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.

Faith, not a Formula: Following the Advocate

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
March 9, 2025
1 Lent, C
Romans 10:8b-13
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Luke 4:1-13

In Bible study this week, we talked about following the ways of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, rather than following the ways of the Adversary, whose name is Satan. During our disagreements in Bible study over what we thought a passage meant, we’d sometimes respond by telling another person they are wrong, and our way of believing is right. Oddly enough, arguments would ensue, some back and forth variation of I’m right and you’re wrong. Now, if one of the two people was right, then then other one may well have been wrong, but when we get into those arguments, we’re working against one another, following the way of the Adversary, Satan. 

We could simply offer our own beliefs, not against the other person, not declaring them wrong, but simply offering what we believe. That’d be more of a Holy Spirit kind of way, not speaking against you, just advocating for what I believe. That way, we remain united, even in our differences, as opposed to a church that is fractured and torn apart.

A fractured church is what we see in Paul’s letter to the Romans. The church in Rome was made up of both Jewish followers of Jesus and Gentile, non-Jewish, followers of Jesus, and those two different groups seem to have been at odds with each other, both telling the other that they were wrong. “You have to be Jewish if you really want to follow Jesus,” the Jewish Christians said, and the Gentile Christians responded, “We don’t do all of that law of Moses stuff that you do, because we just believe in Jesus, so our faith is better.”

Well, Paul was having none of it. “Ain’t none of you got a leg up on the other, guys.” To the Jewish followers of Jesus, Paul was pointing out that the law was fine, but why would they demand it of anyone, when they still needed Jesus in addition to the Law. Then, to the Gentile Christians, Paul was pointing out that they were no better than the Jews, if anything, maybe a little worse off, because everything to know about God was right there to be understood in creation all around them, and yet they had made idols to worship instead of God. 

So, Paul’s basic argument is, “Y’all are both doing fine, and you don’t need to follow Jesus in the exact same way.” The different ways we all follow Jesus in the church now are all pretty good because we are all so very different. With all of our differences, we all still share this idea that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead. That’s what Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome to let them know that even though they were very different, what united them was Jesus. Jesus is Lord and God raised him from the dead.

With Paul’s writing of unity within the church, there has been a temptation whittle his writings down to a simple formula. One, “confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord,” and two, “believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.” Then, “you will be saved.”

I’ve heard these words talked about as the right way to believe in Jesus and that anything those words will lead you to destruction. So, we’ve got fighting within the church as people take Paul’s words and turn them into something he didn’t intend. We use Paul’s words to say to different kinds of Christians, “I’m right, and you’re wrong,” and we let the Adversary tear the church apart. 

We don’t quite go to war with different parts of the church the way we used to. Christians killing Christians over which type of Christian you were. Heck, there were even times in some parts of the church where making the sign of the cross over yourself in the wrong way could get you killed. 

Nowadays, our attacks tend to be more verbal, Facebook, shaming, and maybe that’s not as destructive as killing people, but we’re still harming one another terribly out of this feeling that “I’m right and you’re damned.” 

This all comes out of fear and a resulting need for certainty. What if they’re right? Does that mean I’m wrong, and if I’m wrong, is my salvation in question? So, we give into the temptation for certainty, rather than faith, and the opposite of faith is certainty. Doubt goes along with faith, because we don’t know with faith. We choose to believe. Certainty, on the other hand, leave no doubt, and therefore no faith. So, in our quest to alleviate fear, we choose certainty over faith. We fight with one another, because nothing helps certainty more than an out group (I must be saved because they aren’t), and we end up following the ways of the Adversary, Satan, rather than the Holy Spirit.

When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, we like to think that it was easy for Jesus not to be tempted, thinking about Jesus being God, but we gotta remember, Jesus was human. You bet Jesus was tempted. He’d been out there for 40 days. He was hungry, so when Satan said to turn bread into stone, you bet Jesus wanted to do it. One, he could have, just used his God-powers and poof, magic bread, but The Adversary was the one challenging him to do so. Giving into that temptation, Jesus would have been following the way of the Adversary, telling God, “I no longer trust you. You’ve kept me here, safe, for 40 days, and now, I no longer trust you.” 

