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.  

Affirming the Image of God In Which We Were Made

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
June 4, 2023
Trinity Sunday, Year A
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Matthew 28:16-20

Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church

Affirming the Image of God In Which We Were Made

Jesus said to baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Three names, three persons, yet there is only one God. How’s that work? Welcome to Trinity Sunday. Folks have been confused over the idea of the Trinity for, oh, about 2000 years. How can we say the Father is God, and the Son is God, and the Spirit is God and also say there is only one God?

Think in terms of relationship. Are you closer, more united to the people you love most in the world than you are to people you’ve never met? Of course you are. We feel great unity with our dearest loves. So, thinking of the Trinity, take that unity you feel with those you love, remove the limitations of our physical beings, multiply that unity by infinity, and we begin to have an idea of how God can be a trinity of persons. 

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons so perfectly united together in love that they are one. God is a relationship of person by God’s very nature, and we are made in God’s image, as we were told in the story of creation in Genesis. God created humankind in God’s image, male and female. All people are made in God’s image, every person who has ever been. That image is one of relationship, love, and creativity.

God created all that is. “Let there be light,” and there was light. Let there be dry land amidst the waters, and the dry land appeared. Let there be all of the plants and animals over all of the earth and sea, and they were created. We were made in that same image of creativity. Art, music, thousands of ways we create beauty and joy in the world. That’s part of the image of God in which we were made.

Of course, we also mess up and misuse our creativity. We’re hurt and broken, and so out of our hurt and fear, we create bad things too. Systems of oppression. Weapons for war. Marginalization and discrimination of people. These we create as well, and all of these things we create fight against our very nature. We were made in the image of love, relationship, and creativity so anytime we use our creativity to work against love and relationship, we are destroying the very best of who we are. 

Many of us are celebrating Pride Month right now, celebrating the beauty of our LGBTQ siblings, people made in the image of God, the image of love, relationship, and creativity. Now, I know a lot of Christians say that there is something wrong with our LGBTQ brothers and sisters, that there is something broken about the image of God in them? I’m here to tell you that just ain’t so. Reading and really understanding scripture affirms that our LGBTQ siblings are made in the image of God just as they are, and their relationships, genders, and sexualities are blessed by God. 

When we affirm this, we’re living in the image of God, the image of love, relationship, and creativity in which we were made. When instead we marginalize, discriminate against, and oppress our LGBTQ siblings, we fight against and harm the image of God in which we were made. Rather than marginalization, discrimination, and oppression, we were made for love, relationship, and creativity. 

Other ways we affirm the image of God in which we were made? Simply having good relationships with one another. God is three persons so perfectly united in love that they are one. In all of our relationships, we have three people as well, or rather two people and God. Whom do we invite into our marriages? God. Who is a part of each of our friendships, working and moving together with us in our relationship? God. Every relationship we have, therefore, is an image of God, an image of the Trinity. When we love others, or even when we like others, we are affirming the image of God in which we were made.

Additionally, when we remember others, we affirm the image of God in which we were made. One of our parishioners, a man named Matthew, died over the weekend. He was a tall, white man, grey hair, and he was very difficult to understand when he spoke. He was also a very kind man who gave the shirt off of his back to another could be warm. He even seemed to be at peace about the fact that he had cancer. We will have a memorial service for him sometime in the next month. Matthew was made in the image of God, and he should not be forgotten. Many people are forgotten, but they too are made in the image of God, and as scripture tells us, there is still memory of them, of their deeds, of the love and relationships they had, memory of the hurt, and memory of the healing. 

Healing is a part of the image of God in which we were made. We all need healing, and that is a part of our creativity and love. In the beginning, we’re told the earth was a formless void, and darkness covered the face of the deep. 

Sometimes darkness ends up ruling us. We cease caring much about others. We are full of anger, full of hurt, and we do terrible things to others. Anyone who would rape another person has got a formless void of darkness within them. In seeking to fill that void, they harm others, tearing at the beautiful image of God in which that other person is made. "Let there be light," God says, to cast out the darkness.

Now, that light may need to come during time in prison, so that person doesn’t harm others and continue to rape others in the meantime, but that light can come. When God says pray for our enemies, God means for us to pray for those who harm others. God means for us to pray for healing for those who harm others, because everyone who harms another person has some amount of a formless void of darkness within them. If we’re honest, each one of us has some amount of a formless void of darkness within us. That darkness within us isn’t a part of our nature. Our nature is love, relationship, and creativity. The formless void of darkness within us comes from the times when we’ve been hurt and harmed. God sees our darkness, recognizes our hurt and harm, and God desires healing for us. God desires healing for all who harm others. God desires healing, and so God says, “Let there be light.”

