Thanks for Your Forgiveness, God, but I'm Really Cross with this Guy

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
September 17, 2023
Proper 19, Year A
Psalm 119:33-40
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20

Thanks for Your Forgiveness, God, but I'm Really Cross with this Guy

Last week I said, Jesus taught that we are to forgive for as far and as long as there is vengeance. Today, we got to hear Jesus actually giving that lesson. “How often do we forgive?” Peter asked. “Seven times?” That’s a good number, biblical.  “No,” Jesus said, “not just seven times should you forgive, but seventy-seven times.”

That seventy times seven times is not just a number. Seventy-seven times of forgiveness is a reversal of vengeance.

In Genesis, remember Cain who killed his brother Abel? God wanted all the killing to stop so God declared that anyone who killed Cain would be avenged seven times. Then, Cain’s great-great-great-grandson, Lamech, killed a man. Lamech was also worried about vengeance. So, he declared, not God, Lamech declared, “If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech shall be avenged seventy-sevenfold.  

So, when Jesus said we are to forgive seventy-seven times, he declared that we are to forgive so much so that there is no vengeance left within us. As far and as long as there is vengeance, that is how far and how long we are to forgive.

Jesus, then illustrated the point of infinite forgiveness by telling a story of a man who owed a huge debt. How much money did he owe? Oh, a couple thousand lifetimes worth of money. He owed 10,000 talents, we’re told, and a talent was worth about 6,000 days’ worth of wages. So doing the math, 10,000 talents times 6,000 days of wages, divided by 365, times the number of years, and you get about 2000 lifetimes’ worth of wages.

So, an impossible amount that this guy owed, and he was forgiven. That’s how God is with us. God knows we need that forgiveness because it heals us. God desires our healing and our joy, so God forgives us. As far and as long as there is vengeance, God forgives us.

That was Jesus’ teaching about God’s forgiveness, and then, Jesus rather strongly encouraged us to forgive every bit as much as God does.

Let’s be honest. That’s tough. I’m glad God forgives me over 2000 lifetimes’ worth, but when someone has even three months’ worth of stuff against me, I have a hard time forgiving it. That’s how much the guy in the story wouldn’t forgive his fellow worker. A hundred denarii. A hundred days’ worth of money, about three months. He’d been forgiven 2000 lifetimes’ worth, and he wouldn’t forgive three months’ worth.

That sounds about right. Thank you, God, for your infinite forgiveness; I have a really hard time forgiving others. I do; I think I’m not alone in that. Forgiveness is hard.

Not offering forgiveness is harder. Holding on to resentment and not forgiving is like drinking poison, hoping the other person will die. We harm ourselves when we don’t forgive, thinking they don’t deserve it, it’s not just, I can’t let it go because I can’t imagine life without getting the restitution I’m owed. These are all good reasons not to forgive, and when we don’t forgive, we harm ourselves.

Of course, there are two sides to forgiveness; the other side of forgiveness is seeking forgiveness and making amends. This is hard as well, and we often don’t want to even try to make amends.

What if we aren’t forgiven? What if they make us pay up in some big way that we’re just not ready to pay? What if we can’t do or just aren’t willing to do what is asked? Shouldn’t they forgive us? So, shouldn’t we owe nothing?

Maybe so. Maybe not. When we owe an amends to someone else, it isn’t our place to demand forgiveness. If the other person forgives or not, that’s on them. Our part is to work to heal the harm we have caused. If that means we need to repay someone for what we’ve done to hurt them, ok, so be it. Our task is to offer healing, even when it’s risky, and in doing so, we find that we are healed as well.

Looking again at the healing of forgiveness, we saw in our reading from Genesis, the healing Joseph brought in forgiving his brothers. They had beaten him up and left him for dead, and then as an afterthought, figured they’d just sell him into slavery, rather than actually kill him. So, Joseph was sold as a slave in Egypt, and then over the years became powerful in Egypt, second only the Pharoah.

When his brothers asked his forgiveness, Joseph had the power and the right not to forgive them, but he chose the path of healing. If he hadn’t, then the nation of Israel would never have formed, and none of us would be here as disciples of Jesus. Think of the enormous healing that has taken place because of that one act of forgiveness. Whole communities of people throughout the centuries devoted to God’s mission of healing humanity.

