“Smells Like a Big Smile and a Lobotomy”

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
June 16, 2024
Proper 6, Year B
2 Corinthians 5:6-17
Psalm 92:1-4,11-14
Mark 4:26-34

 

I have a candle in a metal jar which I often light when writing sermons. The scent is soothing and helps me set aside that time and place for focusing on God’s Word and how the scriptures impact and lead our lives. So, I light this candle, and on the outside of the candle, it says, “Positivity Depresses Me.” (https://www.davproco.com/products/positivity-retro-stripe-funny-candles) 

Once I saw that written, I knew the candle was for me. That’s absolutely my sense of humor, and it hits home just a bit for me. Positivity depresses me.

Now, the truth is positivity doesn’t actually depress me. False positivity does. When people start spouting off little quips and sayings about how wonderful things are, totally divorced from the challenges of the world, yeah, that bothers me a bit. But, true positivity, a hopeful outlook even with the problems all around us, I love that kind of positivity.

It's the positivity of embracing the good in our lives and accepting that bad that we can’t change. Embracing the good while accepting the challenges of life, builds me up and tends to spread, kind of like the Kingdom of God.

Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed, a tiny little nothing of a seed, which grows into a large plant. The thing about mustard plants is, they can also be considered to be like weeds. They grow and spread pretty quickly, and once they are rooted, they are frightfully difficult to destroy. Mustard plants aren’t always welcome near other plants because they can quickly take over areas of soil and box out the other plants.  

The kingdom of God can be like that. Deeply rooted in God and hard to destroy. The kingdom of God can spread quickly and thrive in new areas. Like with mustard plants, the seeds of the kingdom spread, and when they take root in new areas, they thrive because of their deep grounding in God.

The kingdom of God also spreads and thrives because, unlike depressing false positivity which ignores the problems of the world, the kingdom of God plants itself in the midst of the challenges and problems in our world and it lives out the true positivity of hope, accepting that there is bad in the world, much of which we can’t change, while also embracing the good in our lives.

The kingdom of God also spreads and thrives because it doesn’t force others to change. A mustard plant doesn’t make everything around it become mustard. It lives with the other plants around it.

Now, some people might see the kingdom of God as a weed because people don’t always want the hope, faith, and love that come with God’s kingdom. That’s ok. The kingdom doesn’t force them to. When we chose to be planted as God’s kingdom in places and communities in our lives, we don’t need to force others to become as we are, and we don’t need to coerce them with fear and threats of Hell. That’s not love. That’s abuse, and when people are converted to Christianity out of fear of Hell, that’s coercion, and the kingdom of God may not be the result.

When we are deeply rooted in God and living our faith and the way of Jesus, then the kingdom of God spreads as people see the healing and peace within us and decide they want what we have.

So, what does kingdom living look like? A life deeply rooted in God, in faith, hope, and love looks like the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When we plant ourselves and remain deeply rooted in God, then God gives the growth of those fruits. We plant ourselves in communities and with people, we remain deeply rooted in God, and God gives the growth of the kingdom.

Of course, one thing to consider is that in the places where we would plant ourselves to sow seeds of God’s kingdom, God is already there. So, if we plant ourselves as a mustard seed among any group of people or place in this world, our job is not to bring them Jesus. Jesus is already there, bidden or unbidden, known or unknown.

When we plant ourselves as a mustard seed, our job is to live the kingdom of God. We are to stay deeply rooted in Jesus. We are to stay deeply rooted in God’s Word, deeply rooted in prayer, deeply rooted in our faith, deeply rooted in one another.

Then, when darkness and sadness get us down, as they will, our way is to let others be light and joy for us. When we plant ourselves with others, to spread God’s kingdom, we are to be true to ourselves and live God’s kingdom, and we are to let God give the growth.

We don’t know how it’s gonna happen, or when, or even if. We let God give the growth, and we release the outcome to God.