Let there be light to shine and cast out the darkness within us. Let there be forgiveness and love to restore the image of relationship in which we were made. Let there be a deep recognition of the beauty of others, the image of God in which all were made, to cast out the oppression, marginalization, and discrimination we have against others. Let there be light to cast out our darkness and affirm the image of God within all of us, the image of love, relationship, and creativity. 

The Status Is Not Quo

The Rev. Brad Sullivan

Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church

May 28, 2023

Pentecost, Year A

Acts 2:1-21

John 20:19-23

The Status Is Not Quo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rejoicing as Calm, Peace, and Striving for Justice

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church
May 21, 2023
7 Easter, Year A
Acts 1:6-14
1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
John 17:1-11

 Rejoicing as Calm, Peace, and Striving for Justice

In the movie, “Flight,” Denzel Washington plays an airline pilot who made a miraculous landing in a crippled airplane that should have crashed, and he was able to save all but three people on board, and those three died because they took off their seat belts. The only problem was, he was drunk and high on coke while he was flying.

Throughout the movie, he’s heralded as a hero, which he certainly was, and there was an investigation into the flight, as there certainly should have been. So, as he’s hiding the fact that he was drunk and high during the flight, he spirals further and further into alcoholism. He fights the truth because in his mind, it doesn’t matter if he was drunk. He’d landed the plane. No one else could have done what he did. He was a hero, and he should have been lauded as a hero. At the same time, he is thoroughly miserable and pretty much seems to hate himself, his life, and most everyone in his life.

The investigation turns up missing vodka from the plane, which he had drunk, and his team of lawyers decide to say that one of the flight attendants who had died, had drunk the vodka. All Denzel has to do is lie, agree to that story, and he’ll be off scot-free, and exalted by everyone as a hero.

As he’s about to give this lie, he finally realizes that he can’t do it. He can’t lie about this flight attendant who had herself saved another passenger, buckling a kid into his seat, which is why she was out of her seat and died. He admits to being drunk and high while flying and ends up in prison over the whole thing. No more flying. No more career. No more being a hero in people’s eyes.

Rather than being miserable, however, he ends up sober, happy, glad that he finally admitted what had been going on. He says that for the first time in his life, even though he’s in prison, he’s finally free.

“Humble yourselves,” Peter wrote. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that in due time he may exalt you.” Until the end of the movie, Denzel Washington’s character, was seen as a hero, lauded up high by everyone, but inside, he was down in the dirt low. He was miserable. He was angry. He was scared, and he resented and drove off everyone around him.

Then, he humbled himself by admitting the truth, and finally, he was exalted. He was in prison, but he was exalted, because he was finally joyous and free. He was also no longer alone. We see, while he’s in prison, pictures and letters from people who care about him, people whom he had driven, but who have now been able to reestablish their relationship with him. Even though he’s in prison, he’s finally exalted.

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that in due time he may exalt you.”

Ok, so let’s look at what this passage obviously doesn’t mean. If you talk like crap about yourself, and if think like crap about yourself, then God will reward you by making you ruler of everything. That’s obviously not what this passage means. Being humble does not mean thinking badly of yourself, and being exalted by God does not mean becoming the best, most important person ever.

True humility means seeing ourselves as we truly are and accepting ourselves as we truly are. If we’re great at stuff, we can admit that. We don’t have to be jerks about it, but can admit that we’re good at things. Where we’re not good at things and probably never will be, we get to admit that too. We look deep within ourselves and admit our faults. We get to admit our triumphs. We get admit where we’ve hurt and harmed others. We get to look at ourselves with deep honesty. That’s humility.

Now another thing Peter writes about in his letter is not just when we hurt others, but when we are unjustly hurt by others. What does humility have to say about that?

Humbling ourselves when we are unjustly hurt by others can mean not accepting their hurt and denigration of us. Humbling ourselves, again, means accepting ourselves as we truly are, not as the person who hurt us sees us. Then, humility can be letting go of the resentment we have toward that person. “Cast all your anxieties upon [God], for he cares about you,” Peter writes. Letting go of anger and fear is an act of humility. Doing so gives God something to work with to help heal us. I’m angry, I’m fearful because this person is hurting me, Lord, and I can’t handle it all on my own. I need your help. As we seek humility, even when we’ve been harmed, we open ourselves up to God’s healing.

