Isaiah 5:1-7; Luke 12:49-56
The first time I preached on internship, just
two or three weeks after starting there, the text was the Syro-Phoenecian
woman. You remember the story – a foreign woman asks Jesus to heal her daughter
and he tells her his gifts are for the people of Israel first. She snaps back,
yes, but even the dogs get the crumbs that fall on the floor.
After worship, one of the leaders of the
congregation asked if he could speak with me about the sermon. We met in my
office a few minutes later. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a
notepad. I thought, uh-oh, what did I say?
He said, when you read the gospel, you made
Jesus sound angry. But he was never angry; he was always kind and patient. I
reminded him of the clearing of the tables of the money changers, and a few
other instances when Jesus was not so kind and patient. Yet, we tend to forget
about that side of Jesus’ personality.
True followers of Jesus recognize that many
people do not like him. Many do not believe him, and do not believe in
him. Some members of a family will follow him to the ends of the earth – or the
cross. And some will try to chase him away or kill him.
This was true in Jesus’ time, this has been
true for centuries, and it is still true today. Families have been divided
because some members in the family believe in Jesus and some don’t.
Many years ago I heard Roxy’s story. Roxy
was raised as an Orthodox Jew. In their family they obeyed all the laws about
food and work and roles for men and women. As a child, Roxy wanted to do the
things that boys do, even though she wasn’t supposed to.
First, it was Hebrew school. The rabbi
said, “Girls don’t go to Hebrew school.” She begged, “But, Rabbi … .” The rabbi
said, “Well, ok. You’ll probably quit in a few weeks.” She didn’t. As time went
on, she asked to be a student mentor for the younger boys. The rabbi said,
“Girls don’t teach in Hebrew school.” She begged, “But, Rabbi … .” The rabbi
said, “Well, ok. You’ll probably quit in a few weeks.” She didn’t.
By the time she was in high school, Roxy
and the rabbi had had this conversation several times. She was well educated in
all things Jewish, and she was teaching classes in the Hebrew school.
She chose, against her parents’ wishes, to
attend a goyim university, the University of Michigan. There she met all sorts
of students and faculty and staff, many of whom were Christian. She began to
explore Christianity, attending worship in all sorts of churches. She returned
over and over again to the Lutheran church.
She also met a Lutheran man, who answered
all her questions and invited her to explore for as long as she wished.
Finally, she decided she wanted to be baptized as a Lutheran. And she wanted to
marry the Lutheran man.
Her family, however, was not at all
pleased. Their first reaction was to disown her, kick her out of the family. Her
parents and siblings quit speaking to her, stopped visiting with her. Still,
she is a Lutheran woman telling her own story. Roxy’s story has always been a
powerful witness to me of choosing Jesus above all else.
Jesus also caused political upheaval. He
was challenging the powers-that-be in the Jewish religious system, and they
were not happy with that. Over and over again he challenged them and called
them hypocrites, just as Isaiah did centuries before. Of course, we know that
his challenges caused his death on the cross.
That is still true today as well. There are
still parts of the world where it is risky to be Christian. When Archbishop
Oscar Romero was first named as archbishop, the people were disappointed. He
began as most other church folks did, more focused on the administration than
on the ministry.
Then, one day, a priest was killed by a
death squad, and it changed everything for him. He thought, I should be doing
what that priest was doing. He began to speak out openly against poverty,
social injustice, assassinations, and the death squads which pervaded El
Salvador at that time. He and a number of women religious who supported his
ministry, were murdered by death squads in 1980.
Truly following Jesus can lead to division
and death, at least for some. Today, we still can’t agree on how to understand
what Jesus said. And we’re not always nice to each other as we seek to
determine what he might say about particular situations. On large issues or
small ones, we struggle to find peace within the larger Christian family, and
within individual congregations.
Now it’s your turn. Do you love and trust Jesus
enough to die for him? How about just risking taking a stand against injustice?
How about risking rejection by telling someone Jesus loves and forgives them?
How about something more practical, something
that could divide us, one against another? In a few weeks, we have an important
decision to make in the life of the congregation: to change worship time from
9:30 to 10am. The request was brought forward by some of our older folks, those
who struggle to get here at 9:30. For them, half an hour makes a big
difference. Those who love to get up early find it hard to stay so late, and
are reluctant to change.
The bonus would be that if we move worship
to 10, we could offer Sunday school at 9, and hopefully gain some children and
their families who think anything earlier is too early.
So, how will you choose? What do you
believe is best for the Body of Christ at Hope? Can we find consensus, or will we allow it to
divide us?
Please pray with me. One God, following you
is not easy. It is so easy for us to choose the easier path and deny you. It is
easy for us to fear the consequences of following you. Help us to take risks. Help
us to choose pleasing you more often. Amen
