Of Journeys and Justice: Staying the Course In Discipleship

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church
August 16, 2023
Proper 10, Year A
Isaiah 55:10-13
Psalm 65: (1-8), 9-14
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

Of Journeys and Justice: Staying the Course In Discipleship

Twelve years before being arrested for sitting in the whites only section of a bus, Rosa Parks was already working for civil rights. After she was arrested, it would then be another nine years before most racial segregation was made illegal with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Another year for the Voting Rights Act, and then three more years before the Fair Housing Act.

For 25 years and more, Rosa Parks was striving for civil rights, and it was over 20 years before she saw large-scale, national results. The same is true for countless civil rights leaders and workers who still continue on to this day. They were and have been committed to the cause, and they changed the world.

Imagine if Rosa parks had given up after 12 years, finally deciding, “To heck with it. Bus driver tells me to move, I’ll move.” The world would not have changed the way it did. She was committed to the cause, and despite setbacks and discouragement along the way, she stayed committed to the cause of civil rights. She didn’t get excited for a while and then quit. She didn’t get distracted or give in because it was difficult. She stayed and changed the world for the better.

That’s the kind of discipleship Jesus is talking about in the parable he told in our Gospel reading today.

Jesus’ parable was about a guy spreading seeds to get plants to grow, and he was just tossing the seed about, and when it landed on good soil, it grew and produced a huge harvest. Jesus said that the seed was the word. If we think of that as the Word of God, then the seed is Jesus. The seed of Jesus has been cast, and when it lands on good soil, it produces a huge harvest.

Now, I’ve often heard and thought of this parable as being about how each individual receives Jesus. If our hearts are in the right condition, meaning the soil is good, then we receive Jesus and we gain great faith in him.

I think there is truth in that understanding, and another understanding is that the growth of the seeds is about our discipleship. When our hearts are in a good place, when the soil is good, then we become committed in our discipleship, and from that discipleship, even more disciples are grown or raised up. As the group of committed disciples grows, then the ways of Jesus grow stronger in the world. As the group of committed disciples grows, the way of healing grows. The way of peace grows. As the group of committed disciples grows, the way of love and compassion grows.

Of course, as Jesus told the parable, a lot of the seed falls on poor soil, or is snatched away, or is choaked out by other things. Think about starting to grow as a disciple of Jesus, and the ways of Jesus start conflicting with ways of life we’re used to. Jesus said bless you enemies, and we’re often used to cursing our enemies and trying to get back at them. Think about when that conflict comes, and we just go with what we’re used to. We strike back at our enemies, and our discipleship of Jesus is diminished. Our commitment to Jesus’ ways starts to fade.

What about when we are following in Jesus’ ways, and things don’t get better all that quickly? Our lives haven’t changed dramatically for the better right away, and the world around us certainly hasn’t gotten miraculously better just because we’ve started following as a disciple of Jesus. Think about when things don’t get noticeably better fast enough, and so we quit. Nothing really changes, there is no great harvest, and even 20 years later, there is still no huge, societal change for the better. That’s like the seed that falls on the rocky path. We get excited about Jesus and the gospel, but that excitement doesn’t last long, and we’re quickly back to just how we were before.

That’s how things would have been for the Civil Rights Movement, if Rosa Parks and others had quit even several years into their work because they just weren’t seeing changes come fast enough. Remember, it was twenty years of work by Mrs. Parks before she saw change on a national scale.

Twenty years of staying the course with only modest gains to show for it. At the same time, those twenty years brought forth a huge harvest of other people who became fully committed to the cause of Civil Rights. If Mrs. Parks had been lukewarm in her commitment and work, the movement wouldn’t have grown. Others would not have joined. There would have been no great harvest.

When Jesus told his parable of the sower and the seeds, he was encouraging his disciples to stay committed to their discipleship, to stay committed to their faith, to stay committed to the ways and teachings of Jesus. He was telling his disciples that if they stayed committed to their discipleship, then they would help grow more disciples, and amazing, world-altering things would happen.

What are our hopes and dreams for our lives and for the world around us? How about less violence and theft? How about justice in economic practices so that people aren’t forced out of their housing, just so investors can make some easy money? How about people loving and caring for one another, more than just looking out for self-interest?

I’d say we’ve got a ways to go on those things, those kinds of changes for the better can happen. Our part is to stay committed to the ways of Jesus, to stay committed as his disciples. When we do that, God brings forth growth far more than we can imagine. As we stay fully committed disciples of Jesus, changing our lives to live as he taught, God brings forth growth of even more fully committed disciples, and the changes for the better start to happen.

