Living Into Our True Humanity

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston
August 31, 2025
Proper 17, C
Sirach 10:12-18
Psalm 103:1-8
Luke 14:1,7-14

Pride, to feel that I matter above anyone else. Pride, to be so angry when someone hurts me, insults me, or looks at me wrong, that I hurt or insult them back, because after all, I’m more important than they are. Pride, to turn inward, putting walls up around me, letting no one in because it’s safer that way and I don’t need anyone else anyway. In all of these ways, pride is to forsake God.

We heard in our reading from Sirach that the beginning of pride is to turn away from God, to pull our hearts away from God. 

When we pull our hearts from God, then we assume that we are all-sufficient, that we have no need for others, that we trust no one and nothing. When we pull our hears from God, we have pride leaving us alone, hurting, often with violent anger which lashes out at others. As we heard in Sirach, however, neither violent anger nor pride were made for human beings. We’re not made to be prideful and violently angry. We’re made to be loving and supportive towards one another. We find our full humanity in being loving and supportive towards one another. When we withdraw and isolate in pride and violent anger, we pull further and further away from our own humanity.

Sometimes when I’ve seen folks get violently angry, or gotten terribly angry myself, I’ve heard folks say things like, “but he insulted me,” as though being insulted is a good reason for beating someone, punching and hurting them. Talk about pride leading to violent anger. He insulted me; he wounded my pride, so I am going to get violently angry now. 

Ok, so on the one hand, that’s all too human. We strive, we struggle, we get hurt, we make mistakes. We lash out. We isolate. We’re human; we mess up. On the other hand, pride and violent anger take away from our true humanity.

Our true humanity dwells in love. Our true humanity dwells in forgiveness. Our true humanity dwells in kindness and in caring about others. 

I preached several weeks ago about Mr. Rogers. He was someone whom we tend to put on a pedestal. He was like a saint, so wonderful and kind. Ok, but Jesus was telling us not to put people up on pedestals in the teaching we heard today. When we put some people up on pedestals, we tend to devalue others. These great ones are so wonderful, and these others are, eh, not as good. 

When we put folks on pedestals, we also tend to elevate them even above ourselves. They are someone great, not someone like me. They can be kind, and caring, and wonderful because they are special, somehow, not like me. We tend to do that with people like Mr. Rogers, and his widow was adamant that people not put him on a pedestal. After all, Mr. Rogers believed all of us can be people of kindness, forgiveness, love, and caring. If we assume that we can’t, that people like Mr. Rogers are saints and we can’t achieve that, well that’s just another kind of pride. 

I’m different. Someone else can do that, but not I. I’m not special enough to be able to be as kind and caring as that person is. The reality is that for Mr. Rogers and anyone who is kind and caring, it’s a choice and it takes work. 

For any who think that Mr. Rogers was a saint, and I can’t do that, the truth is that it may just take more effort than we’re willing to put in. We’ll, if we’re unwilling to put in the effort, that’s the same kind of pride that says, “I matter above anyone else. I matter too much to waste my time working to be kind, forgiving, loving, and caring to others.”  

When we put people like Mr. Rogers up on a pedestal as some kind of special saintly person and we tell ourselves we can’t be that good, we are forsaking God and others, because it is safer and easier not to have to work so hard. Overcoming our pride takes work. Not lashing out in violent anger takes work. Living into our true humanity takes work.

For Jesus, it took the work of the cross. “Father, forgive them,” he prayed, as he allowed himself to be crucified, rather than calling on hosts of angels to rescue him and kill his killers. That was Jesus’ work for our sake, to free us and to help us live into our true humanity. 

“Take up your own cross and follow me,” he said. We don’t have to be crucified, but living into our true humanity takes work. 

Sometimes that work looks like daily, hourly, or minute by minute prayer for God’s help so that we might live in kindness, rather than lashing out at others. Sometimes that work looks like sharing our difficulties with others and asking for their help so that we might live in love and caring, rather than pride. Sometimes that work looks like taking medicine because our brains need extra help to live into our true humanity, to overcome depression, violent anger, and other mental illnesses that we face. All of that work is what we can do to live into our true humanity.