That’s what the church really is, what we really are, a community of people devoted to God’s mission of healing and reconciliation through forgiveness. Unfortunately, we’re often not that great at forgiveness.

Think of the churches you’ve been a part of or chosen not to be a part of because there very little forgiveness, where people seemed not even to like each other that much. Think of the conflicts in churches over…I was going to say “piddly shit,” but you aren’t supposed to cuss in church, so I’ll say “small stuff,” the conflicts over small stuff that lead to rifts and fractures.

Little wonder so many people don’t want to be a part of the church when we’re often no better at forgiveness than anyone else in the world, and we’re often worse. Jesus and the forgiveness Jesus gives have so much healing for our hearts, healing for our relationships, healing for the world. How much healing does our world need right now? Fractures and divisions, hatred and conflict.

In the darkness of conflict, we get to be a light of healing and forgiveness. When forgiveness is undeserved, we offer forgiveness anyway, because the healing is so needed, for ourselves and for others. When we harm others, we make amends, even if it costs us, because the need for healing is so great. The healing of forgiveness and making amends brings us freedom and peace, and that freedom and peace grows in our lives, in our communities, and in the world.

“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.

“This Is the Way” (sorry, but it fits)

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
St. Mark’s, Bellaire
August 27, 2023
Proper 16, Year A
Psalm 138
Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:13-20 

“This Is the Way” (sorry, but it fits)

So, I’ve been a huge Star Wars fan since I was a little kid. 

When I moved into my office at Lord of the Streets, I brought my Mandalorian Naboo Starfighter LEGO set and the rest of my LEGO Star Wars sets first. The Darth Vader helmet looking over me on the wall. Then I eventually brought in the crosses for the walls and my ordination certificate. 

So, right now is a really good time to be a Star Wars nerd. We've got the new Ahsoka show on right now, the Mandalorian before that. Baby Yoda, or as dorks like me know him, Din Grogu is from the Mandalorian show, and a catch phrase of the show is, “This is the Way.” That means the Way of the Mandalorian, a group of warriors and protectors, and the Way they follow is their code, their Way of life.

So, being a huge Star Wars nerd, I’ve been trying not to use “This is the Way” in a sermon or even in everyday conversations, and until today, I’ve been mostly successful.

Today, however, it just fits as Jesus told Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Looking at the ideas of the keys and the binding and loosing, Jesus was talking about how we live out God’s kingdom on Earth. For the people of Israel, living out God’s kingdom was and is tied to how they live out and follow God’s laws. Following God’s laws is often referred to as walking in the way of the law.

Over the centuries, Rabbis have determined how the laws will be binding on people, and even which laws are binding on people’s lives and which are not. For Orthodox Jews, there are more laws that are binding on them than for Reform Jews. Their leaders have determined which laws are binding and how the laws are binding.

In Jesus’ day too, the religious leaders determined how the laws were to be lived out, and we know Jesus often disagreed with them, even saying in Luke that some were locking people out of the Kingdom because of how they were enforcing God’s laws. Think of last week, when the Pharisees insisted that Jesus’ disciples were doing things wrong by not washing their hands before eating, and Jesus was having none of it, saying that the point of the laws was not to follow them for the sake of following arbitrary rules, but the point of the laws was to heal us so that we would live in the way of love, the way of mercy, and the way of justice.

Justice, mercy, love…this is the Way of Jesus.

So, disagreeing with the religious leaders of the time over how and which laws were to be binding on people, Jesus told Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” In other words, Peter and the apostles were given the authority to determine which laws were to be binding on the people and how they were to be binding. Peter and the apostles were to determine how people were going to walk in the Way of Jesus.

Very early on, in the book of Acts, we see the apostles determine that for the non-Jewish followers of Jesus, the laws of Israel were mostly not binding. Gentiles didn’t have to become Jewish in order to walk in the Way of Jesus.

Over the centuries, we’ve continued to have leaders determine what ways of life are binding on us in order to walk in the way of Jesus. We have our church councils, our prayer book, our church constitution, and our bishops who determine our Way in the Episcopal Church.

Our way is to walk in justice, mercy, and love. Our way is to spend time daily in prayer, to spend time daily in the scriptures. Our way is sacramental, having ordinary things become ways that God is being encountered in our world in countless ways. Our way is to forgive, to serve, to make do with less so that others may have what they need. Justice, mercy, and love.

