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.”

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."

Our Enemies' Sin Placed on Our Own Crosses

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

 Our Enemies' Sin Placed on Our Own Crosses

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I am the nonbeliever,
the skeptic 
even a deceiver

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

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

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

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

Give me faith
because I cannot touch

Give me faith
because I cannot feel

Give me faith 
because I cannot see

Give me faith

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“If I apologize well enough, then you won’t punish me, right, God?”

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
September 10, 2023
Proper 18, Year A
Psalm 119:33-40
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20

“If I apologize well enough, then you won’t punish me, right, God?”

Jesus taught us to forgive, over, and over, and over. As far and long as there is vengeance, that is how often we are taught to forgive. Boundless forgiveness.

Then we have Jesus today saying that if someone sins against you, talk with them about it, and if they won’t listen to you, bring a couple others to talk about it with you, and then if they won’t listen to you, take it to the church leaders, and if they still won’t listen, have them be excommunicated, like a gentile or tax collector, no longer a part of the community.

That sounds pretty harsh; we need to realize, however, that gentiles and tax collectors were the very people Jesus and his disciples reached out to in order to bring them into the community. If someone is no longer a part of the community, we’re to seek their restoration so they can be part of the community again. There is forgiveness even in removing someone from the community, boundless forgiveness.

Forgiveness is the way of Jesus because healing is the way of Jesus. Everything Jesus does and teaches is for our healing, even letting people be no longer a part of the community. “Let them be” like a gentile or tax collector, Jesus said. “Let them be” because that is the path they have chosen.

If someone sins against a person and refuses to acknowledge it, refuses to make amends and be reconciled, then they are kicking themselves out of the community. When everyone is fractured and against one another, there is no community, so by refusing to admit their fault, make amends, and reconcile, a person is either declaring the other to be outside or themselves to be. You can’t have community without reconciliation.

So, Jesus said, “let them be.” If someone wants to be not a part of the community, then let them, and remember, even that is for our healing.

So, what healing do we need when we refuse to admit our faults, make amends, and be reconciled to others. We need healing from anger, pride, resentment, and fear…these are what fill us when we refuse to admit our faults. Then, we end up blaming everyone and everything else around us. Our anger, pride, resentment, and fear end up growing and harming everyone around us as well as ourselves.

If we’re going to keep our hurts from leaching out and harming others, we need to take responsibility for our actions. Rather than spending our time looking at others’ faults, we need to be willing to look at our own faults. We need to admit to ourselves, to God, and to others the harm we have caused. There can be no healing unless we do.

That’s a tough pill to swallow, and I believe it is made even more difficult because of the fear at the root at the root of much of the Christian faith. We talk of Jesus’ boundless forgiveness, but we also hear a lot about threats of Hell, threats of eternal torture by the God who is love. Fear of eternal torture has been a part of our theology for centuries, and while we need to take God’s judgment seriously, a faith based on fear of eternal torture is not the faith of Jesus and is not a faith that leads to healing.

A faith based on fear of eternal torture and personal salvation from that torture leaves us with little room for grace toward others, grace toward ourselves, seeking forgiveness, and loving one another. Community is lost in each person’s quest to avoid eternal torture.

Personal avoidance of punishment is not the salvation Jesus has in mind for our healing. Rather, Jesus offers us union with God and one another, a community of love. The Church’s mission is “to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.”

The salvation of Jesus would have us focus not on avoidance of punishment, but on love of God and of one another. The community of love and grace, how well we treat others, seeking and offering grace, forgiveness, and reconciliation, that is the salvation of Jesus lived out in our lives. Heaven or Hell? We’ve got plenty of that here already. There’s plenty of Hell every day in our lives and the lives of those around us. That’s the primary Hell Jesus is saving us from, healing our lives and having that healing follow us even after the grave.

So then, with that healing in mind, with our focus on grace and forgiveness, on love and community, admitting our faults to God and to one another isn’t so terrible a burden. Admitting fault and seeking forgiveness becomes not about avoiding punishment, but about living in love with one another. Admitting our faults and seeking forgiveness is not a deal we make with God. “If I apologize well enough, then you won’t punish me, right, God?”

No. Admitting our faults and seeking forgiveness is part of restoring ourselves to unity with God and one another. The next part of being restored to unity is making amends to others for the wrongs we have done and changing how we live. Jesus shows us grace, forgiveness, and restoration that we might live that same grace, forgiveness, and restoration.

When we cease caring about restoration to God and one another, we begin living outside of Jesus, and Jesus lets us do that. If we want not to be part of a community of love and restoration, Jesus lets us not be. Remember, the church is not a group of individuals avoiding punishment. The church is a community of grace and love.

If we don’t want to live in a community of grace and love, we don’t have to. If we do want to live in a community of grace and love, then we do have to let go of our anger; we do have to let go of our pride; we do have to let go of our resentment, and fear. That’s the reconciling community and life Jesus offers us. A life without fear, a life of joy, a life of reconciling love for one another.

Jesus offers us release from the burden of carrying all the harm we have cause others. Admitting our faults, admitting the harm we have done is a relief and a release, a laying down of a heavy burden. Might there be consequences when we admit what we’ve done? Sure. There is also grace, forgiveness, and love. There is healing. It takes time. It can be grueling, and it is worth it. The healing of grace, forgiveness, and love, the healing of a community of love, that’s salvation.