Jesus taught us not to take places of honor, assuming we’re better than everyone else. Sometimes that means not putting others up on pedestals, as we refuse to do the work it takes to live into our own true humanity.

I had a friend, years ago; we were talking about the saints, and she said, “I don’t want to be a saint.” She was thinking of being a saint as being kinda miserable, giving up everything that makes you happy so that you can be good enough for God. That’s not what being a saint is; that’s just being miserable. No, being a saint looks like doing the work you need to do to care for others. Being a saint looks like recognizing that we are all in this life together.

At the beginning of our service this morning, we sang, “Satan, we’re gonna tear your kingdom down.” Satan, the Adversary, keeps us divided. Satan keeps us saying, “We’re not in this together.” “You don’t belong.” “I’m more important than you.” “We’re against one another,” or at the very least, “You’re against me, so I must be against you.” 

In all of those ways that we remain against one another, we’re helping to build up Satan’s kingdom. When we exclude the undesirables, put others on pedestals, and determine that being kind and caring to others is too much work, we’re helping to build up Satan’s kingdom.

Now, long-term, big picture? Jesus has torn Satan’s kingdom down. While we get to live out Satan’s kingdom if we choose to, Satan’s kingdom has ultimately been torn down, by Jesus on the cross. So, we get to live Jesus’ kingdom. 

We get to live the kingdom of kindness, mercy, love, and caring, and even if we have been building up Satan’s failed and doomed kingdom, we always get to come back. Jesus welcomes us with open arms, saying, “Come on, let’s start building together.” Living and building Jesus’ kingdom is work, but think about how much more work it is to live against one another. Think about how much more work it is to live with pride and violent anger? 

Following Jesus’ way, doing the work, and building up Jesus’ kingdom, we get to let go of our pride and violent anger. We get to live and work for kindness, forgiveness, love and caring for all.

"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.”

Without forgiveness, blessing, and love, the killing always starts again.

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Lord of the Streets, Houston

February 23, 2025

7 Epiphany, C

Genesis 45:3-11, 15

Psalm 37:1-12, 41-42

Luke 6:27-38

Jesus knew that Rome was going to destroy the nation of Israel. His people, his home, the land he grew up loving, Jesus knew that Rome was going to take it over, destroy the temple, and leave most of the Jewish people no longer living in their ancestral homes. He told of this coming calamity in Luke 21, and knowing that Israel’s enemies were going to destroy them, Jesus taught to “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”

What about fight, kill, and destroy your enemies so they don’t destroy you? Wouldn’t that have been better for the people of Israel? Well, for a time, Israel did fight against Rome, and they had some victories and held out as long as they could. A full victory against Rome, however, was simply not something Israel was able to achieve. They were too few and without the discipline and tactics of the Roman army. 

Jesus probably knew this too, but losing a war was not why Jesus said to love your enemies and bless those who curse you. He didn’t qualify his teaching with, “If you know it’s a fight you can’t win,” then love your enemies. No, Jesus simply gave the teaching, “Love your enemies…bless those who curse you,” without qualification or exception. 

So, let’s look at his teaching a little bit. What about those who think you are worthless, stupid, and are prejudiced against you? We can certainly hate those people back. We’d be justified in hating them back, and initial anger and hatred toward those who hate us is exactly how we should feel. Of course we feel hatred toward those who hate us. Jesus teaches us not to stay in that place of hurt and hatred, however, because for one thing, when we hate those who hate us, we prove them right about us. Hating those who hate us, we justify their hatred, at least in their minds. 

Jesus teaches us instead to pray for our enemies and live in love towards those who hate us. By loving our enemies, we prove them wrong about us. Loving our enemies, we may even turn our enemies into our friends. Love your enemies, Jesus taught, and bring healing to the world. 