 Of course, for any of us to truly walk in the Way of Jesus, the Way becomes something that is internalized by us. Why do we pray and read scripture every day? “Because the priest said I had to.” No, we pray and read scripture every day because that’s our Way. Sometimes we may be doing it simply because it is our Way and we’re walking in that Way, but we keep daily prayer and scripture reading as our Way because that Way of life brings healing.

The way of Jesus is ultimately the way of healing. Why would any of us do with less so that others may have what they need? Because we see our brothers and sisters working and not making enough to pay rent. We see our sisters and our brothers getting sick for two weeks and then being evicted because those two weeks without wages kept them from being able to pay that month’s rent. These are the folks I minister with every day, and once folks end up on the streets, it is frightfully hard to get back.

When you don’t have daily access to a shower and don’t have a place to launder your clothes, getting a job is almost impossible. If you have any mental illness and don’t have a job that pays enough to have good medical insurance, and then enough for co-pays and prescriptions on top of that, then keeping a job can be frightfully difficult. There is a lot of suffering in our world, in our city, and our Way, the Way of Jesus, is to help soothe that suffering.

When we do, we also find that our own suffering is soothed as well. Times when we don’t quite see it, all we can do is trust. Trust in the Way of Jesus, trust in how Jesus’ way has been handed down to us in the Episcopal Church. Then there are times when we recognize the healing that has been brought by walking in the Way, and it becomes internalized by us. The Way of Jesus becomes our Way, the Way of healing, the Way of justice, mercy, and love.

If you want to sink, you first have to get out of the boat.

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
August 13, 2023
Proper 14, Year A
Psalm 85:8-13
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33

 If You Want to Sink, You First Have to Get Out of the Boat

So, when Peter saw Jesus walking on the water toward them, he stepped out of the boat, and he sank. I know he walked on the water for a time, first, but once he noticed the waves and storm all around him, he became distracted by all of that, took his eyes off Jesus, and he sank.

Back in Seminary, we loved to joke about Peter because of how often he failed. He kept trying at things. “I’ll do it. Hey, I can do that, Jesus. Ooh, let’s build three booths,” and time and again, Peter kinda just bungled it all up. So, we see Peter failing a lot in the scriptures, and he becomes an easy target for our poking fun.

To be fair to Peter, I wonder if the reason we kept pointing out his flaws in Seminary was because by doing that, we got to ignore our own flaws and pretend that we wouldn’t have failings like he did once we really got into our ministries. Oh, we were so cute.

What’s great about looking at Peter is that as many times as he screwed up, he kept trying. Peter kept getting out of the boat trying to walk on water, like he did in our story today. He kept failing, and Jesus kept picking him up and putting him back in the boat. Despite his failure, he kept striving in his discipleship of Jesus.

He could have just decided to play it safe and stay in the boat. He could have just waited for Jesus to arrive. It would certainly have been easier, less embarrassing, less wet. Instead, he kept trying and often he failed, and then Jesus was there to help him up. That wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t gotten out of the boat.

If you want to sink, you first have to get out of the boat.  

A friend of mine, Erin Jean Warde wrote a book called, Sober Spirituality, in which she talks about getting sober and the joys sobriety has brought her. One of the chapters is called, “Reading the Big Book with a Box of Chardonnay.” The Big Book is the book of Alcoholics Anonymous. For years, Erin was wondering about getting sober, trying out some meetings, reading the Big Book, all while continuing to drink, even boxes of Chardonnay.

Some might say that she was failing at sobriety during those years, but that’s not really true. She was taking a page out of Peter’s book and stepping out of the boat. She kept sinking, over and over again, and Jesus kept pulling her back up and setting her back in the boat. Eventually, she didn’t sink. She stayed sober. If she hadn’t sunk all those previous times, however, if she’d stayed in the boat, she might still be drinking today. Instead, Erin got out of the boat and sank. She gave herself and her readers the freedom to fail.