In spreading seeds of the Kingdom of God, we don’t do coerced conversions. We don’t do forced conversions. We don’t even force everyone to come to church. We are the church. When we plant ourselves out in the world, staying rooted in God, we are the church out in the world as Jesus intended.

We don’t need to preach to be the church. No, to be the Church in the world, we need to actually live as the church. We need to live the gifts of the Spirit. We show people God’s kingdom by how we live, then we can talk about Jesus. We can let people know about the growth Jesus has given in our lives.

If we know the freedom of releasing our anger and our desire to force our way in the world by letting go and allowing God to give the growth, then we can let people know about that freedom. If we know the comfort and companionship of living the kingdom of God, kingdom of then we can let people know about that comfort and companionship. If we know the peace of being rooted in God, then we can let people know about that peace.

We don’t spread the kingdom of God just by talking about Jesus, especially if we’re not living as disciples of Jesus, deeply rooted in our faith. Talking at people about Jesus without showing them Jesus in our lives seems like false positivity, the kind of positivity that’s kinda depressing. The words are good, but possibly disconnected from our lives.

The kingdom of God spreads when we live deeply rooted in our faith and then spread the true positivity of hope amidst suffering, of accepting the challenges of life while embracing the blessings. Living the faith, hope, and love of the Kingdom of God and planting ourselves out in the world, God will give growth, and the peace of God’s kingdom will spread. 

Crying Our Anger Into Sorrow, and Our Sorrow Into Love

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
October 15, 2023
Proper 23, Year A
Philippians 4:1-9
Psalm 23
Matthew 22:1-14

Crying Our Anger Into Sorrow, and Our Sorrow Into Love

“How did you get in here without a wedding garment?” The king asks. Jesus told a story about a king who invited people to a wedding banquet for his son. The invitees didn’t show up, so God sent servants into the streets, and they invited any random people they could find. Then, with the wedding feast going great, the king sees someone without a wedding garment and kicks that person out for not wearing a wedding garment.

Like last Sunday, we have Jesus giving a parable of the kingdom of God, and like last week, we may be tempted to assume an easy interpretation of Jesus’ parable with an in-group, an out-group, and ourselves, of course, being with the in-group. Such cut and dried, easy interpretations certainly make our brains happy, and placing ourselves on the side of the in-group makes our brains even happier. Jesus didn’t tell this parable, however, just to make certain people’s brains happy.

Jesus’ parable speaks to the complexities and challenges we face in this life in which the good guys and bad guys, the in-groups and out-groups, aren’t quite as easy to determine as we’d like. Also, if we take Jesus’ parable seriously, we need to take seriously the reality that we’re often in and between both groups.

The nation of Israel is about to begin a ground invasion into Palestine because a week ago, Hamas slaughtered over 1300 Israelis. Hamas’ actions were those of a terrorist group, not a legitimate government. What Hamas did was unconscionable, so it seems pretty easy to determine who the in-group and the out-group is in God’s kingdom, right?

Then we look at how Israel has continually pushed Palestinians off of their land since the formation of Israel. We look at the people Israel has killed, the oppression of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. From that perspective, it seems pretty easy to determine who the in-group and the out-group is in God’s kingdom, right?

Nope. As much as our brains would like the simplicity of it, we can’t just easily say, “You guys are the ones who refused to go to the wedding banquet, and you guys are the ones who God went out and sought who did come to the banquet.” We find instead, that both groups are often the one at the wedding feast who refused to wear a wedding garment.

See, the person without the wedding garment was again no easy solution for determining an in-group and an out-group. The wedding garment represented living life according to God’s will and God’s ways. The person in Jesus’ parable who was kicked out for not wearing a wedding garment was one who wanted all the joys and pleasures of life in God’s kingdom but who refused to live according to God’s will and God’s ways. They really wanted the feast and the great food, but they didn’t want to care all that much about others. They didn’t want to trust in God. They didn’t want to change their ways of life when they heard God calling them to, and so they created their own misery and suffering or continued their own misery and suffering.