Then, when Satan told Jesus he’d give him power and authority over all the kingdoms of the world, you bet that was tempting. Think of what Jesus could do with all the people of the world under his control. He could make the nations and the people do as he wanted. ‘You want to seek injustice? Too bad, you’re not allowed. You want to oppress your workers and ignore the needs of the poor among you, well, I won’t let you, because I’m in charge now.’ 

Everything Jesus preached and taught, he could make people do, except, of course, he’d have to worship the Adversary first, and then he’d have to follow the way of the Adversary. He’d be fighting against anyone and everyone who didn’t want to do as he said. What would happen when people said, “no.” Would he drive them out of town? Take all of their money? Just kill them? Yea, that wouldn’t have worked out so well, Jesus following the way of the Adversary.

So, Jesus resisted the temptations of the devil, choosing instead to trust in God, knowing that God was absolutely for him. 

That is the trust Jesus offers for us to have as well because Jesus is absolutely for us, and Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, the Advocate to be for us as well. God is 100% for us, not like Satan, the Adversary, who is against us and leads us to be against one another.

God gives us the Holy Spirit to be our Advocate, that we may be each other’s advocate as well. Rather than fear leading us to the temptation of certainty, God’s love for us can lead us to the trust of faith. With that trust, trusting that God is for us, we don’t need others to be wrong for us to be right. We can let other Christian groups and denomination believe and practice their faith as they do without having to prove them wrong. 

That even goes for the weird denominations (and I think we all know which denominations we all think are weird). I know which ones I think are weird and wrong, and that’s for me not to share, but to give over to God, and say, “Here you go, Lord. I think they’re weird, but that’s my problem, not theirs, and I’m going to give that to you and ask that you grant me your Spirit, that I may be for them and not against them.”

That’s what Paul was encouraging the Christians in Rome to do. The Jewish Christians thinking the Gentile Christians were weird and the Gentile Christians thinking the Jewish Christians were utterly baffling, Paul was writing them to let them know that their unity was in Jesus, and Jesus was for them both. Weird, crazy: groovy. God is for us, and so we can be for one another. In our fears and our temptations for certainty, we can trust God’s love and be for one another, following in the ways of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.

The Status Is Not Quo

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church

May 28, 2023

Pentecost, Year A

Acts 2:1-21

John 20:19-23

The Status Is Not Quo

In the spoof super-villain/super-hero show called, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, the villain, Dr. Horrible, is an awkward, fairly likeable guy, who sees lots of problems with the world and wants to fix them. At one point, he has a kind of successful, somewhat botched heist in which he stole gold bars from a bank. Being a super-villain, he stole the gold bars with a teleportation device, and it worked, except that it turned the gold into this grey, sludgy goo. Rather defensive, he says that what he does is not just about making money, it’s about taking money. Kinda Robin Hoodie, I guess. He says it’s about “destroying the status quo because the status is not quo. The world is a mess,” he says, “and [he] just needs to rule it.” So, he seems to kinda want to fix things, but of course being a villain, his methods aren’t exactly great. He’s trying to join the Evil League of Evil, he fights (and loses) against his nemesis, Captain Hammer, and he creates various teleportation devices, freeze rays, and death rays.

That line that he says about “destroying the status quo because the status is not quo,” however, is what really gets me…laughing and thinking about the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. 

The world is a mess, and the Holy Spirit comes, not to rule it like Dr. Horrible, rather the Holy Spirit comes to help humanity heal it. Recognizing that the status is not quo, the Holy Spirit comes not to destroy, but to heal the status quo.

We heard in John’s Gospel that Jesus breathed on the apostles, and they received the Holy Spirit to continue the work Jesus had done. They received the Holy Spirit to continue Jesus’ mission in the world because the world was a mess and in need of healing. Unlike Dr. Horrible, however, they weren’t going to rule the world. They weren’t going to force the changes they desired upon the world. That wasn’t Jesus’ way. 