What about, however, when we’ve hurt others? Well, humility in that case is admitting the fact that we have hurt them, and then also looking at why we hurt them. Perhaps because they hurt us first, and they absolutely deserved whatever we did? Perhaps we hurt someone because we were scared or anxious? Again, when we look humbly into the depths of ourselves, at the truth within us, we give God something to work with to be able to exalt us.

So then, what does being exalted look like? I first talked about Denzel Washington’s movie character being exalted by being in prison but also, finally being joyous and free. I said that being exalted does not mean becoming the best, most important person ever. In this life, being exalted is not about being raised up above others. Being exalted is about being raised up out of our own misery and fear. Being exalted means being able to love who we are, warts and all. Being exalted means trusting that God cares about us, casting our anxieties upon God rather than lashing out at others because of our anxieties and self-soothing through destructive means.

Calm. Peace. Acceptance. That’s what being exalted by God looks like. Freedom from the bondage of hatred and resentment toward those who harm us unjustly. That’s what being exalted by God looks like. Even when our enemies are society at large or our governments, even when they are the ones who harm us unjustly, Peter writes for us to rejoice. That sounds odd.

“Rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.” Rejoicing doesn’t mean pretending to be happy and acting like nothing is wrong. Rejoicing can look like can look like calm, peace, acceptance, and letting go of hatred and resentment. Rejoicing can look like casting our anxieties upon God. Rejoicing can look like trusting that while in this life, all will not go as we want or deserve, there is a new life after death in which God will grant us the love, the delight, and the exaltation we deserve.

With rejoicing as calm, peace, acceptance, and freedom from hatred and resentment, we get to rejoice and still admit sorrow. Admitting the fact that we are still hurting and afraid is part of humility and being exalted. Rejoicing, exaltation, and humility don’t mean that we’re going to be a doormat. When being unjustly oppressed by others, rejoicing doesn’t mean that we say, “No, it’s fine. You can keep on oppressing me. I’m good.” That’s not rejoicing. Rejoicing means striving for justice. Rejoicing means joining with others to stand up to oppressors, but doing so with love rather than hatred.

Rejoicing doesn’t mean denying the hurt or pretending all is well when all is not well. Doing so is the opposite of humility: pretending, lying to ourselves and everyone else around us.

That’s what Denzel Washington’s character was doing in the movie, Flight. Humility is honesty with ourselves, honesty with others, and honesty with God. Exaltation is freedom from the bondage of hatred and fear, freedom from self-loathing, freedom from anxiety and misery.

Rejoicing, even amidst suffering, is calm, peace, acceptance, and freedom from hatred and resentment. Rejoicing is sometimes still mingled with sorrow, but rejoicing is trusting in God. Even though all will not be right in this life, all will not be as it should be in this life, we rejoice as all will be well. Whether in this life or the next, we rejoice as all will be well. We rejoice with the exaltation of calm, peace, acceptance, and freedom from hatred and resentment that is brought by humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God and casting our anxieties upon him, for he cares about us.

“In returning and rest we shall be saved. In quietness and confidence shall be our strength.”

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church
May 14, 2023
6 Easter, Year A
Acts 17:22-31
1 Peter 3:13-22
John 14:15-21
Psalm 66:7-18

“In returning and rest we shall be saved. In quietness and confidence shall be our strength.”

Has anyone else ever found themselves worshipping an idol, or is it just me? Interesting Sunday when the priest tells you he’s been worshipping idols, but I figure I should be honest about that when the sermon topic includes idol worship. Now, in our reading from Acts, Paul was talking about what we often think of as idols, little statues of gold or wood, and no, I’ve not bowed down and prayed to a little statue made of gold or wood. 

It was bronze…kidding. 

When Paul saw all of the things the Athenians had for their various religions, he saw idols, little statues, and he saw an altar to “an unknown God.” Paul let them know that God was not actually unknown, and pointed out that God is not anything like a little statue. God is not something that we make. 

God is, in fact, beyond all of creation. As vast as the universe is, all of the universe is contained within God. Anything that we could make or do is contained within God, for as Paul said, “In God we live and move and have our being.” Rather, than something we make, God made us and all of creation so that we would search for God and perhaps grope for God and find God.

Union with God is the deepest desire of our souls, and God is always united to us. The trick of the devil is not to separate us from God; that’s impossible. The trick of the devil is to have us think that we’re separated from God and then to think that something else will fill that void. 

