threats and coercion, Jesus’ religion was fairly simple. Know you are beloved, and love others. That was the religion of Jesus.

See, unlike the false god, the emperor Caesar, God does not sit up on high demanding we constantly give him his due while doing his work and kissing up to him. Unlike the emperor Caesar, God doesn’t give edicts from on high demanding that we kill others in order to make the world how he wants it. That is not the god of Jesus.

Instead, God teaches us to love and care for one another. God gives us healing in those teachings. God teaches us to love, care, and pray even for our enemies, and God gives us healing in those teachings. Then, rather than give harsh edicts from up on high, God becomes one with us and shares with us all the joy and all the suffering of human life. Rather than coercing and abusing us from some throne up on high, God joins us at the cross on Calvary.  God joins in all of our hurt, all of our pain, all of our anger, and all of our fear.

“Give to God the things that are God’s,” Jesus said. We might start with our hurt, our pain, our anger, and our fear.

We find that we are giving to God the things that are God’s when we do as he did and join with one another in our sorrow and suffering. We give to God the things that are God’s when we offer to God all of our hurt, all of our pain, all of our anger and fear. We give to God the things that are God’s when we pray for our enemies rather than kill our enemies.

Then, we also give to God the things that are God’s when we find we’ve done everything wrong. When we’ve acted like Caesar, killed our enemies, ignored and caused the suffering of others, we give to God the things that are God’s.  We give to God all of the hurt and the pain we have caused as well as the hurt and pain we have suffered. Then, we give to God the things that are God’s when we accept God’s forgiveness, when we accept our belovedness, when we accept the belovedness even of our enemies and oppressors, and we are healed.