That’s what Peter did. He gave us the freedom to fail. That’s what Jesus did when he picked Peter up and put him back in the boat. He gave him the freedom to fail. When Jesus picked Peter up, he said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” We’re not told how Jesus said this. Was it a rebuke? Was he scolding Peter? I like to think he was laughing with delight. “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Peter had been so excited, “Hey man, I want to walk on water too, call me out there.” That had to have given Jesus some delight, more than the delight he was probably already feeling walking on the water himself.

I imagine Jesus, having created the Earth and that very sea he was walking on, I imagine him full of delight, walking on the water thinking, “This is so cool!” Then to have Peter want to join him, to actually start walking on the water too, and then when Peter sank, I can see Jesus laughing like a parent whose kid had just ridden their bike for the first time for 20 feet and then fallen over. The kid jumps up, laughing, shouting, “I did it! I did it! Did you see?” The parent, laughing and excited, smiling says, “Wow, that was great, kid, why’d you stop?” Fail. Fall down. Keep riding; you’re doing great.

Jesus gave Peter the freedom to fail, and when Peter sank, Jesus picked him back up, gave him some pointers, and set him back in the boat to try again.

Jesus gives us the freedom to fail too. He’s not Darth Vader, angry and murderous with every failure.

I often hear people say, “I’m not perfect; I’m never gonna be,” and they’re almost lamenting the fact. It’s like they’re saying to God, “I’m sorry, Lord Vader. I know I suck.” To which I figure God replies, “Didn’t you read about Peter?”

We’re not supposed to be perfect. God doesn’t expect us to be. It’s a pretty good bet when we step out of the boat, we’re going to sink. God knows this, and God gives us the freedom and even encourages us to step out of the boat anyway.

In our discipleship of Jesus, we’re going to fail a lot. Jesus delights in our continuing to try, our continuing to sink, and his continuing to pick us back up and put us back in the boat to try again. In our discipleship, as we continue to follow Jesus and live his ways, we get to risk failure.

If you want to sink, you first have to get out of the boat.  

Gaining So Much More Than a Pearl

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
July 30, 2023
Proper 12, Year A
1 Kings 3:5-12
Psalm 119:129-136
Matthew 13:31-33,44-52 

Gaining So Much More Than a Pearl

So, there’s an addendum to the story about Solomon we heard today in which God granted him long life and riches. Solomon didn’t ask for long life and riches, he asked for the wisdom to lead the people of Israel well. So, God was pleased with Solomon, and after agreeing and grant Solomon wisdom, God also granted him the long life and riches that he didn’t ask for.

When I was a kid, reading that story, the sneaky little part of my brain thought, “Well that’s cool. All I need to ask for something unselfish and then maybe God will make me hugely rich as well.”

Now, I knew God wasn’t stupid. Having just read that story about Solomon, I couldn’t just say, “God make me wise,” and expect to become rich. No, I had to try to fool God into thinking I really meant it. So my prayer was something more like, “God just make me wise. I’m not going for riches, just the wisdom part, so please help me out with that. Oh, and if you do make me rich, I’ll use like the hugely vast majority to give away to others.”

I’m not sure God said “yes” to either part of that prayer, but I’ve since realized what I pretty well expected back then, which is that God doesn’t work like that, at least not for me.

Far from the almighty golden gumball machine of a young boy’s fantasy, God seems more concerned with teaching us God’s ways of love and living out God’s kingdom here on earth than with granting the get rich quick prayer scheme of a teenage boy.

In one of Jesus’ parables that we heard today, the kingdom of God was kind of compared to a get rich scheme involving a merchant and a really big pearl. In the story, the merchant finds a huge pearl and sells everything in order to acquire it. Going back again to my teenage boy self, I didn’t find this story of God’s kingdom all that compelling. I mean, I got that the story was a metaphor, but the thought of a big pearl just didn’t interest me. What would I do with it, put it on a shelf and not really look at it all that much? If it was a life-size, working Millennium Falcon, then I could see the appeal, but the pearl just wasn’t doing it for me.

I wonder if sometimes my teenage take on the story rings true for many of us, meaning that I wonder if we hear about living God’s kingdom here on earth and find that it’s just not that appealing, like hearing about Solomon and thinking, “Yeah, yeah, wisdom’s great, but what about the money?” I wonder if we hear about God’s kingdom and think, “Yeah, that sounds lovely, but like a big pearl, I think I’m just going to put it on a shelf and not look at it all that often.”