The person who refused the wedding garment shows us that what we do in this life matters. Regardless of our faith, the way we treat one another matters. If we’re going to take Jesus’ parable seriously, we don’t just get to place ourselves among the in-group. We have to admit that we are the ones who refused the king’s invitation and didn’t come to the banquet. If we’re going to take Jesus’ parable seriously, we also have to acknowledge that we are the second group of people whom the king then invited who did come to the wedding banquet. If we’re going to take Jesus’ parable seriously, we also have to admit that we’re often the ones who come into the banquet without a wedding garment.

No amount of being in God’s in-group can change that. No amount of being part of team Jesus or team anything else can change the fact that how we treat one another matters.

We’re all messed up sinners in need of grace. We’re also all beloved and wonderful people made as blessed by God in order to be blessings to others. So, how do we bless others in the face of the horrors of terrorism and war like we see in Israel and Palestine?

Well, a way not to bless others is to simply choose a side and feel righteous. We can stir up strife against the other, hoping our team will win. We can add discord and division to the lives of people around us because of a conflict happening on the other side of the world, but that’s not wedding garment kind of life. It’s easy, and it may feel good, but it’s not being a blessing to anyone. Besides, we can each do nothing to change the outcome of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Responding with division and strive, will only add more harm to the world, while helping the side we like not at all.

The best we can do is to respond with love, prayer, compassion, and kindness. We can respond with sorrow. We can respond with anger, when that anger is tempered by tears into love.

Many are going to see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, pick a side out of their anger, and decide they don’t like Jews, or they don’t like Muslims. Muslims in our country are already fearful for the attacks they are going to receive, and Jews in this country are fearful for the attacks they are going to receive by people upset about a conflict on the other side of the world. That’s responding with anger, not love. Love doesn’t make an easy determination of an in-group and an out-group. Love sees the horrors around us, sheds bitter tears for the tragedy of human hatred and contempt, and then love chooses to love people.

That’s the best response we can have. That’s wedding garment response. Paul knew this when he wrote to the church in Philippi. Knowing there is strife and horror always around us, Paul encouraged the people with these words.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in [Jesus], and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9)

Gaining So Much More Than a Pearl

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
July 30, 2023
Proper 12, Year A
1 Kings 3:5-12
Psalm 119:129-136
Matthew 13:31-33,44-52 

Gaining So Much More Than a Pearl

So, there’s an addendum to the story about Solomon we heard today in which God granted him long life and riches. Solomon didn’t ask for long life and riches, he asked for the wisdom to lead the people of Israel well. So, God was pleased with Solomon, and after agreeing and grant Solomon wisdom, God also granted him the long life and riches that he didn’t ask for.

When I was a kid, reading that story, the sneaky little part of my brain thought, “Well that’s cool. All I need to ask for something unselfish and then maybe God will make me hugely rich as well.”

Now, I knew God wasn’t stupid. Having just read that story about Solomon, I couldn’t just say, “God make me wise,” and expect to become rich. No, I had to try to fool God into thinking I really meant it. So my prayer was something more like, “God just make me wise. I’m not going for riches, just the wisdom part, so please help me out with that. Oh, and if you do make me rich, I’ll use like the hugely vast majority to give away to others.”

I’m not sure God said “yes” to either part of that prayer, but I’ve since realized what I pretty well expected back then, which is that God doesn’t work like that, at least not for me.

Far from the almighty golden gumball machine of a young boy’s fantasy, God seems more concerned with teaching us God’s ways of love and living out God’s kingdom here on earth than with granting the get rich quick prayer scheme of a teenage boy.

