Luke 12:49-56
Proper 15 On Tuesday I sat with my good friend, David, in the sanctuary at Riverside. We had just finished a meeting and I was feeling overwhelmed...we were taking a moment just to breathe and enjoy some quiet. For some time now, David has been pondering a tattoo and we’ve been talking about it off and on. So on Tuesday, we started talking about tattoos again, and I told him that I wanted another one...this time on my right forearm. This time I want it to be the words of Jesus from the Gospel of John “You didn’t choose me, but I chose you.” David pulled out his computer and typed up the phrase in Greek...beautiful and simple, and it speaks to my heart in this moment. So now I have another appointment with my guy Omar before I leave for California. Now, maybe you’re asking what this has to do with Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Luke: Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? I have resisted this passage from Luke every time it comes up in the lectionary...in other words, every 3 years. But guess what? Everything in life happens in circles. Six years ago today, on August 14, 2010, this was our gospel passage. Six years ago today, on August 14, 2010, you and Bp Nedi installed me as your Rector. And the cover of the installation bulletin had the Gospel of John’s passage “You didn’t choose me, but I chose you.” So I’m going to look again at the Gospel lesson for today, but I’m going to use the Message translation to help me out: Jesus said, “I’ve come to start a fire on this earth—how I wish it were blazing right now! I’ve come to change everything, turn everything rightside up—how I long for it to be finished! Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I’ve come to disrupt and confront!” Then he turned to the crowd: “When you see clouds coming in from the west, you say, ‘Storm’s coming’—and you’re right. And when the wind comes out of the south, you say, ‘This’ll be a hot one’—and you’re right. Frauds! You know how to tell a change in the weather, so don’t tell me you can’t tell a change in the season, the God-season we’re in right now.” Well, there you go. Jesus comes to change everything, to turn everything right-side up, to disrupt and confront, to bring about the God-season we’re in. And he doesn’t do it alone...he chooses us to help him. On Friday night, I was driving back to Hood River from Portland. I had gone to see my friend Alexis and her baby. Alexis is the closest thing I have to a best friend. We’ve been in school together for several years and I was so excited when she and her husband moved here in 2015. So Friday’s drive home was sad for me. Suddenly, out of the blue, my friend Earl who used to be the pastor at White Salmon United Methodist called...he wanted to see how I was doing with the transition. And so I told Earl that this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Leaving my previous church was easy...I was ready to go and I think the Rector was ready for me to go. But leaving St. Mark’s and Hood River...it’s harder than I could have imagined, and I’m excited, but terrified. And do you know what Earl said to me? He said, “Anna, I know you know this, but I’m going to tell you anyway. When you follow Jesus, you have to be prepared to have your world turned upside down. You have to be prepared to be uncomfortable because Jesus is working on something bigger. You have to go where you are called.” Well, dang it, Earl. Don’t you hate it when people do that to you? They tell you the truth, even when you don’t want to hear it because throwing your own little pity party and eating ice cream for dinner is such a better plan! But this is what Jesus does. This is what being part of the Jesus Movement is all about...experiencing growing pains, being called when you feel unsure, having the whole world turned upside down. And we signed on for it in our baptism folks! We signed up for being a part of this crazy Jesus Movement! But can you imagine if Jesus had come to “smoothing things over and make everything nice?” I can! If Jesus hadn’t called those folks who make up our great cloud of witnesses--the martyrs and the saints, Martin Luther King Jr, David Duncombe, Ed Browning--if Jesus hadn’t called those folks to be partners with him in the turning of the world rightside up--in disrupting the “norm”--yes, things may SEEM easier, but they really wouldn’t be. There would be outcasts, we’d build walls, there would be divisions deep in our core being. But Jesus calls us to something better. Jesus calls us to shake things up, to help him turn the world right-side up, to go to places that are uncomfortable, to experience moments of great joy and deep grief, knowing that we are running the race that is set before us. When I was at St. Margaret’s, I was given my first copy of Malcolm Boyd’s book “Are you running with me Jesus?”. I think we have a copy of it here in the office. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Malcolm Boyd, he was an Episcopal priest in Los Angeles, and in 1965 published his book of prayers and ruminations titled, “Are you Running with Me Jesus?” He was active in the civil rights and anti-war movements, and his book is an expression of how he as a Christian, attempted to reconcile his faith with the politics of the time. Malcolm died in 2015, and the world became a smaller place. But in this book, he writes: It’s morning, Jesus. It's morning, and here's that light and sound all over again. Where am I running? You know these things I can't understand. It's not that I need to have you tell me. What counts most is just that somebody knows, and it's you. That helps a lot. So I'll follow along, okay? But lead, Lord. Now I've got to run. Are you running with me, Jesus? So let’s continue the work our foremothers and forefathers started, let’s help Jesus turn the world right-side up and remember that he chose us and is running with us in this and every life transition we experience. Amen.
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AuthorI don't know what the future of the church is, but I know that we will continue to be a place of sanctuary and hope, working towards healing in the world. Archives
October 2017
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