Like with the Civil Rights Movement, it takes time, decades, even, and lukewarm discipleship or giving up when it is difficult or it isn’t going fast enough isn’t going to make and change or grow any fruit. Changing our lives to follow Jesus’ teachings and way, and then fully committing, with God’s help, God can bring forth God’s kingdom on earth. Fully committing as disciples of Jesus can produce world-altering fruit in our lives and in all of society around us. So, despite hardships, discouragement, temptations all around, we stay the course as Jesus’ disciples, and God brings forth an enormous harvest.  

Remember Who You Are, and then Show Them Who You Are

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church
June 11, 2023
Proper 5, Year A
Hosea 5:15-6:6
Psalm 50:7-15
Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

Remember Who You Are, and then Show Them Who You Are

Jesus was eating with the wrong sorts of people. They were liars and cheats, sinners who defrauded others. Let’s face it, no one like the tax man, but these particular folks, collecting taxes for Rome in Israel were particularly nasty. They were known for collecting more than they were supposed to and pocketing the extra. So, when I call them liars and cheats, sinners who defrauded others, I really mean it. These were the kinds of folks you wouldn’t spit on if they were on fire, and Jesus chose to sit down and have dinner with them.

“Matthew, you lying cheat, call up some of your friends, and let’s have a dinner party.” That was Jesus’ approach to them.

Now, the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the time, they seemed to think that Jesus’ dinner with Matthew and his buddies was an endorsement of their lying, cheating ways, but I really don’t think that was the case. Jesus tended to tell people thinks like, “Go and sin no more.” “Love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus’ dinner message to Matthew and his friends would probably have been something more like, “How about you don’t lie, cheat, and steal from people anymore?” Jesus’ message would have been like, “Loving other people is how you’re going to find security in this world, not through taking more money for yourself.”

Now the Pharisees, they might have had similar messages for Matthew and his cheating friends, but the Pharisees seem to have just wanted to shun Matthew and his friends. Keep ‘em away. Call ‘em out for being sinners. Shame them, and write them off.

That wasn’t Jesus’ way.

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick,” Jesus said. In response to the charge of “sinners,” Jesus declared that the wrong sorts of folks needed love and healing, not shunning and contempt. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” Jesus said, quoting Hosea 6:6. God doesn’t need healing through religious sacrifice. People need healing through mercy.

Right after dinner, Jesus healed two people. One was a woman who had a would which hadn’t healed for 12 years. The other was a little girl who had died. The woman, Jesus healed of her wound, and the little girl, Jesus brought back to life. In addition to healing those two people, Jesus’ actions show what he was doing with Matthew and his friends. Jesus was healing them.

Jesus saw Matthew and his friends, truly saw them. Yes, they were cheating and stealing from people, but what was going on in them that they thought that was a good idea?

Well, for one thing, they were living under Roman occupation. Rome didn’t care if any of them lived or died, and they were brutal in their rule of Israel. That’s enough stress to get people to behave badly right there. Then you’ve got all the Roman finery, the money and extravagance the higher ups show off. Matthew and his friends might have started to think that if only they had enough to look as fine and fancy as the Romans, then they’d be accepted and feel less threatened by their Roman overlords.

So, lots of stress, fear, and a desire not to be looked down upon by society. With that mix, they stole from people when collecting taxes in order to feel calm, less afraid, and like they just might be accepted. I don’t know about you, but that sounds kinda familiar. Doing something we know is wrong in order to feel calm, less afraid, and like we just might be accepted.

The religious leaders shunned them, likely making matters worse. Jesus, instead chose to have dinner with Matthew and his friends. “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” The religious leaders asked Jesus’ disciples. Because they didn’t need shunning and shame, making matters worse. They needed love and acceptance, and then to be offered a better way, a way which doesn’t harm others and which actually gives the life Matthew and his friends were looking for.

What was Jesus’ teaching to Matthew and his friends? Looking at his other teachings, Jesus probably taught them something like this. You don’t need to steal from others in order to be ok. You don’t need Rome to accept you. God already loves you. Fancier clothes and fitting in to some great society isn’t going to make you whole or happy. The friends you have here are more than enough. Love one another. Support and care for one another. Take the jobs that you have, and realize those jobs are blessings from God. Use those blessings to bless others, not to curse them.

Remember who you are. Having dinner with Matthew and his friends, that was Jesus’ message to them. “Remember who you are.” You have been living as a bunch of lying cheats, but that’s not who you are. You are beloved children of God. Remember. Remember who you are, and then show them who you are.

We all get caught up in harmful behaviors. We hurt others, and we hurt ourselves. Sometimes we hurt ourselves and others through ways we try to be loving. A man I knew was sick and struggling to get better. He was trying to get off drugs because they were making him worse. Whenever he was around his friends, they showed him love by giving him drugs, which they would do together. They were being loving, and they were being loving in a way that hurt their friend.