God’s kingdom often sounds like a pretty good idea in church, and then it’s back to the rest of life. Fears and stresses of life hit us, and we take that pearl and put it back up on the shelf. The challenges of life make Jesus’ kingdom seem less appealing than the protection and numbing that often comes with just getting through the day. Even in those times when we really do want to live God’s kingdom, we really do want the pearl, but what the heck are we supposed to do with it? It’s pretty, and a lovely idea. Now what?

Well, what’d the merchant do? He sold all that he had to get it. For us, that means seeking God’s help to live out God’s kingdom here on earth. That means changing our lives to follow the ways of Jesus and giving up anything that gets in the way of us living Jesus’ way. The merchant sold all that he had to get the pearl, because living God’s kingdom was absolutely worth the price.

Following the ways of Jesus, we’re supposed to love our enemies. There’s a cost there, and a giving up of some of who and how we are. Letting go our fear, our anger, our desires to force our way in the world. We’re going to risk ourselves for the sake of others. We’re going to spend large amounts of time in prayer and seek peace with others. We’re going to give up selfish ways, and we’re going to join with others in helping to make the lives of those around us a little bit brighter.

That’s a lot. The merchant sold everything he had. Jesus said that we should lose our lives for his sake and the sake of the kingdom of God. Of course, Jesus also said that if we lose our lives for his sake, we would find our lives. Think about this not just as physical death, but also as losing the lives we have, giving up all of the ways which keep us from God’s kingdom. The merchant selling everything.

Then realize, the guy was a merchant. He didn’t sell everything and buy the pearl to put it on a shelf. He was buying the pearl to sell it again. He was going to make back all that he had given up for the pearl and then some. Jesus said, “those who lose their lives…will find them.”

When we give up all of the ways which keep us from living God’s kingdom, we aren’t left empty, with nothing. We gain back so much more. Now, I don’t mean wealth. Unlike my teenage boy self, we’re not trying to trick God into a get rich quick scheme. Also, giving up all that we have is not a simple, one-time prayer or declaration. Giving up all that we have is an ongoing process as we, over time, bit by bit, realize the parts of ourselves that aren’t living God’s kingdom, and we, over time, bit by bit, give those ways over to God. We let those parts of us die, and we begin to see what’s being reborn.

As we are reborn over time, bit by bit, here are some things that we gain as we give up all that we have. We gain peace, no longer struggling with everything and everyone around us. We gain acceptance that life is not all as we wish it was, and we find beauty in the life we have. We gain community, joining with others in living God’s kingdom and offering it to others.

The merchant didn’t force the pearl on anyone, telling them angrily or at knife point, “You have to take this pearl or else.” He offered the pearl to those who were willing to buy it. As we live into God’s kingdom, we can offer it to others, not with threats, not because they have to. We offer what we’ve found in God’s kingdom because we have been healed by it. As we are healed in God’s kingdom, we offer that healing to others, and joining with others, we see the healing of God’s kingdom grow. We see the lives of the people around us change for the better.

This isn’t a sudden get rich quick scheme. It happens over time, bit by bit. God’s kingdom grows, and the world is healed.

 

Of Journeys and Justice: Staying the Course In Discipleship

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

Of Journeys and Justice: Staying the Course In Discipleship

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Come Unto to Me, and Be Prisoners of Hope.

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church
August 9, 2023

Proper 9, Year A
Zechariah 9:9-12
Psalm 145:8-15
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 

Come Unto to Me, and Be Prisoners of Hope.

Both John the Baptist and Jesus had harsh critics who blasted them for their ways of life. Their critics blasted them for the ways of their religion, and their critics blasted them for the way they spoke to the powerful pointing out ways they were oppressing others and being hypocrites. Both John and Jesus were executed by the powerful for all of the above reasons. Of John, his critics said, “He has a demon,” because of his ascetic lifestyle, his religious devotion and self-discipline. Of Jesus, his critics said, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners,” because of how he spent time with the outcast sinners who were receptive to his message of forgiveness, his message of changing their ways and turning to God, his message of love and faith rather than certainty and fear.

John and Jesus’ critics were afraid of them and them and their messages. John and Jesus’ critics felt threatened by them and their messages, and so they condemned John and Jesus. Our Zechariah reading today called on the people of Israel to be prisoners of hope. John and Jesus’ critics were acting instead as prisoners of despair.