Remember when a woman was caught in the act of adultery, and a crowd was going to stone her to death? Jesus wasn’t having it. Now, the people were following the law that they knew; adulterers were to be stoned to death. Nevermind that they conveniently forgot about the guy who was a part of the adultery. “Who cares about him; let’s just kill the woman,” seems to be their mentality. 

So, they decide to stone the woman to death, and in modern times, we don’t use rocks to kill people; rocks have been replaced with bullets. So they crowd of angry people are going to fix some of the mess in the world by pulling out their guns and shooting this woman, and before they do, Jesus says, “Wait a sec, y’all. If you want to shoot this woman, that’s fine, but how about you only do it if you’ve never sinned. If you’re perfect, if you’ve got no reason why someone might come shoot you at some point, then go right ahead, fire away.” Jesus wanted to change the status quo because the status was not quo.

Of course, all the people put their guns away and left. The crowd wanted to force the change they wanted to see in the world, and Jesus pointed out that by their way of forcing change, they would just as easily be the ones being shot next for something they’d done wrong. 

Jesus brought about change in the world through healing, through grace, forgiveness, and love. The woman and the crowd then got to offer change in the world through that same grace, forgiveness, and love. The world was a mess, and Jesus sought to heal it.

This story, of course, happens in the context and backdrop of Ancient Rome which occupied and ruled Israel at the time. Rome thought the world was a mess too, and they, like Dr. Horrible, didn’t want to heal it; they just wanted to rule it. So Rome ruled much of the world, they did destroy the status quo wherever they went. If they liked what you did and how you did it, then you could rather peaceable be part of Rome. Most of the time they didn’t like what you did or how you did it, though. They felt that you were a mess so they decided to rule you with an iron fist, and if you didn’t fall in line, if you were too different, too weird, didn’t fit into what and how they wanted people to be well, they’d just kill you to force and coerce obedience. 

That’s not the way of Jesus. Forcing change through coercion, fear, pulling out guns and killing the ones we don’t like…that’s the way of Rome. Jesus’ does see that the world is a mess and that the status is not quo, and Jesus’ way is to heal the world, to heal the status quo through grace, forgiveness, and love.

So, on this day of Pentecost, we’re remembering the coming of the Holy Spirit to bring others into Jesus’ way of healing the world. Pentecost is often called the birthday of the church, and it kind of is, although Jesus’ church had been gathered for some time as Jesus was there with them. This was kind of the beginning of the church after Jesus had ascended. The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and a whole crowd gathered around heard them talking in their own native languages. 

Disparate people united by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of living Jesus’ mission in the world. As Bishop Doyle points out, the story is not really about the birthday of the church, but “of sending, of going, of being empowered with gifts for the journey and being unmoored from our appointed seats at the table to a world hoping for light in the midst of a shadow. Pentecost is NOT about the birth of a church; it is about the ever-expanding reign of God and the Good News of the Gospel of God in Christ Jesus outside our church boxes and upper rooms and actively spreading into the world around us.”

Pentecost is about the Holy Spirit recognizing that the world is and the status is not quo, and then inviting us into God’s mission of healing the world. Of course, the Holy Spirit also sees that the status is not quo within each of us, and so the Holy Spirit offers to heal and change us, rather than have us force our change on the world. 

The people gathered around the Apostles didn’t force them to speak in other languages. The Holy Spirit made that change, and the people heard what the apostles said in their own language. Rather than force change, the Holy Spirit made the change within the people. 

I saw a kind of bumper sticker saying the other day, saying that sometimes God doesn’t change your situation because God is instead changing you. My first thought was, “Oh, cute.” Then I saw a friend’s comment on that, saying that God is not a vending machine, but a coach. Yup, that rings true. Rather than helping us force our change on the world, God sees that the status is not quo within us, and God offers the Holy Spirit to heal us so that we can help heal the world. 

The world is indeed a mess, and as much as we may want to rule it, doing so just leads to the way of Rome and angry mobs, the way of guns, and force, and coercion. The Holy Spirit, instead, guides us with grace, forgiveness, and love. The Holy Spirit sees that the world is a mess, sees that the status is not quo, and then the Holy Spirit heals the status quo within us and invites us to join in healing the status quo in the world.