In the Garden of Eden in the second story of creation, we find desire for knowledge as the first idol. Remember, God told the humans not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but the serpent told them that they actually should eat it, told them that God had lied to them. The serpent tricked them into thinking that their union with God was broken and gone. Then the serpent let them think that the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, would somehow replace their union with God, would satisfy their longing for union with God. Their union with God wasn’t actually broken, but the serpent convinced them it was and then lied to them about how they could fix their longing. 

Classic marketing strategy on the serpent’s part. Here’s a problem you didn’t know you had; now you can fix it by purchasing this.

Our souls want union with God. We actually have union with God, but our hurts and fears, our anxieties and traumas often keep us from realizing the unity we have. We feel a deep longing for peace. We feel great disquiet within ourselves, and we long comfort, for soothing, for some way to know that we are ok or to stop caring that we are not. In our hurts and fears, our anxieties and traumas, we seek all sorts of things which we think will fix us or fill us. 

Some seek money and power, never having enough, even when they’ve got more than they could need in multiple lifetimes. Others simply have enough, and yet they still fret constantly, worried about the future and if there will be enough. In either case, money can become an idol when it becomes our focus in soothing all our fears and anxieties. That’s one of the kinds of idols I was talking about earlier. If only I had enough not to worry about money, well then, I’d be ok. 

We have countless idols, not statues of gold and wood, things that we think will help soothe our souls. Being right and making sure we can prove others wrong can be an idol. Hanging on to anger and resentment can be an idol. Finding fault in others to make ourselves feel better can be an idol. The what ifs of the past or the if onlys of the future can be idols. Numbing and escaping reality can be an idol. 

So, now when I ask, “has anyone else ever found themselves worshipping an idol,” maybe you get my meaning a bit more? The kinds of idols I’m talking about: money, more, being right, resentment, anger, escape, what if, if only, numbing out…these kinds of things are idols I’m guessing all of us find ourselves turning to. 

My point is not, “Oh, we’re terrible idolaters, how awful of us.” My point is that we are hurting, and we tend to seek help in ways that don’t actually help us all that much. We unwittingly believe the serpent’s lie that our union with God is broken and any number of these other things will fix it. 

The truth is, “In God we live and move and have our being.” God is with us, among us, around us, in us, and through us all the time. So, when we set our minds on other things to fix us, we ignore the life all around us. When we turn to the idols of money and more; the idols of being right, resentment, anger; the idols of escape, what if, if only, and numbing out, when we turn to those idols, we block out God in whom we live and move and have our being. When we turn to these idols, we block out the peace we can have by turning to God in whom we live and move and have our being. 

I was talking with a gentleman a while back, seeking some peace, and we talked about prayer and meditation as ways to be with God, rather than disassociate from our fears and anxieties. 

We talked about having a rhythm of prayer. Rhythm has been found to help heal trauma. Our bodies are wired for rhythm. Our breath, our heartbeats, the steps we take, all in rhythm. There are the rhythms of the sun and the moon, night and day, the rhythms of the seasons. We’ve separated ourselves from a lot of these natural rhythms in modern society, and I believe that adds to our stress. So, adding in some rhythm of prayer can help heal our bodies, spending time with God in whom we live and move and have our being. 

In the Episcopal Church, we have a rhythm of prayer. Eucharist every Sunday. We also have daily prayer: morning, noon, evening, and night. Following this rhythm of prayer helps bring rhythm back into our lives and helps bring us into constant awareness of God’s presence with, and around, and within us. 

Another way to spend time in awareness of God meditation, specifically a meditation prayer called Centering Prayer. In Centering Prayer, you spend time in silence, focusing on your breathing, simply being in the present moment, aware of God’s presence around and within you. 

The way it works is you sit in silence for a few minutes, or up to twenty minutes, and you simply breathe. Before you begin, you choose a “sacred word,” generally something related to faith: God, Jesus, Love. Mine is Peace. The sacred word is used to draw us back to the center and back to the breath. As we sit in silence, thoughts will come, as thoughts tend to do, and when thoughts come, we say our sacred word in our minds to let go of the thoughts and draw us back to the present, to the breath.  

Centering Prayer is a way of letting go of our thoughts, simply experiencing the quiet (or the noise) of the present. Simply experiencing the quiet of breathing, of life around us. Simply experiencing God in whom we live and move and have our being.

The result is peace. 

Dwelling not in the past or the future, but simply dwelling in the present, focusing on the breath, breathing God in and out, we find peace. 