On the other hand, think about hating your enemies, choosing not to forgive. Think about unforgiveness and the hatred that comes from it. Think about Hamas and the killing and rape their hatred let to. They had legitimate grudges against their enemies, and yet their attacks haven’t turned out well for anyone, not the least for themselves. Thousands of Israelis killed, tens of thousands of Palestinians killed. Hamas’ hatred proved Israel right about them, and so Israel felt totally justified in killing over 50,000 Palestinians. Like Israel fighting against Rome 2000 years ago, Hamas wasn’t able to kill all their enemies, and they lost terribly.

At the same time, in Israel’s destruction of Hamas, they seem to have rather decidedly won. Gaza is destroyed, and most of Hamas’ military operations are gone, and yet, there are Palestinian children who will remember the bombs and the killings from Israel, and in a generation or two, they will likely rise up again against Israel just as Hamas has done, and the cycle of violence will continue. 

Even when we win against our enemies with hearts full of hatred and anger, we may feel at peace for a time, but our enemies have friends and children, and many who care about them, and they’ll remember the hurt we cause, and they will rise up one day. No peace. No healing. No bonds of humanity uniting people back together. No compassion. No mercy. Just hatred, violence, killing, and waiting for the day when the killing starts again. Without forgiveness, blessing, and love, the killing always starts again. 

“Love you enemies…and bless those who curse you,” Jesus taught. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” How lovely it would be if we’d simply trust Jesus and strive every day to do as he taught, but we don’t, partially because we get so caught up in our emotions, and partly because we’re not sure we trust Jesus. 

I know he said to love our enemies, but, well, I need revenge. I’m angry. I’m hurt. They don’t deserve me doing well unto them. They deserve vengeance. True, but we’ve only been at this human life thing for thousands and thousands of years, and violence and revenge has not yet brought the peace and healing we crave. We just keep believing The Adversary’s lies that vengeance will make us feel whole. It hasn’t yet. Vengeance just keeps the cycle of violence going without end.

So, what do we do with our anger and hatred? We give them to God. We offer our rage, our hatred, and our desires for vengeance to God, laying them at the foot of the cross, asking Jesus to do with them as he will. Do others deserve our vengeance? Sure. Let God handle it.

“Refrain from anger,” we’re told in Psalm 37. “Leave rage alone; do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil. Do not fret yourself because of evildoers; do not be jealous of those who do wrong. For they shall soon wither like the grass, and like the green grass fade away.”

Evildoers shall fade away. Ooh, does that mean God’ll kill them? Maybe. Maybe not. Perhaps instead of killing them, God will help them fade away from our lives. They’ll fade away from our thoughts and our hearts. As we trust in God, and as we join together and care for one another, those evil doers won’t affect us so much.

Think of two people, alone, living on the streets, without enough for an apartment. They’re angry and resentful and want justice for all the people in their lives that brought their misfortune upon them. Alone, they are simply angry and wanting revenge. Together, however, the two of them have enough for a small apartment. They try it. No more railing against those who put them where they were, but instead taking care of one another, letting the evildoers fade away. Instead of lives of fear and solitude, they join together in trust and love, and they find new life supporting one another. 

Let God give judgment to those who need it. Pray for them, for their well-being, and let them fade way so you are no longer consumed by them. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High.” Mercy. Peace. Those sounds like great rewards to me.

As for our desires for justice, the thought that those evildoers deserve our vengeance, Jesus said, that God “is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” That’s weird. God is “kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” That’s weird because that now how we think things should go, and because we’re told that the ways of the wicked are doomed. “God is kind to the wicked,” and “the ways of the wicked are doomed.” How does that work together? Well, as you often hear me say, I don’t know. That’s God’s deal, and thankfully, these judgments aren’t ours to figure out. When we figure them out, we often end up following the ways of the Adversary, with cycles of anger, hatred, killing, leading to further anger, hatred, and killing. 

Break the cycle; Jesus taught. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” without qualification, without exception. Rather than proving your enemies right about you by hating them back, prove your enemies wrong about you by blessing them, loving them, and showing them mercy. 

Some Mercy Now

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets, Houston

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

more than enough of contempt.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some Mercy Now

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

more than enough of contempt.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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