I don’t mean they were sad and forlorn. They were afraid. They were judging and condemning John and Jesus, feeling threatened by them. They were judging and condemning others, those they felt were sinning too much, those fellow Israelites whom they felt were on the outs with God. In their judgment and fear, they were unknowingly prisoners of despair. Did they have to condemn others to make themselves feel like they were ok in God’s eyes? Did they condemn others because they were afraid of what “those sinners” might do to their country or because they were afraid of what God might do to their country because of “those sinners”?

Being afraid of “those sinners,” John and Jesus’ critics worked against them, spoke against them, and eventually had them killed. Such is the way of prisoners of despair. Fight against. Let anger and fear rule. Seek the destruction or subjugation of “those sinners,” or “those others” so that they don’t ruin everything.

Now, on the one hand, John and Jesus’ critics had the wrong bad guys labeled as “those sinners.” On the other hand, even if we have the right bad buys labeled as “those sinners,” fighting against them, letting fear and anger rule, subjugating or especially destroying “those others” or “those sinners” isn’t really going to help us. Living as prisoners of despair doesn’t really help anyone.

I think we generally know this, although there are times when we don’t see any other way. How can we not be against people who subjugate others? How can we not be against people who rape and steal? How can we not be against people who work to make life difficult and miserable for others? Our brains and our emotions often tell us we have to be against “those others” who do terrible things, but our brains and our emotions are wrong. They are stuck in hurt and fear. Our brains and our emotions are all too often prisoners of despair.

Who will rescue us from these prisons? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! “Come to me,” Jesus says. “Come to me all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

“Come to me,” Jesus says, and be prisoners of hope.

In our Zechariah reading today, the prophet says “Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope.” What is our stronghold? Our stronghold is God. “The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble,” says Psalm 9:9. Likewise, Psalm 18:2 says, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, [the Lord is] my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, [the Lord is] my stronghold.”

When Jesus says, “Come to me all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest,” Jesus is promising to be our stronghold. Jesus is calling us not to be prisoners of despair, but to be prisoners of hope.

As prisoners of hope, we don’t just rage against “those others,” even if we have the right “others” in mind. As prisoners of hope, we follow the words of Psalm 37:8, “Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; * do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.” As prisoners of hope, we don’t have to be against “those others” who do wrong. As prisoners of hope, we can, instead, live for those who are hurting, afraid, and oppressed.

If we continually rage against “those others,” we’ll just keep creating a mightier enemy. The more anyone fights someone, the more they tend to fight back. Living for someone, however, we end up building people up, guiding others, living into our truest selves: helpers and companions for one another. Such is life as prisoners of hope.

So, how do we go from being prisoners of despair to being prisoners of hope? We don’t, not by ourselves. We bring our hurt and our fear to Jesus. We bring our anger and our rage to Jesus. We come to him with those heavy burdens, hard to bear, we lay them upon him, and he grants us rest. Jesus heals us from being prisoners of despair and offers his yoke, his ways and teachings, that we may become prisoners of hope.

Then, Jesus offers us help, because as easy and light as his ways and teachings are, they are still often hard for us. Our brains and emotions, our bodies, still want us to be prisoners of despair. So Jesus offers us help in giving over our heavy burdens over and over again. Ask, Jesus says, and I will help you give those burdens to me. Then, freed of those burdens of hurt and fear, freed of those burdens of anger and rage, we can find rest for our souls and live as prisoners of hope.

We return over and over to Jesus, our stronghold, and we find that we don’t have to be against others. We can instead live for one another. We can be against those who would rape and steal; we can be full of anger and hate, or instead, we can live for those who might be victims. It’s harder to steal from and rape groups of people who are joined together, living for one another. It’s harder to hurt people who are prisoners of hope.

It still happens, of course, as it did to John the Baptist and Jesus. Those prisoners of despair who were against them eventually did hurt them, and yet they remained prisoners of hope. Their lives continue to bless us two-thousand years later. Such is the power of prisoners of hope. We return to Jesus our stronghold. We lay down our burdens, find rest for our souls, and get to live for others. We refrain from anger and leave rage alone. We stop living as prisoners of despair. We come to Jesus and live as prisoners of hope.