Be Not Socially Awkward or Weird: AKA - Our Faith Has No Need for Others to Share It

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church
August 2, 2023
Proper 8, Year A
Romans 6:12-23
Psalm 89:1-4,15-18
Matthew 10:40-42 

Be Not Socially Awkward or Weird:

AKA - Our Faith Has No Need for Others to Share It

 

So, in last week’s Gospel, there was this rather interesting bit where Jesus said that he had come to set family members against each other and, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” At first glance it might look like if we’re going to follow Jesus, we’re supposed to turn against our family? Some might even preach that we should turn against our family or friends if they don’t believe in Jesus.

 

That is, of course, completely misunderstanding what Jesus was saying. First note the context. Jesus was talking to his disciples in first century Israel, and the religious leaders of the time weren’t over fond of Jesus and his teachings. He was considered by many to be a heretic, and so were his followers. So, Jesus was warning his disciples, saying, “If you follow me, your family might turn against you. Realize that fact, and if your family turns against you, don’t stop being my disciples. Work to accept that your family might not understand, that they may turn against you.”

 

That was a tough pill to swallow: people’s families turning against them for following Jesus, being exiled from their communities for following Jesus. Jesus referred to it as taking up a cross. Jesus was telling his disciples, that it was likely going to get pretty tough for them, and he was encouraging them to continue to follow and believe in him, despite the difficulties. Never let anyone fool you into thinking God is against you, even if people turn against you.

 

Never was Jesus’ message, you should turn against anyone who doesn’t believe in me. Nowadays, however, some folks seem to turn Jesus’ message around, saying things like, “If someone in your family isn’t Christian and won’t convert, stay away from them, or if someone in your family is a sinner, stay away from them. Shun them.” Must we hate people or declare others our enemies in order to be Jesus’ disciple?

Nope. Nope, nopey, nope, nope, nope. That’s the exact opposite of what Jesus was saying. Jesus wasn’t saying turn against others. Jesus was saying to his disciples, “People may turn against you for being my disciples, and if they do, accept it, be ok with it, and continue to love them. Realize that God is not against you, even if your family turns against you.”

Then, in our reading today, Jesus continues assuring his disciples that those who treat them poorly need not be worried about. Those who treat his disciples well, Jesus said, would receive the reward of the righteous. Don’t worry if people turn against you for being my disciple, Jesus was saying. Try not to get too down over it. God’s with you, despite what some may say, and God will be with you always.

So, accept that when we seek to follow in Jesus’ ways, some people may not get it.

Now, by and large, most of us aren’t going to face the same kinds of difficulties for following Jesus as his disciples did in first century Israel. His disciples back then faced excommunication, shunning from their families, sometimes even death.

Nowadays in Houston, Texas, when we decide to follow Jesus, some folks may think it’s lame. Some may think we’re going to become terribly judgmental. Some may be afraid we’re going to start hating them because of who they are, things they do, ways of life which some Christians frown upon. Remember, though, Jesus never taught his disciples to hate or shun others. Rather he taught his disciples to accept that people may hate or shun them. Rather than grow angry or resentful, accept it, and continue to love.

In our reading from Romans, today, Paul talked about being freed from sin. In light of Jesus’ teaching, think about sin as being angry, resentful, or hateful toward non-Christians or folks who may turn away from you for being a Christian. Responding to that with anger, resentment, and hatred is dismissing the freedom of Christ and binding ourselves up in sin again. Folks may hate you…for any number of reasons. You don’t have to hate them back. That is freedom.

There are folks in America nowadays who say Christianity is under attack. I don’t

believe it is, but even if Christianity is under attack, Jesus said, “be ok with it.” He didn’t say, “attack them back.” That’s the total opposite of what he said.

There was a gentleman on the Metro up in DC where my wife is right now, and this man got on the Metro and started talking loudly at everyone on the car, telling them about Jesus and how they needed to be saved. That’s not evangelism. That’s just frantic, angry, forcing one’s religion on others. It’s also just socially awkward and weird.

Jesus didn’t say, “force your views on others.” That’s the exact opposite of what he said. Jesus didn’t enslave us to being weird and awkward and hating others. Jesus offered us freedom from fear, freedom from anger, freedom from resentment, and freedom from hatred. Jesus offered us freedom to believe in him, and trust in him, and be ok with the fact that others don’t. Jesus was very clear in his message to his disciples that their faith didn’t require others to share it. Others don’t believe as we do, and our faith doesn’t require them to.

“Bless those who curse you,” Jesus taught. How much more then, does Jesus teach, “Bless those who don’t believe as you do.” Love other people. That’s freedom. We don’t have to get angry or resentful towards others. We are freed from sin, yet somehow the church often seems to be consumed by sin, focusing so much attention on sin…usually someone else’s sin.

“We’re all sinners, we’re forgiven, but you…you had better stop sinning.” Why do we get so wrapped up in sin, especially other people’s sin, when Jesus came to free us from sin? Sin is ways that we harm ourselves and harm others. When we get all bent out of shape over other people’s sin, when we drink that cup of anger and resentment, all we’re doing is poisoning ourselves and then harming others out of our own poisoned souls. Getting so wrapped up in sin just causes us to sin.

As Jesus’ disciples, we don’t offer judgment for others’ sin. Jesus was about forgiving sin, freeing us from sin. We may, in socially normal ways, offer people some of the healing we’ve found in Jesus. We also get to be totally ok if people don’t want it. They don’t have to. Our faith has no need for them to. That’s freedom, freedom which Jesus has given us.

Our way as disciples of Jesus is the way of forgiveness, healing, and love. Anger, resentment, hatred of others has no place in the way of Jesus. Others may not like the fact that we’re Christians. That’s ok. We don’t need to force acceptance on others, to force others to be Christian or even to like Christianity. Jesus didn’t teach us to force our faith on others. Jesus taught us to love. Even if people reject you, love them, Jesus said. In the face of anger and fear, offer the way of love.