Rather than disassociate because of hurt and trauma, rather than use various idols, we can seek rhythm of prayer and meditation. We can seek to know and live unity with God, for it is God in whom we live and move and have our being. Union with God is the deepest desire of our souls, and despite the devil’s lie, we are still united with God. We always have been. When we let go our idols, when we turn to rhythm of prayer and meditation, we help our bodies realize the union with God that is always there. The union with God that is always with us. The union of God that brings us peace.

Because Sometimes, We Kinda Suck…

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church
May 7, 2023
5 Easter, Year A
Acts 7:55-60
1 Peter 2:2-10
John 14:1-14

Because Sometimes, We Kinda Suck…

“While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died.” As he was actively being killed by an angry mob with rocks, Stephen prayed, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

We see the absolute worst and the absolute best of humanity right there. We see a man who was so full of love and hope, that he did not fight against the mob or kill in order to save his life. He was at peace during his murder, praying forgiveness on his murderers. We also see a violent and angry mob worked up into a lathered frenzy so crazed that they gleefully murdered a young man because he believed something different than they did. 

In this moment of our history, we see humanity’s enormous capacity for good, for selflessness, and for love. At the same time, we see our brutality and mindless rage, and end up having to reckon with the fact that humanity is so hurting and broken that when God became human, it only took us 30 years to kill him. God, who is love, became human, and we killed him in 30 years.

So, we humans are pretty fantastic, and we also kinda suck.

Still, we have the fact of God becoming human. Knowing that we would kill him, God still thought it was a pretty good idea to join with us in our humanity. God thought it was a good idea to become one of us, to join with us in every aspect of our humanity, including our death, and God thought it was a good idea to join with the absolute worst of humanity by allowing us to perpetrate the very worst of ourselves against him. God joined with our lives, our deaths, our goodness, and our hurts and atrocities. Despite the fact that we often suck, God still thinks that we’re also pretty fantastic. God thinks we’re worth saving. 

So, Jesus told his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus said, because he was going to prepare a place for us to bring us home. 

Our home is unity with God and unity with one another. 

Where’s that? Thomas wanted to know. Where is this home with God and one another? Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

Follow in my ways, Jesus was saying. Follow in the ways of forgiveness and love, and you will find your home with God and one another. 

Follow in my teachings, Jesus was saying. Follow in the truths I have taught you, and you will find your home with God and one another. 

Follow in my life, Jesus was saying. Follow me and trust in the life I give, the resurrection life I have given, joining humanity and divinity. 

God thought we were fantastic enough that God became one with us, and Jesus is telling us to trust in that unity with God and then follow and live, recognizing God in every person around us. 

What about if we don’t believe that, however? What if we don’t believe that God is in every person around us? Well, what we believe seems to be less important than how we treat one another. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus said that whatever we do to one another we do to him. The people in the story Jesus told didn’t believe that they were one with God. They weren’t following Jesus or seem to believe in Jesus. Those who treated others with compassion, respect, healing, and love were told basically, “Welcome home.” 

Treating others with compassion and respect is the way home Jesus talked about. Treating others with healing and forgiveness is the way home Jesus talked about.

Treating others with mercy and love is the way home Jesus talked about.

Come home, Jesus says, to unity with God. Come home to unity with love. Come home to the life we saw Stephen live in our reading from Acts, who even in the face of death, did not kill, or shout, or condemn, but offered forgiveness and love to those who were killing him. Stephen was home already, and after he died, he continued living at home with God.

That is the life Jesus offers us, the peace and healing that Stephen had. 

Just in the last two weeks, we’ve heard of how many murders? Dozens? Some within blocks of here, some near, some far away. How many countless others have there been that we don’t even know about? When I said earlier that humanity often sucks, we know that already. We know that all too well. 

God knows that too, and that’s exactly why God became human, because God sees us. God sees the goodness of humanity along with our brokenness, and God knows we need healing. God knows we need healing of our hurt and our fear. God knows we need healing of our anger and despair. God knows we need healing from our rage and brutality. So, God joined with all of that, so that even at our worst, Jesus is there with us saying, “Come home.”

Come home to peace. Lay aside your anger. Lay aside your need to vengeance. Bring me your hurts, Jesus says, and follow me home to healing. Bring me your anger, Jesus says, and follow me home to forgiveness. Bring me your despair, Jesus says, and follow me home to peace. Bring me your fear, Jesus says, and follow me home to love. 

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.