In one of Jesus’ parables that we heard today, the kingdom of God was kind of compared to a get rich scheme involving a merchant and a really big pearl. In the story, the merchant finds a huge pearl and sells everything in order to acquire it. Going back again to my teenage boy self, I didn’t find this story of God’s kingdom all that compelling. I mean, I got that the story was a metaphor, but the thought of a big pearl just didn’t interest me. What would I do with it, put it on a shelf and not really look at it all that much? If it was a life-size, working Millennium Falcon, then I could see the appeal, but the pearl just wasn’t doing it for me.

I wonder if sometimes my teenage take on the story rings true for many of us, meaning that I wonder if we hear about living God’s kingdom here on earth and find that it’s just not that appealing, like hearing about Solomon and thinking, “Yeah, yeah, wisdom’s great, but what about the money?” I wonder if we hear about God’s kingdom and think, “Yeah, that sounds lovely, but like a big pearl, I think I’m just going to put it on a shelf and not look at it all that often.”

God’s kingdom often sounds like a pretty good idea in church, and then it’s back to the rest of life. Fears and stresses of life hit us, and we take that pearl and put it back up on the shelf. The challenges of life make Jesus’ kingdom seem less appealing than the protection and numbing that often comes with just getting through the day. Even in those times when we really do want to live God’s kingdom, we really do want the pearl, but what the heck are we supposed to do with it? It’s pretty, and a lovely idea. Now what?

Well, what’d the merchant do? He sold all that he had to get it. For us, that means seeking God’s help to live out God’s kingdom here on earth. That means changing our lives to follow the ways of Jesus and giving up anything that gets in the way of us living Jesus’ way. The merchant sold all that he had to get the pearl, because living God’s kingdom was absolutely worth the price.

Following the ways of Jesus, we’re supposed to love our enemies. There’s a cost there, and a giving up of some of who and how we are. Letting go our fear, our anger, our desires to force our way in the world. We’re going to risk ourselves for the sake of others. We’re going to spend large amounts of time in prayer and seek peace with others. We’re going to give up selfish ways, and we’re going to join with others in helping to make the lives of those around us a little bit brighter.

That’s a lot. The merchant sold everything he had. Jesus said that we should lose our lives for his sake and the sake of the kingdom of God. Of course, Jesus also said that if we lose our lives for his sake, we would find our lives. Think about this not just as physical death, but also as losing the lives we have, giving up all of the ways which keep us from God’s kingdom. The merchant selling everything.

Then realize, the guy was a merchant. He didn’t sell everything and buy the pearl to put it on a shelf. He was buying the pearl to sell it again. He was going to make back all that he had given up for the pearl and then some. Jesus said, “those who lose their lives…will find them.”

When we give up all of the ways which keep us from living God’s kingdom, we aren’t left empty, with nothing. We gain back so much more. Now, I don’t mean wealth. Unlike my teenage boy self, we’re not trying to trick God into a get rich quick scheme. Also, giving up all that we have is not a simple, one-time prayer or declaration. Giving up all that we have is an ongoing process as we, over time, bit by bit, realize the parts of ourselves that aren’t living God’s kingdom, and we, over time, bit by bit, give those ways over to God. We let those parts of us die, and we begin to see what’s being reborn.

As we are reborn over time, bit by bit, here are some things that we gain as we give up all that we have. We gain peace, no longer struggling with everything and everyone around us. We gain acceptance that life is not all as we wish it was, and we find beauty in the life we have. We gain community, joining with others in living God’s kingdom and offering it to others.

The merchant didn’t force the pearl on anyone, telling them angrily or at knife point, “You have to take this pearl or else.” He offered the pearl to those who were willing to buy it. As we live into God’s kingdom, we can offer it to others, not with threats, not because they have to. We offer what we’ve found in God’s kingdom because we have been healed by it. As we are healed in God’s kingdom, we offer that healing to others, and joining with others, we see the healing of God’s kingdom grow. We see the lives of the people around us change for the better.

This isn’t a sudden get rich quick scheme. It happens over time, bit by bit. God’s kingdom grows, and the world is healed.