I think Jesus’ message to them would have been, “Remember who you are.” You don’t need the drugs to be ok. You have each other. You are beloved children of God. Remember. Remember who you are, and then show others who you are. Accept the healing that comes from God, the healing that comes from love and relationship. Accept God’s life within you, and be healed. Be healed from stress. Be healed from fear. Be healed from the American Dream which says once we have enough stuff and riches, we’ll be well.

Be healed to know that just ain’t true. No amount of riches or stuff will ever make us well. Drugs and numbing won’t make us well. Love of one another will make us well. Accepting God’s love for us will make us well. Remember who you are, Jesus says. You are beloved children of God. Remember. Remember who you are, and then show them who you are.  

Is It Living, or Just Existence?

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church
April 30, 2023
4 Easter, Year A
Acts 2:42-47
John 10:1-10
 

Is it living, or just existence?

Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” The thieves Jesus was talking about were all kinds of folks who would rule over others, promising all sorts of goodies, maybe easy street, maybe victory over enemies, maybe power, or maybe just solace and a temporary reprieve from having to feel the difficulties of life. A lot of those things sound pretty good. Not feeling the difficulties of life for a while, victory over enemies, easy street, power…those all sound pretty good, and yet Jesus said the folks peddling those things are thieves coming steal, kill, and destroy. 

Power for one tends to mean domination over for another. Easy street for one tends to mean subjugation and oppression for another. Victory for one tends to mean death, defeat, and despair for another. Not feeling the difficulties of life tends to mean not dealing with the difficulties of life and sinking deeper and deeper into a pit of resentment, desperation, and fear.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

Following in those ways, then, leaves us in a life of fear, doesn’t it? Desire for easy street, victory, and power: fearful that we won’t get it and someone else will. Desire not to feel, fear of life and actually having to face life. Following in those ways of the thief, we end up not truly living, but just existing. We want what we don’t have or can’t have. We’re afraid of losing what we do have. We numb so as not to have to experience life as it is. The ways of the thief leave us just existing.

In the midst of our fear and our sometimes just existing rather than truly living, Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

In the earliest church, which we hear about in Acts 2, we’re told that “those who had been baptized devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” We’re further told that they spent time together, shared meals together, had glad and generous hearts, praised God, and had the goodwill of all the people. That sounds like the total opposite of fearfully existing. Spending time together, sharing meals with glad and generous hearts, praising God, and having the goodwill of all the people sounds like truly living, like the abundant life Jesus came to give.

So, how do we live this abundant life? I could simply say, “just trust in Jesus,” but we know from scripture and from our lives that faith without action doesn’t do a whole lot. In the book of James, such faith without action is even called “dead.”

So, what action makes our faith alive such that we have the abundant life Jesus came to give. Well, again in Acts 2, we’re told, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

That sounds pretty good. Being together with others, learning about and following the ways of Jesus, sharing meals and praying together. That sounds like continually turning our hearts toward God and one another. That sounds like building a community of trust and love.

There was a man who did just that in a story Jesus told. He was a powerful man, living on easy street, managing a rich man’s money, but he was dishonest, and maybe was taking some on the side. When he was found out and was about to be fired, he went to everyone who owed the rich man money and reduced the size of their bills. The point of the story was that when this man lost his power and easy street life, he learned to rely on the people around him, and they knew they could rely on him as well. With money and power gone, he quickly built up a community around him, because that community of people, living in trust and love with one another is the abundant life Jesus came to give.

Like the man in the story Jesus told, the people in the early church, were a community that relied on each other. They lived in abundant life, not on easy street, not with power, victory, or numbing. They lived an abundant life in community with one another.

That community, that abundant life takes trust. Abundant life takes letting people in. Abundant life takes looking out for and depending on one another. The abundant life Jesus described takes faith and prayer together with those on whom we depend. The abundant life Jesus describes takes learning and living Jesus’ was.

 

One of those ways of Jesus is to cease fighting. We cease fighting, and rather than living against others, we live for others. In Jesus’ abundant life, we’re not just going it alone from one thing to the next, but we’re taking action together. We’re not just reacting to one another, but we’re reaching out in support and love.

In Jesus’ abundant life, we’re seeking a revolution, not with power and victory over and against others, but a revolution of life lived together, for one another. A life where we have ceased fighting and spend our time instead in prayer and fellowship, sharing meals together, learning and following the ways of Jesus, learning to love and trust one another.

That’s abundant life. The power and victory over others, easy street and numbing our pain, that’s not abundant life. That’s the fearful solitary life of the thief who came only to steal and kill and destroy. The abundant life of Jesus is love, trust, community, prayer, fellowship, learning and following the ways of Jesus. The abundant life of Jesus is a revolution, living for one another, taking action together, reaching out in support and love, not just existing, but truly living.